Author's Note: Yes, Lloyd, Shirley, and Rose are back. They get to help!
Yay! Anyway, the reason there's no Divine Dragoon Spirit is because the
Divine Dragon isn't dead yet. No, Rayen isn't really all right, considering
that there is some evil thing trying to take over his mind. But they'll
figure it out eventually, I HOPE... *cackles*
Chapter 35
Kyra, Phil, and Dawn stood outside the ruins of the Black Castle. After the Second Dragon War, Serdians had torn down the castle, elating in their victory. However, nobody had the motivation and the manpower to remove the rubble until centuries later. By that time, historians had wanted to declare the site a national landmark. People had argued that it was a landmark of a different nation, a dead one, but the historians had won by declaring it a historical excavation site. Thus, the ruins remained, despite grumbling by the Serdian government. It was there that the sixth piece of the Dragon Block Staff lay, according to the Dragons.
Phil groaned upon sight of the remains. "Man, are we going to have to dig through all of this crap?"
"Yes, and very discreetly at that. If anyone catches us tunneling through this, the story will be out," Kyra replied.
They spent the next two hours sorting their way through the rubble, a thoroughly vexing process, until Phil finally found the piece.
Dawn straightened when Phil called out his discovery, her clothes and hair covered with soot. "Great. Now we can leave."
"Hey! What are you kids doing?"
Phil's triumphant shout had roused some of the workers nearby, and they were carefully picking their way up the rubble, headed towards the three Dragoons.
Phil swore. "Shit. All right, Kyra, unless you have a very plausible reason for us not to haul ass, I suggest you use your happy little Wingly magic to get us out of here. Now would be a very good time."
Kyra smirked. It was finally her turn to pay the Jade Dragoon back in full for the grief he had caused earlier through his practical jokes. Phil was the one stuck with the staff piece, and the historians couldn't prove that she and Dawn were in league with him. "Hmm... I don't know..."
"JUST DO IT ALREADY!"
Both girls enjoyed a good laugh before they left, leaving a pair of very confused excavators in their wake.
************************************************************************
Rayen, Shade, and Oraeus stomped through the dense foliage of the forest, searching for the final piece of the staff. Rayen pushed a large fern out of their way, only to find an open clearing with a fallen oak and gigantic spider webs covering huge holes in the earth. The three Dragoons paced around the clearing, studying it.
"Well, this is quite a scene," Oraeus commented.
"Indeed," Rayen agreed, walking over to examine the giant silvery webs. As he stood on one to test its resiliency, it collapsed, plunging him into the pit beneath him.
"That was not a very good idea," Shade muttered.
Rayen's voice came out of the pit. "Hey guys! I found the last piece!"
Shade walked over to the mouth of the hole. "Great, now why don't you get your rear in gear and get out of that hole?"
"Probably a good idea, considering that wasn't the only thing I found in there." Rayen scrambled out of the pit, the green gem of the Dragon Block Staff clutched in his fist.
Shade stared down at the Red-Eye Dragoon. "What are you talking about?"
Rayen merely pointed into the hole as he got to his feet, drawing his blade from its sheath on his back. Three gigantic bulbous spiders scuttled out from the pit, their myriad eyes blinking ominously.
Shade sighed. "That would explain the webs. I should have known."
Rayen gripped the hilt of his blade. "These things don't look so tough. I bet we could beat them without changing into Dragoons."
Oraeus shook his head. "Never underestimate your enemy. Always fight your hardest, because if given an inch, your opponent will take it."
Rayen shrugged and activated his Dragoon Spirit, the flames that would form his crimson armor surging from the ruby.
The three Dragoons completed their transformations and launched themselves at the giant arachnids. Oraeus cleaved one in two with his axe, while Shade sliced off another spider's head and Rayen dispatched his opponent with a fireball. Within a few minutes, the trio of spiders lay dead, their blood and guts splattered all over the area. The Dragoon armor faded with a flash of red, brown, and black light.
Rayen turned to the half-Giganto, smirking. "See? I told you it would be easy."
Oraeus put on a stern face. "Just because you're a Dragoon doesn't mean you can flaunt that power which the Dragon has so graciously granted you. You're still relatively inexperienced, and you need to be prepared for an enemy that may test your limits."
Shade interrupted the argument. "I've talked to the others via the Dragons. They should meet us here in a few minutes and then we'll go get this staff fixed."
