Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. My writing is purely for the enjoyment of my readers and myself.


Legends of Gaea: Chapter 3

The wolf man camp was filled with activity as Van and Folken arrived. Neftoo and Mizook wasted no time introducing them to everyone. A customary welcome meal of rice patties, quail, and cabbage leaves was presented and they were given special accommodations... the biggest hut in the camp.

Van wondered how to begin the reconstruction of his broken country. There were so many needs and although he smiled at the many happy faces that greeted him, his heart was heavy. The heaviness of his burdens were noticed by Folken and he debated with himself as to how best he could aid Van.

The brothers were shown to a table and once they were seated and formalities were exchanged between them and others at their table Folken prepared to breach the subject.

But just as he turned to Van they were approached by twin wolf men much older than the rest. " Good evening." One of them greeted.

" We trust that your night here will bring you rest." The second twin continued.

Van nodded. " Thank you for all of this. It really wasn't necessary."

The second wolf man shook his. " It is our way and it is certainly necessary for the presence of the king."

Van nodded again. " Uhm... I'm sorry I don't know your names..."

" Our apologies king Van. This is my twin brother Kivan. And I am Sooma."

" Well its good to meet you both." Van smiled. And then the wolf men looked to Folken. Van nodded in his direction. " This is Folken."

" Yes. We know." They replied.

" You know me?" Folken asked, genuinely surprised.

" Yes. We were once part of your father's court. We could never forget you, the first-born prince of Fanelia."

Folken looked down hoping to hide his shame and Van looked at him with a frown. " Maybe he was a prince once." He stated sourly.

Sooma looked at Van disapprovingly. " If one is born a prince, one dies a prince. Regardless of what may happen during life."

Van looked back at him, the chastisement dully noted on his part. And he returned to quietly eating his meal.

" We have come to aid you both in the rebuilding of Fanelia. It is our experience that this country holds natural treasures, rare to any other kingdom."

" Yes." Kivan nodded. " And these treasures will be highly prized by neighboring countries."

Van paused in his eating to look at them with wide eyes. Folken, having finished his meal already, leaned forward with interest. " Of which treasures do you speak?"

Sooma smiled. " You remember the stories, Folken? Of course you were just a young lad back then but I assure you their tales are true."

Folken thought for a moment while Van stared at all three of them completely lost. " Tales? What tales?"

" Stories about the incredible strength and beauty of dragon skin." Folken replied.

" Tales about the strongest and yet most delicate nature of the Lome Spider silk." Kiva continued.

" And tales about the healing powers of the blue rose, said only to blossom once every fifty years." Sooma supplied.

" And these treasures are easily attainable?" Van questioned.

" Perhaps not too easily but certainly attainable by those willing to overcome the trials." Sooma replied.

" But how would we know even where to look?" Van asked, already feeling defeated.

" Ah. Never fear. We know wolf men who have succeeded in discovering these hidden things. Tomorrow morning you will meet them." Kiva answered while Sooma nodded emphatically beside him.

" Then I suppose it would be in our best interest to get some sleep soon." Van sighed contentedly, having finished his meal and rubbed his belly.

" A wise course of action." Kiva nodded. " Everything will be ready and waiting for you in the morning. The guides will be at your disposal.

And at that the two wolf men stood, bowed, and took their leave.

Van turned to Folken. " Are you going to be okay wandering around the mountains and fields?"

Folken looked at him. " Of course, brother. This is country I know well."

Van rose to his feet. " Yeah. I'm sure it is." And with that he headed to their hut without so much as a good night.

Folken sighed wearily. Regaining Van's trust would not be easy. But he hoped that his continual cooperation would earn him some faith on Van's part. It was his greatest wish.


The morning soon came and Van emerged from his accommodations to find a company of wolf men preparing horses and satchels and bows and arrows for the journey.

" Good morning, my king."

Van turned around to find Zire smiling at him. " Good morning. Is all of this necessary for the journey?" And he gestured towards all the company.

Zire nodded and was joined by Kiva, one of the elder wolf men from the night before. " The more who are available to aid you on your quest, the greater chances you will have of success."

Van nodded, rubbing the back of his neck in mild discomfort. " I have to believe that. I never would have survived the war if it wasn't for good friends."

Kiva smiled. " Allies are always needed but not always appreciated. It is good to see that you understand this at such a young age." And he stepped forward presenting Van with a scroll.

" What's this?" Van asked him curiously, unrolling it between his hands.

" A map of the outer Fanelian regions. It has been marked where treasures have been discovered in the past. May it be a guide during your travels."

Van smiled at him. " Thank you. I'm certain this will be a great help."

They were soon joined by a wolf man with auburn fur and a tall frame. " Good morning, king Van." He greeted and bowed to him. " I am Neftoo-Mish. I will be leading our good company."

