Author's Note: Remember those good old days when I updated once every three
days? Yes, I know it's been forever, but I've been either grounded or busy
or stuck for the past month. Sue me.
Oh, and the prologue was just a legend. In actuality, as I have mentioned, Dragoon Spirits cannot be destroyed. They probably just hid them somewhere or something. Yeah.
Sequel? I've thought about it, but if there is a sequel, it won't be for a while. I've got a whole lot of ideas that I want to try out, as I've mentioned, along with one that's not on my profile because it's a really cool idea but I'm not sure if I could make a good story out of it. I'm going to try out a few new ideas before I even consider doing a Rebirth sequel.
Chapter 79
Rayen once again felt the peculiar shivering sensation as he passed through the ethereal space between dimensions. When he emerged from the portal, he glanced around. He seemed to be in an endless expanse of sky. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he could not detect earth below them. Rayen felt a huge weight press down on his back, and had to beat his wings harder to stay aloft. The gravity must have been stronger on this planet. Perhaps this was an entirely gaseous planet, large enough to have a strong gravitational pull.
As he continued to fight his way through the hazy air and the strong gravity, he caught glimpses of strange spherical objects before him. His curiosity piqued, he accelerated slightly, just enough to get closer without flying out of the others' ranges of vision, which was slightly obscured by the thick atmosphere. When he began to spot pinpricks of light from inside the globes, he realized with a jolt what these objects were. Gargantuan floating cities loomed out of the mist, encased in shells of glass.
There were several other gasps of awe from behind him as his followers came into view of the enormous metropolises suspended in an almost ghostlike manner. Rayen had to admit that they were quite imposing. The glass domes extended from a base of steel, beneath which three oblong pods pulsed with whatever alien energy kept the huge spheres aloft. But inside the dome, a miniature world loomed, with skyscrapers, homes, commercial areas, and even small parks. Countless more of these pocket universes lay just beyond the first, and they stretched beyond what the eye could see.
Rayen heard Phil's voice, but it seemed hushed, almost as if he were afraid to disrupt the grave serenity of this world. "Now that is cool."
Rayen privately agreed, and found himself reluctant to abandon this place without further study, but somebody had to keep his mind on the mission. He spotted another gate slightly below the base of the nearest city, and headed for it, wings straining under the immense pull. Heat was obviously a byproduct of whatever energy powered the cities, and sweat began to roll down Rayen's face. But soon he was through the portal, and the blast of heat was gone.
When he reemerged, the new landscape that stretched before him was immensely different from the last. The earth was rust red and cracked, with the unmistakable glow of magma pulsing from within. Smothering heat rose from the ground in shimmering waves that distorted the air. Rayen was surprised that they could manage to breathe the fumes of this planet, as he suspected it would normally be toxic. Perhaps the armor protected them, in some method he couldn't fathom. No intelligent life was visible on this planet, but Rayen could have sworn he had caught glimpses of pairs of eyes gleaming from the molten rock churning just beneath the planet's surface more than once. Maybe a distortion caused by the heat, but Rayen still wanted to be on guard.
No portal could be seen in their immediate surroundings, so Rayen was forced to continue moving. Fortunately, the sky of this world had a faint greenish cast, so a gate would be easy enough to spot. Rayen kept uneasily glancing toward the barren, cracked surface. Something about this place didn't feel right. He didn't find any more eyes gazing at them from the lava, and a part of his mind stubbornly maintained he was acting like a damn fool, but he still half expected something to pounce at them at any moment.
Without warning, a forceful gale of superheated air caught him head on. He closed his eyes to keep out the stinging wind, raising his arms to shield his unprotected face. The rampant gale tossed him this way and that, finally throwing him into a complete somersault. As he tumbled over and over himself, Rayen struggled to right himself and regain his bearings. When the scalding zephyr finally abated, Rayen opened his eyes tentatively. The Dragoons were scattered from their formerly tight ranks, still reeling from the force of the whirlwind. Without any sort of landmarks to navigate by on the ravaged land beneath him, any hope of picking up their former course was nearly extinct.
