Chapter 13 – Saul's Revival
With the Delta Force Four defeated for good, Gallen and his team continue northwards in their search for Aranam and Vera. Now they know that Dallon had been deceiving them all this time, but they have no idea what it is they seek. Draco has his own suspicions on the matter, but isn't sure. They had best find out soon, or else it may already be too late.
"Here we are" Fenris said as he lead the others into a clearing. Aranam looked ahead and saw a massive stone structure resembling something along the lines of a mausoleum. "Okay…where's here?" Aranam asked. "This is where you will obtain what it is you seek Aranam" Dallon replied, "All you must do is use Exomere to unseal the door." At that, Aranam charged at the door and slashed it clean in half with Exomere, much to Dallon and Fenris' surprise. "Like this?" Aranam asked. "Uh…it wasn't intended to be opened that way, but it works" Dallon replied, "After you." Aranam nodded and entered alongside Vera, Fenris falling in behind while Dallon remained outside for a short time longer. There were two others that he had instructed to wait there: two young officer cadets, a scyther and a kabutops going by the callsigns Delta 5 and 6 respectively. "You two, guard the door" Dallon said just before entering as well. "Yes sir!" the two cadets replied before turning around to face the direction opposite the entrance.
Several minutes later, Aranam, Vera and Fenris emerged from the staircase at the entrance into a massive chamber filled with adamantite crystals, with a particularly massive one in the center. The crystals all glowed a soft blue save the one in the center, which seemed to be glowing a slight shade of red. Aranam looked more closely at this one until he noticed there was the outline of something inside of it. "What is that?" Vera asked. "I don't know Vera" Aranam replied, "But something tells me this is why I'm here…" Fenris then walked up beside Aranam and said, "Aranam, take Exomere and stab the crystal exactly in the center." "What!" Aranam exclaimed, "Adamantite can't be cut! It'll deflect right off!" "Aranam, trust me" Fenris replied calmly. Aranam looked at Fenris, then Exomere, and finally the crystal. It might deflect, or it could shatter…but I have to trust Fenris on this…here goes nothing! he thought as he raised Exomere high over his head and stabbed the crystal. Suddenly, Aranam, the spear, Vera and Fenris were blown back by an intense surge of energy from the crystal. The crystal began to glow and change shape until at last the light faded, revealing what was inside. It was a Salamence, obviously ancient but no less awe-inspiring in just its apparent power alone. "Who has awakened me?" the Salamence said in a voice that was calm yet seemed overflowing with anger. "My Emperor, you are alive" Dallon said as he suddenly appeared before him and bowed down, "I am grateful you are still among us." "General Lettos, it's good to see you remain loyal to me…but it was not you who awakened me. Who was it?" the Salamence asked. "That would be me" Aranam said as he stood up and approached the figure, kneeling down once he got close, "I am Aranam K'Tal." "Aranam…I am grateful for you reviving me" the dragon type replied, "I am Emperor Saul Dragmire I of Wyvernia…what is it you seek?" "Guidance, nothing more" Aranam said calmly, still knelt down, "I seek the power to keep those I care for from dying." At this Saul smiled and said calmly, "I am willing to teach you this ability…in return for your undying loyalty." Aranam, although slightly taken aback by this requirement, was willing to do anything for Vera; as far as he was concerned, this was only a small price to pay. "I pledge me allegiance to you…my Master…" Aranam replied. "Very good…I can sense your power, and it is indeed great…" Saul said, "From this point forward…you shall be known as Lord…Axxon…" Aranam stood up and replied, "I accept my new title graciously." At that, Aranam suddenly became engulfed in shadow energy, emerging wearing black armor over his entire body save his head and a swirling black cloak draped over his shoulders down his back. "What is thy bidding Master?" Axxon asked calmly.
"They're just up ahead, I know it!" Gallen exclaimed as he and his companions sped up their pace to a run, knowing that Aranam wouldn't be far ahead. "I hope you're right!" Andre replied just as they entered a clearing. All four of them stopped in their tracks at the sight of a massive stone mausoleum with a huge entrance, but the entrance was guarded by a scyther and kabutops. "Hold it right there!" the scyther shouted, "You are not to proceed any further!" "Try and stop us!" Andre replied angrily, ready to fight. "So you think you can fight? Let's go!" replied the kabutops, "Hey Cade, let's show him what happens when you cross Wyvernia!" "I'll cover you Darman!" replied Cade, the scyther. Gallen was about to step forward to assist Andre when Draco blocked him. "This is Andre's fight; let him do this alone…" Draco said, gesturing to Andre, who stood between the two circling pokemon. Both of Andre's opponent had murderous intent, but Andre wasn't about to give in just yet; he had to save his friend no matter what the cost.
Cade and Darman attacked at the same time with X-Scissor, Andre deflecting the attacks with his blade before knocking them back with Dark Pulse. The two pokemon leapt back to their feet as if they weren't harmed, a testament to their strength despite their age. "Okay, so taking you on at the same time won't work…I'll take you on first!" Darman exclaimed as he leapt high into the air, attacking with an overhead slash aimed at Andre's head. Andre blocked the slash when he noticed that Cade was going after somebody else: Elaine! "Oh no you don't!" Andre shouted as he lashed out at Cade with Razor Wind, forcing him to back away. Andre and Elaine moved so that the stood back to back, eyeing their opponents cautiously. "Now!" Cade shouted as the two attacked, barely managing to split the two of them up into individual battles.
