Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic.

Hope you have enjoyed the read so far.

Chapter Cover: Aesyr's back as she was walking forward.

Chapter Twenty-Two

A Dragon's Choice

The inside of the tent was comely.

There was a table quite visible in the middle of the room that was filled with many foods and delicacies. Aesyr could smell freshly cooked food and the fruits that were visible upon the table, causing her stomach to twinge lightly. The light breakfast she had eaten earlier today had already gone and considering that they were approaching midday, she could feel the thrall of hunger approaching yet again.

However, despite that, her attention was drawn toward the people that were seating at the table, looking at both her and Shinji approach.

Hyades' village Mayor was looking at them, and a light of recognition shone within his eyes as he was looking in their direction. He was wearing his nicest clothing from what Aesyr could see from the time she had been here, but what really drew her attention was the older man that seated within the room as well.

He had long silver hair and beard, dressed in a blue cloak upon his form. The man had small blue eyes and aged features that would seems grandfatherly if it wasn't for the sharpness of the look that was within his eyes. Aesyr can already tell that this man was no ordinary grandfather, thought, from the smile that stretched his beard, he was at least at ease.

"Shinji, Aesyr," the mayor greeted, "You're returned."

"Mayor Toto," Shinji greeted.

The Mayor stood up from where he sat and approached toward them, shaking their hands.

"The problem in Valdes has been dealt with then?" he asked, giving the two a worried glance.

"We wouldn't have returned if it wasn't," Shinji answered him.

"Good," he said, "Good. The sooner we get everything ready…the better it is going to be. Come, the two of you, there is someone that wish to meet you."

The Mayor led them back to the table where the older man was now standing, his eyes taking them in but Aesyr could feel that his eyes were taking her in.

"Aesyr, Shinji," Mayor Toto spoke out, "I would like to introduce you to Magister Rodrik, from the Imperium of Atlasia."

The Magister gave us a light nod of his head.

"I'm glad to finally meet the two of you," he said, keeping his tone light, "Why don't you join us for lunch?"

Shinji and Aesyr exchanged glances but otherwise accepted the invitation. Aesyr took her seat beside her friend and the Mayor returned to his seat. Given how small the table was, she could see that the Magister had returned to his plate and Aesyr filled the plate that was placed in front of her with food and in no time at all, everyone was eating quietly.

"Mayor Toto told me that the two of you have gone to deal with trouble in Valdes," Magister Rodrik started, looking at them both, "From what I overheard, things went well I assume."

"It has," Shinji answered, "It was a simple matter of a monster getting too close to the village."

The Magister nodded his head.

"Ah yes," he said, "The Monsters have been getting bolder as of late. The Wardens have been patrolling the lands so far have had more and more encounters…but they haven't run into any monster that would be considered to be S-Class so that should be considered good luck."

"S-Class Monsters?" Aesyr asked.

"It's how the monsters have been classified," the Magister explained to her, "An Ogre would be considered a B-Class monster while creature like…I don't know, a Behemoth considered A-Class…S-Class would probably be something on the level of Dragons…thought they are rare."

A light frown appeared upon Aesyr's features at that. There was something in the Magister's tone that caused her to feel cautious. From him to bring up the Behemoth when she and Shinji just took care of one, a few days ago.

Did he know? She thought.

"You are a long way from Atlas," Shinji spoke out, his tone curt, "Why is a Magister all the way out here in Hyades."

Magister Rodrik let out a small smile.

"A few weeks ago," he said, "These lands were under the control of the Beast Eater Minotaur, something that he had gained after the Dragon Knight's end five years ago. While he was ruthless, under the eyes of the Imperium, Minotaur brought order to the territory. Yet, all of that changed weeks ago when we got word that he was defeated by a nameless female foreigner wizard."

Aesyr noticed the old man's gaze toward her.

"The Mayor had been kind enough to bring me up to date with what had happened to cause your battle," he continued.

"Is that so?" Shinji said, "Has he also said what Minotaur had been doing to the people that you placed him in charge of?"

Magister Rodrik glanced at him, his face impassive. He stayed silent for a long moment as he stared at Shinji's hardened gaze. Despite the man being a Magister, Shinji's hatred of the Imperium was all too clear.

"Yes, he did."

