Chapter 8

Calming breeze

As the morning sun rose behind the hills and bathed the sky into a purple light, Cecil had already reached the thick woods surrounding Mt. Ordeals. The flight on the black chocobo had been swift, though painful and strenuous. Cecil rather would have liked to use the "Serpent Way"-- a magical teleport between Baron and Mysidia built long ago -- but he did not like the idea at all to appear in the middle of the town where the people hated him most.

The King of Baron jumped from the chocobo and tied it to a nearby tree. He surveyed the dark mass of trees which lay before him:

"I can only hope that there aren't many spirits here ..." he thought and started walking, shaking his legs now and then to remove the stiffness of the long flight. The paladin was in a strange mood: Though his blue eyes sparkled as usual, there was a look of sadness in them and the lines in his face were filled with worry and grief. As he had stood there last night, the dim sword in his hand, a strange realization had suddenly overcome him: He knew that he had to act or things would only become worse...

As he walked now through the dark woods, always scanning the area for monsters, he felt a certain calmness coming back to him - though not his usual one.

He somehow was glad to have left the problems back in Baron and to solve the things his way; though he knew very well that Mt. Ordeals could be a one way trip...

"I must know why I have failed... I must know if I have strayed too far from the path of light..."

At midday he had reached the base of Mt. Ordeals without any incidents. Before he started to climb the steep path, the white-haired paladin surveyed the surroundings.

"Strange - there are no animals here - or monsters..." He stopped for a moment and listened, but could hear nothing except the wind. Something was definitely wrong. He carefully continued his way, trying to make as little sound as possible - any disturbance of the spirits could be deadly for him, as his sword was useless. Thinking of that, this feeling of helplessness which he so hated, surged up in him, again – as he had climbed the mountain as  a Black Knight over one year ago, he had felt just the same way.

"Only then I had Palom and Porom to rely on and now... I am alone ..." he thought darkly. Suddenly he had to think of Rosa again. "I wonder if the outcome of our quarrel has been my fault? Kain IS very attentive ..." she had said. He wondered if it had just been a joke, but this normally wasn't something Rosa would joke about.

"Maybe she blames me for the things which happened to her... Maybe... maybe she's just tired of me - after all we know each other since our childhood ..."

He closed his eyes and tried to remember her touch -- a touch which was always soft and full of love -- but he only could think of her angry look and cold touch as they had argued...

This worried him: "You should not think of a person you love in such a way!"

He suddenly felt very angry again - this time at himself and he missed his step, sending some pebbles rolling down the path.

"Curses!" he thought, but it was too late - he could already hear the howling of some spirits appearing in midair. With a quick motion he unsheathed his sword - and put it away just as fast, as he reminded himself that it was of no use.

Cecil tried to gather his thoughts, but could only think of one solution - he turned and ran...

The spirits were fast, but he was as well - Cecil was glad that he had left his white Paladin armor at Baron - in his travelling garb he could run much faster.

After a while the howling of the spirits became quieter.

"If I can hide behind these rocks, they'll probably lose interest!" he thought and made a quick dash around a big rock. He ran directly into woman, who was beautiful by all means -- except for her snake-like giant body...

"Ahhh....Freshhh fleshhhh! And sssooo handsssome tooo- I like appetizzing mealss..." the Lamia hissed in a low voice and whirled her snake tail around. Cecil just in time recovered from the shock and dashed to the side.

"I really am in trouble now ..." he thought as he grabbed his sword with both hands, bringing himself into a battle stance and awaited the Lamia's next move. He could hear the howling of the spirits again. The green eyes of the snake woman centered on the young man - then she threw her greenish body at him, her eyes sparkling furiously. "There isss no esscape!"

With a thrust Cecil tried to stab his blade into the upper part of her body, but the sword didn't even scratch the leathery skin.

"Why? Against lamias even a normal sword should work ..."

Horror slowly filled him ...Before he could react again, the Lamia had wrapped a part of her snake tail around his legs and brought him to fall. He landed hard on the ground, his sword falling from his hands.

"Gottt yoouu!" the monster hissed triumphantly. The howling of the spirits got louder...

Cecil rolled to one side, grabbed his sword again, rolled back and started to hack as best as he could at the Lamia's tail. The woman hissed, as the strong blows rained down on her, but did not loosen her grip. With a powerful movement she raised her tail including her victim and sent them both slamming on the ground. Cecil felt blood trickling down his forehead.

"This sword is no use - her skin is too thick and my strength feels like being sucked away!"

