It had been two and a half weeks since they had visited the Records House. Folken, Adrina, Hitomi, Golan, Merle and Zane had all returned to Fanelia. Allen and Millerna had been given a copy of the list of living Draconians and now Asturia and Fanelia had messengers throughout Gaea that were warning the Draconians about the threat of the sorcerers. Reports from the messengers poured into the two countries daily but they weren't encouraging. Very few of the Draconians heeded the warning and went into hiding. Many did not even know they were Draconians and ignored the messengers. Others refused to listen. More had disappeared mysteriously and without a trace.
"We have got to do something!" Van insisted. He, Folken, Adrina, Sir Chenley and a few of the Fanelian generals were sitting around a large table in the meeting room. "You know that the Draconians who cannot be found or have disappeared are in Zaibach!"
"Yes," Folken agreed, "the sorcerers have gathered upwards of one hundred fifty Draconians that we know of. More are disappearing every day."
"Then we have no choice but to attack Zaibach," Sir Chenley suggested, "the sorcerers cannot operate the Zeus if they are dead."
"You would be obliterated before you reached the capital," Van told him, "One hundred fifty Draconians is enough to give Zeus the power to destroy an army."
"Then what can we do?" A general asked.
"We must destroy Zeus." All turned to Adrina, who hadn't spoken since the meeting began. "When the machine is destroyed, the sorcerers will fall."
"But how do we destroy it if an army would be obliterated before even reaching the capital?" Another general questioned.
"The Zeus was designed by Draconians and must be destroyed by Draconians," Adrina informed, "If enough Draconians gather, they will have the power to destroy Zeus."
"Then what are we waiting for?" A third general demanded, "we must gather the Draconians and go to Zaibach immediately!"
"Don't be so hasty," Adrina scolded, "to defeat the Zeus, the number of Draconians must be immense. I don't know if there are enough Draconians left on Gaea to fill the quota."
"We can't sit around and do nothing!" the third general insisted, "We must try!"
"And what if there aren't enough Draconians?" Van reminded, "We would be delivering power for the Zeus to the sorcerers on a silver plate."
"It would be better to die trying than to sit and wait for the inevitable!" the general shouted.
"That's easy for you to say!" Van shot back, "you aren't a Draconian!"
"Enough!" Folken boomed, "it is obvious we don't yet know enough about the subject to make a safe decision. Queen Adrina and I will research the matter further and see what we can find. You are dismissed."
The generals and Sir Chenley exited the room, leaving Van, Folken and Adrina alone. Van looked up at Folken.
"This is bad, isn't it?" he asked his older brother. Folken nodded. "Do you think we'll make it though this one?"
"We'll manage," Adrina comforted, "we always do."
"We had better go work on that research," Folken said, "the sooner we have the answers, the sooner we can put our plan into motion and be done with this."
The three of them stood up and exited the meeting room. Van headed off towards his wing of the castle while Folken and Adrina went to theirs. Adrina grabbed the book from the Records House and the one from the Asturian library. She lifted them both with strain.
"I'm going to the library," Adrina told Folken, "I may need to cross-reference something."
Folken took the books from her. "If you pull those stitches out again, Millerna is going to kill you."
Adrina looked down at her left arm, which was mending with it's second set of stitches. The first had been pulled out during the attack by Naria and Eriya. "Don't worry Folken. It's almost healed."
"It may be but carrying around twenty pounds of books isn't going to help it," Folken chided, "I'm going to speak with Sir Chenley about what we can do for the time being to protect Fanelia. I'll carry them to the library for you."
Adrina followed Folken out of the parlor and down the corridors to the library. He deposited the books on a table and waited until she sat down. Folken kissed her forehead and told her he'd be back as soon as he could.
After he was gone, Adrina opened the Records House book and flipped through until she found the passages discussing the construction of the machine. It gave references to some sort of key that needed to be used to operate the machine but she wasn't worried about that. She skipped down and found what she was looking for.
The book stated that if the Zeus was to be destroyed, Draconians from both sides of the family tree must come together. It didn't say how many must come or what they must do. Adrina started to close the book when a paragraph on the next page caught her eye. She had read up until the top of the page where the book began discussing how to run the Zeus and hadn't thought it important but right in the middle of the explanation was hte information she needed.