Shinji's jaw muscle twitched, probably holding his temper back. Aesyr extended a hand toward his arm beneath the table. At her touch, she could feel him relax lightly.

"You know," Magister Rodrik spoke out, "I was younger than you are now, when the Royal Family fell from power. The power that had held Atlasia together for more than a thousand of years was gone and this continent descended into chaos. The Dragon Knights did their duty to protect the people but even they were stretched thin…they may have been the heroes of this land but to actually take control of the country…they couldn't."

The man leaned back into his chair.

"The Magisters of the time," he said, "They were the ones that became the leaders of the country, each of them taking control of the lands around them, become the first of what you now know as Fallen Gods, dragging their hands through the filth to rebuild Atlasia into a continent once more…"

Magister Rodrik joined his hands together in front of him.

"With Minotaur no longer in power," he asked, "Tell me, how are you going to gain control of the people once more?"

Shinji looked at him.

"Are you justifying what Minotaur has done?" he asked.

"No," Magister Rodrik said looking at him evenly, "I am asking you what are you willing to do to bring order back a land that is falling into chaos. During my journey here, I was attacked by bandits you see, and while my Wardens were more than enough to take care of them, the know that the force that was holding this place together is no longer there…the force that you removed when you went to save your friend."

Aesyr looked at the man, tilting her head.

"You fear that this chaos is going to spread to the other lands?" she asked.

Magister Rodrik looked at her.

"Seems you have an idea of what is going to happen," he told her.

Shinji frowned lightly.

"If you're here, then The Imperium has a way of controlling the problem, don't they?" Mayor Toto asked.

Magister Rodrik glanced at him briefly before returning his gaze toward Aesyr.

"Yes, we do," he said.

He pulled out a scroll and extended it toward her. Aesyr blinked in confusion before taking it from him.

"This is a write by Lord Magister Lucis," he said, "Appointing you, Aesyr, as the new Fallen God of the East area."

"What?"

"What?"

Both Shinji and the Mayor let out surprised exclamation and Aesyr couldn't help but feel her eyes widen in surprise as she stared at the man across her. She narrowed her eyes lightly at him.

"There are already rumors circulating about you," the Magister continued, "Appointing you as the new Fallen God of the area will able you to bring order quickly and maybe, the chaos that is starting to spread around the East will be done. It was the will of our Leader for that to happen."

Aesyr stayed silent for a few moments, thinking.

"If I accept the position," she said, "Would they be rules I will have to abide to?"

"Aesyr…you're going to accept?" Shinji asked her surprised.

"I should at least hear them out," Aesyr answered him.

Magister Rodrik gave a small nod.

"Smart girl," he said, "If you were to accept, it will give you the authority to control the East, as I said before, and when the Imperium would call you to us, you will answer our summons…thought it is rare that we would ever need the Fallen Gods to meet and that's pretty much it."

Aesyr was confused.

"That's it?" she repeated, "I would have expected more…rules."

"I am sure that you are already familiar with doing what's right and what's wrong given your actions against Minotaur," Magister Rodrik told her simply.

Oh I see, she thought, Given me a free reign means that I could do whatever I want…and you're not going telling me what should happen if I stray like Minotaur did.

"I understand," she said out loud, "I will have to decline your offer, Magister Rodrik."

Surprise appeared upon the older man's features. Shinji seems to have an encouraged look upon his face at her answer. Mayor Toto was also surprised.

"You…You're going to decline?" Magister Rodrik said, still sounding surprised.

Aesyr nodded.

"Yes," she said, "The Fallen Gods, from my own personal experiences with them, seems to be no better than mercenaries and thugs for hire or have their own agenda in mind."

Minotaur and Azura flashed within her mind…

"I have no desire to join a group like that," she continued, "However since you've traveled all this way to give me this message Magister Rodrik, I will give you one back to give to your leader, this Lucis. Tell him, that the Dragon Knights are going to be the ones to bring order back to the East and we do not need the Imperium to do so."

"We?" Magister Rodrik said glancing at Shinji's direction.

Moving as one, both her and Shinji pulled out their necklace showing it to him. Magister Rodrik observed the necklaces for a few more moments, narrowing his eyes lightly at their direction before looking back at her.

