1 DRAGON CAMPAIGN
1.1 CHAPTER 16
1.1.1 Call to arms
Belzack slept soundly. For the last few months his days and nights had been like an endless torrent of sudden instances and new realizations. Now that he and his partner were finally able to settle at an actual town that didn't persecute them, the big man finally allowed himself to relax. He found the bedding quite to his approval and now he slept in almost complete bliss, realizing with startling clarity just how tired he really was.
The big man grinned contentedly, falling deeper into sleep, relaxing tired bones. Unfortunately the dark shadow now creeping into his room would ensure he soon made other plans. The figure continued to walk closer and closer to the sleeping giant. Very slowly, he finally walked up to the side of the bed. Suddenly, Belzack reached out with lighting clarity and grasped the stranger by the throat, narrowing his eyes angrily. "Who are you!" He hissed.
"Wait! Stop!" The figure called out in-between gasps. Belzack immediately recognized the voice and released his grasp. "Zieg? What are you doing in here?"
Zieg took a few tentative steps back, absently messaging his bruised neck. "Well… I was thinking. Those Wingly are gonna attack at first dawn tomorrow right?"
Belzack sighed in annoyance, knowing that this was starting to become yet another one of Zieg's crazy plans. If he knew Zieg, he could be sure he wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight. The thought of this disturbed him more then he cared to admit and he showed it by frowning deeply at his friend now. "That seems to be the consensus. Zieg what are you planning?"
Zieg flashed his friend a confident smile. "Heh, Bel I was thinkin… why should we give the Wingly only a few hours to track us down? Why don't we just go now and ensure we get the Signet Sphere?"
Belzack slumped his head. He 'KNEW' he wasn't going to get any sleep! "Zieg don't you think you are being too hasty? We are tired! We need our strength. I believe it would be best if we rested first."
"And allow those Wingly to take the first strike?"
"We won't be able to do much if we are falling over ourselves in exhaustion."
"But we've rested up already!" Zieg protested. "All the while I was lying on my bed I was thinking about this! That had to have been four hours ago!"
Belzack rolled his eyes. "Zieg that's not resting."
"That's besides the point partner! What I'm trying to say is at least if we go now we can be sure the Wingly will have that much more trouble trying to catch up with us."
Zieg who was currently dressed only in a plain, tan pair of slightly baggy leggings and a loosing fitting shirt quickly hefted the bag in which he was carrying. "Grab your armor. I didn't want to alert anyone else. We don't need any unwarranted suspicion."
With that, Zieg quickly opened his bag digging in and pulled out the familiar crimson, studded leather armor which he seemed to favor. He quickly pulled on the few articles of armor then attached the sword scabbard to his waist, reverently sheathing his father's sword inside.
Belzack watched all of this in a somewhat zombie like daze. "This is insane Zieg. We shouldn't be rushing like this."
Zieg turned sharply on his companion. "Look Bel are you with me or not?" He was now finished preparing and heading for the door.
Belzack sighed heavily. "I'm going to regret this. I know it." With that, the big man slowly got out of his bed, donning the dark black clothing then attaching over it his bronze armor which the Gigantos had given him. He efficiently attached the axe to his back sheath. Lastly he tied the bandana around his head, nodding to Zieg he was ready.
Zieg smiled anxiously as he quickly threw a dark brown cloak about himself. Belzack mimicked his actions and soon the two of them snuck from the pleasant building as silently as mice.
Once outside, the two of them began to walk down the streets briskly.
"Zieg do you even know where this Sphere is located?" Belzack asked in exasperation.
Zieg faltered for only a moment then shook his head truthfully. "Not a clue."
Belzack sighed. "That's just great! How do you expect us to find it then?"
"With intuition and instinct!" Zieg replied confidently.
Belzack shook his head, cupping his hand over his face. "This has got to be a bad dream." He muttered. "I've yet to wake up."
"How about something a little better then…'intuition and instinct'." Came a not so far off voice from behind them. Both men immediately stopped and turned around. Facing them were both Rose and Shirley, also donned in their fighting attire. Rose wore a slightly loose fitting gray tunic with dark armor over it. Her leggings were also coiled with a few strips of the same dark armor. Shirley, standing beside her friend wore almost the same design except her armor was silver.