"To destroy the Zeus, innumerable Draconians from each side of the tree must gather. How many depends on how strong the will of the gathered Draconians is. The more Draconians who are gathered, the stronger their will will be. Once they are gathered, the Murasaki Tatsu and Sekichiku Namida must be held in the air by their rightful owners. The Murasaki Tatsu must be wielded by the last first-born on Kuji's side and Sekichiku Namida must be wielding by the youngest last-born of Shinji's line. The will of the Draconians will be concentrated in the stones and amplified enough to destroy Zeus."
Having found the information she needed, Adrina gathered up the books and hurried back to her parlor. She put the books on a table and went out in search of Folken. She found him and Chenley talking in the meeting room they had left no more than half an hour ago.
"Folken, I found it!" Adrina announced.
"Found what?" Sir Chenley questioned.
"How to destroy Zeus!" Adrina told them excitedly.
"How?" Chenley asked eagerly.
"Like I said earlier," Adrina started, "Draconians from both sides of the tree must be gathered. The book doesn't say how many Draconians because it depends on the strength of their will. Once they are gathered, the power of their will is concentrated into the pendants and amplified enough to destroy Zeus. All we have to do is gather the Draconians and go to Zaibach. We've already got the stones."
"It's easier said than done," Folken reminded, "the Draconians are disappearing rapidly and most won't admit that they are Draconians."
"But once we explain the situation, they'll listen," Adrina insisted, "they have to!"
"Rina love, we can talk about this later," Folken said, "Right now, Chenley and I need to discuss the matters of safety here in Fanelia before he leaves."
"Leaves?" Adrina inquired.
"Yes M'lady," Chenley replied, "I am going to visit my sister and her family for a few days in Freid."
"Oh, well have fun," Adrina smiled.
"Thank you, M'lady. I will."
"You're welcome." Adrina turned to Folken. "I greatly anticipate our talk, my Lord." Adrina curtsied slightly and left the room.
"Her Ladyship doesn't seem very pleased with the reaction you had to her findings my King," Chenley pointed out.
Folken sighed. "Not pleased" was an understatement. Adrina never addressed him formally or bowed unless she was teasing him or showing she was irritated with him. The last seemed to be true in this case. Folken stood. "Chenley, I think I should take care of this now. We'll finish our conversation later."
"Of course," Chenley agreed as Folken hurried out the door after Adrina.
---------------------------------------------------------
Adrina hurried down the halls towards her room. She was upset by Folken's lack of interest in her discovery and had let him know by her actions in the meeting room. She knew she was being childish but she didn't care. She had discovered a way to stop Zeus. Wasn't that something to get excited about?
Adrina reached her parlor and entered. She walked across the room and plopped down on a large couch that faced the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. Not a minute later, the door opened and Folken entered. He spotter her on the couch and smiled apologetically. Adrina continued to scowl as he approached.
"Rina, I know you are upset with me," Folken began. Adrina still showed no signs of any emotion except anger. "Please don't be. I know you are excited over your findings, but we have to be realistic. There probably isn't enough Draconians left on Gaea to stop Zeus."
"You're right Folken," Adrina agreed sarcastically, "So instead of at least trying, we'll just sit here and wait for the sorcerers to obliterate our country. That's a much better idea."
"Adrina..."
"Don't you see Folken?" Adrina beseeched, "Gathering the Draconians is the only chance we have! We probably won't have enough Draconians to destroy Zeus, but what if we do? I'd rather die trying to save Gaea than sit here like a coward and wait for the end to come anyway."
Folken sighed. "The odds are against us."
"When aren't they?" Adrina questioned, "In the war with Zaibach, Fanelia didn't have a chance and yet we still emerged victorious. Why? Because we never lost hope. If hope is lost, then we are as well."
Folken reached forward and stroked Adrina's cheek. "How did you get so wise?"
Adrina shrugged. "This will work, Folken. I won't lose to the sorcerers, even if I have to sneak into Zaibach and kill them all myself."
