Wyndia, capital of the Angel Clan Kingdom, was boring. Nina found it so
dull, everyday the same routine, the same things. Sometimes it was a
dispute between local farmers or other times, other tribes. Her father,
King Wyndia IX, was always too busy, but not like it mattered, Nina found
him so DULL anyways. He was always talking about matters of state or
something that she just didn't care about. Then, as always the topic of
her eventual succession to the throne would come up, and she'd be in for
another hour or so lecture by either her mother or the Chief Minister.
Sighing Nina listened to a disgruntled farmer rattle on how another had let
his cows graze in his yard.
"Why can't anything fun ever happen…" she grumbled to herself, "I mean...come on there's got to be other things happening out there besides petty farming or tribal disputes…like with the Imperials or something."
Indeed, there was, over the past five years the Imperialists had become very antsy. More and more activity had happened over in their quadrant after supposedly an entire division of their soldiers had been mysteriously wiped out. Their ambassadors to Wyndia suddenly grew quiet and withdrawn, and Nina had hardly seen them around, so naturally she had grown curious about their going-on's. She knew that it wasn't just some small thing; she knew it was big, so big in fact that even the usual blabber-mouthed guards assigned to protect the ambassadors had withdrawn. Nina found herself suddenly nodding off, the dull drone of the farmer draining her of conscious thought. Yawning she said to her dad, "Daddy, I'm going to go take a nap, ok?"
King Wyndia nodded saying, "Sure Nina, whatever you want."
Nina fumed as she stormed out, "He didn't even turn to look at me! What an airhead!"
As she walked down the hallway from the throne room to her own room, her mind slipped to other, less royal type thoughts, "Hmm wonder what's new on the clothes market in town." she pondered as she walked into her room, "I'm going to go find out!"
With a girlish giggle, she smiled to herself. This would be her chance to get away for a while, do some shopping on her own, and not be babied by anyone following her!
Flapping her wings a bit she looked down outside her window.
"Too far for these little wings...darn!" she complained.
Looking around, Nina looked for something that would help her escape the castle undetected. Her eye happened to catch a parasol in the corner of her room, "What luck!" she thought to herself eagerly, "I can float down this way!"
Muttering some words Nina cast a Float spell on the parasol and climbed up into her window. Silently Nina hoped the parasol wouldn't give out and jumped.
Everything went beautifully. In a matter of minutes Nina touched down gracefully in a small back alley near the Weapons shop. Squealing at her success, Nina was overjoyed to be out of the castle and away from the stuffy royalty treatments. Walking out of the alley, Nina surveyed her surroundings; it was a big change to the insides of a castle. Houses were everywhere; many with the telltale Wyndian windmill on them. These windmills used the constant windy weather in and around Wyndian to power bathrooms and bring water to the occupants of the house. Nina happily mingled in with the crowd, avoiding detection as best she could. The crowded busy streets were a nice change to the stuffy castle atmosphere. Immediately her eyes fell on the most darling clothes store she had ever seen. Squealing with joy Nina walked, skipped almost, over to it. She immediately went to 'work', zipping among the many types of dresses and bonnets, admiring how simple yet elegant they were. They were a big change from the flamboyant dresses the royal family had, but Nina didn't care, all she cared about at the moment was the clothes and nothing else, not royalty, not the privileges or duties, just the clothes. Sighing happily to herself she soon was lost in her own world as she shopped. After quite some time of looking, pondering, and trying on many types of different dresses Nina settled upon a nice little red one. Its edges were trimmed in white, but it was quite darling. It fit her wings quite well, and it was snug. It was, however, also a bit revealing, but that didn't bother Nina. Paying the needed Zenny for it, she changed out of her stuffy royalty garb and slipped into the much more comfortable and supple dress. After leaving the store Nina admired more of the city. She hadn't come here much and when she had she had been under the guards watchful eyes. Now, however, she was free, able to roam around unhindered and free. It felt wonderful to her, and way past time, she may be twenty-one, but her parents still treated her as if she was a baby. There was one thing Nina missed as she continued her walk down the many streets of Wyndia, however, and it was the silent cloaked figure that was slowly following behind her, waiting and watching.
Nina skipped merrily onwards, unaware that she was being followed. It wasn't long before the figure made its move. Quickly and quietly it approached her from behind, then accosted her quietly, with a snake like voice. "Princessss Ninaaa I sssupposse?"
Nina turned and was about to reply when suddenly a Sleep spell hit her smack in the face. With a small groan, she slumped to the ground. Quickly before anyone could notice something was wrong the hooded creature got a hold of the unconscious princess and dragged her into a nearby alleyway. Imperial soldiers were waiting. The creature uncloaked itself to reveal a man or what looked like a man. He was in fact half snake, half human, but what he was made no difference, he still was sinister and dangerous. Nodding to the princess he spoke to the leader of the soldiers.
"Ssir I have done as ordered, I got the Wynnndian princesssss for youu."
The troop commander acknowledged the snake-mans deeds, saying, "Excellent work my friend, you have earned this."
With that he threw the snake-man a sack of Zenny. Greedily the snake-man opened the sack and counted the money, then he looked up, fire in his eyes.
"You haave cheated me! Give me what isss rightfully oweeed!"
Nodding to one of his comrades, the commander chuckled, "That's the thing when dealing with the Devil…you never quite get what you want!"