Rayen nodded. "Right. Then we'll bump off that divine pain in the ass once and for all."
************************************************************************
Moments later, all six Dragoons stood in the depths of the cave in the Barrens where the Red-Eye Dragons made their temporary home. The seven pieces of the Dragon Block Staff lay assembled on a slab of granite before the Grand Red-Eye. The gigantic Dragon examined them closely. Finding them to his satisfaction, he began the work. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled a large plume of white-hot flame, melting the metal to begin the reconstruction.
His booming voice echoed throughout the cave. "Ironically, the Winglies made the Staff so that only the breath of a Red-Eye Dragon could melt it. I suppose they thought they would activate the Staff before the Dragon got a chance to use its breath weapon."
When the metal was cool enough to touch, but still malleable, the Dragon reached down with his gigantic claws, molding the staff with surprising dexterity for a creature so huge. The Dragon shaped the metal until it was returned to its original shape, then beat his enormous wings, conjuring up a breeze to cool the Staff and make it solid once more. Once it was finished, the Grand Red-Eye motioned for Rayen to pick it up. Rayen walked over to the slab and lifted the staff, feeling the ancient magical power that radiated from it.
The Dragon Block Staff was whole once again.
Samovar suddenly jerked his head upward to the ceiling of the cave. "The Divine Dragon awakens. He is heading for a Human settlement. You must go."
All the Dragoons were caught completely off guard. "What?"
"Go! Now!"
After the initial moment of total shock, the Dragoons recovered. They bolted out of the cave, transformed, and flew into the air, trying to get a view of the Dragon. Sure enough, the horrible seven-winged behemoth was plowing through the air.
Rayen swore. "Shit! It's headed towards Furni!"
Furni had grown into one of the largest metropolises in Millie Seaseu. It was the center of sea trade with Tiberoa and Serdio. Rayen couldn't imagine the kind of damage the Divine Dragon could cause with Furni as his playground.
Rayen suddenly remembered something. "Wait! We need to deactivate our armor! If the people see us as Dragoons, our secret will be out, and they'll just freak even more!"
The other five Dragoons nodded their assent and landed, with their armor disappearing. Kyra teleported them to the outskirts of Furni, where they rushed into the city as fast as they possibly could.
They were too late.
The Divine Dragon hovered over the city, enjoying the screams of terror emanating from the streets below. Then the gigantic blue-white beam sliced through the metropolis, obliterating all of downtown. Satisfied, the sadistic monster retreated to his home in the Mountain of the Mortal Dragon.
The six Dragoons stood among the destruction, staring out at the annihilated buildings. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people were dead, and many more had lost their homes.
"DAMN IT!" Rayen slammed his fist the remains of a wall; cracking the brick and splitting open his knuckles in the process. He tried to find more words to express his rage and frustration, but could not relay them. Then he noticed the gleam from his pocket. He reached in, and pulled out the Sea Spirit, glowing dully. He held it up in disbelief.
Just then, a small shape crawled out from underneath a piece of wreckage, coughing. It stood up, and the Dragoon realized it was a girl. She looked no older than fifteen years old. Her hair would have been brown had it not been streaked with soot, and her eyes matched her hair perfectly. She noticed the group standing amongst the scene, and noticed the shining stone clutched in Rayen's hand. Her curiosity piqued, she ambled over to the group.
"What's that?" She touched the stone, and it shone still brighter.
"It is the Spirit of the Sea Dragoon, and it has chosen you as its next master," Rayen replied.
The girl's eyes widened. "So you guys are Dragoons?" They all nodded. "You're going to beat the crap out of whatever that thing was, right?" More nods came from the group. "Great! Count me in! Besides, I can't stand to be around this place any longer." She grabbed the stone and took off at a dead run, only stopping when she realized the other Dragoons weren't following. "What are you deadbeats waiting for? For it to destroy another city? Let's go!"
Kyra stared at the blood running down Rayen's hand. It reminded her of something, something important, but she couldn't fathom what it was.
Phil turned to Rayen. Rayen couldn't recall the Jade Dragoon looking more solemn than he did now, not even at his mother's funeral two years ago.
"Soa help us," was all Phil said, all he really needed to say. Whether he was speaking of the over-energetic new Dragoon or the upcoming battle with the Divine Dragon, Rayen couldn't say.
