Date. 12.01.2002
Time. 9.47 pm Pacific Time
Music. Random mix on my win amp. Right now, its Tori Amos singing "A Sorta Fairytale" and leading into "Weapon" by Matthew Good Band.
Chapter 14
Copyright. If I owned Escaflowne, don't you think that I would make this into an actual sequel? Yeah, I thought so.
Author's Notes. *sigh* Well, I've been back home for four days and already I'm bored beyond belief. I painted a character I created in Photoshop, I beat Monkey Island, I've gone Christmas shopping, seen movies… hmmm… maybe I should go get one of those JOB thingies. Anyhoo, I wrote the next two chapters out in notes on my flight over here so I'm starting the actual typing of it. Hopefully, this one will be up soon. I hope.
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 14. Send Me on My Way
* * *
Her senses were impaired. She could no longer see clearly. Everything was an utter gray mass of blurriness that rushed past her. She could not make out sounds nor understand things being said. All that could be heard was the screaming wind that howled through her ears.
Sellie lowered herself closer to Dralion, trying to escape the current, and shut her eyes tightly. Her head pounded at her temple, a faint burning growing inside of her mind. She chose to ignore it and trudge on with the mission, being the reliable soldier that her father wants her to be. That she wanted to be.
The pain in her mind grew as time passed on. She did not know if this headache was born because of the incredible rate that they were traveling at, or that its source spawned from someplace else.
She wished that it was because of the speed and feared that it was something else.
Because it *was* something else.
The vision hit her at full force. She had no time to warn others, though she didn't know *how* she would, and sank deeper into her premonition.
The first sensation was the heat. It surrounded her, moved in and out of her, filled her completely. It wasn't fire, though the temperature could rival with it. The thick smell of sulfur filled her nostrils, making her feel queasy and nauseous. If Death had a stench, it would definitely be this.
Her sight finally cleared from the darkness she stood upon. A deep red glow blazed in the distance, giving her a faint outline of the environment.
She stood on what appeared to be a crude stone pillar, its diameter only being about twenty feet across. She was enclosed in something, a giant stone room or cavern. The heat and glow both came from below, an abyss of nothingness.
Suddenly, her pillar shuddered with such might that it knocked her off her feet. With a loud 'oof,' Sellie landed harshly on her side, dust and ash rising about her. A burst of liquid rock erupted on all sides of the pillar, bringing down parts of the stone structure along with it. Soon, her platform was half of its original size, shrinking even further with each passing second.
Desperately, Sellie looked up, giving a brief prayer to the gods. With the quaking, the outer building's ceiling came tumbling down into the river of magma below. An oculus appeared, jagged and small, but just large enough to fit a small Draconian.
She spread her wings, her first time doing so on her own. In that fleeting second, the exhilaration of it felt like such release to Sellie. She jumped to her feet and leapt into the air. However, the sheer hotness of the lava burned her feathers, so much to the point that she thought her own wings were on fire. She returned to her pillar, wings still emerged from her shoulder blades. She hugged herself in defeat, staring down at the glowing red below.
Sellie…
A voice called to her in her head, both familiar and not. She looked around, tears flowing freely from her eyes down her sooty face. Her sight finally spotted a figure on the edge of the building, where its floor was still intact. The room was smoky, making it hard to recognize whoever was calling her name. She tried to yell back, but the words were caught in her throat.
The person shifted under the changing pressure of the lava, it threatening to erupt once more and take down the pillar. Sellie saw a hand extend from the shadowed body, trying to reach for her own. As she extended hers, a brilliant white light illuminated from behind her savior, swallowing whoever it was and herself.
* * *
Sellie bolted upright, her eyes wide and sweat glistening down the sides of her face. She gasped for fresh air, the scent of her vision still lingering. It was only a dream… she thought. Or was it?
It took her a minute that they were no longer in the howling Dragon's Wind. She recognized the local Fanelian mountain chain that surrounded her valley home and city, its rocky contour faint in the lightening sky. Dralion was still flying strong, his wings beating against the normal zephyr that traveled in this region.
"Are you alright, Sellie?" she heard Allen ask her, his voice hushed.
She nodded in response. "I guess I wasn't used to traveling that way," she lied.
"It definitely felt weird," he admitted. "Looks like we're here."
Sellie knew this route quite well from the air. When she, Van, and Hitomi would accompany Allen and Celena to Asturia several times a year, she would stand in the front and watch each take off and landing, a hidden tradition for her. She loved seeing the sometimes snow-capped mountain peaks meeting the blue sky, or the whiteness reflecting the sun's first or last rays of light.
This time, several leviships obscured her perfect view.
She counted six ships, hovering at different levels over where Fanelia's capital lay. Most remained above the mountains while two of them were lowering ever closer to the valley city.
None of the ships were the Myriad.
"Tarn must have already landed!" Van shouted from the back. "We have to make sure the others don't land also!"
* Leave that to me! * Dralion replied, a growl escaping from his long throat. * Hold on to me! *
Within a second after his last word, the dragon beat his wings stronger and headed towards the landing leviship. At remarkable speed, he narrowed in on the side of the ship, twisting his body at the last moment and slammed into its outer hull with incredible force. Sellie wrapped her arms around his neck as much as she could so that she would not be thrown of by the collision.
Because of Dralion's weight, the first leviship was knocked off of its trajectory path and flew directly into one of the neighboring mountains, detonating on impact. Before Sellie could shout out an exclamation of joy, Dralion was already targeting the next ship.
He pulled his muscular, scaly body up, crashing into the leviship at a diagonal angle. He dug his claws into the metallic skin, ripping out vital electrical wire. He flapped his wings and moved over to the right levistone, snapping his jaws about the thick metal strip that held it in place and cutting through it with ease. The stone fell to the ground below and the second leviship lost its balance. It sank lower towards the foothills and buried itself at the base of the mountain, smoke billowing from its fires.