"You are right," Folken agreed, "Gathering the Draconians is the only chance we've got to save Gaea and we must take it. I will send a message to Asturia in the morning. We will gather the Draconians and destroy the Zeus."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The days passed and more messages about Draconians flowed in. The new message that was sent out asked all Draconians to meet either in Fanelia or Asturia. Many came to Fanelia and many were staying in Asturia. Messengers went back and forth between the two countries daily, relaying messages of war plans and names of Draconians who had been gathered.
With Chenley gone to Freid, Van had assumed the position of commanding the Fanelian Army. Half of the Fanelian Army along with half of the Asturian Army was going to march with the Draconians to Zaibach incase the sorcerers sent out soldiers to stop them. They knew, however, if the sorcerers used Zeus, there would be nothing they could do.
The day of departure was rapidly approaching and the entire country of Fanelia was busy. Wagons had to be made for the Draconians to travel in, along with supplies to take on the journey. The trail over the mountains was too narrow for such a host to cross, so they planned to travel around the mountains, adding four days to their trip.
Three days before their departure, the Asturian Army marched into Fanelia with the Draconians who had congregated there. Adrina and Folken were surprised to see Allen leading the troops.
"Allen!" Folken greed as the King of Asturia dismounted his horse, "I didn't expect to see you leading the army."
"Who else would lead the Asturian Army into battle?" Allen questioned, "I may not be a Draconian, but that doesn't mean I can't help."
"I see you've brought guymelefs." Folken motioned to the giant suits of armor marching up behind the Army.
"Yes," Allen nodded, "I figured we may need them in case those cat friends of yours decide to pay us another visit."
After a few more minutes of idle chatter, Folken welcomed the Draconians and had servants show them to the places they would be staying while in Fanelia. After everyone had been settled, Folken, Allen, Van and the generals of the two armies went to the meeting room to put the finishing touches on the plans.
Adrina left the men to their discussion and went in search of Merle. She found her in her room. Adrina entered and sat down on the bed next to her sister.
"Where's Zane?" Adrina asked.
"Helping with the supplies," Merle answered.
"Oh." They were silent for a minute. "Merle, I need to talk to you."
"If this is about the vase in the main hall, I didn't break it," Merle insisted, "Zane pushed me and I accidentally knocked it off the shelf."
Adrina looked down at her sister with a smile. "Well actually, that's not what I wanted ot talk to you about."
"Oh." Merle smiled innocently, "then just forget everything I said. What did you want to talk to me about?"
The smile left Adrina's face and she took a deep breath. "As you know, we're leaving in three days." Merle nodded. "And there's a good chance we won't be coming back."
"Oh Adrina, don't say that!" Merle begged.
"It's true," Adrina said, "and if we don't come back, someone's going to have to run Fanelia. Normally it would go to Hitomi but since Van agreed to let her and Golan come along, that won't work. Folken, Van, Hitomi and I have talked it out and we decided if we all perish in Zaibach, we want you to be the new Queen of Fanelia."
"Me?!" Merle asked in disbelief, "I don't know the first thing about running a country!"
"The advisors will help you," Adrina assured, "and besides, if we fail, your reign as Queen will be short."
Merle looked up at Adrina, her eyes filled with tears. "Adrina, I'm really scared."
"We all are." Adrina hugged her sister, "but I believe that we can do this and everything will be all right in the end."
-------------------------------------------------------
The sorcerers stood in front of the kneeling man, their black cloaks giving them the appearance of obsidian pillars with faces.
"What news from Fanelia?"
"The Queen has discovered the way to destroy the Zeus," The man informed, "they have gathered all the Draconians they could and will leave Fanelia in three days to come here."
"Do they have the stones?"
"Yes," the man answered, "the King wears the purple one and the prince wears the pink one."
"Excellent. Let them come. Once we defeat them, we will take the stones and use them to boost Zeus to full power. They are delivering to us their own destruction and they don't even know it!" The sorcerer turned to the man still kneeling on the floor. "You have done well, Chenley. When the planet is ours you will be given your choice of countries."
"Thank you, my Lords." Chenley stood and hurried out of the dark room.
