Here it is, my first and only Radiata Stories fanfiction! She's my pride and joy, she is, and I hope you all enjoy it. Now make sure you give me plenty of reviews, 'kay? I need them in order to feed my tyrannical ego...

And by the way... I like criticism, and I can handle it like a big girl. But flames (and their respective flamers) will be openly and mercilessly mocked by yours truly in my next posting. So if you want to be immortalized in the Hall of Idiocy, go ahead and send those flames on over!

Cody was awoken by the sound of something heavy on the roof. He knew it wasn't his mommy or Flau, because they were too stealthy to be so clumsy. At first Cody was worried, but when he heard someone crying up there, he felt bad for whoever it was and promptly decided to go out there and see if the person was hurt.

Once he was outside, it became clear to Cody that his Uncle Ganz was the one who was crying. This confused him; didn't boys stop crying once they grew up? Uncle Ganz must've really hurt himself if he was crying over it. Determined to help him, the little boy clambered up the chain link that leaned against the shed, ran over to his Uncle Ganz, and threw his arms as far around the round little man as possible.

Ganz was definitely surprised to see Cody up there, and then he cursed himself for thinking that he could get any privacy on the roof of that old shack. "Cody! I—it's nearly midnight! You should be in bed!"

He tried to shoo Cody away, but it was no use. Cody would not be thwarted by a mere curfew. "Why are you crying, Uncle Ganz? Did you hurt yourself? Did someone hit you? I bet Mommy's gonna beat him up for you!" When Ganz didn't respond Cody said, in hushed tones, "Oh… did Mommy yell at you?"

"No, dear boy, your mother hasn't yelled at me recently." Ganz looked at his feet sadly, and then added, "Your mother and I will always be friends, I'm sure of it. She… she wouldn't have it any other way." He sighed and gazed up at the stars. "Only…"

"'Only' what? What is it?" Cody knew it was useless to ask, though. He knew that Ganz would either not tell him…

…Or feed him a line about "grown-up" things that he didn't need to worry about. "Now Cody, there's no need for you to worry. Sometimes grown adults need to cry, that's all! It's perfectly normal, I assure you."

"You don't like being a bandit?"

"No, Cody, that's not the case at all. I enjoy my work—although I admit that I didn't quite know what I was getting into at first. I know now that your dear mother and I would never do anything that… that we'd regret…" And then he let his sentence drift off into silence. Ganz looked sadder than ever, even though he was no longer crying.

"Did Mommy say you can't drink anymore?"

Ganz stared at Cody in surprise, and Cody thought he was going to be scolded. But then Ganz started laughing. He laughed until all of the sadness left him, and then he was the cheerful, lively Uncle Ganz once more. He scooped up Cody and gave him the biggest hug he could muster. Happy to see him feeling better, Cody snuggled up to him, carefully avoiding his bristly whiskers. Uncle Ganz smelled good, like aftershave and moustache wax. He was the only person Cody knew who smelled like those things.

As they sat on the roof of the old lean-to together, Ganz looked at Cody and asked him, "Cody, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Cody thought about it, and then said, "I want to go to Vareth! And I want to be a swordfighter like you!"

"Well! You'll be a very accomplished young man, then. With that kind of spirit and determination, you'll do well at whatever you do. But I want you to promise me something, Cody."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I want you to promise me that you'll complete your education at Vareth, no matter what happens, and that you'll be the very best swordsman that you can be. Promise me that you will do those two things."

"Okay."

It has been two months since Ganz left Radiata for good. The war between Humans and Non-Humans slowly faded into a lull in that time, and it was said among the Humans that the malice of the Fairy-Creatures had finally waned, though none could possibly believe news so good as that.

Still, Radiata hadn't become a mound of ashes, and the Humans still thrived; none had fled to their ancestral birthplace in the darkest valleys of the West. Since all of Humanity hadn't been smitten, so far as Ganz could tell, the genocidal cause of Lord Zane was at long last lost.

In spite of his mild dislike for Lord Zane, Ganz wanted to find him, to ask him if he knew the whereabouts of his long estranged father Gawain. Of course Ganz knew he'd be driven away or killed on sight as it were, so he kept his distance from the City of Flowers, deciding instead to go to Nowem and seek the help of the friendlier Dark Elves.

On the way there he met a very large Green Orc who told him that Gawain went on a sojourn to the End of The World with Lady Ridley. Ganz headed forthwith to Dysett, the forsaken desert in the south, and what he saw there amazed him.

The End of The World was a deep inkwell of perpetual nighttime, ending abruptly where the living earth began. He knew from his youth that there stood a mighty tower in this sacred place. But all that was left of it now was a desolate ruin floating in the void.

What could all of this mean? If the House of the Sleeping Guardian was reduced to nothing, then surely all of the dragons were dead. But who was responsible for this display of unmitigated chaos?

Ganz searched the desert for his father, and even for the destroyer, but for naught. Upon the second day, however, as the sun climbed up over the canyons to dispel the morning chill, it was then on that bleak bright morn that he saw a pile of stones with an ancient morning-star resting atop.

A burial mound, for his father Gawain.

There was a tall woman who stood before the mound, whose skin was dark like smoke. Her hair was long and white like starch, and her eyes were like two stars. This woman was clearly of the eldritch Ninth Race.

Ganz was overcome by her stately presence, and by his fatigue and starvation. He fell to his knees before her and said, "Pray thee, good woman! I wish to know the name of the one who rests beneath this mound.

"Son of Gawain, 'tis thine own father who wast buried here."

Ganz was now in despair. He bowed his head to the ground and, while he could still speak, asked the name of his father's murderer—although deep in his heart he already knew. "Pray thee, dear woman! Doest thou know the name of the man who hath slain my father?"

"Son of Gawain, thine father was slain by the one who also did put to the sword the last of the proud dragons—I tell thee, not one is left! His name is Jack Russell of Solieu, son of Cairn Russell."

There could be no mistake now. Jack, Ganz's dearest friend Jack, was the one who'd brought about the end of the old cycle of destruction…

…Just as he was the one who slew Gawain.

Tsuzuku…