--Written by Naki
"Lord Bane."
Bane turned his garnet eyes to face Demeter, his female assistant. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but..." Demeter took on the nervous schoolgirl attitude that totally clashed with her skimpy outfit that exposed almost everything of her slender body. "I'm assured that you remember Zieg Feld?"
"Of course!" Bane spat.
"It's just that," Demeter said, avoiding eyes contact with her master. "He and his female companion assisted the three females that were captured by Repard to escape."
Bane narrowed his eyes. "How? My rival and his companion are dead in Mayfil."
"Yes, Master, but as it seems the two were exposed to enough Wingly magic that their spirits were formed into semi-solid apparitions. That way, they can cause harm to living and non-living objects."
Bane though for a moment. "But, to where could the trio have gone?" He leaned back against the wall. His eyes widened as an idea hit him. He turned his head towards Demeter. "Do you know of an abbey just insde the border of Mille Seseau?"
Demeter hesitated for a moment. She shook her head once. "No, Sire, I'm sorry, but I have no knowledge of such a place."
"Snowdrift Abbey...the closest source of sanctuary around here. It was built in the era following the Dragon Campaign." Bane said, smirking. "It was after my time."
He found some amusement in Demeter's puzzled expression.
"I'll destroy that pathetic abbey. I'll turn it into a real snowdrift!"
Matthias sat on a broad marble window ledge. The window was made out of stained glass like massive cathedral windows and his face glowed green from the pane next to him.
Lavitz entered. "Are you going to stay there and pout all day?"
He received no answer. Matthias was in no particular mood to be teased.
Lavitz stared at him. "Matthias...Matthias!"
It was like talking to a brick wall.
Matthias sat quietly, immersed in his thoughts and successfully blocking out Lavitz's unwanted banter. Suddenly, a voice cut through his thoughts.
"I'll destroy that pathetic abbey. I'll turn it into a real snowdrift!"
Matthias became alert and sat up quickly, dropping his feet to the stone floor.
Lavitz, who had turned to leave, looked back over his shoulder. "What's wrong now?"
Matthias looked over at Lavitz with a penetrating glare. "Lavitz, go find the Father Abbot and tell him to get all abbey dwellers into the main abbey building. We need the Dragoons."
"Why?" Lavitz asked.
"The one called Bane just ordered his Winglies to attack this abbey."
Although throughly confused, Lavitz nodded and ran to find the Abbot.
Things are starting to get far more interesting..."Bane." Unknown to you, I can feel everything that goes on in the bowels of Mayfil. Matthias thought.
Matthias gathered the Dragoons on the abbey grounds as Lavitz helped the Abbot get everybody inside.
Before he shut the doors, Deirdre gave Lavitz a small kiss and handed him a green ball.
"I was told to give this to you."
Lavitz stared at the green ball that rested in the palm of his hand.
"This is...a Dragoon Spirit..." Lavitz whispered.
"What's up, Matthias?" Meru asked as Lavitz jogged up to join them.
"The enemy is going to attack the abbey," Matthias stated. To halt any further questions, he added: "The enemy has based itself in Mayfil and its surrounding area. Because of that, I can eavesdrop on their advancements. I haven't yet consciously done it, but I heard Bane's voice go through my head earlier. He will attack the abbey."
"So we should be on our guard then," Dart stood off to the side with his arms folded over his chest.
"That would be desirable," Matthias said.
Claira bit her lip in apprehension of the upcoming battle, and pulled her black stone out of her pocket.
"What's that?" Haschel asked, leaning over closer to her.
"It's a good luck charm my mom gave me," Claira said. "I wash I know how she was doing."
"Like it or not, now's not the time to think about that," Haschel said.
Claira smiled at Haschel. "You're right."
Meanwhile, Lavitz was showing Dart the Dragoon Spirit Deirdre had given him.
Dart held it in between his thumb and forefinger and held it up to inspect it.
"It's the same shade of green as the Jade Dragoon Spirit, right Albert?" Dart said.
Albert took the Spirit and compared it to his own. "Hmm. Not entirely. Lavitz's is about a half-a-shade lighter." He handed it back to Lavitz.
Just when it hit Lavitz's palm, the Dragoon Spirit resonated. Bright light green beams of light emitted from the small ball.
When the light faded, Lavitz looked up in surprise to Dart and Albert.
"I don't believe it," he said. "This is the Spirit of the Green Tusked Dragon."