******************************************
This chapter wasn't that exciting but we did learn some stuff, didn't we? The final battle should occur in the next chapter and that should be the end of it. I may include an epilogue or perhaps another chapter. I'm not sure because I don't know how the story is going to end yet. Hopefully I'll update soon, but it probably won't be until Monday.
"We have got to do something!" Van insisted. He, Folken, Adrina, Sir Chenley and a few of the Fanelian generals were sitting around a large table in the meeting room. "You know that the Draconians who cannot be found or have disappeared are in Zaibach!"
"Yes," Folken agreed, "the sorcerers have gathered upwards of one hundred fifty Draconians that we know of. More are disappearing every day."
"Then we have no choice but to attack Zaibach," Sir Chenley suggested, "the sorcerers cannot operate the Zeus if they are dead."
"You would be obliterated before you reached the capital," Van told him, "One hundred fifty Draconians is enough to give Zeus the power to destroy an army."
"Then what can we do?" A general asked.
"We must destroy Zeus." All turned to Adrina, who hadn't spoken since the meeting began. "When the machine is destroyed, the sorcerers will fall."
"But how do we destroy it if an army would be obliterated before even reaching the capital?" Another general questioned.
"The Zeus was designed by Draconians and must be destroyed by Draconians," Adrina informed, "If enough Draconians gather, they will have the power to destroy Zeus."
"Then what are we waiting for?" A third general demanded, "we must gather the Draconians and go to Zaibach immediately!"
"Don't be so hasty," Adrina scolded, "to defeat the Zeus, the number of Draconians must be immense. I don't know if there are enough Draconians left on Gaea to fill the quota."
"We can't sit around and do nothing!" the third general insisted, "We must try!"
"And what if there aren't enough Draconians?" Van reminded, "We would be delivering power for the Zeus to the sorcerers on a silver plate."
"It would be better to die trying than to sit and wait for the inevitable!" the general shouted.
"That's easy for you to say!" Van shot back, "you aren't a Draconian!"
"Enough!" Folken boomed, "it is obvious we don't yet know enough about the subject to make a safe decision. Queen Adrina and I will research the matter further and see what we can find. You are dismissed."
The generals and Sir Chenley exited the room, leaving Van, Folken and Adrina alone. Van looked up at Folken.
"This is bad, isn't it?" he asked his older brother. Folken nodded. "Do you think we'll make it though this one?"
"We'll manage," Adrina comforted, "we always do."
"We had better go work on that research," Folken said, "the sooner we have the answers, the sooner we can put our plan into motion and be done with this."
The three of them stood up and exited the meeting room. Van headed off towards his wing of the castle while Folken and Adrina went to theirs. Adrina grabbed the book from the Records House and the one from the Asturian library. She lifted them both with strain.
"I'm going to the library," Adrina told Folken, "I may need to cross-reference something."
Folken took the books from her. "If you pull those stitches out again, Millerna is going to kill you."
Adrina looked down at her left arm, which was mending with it's second set of stitches. The first had been pulled out during the attack by Naria and Eriya. "Don't worry Folken. It's almost healed."
"It may be but carrying around twenty pounds of books isn't going to help it," Folken chided, "I'm going to speak with Sir Chenley about what we can do for the time being to protect Fanelia. I'll carry them to the library for you."
Adrina followed Folken out of the parlor and down the corridors to the library. He deposited the books on a table and waited until she sat down. Folken kissed her forehead and told her he'd be back as soon as he could.
After he was gone, Adrina opened the Records House book and flipped through until she found the passages discussing the construction of the machine. It gave references to some sort of key that needed to be used to operate the machine but she wasn't worried about that. She skipped down and found what she was looking for.
The book stated that if the Zeus was to be destroyed, Draconians from both sides of the family tree must come together. It didn't say how many must come or what they must do. Adrina started to close the book when a paragraph on the next page caught her eye. She had read up until the top of the page where the book began discussing how to run the Zeus and hadn't thought it important but right in the middle of the explanation was hte information she needed.
