Author's Notes:  Lady Harlequin, Serem's a guy. 

"So we go through here, and Bale is on the other side?" I asked.

"That's the plan."  Lavitz said from in front.

"Haven't you people heard of airplanes?" I muttered.

"Heard of what?"

I cringed.  Way to go Serem.  Dammit, forgot Shana was back there...  "Err...Nothing.  Let's go."  I said and hurried after Dart and Lavitz.

A bit further through the caves, we came across a large group of what I thought were fireflies.

"I used to be saved by these a lot." Dart said.

"Me too.  The ones near battlefields were especially helpful."  Lavitz agreed.

Shana glanced over at me with a confused look on her face, and I just shrugged.  "They're bugs, so what?"

"They're not just bugs.  Watch!"  Dart waved a hand through the crowd, and with a bright flash of light, I felt my energy return and the scratches I had picked up from trekking through the grasslands vanished.

"Wow.  Nice trick."

"There's the exit!  Come on people, move it!"

"Serem, wait a minute!"  Lavitz called.

"Huh?  What is it, Lavitz?"

"I've heard rumors about a monster guarding the exit to this cave.  We should be careful around here."

I spun the glaive, striking sparks from the ground, and leaving three deep gashes in the rock.  "I'm ready."

As we passed a stone column, a hissing noise alerted me, and as I dove to the side, a massive snake hit the ground where I was a moment before.  "Damn!  I wasn't expecting something from above!"  I yelled, as I barely dodged a second strike.  "Some help here!?"

An arrow streaked over my head, striking the creature fight next to its eye, and it drew back, hissing.  A second arrow flew by, closely followed by Dart and Lavitz, who immediately struck, opening up a pair of wounds.

"My turn."  I rushed in, and spinning the glaive, struck four times in half as many seconds, slicing through its scales.

"Dart, go for its head!" I called.  "I'll launch you, and you can take it down!"  Shana fired a few more arrows as Dart ran up to me, and I crouched, and when Dart hit my back, launched him high into the air, and he came down sword first on the snake's head, and it fell back, and lay unmoving.

Panting, I walked over to where Dart was.  "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I think we can go now.  Hey, Shana, come on!"

As she passed the snake, I thought I saw a flicker of movement, but passed it off as my imagination, and turned toward the exit.

A moment later, I heard a loud hiss, and spun around, and saw the snake attack Shana.

Just before it struck, I felt...a massive presence emanating from Shana, and I was blinded by a brilliant light.

When the light faded, the only thing I could see was Shana standing there with a confused look on her face, with the snake nowhere to be seen.

"You have my heartfelt thanks for rescuing Lavitz.  In return, tell me if you need anything."

I stood up.  "I have a small request.  Would it be alright if I went into your armory and picked up something a bit sturdier than this jacket?"

"Of course."  He turned to one of his guards.  "Please show him to the armory, and let him take whatever he likes."

"Thank you."

The guard passed me, and motioned me to follow, so I followed him down to the first floor, and when he opened the door to the armory, I stopped, amazed.  There were spears, bows, swords, and dozens of other weapons besides, and further back, there were dozens of pieces of armor, all neatly stacked.

I walked over to the body armor, and after a minute, found a black vest-like armor, sitting in the very back.  I picked it up, and found that it weighed very little, yet still seemed incredibly strong, and had a texture not unlike scales.  "What's this one made of?"

The guard walked over, and I tossed him the armor.  "I have no idea.  It's probably junk though."

"In any case, I want that one."  It's not my problem if you can't tell good armor when you see it.  Wait...how do I know that  it's good armor?  It's not like I had anything to do with this in the past, but I just have this feeling...  Walking over, I took the armor from him, and put it on.  Wow, it's pretty comfortable.  "I'm ready to go."

"By the way, I know that Sandora has the Dragon, but what is Serdio doing to counter it?"  I asked on the way back.

"We have the Eighth Knighthood stationed in Hoax, and the Twelfth Knighthood in the swamplands fortress."

"If the Dragon comes by, I don't think that'll be enough."

"It has to be.  The war has put a severe strain on our resources."

When we got back to the main chambers, Dart, Shana, and Lavitz were together, and seemed ready to go.

"So, where to now?"  I asked.

"We'll spend the night at my home, and then we'll go to Hoax."  Lavitz said.

"Sounds good to me.  Dart, Shana, you're coming as well?"

"Of course."  Dart said.

"I go wherever Dart does."

After eating dinner (Shana's not a bad cook), everyone went to sleep, Dart and Shana in the guest room, Lavitz in his room, and me up on the roof, thinking about how much my life had changed, until I finally drifted off to sleep.

Okay, sorry if the story's a little confusing right now, I promise that the next chapter will link