"Dralion! Look out!" Sellie heard Gaddes shout.
The dragon whipped his long neck around just in time to see men shooting cannons from the accompanying leviships. He flipped in mid-air, his stomach now exposed.
As one of the well-aimed cannonballs landed in his chest, he clutched it in his claws, pillowing the blow by backing up. He flew up to that leviship and wedged his caught prize back into the cannon, using his vice-like jaws and closing in its mouth. He darted away just in time as the third leviship exploded from the inside.
Dralion let out a triumphant roar and flew towards the fourth leviship. He landed heavily onto the top of the main cabin and stuck his giant head in through the front glass windows. As the glass shattered, a deep rumbling started from his belly. Sellie could feel the tremors travel underneath the scales and up his long neck. Soon, she saw the flames burning through the roof and the smoke curling from Dralion's nostrils as he pulled his head out from the deck. He then proceeded to tear out the levistone of this ship as well and watch it lower into the mountains.
In a matter of minutes, the flying-dragon had successfully destroyed five of the six leviships that Tarn had brought with him, Sellie mused. Maybe there is hope.
However, Dralion had hovered in his position for a moment too long, watching the ship go down. The final leviship shot its anchor towards him in a desperate attempt of an attack. Its sharp metal claws ripped through the thin leather material in his wing and tore a long slash.
Dralion snarled in both pain and anger. He flapped his injured wing, but it responded poorly in the wind. He would not be able to fly properly.
Sellie thought for a moment that she and Van should use their own wings and evacuate everyone, knowing it was, however, futile. But Dralion managed to keep himself level and glide uneasily to the clearing behind the castle. He turned his head to the last leviship and breathed in deeply. Another shudder traveled up his throat, this one bigger than the last, and an immense fireball, the size of a giant yak, shot directly at its command central. Sellie covered her ears from the sound of the blast.
Tarn's ship had landed on the large patio where her mother's water fountain was. Sellie sucked in a large gulp of air as she see saw black smoke curling up from the destruction. It looked like the castle was still in shape, but smaller buildings around it were destroyed by the falling leviship debris. Several soldiers had crossbows aimed and swords drawn, keeping many of the palace servants in order. She recognized all of them, each man and woman with their faces covered in dark soot.
But no sign of Tarn.
* Be careful!* Dralion announced as he neared closer to the land. His tattered wing fought against the drafts of wind, straining to keep somewhat of a decent landing. However, he was coming in at an angle, making it tough to keep it stable.
As soon as he was making some contact into the ground, Dralion flowed from flying into running as smoothly as he could. Though there were major stumbles and moments where Sellie thought that she and the others would be tossed up over his head, he managed to stop.
* Go! Quickly, go! *
Sellie hadn't realized that her father, Allen, and Gaddes had already dismounted, had removed Quidam, and were helping Celena down. She shook her head and scanned her surroundings. Her eyes carried to the soldiers running towards them, and others heaving a giant weapon from the Myriad to their landing direction.
"Sellie!" Van shouted, grabbing her hand.
"Dralion!" she cried up to the dragon's head.
* I'll be fine, Child, * he replied hastily. * I'll make a path for thee escape! Go! *
"But…" she started, but was quickly silenced when Van pulled her from Dralion and dragged her around to his hind area.
The dragon crouched low to the ground and crawled slowly, hissing and growling at Tarn's men. Van whispered at everyone that if they had a weapon, draw it. Sellie gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, it being the same one she had attack Quidam with.
The soldiers shouted out orders, releasing arrows at Dralion, but the weapons merely bounced off his rock-hard scales. While they were reloading, he found his attacking opportunity. He knocked about ten men with his head, sending them airborne several yards away. He whipped out a claw and swiped it across their chests, ripping open the armor of the next advancement.
Sellie saw the open path just as Van shouted at the others to make a run for it. Still holding onto her hand, they ran forward, quickly followed by Allen and Celena, then Quidam with Gaddes bringing in the rear.
The five remaining soldiers that held the servants captive left their posts and progressed towards their small group. Their swords clashing, Van punched his opponent in the face and elbowed the enemy right next to him. Sellie lowered herself and slid her leg into another soldier, tripping him. Celena bent down and helped her to her feet, then raced to the servants held hostage.
"Run! Get out of here!" she screamed, waving her arms at them. Taking no longer than another second, the servants scattered, most of them into the palace. Two remained, tending to a fallen man, that, as Sellie approached closer to, recognized.
"Palos!" she cried as she fell to her knees.
"Lady Selmé!" the old man managed to choke out. Sellie grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly.
An arrow had punctured his lower stomach with it standing upright, blood spilled forth uncontrollably. A younger woman had removed her apron and held it to the wound, but it did not help much. He was breathing heavily and his wrinkled face was extremely pale.
The fighting behind them had stopped and Van approached the still group. "Palos," he uttered, his face sweaty and blank. He stooped down and took one of his Advisor's hands. "What happened?"
"That man… Tarn…" Palos coughed out. "He took… Lady Merle… to Escaflowne's shrine…" A tear ran down his cheek. "I'm sorry, my boy… I tried… but I couldn't stop them…"
Van shook his head, trying to hold back his own tears. "No, Palos, its not your fault," he said strongly.
The old man smiled weakly and looked to Sellie. "My dear child…" he said. "I wished that… that I could see your reign as well…" he coughed again. "I wanted to be the Advisor for three generations…"
"You still can," Sellie pleaded. "You know how I am, Palos… you've been my teacher… I need your help… your guidance…"
A chuckle managed to escape his throat. "You'll do fine, Sellie," he said. "I know you will…" His voice faded on his last word and closed his eyes. The grip on both Van and Sellie's hands weakened.
"Palos?" she whispered. He didn't answer her.
Tears trickled down her face as she hid it into his robes. Van folded Palos' hands over his chest and touched Sellie on the back.
