Part 1: Gravenvale Advances

~Port Talrega~


"Out of all the towns in Begnion, we just had to choose this one."

"Shut up, Rothen, shut up! I don't like this anymore than you do." My heron cousin was really starting to get on my nerves. I got it, we were in a port town, Talrega, in Begnion that hates laguz, but come on! Did he have to complain all the way here? No he did not! I sighed and said, "This is the quickest way to Kilvas, anyway. Let's just get supplies and head over to Sayuki's ship." That was the one thing the brat did for us after she left. She got us a stupid ship. Whoop-de-do.

I wrapped my sandy brown, waist-length cloak hood over my head, covering my pointy ears and my unnaturally pale arms. My wings weren't a problem; they retracted, and they were pulled so tightly against my back that it hurt. "Are you all prepared?" I asked.

Selene coughed. "Yeah, whatever." Anya nudged her in the side and nodded at me, smiling.

Rothen pulled his hood over his head like me and nodded, though his face was lined with worry.

Mya linked her arm in mine, her hair blowing in the late-afternoon wind and her shawl, which covered her brand, did the same motion. "Let's do this."

"Well, what are you guys doing standing around? Let's go!" Blue-haired Ellie pushed hard against my back. "Let's go!" Reluctantly, I let her shove me into the city, which was quite small. Many houses lined the sides of the road leading to the sea, and most houses had market stations in front of them. Being a port town, this place had no 'in-town' ruler, except for the Duke of Persis, who was in Sienne.

"I have dibs on the staffs!" Ellie sprinted in front of me, gold in her hand, heading toward a young beorc woman's table.

"Ellen Ridell Crimea! Get back here!" Mya unlinked from me and ran after her young friend. I chuckled at that. Ellie was only ten; I still couldn't believe I was going to let her go on this war. Suddenly, Rothen stepped up next to me and pointed to two adjacent stalls. "Hey Commander, can I nab some knives while you go get some new swords?"

"Hm?" I grabbed my sword hilt and pulled the weapon out, and it made a shinng noise as I did. I examined it, and I found several scratches and chips. The Steel Sword was dull, and its tip wasn't pointed. "Yeah, I think I need a new set."

"Come on," Rothen said, pulling me over to the booths. My feet scuffled in the brown dirt, getting my new boots dirty (I finally got rid of my old slippers). We both stopped in front of the sword booth, and Rothen announced, "This fine young man would like to buy a set of swords, please."

I growled. "Rothen, back off. I'm not a child." However, I looked up into the seller's face, and suddenly felt very intimidated.

He was a stocky older man, with a buff stature and glaring eyes. His bushy brow furrowed when he looked down at me. "Where you from, boy, the desert?"

"Um," I stammered, and looked at my clothing. My cloak did look very…. desert-like, however, my pants didn't match… I only answered, "Yes."

"Hmph. Your class?"

I froze. I could only assume he thought I was a beorc (at least the disguise worked), but my class?

"Myrmidon," Rothen whispered in my ear. He patted my back and went off toward the knives.

"Myrmidon," I repeated, stumbling over the strange word. The man, to my surprise, smiled and gave a hearty laugh.

"Well, boy, here are your choices." He rummaged in a long container and pulled out several pairs of swords with great difficulty. "You've got Brave Swords, Wo Daos, Killing Edges, and Steel Blades. Once you promote to a Swordsmaster, you can get some of the better ones, but for now you're stuck with these."

I pulled the gold out of my pocket and checked the prices on each set of swords. Three of the four sets would leave me flat broke; the only choices I had were the Brave Swords and the Steel Blades. "I'll take these two," I said, pointing toward each set.

"Good choices, boy." He took my gold, and gave me the sets. I pulled my old swords out of their pockets and gave them to him. "Would you take these?" I asked.

The man leaned down and whispered to me, "I'll trade that for some Wo Daos if you want."

I nodded. He took the swords, and gave me my third set. "Thanks," I said.

"No problem, boy."

I smiled slightly. Three sets of swords. The combined gold of what Dad gave me and what Sayuki left had brought me this. And I still had 1000 gold left for items. Hah… life is good, I thought as I walked to Sayuki's loaner ship.

The ship in itself was large and a deep brown, with the flag of Begnion painted on its sides. It was large enough to hold a full army, so that meant we- the Twilight Brigade- could easily get lost inside. There were no cannons, thank the goddess. I could just imagine how it would be if Rothen got his hands on one of those. Shuddering, I walked up the lowered plank to the main deck and placed my three sets onto the wooden boards. Surprisingly, the ship was already stocked with other necessary items- mostly food, warm clothing, and a few tents. Since the large stash was on the top deck, I moved it into a cabin behind the steering wheel.

