Chains of Dragons

[Mew Master]

Prologue

Long ago, on a planet known as Jakarta, humans coexisted with different kinds of creatures. Spirits, Fairies, Demi-Humans, Monsters, and Dragons. The Dragons were the most noble and honored creatures on the planet. Viewed as wise and protective, they helped govern human society as well as the laws of elements. For each element that existed, there was a Dragon that was the highest authority within that element. Life was peaceful, and war never existed. Until one day.....

There existed a demon, Necrosan, who wished to be the most noble of creatures, a Dragon. Using the forces of darkness, Necrosan started his campaign of world domination by first casting spells that would alter his body and his abilities. Pain and suffering followed, all signs of life perished once Necrosan had passed through. He gained control over more elements until finally he had reached his goal. Necrosan was now a Dragon.

But Necrosan wanted more: he wanted to rule the planet, with the true Dragons as his subordinates. Following a legend of the coming of an ultimate being to bring peace to the world, Necrosan began calling himself the Supreme Dragon and Ruler of the Universe.

The Dragons and other beings would not stand for this. In alliance with all of the righteous creatures as well as humans, the Elemental Dragons battled Necrosan. The battle was long and costly; most of the humans had perished in the fight. One Dragon, the Dragon of Light, had formulated a plan that would use the help of all other Elemental Dragons and banish Necrosan. But not without a price.

The Dragons, as well as Necrosan, would be sealed away in amulets. Magical pendants that would hold their body, spirits, and power for many millennia. The pendants bared the image of the dragons that would lie within and would be given to certain humans as guardians of the pendants.

The Dragon of Light, left humanity with one warning:

Humans who now posses these magical pendants, you are the keepers of powerful beings. These magical chains will not hold forever, such as nothing is forever. With the passing of time they shall weaken and destruction may lie over head. I wish you luck in protecting these pendants of the Elemental Dragons.

Necrosan's amulet was thrust deep into the planet's surface, to remain there for all time.

Time passed as the Dragon of Light had said, and time had altered the story. The true power of the pendants was replaced with rumor and myth. However, it was still said that the pendants held great power within, and would bestow that power onto those that were worthy.

Over 4000 years have passed since the Dragons were sealed. There is a darkness spreading across the land, something that once lived four millennia ago......

[Mew Master]

Chapter 1: Destiny Calls When You Least Expect It

“Common Pokira, one more time.” an 18 year-old asked his instructor. He was tall, 6’3” and was dressed in clothing untraditional with the shrine where he studied. A vest and sleeve-less shirt tucked into baggy black pants with red slash designs on them. He also had on finger-less gloves that allowed him to keep a grip on a Kendo Bamboo Sword he held, they had markings on the bock of his hand of magical seals. Shackles were around the ends of his gloves and the tops of his boots to keep his gloves and boots on. Spiky red-brown hair stuck out in every direction imaginable as green eyes showed his boyishness energy and determination. This was Denisu Wamiyazen, called “Saké” by everyone in the small village of Hano that surrounded the Keikami Shrine.

“Denisu, you are already pushing yourself. Three hours is long enough, we should take a break.” the one known as Pokira replied as he held a curved wooden sword. Pokira was wearing loose clothing, red samurai-like pants and a dull, white, shirt. He had long white hair that was tied back, and several strands that were stubborn and stayed in front of his face as well as deep purple eyes. Pokira was taller than Saké, whom he refused to call by his nickname in order not to disrespect him.

“Ah, you’re no fun!” Saké rushed forward with the bamboo sword, point in front, right at Pokira. “Ha!” He thrust at Pokira and the teacher side-stepped it as Saké dashed past.

“Denisu, you continue to use the same means of attack. How can you expect to pass the final test at this rate?” Pokira asked, a sweatdrop on his head.

Saké turned and faced his teacher again. Pokira was his teacher and mentor as far as swordsmanship and spells went, and was very hard to beat. Almost no one had ever passed Pokira’s final tests. “The same means may do the trick, but I’ll just have to get faster for them to work. Nimble!” A purple aura surrounded Saké and seemed to flow from the ground around his feet. He could feel the effects of the agility boosting spell taking effect and went to use them.

In a dash of pure speed, Saké charged Pokira, leaving a cloud and trail of dust behind him as he ran. He was almost a blur as he rushed for Pokira. His teacher readied his weapon for Denisu’s assault. Just as Saké was ready to attack, something unexpected happened. He tripped.

Saké tripped. He tripped and lost control of his speed. Still going very fast, Saké rolled along the ground, skidding and screeching as he started to slow. But not before he slammed into a tree, face first, bringing him to a full stop. The tree was shook, while Saké was shaken, a giant impression left on his face where he hit the tree.

Dazed, Saké admitted, “Okay, maybe that is enough for now…. Eh aaaaaah..” And he fell on his back, a dazed look on his face.

Pokira only had a sweatdrop on his head. “Denisu…”


* * *

A young man dressed in mostly black attire stood in a fighting position. His feet were spread and his body slightly crouched over. He had his left arm up and the fingers extended while his right arm was next to his body, clenched in a fist. Eyes closed, he inhaled and then exhaled before opening his black and red tinted eyes. A sweatband rested on his forehead, keeping the sweat out of his eyes as a black cloak rested on his shoulders. One of a pair of fangs was out over his lower lip, and long braided hair at the back of his head.

“Hi-yaw!” he shouted and unleashed a volley of punches and jabs on the stuffed dummy supported by a wooden steak. This individual’s name is Kage Ikagaide, a close range fighter whose father had trained him to use his fists as well as his feet. Kage was 20 years-old and preferred to remain close to home with his father and mother, he currently lived in Zean, just a few blocks from his parents home. He made a living doing labor and anything to improve the strength of his body. Within in a minute the practice dummy was reduced to straw and wood, and Kage stood back and restored his breathing to normal.

“Mornin’ son!” he heard from behind him and Kage looked.

“Dad?! What are you doing here?” he shouted back.

Serge Ikagaide was a man with a large upper body build and his muscles could be seen through the thin material he wore as a merchant of rare Element spells and scrolls. He had the beginnings of a beard on his chin and short cut hair compared to Kage’s long braid. In one hand was a briefcase.

“Can’t a father pay his own son a visit?” he replied.

“Maybe,” was Kage’s response.

“I see you’re still training?”

“The only way I’ll stop training is the day I defeat you dad.” Kage smirked. It was true, as long as Kage had been training, he had always been training for the day he could defeat his father.

“Fat chance son,” his father flexed his muscles. “As long as I still live and breathe I’ll still be better than you.”

The two stared at each other, then they moved. Kage dashed forward and aimed a kick for his father’s solar plexus, as his father threw a punch. Both attacks hit home, but both combatants were still in their positions when their attacks hit, Kage on one leg, his foot under his father’s rib cage, and his father’s fist merging with his cheek.

“Looks like a draw,” Kage commented.

“Not quite,” his father replied. With a twist of his other hand, Kage’s father flipped him on his back, sprawled out. “I’m still better.”

He extended his hand and helped Kage back to his feet.

“So Kage, what do you say we get something to eat?”

“Fine by me, as long as you don’t cook.” Kage replied, pounding his father on the back, as they walked towards some of the good taverns in Zean.


* * *

On a patch of land, not too far from the town of Zean, an 18 year-old girl practiced with an old spear. She placed her feet apart as she imagined herself matched against an invisible enemy. She hacked and slashed, her light brown eyes following the possible movements of her “enemies” and as her copper-brown hair, done in a braid, moved in the aftermath of her movements. Her shoes gave her feet some grip as she continued attacking. The stiff, brown, leather jacket around her upper body hid parts of a faded yellow shirt underneath it. Her midsection was exposed between the bottom of her jacket and the top of her pants, which were brown, with red flame designs in them.

She is known as Vared. And the “enemies” she had been attacking, happened to be bushes near the edge of her family’s property.

“Vared,” her father shouted from the house. “Are you finished beating around the bush?” he asked in a corny joke.

Vared sighed, a mushroom cloud escaping from her mouth. “Very funny dad.”

“Don’t complain too much young’n.” she heard an older voice than her father reply. “My jokes aren’t that great either! Oh ho ho ho!”

Vared turned at the sound of the elder’s voice. “Grandpa Abram!!” she shouted, surprised and excited to see her grandfather.

Abram was stouter and shorter than his son and his granddaughter was taller than him as well. He had a bushy beard and mustache as well as white eyebrows and hair. Abram always seemed to have a smile on his face.

Vared ran up to hug him. “Grandpa!”

“My my Vared, you are still practicing I see. Who was it this time? Ninjas or Knights. Oh I know, bounty hunters after your head.” he joked as Abram hugged Vared.

Abram had taught Vared how to fight and fend for herself, and so far the lessons had paid off. He used to be a warrior of long ago when he was fit as a fiddle and able to hold his own against a dozen men. Because of his age he started to teach Vared who could hold her own in a sparing match against him, but was still no match. Only recently, because of Abram’s age and Vared’s increasing skills, she has managed to beat him once or twice. The record was still being argued over.

“Vared, Grandpa’s going to be staying for a few days.” her father told her as the three went inside the house. “Gabe’s gonna miss seeing him.”

Gabe, or rather Gabriel, was Vared’s older brother and currently away at a university. He was studying to become a scholar and was never very interested in their grandfather’s exercises, something Vared never could understand.

“Oh, I’ve got that rascal a few things. I haven’t left him out yet.” Abram replied with his usual sense of humor.

“Looks like I’ll be giving the family spear to Vared after she turns 19.” her father commented.

Vared knew what her father was talking about. In the basement of their house was a box that her father had only opened a few times, once to show Gabe and another to show Vared when they were each 10 years old. It was an heirloom that had been in their family for generations. Vared remembered when she first saw the spear. The blade was 8 inches long and leaf-shaped with flame designs on the yard long shaft. She thought it was beautiful when she saw it and couldn’t wait to actually hold it.

“Dinner’s ready everyone!” Vared’s mother shouted from the kitchen.

“Great Maria.” Abram boasted. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!”

“I think the horse would eat you dad.” Maria replied as she started to set the table and everyone laughed.


* * *

“No no Sora! Never put your feet like that.”

Sora Hibari changed her foot stance and eyed her father, Tousan, whom she was training with. She was 18, and was wearing mostly blue denim. Her skin was tan, her hair was shoulder length and dirty blonde, and her eyes were a deep navy blue. Sora had on a sky-blue t-Shirt under a darker blue denim jacket, with the design of a dragon waving towards anyone behind her, as well as baggy denim jeans that hid black hiking boots. In her hands she held the wooden version of a Kama, a scythe-like weapon.

Tousan, Sora’s father, was holding another wooden kama. “There! Much better.” he commented and raised his weapon to eye-level. “Ready?”

A smile drew across Sora’s face. “Yes.” She enjoyed sparing with her father and trying to defeat him.

Tousan lunged for his daughter, swinging the kama in order to slice her arm off, Sora blocked and went for an open spot in his attack. The next few minutes went like this. Blocking, attacking, counter-blocking, and counter-attacking, until Sora went for a move. Using the wooden blade she yanked her father off balance, Tousan landing on his rump. She pointed the blade at his chest.

“Very good.” he commented before he whipped his kama and broke hers in two, for the fourth time today. “But not good enough. Remember to block their arms as well.” he said with a smile.

Sora dropped to her knees, the broken kama still in her hands. “Daaad…. That’s the fourth one!!! I’m telling mom you broke this one.”

“Come on, get up you.” Tousan said and extended his hand for Sora to take. He pulled Sora to her feet. “She won’t mind. We’ve got many left still.”

They started walking towards a house.

“When can I use a real one?” Sora asked, with her eyes big, trying to show how cute she could be.

“When you’re older.” Tousan replied.

Sora rolled her eyes. That’s the answer for everything…. she thought.

Inside, their home was nicely furnished, with comfortable chairs and pillows to sit on as well as art to admire. There were also some things from long ago, antiques from ancient times. Tsuru, Sora’s mother was finished cooking and could hear her husband and daughter argue.

“Come on you two. Quit fighting, dinner’s ready.” Tsuru told them.

They sat down and began to dig in.

“Oh Tsuru, Sora broke another kama again.” Tousan stated and flashed a devilish grin towards his daughter.

“Oh did she Tousan?” Tsuru looked at Sora. “Last I remember it was your father who broke your kama.” This comment caused Tousan to almost choke on a piece of steak.

“Well that may have been my fault.” he said with a cheesy grin at his wife.

“Nope. It was all your fault dad.” Sora commented and Tousan tossed a washcloth at her. The washcloth had hit her square in the face, it wasn’t wet, but she threw it straight back, hitting her father harder.

It may have seemed a bit strange to other families, but this was quite normal for the Hibari Family, and everyone had fun “beating” on each other.


* * *

Near a house, a girl was blindfolded. She was 16 years old and had a strong build, although it couldn’t be told from just looking at her. The girl was small and lightweight with short brown curly hair. If you could see her eyes, they would be an icy blue/gray, a color that should not be stared at for too long. She was wearing a long blue tunic, black leggings, and boots. She enjoyed looking plain.

This girl was Amalthea Arran, but preferred to be called Amal.

Amal used her other senses because her sight had been blocked by the blindfold. Slowly her head turned, searching for any movements. Her grip on her katana tightened. A whistling sound and Amal slashed to her right. The one attacking her jumped back and Amal ducked an oncoming blow and rolled back, avoiding the attack by a few inches at best.

On all fours, she strained her hearing to find out where her opponent, or more correctly, her father had disappeared to. A slight scuffle, silent to most, got her attention towards her left. She back flipped and slashed, someone cursed. A piece of clothing had been ripped off in that last maneuver. Amal slashed again, but the attack was parried and her father thrusted up.

The point of his weapon touched her neck and Amal gulped. Her father removed the blindfold over her eyes.

“You’re getting much better Amalthea.” he admitted with a smile. He sheathed his weapon and stretched his arms. Two hours of sight restriction sparring would be frustrating to most, but Amal was exceeding and getting much better in every practice session.

“Yeah, and I’m almost close to beating you for once.” Amal replied, also stretching her body after the training.

“Yeah yeah, let’s see you try it later.” They started heading into the house. “How about I whip us up some of my famous shrimp stir-fry?”

“Yay!” Amal cheered because her father’s cooking was the best on the whole planet. “Only no more zucchini this time.”

“Okay, more onions then!” her father replied.

“No! I hate those even more!!”

“No more complaints or it’s liver and onions.” her father teased.

“Okay, I’ll be quiet.. More shrimp?”

“I think I can handle that request.” he replied as they went inside.


* * *

Perched on a branch, a female feline Demi-Human was laying. Her cat-like eyes were closed as she rested, her ears sticking up, ready to pick up any sounds, and her tail slowly waving in the air under the branch. A wrap-around skirt stopped at mid thigh, and a vest matched the skirt. She wore a shirt under the vest, but it was a small tank-top because anything bigger would restrict her mobility. Her skin was a tan gold with small spots of black, giving her a more feline look. The hair was the same color as her skin, but without the spots. She also had fingernails that were more like claws than nails.

“Elena? Prae-Girl?”

“For the last time, I AM NOT…. Oh! Father!”

Elena Kai-Prae looked down from her branch to see her father standing below. Alun Prae looked more cat-like than his daughter, with the nose and larger eyes of a feline. He had the bad habit of referring to Elena still as a girl, when in truth Elena was 21 years old.

“Yo! Big Sis!” someone shouted from above Elena and she looked up to see her brother, Lynx Kai-Prae, jumping down towards her.

Elena’s reflexes activated and she back-flipped from laying and into a squatting position. Lynx flew by and she reached out and grabbed her younger brother by the scuff of his neck in mid-air.

“Lynx,” she looked at her brother in the eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He grinned back. “Common sis, I just found out you got back last night. Can’t I surprise my big sis once in a while?”

Elena sighed. Lynx had always wanted to surprise everyone in the Kai-Prae home. Sometimes that surprising got him into trouble once too often.

“Elena!”

“Elena hi!”

She looked down and saw the younger faces of her two younger sisters, Katie and Jan. Katie was older but both of them were still young.

“Elena. When did you get home?” Katie asked.

“When did you get home?” Jan echoed her sister, only slurring a few of the syllables.

“Last night. If you Younglings weren’t so sound sleepers then you would have heard her.” Alun replied.

“Common Elena. Let’s go out for a game or two.” Lynx encouraged.

“I was sleeping before father showed up Lynx. I’m not in the mood now.” she replied.

“Aw, you’re no fun sis. At least Saké will give our games a try.” Lynx protested and got out of his sister’s grip, dropping to the ground on his hands and feet. “Let’s go see if Saké will play.” he said and ran off with his younger sisters behind him.

“Yay! Saké’s fun!” Katie cheered.

“Saké fun!” Jan echoed as the three disappeared into Direwood Forest.

Elena climbed down the tree and then hopped the last three feet. “Saké is still here?”

“Yes, he comes by at least once a week. Leon and Pokira must be increasing his training by now.” Alun replied and he and his daughter walked towards the group of tents that marked where the Pride had made camp for almost 15 years.

The Pride was a large group of feline Demi-Humans, consisting of several large families. Close and distant relatives of various families also resided within the Pride. The whole group were nomads, continuing moving from place to place for reasons forgotten from memory but continued from tradition. The tents were in constant state of repair and rarely, only in the marriage of two Pride Members, would a new tent be constructed.

Elena was surprised at how everyone had changed. She had left the pride to explore more of the Zeeam Continent after she had turned 18, and just now she had returned, homesick or for reasons unknown even to her. Everyone waved as she passed by, her father leading them to their tent.

The Kai-Prae tent was the largest one in the entire Pride, because Alun was the leader of the families and would say when they should move on. They entered the tent and Elena saw her mother, Necia Kai sitting the slight glow of a lamp.

“Have a nice cat-nap Elena?” Necia asked. Necia Kai was more human looking than either Alun or Elena, but had golden cat-like eyes.

“Yes, until father and Lynx decided to end it.” she gave her father a comical glare.

“Still it is nice to have you home after three years.” Alun admitted as they took seats around the lantern.

“I was afraid you would move the Pride before I had a chance to come back.” Elena admitted.

“The whole reason we are still here after 15 years is because this place is so peaceful, nothing could disturb it. That and the fact that I didn’t want to move until we saw you again.” Alun admitted. “The other families agreed this was a perfect place to raise the younglings. Even though the humans in Hano don’t particularly care for us. Enough about that. Tell us what you thought of the rest of the continent. Any places that we should think of moving the Pride to?”


* * *

In a darkened room, a Demi-Human sat. Light, purple, fur covered the exposed portions of his skin. Messy white hair stuck out from his head as his eyes were closed. Dressed in black, he concentrated on the task before him, shutting off all senses. His elf-like ears stuck out the sides of his head, small tuffs of fur at the ends. This was Horus, a 20 year-old Psychic Innate who was busy meditating, his feet twitching a bit.

Horus. Horus. he heard his mother mind link with him. Horus, are you still meditating on the problem before you?

Yes mother. It is very difficult, it is.

I know you won’t give up so easily Horus. Dinner will be ready in a few hours.

All right mother. he replied and concentrated more on the matter at hand.

Horus came from a long line of Psychics, very powerful ones at that. His mother was strong, but his father was much stronger. They always had some problems or times for meditation for Horus to perform.

Contrary to first implications, Psychics cannot read minds at all. Instead they can sense the aura of a person or animal, and see the color corresponding with the emotion that creature is feeling. Red for anger, blue for sad, green for envy, black for hatred, pink for love, orange for agitation, and so on. They do however can mind-link with immediate family members and speak without speaking, as well as have premonitions that can take place in the immediate or distant future.

Horus concentrated. His current task, was to stretch his mind to find his father, who was busy in the market place. A most difficult place to find one single mind wave. Horus was getting close, but there were too many minds gathered in one place. He concentrated more, his features becoming strained and contorted, shutting his eyes harder, gritting his teeth.

Then something hit him like a ton of bricks and he gasped. Visions, rapid visions of fighting. Death and destruction. And even large creatures that resembled the Lesser Dragons that resided near the Pire Range and Hydra Jungle. But these creatures were different. Taller, broader, stronger, prouder. Then there was a darkness that he saw, spreading slowly until it blocked his entire vision. Laughter. Evil laughter. He could hear it coming form everywhere and yet no where. The laugh was inhuman and was starting to drive Horus insane.

He threw his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut out the laugh, but it continued. His meditation broken, Horus fell onto his side and passed out.

Horus was shaken awake a few minutes later by his mother. His father was there as well, concern on both of their faces, but relieved when he didn’t seem to be hurt or his psychic abilities hampered in any way. But Horus couldn’t get the sound of that evil laughter out of his head, and spent the hours after dinner trying to make sense of his vision.


* * *

On a dirt road, a Demi-Human walked along. Green and scaly, this being was part chameleon. He wore no shoes and had three toes as well as three fingered hands. Across his shoulders lay a long and large thing wrapped in cloth. It must not have weighed much, because he carried it with hardly any effort. Black, tattered, clothing hung from his torso and silk pants with holes in them covered his legs.

This Demi-Human’s name was Chamel, and he hummed a fast and happy tuned song as he walked. Chamel was heading back towards the shrine where he was staying, and had stayed since he was barely 3 years old. The sensei of the shrine took special interest in Chamel, and trained with him on a daily basis. Just now, he had sent Chamel to town to fetch a package which had arrived for him. Chamel, glad to get out of the shrine every one in a while, went off like a rocket and was now on his way back.

He heard some voices behind him and he scampered up a tree. His bare hands and feet made the trip easily and effortlessly. Up on a branch, laying on the package carefully, Chamel watched as three humans walked down the road towards the shrine. He recognized them as students who also studied there, the clothing was the first sign of this reasoning.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that Chamel,” said one. “Just because the sensei takes pity on him for being abandoned, doesn’t mean he should run free like he does.”

“Once I heard he hid in the girl’s shower using his camouflage ability.” another stated.

“He’s an animal and should be locked up, or at least kicked out.” the third one, a girl commented.

Chamel wasn’t hurt by their insults, rather he was looking at what the three students were carrying on their back. Three individual baskets, one had apples, another mangos, and the third one had the Grib Berry, a personal favorite of Chamel. Chamel had the familiar long tongue that actual chameleons possessed and aimed for his target.

His tongue lashed out, and latched onto something. Pulling his tongue back Chamel waited for the sweet and sour taste of the Grib. But instead of fruit pulp, something dry, silky, and tasting of cloth met his mouth. He took the object out of his mouth and instantly blushed, some blood escaping from his nose. It was the girl’s BRA!!!

“ACK! This ain’t a Grib Berry!” he exclaimed.

“CHAMEL!!!” shouted an angry feminine voice.

“Huh?” Chamel looked and, just as he did, something hard and solid connected with his face. “Ghah!” he shouted as the blow knocked him out of the tree. He fell hard on his stomach, a huge bump on his reptilian head. “Ouchie…” he said full of pain. A foot stepped by his head and he looked up.

The girl was burning mad and was flushing at the cheeks. “You have some nerve Chamel!”

“It was an accident,” he tried to defend himself.

“I’m sure the sensei will kick you out after this stunt!” She turned on a heel and ran off towards the shrine. The two guys who had been with her snickered.

“Good going Chamel.”

“See you in the outside world, freak!”

They ran off and disappeared on the road. Chamel twisted around and ended up sitting, with his legs crossed, looking towards the direction of the shrine. He let out a mushroom cloud sigh and looked up at the tree tops.

“Why me? I’m so hungry.” he said, his stomach growling.

There was a sliding noise and Chamel looked up. The package he was laying on up in the tree branch slid off and fell. It whacked him in the head with it’s flat side. Chamel fell onto his back, now two lumps ahead today.


* * *

Wind blew into Zera Leonhart’s face as he readied his katana. Zera was 19 years young, and dressed in dark clothing. Numerous belts and two metal pads, one on his left arm and the other on his right hip, acted as armor. His clothing was baggy, very baggy and small gauntlets on his arms that ended in gloves that exposed his fingers. Zera had two heavy boots on his feet, giving him some grip on the ground as he moved. His katana had tape stuck all around it, giving it an older appearance.

Zera faced his friend once again. His friend, Juste, bared a wooden axe. That was fine, because Zera’s katana was also made of wood. Juste was just a bit shorter than Zera and had some gear on his left hand, his blocking hand. The two enjoyed sparring together, because both were skilled at what weapons they preferred.

Juste charged, ready to swing the axe and lop off part of Zera’s body, Zera jumped back, being slightly carried by the wind and raised his weapon to block. The weapons connected and Zera moved his weapon down and slashed for Juste’s arm. The blow connected, but since both of them were already covered with bruises Juste hardly felt it. He swung the wooden axe in an arch, in order to hit Zera’s torso, but Zera ducked under the attack, and jabbed the point of his weapon into Juste’s stomach.. Juste stepped back and Zera jumped to kick his friend in the chest just as Zera’s foot connected, Juste grabbed him by the ankle and they both fell to the ground. Zera landed close by Juste, flat on his face.

Zera picked his head up, looked at Juste who was on his back. A smile cracked his face and he started laughing, Juste joined in too, and their laughter could be heard over the hills of the field where they currently were.

“Who won that one?” Juste asked.

Zera flipped onto his back, staring at the sky and his hands under his head. “Dunno, I think it was a draw.”

“How could you tell? Our records always been dead even. Can’t you at least argue with me that I won?” Juste stated, trying to get Zera to argue.

Zera chuckled. “Whatever Juste.” he said. “Does it matter?”

“Na, I guess you’re right. HEY!” Juste exclaimed, realizing Zera had beaten him without even trying to argue.

Zera laughed again.

The two just laid in the field, looking up at the sky. “Fells good to be alive, doesn’t it?” Zera asked.

He was replied with Juste’s snoring. Juste had fallen asleep!

Zera sighed and closed his eyes. Soon, he was asleep as well.


* * *

“Hya!” someone shouted as he slashed a tree. This boy, was 15 years old, and was yielding a 6 foot-long naginata. He had leather boots on, that had his baggy blue pants tucked into them. A lose shirt revealed most of his medium build for being 5 foot seven. Sweat caused his silver hair to stick to his forehead as his pale blue eyes glared at the tree. His naginata was slashed into the tree, and the metal blade was stuck!

Seylin Hatsuki tugged at the handle of his naginata, pulling with all his strength. Even resorting to planting his feet on the tree and pulling parallel with the ground. Struggling, he finally managed to wrench the blade free, but in doing so, he fell flat on the ground.

“Ouch.” he commented rubbing his head. “That wasn’t very smart, in retro-spec.”

He sat on the ground and looked up to the sky. Clouds began to form into darker shapes.

The Hatsuki home was built between Hano and Zean, on a dirt road connecting the two towns. Many convoys passed through the path, and some had road-side shops set up along the path for weary travelers to pass and refresh themselves before continuing the trek to either Hano or Zean. Seylin’s home was such a place.

His father ran a small bed-and-breakfast and make-shift Inn for people going along the road. Hano and Zean were two days apart if one walked. Luckally the Hatsuki residence was placed strategically between both towns, and was also surrounded by other homes and houses.

The small place was called Kikata, but was given the nickname of “Half-way Kita.”

Seylin plopped down onto his back, and tried to slow his breathing. He had been whacking the tree with his naginata for the better part of three hours, trying to get stronger, but had only ended up exhausting himself from the effort. Damn, I hope it’s not going to rain. he thought. I hope there’s a blizzard that wipes this place clean. Seylin had a bad habit of disliking people in general and had a semi-psychotic personality to match. It didn’t exactly make him the most popular person in Kikata, but then again it did give the people a reason to leave him alone. No one really made an effort to make a friend out of him, they just decided it was best to leave him alone.

“Seylin! Give up on hacking that tree down?!” a voice reached him from the direction of his home.

Seylin tilted his head and looked behind him, there was his father standing on the porch of their home. Seylin’s father was tall and had blue hair. He was the exact opposite of his son, a person who was very outgoing and made friends with everyone in town and anyone who happened to stay at his home passing through. He had some small glasses on the end of his nose that reflected the sunlight a bit back to Seylin.

“No father, I’m still at it.” Sometimes Seylin didn’t understand what his father saw in people, he just hoped it wouldn’t happen to him.

“Well that’s good. But you put too much effort into your slash. You have to ease off the force behind your attack and go with an arch, instead of a slash. That way you should save me the time of having to sharpen that old naginata of yours every time you hack that tree.” he advised. “Oh, we have some new boarders who came into town and are looking for a place to stay. They may consider our home.”

“Great,” Seylin said distastingly. “Now I know I’ll have to lock my door today.”

“Don’t be so hard on all people son,” His father tried to calm his son’s distrust towards all people. “The bad ones spoil the hope for the most that are good people inside.”

“Whatever,” Seylin replied and headed inside. “I don’t care as long as they leave me alone.” he walked upstairs to his room and shut the door, but not before locking it. He angled his naginata in the corner and fell onto his bed. On a nightstand by the bed, there was a picture of three people. A young Seylin, a slightly younger personage of his father, and a woman that the reflection of the sun blocked from being seen.


* * *

A seventeen-year-old girl with long braided blonde hair and copper skin aimed an arrow on her bow towards a young boy with an apple on his head. A sweatband lay over her eyes, covering her eyebrows and pushing her hair out. Her yellow eyes zeroed in on the apple on top of the boy’s head. A sash was tied around her waist, helping her skirt stay on her hips, and a single strap tank top was covering her chest, her midriff exposed. Black boots went up her legs and stopped at her knees.

This was Faile Thundersong, a girl with a short temper and deadly aim as she pulled the string back on the yew bow. The boy with the apple on his head was Thaddeus, her younger brother, who had bugged her to play “William Tell” with him.

Their mother walked out onto the porch. “Faile, Thaddeus, what are… FAILE!” she screeched.

“What?” Faile replied and her finger slipped on the arrow. It sprang forward, off aim and heading straight for Thad’s chest. “No!”

A spoon came flying and knocked the arrow up into the air. It went off course and the arrow spun in the air. The deadly point of the arrow went upward in its course and struck the apple above Thaddeus’s head. This had all taken place in the fraction of a second.

“Yeah! You did it sis!” Thaddeus exclaimed, impressed by his sister’s archery skill, and holding both pieces of the apple in his hands.

“Faile!” her mother shouted. “I thought I told you never to point an arrow at another being!”

“Thaddeus wouldn’t stop bugging me mother!” she shouted back. Faile had a very short temper and would always be the first to start gunning for a fight. Usually no one would argue with her because many people knew of her archery skill and didn’t want to be at the receiving end of an arrow point. “So I agreed to play with him.”

“I won’t allow this! You are grounded, go to your room until supper’s ready.”

Faile stormed up to their home. Her mother stopped her.

“Give me your bow and arrows, Faile.” her mother ordered with a strangely calm voice.

Faile threw down the yew bow and the arrows onto the porch and ran inside. The sound of her door slamming could be heard through the entire house.

Marge Thundersong sighed at her daughter’s temper as she picked up what Faile had thrown on the porch. Thaddeus munched on the apple, curious as to why Faile seemed to be crying.

“Common Thaddeus, let’s go get dinner finished.” Marge asked as she headed inside.

They went inside, Thaddeus holding both halves of the apple.


* * *

Dark clouds hung in the sky as rain splattered against a window. Lightning crackled in the sky, lighting up everything inside a room.

Someone, clad in black clothing relaxed in a soft reclining chair as the storm raged on outside his domicile. Parchments lay scattered across a table as candles burned, nearly exhausted and almost melted. Old pictures of men were placed on bare spaces on the walls, in which everything else was taken up by books of every size, shape, age and color on shelves. On the table, perched up by a stand decorated to look like a dragon’s hand was an orb. Blue tinted clouds swirled inside the orb, matching the turmoil outside.

In the person’s hands was a steaming cup of hot tea. The hands had several rings on the fingers and the fingernails had been filed to a sharp point. This person was a man, dressed in a robe, enjoying the turmoil outside his safe home. A smile split his face. A strange smile because one of the canines of his upper jaw was sharper than in a normal human’s mouth.

“Soon, very soon,” he started. His voice was dark and foreboding, an evil air about it. “They shall be mine, and then nothing can stop me.”

There was a flash of lighting, illuminating the entire study.

“Heh heh heh.” his laugh was quiet at first. After the thunder sounded his laughing increased, getting more evil as he went. “Ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HA. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” A bolt of lightning was followed immediately by a thunder clap and another one split the sky. The storm had only just begun.

---------------------------------------

Wamiyazen Denisu “Saké”: Hey, I’m Wamiyazen Denisu, but just call me Saké! A day that first appears normal turns out to be more excitement than any of us could have ever expected. Soldiers show up at our homes and say they’re looking for antique pendants that belong to someone called Garm. I don’t know about you, but I think they’re lying. Common soldiers! Bring it on! Next time on Chains of Dragons! Ambushed! Part I: Mystical Pendants and Powerful Weapons.

Let’s go! Photon Blast!

[Mew Master]

* * *

The explosion’s sound woke up Zera Leonhart and Juste from their sleep. They jumped up into sitting positions as the sound still reverberated through the valley.

“What the hell?” Juste asked. “What’s going on?”

Zera looked around in every direction. “Don’t know.”

“Zera! Juste! Where are you?!”

The two looked and saw Zera’s father running through the fields.

“Dad! Over here!”

“Zera!” His father ran up to them. “Zera, come with me, and Juste, you better get home.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Juste wanted to know.

“Just go, your family’s probably worried sick.”

Juste retreated home in protest as Zera and his father followed. They reached their home, Juste still having to go through another field to get to his home. The Leonharts went into their own home and Zera’s father locked the door before making sure all the windows were closed and shut.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Zera asked again, impatient.

“Things are going to start happening Zera,” his father replied. “And some things you need to be ready for. There are soldiers entering Direwood Forest right now, I’ve seen them from the mills. They were headed in this direction.” He headed down into the basement and it wasn’t long before he returned with a wide and long container, as well as a small jewelry box. “Here.” and the threw the larger box at Zera.

Zera caught it, but the dead weight was too much and it slammed to the floor, dragging him with it. Pulling his fingers out, Zera commented, “It’s a lead weight! Uhg!”

“Open it. Quick.”

Lifting the cover off with swollen fingers, Zera was surprised to find a sword laying inside the container. The sword was about the length of his katana but the blade was as wide as the hilt. The sharp end was a lighter shade of gray than the blunt side and there was a small amount pointed back along the sharp end past the blunt side, giving it a look as if it was permanently in an instant of a sword-stroke.

“Now, if you can lift it, the sword is yours. If you can’t, then we’re in more trouble than I thought.”

Lifting it shouldn’t be that much of a problem… Zera thought as he reached for the handle. Wrapping one hand around it, he pulled, but only resulted in pulling himself flat on his face again. Grunting, he stood up and wrapped both hands around it, pulling harder and bracing his feet. The sword was stubborn, it wouldn’t budge, but Zera pulled harder. He pulled on it for at least five minutes.

A silver aura started surrounding his hands and as he pulled, the sword began to lift. With one final heave he pulled it straight up, but now it was as light as a feather and he fell over backwards. Rubbing his head he held the sword that he had struggled to lift because it had weighed so much, now it was as light as air and he could lift it with one hand.

“What, what happened?” he asked, staring at the sword.

“The sword has accepted you as its one and true owner.” Zera’s father. Now he tossed the smaller box at him.

Zera caught it with one hand, and to his amazement, it wasn’t as heavy as the sword had been. He leaned the sword against the wall and opened the box. Resting inside the box, a silver pendant sat. The amulet was mostly made up of a pure silver sphere, a steel dragon was curled up around the sphere, its claws and feet grasping the pendant. The eye was a single Alexandrite stone.

“The sword is to help you protect that amulet. It is a sacred family heirloom, guard it with your life.”

Zera slipped the chain around his neck and then looked at his father for more information.

“The sword is as old, if not older than the pendant. Both items have extraordinary powers, use them well.”

There came a knock at the door and they both looked at their front door.

“Go, now.” Zera’s father whispered. “Out the back door and into the forest, I’ll stall for you.”

Zera dashed out through the backdoor as he heard his father open the front door and start to talk to some of the soldiers. He ran through the fields and straight into the forest.


* * *

Amalthea Arran and her father were busy eating when a clap of thunder rocked their home. The force was so strong it rocked pictures and vases, knocking one of them over and smashing it on the floor.

Amal held onto the table for a brace until the shaking stopped and then she looked at her father. “Was that thunder?!”

Her father stood up and made his way quickly to the window. His look of worry etched on his face.

“No,” he replied. “There aren’t even any clouds in the sky. It was something else.” Her father stared outside with the sternest look she had ever seen on his face. “Stay here and don’t move.” he said and dashed into the living room.

Amal heard the opening of a door and the scuffle of feet going down stairs in a hurry. She hopped her dad wouldn’t fall down the stairs. Then she heard those same feet run up the stairs, only slightly dragged because they were carrying something.

Her father burst into the kitchen holding two velvet boxes, one much bigger than the other. He placed them on an open spot on the table, trying not to knock over any dishes.

He stood up and took a calming breath. “I knew the day would come when these boxes had to be opened,” Amal’s father sighed. “I was just hopping it wouldn’t be so soon.” He looked at his daughter. “I was hopping to give these to you when you turned 18, but you are in too much danger to wait.”

