AN: Ready for the next chapter? The group splits up again, this time to
look for Kain. They also find an unexpected group of allies... Read and
Enjoy!
Chapter Eight...The Dragons
The twins met Terra and Relm in the hall. They exchanged stories quickly, then proceeded to go around each room, waking everyone else up. Soon the allies met in the conference room, minus Edgar and, of course, Kain. "Where's Kain?" Cecil asked.
"That's what I'm trying to tell everyone. I think whoever made those noises outside my window tonight took him," Relm explained.
This got everyone's attention. Relm explained that she had gone to Kain about the noise. He had gone out to investigate, but not returned. "When I went out to find him, I found this by my window." She held out Kain's spear.
"That's Kain's spear!" Rosa exclaimed.
Palom spoke up. "I also think I had better state another problem, Cecil." He explained his strange feeling after waking up. This only added to everyone's concern.
"We have to find Kain!" Cecil stated. "Something must have happened to him."
"Need some help?" came a familiar voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Edgar.
"Edgar! What are you-," Terra began, but Edgar cut her off.
"I'm fine, Terra. If something evil has been given birth, you'll need all the help you can get."
As much as Terra hated to admit it and possibly put the still recovering Edgar in danger, she had to agree with him. "Alright. I don't think I could stop you if I tried."
"Then it's agreed. We all go in search of Kain."
An hour later, the new friends gathered outside the castle gates, fully armed and donned in armor. Cecil was the first to speak. "Kain could have been taken anywhere in the world. It appears as the Shefiel is still alive and now he has a new evil plot. He's found a new hiding place and Kain is his captive, so we must move fast to find him. Strategy is our best line of action. I suggest that we spit up into three groups and comb the countryside. Every cave and forest. Any possible hiding place must be searched."
"Only three?" Porom asked.
"Yes. Just to be on the safe side, Porom. This is a demon we're dealing with."
"So how should we split up?" Edge asked Cecil.
"We just have to pick groups," Rydia remarked.
"Hmm...we should have at least two magic users in each group to balance out our forces," Edgar stated. "I'll form a group, Sabin can form another, and Cecil will choose the third group. Any objections?" A pause. "Good." Edgar looked around at his friends. At that moment, Terra stepped forward.
"I'm going with you, Edgar. No buts."
"Alright. Relm can come with us as well." Edgar turned to Edge and Rydia. "How about it you two? Want to come with us?" Edge and Rydia nodded.
Sabin chose the young Mysidian twins, Palom and Porom, for his group, as well as Cyan and Edward. Rosa had insisted on being in Cecil's group, and was joined by Celes, Locke, and Yang. Setzer and Cid were chosen to fly the Falcon with Edgar's group, and Enterprise with Cecil's group respectively, and Strago would fly the Red Wing named Defiant with Sabin's group. It was agreed that they would each take a part of the map and meet at Baron in three hours. Soon the three groups were loading into their individual airships.
Sabin went over to his brother. "I want you to be careful, Edgar. You are still recovering from the previous battle, and I don't want you to be injured further."
"Relax, little brother. I will be fine. We've been through worse and came out all right." Sabin nodded, but he continued to frown.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Be careful, Grandpa," Relm told Strago.
"Same for you, Relm. Stay close to the others and keep out of trouble," the mage warned.
"We'll go search to the northwest. Cecil and company are going to the east, and Sabin's group is going south," Edgar explained on the deck of the Defiant. Soon all three airships were sailing off in different directions.
Sabin looked out over the railing as the Defiant sailed through the air. He had a determined look on his face as he scanned for any signs of Kain or anything unusual. Then he heard something, a voice coming from behind him. He turned to find young Porom standing a few feet behind him. "Sabin, according to the map, there's a cave about two miles away."
"Alright. We'll start looking there. Tell Strago to -" He was cut short by the sudden jolt of the airship.
"Sabin! We have big trouble!" Strago called from the helm. Just then, a dragon appeared next to the ship. It hovered next to the ship and looked at the heroes.
"Should we shoot some spells at it?" Palom asked.
"No. Not yet. If it wanted to attack us, it would have done so already." He stepped up to the railing and called out to the dragon. "We are looking for a friend of ours. We think the demon Shefiel is holding him prisoner."
To everyone's surprise, the dragon spoke. "You speak of a mutual enemy. Shefiel has put several of my fellow dragons under his power and is making them do his bidding. We had hoped to find and end the madman's reign before any innocents suffered."
"We?" Sabin asked, curious as to what he meant. A moment later, half a dozen dragons appeared right next to the first. There was a slight pause.
"How do we know that you aren't under control yourself? How do we know that this isn't some kind of trick thought up by Shefiel?" Palom asked skeptically.
