Once again, the same redundant disclaimer.

After we left Sanator's house, Dart turned to us and said, "I think I'll enter the Hero Competition. I haven't had a chance to really test my skills."

Shana smiled. "Good luck, Dart."

Lavitz agreed. "Just don't turn yourself into a Dragoon. It'll create a big mess," he added.

Rose decided not to enter. "I'll spoil it if I participate. I'm too good," she said.

Krista went shopping, while I looked around the arena. The place was dimly lit, with a variety of attractions in addition to the tournament. None of them interested me, however, so I decided to enjoy the show.

I caught up with Rose near the entrance. "How's Dart doing?"

"He has easily defeated all of his opponents thus far." she replied. "Soon it will be time for the finals."

"Who's his opponent?"

"A swordsman named Lloyd. He will be a very dangerous adversary."

Rose was right. When Dart moved in for his first attack, Lloyd simply dodged to the side. "Missed," he said with a smirk.

I gaped. "How did he do that!?"

Dart tried again. "Over here!"

Lloyd then charged, sending Dart into the air, and crashing to the ground.

Dart made another attack, and was once again avoided. "Too slow," Lloyd taunted.

There were a few more abortive strikes from Dart, then Lloyd said, "It's about time," and cut him down where he stood.

The announcer came out to introduce the top three. "First is Lloyd, the silver-haired swordsman." He moved to Dart. "Second is Dart, the 'young flame'." He walked to a dark-haired oldster. "Third is Haschel, the master of the Rouge Art."

Dart came over with the martial artist. "These are my friends," he said.

I shook Haschel's hand. "Congratulations. You're easily one of the best fighters I've ever seen."

"Thank you. Dart tells me that you are a force to be reckoned with."

I shrugged, a little embarrassed. "My sister and I are even deadlier as a team."

Dart raised his eyebrows. "Where is she, anyway?"

I shrugged again. "Shopping, I think. I have some things to take care of. I'll meet you at the town entrance."

I left the arena and headed for the weapon shop. Along the way, I ran into a very annoying merchant.

The man shouted at me, "Hey, you! I've got something you'll like!"

I ambled over out of curiosity. "What do you have?"

He produced a small stone. "This is the much-talked-about Shining Miracle Stone. It cures any illness or anxiety when it shines."

My eyes narrowed. "How much do you want for it?"

"I'm making a limited time offer of 1000 gold."

I fished in my pocket. "I'll take it."

"Good buy! Now you'll have good luck!"

I hurried back to the arena to look for Rose. I found her near the racetrack.

"Rose, do you know what this is?" I asked, holding out the stone.

Her jaw dropped. "This is the Dragoon Spirit of the Golden Dragon. Where did you find it?"

I rolled my eyes. "I bought it from a merchant for 1000 gold. He didn't have the slightest idea what he had. I, however, did."

She snorted with disgust. "Merchants. All they care about is money." Rose sobered. "We have bigger problems, though. The Sandorans have occupied Bale. King Albert is being held captive in Hellena Prison."

"Blast it! I hope we can mount a rescue."
She nodded. "That's exactly what we're going to do. Also, Haschel is coming with us."

"That is a very good thing. He may not be a Dragoon, but he'll make short work of the sort of scum that work in places like Hellena."

"My thoughts exactly. You'd better find Krista."

"Got it."

I found Krista near Dabas's shop. "Come on, Sis, we've gotta move."

She followed, looking perplexed. "What's going on, Kyle?"

"King Albert's been kidnapped. We're going to rescue him."

We assembled at the town entrance, then made our way to the prison.

The guards were just as pathetic as I anticipated. I have never met a prison worker that I would consider a serious threat. The only one that got very close caught an arrow from Shana in the face. I slashed three more out of my way, then charged upstairs…into an ambush.

Lavitz glared at the surrounding guards. "Take us to King Albert, or it'll be your last breath!"

The lead warden replied by dropping us into a pit. When I came to, I saw the others searching the walls.

I felt a draft nearby. "Hey guys, I think I've found a way out."

Before we could get out, we were attacked by a huge monster. "This is Jiango!" Dart yelled. "If we put it to sleep, we can beat it easily!"

"Got it!" Haschel fed the creature a sachet, sending it to sleep.

The Wind Dragoon moved next. "Gaspless!!" Lavitz shouted. The powerful wind spell blew the monster away.

"Twin Dragon Attack!" No more Jiango.

Dart waved at the exit. "Come on, let's go!"

We pounded up the stairs, just in time to see Fruegel standing over King Albert. Shana shot him to get his attention.

He turned around and glared furiously. "Fine then. I'll kill you all before Albert! Rodriguez, Guftas, come to me!"

Lavitz took Fruegel, Rose got Rodriguez, leaving Guftas to Krista and me.

I looked at Krista. "Let's try our new team-up attack." She nodded.

We faced our target and focused our power together. "Gemini Beam!" The piglike Guftas disintegrated.

Lavitz had taken down Fruegel by then, so the next event startled us all. "Aarrgh!"

We whirled and saw a hooded man with his hand actually inside the King's flesh. He pulled out a glowing gem.

"I knew it was here. Moon Gem," he said.

Moon Gem!?

Lavitz yelled incoherently and jumped into the air, transforming in mid-leap. I had a better view, so I saw the magic sword.

I jumped after him. "Lavitz, don't!"

We collapsed in a heap, just as the man's hood fell back. I recognized him instantly.

"Lloyd!!"
Lloyd turned and ran. We let him.

Rose cut Albert's bonds, while Lavitz turned to me, livid. "I could have stopped him!!"

"Wrong." Rose walked over. "Lloyd has a sword called the Dragon Buster, a weapon made to kill Dragons. You would have been killed with one blow."

Krista spoke up. "So if we ever fight this guy, we shouldn't transform?"

"Exactly."

Lavitz suddenly jerked in disbelief as his Dragoon Spirit seemed to split in half. "What the!?"

The extra Dragoon Spirit floated over to King Albert. "This is…"

Rose turned to him. "You are now a Dragoon, Albert. This is the first time a Dragoon Spirit has been held by two people at once."

Dart cut off further conversation. "Let's go to Seles. We can talk there."

Author's note: You may have noticed Solid Shark and I have similar writing styles. The reason for that is simple: he's my brother. We tend to borrow each other's ideas, so don't worry about plagiarism. Please tell me what you think of the story so far. D.S.