Wasup everybody? It's me again your friendly neighborhood BONDSWORD posting up a chapter for a story that...sad to say I'd nearly forgotten about for...a long, long time. Then I remembered it again, but hey it's summer dont' judge me. But, here is the next chapter, which is number 11 in my chronology but 8 in the game's chronology. But here is that random disclaimer that says I own no characters/places, cept Kyle, Jaron, Leena, Erif and Cristoph, four of which shall come into light later in the story.

The group was riding easily through the day. After the little escapade with the Black Fang their path had been somewhat easier. However as they neared the heart of Caelin Kyle's mind was uneasy. The ride had been far too relaxed for someone to not be waiting for them. Kyle's fears were only strengthened when they passed a small village, and no one was busily scurrying about.

"We must pass through this ridge in order to get to Caelin Castle," Kent said his voice excited, yet contained.

Sain stretched and yawned then yelled up to Lyn: "You shall absolutely love your new home milady! The garden is simply beautiful." There was a pause. "But not as beautiful as you are of course!"

Kyle barely heard anything Sain had said, but suddenly noticed a change upon the wind. He looked into the air, and noticed what seemed to be a small dot against the sun. It seemed to be getting bigger, and suddenly Kyle yelled, "Everyone look out!!" He reigned his horse around, and watched as an enormous arrow struck the ground in front of him.

"Fall back!" Kyle suddenly cried. "Regroup around the shops!!"

Everyone suddenly wheeled their mounts around and began to pull away when suddenly Kyle noticed that Florina's Pegasus was too frightened to move…and one of these bolts was heading right for her! Kyle leapt from his horse, drew his blade, and ran toward her. A nearby rock provided full leverage as Kyle leapt with near inhuman ability. The giant arrow neared Florina, and just it was about to hit her Kyle arrived, and with one swing of his sword split the entire bolt in half.

Kyle landed on the ground and he ordered Florina to get away. The Pegasus suddenly broke from its fright and with one order, took off. Much faster than Kyle down below easily and quickly Florina was out of range, but Kyle who was running leapt to his left as a third giant arrow struck the ground.

Again he jumped as a fourth arrow struck the ground near his feet. This time however when Kyle dodged the bolt, he knew he was out of range. He sighed in relief and put his hand on his chest. His heart was pounding. 'This is absurd!' Kyle thought to himself. 'Am I tired? No…it isn't that… I…I suppose I'm simply happy everyone has escaped unharmed.' But within him rage was boiling.

He approached his friends while looking past the ridge. "Just what in the hell happened back there?!" Sain asked angrily.

Kyle sighed. "They have a ballista waiting for us." Kyle cursed under his breath. "I should've seen this coming. We've had too much of an easy time to get away this easily…"

Lyn kept her gaze upon him. "What should we do in your opinion Kyle?"

Kyle was stroking his chin. "Kent…" he said. The knight rode forward. "Watch over Lyn."

His words puzzled Kent until suddenly Kyle took off running in the direction of ridge. He kept to the woods, and made his way down slowly but surely.

To them Kyle's purpose was lost, but Kyle himself had the idea in his head. He made his way slowly down the hill, by sneaking through the woods, and quite suddenly he was upon the ballista operator. The archer's surprised scream would alert men nearby. Kyle quickly sliced off the man's head. The body dropped limp. For some reason Kyle laughed. He was beginning to fear himself. Bloodlust seemed to fill him during every battle and no amount of death seemed to satisfy it.

But suddenly he noticed just over the river to his south someone was mobilizing. Kyle strained his eyes, and noticed a small contingent of cavalry moving toward him.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. He'd been careless. He'd let that man scream, had left himself too exposed. He was getting careless. Again he sprinted. He could go miles like this running as fast as he could, but he didn't like to. He would get caught one day if he wasn't careful.

As he neared the ridge he knew that the knights would soon be upon him. When he heard the first sword being drawn he cursed his intuition. Kyle jumped into the air, spun around, drew his sword, and parried the first strike. 'Lances,' Kyle thought to himself as he parried a second blow, 'This is just perfect.'