"Fehyrbrand," Dart said.
"How...did you know?" Albert asked.
Matthias answered that question for Lavitz. "When a Dragoon Spirit is used for the first time, the Dragon's Spirit speaks to its owner," Matthias explained. "It tells its owner who it is and what its element is. Any owner after that has to guess."
"Learn something new everyday," Dart smirked.
Matthias jerked his head towards the south wall. "They're coming."
"Where are they?" Meru asked.
"Look!" Albert pointed. "Crystal Tracks!"
"Like I said, they are here. And watching us, too." Matthias said. "They're cloaked by Wingly magic." Matthias' eyes widened suddenly and he turned his head. "Dart! Look out!"
A beam of light came from somewhere in front of them all of a sudden and caught Dart square in the chest. The force of the magic threw Dart into the wall behind him.
"Dart!" Claira yelled.
"Dart!" Lavitz ran over to him.
A sinister laugh rang through the air. A Wingly man appeared in the sky as the source of the laughter and the magic. An entire army of Winglies appeared behind him.
The Wingly man lowered himself to the ground. "So, it seems you are not as strong as legend says, Dragoons."
"Who are you?" Haschel demanded.
"I am called Bane," he said. "And I will not be spoken to in that fashion by an old Human man."
Haschel was hit hard by a magic blast of ice.
"Haschel!" Meru cried.
Claira looked from Dart to Haschel. Two Dragoons out of the running in two blows. She looked at Bane. Scowling, she approached him.
"Claira..." Meru said, watching her from her squatted position next to Haschel's prone form in the snow.
Bane sneered at her. "Such a small girl. Are you insanely brave, or incredibly stupid to stand up against me like this?"
Keeping her cold glare, Claira spoke. "I can stand up against any monster."
"Are you suggesting that I'm a monster?" Bane asked.
"You attack a place of peace!" Claira exclaimed. "If you're not a monster, you're a demon!"
"A demon?" Bane chuckled. "Enough with the childish games. You bore me." He pointed at her and fired a dark beam.
Claira half expected that, and dodged.
"Nimble little brat," Bane commented. He fired several more beams at her, watching her dodge. He turned to Claira. "Your agility is admirable, young one. However..." he vanished.
Claira refused to panic. She knew in situations like this that one's enemy would almost always appear behind her. He's going by the book.
With reflexes born from her training, Claira whipped around and jumped to the side.
As she landed, her feet slipped in the snow. She landed on her rear, giving her opponent the advantage.
Bane powered up a powerful attack as she scrambled to her feet. He fired.
"Claira!" Meru cried.
Before anything else happened, a black light resonated before her. It sent out a protective barrier that countered the magic used by Bane. The light encompassed Claira.
In a few short seconds, Claira became aware of her body quickly changing, as if it were trying to catch up to where it was supposed to be.
She could see nothing but flashing light.
"Young one, you are behind in your time." A deep voice said to her. "Defeat your enemies, using my power..."
Claira shut her eyes. A Spirit...spoke to me...
Thelight died down as a totally different person stood, dressed as a Dragoon.
Claira stood there as the new Dragoon, though she was now a mature adult, almost five years older in appearance.
"What is this?" She asked, looked at herself. She paused, marveling at how much older her voice sounded. "I've...grown up..."
She then noticed her black hair had grown five years' worth. It was nearly down to her backside.
"What is this?" Bane muttered through clenched teeth.
Claira tossed her hair over her shoulder. She then turned her attention to Bane.
"Now," she said. "See what you did. Anger blinds one to the possible consequences of his actions, no matter how bizarre they may be."
Bane vanished and reappeared in the air in front of his army. He fired a large blast at her.
Claira threw her arms up in front of her head and blocked the attack.
She lowered her arms as she looked up at him and smirked.
Bane looked shocked.
"Tell your men," Claira called. "To block this!"
She held her right hand up to the sky and spread her fingers apart. She gripped her wrist with her left hand and powered up.
"Black Dragon..." Claira called. "Cannon!"
An enormous silvery beam shot from her hand into the sky.
Bane shielded his eyes with his arms. "That dragon..."
Sharp pain ripped through Claira's right arm. She cried out, and held it with her left hand as she stumbled back a step, allowing her arm to dangle in front of her.
As the dust cleared, it so happened that Claira's attack...had taken out half the army.
"Damn...!" Haschel said.