"Since I am already a Dragon Knight," Aesyr spoke out, "I won't be able to divide my attention between the two."

With those words, Aesyr extended the scroll back toward him, with the seal unbroken.

A few hours later…

Magister Rodrik was seating within his carriage, still holding the sealed letter within his hands. He had expected many things when he met the mysterious woman who had defeated Minotaur, but rejecting to be a Fallen God was not one of them.

This was not part of the plan, he thought.

Then the lacrima placed within his carriage started to pulse with magic, drawing his attention for a moment and then across him a person materialized out of thin air. A man was seating across him with both of his arms crossed and his cat like eyes looking at him from beneath the blue bangs that feel around his eyes.

"Magister Rodrik," Lucis spoke out, "What's the verdict?"

Rodrik looked at him.

"She refused the offer to join the Fallen Gods," he answered.

Lucis let out a soft hum.

"Is that so?" he said, "What did you make of her?"

Rodrik thought back to the girl he had met hours ago. The skin that was oddly enough the color of light chocolate, the blue eyes and the white hair. He knew there was something…more about the girl, something that felt…different than other wizards he had met in the past but, he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Not what you would expect," he answered, "However, she is…someone to watch out for."

"You think she might become a problem in the future?" Lucis asked, tilting his head lightly.

"We might be able to control her since she is not a Fallen God but a Dragon Knight," he answered him.

Lucis narrowed his eyes lightly.

"I thought there was only one left?" he inquired.

"I don't know how exactly, but she carries the chains," Rodrik answered him, "Just as Shinji does. If someone that powerful is backing up the Dragon Knights, she might be able to bring them back from obscurity and the Imperium might start to lose power over Atlasia."

"The Dragon Knights of old couldn't hold Atlasia after the Royal Family fell," Lucis said, "And I doubt they could hold it now given they are only two of them…Did you find any reason why they clashed with Minotaur?"

"There wasn't much information I could gain from the Mayor," Rodrik told him, "He was in the dark about it as well, however, what I was able to gain was that Shinji went after Minotaur after a young girl was kidnapped by him….she wasn't in the village when I arrived."

Lucis stayed silent a long moment, probably thinking about the situation.

"Very well," he said finally, "We'll keep an eye on them for now."

Rodrik narrowed his eyes.

"You're not going to order to Wardens to take care of her?" he asked.

Lucis smiled, "No…she is a Dragon Knight isn't she? If she has joined the Creed, then, she must at least, agreed with their moral code. There will be no need for the Wardens...at least, not yet."

Rodrik nodded and the projection across him disappeared.

"You know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to accept."

Both Shinji and Aesyr were seating by the fire in front of their tents. The sun has long since fallen beyond the horizon as the two friends were seating in the darkness.

"For a moment, so did I," Aesyr answered, "But then, I remembered Minotaur and Azura…I could never carry that title if I'm going be associated with characters like those two were."

Shinji gave her a solemn nod.

"Yeah…well, I'm glad you said no," he told her.

Aesyr glanced at him, giving the boy a smile.

"Well, I'm glad I did to."

Then, the smile dimmed lightly, "However, the Magister was right about one thing. The East is falling into chaos and we need to put a stop to it."

Shinji nodded.

"Yes, we do," he answered her, "They are many villages that have suffered attacks and we are going to be busy the next few days, but given our strength, we might be able to cull them."

Aesyr glanced at him and looked back at the fire once more. Then, she turned to face him, drawing the young man's attention.

"Hey Shinji…what was that thing you were telling me about before Azura's arrival," she asked him, "You said there was a reason you were called 'The Last Dragon Knight'."

Shinji looked down for a moment.

"I…I remember," he said softly, "It's just…I haven't talked about it in so long…"

Aesyr frowned. She noticed the pain in Shinji's eyes as he was looked down at the ground, his blond hair falling around his face.

"If it's too painful for you to talk about…," she started.

"No," Shinji cut her off, shaking his head, "No…I own you an explanation. If you're going to rebuild the Dragon Knights once more, you need to know of this…"

He took a deep breath, almost as if he was calming himself.

"You need to know…where I have failed."

A dark chapter in Shinji's past...

Next Time: The Tale of the Last Dragon Knight

Jacques0 out.

R&R