Chapter 6: Promise of the Enemy
Linea yawned and woke up to the light of the morning sun. The others seemed to already be awake, because the anxious voices of people were outside. Linea pushed her boots onto her feet and wake outside.
"Linea! There's an airship here!" Terra excitedly squealed out. She pointed ahead at a large wooden ship with blue, wing like structures on the sides.
"Whose airship is it?" Linea asked. Terra shrugged. Linea had a bad feeling deep in her stomach. What is the ship? "We should get going."
"Don't you want to meet the people on the ship?" Zynat asked Linea.
"…It's not that, we're just… behind on time…" She replied. She whistled and her horse came riding up. She mounted on Myst as the others mounted their horses. "James, what are you doing!" Linea yelled as he started riding off towards the airship. "Grrrr… C'mon." Linea started riding quickly to catch up with James' running horse. The others followed Linea.
"Wow!" James exclaimed, when he got close enough to the ship to see its details. Linea's stomach clenched harder.
"Muahahaha!" A voice roared. Linea recognized it somewhere...
"Belselk!" Linea gasped out, seeing the familiar dark figure of him walk out of the ship. He flashed his dangerous fangs.
"We meet again," He said, laughing evilly. Everyone dismounted and unsheathed their swords. Even Terra and Zynat, who had no idea who Belselk was. "Oh, there are more people to join the funeral. Interesting…"
"The only funeral we'll be close to is yours, Belselk! And the whole time we'll be happy!" Trett yelled. Belselk laughed again.
"You silly human, you won't win this time! I can promise you!" Linea glared at him with hatred. Hatred of all demons of his kind…
"James, here!" She tossed him a stone the size of her palm with engravings on it. "It's the Fire Rune. Use it during battle!" She gave Kashiko the Earth Rune, and Trett the Wind Rune.
"Hahaha! You didn't think I came without a pet of my own, did you?" He growled. He whistled and a large dragon came flying out of the ship and roared at them. Linea grinded her teeth together. "Attack, Jinsoku!"
The red dragon flew with great speed their way. It went so fast that Linea couldn't dodge it when it rammed her to the ground with its huge claws. "Agh!" She fell to the ground and skidded on her back a couple of feet. She quickly got up as the dragon landed in front of them.
"Are you okay Linea!" Kashiko yelled. Linea nodded.
"What did you just call her?" Terra said.
"He called me Linea. I am Princess Linea of Sidhe, and I am truly sorry Terra for having to lie," Linea said. Luckily, no guards were near and heard what she said. Terra gaped at her. "We have more to worry about than who I am!" She turned to the dragon in battle stance. "Stoldark!" called Linea. She threw the rune up in the air and the large creature from before appeared. It summoned another tidal wave and it hit the dragon.
"Moa Gault!" called James, throwing his rune in the air. A phoenix- like creature flew from the sky, except a LOT bigger than a phoenix. It flew above the dragon and flames rained out of the phoenix's mouth onto the dragon, burning it severely. The dragon roared and fell to the ground like a dead flower in winter.
"Arg!!" Belselk cried out, stomping his feet angrily. "I'll defeat you myself!" He ran up in front of them, ready to attack. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at Kashiko. Kashiko quickly ducked and punched him in the stomach.
"Take that, scum!" Kashiko said. Belselk gripped stomach and quickly turned to Kashiko. Kashiko drew his sword, ready to fight. Belselk raced at Kashiko and came hilt-to-hilt with his sword. Kashiko pushed Belselk back and sliced upward at Belselk's chest, leaving a large gash from his shoulder to his waist.
"Grrrr…" Belselk growled at him. Kashiko, unexpectedly, stabbed Belselk in the shoulder, drawing strange red blood with a blue-ish tint to it… "ARG! I promise I'll come back and kill you all! You haven't seen the last of me!" He suddenly disappeared into nowhere.
"He left the airship behind…" Trett said. "Should we check it? Or use it? Maybe he stole it from someone, otherwise we would have seen the ship before, right?" Linea looked at Trett and shrugged. She mounted the horse and raced to the airship. She dismounted in front of it and got on.