"Sellie…" he said.
The young girl pushed herself up and wiped away her tear-stained face, trying to retain a cool exterior.
"I know, Dad," she replied smoothly. "We must finish the mission." She bent down and picked up the sword she had dropped. Celena breathed deep and followed her, as did Gaddes, Allen, and a force Quidam. Van watched them for a moment, then leaned over his Advisor and kissed him on the forehead, paying his respects.
"Watch over Sellie from where you now rest, my old friend," he uttered in prayer. He looked at the remaining servants. "Where are the Twins?" he asked hurriedly as he raised to his feet.
"Merle hid them with her attendants, My Lord," one of the women spoke. "They are safe in the palace."
"Go now, find them," he ordered them. "Go down underneath the palace and take the passage to the catacombs in the mountains."
They nodded, and Van ran to the hidden path where the others had gone ahead. He could hear Dralion's roaring in the distance, but his heart beat wildly in his chest. They were nearing the shrine now
Finally, his group was in his sight, only a hundred yards or so from where the path would empty into Escaflowne's clearing. He pushed past Allen and raced up to Sellie.
Her posture was straight, almost too forced to be in a natural position. She's hiding her grief, he thought.
"Sellie…" he said again.
"I'm fine," she replied shortly. He touched her again, but she pulled away.
"I'm *fine*!" she snapped, then ran off the path and into the forest. He sighed, motioned to Allen to stop, then chased after her.
"Sellie!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice low and pushing back tree branches that swung into his face. She made no effort to stop. He lunged forward, grabbing her shoulder and whirling her around to see the devastation on her face.
"What if there is no hope to save Mom?!" she whispered hysterically. "Palos is gone because of me… what if Mom dies too?!"
"I don't ever want to hear those words come from you, Selmé," he said firmly. "Ever. Not now. You mustn't give up hope, especially you. If you gave up, what is there to believe in?"
She stared at him, her lower lip trembling, then lowered her head and looked at the ground. He lifted her chin with his finger.
"Besides, I believe that the dead never really leave us, do they?"
She let a single tear fall before she wiped her face and nodded. Her mind reflected to when Varie and Folken helped her in the Crusade. She sucked in a quick breath and followed.
* * *
Their party had remained silent and watching as Van and Sellie regrouped in the hidden path. There were two ways that approached the shrine of Escaflowne: the main road, wide enough for the guymelef to walk to and from the resting place without hitting into the trees, and the other, the secret, hidden path that Hitomi would sometimes run on. It would exit near the mouth of the road as well.
Trudging through the underbrush, Sellie listened for Dralion. His roars were still strong, but not as common. He's probably defeated those soldiers and keeping on the look out for others, she thought to herself.
Soon, they were nearing the top of the hill where Escaflowne resided. The trees were thinning and she could hear voices muffled close by. Van motioned for them to duck down as he got into a crouching position. He crept and held up his hand to stop the others from following him.
He lifted his head, just enough so that he could see just above the crest and scan for the enemies positions. It was gut-wrenching for those endless moments, to watch his eyes dart back and forth as he familiarized himself with the upcoming battlefield. Finally, he moved slowly back towards them.
"There's about fifteen men," he whispered. "I couldn't get a clear view of where everyone is. No sign of Tarn. Merle is tied to Folken's monument with two men guarding her."
"Now what?" Gaddes asked hushed. "A surprise attack isn't going to cut it."
"It's the only plan that I can come up with," Van snapped back in a whisper. "If anyone can come up with…"
"We're wasting time," Allen interrupted. "The sun is going to rise soon, Ashira will be here, and she'll be a lot harder to deal with than soldiers."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that we're *that* easy," a spiteful voice softly spoke. Sellie looked up to see five archers, three with bows and two with crossbows, but all pointing arrows at each one of their heads. She could see a faint glint on the metal arrowhead aimed at hers. The sun will be up soon and all will be lost.
"Drop your weapons," the lead archer commanded. "Then rise to your feet with hands behind your heads." Sellie looked at her father for some sort of glimmer in his eye for an attack, but his eyes told her to let go of her sword and follow their orders.
They pushed each one of them into the clearing, then circled around them, bowstrings still taunt and arrows waiting to be released.
"Well done," Tarn said, clapping his hands. He emerged from behind Escaflowne and signaled for five soldiers to move towards the guymelef. "Your dragon has destroyed most of my fleet. Nice touch, Fanel, using the strongest creature on Gaea and the symbol of the Fanelians." He slowly strolled towards the circle. "But only to end here when you have come so far."
In this time of last minute thoughts, Sellie concentrated her mind to reach the dragon. Dralion… she called mentally.
"And look! You've stopped in Cassia. And even returned my son to me," Tarn stated. "Let me guess, he helped you use the radio?"
Van glared at him, but remained silent.
"Father!" Quidam protested, pushing forward, but Van grabbed him. "This isn't the way."
"It's amazing that your own children can help you out sometimes, wouldn't you say, Fanel?" Tarn continued, ignoring his son's pleas. "Even if you don't ask them, they'll act out your plan."
Dralion… please help us…
"But then again, Quidam," Tarn pondered, his back facing them. "You *did* betray me, didn't you?"
I need you…
"Gren," he continued. "If you would."
The snap of the crossbow was only a fraction of a second, but as it would replay in front of Sellie's eyes endlessly, it would seem eternal. Quidam's face faded from his expression of hate to confusion in that fraction as the small arrow entered his upper torso and exited the other side. He looked at Sellie with such sad eyes as he fell to the ground, lifeless.
"You bastard!" Van shouted. He used the advantage where the other soldiers were caught off guard and slammed into them. Another arrow was release, but shot aimlessly into the grass. Allen pulled the arrow out from a soldier's bow and slid the sharp head across his throat. Gaddes punched another man in the face several times before he fell down.
"Stop!"
Tarn had moved himself over to the monuments and was holding a wicked dagger underneath Merle's chin.