"Darren! Look at these!" The pounding of feet came from behind me. I whipped around and saw Rothen, with him holding three shiny daggers. "Aren't they cool?"

"Eh, okay, sure," I said, not really caring. Daggers weren't the best weapon in my opinion. "Go put them in the armory." I motioned to the door adjacent to where I had put the food earlier. "While you're at it, could you get my swords, too?" I said, walking back to the plank to head back into town.

"Yeah, whatever…." Rothen mumbled. I heard him clank the steel together as I slid down the plank went over to Selene and Anya, who were over by the bows.

"Please, Selene! This one-"

"The lady said not 'til you promote alright?... Oh, hi Darren." Selene gave a quick glance at me before turning back to Anya, fuming. The lady trying to sell the bows gave me an exasperated sigh and said, "These girls your friends?"

"Relatives," I replied. The lady smiled sympathetically. I continued, "What were you three deciding on?"

"Well, this young girl here wanted a bow and arrow set, and I said an Iron Longbow would be best for her due to her class. The older girl agreed with me. But the young one wanted a Silver Longbow, but that's for 2nd tier and above classes…" The woman trailed off.

I sighed. Those girls…"Anya," I said, stooping down to meet her crying eyes. "We can always get you a Silver Longbow later. They won't disappear of the face of the earth."

"But… I want one now!" Anya shook her head rapidly. "It's not fair that I'm an Archer! Plus, it's too expensive, and I can't get it because of that, too!"

"We'll take the Iron Longbow," Selene said, holding out her money. She took the weapon and Anya fell into my arms, weeping. The seller murmured something about going on lunch break and she took off.

"You wanted this bow, child?" A mysterious voice came from behind me. I released Anya and moved her aside to face the newcomer.

He was a laguz, obviously- the cloak he wore that covered his ears proved it. Just reaching my shoulder, he couldn't have been any more than fourteen, but being a laguz, he was probably older. Twirling Anya's longed-for weapon on his finger, he said, "I could buy it for you, if you want."

Anya beamed. "Oh, really? Thanks, stranger!" She reached out in an attempt to hug him, but the young laguz gently waved her away.

"I'm not 'stranger'. I'm…I'm Kurth."

Selene raised her eyebrows. "Kurth? Don't you mean you're King Kurthnaga of Goldoa?"

Kurth sighed. "Well, yes, you could call me that…"

Suddenly I was confused. As Kurthnaga laid the gold on the stand and gave the bow to an elated Anya, I asked, "But wait. Why aren't you in Goldoa?"

"Well, my laguz brother and sisters…" He leaned in closer to us. "Goldoa has fallen at the hands of Gravenvale."

"Holy Ashera," I said in shock for about the fifth time that week. "Gravenvale is really…. getting a move on."

Kurthnaga nodded, sadly. "They have also taken one of my dragons captive…. And another dragon had been working with Gravenvale since she became an adolescent."

Something stirred in the back of my mind. "This dragon… it didn't happen to be a female Black Dragon, did it?"

Kurthnaga looked up at me. "You… you know Reana?"

"Reana…. That's her name? Yeah, we saw her when we were coming back from a battle with Gravenvale in south Begnion. She…rules an army there, I think. You didn't know this?"

"I… I did know that she was in Gravenvale…. But she controls an army?" The dragon sighed. "This war is just weird."

I nodded, agreeing. "Weird would be the right term to use. One second, I'm just living my life and the next-"

"Suddenly a war comes out of nowhere? Yeah, I'm thinking the same." Kurthanga gave a half-hearted smile at me. "Um… I was wondering….. would you mind if I came along with you guys on that big ship over there?"

My eyes slid to the ship and back to Kurthnaga, in confusion. "How'd you know that-"

"I had a hunch." The wind blew slightly, and Kurthnaga's green hair flitted around his face. "So, how about it… um…"

"Darren," I said.

"Well, I don't to particularly mind if you do or not. Come on, Anya!" Selene dragged Anya away by the hand, as the youngest heron rubbed her new bow against her cheek, grinning.

I sighed. "I don't think I'll ever get used to little Anya."

"Yes…" Kurthnaga glanced furtively at the ship. "You've got beorc on your side, hm?"

"Somewhat…" I said, my mind focused on Sayuki. I outright said, "The empress is a brat."

He chuckled. "I figured Sayuki would be some part in this…. At least you have a ship."

"Yup." My eyes flicked over to the ship again. Selene and Anya were on deck talking, Ellie was showing Mya her new collection of staves- if that cost too much she was dead meat- and Rothen….

