Esca Fantasy

Hey, I know all of you are very eager to see Hitomi, so I got this chapter out as soon as I could. I also managed to fit the rest of the Dollet event into this one chapter, so in the next one, Hitomi will definitely be making her appearance.

LiLSeReNiTiE: Here's the next chapter, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy it.

Freelancer47: I'm really glad you like it so far, and I'll definitely keep the recaps. ^_^

Love Witch: hehe, you're really going to hate Allen even more by the end of this chapter :p you'll see what I mean. Enjoy!

SabineballZ: She may look innocent but she's a tough bird really! No, the dog doesn't have any important role later, his only job was to piss Allen off and to alert them of the approaching G-soldiers. Hitomi is going to be in the next chapter, which I will get up as soon as possible.

Mystic Angel: Yes, this is an AU fic, I'm following the story line of the game final fantasy 8. Thanks for pointing out the mistake with the speech marks and commas. I'll try and get it right from now on and I'll go back and fix the other chapters later ^_^ And I know there's a lot of battle scenes, but that's what happens in the game, so that's what will happen in the story, you'll just have to bear with it, and Hitomi will be in the next chapter, so not much longer to wait now! And yes, you'll have to wait to find out who that mysterious girl is, she's a character in the game that I decided not to change.

Esca-lover: Hey, I'm glad that the way I write is clear enough for you and other readers to understand, I often get confused during fight scenes as well, and I really wanted the characters actions and movements to be clear in my story so they could be seen vividly in the readers mind. So I guess I'm doing quite well with that so far. And again, thanks for pointing out the mistakes, I will try and get those sorted another time, if you spot anything else, don't hesitate to tell me, I'd appreciate the help ^_^ and as always, update soon!

Snow blossoms: I'm so glad you like this fic so much. Hitomi will be in the next chapter and you'll have to find out what she is, her role changes as the story progresses. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

K: I'm glad you like it, and I'm sorry if it is a bit confusing for non ff8 players, but if you would like to elaborate on things that you are confused by or think could be explained better, then please let me know and I'll do my best to improve it.

Long gone reader: No, I'm afraid Van doesn't have wings in this (

Meghanna Starsong: I'm glad you liked the first chapter and the way I wrote the battle scene. And I'm also glad you're picking up on all the little things that will become bigger issues later, like the thing with Merle secretly liking Van :p Hitomi will be up in the next chapter and yes, I'm faithfully following the story line of final fantasy 8.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, this has been my most reviewed chapter so far ^_^

Previously, on Esca Fantasy

The vessel pulled up onto the sandy beach, and everyone swiftly ran out onto the shore, Celena bowed to Merle politely before running off to her duties and Merle paused in the doorway of the vessel.

"Ok remember, you are to secure the central square!" she instructed, "Move out!"

~*~*~*~

"The central square is up ahead", Allen announced, gesturing with his gunblade, "I want you guys to scout the area for enemies,"

~*~*~*~

They watched as a group of Galbadian soldiers sneaked past the hotel and up the adjoining road, Van counted seven soldiers altogether. Once they had all passed, the trio came out of their hiding places.

"It's the enemy." Van remarked in confusion.

"Where the hell are they going?" asked Dilandau.

"Our next destination." Stated Allen. "The enemy is headed for the facility." he said authoritatively, pointing to the cliff with his gunblade, "We, squad B, are to secure the summit. Move out!"

~*~*~*~

As they neared the summit a noise in the bushes to the left of the path distracted them. Out of the bushes came crawling a Dollet soldier who looked pretty beat up.

"The Galbadian soldiers have entered the communication tower," the soldier reported, "on top of that...that place has always been a nesting ground for monsters."

~*~*~*~

Suddenly, they all heard a loud hissing sound that sent shivers up their spines and a large monster with a long, slithering body raised itself from the bushes. It was an Anacondaur.

