Chapter 17
"So, you managed to separate them?"
"Yes. It was a simple process."
"So, now you know where they are, so you can kill them off individually."
"I don't."
"Don't what?"
"I don't know where they are."
"How can you not know where you sent them?"
"The power of the spell doesn't extend that far. But I can locate them by tracing their magical energies. Even when not in their armor, Dragoons still exude a greater amount of magic than humans naturally inherit."
"Will you be able to tell which element is which from these energies?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"But didn't you want to attack them in a specific order?"
"Yes. The Dark Dragoon is the most experienced in combat, and knows Wingly tactics, but the Red-Eye has honed his magic more than the others have. So, I should attack either the Jade or the Silver Knights first."
"So, what if you find the wrong one?"
"Leave without detection and find the others first."
"Ah. Well, it makes sense."
"Indeed it does. Now, if you'll excuse me, I had better go. It might take me a while."
Phil awoke flat on his stomach. A cloying scent assailed his senses. Perfume? He looked up, and his hazy vision registered thousands of multicolored points of light. He dug the butt end of his spear into the soft earth, and propped his limp body onto his knees. His sight began to clear, and he immediately knew where he was. The multicolored lights he had seen were flowers, which accounted for the powerful smell of perfume. He was in Donau, the Flower City, in the middle of Tiberoa! He must have been transported hundreds of miles away. What next? Would Santa Claus appear and hand him a new toaster?
Phil let out a jaw-cracking yawn. He was exhausted, although he wasn't quite sure why. Before he did anything else, he should get some sleep. He located the nearest hotel, and hoped he had enough money to last the night. He walked inside, and paid for his room at the desk. As soon as he unlocked the door, he immediately headed for the bed and fell asleep without even changing his clothes.
Dawn awoke to find herself still at the wheel of the RV. She was in an open field, with cattle calmly grazing, oblivious to the fact a motorhome had just dropped out of the sky. Dawn looked out the windshield, and glimpsed buildings in the distance. She had seen those buildings before, on cityscape postcards. She was in Bale, the capital of Serdio, on the opposite side of the country! She would never find the others now!
Dawn drove to the city streets, and searched for a crowded parking lot. She found a multiplex movie theater. Perfect. Nobody would suspect a car sitting in a cinema parking lot late at night. People would merely think someone was catching a flick at an ungodly hour to avoid congestion. She went in the back to the bunk beds, and fell on a bottom mattress, instantly asleep.
Rayen awoke with his face in the cool, dewy grass. He pushed himself onto his knees and wiped the moisture from his face. He stood and gazed around the green knoll. He knew this place; he had been here many times before. Out of all the places in the world that portal could have dumped him, he had come out here! He strolled among the many stones, placed in even rows. Eventually he found what he was looking for. He sat down in front of one of the stones, HIS stone. He had often sat here, gazing up at the sky. His father had always eventually wonder where he had gone, and he had always found Rayen here, with this stone.
Rayen glanced at the slabs of rock around him. He spotted a small glass vial, its rubber stopper at its side. Rayen suspected the contents had spilled or deteriorated long ago. No one would mind him using it. He picked it up, the nerves of his hand registering the cool smoothness of the glass. He set it down on the cool grass and drew his sword. He took a deep breath, and slashed.
Perhaps in anticipation of what he was about to do, his hand trembled, and the small, clean incision he was supposed to make went awry. A jagged, long slash scored his arm, bleeding profusely. It wasn't what he wanted, but it would suffice. He tilted his arm so the river of blood flowed into the vial. He replaced the stopper, and dug a small hole in the earth near the stone. He placed the vial at the bottom of the hole, and replaced the earth. Finally, he covered the freshly dug earth with grass and leaves to conceal it, and got to his feet. He was finished.
"How touching."
Rayen didn't need to turn around. He knew that voice. It had reverberated through his mind for the past twenty-four hours.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?"
"Last time I checked, there wasn't a door."
Rayen turned around, his blade in hand.
"Put your sword away."
"Why? You came here to fight me, didn't you?"
"No. I was hoping you were someone else."
"Who?"
"The Silver or Jade Dragoon."
"Dawn or Phil. What do you want with them?"
"To kill them, naturally."
"I'm here. Why don't you kill me?"
"I'm not after you yet. Don't worry. You'll get your turn."
"Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome. Just because I'm feeling particularly gracious, I'll take care of that nasty cut for you as well."
She traced a pale rune in the air, and Rayen's wound healed in an instant.
"Congradulations. Your nomination for sainthood should come any day now."
"I wouldn't bank on it."
"Neither would I. Why didn't you just wait until I bled to death and then take the Spirit?"
"You would have patched it up somehow. Even the most ignorant of my race knows that you Humans aren't THAT stupid."
