CHAPTER THREE

Another early start the next day. But Alex didn't care much. The sooner they got there and back, the better. It was supposed to be just a quick trip to inspect the source of the rumors. As such, the whole group was ready to move with speed. Alex took only his sword, Luna only a short dagger, and Nash taking only one of his magic rods. After assembling the next morning, Mia came and greeted them all and wished them luck, making Nash blush as she did so. But then, at last, the four of them set out for the Nanza Barrier, unabated and making good time. Yet right before departing, Mia passed to Nall what looked to be a very old and crumbling scroll. She advised him, with a strange sort of smile, to read it when he had the chance. It was puzzling, but Alex didn't dwell on it. He had other things to worry about.

"How are things, Premier Nash?" Alex asked after a few hours. "Didn't have much chance to talk to you yesterday."

"Ugh…I've heard that title so much it almost makes me want to puke." Nash groaned in response. "And I honestly never thought I'd say that. It was fun at first…but now it always means trouble. There's so many do-nothing officials and politicians and authorities over in Vane right now that it almost makes me want to tear my hair out."

Nall raised an eyebrow. "And coming from him, that's very serious." He said while pointing at the young mage.

"How goes things with Lemia?" Luna asked next.

"Well…let's just say better than after I first showed my face in front of her." Nash grumbled.

"That bad, huh?" Nall asked.

Nash continued to mope, however as he walked along. "I guess I can't blame her… I knew the whole time about putting that mask on her and I did nothing. She should hate me just as much as she did Ghaleon. I'm only surprised that Mia doesn't act the exact same way…"

"She's your friend, Nash." Alex answered. "And more than that. True friends are always ready to forgive."

"I suppose you're right…" Nash muttered in response, but kept his head down. There was silence for a few moments as the four of them walked onward. In the silence, Alex began to think again, and thought once more about what he had seen so far. He thought again of all the people in the Magic Guild he had never seen before, and once again he felt that strange feeling. After a few moments of hesitation, he at last turned to Nash again.

"Nash?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm asking you this because I think you'd be the first to find out…" Alex returned. His voice was slow and cautious, as if planning or considering something. "Exactly how strong would you say those people Mia hangs out with are?"

Nash raised his head at that and looked at Alex with a puzzled stare. "Why do you want to know?"

"Could you just tell me?" Alex answered.

Nash hesitated again for a moment, but then turned to the sky and thought for a moment. He licked his lips and concentrated before finally shrugging. "Well, I don't know… Most of them are just low-level mages. As for that new Vice Premier, he isn't much of anything. I'm not even sure he has any magical power to speak of, but we can't very well send him through the Cave of Trial to find out right now. As for that new schoolteacher…" Here, Nash snorted and waved his hand. "He's a hack among sorcerers. A one trick magician, if you pardon the pun. I could take him out in a snap of my fingers. But then again…" Nash smiled a little. "That's why I'm one of the Premiers."

"What about…say…the Dauphin?" Alex asked, prying.

Here, however, Nash looked rather confused indeed, and shook his head. "You know…I can't really tell. He's from the older generation Guild, when they taught multiple spells rather than had people specialize on their best, like me and lightning magic. Ghaleon and Lemia were students as well, but they were exceptions. In those days, people could rarely achieve their strength. But I heard that Melichon managed to excel in several areas as well. Yet how he stands against Ghaleon and Lemia is beyond me."

"Did you see anything regarding him?" Alex continued. "Any awards or something or records about him?"

Nash shook his head. "Nothing except a champion trophy for his style of swordplay that no one uses anymore. That's even more unusual. There aren't a lot of wizards skilled in physical combat. He was Dragonmaster material in his prime. For all I know, he might still be."

Alex said nothing in response to this. He went silent now, and focused once again on the ground they walked on. However, Luna could already tell something was troubling him, and that worried her.

"Oh well…let's keep going. Not too much longer until the Nanza Barrier."

Nanza sure had changed in a single year.

The previous wooden fortress was now being fortified and built up with huge, thick stone walls. A thick iron gate was now guarding the pass with a wall behind it of tempered steel. There were many more guards posted now as well, and all were bearing the same look as the guards back in Vane. They bore bows, however, and looked a lot meaner and more "string happy" than any of Kyle's men had used to be. The place was not complete in its latest incarnation, but the surrounding defenses were all set up, with a massive thick central tower being built in the middle. It certainly looked more well guarded than under Kyle's administration, but it also seemed cold and uninviting, and it began to make Alex nervous as he walked forward toward the entrance. It too was alien to him, and it only added to his unease. Yet he was brave and resolute, and continued.