~*~*~*~

Allen rushed forwards, his gunblade trailing through the air behind him and he brought it down, full force onto the Anacondaur's neck. Jumping back Allen was infuriated to see that his attack didn't even leave a scratch on the serpent's touch scales.

Van was getting frustrated with the chaotic and failing battle.

"We need to work together to a plan if we're going to beat this monster," he thought to himself.

"Fire attacks and weapon attacks won't work against it!" Van called out to them, "Dilandau! Use a scan spell and find out what its weakness is.

~*~*~*~

With lightning fast speed the Anacondaur looped around the blond soldier, trapping him in it's constricting coils.

"Dilandau! You have to hurry!" Van shouted out as he ran to aid Allen.

~*~*~*~

"The scales on the underside of its body are the weakest and it isn't very strong against ice attacks!" The albino informed him.

~*~*~*~

The Anacondaur quickly brought its jaws down to strike the nuisance, but Dilandau swiftly responded by hitting the serpents jaw with a strong upper- cut that sent the monsters head flying back, exposing its neck as desired. That was Van's cue.

With his palms raised out in front of him he concentrated on forming an icy blue orb, it glowed brightly, like a star. Then he sent the ball of light flying towards the Anacondaur, when it came into contact with the serpent the ice started to spread. It crept over the majority of the monsters body, freezing it completely, the Anacondaur lost its grip on Allen and he fell to the ground on hands and knees, gasping for breath and glad to be out of the death hug. The now frozen Anacondaur toppled backwards and smashed into little pieces when it hit the ground.

~*~*~*~

Both Allen and Van lay on their stomachs on the edge of the path, while Dilandau was further back, crouched down. They watched the doors as a G- soldier in the blue uniform walked out to meet two others.

"The generator is up and running." The first one informed.

"No problem with the boosters?" the second asked.

"What the hell are they doing?" Dilandau whispered.

"Cable disconnection confirmed! Beginning exchange process!" and with that, all three soldiers walked back into the building.

~*~*~*~

"There you are!" someone called out with joy and relief. Both Van and Dilandau looked up to the direction the voice came from and standing on a ledge above them was the blond haired girl. "I'm a messenger from squad A. Names Millerna. I was told your squad captain is Allen, where is he?" Suddenly a small figure running across the area below them caught their attention.

"That's our squad leader." Van informed her impassively.

Millerna let out a sigh and slumped her shoulders. "This sure is tough..." and with that she jumped straight off the path down to the area below.

Van walked slowly to the edge of the path and looked down. Dilandau watched Van's actions uneasily.

"Van.you're not going to jump are you?...It's a cliff!"

"That's the plan." Van replied simply and jumped of the edge.

"I.I can't believe he just did that!" Dilandau stuttered incredulously, then his face set in determination, "Ah hell! Here goes!" And following Millerna and Van's actions, he too jumped of the cliff.

Chapter 5

Dollet: Part Two

"I knew jumping off that cliff was a bad idea," Dilandau grumbled, as he rubbed his bruised backside.

Van had handled the jump fairly well; he landed with bent legs followed by a small shoulder roll, due to the force of landing from such a high jump. Dilandau however had not been so fortunate; after he jumped, he landed clumsily on his feet and fell back, his butt hitting the rocky floor with a thump. Millerna watched the two as they picked themselves up and made their way over to where she was standing.

"You two ok?" she asked them.

"Oh yeah, we're just great." Dilandau replied sarcastically.

"Well that's good," she smiled, ignoring his tone, "let's get going." They followed her across the open area that lead to the buildings entrance, covering the short distance quickly so they wouldn't be spotted. When they reached the large metal doors they stopped and observed the huge structure that loomed over them.

"So this is the communication tower." Dilandau commented.

"Sure is big." Millerna said, gazing up to the sky, trying to find the top. But her attention soon snapped back to the metal doors when they slid open and the three G-soldiers from earlier came running out. The three students got into their fighting stances, as they had been trained to when an enemy approached, but they did not need to bother, as the soldiers simply sprinted past them, desperate to get away from the tower as quick as they could. The reason for their behaviour was soon made apparent.