"If we were on Shefiel's side, we would have be speaking to you right now. We would be attacking you. We are just trying to save our brother dragons from the hands of that demon. You may believe what you wish, but I speak the truth."
Sabin looked at the dragons and suddenly had a plan. "Perhaps we can work together to rid the world of Shefiel."
"You speak as through you have a plan."
"I do, but in order for it to succeed, we have to work together." The dragons looked at each other for a moment, then agreed to help Sabin and his friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sabin led the dragons back to Baron Castle, where the others were already waiting for them. There was, of course, a significant amount of shock upon seeing the dragons. Sabin made some short introductions.
"These are our new allies. They have also been affected by Shefiel's magic. Some of their fellow dragons are under his power. This is their leader, Talon. They have agreed to help us defeat Shefiel once and for all!" The others welcomed the dragons' support.
Edgar explained that Cecil's group had found Shefiel's new hiding place – a mountain range near Fabul named Mt. Hobbs. Cecil explained that there were about a half a dozen dragon's guarding the entrance to the mountain.
It was decided that the dragons would distract their mind-controlled friends and create a diversion so that the warriors could sneak in easily. The humans piled into the Falcon and Setzer took off. As Cecil stood looking at the mountain three hours later, he couldn't help but remember his first trip here on foot. It was here, on this mountain, that he met Yang for the first time and helped him defeat a rather nasty bomb. Now he and his friends, both new and old, were going to face another enemy, and this one was even more deadly.
"Cecil? Art thee well?" Cecil turned to see Cyan standing next to him.
"I'm fine. Just thinking. Are we ready to put this plan into motion?"
"Indeed. With thine permission, we shall move into position."
Cecil looked surprised. "My permission?"
Edgar nodded. "You and your friends are the leaders of this time. We're just here to aid you and make sure Shefiel doesn't win."
Cecil turned to Yang. He was really the ruler of this area. He nodded, seemingly reading Cecil's mind. Cecil turned to the others. "Let's do it."
The dragons started out to create their diversion. Not wanting to hurt his brethren, Talon directed his comrades to trick the dragons into chasing them away from the entrance. This plan worked flawlessly. Talon gave the mountain one more look before moving away. He saw the Falcon close in so the heroes could get onto the mountain. "Good luck, humans," he whispered.
**********************
To be continued...
*********************
AN: So, what next? Will our heroes save Kain and finish off Shefiel? Tune in next time to find out! Oh, and review, please. It is always appreciated. :o)
Chapter Eight...The Dragons
The twins met Terra and Relm in the hall. They exchanged stories quickly, then proceeded to go around each room, waking everyone else up. Soon the allies met in the conference room, minus Edgar and, of course, Kain. "Where's Kain?" Cecil asked.
"That's what I'm trying to tell everyone. I think whoever made those noises outside my window tonight took him," Relm explained.
This got everyone's attention. Relm explained that she had gone to Kain about the noise. He had gone out to investigate, but not returned. "When I went out to find him, I found this by my window." She held out Kain's spear.
"That's Kain's spear!" Rosa exclaimed.
Palom spoke up. "I also think I had better state another problem, Cecil." He explained his strange feeling after waking up. This only added to everyone's concern.
"We have to find Kain!" Cecil stated. "Something must have happened to him."
"Need some help?" came a familiar voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Edgar.
"Edgar! What are you-," Terra began, but Edgar cut her off.
"I'm fine, Terra. If something evil has been given birth, you'll need all the help you can get."
As much as Terra hated to admit it and possibly put the still recovering Edgar in danger, she had to agree with him. "Alright. I don't think I could stop you if I tried."
"Then it's agreed. We all go in search of Kain."
An hour later, the new friends gathered outside the castle gates, fully armed and donned in armor. Cecil was the first to speak. "Kain could have been taken anywhere in the world. It appears as the Shefiel is still alive and now he has a new evil plot. He's found a new hiding place and Kain is his captive, so we must move fast to find him. Strategy is our best line of action. I suggest that we spit up into three groups and comb the countryside. Every cave and forest. Any possible hiding place must be searched."
"Only three?" Porom asked.
"Yes. Just to be on the safe side, Porom. This is a demon we're dealing with."
"So how should we split up?" Edge asked Cecil.
"We just have to pick groups," Rydia remarked.
"Hmm...we should have at least two magic users in each group to balance out our forces," Edgar stated. "I'll form a group, Sabin can form another, and Cecil will choose the third group. Any objections?" A pause. "Good." Edgar looked around at his friends. At that moment, Terra stepped forward.
"I'm going with you, Edgar. No buts."
"Alright. Relm can come with us as well." Edgar turned to Edge and Rydia. "How about it you two? Want to come with us?" Edge and Rydia nodded.