Birathion was released from its sheath with a grating rustle. This was far too coincidental. Rayen no longer attempted to delude himself into thinking nothing was wrong. Everything about this place suddenly took on an underlying, sinister vibe. The green heavens seemed venomous, and the pulsing pyres of molten stone seemed like maleficent gates giving him a glimpse into the hell that beckoned to him, reaching out, grasping for his blood...
Rayen felt the presence behind him an instant before it was too late. Whipping around, he saw nothing but a pair of huge jaws gaping wide with needle-sharp fangs as long as his arm. Beating his wings frantically, he shot out of the way like a bullet a millisecond before the jaws snapped shut with a force that would have separated Rayen's torso from his shoulders.
Now that the mouth was closed, Rayen found himself gazing into the eyes of a titanic blood-red snake, at least a hundred feet long, with scales the size of his head and sulfuric yellow eyes with catlike pupils. A trio of arrows immediately lodged themselves in the beast, a fourth bouncing off the scales with a hollow metallic ring, like the striking of a gong. Several yells rang out, and Rayen turned to see several more snakes bursting from the cracks in the earth. They were fireproof, then. Two, four, eight, twelve, Rayen finally counted twenty.
Rayen sucked in his breath and bellowed, hoping everyone could hear him. "Split up! Don't provide an easy target! Conserve your magic, fire won't work!"
Rayen noticed Dawn, Victor, and Oraeus coming to assist him, along with about half a dozen others. The gigantic reptile bunched itself up to strike, then lashed out like a whip. Rayen rolled to the left, then struck with his blade. Although the snake's scales were tough enough to repel an arrow, the Protector sliced through them with little difficulty, bringing forth a spatter of mottled green blood. Glancing away from the creature for as quickly as he dared, he saw that Dawn and Oraeus were forced to use the thrusting tips of their weapons instead of the slashing edges to get through the armor. The magical sword certainly made things a lot easier.
A loud bang rang above the clamor of battle, and the snake let out an unearthly wail, a neat hole in the center of its eye. Looking to the source of the noise, Rayen saw Victor cocking back his gun for another shot, taking careful aim with a grim, hardened expression. Because his Dragoon transformation turned his bullets to magical bolts of fire, normally a bonus but actually a hindrance against these heat-impervious enemies, he had not stood by on the sidelines but instead took out the only areas vulnerable to his weapon, blinding the foe in the process. Rayen admired his ingenuity. The gun resounded once more, putting out the other eye, and the unfortunate monster emitted another high-pitched shriek and began to thrash about wildly, exhaling clouds of flame haphazardly.
Seizing the crazed reptile by the neck, Dawn and Oraeus held it still. Taking the hint, Rayen planted his feet firmly on the beast's nose, driving Birathion straight between the two now defunct eyes, piercing through the skull and into the brain. The scaly body gave a tremendous shiver, then fell limp. Dawn and Oraeus dropped the dead snake, where it fell to the ground with an earthshaking crash, and retrieved their weapons from the Dragoons they had entrusted them with. The Dragoons split up in search of new targets.
It wasn't long before Dawn found herself in trouble. She drifted and wove before the triangular head of the snake, commanding its attention, occasionally diving in and jabbing its neck with the tip of the crescent- moon-shaped head of her berdiche. The monster breathed a burst of flame, forcing the Silver Dragoon to roll over to avoid being fried. When she reoriented herself, the creature was nowhere to be seen. Turning her head frantically, she saw nothing. There was a faint hiss behind her, and she whipped around to see the snake staring her right in the face, its tawny eyes gleaming with undisguised triumph. There was no time to move.
But before the teeth slammed shut, she was hauled away from certain death. Phil was there, irrepressible grin and all. "We'll talk about the reward later."
In spite of the situation, she slapped him. If nothing else, his smile grew even wider. He was obviously accustomed to this reaction. "Such ingratitude. You'd think I suggested something indecent. We could just get dinner or something."
She squirmed out of his arms, and flew off. Phil chuckled once more, then looped back around and re-engaged the foe from which he had rescued the Silver Dragoon. "Okay, Gruesome," he instructed. "Watch the pretty green birdie." Looping around the monstrosity in lazy circles, baiting it into striking. Whenever it nipped at him, he taunted it by outpacing it easily with bursts of speed. Finally, he sped straight at the creature. "Open wide!" The beast complied, stretching its orifice wide, ready to swallow the Jade Dragoon whole...