"COWARDS!" Allen shouted out after the retreating soldiers, and he came running to the door swishing his gunblade with anger and excitement.

"Heeey! Squad B captain." Millerna called out to him, but he ignored her call and casually walked back into the building, not paying any acknowledgement that his team-mates were even there. "The captain's getting away!" Millerna whined, before hurriedly entering the communication tower, with Van and Dilandau following right behind her.

When they went through the doors they came to a fairly large cylindrical room with no viewable ceiling. Everything was made out of cold metal and every little noise they made echoed loudly off the bare walls. The only thing they could see in the dark, shadowy room was an elevator in the centre, which consisted of a simple metal platform with no guards or railings.

"Hey! Squad B captain!!" Millerna called out, her voice echoing up the shaft above them.

"He must have gone up." Van commented, he didn't see anywhere else that Allen could have gone, although it was hard to see much in the room, so there might have been a door hidden somewhere in the shadows that they hadn't spotted. But at that moment, it seemed their best option was the one in front of them. "We'll have to take this lift." Van instructed, stepping onto the platform, Dilandau and Millerna followed suit.

"So how is this thing supposed to work?" Dilandau asked, noticing that there were no buttons or switches anywhere to operate it. Then as if on cue, the lift buzzed into life and started to ascend.

"Wow, this lift is pretty cool!" Millerna remarked excitedly, carefully peering over the unbounded edge of the platform.

"Don't get too excited or you'll fall off." Dilandau taunted with a smirk.

"Yeah, like I'm really going to!" she retorted back.

***

On the roof of the tower, that over looked the town, the sea, and the surrounding miles, a Galbadian soldier in a red uniform, was busy fiddling with the wires and mechanics in an open panel on the side of a small satellite. The panel was luminous with green lights and had large red cables and tubes hanging from it. The top of the tower was made up of a large circular platform, and evenly distanced around the edge were three small satellites, each one pointing in a different direction. In the centre of the platform stood a huge cylindrical frame, which surrounded a deep hole that bore straight down through the middle of the communication tower. Various tools and equipment were scattered around the soldier's feet, and every so often he would grumble to himself. From behind him, a Galbadian soldier in the blue uniform approached.

"Major Biggs! There have been sightings of a monster-shaped shadow on top of the tower." He reported, but the soldier in red simply ignored him and continued to work on the panel, switching wires and parts in an attempt to make it work. "Major Biggs!" the blue soldier called out, trying to get Biggs' attention.

"Be quiet! I'm busy!" The man called Biggs snapped at the younger soldier, fully engrossed and concentrated on his job he started to mumble. The soldier in blue could make out certain things as, "Geez, what's with all these crappy old tools?" and some moaning, along the lines of, "Why do I have to make all the repairs?!" Realising he wasn't going to receive a reply, the blue soldier decided to leave.

"Sir, I'll check around while the repairs are being done." He announced, and headed back in the direction he had come from.

***

As the three students reached the top of the shaft, they came out to a large open-air area, with grated metal flooring, and, like the lift, the edges of the floor were absent of any railings or boundaries. A few metres away they could see a Galbadian soldier hastily working on one of three satellites that occupied the area.

Biggs failed to notice his small audience as he gave a triumphant "It's complete!" when he had finished the repairs.

Upon hearing those words, they felt the floor begin to vibrate and shake, and Van watched as a spanner from Biggs' tool supply, fell through a hole in the grated floor to the waves below. But a rumbling sound behind him soon stole his attention, and he turned around and looked up, to see a large, metal, column-like structure, come zooming up through the cylindrical frame in the centre of the platform, doubling the height of the communication tower. Then, with the loud sound of buzzing electronics and whirring mechanical parts, the column bent to an angle, followed by the top half of the column separating into three parts that opened out, and long sheets of metal slid out from each one, till they all connected. The edges turned inwards to create a large metal bowl shape, and in the centre of the bowl, dozens of long prongs started to glow till they created a beam of white light that shot up into the orange tinted sky. Now on top of the communication tower, stood a huge satellite that was as big as the tower itself, lights or red blue and white pulsated all over the outside of the tower and the sound of machinery working could be clearly heard; the tower had come back to life.