Matthias smirked. "Michael."
Bane turned to survey his army. Rather, what was left of it. He growled in frustration and in the blink of an eye, the Winglies vanished.
In a flash of light, Claira returned to her normal state.
"Claira!" Meru called, running up to her. She observed Claira with a look of surprise. "You're...big now."
Claira giggled as the others approached. "The Black Burst Dragon cleansed me of all the Wingly magic tha thad stunted my growth over the past five years. Essentially, my body finally caught up with my age."
Matthias looked over at Claira. "The Black Burst Dragon?"
Claira nodded. "Yes."
"I was right," Matthias smiled. "It's Michael's Spirit."
"Michael?" Meru and Lavitz asked.
"Rose's dragon," Dart reminded Meru. "You remember, the dragon that attacked us on the Moon That Never Sets."
Haschel stared at Claira. "Wow. You look just like my daughter did when she was that age."
"Should I be flattered?" Claira asked with a smirk.
Haschel nodded. "Oh yes."
Kurintsu poked his head out of an upstairs dormitory window. "Lavitz, is it safe?"
Upon receiving a positive response from Lavitz, Kurintsu disappeared back into the building and a few moments later, a flood of people leaked out onto the abbey grounds.
Matthias felt a sense of relief that none of the abbey dwellers had been hurt, but that sense of betrayal and loneliness from before the battle returned to haunt him.
Ignoring the sudden influx of people, Matthias turned towards the west. He watched the sun begin to dip beneath the horizon, and he knew that they would be leaving early the next morning.
But, what bothered him the most was Erisi. Why did she just decide not to go all of a sudden? Didn't she realzie how much he loved her? How much he needed her?
His coppery eyes caught a glimpse of a longhaired-silhouetted figure in a gown steal back inside the abbey from a balcony.
Matthias' mouth curved into a silent smirk. There you are, my little one. Perhaps we might converse tonight...and be together again once more.
Matthias waited patiently, until dark. He sat upon the north wall's ramparts, swinging his legs absentmindedly towards the main abbey building.
He waited until the last person entered the building to escape the outside's chill.
Without further ado, Matthias stood up.
Erisi stood in her room dressed in a thin nightgown. The gown was a light blue, and it matched the color of her eyes.
She bent over and tossed the sheets back on her bed. Just as she did, she heard a knob turn, hinges creak, and a burst of cold air met her back.
She heard the sound of a door closing, and she turned around.
Matthias stood just inside the room, leaning on the glass door that led to the balcony.
"Matthias..." Erisi said quietly, taking a step back.
"I have a question," Matthias said suddenly, his voice shattering the quiet. "Just a small one, nothing to get worked up about."
Erisi took a breath, and nervously brushed her bangs out of her eyes in a gesture that was her habit. Why was she suddenly nervous around him?
"Yes?" Erisi said in a wavering tone.
"Why?" Matthias asked. "Why are you staying here? Don't you realize how much I need you?"
"You didn't seem to need me so much last time," Erisi responded. It took him a second, but Matthias knew what she meant. "You told me you'd never leave my side, and I wake up the next morning, and guess what? You're gone, nowhere to be seen."
Matthias noted the sourness in her voice and frowned in shame.
"But..." Erisi sighed. "What I said was unfair to you. I drove you away." She turned around to face the bed.
"What?" Matthias looked shocked.
"You remember, don't you?" Erisi said with a slight sob in her voice. "When I told you I couldn't have children. I drove you away with that comment."
Matthias walked up behind her. "And what did I say? 'Let's just see about that.' Erisi, you didn't drive me away. I just left. People make mistakes, and I made one. I followed my instincts instead of my heart. My instincts said 'Go for it. You were born to travel.' I'm so sorry, Erisi. I never meant to hurt you."
Erisi remained standing with her back towards him, and didn't say a word.
Matthias put his arms around Erisi's tiny waist and embraced her with her back against his chest.
Almost immediately, Erisi could feel everything. His love, his heart, his desires, his needs. She was at the center of his entire being.
"I love you," Matthias whispered to her. Once again, she felt his rough exterior melt away to show his soft, caring interior he hardly ever shows.
He turned her around and looked deep into her eyes.
Matthias brought a hand up and tilted her chin back. His other hand slipped up to cradle her upper back, as he brought her face to his in a kiss.
Erisi felt all her quarrels with him dissolve as she fell into his arms.