Belzack took in their appearance and nodded his head silently as if confirming something to himself. "It seems our destinies are intertwined irrevocably."
"It would appear so." Rose replied dryly. She purposely stared straight at Zieg who seemed more annoyed then anything else that the two of them had tracked them. "You were going to leave without us." It was more of a statement then a question. "Don't assume you can beat us at arriving to the Sphere first."
"It's not you that we're worried about." Zieg replied. "We just don't want the Wingly getting any more of a gain on us then necessary."
"If that's the case then why didn't you alert us as well?" Rose argued.
"Look this is getting us nowhere!" Belzack interjected quickly. "You said you had something of a better solution then just blind luck. Does that mean you know of an exact location where the Signet Sphere can be found?"
"Not really an exact location." Shirley offered, realizing Rose would not be in such a cordial mood to give them any information at the moment. "As I've told you before, I was raised by a dragon. As such, I hold a special bond with my mother. My mother in turned, is bound to the Signet Sphere, much like all dragons. Thus does the location of the Signet Sphere resonate within my spirit, even if it is dim."
"So in other words, you don't know for a fact where it is. You're just going on a gut feeling." Zieg commented flatly.
"In a manner of speaking yes."
Zieg rolled his eyes. "Well this is going to be interesting."
"It's a lot better then simply gallivanting around the heart of the caves 'pretending' you know where the Sphere is." Rose shot back hotly. "At least we have something solid to go on!"
"Hey in case you haven't noticed, we never asked for your help!"
"OK THAT'S ENOUGH!" Belzack shouted. "The two of you are acting like children. Look, now that Rose and Shirley are here they can be of some help to us. It's convenient that Shirley has a connection to the Sphere, even if it's a far off connection. I say we go on that. At least then, we'll have 'some' basis for our excursion."
Shirley nodded her head. "I agree with Belzack. The two of you can continue arguing like spoiled children but I intend to find the Sphere before the Wingly have a chance to get their hands on it."
With that, the red haired woman purposefully stormed off in the direction towards where her senses were pulling her; towards the dark recesses, deeper into the caverns behind the city. Belzack cast Zieg a reprimanding stare then quickly fell into step beside Shirley.
Now, both Rose and Zieg, feeling completely foolish after being lectured like children, traded uneasy looks with one another.
"I thought we'd agreed not to argue anymore and be friends." Zieg commented, somewhat absently.
"That was before you ran off sneaking your way to the Sphere without us." Rose replied. "In any case, both of them were correct. We cannot continue acting like children this way. We'll just have to trust each other until we get to the Sphere."
Zieg nodded blankly. "If you can deal with my behavior, I suppose I can tolerate yours."
He held out a callused hand towards her. "Truce?"
Rose grimly extended her own hand, equally as worn yet still possessed a certain softness to it. Both shook hands then quickly pulled them apart, as if sickened by their very contact. They then quickly fell into step after their departing comrades.
Zieg absently thought back to a few hours earlier when he had been dumbstruck by her beauty. He scoffed, derisively at that memory now. "What a fool I was." He mumbled to himself. "She may be attractive on the outside, but on the inside she's as cold and frigid as a frost demon."
"What was that?" Rose asked, walking a few steps ahead of him.
"Nothing." Zieg returned, frowning a bit. "Let's just keep moving ok?"
Rose narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him then turned her face forward once more, allowing a few strands of her dark hair to lash out at the wind.
Despite all efforts, Zieg couldn't help but find that lone action yet another aspect of her attractiveness. He quickly shook his head grumbling to himself something unintelligible along the lines of cursing his own sight for betraying him.
****
Thulrax snorted purposefully, raising his head high amongst the high reaches of the mountains of Chalistrave, hidden deep within the northern territories of the polar region. Cascading down that very same mountain, hundreds upon thousands of Dragons lined each ridge, waiting patiently for their Great leader to lead them into battle. The last fleet of dragons finally arrived as they where hard pressed to find an empty place to land. Truly the mountain was of the likeness of some living creature dredged from the far reaches of the darkest lairs of Mayfil. So determined and filled with battle lust were these dragons that not even the forceful gusts of blaring wind could be heard amongst their loud roars for war.