"I would stop if you don't want your cat to be in pain, Fanel," he growled, digging it deeper into her skin. She cried out and whimpered.
One look from his childhood friend's tortured face was all he needed. Van raised his hands and the two remaining soldiers that were not hit grabbed his arms and held them back. The one that Gaddes had punched was holding his broken nose and crawling towards Tarn and Merle.
"You killed your only son?" Van asked coldly.
"He wasn't really my son," Tarn replied as he pulled the dagger away from Merle's throat. "Just some orphan baby I found abandoned in the kingdom. He looked like me, so why not pick him up and not go through the whole messy process?" He glanced at the two soldiers holding Van and nodded his head for them to move away. They let him go and walked towards Tarn, picked up their dropped weapons, and aimed them once again at their party.
Just when Sellie thought all hope was lost, she heard a faint whisper, almost like a gentle wind breezing through her thoughts and an answer to her prayers.
* I am on my way, Child. *
She was about to let out a mental sigh in relief but suddenly, she felt a tugging at her chest, very faint but noticeable. She looked around, breathing a little heavily. It looked as though Van seemed to be suffering from the same thing. He had broken his eye-contact and wavered a bit in his stance, as if he were dizzy.
Tarn reached into his pack and pulled out a round, salmon-colored stone and tossed it like a ball. Though Sellie had never seen one, she knew what it was.
A Drag-Energist.
"This yours, Fanel? You left it over there where your feline friend is, I just figured that you didn't really need it anymore." He placed it back inside the leather satchel and walked over to the soldiers. Sellie hadn't noticed what they were doing with the guymelef, as she was too concentrated with contacting Dralion. Her eyes widened as she realized what they were doing.
Three of the soldiers had pry-bars dug underneath each of the three claws that held Escaflowne's heart-jewel aloft. A metal chain was wrapped around the energist as well, its end held in the hands of the remaining two on the ground.
"Magnificent 'melef you got here, Fanel," Tarn proclaimed. "A king can never receive a finer gift than an Ispano guymelef. Now, if I understand the legend of *this* particular one from texts, this giant stone in Escaflowne's breast is also an energist. One that was taken from a flying-dragon with two hearts. And that to operate the unit, only the royal blood of the Fanelian king can be used in a blood pact with the energist that goes in the bigger one.
"The heart of the king and Escaflowne are connected, then. If one feels pain, then the other does as well." He pointed at one of the men, who pried his metal claw upwards. Both Van and Sellie clutched where their hearts were, though Van agonized more and fell to his knees. He coughed harshly and a thin trickle of blood escaped from his lips while Sellie felt more of a steady burn. Tarn tightened his palm into a fist to cease the prying and watched in amazement.
"Interesting!" he exclaimed. "Look, Fanel! Your daughter feels your pain as you feel Escaflowne's!"
Celena had knelt down in between the two, grabbing one of each of their hands. As soon as Van heard Tarn's claim, his eyes widened and he looked at Sellie, concerned with pain etched all over his sweaty face. She shook her head. I'm fine, she wanted to say, but her expression explained it instead.
"What's happening to them?!" Celena cried out.
"It's the blood pact that Van made when he awakened Escaflowne twenty years ago," Allen murmured. "He and Sellie are blood-related kin. If something happens to Escaflowne, they both feel it."
"Very keen observation, Knight!" Tarn praised. "By now, you have found out that Ashira will be soon on her way to pick me and my men up and bring us to the Mystic Moon at sunrise. She was not aware that the original plan did not work and you survived--"
As he was preaching his story, Sellie swore she could hear Dralion coming in the distance.
"--so I need to find a new way to get rid of you before she arrives soon." He placed a finger on his lip in a thoughtful position. "Now what can I do that will kill instantly and that will finish off the king of Fanelia, his heir, and the legendary Escaflowne all at once?"
Sellie turned to see the dragon galloping up the hill in what seemed to be slow motion. His teeth were bared as he charged towards the Cassian soldiers. She snapped her head back just in time to see Tarn give the order.
"NOOOO!!!" she screamed as the remaining soldiers folded back the metal claws and the others pulled the chain wrapped around the stone. It free-fell for those endless seconds, but upon impact with the hard earth, the ancient energist shattered.
A searing pain emitted from her heart spread like wildfire throughout Sellie's small body. Her eyes closed tight, all she could see was a blinding red. She was aware of Van next to her, and she could hear Dralion roar out in hurt as he collapsed just next to where she and Van had fallen. It was his heart-energist that had been broken, after all.
Funny, she thought. The pain had only stayed with her momentarily and faded slowly into nothing. This doesn't feel like dying.
The redness in front of her eyes disappeared and she blinked them rapidly. The swirling colors dissolved into familiar faces. She rubbed her head. She definitely had a throbbing sensation up there, but everywhere else on her body, she was fine.
"Sellie? Are you alright?" Celena asked, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Mmmm…" she moaned, pushing herself up. "Yeah… I'm… fine. What happened? Where's Dad?"
There was no need to answer. She looked to her left to see Van lying face down, his eyes shut. Sellie quickly flipped him over and placed her hand over his heart.
No beat.
No rhythm.
He was dead.
to be continued…
* * *
First of all, DO NOT HATE ME. I love Van very very very much. All I am saying is… wait until the story is finished, and if you want to write mean reviews, then do so then.
In other news, it was my birthday this week. I am officially 20. The crappiest age ever. No longer a teenager, but not yet 21. Blah. But now I have a new project to entertain myself. I'm making a Van Bear. Hehehe. Can we say bored? All together now! And I'm really excited because finally, tomorrow, I get to see Spirited Away on the big screen. It wasn't playing anywhere near my school, and I still have to drive up to Pasadena to see it. BUT STILL!! And finally, people are coming back from their finals so now I have someone to drive me places. Poor Bob. He's all alone in a parking lot.