"I'm flattered."
"As you should be."
She disappeared, leaving Rayen to wonder if she had just been an illusion sent to play mind games. But injuries like that didn't heal on their own that quickly. She really had followed him, and she was looking for Phil and Dawn. He needed to find the others, and quickly. He started to leave, but a voice rang out behind him.
"Hey, wait!"
Rayen whipped around in a split second, his sword in hand. The voice became scared.
"Shit, don't hurt me!"
It was a boy, a couple of years younger than Rayen. About fifteen, Rayen guessed. He relaxed, and his sword hand dropped to his side. The boy looked at Rayen's weapon in awe. He was wearing ragged shoes, faded jeans, and a T-shirt that was too big for him.
"Shouldn't you be at home with your parents, kid?"
"Don't call me kid. My name's Sean, and you're not that much older than me anyway. I don't have a home, or parents. They died four years ago, and I was in a foster home, but I left, because... well, just because. Now they've sent people after me, but I'm not going back."
Rayen nodded. His ragged clothes and dirty face made snese now. Nobody doted over this urchin. Life had not been kind to him.
"You saw that whole thing, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Was that a Wingly?"
"Yes, it was."
"Wow, I've never seen a real one. Hey, can I come with you? I'm sure you can find me a job and a place to stay or something..."
"To tell the truth, I don't really have a home either. I left it, but not for the same reasons. I sort of wander, I guess. I have a... thing I need to take care of."
"Oh."
Sean's face looked downcast, but he brightened in a moment.
"Can I come with you anyway? Two heads are better than one, after all."
"It's gonna be dangerous."
"Yeah, I noticed that from what you said. That Wingly wants to kill you?"
"Eventually. You don't want to be around when it does."
"I can take care of myself. I've done it for four years, haven't I?"
"You don't understand..."
Rayen was about to refuse, but then he felt a strange sense in the back of his mind. It was the same sixth sense that came to him during battle, the cold, calculating part of himself. Besides, Sean reminded Rayen a lot of how he was before he became a Dragoon.
"Yeah, alright."
"Awesome! Hey, are you a monster hunter or something? Is that why you've got the sword?"
"You... could say that. Come on, let's go."
"Right."
With his new companion, Rayen left the headstone of Amelia O'Connor, 980 - 1024.
(Yes, I avoided describing it as a graveyard until the end of the chapter on purpose.)
"So, you managed to separate them?"
"Yes. It was a simple process."
"So, now you know where they are, so you can kill them off individually."
"I don't."
"Don't what?"
"I don't know where they are."
"How can you not know where you sent them?"
"The power of the spell doesn't extend that far. But I can locate them by tracing their magical energies. Even when not in their armor, Dragoons still exude a greater amount of magic than humans naturally inherit."
"Will you be able to tell which element is which from these energies?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"But didn't you want to attack them in a specific order?"
"Yes. The Dark Dragoon is the most experienced in combat, and knows Wingly tactics, but the Red-Eye has honed his magic more than the others have. So, I should attack either the Jade or the Silver Knights first."
"So, what if you find the wrong one?"
"Leave without detection and find the others first."
"Ah. Well, it makes sense."
"Indeed it does. Now, if you'll excuse me, I had better go. It might take me a while."
Phil awoke flat on his stomach. A cloying scent assailed his senses. Perfume? He looked up, and his hazy vision registered thousands of multicolored points of light. He dug the butt end of his spear into the soft earth, and propped his limp body onto his knees. His sight began to clear, and he immediately knew where he was. The multicolored lights he had seen were flowers, which accounted for the powerful smell of perfume. He was in Donau, the Flower City, in the middle of Tiberoa! He must have been transported hundreds of miles away. What next? Would Santa Claus appear and hand him a new toaster?
Phil let out a jaw-cracking yawn. He was exhausted, although he wasn't quite sure why. Before he did anything else, he should get some sleep. He located the nearest hotel, and hoped he had enough money to last the night. He walked inside, and paid for his room at the desk. As soon as he unlocked the door, he immediately headed for the bed and fell asleep without even changing his clothes.
Dawn awoke to find herself still at the wheel of the RV. She was in an open field, with cattle calmly grazing, oblivious to the fact a motorhome had just dropped out of the sky. Dawn looked out the windshield, and glimpsed buildings in the distance. She had seen those buildings before, on cityscape postcards. She was in Bale, the capital of Serdio, on the opposite side of the country! She would never find the others now!
Dawn drove to the city streets, and searched for a crowded parking lot. She found a multiplex movie theater. Perfect. Nobody would suspect a car sitting in a cinema parking lot late at night. People would merely think someone was catching a flick at an ungodly hour to avoid congestion. She went in the back to the bunk beds, and fell on a bottom mattress, instantly asleep.