Amal’s father opened the first box and the lid flipped up, blocking Amal’s view of what was inside. She was curious, wondering why her father was acting like this. To her astonishment, he pulled out a glaive, but unlike any kind she had ever seen. The handle was ivory, looking like it had been made out of an animal bone. The blade was split, both ends looking like hooks joined together, the points pointing up and out from the handle. The metal of the blade was silver and looked as sharp as the day it was forged, although the box looked considerably much older.

“This glaive is as light as a feather, and very sharp. But before you can claim it, it must accept you.” He tossed the glaive to his daughter and she caught it.

Amal instantly felt the feelings of being unable to breathe, as if drowning. She reached for her throat, and gasped for air. Looking at her father, she only saw the appearance of someone wanting to help, but couldn’t.

“If you want to breathe, drop the glaive and do so, however, if you do you are unworthy to own it.” her father told her.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, Amal wasn’t going to simply give up and disappoint her father like that. Someone who she looked up to and never wanted to show any sign of weakness. She would bear through this. Amal’s grip on the glaive handle tightened and she tried to get air.

A blue aura of energy surrounded the weapon, and started to move up Amalthea’s arm. She could feel the tightness in her throat ease and she gasped, taking in the air. Amal dropped to her feet, the last bit of time without air almost dropped her where she stood. Her father kneeled beside her, and held his daughter, making sure she could breath properly. Amal looked at her dad, with pleading eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, holding her. “I know how it feels, I went through the same thing when I was 18.” He held her out at arms length and looked into her eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

She looked at him, her breathing becoming regular. “I,…I’m fine….” Amal replied, still short of breath.

“Good, glad to know my daughter isn’t that weak. Hold onto the Glaive tight.” he stated with a smile. Amal was too exhausted to hit him over the head. “However, there is one more thing for you.”

He stood up and got the other box. It was smaller and weighed much less, covered in blue velvet. He opened it and pulled out a stone attached to a long silver chain.

Amal stopped and admired the beauty of the necklace. The chain was of a pure silver, like her new glaive, but the stone was a pure dark blue. Inside the stone, more importantly, was a black silhouette of a long dragon, claws outreached and raised. Where the eye on the dragon was, there was a pure Sapphire stone that gave off a small amount of light. To Amal, the necklace and stone together were more beautiful than any thing she had ever seen before.

“This is the most important heirloom of all,” her father said after she had admired the pendant for a bit. “It’s been passed down, saying that a power lies deep inside it and that power shall be released one day. I hope you are the one to release it.” He gently put the chain around Amalthea’s neck and she let the pendant rest hear her collar bone. Then her father held and hugged Amal tight.

“I still don’t know what’s going on,” she said, a little confused because it was all happening so fast.

He held her out at arms length again. “I want you to go now,” he muttered, starting to cry. “Go and don’t look back. If you stay here you will be in great danger. Don’t worry about me, I can still handle myself.”

Amal was confused, to go or to stay, that was what she was trying to decide.

“NOW!” Amal’s father roared, followed by the sound of another explosion.

Tears in her eyes, Amal hugged her father one last time, before dashing out of the back door and heading into the forest. Her glaive was in her hand as the pendant bounced on her chest. Amal never looked back.


* * *

Chamel sat in the sensei’s room, waiting for him to return after speaking with the three students Chamel had met on the road. He had accidentally snatched a girl’s bra with his tongue instead of the Grib Berries she was carrying in the basket on her back. It was embarrassing, because the sensei had trusted him with going to the next town to get a package that was for the sensei. In other words, Chamel screwed up big time.

He sighed again. Why did things like this always happen to him. Chamel was “left” at the shrine, which was technically another word for “abandoned” at the shrine. He had never known his parents, and the shrine was the closest thing to a family the chameleon Demi-Human ever had. The other students hated him because he was a Demi-Human, as did their parents. They resented a Demi-Human attending the same shrine as their own children. Some transferred, the parents saying that the Keikami Shrine was better because it did not allow “vermin” into the school. The only person he ever received any kind of love from, was the sensei himself, and Chamel looked up to the sensei like a father.

The package he had went to retrieve sat in the room in front of him, as he waited. He heard the door open behind him and he lowered his head, a sign of respect for others. The sounds of footsteps stopped behind him and he opened one eye.

“Chamel, please calm down, you’ve turned invisible again.” the voice of the old sensei told him.

Chamel looked, and it was true. He was so nervous of the sensei chewing him out that he had used his camouflage technique on instinct, and only his clothes could bee seen. Slowing his breathing, Chamel reappeared inside of the clothes he was wearing, as the sensei sat across from him.

The sensei sat for several minutes reading a parchment, his eyes not looking up. Chamel was getting even more anxious, it was unbearable, finally, he couldn’t stand it.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to snatch the girl’s bra, I was aiming for the fruit she was carrying on her back. It was an accident, I swear! Please forgive me.” Chamel was bowing, his body almost to the ground.

The sensei looked up. “Did you say something?” Chamel fell over in stupidity.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” his voice was close to shouting. “I just apologized!!!”

Sensei reached out and held Chamel’s mouth shut. “I heard you, there is no need to yell.”

Chamel calmed down, and sat back on his rump. “It was truly an accident. I never meant to do anything like that.”

“I believe you Chamel,” the Sensei replied, placing the parchment down. “Although everyone is dead-set for kicking you out.”

The Demi-Human looked at the ground. “I know. But I don’t know why. Why do they hate me so much?”

“Because they are jealous. They are jealous because they would like to have your ability to melt into any background and disappear.”

“Yeah right. They hate me because of it.”

“Chamel. Sometimes what people show you on the outside…”

“… Isn’t how they feel on the inside.” he finished. “I’ve heard that speech too much.”

The sensei took the long package and held it in his hands. “There are many who want you out of this shrine, even after my opinion weighed the votes. It may surprise you, but this package, is really for you.”

Chamel looked at his teacher with wide eyes. “What?”

“It is true, this weapon is yours.” The sensei tossed the package and Chamel caught it.

Slowly, and carefully, he took off the wrappings, and to his amazement an eight-foot-long sword was laying in his lap. The blade was eight feet, from tip to the hilt, and a foot long handle extended from the hilt. He stared at the sword, that was taller than him.

“What,…. What is it?”

“Consider it a gift from your parents.” the sensei replied.

Chamel looked up in shock. His parents?! He thought they had forgotten about him, or died, or both!

“My parents?” he stuttered.

“Yes,” his teacher replied. “Your parents haven’t forgotten about you. I have been writing to them constantly since the day they left you here.”

Chamel slammed his fist into the floor, a rush of emotions came over him. “But why?! Why did they leave me?!”

“It was for your own safety. Your parents cared more about you then their own lives. In order to ensure your safety, they entrusted me to care for you, to teach you how to fight and so on. I have been a life-long friend to your parents, and they trusted me to raise you as well as they could have.”

“Where are they? I have to see them!” Chamel demanded, standing up, the sword clanging to the floor. “I have to know!”

“Sit back down Chamel!” the sensei ordered. “You will know, you will learn why they left you here at the shrine. Just sit back down.” Uneasy, Chamel sat back down, ready for an explanation.

“Your parents were guardians of a special pendant. They guarded it with their lives for as long as they could. Your father, was the original guardian, and when he met your mother, he had a dream. One where you were there, and a darkness enveloping the land. He was scared for your safety, because you would inherit his responsibility. So, they came to me for help. I agreed to care for you, to train you when ever they decided I should start. They also left me something to give you when you received the Masumoon.”

Chamel looked at the giant sword. “Is that what this thing is called?”

“Yes, your father named it. It has been in your family for countless years, and when you received it you would have something else. Something you should protect with your very life.” The sensei stood up and retrieved a small box from a shelf and then brought it back. “This is what you must protect.”

He handed the box to Chamel and the Demi-Human opened it slowly, wondering. Inside of the box, lay a pendant attached to a necklace, it was so striking that Chamel stared at it. A piece of rock was the center piece, but a silver image of a dragon was molded around the rock, clutching it with its claws. The Dragon’s eyes were a pair of Opals that generated their own light. The chain was just a simple piece of thin rope that formed a loop.

Carefully, Chamel placed the loop over his head and let the pendant rest on his chest, still staring at it.

“Chamel, listen to me.” the sensei rested an arm on the Demi-Human’s shoulder. “When the danger you are about to face is past, you will meet your parents, and you can ask them all the questions you want until you have all the answers.”

Chamel looked into his teachers eyes, his own were starting to get teary. “I’ll do this for my parents, and for the shrine.” He stood up, gripped the Masumoon by the handle and whipped it around so that the blade rested on his shoulder. “And for myself.” he added, giving his sensei a thumb’s-up.

Quickly he left his teacher sitting there, walked right out into the halls and past the students who stared at the giant sword he carried. The two guys and the girl he met on the trail watched him go as he walked past, gasping at the large sword he had in his hand. Chamel walked out of the entrance to the shrine, a smile on his face.


* * *

Faile Thundersong lay on her bed, her head tucked under a pillow. She had a very bad temper but it was nothing compared to her mother’s own wrath. Just laying there, she wanted to forget the outside world and stay by herself, left alone by everyone, especially her own family. Unfortunately for Faile, fate intervenes.

A large shockwave, so powerful the entire house shook, knocking Faile off her bed and right on her butt. She heard the shatter of glass and even caught the sound of Thaddeus crying. Ignoring the fact that she was grounded, she threw open her door and dashed downstairs.

The living room was a mess. Furniture was upturned, pictures smashed to bits on the ground, and her brother was crying, hiding under a table that was still upright. She rushed to her brother and picked him up.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay Thad. Calm down, everything’s alright.” she calmly told him.

“Faile! Faile where are you?!” her mother shouted from the kitchen.

“Over here!” she shouted back.

“Where’s your brother?!”

“I’ve got him.” Faile held Thaddeus in her arms and headed into the kitchen, but she stopped.

There, a section of the ceiling had fallen down, and trapped her mother under it. It was over the spot where the kitchen table would be, but it was barely managing to hold up the rubble on top. Rubble had trapped her mother under the table, and the table was ready to collapse at any second.

“Faile, get you and your brother out of here.” Marge told them. “The house may collapse at this rate.”

“Forget it.” Faile put her brother down and started to move some of the rubble off of the table, to save her mother. Then she even tried to move the pieces that had her trapped. “Damn it!” she shouted as she tried harder.

“Faile, get out of here!” Marge shouted.

“Not without you!” Faile shouted back. Fed up with trying to move it with her raw strength, she resorted to magic. “Strengthen!” Purple energy surrounded Faile’s arms and upper chest, and she could feel herself get stronger. She grabbed hold of the rubble again and this time she managed to move it enough so she could pull her mother out.

Just as Marge’s feet were out from under the table, the table itself collapsed, weighed down with too much rubble and pieces of their home.

Faile kneeled by her mother as Thaddeus continued to cry, a small scratch on his head. Marge picked up Thaddeus and started to comfort him.

“Mom,” Faile wondered. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure dear,” Marge replied as she held the still crying Thaddeus in her arms. “But I may have an idea. Hold onto your brother, I have to get something for you.” Marge handed Thaddeus to Faile and went up stairs, tossing aside rubble and other pieces of their home.

Faile waited there, holding Thaddeus, who had started to calm down. After five minutes of waiting, Marge Thundersong came down the stairs, holding her arrow holster and two different sized boxes. She brushed the dust off of the boxes and set them on the floor. Marge took Thaddeus from Faile and held the boy in her arms.

“Open the larger one first.” she said.

Faile did and stared in wonder. There were almost 50 individual arrows, each with ivory tips, laying inside the case. Two daggers with the hilts forming into another set of points for fighting also lay inside the case. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Faile reached out and gabbed one of the daggers by the handle.

Instantly she felt electricity run through her body, numbing her arm. This lasted for several seconds before it stopped. Faile started at the dagger as a yellow aura that surrounded the dagger, move up her arm and she could feel her arm once again.

“That will only happen once.” her mother told her. “Once at least only one of the weapons in this box can search your heart and soul, to see if you are worthy of being the owner. The arrows are bone-tipped and the daggers are as well. Please use these arrows and daggers to protect what is in the other box.”

Faile opened the other box, much smaller than the one with the arrows and daggers, and stared. Inside a silk lining a stone of pure yellow sat encased in metal lining that showed lightning blasting out from the stone. Inside the stone itself a black dragon was caught in a flying position. From the position of the head, only one eye was seen, and it was a pure Topaz stone, letting out a faint glow that Faile caught.

“Faile, I give you my arrow holster. If you cannot immediately recover an arrow, it will be transported from where it lays, back to the holster within five minutes, it may be longer depending on how far you are as well.” Marge took off her holster and handed it to her daughter.

Faile looked at the holster and then at her mother. This was all happening so fast, she couldn‘t absorb it all.

“You can have your bow back as well,” Marge smiled and produced the Yew Bow from behind her back. She gave this to Faile as well. “Now get those arrows inside the holster. It will take some time before the holster will recognize the arrows and transport them after they have been shot.”

Not wanting to argue or question, Faile started loading the arrows and didn’t stop until all 50 bone-tipped arrows were inside the holster. She took the daggers and tucked them in her sash, making sure they would stay, then she put on the holster. To her surprise it fit around her torso perfectly.

Marge took the pendant from the smaller box and placed the rope around Faile’s neck, so it rested right on her chest. She looked at her daughter.

“Mom,” Faile started.

“Hush. You have to promise me that the pendant you now wear around your neck will never leave your sight. Use the weapons you have to protect it from those who desire its power.”

“Power?” Faile was getting more confused by the minute.

“A strange power that will reveal itself when the time comes. Now, go. You must hurry. If the shockwave from earlier was any indication, then you are already in danger.” Marge said, trying to help her daughter understand.

Another shockwave rocked the house, rubble and parts of their home started to crash in around the Thundersong family, burying them alive.

A squad of soldiers watched as a house they attacked started to cave in on itself. The disintegrating house had been their target, and they all agreed it would be better if they just destroyed the house, kill everyone inside, and then go after the item, it would be easier. They waited until the dust settled and then started to move in, tossing wood and stone out of their way as they started to dig.

One large piece of stone started to move. Soon a person was seen pushing the chunk of stone into the air. Not just a person, but a girl.

Faile Thundersong was still under the effects of the Strengthen element she had used to save her mother. She now used it to save herself, Thaddeus, and her mother from being crushed. Tossing the stone to the side she saw the soldiers standing dumbfounded all around the rubble of their beautiful home. Her temper flared and she glared at the soldiers.

Grabbing an arrow she placed the end on the bow string and started to pull.

“You better hope my arrows get you, because you won’t like where my daggers will go.” she warned, glaring at the soldiers.


* * *

“Well Sora, you ready for another session?” Tousan Hibari asked his daughter after the family had finished their meal.

Sora sprang to her feet. “You bet! This time you’re going down dad!” But the training would have to wait.

A large shockwave blasted their home, sending some of their items crashing to the ground. The books in Tousan’s study fell to the floor. Everyone braced themselves against the wave and when it was over, the Hibari Family stood up, weary.

“What the ….?” Tsuru started.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Pounding at their door interrupted Sora’s mother from finishing her question.

They rushed to the door, only to find Rinjin, one of their neighbors, gasping for her breath.

“Rinjin,” Tousan said. “What’s going on? Is anyone hurt?”

Rinjin caught her breath before replying. “The town is being invaded by soldiers, dressed in black and gold armor. They say they are looking for you.”

“For me?” Tousan replied, surprised.

“Not just you. I meant the entire Hibari Family.” Rinjin replied, looking at them with worry.

“Damn. Tsuru,” he looked at his wife. “Take Sora down and give her the items.”

“Items?” Sora asked, confused. “What items?”

“No time to explain now, follow me!” Tsuru grabbed her daughter by her wrist and lead her to the back door. They sprinted across the lawn to the small shrine in the Hibari’s backyard.

Tsuru lead her daughter to the back of the shrine and opened a door, something Sora had been forbidden to do since she could remember. Her mother’s grip on her wrist let up and Sora followed without question now, but she was curious. They headed down a long flight of stairs that went deep underground. It was a few moments before Sora repeated her question.

“Mom, what items?”

Her mother didn’t reply until they had reached an underground chamber. Sora could smell the mildew and held her nose as they walked onward. Something glittering caught her eye and she stopped, dead in her tracks.

Three yards in front of her was a dragon statue, glittering in the dim light. Its body was curled up straight something in its mouth and it held another object in its hands. There was a large sickle-shaped blade attached to a long and thin handle, Sora recognized it.

“A Kama!” she exclaimed.

“Not just any Kama,” Tsuru replied. “This Kama is lightweight and the blade will never dull or break. It has been a tradition to state that the blade and handle are made of dragon bones, although this has been passed down for countless centuries.” She reached in the dragon’s mouth and fumbled with something else, stuck inside the mouth. Finally she jerked it free and held it before Sora.

A sky blue stone on the end of a string. Inside of the stone, however, was a black dragon caught with its wings spread wide. From Sora’s viewpoint, there was only one eye. A single Zircon stone, a very pure Zircon stone, emanated pulses of light that illuminated the chamber.

“This pendant is what many people will be after. It is up to you to ensure its safety. The Kama will help, but so will these.” Tsuru leaned the Kama against the wall and reached for a box sitting by the statue. She opened the box and Sora saw 10 Shurikens, throwing stars, sitting there. “These will help you even more. They can cut through anything, but use them sparingly. Now,” she reached for the Kama and pointed the butt of the handle towards Sora. “Now is the real test to see if the Dragon Kama will accept you as an owner.”

Sora was a little reluctant. So much was happening in such a small amount of time, she didn’t know if she could absorb it all. She was willing to try and reached out for the handle.

As her hand wrapped around the handle, Sora’s body was buffeted by terrible hurricane-force winds that came from nowhere, and everywhere. The winds blinded her and all she could hear or feel was the wind blasting every inch of her exposed skin, except for her hand on the Kama handle. Sora started to feel her hand slipping, a terrible feeling went through her. If she let go, she wouldn’t own a real Kama, she would not let that happen. She tightened her grip and her other hand pushed against the winds, getting ready to grab the handle with two hands.

When her second hand touched the Kama, the wind died down until it felt like it never existed. She was aware of standing at the other end of the Kama, underground, with her mother at the other end.

“Mom?” she asked. A light blue aura that surrounded the Kama, started to transfer its energy to her body through her arm.

Tsuru smiled. “The Kama has accepted you.” She walked forward and tied the sky blue pendant around Sora’s neck. “This is very important Sora,” Tsuru said as she placed the Shurikens into her daughter’s hands. “Someone is going to try and steal the pendants, and will stop at nothing to get them. Never let the pendant leave your neck.”

“Pendants? There are more than just mine?” Sora asked, surprised.

“Yes. Light, Shadow, Fire, Water, Forest, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Sky, Metal, and Psychic. Someone wants them all, search out and find the others who have them, and help them protect the Pendants as well.”

Sora looked into her mother’s eyes, and could see tears developing. She reached out and hugged her mother close. “I will, I promise.”

The two of them climbed back up the stairs and back into the shrine on ground level. Tsuru looked out the door as Sora made sure she could get to the Shurikens in and out of her belt. From the house, Tousan came running, looking over his shoulder.

“Tusan!” Tsuru exclaimed. “What is it?”

“Does Sora have the items?” he asked as he neared the shrine’s door.

“I do dad,” Sora replied, holding the Kama up so it could be seen.

Tousan ran up and held his daughter close, threatening to squash her. “Sora…Always protect the Pendant…Always.”

“But what about you two? I can stay and help. We can fight together!” Sora tried to argue, but her father shook his head.

“Don’t worry about us, we can handle ourselves,” her father said, a smile on his face.

“Go..” Tsuru urged her on. “Run…Get away from here, far away…Find the other Pendant-Holders…You must..”

Sora turned reluctantly, walking slowly, then faster, soon she was running. Tears spread down her cheeks as she heard the sounds of screaming and battling going on behind her. The sounds of her home under attack could be heard all the way to the tree line, where she ran and hid.


* * *

“So, Termania is against Demi-Humans as well?” Alun Prae asked as he smoked on a pipe.

Elena Kai-Prae was relaxing across from her mother and father, and she gave a small sigh in reply. “There are hardly any placed inhabited by Humans that will accept Demi-Humans as well. Hano is better than any other place I’ve been to, at least we’re on good terms with Lord Wamiyazen”

“This is true,” Necia Kai replied. “Ever since you first met young Saké we have been on better terms with Hano than before.”

Elena had a sweat drop at the memory of when she first met Saké. It was funny looking back, and a good thing the whole thing was worked out. “Yes, well, at least I’m not trying to kill him anymore….. What?!”

A large shockwave bombarded the Pride camp, causing some tents to be uprooted or flattened into the ground. Things inside the Kai-Prae tent were knocked over, until the shockwave let up so everyone could get their bearings. Elena and Alun held their ears to try and stop them from ringing, Necia looked around outside.

“The camp is a mess!” she exclaimed and Alun and Elena came rushing to her side. Several tents were down, tumbled inward. “Oh, my.” Necia said again. “Where are Lynx, Jan, and Katie?”

Alun and Elena looked at each other and then Elena bolted off.

“Prae-Girl!” her father shouted and Elena skidded to a stop. To her amazement a pair of daggers came flying through the air and she caught them by the handles. The blades where long and sharp, an emerald was cast in the hilt, but the handles were made of something else.

Elena didn’t have time to examine them now. She nodded to her father and started running before jumping into a tree and traveling from branch to branch. Elena ignored the fact that there was a feeling of thorns pricking into her hands as she clutched the daggers.


* * *

The shockwave blast was in the air, right above where Saké, Lynx, Jan, and Katie had been playing. They fell to the ground, forced down by the sheer force of the blast. When it was over, their ears were ringing and Katie and Jan were crying.

“What was that?” Saké asked, holding the side of his head.

Lynx shook his own head before replying, “Beats me bro.” He noticed Jan and Katie, and rushed over to them. “Oh, common now. Take it easy you two,” Lynx said, holding both of his sisters in his arms and rocking them gently. “It’s over now, you’re okay.” His younger sisters were still crying. “Aw man, they won’t stop unless mom holds ‘em.”

Saké looked around, the forest had gotten quieter. A scary quiet, birds had stopped singing, and only the sound of the trees rushing in the wind met his ears.

“Lynx, can you get your sisters home alright by yourself?” he asked.

“Sure man, that’s no problem? Why?”

“I’m going to see if my dad knows what happened. Tell you mom and dad I said hi.” Saké turned and started running through the forest, back to Hano.

Lynx watched him leave, his sisters still crying in his arms. “Alright man, see ya later.” Lynx headed off in the opposite direction, towards the Pride’s camp.


* * *

Saké ran through the trees, not even thinking about resting until he found his father. Hano started to materialize through the trees, and Denisu ran faster. He had to stop, however, because a large mob of people had gathered in the street.

Skidding to a stop, Saké looked around and finally resorted to asking someone what was happening.

“Yo. What’s going on?” he asked some kids by him.

“Some men in black and gold outfits just went to the shrine. They’re looking for the priest.”

“Dad?”

“Don’t know what they want though. Wouldn’t say,”

“Thanks man,” Saké said and jumped onto a tarmac that was stretched out over the door to a shop. Using it as a spring, he jumped up and landed on top of the fairly short building. Still having some effects of the Nimble speed boosting spell, Saké started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until he jumped to the ground and ran through the entrance to the Keikami shrine

There were a number of soldiers blocking the stairway to the main door, and Saké found his father standing there, talking to one of the soldiers. He had blue hair and a thick sword strapped to his belt. Saké ran through the mob of soldiers, making his way towards his father.

“Dad!” he shouted.

---------------------------------------

Ikagaide Kage: Hello, I’m Ikagaide Kage, but just Kage works too. Shortly after the giant shockwave that blasted through most of our homes, the towns are overrun by soldiers who claim to be under the command of Garm. We even have strange events that happen with our newly acquired Pendants. I don‘t remember a thing from the time I black out, till I come to. Well, anyway…. Do ya feel suicidal? Well? Do ya? PUNK! Next time on Chains of Dragons! Ambushed! Part II: Spirits of the Pendants.

Ready? Shadow Needles!

[Darkmaster Kagemusha]

Interesting, very interesting. It isn't entirely like the RPG, more like I would have written it if I were making a story. However, I still don't like your version of my Claws :no:.:mad:. Aaaaanyway, it's still good, and yes, if anyone feels suicidal, make Kage mad ;)

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Yay, the fics's up!

And it's really good! ^_^ Reading the seperate stories of 11 diferent people is kinda odd at the moment, but i know perfectly well that they'll get together soon. :P The story is a bit different from the RPG, but i think the change is for the better. Nice!

[Mew Master]

Yah! Replies! Finally. T_T

Okay, enough of that. I was up to about 1 AM working on Chapter three and I'm almost finished with it. Sorry, can't give any spoliers. I'll try and get finished with it later today so I can post it.

Well, later!

~Mew Master

[MechAlphaChamel]

Yeah, this movie heres gets MechAlphaChamel's strong seal of approval, though its not valid in 49 states...

[Mew Master]

* * *

Elena and Lynx jumped down to the ground in the middle of the Pride’s camp, Katie and Jan still in their arms. Almost instantly Alun and Necia came running out to them, smiles on their faces.

“You’re okay!” Necia shouted, hugging the three younglings.

Alun took Elena off to the side to speak with her.

“Did the daggers I threw to you help you, Youngling?”

Elena flinched, but nodded.

“You haven’t had any time to examine them, have you?”

Elena looked at the daggers once again, this time in more detail. The blades were long and made of mythril, like she had originally thought. The pommel-stone in the hilts were emeralds. Pure emeralds, green in color and reflected any source of light, but the handles and hilts were different, nothing that she had ever seen.

“Mythril blades and Emeralds set in the hilts, but I don’t know what the hilts and handles are.” she admitted.

“Dragon bones.”

There was a look of shock on Elena’s face.

“At least that’s the legend around the daggers.” Alun stated. “These daggers are one part of a treasure that the Pride has guarded for countless centuries. They will only accept those that are worthy and it appears that you have been accepted to own them.”

“What do you mean? I haven’t noticed any difference.” Elena had never heard about any treasure that the Pride guarded.

“Not even the sensation of thorns cutting into your skin? Well, you must have been caught up in the moment and only thinking of your siblings, but there is another part of the treasure that you must posses now.”

Alun reached into his shirt-coat and pulled out a small box carved out of oak. He held it out with one hand and opened it with his other. A slight glow came from what was inside the box, and the sight took Elena’s breath away.

An emerald, as pure as nature, sat in the oak casing. Cast around the emerald was the image of a golden dragon, its head and claws attaching to the top of the emerald and a tail was curled around the point at the bottom. A pair of golden wings were stretched from the sides. Inside the eyes of the dragon were two more emeralds, even purer than the stone itself. Elena stared at it for several seconds.

“This has been the reason the Pride has moved so much. Because someone is after this and the other pendants that exist.” Alun continued.

Elena took the pendant from the box and slipped the metal chain loop around her head. The pendant rested on her chest, and she looked at her father again.

“Now, you must leave the Pride,” he started.

“Leave? But I just returned.” Elena tried to argue.

“We cannot keep you here. It will put the Pride in too much danger, even you can see that. You must go, until the one after the pendants is stopped, once and for all. Only after that can you come back.”

“Father…” Elena said, tears started to form in her eyes.

“Elena,” Necia walked up with Katie, Jan, and Lynx in tow. “We know you can take care of yourself, and know you’ll protect your pendant well.

“Are you leaving again?” Katie asked, sadly.

“Don’t leave.” Jan said.

Elena kneeled down and hugged her sisters. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Lynx will take care of you.” she smiled at her brother. “Right?”

“You got it Big Sis.” Lynx replied, winking at her.

“See, you have nothing to worry about.” Elena said to her sisters.

“Elena, child,” Alun finally said. “You must hurry.”

Elena Kai-Prae let her sisters go and started to run, tears falling from her eyes. She ran until she was out of the Pride camp and then jumped into the trees and kept going.

“Mother, Father, Lynx, Katie, Jan… I’ll go on.” she said to herself and continued to jump from branch to branch.


* * *

Leon glared at Karsh as the soldier pointed his sword at Saké’s throat.

“What will it be? The item, or your son‘s life?” Karsh asked again.

Saké could see his father start to give in. He saw it in Leon’s eyes.

“Dad, don’t let them have anything!” he shouted.

“Shut up you!” Karsh ordered.

Quickly, Saké stomped his heel into the foot of the soldier on his left. The man shouted in pain and the grip on his left arm was loosened enough for him to move it. He brought it out and thrust his elbow straight into the soldier’s stomach. As the man’s body doubled over and the head came down, Saké whipped his fist up, backhanding the soldier straight in the face, breaking his nose. The soldier stumbled backward in pain and Saké flipped to his right. The move managed to get his arm out of the restraining move he was held in and he grabbed the soldier’s arm with his left hand. Using his own body as leverage, Saké flipped the man over, and sending him crashing into the other soldier that had been holding him.

Now free Saké stared at Karsh.

“Imbeciles! Get him!” the general shouted.

Men started charging forward, swords raised and ready to attack. Denisu may have been unarmed but he would blast them away with magic if it came down to that.

“Run Denisu!” shouted someone from above.

Saké looked up and was surprised to see Pokira jumping into the fray, his tachi sword unsheathed and ready to fight. He came slashing down, redirecting an attack aimed for Saké, Saké started running up the stairs, towards his father. Covering their escape, the students all entered the fight, clashing with the soldiers. Saké reached his father and Leon ushered him inside as more students came out with weapons to defend the shrine.

"Saké," his father told him as they neared his study. "There is something that I must give you, for I fear it is what these soldiers of Garm are after." Leon threw open the door and he and Saké jumped in before he closed it. Leon walked towards the class case and the slightly glowing crystal. "This crystal is actually a pendant that has been the center of all our studies regarding the shrine and temple. It came into the possession of your ancestors many of thousands of years ago and it has been our duty to ensure its safety." Leon took the pendant out and it appeared that there was a small string attached to it.

"Denisu," it was a rarity that Leon would use Saké's real name so he knew this was very important. "You must be careful. This pendant holds unbelievable powers, powers that not even I know of. You must swear to protect this pendant with your life, for if it should fall into the wrong hands, there is no telling what kind of evil these powers would be able of causing." Leon went and slipped the string over Saké's head and the pendant rested on his chest, just under his collar bone.

Sake held the pendant in his hand, admiring the beauty of the crystals and the golden dragon on top. “I promise father, I will.”

Leon smiled. "That's my boy. Now if you will excuse me," Leon grabbed the handle of his bamboo sword. "We have some uninvited guests to get rid of."

“All right!” Saké replied, getting a wooden bamboo sword from one of the stands on the wall. “Count me in dad.”

“No Saké,” his father replied. “You are still a student and have more to worry about than the shrine at this moment. Protect the pendant first, by staying out of this fight.” Without another word, Leon left the study to enter the fighting again.

Saké stood in his father’s study, extremely disappointed that his father wouldn’t let him fight. “Blast it!”


* * *

Outside the Keikami Shrine, Karsh’s forces were being beaten by students. This was humiliating for one of Garm’s top Elite Warriors.

“Count on yourself to get the job done,” he commented and attacked a young student, resulting in slicing the wooden sword in half and the student’s arm clean off.

Leon Wamiyazen stood at the doors of the shrine and watched as Pokira and the others continued to fight. Several were wounded on both sides of the conflict.

“STOP THIS!” Leon’s voice boomed. Strangely enough, all fighting ceased and everyone looked at the High Priest. “There will be no more bloodshed on these holy grounds!”

Karsh walked up the steps and stopped several below where Leon was standing. “Priest Wamiyazen,” he started. “There is really no need for us to force our way into your temple. If you simply give us what we ask for we will leave with out any further incident.”

“Every artifact here is property of the shrine and its students. There is nothing here for you.” Leon glared at Karsh once again. “Now leave before I am forced to make you leave.”

Karsh smiled, an evil smile. “Your loss, for no one has ever defeated me in 300 duels. I am Karsh, the leader of Garm‘s Elite Force.” He held out his hand and sparks started to shoot from it. “Electro-Jolt!”

A small bolt of electricity crackled and arched its way towards Leon. The Priest rolled to the side as the attack struck and scorched the ground where he had been. Rolling into a squatting stance, Leon pointed his open palm towards Karsh.

“Uplift!”

Directly under Karsh, a section of the stairs started to rumble and move. He jumped back seconds before a 2 foot square piece of the stairs had been lifted into the air. Karsh readied his weapon as the chunk of earth then fell down towards him. In one slash, he sliced through the earth chunk, both pieces falling behind him.

Now Karsh held open his hand and concentrated. “Fireball!” Flames started to materialize in his open hand and he clasped around them, forming them into a ball of flames. He threw the Fireball straight at Leon.

Leon held out his arm. “Aquabeam!” Energy began to gather in his hand. Then a beam of concentrated water blasted through the Fireball.

While the fighting was going on, no one noticed Denisu hiding behind one of the pillars in front of the doors into the shrine. He cheered his father on as he fought. Go dad!

“Fireball!” Karsh shouted again and threw another ball of flames at Leon.

Leon countered with the same move as before, “Aquabeam!”

But, as Leon’s attack canceled out Karsh’s, Karsh came sprinting up, sword raised.

“Dad look out!” Saké shouted, but it was already too late.

In one move, Karsh had cut through Leon Wamiyazen. Saké’s father stumbled forward, landing hard on the steps and sliding down a few before coming to a stop. A trail of blood was on the steps. There was blood on Karsh’s sword, and he smiled.

"Dad! Dad! DAD!" Saké ran past Karsh and straight to his injured father. Kneeling, he gently raised his father’s head. "Dad," he said softly. "Dad, say something."

Leon opened his eyes and Saké could see them start to glaze over. "Denisu," he said weakly, Leon‘s hand reaching up to touch the side of Saké‘s face. "My son. Protect the pendant, with your life. You swore......to.........it........" Leon's eyes closed and his hand fell away from Saké‘s face, he felt his father‘s body go limp. Saké lowered his head, tears forming in his eyes.

Gently laying his father down, Saké stood up, gripping the wooden bamboo sword in his right hand. “You …”

Karsh turned to face Saké.

“You will pay for what you have done.” Turning, Saké glared at Karsh with all the hate and anger that his heart could produce.

Something reflecting off of Saké’s chest caught Karsh’s attention, and he smiled. “How about you give us that necklace junior, and we’ll leave with no more incidents.”

Saké glared at Karsh for a while, before finally speaking. “YOU WILL PAY!!!! Denisu rushed forward, kendo stick raised and ready to attack. He neared Karsh, but the other fighter didn’t use his sword.

Seeing through Saké’s attack of rage, Karsh landed one punch to the younger warrior’s solar plexus, knocking the wind out of Denisu. Saké doubled over, his wind gone and body limp. Karsh used this opportunity to deal a swift kick and Denisu went backwards, head over heels and he finally landed on his stomach. The pendant had landed just out past his left shoulder. Saké didn’t move.

“Men! Keep them all back. While I take care of our business.” Karsh started walking down the stairs, his sword still gripped in his hand.

The crystal pendant around Saké’s neck started glowing. At first it was dull, but then it grew into an intense light, causing Karsh to stop in his tracks.

Then the unimaginable happened. Saké started to stand up, as if the attack Karsh had done had no effect. The young fighter kept his head lowered, his hair covering his face.

“Impossible!” Karsh exclaimed. “That punch alone should leave you out of breath for a week!”

Saké never said a thing even if he had heard Karsh’s words. The kendo bamboo stick was still in Saké’s fist.

Finally Denisu lifted his head, and opened his eyes. Karsh and everyone stepped back. There was no reflection in Saké’s eyes. None at all! He looked… He looked possessed! His green irises and black pupils seemed merged together.

"You have desiccated a holy temple, boldly attacked the residents, and killed an innocent man. I will not stand for this, and shall avenge all those you have wronged," Even his voice sounded different. “With your defeat.”

"Try again if you want junior, but you.....!!"

Faster than anyone could have seen or predicted, Saké rushed Karsh. With one thrust, the general of Garm’s army went flying into the air and landed at the bottom of the stairs to the Keikami Shrine.

The rest of Garm’s soldiers stared in amazement as Saké stood straight again, his head down. “Leave now. If you value your lives.”

As one the soldiers started fleeing. Several stopped to pick up the body of their only unconscious general before following the others out and leaving the Shrine and Hano.

Pokira came up to Saké as others started tending to the wounded, even on both sides of the fighting. He was extremely impressed with how Saké had just preformed in fighting. Sheathing his tachi, he placed a hand on Saké’s shoulder

Denisu opened his eyes. They were back to normal, the reflection was back as well as his iris’s and pupils separated like normal. “Huh?! What happened?!”

“Denisu,” Pokira started, but then Saké remembered. The body of his father was still laying on the Shrine’s steps.

“Dad! No! DAD!” he shouted as he fell to his knees by his father’s body. “You can’t be …. Gone…” Tears fell from his eyes. First he had lost his mother when he was only seven, and then his father was killed right before his eyes. He couldn’t have done anything to help either, and that’s what hurt the most. “I’ll miss you …. Dad….” Pokira walked up behind Saké and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to help console him, but Pokira was also close to tears.

Then, there came a mumbled reply from Leon. Saké stared in disbelief. “I’m not dead yet,” Leon grunted.

Saké and Pokira fell over in stupidity.

“Dad! You’re okay!” Denisu exclaimed.

Pokira kneeled to Leon’s side and quickly examined him. “He’s too weak for a heal spell. We have to get him to the doctor, NOW!”


