This is a tale of war between friends.
Destiny challenged us,
And so we chose to end the world
In order to meet our mortality.
There was nothing to regret.
Nothing...
Dragon Tears
I: Age of Man
By: OmegaGear
VII
~ The Nameless One ~
I fell onto the floor as my bed flipped onto its side. The ship had just been hit with something, and it wasn't a lightning bolt. I could tell from the sound from outside that the ship I was on had engaged in combat.
I tried to get back up, but my body couldn't provide enough strength to push itself up. I rolled onto my back so that I would at least have an easier time breathing.
The ship rocked and swayed constantly, if not by attacks, then by the storm. I could hear the wooden shell breaking off of the metal body as more explosions rocked it. The pristine beauty of the ship was probably long gone now, revealing the grey manufactured body beneath. At least this ship was anew one. Had it been a true antique vessel, it would have fallen to the first shot.
I felt my body float from the ground and suddenly went tumbling into a wall as the ship took dive. I felt like I was being pulled apart when I hit the wall. My bock sent a sharp pain through my entire body, causing me to jerk in reflex. My reflex, in turn, caused great pain in my ribs and chest. As I grabbed my chest, I fell forward to the ground again, and remained there, wallowing.
"What the hell are they doing?" I asked myself, cursing at how much pain I was in.
I could here several footsteps pass by my door along with voices shouting commands to each other. I tried to call out to them, but before I could even formulate a word, my throat burned from trying to shout out loud.
The sound of metal bending and colliding together echoed through my chamber. The ship shook for a moment and then settled into the gentle vibrations of the passing storm. The activity outside of my room continued, and the fuss became clearer with the battle at a halt.
"Prepare for boarding!" someone shouted. "Everyone, to the cargo hold, now!"
A bunch of people shouted that they understood and the footsteps disappeared down the hall beyond my door. There was a moment of silence until I heard more footsteps approach my door. They were much slower, probably walking, and didn't seem to carry the urgency of the others.
The footsteps stopped outside of my door, and I could see the shadows cast by their feet in the open crack at the bottom. There were at least two people out there.
"Why are we stopping here?" A voice asked from outside. It was a girls voice; the princess? I couldn't quite tell, since the voice was muffled by the door, but it was definitely a girl's, and I couldn't imagine another girl besides the princess being onboard the ship.
"I want you to stay here, with the boy," a man replied. No doubt about it. That was Myn, so the girl must be Princess Nina.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because, you'll be safe," he said. The door opened slightly, letting me hear them more easily. I could see Myn's hand on the knob from where I was lying on the ground. "I'm going to the other ship."
"Alone?" Nina asked. "No way!"
I heard a groan and the door shutting. "This is not open for discussion, your highness," I heard Myn say through the door. "This isn't a normal battle."
"Which is exactly why I want to come along!" she yelled back. "You said so yourself I needed to learn more about this world and what's behind the war. This is my chance!"
I waited for Myn's reply, interested in what was going on to cause such an argument. He said that this wasn't a normal battle. What was so special about it? I continued to wait, but no answer came. I looked over to the door and saw that the shadows were still near the crack, meaning they hadn't left yet.
Instead, the door swung open with a screaming princess falling through the opening. I watched her fall to the ground and roll over as the door shut behind her. "You can't do this!" she screamed. "I order you to open this door!"
Princess Nina got to her feet and ran to the door. She tried to turn the knob, but it had been locked. "Myn, do you hear me!" she asked. She pounded on the door with her fist a few times, but no answer was returned. "Damn it…" She turned around and brushed off her dress. "Why won't he let me come along… huh?"
I smiled weakly when she noticed me. I could do much, as my body was too weak to really move on its own, so I probably looked kind of stupid as I laid there, with my chin pressed against the ground and my butt reaching for the stars.
"Oh, my god!" Nina explained. "Ryu!" She ran over to me help me up to a sitting position.
I groaned as she moved my body, eliciting more pain, but at least I was sitting now. "Thank you, your highness," I said.
"Are you alright?" she asked sweetly. I couldn't help but feel a little bashful. I wasn't used to being around pretty girls, since I had spent most of my… "Mature" life in the military. I watched as she checked my bandages and wraps for anything that needed attention. Her touch was warm, bringing a sense of comfort to me.