The snake mans hand went up, the words for a devastating Frost spell on his lips. What he failed to see was one of the soldiers unsheathe his sword. It was a fatal mistake. Suddenly with a sickening squish of steel cutting through scaled flesh, the snake mans head was severed cleanly from his body.
Laughing the commander replied, "Oh he got what was 'rightfully owed' alright, the slime."
Then with a nod he and his men mounted their horses. The unconscious princess was tied up and slung across the back of one of them. With a frightening whoop the small band of soldiers galloped out of the alley and into the street, scattering frightened people in all directions. The commander was laughing all the way; enjoying the panic he and his men were creating.
Then with a wave he yelled, "Onto Kyria! Onto destiny!" And with those orders the band galloped from the city of Wyndia, and onto the path that would take them to a little known town that was destroyed five seemingly long years ago.
Nina awoke from the influence of the sleep spell groggily. As she did she nearly panicked, she was staring down at the ground, bouncing up and down, and to make matters worse, all tied up! Kicking and screaming she soon alerted the Imperials to the fact that she was awake. The sun soon set and the Imperials made camp for the night. Nina sat sulkily by the fire, upset and a bit shaken by all the jostling she had gotten earlier as the horse had galloped on its course. She had been untied, but was watched closely by a big scary looking Imperial. Sighing, she looked around. This time, there at the moment, seemed like no possible avenue to escape, so she quietly sat there, plotting her escape when and if the time came that she could get away. Eventually an even bigger man than the one who was watching her came up to her and sat on the other side of the fire grinning.
"Well birdie, seems like you finally woke up." He said.
Nina grimaced, she didn't like being called birdie, and in fact it was downright embarrassing and humiliating. "Shove it!" she snapped, "When my father finds out that you've kidnapped me he'll, he'll.."
"He'll what?" smirked the Imperial, "declare war on the Imperial Empire? Heh I highly doubt it. Doing so would mean Wyndia's utter destruction! A very bad political move indeed…"
Nina grimaced again she hated to admit it but, he was right, Wyndia was in no condition to withstand a force as powerful as the Imperial Empire, it wouldn't stand a chance in a war Wyndians just weren't the war type!
Sighing she replied, "Look, I've done nothing to you why do you need me…if its money you want I'm sure my dad could arrange something…" Silently Nina prayed that was all they wanted, and not anything else.
Smirking the Imperial chuckled, "Its not money we're after, its D-R-A-G-O-N- S my little birdie, and you're going to help us catch one!"
Nina gasped. Dragons? Impossible! They had died out years ago, hunted to extinction.
She was about to say so, but the Imperial smirked and replied, "Oh yes, I know what you're going to say birdie, but there happens to be one quite alive where we're going…and like I said before, you're going to help us capture it!"
Nina frowned, "And what if I refuse?" she said boldly.
The Imperial grinned a crooked grin, showing all his teeth. "Then I let Bruno here," he said with a nod to the big brute watching over her, "have his way with you...and probably the rest of the men as well once he's through."
Nina froze gasping, "You wouldn't!"
The Imperial just grinned a grin that said he wasn't lying. Wincing Nina realized she was trapped. There was nothing she could do. Quietly she wished she had never left the castle and laid her head down in her lap to cry quietly.
The next few days of riding were uneventful. Nina had followed quietly and behaved for the trip, making no escape attempts for fear of upsetting her captors commander. They soon arrived at their destination, and Nina beheld a spectacle that took her breath away. Lying in the middle of an enormous crater was a gigantic Dragon. She estimated that it stood nearly thirty feet high and weighed well over a few tons. She was flabbergasted. Here, all the legends had said they had been hunted to extinction, and yet she was staring at one! Nina could barely contain even the slightest bit of excitement at seeing the Dragon. The Imperial Commander quickly went to work ordering his men to get the equipment out to capture the Dragon. Nina frowned. What would the Imperials want with a Dragon? It didn't seem right! However, a quick shove from behind by Bruno reminded her whose company she was in and she grudgingly went up to the commander.
"Ok, we're here, what do want me to do?" she replied as dryly as she could muster the courage to.
"Alright birdie, its simple enough for you, since you're highly schooled in magic, we want you to WAKE HIM UP."
Nina did a double take. "You want me to what!?!" she almost yelled, "wake him up! You must be crazy!"
"True," replied the commander, "crazy, but not stupid, that's why you're going to do it!"
With those words he gave a nod to Nina's 'escort', and Bruno shoved Nina roughly into the pit. Nina stumbled and fell head over heels at the roughness of the push. Before she knew what was happening she was sprawled at the bottom of the pit, bruised, bleeding, and a battered from rolling down the steep slope. Getting up, Nina resisted the sudden urge to start crying, and slowly headed toward the Dragons head. As she walked forward she stopped for a brief time to lightly run her hand over the magnificent pure white scales. Just touching them gave Nina goose bumps as she could feel the magical aura of God-like power and energy the Dragon emanated pulse through her. Nina was stunned.
"So much power," she thought to herself, "it's as if, as if it were a being made of pure energy."
Continuing her trip toward the head of the Dragon, she was careful not to step on its wings, their membranes glistening like gold silk as she passed by them. As she neared the Dragons head, she slowed. She could see some of the razor sharp teeth protruding from the creature's top jaw, and they scared her. Its fork like tongue also flicked in an out as the creature breathed slowly in its sleep. Cautiously Nina approached the Dragons head.