...Only to find a six-foot long shaft of wood with a barbed tip shoved down its esophagus.
The snake gagged, its throat constricting around the spear, and attempted to shake Phil off. But the cunning dragoon wedged his feet against the jaws, keeping them open. He could hear bile and vomit welling up in its closed airway, cutting off its breath. The whipping about grew even more frantic, but Phil was relentless, grabbing onto one of the massive fangs with his free hand. Finally, it suffocated, and Phil jerked his weapon free, the head covered in some viscous substance reeking of rotten eggs. He wiped it off, thankful he was wearing gauntlets.
"Just a little trick I picked up from the anorexics,' Phil cracked, despite the fact that nobody else could hear him.
The rest of the battle went mostly the same way. Blinded by Victor's ruthless trigger finger, the enemy eventually succumbed to the countless jabs and arrows, although Birathion's keen edge speeded up the process considerably. Fortunately, there were no casualties, although many suffered burns from the reptiles' flaming breath. Now more of the healing magic would be wasted treating those, Rayen mused unhappily. Of course, he had not forgotten the possibility of hostile alien life, but actually coming in contact with it complicated matters somewhat. The final confrontation could very well come in the next couple of days, and if their magic ran out, they would almost certainly be slaughtered.
But there was no use crying over spilt milk, as the saying went. Gathering up his army, he led them onward until they reached a portal. They were not accosted again, and Rayen assumed they had inadvertently stumbled upon a nest or something of the sort. He poked his head through to make certain it was not the one from which they had come, and found that he was looking out on Abrian and Selari's world. Better yet, another rank of ant-sized black spots was moving against the seemingly endless carpet of snow. Pulling back out to beckon his forces toward the gate, he plunged back through, sword at his side and three hundred winged warriors at his back.
Author's Note: There. Done, finally. Thought I'd throw in a little something new to break up the monotony. Next update will be quicker, I promise, because we're closing in on the end, and I know what happens there. I'd guess that there are about 6 or 7 chapters left, 10 at most. Hopefully I'll get another chapter up before I leave next week.
Oh, and the prologue was just a legend. In actuality, as I have mentioned, Dragoon Spirits cannot be destroyed. They probably just hid them somewhere or something. Yeah.
Sequel? I've thought about it, but if there is a sequel, it won't be for a while. I've got a whole lot of ideas that I want to try out, as I've mentioned, along with one that's not on my profile because it's a really cool idea but I'm not sure if I could make a good story out of it. I'm going to try out a few new ideas before I even consider doing a Rebirth sequel.
Chapter 79
Rayen once again felt the peculiar shivering sensation as he passed through the ethereal space between dimensions. When he emerged from the portal, he glanced around. He seemed to be in an endless expanse of sky. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he could not detect earth below them. Rayen felt a huge weight press down on his back, and had to beat his wings harder to stay aloft. The gravity must have been stronger on this planet. Perhaps this was an entirely gaseous planet, large enough to have a strong gravitational pull.
As he continued to fight his way through the hazy air and the strong gravity, he caught glimpses of strange spherical objects before him. His curiosity piqued, he accelerated slightly, just enough to get closer without flying out of the others' ranges of vision, which was slightly obscured by the thick atmosphere. When he began to spot pinpricks of light from inside the globes, he realized with a jolt what these objects were. Gargantuan floating cities loomed out of the mist, encased in shells of glass.
There were several other gasps of awe from behind him as his followers came into view of the enormous metropolises suspended in an almost ghostlike manner. Rayen had to admit that they were quite imposing. The glass domes extended from a base of steel, beneath which three oblong pods pulsed with whatever alien energy kept the huge spheres aloft. But inside the dome, a miniature world loomed, with skyscrapers, homes, commercial areas, and even small parks. Countless more of these pocket universes lay just beyond the first, and they stretched beyond what the eye could see.
Rayen heard Phil's voice, but it seemed hushed, almost as if he were afraid to disrupt the grave serenity of this world. "Now that is cool."