"Yeah…" I said finally. "What's happening?" I asked.
"We're being boarded by an imperial ship," she said. Nina stood up and walked to the doorway. I saw her aura glow red as she cupped her hands together and summoned a ball of fire. The room was filled with the orange glow of fire and I could feel the heat on my skin. Nina twisted her hands around the ball and threw her arms forwards, throwing the ball.
The ball flew into the door and exploded. Stray sparks of fire and ash floated to the ground while the smoke from the spell settled into the air. When it cleared enough for me to see again, there was a large hole in the doorway and the Princess standing near it. "I guess you won't be joining us in Wyndia after all," she said.
- x -
I felt a little guilty after I left Ryu's room. He was in pretty bad shape, and probably needed someone to watch over him while the battle took place, but I had to see what was bugging Myn so much.
I rounded the last corner leading to the cargo hold and stopped by the sealed door. I could hear gunfire as well as the sounds of melee weapons. There was constant shouting and crying, but I couldn't make out anything that was said.
I froze as I touched the doorknob. There was no telling what was going on inside, and I would immediately become a target for the imperials to capture.
Taking a deep breath, I swung the door open and ran inside. I found myself on the upper deck of the cargo hold, which was nothing more than a walkway that traced the entire room. The deck below was at least thirty feet down.
I looked around at the activity in the massive chamber. Imperial troops were scattered around the lower level in battle with a group of guards. A dozen soldiers ran across the walkway in front of me preparing projectile weapons to provide support while a final group of men were shouting at each other in front of some kind of giant suit of armor.
The armor suit was humanoid in shape, but was far too big to be for any human clan. It was about as tall as members of the ox or shell clan, but too small to fit their wide frames. Its head was as wide as its actual torso, making it look pretty ridiculous had it not been for the menacingly shaped eyes. It had no hands at the ends of its arms. Instead, it had what looked like cannons, but I had never seen cannons that small before, and they were too big to be projectile launchers.
"Get down!" a man shouted from behind me.
"What?" I asked, turning around. I saw a green flash and dropped to the ground with a yelp as a chrysm blast flew over me and hit the wall. I was tossed to the ground and nearly fell off of the walkway by the explosion of the chrysm blast.
"Your highness, what are you doing here?" a man asked me.
I coughed as I got to my feet again and forced an eye open to try to find the source of the question through the smoke. "Who's there?" I asked weakly, still trying to breathe clearly.
Before I could get an answer, I heard a man scream and others cry out in shock or fear followed by a loud thud. Someone shouted for everyone to fall back and requested for cover fire from the left side.
I walked forward to see what they were so excited about and nearly fell in horror at what I saw. A giant at least ten feet tall was advancing from the Imperial ship. It was wearing a giant suit of armor that was the imperial dark blue. Its shoulders were wide while its torso was thin by comparison. Its short legs gave it a low center of gravity and sturdy position on the ground. Its feet looked more like hooves the way they were shaped. Besides its already impenetrable armor, a massive shield was carried on its left arm. The helmet it wore completely covered its face.
"Firing!" a man shouted. A group of four men fired their projectiles, one after another. Small balls of flaming metal flew at the giant, but it was able to dodge the attacks by side stepping quickly or blocking with its shield.
When the firing stopped for the men to reload, it charged forward at the men on the ground. They all scattered to avoid its rampage, but not all of them could escape in the cramped area they were taking cover in. I heard screams and the sounds of bending metal and shattering wood as the living tank threw men aside.
"Damn it!" A man next to me cursed. "That sentinel's tearing them apart! What's the hold up with the raptors!" he shouted.
I wondered what he was talking about. Raptor was a term I wasn't familiar with outside of the classification of birds. Surely we didn't plan on using birds against this giant he called a sentinel?
"This is raptor four," a man said. His voice was mixed with static from a radio. "All systems are go."
"Then get the hell out there!" The man shouted. He was leaning over the railing and pointing at the ground where the sentinel was while looking over to the left where that strange suit of armor was sitting before.