"Such beauty and power," she thought, "like a lightning bolt…but something's not right…what would cause a Dragon to sleep so long like this? Wouldn't someone have noticed it by now?"
However, thoughts of Bruno clouded over any questions she might have had and carefully she placed her hand on the Dragons snout. Muttering some words, Nina began the incantation of Rising.
It all happened before Nina even had time to blink. Within seconds of finishing the incantation the Dragons reptilian eyes shot open. Nina shrieked and stepped back as the Dragon lifted its giant head, eager to see who disturbed its slumber. Letting loose with a roar, the Dragon used its eyes to trace along the line of the crater, until its eyes fell onto Nina. Its head swooped down so it could look at Nina closely. Nina tried not to scream, seeing the fire of a berserk rage in its eyes, she knew if she did, she would be dead in seconds. Suddenly something happened. The fire died in the Dragons eyes and as it did the Dragon let one last roar into the sky go. Then a bright white light engulfed the Dragon and its massive form began to shrink. Soon, nothing was left of the Dragon except a naked blue- haired man unconscious at Nina's feet. Nina's fears soon left her as she stared at the young man sleeping peacefully. Despite the fact that he was naked, he was rather cute! Nina blushed fiercely, almost forgetting of the Imperials above. Suddenly they came, and Nina had other things to worry about. They quickly swarmed over the young man, binding him, as if they were scared, terrified even, of him.
Nina grimaced, yelling, "Stop it! You'll hurt him!"
They didn't listen. Within minutes the blue haired young man was bound almost head to toe.
Nina quickly ran up to him and covered him protectively saying, "Leave him alone! He did nothing to you!"
Suddenly Nina heard a voice that made her blood run cold, it was the commanders. "Oh he did plenty, but its not your concern anymore...you'll be dead in a few seconds anyways! Bruno!"
With that Bruno came forward, brandishing a giant axe. Nina stood between Bruno and the blue-haired young man and awaited his attack. The odds were totally against her, and being surrounded by Imperial soldiers didn't help at all. They all crowded around eager to see the little birdie be brutally massacred by a physically superior opponent. The Imperials forgot one thing however, Nina's ability to use incredibly powerful attack magic. As Bruno advanced, Nina readied her first volley of spells. Suddenly, with a battle yell, the giant Bruno attacked. Nina calmly took aim and fired. "Fire wind!" was the first thing that came to her lips. Suddenly there was a huge rush of wind and a gigantic pillar of flame wrapped into it, encircling Bruno. Bruno, unaccustomed to being encircled by flames yelped and quickly fell back, burnt, but not yet down. Roaring out of the pains of his burns, Bruno attacked again, this time faster and angrier. Nina could tell that if she didn't hit dead on this time, she would be the one dying. With the agility of graceful wings, Nina quickly readied another spell, the attack words forming on her lips, "Freeze break!" Instantly, out of nowhere razor sharp shards of ice formed and flew at Bruno. The brute didn't stand a chance. The shards quickly did their worst, slicing cleanly through his armor. Bruno howled in pain as a leg was cleanly severed from his body, and skin split open in the most painful of matter, spilling his blood onto the ground.
Bruno stunned, and very badly cut up, growled at Nina as he clutched his leg whose blood was staining the ground, "You bitch! You're going to paaaay!"
With that he picked up his axe, ready to throw it. Nina never gave him the chance; with another flick of her wrist a giant spear shaped stone appeared and shot toward Bruno, aimed directly at his forehead. The spell hit its target dead on, taking out Bruno's helmet, and spilling brain mass and blood onto the ground. Bruno, stone sticking out of his forehead, fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and stayed silent, silenced forever.
Nina grimaced as she stepped over Bruno's body. She hated making such a mess, and he had almost spilled blood on her skirt! Huffing she quickly made her way over to where Ryu was being kept all tied up and went to work undoing his bonds. What she seemed to forget about was that she was completely surrounded by other Imperials who weren't too happy about seeing one of their fellow comrades felled in battle by what they saw as a mere girl. Before she knew it, she was completely surrounded by those very same Imperials.
"Err, hi guys…um what's new?" she said, looking around nervously.
The Imperials only grimaced, and others chuckled menacingly. Nina closed her eyes, wondering which one would be the first to strike the killing blow. The blow never came in. Before she knew it there was a whoosh of wind and something blurred right by her face. Two nearby Imperials raised their swords only to be cleanly decapitated by the blur. Others looked around in panic and confusion, wondering what it was that was killing off their companions so quickly. Again the blur came in. Suddenly, with the skncht of knives being unsheathed, two more Imperial soldiers fell, bleeding from lethal knife wounds to the chest. Nina looked around, trying to focus on what was killing off her attackers, but even she could not pinpoint the quickly moving object. More and more Imperial soldiers fell, various wounds to their bodies. Some got their throats cut; others didn't even have a head after the blur passed by. Nina could see the Imperial Commander up above grimace as he watched his soldiers fall. Finally he turned his horse around, after shooting one last nasty look at Nina, and spurred his horse into a gallop. Nina breathed a sigh of relief as the commander left, watching the dust cloud his horse left slowly fade into the distance. Turning however, she was amazed to see all of the Imperial soldiers that had been threatening her dead or dying from mortal wounds. The ground was stained red with blood, and it pooled into puddles around the dead and dying. Nina almost felt sick, and turned away from the ghastly sight. It was more carnage than she cold handle, even if she had brutally killed Bruno before. After a few minutes, Nina's curiosity overwhelmed her and she turned back to see what had saved her and the blue haired boy. As she looked over the field of bodies, she saw some cat like creature advance slowly toward the still bound blue haired boy. Panicking Nina yelped, "No!" and quickly dashed over to protect him. The creature looked at her closely, and then narrowed its eyes at her. Nina got a good look at the creature. It was about six feet or more, and well muscled, its body toned to almost perfection. Its face however, was what Nina found scariest. Its cat like eyes followed her every movement, and the creature's teeth were something that Nina wouldn't like to be on the end of.