Author's Note: There. There's your hyperactive Sea Dragoon. I hope you're all pleased with her, because she's going to keep me awake at night. She reminds me too much of Meru. Meru scares me, I'm serious! I keep having nightmares about her overdosing on speed and coming to get me, with bloodshot eyes, and that huge hammer... *shudders*
Chapter 35
Kyra, Phil, and Dawn stood outside the ruins of the Black Castle. After the Second Dragon War, Serdians had torn down the castle, elating in their victory. However, nobody had the motivation and the manpower to remove the rubble until centuries later. By that time, historians had wanted to declare the site a national landmark. People had argued that it was a landmark of a different nation, a dead one, but the historians had won by declaring it a historical excavation site. Thus, the ruins remained, despite grumbling by the Serdian government. It was there that the sixth piece of the Dragon Block Staff lay, according to the Dragons.
Phil groaned upon sight of the remains. "Man, are we going to have to dig through all of this crap?"
"Yes, and very discreetly at that. If anyone catches us tunneling through this, the story will be out," Kyra replied.
They spent the next two hours sorting their way through the rubble, a thoroughly vexing process, until Phil finally found the piece.
Dawn straightened when Phil called out his discovery, her clothes and hair covered with soot. "Great. Now we can leave."
"Hey! What are you kids doing?"
Phil's triumphant shout had roused some of the workers nearby, and they were carefully picking their way up the rubble, headed towards the three Dragoons.
Phil swore. "Shit. All right, Kyra, unless you have a very plausible reason for us not to haul ass, I suggest you use your happy little Wingly magic to get us out of here. Now would be a very good time."
Kyra smirked. It was finally her turn to pay the Jade Dragoon back in full for the grief he had caused earlier through his practical jokes. Phil was the one stuck with the staff piece, and the historians couldn't prove that she and Dawn were in league with him. "Hmm... I don't know..."
"JUST DO IT ALREADY!"
Both girls enjoyed a good laugh before they left, leaving a pair of very confused excavators in their wake.
************************************************************************
Rayen, Shade, and Oraeus stomped through the dense foliage of the forest, searching for the final piece of the staff. Rayen pushed a large fern out of their way, only to find an open clearing with a fallen oak and gigantic spider webs covering huge holes in the earth. The three Dragoons paced around the clearing, studying it.
"Well, this is quite a scene," Oraeus commented.
"Indeed," Rayen agreed, walking over to examine the giant silvery webs. As he stood on one to test its resiliency, it collapsed, plunging him into the pit beneath him.
"That was not a very good idea," Shade muttered.
Rayen's voice came out of the pit. "Hey guys! I found the last piece!"
Shade walked over to the mouth of the hole. "Great, now why don't you get your rear in gear and get out of that hole?"
"Probably a good idea, considering that wasn't the only thing I found in there." Rayen scrambled out of the pit, the green gem of the Dragon Block Staff clutched in his fist.
Shade stared down at the Red-Eye Dragoon. "What are you talking about?"
Rayen merely pointed into the hole as he got to his feet, drawing his blade from its sheath on his back. Three gigantic bulbous spiders scuttled out from the pit, their myriad eyes blinking ominously.
Shade sighed. "That would explain the webs. I should have known."
Rayen gripped the hilt of his blade. "These things don't look so tough. I bet we could beat them without changing into Dragoons."
Oraeus shook his head. "Never underestimate your enemy. Always fight your hardest, because if given an inch, your opponent will take it."
Rayen shrugged and activated his Dragoon Spirit, the flames that would form his crimson armor surging from the ruby.
The three Dragoons completed their transformations and launched themselves at the giant arachnids. Oraeus cleaved one in two with his axe, while Shade sliced off another spider's head and Rayen dispatched his opponent with a fireball. Within a few minutes, the trio of spiders lay dead, their blood and guts splattered all over the area. The Dragoon armor faded with a flash of red, brown, and black light.
Rayen turned to the half-Giganto, smirking. "See? I told you it would be easy."
Oraeus put on a stern face. "Just because you're a Dragoon doesn't mean you can flaunt that power which the Dragon has so graciously granted you. You're still relatively inexperienced, and you need to be prepared for an enemy that may test your limits."
Shade interrupted the argument. "I've talked to the others via the Dragons. They should meet us here in a few minutes and then we'll go get this staff fixed."
Rayen nodded. "Right. Then we'll bump off that divine pain in the ass once and for all."