Van nodded to him. " Good morning Neftoo-Mish. Thank you for your assistance. And please," He gently laid a hand on Neftoo- Mish's shoulder. " There's no need for formalities when I am among you."

Kiva smiled to them. " This will surely be a successful journey."

Zire nodded and patted Van on the shoulder. " Yes. And might I suggest that we begin our journey soon? It is best to find spider silk before the sun is too hot. The heat tends to make the spiders... jumpy."

Van looked at him curiously. " Jumpy?"

" You don't want to know."


An hour later, having been fed the company of twelve began their journey:

They traveled across the glen were Folken and Van had crossed only the night before. And it wasn't long before Folken pointed out a few fallen logs.

" Why don't we search over there?" He suggested.

Neftoo-Mish looked to where Folken pointed and nodded in approval. " That is a perfect location for the Lome Spider to spin her webs."

The company dismounted their steeds and followed him through the tall, soft grasses. The wind was gentle and the grass brushed against their legs and waists as they marched through. Neftoo-Mish stopped a little ways ahead and stooped down to analyze something.

Van, Folken, Zire, and Mizook came closer while the others in company waited behind them, gazing around patiently. At length Neftoo-Mish motioned for them to come forward. Van motioned with a nod of his head for Zire, Mizook, and Folken to follow him. Before them, nestled in between two fallen tree trunks, dried and rotting, was a beautiful web. Within its woven patterns sat the Lome Spider herself. Her body was bright green and her head a solid black. The web she wove glowed a soft green and glistened with morning dew drops.

" Wow. That's a huge web!" Mizook chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Neftoo-Mish looked to Folken. " Would you mind holding her for a moment."

Folken looked from him to the spider and back again before realizing what he meant. Carefully he picked up the spider within two of his mechanical fingers while Neftoo-Mish and Zire cut off half of the web. They worked quickly and when they had finished Zire carefully wrapped the silk around a smooth spool.

" That should do it." Neftoo-Mish declared and nodded to Folken who returned the spider to her web. She immediately began re-spinning and paused only to asses the damage before continuing with the repairs. A small grin tugged at Folken's lips as he watched her work. It had been a long while since he witnessed the spiders weave their silk. With a sigh, he rose to his feet and followed the others back to their waiting companions. Zire held up the glowing-green spool. Several in their company asked to get a closer look and he obliged as if showing off his favorite new toy.


Mid-day faded into afternoon and the sun traveled across the sky.

Van glanced up at the Mystic Moon and sighed. His hand grasped the pendant around his neck and he closed his eyes for a moment to remember Hitomi. A gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks as he remembered the moment she kissed him. He had never been kissed by a girl before and found out that he liked the feeling, even if it was only on the cheek.

" Tired?"

Startled out of his reverie, Van opened his eyes to see Mizook looking at him curiously. Van fought back the sudden urge to blush and shook his head.

" Just thinking." He answered after a moment.

" Thinking's good." Mizook replied.

The two rode along side each other for several moments in silence, each enjoying the weather and freedom of the outdoors.

" Can I ask you a question?" Mizook asked a few minutes later. Van nodded. " Who's the tall guy with one arm? He's always watching you."

Van wasn't expecting a question like that and for a moment remained silent, not knowing what to say. " Uhm.. he's... he's my servant."

Mizook raised his eyebrows and looked back at Folken who caught him staring. Mizook flattened his ears and quickly turned back to the front. He thought for a few moments before speaking again.

" What happened to your servant's arm?"

Van sighed. " He lost it in a fight."

" Wow…" Mizook exclaimed. " He must be some sort of hero or something, huh?"

Van looked at him curiously. " Why are you asking so many questions about him?" Mizook pulled his horse as close to Van as possible and leaned in to whisper.

" The man's a mystery! Everyone likes mysterious people you know."

Van pulled back a little to stare at him, convinced there was something not quite right with this wolf-man. " So he doesn't have an arm. What's so mysterious about that?" He asked a little-bit annoyed.

Mizook continued in a conspiratorial tone. " His shiny arm can only be made in a country with lots of scientists…like, Ziabach maybe?"

Van studied him for a moment. " Ziabach, huh?" He replied warily. Just then, someone squeezed his shoulder.

" Is this wolf-man pestering you, Van?" Neftoo-Mish asked him, sending a stern glare at Mizook. Van turned to him and shook his head.

" I was just asking questions that's all." Mizook said defensively.

" Yes. I know how relentless you can be with your questions, Mizook." Neftoo-Mish growls.

" It's okay." Van interrupted. " He was just trying to strike up conversation."

Neftoo-Mish nodded and Van urged his horse onward.

Neftoo-Mish guided his horse beside Mizook's and gave him a warning glare.

"What?! What I do?" Mizook asked. With a smart snap of the reigns Neftoo's horse trotted after Van.

