Author's Note: Trust me, DDX, things will get very unhappy soon. Anyway,
despite all the encouragement (thanks a lot for that, by the way), I still
think that last chapter sucked. But luckily, we've got a kick-ass battle
next chapter to make up for it. At least I hope it will, 'cause I REALLY
hated that last chapter. It came out all wrong. Oh well. These next few
chapters will be really dark and gloomy and stuff, partly because I planned
them that way, and partly because I've been watching too many Linkin Park
music videos on my computer. They've got a new album coming out soon,
dontcha now. I like that new Somewhere I Belong video, 'cause there's lots
of fire. Fiiiiiire...
Fifi, if I told you what I had planned for the next couple chapters, well... I wouldn't be able to surprise you. And that would take all the evilness away. And Striker likes evilness.
Striker do too speak good.
Chapter 73
Artaeris grimaced in disgust when he heard the news the next morning. So they were finally dropping all pretenses. He was being left behind.
They did a great job of glorifying it, he had to give them credit for that. Rayen had said something about protecting their new fort. Abrian, who had accidentally discovered a personal talent for enchanting mundane objects, had made a stone that allowed the half-Giganto to communicate directly with Rayen whenever the enemy was approaching the base. Then, the Wingly Dragoons would pool their energies to create a mass teleport spell to send the army back to the fort. If their combined energies were not enough, Rayen would pitch in some of the Guardian Dragoon's almost limitless power.
The sheer frustration of the matter made Artaeris want to tear the godforsaken building apart, stone by stone. He, a proud son of a upstanding warrior, reduced to a scout, a caged canary in a mine! An one-eyed Minito could do the same task, and probably with the same effectiveness as Artaeris himself. But no, he was too much of a liability to haul around. This way, they got rid of unnecessary weight and an extra mouth to feed, and still made it appear that this tiresome piece of baggage was doing something useful. The young half-Giganto's thoughts gradually sunk deeper and deeper into a mire of bitterness and gloom.
A scout sped breathlessly towards the fort, travelling as fast as his emerald wings would take him. The Jade Dragoon practically hurled himself upon the stone battlement, as several of the soldiers that were on the roof at the time crowded around him. The Wind Dragon Knight panted furiously, exhausted. "I must... speak with the commander!"
Rayen was up to the top of the building so quickly one could have sworn he had brought himself there by magic. He knelt at the side of the scout, who was slurping down water brought to him. "What's wrong?" It was obvious someone would not have broken their back getting here to deliver good news.
"Task force... headed this way."
Victor landed nearby, nodding his affirmation. "I was out there too. It's the biggest goddamn group of the little bastards I've seen yet."
Rayen swore under his breath. "That was fast."
Kyra clenched her clawed fist, the sickly sunlight of the weak sun casting a cold glow on the steel barbs of her weapons. "Too fast. How could they have possibly gotten the news that quickly?"
"Unless this group was dispatched earlier, perhaps as soon as we entered this dimension in the first place, and then picked up that information on the way," Oraeus pointed out, although he looked as grim as anyone else on the rooftop.
Rayen's hand went to the hilt of the Dragon Buster, the magical force of the ancient relic tingling in his fingertips. "It makes no difference. Prepare the troops for mobilization."
Phil looked at him like he was insane, but Rayen was so used to this expression he hardly even noticed it anymore. "But we just took this place! Why not put it to good use?"
"Because for all we know, there could be an equally large force approaching from the other side of the mountains. If that's true, then we would be stuck between two massive enemy blockades, stuck inside a small fort. We'd be butchered. No, it's better to fight one at a time than both at once."
The Jade Dragoon was obstinate. "But you said we could prepare magical defenses!"
Rayen sighed. "If the forces are as large as they say, then I doubt any amount of magic would do us a great deal of good."
"But we'd just leave this place unmanned, and if they took it back we'd just have come in one big circle."
"Better to win again than to die for the first time."
Phil's mouth opened again, then shut. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine. Unfortunately for the rest of us, you're the boss."