When the impressive display had finished, Van confronted the soldier in red, who still hadn't noticed their arrival.

"What do you think you're doing?" he called out. The red soldier jumped slightly at the demanding and unexpected voice and turned around.

"Huhhh? Likewise MISTER! What do you think you're doing!?" he yelled, then he looked around and realised that he was surrounded by three enemies. "H- Hey! What happened to all the soldiers down below!? WEDGE," he called out for the blue soldier, "take care of these twerps," but he didn't get a reply, "W.Wedge?" noticing that Wedge, or any other Galbadian soldiers weren't around to back him up, he started to panic and tentatively side- stepped towards the lift, not taking his eyes off the students. Van, Dilandau and Millerna just stood there, watching the sack of nerves before them. ".I.ah.well.ahh.I seem to be done here so I'll be on my way." As he made a last dash for the lift, he came face to face with steely blue eyes and long blond hair. Biggs gave a cry as he jumped away from Allen's gunblade that came swishing down at him, knocking a tool that he had been clutching out of his hand.

"Sorry to crash the party." Allen announced coolly.

"AHHH! Are you CRAZY!!!" Biggs yelled at him, still in shock from nearly losing his head.

"Just shut up." Allen commanded, swishing his gunblade with vexation.

"Major Biggs!" Everyone turned to face the new voice. The blue soldier came running up and stopped next to Biggs, "What's the enemy doing here?" he asked with slight perplexity as he raised his sword and got into a fighting stance. Ignoring his question Biggs portrayed his relief of having help with anger.

"Wedge! Where were you?" he berated.

"That's enough talk," yelled Allen, "stop wasting time and fight!" But the two soldiers didn't get a chance to reply as a small bluish tornado descended upon them and engulfed them both, they screamed as it sucked them up into the sky, there it abandoned them and they fell back down, landing in a heap on the other side of the roof. Van and the others watched with jaws agape, as a large monster appeared from behind the large satellite. The best way to describe it would be as a Frankenstein monster; each part of its body was different, from large red leathery wings, to long orange arms with long clawed fingers and a hairy purple head and torso. And it was a big monster, with exceptionally small and evil black eyes and apparently very hostile.

"What the hell is it?" Dilandau cried, as he ducked a hit from one of the monsters long arms.

"I have no idea," Van replied, "its nest must have been disturbed when the satellite opened up."

"It's an Elvoret." Millerna informed them "My instructor at Trabia Garden told us about them"

"So how do we defeat it?" Van shouted as he took a swipe at one of the Elvoret's hands that came swooping down on him.

"Well it's weakest against fire and electric attacks, but because of its size, our level magic attacks won't be strong enough, only fire and electric GF's will be able to beat it!"

"So does any one have those kinds of GF's?" Dilandau asked.

"I've got Ifrit and Quezac, but I can't use them both at the same time." Van thought to himself.

"I've got Quezac and Ifrit." Van announced, "But I can't use them both at the same time, one of you will have to draw Ifrit from me and use it." Upon hearing this Dilandau's features lit up.

"I'll take Ifrit!" he called out eagerly.

"Ok then, Millerna and Allen, can you keep it distracted?" Van called out to them.

"No problem." Millerna replied, while removing her nunchaku from the sheath that was strapped to her back.

"I can't believe you guys need to use GF's, they're a waste of time if you ask me, all I need is my gunblade and I'll slay anyone who's in my way." Allen commented superciliously as he casually stood to the side, his gunblade resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah, well no one asked you!" Dilandau yelled, raising a fist.