Thulrax looked upon his minions proudly. Standing slightly behind him where the two other head members of the Dragon council, Domiviantes the Bronze and Qu'vulon the White. Standing beside him was Warvajiea, also a white dragon. However the whole of the dragons all realized her as the symbol of Dragon might as her father was the greatest leader of all dragon kind. In the past there were many speculations as to why Warvajiea was not the current head White dragon instead of Qu'vulon but at the time of Her father's death she was still not quite old enough to take up the position and thus Qu'vulon was granted her place instead. Even as she slowly came to age, it seemed Qu'vulon was to remain in his position due to issues of war and the fact that his position could only be relinquished either upon banishment like Zanatos or by death. Neither of which had struck upon the Great White. Thus Warvajiea was effectively nothing more then a figurehead to the dragons. A show piece that in all actuality had little more substance in her influence towards others then an ant had over a predatory bird.
Thus, Even though Warvajiea stood tall for her people, her soul continued to diminish as the blazing cold winds beat down upon them all.
Thulrax was not diminishing in the least however. Quite the contrary, for he was basking in the glory that was before him now. He breathed in the sweet scent of war and his insides fluttered with delight at the loud roars for victory that assaulted his eardrums. Indeed, Thulrax could not be in a better mood.
"MY COHORTS!" Thulrax called out against the fierce winds.
His ears were greeting with the call of approval by his minions. The loud deafening roar, nearly crushing even his eardrums, filled him with insurmountable elation.
Warvajiea cast him a skeptical glance. "Shouldn't you quiet them down?" She whispered harshly. "I am sure we do not want the Wingly alerted this early."
"It is of little difference." Thulrax responded, grinning merrily, still not taking his eyes off of his people. "The Wingly will realize us soon enough. We shall fall upon them with reigning death."
"MY MINIONS, HEAR MY CALL! WE HAVE GONE ON LONG ENOUGH UNDER THE RULE OF THOSE DAMNABLE WINGLY. THEY FANCY THEMSELVES LORDS OVER US, DRAGONS! THE MOST POWERFUL CREATURES IN THE WORLD! WE SHALL NOT TOLERATE THIS! THEY NOW APPROACH US, DEMANDING FROM US THE POWER OF THE SIGNET SPHERES! THE VERY OBJECTS WE'VE BEEN ORDERED LONG AGO TO PROTECT! WE CANNOT TOLERATE THIS! WE WILL NOT TOLERATE IT ANY LONGER! TODAY I BRING YOU WAR! TODAY I BRING YOU VICTORY! MAY OUR HANDS AND TEETH BE BAITHED IN THE WARM BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES! THIS DAY WE PROVE TO OUR OPPRESSORS THAT WE ARE DRAGONS! THE TRUE LORDS OF THE SKIES!"
The thunderous roar that greeted his speech sparked a surge of adrenaline through Thulrax that not even the worst of all storms could diminish. With the strength of ten Dragons, Thulrax forcefully pushed himself off his perch flying at lightning speed towards the capital of the Wingly empire. The very home of Melbu Frahma himself, Vellweb. The Thousands of Dragons immediately chased after him, continuing to roar their approval. Warvajiea was of the last to go. Silently she cried to herself. This would be the end of her kind. They were all making a terrible mistake, a mistake she found herself powerless to stop.
****
"Damnit!" Zieg swore as he buckled under the loose support of the underlying rocks for the fifth time. He tried to balance himself before plunging for a rather painful fall. Unfortunately the weight of his leather studded armor together with his mildly heavy sword, favored against him. He felt pitch forward onto his face. His fall caused many of the lighter rocks and pebbles on the ground to break loose and tumble along with him down the slight ramp they were descending.
"For heavens sake!" Rose protested in annoyance, walking a few paces behind him as her metal armor was hindering her from effectively scaling the uneven terrain. "Learn how to walk!"
Despite her words, the dark haired woman bent low to lend a hand to the stumbling, brown haired rebel.
"Don't start with me right now Ice Queen." Zieg hissed, grasping her hand roughly in his. "I'm 'definitely' not in the mood to play with you right now!"
