The white fox stood perfectly still. His head was tilted down towards the ground and his eyes were shut.
"He looks a lot like Rona," I whispered to Keia. "I mean, his body shape… He's just not the right colors."
"Yeah," Keia replied. The white fox opened his eyes and lifted his head. His eyes only fell upon Rona, and then he smiled.
"Hi Rona! We've never officially met before… My name is—" he began, but Rona interrupted.
"I don't care. I don't know you… I can't trust you."
"Huh?" The white fox tilted his head to the side. "Rona… You know you can trust me… I've been with you all along."
"No you haven't… You only want to cause harm."
"No, Rona… I only want to help. I stand for good, for light… For Rysta."
"Then show me… Show me you tell the truth. Fight me."
"It's always violence with you, isn't it? Violence doesn't solve everything…"
"Show me that you're right." Rona raised up his katana. He looked back at us quickly and said, "Go… Go!" He motioned to get out of the immediate area.
I pointed to a small tower not too far away. "Everyone, let's head to that tower," I said. Keia, Ceae, Vegance, and I ran past Rona and the white fox in the direction of the tower. Before we were there, I could already hear the clanging of steel on steel.
The tower appeared to be black, probably stained so by the atmosphere. It was somewhat lopsided, hinting at the possibility of a buried castle. Along the outside of the tower, there was a flight of stone steps winding up to the top. We all ran up the steps to watch the battle safely from a distance.
"Have you ever seen two fox spirits fight?" Keia asked me.
"No, but you would think Rona would have already won by now… I didn't last very long against him," I replied.
"When did you fight Rona?" Vegance asked.
"In a dream that felt like reality… Rona was left untouched."
Though the battle was so far away, we could see it clearly as though it were day. At this moment, I was unable to hear anything, but it appeared that Rona and the white fox were taking a short break. They slowly circled around one another… And then Rona went for a surprise attack. Rona slid toward White Fox; White Fox was quicker, though, and escaped Rona's attack by flipping over his head. White Fox's counterattack was useless anyways, because his attack met Rona's steel. The two danced around each other for a bit and then broke off to circling one another again.
"They're both good," I mumbled. I saw Rona shake his head quickly. White Fox made a motion with his hand. A blinding light shone out into the darkness and focused into his hand. He thrust his hand forward, producing a trail of light that knocked Rona backwards. Rona slid along the ground a ways and then flipped back onto his feet. Then, what appeared to be a glowing dark energy surrounded Rona. I could clearly see two red pinpoints in the dark: Rona's eyes. In a blur, Rona rushed towards White Fox and let off a barrage of attacks, all of which were met perfectly by White Fox's defensive stance. Rona leapt backwards and began to throw fireballs at lightning speed. White Fox, however, was still left untouched.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Keia whispered to me. "So far, that white fox has the advantage."
"No… Rona's better than that," I replied. Rona and White Fox put some distance between each other. They both sat still for a while. As they stared each other down, the atmosphere of tension rose up as high as our tower. Rona and White Fox both lit up in unison, Rona with his dark aura and White Fox with his aura of light. They both readied their weapons. Another staredown, and then in a split second, Rona and White Fox's swords collided with a deafening echo. I heard a pop as a spark flew into the air. The spark detonated, leaving a large sphere of mixed light and dark energy in its wake. As the sphere grew outwards, the power intensified until it was upon us. There was so much energy, in fact, that we were all knocked backwards off our feet. I stood up and rushed to the wall of the tower. Where Rona and White Fox had been, there was a large crater. My eyes widened at the sight.
"By Rysta, we have to get down there!" I shouted as I helped everyone up.
"Why?" Keia asked and then gasped at the sight that beheld her. Keia was the first to rush down the tower, followed by me and the others.
At the edge of the basin, we looked downwards into the abyss. It was dark and impossible to see how deep it ran. I took my chances anyway. I motioned for everyone to stay behind. I climbed down into the crater and stumbled downwards toward the center. It took a while before the dust settled and I could see down into the bottom. In the center of the crater were Rona and White Fox. Their swords were still interlocked. They were motionless, as though frozen in time.
When I entered the inner ring, both of them drew back their swords and moved apart. White Fox held out his hand toward Rona. "My name is Ryth," he said and smiled. Rona looked down at Ryth's hand and turned away.
"No formalities, Ryth. I'm Rona. What are you here for?" Rona asked.
"We were destined to meet someday… Rysta foretold so. You know me, sorta, from many years ago… As you know, everything in Draconia is meant to remain balanced. When you, Rona, were created, you produced quite a bit of darkness in the world… So Rysta created me to harmonize your chaos. The voice that spoke to you… The one that turned you from evil… That was me. I've been leading you toward the light for many years now," Ryth explained.
"That definitely clears up a bit of our history," I said. "Until now, the force that changed Rona had been unknown… Now, we can confirm that it was indeed the work of Rysta."
"And you are?" Ryth asked.
"Cryos… Prince Cryos Scanzanea, of the Draconian royal family." I put out my hand.
Ryth took my hand and shook it. "Ryth Slove… Er, brother of Rona Slove, sorta… Bringer of Light? Anyways, pleased to meet you." Ryth let go of my hand. "So, shouldn't the prince be up at home, taking care of things there?"
"Actually, by being here, I am still attending to the needs of my people… Mother and Father sent me to deal with Necril."
"Wow. Sounds like it won't be easy… Could you use an extra hand?"
"You?"
"Yeah. That way, you'll have extra strength on your side, and I can keep a more personal eye on Rona."
I thought for a second. "You know what? Come with me. We'll consult the others." Rona looked at me and silently headed off to the others. Ryth and I went up together.
"Damn you two," Vegance said as Ryth and I came up. She was pointing at Ryth and Rona. "You two sure made a mess… That was an amazing battle."
"It's what happens when two opposite but equal forces of Nature collide," Rona said. "You can expect a total mess…"
"So…" I started while facing the group. "Today, we all saw just what Rona could do… And we've met a new friend. I want you all to meet Ryth." Everyone except for Rona looked at Ryth. He smiled shyly.
"Hi Ryth," Keia said.
"You're tall," Ceae mumbled.
"If there is anyone who objects to having Ryth in our group… Speak now," I said. Everyone was silent. "Then it's settled… Ryth, welcome to our group. You know the mission?"
Ryth nodded. "You mentioned Necril… We're going to stop him."
"Yes. Ryth, where's the nearest town?"
"It's still fairly far away… We could be walking for a day or two… But the town's not so great anyways… The people there are strange, and some are even followers of Necril."
"Necromancers," Keia said. "It seems that there were others exiled from the CentraCity… I say we clear the town, when we arrive."
"Less people to assume command once Necril's down," I pointed out. "Good idea."
"That actually wouldn't be a good idea," Rona said. "We'd only draw attention to ourselves… Let's just leave it alone."
"Okay then, scratch the idea of clearing the town," Keia said.
"Well, if we're all done talking… Let's make some action," Rona said.
"Good… We're headed to that town then," I said. "Ryth, you lead." Ryth nodded and took the lead. Our party now consisted of Ryth, Rona, Keia, Vegance, Ceae, and I… Six versus an army, no doubt.