* * *

Hearing the sound of something crashing through the bushes, Vared jumped behind the first thing she saw, a bush. Afraid it was more soldiers after her, Vared slowed her breathing and listened, trying to pick up any sounds of anyone.

She crouched there, waiting, for a few minutes. When she heard nothing again, Vared decided no one was after her. Poking her head out through the bush, she looked down both ways of the trail.

No one. Nothing.

If it was soldiers I heard, they would try and be more quiet than that… she thought.

Vared stepped away from the bush, spear ready in her hands. She glanced down both ways of the trail, keep her eyes and ears open. Then she heard it. The faint sound of breathing.

She stopped moving, and listened. The breathing was a little more distinct, and she could tell it was close by. Her eyes scanned the area around her, her ears concentrating on the sound.

There! A tree that had been behind her when she jumped over the bushes and onto the trail. That was where the breathing was coming from.

A small gust blew by and she caught the sight of blue cloth. Now she knew someone was there.

Something, a feeling, told her that the person hiding didn’t mean to harm her. She could also sense someone’s energy behind the tree.

Slowly she walked over. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Then, cautiously, a boy stepped out from behind the tree. He was dressed in baggy blue pants, black boots, and a lose shirt. He had silver head and very pale blue eyes. In his hands he gripped a blue handled Naginata, about 6 feet long with a one-foot blade.

There was a silence as both warriors faced each other, their weapons held offensively in their hands.

Vared noticed how the boy held his weapon, as if expecting an attack from any direction at any second. Very similar to how she was holding her spear.

Trying to break the suspense, Vared planed the butt of her spear on the ground and held it just under the blade. She tried to show that she had no intention of fighting this guy.

He seemed to relax, just a bit, and lowered his weapon a little.

They stood in silence again, looking into each other’s eyes, as if trying to find something. Finally Vared, afraid of staring into his pale eyes for too long, decided to break the suspense again.

“So, why were you behind the tree? Hiding from something?”

“Soldiers.” the boy replied.

“You too? I am too.” Vared was trying her best to seem non-threatening, but she was glad to know she wasn’t the only one being hunted down.

The boy lowered his Naginata a little more. Vared finally had a chance to see the pendant hanging around his neck.

“You… You have a pendant too?!” she said, surprised to see one.

Reacting, the boy clutched his pendant with his right hand. “What do you mean?”

Vared held hers out until it was at the end of it’s line. “See, I have one too.”

The boy stared at the pendant, somewhat in disbelief. Then he lowered his Naginata so the blade rested on the ground. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know whether to trust you or not.”

“You can trust me. What’s your name?”

“Hatsuki Seylin.” he replied, bowing a little.

“I’m Vared,” she replied, smiling.

“They went this way!” a voice rang from one side of the trail.

“And maybe we should run,” Vared commented.

Seylin nodded and they dashed off, away from where the voice had come from.


* * *

In the hospital, Saké was pacing while Pokira appeared to be meditating in his seat.

"Denisu, if you continue to pace you will wear a hole through the floor." he commented.

"I can't help it Pokira." Saké replied, pacing faster.

"Okay, let's change the subject. Your swordsmanship has improved."

"Huh?!" Saké stopped and looked at Pokira. "What are you talking about?"

"After Karsh had attacked you, you stood up and finished him with one strike. A feat even your father hasn't been able to accomplish."

"Whadda mean?"

"Don't you remember?"

"No, I don't remember a thing. After I got punched, the wind was knocked out of me and it's all blank after I got kicked and then when I realized I was standing up, and the soldiers were gone." Saké replied. Unknowingly he held onto the pendant around his neck.

Pokira just now saw the pendant. "Denisu, your father gave you that just before he went to fight. Didn't he?"

"Yeah. Why? What's the big deal?" Saké replied, stumped.

Pokira searched his clothes for something. "Because, your father entrusted me with giving you something if he was unable to. And I believe this situation counts as such." He handed Saké a faded piece of folded paper with his name on it. He could tell it wasn’t in his father’s handwriting. "Now, listen carefully. Go back to the shrine and into your father's study. Open the letter, and follow the instructions."

"But dad's..." Saké almost protested.

"I will wait for your father for when he comes out of surgery. Now go."

Saké looked at Pokira and then spun on a heel and ran out, almost running into a nurse.


* * *

Zera’s Blade whipped up and he blocked up to seven swords at once. His weapon was almost four feet long and two feet wide, so it was possible to block that many. Sora slashed at one soldier and knocked his sword out of his hand, then she attacked with the back end of the scythe, knocking the man backwards.

“This stinks!” Zera exclaimed as he realized he was in a deadlock with the soldiers.

“At this rate they’ll wear us down!” Sora replied and spun her Kama around, scaring several soldiers away. She concentrated and slashed to the right, a small amount of light blue energy surrounding her Kama blade. “Windraker!” The attack sent a blast of gale-force winds directly at the soldiers and only knocked one back. “And my attack isn’t really working!” Unnoticed to her, the pendant around her neck was glowing.

Zera stepped back and broke the deadlock before slashing up and down, cutting weapons in half. “No joke!” He side-stepped a thrust and whacked the man in the back with the blunt end of his Blade. His pendant was also glowing, energy flowing around it, although brighter than Sora‘s right now.

A line of soldiers started to form, each wanting the chance to attack Zera. He slashed up and sliced a sword in two before jump-kicking the man away. When he landed back on his feet, Zera saw the line of soldiers start to close in.

Damn, this is it. he thought. Maybe if I can hit all of them in one pass, then I have a chance, but I don’t think I can. Just as he was thinking this, the energy that had been flowing around his pendant jumped in three directions. Two of the energy spurts went straight to his legs and the other made its way along his right arm and merged with his Blade.

Zera was suddenly aware of great energy in his legs and in his arm, and he dashed. Moving too fast for anyone to react, Zera slashed through each individual soldier in the line. The only thing he said was when he shouted, “Renozukuken!” while he was attacking.

Then he stopped, and skidded to a stop, behind the line of soldiers. His arm was extended forward, Blade in hand, and his legs were spread to stop his speed. The energy around his feet, Blade, and hand disappeared and he stood up. Twirling his Blade and then getting into another fighting stance, the soldiers behind him fell over, cut down before they could even react.

Sora was having her own fun. Not really wanting to kill anyone, she was simply spinning her Kama around and scaring the soldiers from getting too close. Her pendant was glowing as well, getting brighter as Sora got more frustrated to keep the men at bay.

My Windraker isn’t strong enough to knock them all back. Currently it can only do one at a time. And I’ll run out of energy by that time! her mind screamed. I don’t want to kill anyone, but if I don’t think of something, I’m going to get killed!

The energy glowing inside her pendant finally released its power and jumped straight through her arm and right to the blade of her Kama.

The feeling of energy flowing through her, Sora unleashed her attack again.

“Windraker!”

Sora slashed in a wide arch, the energy around her Kama completely consuming the blade. The force behind her thrust was ten times more than usual. A hurricane force wind blasted the soldiers in front of her. The sheer power was enough to send them flying backwards and landing in the branches of the trees above.

When she was finished, the energy dissipated, and she was left dumbfounded.

“Common!” Zera shouted. “Let’s move!”

Zera and Sora ran off, away from the soldiers they had just defeated.


* * *

Saké stood in his father's study, looking at the letter in his hands. Dad, what is it that you want me to know about like this? Gently he broke the seal on the letter and started reading:

To Wamiyazen Denisu, son.

If by chance you receive this letter, there is a good chance that you have the pendant and I am no longer among the land of the living. Don't fear my son, for you have grown strong by now. It was Leon's wish that you receive the Dragon Pendant when it seemed to be endangered, and you would forever be its protector.

Denisu, you now have a long and difficult road ahead of you. The pendant you now protect is being sought by dark and terrible forces, I have seen it in my dreams. You must not go unarmed my son. In your father's study, I hope it has not changed, there is a tall and thin cabinet with a slot on the far north wall. Place your pendant inside it, with the golden dragon facing you.

Saké looked around the room and saw the cabinet. Indeed there was a cabinet on the far wall, there was a slot, cut to fit the pendant around his neck. He slipped the string off of his neck and gently placed the pendant in the slot. It was a perfect fit! His pendant began to glow, the bright light illuminating the room.

Now, you must say the following words and break the seal on the cabinet:

Soul is pure,
Heart is bright
Destiny sure,
Release the light.

"Soul is pure. Heart is bright. Destiny sure. Release the light!" A flash and the entire study was engulfed by the illuminating glow. Saké covered his eyes against the glare. As the glow subsided, Saké watched as light traveled along the area between the doors until the entire height of the cabinet had been reached. He watched and the pendant was ejected from the cabinet. His fast reflexes him to catch the crystal before it hit the floor.

With a hiss the cabinet opened and Saké saw a sword inside. The sword was inside a red and black colored sheath, the long handle carved in the image of a dragon. He stopped admiring the weapon to read the letter further.

Denisu, take the sword, for it is my heirloom to you. The sword is over 4000 years old, and yet, it has not aged one day. Legend says that it and others were forged from the bones of an ancient dragon, but no one knows for sure. Your pendant and sword have powers on their own, but together, they have immense possibilities. Take great care when you use them. You must know one thing: there are others out there with pendants and weapons of great power. You must seek them, for they shall be your greatest allies.

I wish I could see you now Denisu. You must have grown handsome. I'm sure the ladies must be hovering over you. Maybe as you are reading this, you have already grown up and raised a family. If you have, then my premonition was wrong, but it may come, if not in your life-time, than in your children's.

Take care Denisu. Follow your heart, trust in others, and never forget what you have been taught, by me, your father, and Pokira.

Love, eternally,

Alicia Wamiyazen

Saké dropped to his knees. The letter wasn't from his dad, it was from his mother! Written while she was still alive. "Mom....."

He looked at his hands, the memory still burned into his mind every time he looked at the brown gloves he always wore, and any time he saw his left arm, where the armband rested. It hurt to think about it, so he changed the subject.

"So, this," he held the pendant. "Is from dad, and that." he looked at the sword. "Is from mom." After putting the pendant back around his neck he reached for the sheathed sword. There was a strap so the sheath could be tied around his torso and rest on his back . Saké pulled the sword free from its sheath.

The blade was clean and the metal reflected the light that was slowly dimming from his pendant. He once again remembered his mother and a promise he had made the day of her death.

"I will follow my heart, mom.“ Saké looked up at the ceiling, tears forming in his eyes. “I hope you're looking over me."


* * *

Finally, hours after the events that have just happened, night fell on Direwood Forest. Saké had left the Keikami Shrine, using his Nimble spell to its full effect and getting as far from Hano as his speed would allow. Kage was at his home in Zean, preparing to move out at dawn. Vared and Seylin had found shelter in the tree tops and decided to rest there for the night. Zera and Sora, as well as Elena each had the same idea. Horus used his psychic abilities to cloak the presence of him and Amal from any wandering patrols at night, and had to stay awake in order to make sure no one would find them. Faile and Thaddeus Thundersong headed to the home of people who used to be friends with their mother, and are staying there for the night. They have agreed to care for Thaddeus while Faile heads out to avenge her mother’s death.

And what about Chamel? Chamel is currently heading to Direwood forest. Only taking a short two hour rest before setting out again, traveling by treetop. As they all try and sleep, patrols of Garm’s soldiers are constantly searching the Forest for the Pendant Bearers.

---------------------------------------

Vared: What?! Who’s there?! Oh! Hi, I’m Vared, and if you’re wondering, it means rose in some places. After a restless night, me and Seylin head out to try and find any other people with pendants like ours. We do run into some pretty strange people, but they all seem like they’re good people. Especially after they prove that they have pendants! Huh? What’s that? There are 11 in all?! And what’s that rumble I hear in the distance? Next time on Chains of Dragons! Gather Together, Pendant Bearers!

Go, Scorch Blade!

[Mew Trainer Rose]

heh, sorry about not answering you on MSN yesterday. my dad made me get off so he could do something, and i didn't log off because i thought he wouldn't take too long. then i was never able to get back on. *big sweatdrop*

anywho, i love the chappie. :) It was really exctiting. I'm wondering why you bothered to mention that Vared means 'rose', tho. ^_^

[Mew Master]

* * *

Deep in Direwood Forest a patrol made their rounds. The soldiers checked every bush they saw, trying to flush out anyone who could be hiding, but the only thing they managed to flush out were some deer or rabbits, or even a Jira Lizard from his nest. They checked the bushes, but not the trees. But mostly they were sitting on rocks and resting after an endless night of searching the forest.

Vared and Seylin watched as the patrol passed below them. They had awoken an hour before and tried to make their way out of Direwood when the fog started to come in from the sea, slowing their progress. They caught the sounds and sights of soldiers looking for them and it was Seylin’s idea that they hide in the trees until they had passed. Unlucky for them, the men decided to use the spot as their resting place.

There was one who appeared to be leading the soldiers, but was dressed unlike any of them. He was wearing loose and flowing clothing, not the thick and restraining armor that the rest of the soldiers were. He was actually dressed more like a samurai warrior than a soldier. He was wearing a big circular straw hat, covering his face from the two hiding warriors.

“‘Hide in the trees‘, now we can’t get out.” Vared whispered.

“I didn’t know they’d decide to rest here. Seylin whispered back, not bothering to keep his annoyance from showing. This was why he didn’t like people, they were too annoying.

“Sir Kenji!” someone shouted and stopped Vared and Seylin from arguing with each other.

A man not dressed like the rest of the soldiers went running up to the samurai looking man. He stopped and saluted the man before trying to catch his breath, because it looked like he had been running for a long time.

“Relax Hicks, rest a bit and tell me what’s going on.”

The man called ‘Hicks’ didn’t rest for long. “Sir, four patrols were attacked outside of Zean. Two were obliterated!”

“What do you mean obliterated” the one called Kenji replied.

“Well, there were some survivors, from the other two patrols. They where only knocked out, but the rest… we can’t even tell if they were even human Sir.” Hicks spat out.

“Hmm” Kenji said to himself. “It is clear we are not dealing with amateurs. Did the survivors get a look at them? How many where there?”

“They said that there was one with spiky red-brown hair and the other was completely dressed in black with hair in a long braid.”

Kenji thought about this information. “Alright! Break is over! Continue your patrols through the forest! Leave no bush or rock overlooked, is that clear?!”

“Crystal!” the men shouted as one.

“Then go on, I have some minor pests to take care of…” The samurai called Kenji dashed away from the soldiers as the men began to head in several different directions, hacking away bushes with their swords.

Seylin and Vared waited until the sounds of the men crashing through the underbrush dissipated before they moved. Vared went down first, holding onto the branch and swinging for a bit before dropping the last six feet to the ground. Then Seylin dropped their weapons down, Vared catching them and looking in every direction as Seylin made his way down from the tree.

She handed him his Naginata as they kept their eyes open.

“We should move,” he said.

“But what about what that man said about the two people who beat four patrols?” Vared asked as they started to walk down the trail.

“Maybe we should hope we don’t meet them. No telling what they could do to us.” Seylin replied.


* * *

Amal and Horus walked down a seemingly deserted trail. Only the sounds of the early morning forest met their ears.

“So we head this way to get to the sea?” Horus asked after a long silence.

“Yeah, the sea can give us thick fog on occasion, something like this, but never this bad.” Amal replied, twirling her Glaive in her right hand.

Horus took a step and then stopped, holding an arm out to stop Amal as well. He looked around searching with his psychic senses because his eyes were mostly tricked by the fog.

He reached for his weapon attached to his belt.

“What is it?” Amalthea whispered, her Glaive gripped and ready to fight.

“Someone is here.”

“But I don’t see anyone.” she replied, moving so her back was to Horus

“I know, but it’s not just because of the fog. This one can hide his body with his surroundings.”

“Like a chameleon?”

“Bingo!” someone exclaimed, making both Horus and Amal jump.

Someone began to materialized from the fog as they walked towards the Psychic and Water Innates. At first it appeared that a set of clothes without a body was coming towards them, but then someone started to appear inside of the clothes. It was green and scaly with big eyes, his clothes were tattered and ripped in several places. They wore no shoes and his three toes were visible as they plodded on the ground.

“We have a winner, and I thought the guy was supposed to be smart.” he commented with a slight sarcastic or comedic air.

“Who are you?” Horus asked, hand still on the handle of his Twin Blade sword.

“Name’s Chamel, and I’m not with the army that seems to be crawling all over the place.” he replied. Horus and Amal could see the giant sword resting on Chamel’s shoulder, and his hand on the handle to help balance the eight-foot-long weapon.

Horus let out a small smile and released his hold on his weapon. “I can’t sense any malice or ill-will towards us.” he commented, searching this fellow Demi-Human’s aura. “Earth Element, right?”

“Right on. You are good, what are ya? A channeler?” Chamel asked.

“Close, I’m a Psychic and Amal is Water.” He replied.

“What kind of sword is that?” Amal asked, pointing out Chamel’s weapon.

“This?” Chamel flipped it up and rested the tip of the blade on the ground to his right. “This is the Masumoon.”

“Impressive,” Horus admitted. “You can wield a sword that’s taller than yourself.”

“What?” Chamel retorted with a distorted insulted look. “Do I look weak to you?”

“Not at all,” Horus replied. “I didn‘t mean anything like that.”

“Shouldn’t we get going?” Amal stated, pointing out the way down the trail. “If we go this way we can hit the coast in a few hours.”

“The coast?” Chamel commented. “This forest is that close to the coast?”

“Apparently,” Horus replied. “I’ve never been here so I had no idea.”

“I’m new here too.” Chamel replied as they started to head down the trail.

In front of the trio, a large patrol of soldiers appeared from the fog, holding torches.

“Looks like you weren’t the only think creeping around here Chamel.” Hours stated as he reached for his Twin Blade.

“Is that an insult, or a compliment?” Chamel asked, holding onto his Masumoon.

“Where do you think you are going?” the leader of the men demanded.

“None of your business!” Amal snapped back.

“Wrong answer little lady,” the soldier smiled and ran for Amal, unsheathing his sword.

Amal tensed for a second and recalled all of the training she had done with her father, she slowed her breathing. Amal side-stepped the first thrust, the man rushing past her. Then he turned and started letting out a volley of thrusts. She side-stepped them all, each missing her by feet. Then she swiped her Glaive in a downward horizontal slash, ripping the man’s stomach open.

Everyone of the soldiers opened their mouths in shock as their leader’s stomach leaked blood onto the ground. Amal stepped back in shock, her hand moving to her mouth. She was ashamed and sick to see such a sight. What made it worse was the fact she was the one who had caused this to the dying man.

Without warning, the men rushed towards her, ready to avenge their leader’s death with Amal’s life.


* * *

Saké and Kage continued to run through the forest in the thick fog.

“So, any idea where we’re headed?” Kage asked, not even short of breath.

“None. Maybe once we hit the coast we can head to Termania.” Saké replied, keeping his breathing at a certain pace.

“The fishing town?”

“Yeah, my father knows some friends we can count on if anything else happens. They’re trustworthy.”

They continued to run, jumping over tree roots, bushes and even a broken branch that seemed to have the smaller parts of the branch hacked off. They didn’t stop to examine it, but continued to keep moving down the trail.

Then, as they ran, someone wearing a straw-whicker hat materialized from the fog. He stood in samurai-like clothing and stood still as Saké and Kage neared him.

They split up and ran around the man, Saké running by his left side, where he spied the sheath and handle of a sword. As he ran by the man, something sent a chill up his spine and a sound met his ears. A sound he had heard many times before. He increased his speed, got beside Kage, placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Kage, get down!” he shouted and pushed down on the Shadow Innate’s shoulder, forcing Kage down and himself into the air.

“Wha?!” Kage exclaimed but didn’t stop himself form falling over.

Something sliced through the air, sending a short blast of wind. It whipped over Kage’s head as his body headed downward, and right under Saké, just after he pulled his own hand away. They both glanced at the man as he could be seen with an unsheathed sword, and standing at the end of a very powerful slash.

Kage dove into a tuck-and-roll, flipped his Claws out and spun around, his knees bent so they were close to his chest and his arms spread. Saké flipped in mid-air, grabbing the handle of his sword he hit the ground and dug his feet in as he scooted back a few feet. The two warriors straightened up, holding their weapons ready.

“Very impressive young man,” the samurai commented, lowering his sword. “Not many can see my attack, let alone avoid it like you did.”

“Cut the bull!” Kage shouted. “Who the hell are you?!”

“Impatient aren’t we?” he commented and removed his hat. The man had messy black hair and narrow eyes. “If you must know, I suppose I can tell you before you die,” he raised his katana and placed the sword so the blade itself was nearly visible. “I am Kenji, one of the Elite Warriors of Lord Garm.”

“Garm?!” Saké exclaimed. “So you’re with those morons who attacked my home!”

“No,” Kenji replied. “Karsh was all on his own for that. As our leader it’s surprising that he lost to you. But that is simply because he underestimates his opponents, hopping his own reputation will scare them enough for him to cut them down. I, on the other hand, I watch and learn the way my opponents move before I strike, finding their weaknesses.”

“What?” Kage shouted. “Don’t make me come over there and hurt ya!”

“Such talk is what got Karsh defeated. Over-boasting is a weakness of any warrior. I know you two are not amateurs. You both defeated four squadron’s of soldiers, half are alive, and the other half…”

“Dead,” Saké finished Kenji’s sentence.

“Yes. Now,” Kenji spread his feet and held his katana out to his right, leaning to the right as well.

Saké recognized the pose. “Kage, we may be in trouble.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ve seen that stance before. It’s one of the Shadow Hitokiri stances.” Saké raised his sword.

“Hitokiri? You mean his stance is that of an assassin?” Kage was almost dumbfounded.

“I am still impressed. You knowledge of sword techniques is well refined.” Kenji complimented. “However, I am not a common assassin…”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re one of Garm’s supposed Elite Warriors. Who cares?! I’ll still cut you down!” Kage shouted.

“Come and try it. You are either confident or foolish, or both.” Kenji was trying to intimidate Kage into attacking, and it was working. “Why don’t you attack and see?”

“You got it, huh?!”

Saké ran past Kage, heading straight for Kenji. His sword was held at his side as he ran, a glare in his eye. There’s no way Kage can predict what a Shadow Hitokiri is capable of. I have some idea, and I won’t let someone I just met get killed! The thought screamed in his mind as he came in to attack.

Kenji blocked and parried Saké’s sword thrusts, close to knocking the Light Innate right off his feet. Saké lost his footing and slipped. At the last second he caught himself with his left hand, then flipped back onto his feet, holding his sword out. Then he jumped, flipping over Kenji, his sword going for a slash. Kenji blocked the attack as Saké flipped over him, and then spun around to meet a new attack.

Jumping if for an attack, Saké raised his sword above his head and slashed down, but missed as Kenji stepped back. Then Kenji grabbed the back of Denisu’s shirt collar and flung him backwards. So abrupt and sudden was the maneuver that Saké couldn’t react fast enough. He flipped once, his back slamming into the trunk of a tree, the whiplash causing his head to whack against the bark. His sword lay limp in his hands because Saké was out cold.

“He was easy to predict. His movements concentrated on disarming an opponent, rather than killing him. A foolish move.” Kenji commented.

“Why you! Do you have a death wish?!” Kage shouted, getting into a fighting stance, ready for a fight.

“You are still willing to fight me, after seeing how I took out your friend?” Kenji stated, sword still in his hand.

“Yeah, but unlike Saké, I don’t bother disarming. Dismemberment, maybe, but not disarming.” Kage replied, an evil smile on his face.

“Hmm, you appear to be ruthless, and the blood on your weapons and arms just proves that fact. Very well, if you want to taste the ground, feel free to attack.” Kenji stood, holding his sword out in front.

Kage narrowed his eyes and shifted his weight. Rushing forward, Kage slashed with his right claw, aiming for Kenji’s stomach. But before his Claws would touch warm blood, Kenji side-stepped the attack and let lose with a single left hook. The force of the punch sent Kage spiraling into the ground, the senses knocked out of him. Kage lay on the ground, no signs of movement, or even if he was alive.

Kenji rested his sword on his right shoulder. “Too simple, his style is that of a street-boxer. Easy to avoid and counter. Now,” he turned towards the unconscious Saké. “My Lord said that he wanted the white crystal pendant first and foremost, and that the rest could wait.” Kenji started walking towards Denisu, he lowered his sword, ready to cut the string around Saké’s neck.

As he pointed his sword towards Saké’s neck, two objects flew through the air, slamming into his sword and hand, knocking them away. Kenji spun and stared, to his surprise, at Kage who was standing once again, his right arm looking as if it had thrown something. But Kage’s head was lowered, the hair hiding his eyes, even though the pendant around his neck was glowing.

“What? My attack should have left you out-cold for a week.” he stated.

Kage lifted his head up and opened his eyes. The red and black mixed together, an almost unearthly appearance, and there was no reflection.

“Personally,” Kage spoke, but even the voice wasn’t his. “I don’t care if you die or not. Anyone who endangers the Pendants will not be forgiven.”

Kenji chuckled, and then let out a howling laugh. “This is amusing. You think a slight change in your voice makes you more frightening? It only makes you more pathetic.” He spread his legs and pulled back his sword as far as his right arm would go. Kenji’s left hand was placed on the blunt end of the blade near the point, as if to steady it. “Lord Garm never did say he wanted any of you alive.”

Kage just stood there, his arms at his sides.

“If you are so willing to die, then it shall be with my special technique. The Shinto Blade!” Kenji dashed forward, holding his sword steady with his left hand as his right would be ready to thrust and run Kage through.


* * *

Amal was frozen in shock from the blow she had dealt the leader of the soldiers, but it had come at a bad time as soldiers started heading straight for her. They shouted as swords raised above their heads, ready to strike down Amal in one hit.

“Lurcher!” Chamel shouted as he slashed the ground with Masumoon. Hundreds of small stones blasted from where the sword hit the ground, slamming into the men hitting them hard. They dropped to the ground where they stood, out cold and bruises all over their bodies.

Amal was still suffering from the shock and could barely move. Chamel and Horus were dispatching as many soldiers as they could, sometimes even resorting to lopping off arms and feet.

The man who had been attacked by Amal started to stand up, and Amal stepped back. Blood dripped from the man’s mouth as he forced himself onto his feet, his sword was still clutched in his hands.

“You…. You hurt ….. Me …… No one ….. Hurts me….” He slowly started to raise his sword, fighting his own body for control.

Scared to death and staring at the dying man in the eyes, Amal let out a stifled scream.

Horus sensed Amal’s terror and spun around. Chamel heard her stammering scream and knocked down a soldier to see what was happening.

Frozen with pure fear, Amal stood there as the soldier had finished raising his sword and was ready to slash down.

Blood splattered her face as two parallel sword points erupted from the man’s chest. Chamel stood back as he saw Horus standing behind the man, his Twin Blade sword stuck up to the hilt in the man’s back, the points jutting out from the soldier’s chest. Then Horus lifted the man up and away from Amal, just as the sword fell from his hand. With a disgusted look, Horus flung the man off of his Twin Blade and away from Amal.

“Are, are you alright Amal?” he asked.

Amalthea was still in a slight case of shock but looked up at Horus and gave a weak nod.

“Hey, she okay?” Chamel asked as he trotted up.

Horus looked around them. “I think we have bigger concerns right now.”

Chamel looked and saw what Horus was talking about. More men began to gather around the trio, trying to cut off any escape route they could take.

“Hey, when did they get more people?!” Chamel exclaimed.

“Surrender now, and we just may let you live a little longer.” someone commented.

“Chamel, don’t move and stay close.” Horus said and sheathed his Twin Blade. He held his hands together, the index fingers pointing up and he started concentrating. Opening his eyes, wind began to blow around them, startling a few of the soldiers. His eyes glowed.

The area of earth in front of the trio began to glow with an intense light. Then something started to rise. Long and reptilian, it had jagged spines jutting out of it’s back. Long, thin, fingers with razor sharp claws connected to strong arms. A spiky gullet connected to the neck, and the head was rectangular. When the creature opened its eyes they burned with an intense fire.

“A …. A DEMON!”

The demon let out a shrieking roar that echoed through the forest and shook the very souls of the soldiers. Then it let out a blast of blue fire straight at them all. The men started running, out of pure fear from the demon. They shouted and screamed at the top of their lungs, all thoughts of bravado gone.

As they disappeared into the fog, Horus closed his eyes once again and when he opened them again, the glow was gone.

“Illusion, End.”

The demon was nothing more than an illusion and dissipated into the air.

“What was that?!” Chamel exclaimed.

“An illusion that scares the neighborhood bullies, and stops them from picking on little kids.”

“Oh…..” Chamel replied.

“Are you okay Amal?” Horus asked again.

Amal finally dropped to her knees. “I … I killed him.”

“No, you didn’t.” Horus replied, dropping to his knees. “You didn’t, my attack finished his life, you just wounded him.”

“But… All the blood…” she stammered.

“I think she’s in shock from hitting the man clean in the stomach.” Horus said gently.

“If this is her first battle, it’s no wonder she’s shook up about it. I would be too.” Chamel replied. “There’s a stream over this way a bit, we can clean our weapons and she can clean up too. Unless she wants to have blood on her face until we reach civilization.”

“Good idea. Amal, you have to get up. Death is what happens in combat.” He gently placed a hand on the side of her temple.

Amal could feel some of her shock fade away, replaced by reassurance and some sensible thinking. “You’re … You’re right… I’m sorry I froze like that.”

“Hey it happens,” Chamel replied smiling at her. “Just be careful that you don’t do it every fight.”

“I’ll try,” she replied as she stood, holding her Glaive in her hands. “Thanks for saving me.”

“A few more battles and we may need you to save us.” Horus commented as he started following Chamel.

Amal walked after them, before they started to disappear into the fog.


* * *

A clash of weapons and Kenji and Kage stood toe-to-toe. Kenji’s sword was caught in the small slit along the front half of Kage’s left claw, clean up to the hilt. Kage was holding his arm up, throwing off Kenji’s aim and leading the blade away.

Surprised Kenji’s mind screamed. HOW! How could he have done that?! He glanced at Kage, who had his head down after deflecting Kenji’s attack. It’s not possible! My Shinto Blade is my ultimate attack, no one has ever survived! Or even be able to block it! This isn’t the same person I knocked out, he’s completely different.

Kage clenched his fist around the switch on his right and went for a horizontal slash. Luckily for Kenji, he pushed with his sword and jumped back, the Claw missing his stomach by less than an inch.

Kenji’s feet skidded along the ground and forced himself to stop. He readied his sword to block anything Kage may have been capable of. Meanwhile, Kage just stood there, his Claws out. Finally the Shadow Innate lifted his head, still no reflection in his eyes.

“What are you? There’s no way you can be human, or Demi-Human.”

“What I am is no concern of yours. All you must be worried about, is the fact that if you attack again, you will not live through it.” Kage replied.

Kenji smirked. It had been a long time since someone had been able to show him up like this. “Very well, how about you attack me first and we’ll see who lives or dies after that?”

Kage narrowed his eyes. Then in a blast he was off.

His feet moved too fast for Kenji to see, and Kage ran around behind him. As Kenji turned to face Kage and cut him down, Kage’s left foot flew up and whacked into Kenji’s right cheek. The force of the attack whipped Kenji’s head around, almost knocking him out cold. Then Kage took out Kenji’s feet from under him, by sweeping his feet. It had all happened so fast, Kenji was unconscious before he hit the ground.

He looked at the fallen man and closed his eyes.

Saké was starting to recover from the blow he received from slamming into the tree, and opened his eyes. To his shock, he saw Kenji on the ground, not moving, and Kage standing above him, a hand to his own head.

“Kage..?” Saké said as he started to get up, his head still spinning. “Hey Kage you okay?”

Kage looked up and looked towards Saké, the reflection was back in his eyes. “Yeah I’m okay.” he gave a smug smile. “This guy was nothing. I blacked out and I was still able to beat him! HAHAHA!” he laughed.

“Hey, your Pendant’s glowing!” Saké exclaimed as he re-sheathed his sword.

Kage looked down on his chest, and true enough it was glowing, but the glow was starting to dim. “Or maybe… My Pendant had something to do with it.” He released the switches on the Claws and they sprang back into the gauntlets.

Saké thought back to the other day. “It’s a possibility, something similar happened to me back home…” He looked at the body of Kenji, just laying there. “We should keep moving.”

“Right, they may be more guys like him around.” Kage replied, nodding.

They two ran through the fog, continuing to head west.


* * *

Zera and Sora had the luck of not running into any patrols after they had woken up this morning. They had been moving for the better part of an hour, not stopping to rest until they were out of the forest.

The two came into a clearing and decided to stop and catch their breath.

“Any *huff* idea where *huff* we’re going? *huff*” Sora asked, leaning forward, her hands on her knees.

“*gasp* No *gasp* not really. *Gaps* Just as long as we don’t run into any soldiers. *GASP*” Zera replied.

They stayed there for a few minutes, until they were ready to move. Just as they were going to, they heard footsteps coming towards them. Whether it was the fact that the footsteps didn’t sound like as many of the patrols covering the forest or something else, Sora and Zera did not move, but prepared to reach for their weapons if necessary.

Two figures formed from the fog, an older girl and a boy, both carrying weapons.

The girl was dressed in a brown leather jacket and her pants were brown with red slashes. In her hands was a yard-long spear. The boy was in baggy pants and a loose shirt, and he carried a longer Naginata. They stopped when they saw Zera and Sora and held onto their weapons.

It was a tense moment as the four warriors stared at each other, looking for any signs of evil or connections with the soldiers. The tense moment was made even more tense when Kage and Saké stumbled upon the scene.

Now six warriors were standing in the clearing. Vared and Seylin, Zera and Sora, and now Saké and Kage.

“It’s them.” Vared had to stop herself from shouting. “The two who took out four patrols on their own!” She pointed at Kage and Saké, who looked at each other in surprise. Zera and Sora looked at the two.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Saké replied, with a lopsided smile and waving his hands. He tried to look anything but threatening. “We aren’t here for a fight,”

“Yeah, anyone who wants my family’s heirlooms has to get through me first.” Kage added.

“Your family heirlooms?” Sora said, a little surprised. “You mean you aren’t with the soldiers?”

“Like hell we are!” Kage replied, somewhat insulted. “As if I’d be caught dead working for someone other than myself.”

“Yeah, the soldiers are after us!” Saké added.

“Hey, they’re after us too.” Vared commented.

“Same here.” Zera added.

Sora looked around at everyone and saw that they each had their own pendants.

“Hey, you are the others!” she exclaimed.

“Others? What others?” Vared asked, lowering her spear so the butt of it rested on the ground.

“My mother said that there were others that also had pendants.” Sora replied.

“Wait a minute.” Saké stated. “A letter from my mother said the same thing.” He reached in one of his pockets and pulled out the faded piece of paper and unfolded it. “There are others out there with pendants and weapons of great power. You must seek them, for they shall be your greatest allies. That’s what it says.” he read straight from his mother’s letter before folding it up and putting it back in his pocket.

Everyone stood still, trying to take everything in, making it make sense in their minds.

“So we’re allies?” Seylin asked.

“Looks that way kid,” Zera replied. “So, who are you?”

“Wamiyazen Denisu, but just call me Saké.”

“Ikagaide Kage, call me Kage and I’ll be fine.”

“Vared.”

“Hatsuki Seylin.”

“Hibari Sora.”

“Zera Leonhart.”

“Okay, now that we know each other, can I ask one question?” Sora said.

“What?” Saké asked.

“What Elements are you all?”

“Huh? Why would you need to know that?” Vared asked.

“Because there are supposed to be pendants for every Element on Jakarta, I just want to know how many more we have to find.” Sora replied with an innocent smile. “I’m a Sky Innate.”

“I’m Light,” Saké replied.

“Shadow,” stated Kage.

“Fire.” Vared said.

“Metal.” Zera commented.

“Ice,” Seylin finished.

“Light, Sky, Shadow, Metal, Fire, Ice,” Kage was counting off the Elements on his fingers. “That’s six, only five more.”

“For a total of the 11 Elements.” Saké added. “But what happens once we all get together?”

“We defeat Garm.” Seyling replied, and everyone looked at the Ice Innate. “We find him and make him pay for what he’s done to our homes and loved-ones.” He raised his Naginata and held it in his hands. “I’ll see to it personally.”

Saké whispered over to Vared. “Kinda psychotic, isn’t he?”

“Kinda.”

“I hate to break up plotting out revenge,” Kage commented clapping his hands together. “But if we stay in one place too long, the Patrols will spot us and then we’ll be in more trouble than we are now.”

“Right,” Saké agreed. “I say we head to Termania. My father has some friends in the area and can help us out. Maybe they know who Garm is.”

“Good idea,” Sora agreed. “But we should hide our pendants. If Garm’s men are still patrolling the forest, then the pendants are the first things they’ll look for.”

At that though everyone hid their pendants under their own clothes. Usually zipping up jackets or tucking them under shirts, or making sure cloaks would hide them.

“Okay, enough standing around, let’s get going!” Kage said and they started walking west, towards the sea and possible safety.


* * *

Elena Kai-Prae remained in a tree as a soldier patrol went past.

“These guys are all over the forest, how am I supposed to get away at this rate?” she asked herself quietly.

She waited and then dropped to the ground, using one of her hands as another support, she remained crouched close to the ground and strained her ears. Her usual sharp cat-like eyes could see in complete darkness, but in his fog it was near impossible, so she had to stick to her ears instead. When there was no sound, she took off in a sprint.

