Chapter 10: The Dragon's Wrath

Lyn went to stop Jake when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Eliwood had stopped her from going after Jake. "I don't understand…why would she save me when she didn't even know me?" Lyn asked, feeling for some reason like Lucifer's death was her fault.

"Maybe she saw that you didn't deserve to die. It wasn't that girls fault. He was being controlled by that person, and he was unable to control himself." Eliwood said, letting go. They all had some kind of injuries from their skirmish with Jake. Hector had a large bruise on the side of his face, Eliwood and Lyn both had a bruised shoulder. They readied their weapons as they entered the Dragon's gate, heading towards where several dark figures stood.

Ephidel stood there, holding on the Ninian. Nergal and Limstella were standing nearby, keeping a hold on Lord Elbert , Nergal saying something while facing towards the massive stone arch in the background. Ninian was standing as though in a daze, her eyes glazed over as though in a trance. Nergal turned around and grinned evilly as Ninian walked slowly towards the massive arch. "Come forth …children…of... flame…." She said in a monotone as Eliwood ran towards Nergal.

"What did you do to her!?" Eliwood shouted, just as a there was a red flash of light. Lord Elbert kneeled over with a groan as Nergal laughed. "No, father! Hold on!" he cried he caught his father as he fell glaring at Nergal.

"Ah, wonderful! Such wonderful power! Now then Ninian… Call forth the dragons!" Nergal said as a blur fell down from above, flying past Ephidel.

"What the hell…?" He said, then fell apart as Jake appeared, sword bloody. Eliwood saw that his face was twisted with anguish and rage as he turned on Nergal.

"Now, is that any way to control your temper?" Nergal asked mockingly as Jake charged towards Nergal with a roar. Nergal laughed as he threw Jake backwards with a blast of dark energy. As Jake fell backwards, his dragon fang pendant fell off, landing by Legault. He obviously realized something as he began screaming at everyone to back off. Lyn looked around for a reason as to why Legault was screaming(something he very rarely did )but when she saw Jake she immediately took several steps back. Sain, one of Lyn's cavaliers, had grabbed Matthew to stop him from running to Jake.

Jake had a white glow around him as Nergal, grinning broadly, turned his back to Jake and began chanting. "Nergal!!! You will die!!!"Jake screamed as the white glow filled the room, blinding them. Lyn was forced to look away from the white glow, as was everyone else. When Lyn looked back, she felt a chill run through her body. Eliwood and Hector had stopped dead, fear frozen on their faces.

A towering white dragon had appeared where Jake had been standing. Its scales seemed to be made of Crystal, and it seemed to radiate the same white glow. It looked around for a moment, then gave a thunderous roar that shook the entire room. Everyone had frozen, paralyzed from fear, except Nergal, who just laughed. "Ha! I knew it! You really are a dragon! Such glorious power! I shall use you for my own!" He threw what looked like a wall of dark energy at the dragon. The dragon replied with a blast of pure white fire that engulfed the dark energy and dispelled it. "Come forth my Brethren! Besiege this evil with fire!!!" The dragon roared as the dragon's gate opened, and shadowy images could be seen on the other side of the gate. "You took what was dear to me… and I shall make you pay tenfold!!!!" The dragon roared again. Nergal was looking enraged as he ordered his minions to attack.

Eliwood, Lyn and Hector watched with horror as men closed in on the dragon. This can't be real! It just can't! Eliwood thought as the dragon whirled, spiked tail flying through the air, ripping apart several of them. The battle became a bloodbath as countless men threw themselves at the dragon in an attempt to restrain it. The shadowy shapes in the gate were becoming more defined, which almost caused Eliwood to panic. How were they supposed to stop this?! The dragon was on a rampage, destroying all that went near it.

A small figure ran out from behind Legault, grabbing the pendant from his hand as he stood in front of the dragon, holding up the pendant in front of the dragon. The dragon stopped it's assault, and slowly calmed down. it eyed the child for a moment, and Eliwood feared that it would attack. The small figure was Nils, and as he did this he called out to his sister. "Ninian! Wake up, you mustn't do this!" he shouted, and Ninian seemed to snap out of her trance.

"What…what's going on?" she asked, very confused. The was a loud crack as a blast of dark energy struck the dragon, causing it to roar in agony. The dragon began to decrease in size as Nergal cackled.

"Yes…What power! This is excellent!"Nergal said with a nasty smile as something flew out of nowhere and stabbed Nergal in the chest. He staggered, then saw Lord Elbert on his knees, gasping for breath. He had thrown a dagger at Nergal, and the blade had found it's mark. "No…not by your hand…" Nergal managed to gasp before he teleported with Sonia and Limstella.

The dragon had shrunk down in size until it became Jake again. He was on his knees in the middle of the room, head bowed. Lyn cautiously approached Jake, and was shocked when she got close to him. His hair had had turned white, as well as his Black Fang armor. It was strange to see him like this. He had tears streaking down his face, his eyes closed.