Before he knew what had happened four knights had surrounded him cutting him off. However with a great jump Kyle cleared one of the knights, and avoided a blow. Landing squarely on the back of the horse that the cavalier was riding on he plunged his sword into a small slit between the man's pauldrons and his breastplate. The knight screamed out in pain, and turned trying to grab at Kyle behind him. But the man's right arm, which still held Kyle's blade wedged in it, wouldn't obey his actions. This knight's left arm couldn't reach Kyle directly behind him, and so he tried to use his left hand to hit Kyle with the lance. Now, however, he was hitting his compatriots, and so quickly the companions began to try and stab Kyle with their lances.

However Kyle stood up on the horse's back and did a back-flip landing deftly behind the knights. Angered and a little vengeful the men began to try and surround him again, however this time Kyle ran straight into a small thicket of trees, and bushes. The men tried to stab at him, but as he crouched low in the brush he noticed that they couldn't see him. He could indefinitely use this to his advantage.

As he watched a knight pass Kyle saw his chance. With one swift movement he had taken off and was running for the safety of his friends. They must have seen him as he was coming for soon Kyle noticed his friends moblizing to meet him. Noticing that this was his chance he turned around holding his sword, and leapt.

One of the knights drew near him, and he lashed out with his blade. The armored head fell away from the body, and the body drooped and then dropped off the horse.

The other knights held up their spears to stab him however another spear suddenly erupted from the armor of one of the knights. Exactly behind him, Kyle could see, was Sain in all his green armored glory. He smiled at Kyle and watched silently waiting for something.

"Can I help you with something?" Kyle asked smiling himself and running ahead.

Two more knights were coming up to attack and brandished their iron lances as they neared. Kyle's blade was still covered in a bit of blood, so he wiped it off on the ground and prepared to fight.

However the battle that he had hoped to slake his bloodlust failed to do so. He looked around eager for even more opponents, and found his targets: two bandits on the opposite end of the bridges. Without regard to anything else he charged forward brandishing his blade. Kyle could barely see straight as he rushed forward recklessly.

"Where is he going?!" Lyn asked.

Sain shrugged. "He had an odd look on his face, and it felt strange to be near him…"

Glancing back to Kyle Lyn watched as he reached the other side of the bridge. The two bandits advanced and struck but with one swing Kyle knocked their axes away and then with another had struck both down. As she watched she couldn't help but smile. Kyle was too good to be bested.

But there was suddenly a sound that filled her with dread as it did most other swordsmen. A heavy clanking reverberated through the air. Kyle leapt forward evading the lance from his opponent. He struck hard, but his sword wasn't powerful enough to truly pierce the armor his foe wore. Kyle was dodging and slashing but suddenly the lance-wielder spun his weapon in a windmill fashion knocking Kyle back a few feet. Then the man lifted his spear and Kyle didn't even look up as if he was waiting for death.

Lyn gasped and broke into a run to try and save her friend. However as she watched she realized it was too late. She couldn't lose any ally, especially not Kyle.

"Kyle!!" Lyn screamed as the knight prepared to force his lance into her young friend. However as the lance neared Kyle's heart it stopped abruptly. Lyn pulled to a halt and watched as the man struggled with the lance trying to budge it even an inch. But it wouldn't move. On the other side near the tip Kyle held onto the shaft. He raised his head slowly, and Lyn could swear she saw a malicious smile.

Kyle said nothing as he pulled the lance out of his enemy's hand and tossed it far away. Then with another show of impressive strength he stabbed his blade through a small opening in the armor. The enemy knight stuttered, and then coughed.

Kyle pulled the knight closer and in a whisper said, "You were a fool. I've made a promise." The sword went in further and the man coughed a second time. Kyle could see that the man's eyes were beginning to dull, and the knight's hands were twitching. "And when I make a promise, I keep it…" That was the last word the enemy would hear. Kyle smiled as his eyes went blank, and all limbs stopped moving. He pulled his sword out of his now dead foe, and got to his feet.