"AHHH!" Linea screamed. Kashiko mounted his horse and ran to see what happened. Kashiko gasped at the sight when he got on. Dead bodies were everywhere… Linea was on her knees in front of one of them, a girl of about 23.
"…He killed… them… and he… killed Kiore!" She yelled. "Kiore… and I were best friends, before she had finished training and could leave the castle." Tears fell silently down Linea's cheeks. Kashiko went beside Linea and tried to comfort her, but she still wept…
The next day they buried the bodies and made Symbols of the Goddess Dynatra to lead their souls peacefully to Rayjah. Linea stood in front of Kiore's grave and held a flower. Kashiko silently came behind her without her noticing. He heard her whispering a prayer:
"…Goddess Dynatra, lead my friend's soul to peace…" Linea mumbled, placing the flower carefully on the grave. "And lead all the others to peace…" Kashiko came up beside her and put a caring arm around her shoulder. Linea leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You… gonna be okay?" He asked, his voice somewhat hoarse. Linea lifted up her head.
"Yea… I-I think…" She replied. She looked up into Kashiko's eyes. Kashiko stared back at her.
::Her eyes… they're… so beautiful…:: He thought. Kashiko slowly leaned downward.
"Selryam…" She whispered. They're lips almost touched when the sound of the airship starting interrupted them. Linea sighed and looked back at the airship then Kashiko. She reluctantly started walking to the airship, and looked back at Kashiko.
"…" Kashiko stood in place and sighed. He finally followed Linea to the ship after a couple of seconds.
"Wow! This thing is HUGE!" Trett exclaimed, looking at the hot engine. Kashiko grinned. He walked up a set of stairs and came to a balcony-like place that had the steering wheel for the ship. No one was there, so he sat on a set of stairs and starting thinking quietly to himself.
"Does… Linea feel the same about me?" He whispered to himself, looking outside the opening of the wall lined in railing. "If she doesn't like me, she wouldn't have looked up at me if she knew that was gonna happen…" He heard footsteps outside the door and got up and pretended he was looking around the room. "Oh… hey Linea." Linea walked in from the doorway, a slight blush on her face.
"Hey," She replied, looking around. "So this is the pilot room?"
"I guess so… When are we leaving?"
"As soon as the pilot we hired gets here, I guess." Right when she said that, a young teenager, about 15, walked in the room.
"Hi. I'm Jake, your pilot," The boy replied. Kashiko and Linea's eyes widened.
"Uh… You look… no offense… a little young to be a pilot…" Kashiko said. The boy smiled, then James walked in.
"You'd be surprised. Jake knows more at mechanics than any of us will know in a life time!" James said, grinning.
"We shall try our best to trust you," Linea said.
"Drop the accent, it's annoying me, heh heh…" James replied. He left before Linea could bop him on the head again.
"Prepare for lift off!" Jake said, pulling a rope down that rung a loud bell, signaling the people controlling the engine to start it. The ship loudly roared off the ground, knocking Linea and Kashiko on the ground.
"AHH!" Kashiko slid towards the small set of stairs, and fell down them. "Eeek!" Linea landed beside him, squishing him against the wall. "Owww," he complained.
"Sorry," Linea said, trying to stand up. Kashiko managed to keep his balance until Linea fell on to him again.
"Oof! Linea!!" He mumbled.
"Sorry!" She got up and the ship was finally steady. She dusted herself off and helped Kashiko up.
"Don't fall again please…" Kashiko moaned out. Linea said sorry again, and made her way to the cabins. Kashiko sighed and Jake looked at Kashiko.
"What's up?" He asked, keeping his eye ahead of them. Kashiko shook his head.
"I don't think you would understand…" Kashiko replied, walking to the railing to look out at the sky below them.
"C'mon, I can try my best to," He said. He moved the wheel to the right some.