Snarling at her the creature spoke, "Move it girl."
Nina stammered in reply, "N…No way I'm not…going to let you hurt him!"
The creature looked at her in the most peculiar of fashions then barked a harsh laugh, replying, "Listen, if I wanted to hurt him I would've allowed the Imperials to toast you, then take him and do whatever the hell they wanted with him. Now PLEASE, step aside."
Nina nodded quietly, realizing what the creature said was true, and stepped off to the side. The creature quickly went to work. Unsheathing some wicked looking knives from their sheaths at his side; he undid the ropes binding up the blue haired boy. Once the ropes were free the creature studied the chains that reinforced the ropes around the blue haired ones arms and legs, preventing him from squirming free. Sheathing the knives the cat creature grasped the chains and started to pull. Slowly the chains began to give way, and Nina watched in amazement as they soon split into pieces.
"That had been top quality Imperial steel!" she thought to herself.
As she watched the creature free the blue haired one, she couldn't help but marvel at its strength and agility, and she found herself staring again. Shaking her head, she regained her composure and wrinkled her nose.
"Idiot!" she thought to herself, "Stop thinking about boys right now and concentrate!"
Suddenly the creature spoke up, "You don't get out much do you?"
Nina stammered a reply, "Yeah…U…Um, my parents are kind of overprotective."
Chuckling the creature replied, "It seems that way, my name is Kray, this one here is called Ryu."
And with that Kray nodded to the still unconscious blue haired one. Nina took in both the names. Kray and Ryu was it, both interesting names, but she found herself peering again at the blue haired boy named Ryu. He was extremely cute. Kray noticed she was staring at Ryu again.
Laughing he said, "What's your name? I can introduce ya to Ryu once he wakes up."
Nina flushed, she knew he had found her staring at Ryu, and stammered out, "M…My names Nina…"
Smiling Kray nodded, and replied, "well Nina, help me wake him up…he's been out for a long time." Nodding Nina got up from where she had sat down, and walked over to where Kray was hunched over Ryu.
It didn't take long to get Ryu awake. With some water from Kray's water bottle and Nina's spell casting Ryu's eyes soon snapped open.
Groaning, Ryu replied, "Mmph… Where am I?" Then as soon as he saw Kray's face he quickly shot up into a sitting position.
Kray grinned at Ryu and said, "Hey old buddy miss me?"
Ryu sputtered, "Kray… How! When! I thought you, everyone…died? What's going on this?! Must be another hallucination…" With that Ryu flopped his head back down, right into Nina's lap. Nina flushed, and Ryu again snapped up, looking at Nina. Peering at Nina, Ryu frowned.
"Do I know you?" he said.
Nina replied, "Err no you don't...I was err, dragged along for the ride so to speak."
Kray chuckled again, and turned to face Ryu. "You've been out of sync for at least five years Ryu…After the Imperials attacked the city, all hell broke loose, Loren helped me escape…But…"
"But what?" Ryu replied, looking at Kray.
Kray exhaled slowly and said, "She and Faren both died in the fire…I couldn't save them…"
Ryu's face went white, and his voice croaked, "N…No! Please tell me you're lying!" Kray grimaced, and shook his head. Ryu's face was so pained, Nina wished suddenly that she could hold him and tell him it was going to be all right, but her dignity held her back, and she just watched and listened silently.
Ryu snarled, "Damn Imperial scum! They'll pay for this!!!" Kray winced, and Ryu saw it.
"What else is there to say Kray..." Ryu replied, pain visible in his voice.
Kray bit his lower lip and replied, "Your grandmother and Kira...I don't know what happened to them...of those that survived, none said they saw them escape."
Ryu seemed to break down.
Shaking he choked out, "None?!? Damn it are you sure!?! Tell me you're sure!" With that he grabbed Kray's neck and shook him.
"TELL ME!" he screamed.
Kray suddenly pushed Ryu down, and Ryu hit the ground hard.
Kray grimaced and snapped, "Ryu…get yourself back together! You're not acting sane!" Ryu just lay on the ground, sobbing quietly to himself. Kray looked at Nina and sighed.
"Sorry you had to see this…he's been through a lot."
Nina nodded quietly, then turned to watch Ryu cry some more. Something inside her felt very sorry for him, so sorry that it just wanted to hug him and cradle him like a little baby, to look after him and to tell him that it loved him, but she shook it off. She could not get involved; this was not for her, she was a PRINCESS, and he, a Dragon. How could she go home and say to her mom and dad, "I've started falling in love with a Dragon…" She just couldn't!