Time. 9.47 pm Pacific Time
Music. Random mix on my win amp. Right now, its Tori Amos singing "A Sorta Fairytale" and leading into "Weapon" by Matthew Good Band.
Chapter 14
Copyright. If I owned Escaflowne, don't you think that I would make this into an actual sequel? Yeah, I thought so.
Author's Notes. *sigh* Well, I've been back home for four days and already I'm bored beyond belief. I painted a character I created in Photoshop, I beat Monkey Island, I've gone Christmas shopping, seen movies… hmmm… maybe I should go get one of those JOB thingies. Anyhoo, I wrote the next two chapters out in notes on my flight over here so I'm starting the actual typing of it. Hopefully, this one will be up soon. I hope.
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 14. Send Me on My Way
* * *
Her senses were impaired. She could no longer see clearly. Everything was an utter gray mass of blurriness that rushed past her. She could not make out sounds nor understand things being said. All that could be heard was the screaming wind that howled through her ears.
Sellie lowered herself closer to Dralion, trying to escape the current, and shut her eyes tightly. Her head pounded at her temple, a faint burning growing inside of her mind. She chose to ignore it and trudge on with the mission, being the reliable soldier that her father wants her to be. That she wanted to be.
The pain in her mind grew as time passed on. She did not know if this headache was born because of the incredible rate that they were traveling at, or that its source spawned from someplace else.
She wished that it was because of the speed and feared that it was something else.
Because it *was* something else.
The vision hit her at full force. She had no time to warn others, though she didn't know *how* she would, and sank deeper into her premonition.
The first sensation was the heat. It surrounded her, moved in and out of her, filled her completely. It wasn't fire, though the temperature could rival with it. The thick smell of sulfur filled her nostrils, making her feel queasy and nauseous. If Death had a stench, it would definitely be this.
Her sight finally cleared from the darkness she stood upon. A deep red glow blazed in the distance, giving her a faint outline of the environment.
She stood on what appeared to be a crude stone pillar, its diameter only being about twenty feet across. She was enclosed in something, a giant stone room or cavern. The heat and glow both came from below, an abyss of nothingness.
Suddenly, her pillar shuddered with such might that it knocked her off her feet. With a loud 'oof,' Sellie landed harshly on her side, dust and ash rising about her. A burst of liquid rock erupted on all sides of the pillar, bringing down parts of the stone structure along with it. Soon, her platform was half of its original size, shrinking even further with each passing second.
Desperately, Sellie looked up, giving a brief prayer to the gods. With the quaking, the outer building's ceiling came tumbling down into the river of magma below. An oculus appeared, jagged and small, but just large enough to fit a small Draconian.
She spread her wings, her first time doing so on her own. In that fleeting second, the exhilaration of it felt like such release to Sellie. She jumped to her feet and leapt into the air. However, the sheer hotness of the lava burned her feathers, so much to the point that she thought her own wings were on fire. She returned to her pillar, wings still emerged from her shoulder blades. She hugged herself in defeat, staring down at the glowing red below.
Sellie…
A voice called to her in her head, both familiar and not. She looked around, tears flowing freely from her eyes down her sooty face. Her sight finally spotted a figure on the edge of the building, where its floor was still intact. The room was smoky, making it hard to recognize whoever was calling her name. She tried to yell back, but the words were caught in her throat.
The person shifted under the changing pressure of the lava, it threatening to erupt once more and take down the pillar. Sellie saw a hand extend from the shadowed body, trying to reach for her own. As she extended hers, a brilliant white light illuminated from behind her savior, swallowing whoever it was and herself.
* * *
Sellie bolted upright, her eyes wide and sweat glistening down the sides of her face. She gasped for fresh air, the scent of her vision still lingering. It was only a dream… she thought. Or was it?
It took her a minute that they were no longer in the howling Dragon's Wind. She recognized the local Fanelian mountain chain that surrounded her valley home and city, its rocky contour faint in the lightening sky. Dralion was still flying strong, his wings beating against the normal zephyr that traveled in this region.
"Are you alright, Sellie?" she heard Allen ask her, his voice hushed.
She nodded in response. "I guess I wasn't used to traveling that way," she lied.
"It definitely felt weird," he admitted. "Looks like we're here."
Sellie knew this route quite well from the air. When she, Van, and Hitomi would accompany Allen and Celena to Asturia several times a year, she would stand in the front and watch each take off and landing, a hidden tradition for her. She loved seeing the sometimes snow-capped mountain peaks meeting the blue sky, or the whiteness reflecting the sun's first or last rays of light.
This time, several leviships obscured her perfect view.
She counted six ships, hovering at different levels over where Fanelia's capital lay. Most remained above the mountains while two of them were lowering ever closer to the valley city.
None of the ships were the Myriad.
"Tarn must have already landed!" Van shouted from the back. "We have to make sure the others don't land also!"
* Leave that to me! * Dralion replied, a growl escaping from his long throat. * Hold on to me! *
Within a second after his last word, the dragon beat his wings stronger and headed towards the landing leviship. At remarkable speed, he narrowed in on the side of the ship, twisting his body at the last moment and slammed into its outer hull with incredible force. Sellie wrapped her arms around his neck as much as she could so that she would not be thrown of by the collision.
Because of Dralion's weight, the first leviship was knocked off of its trajectory path and flew directly into one of the neighboring mountains, detonating on impact. Before Sellie could shout out an exclamation of joy, Dralion was already targeting the next ship.
He pulled his muscular, scaly body up, crashing into the leviship at a diagonal angle. He dug his claws into the metallic skin, ripping out vital electrical wire. He flapped his wings and moved over to the right levistone, snapping his jaws about the thick metal strip that held it in place and cutting through it with ease. The stone fell to the ground below and the second leviship lost its balance. It sank lower towards the foothills and buried itself at the base of the mountain, smoke billowing from its fires.