"Phil, if you were in charge, we'd probably be baking a giant pizza for your last meal."
"I'm offended. If it were my last meal, we'd have a gigantic steak. The problem would be finding a cow big enough. I don't the hormone problem is that bad yet."
Resisting a strong urge to take his friend aside and smack him, Rayen motioned for Phil to get on with it. Rolling his eyes one last time, the Jade Dragoon left.
Rayen felt a tug at his arm, and turned around. It was Shade, his brown eyes regarding the young warrior intently. "I need the gem." It wasn't a request.
Rayen's face was blank as he tried to figure out what the Dark Dragoon was talking about. "Gem?"
"The gem from the staff."
Rayen's face instantly turned from confusion to shocked surprise. He stared at Shade in disbelief. "How... did you know about that?"
"I see a lot more than people give me credit for," Shade replied dryly.
"What do you need it for?" It wasn't as though Rayen was suspicious; he had learned too much about Shade to think that. He was simply genuinely curious, and rightly so. It wasn't often someone came out of the blue and asked you for an artifact you had no idea anyone else knew existed.
"I have a theory. Although the main spell on the Dragon Block Staff is broken when it shatters, there is some sort of residual magic that lies inside the pieces themselves, so that the device can still function when it's repaired. My plan is to project my magic through the gem, and I'm hoping that the powers of the gem will magnify my spells. An amplifier, if you will."
Rayen could certainly see how that would make sense, and the more advantages they had over the enemy, the better. He slipped a hand into his pocket and gave the fist-sized green gem to the Dark Dragoon, who turned on his heel without another word.
Dawn hurried to the top of the fort when she received the news. Taking hold of her berdiche, she practically scurried up the stone steps, her boots clicking on the cold granite below her feet. Again they were off to battle, with the pain and the eternal suffering. She hated combat, for it was the epitome of the horrors man could inflict on fellow man. It was true that they were not fighting true humans now, but the whole idea repulsed her.
She longed for the days when everything was simple. When she was still a waitress at that little restaurant in her hometown and her biggest problems were those mysterious disappearances and dealing with the grief of her parents' death. Despite what people said about the tortures of dealing with the unknown, Dawn now thought that it was better to not know than to ultimately learn the worst had happened, and to see those horrors with your own eyes. But now she was marching off to war, to watch as humans broke their backs for a heartless race that made no sign that they even acknowledged their existence except when delighting in a vicious flogging.
But Dawn knew that if she allowed this to go on, she would be no better than the slime that was perpetrating such heinous crimes. She had turned to violence as a last resort, because she had gone so far as to decide that nothing else would truly work. Now that she had accepted violence, she was beginning to worry that she had trapped herself, and that it would be impossible to get out of the rut she had dug for herself. But for now, she couldn't escape it. At least until all this was over, she had to fight.
Rayen flew at the head of the Dragoons, once again clad in the resplendent armor of the Guardian Dragoon. He scanned the snowy earth below them, searching for this force that they had spoken of in whispers filled with fear. He was certain this was the place; both Victor and the scout had said so. But there was nothing in sight. Except...
No, that couldn't be it. Just a shadow... no! He had thought it the shadow of one of the mountains, but shadows did not move, or at least they didn't move like that. But sure enough, the gigantic black mass was crawling along. It was larger than even he had imagined. He drew the Protector, and pointed the tip of the blade towards the surging foe. The Dragoons opened their wings wide, tilted their bodies, and dove. Their enemies must have spotted them, for the huge formation suddenly halted, as if they were waiting for them.
Rayen didn't want to disappoint them. The Dragoons landed in orderly rows a few hundred yards away. Weapons were drawn, faces set in grim lines. But then the crowd of demons parted, and a single ebony figure stepped to the head. A demon in the shape of a human, which they had not seen much of. But then it became more unusual still. It produced a fist-sized ruby, and clutched in front of its chest.