He let go of his blade and tried to get his legs free. The Lamia only wrapped more of her body around his, slowly pressing the air out of his lungs. In a desperate attempt the paladin raised the upper part of his body and reached for the slender neck of the snake woman.

"Now you die ..." he ached as he strangled her as strongly as he could.

"Nooo way ..." the Lamia hissed, green eyes blazing. She started to tighten her deadly embrace, her head shaking wildly to get rid of Cecil's hands. Cecil felt his strength ebbing away - he could hardly breath. He could feel the blood running down on various parts of the body due to the sharp rocks around them.

"Why - is this the end?"

His hands slid from the Lamia's neck, as it felt as if his innards would burst every minute.

SLASH!

A metallic sound filled the air followed by a silvery flash. Cecil felt very light as his body fell back - as he entered the welcoming darkness his last thoughts belonged to only one person...

~*~

"Rosa? Rosa - is that you?" the Paladin mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes, feeling something wet on his forehead. Someone laughed softly - in panic it could be the Lamia, Cecil forced his eyes open. To his surprise he looked directly into two big, very clear blue eyes which were studying him friendly.

"Are you alright? Sorry, but I am not this Rosa you spoke of ..."

"Yeah - I guess so ..." Cecil said weakly. His head was pounding and his sight was still blurred. "Where is the monster ...?"

"Don't worry!" the female voice continued; "it's dead. I just came in time..."

Cecil became aware that something big was lying beside him. As he moved his head he could see the bloody body of the snake-woman.

"Can you sit up?"

Cecil felt two arms support him gently as the woman helped him to sit up and leaned him against a big boulder.

"Thanks..." Slowly the features of his saviour became more clear to the Paladin - it was a stunningly beautiful woman. Her features were tender, her slightly reddish cheeks but otherwise ivory skin giving her both a warm and calming appearance. The young woman had knee-long, thick blond hair with a silver touch, which was flowing over a red cape.

She wore a white garb very similar to Cecil's own, though a silver breastplate was fastened around her upper body, and shimmered in the sun. She certainly was one of the most beautiful women Cecil had ever seen - he was sure about that.  Her whole being radiated serenity and light.

"Are you feeling better?" She smiled at him, her red lips giving way to her perfectly white teeth.

"Uhh... yeah. What happened?" Cecil stared at her, still feeling dizzy from the shock and distracted by her beauty.

"I was walking down the path as I heard fighting noises. Then I discovered you and this Lamia. They have become very strong lately ..." For a moment she looked very serious and thoughtful, then a slight smile crept across her beautiful face. "She should better have watched her back ..." She motioned beside her, where a silvery rapier was lying, its tip still red with the Lamia's blood.

"You should be more careful in the future," she said casually as she reached out to examine the wound on Cecil's forehead. The touch of her slender fingers was soft and pleasantly cool - the pain lessened at once. To his surprise, Cecil felt himself blushing.

"Pretty bad wound you got there... I will treat it right away ..."

"No... No..!" Cecil stammered. "I - I can heal myself - I do know some white magic..."

Surprised, the woman looked at him. "Oh? Strange - I didn't ..."

Cecil raised his hands and started to mumble softly some incantations. Between his palms a silvery light flickered up...

"See?!" he exclaimed. Suddenly the light died away. "Why didn't the cure spell work?! ...I..." The paladin stared as his hands, aghast.

The woman studied him for a moment, and then laid a hand on his shoulder. Cecil felt at once more calm.

"Don't worry – you're just exhausted. We can treat your wounds normally, too ..." she said, smiling. "Anyway - we can't stay here, or the spirits will soon find us. Some way up more is a place which should be safer – let's take a break there. You can walk - can you?"

"Yes - I think so..." Cecil staggered too his feet, still shaking a bit. The blond woman grabbed the two swords lying on the ground, caught hold of Cecil's arm with her free hand and, steadying him, led the way up, now and then giving him a reassuring smile.

"What a strange woman ..." Cecil thought. "The way she calmed me just through her touch..." He managed a slight smile of his own, suddenly feeling a lot better, again…

~*~

Exhausted, Cecil slumped down and laid on a rock. The young woman fixed a fire and then sat down next to him. Her scent reminded Cecil of a fresh breeze from the sea.

She handed him a bottle. "Here - drink this. It's wine - it will help to lessen the pain ..."

"Thank you!" Cecil took a sip. The red liquid felt warm in his throat and made him feel better at once.