"Dilandau! Forget it, you need to concentrate." Van instructed and raised his right palm while closing his eyes. Dilandau gave a last grumble before making a mirror image of Van, so that their palms touched. As they concentrated on the transfer, a blue aura started to form around their bodies.

Using her nunchaku weapon, Millerna managed to fend off the swipes and slashes that the Elvoret attempted to make. Then after a few attempts it stopped, and Millerna watched as its torso slowly started to expand, realising what it was about to do she called out to Allen.

"Allen! It's going to use it's stormy breath attack, we'll have to cast a protect spell, and fast!" Allen absorbed this bit of information and raised his right palm, creating a pink protection shield around himself. He sneered at Millerna who just stared at him with disbelief.

"I can't believe he's not going to help me, he doesn't care what happens to them." She thought, but Allen drew her attention by pointing scornfully at the monster who was almost ready to release its attack, sending Allen a death glare, she quickly sprinted over to stand in front of Van and Dilandau, who were still in the transfer process. Standing in a brace-like stance, with her feet planted steadily on the ground, she stretched both arms out in front of her, and focused all her thoughts and energy into creating a protection bubble strong enough to cover all three of them.

Her hands began to glow with a pink light that spread from her palms into a sphere that surrounded all of them. And not a moment too soon as the Elvoret released its attack on them, breathing out a strong gust of wind that looked like a tornado had just emerged from its mouth.

While Millerna struggled to keep them all safe, Van and Dilandau were near completion of the transfer. A strong blue light travelled down Van's arm, smoothly switching from one palm to another and then travelled up Dilandau's. With the transfer complete, the blue aura faded away and both young soldiers opened their eyes, bringing them back to the battle. Looking around, they realised they were in a protection bubble and out side they could hear the raging wind, trying to tear into it. Van noticed that Millerna was holding the shield up on her own, and obviously struggling with it as her eyebrows were creased together in a frown and small beads of perspiration were starting to form on her forehead.

Van decided now was the time to call Quezac, as Elvoret's attack would seemingly go on for a long while yet and she didn't look like she would last much longer.

In the sky above them, grey clouds slowly came together, twisting and turning around each other lazily creating loud rumbles of thunder, then from the centre of the gathering a large bolt of lightning shot down and hit the floor in front of them. From the point of contact a greenish yellow form slowly rose from the ground, this was Quezac, a dipterous GF.

It slightly resembled a bird; with two wing-like limbs that were spread out majestically and with a beak shaped head, except that its head was featureless; with out eyes or a mouth. Its body was a pale yellow colour that glowed slightly with olive green markings on its wings and fan-like tail.

Electricity started to collect at the end of its snout and it focused the energy into a powerful lightning blast that it sent straight into the Elvoret. Because Elvoret was a flying monster, its body absorbed all of the attack, causing it to cry out with a deep and raspy growl from pain and anger, which also caused it to break its attack. Realising this, Millerna broke the shield and relaxed her stance, taking in deep breaths.

"Did you...do it?" she asked, turning to face them.

"Yes! I got Ifrit!" Dilandau exclaimed, throwing a happy punch into the air, "I got a fire GF!"

"Yeah we did, thanks Millerna." Replied Van.

"Anytime." She said, smiling weakly. Van turned to face the still beaming Dilandau.

"Well I guess I'm never going to get Ifrit back, it's a good thing I wasn't compatible with it yet." Van thought to himself.

"Dilandau!" Van called, the albino soldier abruptly stopped his celebrating and looked at Van, "Attack Elvoret with Ifrit now." Dilandau smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Sure thing."

"Wait!" Millerna cried.

"What is it?" Van asked, slightly perplexed.

"While you guys were doing the transfer I could sense something within the monster, I think it's got a GF trapped inside it." She explained. Van and Dilandau both looked towards the still stunned monster in concentration, but couldn't sense anything.

"You sure Millerna?" Dilandau asked.

"Yes, I'm positive! Let me try and draw it out."

