Tycho and Jiri drew their weapons apprehensively. As Tycho turned to look at the threat, the beam of light from the palm-light on his forehead hit the monster.

It was huge, towering almost three times as tall as the SeeD candidates. The beam shimmered off its dark green scales and lingered on its massive tail blade. Between it and the mouthful of sharp fangs it carried, the creature looked as if it could cut up and eat the very cave if it wanted to.

A Grendel, Jaysen thought. Draconae Grendlis. Lightning elemental. Minor dragon. A high-level monster, by all counts. And this one looks like it swallowed a whole pharmacy's worth of stimulants.

he said.

Nothing but lizards, huh? I notice you didn't say what kind of lizards, Tycho whispered.

Oh, sure; blame this on me.

The monster let out a deep, menacing growl, its eyes fixed right on them.

Tycho began to back away, smiling soothingly. Niiiice Grendel. Gooood Grendel. Don't eat me, Grendel, he cooed.

Naturally, that was the exact moment it picked to charge.

Tycho yelled, spinning away from the massive thing. Yanking out his axes, he plunged both of them into the thick, leathery hide. With an enraged roar, the Grendel swung its massive tail towards him, ramming him in the chest with the blunt edge. Tycho went flying, ramming into a not-quite-clean pile of bones.

There was a wet thunk as Jiri brought the ball of her flail down on the thing's head and lept away, making an opening for Jay to rake the needle sword along the thing's neck. It only made the Grendel madder.

Back, dammit! Tycho yelled, stretching out a white-gloved hand. Jiri and Jay both jumped back as a reddish-gold shield appeared in front of Tycho's hand, exploding into a huge tunnel of light that ran the monster straight through. The Grendel staggered under the Meltdown spell, and a pale, bruiselike purple sheen began to show through the many layers of skin.

But it charged again. The behemoth was nothing compared to this, Jay thought as it reached out to claw him. Parrying with a swift strike of the blade, he slashed through the skin and drew blood. The Meltdown spell had weakened the creature, but done nothing for the thing's temper.

In a flash of motion, the Grendel's hand whipped out and sent Jay flying across the cave. He landed hard, and his blade went flying.

The monster seemed to be hovering between the three, as if trying to decide who to strike first. Cover me! he shouted, backing as far away from the monster as he could. Tycho and Jiri nodded, and proceeded to take to the beast with as much abandon as they could afford without losing any body parts.

Jay half-closed his eyes, and focused on summoning Dracona.

The next few moments went by in a blur. Tycho got a bit too close to the Grendel's tail, and was awarded with a wicked gash across his right arm. Somewhere in there, he lost one of his axes as well. Jiri, screaming and dancing to get the monster's attention, brought her flail down squarely on the thing's head. The tiny, razor-sharp spikes mangled one of its eyes, but it didn't seem to notice as it turned and lashed out with its claws.

Then the entire world disappeared as the GF responded to his summon, pushing itself to the forefront of his mind.

Burning Cry, he whispered.

His body faded, and suddenly he was falling. Diving. Strong, leathery wings were crumpled to his back, as a ring of fire appeared just in front of him. Faster — exilaration melded with adrenaline — and he was through. Both wings snapped out, his tail swung downwards, and suddenly he was hovering in the air of the cavern he had just left. Faint, intangible thoughts drifted past; he was hearing the mind of the GF.

Pulling the tips of wings together to form a dome above the grendel, he felt the fire gather in lungs. Power coursed through his veins, directed, targeted at the massive brownish-green beast below him. The fire exploded from his mouth, searing the Grendel in its tracks. It bellowed in pain as the pillar of flame surrounded it, and staggered back. Dracona gave a last, peircing victory cry, and disappeared. On the ground, Jay felt himself fade back into existance as the Grendel whirled to face the newest threat.

Jay, look out! Jiri screamed, but it was too late do do anything. A tunnel of silver fire erupted from the monster's mouth, ramming Jay against the wall. His every nerve felt as if it were burning, and at the same time he felt as if he would be crushed. Even after the deadly Breath died down, Jay could not move without sending another wave of pain through his body.

The Grendel launched itself at Jay's prone form, teeth bared and ready to swallow him whole — if he was lucky. Steeling himself against the pain, Jay rolled to the side, missing the thing by so little that he could feel the air displaced by its gnashing teeth. He did not see the the monster turn slightly away from him, or notice its upraised tail until it was too late. With a roar, it brought the tail down on him, blade aimed perfectly to chop him in half —

At the last instant, Jay saw a silvery-blue shield appear, as if stenciled in thin air. The tail struck the shield and was deflected to collide harmlessly with a pile of long-dead bones. An instant later, a halo of blue healing magic surrounded Jay, and the fiery pain was gone.

You're welcome! Tycho called from the other side of the cave.

Jiri sent a Blizzaga spell raging at the thing, and it momentarily forgot Jay as it charged across the cavern. Tycho, holding his axe as best he could in his good arm, delivered a crushing blow to the thing's neck. It roared, nearly snapping him in half with its powerful jaws. Jay ducked in next to it, then deployed a Firaga to draw its attention away from Tycho. It worked a bit too well, as the back of a clawed hand lashed out at him. The Protect shield prevented any injury, but Jay was sent flying across the cave. The rib cage of a long-dead animal broke his fall, and Jay scrambled to his feet.

