Author's Notes: … Thanks to all who reviewed! Kinda short I know but I keep changing the ending and am trying to figure out how to get there…LOL …Please review…Enjoy
Fanelia several hours prior…
Van stood before the guymelef standing in its silent vigil…He looked up at the giant armor and shook his head then looked to the energyst in his hand.
"I am sorry brother…" he whispered.
He hopped to the knee of the kneeling armor and placed the energyst…There was a low thump, thump …thump,thump…thump,thump as the energyst began to pulse in time with his own heart. The cockpit hissed and opened.
He hopped in and whispered "forgive me old friend but I need your power once again…"
The cockpit closed and the armor slowly stood…Escaflowne took several steps then transformed and flew to the assembly area. Van dove low transformed and landed near the crusade kneeled and hopped down from the cockpit. The troops were awestruck… they all knew of the Ispanio armor, many had even seen its figure kneeling in the royal gardens. Only a handful had ever seen the guymelef move much less transform and stand ready for battle.
Van walked to the assembled lieutenants and eyed the four men.
"Are the new suits loaded" he asked?
"Yes sire…they were loaded with Scherazade we only need to load Escaflowne and we are ready to depart" the older lieutenants said. "What orders do you have for the ground troops"?
"Protect Fanelia and its people" he answered calmly…
"Of course sire but what about the forces that will accompany us…"
"We are all that is needed" he said…"make ready to depart we leave at once." With that Van boarded the Crusade as Escaflowne was loaded into the hanger.
Van assembled the men and the crusade crew once they were in the air and heading to their destination.
Van began "Listen carefully as I will now give you with the details of my plan. The plan is to recover the Queen by any means necessary. We are headed to the Nomads main camp and we will meet our allies just prior to our deployment into their camp." He paused seeing the concern on their faces. "I know we are only six but our allies will more than tip the scales in our favor. We will rescue the queen while our allies decimate the ranks of the nomads. It any encounters you have with the nomads show them no quarter and no mercy. Show them what becomes of those who act against the land protected by dragons…"
The men nodded and repeated together "no quarter and no mercy"…
"Van" Allen interjected "Who are these allies?"
Van sighed and began… "Let me begin by providing you with more information…We have a traitor in our midst" Van hissed "this is while the details of this mission are known only to me and our allies' leader until now".
The men began to rumble about what the king had reviled…
"I will deal with the traitor personally once the queen is safe…" he stated "as you are all my most trusted we are the only ones who can carry out this mission…Considering what's at stake I feel that I should also tell you about what the ones who employ the nomads are truly after."
Van then began to fill in the details on what he and Alexstrasza had discussed and the details about the Oiraji clan.
"The Oiraji seek the crown the Draconian" he stated. "The crown" he continued "allows the one who posses it the ability to control any and all of the dragons of Gaea. This Atlantean artifact has been entrusted to the rulers of Fanelia since the beginning of the kingdom." The remaining details were provided as the men stood speechless and it was Allen who was first to speak.
"Van we have seen many things together but this is hard for me to believe. You actually spoke to Alexstrasza and she and her clan are to fight at our side"…he said shaking his head in disbelief.
The eldest Lieutenant spoke up "Sire you mean to say that the children's story I read to my son about the birth of the kingdom and the great dragon war is true?" he asked in disbelief.
"That is indeed the case" he replied "As my brother read the same story to me when I was little…" he paused as he touched his armor where the pendent rested beneath…
"Let me quickly give you the final details as we have arrived…"
The hanger of the crusade opened and a low chant was heard "no quarter, no mercy…FOR FANELIA!"
Then a Guymelef stepped forward to the open door and stepped out into the sky…
"Commander" a nomad called… he entered the tent with Hitomi and his leader. "Sir you presence is required outside…"
Hitomi's fiery green gaze never left the nomad leader.
"What is it"? "Has the messenger returned already from the castle?" he asked
"No sir…look" as he motioned upwards to the vast number of dragons circling in the sky above them.
"This is another reason I hate this damn country all these dragons roaming about…I knew we should moved the base camp but the Oiraji wouldn't hear of it…" he grumbled. "Keep an eye on those things' we don't want…OH dear god!" was all he could get out as his subordinate looked to see two white dragons descending rapidly toward the heart of the camp…
Van and Alexstrasza dove to the camp followed by several dozen gliding land dragons. Alexstrasza belched fire as she flew low on her first pass. Van transformed, drew his sword and dispatched a guymelef and its shocked pilot as he made his way toward the tent where felt Hitomi was being held. Admits the chaos more dragons burst from the forest rushing into the camp. Then dropped from the sky courtesy of the crusade came Scherazade and the four elite lieutenants …The nomads were in a complete state of panic…dragons everywhere, enemy guymelefs dropping from the sky…
The Nomad commander and his 2nd in command made it to their guymelefs just as the land dragons fell upon them. The armor put them on equal footing with a mere land dragon but as they turned they faced foes of a different caliber…
They now faced Escaflowne and Scherazade; the King of Fanelia and Knight Caeli commander…
The nomad commander cursed as he and his 2nd charged…At that moment the commanders' personal guard entered the fray. It was no longer two on two but now five on two…
"What do you think of the odds now Van" Allen called.
"Same as always" he responded…as they began to devastate the personal guard and push toward the commander.
The commander was pulling back, shocked at the devastation these two guymelefs caused. He had heard tales of the destiny war but this was unbelievable…The dragons and the Fanelian guymelefs were laying waste to his entire camp, to his entire clan…He was desperate and he had to pull some kind of victory from this no matter how small…
Then it came to him the queen…if it could not defeat them by force then he would destroy something they valued more…the queen the future of the kingdom. He spun and quickly made his way to the tent where Hitomi was being kept. He raised his lance and swung towards the tent, towards Hitomi…
Van realized several heartbeats too late what the commander was doing. He moved as fast as Escaflowne would allow trying to put anything in the path of the lance, anything to protect his most beloved and anything to protect his queen.
The lance stopped short of its intended mark with a grinding crunch. The commander could not believe what his fading vision was showing him. He had been impaled by Escaflowne and Scherazade. As he took his last ragged breath he took satisfaction in his one small victory and then he was gone. The commander's guymelef dropped as the two swords were withdrawn but his weapon was left. The cruel point had found its mark and still remained embedded in the Ispanio armor. The day was won and nothing remained of the Nomads. What the dragons had not torn apart the elite guard, Escaflowne and Scherazade had defeated. The queen was safe and the initial threat was gone.
…at what cost…
