Hey guys, here is the next chapter of this fanfiction.

Hope you have enjoyed the read so far.

Chapter Cover: A younger Shinji standing at a stance on a training grounds.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Tale of the Last Dragon Knight

Flashback

The night the Dragon Knights fell, only a handful of us trainee managed to escape the carnage. The only reason we managed to do so was because my father protected us. I didn't know what had been happening at the time but the last thing my father did was give me the sword I carry today…

I think one of the reasons the Dragon Knight fell was because our number was so very low compared to how it was in the old days. With the Fallen Gods power growing the past years, and the Imperium power growing even more and more without the Royal family, the Dragon Knights were simply a relic of a forgotten age…and our destruction means that since the fall of the Salvatore Family everything that tied to the past, was going to be that…the past.

Shinji was dressed in his light armor as he was looking down at the sword upon his lap. The young man's blond hair fell around his head as he seated there, his eyes staring down at the weapon. This was his father's sword, the weapon he was training him to wield when he was truly accepted into the Order but now it would seem that something like that would never happen.

"Shinji?"

A shadow appeared in front of him causing the young man to look up toward the owner of the voice. A young woman stood in front of him dressed in similar armor as he was wearing. Her hair was black and pulled back into a low ponytail as her eyes, a greenish hue was staring at him with concern within them. She had a sword at her waist as well.

Dragon Knight Trainee

Ashla

"What are you doing here Ashla?" he asked a light frown appearing upon his face.

The young woman sighed.

"The others are back," she said.

Shinji let out a small sigh before standing up from where he was seating. It had only been three days since the Dragon Knights were attacked…three days since his father shoved this sword in his hand and with the trainee that were with him and told him to run…

It still didn't feel real to him that something like that could have happened. The Dragon Knights, despite the sudden lost of influence and power, were still a hope to the people and to Atlasia. Who could have been powerful enough to strike at them at their own homes?

Shaking his head of these thoughts, Shinji followed Ashla back toward the small camp that they had set up. The remains of last night's fire was still visible and burning with some of the game they had managed to catch during the time they were staying here.

Shinji glanced up toward the arriving group. The one in the lead was a brown-haired guy who had a shield upon his back. The young man a downtrodden look and that was all Shinji needed to know that things were worst than it needed to be.

He let out a sigh. Ashla approached them with a light frown upon her features.

"What did you find?"

"There…There is not much left," the guy with the shield spoke out.

Dragon Knight Trainee

Luke Lionheart

"Nothing?" Ashla repeated, her voice soft.

"The village that was around Dragmount was completely destroyed," Luke continued glancing at her, "It was hard to tell who had survived and who hasn't…"

"My father?" Shinji asked.

Luke simply shook his head.

He noticed Ashla giving him a sympathetic look but Shinji didn't even acknowledge it at all as he tightened his hands into fist at the sudden anger that grew within him.

"We…We're all that's left?" another young man asked, the disbelief look upon his face staring around them all.

Dragon Knight Trainee

Bassan

"But that's impossible right?" Bassan continued looking at them, "There is no way that we could be the last ones that are still…"

"Well it's hard to say," Luke told him, "Given all the chaos that happened that night, maybe some other trainees managed to escape the destruction…"

"But who could have attacked the Dragon Knights?" the short haired girl asked.

Dragon Knight Trainee

Sylvia Thorns

"I doubt even the Grandmaster knew," Ashla said, "The attack came without warning after all…"

"Maybe it was the Imperium," Luke said.

The rest stared at him and Shinji glanced up at the young man.

"That can't be," Sylvia said, "The Imperium wouldn't dare do something like that…unless they want all of Atlasia to rise in outrage against them. The Dragon Knights are a symbol of Atlasia and the servants of the Silver Dragon Elassan…"

"And where was the Great Elassan when we needed him huh?" Luke asked turning toward her, "You are always talking about Elassan like he is some type of God? Where was he last night when his people needed him? When the Royal family fell from power? I bet he didn't even exist…just a folk story that people here tell themselves."

Sylvia looked affronted by the words, stepping back from him in shock but Ashla quickly intervened.

"Alright Luke that's enough," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

The young man stared at her for a moment but he backed down turning away from her, running a hand through his head, the glint of a ring shining from his fingers. A silence settled within the group as Ashla turned her gaze toward Sylvia.

"You okay?" she asked the other girl.

"I'm fine," Sylvia said curtly, turning away from her and walking off to another side of the camp away from Luke and the others.