Her legs made practiced moves as she ran, wide strides that took hardly any effort to make. She finally stopped about a kilometer away from where she started, only slightly breathless. Elena looked around, wondering which way to go from here.

To go back to the Pride would only put more people in danger, it would be best to avoid any towns or villages for a while. But which way to go? West to the sea, and maybe Termania, or North through Direwood and taking the chance of running into some patrols?

As she started to think on the matter, she heard footsteps. Four or five people, maybe six. she thought. About the size of a patrol, a little smaller though. Quickly she looked around and found a tree close to her position where she could hide.

Grabbing one of her dagger handles, she ran and jumped into the branches of the tree. There she laid on the branch and looked down, waiting for the patrol to pass.

What passed under her, instead of a patrol, were humans and a few Demi-Humans. Not wearing armor at all. One of them had spiky red-brown hair, and looked very familiar to Elena.

Saké? she thought. It couldn’t be, why would he be all the way out here, and those people, I’ve never seen them before…


* * *

“How much farther you think, Saké?” Sora asked.

“Not sure, Direwood Forest is really big, it would take a week to walk through the entire forest. Hano and Zean are about two day’s walk from each other. Zean’s closer to the sea than Hano though.”

“Zean’s about two day’s straight walking from the Hiloa Ocean. And that’s avoiding the hills and rocky areas.” Kage added.

“Denisu?” said a voice. Everyone stopped, and circled so their backs were together.

To Saké, the voice sounded familiar.

From a tree, right next to the trail, a copper colored Feline Demi-Human jumped down. She had spots on her bare skin and a wrap-round skirt as well as small tank-top and jacket. Her ears were perked up.

“Elena? Elena is it you?” Saké exclaimed. “What are you doing here? When did you get back?” He had known about Elena leaving three years ago to go explore more of the Zeeam continent. Lynx never did say she had returned.

“I should be asking you that,” she replied, a little annoyed. “What would your father think if he knew you weren’t at the shrine?”

“Elena, it’s a long story, and not one I wanna…” Saké’s gaze brushed the pendant around her neck and his eyes fixated on it. Elena noticed this and blushed a little “You too?!”

“What? What are you talking about Saké?”

“You’ve got a pendant too, like the rest of us.” he motioned behind him towards the five others standing there with slightly confused looks on their faces. He unzipped his jacket and held the white crystal in one hand. “See?”

She clutched her own pendant self-consciously. “So you all have pendants?” They nodded.

“You ain’t the only one with a pendant.” Kage stated. “’Sides, according to Saké here, we’re supposed to be allies.”

“Oh!” Saké exclaimed, forgetting something. “This is Kage, Vared, Seylin, Sora, and Zera. And this is Elena Kai-Prae.” he introduced everyone, trying to avoid an awkward situation.

“Pleased to meet you.” Elena commented. “Where are you headed?”

“Termania, dad has some friends there we can count on. Maybe rest up there while we figure out what we do next.” Saké replied.

“Okay, I’m going too.” she said and the group started walking again.

Not even five minutes after they has started, that Elena stopped, her ears perked up and straining.

“Wait. You hear that?”

They stopped and listened. Nothing.

“I don’t hear anything.” Zera commented.

“Exactly,” Elena replied. “Nothing.”

They listened again. The forest had grown deadly silent. No birds, no insects, nothing. Pure silence.

There was a slight vibration, no one took notice. Then it shook again, stronger, getting their attention.

“What was that?” Sora asked.

THOOM

“I dunno,” Kage replied, whipping his Claws out. “But it’s getting’ closer.”

THOOM

THOOM

THOOOOM!!!

Then out of the tree line, slightly obscured by the fog, a giant foot crashed down. It flattened trees and bushes into pieces of lumber. A second foot slammed down, up-rooting a tree in the process. The feet were actually hands that had four 6-foot long claws on the ends of the fingers. Connected to the feet were arms thicker than any trunk. The skin was a dull yellow.

Above the trees the head appeared. Elongated and rectangular, it’s mouth was in a permanent sneer. The rest of the body was completely reptilian, with the arms and legs jutting out to the sides at 45 degree angles. The eyes burned a fierce amber color that could be seen through the slight fog.

It lowered its neck and the head was close to the ground as it let out a roar. The bell-like roar echoed through the forest, causing some birds who remained to take flight and escape.

Everyone was standing in shock at the immense size of the creature. Elena showed the most shock as she stepped back.

“Oh no,” she muttered. “It’s a Thunder Lizard.”

---------------------------------------

Elena Kai-Prae: Hello, I’m Elena Kai-Prae. Call me Prae-Girl and I’ll use you for a scratching post. The most fearsome creature on Jakarta, the Thunder Lizard has a ravenous appetite and will eat anything that moves. The only problem is, we’re on the menu! It’s going to take all seven of us to put this monster down, but we can’t do it without the help of four more people who make the scene and help us out. Who are they, and why help us? Next time on Chains of Dragons! The Roar of Thunder!

Ready? Emerald Fury!

[Mew Master]

Chapter 5: The Roar of Thunder

The Thunder Lizard’s roar echoed through Direwood Forest. Animals scampered away in every direction to get away as birds took to the air. The giant reptile swayed it’s head, looking for prey, for food. Just fifty meters away, there were seven humans and Demi-Humans, standing in shock at the size of the reptilian creature.

“Thunder Lizard?!!” Saké tried to keep his voice down. “I thought those only lived in the Shadow Marshes?!”

“We’ve been in a drought for the past few years, maybe the Marshes dried up.” Elena replied. “Back away slowly and we can get away without it chasing us.”

The seven warriors started to move slowly backwards, keeping their eyes on the Thunder Lizard as they moved. The Lizard sniffed the ground, and flipped its tongue out, activating more smell senses. Then it raised its head sniffing more, trying to zero-in on a scent.

“Let’s go.” Vared whispered.

“Fine with me.” Saké replied.

Now everyone turned and started running. The sounds of their moving feet caught the immediate attention of the Thunder Lizard and the monster turned his head towards the source. His amber eyes spotted the prey, moving on the ground, under the trees and on a game trail. He moved his feet, stomping through trees and crushing them under his giant four-clawed feet, reducing them to lumber. The beast let out a roar, and the sound blasted the group.

“Scatter!” Elena shouted over the sound of the monster’s roar and everyone did just that.

Saké and Seylin headed to the right, Elena jumped up into the trees, Kage and Sora split to the left, and Vared and Zera jumped into the bushes.

The Thunder Lizard let out another roar. The smell of dead and decaying flesh met Saké and Seylin’s noses as the creature started to stomp towards them. As the creature neared them, Seylin dashed off to the right, heading along the line of bushes, Saké spun and faced the reptile.

The monster’s neck curled slightly and then it lunged forward, mouth agape and ready to bite down on warm flesh and blood. Saké jumped straight up at the last minute, the Thunder Lizard chomping down on bushes and a few parts of trees. He headed straight up and over the blanket of fog that covered the forest. Saké could still see the yellow body of the reptile under him, and the sun at it’s back.

As his accent slowed down, he started concentrating. Small particles of light began to gather from the air around his right fist, forming a ball of pure light that engulfed his arm right up to his elbow.

He thrust his arm forward and opened his palm. “Photon Blast!”

Saké’s Light attack beamed straight down at the Thunder Lizard, ready to hit the reptile square in the head. It streaked down, heading right on target, but something unexpected happened.

The Photon Blast hit the Thunder Lizard’s head, but instead of the usual explosion of light, the sphere bounced right off the reptile’s skin and straight into the air. The ricochet gave Saké a shock as he saw his own attack flying into the air and into the sky.

“*gulp*” he said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

The Thunder Lizard felt the attack reflect off of his skin and looked up to see the source of his annoyance. Spitting out the pieces of trees and shrubs the monster opened its tooth-filled mouth as he saw one of his prey start to fall towards the ground.

“AHH! NOT GOOD!! NOT GOOD!!” Saké shouted, flailing his arms and legs, trying anything to stop his fall.

As he fell closer to the trees, Saké could see each individual tooth in the Thunder Lizard’s mouth and the black hole that was the back of its throat.

“Nature’s Anger!” The voice was Elena’s. Vines and long, thin, branches whipped out and wrapped themselves around Saké’s torso.

Just as Saké was going to fall right into the Thunder Lizard’s open mouth, the vines pulled back, yanking Saké away just as the reptile closed its mouth, missing him by mere inches. Flying backwards from the one hard pull, Denisu went flying into a tree, away from the Thunder Lizard’s ravenous jaws.

“Ouch, that hurt…” he commented, rubbing both his head and his rear.

Kage had ducked behind some bushes with Sora and could only watch as the Thunder Lizard roared and continued to hunt down everyone.

“That’s it.” he commented and both of his Claws sprang out from his gauntlets. He ran towards the main body of the Thunder Lizard, it’s right flank. With very fast movements, he slashed in every direction imaginable, creating deep lacerations in the monster’s hide. The reptile let out a roar of pain as Kage continued to attack.

Vared watched as Kage continued his assault on the giant reptile, hacking and slashing continually. The monster’s tail flailed in her direction and she ducked as the tail slammed into trees, smashing them to bits. Her mind raced, thinking of any possible way to beat the Thunder Lizard without getting too close. She made her way around the beast, and watched as the neck started to curl, the head pointing at Kage, who was too busy hacking away at the Thunder Lizard’s hide to notice.

Desperately trying to think of any thing, Vared clenched her right fist out of frustration. Something seemed familiar. Hot, embracing, burning, natural. She recognized the feeling from when her home was attacked yesterday, something like the attacks the soldiers used to set homes and objects on fire!

She concentrated on that feeling, until she felt she could reach out and grasp it. Then she held out her open hand. Red energy swirled around a center point in her palm. It gathered and grew until finally the energy burst and a ball of flames flowed in her bare hand.

Kage caught the smell of the Thunder Lizard’s rank breath near him and looked. The beast’s head was turning and getting closer, the mouth open.

“Aw crap,” Kage muttered and got ready to jump back.

“Fireball!” Vared shouted as the ball of flames shot from her open hand.

Painful burning registered in the Thunder Lizard’s small brain, almost over-loading it. The fire burned the area around his eye and permanently damaged the fragile optic orb. The reptile reared its head back and let out a howling roar of pain and suffering.

“Nice one Vared!” Kage shouted. Now I can get back to tearing this thing’s … heart ……out?! Kage looked where he had been slashing and hacking for the last few minutes. He had hit the thing several times over. He had went on over-kill mode on this thing. Before Kage’s very own eyes several slash marks that he had made became thinner and smaller, until they sealed up and the skin looked just as if it had never been scratched!

“What the hell?!” he exclaimed, but didn’t have much time to stare in shock. The Thunder Lizard’s right arm raised and was getting ready to slam down, right where Kage was! Kage rolled out of the way, and ended up right under the beast, the pale yellow underbelly just a foot away from his head.

Crap! Kage’s mind screamed. I left wounds that were deep! But they healed up in only a matter of seconds. We’re in trouble.

Sora ducked under a series of trees that had been strewn into the air by the force of the Thunder Lizard’s tail, and crashed into kindling. She stayed kneeling as the tail thrashed above her head, waiting for the right moment. As the tail flew over her head, she started running, but stooping over as well, slowing her down. She got out of range of the tail, but the head turned in her direction. The eye that Vared had hit with the Fireball had already healed and now stared at Sora with its fierce, burning, amber color. She readied her Kama to attack. If the reptile tried to bite her, she’d show it that she could bite back as well.

The Thunder Lizard let out a little drowning roar as it shifted its body so the head could get closer to her.

“Renzokuken!” Zera shouted as he leapt straight from a tree and slashed his Blade into the side of the beast’s head, knocking it away from Sora. He landed where the monster’s head had been, only a few meters from Sora. “You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks for the save.”

The Thunder Lizard started to set its sights on Sora and now Zera and brought its head back, jaw wide open.

“Don’t you ever think about anything ‘sides your own stomach?!” Kage yelled. He was still under the reptile and thrust both of his Claws straight into the flesh above his head.

The Thunder Lizard reared its head back and let out another howl of pain. This time the pain was its stomach, something tearing into the organ that it only lived to fill. The monster moved, trying to end the pain because something was stuck. Kage held on, making sure his Claws were still lodged inside the reptile’s body.

Finally fed up with trying to yank the pain, the Thunder Lizard jumped to the side. It wasn’t a high jump, but it was high enough to force Kage’s Claws out of its stomach. When the Thunder Lizard landed, the entire earth shook, knocking some of the Pendant Bearers off their feet.

The monster turned its head back towards its stunned prey and started to head towards one clad in black, Kage. It opened its toothy maw, saliva dripping from each tooth.

Kage shook his head, trying to clear his mind, then he looked up and saw the reptile’s jaw getting closer to him.

“Hey! Big Tall and Ugly!” someone yelled from the tree-line. The Thunder Lizard, out of curiosity of the new sound, turned its head to look.

Saké Wamiyazen came blasting out of the tree-line, sword raised. Already under the influence of the Nimble speed spell, he was going quite fast. In one pass he slashed one long and deep laceration along the side of the Thunder Lizard’s snout.

As the monster’s head whipped back from the force, Elena Kai-Prae jumped in from the other side, her twin daggers unsheathed. She passed, leaving a cross-shaped scar on the other side of the Thunder Lizard’s head.

Finally, Seylin Hatsuki came through the bushes spinning his Naginata. Blue flames seemed to flow around the blade as he ran towards the Thunder Lizard. The monster began to recover from the double-teamed surprise attack and started to let out a roar.

“Koori no Takuto!” Seylin yelled as he slashed up with his Naginata. He swung with such force that the beast’s mouth was slammed shut. When the blue flames connected with the Thunder Lizard’s bare skin, any place of contact was frozen, three times over. Seylin jumped and slashed three more times, a thick muzzle of ice covered the Thunder Lizard’s mouth, freezing it shut!

Seylin muttered, “Hope you like being put on ice.” as he saw the Thunder Lizard struggle to get the ice off of its mouth.

“Nice plan Seylin,” Elena commented. Kage started to get up, same with Sora and Zera, Saké sheathed his sword, and they started heading away from the beast. The Thunder Lizard had lost all interest in hunting and was using its front claws the scratch the ice off of its snout.

Kage looked back as they started to make some headway. “Now it doesn’t even look interested in us.”

“Yeah, the big lizard’s too busy trying to get its mouth open and will forget about us until it can get its jaws to open. Seylin’s a genius.” Saké replied, giving Seylin more recognition.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out reptiles don’t like cold.” Seylin replied, partly flustered because of how Saké and Elena had said it was all his plan, and partly happy because they did.

The Thunder Lizard struggled, using its sharp claws and sometimes even slashing its nose by mistake trying to get the ice off. Its hunger was reaching fever pitch, driving the beast to the brink of madness. The beast forced his jaws to open, doing this several times a crack started to form along the ice.

Finally, after all the stress forced on the ice, the muzzle shattered. Ice shards flew in ever single direction imaginable. Its mouth free, the Thunder Lizard reared its head back and let loose the loudest roar it could produce. The sheer sound could be heard throughout Direwood Forest.

The Pendant Bearers stopped in their tracks and glanced back. The beast started to bare down on them once again. They started running, as fast as their legs would carry them.

“So much for that plan!” Saké shouted.

“Shut up and keep running!” Seylin replied, the Thunder Lizard’s stomping footsteps getting closer.


* * *

Amal, Chamel, and Horus stopped in their tracks when they heard the loudest roar they had ever heard. It was a mix of pain and rage as the vibration continued to echo through the forest.

“Ya know,” Chamel started. “Me-thinks your illusion needs to be quiet.”

“That’s not an illusion, the sound doesn’t travel very far.” Horus replied as his ears perked up and he listened.

“You mean that sound was real?!” Amal asked. “What could sound like that?”

“I dunno,” Horus replied, concentrating on focusing his thoughts so he could sense where the roar had come from. About three kilometers west of the three of them, the signal from the brain was small but the sheer power and size of the body was large. Even more, Horus could sense seven more minds running away from the larger creature. “But it’s this way!”

Horus started running off, pulling out his Twin Blade as he did, almost leaving Chamel and Amal in the fog. The two ran off after him, getting their own weapons ready.


* * *

The Seven Pendant Bearers ran, the crashing of the Thunder Lizard behind them getting closer and louder. Elena was in the lead, her cat-like agility putting her ahead of the others, but she had to force herself not to run off and away from everyone. The fog was still thick and she couldn’t see very far in front of her, so she tried to rely more on her other senses.

She could hear other things besides the Thunder Lizard and everyone running, especially a dull roar that sounded familiar. When she breathed she caught the faint taste of salty air there were several more bounds and she made the connection.

“Stop!” she ordered, skidding to a complete halt. The others slowed at their own paces, Zera almost running into her.

“What’s *huff* with the *huff* pit-stop Elena?” Saké asked, catching his breath.

“If we kept going we’d fall off the cliff, Denisu,” Elena replied.

“The Hitara Cliffs?” Vared asked. “We didn’t go that far, did we?”

“Look at the bright side,” Kage muttered. “We’re outta the woods now.” He was right, they had run out past the tree line and now they realized they were completely surrounded by fog on a patch of barren earth where they couldn’t tell where the cliffs were.

A loud Thoom and everyone looked back where they had ran from. The Thunder Lizard was there, a low growl escaping from its gullet.

“Yeah,” Sora added. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

The beast lunged forward and the seven scattered. Elena split off from everyone else, trying to get around the Thunder Lizard, the beast saw this and made her its new target. The jaws opened wide, bearing its teeth, aiming for Elena. As the maw snapped shut Elena jumped out of the way, missing it by inches. She ran on all fours for several bounds, luckily drawing the Thunder Lizard’s attention away from everyone. Then she ran on her legs again, dashing straight for the monster’s nostrils.

Daggers still in her hands, she played a game of “chicken” with the reptile. Running and waiting for the right moment to attack. The Thunder Lizard lunged its tooth-rimmed mouth open and Elena made her move.

Flipping as she jumped, the Feline Demi-Human landed right on the tip of the Thunder Lizard’s snout. Then she thrust both of her daggers on the end of the monster’s nose, causing it to whip its head back in pain. Elena grabbed on and her claws dug into the Thunder Lizard’s snout, hanging on for her own life.

“Elena!” Saké shouted, watching as the Thunder Lizard started to shake its head, trying to shake Elena off.

“She’s either brave or crazy!” Kage added. They both watched from behind as the beast roared in frustration.

Elena held on for all that she was worth. No way I’ll let you get the others, you over-grown reptile. she thought.

“Hang on!” Saké shouted and started to cast the Nimble spell.

“Wait!” Zera yelled from the other side of the beast and stopped Saké from casting the speed spell.

Then Saké saw Seylin running towards the neck of the Thunder Lizard, his Naginata glowing an icy blue fire.

“Koori no Takuto!” the Ice Innate shouted as he jumped and slashed down. The attack hit the beast right in the neck, freezing a large patch of yellow scales. The result of such an attack, stopped the monster from moving its neck in any direction. “Get down!”

Elena released her grip on the monster’s snout and wrenched her daggers free. The Thunder Lizard’s head was froze pointing upward, so she jumped down and onto the reptile’s back before leaping off.

“That’s not gonna hold it for long!” she commented, kneeling on one knee.

“Well how do we stop it?!” Zera shouted. “Every attack we make just makes it madder and not even a scratch!”

“Of course, only one set of Element attacks can injure a Thunder Lizard!” she replied.

Any further discussion was ended as the Thunder Lizard finally managed to shatter its ice cap collar and rage after its most stressful prey to date. Rage burned in the reptile’s amber eyes. Now it was determined to eat every single one of these nuisances.


* * *

“Are we there yet?” Chamel asked for the fourth time as he and Amal followed Horus through the forest and towards a loud roar they heard earlier.

“Shut up Chamel,” Amal replied.

Horus ignored them as he continued to focus his thoughts on where the large creature was. He sensed a wave of rage and anger flowing from the small mind.

As they left the forest and entered a clearing, the three of them stopped in their tracks.

There, in front of them, stood the largest creature any of them had ever seen. The Thunder Lizard was in a complete rage and paid no attention to them as it continued to attack and try and get several other creatures, a group of humans and Demi-Humans.

“What the hell?” Chamel commented. “And I thought I was the only lizard in this entire forest.”

Then the Thunder Lizard’s tail swung in their direction and the three jumped in different directions as the tail slammed into the ground.

“HEY! Watch where you’re swingin’ that thing!” Chamel shouted at the Thunder Lizard, as he held the Masumoon out, ready to attack. As if in a response to Chamel’s outburst, the tail swung in his direction next!

The Chameleon Demi-Human ducked under the attack and was now getting annoyed. “You wanna piece of me?!”

“CHAMEL!” Horus yelled, getting his attention. “It’s a Lightning Element!”

“Gotcha!” Chamel replied and started running towards the head, ducking under the tail once again. As he ran, he slashed his sword down into the ground. Instead of bouncing off the hard earth, the sword developed a glow around any part of the blade that came into contact with the ground. Chamel had the entire sword up to the hilt in the ground and when he swung it up, the entire Masumoon had rocks and dirt covering it. But not only covering it, the blade had become jagged and more deadly.

“Hey Gruesome!” he shouted, getting the Thunder Lizard’s attention. “Earth Cutter!” In one mighty swing, Chamel slashed his sword into the side of the Thunder Lizard’s head, leaving a huge slash wound along the left side of the monster’s head. The force of the blow seemed to cause the beast to lose its balance and stagger to the side, almost stomping on Sora and Seylin who leapt out of the way.

Chamel landed in front of a Cat Demi-Human, a human with spiky red-brown hair, and another one dressed in black with a fox-tail. “Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation?!” he yelled.

“Attack!” shouted one dressed in black and everyone leapt in with their own attack, while the monster was disoriented.


* * *

The Thunder Lizard, now under attack from every side, was getting more enraged every second. Pain burned on the left side of its face, pain that wouldn’t heal. More sharp shots of pain jetted up and down its body. Maddening pain.

Fed up, its anger and hunger to the burning point, the Thunder Lizard let loose its frustration.

Its speed unimaginable for something of its size, the beast spun around its tail swung in a wide arch that knocked everyone away. Drool oozing out of its mouth, the Thunder Lizard let out a roar.


* * *

Saké and Kage landed hard on their backs after the Thunder Lizard’s last attack.

“Ouch, first into a tree and then no padding at all,” Saké commented, rubbing his back.

“Stop complaining,” Kage stated. “We’re gonna die if we can’t stop that thing.”

The two stood up and then ducked as the tail swung around again. The Thunder Lizard was continuing to go after Elena, snapping its jaws or trying to pin her down with one of its clawed hands. Each time it stomped down, a small shockwave went through the area.

“So what are we gonna do?!” Saké wanted to know. “My Photon Blast just bounced off it, and when Vared shot a Fire Ball into the eye, that didn’t even phase it!”

“So?” The monster roared again, stomping its feet. “My slashes don’t do anything either, and Seylin‘s only work for a short bit!” The two started running around the monster’s body as it continued to go after Elena once again. “The only thing that seemed to work was… His attack!” Kage exclaimed and pointed towards the Chameleon Demi-Human that appeared out of nowhere and attacked the Thunder Lizard with what looked like a sword made of rock and dirt. He ducked under one of the feet and then slashed the back of the arm after he got out of the roll. The end of the sword started to lose dirt, and a reflection of metal could be seen.

“Well, that did knock the big dope off balance for a bit, but once we attacked at once, Uhg!” the tail slammed into Saké as Kage ducked under it. Saké skidded along the ground before he came to a stop, his head hanging off the edge of something. He opened his eyes but he could hear the ocean and really didn’t have to look to be sure. They were really close to the cliffs.

“You okay?” Kage asked as he lent out a hand. Grabbing his wrist, Kage helped pull Saké to his feet.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t go too far that way.” he replied, pointing behind him. Saké saw the reaction on Kage’s face.

The Thunder Lizard let out a roar of frustration and the two looked back towards the moving yellow blob that was the reptile.

“You know of any way to stop that thing?” Kage asked.

“No. All I know is that they are really dangerous, especially their attack.”

“What attack?” Kage asked, slightly confused.

“I’m not sure, but Elena knows.”

“Too bad she’s in no position to tell us.” Kage added. He and Saké ran back towards the Thunder Lizard, determined to find a weakness.


* * *

Elena was having fun. If having fun meant dodging the tooth-line jaw of an eating machine. She jumped, rolled, and moved to avoid the Thunder Lizard’s ravenous jaws. As Elena continued to move, she caught the sight of the Chameleon Demi-Human out of the corner of her eye. The Demi-Human continued to attack the Thunder Lizard, even though it was ignoring him and going after her.

She didn’t pay him much attention as she avoided another charge. It was easy to tell the Thunder Lizard was getting annoyed with her. Soon it may even stop the chase to… it was too horrible to contemplate.

But her mind started thinking about what would happen if she got tired, or if it went after her companions. Fed up with her own imagination, Elena shook her head and erased the images.

I won’t let that happen! She let out the roar of a jungle cat as the Thunder Lizard continued to chase after her.


* * *

Annoyed with the Thunder Lizard, Chamel’s skin had turned black. He continued his attack on the monster, more dirt flying off the Masumoon and his Earth Cutter loosing its effect.

What’s with this thing? he thought as he slashed in any way imaginable. We all attacked it as one and it still threw everyone off. And it’s still going after that cat-girl. Why?!

Chamel jumped up and landed on the top of the Thunder Lizard’s head. “Hey ugly!” he shouted. “Why don’t ya try and eat me?!” With that, Chamel slammed his sword straight down, cutting into the beat’s head, the last bit of rock fell off the Masumoon and the Earth Cutter spell was finished.

The Thunder Lizard whipped its head to the side, almost throwing Chamel off. The Chameleon Demi-Human held onto his sword, that was still lodged into part of the Thunder Lizard’s flesh. Then the head reared back, dislodging the Masumoon and throwing Chamel off at the same time.


* * *

Saké ran along the length of the Thunder Lizard’s body, and saw as Chamel was thrown off of the monster’s head. The monster spun around, it’s head facing Denisu now.

“Uh-oh! Roadblock!” Saké commented as he skidded to a stop, a few meters away from the Thunder Lizard’s jaws.

The Thunder Lizard opened its mouth, almost making it look like the creature was smiling. It thrust its open jaws forward and Saké jumped back, barely avoiding a very bloody death.

Before it could attack again, Saké started to turn so he could run, but he tripped. Tripping on a rock jutting out from the ground, Denisu fell flat on his face, his sword sliding away from him. He lifted and shook his head, to make it stop spinning. A snarl met his ears and Saké looked behind him, to see the Thunder Lizard standing above him.

The giant reptile opened its mouth, showing the pitch black hole that was the start of the gullet. Then a slight glow started to form there. Sparks of lightning bounced around the Thunder Lizard’s head as the glow got brighter.

“Denisu!” Elena shouted and tried to run towards him, but the beast’s tail knocked her back, and right into Kage. Everyone was wondering what was happening, and Elena was the only one who truly knew.

This is it, Saké thought. Mom, I’m …

Before Saké could finish his thought, someone jumped in between him and the glowing mouth of the lizard. It was a girl, standing in a skirt and long boots. A singe strap tank-top and some armor on her right shoulder. A bundle of arrows was slung around her back and two daggers sticking in a sash around her waist. She had blond hair, and cast Denisu a serious look.

“Don’t move if you want to live.”

“Uh…. Okay.”

She drew an arrow from her bundle and then placed it on a yew bow before drawing the string taunt. As she did, a bolt of pure electricity erupted from the Thunder Lizard’s mouth and engulfed both him and the new girl.

Elena shook off the disorientation and looked up just to see Saké engulfed by a bolt of electricity. Something no one would ever survive. “DENISU!” she shouted, but knew it was pointless. The Thunder Lizard’s Thunder Breath was something that no one had ever survived.

“Damn! Saké!” Kage added as he and Elena stood up at the site.

Lightning from the Thunder Lizard’s gullet vaporized the ground that it touched. Charring it and turning it all into scalding earth. Sparks were shooting in every direction as the reptile let out its frustration.

“Knock it off you stupid lizard!” Kage shouted and concentrated energy around his hand. “GRAVITONE!” A wave of energy blasted from his hand and hit the Thunder Lizard. Because of the creature’s unique hide, the attack only bounced off of the scaly skin and headed right for Kage again. The attack hit Kage square in the chest, knocking him back on his rear. The strange thing was, he didn’t feel any pain, but he did fell like he regained the energy he threw into the attack.

Several seconds after the creature started the attack, it ended. The lightning sparked, reduced to charged ions in the sky. Everyone stopped to see what had happened after the attack, and were shocked. Saké and the girl standing between him and the Thunder Lizard, were still alive! The bow and arrow in the girl’s hand had an entire oval sphere of sparking energy surrounding it. Waves of energy flowed up around her body as she pulled the string back farther.

“Thunder Arrow!” she shouted and released the string. The arrow flew as fast as a lightning bolt and struck the reptile in its still open mouth.

The Thunder Lizard withered in pain as its was force fed its own energy. Sparks snaked through and around its entire body as spasms of pain ripped through it. The tail flailed in every direction, causing everyone to scatter until the spasms were over.


* * *

Saké looked for his sword and saw it laying on the ground, a yellow glow around the blade. He scrambled up to his feet and ran over to it. The Thunder Lizard, out of control of its own body movements started stumbling over towards where the sword was. A foot lifted up and Saké ran harder.

He jumped, grabbed the handle, and rolled out of the way before the giant foot came smashing down where his sword once was. Saké skidded along the ground, but landed on one hand and knee. The Thunder Lizard was still convulsing due to the effects of being shot with a dose of electricity, but the sparks were less frequent now, and it appeared that it was starting to regain control of its body.

But something tugged at the back of Denisu’s mind. Why hadn’t he and the girl been vaporized by the Lizard’s attack. He was so blinded by the light that he thought he was going to be killed. Then it ended and he was still in one piece, and the girl had a large amount of energy flowing from her body. His sword pulsated and he glanced at it. It was glowing a bright yellow, something it never did as long as he had it. Sparks of electricity zapped frequently.


* * *

Horus had concealed himself since he Chamel and Amal had stumbled upon the others fight with the Thunder Lizard. He may have lost Amal and Chamel by sight in the fog, but he could sense the auras of them and the others. Strange he thought. The Lightning Innate was immune to the reptile’s attack, and the Light Innate wasn’t harmed either, just a little shaken. The Lightning seemed to have gained the energy from the attack though. Very strange.


* * *

The Thunder Lizard finally ended its convulsions and although mostly numb, it could control its body now. Its eyes scanned the moving forms and caught site of the one who had caused it to feel such pain. Roaring as it charged, it lunged for Faile Thundersong as she used her speed to run circles around the beast.

It had been a gamble to use her weapons like that, but she had felt the effects earlier when she had been ambushed in the forest by a soldier patrol. One of them threw am Electro Bolt at her, and only increased her energy because she had her daggers out to defend herself. Then she attacked and every time she slashed, the men were zapped with electricity. When the fight was finished however, the effect faded from her weapons, and she was slightly confused.

Now the Thunder Lizard raised a foot, as if to stomp on her, and she ran under the uplifted limb and away before it came smashing down. But she didn’t expect it to send a shockwave through the ground. She tripped from the vibrations and slid to a stop. Faile tried to stand back up but a pain in her left ankle. It was sprained. Now she was easy prey.


* * *

Denisu stood up and saw as the girl ran rings around the Thunder Lizard.

“Denisu!” Elena shouted. “You’re okay!” Elena and Kage came running up to him, Elena looked more relieved to see him alive.

“Well, good thing my karma isn’t bad today.”

“More like that girl saved your hide.” Kage replied. “Who is she anyway? Ever see her?”

“Nope, new to me.” Saké replied as the Thunder Lizard slammed down its foot, sending a shockwave everywhere. They stumbled to keep their footing and then looked. The girl had tripped and skidded along the ground and now the beast started to close in on her. Sparks started to travel around it’s head. “Not good!”

They saw the chameleon Demi-Human as well as another Demi-Human try and distract the Thunder Lizard by attacking its neck and head, but it wasn’t working.

“We have to stop it from attacking again!” Elena’s voice sounded above all the fighting.

She, Kage and Saké headed back into the fray each going for the head.

It’s charging up that attack again, Saké thought. If we could only plug up its mouth… That’s it! He ran around so he would face the monster from behind the girl, as he saw the glow in the back of the throat.

Saké concentrated and held out a hand that bent with exertion. “Uplift!” he shouted and the exertion brought up a large chunk of earth, around 6-by-6 feet and around 7 feet long from where he wrenched it from the ground. Sweat traveled down the side of his face as he magically held the earth in the air.

“What are you doing?” the girl shouted at him. “It’s going to blast us!”

“Oh hush up.” Saké replied and moved his hand above his head. The hunk of earth followed his hand and was now floating upside down above his head. “Like you said, don’t move if you want to LIVE!” On that last word he jumped up and threw the hunk of rock right at the Thunder Lizard’s open mouth, seconds before it was going to release its attack.

Because of the Thunder Lizard’s backward-pointing teeth and the sheer size of the rock, there was no way to dislodge it, or even swallow it. Blasts of electricity erupted from the corners of its mouth because the rock was in the way. The Thunder Lizard stumbled back, violently shaking its head, trying to force the rock out.

Saké landed and ran over to the girl, who was trying to walk, but winced in pain. Even through the pain she continued to walk. He stopped in front of her.

“Hey, you okay?”

“It’s nothing. I guess, I owe you one…” she said, as if saying the words hurt more than the pain she tried to hide.

“Na, we’re even.” Saké replied.

“Heh, nice move dude.” The chameleon Demi-Human came walking up to him, followed by the purple Demi-Human, another girl, Vared, Sora, Seylin, Zera, Kage, and Elena.

“You managed to find a weakness,” the purple Demi-Human commented.

“Or just a way to plug up its big mouth,” Kage corrected.

“True…”

“That’s what I was going to say earlier.” Everyone looked at Elena. “The only way to defeat a Thunder Lizard is with Earth Element Attacks.”

“Then that’s why Chamel’s Special Attack worked so well against it.” the younger girl stated. “He’s an Earth Innate.”

“Yup,” the one called Chamel replied. “That scar ain’t never gonna heal.”

“So we defeat it with Earth Attacks?” Vared asked.

“I guess so,” Saké commented. “But my magic energy is running on empty, and this fog isn’t helping things. I can’t use Uplift or another spell until I’m recharged.”

“I also know Uplift.” Seylin stated, making everyone look at him. “I just wasn’t sure if it would work.”

“Me too,” Sora added. “I also know a few other attacks, but I didn’t want to waste my energy in meaningless attacks.”

“Do we have time to come up with a plan?” Kage asked, noticing how the Thunder Lizard was starting to stomp towards them. “Cause it’s gettin larger.”

“Maybe the cliffs.” Zera said. “If we can find out how far the cliffs are, we can push it off.”

“Not that far,” Saké commented. “Trust me, they aren’t that far.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky you didn’t fall off.” Kage added.

“Okay, Sora, Seylin,” Elena said, starting to give out plans. “You two get in position by the cliffs. You, uh Chamel was it?” she pointed towards the chameleon Demi-Human, Chamel nodded. “Since your attack seemed to hurt it the most, can you do it again?”

“Eh, No prob.” Chamel replied, with an air of smugness.

“Okay, you push it back towards the cliff where Sora and Seylin will be waiting.”

“Common, don’t leave us out of the fun.” Kage commented.

“Yeah,” Zera added.

“I didn’t. While these three are getting ready, we distract the Thunder Lizard and get it into position. Are you three up for it?” she motioned towards the three who hadn’t given their names as of yet.

“My name’s Amal, and I’m ready to do it.”

“Call me Horus, please.”

“And why should we listen to you?” the archer girl asked.

“Cause she knows what she’s talking about,” Saké retorted. “So its either we listen to her, or we die. Which do you prefer?”

She looked away. “Fine, I’ll help too. I’m Faile.”

“Okay, now…Scatter!” The Thunder Lizard’s head came crashing down right into the middle of the group. They each split off.

Seylin and Sora followed Kage as he lead them to the edge of the cliffs. Chamel headed off on his own to get ready to aim his Lurcher attack. Saké and Vared took along Amal, as Horus and Elena headed off around another side of the reptile.

Faile tried to run to keep up with Zera but found that to me difficult.

“You’re injured.” Zera commented as he slowed down.

“No, I’m not.” Faile replied in her stubborn way.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I can tell you’re in pain.” He slowed down, and put an arm under her left arm and supported her as they made tracks around the Thunder Lizard. “Don’t try and be a martyr.”

“Okay, everyone,” Elena shouted. “ATTACK!”

Saké, Vared, and Amal got its attention first. Denisu’s sword was still glowing the bright yellow, even thought it had slipped his mind when they had gotten a time-out. He slashed first, and sparks shot to the Thunder Lizard’s skin directly from his sword. Then Vared attacked, her Spear blade surrounded by moving flames from her Scorch Blade attack, she left some burnt flesh. Amal went in last, stabbing her Glaive in deep before wrenching it out, leaving a nasty looking wound.

The Thunder Lizard spun towards the source of its pain and a muffled roar escaped its still blocked maw. As it turned, Horus and Elena hit it at the same time, distracting it as the three made their way out. The monster spun towards them, its tail flying in the air. And Zera and Faile attacked. Faile shot three arrows at it at once as Zera ran in close and slashed it a few times before jumping back.