"Ok, but it won't stay stunned for much longer." Van informed her, she nodded and closed her eyes, she stood like that for a few moments as Van and Dilandau patiently watched and waited but nothing happened. Then suddenly a handful of blue lights phased out of the Elvoret's torso and slowly drifted over to Millerna in curving arcs then sinking into her body.

"Ok, you guys can attack it now." She informed them as she opened her eyes. They both nodded at her consent and summoned their GF's.

As Quezac had already been summoned it was still floating gently to the side of the battlefield, waiting for its commands.

Dilandau concentrated on summoning Ifrit. As it was the first time he would be summoning this GF, he knew it might be a bit tricky. A few metres in front of him a large column of fire erupted from the ground, climbing high into the sky with twisting yellow flames, when the fire dissipated it revealed Ifrit. Landing on the ground with a thud he gave a loud and intimidating roar to display his strength and power.

He then jumped up into the air and opened his mouth wide; baring his large sharp fangs and a blazing breath of fire erupted from his throat, straight towards the Elvoret. The monster tried to shield itself from the powerful attacks by crossing its long thin arms in front of its body, but to no avail. Scorching flames licked every part of its body, burning its hair, skin and wings. The electric attack surged through it and small jolts could be seen sparking from its form.

The Elvoret cried loudly from the onslaught of overwhelming attacks and tried in vain to flap its wings, but they were torn and burnt, as was the rest of its form. It fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, indicating the end of the fight. The victorious students watched as its body dissipated and turned to dust, which floated up into the darkening, evening sky.

"Well, you guys took long enough with that." Allen remarked snidely.

"We would have done it sooner if you had helped!" Millerna retorted hotly.

"I can't pass up the chance to see you guys sweat a little now, can I." And he turned his back on her, blanking out any replies she might have.

Millerna suppressed the urge to shout at him, or worse, and switched to a more formal tone.

"Squad B captain, I have new orders!" she announced. Allen looked at her questioningly, so she continued, "All SeeD members and SeeD candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours and are to assemble at the shore." She reported. Allen twisted his body back around to face her.

"Withdraw!? There are still enemies around!" he argued with disbelief, gesturing with his hands and looking at her angrily as if she was the one that made the order.

"I know, but I'm just a messenger." She reminded him, clasping her hands behind her back innocently. Allen swished his gunblade with anger.

"An order to withdraw takes priority," Van reminded him, resting his hands on his hips, "I don't want to miss the vessel." Allen sighed loudly with exasperation.

"What time did you say?" He asked Millerna.

"As I said, we are to assemble at the shore at 1900 hours." Allen pushed up his left sleeve and looked at his watch.

"1900 hours..we only have thirty minutes!" he thought to himself in alarm, he looked up at the other students and dashed to the lift.

"You got thirty minutes to get down to the shore!" he informed them as the lift started to descend, "Better run!" and with that last bit of unhelpful advise, he disappeared into the floor.

"Heeey! Wait for us!" Millerna cried out, but it was too late, he was gone.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Dilandau asked angrily.

"Who knows," answered Van in exasperation, they heard a buzzing sound nearby, indicating that the lift had come back up, "let's go." He instructed, and they all jumped onto the lift.

Nearby, on the other side of the roof, a slightly dazed Biggs groggily crawled over to a communication device that lay on the floor nearby and spoke into it with a raspy and breathless voice.

"Those little twerps are the targets, now go and destroy them!" he commanded the anonymous listener, before passing out again.

***

When the lift reached the bottom of the metal shaft, they ran towards the doors, their feet pounding hard on the metal floor, causing their footsteps to echo loudly around them. When they got outside they hadn't ran but a few metres when a loud banging above them made them stop in their tracks. They all twirled round and tilted their heads to look up at the roof of the tower.

There, they saw and heard a large machine, clatter its way to the edge of the roof and jump off, landing a few metres in front of them. They all braced themselves for the heavy impact and shielded their eyes to protect themselves from the dust that billowed up around it. When the dust receded, they looked up to see a large crab shaped machine in front of them. It was black with red and silver designs on it and had four pointy legs, one at each corner of its square body. And in Dilandau's opinion, it was a cool looking machine.