I say was, because the space was empty now. I heard the sound of engines firing up and saw the giant suit of armor take flight and land on the ground floor across the way from the sentinel. "What the…? It's alive?" I asked. I was astonished at what I saw.
No one paid any attention to me, and focused on the battle. "Clear everyone out of the ground floor!" a man shouted. He was swinging his arms wildly to direct everyone to the left side where the raptor was. "Raptor four, engage!"
"Roger that," the armor suit said. It moved a little slow when compared to the sentinel, but at least it was big enough to withstand its brute force. The raptor began circling to its right as it fired its main guns, which appeared to be chrysm charge blasters by the looks of the green projectiles.
The sentinel replied by also circling to its right, keeping a safe distance away from the raptor. It didn't fire back, but the imperial troops behind it did. Their small arms fire didn't seem to affect the raptor, while the sentinel blocked the troops from the raptor's shots. It was a complete stalemate the way things were going.
"I don't have time for this…" I hissed through clenched teeth. I looked around and pointed at the man shouting orders at everyone. "You there!"
The man paused in mid command and looked over at me. "Your highness? What are you…"
"Never mind that!" I shouted. "Where's Myn?" I asked.
"Myn?" The man looked over towards the breech in the hull. "He crossed over to the imperial ship a while ago."
"He did…" I said. I wasn't too surprised that he went there. He didn't seem too alarmed about the boarding and was more concerned about something that didn't feel right to him. I had decided that I needed to cross over to the imperial ship, but didn't see how. The opening to the ship wasn't directly protected, but was constantly covered by the crossfire between the raptor and the imperial soldiers. I had to do something rash.
"Your highness, please return to your quarters," the man asked me.
I ignored his request and stepped onto the railing looking over the lower deck. The men around me shouted for me to get down, but I had already decided on what I would do. I spread my arms and fell forwards with my wings spread. No one on the lower deck noticed me when I landed at the far end from them.
I tilted my head up to assess the situation. I had a straight path to the opening leading to the imperial ship. The raptor and several guards were on the left side of the cargo chamber while the sentinel and imperial soldiers were on the right. Both sides seemed content with using their giants as shields while they unleashed harmless small arms fire every now and then.
I remained crouched while I chanted a fire spell. The sounds of the battle around me fazed into a distant hum as my energy flowed through my body and into my right hand. It began to feel warm as the flames formed together into a small orb.
I lobbed the small fireball into the air, and waited for my chance. No one noticed the small ball as it whirled through the air with a quiet whistle. The ball exploded into a bright flash of fire and light that was much greater than its sound. The occurrence caught everyone off guard, giving me my chance to make a break for the door.
I sprang from my crouching position and began sprinting as fast as I could. I became completely absorbed in my run; the sound of my feet against the steel floor, the pounding of my heart, and the steady rhythm of my breaths. I saw the imperial soldiers take aim with their weapons out of the corner of my eye and lost my concentration.
My feet got tripped up as I froze in mid step. Everything started spinning while I fought to regain my balance. My instincts went crazy as sparks nibbled on my body while stray bullets flew past me in all directions. The clamor of my feet became a lout echo as I came to a crashing halt inside of the imperial ship, unharmed, much to my amazement.
I took a moment to catch my breath and let my heart slow down. Although the imperial ship's docking bridge had a direct opening to my ship, I could barely hear the battle going on beyond it.
The imperial ship was strangely silent. Besides the humming of the various machines throughout the vessel, nothing could be heard. Dim blue lights lined the hallways as I began to search for Myn. They barely illuminated the area around them, making it difficult to see too far ahead of me.
I heard the faint sound of something impacting into another in the distance. I wanted to call out to see if it was Myn, but thought it better to remain silent and not alarm any imperials that may have been nearby.
As I reached the end of the corridor I found myself inside a large chamber of some sort. The dim lights along the ground were nowhere to be seen, and the only source of illumination was a single flashing red alert light in the center of the ceiling. The air felt cold and stale, leaving me with a bad feeling in my stomach.
Giant objects filled the chamber, almost looking like walls, since they reached over my head. I ran my hand along one of them. It felt as cold as ice.