************************************************************************
Moments later, all six Dragoons stood in the depths of the cave in the Barrens where the Red-Eye Dragons made their temporary home. The seven pieces of the Dragon Block Staff lay assembled on a slab of granite before the Grand Red-Eye. The gigantic Dragon examined them closely. Finding them to his satisfaction, he began the work. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled a large plume of white-hot flame, melting the metal to begin the reconstruction.
His booming voice echoed throughout the cave. "Ironically, the Winglies made the Staff so that only the breath of a Red-Eye Dragon could melt it. I suppose they thought they would activate the Staff before the Dragon got a chance to use its breath weapon."
When the metal was cool enough to touch, but still malleable, the Dragon reached down with his gigantic claws, molding the staff with surprising dexterity for a creature so huge. The Dragon shaped the metal until it was returned to its original shape, then beat his enormous wings, conjuring up a breeze to cool the Staff and make it solid once more. Once it was finished, the Grand Red-Eye motioned for Rayen to pick it up. Rayen walked over to the slab and lifted the staff, feeling the ancient magical power that radiated from it.
The Dragon Block Staff was whole once again.
Samovar suddenly jerked his head upward to the ceiling of the cave. "The Divine Dragon awakens. He is heading for a Human settlement. You must go."
All the Dragoons were caught completely off guard. "What?"
"Go! Now!"
After the initial moment of total shock, the Dragoons recovered. They bolted out of the cave, transformed, and flew into the air, trying to get a view of the Dragon. Sure enough, the horrible seven-winged behemoth was plowing through the air.
Rayen swore. "Shit! It's headed towards Furni!"
Furni had grown into one of the largest metropolises in Millie Seaseu. It was the center of sea trade with Tiberoa and Serdio. Rayen couldn't imagine the kind of damage the Divine Dragon could cause with Furni as his playground.
Rayen suddenly remembered something. "Wait! We need to deactivate our armor! If the people see us as Dragoons, our secret will be out, and they'll just freak even more!"
The other five Dragoons nodded their assent and landed, with their armor disappearing. Kyra teleported them to the outskirts of Furni, where they rushed into the city as fast as they possibly could.
They were too late.
The Divine Dragon hovered over the city, enjoying the screams of terror emanating from the streets below. Then the gigantic blue-white beam sliced through the metropolis, obliterating all of downtown. Satisfied, the sadistic monster retreated to his home in the Mountain of the Mortal Dragon.
The six Dragoons stood among the destruction, staring out at the annihilated buildings. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people were dead, and many more had lost their homes.
"DAMN IT!" Rayen slammed his fist the remains of a wall; cracking the brick and splitting open his knuckles in the process. He tried to find more words to express his rage and frustration, but could not relay them. Then he noticed the gleam from his pocket. He reached in, and pulled out the Sea Spirit, glowing dully. He held it up in disbelief.
Just then, a small shape crawled out from underneath a piece of wreckage, coughing. It stood up, and the Dragoon realized it was a girl. She looked no older than fifteen years old. Her hair would have been brown had it not been streaked with soot, and her eyes matched her hair perfectly. She noticed the group standing amongst the scene, and noticed the shining stone clutched in Rayen's hand. Her curiosity piqued, she ambled over to the group.
"What's that?" She touched the stone, and it shone still brighter.
"It is the Spirit of the Sea Dragoon, and it has chosen you as its next master," Rayen replied.
The girl's eyes widened. "So you guys are Dragoons?" They all nodded. "You're going to beat the crap out of whatever that thing was, right?" More nods came from the group. "Great! Count me in! Besides, I can't stand to be around this place any longer." She grabbed the stone and took off at a dead run, only stopping when she realized the other Dragoons weren't following. "What are you deadbeats waiting for? For it to destroy another city? Let's go!"
Kyra stared at the blood running down Rayen's hand. It reminded her of something, something important, but she couldn't fathom what it was.
Phil turned to Rayen. Rayen couldn't recall the Jade Dragoon looking more solemn than he did now, not even at his mother's funeral two years ago.
"Soa help us," was all Phil said, all he really needed to say. Whether he was speaking of the over-energetic new Dragoon or the upcoming battle with the Divine Dragon, Rayen couldn't say.
Author's Note: There. There's your hyperactive Sea Dragoon. I hope you're all pleased with her, because she's going to keep me awake at night. She reminds me too much of Meru. Meru scares me, I'm serious! I keep having nightmares about her overdosing on speed and coming to get me, with bloodshot eyes, and that huge hammer... *shudders*