At the gate, a rough-looking guard, much the same as Kyle's old doorman, was standing at the entrance. The only difference was that he had the new matching uniform. He planted himself right in front of the gate as he came up and crossed his arms. When they got closer, he reached behind him and grabbed what looked like a one handed club, and then held his hand out.

"Halt!" He announced, and immediately the four came to a stop. "The Dauphin is not present. None may pass until his return."

Nash gave him a hard look. "Oh yeah?" He asked. "Stand aside, country vermin! I am the Premier of the Magic Guild, and I say-"

Clonk.

Before Nash could say another word, the guard smacked him on top of the head with the club. His hair crushed and now looking dazzled from the impact of the blow, Nash staggered backward with a shocked look frozen on his face, stumbled, and then groaned as he reached his hand to his head tenderly. Luna was shocked, and looked to the guard with a hurt stare.

"You're gonna be a corpse with a cracked skull if you try to sass me again, kid." The guard snorted. "You aren't fooling me into thinking some crummy, snotty boy is a Premier of the Guild, especially when you're traveling with a lot that looks just like the trash that used to guard this place. Now beat it."

"Now just a minute!" Luna interrupted. "You could have seriously hurt him just now!"

"I'll seriously hurt him right here if you don't leave." The guard snorted.

"We're friends of the Dauphin." Alex insisted. "And we're on an important mission. Nash really is the Premier of the Magic Guild. And we have to get to the Stadius Zone at once."

"Are you deaf or something, kid?" The guard snapped back. "I said no one gets in here while he's gone! And I don't care if you're Ghaleon himself! Go away!"

Nall clenched his cat teeth, and finally lost his temper at all of this bantering. "Oh…that does it! Besides, no one bats Nash on the head except me!"

With that, Nall cracked open his mouth, pointed it right at the guard's face, and exhaled. Much to the group's surprise, a blast of white ice crystals erupted from the little dragon's mouth and instantly coated the man's face. He cried out in agony and immediately stepped back, spitting and wiping away at his eyes the whole time. After that, Nall shot down and smashed his full body weight on the guard's foot. The guard once again yelped, and began to hop up and down holding his foot. At last, Nall came forward, seized the man's tunic lapel with his claw, and glared at him right in his now open and surprised eyes.

"Now you listen here, you self-gratifying, arrogant rear end of a nipple yanker!" He hissed. "You're looking face to face with the White Dragon himself! So unless you want me to flatten your entire fortress with a swing of my tail, you'll let us through right now! Got it!"

The guard was stunned into silence, frightened and surprised at the sudden attack of the pint-sized feathered lizard. After all, innocuous as Nall seemed, he was an oddity on Lunar. He froze for a moment longer, seeming to be considering what else the flying furball was capable of. Yet he finally reacted. He pulled back, ripping his tunic against Nall's claw while doing so. However, he turned to the gate, and looked up to the men overhead. He waved at them, and they waved back. Moments later, there was a turning and cranking sound, and the metal gate slowly opened before the group. After a few moments more, the metal door slid up as well into the wall. The guard stood aside and made way for the four of them, three of which were now puzzled and looking to Nall. As for the feline-like dragon himself, he merely smiled and flapped forward.

"You just got to know how to ask some people…"

Alex made his way quickly through the Nanza Barrier with the others. There was no sign of Kyle or anyone else who had once guarded there. The place itself was void of citizens, just as the guard had said. Only the archers and soldiers that he assumed were under the Dauphin were there. The place was even more uninviting than last time, and cold rather than livid as it used to be. It might have been rather rank and unruly before, but it had a warmth and life to it that it seriously lacked now. He had no desire to stay there long and quickly left. The four then made their way down the stone road to the southern regions, and at last came out of the mountain pass all together.

By now the sun was setting, and it was growing late. With a bit of reluctance, the group had to stay at Reza for the night. None of them were eager to get robbed from like last time, but luckily Alex still had the Thieves Crest from their last trip through the town. With that they didn't have to worry about being stolen from. Just the same, Nash was wide-eyed, suspicious, and critical of everyone he saw there. Luna had never been to it herself, and Nall had to steer her away from the crooked buyer and seller residence. Alex was ironically glad to see that at least one town was still the same, even if it was a town of thieves. The group went to the local inn and stayed the night, intending to reach the Stadius Zone tomorrow once they arrived in Tamur.

