Author's Note: *runs over his writer's block with a steamroller* DIE, evil mental deficiency from hell! I squish you beneath my big wheels of death! Mwahaha. OK, I feel better now.

Regrem, I don't think that the whole gem thing is gonna happen. The whole point of the Prism Spirit is that the entire balance weighs on the sole wielder of the Spirit, which is good for the Murderer because if he can get Rayen to swing out of line, everything's dead. Period. If there's more than one, that kind of defeats the whole purpose. Sorry, but that doesn't really have a place in the story. For the most part, I've got the major events planned out until the end of the fic, which WILL come eventually, but it may take a while.

And Phantom, get over it. It's just a Dragon. Ye gods, you don't have to murder all my characters just because Rayen killed an oversized icy lizard.

Chapter 71

"So, there are Dragoons among the slaves in our own world. I did not expect such a thing to happen."

"Should I send out an order for the Humans in this dimension to be disposed of, my liege?"

"No, it makes no difference. He is all that matters. Chop off the head and the body will fall, no matter how large it is."

"Yes, sir."

"Send out a dispatch. They won't find many in that settlement, but the second Divine Dragoon is there, so we'd better send out six divisions."

"Of course."

"Another thing. Place an officer in charge of this task force."

The messenger demon's blood-red eyes opened wide in surprise, and he stammered a weak protest. "An officer? But sire, we have so few, and..."

"Do you doubt my judgement?"

"Of course not, Lord, but..."

"Very well then. You have your orders."

Shaking his head in disbelief, the courier left to deliver his message to the troops. The dark being steepled his fingers, gazing deep into the orb that was his eyes to the outside world. Why didn't the fool understand? This was not a war of self-preservation. They themselves were not even truly alive, nor really dead; they were stuck in some sort of accursed limbo born of the deepest, darkest, most secret places of people's hearts. Apparently he had grown attached to the wretched semblance of existence he had gained. Oh well, one had to expect cowards in every group. However, if it became too much more of a problem, he would have to be disposed of. Nothing could interfere with the plan.

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Death.

Rayen could feel it, hanging over the recent incredible developments in their favor, sucking out the joy like a leech. He had no idea where it was coming from. He suspected divine intervention was the cause of these premonitions, even though he had been receiving them long before he had completed the Prism Spirit. All the previous ones he had accepted without doubts, but this one he approached with caution. He had no idea whether this vision was real, or if the Murderer was making appear so, so as to make him make a foolish mistake that would destroy all hope.

He glared down angrily at the Spirit in his palm. "What the hell do you think you're trying to pull?"

The swirling vortex of magic inside the crystal remained silent. Figures, Rayen thought grimly. The Murderer had two modes of speaking, snide mockery and maddeningly cryptic riddles. There was no in between. There was nothing he would gain out of speaking to the god anyway. It would only make the situation more complicated.

The snow snapped underfoot in protest as the Dragoons trudged wearily down the hill towards the valley where the quaint village sat unassumingly, Abrian at the lead. Heads snapped up at their passing. Abrian motioned for them all to be silent. "Just let me do the talking. They'll believe me."

Abrian followed the Spirit's pulse like a beacon atop a lighthouse, which eventually grew steadily brighter until they reached a small hovel in center of the town. A look of perplexity flickered on Abrian's face, as if he were not sure if this was the correct destination. Rayen glanced at him. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... I know the person who lives here."

Phil scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's a small town. Don't you know everyone?"

Abrian gazed back at the Jade Dragoon, his expression unreadable, while Dawn nudged him in the ribs in a signal for Phil to keep quiet as they were instructed. After a few moments, Abrian shrugged and opened the door. Rayen followed, but the others stayed behind. Abrian knocked gently on the doorframe to alert the occupants of their arrival. A tall, burly man came down the steps. "Abrian? Who's this with you?"

Fortunately, Abrian and Rayen blocked the view of the several hundred warriors outside. "Well, it's a long story..."