"Dralion! Look out!" Sellie heard Gaddes shout.
The dragon whipped his long neck around just in time to see men shooting cannons from the accompanying leviships. He flipped in mid-air, his stomach now exposed.
As one of the well-aimed cannonballs landed in his chest, he clutched it in his claws, pillowing the blow by backing up. He flew up to that leviship and wedged his caught prize back into the cannon, using his vice-like jaws and closing in its mouth. He darted away just in time as the third leviship exploded from the inside.
Dralion let out a triumphant roar and flew towards the fourth leviship. He landed heavily onto the top of the main cabin and stuck his giant head in through the front glass windows. As the glass shattered, a deep rumbling started from his belly. Sellie could feel the tremors travel underneath the scales and up his long neck. Soon, she saw the flames burning through the roof and the smoke curling from Dralion's nostrils as he pulled his head out from the deck. He then proceeded to tear out the levistone of this ship as well and watch it lower into the mountains.
In a matter of minutes, the flying-dragon had successfully destroyed five of the six leviships that Tarn had brought with him, Sellie mused. Maybe there is hope.
However, Dralion had hovered in his position for a moment too long, watching the ship go down. The final leviship shot its anchor towards him in a desperate attempt of an attack. Its sharp metal claws ripped through the thin leather material in his wing and tore a long slash.
Dralion snarled in both pain and anger. He flapped his injured wing, but it responded poorly in the wind. He would not be able to fly properly.
Sellie thought for a moment that she and Van should use their own wings and evacuate everyone, knowing it was, however, futile. But Dralion managed to keep himself level and glide uneasily to the clearing behind the castle. He turned his head to the last leviship and breathed in deeply. Another shudder traveled up his throat, this one bigger than the last, and an immense fireball, the size of a giant yak, shot directly at its command central. Sellie covered her ears from the sound of the blast.
Tarn's ship had landed on the large patio where her mother's water fountain was. Sellie sucked in a large gulp of air as she see saw black smoke curling up from the destruction. It looked like the castle was still in shape, but smaller buildings around it were destroyed by the falling leviship debris. Several soldiers had crossbows aimed and swords drawn, keeping many of the palace servants in order. She recognized all of them, each man and woman with their faces covered in dark soot.
But no sign of Tarn.
* Be careful!* Dralion announced as he neared closer to the land. His tattered wing fought against the drafts of wind, straining to keep somewhat of a decent landing. However, he was coming in at an angle, making it tough to keep it stable.
As soon as he was making some contact into the ground, Dralion flowed from flying into running as smoothly as he could. Though there were major stumbles and moments where Sellie thought that she and the others would be tossed up over his head, he managed to stop.
* Go! Quickly, go! *
Sellie hadn't realized that her father, Allen, and Gaddes had already dismounted, had removed Quidam, and were helping Celena down. She shook her head and scanned her surroundings. Her eyes carried to the soldiers running towards them, and others heaving a giant weapon from the Myriad to their landing direction.
"Sellie!" Van shouted, grabbing her hand.
"Dralion!" she cried up to the dragon's head.
* I'll be fine, Child, * he replied hastily. * I'll make a path for thee escape! Go! *
"But…" she started, but was quickly silenced when Van pulled her from Dralion and dragged her around to his hind area.
The dragon crouched low to the ground and crawled slowly, hissing and growling at Tarn's men. Van whispered at everyone that if they had a weapon, draw it. Sellie gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, it being the same one she had attack Quidam with.
The soldiers shouted out orders, releasing arrows at Dralion, but the weapons merely bounced off his rock-hard scales. While they were reloading, he found his attacking opportunity. He knocked about ten men with his head, sending them airborne several yards away. He whipped out a claw and swiped it across their chests, ripping open the armor of the next advancement.
Sellie saw the open path just as Van shouted at the others to make a run for it. Still holding onto her hand, they ran forward, quickly followed by Allen and Celena, then Quidam with Gaddes bringing in the rear.
The five remaining soldiers that held the servants captive left their posts and progressed towards their small group. Their swords clashing, Van punched his opponent in the face and elbowed the enemy right next to him. Sellie lowered herself and slid her leg into another soldier, tripping him. Celena bent down and helped her to her feet, then raced to the servants held hostage.
"Run! Get out of here!" she screamed, waving her arms at them. Taking no longer than another second, the servants scattered, most of them into the palace. Two remained, tending to a fallen man, that, as Sellie approached closer to, recognized.
"Palos!" she cried as she fell to her knees.
"Lady Selmé!" the old man managed to choke out. Sellie grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly.
An arrow had punctured his lower stomach with it standing upright, blood spilled forth uncontrollably. A younger woman had removed her apron and held it to the wound, but it did not help much. He was breathing heavily and his wrinkled face was extremely pale.
The fighting behind them had stopped and Van approached the still group. "Palos," he uttered, his face sweaty and blank. He stooped down and took one of his Advisor's hands. "What happened?"
"That man… Tarn…" Palos coughed out. "He took… Lady Merle… to Escaflowne's shrine…" A tear ran down his cheek. "I'm sorry, my boy… I tried… but I couldn't stop them…"
Van shook his head, trying to hold back his own tears. "No, Palos, its not your fault," he said strongly.
The old man smiled weakly and looked to Sellie. "My dear child…" he said. "I wished that… that I could see your reign as well…" he coughed again. "I wanted to be the Advisor for three generations…"
"You still can," Sellie pleaded. "You know how I am, Palos… you've been my teacher… I need your help… your guidance…"
A chuckle managed to escape his throat. "You'll do fine, Sellie," he said. "I know you will…" His voice faded on his last word and closed his eyes. The grip on both Van and Sellie's hands weakened.
"Palos?" she whispered. He didn't answer her.
Tears trickled down her face as she hid it into his robes. Van folded Palos' hands over his chest and touched Sellie on the back.
"Sellie…" he said.