Lyn ran over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Do you have any injuries?" She looked him over once.

He stared straight ahead, and then surprisingly asked, "Are there moments when I don't act like myself?"

Lyn couldn't answer. "Lyn? Did you hear my question?"

She nodded and back away.

Kyle sighed and then redirected his gaze into the sky. A few white and puffy clouds floated far overhead, but otherwise the sky was clear, and as blue as the ocean.

"I'm…frightened…" he suddenly said. Lyn stared at him, her face shifting from afraid to puzzled. Suddenly he started to laugh, and raised his hands to the sky. "I'M FRIGHTENED!!" he yelled into the air, laughing some more.

Lyn took another step back. She leaned against the wall of a fortress. He was frightened? Why did he seem so happy about that?

He suddenly diverted his attention back to Lyn. He walked toward her smiling and put his hands on her shoulders. Kyle was indeed smiling but not the insane smirk she thought she'd seen, but a genuine smile.

"I…I can feel again!" he exclaimed. "I can feel things, and not lose it! I feel as though I'm…human…" Kyle brought his hands up to his face, and touched his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

Then he reached out to Lyn slowly as if blind and touched her nose, eyes, and ears. He rested however when his fingers touched her lips, and, startled, he pulled back.

"Apologies milady…" he said stepping back and bowing. "I…had…lost myself for a moment…" Then he drew his sword and held it in front of him as if in a ceremony. "I renew my promise to your service…"

Then he sheathed his sword and said, "If it pleases you milady we shall make camp here tonight."

She nodded seeming to be in a daze. Kyle bowed then walked away shouting order after order. Something had come over him that made him seem almost completely normal. Lyn of course knew that he had been trained by…some group that Kyle loathed but some part of that training seemed to suddenly snap within him at that moment. She couldn't really explain it, but there was something there that had changed within him.

It was late that night when Lyn was awakened by the faint sounds of groaning, and moaning. Rubbing her eyes, she threw on her dress and climbed out of her tent. She looked around and only found that the closer she drew to one of the fortresses the louder the sounds grew, and looking up to the ramparts she saw why. Sitting atop the wall his silhouette outlined against the light of a half-full moon was Kyle who seemed to be wrestling with a headache.

Lyn walked into the fort, ascended a nearby ladder she rationalized Kyle had moved and stood over him. She gazed at him and took in a deep breath. Kyle was a very defensive man and she knew that if she came on too strong he wouldn't talk at all.

"Hello," she said. Kyle turned his head until he was looking up at her. He didn't say anything at that moment but he didn't have to. She knelt down and laid her hands upon his right shoulder and arm. He moved his left hand up and touched hers in comfort.

"Kyle…" she began, but found that for once her young companion was an open book.

Quickly he began to convey what he was feeling: "Lyndis…" She rolled her eyes. He'd used her full name something that she normally didn't tolerate. "I'm… Something inside of me is…shifting… I can't adequately explain it, but I can feel it."

Lyn gazed at him with sadness for a few moments and then looked down at a small pocket. Kyle followed her gaze and reached into the pocket she stared at. When his hand reemerged both noticed that he was holding a small pin in the shape of a dragon. Both eyes were alight but were different colors. The left eye was as red as a blood-ruby and burned like fire, while the right glistened like the clearest diamond and shone like the purest snow.

"What does it mean?" she said looking down at Kyle.

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know." He paused for a minute or two composing his thoughts. "It might have something to do with what is happening to me…"

Suddenly he clenched his hand into a fist, closing the two piercing eyes in a cage. However he roared like a monster as he did so. Lyn backed up, quite a bit frightened. Kyle unclenched his fist and glared at the two eyes.

"Enough!" he bellowed at the pin's eyes, and with just his word the two stopped glowing. Lyn watched him intently. Nothing had seemed to change about him, but…something obviously had.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

Kyle shrugged again. "I've no idea," he said looking into the star-studded sky.