Shaking her head and sighing she got up and said to Kray, "I'll be behind you if you need me…" With that she got up and walked over to the other side of the crater, and sat down to wait for the coming of night.
"Why can't anything fun ever happen…" she grumbled to herself, "I mean...come on there's got to be other things happening out there besides petty farming or tribal disputes…like with the Imperials or something."
Indeed, there was, over the past five years the Imperialists had become very antsy. More and more activity had happened over in their quadrant after supposedly an entire division of their soldiers had been mysteriously wiped out. Their ambassadors to Wyndia suddenly grew quiet and withdrawn, and Nina had hardly seen them around, so naturally she had grown curious about their going-on's. She knew that it wasn't just some small thing; she knew it was big, so big in fact that even the usual blabber-mouthed guards assigned to protect the ambassadors had withdrawn. Nina found herself suddenly nodding off, the dull drone of the farmer draining her of conscious thought. Yawning she said to her dad, "Daddy, I'm going to go take a nap, ok?"
King Wyndia nodded saying, "Sure Nina, whatever you want."
Nina fumed as she stormed out, "He didn't even turn to look at me! What an airhead!"
As she walked down the hallway from the throne room to her own room, her mind slipped to other, less royal type thoughts, "Hmm wonder what's new on the clothes market in town." she pondered as she walked into her room, "I'm going to go find out!"
With a girlish giggle, she smiled to herself. This would be her chance to get away for a while, do some shopping on her own, and not be babied by anyone following her!
Flapping her wings a bit she looked down outside her window.
"Too far for these little wings...darn!" she complained.
Looking around, Nina looked for something that would help her escape the castle undetected. Her eye happened to catch a parasol in the corner of her room, "What luck!" she thought to herself eagerly, "I can float down this way!"
Muttering some words Nina cast a Float spell on the parasol and climbed up into her window. Silently Nina hoped the parasol wouldn't give out and jumped.
Everything went beautifully. In a matter of minutes Nina touched down gracefully in a small back alley near the Weapons shop. Squealing at her success, Nina was overjoyed to be out of the castle and away from the stuffy royalty treatments. Walking out of the alley, Nina surveyed her surroundings; it was a big change to the insides of a castle. Houses were everywhere; many with the telltale Wyndian windmill on them. These windmills used the constant windy weather in and around Wyndian to power bathrooms and bring water to the occupants of the house. Nina happily mingled in with the crowd, avoiding detection as best she could. The crowded busy streets were a nice change to the stuffy castle atmosphere. Immediately her eyes fell on the most darling clothes store she had ever seen. Squealing with joy Nina walked, skipped almost, over to it. She immediately went to 'work', zipping among the many types of dresses and bonnets, admiring how simple yet elegant they were. They were a big change from the flamboyant dresses the royal family had, but Nina didn't care, all she cared about at the moment was the clothes and nothing else, not royalty, not the privileges or duties, just the clothes. Sighing happily to herself she soon was lost in her own world as she shopped. After quite some time of looking, pondering, and trying on many types of different dresses Nina settled upon a nice little red one. Its edges were trimmed in white, but it was quite darling. It fit her wings quite well, and it was snug. It was, however, also a bit revealing, but that didn't bother Nina. Paying the needed Zenny for it, she changed out of her stuffy royalty garb and slipped into the much more comfortable and supple dress. After leaving the store Nina admired more of the city. She hadn't come here much and when she had she had been under the guards watchful eyes. Now, however, she was free, able to roam around unhindered and free. It felt wonderful to her, and way past time, she may be twenty-one, but her parents still treated her as if she was a baby. There was one thing Nina missed as she continued her walk down the many streets of Wyndia, however, and it was the silent cloaked figure that was slowly following behind her, waiting and watching.
Nina skipped merrily onwards, unaware that she was being followed. It wasn't long before the figure made its move. Quickly and quietly it approached her from behind, then accosted her quietly, with a snake like voice. "Princessss Ninaaa I sssupposse?"
Nina turned and was about to reply when suddenly a Sleep spell hit her smack in the face. With a small groan, she slumped to the ground. Quickly before anyone could notice something was wrong the hooded creature got a hold of the unconscious princess and dragged her into a nearby alleyway. Imperial soldiers were waiting. The creature uncloaked itself to reveal a man or what looked like a man. He was in fact half snake, half human, but what he was made no difference, he still was sinister and dangerous. Nodding to the princess he spoke to the leader of the soldiers.
"Ssir I have done as ordered, I got the Wynnndian princesssss for youu."
The troop commander acknowledged the snake-mans deeds, saying, "Excellent work my friend, you have earned this."
With that he threw the snake-man a sack of Zenny. Greedily the snake-man opened the sack and counted the money, then he looked up, fire in his eyes.
"You haave cheated me! Give me what isss rightfully oweeed!"
Nodding to one of his comrades, the commander chuckled, "That's the thing when dealing with the Devil…you never quite get what you want!"
The snake mans hand went up, the words for a devastating Frost spell on his lips. What he failed to see was one of the soldiers unsheathe his sword. It was a fatal mistake. Suddenly with a sickening squish of steel cutting through scaled flesh, the snake mans head was severed cleanly from his body.
