I don't own The Legend of Dragoon, any of the characters except the Takahari family, or the Choose Your Own Adventure book I got the concept of kuji from.
I stood from where I had been crouched next to Lavitz's body. "Rest in peace, Lavitz. Dart," I called, "before we do anything else, we should send someone to take Lavitz's body back to Bale. Either myself or Ryan, I think, because we can get there and back the fastest."
"Right. Ryan, if you--" Dart was interrupted by a roar. "Uh-oh."
Judging from Rose's grim expression, it could only be one thing. "This is it. The Time Dragon has arrived. Be caref--" She was cut off mid-word, freezing in place, as if time had stopped.
Wait a minute. I thought. The Time Dragon can play tricks with time. That means- I looked around. Ryan and I were the only ones not frozen in place.
"Ian, does this mean what I think it means?" Ryan asked.
"Looks that way. Guess we'll have to fight this thing on our own. Now where is it?"
"Ian, behind you!" Ryan's eyes were wide.
"Wha!?" Before I could turn, something hit me from behind and I was knocked flying. "Ugh!" I didn't even have a chance to draw my sword as I went sailing past Ryan. I landed hard, skidding off the edge of the tower, just barely catching myself with one hand. I hung there without enough strength to use my Dragoon Spirit, and with both hands now occupied with keeping me from falling, I couldn't use kuji to get myself back to the tower.
I managed to raise my head enough to see Ryan charging the Dragon, using his left hand for some type of kuji magic. Immediately, some kind of sphere surrounded him, and he continued towards the Dragon, apparently oblivious to the possibility of being frozen in time.
Of course. That kuji trick must have been a time manipulation move as well. But can he take that thing alone? True, he's trained in the Rage Demon Art, too, but I'm the only one to have gotten all the techniques. Despite my misgivings, however, I knew that there was no way I could get back in time to help him, given my current position.
I watched as Ryan got within striking range of the Time Dragon and unleash a powerful combination attack. In response, the enormous creature swept its tail, sending him flying into a pillar.
As he recovered, I managed to get enough of a grip on the tower to free one hand. Thinking fast, I drew the Soul Cleaver and threw it to Ryan.
With a blur of movement, he shifted his own katana to his left hand and caught the Soul Cleaver in his right. Thus armed, he went back on the offensive, timing his blows so that the Time Dragon was constantly being hit by one sword or the other.
When the Dragon finally did get in a slash of its claws, though, Ryan nearly fell off the tower, blood dripping down his face from the wound. What he did next surprised even me: with a snarl, he set down the Soul Cleaver, raised his own sword-
And vanished. There was a glint of steel near the Dragon's chest, then Ryan reappeared behind it, casually sheathing his sword while the Time Dragon dropped in two pieces behind him.
Upon the Dragon's death, Rose resumed speaking where she had left off. "--ful." She looked around, puzzled. "Did I miss something?"
Watching without surprise as the Dragoon Spirit of the Time Dragon floated over to Ryan, I replied, "You could say that." I hauled myself back into the tower and retrieved the Soul Cleaver. "Ryan just killed the Time Dragon. Unassisted, except for my sword. You might say that the Dragon left me hanging. But now we have yet another Dragoon Spirit: that of the Time Dragon."
Dart shook his head, then spoke. "Anyway, as I was saying before the Dragon showed up, would you take Lavitz's body back to Bale, Ryan?"
"Sure. Just let me take care of this wound." Ryan drank a potion. "Okay, I'm ready to go. Where do I meet you?"
Dart thought for a moment. "Seles. I know of a place where we hide for little while."
"Got it. See you there." Ryan carefully picked up Lavitz's body, then teleported off to Bale.
When we reached Seles, Dart led the way down into a cellar that went fairly deep down. By this time, Ryan had returned from Bale, so we were able to begin our discussion right away.
I turned to King Albert. "Your Majesty, what was that thing Lloyd took from you?"