Rose face colored a deep crimson. "Why you arrogant lout! You're one to talk, falling all over yourself like that! If you can't handle the work then just go back now!"
"A little late for that now isn't it?" Zieg snapped back irritably.
Rose narrowed her eyes at him, gripping her fingers tightly about the hilt of her sheathed sword.
"I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we could all do without clumsy stragglers slowing us down." She replied through tightly clenched teeth.
Belzack, who unfortunately was in earshot range of all the banter throughout the entire journey, turned around angrily, facing them now with a stern look. "Ok both of you shut up! Just don't talk to each other! Don't even look at each other until we reach the Signet Sphere! Got it?"
And with that he stormed heavily down the path, surpassing even Shirley who was guiding them. Zieg watched his friend's retreat. He felt slightly guilty about angering his friend. Yet soon that guilt became anger as his eyes trailed back to Rose impassive face.
"Look, I agree with Belzack. Just stay away from me for the rest of this journey, got it? This mission is treacherous enough without you."
Rose matched his glare, smiling challengingly. "Sounds good to me. You keep to yourself and stop falling over rocks and I won't even have to look at you or hear that annoying voice of yours."
Zieg angrily stifled any rebuke he would have made at this comment. Glaring at her purposefully he angrily shoved his way past her, walking slightly further. Almost immediately he stumbled yet again on the loose rocks but this time he caught himself. Knowing he must have looked highly foolish, his face shot a beat red color. He heard light snickering behind him.
Zieg turned his face around with savage anger to glare hatefully at the dark haired woman. Rose did not hide her mirth at his unbalanced pace. "I thought we agreed that we not look at each other." She replied smugly. "I think you had best turn back the other way."
Zieg grumbled something unintelligible under his breath then stormed down the trail once more. Rose couldn't help but catch small snippets of what was being murmured under his breath. "I hate that woman!" She heard him hiss. Outwardly this brought a pleasant smile to her face. Yet for some unknown reason a small part of her was displeased. Slightly confused by this, Rose pushed the thought out of her mind and focused instead on the unsteady trek in front of her lest she stumble herself.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 17.
1.1 CHAPTER 16
1.1.1 Call to arms
Belzack slept soundly. For the last few months his days and nights had been like an endless torrent of sudden instances and new realizations. Now that he and his partner were finally able to settle at an actual town that didn't persecute them, the big man finally allowed himself to relax. He found the bedding quite to his approval and now he slept in almost complete bliss, realizing with startling clarity just how tired he really was.
The big man grinned contentedly, falling deeper into sleep, relaxing tired bones. Unfortunately the dark shadow now creeping into his room would ensure he soon made other plans. The figure continued to walk closer and closer to the sleeping giant. Very slowly, he finally walked up to the side of the bed. Suddenly, Belzack reached out with lighting clarity and grasped the stranger by the throat, narrowing his eyes angrily. "Who are you!" He hissed.
"Wait! Stop!" The figure called out in-between gasps. Belzack immediately recognized the voice and released his grasp. "Zieg? What are you doing in here?"
Zieg took a few tentative steps back, absently messaging his bruised neck. "Well… I was thinking. Those Wingly are gonna attack at first dawn tomorrow right?"
Belzack sighed in annoyance, knowing that this was starting to become yet another one of Zieg's crazy plans. If he knew Zieg, he could be sure he wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight. The thought of this disturbed him more then he cared to admit and he showed it by frowning deeply at his friend now. "That seems to be the consensus. Zieg what are you planning?"
Zieg flashed his friend a confident smile. "Heh, Bel I was thinkin… why should we give the Wingly only a few hours to track us down? Why don't we just go now and ensure we get the Signet Sphere?"
Belzack slumped his head. He 'KNEW' he wasn't going to get any sleep! "Zieg don't you think you are being too hasty? We are tired! We need our strength. I believe it would be best if we rested first."
"And allow those Wingly to take the first strike?"
"We won't be able to do much if we are falling over ourselves in exhaustion."
"But we've rested up already!" Zieg protested. "All the while I was lying on my bed I was thinking about this! That had to have been four hours ago!"
Belzack rolled his eyes. "Zieg that's not resting."