These hit-and-run attacks continued for a few more seconds. As that was happening Chamel was charging up for his strongest Lurcher attack he had ever done. It had to be strong enough to knock the Thunder Lizard towards and off the edge of the cliffs. But… WHERE WERE THE CLIFFS?! Someone had forgot to tell him something! Oh, well. As long as he knew where the forest was, the Cliffs shouldn’t be too far in the other direction. He continued to charge up, waiting for some kind of signal.

Sora and Seylin each used Uplift and two chunks of equal size were lifted from the cliff’s edge, forming a perfect place for the creature to slide down.

“NOW!!” Kage shouted over the sounds of fighting.

“Okay, here it goes!” Chamel held the Masumoon up and he ran straight for the moving yellow blob. The blob soon turned into a more detailed view of the Thunder Lizard, its wounds starting to heal. It faced him and he swung his sword down and it sliced into the earth.

“Lurcher!” The ground where Masumoon touched exploded into large pieces of flying earth slammed into the body of the Thunder Lizard. The beast was pelted with dirt and earth and the force was so much, it started to slide back. It dug its claws into the ground, but even that was not enough, the claws left deep grooves in the ground as it was pushed back.

When the first attack was over, Chamel slashed down on the other side of him and started swinging the Masumoon enough to rapidly sent flying dirt continuously at the beast, pushing it back.

The Thunder Lizard left deep claw marks as it was pushed back hard, every time something hit its skin, the pain burned like fire. And there was nothing to stop it from being pushed back.

Finally, after a few minutes of relentless attacks its hind legs ran out of ground. It slid backwards but managed to catch itself on the edge by digging its claws in deep.

Sora and Seylin had to break their concentration on the clumps of earth to get out of the way of the clawed hands. The two clumps didn’t break apart with they fell.

“Damn, what’s it gonna take to kill this thing?!” Chamel shouted.

“I’ve got it covered.” Kage replied and a ball of pure black energy formed in his right hand. “Shadow Needles!”

Dozens of black needles erupted from the ball and zoomed straight for the Thunder Lizard’s right hand. The needles stuck into the skin. A roar of pain escaped from the monster’s muzzled jaws. The ground started to crack.

“Don’t‘ go after his hand! Hit the ground under it!” Zera’s Blade started to glow around the sharp end of the weapon. “Blasting Zone!“ He slashed straight down and a glowing beam zoomed through the ground and hit the Thunder Lizard’s left hand. A large explosion followed, blasting parts of the ground out from under the hand.

Kage lowered his aim and the dozens of needles blasted parts of the earth into pieces.

Then, from the combined attacks and the weight of the creature, the ground supporting it gave way. The Thunder Lizard tumbled down the side of the cliff, slamming into small outcroppings that flipped it and broke several of its bones. It bounced off the cliff face numerous times before finally slamming into the ground at the bottom of the cliff, next to the sea.

The Thunder Lizard was in agonizing pain and laying on its back. The chunk of earth in its mouth had been broken loose, taking out several of its teeth. It let out a dull roar of pain, but it was still alive.

“Is it dead?” Seylin asked.

“No, it’s been knocked senseless. But it’s still alive.” Horus stated, concentrating on the monster’s mind.

“We can’t let a thing like that run loose.” Vared commented.

“But how do we stop it? A fall off a steep cliff didn’t kill it.” Chamel replied.

“Easy,” Saké said, leaning against one of the earth pieces moved by Seylin and Sora. “We burry it.” He pointed his thumb towards the earth he was leaning on.

“I get it,” Kage said. “We use these clumps to burry it.”

“But it’s not enough earth to burry a Thunder Lizard.” Elena retorted. “We need more dirt.”

“A landslide,” Faile mentioned, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We start a landslide that will burry it.”

Everyone looked at everyone else.

“Okay, let’s do it!”

Saké started to push against the dirt clump, joined by Seylin, Kage, Elena, and Horus. Sora, Vared, Chamel, Amal, Faile and Zera pushed on the other one. However, after a minute of straight pushing, the pieces hadn’t moved an inch.

“These things weigh a ton!” Chamel complained. “Why didn’t you use less dirt?!”

“Shut up Chamel!” Amal replied.

Horus had maintained his mental link with the Lizard, and he could feel it regaining its senses. “We had better hurry, it’s waking up!”

“Okay,” Zera said backing away from the boulder. “Time for drastic measures.” He backed up about 30 feet and then took off in a straight dash, slamming his full weight into the boulder. The Rock moved two feet, and there was another six feet to go.

Zera back up, rubbing his shoulder. “Ouch,”

“No time for that,” Horus said and he ran to where Zera had started his dash. “I’ll levitate them above the ground and you push them over the side.” He closed his eyes and held his hands out. A purple aura surrounded him, glowing fiercely. The aura seemed to become like fire as he strained his Psychic abilities.

The two pieces of ground started to levitate above the ground. Not too much, just an inch or two, but at least they wouldn’t be a drag.

Everyone started pushing again, this time making more ground than earlier. Chamel pushed so hard he almost fell off the edge. Lucky for him, Faile caught him by his tail and pulled him back.

“They’re over! Drop ‘em!” Elena shouted.

Horus released his hold on the dirt and they both fell like dead weights. Crashing into the side of the cliff, more pieces of dirt and earth were dislodged and fell. A huge landslide started, shaking the very foundation of the cliff.


* * *

The Thunder Lizard opened one of its burning amber eyes and the last thing it saw was tons of dirt falling towards it.


* * *

The edge of the cliff started to collapse, heading close to the Pendant Bearers.

“I think we better run!” Vared shouted.

Everyone broke out into a dead run, except for Faile who’s ankle was hurting and slowing her down. The crumbling ground chased everyone towards the edge of the forest. Faile was slowing down, the pain starting to get to her. She still had a few meters to go before she reached the forest. The crumbling rocks and dirt started to slow, until eventually slowed, a few feet away from Faile.

As fast as she could, she made it over to the forest, seconds before the ground she had been standing on collapsed. Everyone watched, standing in amazement.

A portion of the Hitara Cliffs had been turned into the largest landside Direwood Forest had ever seen. And what’s more, the Thunder Lizard, was completely buried alive.

“So much for the Thunder Lizard,” Kage commented. Just as he said those words, the fog bank finally began to break apart and the sun’s light finally touched ground for the first time that day.

Everyone looked up at the sun as its rays warmed their faces and bodies.

As the fog separated, they could see the entire coastline to the north and the forest behind it. And sitting on the edge of the coast, several miles north, small reflections of buildings gave away the position of Termania. A fishing village just ten miles north of the Hitara Cliffs.

“There it is.” Saké commented, pointing out Termania.

“Hey dude,” Chamel said. “What’s with the sword?”

Saké looked at his sword. There was still the yellow glow and a random spark of electricity, only now it was starting to fade.

“Heck if I know,” He sheathed his sword as everyone placed their weapons in their holsters, if there existed one.

They stood there on the newly formed cliff, with the defeated Thunder Lizard buried under several tons of dirt and rock, and scraps and bruises all over their bodies.

But what the group didn’t know was that they had been watched, ever since the Thunder Lizard appeared. Watched by two people who stood on the tree branches near the edge of the forest. Their faces obscured by leaves, the man held a curved staff with a long sickle-shaped blade on the end that was touching the branch he was standing on. The other was a woman who had a bo staff attached to a strap around her waist. In her hands, positioned near her mouth was a flute, shaped like a seashell, and glowing all the colors of the rainbow.

“That was unexpected.” the man said, slightly impressed. “I was hoping the creature would get them.”

“Seez you,” the woman replied. “I was hopping the fog bank you created would at least make a few of them fall over the cliffs.”

“Heh,” he laughed. “It doesn’t matter now. They’re heading for Termania. We should do the right thing and make sure they have a warm reception.”

The two of them disappeared in a gust of wind and the branches looked like they had never been touched. All was normal in Direwood forest. The birds chirped, the winds whistled through the trees, and the eleven Pendant Bearers made their way to Termania.

---------------------------------------

Hatsuki Seylin: Hello, I’m Hatsuki Seylin. We reach Termania with our new allies only to discover that Garm’s soldiers have already invaded, asking everyone about anything about the eleven of us. Looks like we have to evacuate as soon as possible. But Vared discovers something at the Library that grabs everyone’s attention, and almost throws the siege happening all around us out of our minds. Next time on Chains of Dragons! Ripples Into Waves.

Koori no Takuto! (Wand of Ice!)

[SmearGal]

Hey Den, my turn to critique you. MWARHARHAR!!

Anyway, you've done a very good job with the TL battle. At least Sora had some part to play in this version. Detail is wonderful, and you're definitely keeping (well...) MY attention, at least. And you're doing a good job in leaving little things that make the reader come back...whatever that's called. - -';; Fear my brightness and ingenuity(sp?).

~Smear

[Mew Master]

Chapter 5 of Chains of Dragons (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17376)

Preview:

What happens when an 8-Ton giant reptile with lighting morning breath stumbles onto you and your group? Only one thing.....BREAKFAST!

Join the Pendant Bearers as they band together to stop their greatest challenge to date, the Thunder Lizard. Its a non-stop roller-coaster ride and you can't get off.

Grabe your weapons,

Power your magic,

And Trust your Heart,

For it may be the only thing that will save you.

Chains of Dragons

Brought to you by: The Make-out Patrol: making your town safer, but less fun.

~Mew Master

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Neato! :D I like how you expanded on the Lizard battle, added good stuff to it. like making it so it wasn't just a team Uplift that beat the thing. A lot more teamwork and clever thinking. :)

*Reads preview for next chap* Ooo, the library. Everyone loves libraries.
...but i should probably wait to say that untill they actually get to the library. :P

[Darkmaster Kagemusha]

FLOOKOOM!!!! *Falls down*. Very good, Denny. It's fun burying things alive. You wanna know something though? I got confused when I was posting in the RPG today, because I had a dream about the TL battle. Lol, anyway, I didn't screw nothin' up. **Shrugs** I liked the teamwork and the whole "You almost fell off" thing. Good stuff.

(P.S. Denny, you're still a flit)

[Mew Master]

Now... this chapter is so HUGE, I had to split it into three posts....

ENJOY! :D


Chapter 6: Ripples into Waves

The edge of Termania was moving around at the usual speed before dusk. Children continued to play as their mothers went out to collect the laundry hanging out on the lines. The men came back from an entire day of fishing, back to a warm meal waiting for them. There was some talk about a section of the Hitara Cliffs collapsing earlier that day. The fog had been so think that no one really noticed that the cliff was gone until around noon.

It was a hot topic of discussion for the rest of the day.

“Maria said she heard a roar earlier this morning.” said one mother, holding a basket of laundry.

“Well Dennis said he heard a roar several times, and then the sound of something falling down the cliffs.” another replied.

“Mommy,” Dennis said tugging at his mother’s apron. “Look.” he pointed down the road leading into Termania.

The mother look, and so did the other woman. Soon everything stopped on that street as children and the adults looked and saw strangers entering from the forest.

They started to move towards the edge of the street as they passed, staring at the rag-tag people.

“Well they certainly look friendly.” Sora commented as they started to enter.

“They aren’t used to strangers.” Saké replied.

“Then are they used to you?” Seylin retorted, showing an uncharacteristic amount of humor.

The citizens of Termania looked at them all. Everyone had their fair share of bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes. Faile was limping lightly though, drawing some attention towards her. In reality the only ones receiving attention were the Demi-Humans, especially Horus, Chamel, and Elena.

“What’s with them?” Chamel asked. “They act like they’ve never seen an eight-foot long sword before.”

“I think they’re looking at you Chamel, not your sword.” Faile replied.

“What?!” Chamel fell down in stupidity.

“Don’t worry about it Chamel, if I hadn’t seen you before, I’d stare at ya too.” Saké replied, looking back at the chameleon Demi-Human.

After several minutes of walking on one of Termania’s streets, Kage finally asked, “So, where are we headed Saké?”

“Remember I said my father had friends in town? Well one of them owns a tavern where we could possibly stay.” he replied.

“What tavern?” Vared asked. “So far we’ve only been walking by houses.”

“It’s not going to be in the usual places for taverns. It’s close by the civilian district.” They rounded a corner, only now windows were shutting because the sun was setting, and lamps were being lit.

At the end of the street, a tall three story building built of lumber. Lights glowed out of the ground floor, and a few on the top two stories. A golden sign hung over the twin front doors saying Shadow Forest.

“The Shadow Forest?” Kage said looking at the name. “Hey, isn’t this the place that is supposed to have the best food, drink, and beds in all of Zeeam.”

“Same one,” Saké said as he jumped up the steps. “And I know the owners.” Pushing both doors open he let out a shout. “Uncle Glenn! Aunt Leena!”

A fist flew out behind the side of the door and blindsided Saké alongside the head. Everyone reached for their weapons, ready for an ambush, while Saké’s eyes were spinning. He shook his head and started to rub it with his hand.

“Ya know,” he commented sitting up and rubbing his head. “I have been hit way too many times in the head today Glenn!”

“Oh common Denisu.” someone stepped out from behind the door. He was tall, messy white hair, and a square jaw. He had on a tie-up neck collar shirt that was dirty from working and tan, loose, pants that were tied around his ankles, his blue eyes shined . Some facial hair was sticking out of his chin. “You of all people should know that your head is too thick to crack. It’s the hardest part of your body.”

“Glenn.” shouted a woman’s voice from a back room. “Glenn, honey, what’s all the commotion.”

A stout, sturdy, woman emerged from the back room, a dirty apron hanging around her waist. Her dress was a darkened brown and her red hair was tied back in a bun. She had brown eyes.

“Why Denisu,” she exclaimed. “What a surprise! Did my husband hit you again?”

“The boy’s alright Leena, it will take more than a sucker punch to take out Saké here.”

“Oh, don’t call him that. Denisu is a fine respectable name, and no reason to call him any different.” Leena replied, shooting down her husband’s enthusiasm. “Denisu, you look like a mess, playing around with those cat Demi-Humans again?”

“Ah-HEM!” Everyone looked at Elena, who had most likely been offended.

“Oh,” Leena said, obviously seeing she had opened her big mouth, and just noticed everyone for the first time. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, any of you, there. Can we set you up with rooms for the night?”

“They came here with Denisu, hun,” Glenn replied, motioning the group inside and closing the doors. “I was keeping an eye out for those shifters who tried to scrounge a meal from us.”

“Why, you all look like a mess! What happened to you all, and why isn’t your father here Denisu?”

Saké looked to the ground. “Uh, it’s a long story Leena,”


* * *

They were given rooms, but to the surprise of everyone except Saké, they had to turn their own weapons to Glenna and Leena. They almost tried to slug Saké when they found out, but luckily he managed to give them an explanation to satisfy them, but a few, like Zera and Faile, weren’t happy at all.

They had been split up. The girls slept upstairs while the guys had the second floor to themselves. The Shadow Forest already had some guests so the rooms had to be split. Saké and Chamel, Horus and Kage, and Seylin and Zera had their rooms, while there was a problem with the girls. They had to decide who would split a room three-ways, and it ended up Vared, Sora, and Elena had a room, while Faile and Amal shared the other.

There were showers inside the rooms and everyone was taking turns getting washed up. Saké wandered downstairs into the tavern and saw the many tables and even more chairs strewn around the room. Big glass windows showed off the remaining bits of light from the sunset and even starts blinking on in the night. He walked towards one of the tables near the windows and sat down.

His eyes looked at Termania. He couldn’t see much because of the darkness closing in, but it was still refreshing to be among family. Leena and Glenn where technically his cousins, on his mother’s side, and enjoyed the sea. His other uncle was a fisherman and his other cousin had been going out to sea every day for the past 8 years. He liked Wayne, his cousin, as he did Leena and Glenn, although Glenn always liked to whack him over the head in good sport.

As the light outside dimmed and the light inside the Inn became brighter, he saw his reflection and noticed the pendant was still hanging around his neck. He held it out at the string’s length, trying to get another look at the diamond eyes, the gold skin, and the pure white crystal. It almost looked to Saké like the golden dragon was sleeping, it’s eyes half-closed.

There was the sound of footsteps coming down into the tavern and he turned around to see. No one. Could he be hearing things? With the past few days it wouldn’t surprise him. When he turned back towards the window, something really surprised him.

Chamel’s reptilian face was hanging upside down in front of his nose.

“Boo.”

“ACK!” Saké jumped back, but because he was in the chair, it tilted back and he slammed into the floor with a loud crash.

Chamel jumped down onto the floor. “Sorry man, didn’t mean to scare ya like that.”

“Scare nothing,” Saké replied, getting up. “This chair is defective.” He hadn’t been scared, just startled at Chamel’s sudden appearance act.

“I’m still sorry dude.” Chamel repeated, holding out a hand.

“Heh, forget it.” Saké replied and grabbed Chamel’s hand and was pulled up onto his feet. “But I do know I’m gonna be sore in the morning.”

“That’s an understatement.” Chamel replied as the two took a seat near the window once again.

Leena came by, holding two warm mugs of kilala, a kind of ice tea-like drink with a large dose of cinnamon. “Here you two go. Dinner’s going to be ready in a few minutes. And stop trying to break my chairs Denisu.”

Saké gave his nervous grin. “Sorry about that Leena.” She walked back towards the kitchen. When he looked back at Chamel, he saw that the chameleon was looking at Leena as she disappeared into the kitchen. There was a look in his eyes. Something sad, and hopeful, maybe wishful. “You okay Chamel?”

“Huh?! Yeah, I’m fine.” He looked out the window towards the glowing windows of Termania.

“You’re lying, something’s on your mind. What is it?” Sake decided to take a risk and press the issue a bit, seeing if Chamel would get something off his chest.

“Well,” he was hesitating. “Well, I…I was just wondering. Wondering if my mother’s as nice as your relative is.”

Saké was dumbfounded. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Chamel took a deep breath and Denisu could see this wasn’t something easy for Chamel to talk about. “Before I can even remember, I’ve never known my parents. They left me at a shrine before I could even talk or walk. They left me there to be raised by the monks and the sensei was the only one who never put me down at all. He was like the family I never had. Everyone made fun of me, thinking I didn’t know. They all lied, saying I’d done stuff I would never think of doing.” Anger was starting to flow from his voice. “All their teasing made me hurt, and even the sensei’s care couldn’t take the pain away. I was afraid half the time, and I ended up a klutz. They’d all laugh at me, and wouldn’t stop. I just wanted someone to care about my feelings, to be a family to me, but no one ever did. They always stomped on them.” Tears formed in the corners of the chameleon’s eyes. “And my sensei told me, that if Garm, whoever he is, is beaten, than my parents will finally come for me.”

“Hey man, it’s okay.” Saké said. “I don’t know what it’s like, to be laughed at. But we won’t laugh at you. In a way, we’re kinda like a family now. We each have these,” he held the pendant out. “And we all have similar goals. ‘Sides, you’re not a klutz, a little bit of comedy relief, but you’re not a klutz. From what I’ve seen anyway. Dude, you can’t let what they say get to you, if it does, then they win. I ran around with the Pride all the time, and I never cared what anyone said. Because the Pride members where my friends, and who’s opinion matter’s more? You and your friends, or complete strangers who don’t agree?”

The chameleon looked at Saké and he saw a different light in the Demi-Human’s eyes. “Never thought about it that way. Thanks Denisu. You are one of the good guys.”

“Don’t go spreading that around, I have a reputation to uphold. And just call me Saké, Chamel.”

“You got it Saké.” The two raised a nameless toast with their mugs and took another gulp of the kilala, finishing off their drinks.

“What’s up?” Horus came walking in their direction and took a seat next to Saké. “Discussing the meaning of life or just talking trash?”

“As a matter of fact,” Chamel replied. “I was telling Saké that I’m a spy. Don’t worry Horus, I like you, I’m from the government.”

The purple Demi-Human let out a laugh at Chamel’s joke. “Hate to tell ya Chamel, but I’m Secretary of Defense.”

“What am I? Attorney General?” Saké butted in.

“No,” Chamel replied. “You got demoted to Surgeon General last fall, remember?”

“Oh yeah, but who got my job?”

“Someone who was more able to handle the stress. Francis, the talking gerbil.” Horus stated.

“I got replaced by a Gerbil?! Man that sucks.” Saké gave a fake sulking look.

Faile, Kage, Vared, and Elena started to come down the stairs and took seats near the three, already joking around, all but Faile, who went and sat down by herself three tables down.

“What’s with her?” Chamel asked. “That time of the month?”

“Shut up, Chamel.” Elena replied. “You don’t even know what that means, do you?”

“No, but what is her excuse?”

Horus looked at her and looked around the aura hanging around her. His voice was lowered, “It’s a deep-rooted sadness. Family probably was killed by the soldiers.”

“Well, then I’ll go say something.” Chamel said with a large smile. “No one has to be depressed all the time, do they?” He stood up and started walking over to Faile when a scent distracted him. “Hmm?! *sniff* *sniff* That smell…. *Sniff* That texture *SNIFF* That can only be…..” he was making his way towards the kitchen, his nose high in the air.

“Hey!” Saké tired to warn. “Chamel don’t…!”

Chamel pushed both swinging doors to the kitchen open and shouted, “GRIB BERRIES!” Instantaneously, after he said those words, he was dropped, down on the floor, a frying pan imbedded in his head and his eyes spinning.

“I tried to warn him,” Denisu commented holding his hand over his face. “Never go into the kitchen when Leena is cooking.”

“We can see that.” Elena replied. “Does she usually throw pans like shot-puts?”

“Only when someone tries to bug her when she’s cooking,” Glenn commented as he walked into the tavern room. “Just finished locking up for the night. Everyone else already had dinner and are sleeping by now.”

Scents of meat and spices filled the tavern and everyone breathed in the aromas.

“Smells like old-fashioned home cooking,” Sora commented as she came walking down the stairs, her jacket up in the room.

Amal came down after her. “Reminds me of dad’s venison stew.” She inhaled more of the smell.

Finally Seylin and Zera came down the stairs, both sniffing very loud.

“It’s almost ready! Get some tables together!” Leena shouted.

Saké, Kage, Elena, Zera, and Sora arranged three tables end-to-end and then grabbed some chairs. Horus and Seylin moved the barely conscious Chamel out of the way of the kitchen, just as Leena started coming out of the kitchen, holding large trays in both hands.

“It’s ready!”

Within minutes the tables were filled to the brink with all kinds of food. Venison stew, boiled lobster, shish-Ka-bobed Gar, fried steak, , roasted chicken, honey glazed cordials, several different cheeses, pitches of kilala, and, Chamel’s favorite, Grib Berry Pie and Grib Muffins. There was also rice, salad, and water.

“Okay, everyone, dig in!” Leena said and the munch fest was on.

Saké pilled his plate with the stew, steak, and harlen, his utensils moving at full speed, and his bowl at his face. He was getting some attention, but not that much. Everyone had a hearty appetite after the past two days. While Kage, Chamel, and Saké made pigs of themselves, Horus, Zera, and Seylin ate with more manners, but not much. Even the ladies were eating relatively fast, all except for Faile, who seemed to be picking at her food, not that she got that much to begin with.

The group ate for almost an hour, having the best (and decent) meal they had gotten in the past 48 hours. Eating until they were full, happy, and drowsy. While eating, they had told Glenn and Leena their stories about what happened a few days ago.

“You poor things,” Leena said. “It must be horrible. And I’m surprised Denisu, you leaving your father while he’s in the hospital. You should be watching the shrine.”

“Now, now, Leena. If Leon gave him that crystal, then he couldn’t have stayed at the shrine, unless he wanted to threaten its existence.” Glenn replied. “Besides, I find it strange that a Thunder Lizard would leave the Shadow Marshes, especially just for food. Even in the drought we had 40 years ago, which was ten times worse than what we’re having now, they never left that forsaken place.”

“Thunder Lizards are creatures with big bodies, large stomachs,, huge appetites, and small brains.” Elena commented. “Who knows what they do, we know how to defeat them now.”

“But we can never be sure there will be a cliff to toss one off of though,” Seylin replied. “We got lucky today.”

“There are worse creatures that could have left the Shadow Marshes than the Thunder Lizards, correct?” Horus stated. “We should be grateful it wasn’t anything else.”

“As a matter of fact, I pride myself on being somewhat of an authority on ancient legends of creatures living and gone, especially around this area of Zeeam.” Glenn commented.

“Don’t you start with your stories Glenn,” Leena said. “These kids are tired, and should get some rest.”

“Thanks a lot Leena,” Saké said, standing and starting to gather the four separate plates and bowls he dirtied. “We really appreciate it.”

“Don’t think nothing of it hun,” Leena replied. “After what you all have been through, this is the least we can do. As long as you and your friends don’t cause us any trouble. And don’t worry about the dishes, me and Glenn will take care of them tonight, you go up and get some rest.”

“I’ll send out a message to the Keikami Shrine first thing tomorrow and inform your father you got here safely. I’ll also send messages out to all your parents, if you’ll let me know where they live.” Glenn added.

Faile, her plate not half empty, just stood up. “Thank you for the meal.” And she just rushed upstairs, without looking at anyone.

“Like I said, it’s that time of the month,” Chamel said, munching a Grib Berry muffin. But, he started getting pelted with plates being thrown by Elena, Vared, Sora, and Amal.

“You, will help clean up this mess.” Leena said, a fire in her eyes as Chamel was left, his eyes spinning again.

Everyone headed to their rooms after giving their thanks and goodnights to Glenn and Leena, then to themselves as they went to their rooms. Saké was still teetering on the edge of sleep and consciousness, even when Chamel came inside fifteen minutes later. The chameleon fell right asleep and started snoring, very, very, very loudly.


* * *

Dawn broke over Termania, the birds started singing as the rays warmed the earth and a new day started. At the Shadow Forest the Pendant Bearers started waking up.

Glenn and Leena went upstairs to wake everyone up, and tell them that breakfast would be ready in an hour. Amal, Chamel, Saké and Horus were up and started to head downstairs.

“Well, well,” Glenn said as he saw the four up and moving. “How did everyone sleep?”

“I may have slept a little wrong, but other than that, it was good.” Horus commented.

“Same here,” Amal added.

Chamel was showing an unusual amount of energy for early in the morning, while Saké was looking drained.

“Ahh! Am I refreshed or what?!” Chamel said.

“Speak for yourself,” Saké commented. “You wouldn’t quit snoring.”

Chamel pressed his thumb to his tongue and then pressed it on his hip. “Hhiiiissssssss.”

“Not funny,” Saké grumbled.


* * *

Everyone was sitting at the table, rested, washed, and ready for more of Leena’s cooking. Chamel managed to control himself and he didn’t get whacked alongside the head again by Leena. Saké, Chamel, and Kage were once again having their eating contest. Everyone watched in disbelief as mounds of food disappeared down their gullets.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Amal stammered.

“Common,” Elena said. “Let’s hurry and eat before they scarf everything!” She started digging in as well.

“Hey Glenn,” Chamel asked. “Does this Inn have a spa or something?”

“We’ve got the hot springs behind the building. It’s were we get our hot water from.”

“And don’t talk with your mouth full Chamel.” Leena added.

“Heh, can’t wait to check it out.”

Breakfast was over and everyone started talking about what they wanted to go see first.

“I hear the stores are selling some new fabrics.”

“What about the market? It’s been so long, I wonder if Lara is still around.”

“Lara? The produce lady? She’s still here, we saw her a few weeks ago.”

“Hey! HEY!” Saké shouted. “Okay, it’s pretty sure that we all have separate things we wanna look at. What we can do, is head into Termania and look around. But if there’s an emergency, a real emergency, we head back here.”

“Don’t worry, if anyone starts asking questions, we don’t know any of you.” Glenn replied, a smile on his face.

“That and we have to leave our weapons here. The people are suspicious of anyone carrying weapons, and may open their mouths.” Saké finished. “We ready?”

“Yeah!” everyone replied.

“Then let’s go!”


* * *

Everyone had left the Shadow Forest, well, all except for Amal. As the other Pendant Bearers left the Inn, she wanted to stay behind. To her, looking at clothes and shops wasn’t her idea of fun, not while Garm and his army wee still out there, probably waiting for them.

“You’re not going out dearie?” Leena asked, coming up behind Amal and startling her a bit.

“Uh, no. Um, Leena?” she asked. “Is there a place where I could possibly train?”

Leena looked Amalthea up and down, and turned the decision over in her mind. “I suppose. Follow me dearie.”

Amal followed Leena as they went out of the main hall, past the tavern and back where the Outdoor springs were. Past the springs, in the back yard of the Inn, there was a decent sized building with a glowing marking on the doorknob. Leena walked right up to the marking and held her hand over the door. The markings started to glow a bright green.

“Seal, release.” The marking stopped glowing and Leena grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door.

“A Magic Seal?”

“More of a Thief Charm. If anyone comes with any intent to steal weapons, or try and take what does not belong to them, then the seal will let Glenn or me know someone was here and usually mark them. But only we can see the mark.” Leena replied as she reached for a lantern and lit it.

The inside of the building seemed huge. Weapons were on stands on all four walls. Leaning against the walls, and even in cases. All kinds of weapons, spears, swords, knives, staffs, glaives that looked nastier than Amal’s, swallows, claws, and even sai. She even spotted the other’s weapons hanging on the walls. Amal reached out and grabbed a hold of her Glaive and picked it off the wall.

“Thanks Leena,” she said and headed out of the building, a smile on her face.

Leena watched her go, and an idea formed in the stout woman’s mind.

Amalthea headed for a clearing, somewhere where she wouldn’t hit anyone practicing her moves. First she spread her feet and held her Glaive out so the longer blade touched the ground. Steadying her breathing, Amal closed her eyes and concentrated. Just as she opened her eyes she moved.

A quick jab down low went into a move where she twirled her Glaive backwards and stood on the tip of her right foot and then she brought he left foot down and spun the Glaive as she did. The backwind from her moves caused blades of grass to fly up into the air and leaves were caught in the breeze of her attacks.

Her eyes were closed and she steadied her breathing once again. It felt good to practice, and not worry about injuries or fighting for your own life. A memory came into her mind. Home, practicing with her father, the dinner, the sounds of the explosions, the Glaive and the Pendant, running from home, Horus falling from the sky, sleeping with him still awake, meeting the others the day after, the fight with the Thunder Lizard, and finally ending up in Termania. It all seemed so fresh in her mind.

Then a sound. Something was moving. Something with two feet and close. Getting closer. Amal’s eyes were still closed and she tried to pin-point the sound with her ears. There! Right behind!

Amal spun with her Glaive and it connected with another weapon. She looked and to her surprise, it was Leena! In her hands was a metal staff, grinding against the staff of Amal’s Glaive.

“Leena?!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry to take you off guard dearie, but we all need a little practice now and then. Wouldn’t you agree?” the stout woman smiled.

Smiling herself, Amal spun and broke the deadlock and the two woman stared at each other.

Leena, moving much faster than her appearance would show, ran right for Amal, spinning the staff around her body. Tensing up, Amal waited and swung up her Glaive.


* * *

In the large mass of people in Termania’s main market-place, the Pendant Bearers started to lose sight of one another. Chamel managed to stick with Sora, while Elena, Zera, and Horus decided to stick together, Faile and Vared went off, each on their own, Kage went for some of the knives and weapons booths, Seylin went off for a less populated area, and Sake started to make his way for the wharf.

Faile Thundersong pushed her way through the mob of people and found her way to a certain shop. She ducked her head a bit and brushed aside the cloth hanging in the doorway.

“Hello,” said a cheery voice from an old woman. She had some frazzled ears. She had to have been a Demi-Human, the whites of her eyes were completely black. “May I help you with something?”

“No, just looking.” Faile answered, slightly nervous.

“Fine dearie, when you find something nice, just come and let me know.” The old woman waddled off, deeper into the shop. There was a smoke hanging in the air, but it was the scents of herbal essence and other candles. This certain shop was a place for herbs and ailments, but it did have it’s child section.

Making her way towards the child’s area, she look among the rows of toys. Things with springs, wooden versions of Jakartian creatures, and even a few characterized dragons. Then there it was. A little pull toy, it was of a deformed human, not realistic at all, but still recognizable as humanoid. It was on a thin stick, connected to the string, pulling on the string caused the doll’s body to drop down and the arms and legs flailing up. It was very amusing to young tots.

Reaching out, she picked one off the display and pulled on the string. It preformed as usual but let out a little “squeak” as well.

Then, Faile did something she hadn’t done in a long while. She smiled.


<><><><><><>

Faile, around 11 years old, walked following her mother. Her new young brother was resting in Marge Thundersong’s arms as they walked through a street of Termania. It had been a few months after Thaddeus had been born and Marge was once again getting into the flow of things. Their father had stayed at home, getting everything cleaned up and making sure they would have a warm meal on their return.

Faile was starting to get impatient with Thaddeus. How long would it take for him to grow so she could play with him? She wanted so badly to play catch with him and run, seeing if he could catch up with her. Faile had always been the fastest runner among everyone around their home.

“Can I hold him?” she pleaded with her mother.

“Just a minute Faile,” her mother replied, looking down and smiling. “One last stop that I have to make and you can hold him while I’m inside, and when we start on our way back. I promise.”

“Yay!” Faile shouted, impatient yet once again.

Some minutes later, Marge had reached the shop and let Faile hold Thaddeus, reminding the eleven-year-old how to make sure and hold her brother’s head up. Going inside, Marge left Faile outside, standing with Thaddeus in her young arms. It was nice to hold him, she loved him so much she could never let go. Then her brother started to mumble and then let out a soft cry.

Faile, trying hard to stop her younger brother from crying, but he wouldn’t. It was hurting Faile’s heart the way he wouldn’t quit, and her mother was still inside. Maybe Thad needed a diaper change, but she didn’t know how to do that.

“Don’t worry Thaddeus,” she tried to comfort him. “It’s okay, I’ll find you some help.”

Faile looked around, for some reason she thought going into the store with the name Herbs for Every Ailment over the door. She ran into the shop, remembering when Thaddeus had a stomach ache a few weeks ago and Marge fed him some herbs..

She was short enough to fit under the drape without touching it and made her way inside. Her brother was still crying as she tried to understand the inside of this strange place. A sweet-smelling smoke was in the air and everything seemed to be hidden in a thick mist. It seemed strange, but inviting at the same time, so she walked down the isles looking for anyone. Then she spotted the toys. Several kinds were there, but there was one she hadn’t seen. A pull toy that the character would be pulled down and the arms and legs would fly up.

As gently as she could she laid Thaddeus down, who was now wailing, and grabbed one of the toys off the shelf. She managed to get it to work and started making it move in front of Thaddeus’s eyes.

Thaddeus looked at the strange thing that was bobbing up and down above him. His crying started to turn to laughter. The cheerful laughter of a baby, one that would charm anyone’s heart.

“Now who could that be in my shop?” Faile was so startled that she threw the toy up and it landed on the floor.

There at the end of the isle was a hunched over old woman. Her hair was a little scraggly, and old robes hung off her body. She had no whites in her eyes, they were all black. Her ears were on top of her head and very bear-like, with frizzled hair at the ends.

“Now now,” she said in a kindly old way. “Who might you be young lady?”

“I… I’m…. Faile.” she stuttered.

“Ahh, and was your brother the one making all that happy laughter?”

“Uh… yes.. Yes ma’am.”

“Good, this place needs a bit of laughter. Where are your parents?”

“My daddy is at home, and my mommy is in another store.”

“Is she now? How about you come this way and I’ll let you have something to drink, and wait for your mother to come and get you?”

The old woman lead Faile, who had picked up Thaddeus, towards one of the walls near the door. There she had Thaddeus laid out on the counter as she went and boiled some tea. The pot let out a whistle and the old woman went and picked it up before pouring her and Faile a cup of nice tea.

Faile took one sip and loved the taste. It was like kilala, something mommy or daddy never let her drink too much of. Quickly Faile finished her cup and was asking for another when Marge came in through the door.

“Faile, there you are.” she said, somewhat short of breath. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Oh, are these two yours?” the elderly woman asked.

“Yes, and I’m sorry if they caused you too much trouble.” Marge replied.

“Oh, none at all, none at’all. In fact I was just about to start telling the youngin’s some stories to pass the time.” The woman took another look at Marge. “Excuse me… but aren’t you Marge, Marge Recari?”

Marge looked a little shocked and blushed, but then replied. “No, it’s Thundersong now.”

“Oh, that’s right, you came in here a few years back looking for some… Oh.” she said, putting two-and-two together. “So these two are…?”

Marge blushed again. “Yes, they are.”

“Ahh, they’ll make fine people. Faile is quite the young lady.”

“Thank you again,” Marge started.

“Do not trouble yourself. It was nice to hear the sound of laughter in this old shop of mine once again. Thank you.”

As Marge picked up Thaddeus and Faile walked behind her mother, she stole another glance at the pull-toys that had made Thaddeus so happy….


<><><><><><>

Faile pulled on the toy again, and she got the same squeak sound. She smiled once again. The toy in hand she went up to the counter, where the old Demi-Human woman was sitting.

She placed the toy on the counter and the woman picked it up. Looked at it once and then looked at Faile.

“A gold and three silver pieces dear.” Faile searched her pouch for the money as the woman looked at her. “Excuse me dearie,” Faile looked at her. “But do I know you?”

Faile, a little flustered, replied. “No, no I don’t think so.” She picked up the toy and left. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome dearie.”