Red-hot flames enveloped its dark form, and as it lifted a wicked-looking scimitar, the demon was dressed in the armor of a Red-Eye Dragoon.
Author's Note: Bum bum BUUUUM! That's right, kiddies, the baddies have Dragoons now! Bad stuff's going down, needless to say. Big battle chapter coming up next, so review and squirm in anticipation! Mwahaha.
Fifi, if I told you what I had planned for the next couple chapters, well... I wouldn't be able to surprise you. And that would take all the evilness away. And Striker likes evilness.
Striker do too speak good.
Chapter 73
Artaeris grimaced in disgust when he heard the news the next morning. So they were finally dropping all pretenses. He was being left behind.
They did a great job of glorifying it, he had to give them credit for that. Rayen had said something about protecting their new fort. Abrian, who had accidentally discovered a personal talent for enchanting mundane objects, had made a stone that allowed the half-Giganto to communicate directly with Rayen whenever the enemy was approaching the base. Then, the Wingly Dragoons would pool their energies to create a mass teleport spell to send the army back to the fort. If their combined energies were not enough, Rayen would pitch in some of the Guardian Dragoon's almost limitless power.
The sheer frustration of the matter made Artaeris want to tear the godforsaken building apart, stone by stone. He, a proud son of a upstanding warrior, reduced to a scout, a caged canary in a mine! An one-eyed Minito could do the same task, and probably with the same effectiveness as Artaeris himself. But no, he was too much of a liability to haul around. This way, they got rid of unnecessary weight and an extra mouth to feed, and still made it appear that this tiresome piece of baggage was doing something useful. The young half-Giganto's thoughts gradually sunk deeper and deeper into a mire of bitterness and gloom.
A scout sped breathlessly towards the fort, travelling as fast as his emerald wings would take him. The Jade Dragoon practically hurled himself upon the stone battlement, as several of the soldiers that were on the roof at the time crowded around him. The Wind Dragon Knight panted furiously, exhausted. "I must... speak with the commander!"
Rayen was up to the top of the building so quickly one could have sworn he had brought himself there by magic. He knelt at the side of the scout, who was slurping down water brought to him. "What's wrong?" It was obvious someone would not have broken their back getting here to deliver good news.
"Task force... headed this way."
Victor landed nearby, nodding his affirmation. "I was out there too. It's the biggest goddamn group of the little bastards I've seen yet."
Rayen swore under his breath. "That was fast."
Kyra clenched her clawed fist, the sickly sunlight of the weak sun casting a cold glow on the steel barbs of her weapons. "Too fast. How could they have possibly gotten the news that quickly?"
"Unless this group was dispatched earlier, perhaps as soon as we entered this dimension in the first place, and then picked up that information on the way," Oraeus pointed out, although he looked as grim as anyone else on the rooftop.
Rayen's hand went to the hilt of the Dragon Buster, the magical force of the ancient relic tingling in his fingertips. "It makes no difference. Prepare the troops for mobilization."
Phil looked at him like he was insane, but Rayen was so used to this expression he hardly even noticed it anymore. "But we just took this place! Why not put it to good use?"
"Because for all we know, there could be an equally large force approaching from the other side of the mountains. If that's true, then we would be stuck between two massive enemy blockades, stuck inside a small fort. We'd be butchered. No, it's better to fight one at a time than both at once."
The Jade Dragoon was obstinate. "But you said we could prepare magical defenses!"
Rayen sighed. "If the forces are as large as they say, then I doubt any amount of magic would do us a great deal of good."
"But we'd just leave this place unmanned, and if they took it back we'd just have come in one big circle."
"Better to win again than to die for the first time."
Phil's mouth opened again, then shut. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine. Unfortunately for the rest of us, you're the boss."
"Phil, if you were in charge, we'd probably be baking a giant pizza for your last meal."
"I'm offended. If it were my last meal, we'd have a gigantic steak. The problem would be finding a cow big enough. I don't the hormone problem is that bad yet."