"That's besides the point partner! What I'm trying to say is at least if we go now we can be sure the Wingly will have that much more trouble trying to catch up with us."
Zieg who was currently dressed only in a plain, tan pair of slightly baggy leggings and a loosing fitting shirt quickly hefted the bag in which he was carrying. "Grab your armor. I didn't want to alert anyone else. We don't need any unwarranted suspicion."
With that, Zieg quickly opened his bag digging in and pulled out the familiar crimson, studded leather armor which he seemed to favor. He quickly pulled on the few articles of armor then attached the sword scabbard to his waist, reverently sheathing his father's sword inside.
Belzack watched all of this in a somewhat zombie like daze. "This is insane Zieg. We shouldn't be rushing like this."
Zieg turned sharply on his companion. "Look Bel are you with me or not?" He was now finished preparing and heading for the door.
Belzack sighed heavily. "I'm going to regret this. I know it." With that, the big man slowly got out of his bed, donning the dark black clothing then attaching over it his bronze armor which the Gigantos had given him. He efficiently attached the axe to his back sheath. Lastly he tied the bandana around his head, nodding to Zieg he was ready.
Zieg smiled anxiously as he quickly threw a dark brown cloak about himself. Belzack mimicked his actions and soon the two of them snuck from the pleasant building as silently as mice.
Once outside, the two of them began to walk down the streets briskly.
"Zieg do you even know where this Sphere is located?" Belzack asked in exasperation.
Zieg faltered for only a moment then shook his head truthfully. "Not a clue."
Belzack sighed. "That's just great! How do you expect us to find it then?"
"With intuition and instinct!" Zieg replied confidently.
Belzack shook his head, cupping his hand over his face. "This has got to be a bad dream." He muttered. "I've yet to wake up."
"How about something a little better then…'intuition and instinct'." Came a not so far off voice from behind them. Both men immediately stopped and turned around. Facing them were both Rose and Shirley, also donned in their fighting attire. Rose wore a slightly loose fitting gray tunic with dark armor over it. Her leggings were also coiled with a few strips of the same dark armor. Shirley, standing beside her friend wore almost the same design except her armor was silver.
Belzack took in their appearance and nodded his head silently as if confirming something to himself. "It seems our destinies are intertwined irrevocably."
"It would appear so." Rose replied dryly. She purposely stared straight at Zieg who seemed more annoyed then anything else that the two of them had tracked them. "You were going to leave without us." It was more of a statement then a question. "Don't assume you can beat us at arriving to the Sphere first."
"It's not you that we're worried about." Zieg replied. "We just don't want the Wingly getting any more of a gain on us then necessary."
"If that's the case then why didn't you alert us as well?" Rose argued.
"Look this is getting us nowhere!" Belzack interjected quickly. "You said you had something of a better solution then just blind luck. Does that mean you know of an exact location where the Signet Sphere can be found?"
"Not really an exact location." Shirley offered, realizing Rose would not be in such a cordial mood to give them any information at the moment. "As I've told you before, I was raised by a dragon. As such, I hold a special bond with my mother. My mother in turned, is bound to the Signet Sphere, much like all dragons. Thus does the location of the Signet Sphere resonate within my spirit, even if it is dim."
"So in other words, you don't know for a fact where it is. You're just going on a gut feeling." Zieg commented flatly.
"In a manner of speaking yes."
Zieg rolled his eyes. "Well this is going to be interesting."
"It's a lot better then simply gallivanting around the heart of the caves 'pretending' you know where the Sphere is." Rose shot back hotly. "At least we have something solid to go on!"
"Hey in case you haven't noticed, we never asked for your help!"
"OK THAT'S ENOUGH!" Belzack shouted. "The two of you are acting like children. Look, now that Rose and Shirley are here they can be of some help to us. It's convenient that Shirley has a connection to the Sphere, even if it's a far off connection. I say we go on that. At least then, we'll have 'some' basis for our excursion."
Shirley nodded her head. "I agree with Belzack. The two of you can continue arguing like spoiled children but I intend to find the Sphere before the Wingly have a chance to get their hands on it."