Thankfully, a thief didn't come in the night, and they were able to rise bright and early the next day. Once again they had a long trip ahead of them, walking the length of the current zone and all the way to Meryod. Once they arrived there, neither Nash, Nall, nor Alex had any desire to stay there, even though Luna admired the town being built on water and enjoyed seeing so much of the world she never knew. The three boys had to seize her and drag her in order to get through before any of the backwoods residents gave her or anyone else in the group any trouble. They were glad that the bridge was fixed this time and pressed onward. Once they had crossed that, they needed march only a little while farther before they finally came to the rocky pass that lead to the Stadius Zone. It was red rocked and not very inviting, but it hadn't looked any better or worse since they last time they had been there. Right off the bat, Luna felt uneasy about entering, and held back anxiously. Alex couldn't say that he felt much better about it, but there was no other way to get to the Stadius Zone. And so, sword drawn, he lead the way into the rocky pass.

"Stay close and be watchful…" Alex told them. "We're getting close now. There shouldn't be much separating us from whatever we're here to find."

Luna nodded in reply and kept her dagger at the ready. Nash drew his own rod and looked about meanly. He remembered this place too. They got through it easy enough last time, but last time they had Mia, Jessica, and Kyle along for the ride. Now they were down to just two veterans, three including Nall. Slowly, the four of them began to creep forward, always keeping their weapons at the ready and always on the lookout for danger.

They slowly wound their ways through the canyon. It was rather maze-like, and Alex couldn't remember anything about it. They ran into a few dead ends occasionally, but luckily none of the creatures that normally inhabited the area. Alex stayed at the ready, though. He knew that letting your guard down was the most likely time something would appear, and he knew the place's danger far too well to be at ease. Yet as he, the wizard, the songstress, and the white dragon looked and moved on, still nothing happened. Alex was so fixated on searching for trouble that he didn't notice that as Nall flapped in the air, he constantly muttered to himself.

"Darn…no weapon…blast it…no good scroll…"

"What are you talking about, Nall?" Luna asked at length, not as wary or focused as Alex.

"What?" Nall exclaimed, suddenly stiffening in surprise, realizing he had been talking aloud. "Oh, nothing! Nothing!"

"Something about the scroll that Mia gave you?" Luna persisted.

If possible, Nall seemed to sweat. "No, no! It's nothing! Nothing at all!" He shrieked.

"You're making quite a bit of noise for nothing then, you dumb cat!" Nash yelled in Nall's face. "You want to bring every monster from here to Damon's Tower on us?"

"Look, everyone just be quiet!" Alex silenced in a harsh whisper. Instantly, everyone did. "Even if there was nothing else, we should have run into a monster by now. The fact that we haven't can't be good. This isn't a safe place… Let's get through it quickly."

Though Nash and Nall were now considerably angry at each other, and Luna was perplexed, they did as they were told and continued to move onward. For the next few hours, they made their way swiftly and silently through the crumbled pass toward the exit. Yet as they moved along, not a single creature came against them. The place was as empty and barren as first glance would make it out to be. This didn't make any sense. The place should have been teaming with monsters. They hadn't met a one yet, and he knew they couldn't be too far from the exit. As he continued to proceed without incident, Alex grew worried. This wasn't right at all. Something had happened. And he feared what had happened might occur to them next. As they approached a turn in the canyon wall, he made his concerns known.

"This really isn't right…"

There was silence from the others as they continued to move forward. They looked to each other and to Alex, but none of them reacted at all. Nevertheless, the young man shook his head. "This is too easy…"

"A little pessimistic, aren't we Alex? You sound almost disappointed…" Nash answered cheerfully. "We're almost to the exit, and Tamur's just beyond that."

"I'm feeling nervous too…" Luna admitted, her face expressing that emotion again. "I've never even been here, but I'm feeling there's something not right coming."

Nash sighed a bit and frowned. "Well, I don't feel a thing myself." He insisted. When that didn't change the expression of his friends, he rolled his eyes. "Oh, but fine…we'll be careful just the same." Reluctantly, he held up his rod more at the ready and continued forward with the others. Slowly they crept to the edge of the turn. None of them made another sound, and they stuck tightly together. Alex too knew that they were almost out of the area, but he knew they still had some distance to go. He kept his sword ready and eyed the rock cliffs around them…leaving them no where to run in an emergency. Slowly, he and the rest of the group turned the corner, and were able to look down to the valley beyond…

Immediately, Luna gasped and put a hand to her mouth. As for the other three, they looked horrified.