Resisting a strong urge to take his friend aside and smack him, Rayen motioned for Phil to get on with it. Rolling his eyes one last time, the Jade Dragoon left.
Rayen felt a tug at his arm, and turned around. It was Shade, his brown eyes regarding the young warrior intently. "I need the gem." It wasn't a request.
Rayen's face was blank as he tried to figure out what the Dark Dragoon was talking about. "Gem?"
"The gem from the staff."
Rayen's face instantly turned from confusion to shocked surprise. He stared at Shade in disbelief. "How... did you know about that?"
"I see a lot more than people give me credit for," Shade replied dryly.
"What do you need it for?" It wasn't as though Rayen was suspicious; he had learned too much about Shade to think that. He was simply genuinely curious, and rightly so. It wasn't often someone came out of the blue and asked you for an artifact you had no idea anyone else knew existed.
"I have a theory. Although the main spell on the Dragon Block Staff is broken when it shatters, there is some sort of residual magic that lies inside the pieces themselves, so that the device can still function when it's repaired. My plan is to project my magic through the gem, and I'm hoping that the powers of the gem will magnify my spells. An amplifier, if you will."
Rayen could certainly see how that would make sense, and the more advantages they had over the enemy, the better. He slipped a hand into his pocket and gave the fist-sized green gem to the Dark Dragoon, who turned on his heel without another word.
Dawn hurried to the top of the fort when she received the news. Taking hold of her berdiche, she practically scurried up the stone steps, her boots clicking on the cold granite below her feet. Again they were off to battle, with the pain and the eternal suffering. She hated combat, for it was the epitome of the horrors man could inflict on fellow man. It was true that they were not fighting true humans now, but the whole idea repulsed her.
She longed for the days when everything was simple. When she was still a waitress at that little restaurant in her hometown and her biggest problems were those mysterious disappearances and dealing with the grief of her parents' death. Despite what people said about the tortures of dealing with the unknown, Dawn now thought that it was better to not know than to ultimately learn the worst had happened, and to see those horrors with your own eyes. But now she was marching off to war, to watch as humans broke their backs for a heartless race that made no sign that they even acknowledged their existence except when delighting in a vicious flogging.
But Dawn knew that if she allowed this to go on, she would be no better than the slime that was perpetrating such heinous crimes. She had turned to violence as a last resort, because she had gone so far as to decide that nothing else would truly work. Now that she had accepted violence, she was beginning to worry that she had trapped herself, and that it would be impossible to get out of the rut she had dug for herself. But for now, she couldn't escape it. At least until all this was over, she had to fight.
Rayen flew at the head of the Dragoons, once again clad in the resplendent armor of the Guardian Dragoon. He scanned the snowy earth below them, searching for this force that they had spoken of in whispers filled with fear. He was certain this was the place; both Victor and the scout had said so. But there was nothing in sight. Except...
No, that couldn't be it. Just a shadow... no! He had thought it the shadow of one of the mountains, but shadows did not move, or at least they didn't move like that. But sure enough, the gigantic black mass was crawling along. It was larger than even he had imagined. He drew the Protector, and pointed the tip of the blade towards the surging foe. The Dragoons opened their wings wide, tilted their bodies, and dove. Their enemies must have spotted them, for the huge formation suddenly halted, as if they were waiting for them.
Rayen didn't want to disappoint them. The Dragoons landed in orderly rows a few hundred yards away. Weapons were drawn, faces set in grim lines. But then the crowd of demons parted, and a single ebony figure stepped to the head. A demon in the shape of a human, which they had not seen much of. But then it became more unusual still. It produced a fist-sized ruby, and clutched in front of its chest.
Red-hot flames enveloped its dark form, and as it lifted a wicked-looking scimitar, the demon was dressed in the armor of a Red-Eye Dragoon.
Author's Note: Bum bum BUUUUM! That's right, kiddies, the baddies have Dragoons now! Bad stuff's going down, needless to say. Big battle chapter coming up next, so review and squirm in anticipation! Mwahaha.