Sabin chose the young Mysidian twins, Palom and Porom, for his group, as well as Cyan and Edward. Rosa had insisted on being in Cecil's group, and was joined by Celes, Locke, and Yang. Setzer and Cid were chosen to fly the Falcon with Edgar's group, and Enterprise with Cecil's group respectively, and Strago would fly the Red Wing named Defiant with Sabin's group. It was agreed that they would each take a part of the map and meet at Baron in three hours. Soon the three groups were loading into their individual airships.
Sabin went over to his brother. "I want you to be careful, Edgar. You are still recovering from the previous battle, and I don't want you to be injured further."
"Relax, little brother. I will be fine. We've been through worse and came out all right." Sabin nodded, but he continued to frown.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Be careful, Grandpa," Relm told Strago.
"Same for you, Relm. Stay close to the others and keep out of trouble," the mage warned.
"We'll go search to the northwest. Cecil and company are going to the east, and Sabin's group is going south," Edgar explained on the deck of the Defiant. Soon all three airships were sailing off in different directions.
Sabin looked out over the railing as the Defiant sailed through the air. He had a determined look on his face as he scanned for any signs of Kain or anything unusual. Then he heard something, a voice coming from behind him. He turned to find young Porom standing a few feet behind him. "Sabin, according to the map, there's a cave about two miles away."
"Alright. We'll start looking there. Tell Strago to -" He was cut short by the sudden jolt of the airship.
"Sabin! We have big trouble!" Strago called from the helm. Just then, a dragon appeared next to the ship. It hovered next to the ship and looked at the heroes.
"Should we shoot some spells at it?" Palom asked.
"No. Not yet. If it wanted to attack us, it would have done so already." He stepped up to the railing and called out to the dragon. "We are looking for a friend of ours. We think the demon Shefiel is holding him prisoner."
To everyone's surprise, the dragon spoke. "You speak of a mutual enemy. Shefiel has put several of my fellow dragons under his power and is making them do his bidding. We had hoped to find and end the madman's reign before any innocents suffered."
"We?" Sabin asked, curious as to what he meant. A moment later, half a dozen dragons appeared right next to the first. There was a slight pause.
"How do we know that you aren't under control yourself? How do we know that this isn't some kind of trick thought up by Shefiel?" Palom asked skeptically.
"If we were on Shefiel's side, we would have be speaking to you right now. We would be attacking you. We are just trying to save our brother dragons from the hands of that demon. You may believe what you wish, but I speak the truth."
Sabin looked at the dragons and suddenly had a plan. "Perhaps we can work together to rid the world of Shefiel."
"You speak as through you have a plan."
"I do, but in order for it to succeed, we have to work together." The dragons looked at each other for a moment, then agreed to help Sabin and his friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sabin led the dragons back to Baron Castle, where the others were already waiting for them. There was, of course, a significant amount of shock upon seeing the dragons. Sabin made some short introductions.
"These are our new allies. They have also been affected by Shefiel's magic. Some of their fellow dragons are under his power. This is their leader, Talon. They have agreed to help us defeat Shefiel once and for all!" The others welcomed the dragons' support.
Edgar explained that Cecil's group had found Shefiel's new hiding place – a mountain range near Fabul named Mt. Hobbs. Cecil explained that there were about a half a dozen dragon's guarding the entrance to the mountain.
It was decided that the dragons would distract their mind-controlled friends and create a diversion so that the warriors could sneak in easily. The humans piled into the Falcon and Setzer took off. As Cecil stood looking at the mountain three hours later, he couldn't help but remember his first trip here on foot. It was here, on this mountain, that he met Yang for the first time and helped him defeat a rather nasty bomb. Now he and his friends, both new and old, were going to face another enemy, and this one was even more deadly.
"Cecil? Art thee well?" Cecil turned to see Cyan standing next to him.
"I'm fine. Just thinking. Are we ready to put this plan into motion?"
"Indeed. With thine permission, we shall move into position."
Cecil looked surprised. "My permission?"
Edgar nodded. "You and your friends are the leaders of this time. We're just here to aid you and make sure Shefiel doesn't win."
Cecil turned to Yang. He was really the ruler of this area. He nodded, seemingly reading Cecil's mind. Cecil turned to the others. "Let's do it."
The dragons started out to create their diversion. Not wanting to hurt his brethren, Talon directed his comrades to trick the dragons into chasing them away from the entrance. This plan worked flawlessly. Talon gave the mountain one more look before moving away. He saw the Falcon close in so the heroes could get onto the mountain. "Good luck, humans," he whispered.
**********************
To be continued...
*********************
AN: So, what next? Will our heroes save Kain and finish off Shefiel? Tune in next time to find out! Oh, and review, please. It is always appreciated. :o)