Laughing the commander replied, "Oh he got what was 'rightfully owed' alright, the slime."
Then with a nod he and his men mounted their horses. The unconscious princess was tied up and slung across the back of one of them. With a frightening whoop the small band of soldiers galloped out of the alley and into the street, scattering frightened people in all directions. The commander was laughing all the way; enjoying the panic he and his men were creating.
Then with a wave he yelled, "Onto Kyria! Onto destiny!" And with those orders the band galloped from the city of Wyndia, and onto the path that would take them to a little known town that was destroyed five seemingly long years ago.
Nina awoke from the influence of the sleep spell groggily. As she did she nearly panicked, she was staring down at the ground, bouncing up and down, and to make matters worse, all tied up! Kicking and screaming she soon alerted the Imperials to the fact that she was awake. The sun soon set and the Imperials made camp for the night. Nina sat sulkily by the fire, upset and a bit shaken by all the jostling she had gotten earlier as the horse had galloped on its course. She had been untied, but was watched closely by a big scary looking Imperial. Sighing, she looked around. This time, there at the moment, seemed like no possible avenue to escape, so she quietly sat there, plotting her escape when and if the time came that she could get away. Eventually an even bigger man than the one who was watching her came up to her and sat on the other side of the fire grinning.
"Well birdie, seems like you finally woke up." He said.
Nina grimaced, she didn't like being called birdie, and in fact it was downright embarrassing and humiliating. "Shove it!" she snapped, "When my father finds out that you've kidnapped me he'll, he'll.."
"He'll what?" smirked the Imperial, "declare war on the Imperial Empire? Heh I highly doubt it. Doing so would mean Wyndia's utter destruction! A very bad political move indeed…"
Nina grimaced again she hated to admit it but, he was right, Wyndia was in no condition to withstand a force as powerful as the Imperial Empire, it wouldn't stand a chance in a war Wyndians just weren't the war type!
Sighing she replied, "Look, I've done nothing to you why do you need me…if its money you want I'm sure my dad could arrange something…" Silently Nina prayed that was all they wanted, and not anything else.
Smirking the Imperial chuckled, "Its not money we're after, its D-R-A-G-O-N- S my little birdie, and you're going to help us catch one!"
Nina gasped. Dragons? Impossible! They had died out years ago, hunted to extinction.
She was about to say so, but the Imperial smirked and replied, "Oh yes, I know what you're going to say birdie, but there happens to be one quite alive where we're going…and like I said before, you're going to help us capture it!"
Nina frowned, "And what if I refuse?" she said boldly.
The Imperial grinned a crooked grin, showing all his teeth. "Then I let Bruno here," he said with a nod to the big brute watching over her, "have his way with you...and probably the rest of the men as well once he's through."
Nina froze gasping, "You wouldn't!"
The Imperial just grinned a grin that said he wasn't lying. Wincing Nina realized she was trapped. There was nothing she could do. Quietly she wished she had never left the castle and laid her head down in her lap to cry quietly.
The next few days of riding were uneventful. Nina had followed quietly and behaved for the trip, making no escape attempts for fear of upsetting her captors commander. They soon arrived at their destination, and Nina beheld a spectacle that took her breath away. Lying in the middle of an enormous crater was a gigantic Dragon. She estimated that it stood nearly thirty feet high and weighed well over a few tons. She was flabbergasted. Here, all the legends had said they had been hunted to extinction, and yet she was staring at one! Nina could barely contain even the slightest bit of excitement at seeing the Dragon. The Imperial Commander quickly went to work ordering his men to get the equipment out to capture the Dragon. Nina frowned. What would the Imperials want with a Dragon? It didn't seem right! However, a quick shove from behind by Bruno reminded her whose company she was in and she grudgingly went up to the commander.
"Ok, we're here, what do want me to do?" she replied as dryly as she could muster the courage to.
"Alright birdie, its simple enough for you, since you're highly schooled in magic, we want you to WAKE HIM UP."
Nina did a double take. "You want me to what!?!" she almost yelled, "wake him up! You must be crazy!"
"True," replied the commander, "crazy, but not stupid, that's why you're going to do it!"
With those words he gave a nod to Nina's 'escort', and Bruno shoved Nina roughly into the pit. Nina stumbled and fell head over heels at the roughness of the push. Before she knew what was happening she was sprawled at the bottom of the pit, bruised, bleeding, and a battered from rolling down the steep slope. Getting up, Nina resisted the sudden urge to start crying, and slowly headed toward the Dragons head. As she walked forward she stopped for a brief time to lightly run her hand over the magnificent pure white scales. Just touching them gave Nina goose bumps as she could feel the magical aura of God-like power and energy the Dragon emanated pulse through her. Nina was stunned.
"So much power," she thought to herself, "it's as if, as if it were a being made of pure energy."
Continuing her trip toward the head of the Dragon, she was careful not to step on its wings, their membranes glistening like gold silk as she passed by them. As she neared the Dragons head, she slowed. She could see some of the razor sharp teeth protruding from the creature's top jaw, and they scared her. Its fork like tongue also flicked in an out as the creature breathed slowly in its sleep. Cautiously Nina approached the Dragons head.
"Such beauty and power," she thought, "like a lightning bolt…but something's not right…what would cause a Dragon to sleep so long like this? Wouldn't someone have noticed it by now?"