We had better get extra credit for this! Jiri yelled, taking another swing with her flail. She missed completely, but drew a swipe of the Grendel's claws, which raked across her leg, easily shredding the armor padding afforded by the uniform. With a yelp, she fell to the ground.

No! Jay's hand shot out before he could even really think, and the plume of Firaga enveloped the monster. That was when he spotted his needle sword a few meters away, waiting patiently for its user.

The Grendel roared. Jay lunged forward, picking his sword off the ground as he ran straight for the monster. It reared and spun on its hind legs, towering over him. His mind screamed at him to duck away but he ignored the council, holding the thin blade ahead of him in both hands.

With another ground-shaking roar, the gigantic beast dove down at him. Ducking back from the mouth at the last possible moment, he rammed the sword between the rows of deadly teeth. The blade slid easily through the soft tissue at the roof of its mouth and lodged itself in its brain.

The Grendel halted, gurgling. Its remaining eye bulged, staring at Jay. Faint blue shimmers shone in the corners of Jay's eyes as Jiri and Tycho Cured themselves. The Grendel staggered, dark blood filling its mouth, then, with a final, almost plaintive whine, toppled over on its side, crushing the dead Torama.

For a moment, the cavern was absolutly silent. No one spoke, as if to break the silence would perhaps bring the beast back to life.

Everyone all right? Tycho, still nursing his arm, was the first to speak.

Jiri exclaimed. Despite the fact that her Curaga magic had healed her injury, she was swaying dizzily from the effects of the high-powered magic. I can hardly stand, and my uniform is ruined!

Jay rolled his eyes. Her uniform's ruined.

Come on, Tycho said. Jay and I'll help you. He looked at Jay. I'll take her right.

Jay smiled, recalling Tycho's injured arm. You sure?

Jiri exclaimed. Guys, look!

Jay spun around, half expecting the Grendel to have risen again to take its vengeance. Instead, he watched it shrinking. Blue-white tendrils of lightning played across the thing's body as it contracted to less than half its original size. Its scales lightened, its tail and claws retracted; by the time the transformation had stopped, it looked like a perfecty normal Grendel.

Except for the blue-white glow at the base of its skull.

What'n'ell is that? Tycho asked.

Jay took a tentative step forward. There was something, some energy coming from the beast. It felt...familiar.

Very impressive.

The words echoed through his mind, bringing with them a familiar sensation. It was the same feeling he had had when he first junctioned Dracona. No, not quite. But similar. This one was...stronger, somehow.

It's a GF, he whispered, not even sure the others could hear.

Indeed. I am impressed, human. I did not believe your species was so capable of such power. You are strong ones.

What's it saying? Jiri asked.

You are indeed worthy, human. I will join you.

The glow shot from the dead Grendel directly into Jay's forehead. The mental shock of the juction sent him staggaring backwards. Tycho rushed to him, and Jiri tried to, but tripped and fell.

Hey, man, you all right?

Jay nodded, looking up into his friend's face. Then he chuckled. Think we passed?

Tycho grinned, and soon all three of them were laughing. They had just fought — and killed — a monster that should have been way out of their league. That probably guarenteed their graduation as SeeDs, but what was important right now was that they were alive.

And they had won.

Tycho noted after a few moments. Check this out.

Jaysen, who had been struggling to retrieve his sword from the Grendel's mouth, looked to where Tycho was standing. It was the depression where the monster had been lying when they had entered. Jay realized that the beast had always been forcing them away from that part of the cavern, and he had never got a clear look at it.

Inside were half a dozen grey spotted eggs.

It — she — was defending her young, Jay mused.

Oh, man! Jiri exclaimed. Now I feel bad.

It's a tough world, Tycho said, and without hesitation, raised his axe and brought it down on one of the eggs. It broke open easily, and ruddy fluid spilled out.

Jiri cried.

They wouldn't have lived long anyway, without their mother, Jay said.

Unless you want to adopt them? Tycho joked.



Tycho grinned. Might be worth it, just to see the look on Chang's face. Nevertheless, he smashed another egg.

Jay, finally freeing his blade from the mother's mouth, joined in. Oh, here's your other axe. He offered the weapon to Tycho between swings.

Tycho indicated his injured arm. Mind holding onto it for a while?


It was more than half an hour later, Jay guessed, when they reached the mouth of the cave again. Squinting at the bright sunlight, Jay reached up to switch off his light. As he did so, he noticed three forms just entering the cave.

one called, shining a light in Jay's face. Are you Squad H?

Jay cringed at the light. This drew a protest from Jiri, who he and Tycho were half-supporting, half-carrying between them as she attempted to walk off the magic. he called back.

Oh, good. The one in the center ran forward, and Jay saw he was wearing a SeeD uniform. We're Delta Team; we were sent to find you when you didn't check in. You or your remains.

Thanks for the confidence. We might need a little help getting down the cliff, Jay said, indicating Jiri and Tycho's arm. Jay was also fighting through the tingling left over from the Grendel's Breath.

Sure. We've already called for an aircar; everyone else already pulled out. One of the squads already found and took out the nest.

Which one? Jiri asked.

Another SeeD snorted. Who else? Squad B.

Kailie, Jay thought, smiling. She could probably stop a Lunar Cry singlehanded if she put her mind to it.

The third SeeD eyed the candidates' injuries. What happened to you three?

...angry mother, Tycho said.