The young girl pushed herself up and wiped away her tear-stained face, trying to retain a cool exterior.
"I know, Dad," she replied smoothly. "We must finish the mission." She bent down and picked up the sword she had dropped. Celena breathed deep and followed her, as did Gaddes, Allen, and a force Quidam. Van watched them for a moment, then leaned over his Advisor and kissed him on the forehead, paying his respects.
"Watch over Sellie from where you now rest, my old friend," he uttered in prayer. He looked at the remaining servants. "Where are the Twins?" he asked hurriedly as he raised to his feet.
"Merle hid them with her attendants, My Lord," one of the women spoke. "They are safe in the palace."
"Go now, find them," he ordered them. "Go down underneath the palace and take the passage to the catacombs in the mountains."
They nodded, and Van ran to the hidden path where the others had gone ahead. He could hear Dralion's roaring in the distance, but his heart beat wildly in his chest. They were nearing the shrine now
Finally, his group was in his sight, only a hundred yards or so from where the path would empty into Escaflowne's clearing. He pushed past Allen and raced up to Sellie.
Her posture was straight, almost too forced to be in a natural position. She's hiding her grief, he thought.
"Sellie…" he said again.
"I'm fine," she replied shortly. He touched her again, but she pulled away.
"I'm *fine*!" she snapped, then ran off the path and into the forest. He sighed, motioned to Allen to stop, then chased after her.
"Sellie!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice low and pushing back tree branches that swung into his face. She made no effort to stop. He lunged forward, grabbing her shoulder and whirling her around to see the devastation on her face.
"What if there is no hope to save Mom?!" she whispered hysterically. "Palos is gone because of me… what if Mom dies too?!"
"I don't ever want to hear those words come from you, Selmé," he said firmly. "Ever. Not now. You mustn't give up hope, especially you. If you gave up, what is there to believe in?"
She stared at him, her lower lip trembling, then lowered her head and looked at the ground. He lifted her chin with his finger.
"Besides, I believe that the dead never really leave us, do they?"
She let a single tear fall before she wiped her face and nodded. Her mind reflected to when Varie and Folken helped her in the Crusade. She sucked in a quick breath and followed.
* * *
Their party had remained silent and watching as Van and Sellie regrouped in the hidden path. There were two ways that approached the shrine of Escaflowne: the main road, wide enough for the guymelef to walk to and from the resting place without hitting into the trees, and the other, the secret, hidden path that Hitomi would sometimes run on. It would exit near the mouth of the road as well.
Trudging through the underbrush, Sellie listened for Dralion. His roars were still strong, but not as common. He's probably defeated those soldiers and keeping on the look out for others, she thought to herself.
Soon, they were nearing the top of the hill where Escaflowne resided. The trees were thinning and she could hear voices muffled close by. Van motioned for them to duck down as he got into a crouching position. He crept and held up his hand to stop the others from following him.
He lifted his head, just enough so that he could see just above the crest and scan for the enemies positions. It was gut-wrenching for those endless moments, to watch his eyes dart back and forth as he familiarized himself with the upcoming battlefield. Finally, he moved slowly back towards them.
"There's about fifteen men," he whispered. "I couldn't get a clear view of where everyone is. No sign of Tarn. Merle is tied to Folken's monument with two men guarding her."
"Now what?" Gaddes asked hushed. "A surprise attack isn't going to cut it."
"It's the only plan that I can come up with," Van snapped back in a whisper. "If anyone can come up with…"
"We're wasting time," Allen interrupted. "The sun is going to rise soon, Ashira will be here, and she'll be a lot harder to deal with than soldiers."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that we're *that* easy," a spiteful voice softly spoke. Sellie looked up to see five archers, three with bows and two with crossbows, but all pointing arrows at each one of their heads. She could see a faint glint on the metal arrowhead aimed at hers. The sun will be up soon and all will be lost.
"Drop your weapons," the lead archer commanded. "Then rise to your feet with hands behind your heads." Sellie looked at her father for some sort of glimmer in his eye for an attack, but his eyes told her to let go of her sword and follow their orders.
They pushed each one of them into the clearing, then circled around them, bowstrings still taunt and arrows waiting to be released.
"Well done," Tarn said, clapping his hands. He emerged from behind Escaflowne and signaled for five soldiers to move towards the guymelef. "Your dragon has destroyed most of my fleet. Nice touch, Fanel, using the strongest creature on Gaea and the symbol of the Fanelians." He slowly strolled towards the circle. "But only to end here when you have come so far."
In this time of last minute thoughts, Sellie concentrated her mind to reach the dragon. Dralion… she called mentally.
"And look! You've stopped in Cassia. And even returned my son to me," Tarn stated. "Let me guess, he helped you use the radio?"
Van glared at him, but remained silent.
"Father!" Quidam protested, pushing forward, but Van grabbed him. "This isn't the way."
"It's amazing that your own children can help you out sometimes, wouldn't you say, Fanel?" Tarn continued, ignoring his son's pleas. "Even if you don't ask them, they'll act out your plan."
Dralion… please help us…
"But then again, Quidam," Tarn pondered, his back facing them. "You *did* betray me, didn't you?"
I need you…
"Gren," he continued. "If you would."
The snap of the crossbow was only a fraction of a second, but as it would replay in front of Sellie's eyes endlessly, it would seem eternal. Quidam's face faded from his expression of hate to confusion in that fraction as the small arrow entered his upper torso and exited the other side. He looked at Sellie with such sad eyes as he fell to the ground, lifeless.
"You bastard!" Van shouted. He used the advantage where the other soldiers were caught off guard and slammed into them. Another arrow was release, but shot aimlessly into the grass. Allen pulled the arrow out from a soldier's bow and slid the sharp head across his throat. Gaddes punched another man in the face several times before he fell down.
"Stop!"
Tarn had moved himself over to the monuments and was holding a wicked dagger underneath Merle's chin.