Ashla turned toward her.

"What do we do now?" she asked, glancing at Shinji.

Shinji looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

Ashla looked surprised for a moment, "I thought you'd have a plan or something…?"

Shinji chuckled shaking his head.

"A plan for this situation?" he said, his voice cracking from the emotions "This isn't training Ashla…I'm still hoping that this is a nightmare that I am going to wake up from…We've lost everything…how can I even begin to plan for this situation….?"

Tears were falling from his eyes as he spoke. His voice shaking from the numerous emotions he was feeling. Everything and everyone he ever knew were dead, along with his father and couldn't even begin to process anything at all.

He simply turned away from her and walked away, lost in his emotions and feelings.

At the time, I couldn't even process anything at all. How does one proceed when they have lost everything, they've ever known…the future that we were seeing was no longer possible? I couldn't think at all. The only thing I could remember were the sound of destructions that followed after us and the weight of all that has happened.

We were all that's left…and that was more terrifying and anything I have ever felt…

Night had fallen and a lone moon shone from the sea of stars that made the sky. Shinji was seating by the river as he observed the running water, thought he was barely registering it. His mind was still a mess about everything that had happened.

"I'm sorry."

Shinji startled, surprised by the voice. He turned around finding Ashla there. The young woman had both of her arms at her side, awkwardly almost like she didn't know what to do with them. She was looking away from him, her eyes seem to go everywhere but him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," Ashla repeated, "I hadn't thought…about what we had all lost when the Dragon Knight fell."

Shinji turned away from her, his gaze returning toward the river.

"You joined a year, ago right?" he said.

Ashla came to stand beside his seated form.

"I did," she said, "Your father was the one who brought me to the Dragon Knight….I was nothing but a orphan girl that was good with a blade. I didn't have a future, and the Dragon Knight gave me one."

Shinji turned his attention away from her, staring at the sword that was beside him.

"If he had that sword," he said, "Then he would still be alive…he would have survived, and yet, he forced it into my hands and told me to run…"

Ashla looked down at the weapon in his hand.

"Is this…what I think it is?" she asked, shocked.

Shinji looked at her.

"Yes," he said, "It's one of the Relics."

Ashla frowned lightly at him but Shinji's attention was upon the blade that was in front of him. The young man's attention was fixed upon the sword, a frown upon his features.

"What I don't understand is why he felt the need to give it to me in the first place," he continued, "With this sword…he could have done so much…could have saved the Dragon Knights…?"

His voice broke off, unable to continue more in his grief. Ashla walked around him and came to a stop in front of the water, looking out toward it for a few moments of silence.

"Maybe he was trusting you with it," she said.

Shinji looked up at her.

"What?"

"If this sword is one of the Relics," Ashla continued, "Maybe that was his way of trusting you to be able to take on his responsibilities."

Shinji glanced at her, perplexed.

"He was a Knight-Captain," he said.

"Didn't you hear Luke earlier?" Ashla told him, "We are all that's left of the Order…and we're going to need a leader."

He stared at her. Ashla approached him taken a knee in front of the young man.

"You were our squad leader during training," she said, "We are all kind of lost right now, but we need you Shinji… we all need you."

The young man stayed silent for a moment, looking away toward the sword that was in his hand, a slight frown appearing upon his forehead. Then, an idea appeared within his mind.

"I think I know where we need to go," he said, "But I need to speak with the others."

Ashla blinked at the sudden change, but she nodded at him.

"You want us to go where?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Hyades," Shinji spoke glancing around the group, "There is a friend of my father that live there. If there is one person that could help us, it would be him."

"Hyades is pretty far away," Bassan said, "And on foot that's like a week journey at best."

"Is this guy a Dragon Knight?" Sylvia asked him.

Shinji shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said, "However, I know he came to Dragmount a few years ago…I don't remember his name well…it was Bar…something, but I know that he headed to Hyades. I think that if I saw him again…I can recognize him."

Bassan was nervous as he was glancing at the others around them.

"And if this guy can't help us?" Luke asked.

"Then we'll just be back where we've started," Shinji said looking at him.

The others shared looks.

"I'm with this plan," Ashla spoke out, "Unless one of you have a better one?"

The group shared a look but they didn't say anything.

In the morning, we started our trek toward Hyades. It was the first time that I had ever gone in that direction before and even visited that place. I didn't know much about Hyades other that it was a small village that was well known for most of their trading of good clothing.