"Rothen?" I scanned the plaza, hoping to catch sight of my heron cousin. No sign of him. However, my ears perked up when I heard a woman shriek, "AAH! Sub-human!"

I rolled my eyes. Rothen…. This is gonna be a long war if you keep this up.

"Hey! Watch it, lady! My cloak- oh, holy Ashera."

I'd found Rothen, who'd spoken the aforesaid sentence. He was standing in full view of everyone, his cloak down on the sandy ground. His wings were released and her ears were quiet prominent. I swore. "Curse you, Rothen."

"EEEK! Get away, you filthy beast!"

"You'd better learn your place, you know that?"

"Somebody call the empress!"

This was getting bad. The entire mob of townsfolk had basically gained up on Rothen, and I lost him in the crowd. Rothen hadn't learned all the best fighting techniques yet, so he was defenseless…. "Kurth, give me a second."

"Darren! Over here!" Selene ran over to me from the ship and handed my set of Steel Blades. "I'd say threaten them."

"GYAAH!" Rothen shrieked from inside the crowd. A gust tickled at the back of my neck. "Wind magic." I swore again. "Kurth-"

"I heard you. Go on." Urging me forward, Kurth soon had me positioned behind the mob. I could see Rothen's hand poking out from the top. "Hey you! Quit it, or this sword meets your heart!"

Only one man seemed to had heard me. His eyes narrowed, and he ripped off my cloak. I cringed, and closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. "Hey!" he shouted. "We've got another sub-human!"

Before long I was putting up a fight and trying not to at the same time. Several angry men and women advanced on me, and I used my swords in a defensive tactic. When on man threatened to grab my sword, a thought quickly flitted into my mind. Selene. She knows the Galdr of Peace, doesn't she? "SELENE!" I shrieked over the noise. I felt a dagger reach its way into my leg. I winced and shouted again, "Selene! Sing Grace!"

And that ended it. Once Selene's voice pierced the air, the townsfolk backed up from me. I pulled the dagger out of my leg and threw it to the ground. Limping, I scurried over to the mob, which was watching Selene in awe, and Rothen, who was lying spread-eagle on the ground. He saw me come over and he raised his head. Even with a bruise near his right eye, he managed to smile. "Sorry."

I nodded and took Rothen by the hand to help him stand. I took one quick look back at the townsfolk, who were standing in a little group, staring at Selene as if she were some sort of goddess. I looked over at Selene, who was standing near to where we were. She did look very… heavenly. In her voice was just calmness and sound, no words. Her blond hair glittered in the sunset, and a mysterious aura emanated from her body as she sang. I grabbed her shoulder and her voice slowly faded to a halt. "Let's go. Thanks, Selene."

She nodded. "Ah… that was fun. Let's go." She glanced back at the townsfolk again, and they seemed to be moving in their daily routine, though a bit confused. "Come on, you two. Let's go before they catch sight of your wings again."

Rothen sighed, pulling in his wings. "But they know who we are, Selene."

"No, they don't." As we walked back toward the ship, I felt Kurth slid up next to me and remove his cloak. "I altered their memory in that galdr."

My eyes widened, in a bit of shock. "Are we even allowed to do that, Selene?"

"Yes, no. Maybe." She took off her cloak as well and stepped into the water to lower the plank. "If I hadn't, somebody would've told, and Sayuki would've been really mad at us. Besides, singing is always fun!" She grinned at me.

I felt myself grin back. "Yeah. Sure."

"Come on, you guys… I hate sailing at night!" Mya called down to us. She narrowed her eyebrows, but she then nodded when she saw Kurth. "Oh, hi, Kurthnaga. Long time no see."

"The pleasure is mine." Kurthnaga walked up the plank and kissed Mya gently on her cheek. She giggled.

"Don't try any funny business, Kurth," I called, walking up the plank with Rothen and Selene behind me. "Mya's mine."

"Oh, I know." Kurth smiled at me. "You can trust me."

"Suuuure." But I only chuckled at bit. Heron-Beorc-Branded plus a dragon laguz? I didn't even want to think of the results of that.

The plank rose behind me, and I coursed my way around Ellie's many staffs, my swords, and Rothen's daggers to the steering wheel. I hadn't been given a crash course on this ship stuff, so I could only hope it didn't crash. Tightening my grip on the wheel, I called, "Rothen?"

"Anchors aweigh!" he replied, and the ship gently floated forward, away from the mainland and toward the remnants of war in Kilvas.

And possibly the remnants of war everywhere.


Part One is... DONE! *bows*

Part Two wil start with a map overview coming up soon!