"I would stop if you don't want your cat to be in pain, Fanel," he growled, digging it deeper into her skin. She cried out and whimpered.
One look from his childhood friend's tortured face was all he needed. Van raised his hands and the two remaining soldiers that were not hit grabbed his arms and held them back. The one that Gaddes had punched was holding his broken nose and crawling towards Tarn and Merle.
"You killed your only son?" Van asked coldly.
"He wasn't really my son," Tarn replied as he pulled the dagger away from Merle's throat. "Just some orphan baby I found abandoned in the kingdom. He looked like me, so why not pick him up and not go through the whole messy process?" He glanced at the two soldiers holding Van and nodded his head for them to move away. They let him go and walked towards Tarn, picked up their dropped weapons, and aimed them once again at their party.
Just when Sellie thought all hope was lost, she heard a faint whisper, almost like a gentle wind breezing through her thoughts and an answer to her prayers.
* I am on my way, Child. *
She was about to let out a mental sigh in relief but suddenly, she felt a tugging at her chest, very faint but noticeable. She looked around, breathing a little heavily. It looked as though Van seemed to be suffering from the same thing. He had broken his eye-contact and wavered a bit in his stance, as if he were dizzy.
Tarn reached into his pack and pulled out a round, salmon-colored stone and tossed it like a ball. Though Sellie had never seen one, she knew what it was.
A Drag-Energist.
"This yours, Fanel? You left it over there where your feline friend is, I just figured that you didn't really need it anymore." He placed it back inside the leather satchel and walked over to the soldiers. Sellie hadn't noticed what they were doing with the guymelef, as she was too concentrated with contacting Dralion. Her eyes widened as she realized what they were doing.
Three of the soldiers had pry-bars dug underneath each of the three claws that held Escaflowne's heart-jewel aloft. A metal chain was wrapped around the energist as well, its end held in the hands of the remaining two on the ground.
"Magnificent 'melef you got here, Fanel," Tarn proclaimed. "A king can never receive a finer gift than an Ispano guymelef. Now, if I understand the legend of *this* particular one from texts, this giant stone in Escaflowne's breast is also an energist. One that was taken from a flying-dragon with two hearts. And that to operate the unit, only the royal blood of the Fanelian king can be used in a blood pact with the energist that goes in the bigger one.
"The heart of the king and Escaflowne are connected, then. If one feels pain, then the other does as well." He pointed at one of the men, who pried his metal claw upwards. Both Van and Sellie clutched where their hearts were, though Van agonized more and fell to his knees. He coughed harshly and a thin trickle of blood escaped from his lips while Sellie felt more of a steady burn. Tarn tightened his palm into a fist to cease the prying and watched in amazement.
"Interesting!" he exclaimed. "Look, Fanel! Your daughter feels your pain as you feel Escaflowne's!"
Celena had knelt down in between the two, grabbing one of each of their hands. As soon as Van heard Tarn's claim, his eyes widened and he looked at Sellie, concerned with pain etched all over his sweaty face. She shook her head. I'm fine, she wanted to say, but her expression explained it instead.
"What's happening to them?!" Celena cried out.
"It's the blood pact that Van made when he awakened Escaflowne twenty years ago," Allen murmured. "He and Sellie are blood-related kin. If something happens to Escaflowne, they both feel it."
"Very keen observation, Knight!" Tarn praised. "By now, you have found out that Ashira will be soon on her way to pick me and my men up and bring us to the Mystic Moon at sunrise. She was not aware that the original plan did not work and you survived--"
As he was preaching his story, Sellie swore she could hear Dralion coming in the distance.
"--so I need to find a new way to get rid of you before she arrives soon." He placed a finger on his lip in a thoughtful position. "Now what can I do that will kill instantly and that will finish off the king of Fanelia, his heir, and the legendary Escaflowne all at once?"
Sellie turned to see the dragon galloping up the hill in what seemed to be slow motion. His teeth were bared as he charged towards the Cassian soldiers. She snapped her head back just in time to see Tarn give the order.
"NOOOO!!!" she screamed as the remaining soldiers folded back the metal claws and the others pulled the chain wrapped around the stone. It free-fell for those endless seconds, but upon impact with the hard earth, the ancient energist shattered.
A searing pain emitted from her heart spread like wildfire throughout Sellie's small body. Her eyes closed tight, all she could see was a blinding red. She was aware of Van next to her, and she could hear Dralion roar out in hurt as he collapsed just next to where she and Van had fallen. It was his heart-energist that had been broken, after all.
Funny, she thought. The pain had only stayed with her momentarily and faded slowly into nothing. This doesn't feel like dying.
The redness in front of her eyes disappeared and she blinked them rapidly. The swirling colors dissolved into familiar faces. She rubbed her head. She definitely had a throbbing sensation up there, but everywhere else on her body, she was fine.
"Sellie? Are you alright?" Celena asked, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Mmmm…" she moaned, pushing herself up. "Yeah… I'm… fine. What happened? Where's Dad?"
There was no need to answer. She looked to her left to see Van lying face down, his eyes shut. Sellie quickly flipped him over and placed her hand over his heart.
No beat.
No rhythm.
He was dead.
to be continued…
* * *
First of all, DO NOT HATE ME. I love Van very very very much. All I am saying is… wait until the story is finished, and if you want to write mean reviews, then do so then.
In other news, it was my birthday this week. I am officially 20. The crappiest age ever. No longer a teenager, but not yet 21. Blah. But now I have a new project to entertain myself. I'm making a Van Bear. Hehehe. Can we say bored? All together now! And I'm really excited because finally, tomorrow, I get to see Spirited Away on the big screen. It wasn't playing anywhere near my school, and I still have to drive up to Pasadena to see it. BUT STILL!! And finally, people are coming back from their finals so now I have someone to drive me places. Poor Bob. He's all alone in a parking lot.