Hyades was beautiful back then, filled with people and the sound of the market around us made it feel like it was alive.

"Well…we've made it here," Sylvia spoke out as she was walking in front of Shinji, "But how are we even going to find one person in an entire village…there are literally hundreds of people here."

Shinji shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I do know that his name starts with a B," he said, "But the rest is a little fuzzy…it has been a few years since I've seen him."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Sylvia told him.

"So do I," Shinji muttered to himself.

"I'm going to find someplace to eat," Luke announced, "All we had for breakfast was some nuts and berries and that was hours ago. I'm starving right now."

Shinji glanced at him.

The young man was right. His stomach was starting to feel the call for food and was soon going to grumble loudly and make itself known that it wanted food. Running a hand through his hair, Shinji turned toward the rest.

"how much money do we have?" he asked.

"You're lucky that I had a sack of gold on me," Ashla said, "It should be enough to buy us a meal at least."

Shinji nodded lightly to himself.

"Alright," he said, "Luke, Bossan and Sylvia why don't you guys find a place to eat. I'll continue my search for my father's friend."

Luke nodded, before glancing at Ashla, "You're not coming?"

"I'll stay with Shinji," Ashla answered him.

Luke frowned at the words but the young man agreed before walking off followed by the other two. Shinji let out a sigh watching them go, before glancing at the young woman beside him.

"Why didn't you go with them?" he asked.

"I just didn't want to," Ashla answered, her tone sharp, "Now let's get a move on shall we? Your father's friend needs to be found."

Shinji frowned lightly as the girl walked in front of him. It made him wonder exactly what had happened between her and Luke. As far as he knew, the two of them were friends, well as good as a friend anyone could be to Luke Lionheart. The guy was confident in his abilities with the shield he had upon him but something tells him that there was more going on.

"Alright," he said, "Thought how we are able going to find someone that I barely remember their name is going to be a little challenging."

Ashla gave him a look.

"You sure you don't remember anything about this person we're looking for?" she asked him.

Shinji stayed silent for a moment longer, going over thing in his mind. It had been a long time since that visit. He barely even remembers what it had been about to be honest, but he did remember his father talking with the visitor and going over something with him but the memory was fuzzy at best, fading away as quickly as he was trying to hang on unto it.

"I remember the first time I saw him was during a time he visited my father," Shinji answered her, "But other than that…"

Ashla let out a sigh.

"Great," she said, "Sound like we are in a right mess."

Shinji ran a hand through his blond hair.

"I'm sorry," he said, "it was the best plan I could come up with. It beats us staying in the woods now. We can rent out a place here…."

Whatever he was about to say next was lost for someone smacked into his side. A soft someone who let out a surprised squeak like noise at running into him. Shinji trailed off and turned his attention toward whoever had ran into him.

It was a young girl, with blond hair falling upon her shoulders. She was dressed in a light green dress and whatever she was carrying in her hands had spilled all over the ground around the two of them. The girl had fallen upon her butt.

"Ow," she said.

"I'm sorry," Shinji said instantly going to help, "Are you okay?"

The blonde girl let out a small chuckle.

"It's my fault," she said, "I was in a hurry…"

"Here let me help…,"

The girl looked up at him and Shinji had a good look at her face and he can feel his eyes widening in shock at the face he was staring at as the two of them stopped talking at the same time. It was a face he hadn't seen in he was a young kid and from how the girl's eyes went wide from staring at him, she remembered him as well.

"S…Shinji?" she said shocked, and she sounded a bit awe.

"Yael," Shinji whispered.

This was how I met back with Yael. I knew her since she was a child for she used to stay in Dragmount Village. We met completely by accident but became friends back then and played together when I wasn't in training. But, one day she suddenly left the Temple and never came back. Before she had left, I made her a promise that the next time we would saw each other, I would be a Dragon Knight...

Shinji let out a small chuckle, shaking his head as he was staring into the flames.

"Didn't really work about as I intended did it?" he said.

Aesyr was looking into the fire as well.

"No…it didn't seem to be," she told him.

Shinji let out a sigh.

"You said this happened five years ago right?" Aesyr spoke out after a while glancing at him, "How old were you back then?"

Shinji was still staring at the flames.

"I was fifteen years old," he said.

A chance meeting begins as the revelations starts...

Next Time: The Tale of the Last Dragon Knight part 2

Jacques0 out.

R&R