With that, the red haired woman purposefully stormed off in the direction towards where her senses were pulling her; towards the dark recesses, deeper into the caverns behind the city. Belzack cast Zieg a reprimanding stare then quickly fell into step beside Shirley.
Now, both Rose and Zieg, feeling completely foolish after being lectured like children, traded uneasy looks with one another.
"I thought we'd agreed not to argue anymore and be friends." Zieg commented, somewhat absently.
"That was before you ran off sneaking your way to the Sphere without us." Rose replied. "In any case, both of them were correct. We cannot continue acting like children this way. We'll just have to trust each other until we get to the Sphere."
Zieg nodded blankly. "If you can deal with my behavior, I suppose I can tolerate yours."
He held out a callused hand towards her. "Truce?"
Rose grimly extended her own hand, equally as worn yet still possessed a certain softness to it. Both shook hands then quickly pulled them apart, as if sickened by their very contact. They then quickly fell into step after their departing comrades.
Zieg absently thought back to a few hours earlier when he had been dumbstruck by her beauty. He scoffed, derisively at that memory now. "What a fool I was." He mumbled to himself. "She may be attractive on the outside, but on the inside she's as cold and frigid as a frost demon."
"What was that?" Rose asked, walking a few steps ahead of him.
"Nothing." Zieg returned, frowning a bit. "Let's just keep moving ok?"
Rose narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him then turned her face forward once more, allowing a few strands of her dark hair to lash out at the wind.
Despite all efforts, Zieg couldn't help but find that lone action yet another aspect of her attractiveness. He quickly shook his head grumbling to himself something unintelligible along the lines of cursing his own sight for betraying him.
****
Thulrax snorted purposefully, raising his head high amongst the high reaches of the mountains of Chalistrave, hidden deep within the northern territories of the polar region. Cascading down that very same mountain, hundreds upon thousands of Dragons lined each ridge, waiting patiently for their Great leader to lead them into battle. The last fleet of dragons finally arrived as they where hard pressed to find an empty place to land. Truly the mountain was of the likeness of some living creature dredged from the far reaches of the darkest lairs of Mayfil. So determined and filled with battle lust were these dragons that not even the forceful gusts of blaring wind could be heard amongst their loud roars for war.
Thulrax looked upon his minions proudly. Standing slightly behind him where the two other head members of the Dragon council, Domiviantes the Bronze and Qu'vulon the White. Standing beside him was Warvajiea, also a white dragon. However the whole of the dragons all realized her as the symbol of Dragon might as her father was the greatest leader of all dragon kind. In the past there were many speculations as to why Warvajiea was not the current head White dragon instead of Qu'vulon but at the time of Her father's death she was still not quite old enough to take up the position and thus Qu'vulon was granted her place instead. Even as she slowly came to age, it seemed Qu'vulon was to remain in his position due to issues of war and the fact that his position could only be relinquished either upon banishment like Zanatos or by death. Neither of which had struck upon the Great White. Thus Warvajiea was effectively nothing more then a figurehead to the dragons. A show piece that in all actuality had little more substance in her influence towards others then an ant had over a predatory bird.
Thus, Even though Warvajiea stood tall for her people, her soul continued to diminish as the blazing cold winds beat down upon them all.
Thulrax was not diminishing in the least however. Quite the contrary, for he was basking in the glory that was before him now. He breathed in the sweet scent of war and his insides fluttered with delight at the loud roars for victory that assaulted his eardrums. Indeed, Thulrax could not be in a better mood.
"MY COHORTS!" Thulrax called out against the fierce winds.
His ears were greeting with the call of approval by his minions. The loud deafening roar, nearly crushing even his eardrums, filled him with insurmountable elation.
Warvajiea cast him a skeptical glance. "Shouldn't you quiet them down?" She whispered harshly. "I am sure we do not want the Wingly alerted this early."
"It is of little difference." Thulrax responded, grinning merrily, still not taking his eyes off of his people. "The Wingly will realize us soon enough. We shall fall upon them with reigning death."