Rayen awoke with his face in the cool, dewy grass. He pushed himself onto his knees and wiped the moisture from his face. He stood and gazed around the green knoll. He knew this place; he had been here many times before. Out of all the places in the world that portal could have dumped him, he had come out here! He strolled among the many stones, placed in even rows. Eventually he found what he was looking for. He sat down in front of one of the stones, HIS stone. He had often sat here, gazing up at the sky. His father had always eventually wonder where he had gone, and he had always found Rayen here, with this stone.
Rayen glanced at the slabs of rock around him. He spotted a small glass vial, its rubber stopper at its side. Rayen suspected the contents had spilled or deteriorated long ago. No one would mind him using it. He picked it up, the nerves of his hand registering the cool smoothness of the glass. He set it down on the cool grass and drew his sword. He took a deep breath, and slashed.
Perhaps in anticipation of what he was about to do, his hand trembled, and the small, clean incision he was supposed to make went awry. A jagged, long slash scored his arm, bleeding profusely. It wasn't what he wanted, but it would suffice. He tilted his arm so the river of blood flowed into the vial. He replaced the stopper, and dug a small hole in the earth near the stone. He placed the vial at the bottom of the hole, and replaced the earth. Finally, he covered the freshly dug earth with grass and leaves to conceal it, and got to his feet. He was finished.
"How touching."
Rayen didn't need to turn around. He knew that voice. It had reverberated through his mind for the past twenty-four hours.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?"
"Last time I checked, there wasn't a door."
Rayen turned around, his blade in hand.
"Put your sword away."
"Why? You came here to fight me, didn't you?"
"No. I was hoping you were someone else."
"Who?"
"The Silver or Jade Dragoon."
"Dawn or Phil. What do you want with them?"
"To kill them, naturally."
"I'm here. Why don't you kill me?"
"I'm not after you yet. Don't worry. You'll get your turn."
"Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome. Just because I'm feeling particularly gracious, I'll take care of that nasty cut for you as well."
She traced a pale rune in the air, and Rayen's wound healed in an instant.
"Congradulations. Your nomination for sainthood should come any day now."
"I wouldn't bank on it."
"Neither would I. Why didn't you just wait until I bled to death and then take the Spirit?"
"You would have patched it up somehow. Even the most ignorant of my race knows that you Humans aren't THAT stupid."
"I'm flattered."
"As you should be."
She disappeared, leaving Rayen to wonder if she had just been an illusion sent to play mind games. But injuries like that didn't heal on their own that quickly. She really had followed him, and she was looking for Phil and Dawn. He needed to find the others, and quickly. He started to leave, but a voice rang out behind him.
"Hey, wait!"
Rayen whipped around in a split second, his sword in hand. The voice became scared.
"Shit, don't hurt me!"
It was a boy, a couple of years younger than Rayen. About fifteen, Rayen guessed. He relaxed, and his sword hand dropped to his side. The boy looked at Rayen's weapon in awe. He was wearing ragged shoes, faded jeans, and a T-shirt that was too big for him.
"Shouldn't you be at home with your parents, kid?"
"Don't call me kid. My name's Sean, and you're not that much older than me anyway. I don't have a home, or parents. They died four years ago, and I was in a foster home, but I left, because... well, just because. Now they've sent people after me, but I'm not going back."
Rayen nodded. His ragged clothes and dirty face made snese now. Nobody doted over this urchin. Life had not been kind to him.
"You saw that whole thing, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Was that a Wingly?"
"Yes, it was."
"Wow, I've never seen a real one. Hey, can I come with you? I'm sure you can find me a job and a place to stay or something..."
"To tell the truth, I don't really have a home either. I left it, but not for the same reasons. I sort of wander, I guess. I have a... thing I need to take care of."
"Oh."
Sean's face looked downcast, but he brightened in a moment.
"Can I come with you anyway? Two heads are better than one, after all."
"It's gonna be dangerous."
"Yeah, I noticed that from what you said. That Wingly wants to kill you?"
"Eventually. You don't want to be around when it does."
"I can take care of myself. I've done it for four years, haven't I?"
"You don't understand..."
Rayen was about to refuse, but then he felt a strange sense in the back of his mind. It was the same sixth sense that came to him during battle, the cold, calculating part of himself. Besides, Sean reminded Rayen a lot of how he was before he became a Dragoon.
"Yeah, alright."
"Awesome! Hey, are you a monster hunter or something? Is that why you've got the sword?"
"You... could say that. Come on, let's go."
"Right."
With his new companion, Rayen left the headstone of Amelia O'Connor, 980 - 1024.
(Yes, I avoided describing it as a graveyard until the end of the chapter on purpose.)