" Sheesh! What I do? I didn't do anything." Mizook muttered to himself as the group traveled deeper into the forest.

Folken looked up at the sky and sighed. Already his back was beginning to ache.

" Don't worry." Zire said to him. " We're almost there and then we'll be able to take a break and get off these poor horses."

Folken remained silent for a moment wondering if he looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Zire took out a canteen of water and offered it to Folken who accepted it with a nod of thanks and immediately took three large gulps of water before offering it back. Zire smiled, happy to be of some assistance to his friend.

Up ahead, Mizook grabbed hold of a leaf that dangled on a low branch. He yanked it off and the branch snapped back into place, whipping the face of the unfortunate rider behind him and effectively knocking the rider off his horse.

" Ah!…Mizook!" The rider barked in aggravation.

" What?!" Mizook barked back defensively.

Zire watched him from his vantage point and sighed wearily. " Why did we have to bring him along?" He muttered to himself. He glanced over at Folken suddenly realizing that he spoke louder than he had intended. But Folken seemed preoccupied as he stared steadily up ahead. Zire followed his gaze and found that it settled on Van who rode farther ahead unaware of their gazes. Zire sighed to himself. Sibling relationships could be difficult and complicated. He didn't know what was going on between the brothers but he hoped things worked out for them.

The company had been traveling for several hours when they rode into a grassy plain and paused to survey the area. The wind rolled across the grasses, stirring the manes and tails of the horses and tussling the fur and hair of everyone present. Neftoo-Mish rode up beside Van and pointed to the blue-mountains directly ahead.

" The dragon grounds are just beyond those mountains where the water falls into large rivers. Their waters travel all the way to the sea." He explained. Van nodded his understanding. " We should keep going until we reach the base of the mountains." Neftoo-Mish continued. " Out here we are defenseless and can be easy prey for any predator that happens to spot us. "

Motioning for the others to follow, he led the way. Van took in a deep breath and urged his horse forward. He grasped the pendant around his neck and remembered his promise to Merle and he prayed that everything would go smoothly. The future of an entire kingdom depended upon their success.

Mizook frowned as a large shadow passed over him. He looked up and shrugged when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. A few moments later it happened again but this time Van looked up as well.

" What's that?" Van asked pointing to the sky.

Mizook looked up again and smiled. " I thought I saw shadows! Those are dragons." He explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Van's eyes widened and he glanced at Mizook. " Dragons? Aren't they suppose to be near the water?" He asked.

Mizook shrugged. " We're getting close to their nesting grounds. I guess they just like to fly." He replied.

The group rode on in relative silence as the large shadows continued to pass over them. From time to time Van looked up and noticed that there were more dragons soaring back and forth across the sky than earlier. They twirled and swooped through the clouds making loud chirping and clicking noises.

" Why are they making those sounds?" Van asked Mizook.

" Oh, they're just talking to each other." Mizook replied without even glancing up again.

Van kept looking up at the soaring animals high above with wonder. He never seen dragons behave in this manner before.

In the back of the group Folken was also looking up at the dragons, shielding his eyes from the bright sun with his hand. And he frowned to himself.

" Something is not right…" he murmured.

" What was that?" Zire asked beside him.

Folken looked over at him and shook his head. " Its nothing."

As the group continued the dragons began to swoop lower to the ground and their sudden change of behavior caught everyone's attention.

" Something is wrong." Neftoo-Mish stated to another wolf-man beside him. " They never swoop this low unless-"

But he didn't have time to finish his sentence when one of the animals swooped down low enough to brush the top of their heads. Everyone was surprised by this and did their best to calm their alarmed horses.

" Oh no." Zire breathed as he urged his horse closer to the group. Folken followed close beside him.

" Everyone off your horses!" Neftoo-Mish ordered, following his own advice. " We better walk beside our beasts."

Van slid off his horse and held on to the reins, calming the worried animal with gentle strokes.

" Why are they so low?" Zire called over to Neftoo-Mish who shrugged and continued marching through the grass.

The dragons began to screech and everyone looked up to see that where there use to only be three now flew six!

" Uh oh." Mizook uttered fearfully, " This can't be good." He looked over his shoulder to see how the others were doing. Zire was talking to Folken about something as the two stared up at the sky. Mizook glanced over at Van, who was rubbing his chest, and the rest of the group ahead were trying to pick up the pace.

Van felt something warm against his chest and finally pulled out the pendant. It's glowing! He thought to himself in surprise. Could this be aggravating them? He wondered with dread. And suddenly, without warning, one of the dragons dove straight for them.

Van gasped. The pendant glowed brighter the closer the dragon drew to them. Van stopped walking and released his hold on the horse's reins to grasp the hilt of his sword.

" Look out!" Someone yelled as the dragon landed in their midst.

Mizook shrieked and ducked low into the grass. Zire and Folken froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. Neftoo-Mish and the others whirled around in surprise.