[Mew Master]

* * *

Chamel’s nose sniffed as he and Sora walked through the crowded area. He caught the scent of freshly grilling Turkey legs and beef sticks.

“Mmmm, that smells so good.” he commented, rubbing his stomach, and heading towards the smell.

Sora gave him a strange look, and grabbed him by the end of his cape.. “Do you always think about your stomach?”

“How could you tell? It smells so good I have to get a taste.”

“We just ate breakfast!” she protested.

Chamel and Sora stared at each other blankly. “I’m buying.”

“Let’s go.” Sora replied.

Minutes later, both Chamel and Sora were eating in a self-proclaimed eating-contest. Seeing who could munch the most legs in ten minutes.


* * *

Walking down a street, Vared managed to make her way out of the thick of the crowd of Termania. She didn’t want to go visiting the shops and other places everyone else was going. Something was tugging at the back of her mind. On the day her home was attacked, her grandfather had said he was The Seventh Warrior of the Draconian Warriors. What did it mean?

What ever it meant, it had something to do with the Pendants she and the others possessed, and possibly their weapons too. To find out, Vared was heading to the one place in town where there could possibly be some answers: the Termania Public Library.

It was an old building compared to the rest of Termania, parts of the walls were untidy and paint was crumbling off the sides of the building. It was a pale tan as the sun shown on it. There was a flight of wide stairs up to the main doors. At the bottom of the stairs, on the sides of the stairs, were small statues of watery looking Dragons. Several of the statues were destroyed, smashed to bits by age or vandalism, no one remembered. She quickly walked up the stairs to the building’s doors.

With some effort, she managed to push the giant oak doors aside and step inside. Despite the age showing on the outside, the inside was well kept. Dust-free and very inviting. She walked in, the oak doors closing behind her with a loud clang.

Vared looked around, and noticed a desk sitting near the doors. Nervously, she walked up to it, and the female librarian sitting behind the desk.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked, her eyes being hid behind thick glasses.

“Um, where would your card catalogue be?” Vared asked, with an air of nervousness.

“Over to your left.” The librarian pointed to a stack of small drawers separated by both author and title.

“Thank you.” Vared walked over and started looking for any books that included the word “dragons” in the title.


* * *

Saké made his way as quick as he could through the crowd. It was still early and his cousin should still be getting ready to go out for the morning’s fishing run. His cousin was a nice person with some strange quirks, but who didn’t have quirks?

Not paying attention to where he was going, Saké ran right into a girl. He quickly stepped back, somewhat flustered, and blushing.

“Sorry,” she said, very low and with a hint of shyness.

“No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Saké replied, giving her his infamous smile.

The two looked at each other, both blushing. She was cute. Very cute. Sky blue eyes sparkled on her face. Her face was smooth and slightly red, from her blushing. She had blue hair untied and loose, flowing in the slight breeze that continued to pick up. Her hair was under a hat, but was somewhat like a chapoe. Earrings were in her ears, big pink balls that reflected the light. But something…. Something in her eyes…. Saké couldn’t tell what it was, but he could see…. Something…..

“Sorry,” she said, breaking his mind-block. “But I have to get going.” With that she ran off, leaving a dumbfounded Saké standing there.

A few minutes after she left, Saké’s mind started working again. “Hey!” but it was too late. The girl had disappeared into the growing crowd. Blast it!, his mind screamed. And she was cute too…… He shook his head again, clearing his mind, then mumbled to himself, “I have to hurry, Wayne heads out in a few minutes.” And with that Saké continued making his way through the crowd and towards the wharf.


* * *

In an open park, with few people around, Seylin Hatsuki smiled a bit. Since he couldn’t stand any people at all, he tried to find one place where there would be none, a park. Lucky enough for him he managed to find it just before the sounds of excited people almost caused him to lose his temper and scream.

He walked around, his hands in his pockets, a slight breeze brushing his silver hair. Why where they so worried about material worth? Spending all their money on things they would never need, instead of staying with the family. Why were people so idiotic that Seylin couldn’t stand them anymore? Why wouldn’t his father understand? He guessed that even after his father had the tar beaten out of him, that he would still have faith in people.

Faith…..ha! Father still believes that. Seylin thought as he spotted a set of stone seats and made his way towards them. He sat down as soon as they reached them, leaning back against the backs of the chairs, his eyes looking up. When will he realize that all people are greedy and evil, and always will be. Nothing……nothing has changed.

Seylin closed his eyes, glad to be alone.


* * *

“Wow, look at all these fabrics,” Zera commented as he held one to feel the texture. “The weaving’s improved.”

“Well if it’s another cape you’re looking for Zera, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Horus said. “It will get torn up in the next fight you’re in.”

“I know that,” Zera replied before putting the cloth back where he had gotten it. “And I’m not looking for a replacement cape. My dad’s a blacksmith and sometimes needs the soft feel for his hands and face after a long day.”

“I dare say that I know the feeling.” Elena stated as she looked at a shelf stuffed with books on Magic and myths. “But still it is a nice feeling to relax, especially after the past few days. My head’s spinning trying to figure it out.”

“I know,” Horus replied. “I’m getting a headache from all of the auras in this place. So many people in one area makes it complicated to know the positions of the others.” He looked out the door of the shop and at the people continuously moving about. “And so many emotions.”

“You’ll be fine,” Zera replied. “It’s not like we’re going to be found, are we?”

“Maybe,” Horus retorted. “Maybe…”

“What concerns me is what Glenn said last night, about the Thunder Lizard.” Elena stated. “Even I know that those monsters will never leave the Shadow Marshes under extreme conditions. So why was it in Direwood?”

“Someone may have summoned it.” Zera said.

“No, we’ve seen first-hand that no spells affect the Thunder Lizard, because of their hides, which repel all Elements except for Earth. I know of the existing Magic Abilities, but I have never heard of an Earth Summon Spell to summon a Lightning creature.” Horus replied.

“Then what? Teleportation?” Elena said, crossing her arms and her tail twitching in slight annoyance at the problem.

“I doubt. Teleporting is very risky if you do not know where you are directly teleporting to. When I teleported here, I ended up about a mile above the ground. So that’s out.”

“But what’s left?” Elena asked.

“I don’t know. My head hurts from all of the different people here, it’s causing me to be distracted.”

“How about we wait until we get back to the Inn to talk about. Maybe everyone else has some ideas?” Zera suggested. “But let’s check out some more shops, then we can start looking for them around noon, when everyone is getting lunch.”

“Fine,” said Elena with some slight annoyance. “But that’s lunch is about an hour away.”

“I’m sure you can stand it, let’s go.” Horus said and they continued looking around.


* * *

The smell of the sea and the wind hit Denisu full on the face as he finally broke free of the mass of people that had formed because the day was finally getting underway. Seagulls flew in the air as the fishermen got ready to go out on the sea and make their living. Hundreds of boats lined the individual piers that stuck out from the edge of the coast, even more men with thin shirts were by their boats loading the nets and getting everything ready for the day’s haul.

He walked along one of the piers, looking around for a familiar boat, but he spotted a familiar figure.

“Hey Wayne!” he shouted. Someone wearing a straw hat raised his head and turned, looking for the person who shouted. His blue eyes spotted Denisu right off.

“Saké! Cuz! How ya doin‘?!” Wayne stood up and stepped onto the pier from the boat he was sitting on when he heard Saké shout for him. Wayne was a muscular individual, with a muscle shirt on. His blond hair was hiding under the hat that was to protect his eyes from the sun. The pants he wore were loose and allowed for him to be able to move his legs without any hindrance.

He ran up and grabbed Saké, giving the younger cousin the biggest bear hug Saké ever felt, lifting him off his feet. Finally Wayne put him down on his feet.

“What are you doing here man? You come to Termania and don’t even bother to let me know before hand?” he said still happy to see his cousin.

“Sorry, this was completely unexpected and I was passing through so I figured I drop in on you on my way.” Saké replied, trying hard not to tell Wayne the full story.

“That’s cool, where ya……oh no.” Wayne let out a moan of annoyance.

“What?” Saké asked, confused.

Wayne pointed behind Denisu. “Them.”

Saké turned, curious, and froze right in his place. There, talking to the wharf master were three of Garm’s Soldiers! Their already familiar black and gold armor shining in the sun, as the leader of the three argued with the Wharf Master. Them?! Here?! NOW?!? his mind screamed. How did they find us?! And so fast?! This isn’t good, I have to warn everyone, like, NOW!!

“They’ve been a nuisance,” Wayne commented. “Won’t let us go out unless they’ve check everything in every boat. They say they’re looking for something, but all they do is make a mess that makes us late. Really annoying people really.” He stopped and for the first time noticed the white crystal and golden dragon pendant around Saké’s neck. “Hey Cuz, what’s that?”

Wayne’s question brought some slight order to Denisu’s random thoughts about how to warn everyone, and back to the problem. “How long until you go out?” he asked in a rush.

“Not for another ten minutes, why?” Wayne asked, confused.

“If those soldiers ask you about seeing a group of people with pendants like this,” he held the pendant out for Wayne to get a good look at it. “Tell them you don’t know a thing, and tell the other fishers to say the same.” Then Saké went and tucked the pendant under his shirt and zipped up his vest.

“What? Why? Are you in trouble?!” Wayne asked rapidly.

“Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know,” Saké replied and started running off the wharf, leaving a confused Wayne standing by his boat. Running past the soldiers he made his way back into the crowd and started looking for everyone he could.


* * *

Balancing a knife on his wrist, Kage checked out the overall balance of the small weapon. Then thrusting his arm up, the knife flew into the air, spinning, slowly starting to descend and fall. Whipping his hand out he caught the knife by the blade with his forefinger and thumb, not cutting himself by catching the sides.

“Nice balance,” he commented to the woman who he asked to borrow the weapon from. “The blade isn’t too long and the handle and hilt balance out the rest of it.” He tossed it up and caught the handle, turning it over. Tossing it up again and catching the blade once again he pointed the handle to the woman behind the counter.

She took the weapon, glad to see someone who knew a few things about knives and daggers and not just some newbie who didn’t know the difference between a rapier and a sword. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Did you make it?” Kage asked, looking at the rest of the merchandise.

“No, actually an orge made this, and several other weapons we sell here.” she said. “He is a very commendable blacksmith.”

“Yes, considering most of the orges I know want to eat people and not make weapons for them.” Kage stated as he looked at some of the other weapons. “These are really high quality scimitars and tachis.”

Then there came some commotion from outside and men in black and gold armor stepped into the weapons shop. Kage instantly recognized them, Garm’s men! He tucked his shoulders in so his cloak completely covered his body and only his head was visible. Turning his back on them as they went to the head shopkeeper, he tried to look more interested on the weapons than on the conversation.

“Excuse me, we are looking for a group of young men and women who have medallions with them. Have you seen anyone with a strange medallion?” the leader asked.

The Shopkeeper blinked a few times, remembering she had noticed the medallion around the neck of the customer currently in her shop. She glanced his way and saw that Kage was glancing back at her, out of the corner of his eye.

“Why yes, I have seen someone like that.” she said.

Kage flinched. Great! She’s ratting me out!!!

“He was in this shop about three hours ago. And he said something about following the coastline.” the woman said and Kage fell over in stupidity. That wasn’t the response he was expecting.

“Thank you.” The men rushed out of the store and into the street as Kage picked himself up.

“You better hurry, if they’re after you they’re after your friends too.”

“Right, and thanks.” Kage said as he nodded to the woman and ran out of the shop.


* * *

Zera stood at a food shop and bought himself a small sandwich, cause it had been hours since breakfast. He tossed three silver pieces on the counter and started walking off when he was stopped by three familiar looking men. It’s them again!! his mind shouted.

“Have you seen a large group of young men and women? They may have gotten in last night.” one commanded.

“No…” Luckily for him he had his sandwich positioned right over his silver pendant and the string was hidden by his loose clothing.

The man looked him over once and then motioned for them to move on and left. Zera took a large sigh of relief and realized he had just lost his appetite.

“What happened?” Horus asked, he and Elena popping up behind the Fox Demi-Human.

Zera jumped in surprise. “AHH! Don’t do that!!”

“So what’s wrong?” Elena asked. “You’re sweating.”

“Garm!” Zera exclaimed.

“Garm’s here?!” Horus and Elena both shouted.

“No no NO! His soldiers are here! They’re looking for us!” Zera replied.

Then the three of them looked around and noticed that a large number of people had stopped and were looking at them, very confused, and some looking with a taste of disgust because they were all three Demi-Humans.

“We should head back to the Inn.” Horus commented.

“Good idea, but where do we start?” Zera said quietly, trying not to draw anymore attention.

Elena sniffed the air for a few seconds. “That way,” she pointed down the street. “Let’s hurry, but don’t draw any more attention Zera.”

“Right,” Zera replied a little too quickly.

When they started walking down the street, Horus and Elena were walking normally while Zera was walking a little more ridged, drawing more attention.


* * *

Stepping out from the restaurant, Chamel and Sora walked in the sun, full and happy.

“I have never seen a girl scarf that much food.” Chamel commented.

“Speak for yourself,” Sora replied. “I’ve won my fair share of eating contests, you weren’t even a worthy adversary.” She picked at her teeth with a toothpick as they walked down the street moving in between people.

Then in front of them a shelf came crashing out of the window of a shop. The two were lucky they weren’t in front of the shop when it happened, a few weren’t so lucky.

“You’re lying! We know you’ve seen something! Fess up and tell us where they went!!” shouted someone.

Sora and Chamel ran to the aid of the people where were injured and managed to steal glances inside the shop. Several of Garm’s soldiers were inside, kicking over stands and making a mess, threatening the shop owner.

“If you don’t tell us where they went, we won’t leave this place until you do.”

“Why don’t you leave now?!”

The men turned and saw Sora standing there, Chamel right beside her.

“Get out, you’ve done enough.” the Chameleon Demi-Human added.

“Oh,” the leader of the men walked up to them. “So the kid and the freak think they can order us around.” The soldiers laughed. “This has nothing to do with you. So get out of our way.”

Sora, fed up with their attitude, let out a kick that crippled the man, forcing him to drop to his knees and learn how to sing in a higher note. The other men tried to rush her, but Chamel stepped in, jumping he kicked two of them with his feet and knocking them backward, into two other. He grabbed onto a rafter while he was in the air and flipped himself onto it, bending his knees. His hands held onto it as well. Now there were two soldiers left.

Running up, Sora didn’t skip a beat as she went and jump-kicked one man, hitting him on the side of his neck, forcing him to fall to the side. Then, spinning on a heel, she landed a kick right to the final one’s solar plexus. All of the men were dropped, moaning in pain and Chamel jumped from the rafter, landing on one of them, keeping them down.

“Are you okay?” Sora asked the shop keeper.

The man was a little startled but managed a reply. “Yes…. Yes I’m alright.”

“And these things called me a freak,” Chamel commented as he kicked one in the side. “I’ve been called worse back home.”

“But how did these guys know where to find us?” Sora asked as she looked at them.

“Dunno, but we should get back to the Inn.” Chamel said, putting one foot on a soldier.

“Yeah,” Sora replied. “Sorry about the mess.” she told the store keeper with a big smile.

“We’ll pay you back when we can.” added Chamel, who also had a large smile.

Before anyone could say a thing the two disappeared into the crowd and started running back towards the Black Forest.


* * *

Drool slipping out of the corner of his mouth, Seylin was asleep. He had been that way for about two hours, a restless sleep. Finally he snapped out of his sleep, shaking his head and opening his eyes, the sun was higher in the sky.

“How… long?” He moved forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His mind was slowly starting to wake up. “How long have I been asleep?” Seylin shook his head, getting the blood flowing.

He stood up and stretched, feeling more tired than he was yesterday. Never take a nap in the middle of the day… why don’t I listen to my own advice? Scratching his head and his body starting to regain it’s feel. There came some noises farther away and he looked, slightly curious.

There, a group of soldiers was making their way across the park, knocking into anyone and everyone in their way. Seylin sat there as a steady stream started to make its way from the tree line. They marched in order through the park and to the main streets of Termania.

“Damn,” he mumbled before starting to look for a way out of the park, and back to the Inn. He could go over one of the walls and take the side-streets. Seylin started out in a dead run, making his way away from the soldiers and into some of the trees, finding a place to hide, he may have to go out of Termania to get back to the Inn.


* * *

At the Library, sitting at a table covered with large books, dust covering them all. Some newer books were at the very edge, very thin and made for children. Vared rubbed her eyes as she looked at the tenth book that has said the exact same thing as seven others. The Lesser Dragons have survived for thousands of years…. Yes I know that. I’ve known that since I was five. But nothing, nothing on the Draconian Warriors Gampa mentioned.

She closed the book she had been looking at and put it on top of a pile that had been building. Now she grabbed another book, the last one she grabbed off of the shelf. The title was written with a barely readable font, but she managed to read it.

“Ancient Jakartian Legends.”

She opened the book, with some hope, and instantly she was disappointed. The book was so old that the ink had smudged and even pages were ripped. Lucky for her, there were still some pictures that had survived the passage of time and still had most of their original color. She flipped through the pages, glancing at the pictures. One of a giant four-winged Dragon with several eggs around its feet. Farther along in pages she saw what looked like an imp surrounded by black flames. The imp was sinister looking, sending a chill down Vared’s spine as she looked at it. Quickly she turned the page and the imp was gone but there was something else more evil looking.

A big black dragon, bulky forearms and thick legs. The chest was barrel shaped and there was a long neck with a head, covered in horns. Spines went down the neck and to the end of the long tail. If the Imp-ish creature gave Vared the chills, this one gave her a heart attack.

There was something about the creature, so evil, so powerful, it made her cower in her seat. And it was just a picture! Forcing herself, she turned the page, and there was a different image there.

It was another dragon, only this one wasn’t evil or intimidating. This one was……calming, malevolent, pure. It’s body was completely white, almost blocking out any detail. It was on it’s hands and feet, a long tail and large wings. She turned the page.

There was another black dragon, only this one didn’t look as evil as the other one, it looked similar to the white dragon only bulkier. It had longer spines and the head was blunted.

Vared continued to turn through the pages. Eleven individual dragons across two pages each, each similar, but with their own differences. One particularly caught Vared’s eye.

It was red in color, tuffs of what looked like fur sticking out of the sides of the head, and arms and legs. The hands and feet were shaped like cat paws with claws as well. In all it was that Dragon that Vared seemed to like more.

She continued looking through the book and came to a strange picture.

It covered two pages, the large black dragon that had scared her was standing, black flames surrounding it. The other dragons were surrounding the giant one, beams of light connecting them. Then the next page, was blank. Nothing. There was nothing but writing and on the other page was a picture of an orge and some other demon-like creatures. After that, there was no picture reference to the dragons she had seen. Nothing. Not a thing.

There came a clatter of metal and Vared glanced up. Three of Garm’s soldiers had entered the library and walked up to the librarian. Oh-no!!

The librarian chatted with the men for a few moments in hushed whispers and pointed in Vared’s direction. She didn’t need to hear what they were saying, she knew already.

Vared tried to think. This book she had been looking at had to have some significance to the Draconain Warriors and the pendants and weapons she and the others had. Should she take it? No. There was no reason in giving them a legitimate reason to go after her. She set the book down and started to walk away from the book covered table and towards the back of the library. There’s a window in the back… if I can get there I can get out before these guys can catch me.

Quickly and silently, Vared made her way to the back of the Library, hiding behind shelves and trying to look out if the soldiers had moved that much. She reached the window and looked outside. A soldier was strolling along, glancing around.

No! Move! she though, watching the man as she heard metal footsteps. As if hearing her, the guard walked around the corner of the building and Vared let out a small sigh. “Now I can get out of here.”

He undid the latch for the window and pushed. The window was stuck fast. She pushed harder and there was the annoying sound of metal screeching against metal. That sound went through the whole library as she continued to push.

“There she is!” someone shouted and the soldiers turned and started coming towards her.

Vared started concentrating and a ball of flames formed in her right hand. “Fire Ball!”

The ball of flames hit the window and the glass shattered outward. It rained on the ground and part of the street, luckily it wasn’t occupied. Before it shattered even more on the ground, Vared jumped through the window and landed on her feet. She took a quick glance back and saw the soldiers starting to gather by the now non-existent window.

She took off in a sprint, heading for the forest. If there was any hope of hiding and getting back to the Black Forest Inn, it was having to Leave Termania and sneak back in.

[Mew Master]

* * *

Turning on a street corner, Saké managed to navigate his way back to the Black Forest without running into any soldiers. He ran through the doors and ducked, just as Glenn pulled out a staff, ready to take his head off. Saké stumbled forward and into the Inn.

“Dang Glenn,” he commented, picking himself up. “I know you like to hit me, but isn’t that a little extreme?!”

“I’m sorry Saké, but I thought you may have been an armor clad dope.” Glenn replied, closing the doors.

“Black armor, with gold designs, keep saying about finding people with pendants?” Saké asked.

“Yup, stupid as hell too.” Glenn said.

“What’s all the ruckus hun?” Leena asked as she and Amal appeared from the hall.

“Amal?! Has anyone else gotten back?”

“No, why?”

“Garm’s soldiers are in town!”

“What?! When? How?” Amal exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but we have to warn the others.” Saké said.

“I think they already know,” Glenn said as he looked out the window and into the street.


* * *

Zera had been following Elena and Horus through the crowd, when he just realized he had lost them both in the crowd. He looked around frantically. But didn’t see any one of the Pendant Bearers.

“Great, this is perfect,” he mumbled. “I lose them and Garm’s soldiers are all over the place.”

He continued walking and spotted a familiar looking street. Following a gut instinct, he followed the street and spotted Kage, running from some soldiers who had followed him. Zera started running and caught up with the soldiers, kicking one and knocking his feet out. The soldiers and Kage stopped to look at what had happened.

“Six against one isn’t fair odds.” Zera commented.

“Do you want to get hurt too?” one of the men ordered.

Kage whipped up and kicked that soldier in the back of the head, knocking him out. “The only one’s getting hurt are you idiots.” he stated.

Zera and Kage started attacking, kicking and punching the men into unconsciousness. When all of them had dropped Zera followed Kage and found out that they had been in front of the Black Forest. The two ran up and through the two doors.

“Kage, Zera,” Saké exclaimed. “You all right?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Zera replied.

“It will take more than a few of those goons to take us down.” Kage added, cracking his knuckles.

“But I lost Elena and Horus in the crowd.” Zera stated. “ Are they here?”

Amal shook her head. “You three are the only ones here.”

“Great..” Kage commented. “Garm’s soldiers are flooding the city and we’re split apart.”

Just then Chamel and Sora came running through the door.

“Hey,” Chamel started.

“Garm’s grunts are over-running Termania? We know already.” Kage replied, crossing his arms. “Did you see anyone else?”

“No, we came straight back.” Sora replied.

The scuffling sound of feet running through the hall grabbed their attention and the turned. Vared and Seylin, green marks on parts of their clothes and a leaf or two in their head came into the main tavern, looking short of breath.

“Garm’s *huff* soldiers *huff* are entering *huff huff* from the forest.” Seylin said, catching his breath.

“Hey, *huff* I found *huff* something at *huff* the library.” Vared added.

Before anyone could ask, Elena and Horus came into the Inn, closing the doors behind them.

Zera stopped them from talking. “They all know already. They’re all over Termania.”

“Uh-oh..” Glenn commented. He had been looking out the window and saw some soldiers had found the knocked out bodies and started covering the streets. “They’re out in the street. You have to get out of here now.”

“Wait!” Amal said. “We’re missing someone.”

Saké started counting off the people on his fingers. “me, Vared, Kage, Chamel, Sora, Elena, Amal, Seylin, Zera, Horus…..Faile!!!”

“Faile? The archer?” Glenn asked as he looked out the window.

“Yeah,” Chamel replied.

“She’s coming.”

They ran to the windows and watched in shock as Faile dashed across the roofs of the houses, avoiding the soldiers. Her ankle must have been giving her some trouble, because she landed on her good foot whenever she jumped across house roofs. She continued this, avoiding being detected by the soldiers.

“Damn she’s good,” Chamel commented.

“We better let her in.” Elena stated. Everyone made their way upstairs to the third floor, and Vared opened a window for Faile to climb through.

The Lightning Innate Warrior climbed through the window and landed on the floor, sweat running off her face. Her ankle did still hurt, but she couldn’t let the other’s see her be weak.

“Okay, we’re all back together, now what?” Vared asked.

Saké looked around. There had to be something.

“We have to get our weapons back.” Faile said, standing up.

“Nice idea, but one big problem,” Amal replied. “The weapons are in a shed behind the Inn, and the door is covered with a seal. That and we’re going to be surrounded before we can get out there.”

Zera had his hand on his chin, thinking. Then it hit him. “Chamel!”

The Chameleon Demi-Human jumped at being shouted at. “What?!”

“You can disappear, right?”

“Only partly,” Chamel replied. “When I use my ability only my body disappears, any clothes I have on can still be seen.”

“Drat,” Zera stated. “Well even if you could, everyone would still see weapons floating above the air, so it wouldn’t work anyway.”

“We still need to get out of here ASAP.” Seylin said, getting our attention again.

“How do we manage that?” Saké replied. “There’s only one of us with a weapon and there’s no way we can fight them all hand-to-hand. And the Shed is behind the Inn so there’s really no way any of us can get our weapons at all.”

“We’ll go out there and bust up any in our way.” Kage stated.

“Only if you are suicidal.” Horus replied. “There are more soldiers gathering around the area.”

Glenn shouted up the stairs. “Everyone! In the tavern! NOW!”

The Pendant Bearers ran down the stairs and made there way into the Inn’s tavern.

“We need to get outta Termania, quick.” Saké said, thinking out loud. When he entered the tavern, he spotted a map of Termanian. Reaching, he tore it off the wall and placed it on a table, spreading it out. “Okay,” he commented looking at the map. The others cam and stood around him looking at it. “We’re right here,” he pointed to a small square on the south end of Termania. “The Inn is inside town, so there are several different ways out of Termania.” He pointed to several streets and back alley-ways to travel. “Unless we try and take the sea, but that’s out because they check the boats before they leave.”

“So your plan?” Vared asked.

“We split up. Once we are we can move faster than in a group.”

“Good idea,” Kage added. “If we travel in a group we’re gonna get caught than free.”

“But where do we meet?” Sora asked.

Leena came up, holding a map stretched in her hands. “Here,” she laid it on the table and everyone looked at it. “This should help.”

Saké’s eyes scanned the map. It was of the Zeeam Continent, Termania was a small speck on the coast. Forests of Green dotted most of Zeeam, but there was a clearing to the east of Termania and there, drawn on the map, was a domed building with pillars around it. Saké recognized the structure.

“Here,” he said pointing. “The Draconain Ruins.”

“Those ruins,” Elena said. “Why?”

“A better question,” Seylin commented. “How are we going to get out of here without our weapons?”

“I’ll get them.” Everyone looked t Chamel.

“But how?” Amal asked. “I thought you couldn’t camouflage fully?”

Chamel digged through his clothes. “Simple,” he pulled out several magical talismans. “The Chameleon’s Seal.”

“What do they do?” Zera asked.

Chamel started putting on his smugish air. “They allow anything they touch to become invisible whenever I am.”

Everyone fell over in stupidity at that comment.

“Why didn’t you mention them before?!” Kage shouted, on his feet now.

“Calm down,” Chamel said. “It’s not like these things are easy to make. I have to use them sparingly until I shed my skin.”

“Ew,” Sora commented. “More information than I needed to know.”

“So use them.” Faile said, annoyed with Chamel.

“Not yet.”

“Why?” Seylin asked.

“I need Kage’s cloak to carry the weapons.” Chamel replied.

“What?! No way, forget it!” Kage replied.

“We don’t have time to be arguing!” Elena shouted.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Everyone became silent.

“Arrows,” Faile said. “They’re using arrows.”

“Common, give me your cloak and we’ll get out of here.” Chamel repeated.

Kage, reluctantly slipped his cloak off, and handed it to Chamel. The Chameleon Demi-Human put one on the cloak and the talisman stuck directly to it. Chamel then went into camouflage mode and all that could be seen was the clothes that he always had on. Then the clothes dropped to the ground as Chamel took them off.

“Now Chamel,” Leena said, not knowing where to look. “There’s a seal on the door. Don’t open it with any malice intent. Take the back way. They don’t know about it. Hurry now!”

“Got ya!” came a reply and it was apparent that Chamel left.

The rest of them stood there.

“How do we get passed them unarmed?” Amal asked.

“You’re the only one who has a weapon.” Zera replied.

“The rest of us have the main problem.” Vared added.

Horus had been silent for most of the conversation. He had been stretching his sense out, trying to see how close the soldiers were to the Inn. A shiver went up his spine and he saw a vision of shattering glass.

“Look out!” he shouted.

Just then the glass shattered inward, causing everyone to flinch and cover their heads. When they looked, they were surrounded by a large number of Garm’s soldiers. The men had them all surrounded, various magic attacks being charged in their open palms.

“Great, this is just great.” Kage muttered.

“Don’t move, if you value your lives.” said one man, charging a Photon Ray in his hand.

“Sir!” said a rookie. “There are only 10 here, one is missing!”

“What?!” the leader turned just for a second, and the Pendant Bearers didn’t waste a minute.

As one they moved, knocking out some soldiers near them. Saké jumped straight up and out of the small circle that had been created. He had aimed for an open spot, but his jump was too high and he grabbed a rafter, used it to swing farther away, and started heading for a table.

His foot landed on the table, but it was too far to the edge. His weight tipped the table over, and Saké fell hard on his rear, the top of the table pressed up against his back. Several Photon Rays struck the table, blasting small parts of the table away. Gritting his teeth at the pain, he rubbed his rump.

“Ouch,” he commented.

Kage rolled and stopped, kneeling behind the table with Saké. “You okay Saké?”

“Except the fact that I won’t be able to sit for a day or two, yeah, I’m fine.” Denisu replied.

Horus jumped over the table from behind and landed on Denisu’s other side. “Your butt is fine Saké,” A round of Photon Rays and some Fire Balls directly followed Horus’s comment. “And so is everyone else.”

“Now what?!” Kage shouted. “We stay here much longer and the whole place goes up in flames.”

“I know,” Horus agreed.

Looking out past the edge of the table, Denisu looked at the current situation. Garm’s soldiers were starting to spread out, shooting the two Light and Fire Elements within every step they took. The others had toppled tables to act as barriers against the shots, but the wooden shields would only last so long against this onslaught. Seylin, Vared, and Sora had knocked over a table closer to the door, Faile and Elena were close to a broken window, but it was risky either way, Zera was on his own behind a table, throwing pieces of wood at the soldiers as kind of a distraction from gaining on the others, and Amal was attacking a few, knocking them out.

“Damn,” Kage mumbled. “They’ve got us pinned down.”

Saké looked out past the edge again and stole another look. “Unless we do something.” Turning off his butt, he planted his feet on the ground and put his hands on the table. “Give me a hand.”

Kage and Horus took similar positions and as one they started pushing.

Seven soldiers, standing near the wall to help the others get closer to the Pendant Bearers, were surprised to see a table start scooting towards them! They changed their aim, scaring the surface of the table with their magic attacks, no attack made it past however and Saké, Kage, and Horus rammed the table into the wall so hard, the legs got stuck in the wall. The soldiers were stuck, their arms pinned at their sides and everyone struggling to get out, making the situation worse.

“Tight enough boys?” Kage smirked.

“That should hold ‘em.” Saké added.

“For about five more minutes,” Horus replied.

Blasts of energy flew over their heads and the three scattered again. Kage jumped and rolled behind the table where Zera was already, Horus joined Vared, Seylin, and Sora, and Saké jumped, knocking another table over.

“This is pointless!” Vared shouted as more magic attacks blasted their shields.

It was a few more seconds of ducking and hiding, the soldiers getting closer every second.

“The Calvary has arrived!” shouted a familiar voice.

“Chamel!!” Amal shouted as she knocked another soldier back.

“The one and only!” The Masumoon appeared out of nowhere as the Chameleon’s Seal was removed from the giant sword. The weapon seemed to be acting on it’s own, because Chamel was still hiding, as it swiped and knocked four Soldiers into the wall.

“Okay,” he said and the Pendant Bearer’s weapons started dropping as Chamel unwrapped them from Kage’s cloak. “Who ordered the large cache of weapons? We’ve got swords, claws, daggers, arrows, and an assortment of other weapons with very sharp points. Ow!”

Saké, Kage, and everyone else started running for their weapons and snatched them up in quick passes. Now with their weapons they faced the soldiers that started surrounding them again.

Surrounded once again, but this time with their weapons at hand, the Pendant Bearers stared at the soldiers.

“Let’s go!”


* * *

From the outside, the Black Forest seemed just like any other Tavern in Termania, even with some of the windows shattered, it still looked like one of the other buildings. Suddenly two soldiers flew through one of the windows still intact, shattering the glass. More soldiers started flying through the windows, taking out what little glass was left in the frames. They landed hard on the ground, blood flowing from individual wounds as well as being ripped from the glass.

As they lay moaning in pain on the ground, the Pendant Bearers started getting their personal possessions together.

“Thanks Glenn,” Saké said as he made sure he had everything he brought with him. “You and Leena really helped us out, big time.”

“Don’t worry about it Saké.” Glenn replied. “We’ll make sure you get out of here before they corner you.” He gave Denisu a cheesy grin, holding a sword in one hand.

“We’ll check in on your father when all this has calmed down some hun,” Leena added, holding her staff in her hands. “Just get going.”

The Pendant Bearers started running out of the Black Forest and past the injured soldiers. Coming up to the split in the road, they looked down the south road, and stopped.

In the road was a blockade set up by the soldiers, at least 150 men in all, as well as armaments. The road was sandbagged and there was no way for them to keep going.

“Now what?!” Seylin shouted as the blockade started advancing.

“Split up and head to the Rendezvous point!” Saké yelled and they all split up. We better make it… he thought as he ran down a street that went towards the sea.

Running along the street without any signs of soldiers, Denisu cut a corner into an alley way that headed straight north. Following this alley he should come up by the marketplace and then be able to head north on a few side streets and finally take a back street west and out of Termania.

But there was an obstacle in this plan of his, the alley he had turned into was blocked off at the other end with several large, wooden, crates. He didn’t stop, cause every second he didn’t spend moving, gave the soldiers twice as many to find him.

“Nimble!” Purple aura’s surrounded his feet and his speed increased. Covering his head with his arms, he ran with a full speed burst right for the crates.

He jumped into the crates full force, even though the Nimble spell he used wasn’t at full effect. Spreading his arms, Denisu pushed more crates out of his way as he went. Saké landed, kneeling, the effect of the Nimble gone already.

“Ready!”

Saké looked up and was surprised to see a line of soldiers standing, covering the street. Their hands raised. Not good….

“Aim!”

Energies began charging in their open hands.

Not good! NOT GOOD!

“FIRE!” Saké spun on a heel and started running as fast as his legs could carry him. Rays and Flames missed him but blasted the area all around him instead, causing major collateral damage.

“Outta my way!” he shouted as he ran, keeping ahead of the advancing soldiers.

“Captian, he’s getting out of the range of our magic!”

The leader could see this and a white aura surrounded him. “Enough of this. Meteorite!”

There was a faint whistling sound that even Saké could hear. Not slowing down, he glanced behind him at the soldiers. In the sky, a small point of light stuck out. It started to get larger and brighter every second. Then it took shape as a falling blue stone surrounded by a white light.

Now Saké tried running even faster than he already was, with out any success. There was no way he could out-run a Meteorite attack. Absolutely no way. Unless.

About five meters ahead of Denisu, was an entrance into another alley. Bingo! Just a bit longer… He continued running, getting every step closer and the rock getting even closer every second. Closer, closer, and closer still, the Meteroite even closer now. Only three meters away, the rock would catch him before he could turn. His sword on his back started glowing, and he felt a small spurt of energy. Two meters away and Saké took a risk.

Jumping the last two meters face-first, Saké made it into the alley, just as the Meteorite slammed into the closer side, blasting it and another section of the alley into rubble. The shockwave blasted Denisu forward even more, causing him to bounce on the ground for a few feet before sliding to a stop.

Dust was thrown into the air, covering the ground.

“*cough* *cough* What, *cough* What a ride. *cough* *cough*” He pushed himself up and dusted his clothes off. “But what was that?” he asked himself, thinking about just the split second before he jumped. “Blast, I’ll worry about it later.”

Running out of the alley, he stopped and glanced around quickly, getting his bearings. He was south of the market place, about two minutes of running down the street, or one taking the alleys and back streets. He turned a corner, expecting a clean street, but …..

WHAM!

Running into someone he didn’t see as he turned the corner, Denisu was knocked back on his butt. Rubbing his butt, after landing on it the second time in one day, he looked up and his jaw dropped.

Standing with his hand on his hip, Karsh stared down at Saké, an evil glare in his eye.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Karsh said, glaring at him. “It’s the same kid who defeated me at Hano!” his voice roared. A line of soldiers stood behind him.

Gathering some courage after the glaring Karsh was giving him, Denisu stood up. “Defeated you?! I don’t know what you’re talking about!!”

“You may have caught me off guard then, but I assure you it will not happen again.” Karsh drew the sword at his side. “Now, draw your weapon and we will finish this.”

Saké gritted his teeth and reluctantly drew his sword. Fighting right now wasn’t the best of ideas, and he’ll have to in order to keep going. Remembering back, Saké thought about the first time he had fought Karsh, and gotten the wind knocked out of him on the first attack. But even worse, he was confused. He had lost to Karsh the first time, but Karsh was ranting about how Denisu had defeated him. What was going on? Saké took a defensive stance, letting Karsh go first this time.