I heard something shuffling to my right and froze. I could hear someone stepping very slowly towards me as well as a faint hum that got louder as the person approached. As I continued to watch and listen for the person, I heard another pair of footsteps walking just as slowly.
I wanted to move, to hide, but knew they would hear me if I even breathed normally. It didn't help that the air in the chamber seemed to be getting colder.
I wiped my forehead and nearly gasped in shock. My body was warm, even though it felt cold, like it was swimming in ice water. This chilly feeling was like nothing I had experienced before. The colder and staler it got, the more it made me think of death.
I heard voices now. One sounded like Myn's, and the other was that of a woman. I couldn't understand what they were saying from where I was standing, but it didn't sound very friendly. I was just glad they weren't imperial guards that had spotted me.
The footsteps stopped, and I decided to take a peek out of curiosity. I slowly crept towards the edge of the giant wall-like object I was standing against and looked around it with the corner of my eye. I could make out two figures. The one closer to me was definitely Myn. I'd know that white robe anywhere. The other person, the woman I had been hearing just then, was much harder to spot. She was wearing something dark, because I could only make out her face from where I was. They stood, facing each other, ready for battle.
I was surprised to see that the woman was using the same stance as Myn. She stood with her off-foot forward and her off-hand reached outward with its palm open, as if to grab or repel something. Her right leg was bent, carrying most of her eight while her right arm held her sword over her head with the blade pointing towards Myn. The stance was purely offensive, and required a lot of physical training just to use because of the strain it puts on your favored arm.
Seeing her choose the same stance increased the feeling in my stomach ten fold.
The two charged at each other, letting their swords meet as they both swung downwards. The woman was able to stand toe-to-toe with Myn as they tried to force each other back while their blades were locked.
Myn threw the woman back with a mighty heave that sent her sword to her side and left her open. But even with Myn's fast actions, the woman was able to recover, and defend herself as he charged at her with a flurry of attacks.
Myn's legs crossed over each other in a complicated set of movements that almost looked like a dance as he forced the woman to retreat to the edge of the chamber. With her back to the wall, I thought that Myn would win for sure. He swung at her chest, but his wrist was caught by her left hand.
As fast as she had blocked him, the woman punched Myn in the stomach and sent him staggering backwards, allowing her to take the offensive. The woman's motions were as elegant as Myn's, and even faster. Her strikes looked overwhelming, but Myn was able to remain calm as she drove him back towards the center of the chamber.
Now I could see them without peeking around my hiding place and saw the woman more clearly. Her skin was very fair, a sharp contrast to her black hair and auburn eyes. Under the flashing red light of the alert, I could just make out her clothes every now and then. She was wearing a skin tight dress that went about a third of the way down her thighs. It looked to be as black as her hair, save for the patterns along its bottom and sides, which were some brighter color. There were plates of armor on her shoulders and forearms, but other than that, she didn't seem protected.
Upon reaching the center of the chamber, the woman stopped her relentless barrage and took a moment to relax her stance a little. Myn did the same, and the two began to circle each other, which they must have been doing while I was listening earlier.
This was the first time I had ever seen someone able to match Myn move for move. Ryu was able to survive that fight with him before, but that was more about power than any skill. This woman was able to meet every attack with both skill and power that was equal to Myn's, if not more so.
Myn took a small step forward and made a feint stab. The woman reacted by sidestepping his attack, but Myn was ready. With no power in his stab attempt, Myn was able to spin around and attack her from behind easily.
The woman caught her mistake and leaned forward while she dropped her sword behind her to block Myn's attack. Using the force of his swing as leverage, the woman vaulted backwards into a spinning flip and landed to his side. Before Myn could react, the woman hit him with a quick jab from her left hand. She followed with her own upwards stab that just barely grazed his face as he fell back.
Myn rubbed the cut on his cheek briefly and then threw an open hand that seemed to reach for the woman. Lightning appeared from his chest and crawled up his arm until it shot form his hand.
The woman flinched as she caught the lightning in her left arm, but seemed to absorb it with relative ease. Smoke rose from her arm as they both stood still, glaring at each other.
"Fine…" the woman said coldly. "If that's how you want to do it, Myn," she reached up with her left hand and said, "I won't hold back anymore."