Bones were there. Scores of human bones, all laying in heaps strewn all up and down the canyon area. But they weren't old bones. All were fresh…not any of them more than a year old. And that soon became clear, for there were corpses too. Corpses of many freshly dead men and women who had been unfortunate to step that way. None of them were devoured, but had been pierced by weapons, and now lay dead to rot in the sun and feed the birds. No creatures were there, only the bones, and the four of them were shocked.

"Oh no…" Nash beheld in horror.

"It's a trap…" Alex spoke quivering. "A trap for travelers… They're up to no good now, whoever is in this rebellion in the Stadius Zone… They're making sure no one can-"

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by Alex's head, stirring his hair before smashing into the rock wall behind them. Alex looked up, and soon received another terrible shock. He beheld the murderers of the people at his feet. It was them…the hideous faces of those that Alex could never forget. The Vile Tribe. They charged toward the four of them now, all gazing at them with their black eyes and nearly foaming with rage. A savage fury animated their flesh. More whizzing went by, and soon teams of arrows began to rain down from the oncoming creatures. Others held weapons of clubs, axes, and swords, and bore down on the four of them to dash them all to pieces. The group was shocked, and soon quite overwhelmed at this rush. They hadn't seen a force this large even pouring out of the Grindery to attack them... Was this truly only a fraction of the whole Vile Tribe? As they came, they roared in rage at them.

"Swine! Dogs! Filthy children of Althena!"

"Perish!"

"Kill them all! Kill them all!"

"Long live Emperor Evangeon!"

The group couldn't catch most of it although they heard these nuggets. They were preoccupied with trying to find a means to shield them from the arrows and escape. Quickly, Nall began to swish around in a circle in the sky, and an orb of white aura began to surround him. He was beginning his transformation, but the others didn't wait. Alex used his blade to block an arrow bolt just before it could reach Luna, and Nash chanted and pointed his rod at the oncoming masses. Moments later, an orb of lightning exploded in the sky over them and showered the enemy with lightning bolts. But while it felled some of them, the far majority came at them unabated, still bellowing threats and danger.

Alex grit his teeth. "I don't think we can win this fight."

"We don't have too. I'll take us to safety."

Alex turned around to the source of the voice, expecting to see Nall. But Nall was no longer there. Instead, a massive white dragon unfurled its wings and opened its massive jaws to bellow triumphantly in front of the Vile Tribe. Nall glared at the oncoming enemy as the wind whipped his white feathers and the brown on the crown of his head. Yet they were not scared, but continued to come bellowing all the way. They barely slowed at all for this, and soon were shooting at Nall as well. The arrows bounced harmlessly off the beast's armored hide underneath his feathers, and he unfurled his wings and cried out to form a fearsome shield for his friends. As he did, Nash, Alex, and, with a little help from the latter of the two boys, Luna hopped onto the back of the large white beast. As soon as they were all on, Nall began to flap his now immense wings, and started to bear his cargo into the air as he batted the ground with ferocious winds. The Vile Tribe was scattered as it approached, and those still standing screamed curses at the white dragon. Nall merely snickered in reply as the Vile Tribe became smaller and smaller below him, growing to the size of ants. Once satisfied with his height, Nall pitched forward and flapped onward, toward the Stadius Zone.

"Ha!" Nall proudly cried, his voice much more powerful and mature. "They're no match for one of the Four Dragons! How's everyone doing back there?"

"Great Nall!" Luna cheerily cried back over the wind around them. "It feels good to be riding on you again!"

"I'm fine!" Alex called. Then, he turned his head, to where Nash was perched behind him. "How about you, Nash?"

Nall grinned in delight at this chance for new mischief, and turned his head to the group behind him. "Hey Nash? You know, I always fly a bit bumpy whenever I have three riders…"

However, Nall soon forgot about tormenting Nash. He saw the look on Luna and Alex's face. Neither of them were that pleasant, but were painted with more surprise and horror as they looked out on the horizon. Nall himself turned around and looked to what they were seeing, and soon even the large white dragon gasped as well. Far in the distance, past Tamur and past a deal of land in the Stadius Zone now before them, a column of thick billowing smoke was rising in the air. That kind of smoke was the unmistakable sign of a major fire taking place. Unfortunately, it was happening right in the spot where Alex knew that a particular town was. Staring straight at the smoke as if hypnotized, Alex announced its name and their next destination while on the back of Nall.

"Pao…"

To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah...I know the story isn't terribly remarkable right now, but I'm of the opinion it gets better...