Van stared at the huge dragon as it flapped its wings a few times. Everyone behind it ducked in an attempt to avoid the dangerous tail that whipped across the air and shaved the tops of the tall grass. Folken and Zire dropped to the ground.

" Van!" Yelled Zire who was cupping his mouth in an effort to make sure Van heared him. " Drop to the ground and don't move!"

Van heared someone speak to him and slowly lowered himself to the grass, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

" Van…" Folken whispered, concerned for his safety. Van glanced past his horse's legs to see Mizook lying in the grass as well. The horses, to their credit, remained stock still as if knowing that any movement might be their last.

" Why doesn't it just go away?" Someone whispered to Neftoo-Mish.

" I don't know." He confessed.

Van frowned as the pendant continued to glow brighter and he tried to hide it with his body. But that proved useless as the dragon waddled closer to him, sniffing the air. Folken bit his lip and his mechanical arm reached for his sword. Beside him Zire did the same.

Van could feel his blood run cold as the dragon stooeds low and sniffed his hair. It continued to sniff his neck and moved its massive snout down to his back where it stopped and snorted. Van gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, realizing with dismay that it wouldn't do him much good now that the animal was so close. He shuddered as the smell of rotten flesh hit his nostrils and he struggled to keep from spitting up.

For a few moments the dragon didn't move. Van didn't move and everyone watching doesn't move. The air grew thick with tension as all eyes waited to see what would happen next. And suddenly the dragon squeaked. With a rough shove it lowered its snout to the ground and rolled Van over, exposing his bare belly in the process as his red tunic flopped up.

" No!" Folken cried out and began to rise, but Zire held him back and, with a warning glare, urged him to wait.

" No Folken!" He whispered harshly. " It would only make the other dragons angry if one of their own was slaughtered in front of them."

" And what if they slaughter one of us? The king no less?" He answered sharply and looked back at the dragon.

Van stared directly at the dragon's face. It cocked its head from side to side, trying to figure out what he was. Van's breaths came out in short gasps as he struggled to keep his rising terror from overwhelming him.

The dragon lowered its snout, to the horror of everyone watching, and sniffed the pendant now glowing bright enough for everyone to see. Van turned his head and looked directly at Mizook who watched with wide, frightened eyes.

Folken watched helplessly as his brother waited for the dragon to make its next move.

" Go away!" Van whispered as the dragon lifted its head to look up at the other dragons flying above. It looked back down at him and squawked at his face. Van blinked and spoke again, this time more firmly. " Go away!"

This time the animal blinked and with a huff, turned around. Van watched the massive tail swing above his head, the shadow traveling over his face. Folken, Zire and the others watched in amazement as the dragon waddled a few more feet away from Van, spread its wings, and flew up into the sky, squawking to the other dragons. They turned around and swooped by, each squawking something to Van as they passed, before flying away.

Everyone remained frozen in place for several moment, shocked stupid. But finally, they began to rise and Folken rushed to Van's side with Zire right behind him.

" Van? Van!" Folken stooped down beside Van who was slowly sitting up. " Van? Are you alright?" He asked with concern.

Van glanced at him and nodded. Folken watched him closely and fought the urge to embrace him.

Van wouldn't like that. Folken told himself as Van rose to his feet on wobbly legs.

" Are you okay Van? Is he okay?" Mizook asked Folken realizing that Van didn't feel like talking at the moment.

Folken nodded and released a sigh of relief.

" Wow!" Mizook continued, the adrenaline still coursing through his system. " I don't think anyone's gotten that close to a dragon and lived to tell about it!"

Van just nodded and tucked the pendant back underneath his tunic. " I think we better keep going." He said at length and reached for the reins of his horse.

" That's a good idea." Zire agreed as everyone gathered their senses and continued on their way.

" Why do you think the dragon singled out the king?" Zire asked Folken a few moments later.

Folken shakes his head. " I don't know."

" Do you think it thought Van was one of them?" Zire ventured.

" It's possible…" Folken replied, thinking about what just transpired. And he remembered the soft, red glow of Van's pendant as the dragon stooped lower to sniff it. " Actually," He continued looking back at Zire. " I think that's exactly what happened."

Zire looked over at him with surprise. " Really? Why?"

Folken nodded in Van's direction. " Van has a pendant around his neck. The stone has properties similar to an energist and if I'm not mistaken, I believe the dragon thought he was one of them."

Zire shook his head in amazement. " That would definitely explain why it didn't eat him."

" Yes." Folken agreed, glancing down at his mechanical arm that rested on his lap, quivering. He opened and closed the metal hand in an effort to calm his nerves.

" Well, lets just pray we don't meet any more snoopy dragons on the rest of this trip." Zire said as their company made its way across the remaining distance, keeping a wary eye on the sky just in case.