"Well…" Kashiko went through the whole story to Jake about leaving Sidhe and how he felt for Linea. He left out he was a prince though; he didn't want Jake making any comments about that.
"Hmm…" mumbled Jake. "Interesting story… I'm actually into helping people with problems. So, how long have you liked her all of a sudden?"
"Since I saw her for the first time again when I came back," He explained. ::How could I explain that feeling when I saw her? It was like… it was meant to be, for me to see her again…::
"I see…" Jake muttered. "I think you should tell her your feelings; it could result in you feeling better about the situation." Kashiko nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe… it might…"
"Hey Terra," said Linea when she walked inside the resting room, after a confusing state of mind of trying to find them.
"Um… Hey," Terra said. "So uh… is it true? That you're Princess Linea of Sidhe?" Linea nodded. "Oh… I-I see…" Terra thought for a moment. ::Should I still take her to the Queen of Sidhe? Does she even know my true identity? This doesn't change anything… It's still my duty as General to take her back.::
"I am sorry I had to lie in the first place," Linea said, motioning her arms downward even with her waist with her hands clasped.
"You act so lady-like sometimes, Princess," Terra said giggling. "You should, for one, talk more normal, and not be so formal around others."
"Heh… I shall—I'll try my best," Linea replied. Terra smiled. :: I wonder why the Queen was so upset to hear that she ran away?::
***Flashback***
"Your Majesty! Princess Linea has run away from the castle!" Said a lady running into the royal throne room.
"What?! Linea has run away?!" The Queen yelled.
"Yes, she is nowhere to be found Your Majesty!"
"I want Linea back here! NOW!" Yelled the Queen at the lady. "Kiana, I need her back!"
"Yes Your Majesty…" Kiana said and bowed.
"And you shall go hidden under name. Your name shall be 'Terra'."
"As you wish…" Kiana said and bowed again. She didn't ask the queen why she wanted her hidden under a name, but just dealed with it.
***End of Flashback***
"I'm gonna explore the airship more," Linea announced. Terra nodded and she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
"How can I get her back to the castle?…"
Linea yawned and woke up to the light of the morning sun. The others seemed to already be awake, because the anxious voices of people were outside. Linea pushed her boots onto her feet and wake outside.
"Linea! There's an airship here!" Terra excitedly squealed out. She pointed ahead at a large wooden ship with blue, wing like structures on the sides.
"Whose airship is it?" Linea asked. Terra shrugged. Linea had a bad feeling deep in her stomach. What is the ship? "We should get going."
"Don't you want to meet the people on the ship?" Zynat asked Linea.
"…It's not that, we're just… behind on time…" She replied. She whistled and her horse came riding up. She mounted on Myst as the others mounted their horses. "James, what are you doing!" Linea yelled as he started riding off towards the airship. "Grrrr… C'mon." Linea started riding quickly to catch up with James' running horse. The others followed Linea.
"Wow!" James exclaimed, when he got close enough to the ship to see its details. Linea's stomach clenched harder.
"Muahahaha!" A voice roared. Linea recognized it somewhere...
"Belselk!" Linea gasped out, seeing the familiar dark figure of him walk out of the ship. He flashed his dangerous fangs.
"We meet again," He said, laughing evilly. Everyone dismounted and unsheathed their swords. Even Terra and Zynat, who had no idea who Belselk was. "Oh, there are more people to join the funeral. Interesting…"
"The only funeral we'll be close to is yours, Belselk! And the whole time we'll be happy!" Trett yelled. Belselk laughed again.
"You silly human, you won't win this time! I can promise you!" Linea glared at him with hatred. Hatred of all demons of his kind…
"James, here!" She tossed him a stone the size of her palm with engravings on it. "It's the Fire Rune. Use it during battle!" She gave Kashiko the Earth Rune, and Trett the Wind Rune.
"Hahaha! You didn't think I came without a pet of my own, did you?" He growled. He whistled and a large dragon came flying out of the ship and roared at them. Linea grinded her teeth together. "Attack, Jinsoku!"