"I cannot thank you enough for saving me - I wouldn't have survived the battle without you ..." he smiled at her, gratefully. "I think we haven't exchanged names yet ... I am Cecil Harvey..."

The eyes of the woman grew big, though her tone was still calm. "THE Cecil Harvey ? King of Baron and paladin!?"

"Oh – don't worry about the titles ..." Cecil added quickly, fearing his rank might lead her to a different behaviour. Fortunately, the woman seemed unimpressed.

"Well - nice to meet you ...Cecil."

"She really does not seem to mind!" Cecil thought pleased. It was very seldom that people still called him by his name without title.

He smiled at her again: "And what's your name if I may ask?" For a moment the woman's clear, deep blue eyes studied him very intensely. "My name is... I am Dawn ..." she stated plainly.

" ...Dawn - that is a nice name..." Cecil murmured. "So - what do you do here, Dawn?"

She gave him a mischievous smile. "Hmm - let's see ... First you tell me. After all I saved YOU - what did bring you to climb this mountain without the proper equipment?" She motioned toward Cecil's sword Legend, which lay beside him, still as dull as it had been before.

"Oh - alright. You seem trustworthy enough ..."

He told her of the late problems in Agart and Mysidia. Dawn listened attentively.

"So - you think that there is something wrong here as well ..."

"Yes - you see my sword seems to have lost his power of late - it didn't even scratch the Lamia... So I thought ..." Cecil bowed his head - thinking of his failures during the last days hurt. He was an experienced fighter- losing to a monster like a lamia was something which should not happen...

Dawns clear pulled him out of his depression. "But that's not all - right?" Her tone was still friendly but also more serious now. "Even though you SHOULD be able to use white magic, you could not cast a simple cure spell... And obviously the lamia surprised you ..." She fell silent for a moment, then continued in a gentler voice. "A Paladin can sense evil – can't he? And you are a paladin - truthfully I've known it from the start that you must be Cecil Harvey..." Suddenly realisation came over Cecil. He blinked at her in surprise.

"You are ...!"

She smiled, though a bit sad. "Yes - you could call me a female paladin, though I don't like being called that way ..."

"I - I thought I was the only one. Where are you from?" Cecil stammered.

She gave him a quick smile. "I am originally from Tororia - you know where nearly all women are trained Knights. As I said I don't like being called a "paladin" as I am not the same kind as you ...I can sense evil , but I can't use white magic at all - or I would have helped you at once ..."

"Tororia ...Strange – I've been there some times, but I've never seen you - and you are no person easy to miss - believe me ..."

Dawn changed her sitting position and looked into the blazing fire. She suddenly seemed far away. "I... I left the town long ago..." She was silent for a moment, watching the blazing flames intensively. "Anyway - it doesn't matter now." It was very clear that this was some subject she didn't like to talk about and Cecil decided not to bother her any longer.

"So what do you here?" he tried to change the subject.

"I was just travelling through this region, and felt that this place radiated something strange - something evil... Some travelers told me that this was a holy site so I got curious and decided to check things out ..." She was smiling at him again, obviously glad to have changed the subject.

"Strange..." Cecil thought. "She obviously doesn't know this Mountain - I wonder where she became a paladin... Then again, she seems to know her way around here…"

"It seems we both have the same goal!" Dawn continued. "Why don't we travel together? It seems like you could need a hand - my silver sword may be a pretty normal one, but it sure can save a man in need..." She laughed. Cecil felt himself blushing again, though he had to laugh too - the first laugh in days.

"If you would like... You're welcome!" As he watched the beautiful young woman next to him laughing friendly, the light of the flames bathing her hair in an intense light, he felt very happy for some reason. "You're very welcome..."

"Fine! Then it's settled. But now let's sleep. You need some rest and tomorrow will be very hard for both of us. We don't know what will await us next ..."

She nestled herself into her cloak and then, to Cecil's surprise, drew nearer to him and leaned softly on his shoulder. She seemed light like a feather. Cecil uttered a low gasp.

"You don't mind - do you?" Dawn sounded sleepily. "The nights here get cold and that's the only way to stay warm..."

"Oh - no... I don't mind...! Cecil said quickly, afraid his reaction might have insulted her.

"I am glad. Good night then ... Cecil." Dawn nestled even deeper in his side and closed her eyes. Cecil stared for a moment at the tender, soft and warm feeling person at his side and then began to feel very sleepy as well. As he drifted off, he felt as relaxed as he hadn't felt for a long time...