"MY MINIONS, HEAR MY CALL! WE HAVE GONE ON LONG ENOUGH UNDER THE RULE OF THOSE DAMNABLE WINGLY. THEY FANCY THEMSELVES LORDS OVER US, DRAGONS! THE MOST POWERFUL CREATURES IN THE WORLD! WE SHALL NOT TOLERATE THIS! THEY NOW APPROACH US, DEMANDING FROM US THE POWER OF THE SIGNET SPHERES! THE VERY OBJECTS WE'VE BEEN ORDERED LONG AGO TO PROTECT! WE CANNOT TOLERATE THIS! WE WILL NOT TOLERATE IT ANY LONGER! TODAY I BRING YOU WAR! TODAY I BRING YOU VICTORY! MAY OUR HANDS AND TEETH BE BAITHED IN THE WARM BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES! THIS DAY WE PROVE TO OUR OPPRESSORS THAT WE ARE DRAGONS! THE TRUE LORDS OF THE SKIES!"
The thunderous roar that greeted his speech sparked a surge of adrenaline through Thulrax that not even the worst of all storms could diminish. With the strength of ten Dragons, Thulrax forcefully pushed himself off his perch flying at lightning speed towards the capital of the Wingly empire. The very home of Melbu Frahma himself, Vellweb. The Thousands of Dragons immediately chased after him, continuing to roar their approval. Warvajiea was of the last to go. Silently she cried to herself. This would be the end of her kind. They were all making a terrible mistake, a mistake she found herself powerless to stop.
****
"Damnit!" Zieg swore as he buckled under the loose support of the underlying rocks for the fifth time. He tried to balance himself before plunging for a rather painful fall. Unfortunately the weight of his leather studded armor together with his mildly heavy sword, favored against him. He felt pitch forward onto his face. His fall caused many of the lighter rocks and pebbles on the ground to break loose and tumble along with him down the slight ramp they were descending.
"For heavens sake!" Rose protested in annoyance, walking a few paces behind him as her metal armor was hindering her from effectively scaling the uneven terrain. "Learn how to walk!"
Despite her words, the dark haired woman bent low to lend a hand to the stumbling, brown haired rebel.
"Don't start with me right now Ice Queen." Zieg hissed, grasping her hand roughly in his. "I'm 'definitely' not in the mood to play with you right now!"
Rose face colored a deep crimson. "Why you arrogant lout! You're one to talk, falling all over yourself like that! If you can't handle the work then just go back now!"
"A little late for that now isn't it?" Zieg snapped back irritably.
Rose narrowed her eyes at him, gripping her fingers tightly about the hilt of her sheathed sword.
"I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we could all do without clumsy stragglers slowing us down." She replied through tightly clenched teeth.
Belzack, who unfortunately was in earshot range of all the banter throughout the entire journey, turned around angrily, facing them now with a stern look. "Ok both of you shut up! Just don't talk to each other! Don't even look at each other until we reach the Signet Sphere! Got it?"
And with that he stormed heavily down the path, surpassing even Shirley who was guiding them. Zieg watched his friend's retreat. He felt slightly guilty about angering his friend. Yet soon that guilt became anger as his eyes trailed back to Rose impassive face.
"Look, I agree with Belzack. Just stay away from me for the rest of this journey, got it? This mission is treacherous enough without you."
Rose matched his glare, smiling challengingly. "Sounds good to me. You keep to yourself and stop falling over rocks and I won't even have to look at you or hear that annoying voice of yours."
Zieg angrily stifled any rebuke he would have made at this comment. Glaring at her purposefully he angrily shoved his way past her, walking slightly further. Almost immediately he stumbled yet again on the loose rocks but this time he caught himself. Knowing he must have looked highly foolish, his face shot a beat red color. He heard light snickering behind him.
Zieg turned his face around with savage anger to glare hatefully at the dark haired woman. Rose did not hide her mirth at his unbalanced pace. "I thought we agreed that we not look at each other." She replied smugly. "I think you had best turn back the other way."
Zieg grumbled something unintelligible under his breath then stormed down the trail once more. Rose couldn't help but catch small snippets of what was being murmured under his breath. "I hate that woman!" She heard him hiss. Outwardly this brought a pleasant smile to her face. Yet for some unknown reason a small part of her was displeased. Slightly confused by this, Rose pushed the thought out of her mind and focused instead on the unsteady trek in front of her lest she stumble herself.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 17.