Rayen privately agreed, and found himself reluctant to abandon this place without further study, but somebody had to keep his mind on the mission. He spotted another gate slightly below the base of the nearest city, and headed for it, wings straining under the immense pull. Heat was obviously a byproduct of whatever energy powered the cities, and sweat began to roll down Rayen's face. But soon he was through the portal, and the blast of heat was gone.
When he reemerged, the new landscape that stretched before him was immensely different from the last. The earth was rust red and cracked, with the unmistakable glow of magma pulsing from within. Smothering heat rose from the ground in shimmering waves that distorted the air. Rayen was surprised that they could manage to breathe the fumes of this planet, as he suspected it would normally be toxic. Perhaps the armor protected them, in some method he couldn't fathom. No intelligent life was visible on this planet, but Rayen could have sworn he had caught glimpses of pairs of eyes gleaming from the molten rock churning just beneath the planet's surface more than once. Maybe a distortion caused by the heat, but Rayen still wanted to be on guard.
No portal could be seen in their immediate surroundings, so Rayen was forced to continue moving. Fortunately, the sky of this world had a faint greenish cast, so a gate would be easy enough to spot. Rayen kept uneasily glancing toward the barren, cracked surface. Something about this place didn't feel right. He didn't find any more eyes gazing at them from the lava, and a part of his mind stubbornly maintained he was acting like a damn fool, but he still half expected something to pounce at them at any moment.
Without warning, a forceful gale of superheated air caught him head on. He closed his eyes to keep out the stinging wind, raising his arms to shield his unprotected face. The rampant gale tossed him this way and that, finally throwing him into a complete somersault. As he tumbled over and over himself, Rayen struggled to right himself and regain his bearings. When the scalding zephyr finally abated, Rayen opened his eyes tentatively. The Dragoons were scattered from their formerly tight ranks, still reeling from the force of the whirlwind. Without any sort of landmarks to navigate by on the ravaged land beneath him, any hope of picking up their former course was nearly extinct.
Birathion was released from its sheath with a grating rustle. This was far too coincidental. Rayen no longer attempted to delude himself into thinking nothing was wrong. Everything about this place suddenly took on an underlying, sinister vibe. The green heavens seemed venomous, and the pulsing pyres of molten stone seemed like maleficent gates giving him a glimpse into the hell that beckoned to him, reaching out, grasping for his blood...
Rayen felt the presence behind him an instant before it was too late. Whipping around, he saw nothing but a pair of huge jaws gaping wide with needle-sharp fangs as long as his arm. Beating his wings frantically, he shot out of the way like a bullet a millisecond before the jaws snapped shut with a force that would have separated Rayen's torso from his shoulders.
Now that the mouth was closed, Rayen found himself gazing into the eyes of a titanic blood-red snake, at least a hundred feet long, with scales the size of his head and sulfuric yellow eyes with catlike pupils. A trio of arrows immediately lodged themselves in the beast, a fourth bouncing off the scales with a hollow metallic ring, like the striking of a gong. Several yells rang out, and Rayen turned to see several more snakes bursting from the cracks in the earth. They were fireproof, then. Two, four, eight, twelve, Rayen finally counted twenty.
Rayen sucked in his breath and bellowed, hoping everyone could hear him. "Split up! Don't provide an easy target! Conserve your magic, fire won't work!"
Rayen noticed Dawn, Victor, and Oraeus coming to assist him, along with about half a dozen others. The gigantic reptile bunched itself up to strike, then lashed out like a whip. Rayen rolled to the left, then struck with his blade. Although the snake's scales were tough enough to repel an arrow, the Protector sliced through them with little difficulty, bringing forth a spatter of mottled green blood. Glancing away from the creature for as quickly as he dared, he saw that Dawn and Oraeus were forced to use the thrusting tips of their weapons instead of the slashing edges to get through the armor. The magical sword certainly made things a lot easier.
A loud bang rang above the clamor of battle, and the snake let out an unearthly wail, a neat hole in the center of its eye. Looking to the source of the noise, Rayen saw Victor cocking back his gun for another shot, taking careful aim with a grim, hardened expression. Because his Dragoon transformation turned his bullets to magical bolts of fire, normally a bonus but actually a hindrance against these heat-impervious enemies, he had not stood by on the sidelines but instead took out the only areas vulnerable to his weapon, blinding the foe in the process. Rayen admired his ingenuity. The gun resounded once more, putting out the other eye, and the unfortunate monster emitted another high-pitched shriek and began to thrash about wildly, exhaling clouds of flame haphazardly.