The Silver Dragoon glanced at the Spirit, and then back at Rayen, but the Guardian Dragoon shook his head. Abrian finished his sentence awkwardly. "...Is Selari home?"

The man looked from Abrian to Rayen, but shrugged. "Yeah, I'll get her."

The man Rayen assumed was Selari's father came back down the staircase, a tall, tanned girl with long red hair and brilliant green eyes in tow. "Abrian?"

"Hey, Sel. Listen, this is going to sound really crazy, but this guy here is in command of an army from the other side of the gateway who have magical stones that transform them into legendary warriors, and they're here to fight the demons."

The girl shook her head. "You're right. It does sound crazy."

Her father stared at Rayen. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Rayen remained silent, as he was told. Sure enough, Abrian answered the question for him. "Well... no. The other three hundred are outside your door right now. See, they've got another couple hundred of the stones that belong to people in our world, and one of them accepted me."

"All right, so you've come to show your new powers off?"

Despite the seriousness of their situation, Abrian rolled his eyes. "No, Sel, you dolt. One of them has chosen you, too." He exhibited the Divine Dragoon Spirit as evidence. Selari took the Spirit, and it began to shine brighter. She looked back at her father.

His face was disapproving. "I'm not sure I should let you go and get yourself get killed for a bunch of people from another world."

Her face grew indignant. "For what? So we can remain slaves all our lives? Have you forgotten that they killed Mom?"

"How could I? But..." The man exhaled heavily, and threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine. Go."

Selari hugged her father briefly, then smiled at Rayen and Abrian, waiting. Rayen blinked and spoke up for the first time. "Well, that was considerably easier than I expected."

"Oh, he talks?"

"Of course he talks. He wouldn't be in charge of an army if all he did was sit there and point, would he?"

"He's standing."

"Shut up, Sel."

A few hours later, the Dragoons were moving out of the town, laden with fresh supplies from the townspeople, who, despite a dissenting voice here and there, were more than happy to assist their efforts. Abrian and Selari trudged along side Rayen at the head of the group. "So, what now?"

Rayen thought for a moment. "Well, before we go to human settlements looking for new Dragoons, we ought to have a sort of home base. A fortified area, preferably easy to defend and with a good store of supplies." Shade nodded his agreement.

Abrian snapped his fingers. "I know just the place. The demons have a fort in a nearby mountain pass. They may not have a lot of food there or anything, but it'd be a start."

Shade's brows narrowed. "Who would want to build a fortress in a mountain pass? They'd be crushed by a competent attack on both sides."

"Well, that's sort of the point. You see, the fortress is there to keep the humans on both sides of the mountains from communicating, so that they can't organize a major rebellion. If the humans can't talk to each other, then they can't organize a two-pronged attack."

Shade's brown eyes flickered, a sign he was considering the matter. Rayen spoke up while the Dark Dragoon examined the situation. "But I thought you said that revolts hardly did any damage to them. Why would they take those sort of measures to prevent them?"

"Well, one big rebellion would certainly do more damage than several smaller ones that are quelled immediately."

Shade spoke, his voice clear even through the cloth of the mask that covered his mouth. "I suppose mountainous terrain wouldn't be too much of a problem for us, considering we can fly, and we could prepare magical defenses, even from an attack on both sides..."

The Dark Dragoon's voice trailed off, and Rayen smiled. "I think it's a great idea. Just out of curiosity, do the demons have any aerial troops stationed there?"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but I doubt they have any fliers beyond a few airborne messengers. Flying combat troops are pretty scarce, they don't like to waste them."

Rayen nodded, for most of the enemy they had fought so far were strictly ground creatures. He felt a plan taking shape in the back of his mind. "Great. Lead on."

Abrian nodded, and the group turned to the west, where snow covered peaks jutted from the blanket of clouds. They were on their way.

Author's Note: Bwah. OK, the next chapters will definitely come easier. Sorry about the wait. O_o Sure, Shade, you can have the sky if you want. Provided it doesn't just disappear from their world or anything. That would suck majorly. Okey dokey, chapter over.