The red dragon flew with great speed their way. It went so fast that Linea couldn't dodge it when it rammed her to the ground with its huge claws. "Agh!" She fell to the ground and skidded on her back a couple of feet. She quickly got up as the dragon landed in front of them.
"Are you okay Linea!" Kashiko yelled. Linea nodded.
"What did you just call her?" Terra said.
"He called me Linea. I am Princess Linea of Sidhe, and I am truly sorry Terra for having to lie," Linea said. Luckily, no guards were near and heard what she said. Terra gaped at her. "We have more to worry about than who I am!" She turned to the dragon in battle stance. "Stoldark!" called Linea. She threw the rune up in the air and the large creature from before appeared. It summoned another tidal wave and it hit the dragon.
"Moa Gault!" called James, throwing his rune in the air. A phoenix- like creature flew from the sky, except a LOT bigger than a phoenix. It flew above the dragon and flames rained out of the phoenix's mouth onto the dragon, burning it severely. The dragon roared and fell to the ground like a dead flower in winter.
"Arg!!" Belselk cried out, stomping his feet angrily. "I'll defeat you myself!" He ran up in front of them, ready to attack. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at Kashiko. Kashiko quickly ducked and punched him in the stomach.
"Take that, scum!" Kashiko said. Belselk gripped stomach and quickly turned to Kashiko. Kashiko drew his sword, ready to fight. Belselk raced at Kashiko and came hilt-to-hilt with his sword. Kashiko pushed Belselk back and sliced upward at Belselk's chest, leaving a large gash from his shoulder to his waist.
"Grrrr…" Belselk growled at him. Kashiko, unexpectedly, stabbed Belselk in the shoulder, drawing strange red blood with a blue-ish tint to it… "ARG! I promise I'll come back and kill you all! You haven't seen the last of me!" He suddenly disappeared into nowhere.
"He left the airship behind…" Trett said. "Should we check it? Or use it? Maybe he stole it from someone, otherwise we would have seen the ship before, right?" Linea looked at Trett and shrugged. She mounted the horse and raced to the airship. She dismounted in front of it and got on.
"AHHH!" Linea screamed. Kashiko mounted his horse and ran to see what happened. Kashiko gasped at the sight when he got on. Dead bodies were everywhere… Linea was on her knees in front of one of them, a girl of about 23.
"…He killed… them… and he… killed Kiore!" She yelled. "Kiore… and I were best friends, before she had finished training and could leave the castle." Tears fell silently down Linea's cheeks. Kashiko went beside Linea and tried to comfort her, but she still wept…
The next day they buried the bodies and made Symbols of the Goddess Dynatra to lead their souls peacefully to Rayjah. Linea stood in front of Kiore's grave and held a flower. Kashiko silently came behind her without her noticing. He heard her whispering a prayer:
"…Goddess Dynatra, lead my friend's soul to peace…" Linea mumbled, placing the flower carefully on the grave. "And lead all the others to peace…" Kashiko came up beside her and put a caring arm around her shoulder. Linea leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You… gonna be okay?" He asked, his voice somewhat hoarse. Linea lifted up her head.
"Yea… I-I think…" She replied. She looked up into Kashiko's eyes. Kashiko stared back at her.
::Her eyes… they're… so beautiful…:: He thought. Kashiko slowly leaned downward.
"Selryam…" She whispered. They're lips almost touched when the sound of the airship starting interrupted them. Linea sighed and looked back at the airship then Kashiko. She reluctantly started walking to the airship, and looked back at Kashiko.
"…" Kashiko stood in place and sighed. He finally followed Linea to the ship after a couple of seconds.
"Wow! This thing is HUGE!" Trett exclaimed, looking at the hot engine. Kashiko grinned. He walked up a set of stairs and came to a balcony-like place that had the steering wheel for the ship. No one was there, so he sat on a set of stairs and starting thinking quietly to himself.