He sighed. "I guess I must tell you all of it," he said, turning to face the wall. "It's called the Moon Gem. It's an heirloom of Serdio, sealed into the body of the heir to the throne. An object of great magical power, it was created by the Winglies 11,000 years ago when Humans defeated them and we won our freedom. A peace token, as it were, symbolizing our freedom. Each of the three countries, Serdio, Tiberoa, and Mille Seseau, received them. Tiberoa has the Moon Dagger, and Mille Seseau the Moon Mirror. Now that Lloyd has taken the Moon Gem to Emperor Doel, Doel can claim the throne of all of Serdio…" His voice trailed off as he clenched his hand into a fist.
Dart glared at the floor. "And now Lloyd has killed Lavitz…"
Rose spoke. "Lavitz didn't stand a chance. Lloyd had the Dragon Buster, a Wingly sword created for the express purpose of killing Dragons and Dragoons. Even Dragoon armor is like paper against it. If I had known Lloyd possessed it, I would have stopped Lavitz."
"But now it's too late," Ryan snarled. "That scum Lloyd murdered him in cold blood. Even if there weren't other considerations like ending the war, I'd go after Doel just for sending Lloyd to kill Lavitz. And I'd like to kill Lloyd, too."
I shook my head. "Ryan, I agree with going after Lloyd, but you can't directly blame Doel for Lavitz's death. He had no way of knowing Lavitz would even be there, so I highly doubt he specifically ordered Lloyd to kill him."
"He's right," Shana said. "But we still have to go after Doel to end the war."
"Absolutely," Haschel agreed.
I drew Soul Cleaver and began to polish it. "Didn't say we didn't. Just wanted to point out that we can't blame Doel for everything." I pulled out my Dragoon Spirit, while the others, including Ryan, followed suit. "For now, why don't we go kick Doel's backside out of power, shall we?"
The shine from the Dragoon Spirits was answer enough.
On the journey to Kazas, I took it upon myself to train Ryan in Dragoon combat, as well as some of the more advanced Rage Demon techniques that were normally taught only to the heir of the Art. In this situation, I felt that he needed all the abilities possible to survive. I didn't teach him all of them, of course, as there had to be some mystique to the Art.
"Okay," I said to Ryan, "try to hit me."
He looked slightly nervous. "You sure about this, Ian? I mean, the chances of my hitting you aren't that low."
"Don't be so sure. But even if you do, remember that we've got the White Silver Dragoon with us. Now come on. Hit me. If you can."
Ryan shrugged. "You asked for it…" Without warning, his katana was out and he was slashing through the air…
Where I no longer was. I had already moved, appearing directly behind him and putting my sword to his throat. "Too slow." I withdrew my blade. "Not bad, but still a little too slow. When you can knock my sword from my grip, I'll consider you ready for training." I stepped back. "Again!"
This time, Ryan simply stood there at first, watching me. Then, with a blur of movement, he swept towards me, so fast that I couldn't dodge. What I could and did do, however, was raise my katana and parry his stroke, knocking him to the ground.
"Better. Definitely better." I gave Ryan a hand up, then stepped back into the ready position. "Once more. You're almost ready."
"Only almost?" Ryan said, a challenging grin on his face. "How 'bout now?" Faster than even I could see, he appeared behind me, hit my wrist with sufficient force to make me drop the blade, then kicked me in the back, knocking me over.
With a satisfied smile on his face, he walked over and put his sword to my throat, aiming a pistol at me with his left hand. "Bang," Ryan said. "You're dead."
"Very funny. Now would you mind letting me up?" I didn't find his expression, or the weapons at near my head, to be at all reassuring.
He shook his head, a lopsided smile on his face, then began to laugh.
"Uh, Ryan…" This was beginning to make me nervous. I suddenly recalled just what had happened when Ryan and I had reunited in Shirley's Shrine: we had fought a duel, and he hadn't really explained why.
He raised his hand, making the motions of a kuji spell. I gulped, really starting to worry now. I wondered just what had happened after the events at the dojo.
The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air, bowling over Dart and Albert, before slamming into a tree. The impact knocked me unconscious, with one thought sticking in mind as I succumbed to the blackness. Why…
Author's note: A little shorter than some of my previous chapters, but I thought I'd devote a little time to the Time Dragon and adding a little mystery to the story. As usual, please read and review, and let me know what you think of this latest twist.