"Are you ok?" Ninian asked him, kneeling next to Jake. He was taking trembling breathes as he staggered to his feet. He searched for his sword, but instead only found his old sword he had killed the bandits with. What the hell…?what had happened to the holy sword?

There was a loud rumbling coming from the gate, which was closing. Everyone scrambled for the gate as it began to shut, spewing fire everywhere. Jake snatched up his sword as he ran for the gate, grabbing Ninian and Nils on the way out. He stumbled from his fatigue, but somehow kept running.

They all ran through the doors, while Sain and Kent slammed them shut. Jake dropped Ninian and Nils as he fell on his face, unable to move from sheer exhaustion. He felt like he had not slept in days

Eliwood was bent over his father's dead body, which made Jake feel it was his fault in some way. Lord Elbert had had his life taken by Nergal to open the dragons gate. Jake felt another pang as he watched this, but couldn't offer any condolences…he couldn't find the words to express how he felt. He had a general idea of Eliwood felt, losing his father…and yet he felt guilty that if he had not come to the dragon's gate, Lord Elbert might somehow still be alive.

Jake felt strong arms pull him to his feet, and saw Hector and the man named Oswin there. He swayed, then was able to stand somehow. He glanced over to where Lucifer lay and felt another stab of agony pierce his heart. Why did she have to die? Jake had to hold back tears as the pain resurfaced, threatening to overwhelm him.

Jake picked her up, then made to walk away when a hand stopped him. He turned to see Lyn's tear streaked face there. "Where are you going? Surely you aren't going off on your own? We will come with you. I know how it feels to lose someone close to you." Lyn said quietly, squeezing his shoulder.

Jake shook off her hand gently, shaking his head. "No… I must bury her. I…I need to be alone right now…need to sort out my life." Jake said, his voice still choked up. He was mildly surprised to still be alive. He had expected someone to slaughter him after finding out he was a dragon. And yet here he was, still standing. "How come I'm not dead yet?" Jake asked, voicing out his question.

"What? What do you mean?" Eliwood asked, walking up to seemd to be holding back his anguish

"You've all seen I'm a dragon, and yet you let me live…why?" Jake asked.

"You may be a dragon, but your also a nice person." Matthew said , coming up to Jake, looking like he a had a few choice words to say to Jake, but was holding them in.

"Yeah, just because you're a dragon doesn't give you the right to die. You've as much right to live as any of us." Hector said.

"My Lord Eliwood!" a voice called out. Eliwood turned to see Harken sprinting full speed towards him.

"Harken! What are you doing here?" Eliwood asked, looking surprised to see one of his father's guards here.

"I am so sorry. I was unable to protect Lord Elbert. I have failed in my duties." Harken said, looking like it was the end of the world.

"It wasn't your fault Harken. If it would make you feel better, you can serve me." Eliwood said,wanting to cheer Harken up. He nodded, seeming to cheer up a little, while Jake walked away, almost not able to stand any of it. He had walked a few feet, when Legault pressed something into his free hand. When Jake saw that it was his pendant, He nodded his thanks to Legault. Legault squeezed his shoulder in reply, then went back to join the group.

Jake wondered briefly what had happened to Darin, whom had been assigned to guard the gate. Probably dead, by what happened to the rest of the men that had tried to stop Eliwood and his could honestly care less. Jake had decided to bury Lucifer somewhere nice…like by a waterfall. There was a particular one that Jake had liked to hang out at when he wasn't doing missions. Jake arrived at the waterfall at sunset, and set Lucifer down. He was wondering how he was going to dig Lucifer a grave when he heard a rustling behind him.

Jake's hand flew to his sword as he spun around, sword slashing through the air. There was no one there. Jake scanned the area suspiciously, keeping an eye out for Limstella, Sonia, or any of Nergal's cronies. Jake was about to turn back around when an old man stepped out from behind a tree. Jake kept alert as he walked slowly towards Jake, examining the forest around him with great interest. He had a massive sweeping beard, which was white with age. He was wearing magnificent blue robes, with a staff in his hand. He walked until he was within 10 feet of Jake, then decided to finally address jake.

"Ah, you must be Jake. It must be terrible to experience the pain of loss at such a young age. I have experienced it myself." He said serenly.

"What...You...I.. How do you know how I feel!?" Jake roared his frustration, anger and anguish finally breaking. He could keep it contained no longed, and threw his sword at a tree. The blade broke as it plunged into the tree and stayed there.

"Because I know what you know what you are." The old man said with a mysterious air.

"Who the hell are you?" Jake snapped. He wasn't in the mood for mind games. Jake wanted answers right now. And how did this old geezer know about his…ability?

"I am Athos. I can answer all of your questions." The old man said with a smile.