However, thoughts of Bruno clouded over any questions she might have had and carefully she placed her hand on the Dragons snout. Muttering some words, Nina began the incantation of Rising.
It all happened before Nina even had time to blink. Within seconds of finishing the incantation the Dragons reptilian eyes shot open. Nina shrieked and stepped back as the Dragon lifted its giant head, eager to see who disturbed its slumber. Letting loose with a roar, the Dragon used its eyes to trace along the line of the crater, until its eyes fell onto Nina. Its head swooped down so it could look at Nina closely. Nina tried not to scream, seeing the fire of a berserk rage in its eyes, she knew if she did, she would be dead in seconds. Suddenly something happened. The fire died in the Dragons eyes and as it did the Dragon let one last roar into the sky go. Then a bright white light engulfed the Dragon and its massive form began to shrink. Soon, nothing was left of the Dragon except a naked blue- haired man unconscious at Nina's feet. Nina's fears soon left her as she stared at the young man sleeping peacefully. Despite the fact that he was naked, he was rather cute! Nina blushed fiercely, almost forgetting of the Imperials above. Suddenly they came, and Nina had other things to worry about. They quickly swarmed over the young man, binding him, as if they were scared, terrified even, of him.
Nina grimaced, yelling, "Stop it! You'll hurt him!"
They didn't listen. Within minutes the blue haired young man was bound almost head to toe.
Nina quickly ran up to him and covered him protectively saying, "Leave him alone! He did nothing to you!"
Suddenly Nina heard a voice that made her blood run cold, it was the commanders. "Oh he did plenty, but its not your concern anymore...you'll be dead in a few seconds anyways! Bruno!"
With that Bruno came forward, brandishing a giant axe. Nina stood between Bruno and the blue-haired young man and awaited his attack. The odds were totally against her, and being surrounded by Imperial soldiers didn't help at all. They all crowded around eager to see the little birdie be brutally massacred by a physically superior opponent. The Imperials forgot one thing however, Nina's ability to use incredibly powerful attack magic. As Bruno advanced, Nina readied her first volley of spells. Suddenly, with a battle yell, the giant Bruno attacked. Nina calmly took aim and fired. "Fire wind!" was the first thing that came to her lips. Suddenly there was a huge rush of wind and a gigantic pillar of flame wrapped into it, encircling Bruno. Bruno, unaccustomed to being encircled by flames yelped and quickly fell back, burnt, but not yet down. Roaring out of the pains of his burns, Bruno attacked again, this time faster and angrier. Nina could tell that if she didn't hit dead on this time, she would be the one dying. With the agility of graceful wings, Nina quickly readied another spell, the attack words forming on her lips, "Freeze break!" Instantly, out of nowhere razor sharp shards of ice formed and flew at Bruno. The brute didn't stand a chance. The shards quickly did their worst, slicing cleanly through his armor. Bruno howled in pain as a leg was cleanly severed from his body, and skin split open in the most painful of matter, spilling his blood onto the ground.
Bruno stunned, and very badly cut up, growled at Nina as he clutched his leg whose blood was staining the ground, "You bitch! You're going to paaaay!"
With that he picked up his axe, ready to throw it. Nina never gave him the chance; with another flick of her wrist a giant spear shaped stone appeared and shot toward Bruno, aimed directly at his forehead. The spell hit its target dead on, taking out Bruno's helmet, and spilling brain mass and blood onto the ground. Bruno, stone sticking out of his forehead, fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and stayed silent, silenced forever.
Nina grimaced as she stepped over Bruno's body. She hated making such a mess, and he had almost spilled blood on her skirt! Huffing she quickly made her way over to where Ryu was being kept all tied up and went to work undoing his bonds. What she seemed to forget about was that she was completely surrounded by other Imperials who weren't too happy about seeing one of their fellow comrades felled in battle by what they saw as a mere girl. Before she knew it, she was completely surrounded by those very same Imperials.
"Err, hi guys…um what's new?" she said, looking around nervously.
The Imperials only grimaced, and others chuckled menacingly. Nina closed her eyes, wondering which one would be the first to strike the killing blow. The blow never came in. Before she knew it there was a whoosh of wind and something blurred right by her face. Two nearby Imperials raised their swords only to be cleanly decapitated by the blur. Others looked around in panic and confusion, wondering what it was that was killing off their companions so quickly. Again the blur came in. Suddenly, with the skncht of knives being unsheathed, two more Imperial soldiers fell, bleeding from lethal knife wounds to the chest. Nina looked around, trying to focus on what was killing off her attackers, but even she could not pinpoint the quickly moving object. More and more Imperial soldiers fell, various wounds to their bodies. Some got their throats cut; others didn't even have a head after the blur passed by. Nina could see the Imperial Commander up above grimace as he watched his soldiers fall. Finally he turned his horse around, after shooting one last nasty look at Nina, and spurred his horse into a gallop. Nina breathed a sigh of relief as the commander left, watching the dust cloud his horse left slowly fade into the distance. Turning however, she was amazed to see all of the Imperial soldiers that had been threatening her dead or dying from mortal wounds. The ground was stained red with blood, and it pooled into puddles around the dead and dying. Nina almost felt sick, and turned away from the ghastly sight. It was more carnage than she cold handle, even if she had brutally killed Bruno before. After a few minutes, Nina's curiosity overwhelmed her and she turned back to see what had saved her and the blue haired boy. As she looked over the field of bodies, she saw some cat like creature advance slowly toward the still bound blue haired boy. Panicking Nina yelped, "No!" and quickly dashed over to protect him. The creature looked at her closely, and then narrowed its eyes at her. Nina got a good look at the creature. It was about six feet or more, and well muscled, its body toned to almost perfection. Its face however, was what Nina found scariest. Its cat like eyes followed her every movement, and the creature's teeth were something that Nina wouldn't like to be on the end of.