Seizing the crazed reptile by the neck, Dawn and Oraeus held it still. Taking the hint, Rayen planted his feet firmly on the beast's nose, driving Birathion straight between the two now defunct eyes, piercing through the skull and into the brain. The scaly body gave a tremendous shiver, then fell limp. Dawn and Oraeus dropped the dead snake, where it fell to the ground with an earthshaking crash, and retrieved their weapons from the Dragoons they had entrusted them with. The Dragoons split up in search of new targets.
It wasn't long before Dawn found herself in trouble. She drifted and wove before the triangular head of the snake, commanding its attention, occasionally diving in and jabbing its neck with the tip of the crescent- moon-shaped head of her berdiche. The monster breathed a burst of flame, forcing the Silver Dragoon to roll over to avoid being fried. When she reoriented herself, the creature was nowhere to be seen. Turning her head frantically, she saw nothing. There was a faint hiss behind her, and she whipped around to see the snake staring her right in the face, its tawny eyes gleaming with undisguised triumph. There was no time to move.
But before the teeth slammed shut, she was hauled away from certain death. Phil was there, irrepressible grin and all. "We'll talk about the reward later."
In spite of the situation, she slapped him. If nothing else, his smile grew even wider. He was obviously accustomed to this reaction. "Such ingratitude. You'd think I suggested something indecent. We could just get dinner or something."
She squirmed out of his arms, and flew off. Phil chuckled once more, then looped back around and re-engaged the foe from which he had rescued the Silver Dragoon. "Okay, Gruesome," he instructed. "Watch the pretty green birdie." Looping around the monstrosity in lazy circles, baiting it into striking. Whenever it nipped at him, he taunted it by outpacing it easily with bursts of speed. Finally, he sped straight at the creature. "Open wide!" The beast complied, stretching its orifice wide, ready to swallow the Jade Dragoon whole...
...Only to find a six-foot long shaft of wood with a barbed tip shoved down its esophagus.
The snake gagged, its throat constricting around the spear, and attempted to shake Phil off. But the cunning dragoon wedged his feet against the jaws, keeping them open. He could hear bile and vomit welling up in its closed airway, cutting off its breath. The whipping about grew even more frantic, but Phil was relentless, grabbing onto one of the massive fangs with his free hand. Finally, it suffocated, and Phil jerked his weapon free, the head covered in some viscous substance reeking of rotten eggs. He wiped it off, thankful he was wearing gauntlets.
"Just a little trick I picked up from the anorexics,' Phil cracked, despite the fact that nobody else could hear him.
The rest of the battle went mostly the same way. Blinded by Victor's ruthless trigger finger, the enemy eventually succumbed to the countless jabs and arrows, although Birathion's keen edge speeded up the process considerably. Fortunately, there were no casualties, although many suffered burns from the reptiles' flaming breath. Now more of the healing magic would be wasted treating those, Rayen mused unhappily. Of course, he had not forgotten the possibility of hostile alien life, but actually coming in contact with it complicated matters somewhat. The final confrontation could very well come in the next couple of days, and if their magic ran out, they would almost certainly be slaughtered.
But there was no use crying over spilt milk, as the saying went. Gathering up his army, he led them onward until they reached a portal. They were not accosted again, and Rayen assumed they had inadvertently stumbled upon a nest or something of the sort. He poked his head through to make certain it was not the one from which they had come, and found that he was looking out on Abrian and Selari's world. Better yet, another rank of ant-sized black spots was moving against the seemingly endless carpet of snow. Pulling back out to beckon his forces toward the gate, he plunged back through, sword at his side and three hundred winged warriors at his back.
Author's Note: There. Done, finally. Thought I'd throw in a little something new to break up the monotony. Next update will be quicker, I promise, because we're closing in on the end, and I know what happens there. I'd guess that there are about 6 or 7 chapters left, 10 at most. Hopefully I'll get another chapter up before I leave next week.