“Now, pay!” and with that, Karsh slashed for him.

Paring, blocking, and moving, Saké managed to block Karsh’s blows, but the sheer force of Karsh’s attacks were enough to slide Denisu back several inches. Karsh’s raw energy was unbelievable, even if Saké was blocking Karsh still had the upper hand.

Karsh threw all of his raw energy into his next attack and Denisu blocked, but the force hit Saké so hard that he fell backwards and skidded along the ground. His sword clattered as it slid away from him.

“Ouch.” Karsh was the better of this duel. Saké looked up and saw the point of Karsh’s sword less than an inch from his face.

“I win. Now, give me your pendant.”

“Kill me or not. You’ll never get this.” Denisu’s hand took a hold of the pendant.

“Very well,” Karsh raised his sword. In a quick movement, he swung it down.

The next second went too fast for anyone to completely comprehend how it happened. Denisu watched as Karsh’s sword started to come directly for him. A slight reflection in the blade. The clang of metal-on-metal. The clunk as Karsh’s sword struck the ground. The look on Saké’s face as he realized just how close it was. Finally, there was a girl standing with a long naginata.

The shock came even harder as Denisu realized. She’s the girl from before!!

The girl he had run into on his way to the wharf earlier was standing there, her back towards him and Karsh.

Turning her head slightly so he could see her eyes, and a smirk appeared on her face.

“Hmm.”

---------------------------------------

Amalthea Arran: AHH! Oh! Sorry about that. I’m Amalthea Arran, but just Amal will do. With Garm’s soldiers patrolling through Termania, I’m a bit jumpy. We all split off from the Black Forest, each making our own way to the Draconain ruins. Mysteries rise in the shape of a girl, writing that appears on the walls, and a smell that reeks of sewage. Yuck! It all happens, next time on Chains of Dragons! Ancient Ruins of the Past.

You better be there!

Water Blade!

[Darkmaster Kagemusha]

Lol. Shibby chapter Denny. I especially liked “Who ordered the large cache of weapons? We’ve got swords, claws, daggers, arrows, and an assortment of other weapons with very sharp points. Ow!” and the "Not good!" :P. You know, people are gonna think Saké and Kage are Saiyans or something with the way they've been eating :P.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

"Someone who was more able to handle the stress. Francis, the talking gerbil.” Horus stated."

LOL! That was random, and very funny. :)

Like i said before, everyone loves libraries. You can find out usefull things, see pretty pictures...Or get chased by evil soldiers. :P

"...and a smell that reeks of sewage. Yuck!" I have a sneaking suspicion i know where that smell comes from. :P

[Mew Master]

*rises from the grave.........* WAIT!! I'm not dead yet!!

*waves* Hi you two. ^_^

Glad you liked the chapter Rose, that conversation mimiced one that Mark had with Sarah over MSNIM back a ways. Actually one of Chamel's lines was taken directly from it. And I had to have Horus say something random that would be hillarious at the same time.

Sorry bout not being on, it's becoming difficult for me to get my net in in my dorm. So I'm reduced to using my college comp account to get on and post right now. If i'm lucky everything will be set up by tomorrow.

Later!

~Mew Master

[Mew Master]

Why is everyone sticking their tongues out at me? Why?!

[Darkmaster Kagemusha]

lol. Calm yourself college boy. You may not be dead or partying, but we are ;). I went to a football game last night and now I'm sore--no, I wasn't actually playing football, I was just hangin' out with my friends. Ohhh the hilarity. BTW, I suggest you try playing "Truth or Dare by Spinning the Bottle." It's quite interesting. You spin the bottle and whoever it points at is the one who has to choose Truth or Dare and stuff like that. Aaaanyway, I'm waiting for the next chapter, and as for the RPG like...dying, I'm sorry, I got an assignment in English that requires as much inspiration and creativity as I can muster. Also, nice Dragon pic :P

[Mew Master]

Chapter 7: Ancient Ruins of the Past

“Split up and head to the Rendezvous point!” Saké yelled as he ran off and took a corner down the street.

Kage slide-kicked forward, knocking over a trio of soldiers who slammed back into the ground. Easy for you to say Saké-boy, he thought. Slicing up, Kage brought another soldier’s life to a bloody end. Some of us are covering everyone else!

Kage, Faile, and Horus remained behind as the other Pendant Bearers quickly made their escape from the Black Forest and Termania. So far they had managed to delay the soldiers advance on the tavern, just enough for the others to get away.

“Yo Horus,” Kage shouted. “Everyone okay?” He blocked a sword slash with his left claw, and slashed the soldier with his right in a counter-attack.

Horus used his psychic abilities to slide backwards and avoid any attacks the soldiers aimed for him. He sensed around him, keeping mental locks on the others. Currently everyone seemed to be at least three blocks away, and gaining ground. “Doing better than we are at the moment.” he replied, sliding back again, annoying those trying to attack him.

Faile put three arrows on her bow string and pulled it back. The arrows sprang from the bow and each stuck into individual soldiers, killing them instantly. Anyone could be doing better than us at the moment, she thought as she reached for more arrows. I’ve used 15 arrows already and there are more of them than I have arrows.

“Well,” Kage uttered as he kicked a soldier in the groin. “What do you say we make our exit?”

“Fine with me” Faile replied, aiming another shot. “Only one thing. Where’s our run-way?”

Kage hopped back and then jumped into the air, high above a group of soldiers. He came down, foot first, right into the face of one of them. Knocking that soldier to the ground, Kage went into Berserker-mode as men surrounded him from every direction. Moving his hands too fast to be seen, Kage blocked, attacked, counter-attacked, matching the soldiers blow for blow, slicing open a stomach or chest at times.

“One open-road, comin’ up!” Kage shouted as he managed to find an opening in the crowd. Black energy surrounded his right hand as his Claw went back into it’s gauntlet. He lifted it up as the energy started to swirl around. Gravity started to increase tremendously, slowing the men in their tracks, forcing them to force their own bodies to stay standing. “Gravitonne!”

The energy exploded from Kage’s hand and the gravity in a 5 meter radius of him started to increase dramatically. Soldiers started to drop to their stomachs, unable to stay standing up. The gravity increased so much that the lungs of the soldiers started to collapse, killing them under the increased pressure.

Other soldiers stayed away as a single person managed to take out a large number of men with a single attack.

Kage lowered his arm as he finished his attack. “Road’s clear! Let’s go!”


* * *

Vared ran down a street, as fast as her legs could carry her. There was a possibility that some of the others were following her, but she didn’t pay attention. Recalling an image of Termania in her mind, she tried to remember the closest street out of the fishing village. Moving what she thought was easterly, she cut through alleys, side-streets and some of the less visited areas. Several times she backtracked to avoid being spotted or running into soldiers.

Carefully, and what seemed to be an eternity, Vared made her way towards a few more blocks to the outside edge of Termania.

Crouching low to the ground, Vared held her Spear ready as she sneaked her way in an alley. Cardboard boxes and small piles of trash lay against the smooth sides of individual buildings. Slowly and silently she made it to the end of the alley, and peeked out. She frowned. With them there, there’s no way. I’ll have to backtrack again.

Vared turned away from the edge and started to make her way back through the alley. Halfway through the small area, she heard voices coming from the other end of the alley, soldiers voices. Her heart skipped a beat.

Oh, no! her mind screamed. I’m trapped!

There was nowhere to run or hide. The boxes were too small and there was no possible way she could climb the smooth sides of the buildings. She took a step back and heard a metal clang. Directly under her feet was a hinged manhole with drainage holes drilled into it.

She had just noticed the manhole when the voices started getting closer. Sliding her fingers into the holes she threw all of her strength and weight into pulling the hatch open. Much to her surprise, the manhole wasn’t as heavy as she thought, and all the force she threw into opening the hatch, went into her landing on her rump with an, “Oof!”

Rubbing her rear, she crawled backwards into the sewer opening, carefully moving her feet so she could feel the ladder. Once finding the placement of the ladder, Vared quickly started to head down. Once her head was under the top of the ground, she pulled the manhole shut and waited.

Now she could hear the footsteps of the soldiers as they walked. Vared held her breath, not daring to make a sound, for if the soldiers found her, she was caught. Her heart almost stopped as two men stood on the manhole.

“I could have sworn I heard something in this alley.”

“Your brain’s full of rocks. There’s no one here. If Lord Garm doesn’t get those pendants, we’ll be the ones regretting it.”

The two men moved on, leaving Vared there, clinging to the ladder. She waited for several more minutes, straining her ears to listen for any sign of Garm’s soldiers. When no sound came, she decided that it would be safer to move through the sewer, and started to climb down the ladder, leaving the light above for the darkness below.


* * *

Elena Kai-Prae sprinted down a street, trying to avoid any soldiers she could spot. Maneuvering around pedestrians, she cut into an alley way, gaining more ground. She cut through streets, alleys, side-streets, and back-ways, anything to keep moving and to throw off any possibility of pursuit. The Feline Demi-Human continued moving, turning into an alley way and was forced to stop.

There in front of her were three soldiers, weapons drawn and ready to attack.

“Listen here you Feline freak,” one man said. “Surrender your Pendant and we may only cut off one of your arms.”

Standing her ground, Elena glared at the men. There was a chance that she could turn tail and make a run for it, but running would go against her cat-like instincts to stay and fight. Quickly she unsheathed her daggers and crouched low to the ground, baring her fangs.

One of them took a step forward, strengthening his earlier threat. “Give it up!”

The two men behind him, stood there, but then something grabbed opposite sides of their heads and slammed the heads together, knocking out the men instantly and silently.

“You asked for it Feline-freak!” the man shouted and started to advance, and Elena got ready for anything. Anything but what happened.

The man stopped in mid-step, grabbing at his throat, dropping his weapon. Something invisible lifted him up and back, tossing him towards the far end of the alley-way. The man hit and rolled around for a few feet. He never got up.

Somewhat surprised and shocked, Elena stood there, still crouching, with a blank expression on her face. She straightened up and looked again. No one was there. Finally she took a few sniffs, and then recoiled as she recognized a scent.

“Chamel?”

A bundle of clothes jumped down from the side of one of the buildings and straightened up. Slowly Chamel reappeared inside his clothes, the Masumoon resting on his back.

“Do you know how hard you are to follow?” he asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

Elena gave a little snort. “That was the idea, Einstein.” she replied as she continued to walk down the alley, Chamel in tow.

“Okay, but how do we get outta here?” Chamel asked. “I hopped the rooftops following you, and there’s a blockade on the next street corner.”

Elena stopped and sniffed. Besides the odors of the trash in the alley, Chamel’s disgusting aftershave, and the usual smells of Termania, she could also smell the scent of more soldiers on the next street. “You’re right,” she admitted turning and walking past Chamel.

“Always am.” he commented.

“Shut up Chamel.” Elena stated. She looked around the alley, to find some means of getting out of Termania. “How far are we from the forest?” she asked, looking at Chamel.

Chamel looked up and thought, a hand rubbing his chin. “About two-three blocks, maybe less.”

Looking around Elena only saw one true way out of the city. “Hopping around on rooftops?”

“Sounds like a plan. Either that or the sewer.” Chamel commented. Elena rolled her eyes.

The two of them scaled the walls and on the roofs they glanced over the edges. A blockade was set up just down the block from the alley they had just been in, and moving up the street.

“Yup,” Chamel said. “A row of idiots, lined up to be bowled over.”

The two waited as the blockade moved slowly up the street, knocking over anyone in their way. When the coast was clear, they would make their move and jump over the street onto the next set of buildings and quickly make their way to the forest.


* * *

Seyelin and Sora ran in the same direction, moving as quickly as they could they turned into an alley and ran down it. Sora held her Kama close as she ran, as did Seyelin with his Naginata. The alley they had run into wasn’t very wide, so they couldn’t have their weapons ready.

“Down this alley, up a street and we should have a clean shot for the forest.” Sora commented, mentally recalling the map of Termania.

Seyelin didn’t give a verbal response, but he nodded in reply.

As the two ran, a door in the side of one of the buildings opened suddenly. Whoa! DOOR! Sora, who was going a little fast, tried to slow down, but didn’t do it fast enough.

Shouting, Sora ran right into the door, and the door hit the person that had just opened it. A dozen fresh fish flopped onto the ground, sliding around and the smell filling the air. Sora stumbled back, stopping herself short of falling on her rump. The person that she had caused to be slammed by the door came out.

A fish monger, covered in the cent of fish and bustling mustache and beard, glared at Sora and then at the fish. “Watch where yer goin’ missy, that cost me 15 Gold, that did.” He glared at her but then stopped, at the sight of the kama on her belt, and his disposition turned. "Now, then, what's a nice lil' girlie doin' back here in tha' alleys?"

I don’t have time for..

“Her! Stop that girl!”

“Uh-oh! Gotta go!” Sora said and ran past the fish monger and through the rest of the alley, turning out onto one of the streets. East, I have to go east…. And that way’s north Quickly Sora turned into another alleyway and continued moving through the streets, Seyelin following close behind.


* * *

“Why is it we’re always running away from something?!” Amal shouted.

“Beats me, but it’s better than getting killed or captured isn’t it?” Zera replied.

Amal and Zera had separated from everyone, not wanting to risk getting caught alone, they had stuck together. A wise choice. More blockades have been constructed, not letting everyone through and entrapping the entire town of Termania. The two of them dashed around corners, almost running into several people in the process. Several turns and twists through the city streets, they stopped to try and get their bearings.

“Where are we?” Amal asked, looking around, catching her breath.

“Somewhere in the marketplace.” Zera replied, looking around. There was a fair amount of people in the market place. Barters bargaining, people buying fresh fruits and meat, a regular day at the market.

“So, where to now..?!” Behind them they heard the shouts and orders of soldiers pushing their way through the crowd. They pushed people over, spilling produce and other food onto the ground.

“Anywhere but there.” Zera stated, and they both ran, fighting the urge to stay back and make the soldiers pay for bossing people around so badly. “We’ll get them back.”

“Yeah, but we won’t be able to if we get caught.”

“True, anyway, the forest should be up ahead, just a little more.. “ Zera’s sentence was cut off by the site of a road barricade. “Crap…” he muttered.

“Now we’re blocked in.” Amalthea stated as Zera looked behind them. There, the group of soldiers had followed them through the market place and now they were boxed in, between the barricade and a group of soldiers drawing their weapons.

“Surrender your weapons and we may let you live.” someone ordered.

“Just go ahead and try and take them.” Zera dared them. Amal shifted her feet and held her Glaive out, ready to intercept any attack.

“Your death then,” the man said. “ATTACK!”

Soldiers rushed at them from all sides.


* * *

“You didn’t have to come with me,” Fail told Horus as the two ran down a street, a few blocks ahead of a group of soldiers pursuing them. “I can handle myself.”

“Your leg is still injured, I can’t risk you getting killed because of your pride.” Horus replied as he ran with her, slowing down to stay with her and her injured ankle.

Faile bit her lower lip, she didn’t like being taken care of, not by anyone. Twirling around, she lined up an arrow on her bow and aimed for the lead man in charge of the group following them. She let the arrow go, flying towards the man in front.

The leader slashed upwards, knocking the arrow up into the air.

What?! Faile thought, shocked that one of her arrows had missed it’s mark.

She turned and ran some more, her ankle starting to hurt even more now. Turning a corner, she saw Horus up, standing in the middle of the road.

What’s he doing? He should keep running. Why is he..?! It was just then that she passed barrels stacked up, with the corks pointing into the middle of the street. She stopped beside Horus and then turned around to meet the soldiers following them.

The men turned the corners and Faile drew a single arrow, one of her last three in her holster. She pulled the string back until it was taunt and aimed it at the men as they came after them.

“Your arrows are no good girlie,” the leader of this group stated. “I can deflect as many arrows as you have in that holster on your back.”

Horus had his eyes closed and his arm out, palm open. A slight purple aura surrounded his body, but it was too faint for the soldiers to notice as they continued moving towards them. The purple aura started to surround some of the barrels as well as a few corks on the bottom set of the barrels. When the soldiers were directly next to the barrels, several of the top ones toppled over, crashing on top of several of the men, including the leader of this group, soaking them all in water. The corks also popped, streams of water spilling out onto the street, creating a puddle under the men.

“What the sam Hell?!” the leader shouted, throwing wood and parts of the barrels off himself.

Faile pulled the arrow back farther, sparks of electricity dancing along the arrow. More sparks gathered around her arrow, a small aura of raw Lightning energy surrounding it. The energy expanded until an oval of energy was around her bow, she steadied her arm as she aimed.

The leader kept his sword out, ready to block her arrow and redirect it.

“Thunder Arrow!“ Faile let the arrow fly from the bow. Instead of aiming for the leader of one of the men, the arrow instead hit the puddle of water underneath the soldiers feet. Hundreds of volts of electricity coursed through the soldier’s bodies, shocking them so bad so quickly, smoke started to come from their clothes and skin. Every soldier fell to the ground, hit so hard they couldn’t move, and ended up with mud literally on their faces.

Making a quick turn, Horus and Faile dashed away from the scene, trying to gain some ground away from the soldiers and closer to the forest.

[Mew Master]

* * *

Kage had run towards the edge of the city. Still under pursuit, close to freedom, but this time he was surrounded once again.

His Claws still extended from his gauntlets, Kage could feel his frustration and anger build up inside him. The soldiers started getting closer, drawing swords and other weapons. Kage’s emotions had an unseen effect on his Magic. The energy he was starting to channel into his fists, diverted and channeled into his claws instead. All of his frustration and rage was focused into his claws.

Out of this feeling of increased energy and rage, Kage only muttered two words, “Dark Dragon!” Black energy swirled around his claws as adrenaline pumped through his veins.

Moving faster than anything could see, Kage dashed along the lines of the soldiers, slashing quickly and quietly with his claws. To him, everything seemed to be going in slow motion, him the only thing still going in real time. Attacking, ducking under, predicting enemy attacks within seconds, Kage was a fighting machine that couldn’t be stopped.

When the last man dropped, a nasty open wound exposing his chest, Kage stopped just enough to catch his breath, and the energy started to dissipate from his Claws. The adrenaline was starting to finish it’s course through his system, leaving him with a slight headache.

As he stood there, catching his breath, he ignored the sound of his breathing and let his ears search around for a sound. It was quiet, a bit too quiet for his liking. He strained his ears, something was there, with him. He couldn’t sense it, or hear it, yet.

……….. NOW!

Kage spun around, his right Claw swinging in a sideways arch, ready to take off someone’s head. He almost did.

At the end of his slash, someone had ducked the attack and hopped back a few feet, Kage jumped back as well, Claws raised and ready to counter.

“Assassin,” he muttered. “Only an assassin could sneak up on me like that.” Kage glared at the person, hidden behind a large black cloak. The cloak only exposed part of the person underneath the hood, of which he saw a chin exposed. The chin was too thin to be male, so it was either a female or an expert child he was facing.

“You are close,” replied the figure, with a female voice. The head raised a bit and Kage could see the eyes of the woman. They were a green and gray mix. “But I am one of Lord Garm’s Elite Warriors.”

“Heh,” Kage replied, smirking a bit. “Elite or not, your pals don’t seem to do very well against us.”

“Kenji and Karsh?” she said looking back at him, the top part of her face still hidden. “They are good. Good enough to see how strong you can be.”

“Is that so? So testing us to see how easily you think you can beat us?” Kage replied.

“No, testing to see how quickly we can defeat you.” she replied, smiling.

Using up the rest of his adrenaline rush, Kage charged the cloaked woman, jabbing and slashing with his claws to make a direct hit on her. The woman blocked and avoided everyone of Kage’s attacks with a fair amount of grace, and a set of her own Claws. Her Claws were three separate blades that were inside the gauntlets on her arms, much like Kage‘s. Then she went on the offensive, sending out a volley of jabs and slashes that Kage blocked and parried as well. It was no good, they were too evenly matched. Too evenly matched for Kage’s tastes.

Jumping back, Kage started to focus the energy back into his claws for his Dark Dragon attack. The adrenaline rush came, just as Kage had hoped, and he dashed to the side, going for a weak spot in the woman’s defense. She was quick and managed to catch onto his plan, pivoting and blocking a thrust that would have taken off her arm if she hadn’t moved.

Quickly Kage darted around her, aiming jabs and slashes for weak spots in her defense. So far the woman had managed to block every single one of his attacks, barely avoiding having her arm or a hand sliced off. Dashing back away from her, Kage rushed forward, his right arm raised for a blow to her head. The woman blocked by crossing her Claws up and intersecting them, stopping Kage from instantly ending the battle.

However, Kage used his forward momentum to flip himself up and over the woman. In mid-air, Kage started to collect energy in his right hand, and kept it raised, looking as if to use Gravitone to crush the woman under her own weight. The woman turned around and started to concentrate her energy into a light ball in between her hands. Kage’s energy around his right arm, quickly flowed into his hand, and forming into a ball of pure Shadow Energy.

Instead of Gravitone, Kage had quickly gathered enough energy to launch a massive Shadow Needles attack instead. Upside down in mid-air, Kage released his attack and hit the woman at point-blank range. Dozens of Kage’s Needles had struck the woman in her left side, many more would have hit, but the Photon Ray she was charging up had nullified half of the ones that Kage and released.

The force of Kage’s attack and releasing it so close, forced the woman to be thrown down to the ground and she slid for a few feet before coming to a stop. She winced through the pain starting to ink through her left arm and the left side of her torso. Kage’s Shadow Needles had a small amount of poison that would leave the target in pain for several days, not killing them, but not making them want to move either.

Kage landed and dusted himself off, his head was starting to hurt again from the adrenaline rush. He started to walk away when the woman shouted, “Photon Beam!”

A large beam of light blasted towards Kage and he ducked, scooted over to the side and used Gravitone on her anyway. It was an inverted form of the Shadow Attack, that blasted her back into a crate instead of crushing her under her own weight.

“Even with my Needles you’re still moving. Not bad.” Kage admitted. He turned to leave but then looked back. Frowning he rubbed his head as he thought. “Gah… stupid guilty conscious.”

Kage walked back and pulled the woman out from the splinters of wood and lumber, leaning her up against a row of barrels. Resting on his haunches, Kage looked at the woman. Pointing one of his Claws at her in a non-threatening way, he said. “Ya know, you aren’t that bad in a fight.”

“Neither are you,” she replied, gritting her teeth through the pain.

Kage rose and started to leave but the woman shouted something at him. “My name’s Cassandra Lashana, don’t expect me to go easy on you!”

Looking back, Kage smiled at her. “I look forward to it.” With that he dashed off into the forest.


* * *

Saké stared in disbelief at what had just happened seconds ago. This girl who he had bumped into on his way to Termania’s wharf had just stopped Karsh from slicing him in two.

“You guys are pathetic, a dozen against one isn’t fair odds.” she said with a soft voice.

“This is none of your concern,” Karsh replied, glaring at her.

“I think it is. It isn’t fair to gang up on someone.” she replied, holding her very long weapon.

“I don’t care,” Karsh stated. “Kill them both!”

The soldiers started to rush at Saké and the girl. Scrambling on his hands and feet, Denisu got over to his sword and raised it up to block two downward thrusts that would have taken off his head. He pushed up and knocked them back before attacking and knocking weapons out of hands.

In the fighting that ensued, he ended up back-to-back with the girl who had saved his life.

“Go on, get out of here.” she told him as she blocked some attacks.

“What?” Saké replied as he sliced a sword in two then punched the soldier with his right hand, still gripping the Sword firmly. “I can’t leave you on your own.” He raised his Sword to block an attack.

“Just GO!” she shouted, counter-attacking someone who she had blocked seconds ago.

Denisu kicked a soldier in the groin, forcing the man to double over in pain. He started to run, but stopped and looked back.

The girl was holding her own, very well. Her 8 foot long Naginata had a 2 foot blade at the end, and normally such a weapon was difficult to master, but she was using it with expertise. Whacking soldiers, blocking their sword attacks, and then re-attacking with some end of her weapon. Then Karsh appeared above her, sword ready to strike her down. Her Naginata was lowered and she just noticed him, there was no way she could block.

Something stirred inside of Saké trying to charge his Photon Blast in his right hand, the hand that still held his Sword! The energy that he was collecting wasn’t gathering in his fist, but in the blade of the Sword. Strange images, feelings, and words went through Denisu’s mind as he continued to charge up his attack. His blade was glowing brightly as he pulled his arm back.

“Lightforce Sword!” he shouted and then thrust his arm, throwing the glowing Sword into the middle of the confusion.

The glowing sword struck home in the center of the chaos. Striking the ground in front of the girl and under Karsh, who was still in mid-air, it let out a bright flash of light as well as a burst of energy. The force of the blow sent Karsh, and the soldiers still standing, flying in a wide circle, with the Katana sticking out of the ground. The girl was still standing, covering her eye with her arms, her Naginata still in her hands.

Saké ran up by her and grabbed her hand. “Come’on!”

“Huh?!“ He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along. As he did, he ran by his Katana sticking in the ground, reaching out with his free hand he grabbed it and he and the girl started to run out of Termania.

Starting to hit the bush of the north eastern side of Termania’s city limits, Saké and the girl stopped for a short break, catching their breath. Denisu looked around, they had to find a place to hide for a bit, or else Karsh and the soldiers would catch up with them.

“Up here,” he said, silently, and motioned to the tree. Taking a jump, that was slightly shorter than his other jumps because he seemed to be “Dragging” the girl along, they went up and hid in some of the branches of the tree.

Waiting up there, a few soldiers ran by, followed by a shouting Karsh. “Don’t let them escape! AFTER THEM! I want him alive, forget the girl.”

Karsh went past and the sound of soldiers crashing through the underbrush met the two’s ears. Then, silence for a few moments, and Denisu decided it was safe to move.

“I think it’s safe…” she had jumped down with an air of grace. “Now…. Kay.” Saké was ready to jump down as well, but slipped on the branch and only managed to land on his head.

“Ouchies…. That hurt.” he commented, laying on the ground in a fair amount of pain.

“Well, they’re gone now… Who are you?” the girl asked Saké as he started to push himself off the ground.

“Wha,” Denisu stood up and struck a heroic, if not comedic, pose. “I’m Wamiyazen Denisu, but just call me Saké. And who are you?”

“My name’s Setsuna,” She replied, with a smile on her face.

“Thanks for the assist earlier,” Saké said, thanking her for saving his butt against Karsh. “I’d probably be twins right now if you hadn’t shown up.”

Setsuna almost seemed to blush.

Looking at her, Saké got an odd feeling in the back of his mind. It was an odd feeling he hadn’t felt before. Even when being able to tell the truths behind a person just by looking in their eyes, something was tugging at the back of Denisu’s mind, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.


* * *

Sora was pressed up against a tree trunk as she heard soldiers running through the brush.

“Find them! I want to kill him myself!” someone barked, possibly the one in charge.

Sora waited and thought, a cat-like smile on her face. One of us must have been through here. She had gotten separated from Seyelin a while back after entering the forest. May have been Seyelin, he manages to cause a bit of his own trouble.

After the voices had left, Sora stood up from the tree and looked around. Now the forest seemed eerily quiet. “Saké? Kage? Seyelin? Anyone?” she whispered, hoping for a response, but receiving none.

Holding her Kama tight in her hand she reached in her pouch for a shuriken and held it in her free hand. Then, she started to move.

Moving as silently as she could through the shrubs, and having to hack her way through a few of them. She moved about 100 meters when she heard noises. Voices, talking in whispers and moving as silently as they could.

Garm’s soldiers? she thought. No, if they were, why would they be whispering?

“Yahoooooo?” she said, slightly over a whisper.

The voices stopped, and Sora was starting to think she was either hearing things, or was going to be ambushed.

“Sora?” The head of Saké Wamiyazen appeared in front of Sora.

“Saké!” Sora shouted. “Yay, I’ve finally found someone, y’know--*!!?!” Saké had grabbed her and clasped his hand over her mouth.

“Ssshhhhhhh!!” he said frantically, finally letting her go. “Watch it. We got people after us, remember?”

“Oh, yeah….” she said. Denisu motioned for her to follow him and they went through the line of bushes where Sora noticed another person, standing by a tree in a small clearing.

“Have you seen any soldiers around?” Saké asked.

“No, but I did hear their voices a few minutes ago. Who’s this?” she asked, pointing at the girl.

“Oh, this is Setsuna, and this is Hibari Sora, she’s one of my friends.” he said introducing the two.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Setsuna said, nodding her head.

“Have you seen any of the others yet?” Sora asked as they stood there for a second.

“I haven’t seen anyone since we split up at the Black Forest.” Saké stated. “Setsuna helped me out after I got cornered by Karsh.”

“Who?”

“Long story, not a good time for… one?” A rustle to their right and Denisu and Sora reached for their weapons. Out of the foliage, stepped Faile and Horus, leaves and green marks on their clothes and exposed skin.

“Damn,” Faile commented as she pulled out some leaves from her hair. “I hate running like that.”

“It is better than being caught.” Horus stated as he glanced around us. “Consider it lucky we got out in one piece. Hmm?” he noticed Setsuna watching everyone.

“You guys are alright,” Denisu said, glad that he and Sora weren’t the only ones to get out of Termania. “Now where’s everyone else?”

“I thought we were heading to the Draconain Ruins.” Faile said, an air of annoyance in her voice. “It was your plan to begin with.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Denisu stammered, recovering from his short-term memory. So much had happened in a short while, that he had almost forgotten. “Let’s go then.”

The five of them started to walk through the forest, avoiding some of the main trails and sticking to the thick bush. The entire time, Horus was at the back of the group, and eyeing Setsuna. Something was going on. Something he could tell, but couldn’t prove, or even explain.

It was a few minutes of walking and stopping when they heard crashing through the forest before they finally reached the Draconain Ruins.

Standing in the middle of a well-kept clearing was a charcoal gray domed building. The building was large and rounded, a circular structured with one entrance. A small flight of stairs lead from a broken path of circular stones. Eleven pillars stood around the structure, each a different color. Symbols were carved into the pillars, with the different colors of the 11 Elements. Some of the pillars were crumbled and reduced to less than half of their original height. Others rested on their sides, while the bases were still planted in the ground.

The Ruins have been the site for rituals, vandalism, ceremonies, and other kinds of public activities for the past 4000 years. It was a sacred place for a lot of rituals involving magic and the blessing of children.

“The Draconain Ruins,” Sora said with an air of awe in her voice. “My parents told me about them, but I’ve never actually seen them.”

“I’ve been here,” Denisu stated, “About three times. The spot is secluded and is rumored to be sacred. My father usually does a ceremony out here as part of a tradition during the festival in Termania. It's a show of respect to the ancient lore of Jakarta. Even though dad’s never asked me to participate except in the last few years.”

The few of them stopped at the base of the stairs, looking into the darkened entrance of the ruins.

“What, what’s in there?” Setsuna asked.

“Heh,” Saké replied. “I’ll show you, since none of you have been inside before.”

He lead the group inside and just as they reached the top of the stairs, there was Elena, leaning inside the doorway.

“Elena! You’re okay!”

Elena gave them a little smile. “Good to know everyone else is too, even if we are missing people.”

“Well, I found a few stragglers,” Sora boasted, pointing at Saké, Horus, and Faile. “But I doubt anyone’s going to find Chamel.”

“What you say about me?” came Chamel’s voice.

“Wha?!” Sora looked around frantically for the Chameleon Demi-Human.

A bundle of clothes fell down in front of her and up righted itself. There, Chamel appeared inside his own clothes. “Hiya!” he said with a big cheesy grin.

“You……. CHAMELEON!!!!” Sora roared and grabbed Chamel and started strangling him. Everyone else watched with sweatdrops on their heads.

“Anyway, we know where he was,” Sora stated while Chamel was laying on the ground, marks on his neck from Sora’s hands. “What were you going to show us?”

Denisu lead them inside. The area inside was darker than the color of the building on the outside, mostly because of the lack of sunlight, but the area was darkened with age. Charging up some energy in his hand, Saké managed to light up the inner room of the Ruins.

The entire room was a shrine of some kind. Eleven statues of dragon-like Demi-Humans stood along the sides, looking similar, but having subtle differences along them. They had their arms crossed over their chests, the necks curled up and the chins resting on their chests, but the heads half hidden by their arms. Their wings were folded up by their bodies while the tails wrapped around their feet.

“What are they?” Faile asked. “Statues? Engravings?”

“I’m not sure, but there is something strange about these statues.” Horus replied, standing in the center and staring at them.

There came the sound of boots on the steps and everyone spun around towards the doorway. Kage plodded up the steps and saw everyone there. He had some of his cloak ripped and some more blood on his armor and cloths.

“Damn,” he stated. “I don’t wanna do that again.”

“What happened? Did you see anyone else?” Sora asked.

“Na. As soon as I left the Inn I almost got my head sliced off by another one of Garm’s Elite Warriors.” He added the gesture with his right Claw about slicing his neck. “I saw a light in here and came over. Good thing no one else was here, or else they would have been in trouble.”

“Trouble from you or trouble from anything else.” Horus asked.

Kage cocked his eyes as he thought. “Both.”

“Where is everyone?” Saké asked, worried about them.

“Dunno, but who’s she?” he said motioning towards Setsuna.

“Yeah,” Chamel added. “Who’s the babe?” Denisu whacked the Chameleon over his head.

“Oh,” Setsuna stated and then gave Kage a slight bow. “My name is Setsuna.”

“She helped me out of Termania.” Saké replied.

“More like saved your butt in Termania.” Sora stated giving Denisu a look.

Denisu turned around, slightly insulted. “I can handle myself!”

“It didn’t look that way to me,” Setsuna said. “That’s why I helped.” She gave an innocent smile.

Kage elbowed him in the side. “Looks like someone likes you Saké.”

Denisu elbowed him back, harder.


* * *

Vared walked along the sewers as she had been for the past five minutes. In her right hand was a small Fireball illuminating her way. The flame was small, about the size of a chicken egg, but it was enough to light her way. The sewers ran all under Termania, and were one of the lesser traveled areas of the city, for obvious reasons.

As she walked along one of the eastward going sewers, she noticed that the level of the water down in the area started to rise. At this rate, she would have to risk jumping to reach the next ladder out of the sewers.

Moving sideways, her back against the wall, the flame in one hand and her Spear in the other, Vared continued to make her way along the sewers. The was starting to slow down, because she was running out of maneuvering space to get around. The ceiling was starting to get shorter, and her head had hit it a few times.

Great, she thought. I’m going to have to jump. And she did.

Her foot landed on the ledge, but the edge broke off and she fell.

With a splash, Vared fell into the murky water of Termania’s sewers. Slowly, with some disgust, Vared got to the edge, took off her vest, twisted it so she could get the water out and then put it back on.

“I need a week-long bath after this.” she commented.

Spotting a ladder, she hoisted herself up and looked through the holes in the cover. She could see smaller buildings, similar to the ones she saw when they entered Termania the other day.

Slowly, she opened the manhole and then looked around. There where some buildings. No one was there.

She climbed out, keeping an eye ahead of her, making sure she had a straight run-way to the forest.

“Hey, what are you doing?” asked someone behind her. Without a second thought, Vared dashed off down the street, and left Termania, entering the forest. Not realizing that it wasn’t a soldier behind her, but a 10-year-old boy, who lived near that sewer opening.


* * *

Everyone continued looking around the interior of the Ruins, examining the statues and the markings on the floor.

“Hey, does anyone else notice the marks on this floor?” Elena said and kneeled down, putting her hand against it.

She got some reaction as everyone looked down at the floor.

There was a circular design on the floor, matching the same way the building was rounded. A strange style of writing was carved into the floor in the circle, with even more symbols of Elements carved into the ground.

“These symbols are carved all over the floor.” Denisu stated. “The walls and the ceiling are smooth. Even with aging they’re as smooth as the Ruins were made.”

“That’s not saying much,” Chamel said. “There are the Element Symbols carved at the base of these statues.” He was kneeling too and resting his hand in the groove for the Earth Element in front of one of the statues. “What ever this building is made of, it’s some strong stuff.”

Setsuna was walking around the back of the Ruins, running her fingers on the back wall. When she stopped and placed her full palm on the back of the wall, something happened.

Starting from where she laid her hand, the wall came alive with lights. Lighted markings of an ancient language lit up the wall and went all around the inside of the rounded building.

“Wha?!” she exclaimed and everyone stared at the walls as they came alive. The lighted markings were several different colors, all variations of the rainbow. Everyone watched in awe, as the symbols lit up the entire circular room. It was so bright that they could see the top of the dome, and the mural painted up there.

“What the..?!” Saké said as he looked up. “That’s never been there!”

Everyone looked upward and were taken aback. Painted, in exquisite detail was a four winged dragon, curled up and protecting a number of eggs within the tail. Standing beside her and facing outward, were real-life representations of the statues that were now standing in the Ruins.

“Whoa!” Sora exclaimed. “This is Draconian!”

“It’s wha?” Kage asked.

“Draconian,” Sora continued. “It’s one of Jakarta’s oldest languages. My father studies ancient languages and this was one of the few that I decided to study more. It’s very old and hard to decipher, and almost no one speaks it now.”

“Can, can you read what it says?” Setsuna asked, her hand still pressed up against the wall and staring at where she was pressing.

“I don’t know, this light coming from them isn’t making it easy.” she said and tried to look at them more closely.