"To destroy the Zeus, innumerable Draconians from each side of the tree must gather. How many depends on how strong the will of the gathered Draconians is. The more Draconians who are gathered, the stronger their will will be. Once they are gathered, the Murasaki Tatsu and Sekichiku Namida must be held in the air by their rightful owners. The Murasaki Tatsu must be wielded by the last first-born on Kuji's side and Sekichiku Namida must be wielding by the youngest last-born of Shinji's line. The will of the Draconians will be concentrated in the stones and amplified enough to destroy Zeus."
Having found the information she needed, Adrina gathered up the books and hurried back to her parlor. She put the books on a table and went out in search of Folken. She found him and Chenley talking in the meeting room they had left no more than half an hour ago.
"Folken, I found it!" Adrina announced.
"Found what?" Sir Chenley questioned.
"How to destroy Zeus!" Adrina told them excitedly.
"How?" Chenley asked eagerly.
"Like I said earlier," Adrina started, "Draconians from both sides of the tree must be gathered. The book doesn't say how many Draconians because it depends on the strength of their will. Once they are gathered, the power of their will is concentrated into the pendants and amplified enough to destroy Zeus. All we have to do is gather the Draconians and go to Zaibach. We've already got the stones."
"It's easier said than done," Folken reminded, "the Draconians are disappearing rapidly and most won't admit that they are Draconians."
"But once we explain the situation, they'll listen," Adrina insisted, "they have to!"
"Rina love, we can talk about this later," Folken said, "Right now, Chenley and I need to discuss the matters of safety here in Fanelia before he leaves."
"Leaves?" Adrina inquired.
"Yes M'lady," Chenley replied, "I am going to visit my sister and her family for a few days in Freid."
"Oh, well have fun," Adrina smiled.
"Thank you, M'lady. I will."
"You're welcome." Adrina turned to Folken. "I greatly anticipate our talk, my Lord." Adrina curtsied slightly and left the room.
"Her Ladyship doesn't seem very pleased with the reaction you had to her findings my King," Chenley pointed out.
Folken sighed. "Not pleased" was an understatement. Adrina never addressed him formally or bowed unless she was teasing him or showing she was irritated with him. The last seemed to be true in this case. Folken stood. "Chenley, I think I should take care of this now. We'll finish our conversation later."
"Of course," Chenley agreed as Folken hurried out the door after Adrina.
---------------------------------------------------------
Adrina hurried down the halls towards her room. She was upset by Folken's lack of interest in her discovery and had let him know by her actions in the meeting room. She knew she was being childish but she didn't care. She had discovered a way to stop Zeus. Wasn't that something to get excited about?
Adrina reached her parlor and entered. She walked across the room and plopped down on a large couch that faced the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. Not a minute later, the door opened and Folken entered. He spotter her on the couch and smiled apologetically. Adrina continued to scowl as he approached.
"Rina, I know you are upset with me," Folken began. Adrina still showed no signs of any emotion except anger. "Please don't be. I know you are excited over your findings, but we have to be realistic. There probably isn't enough Draconians left on Gaea to stop Zeus."
"You're right Folken," Adrina agreed sarcastically, "So instead of at least trying, we'll just sit here and wait for the sorcerers to obliterate our country. That's a much better idea."
"Adrina..."
"Don't you see Folken?" Adrina beseeched, "Gathering the Draconians is the only chance we have! We probably won't have enough Draconians to destroy Zeus, but what if we do? I'd rather die trying to save Gaea than sit here like a coward and wait for the end to come anyway."
Folken sighed. "The odds are against us."
"When aren't they?" Adrina questioned, "In the war with Zaibach, Fanelia didn't have a chance and yet we still emerged victorious. Why? Because we never lost hope. If hope is lost, then we are as well."
Folken reached forward and stroked Adrina's cheek. "How did you get so wise?"
Adrina shrugged. "This will work, Folken. I won't lose to the sorcerers, even if I have to sneak into Zaibach and kill them all myself."
"You are right," Folken agreed, "Gathering the Draconians is the only chance we've got to save Gaea and we must take it. I will send a message to Asturia in the morning. We will gather the Draconians and destroy the Zeus."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The days passed and more messages about Draconians flowed in. The new message that was sent out asked all Draconians to meet either in Fanelia or Asturia. Many came to Fanelia and many were staying in Asturia. Messengers went back and forth between the two countries daily, relaying messages of war plans and names of Draconians who had been gathered.