"Won't hold back anymore?" I whispered to myself. She had been holding back?
The woman began to glow very faintly. A dark purple light surrounded her as something formed in her hand. Myn also charged his left hand with energy. Electricity crawled all over his body as he continued to feed his left hand.
Myn formed a circle of light with his left hand and threw all of the energy through it at once. The many bolts of lightning all formed into one giant bolt as they flew through the circle and shot towards the woman. The woman bent down on her knees and planted her hand on the ground. The entire ship shook as whatever had formed in her hand traveled through the floor and burst outwards. It looked like darkness itself as it consumed Myn's lightning bolt and split into countless tentacles.
Myn jumped backwards and side to side as the tentacles all went for him, exploding into nothingness as they collided with the ground, or any objects in their way. His right arm was tied up by a few of them, and he was brought to the ground, where the rest of them bound him.
I suddenly forgot about the danger in being spotted and called out for Myn as I stepped out form my hiding place. The woman locked onto me with her gaze and I froze as Myn began to glow a bright white. With a triumphant cry, Myn tore the darkness that bound him with a giant wave of energy that filled the room with blinding light.
As Myn got to his feet, the woman continued to glare at me. Her eyes held no contempt for me, but had the look of death in them. I began to feel numb as they pierced me with their gaze. Her eyes seemed to look through me, like I was nothing, and perhaps that's what I was to her; nothing.
The woman returned her attention to Myn and grinned. She sprinted towards him and they locked blades once again. The woman lifted her sword form the embrace and swung again. Myn followed her attacks, blocking and parrying each time. It looked like a stalemate until the woman caught Myn with a horizontal slash followed immediately by her left fist. Myn caught her sword with his, but didn't see her left hand following it.
Her knuckles hit him in the side of the face, causing him to lose his concentration. The woman took the opportunity to throw his blade up, leaving him completely open. She followed that with a downwards slash as she bent her knees and got as low as she could. The blade cut through Myn's robe, but didn't seem to touch his flesh. The woman turned the downwards slash around and made a quick horizontal attack that cut Myn's leg. Myn fell backwards and dropped his sword.
The woman got up slowly and sheathed her sword while she laughed. "You never did have what it takes," she said in Wyndian tongue.
Myn gave no response, and got to his feet with a look of defeat on his face.
The woman turned back towards me and smiled coldly. "I'll let you live this time. We have what we came for."
I looked behind me as I heard several footsteps. I saw several imperial solders carrying a man followed by the sentinel that had been rampaging in the cargo hold of my ship. The man being carried was Ryu.
I tried to reach for Ryu, but was shoved aside by one of the soldiers. Myn remained where he was as they carried Ryu to the woman.
One of the soldiers and the woman spoke to each other in imperial tongue. Afterwards, the woman nodded and they began to carry him away past Myn.
"Stop," Myn muttered. He got to his feet slowly and kept his sword out. "The boy comes with me," he said.
The woman laughed. "You're in no position to give me any demands, Myn," she said. She walked over to where the soldiers had stopped and motioned them to continue. Now she stood between Myn and the retreating men. "I won our fight, remember?"
"But," Myn started to talk, but was cut off.
"Don't give me any of your destiny bullshit," she said sharply. The woman began to follow behind her troops down a corridor leading deeper into the ship as she continued to talk. "I have my own reasons for coming for this man."
Myn lifted his sword from the ground and yelled back at her, "I won't let you take him!" Myn began to glow again, brighter than ever before. His arms spread like they were praising or preaching while his mouth sang out almost harmonically. All around the chamber, more voices joined with Myn's, singing a single note together, causing the entire ship to shake as he continued to glow brighter.
I couldn't see anything past Myn, but heard the woman through the singing. "Fool! You'd kill us all for the sake of your stupid prophecies!"
Myn didn't give a reply, except for signing even louder, almost becoming a war cry among the other voices. Then, another voice sang out, singing a different note than Myn and the other voices. This voice must have been that woman's.
As the energy was released, I was thrown back by an intense wave that sent me into the wall near the hallway that led towards my ship. Upon impact, I only felt pain for an instant. After that brief moment, everything turned to nothingness.