Setsuna removed her hand and the light faded away. All except for the mural painted on the dome. Then, the pendants around Saké, Kage, Sora, Chamel, Elena, Faile, and Horus’ neck started to glow brightly.

“Yeow,” Saké exclaimed.

“What’s with the light show?” Chamel asked as he held his pendant in his hand.

“Ack.” Sora said. “I couldn’t read much. But the impression I get is this was built to honor something.”

“But to honor what?” Faile asked as she held her pendant in the palm of her hand.

“Don’t look at me, I can only see the future, not the past.” Horus stated.

They glanced around, pondering about what to do next.

“Hey,” Chamel said, sniffing. “You guys smell something?”

“Hello?! Anyone here?!” came Vared’s voice from out side.

“In here!” Sora replied. “We’re already inside Vared!”

Vared hopped up the stairs and entered the Ruins. Everyone held their noses, especially Elena and Chamel.

“Where have you been?” Faile asked, forcing herself not to breath much.

Vared had a sweatdrop on her head.

“Smells like my grandmother’s pea soup.” Sora added.

“I WAS IN THE SEWER!!!!!” Vared shouted. “Everyone shut up before I start slicing off a few heads!” She held the blade of her Spear out at us.

“Calm down Vared,” Chamel stated, hand still over his nose. “It’s not every day you get to smell like a dump and…. ACK!” Chamel landed outside of the Ruins, thrown out by Vared.

“Jerk.”

The others had sweat drops.

“Now calm down Vared,” Saké started. “We won’t bug you about your newfound sent…”

“But, could you stand downwind?”

In a flash, Saké, Horus, and Kage ended outside, landing right on Chamel.

“JERKS!” Vared shouted out at them from inside the Ruins.

“Ow, my head.” Saké said.

“And I never said anything! Why’d you say that Horus?” Kage demanded.

“Don’t ask,” the Demi-Human replied.

“My back. I can’t feel my back.” Chamel whined.

“And I wasn’t even a part of the conversation!” Seyelin shouted, at the bottom of the pile.

“Hey, when did you show up?” Saké asked, noticing Seyelin under Chamel.

“Just now, when I got hit with a Unidentified Flying Reptile.” the Ice Innate replied.

“My back! I can’t feel it!” Chamel continued to complain.

Zera and Amal walked through the tree line to see the site in front of them. They looked at each other, shrugged and then walked past them into the Ruins

“Oh for crying out loud,” Kage shouted. “Your back is fine!” He pushed Saké up and off of him and stood upright. “I had nothing to do and yet…. Uhg.” The combination of standing up so fast had caused Kage to go dizzy, his sight being blocked by splotches of red and blue-purple.

“Hey Kage, you alright?” Saké asked as Kage started to lose his balance. “Kage!”


<><><><><><><><>

Kage Ikagaide felt no pain as his soul left his body falling to the ground. His eyes were closed, but he could still feel the detachment of soul and body. He floated in mid-air as time went in reverse. The moss and decay of the ruins went backward, rebuilding them, even if the rest of the area was replaced by a swirling void of all colors. He did open his eyes eventually, and was surprised and dazed to see this happening.

He floated, more upright now, and watching as pillars that had been knocked over replaced and pieced back together. The outside aging was reversing, returning the Ruins to their past glory.

“Wha… What’s happening?” Kage asked, hoping for some answers.

As he watched, the domed Ruin vanished, and he could see every pillar that was placed around the building. Silhouettes appeared on every pillar, their colors matching those of the pillars they rested upon. All except for the silhouette on top of the black pillar. This silhouette was more physical, more detailed. More there.

Congratulations, Kage Ikagaide. said a voice, coming from nowhere, and yet, everywhere.

“Who…. Who are you? And where am I?” He floated down gently and still remained inches above the “ground” that was supposed to be there.

You have discovered the Draconian Trance, and the Ruins of Time. the voice said again, speaking directly into his mind. You may forget most of this, your first Trance, but with time and practice, you can remember more, and more of your Trances.

“Who are you? What are you?”

Two eyes formed inside the silhouette, blazing red color and seemed to capture Kage. What I am, and what I am called is not important now. What is important is what you must do for us.

“Us?”

My brethren are under the protection of your fellow travelers. It is not coincidence that you all have met at this time. No, it is fate. Destiny calls upon you and the others to protect us, until the seals can be broken.

“What seals? Where are you?!”

You will learn that in time. But I must be brief now, for your time in this Trance is limited. The Black silhouette’s eyes blazed, and even brighter red. To fight this menace that now hunts you all, you and the others must head east. The castle of this evil you fight resides in the east, hidden on the other side of the Pyre Mountain Range, among the valleys and hills of the Yeorha Region. You must head east, and be wary, there are beings that will try and stop you, unknowingly aiding the great evil. Be wary, for there are those who are not what they seem, and may betray you and your comrades. Always be on guard. The eyes closed and the silhouettes started to disappear. Farewell Kage.

Then, time accelerated, the ruins aged and decayed before his eyes, as he could feel the passage of time. Faster and faster he went, until the flow of time stopped, and his soul was slammed back into his body.


<><><><><><><><>

Kage took a sharp breath. Drawing air into his lungs, his body had been in stasis, not breathing and having the impression of death. He started breathing again.

“Hey!” Denisu exclaimed. “You’re alive.”

“You alright Kage?” Sora asked.

Kage sat up, rubbing his head, which currently had one monster of a migraine. “I…. I think so.”

“Easy there, you just had your soul out of your body.” Horus stated, kneeling by Kage.

“I’ll be fine.” Kage stated, forcing himself up. “But.. But I think…”

“What?” Sora wondered. “What do you think?”

“I think, our problems may have just gotten a lot larger.” Kage turned and looked at the Ruins, and the black pillar that stood off to the side.

“Well, I suggest we bed here for the night.” Saké suggested. “Granted it may not be the best Inn in the world, but it’s better than nothing. Plus because it’s sacred, not many come around except during certain times of the year.”

“Saké has a point.” Elena agreed. “The sun will only be up for a few more hours, and we do need to rest for the journey ahead.”

“Only,” Seyelin started. “Where do we go?”

“East.” Kage stated. “We head east and stop Garm where he lives.” He pounded his fists together. “I only remember blurred images and a few words from my trance. But something I do remember is to head East and pay Garm a visit.”

“Hmm, the direct approach.” Horus said, contemplating the situation. “Interesting… What told you to go east?”

“I don’t know. All I remember was a black silhouette with red eyes. And this deep voice saying East.” Kage replied, holding his head as if trying to recall more information.

“It could be a trap,” Zera stated.

“I agree,” Faile added. “Whoever Garm is, probably sent us a message, because he wants us to find him. It could be a trap.”

“That’s not the impression I got.” Kage switched his Claws out and rubbed one against the other. “Whether or not you guys go with me, I’m going.”

“Hold on,” Amal chipped in. “If we’re in this, we are in it together.”

“Amal has a point.” Seyelin added. “If there is a castle, how would you be able to penetrate the defenses?”

“I’ll find a way,” Kage replied.

“Let’s put it to a vote,” Denisu suggested. “Personally I think we should go.” Everyone looked at him. “Think about it. Garm is after these Pendants,” he held his out. “And we don’t know why. If we go up and get him to tell us, maybe we will have a better understanding of what is happening, and why we were entrusted to protect them.”

“But we don’t have a way of finding out where this Garm dude is.” Chamel stated.

“I do.”

Everyone turned and looked at Setsuna, who was standing outside of their little circle of friends.

“I know where Garm’s castle is.”

“You do?!” Saké exclaimed, surprised.

“Yes, my father is a merchant who runs a trading line from the other side of the Pyre Rang to Termania and then south through Direwood and the areas south.” she said.

“Wait,” Elena piped in. “If we head east from here, we are going to end up in the middle of the Hydra Jungle.”

“Yeah, so?” Saké replied.

“I can’t believe you people,” the Feline Demi-Human stated. “The Hydra Jungle is the largest and most extensive underbrush on Zeeam. No one has gotten through alive, and the reason it’s called the Hydra Jungle, is because a Hydra is rumored to exist there.”

“So?” Kage asked. “It’s just a myth.”

“There are some truths behind myths.” Zera stated.

“The route my father takes through the Jungle has always been safe. I could guide everyone safely through.” Setsuna offered.

“Whatever we decide, we will have to decide tomorrow,” Horus said. “For now, we need to rest from the day, and this is possibly the safest place we can ask for at the moment. Everyone agree?”

There were nods of agreement.

“Okay,” Saké said. “Let’s camp here and then decide what to do in the morning.”

“I guess,” Setsuna said, quietly.

“Come-on Chameleon-boy,” Kage commented as he walked by Chamel and grabbed the Demi-Human by the tail and dragged him off. “Let’s go get some firewood.”

“Uhg,” Vared commented, holding her arms away from her body. “Where’s the nearest place I can take a bath?”

“There’s a lake not far from here, about one klick north east.” Elena said. “I’ll lead you there.”

“I’ll come along too.” Amal said, giving the men dirty looks, and holding her Glaive, the blade pointed at them. “To keep away the wild animals.” She, Vared, and Elena walked through the bushes and disappeared.

The guys looked at each other, sweatdrops on their heads. It was going to be a long night.

---------------------------------------

Hibari Sora: Hellooooo! Sora here. As we bed down and think about what we are going to do, everyone seems to have odd dreams and some even odder conversations. But hey, we‘re all odd, aren‘t we? Hee hee! There‘s discussion of betrayal and thinking about what to do. While Elena still protests heading through the Hydra Jungle. Next time, on Chains of Dragons! Calm Before the Storm.

HA! Windraker!!

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Yay! The long-awaited chap is finally here! *hugs Denny, the fic, all the characters, then hugs Denny again*

not much to comment on. this chap has been pretty true to the RPG, as far as I can remember.

As always, love the fic. You write well. ^_^

[Mew Master]

Chapter 8: Calm Before the Storm

The sun was still in the sky, sinking lower as the day went on. Dusk was a few hours away, and the Draconian Ruins were starting to be bathed in an orange glow. There was some slight activity at the mostly vacant Ruins. A small number of people moved around, getting ready to spend the night by the domed building and remains of pillars.

Denisu Wamiyazen was sitting on the grass, leaning against a tree, his arms acting like a pillow. He looked at the Ruins, a serious look on his face. He watched as Kage and Chamel brought over firewood from the forest, Horus was sitting, his legs crossed, and mentally forming a ring of stones for the fire site, Elena, Amal, and Vared were still gone at the lake, and the others were still moving around the Ruins, trying to get the letters to appear again.

Saké looked at the entrance to the Ruins, the ancient building bringing back some old memories he had of visiting them while he was younger. When his mother was still alive.

So much has happened in the last few days, he thought. Garm’s going to start getting even more desperate for us. For these, he looked at the pendant hanging around his neck. Although it looks like a Dragon Stone, it doesn’t glow all the time. And I can’t feel it magnifying my power any….

“What are you thinking?”

Saké jumped. First hitting his head on the way up, and then landing on his head back on the ground. “Ouchies….” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” said the female voice.

Looking up, after pushing himself back up, Denisu saw Setsuna standing there. “Oh, hi Setsuna.”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh? Yeah, I’m fine.” He tapped his own skull. “I usually get hit on my head all the time, so I’m used to it.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised at his remark. “So what where you thinking?”

“Huh? Oh, it was nothing.”

“You sure? Your face didn’t seem like it was nothing.” she replied. “So what was it?”

“Well,” Saké said, not sure if he wanted to share his thoughts when he wasn’t so sure about them. “I guess, of all the things I could think about, I was thinking about my mother when she brought me here for the first time.” It wasn’t a lie, that was one of the things he had been thinking about. “I do have some memories of this place, not just within the past few years, but when I was really young too.”

“So you were thinking about your mother?” Setsuna asked, sitting down next to him. “You’re lucky, I’ve never known my mother.”

Saké stared at her, sadness and sympathy in his eyes.

“What was your mother like?” Setsuna asked him.

“Huh?!” Denisu blushed for a second. “Well, she was…”

As those two spoke, on the other side of the meadow, by the ring of stones that he had moved with his mind, Horus was watching Saké and Setsuna with his mind’s eye. He could see some of Saké’s emotions on his face, but nothing from Setsuna. It was odd. Why couldn’t he sense anything…

“ACK! Look out!”

Horus turned, just in time to get whacked in the head by the firewood Chamel had been carrying. The Chameleon Demi-Human had tripped on the stones and his firewood and flown out of his arms and whacked the Psychic Demi-Human. Horus was now out cold, his eyes spinning and a large bump on his head.

“Aw man,” Chamel said. “Say, Horus, you alright?” Chamel watched as a thick piece of timber rose from the pile he had dropped, raised above him and then fell right on his head, whacking him down. “Ow….”

“Chamel, you’re a clutz,” Kage commented, as he set his load of firewood down. “And you overloaded yourself with firewood.”

Raising up, Chamel rubbed his head. “It’s not my fault I didn’t want to go searching in the middle of the night for more.”

“What makes you think we’d send you out for more?” Horus asked, pulling the wood off of himself with his mental abilities.

“Who else would you send who could blend in with the environment?” Chamel said, boasting a bit.

Kage and Horus looked at each other. A smile came across each other’s faces as they had the same idea.

“Okay Chamel, thanks for the idea.” Kage stated. Chamel face faulted into the ground.

“But why don’t you make yourself useful, and go find us some food?” Horus asked, as he concentrated on the pile of timber in the small circle of stones.

“Isn’t Faile doing that?” Chamel replied.

“Faile could need some help.” Kage stated.

“I think she’s good without me. Besides, she doesn’t laugh at my jokes.”

“Because your jokes aren’t that funny.” Kage replied, bluntly. Tears streamed down Chamel’s cheeks. “But go and help Faile hunt. We’ll need something to eat before nightfall.”

“Fine, fine, fine.” Chamel finally gave in. “But if she neuters me, it’s your fault.”

“Just don’t go ticking her off,” Horus warned as a fire erupted from the timber. “And you’ll live with all your appendages intact.”

“Fine, I’m going.” Chamel walked by the weapons, grabbed his Masumoon and jumped into the trees, and with a rustle he was gone.

“You ever notice that he tries too hard to be funny?” Kage said as he watched the spot where Chamel had disappeared.

“It’s his way of getting attention. It was how he learned to live, and how to cope with how he was raised.” Horus commented.

“Traumatized?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Horus replied. “I don’t pry into people’s minds.”

“Good, cause my mind is like an oyster,” Kage stated. “It doesn’t like being pried at.”

“Which is why I don’t go looking where I’m not wanted.” Horus said as he remained, sitting by the fire. “Hmmm…”

“What?”

“I was just wondering. Making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be.” Horus stated.

“Saké’s over there with Setsuna, Amal, Vared, and Elena are at the lake, Sora’s inside the Ruins with Zera, Seyelin’s standing over by that ice-blue pillar, and Faile and Chamel are hunting.” Kage replied. “So we’re all accounted for.”

“For now,” Horus said, stirring the fire with a longer stick.

“And what does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Horus replied. “Nothing at all.”


* * *

“Thanks for keeping watch Elena,” Vared said, currently submerged half-way up to her shoulders.

“It’s nothing,” the Feline Demi-Human replied. “I never was a big fan of water.”

Amal was also in the lake, her clothes by Vared’s on a rock. They had already washed out Vared’s clothes, and now they were drying them on the rock while the sun was still in the sky.

“Water’s alright,” Amal commented. “It’s just the animals I’m worried about.”

“I don’t think you should have threatened them like that.” Vared stated. “I don’t think any of them would really try anything.”

“I’m more worried about Chamel,” Amalthea replied. “He can blend in so we wouldn’t even know if he was here or not.”

“Chamel doesn’t strike me as the kind to abuse his powers like that,” Elena said. “So far he’s only used his skills to sneak around towns and to get away from Garm’s soldiers. I don’t think he’s smart enough to be a Peeping Tom.” She held her emerald pendant in her hands. “Hmm…”

“What?” Amal asked as Vared went underwater.

“Do you know what Dragon Stones are?”

“Dragon Stones?” Amal thought. “What do they have to do with anything?”

“I was just thinking. Our pendants. They look like decorated and carved Dragon Stones don’t they?” Elena said, holding hers between her fingers.

Amal looked at her pendant around her neck. The thought had occurred to her that they did resemble Dragon Stones. Just before she was going to reply, Vared popped up from in front of her.

“AAHHH!” Amal screamed, flailing around and splashing Elena.

“Sorry.” Vared smiled innocently.

Uncharacteristically, Amal grabbed Vared by her cheeks and pulled them apart. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Vared pleaded.

Elena sat there, with an annoyed look on her face and her fur drenched.


* * *

Faile silently moved through the forest, staying away from the main trail and following the numerous game trails that ran through the forest itself. She had seen some spotted deer roaming the brush, and she was currently trying to find a suitable one for dinner. The spotted deer of Zeeam were very hard to track, even for the best of hunters. Their ears were large, eyes were very good, especially in mid-day, and had strong legs. The horns that they had were small, even the bucks had small horns because of their ears.

Perching in the tree, Faile pushed aside some of the branches so that she could see her prey better. She was downwind, and the sun was at her back, so the chances of the deer spotting or smelling her were low. Now she had to count on being swift, silent, and on target.

Slowly, and silently, pulled out an arrow from her holster, as she held her bow ready. Steadying her hand, she pulled the string back, picking her target, the healthiest looking buck out of the herd. She watched and waited. Bidding her time to let her arrow fly and pierce the heart of the deer.

“FAILE! FAILE THUNDER-GIRL!! WHERE ARE YOU?!!”

Faile about fell out of the tree. The deer, on the other hand, jerked their heads up towards the source of the voice, and then darted off in the opposite direction. Regaining her composure Faile watched in disbelief as the deer herd ran off.

Annoyed, angered, Faile had finally been pushed off the edge.

Chamel was standing there, his hands to his mouth, ready to shout again.

“FAIL! WHERE ARE …. ACK!”

Faile jumped down and high-kicked Chamel in the face, shutting him up and knocking him back.

“YOU STUPID CHAMELEON!” she screamed. “YOU JUST LET OUR DINNER GET AWAY!!” She kicked him again.

Chamel was soundly beat up several more times by Faile, who was still ticked off at him. With one large lump on his head he sat up.

“What?! What did I do?!”

Faile spun around and threw a stone from the trail, whacking Chamel in the head.

They stayed that way for several seconds. Faile standing very threateningly, and Chamel, on the ground, eyes spinning, and a large lump on the side of his head.

Snorting, Faile spoke. “What the hell are you doing?”

Pulling himself up, Chamel rubbed the side of his head. “Kage asked me to lend you a hand in hunting.”

“Well that was a waste, it took me an hour to track those deer, and now you spooked them.” Faile replied, exasperated. “They’re probably three kilometers away by now.”

“I don’t think so,” Chamel said. “Zeeam’s spotted deer may be fast, but they can only go at top speed for less than 30 seconds. So they shouldn’t be that far ahead.”

Faile sighed. “Fine, we’ll go after them, but,” she grabbed Chamel and pulled him close to her face. “Stay out of my sight.”

“Hey,” Chamel replied with a nervous smile. “It’s what I do best.”

“Whatever,” Faile let go of Chamel and started running along the trail.

Chamel rubbed his head for a second, before disappearing and the sight of his clothes floating was seen running after Faile and the deer.


* * *

Back at the Ruins, the sun had sunk lower into the sky. Elena, Vared, and Amal had returned, the smell of Termania’s sewers gone from Vared and her clothes. A brilliant fire was burning, helped on by Horus continually adding timber for the flames.

“Happy now boys?” Vared asked the men, who she had given the Vared-Special earlier, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Kage, Saké, and Horus were still nursing the bumps on their heads. “Where’s Faile and Chamel?”

“Hunting,” Seyelin replied, leaning up against a pillar.

“You mean Faile isn’t back yet?” Amal asked, surprised.

“Chamel’s with her.”

“Oh,” the Water Innate replied.

Sora walked out of the Ruins, an annoyed and frustrated look on her face. “Whoever said third time’s the charm was lying. Oh, hi guys,” she said to the three girls who had returned from the lake.

“Any luck?” Kage asked, as Sora, Zera, and the ones from the lake walked towards the fire.

“No,” Sora said, sighing. “We’ve tried everything short of firing off Magic inside.”

“Good choice,” Saké replied. “I don’t think the locals would have forgiven you if you did that, I wouldn’t either.”

“So we just sit around?” Setsuna asked.

“That’s what it looks like.” Kage said. “Cause we can’t do much until the hunters come back.”

“I only wonder who will be bagging who.” Horus stated, a smile on his face.

“Hey-ooo!” shouted someone from the tree-line. Everyone looked to see who it was.

Chamel walked through the trees, proudly holding the deer that he and Faile had caught above his head. Faile was walking behind him as far as she could, an annoyed look plastered all over her face.

“So who’s up for roasted venison?” Chamel asked as he dropped the deer near the fire.

Seyelin walked up towards the group and stood by Faile. “I was expecting you to be carrying him as the game.”

“I was tempted,” she replied before walked to the carcass and taking out her daggers, started to cut the body up.


* * *

The sun had set already, the sky darkening. The only light from the fire. An orange glow illuminating the underside of some trees and the outlines of the Ruins.

The Pendant Bearers sat around the fire, finishing off the Venison that was killed earlier.

“We’re going to have to sleep sometime,” Seyelin commented.

“We’ll set up a watch for the night,” Kage replied. “I’ll take the first shift.”

“I’ll take the next one then,” Saké replied. “We had better get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

As the others scattered around the fire, deciding to sleep in the Ruins or outside of them. Kage and Horus remained as the others left to find a comfortable place to sleep.

The Shadow Innate turned and leaned against a tree, staring into the flames. Horus was there too, his legs crossed and his arms cupped into his sleeves. His sword was propped up and resting on his shoulder.

Kage stared at the dancing flames, thoughts buzzing around in his mind. He hadn’t been fully honest when he stated that all he could remember out of the trance was the word east. No. He remembered another word. A word that made him worry. Betrayal.

What could it mean? Betray. he thought, his eyes staring into the flames. Will we be betrayed? And by who? When? The question was bugging him greatly.

“Something bugging you Kage?” Horus asked.

Kage looked up at Horus and then turned away. “Stop trying to read my mind.”

“I didn’t have to, the look on your face was message enough that something is on your mind.” the Psychic Innate replied.

Kage snorted. He didn’t like sharing his problems with others, especially something like this. “Well, if you must know, there is something bugging me.”

“And what is it?”

“I lied when I said all I could remember was a black image and a single word,” Kage started, sitting down on the opposite side of the fire. “There was another word that I didn’t tell anyone. Betrayal.”

The two sat there in silence for a few moments, the crackling of the fire the only sound.

“Hmm.” Horus finally said. “This is an interesting problem.”

“An annoying problem you mean,” Kage replied.

“No, an interesting one,” Horus continued. “But we must first see what we know thus far.”

“We know that the Draconian Ruins are some of the oldest relics on Jakarta. It is a special and sacred place where many ceremonies, births, and other events have taken place, so it is safe to say that the Ruins have some mystical power linked to them.”

“We saw some of that power earlier when the Ruins lit up and then our pendants soon after.”

“The Ruins were built to honor something, and there is a great abundance of Magic Chi here. Those pillars contain a large amount of such chi. I am surprised that anyone else does not sense their power, or if they do, why they do not say such a thing.”

“And what’s your point?”

“We have a few mysteries that are connected. The Writing on the walls. Our Pendants in general. And now your trance. We’ll have to add another mystery to our growing list.”

“What’s that?” Kage asked, listening.

“Setsuna.”

“Hmm? What do you mean? She seems normal enough to me.” Kage replied, glancing over to the Ruins, where most of the girls had decided to bed for the night, leaving the men outside.

“Kage, you know as well as I that Psychic Innates cannot read minds. We can only sense the auras around people and see their current emotions and read their faces. Shadow and Light Innates are a mystery to us. Their auras are either pure white or pure black, stopping us from reading the emotions of either Element, and must rely on our perception to guide us.”

“So? What does that have to do with Setsuna?”

Horus narrowed his eyes as his white eyes stared into the fire. “I cannot sense anything from her. She is different from Shadow, Light, or any other Element I have ever sensed. I cannot even sense her element, it is like every effort I try only succeeds in draining my Chi.”

“So you think she is the one to betray us?” Kage asked, curious and concerned.

“No.” Horus replied. “I do not think she is.” Horus stood up. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Goodnight Kage.” Horus walked towards the Ruins, and Kage watched him walk off.

“Hmph. Night.” Kage looked back into the flames, another question on his mind.


<><><><><><><><>

*First Person: Wamiyazen Denisu “Saké”*

I ran.

Being chased, following someone, what was happening scared me. I ran.

Running. Running down a hall. Struts standing up, supporting the hall I was running in. Black. Black with white outlines of the supports, and walls.

I seemed to be running forever. Into infinity, no beginning and no end.

Sounds filled my ears, the clashing of swords, people dying in agony as they were hacked to pieces. Grizzly shadows appeared on the already black walls. I ran faster.

I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could go, and even faster still. As I did, I saw a light form at the end of the tunnel. Freedom. Haven. I ran faster than I could, trying my hardest to get closer.

The more I ran, the less I seemed to be gaining on the light.

As I ran, I saw something forming in the light as I got closer.

A woman, dressed in long flowing robes of rainbow hues. Long red hair danced in wind that wasn’t blowing. He eyes were closed, but I remembered her. I knew who she was.

“Mom…. MOM!”

She opened her eyes and the pure green color drew me forward, faster than I could go. I ran, reaching out. Reaching for the love and security that she held for me. The warmth and comfort of her arms that I had always sought out when I was young. I reached out as far as I could, but the world erupted into shadows.

The walls collapsed, the dark shadows moving forward and engulfing my mother in darkness. As I watched she was engulfed by pure darkness, a smile never leaving her face.

“MOM!” I shouted.

Then the shadows started to surround me, yanking and pulling on my body, I resisted, I tried…. Mom….


<><><><><><><><>

Saké was shoved awake. Kage shaking the Light Innate’s shoulder.

“Saké. Hey Saké, wake up.” he said, shaking Denisu awake.

Denisu opened his eyes and saw Kage standing over him. “Huh? Wha?”

“You were talking in your sleep, and besides, it’s your shift.” Kage replied.

“Oh,” Saké pushed himself up and held a hand to his head. “Thanks.”

“Come on, you better get to work.” Kage said as he went and found a spot for himself to sleep.

Saké sat up and reached for his sword. He stood up and walked to the fire, that had died down somewhat from when he went to sleep.

Sitting down, he brought his knees up to his chest, the Katana resting between his legs. Saké stared into the flames, the last image of his dream dancing in the flames. The image of his mother looking with her loving eyes, flowing hair and rainbow robe. He pulled his hands away from holding his legs and looked at them. The shackled gloves that had been on his hands for more than half of his life.

The pain may be suppressed, he thought. But it’s still there. He rubbed his left arm, and the armband he had on it.

He glanced around. Horus was sleeping next to the Ruins, along with Kage, Seyelin, and Zera. Chamel was sleeping in a tree. All the girls were in the Ruins themselves, getting the best rest they could.

Saké lifted his head up, and listened. The forest was quiet, considering how noisy it could be in daylight, the snapping from the fire the only sound he could hear. It was a quiet night, anything coming could be heard very easily.

Standing up, sheathed Katana in hand, he glanced around once more. When he felt that everything was in order, he turned and silently made his way through the brush. There was a set of cliffs near the Draconian Ruins, not close enough to pose any danger to the ancient landmark, but close enough to make some people worry. Saké soon arrived, still able to see the campfire burning by the Ruins, although it appeared like a small light in the darkness. There was another light this night. Coming from the sky of Jakarta itself.

In the star filled sky, three moons brightly shown on the planet. They each glowed with their own shade of color. The larger moon was named Ra, and shined with a dull yellow color. One, a bit smaller than Ra, was Sokra, a pale blue moon. Finally, the smallest of the three moons, was Mer, a moon with a deep crimson color. Saké stood there, and watched the moons as their light illuminated the valley beneath the cliff face.

“Has it really been….” he started. “Eleven years?”


<><><><><><><><><><>

*First Person, Hibari Sora*

Flying. I couldn’t believe it.

I was flying. Soaring through the air. My wings flapping gently. My….. Wings?!

My head turned back, and I saw my blue wings flapping in the air, a long tail behind me. I shook my head. This couldn’t be real. My eyes scanned the ground beneath me, and I saw trees, houses, villages…. My house!

Spiraling down, I landed in the front lawn of my own home. My parents were already outside.

I tried calling, but nothing came out. No words. Silence

But there they were. Safe, and sound, and no evidence of Garm’s soldiers around. They walked up to me, smiling, happy. It was almost like before I had left.

Then the house burst into flames and hundreds of Garm’s soldiers came out. They raised their swords and ran for my parents. I tried to cry out, but silence came from my mouth. The soldiers came forward and reached my parents. I tried to look away, but couldn’t as I watched my parents hacked down before me.

The soldiers let out shouts and rushed for me. I tried to step back, to run, but my body wouldn’t move. I was frozen as I started to feel weapons dig into my skin.

My scream was the only sound I could make.

A flash of light. I looked to the source. A majestic dragon was floating there, it’s large wings silhouetted against the light.


<><><><><><><><>

Sora woke up, gasping for her breath. The dream she had just envisioned had shaken her somewhat. She turned over, and muttered to herself that it was just a dream, and fell into a dreamless sleep.


<><><><><><><><><>

*First Person: Vared*

A blur of words. Writing so strange and alien that I couldn’t possibly understand it. The writing flew by me, faster and faster it went, catching me in it’s wind-trail.

Writing started to fall onto faded parchment, which gathered and formed a book. The book I had found at the Library in Termania. It opened up before me and I held it.

Pages flipped themselves, going so fast I caught only a few images. Renderings of creatures with wings, fighting a dark terror, and then disappearing, pendants taking their place.

The book continued to flip pages until it finally burst in my own hands, the pages flying around and away as the bindings disintegrated before me.

I heard the rustling of pages as they whisked by me…


<><><><><><><><><>

Vared woke up to the sound of rustling leaves as a breeze went through the inner Ruins. She lifted her head and looked out the door of the Ruins and saw the fire dying down. Sitting up, Vared looked around the circular room. Sora was mumbling something, Elena and Amal were asleep, Faile was snoring, and Setsuna was… gone.


* * *

Standing by the cliffs, Saké unsheathed his sword and looked at it in the light from the three moons. The blade reflected the colors of the three moons on its metallic surface, as well as his own reflection as he tilted the blade. He stared at his own reflection, into his own eyes. Often he had been told he had the same eyes as his mother, and he did see some resemblance, but he knew they were different.

“Mom…” he muttered to himself. He glanced at a new reflection from his Katana and spun around, pointing it at the shape that was depicted behind him.

It was Setsuna standing at the other end of his sword. She didn’t move when he spun around for her.

“Huh? Setsuna?” he asked surprised and re-sheathed his Katana.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be on guard duty?” she asked, a smile on her face.

“Yeah, I am ...”

“Then why aren’t you at the camp site?”

“I.. Uh… well…”

“Hmm?” she leaned in towards him, wanting to know why.

Saké gave in and sat down, his legs hanging over the cliffs edge. “I guess… this place still has a lot of memories for me.” Setsuna sat down next to him. A light breeze picked up and a sharp gust blew their way before reverting back to the gentle wind. “My sub-conscious realized this and I had a dream… about my mother.”

Setsuna sat there and looked at Denisu as he looked at the three moons in the night sky.

“She was the sweetest person on earth, and I loved her with every beat of my heart. She was kind, understanding, strict, but lenient at the same time, and always had a smile on her face. But..” His eyes changed as they narrowed and the reality sank in again. “That was a long time ago…”

“What happened?” Setsuna asked.

“She died when I was seven years-old.”

Setsuna was silent.

“She was … involved in an accident. They tried to save her, but she was too badly injured to survive.” Denisu lowered his head, his hair hiding his eyes, his hands were palm-open upwards. “I, I miss her so much. We were lucky, that we were able to say goodbye.”

Setsuna watched him. In the short time she had known him, she had never seen him so… saddened. The joyful Denisu was replaced with a sorrowful copy, and it bothered her.

Denisu’s head rose up as he felt something touch his hand. He looked down, and saw another hand on his own. Looking up, his eyes met with Setsuna’s and they looked at each other.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Like you said, at least you got to say goodbye. Isn’t that what matters?”

“Yeah, I guess.” A strange flow of emotions went through Saké, and the blush on his face showed it. Before either realized it, they were both blushing and knew the reason was they were holding hands. Quickly they let go of each other’s hands and turned away, still blushing.

“Um…” Saké started, unsure of what to say.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?!” His head spun around and looked at Setsuna.

“Thank you, for saving me earlier,” she replied. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you that. I’m not used to being saved that much.”

“Hey,” Denisu said, smiling. “I’m getting used to needing a little help too. Besides, you saved my hide first, so we’re even.”

“Hmm… Still… Thank you.”

The horizon began to brighten as the sun started rising. It’s yellow glow peeking over the horizon line. Golden rays landing gently on the trees and the bushes, signaling the start of a new day, with new experiences waiting to be discovered.

Rays of the sun’s rising spread through the foliage and some managed to reach the Ruins.

“Think we should get back before anyone realizes that we’re missing.” Saké stated, standing up and sliding the sheath holster over his belt.

“Right.” Setsuna replied, and the two of them walked back to the Ruins.

Hiding in the bushes, Kage watched as Denisu and Setsuna walked away from the cliff and back towards their make-shift camp. A single thought went through Kage’s mind. The comment Horus had made before the Psychic Demi-Human had went to sleep, as well as the ominous message that lingered after Kage’s first Trance.

“Hmm….”

“What are you doing?” said a female voice with a feline edge to it.

Kage jumped out of surprise. There, Elena had sneaked up on him and stood right behind him. “Elena?! What?”

Elena waved a finger in front of Kage. “Uh. Uh. Uh. You answer my question first bat-boy.”

“First off, I’m not a bat.” Kage replied, annoyed at her accusation. “Secondly, Saké wasn’t at his post when I woke up, so I went looking.”

“Spying seems more like Chamel’s style than yours.” Elena replied, turning and heading back towards the camp. She stretched her arms and back and yawned as she did so.

Kage watched her go, and then headed after her. His mind was buzzing with questions. Mainly those surrounding Saké and Setsuna. The two seemed to be friendly, a bit too friendly. Setsuna seemed to only be interested in being friends with Saké, which was weird. She also seemed to know information that she hadn’t been willing to disclose until the right moment came up. She was a mystery, and right now, mysteries were one thing that the group didn’t need.

Kage Ikagaide considered Saké to be a friend. The only one out of the group that he could trust. Denisu had saved his life when Kenji, one of Garm’s Elite, tried to get the drop on them, from then he could tell that Saké was a person he could trust. If Setsuna was going to do anything to jeopardize that friendship, then Kage had to know beforehand.

Standing by the Ruins, others were starting to wake. Saké and Setsuna stood by the stairs, Horus was sitting with his legs crossed, Elena yawned, either Seyelin or Faile could hide the fact that they were both sleepy. Amal awoke and exited the Ruins, covering her eyes from the morning sun.

“*yawn* Morning,” Amal commented, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Morning sleepy-head,” Saké stated, trying to be funny.

A louder yawn came from up in the trees from Chamel’s general direction. The Chameleon Demi-Human jumped down and landed on all-fours before stretching his neck, resulting in the popping of a few vertebra.

“Well I slept like a rock.” he said.

“Isn’t it sleeping like a log?” Elena questioned his analogy.

“Not when you’re an Earth Innate,” the Chameleon replied, standing up.

“Then what is it when you’re a Water Innate?” Amal asked, eyes narrowed from sleep deprivation, and annoyance at Chamel’s lame jokes.

“You’re sleeping with the fishes.”

Everyone who was awake had a sweatdrop from the Chameleon’s joke.

“Can’t it be morning later?” came a groggy voice from inside the Ruins. Vared walked out, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Hey look! The sewer beast emerges from her lair." Chamel said, adding a spooky sounding edge to his voice as he said it.

Vared, annoyed with Chamel’s comments about her smell from yesterday, shot a small Fireball in Chamel’s direction, purposely missing. The Fireball hit the ground under the Chameleon’s feet and caused him to jump and grab onto the nearest person there, who happened to be Faile.

Faile, tired and already annoyed with Chamel’s antics for a week, just narrowed her eyes out of annoyance. “Let go of me Chamel.”

“What?! And be burned to death?!”

“It’s either her or me. Which way do you want to die? Burned or wondering what I’ll do to you?”

Chamel thought for a second and then smiled. “I’ll just go then….” And he let go of Faile and made it a point to keep his distance from her for the duration of the day.

---------------------------------------

Chamel: Hey, guess who? Just your loveable Chameleon here. We start heading out from the Ruins on our journey east to Garm’s castle. But en-route we are drenched by a thunderstorm, attacked by giant bugs, and assaulted by shadow-lurkers Boy this trip started out well enough, I hat to see when things really get messy. While we fight for our survival something happens that none of us would have ever expected, and leaves us shocked. Next time on Chains of Dragons! Sacrafice: A Hero‘s Farewell.

Bring it! Lurker!

[The_Missing_Link]

I distinctly remember during this part in the RPG that my character did absolutely nothing. Thank god you involved her in some things

As always, the chapters are good. I'm waiting for more battles but I know that won't be too far away