"I think maybe now would be a good time to get the hell out of here!" Dilandau suggested as they all ducked from a metal limb that came swinging out at them.

"That's a good idea." Millerna agreed and they all sprinted back up the path, but they were soon blocked off when the machine jumped in the way; obviously not willing to let them go any time soon, if at all. Van growled deep in his throat, he new they didn't have long to get to the shore, and this thing attacking them wasn't making their task of getting there any easier.

"We're going to have to fight it, it's the only way we'll be able to get past." He informed them, "It's a machine so if we all use lightning spells we should be able to beat it quickly." Van instructed.

Millerna and Dilandau obeyed Van's order and focused on creating lightning spells; grey clouds rushed over head and three blue bolts of lightning shot down simultaneously and hit the machine. With electricity surging over its metal body, it creaked and groaned as it tried to move, but only resulted in collapsing to the ground.

"Let's go." Van called out, and the three students hurried past the machine, sprinting down the path towards to stone steps that lead to the bridge. As they reached the bottom of the steps, they stumbled a bit as they felt the ground begin to rumble and shake and loud bangs could be heard behind them. They turned around and were shocked to see the machine pounding down the path, hot on their trail.

"I thought we already bust that thing up!" Dilandau cried.

"Forget it, let's go!" Van ordered, realising that if they spent anymore time fighting it they would miss the vessel.

They ran as fast they could down the long bridge, the sound of loud bangs behind them indicated that the machine was gaining on them, but not daring to turn around they continued running. When they reached the town they were slightly relieved as the machine would not be able to fit down the narrow streets, but their relief was quickly replaced with shock as the machine simply crashed through the buildings on either side as if they were made out of cardboard.

After a few minutes of running through the town the machine was still catching up to them, so Van, who was at the back of the group, spun round on his heel and hastily used another lightning attack against it, but he knew it wouldn't have as strong an effect as earlier as he was attacking it by himself now. The machine froze and Van took this opportunity to carry on running. It may not have been beaten, but at least there would be some distance between them now. As he rounded a corner he lost sight of the machine and could see that he was a couple of dozen metres behind Dilandau and Millerna, who were still running as if their lives depended on it, which they most definitely did.

After a few more minutes of sprinting, they came to the last long street and could see the shore at the end,with the golden sun sinking into the ocean, it's last rays tinting the sky orange and red. Van started to relax, thinking that they had lost the machine, but it wasn't so. From behind him he heard a loud crash and looking over his shoulder he saw that that machine had just smashed through a building on the side of the road and was now hot on Van's trail, closer than ever before. Van pushed himself to run faster, and could feel his heart in his throat, beating wildly as he took in deep and ragged breaths, urging his body to go faster.

As he reached the stairs that lead down to the beach the machine was upon him and smashed one of its metal claws into the floor, to avoid the hit Van had to forget the steps and dove over the wall, landing in a heap on the sand. The machine also crashed into the sand, only a few feet behind him. Van groggily pushed himself up and continued running, he could see the vessel, it was so close but still so far and he could hear the machine thundering behind him.

At the ship, Dilandau was hovering in the doorway, and Millerna was standing on the beach, both urging Van to go faster and praying that he would make it. Millerna ran onto the vessel to stand next to Dilandau and shouted out to Van as the machine got closer and closer to him.

"Van! Come on! Hurry!"

Now, but a few metres away from the vessel, Van could practically feel the machine breathing down his neck and just as it was about to attack, he made a last desperate leap for the vessel, hoping against hope that he would reach the it, but at the same time realising that he would not be able to avoid the large metal claw that was headed straight for him.

I hope everyone enjoyed that, once again please inform me if there is anything that you think could be improved; that would help me a lot. So until next time..thanks for reading.

Natalie xXx