Snarling at her the creature spoke, "Move it girl."
Nina stammered in reply, "N…No way I'm not…going to let you hurt him!"
The creature looked at her in the most peculiar of fashions then barked a harsh laugh, replying, "Listen, if I wanted to hurt him I would've allowed the Imperials to toast you, then take him and do whatever the hell they wanted with him. Now PLEASE, step aside."
Nina nodded quietly, realizing what the creature said was true, and stepped off to the side. The creature quickly went to work. Unsheathing some wicked looking knives from their sheaths at his side; he undid the ropes binding up the blue haired boy. Once the ropes were free the creature studied the chains that reinforced the ropes around the blue haired ones arms and legs, preventing him from squirming free. Sheathing the knives the cat creature grasped the chains and started to pull. Slowly the chains began to give way, and Nina watched in amazement as they soon split into pieces.
"That had been top quality Imperial steel!" she thought to herself.
As she watched the creature free the blue haired one, she couldn't help but marvel at its strength and agility, and she found herself staring again. Shaking her head, she regained her composure and wrinkled her nose.
"Idiot!" she thought to herself, "Stop thinking about boys right now and concentrate!"
Suddenly the creature spoke up, "You don't get out much do you?"
Nina stammered a reply, "Yeah…U…Um, my parents are kind of overprotective."
Chuckling the creature replied, "It seems that way, my name is Kray, this one here is called Ryu."
And with that Kray nodded to the still unconscious blue haired one. Nina took in both the names. Kray and Ryu was it, both interesting names, but she found herself peering again at the blue haired boy named Ryu. He was extremely cute. Kray noticed she was staring at Ryu again.
Laughing he said, "What's your name? I can introduce ya to Ryu once he wakes up."
Nina flushed, she knew he had found her staring at Ryu, and stammered out, "M…My names Nina…"
Smiling Kray nodded, and replied, "well Nina, help me wake him up…he's been out for a long time." Nodding Nina got up from where she had sat down, and walked over to where Kray was hunched over Ryu.
It didn't take long to get Ryu awake. With some water from Kray's water bottle and Nina's spell casting Ryu's eyes soon snapped open.
Groaning, Ryu replied, "Mmph… Where am I?" Then as soon as he saw Kray's face he quickly shot up into a sitting position.
Kray grinned at Ryu and said, "Hey old buddy miss me?"
Ryu sputtered, "Kray… How! When! I thought you, everyone…died? What's going on this?! Must be another hallucination…" With that Ryu flopped his head back down, right into Nina's lap. Nina flushed, and Ryu again snapped up, looking at Nina. Peering at Nina, Ryu frowned.
"Do I know you?" he said.
Nina replied, "Err no you don't...I was err, dragged along for the ride so to speak."
Kray chuckled again, and turned to face Ryu. "You've been out of sync for at least five years Ryu…After the Imperials attacked the city, all hell broke loose, Loren helped me escape…But…"
"But what?" Ryu replied, looking at Kray.
Kray exhaled slowly and said, "She and Faren both died in the fire…I couldn't save them…"
Ryu's face went white, and his voice croaked, "N…No! Please tell me you're lying!" Kray grimaced, and shook his head. Ryu's face was so pained, Nina wished suddenly that she could hold him and tell him it was going to be all right, but her dignity held her back, and she just watched and listened silently.
Ryu snarled, "Damn Imperial scum! They'll pay for this!!!" Kray winced, and Ryu saw it.
"What else is there to say Kray..." Ryu replied, pain visible in his voice.
Kray bit his lower lip and replied, "Your grandmother and Kira...I don't know what happened to them...of those that survived, none said they saw them escape."
Ryu seemed to break down.
Shaking he choked out, "None?!? Damn it are you sure!?! Tell me you're sure!" With that he grabbed Kray's neck and shook him.
"TELL ME!" he screamed.
Kray suddenly pushed Ryu down, and Ryu hit the ground hard.
Kray grimaced and snapped, "Ryu…get yourself back together! You're not acting sane!" Ryu just lay on the ground, sobbing quietly to himself. Kray looked at Nina and sighed.
"Sorry you had to see this…he's been through a lot."
Nina nodded quietly, then turned to watch Ryu cry some more. Something inside her felt very sorry for him, so sorry that it just wanted to hug him and cradle him like a little baby, to look after him and to tell him that it loved him, but she shook it off. She could not get involved; this was not for her, she was a PRINCESS, and he, a Dragon. How could she go home and say to her mom and dad, "I've started falling in love with a Dragon…" She just couldn't!
Shaking her head and sighing she got up and said to Kray, "I'll be behind you if you need me…" With that she got up and walked over to the other side of the crater, and sat down to wait for the coming of night.