With Chenley gone to Freid, Van had assumed the position of commanding the Fanelian Army. Half of the Fanelian Army along with half of the Asturian Army was going to march with the Draconians to Zaibach incase the sorcerers sent out soldiers to stop them. They knew, however, if the sorcerers used Zeus, there would be nothing they could do.
The day of departure was rapidly approaching and the entire country of Fanelia was busy. Wagons had to be made for the Draconians to travel in, along with supplies to take on the journey. The trail over the mountains was too narrow for such a host to cross, so they planned to travel around the mountains, adding four days to their trip.
Three days before their departure, the Asturian Army marched into Fanelia with the Draconians who had congregated there. Adrina and Folken were surprised to see Allen leading the troops.
"Allen!" Folken greed as the King of Asturia dismounted his horse, "I didn't expect to see you leading the army."
"Who else would lead the Asturian Army into battle?" Allen questioned, "I may not be a Draconian, but that doesn't mean I can't help."
"I see you've brought guymelefs." Folken motioned to the giant suits of armor marching up behind the Army.
"Yes," Allen nodded, "I figured we may need them in case those cat friends of yours decide to pay us another visit."
After a few more minutes of idle chatter, Folken welcomed the Draconians and had servants show them to the places they would be staying while in Fanelia. After everyone had been settled, Folken, Allen, Van and the generals of the two armies went to the meeting room to put the finishing touches on the plans.
Adrina left the men to their discussion and went in search of Merle. She found her in her room. Adrina entered and sat down on the bed next to her sister.
"Where's Zane?" Adrina asked.
"Helping with the supplies," Merle answered.
"Oh." They were silent for a minute. "Merle, I need to talk to you."
"If this is about the vase in the main hall, I didn't break it," Merle insisted, "Zane pushed me and I accidentally knocked it off the shelf."
Adrina looked down at her sister with a smile. "Well actually, that's not what I wanted ot talk to you about."
"Oh." Merle smiled innocently, "then just forget everything I said. What did you want to talk to me about?"
The smile left Adrina's face and she took a deep breath. "As you know, we're leaving in three days." Merle nodded. "And there's a good chance we won't be coming back."
"Oh Adrina, don't say that!" Merle begged.
"It's true," Adrina said, "and if we don't come back, someone's going to have to run Fanelia. Normally it would go to Hitomi but since Van agreed to let her and Golan come along, that won't work. Folken, Van, Hitomi and I have talked it out and we decided if we all perish in Zaibach, we want you to be the new Queen of Fanelia."
"Me?!" Merle asked in disbelief, "I don't know the first thing about running a country!"
"The advisors will help you," Adrina assured, "and besides, if we fail, your reign as Queen will be short."
Merle looked up at Adrina, her eyes filled with tears. "Adrina, I'm really scared."
"We all are." Adrina hugged her sister, "but I believe that we can do this and everything will be all right in the end."
-------------------------------------------------------
The sorcerers stood in front of the kneeling man, their black cloaks giving them the appearance of obsidian pillars with faces.
"What news from Fanelia?"
"The Queen has discovered the way to destroy the Zeus," The man informed, "they have gathered all the Draconians they could and will leave Fanelia in three days to come here."
"Do they have the stones?"
"Yes," the man answered, "the King wears the purple one and the prince wears the pink one."
"Excellent. Let them come. Once we defeat them, we will take the stones and use them to boost Zeus to full power. They are delivering to us their own destruction and they don't even know it!" The sorcerer turned to the man still kneeling on the floor. "You have done well, Chenley. When the planet is ours you will be given your choice of countries."
"Thank you, my Lords." Chenley stood and hurried out of the dark room.
******************************************
This chapter wasn't that exciting but we did learn some stuff, didn't we? The final battle should occur in the next chapter and that should be the end of it. I may include an epilogue or perhaps another chapter. I'm not sure because I don't know how the story is going to end yet. Hopefully I'll update soon, but it probably won't be until Monday.