Andre was being pitted against Darman, the slower of the two but also the more heavily armored. "We must protect our Emperor until he can be revived!" Darman shouted. "Emperor! So you really do intend to revive Wyvernia!" Andre shot back as the two leapt at each other and used Night Slash. Their blades collided with a loud clash sounding almost like distant thunder. "Precisely, and this time, no one will stop us! Darman replied as he used Mud Shot. Andre used Agility to speed himself up before evading the attack and going on the offensive. Due to his greatly increased speed, Darman barely saw him by the time Andre struck him down with several Night Slash attacks. Darman recoiled back before launching himself high into the air, his blades outstretched as he fell back down to bring an overhead slash down onto Andre. Andre slipped to the side just as Darman landed before counter-striking with yet another Night Slash. This one proved decisive, as it caused Darman to stagger just enough to give Andre one last opening. With a final Night Slash, Darman fell to the ground in defeat and fainted.
Elaine, meanwhile, was fighting Cade, who was far faster than Darman, but couldn't take as many hits; this didn't seem to matter, as Cade had just knocked Elaine down for the fifth time. "What's the matter, too tired to play?" Cade taunted, "You really should have thought about the consequences before you decided to cross us!" "You attacked us! There's a difference!" Elaine replied furiously as she gestured towards Cade. Suddenly, Cade fell to the ground, shaking as if paralyzed. "What the…why do I feel so weak! What did you do to me!" Cade exclaimed. "It's called Pain Split" Elaine replied flatly, "It alters our strength so that way we each have the same amount of energy…only I know how to use mine more efficiently than you do." Cade stood back up, clearly infuriated by him being weakened so easily along with Elaine's snide insult. "You're going to eat your words!" Cade shouted angrily as he used Swords Dance until his attack power was maximized, Elaine maximizing her own power using Calm Mind. Cade was the first to attack, with Elaine simply teleporting out of the way. "Wow, I haven't seen anyone miss by that much!" Elaine taunted, prompting Cade to turn back around and attack again, with the same result. "What? Is that all you've got?" Elaine asked, "Maybe I should've fought your friend over there instead!" Cade attacked yet again, this time with Elaine teleporting then catching him with Psychic. "Let this be a lesson" Elaine said, "Control your anger, don't let your anger control you." With that, she slammed Cade into a tree with Psychic and knocked him out, ending the battle.
"Not bad Elaine" Andre said to his friend. "You too Andre" she replied, "You were the only one who was really fighting anyways; my opponent defeated himself!" At this, Andre couldn't help but smile; it was for that witty sense of humor that he found most attractive about her, along with her elegant appearance of course. "Well, this complicates things…" said a deep voice coming from the mausoleum entrance. Everyone looked in the direction of the door to see a massive Salamence standing there that Draco immediately recognized. "Saul! I knew we should have killed you when we had the chance!" he shouted angrily. "Sir Draco, one of the Seven Knights of Raynar the Great" Saul replied with a grin, "How have you been? I trust you're in good health?" "Why am I not flattered by your concern?" Draco asked sarcastically, "Is it because you're a back-stabbing liar or because you were our mortal enemy?" "Must you resort to name-calling?" Saul asked in response, "Or will we settle this the honorable way?" "Why don't I just kill you right here!" Draco exclaimed as he leapt at Saul to attack. At that moment, Saul loosed a powerful Dragon Pulse attack, sending Draco flying high up into the air before he gave pursuit. He struck Draco several times with Dragon Claw before slamming him into the ground with Hyper Beam. There was no question in anyone's mind that Saul had just killed Sir Draco. "Master!" Gallen exclaimed when he was stopped by Elaine and Andre. "Gallen, it's no use! He's too powerful!" Andre replied, "We need to head back and regroup. If we can mobilize the entire order, we might stand a chance! Let's go!" To this, Gallen reluctantly agreed as he grabbed on to the two of them and teleported the three of them away.
"Nice shooting your excellency!" Fenris exclaimed as he walked out into the open, followed by Dallon, Axxon and Vera. "You're welcome General Novan" Saul replied as he landed in front of them. "That's two Arch Paladins down, but the remainder are still a major threat" Axxon said, "If they can mobilize, it's all over." "I agree with you Lord Axxon…we must move quickly…" Saul said coldly, "Now…go to Arcceonn City. You know what to do when you arrive I assume?" Axxon nodded and replied, "It shall be done…Dallon, Fenris, follow me. Vera, remain here." "No Aranam! I don't want to lose you!" Vera exclaimed. At this Axxon turned around and embraced her. "I promise you Vera, when this is all over, I will return to you, and then we can settle down and raise our child together" Axxon said calmly, but Vera could sense he was on the verge of tears as he let go and stood back up, "Goodbye Vera…" With that, Axxon, Dallon and Fenris became engulfed in shadows and disappeared. All is going as planned Saul… said a voice in the revived Emperor's head. It won't be too much longer Master… Saul replied mentally, The hour of the beginning of your reign is at hand!