"Does… Linea feel the same about me?" He whispered to himself, looking outside the opening of the wall lined in railing. "If she doesn't like me, she wouldn't have looked up at me if she knew that was gonna happen…" He heard footsteps outside the door and got up and pretended he was looking around the room. "Oh… hey Linea." Linea walked in from the doorway, a slight blush on her face.
"Hey," She replied, looking around. "So this is the pilot room?"
"I guess so… When are we leaving?"
"As soon as the pilot we hired gets here, I guess." Right when she said that, a young teenager, about 15, walked in the room.
"Hi. I'm Jake, your pilot," The boy replied. Kashiko and Linea's eyes widened.
"Uh… You look… no offense… a little young to be a pilot…" Kashiko said. The boy smiled, then James walked in.
"You'd be surprised. Jake knows more at mechanics than any of us will know in a life time!" James said, grinning.
"We shall try our best to trust you," Linea said.
"Drop the accent, it's annoying me, heh heh…" James replied. He left before Linea could bop him on the head again.
"Prepare for lift off!" Jake said, pulling a rope down that rung a loud bell, signaling the people controlling the engine to start it. The ship loudly roared off the ground, knocking Linea and Kashiko on the ground.
"AHH!" Kashiko slid towards the small set of stairs, and fell down them. "Eeek!" Linea landed beside him, squishing him against the wall. "Owww," he complained.
"Sorry," Linea said, trying to stand up. Kashiko managed to keep his balance until Linea fell on to him again.
"Oof! Linea!!" He mumbled.
"Sorry!" She got up and the ship was finally steady. She dusted herself off and helped Kashiko up.
"Don't fall again please…" Kashiko moaned out. Linea said sorry again, and made her way to the cabins. Kashiko sighed and Jake looked at Kashiko.
"What's up?" He asked, keeping his eye ahead of them. Kashiko shook his head.
"I don't think you would understand…" Kashiko replied, walking to the railing to look out at the sky below them.
"C'mon, I can try my best to," He said. He moved the wheel to the right some.
"Well…" Kashiko went through the whole story to Jake about leaving Sidhe and how he felt for Linea. He left out he was a prince though; he didn't want Jake making any comments about that.
"Hmm…" mumbled Jake. "Interesting story… I'm actually into helping people with problems. So, how long have you liked her all of a sudden?"
"Since I saw her for the first time again when I came back," He explained. ::How could I explain that feeling when I saw her? It was like… it was meant to be, for me to see her again…::
"I see…" Jake muttered. "I think you should tell her your feelings; it could result in you feeling better about the situation." Kashiko nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe… it might…"
"Hey Terra," said Linea when she walked inside the resting room, after a confusing state of mind of trying to find them.
"Um… Hey," Terra said. "So uh… is it true? That you're Princess Linea of Sidhe?" Linea nodded. "Oh… I-I see…" Terra thought for a moment. ::Should I still take her to the Queen of Sidhe? Does she even know my true identity? This doesn't change anything… It's still my duty as General to take her back.::
"I am sorry I had to lie in the first place," Linea said, motioning her arms downward even with her waist with her hands clasped.
"You act so lady-like sometimes, Princess," Terra said giggling. "You should, for one, talk more normal, and not be so formal around others."
"Heh… I shall—I'll try my best," Linea replied. Terra smiled. :: I wonder why the Queen was so upset to hear that she ran away?::
***Flashback***
"Your Majesty! Princess Linea has run away from the castle!" Said a lady running into the royal throne room.
"What?! Linea has run away?!" The Queen yelled.
"Yes, she is nowhere to be found Your Majesty!"
"I want Linea back here! NOW!" Yelled the Queen at the lady. "Kiana, I need her back!"
"Yes Your Majesty…" Kiana said and bowed.
"And you shall go hidden under name. Your name shall be 'Terra'."
"As you wish…" Kiana said and bowed again. She didn't ask the queen why she wanted her hidden under a name, but just dealed with it.
***End of Flashback***
"I'm gonna explore the airship more," Linea announced. Terra nodded and she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
"How can I get her back to the castle?…"