I don't own anything except Chris Keon

------------------------------------

Chris didn't sleep much that night; he spent most of it combing the castle library, searching for anything remotely resembling a way for him to go home. He eventually dropped off over a book, when exhaustion claimed him.

In the morning, King Albert wandered in and noticed Chris, slumped in a chair with his head in a book. He smiled to himself; few people had the dedication to go through that much of the Indels Castle library. Only someone with both desperation and an almost fanatical interest in books could manage it.

Chris woke suddenly at the king's footsteps. "Your Majesty," he said, quickly standing.

Albert waved a hand. "Don't be so formal; I get enough of that in Court. Besides, you helped Lavitz. Call me Albert." He indicated the open book. "Find anything useful?"

The martial artist shrugged. "Hard to say; I've been tracking down every magical artifact I can find any reference to, on the off chance that it has something to do with my problem, but most of it is legend, not documented fact. Also, some of this is in a language I can't read."

"I see. Well, have you at least found where any of these artifacts are?" Albert asked. "As you say, it is mostly legend, so anything could potentially help."

Chris sighed. "I've got some leads, but they mostly lead through some town called Lohan. I doubt I could even find my way there, let alone defend myself along the way."

Albert nodded thoughtfully. "As it happens, Lavitz and his other companions are leaving for Hoax today; it's on the road to Lohan. They could at least escort you that far."

"Thanks," Chris said, surprised. Then he sighed again. "Of course, I have no way of buying supplies; I don't think your shops would take a check, especially when my actual money is in another world."

"Don't worry about it, Chris," Albert said. "I'll have the castle's stores get you what you need." He clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "Now you should get ready; Lavitz will be leaving later this morning."

------------------------------------

Dart, Lavitz, and Shana were staying at Lavitz's house, preparing to leave for Hoax. "I hope Chris is doing all right," Shana said. "It must be tough for him, in his situation."

"He'll be fine," Lavitz said. "King Albert will know what to do." He trusted his king implicitly.

"Still," Dart said, "I kind of wish he was coming with us; I would have liked to have learned more about his world."

"Talking about me?" Chris asked, walking in the door with a pack on his shoulder.

"What brings you here?" Lavitz asked, surprised. "I thought you were going to be buried in the Castle library for the next few weeks."

"I turned up a few clues about magical artifacts," Chris replied, "and most of them lead me to Lohan. King Albert suggested that I go with you, at least as far as Hoax. Mind some company?"

"The more, the merrier," Dart said. "Besides, like I was just saying, I'd like to know more about your world."

"Happy to oblige." Chris smiled. "I'd like to learn more about Endiness, too. I'll need to know where I'm going on my own journey; and, of course, there's always the chance that I can't go home..."

"Best not to think about that, Chris," Lavitz advised. "Remember what happened in the prairie."

He sighed. "Believe me, I do. And last night I woke up screaming. This won't be easy for me."

"You'll be fine," Dart said. His voice turned grim. "Besides, if you're caught at Hoax when the fighting starts, you'll be too busy to worry about it."

---------------------------------------

Within an hour, the four had left Bale and were on their way to Hoax. The small town, Lavitz said, was no more than a day's journey from Bale, and road was relatively free of monsters. It shouldn't be a difficult trip, he said.

But Chris was troubled; he knew something of military tactics and history, and the fact the Hoax was so close to Bale and yet was the front lines told him that Basil was far worse off in the war than Lavitz had admitted. It boded ill, Chris felt. But he kept these thoughts to himself, for a knight of a hard-put country needed some illusions to keep his sanity.

They spent that night on the road; if they had traveled the whole night, as well, they would have reached Hoax earlier, but they would have done so in no condition to fight.

As had become his habit, Chris stared into the campfire long into the night. He was becoming moody, and he knew it, but there was little he could do.

"Something on your mind, Chris?" Lavitz asked him.

Chris didn't even twitch at the interruption of his thoughts. "I keep thinking I'll wake up," he replied after a long silence, "and find that this was all a dream." He chuckled quietly. "Of course, if this were a dream, I'd wake up dead. I was nearly dead when I arrived, and another couple of minutes in that blizzard would have finished me."

"Are storms like that common in Alaska?" Shana asked.

He nodded. "Yeah." Then he frowned. "The weird thing is, the sky was clear just a minute before the blizzard came up; it just started abruptly, and that's not like our weather at all."

Dart shrugged it off. "Strange things happen," was all he said.

"So what's it like there?" Shana asked. "Aside from the storms, you seem to like it a lot."

"The frozen wastes..." Chris mused wistfully. "It's... peaceful there," he said finally. "The cold, clear wastes; the chilly, refreshing air. And the Aurora Borealis, twisting in the night sky..."

Lavitz frowned. "What's the Aurora Borealis?"

Chris gazed up at the sky. "Think of a ribbon of color, hanging in the sky at night. Its hues constantly change, from moment to moment, twisting in the air. The local tribes think the souls of the dead rise up and join with it. Regardless, it's what I miss most about Alaska. Eerie, yet beautiful..."

"I imagine..." Shana said. "Don't worry, Chris. I'm sure there's some way for you to go home. You'll find it."

"I hope so..." he said.

---------------------------------------

The next day, they arrived in the town of Hoax. Formerly just an ordinary town, the war had turned it into a fortress.

"We should find Sir Kaiser," Lavitz said. "He's the head of the Eighth Knighthood, and in charge of Hoax's defenses. He'll inform us as to the situation, as well as assign us our posts."

"I'll stand guard as well, if they'll accept my help," Chris said unexpectedly. "I can handle myself well enough, if the need arises."

"Are you sure?" Lavitz asked in surprise. "I thought you were just here on your way to Lohan."

Chris shrugged. "I think it best to wait until tomorrow morning, so I might as well make myself useful tonight, if possible."

"Okay," Lavitz said. "If you're willing, I'm sure they could use another man watching the walls, and you are pretty good in a fight."

They found the knight in one of the buildings, looking over a map of the embattled territory. He looked up as they entered. "Sir Lavitz! It's good to see you still in one piece. We'd heard you knighthood was attacked, and feared the worst."

Lavitz nodded gravely. "It's not much better than the rumors. My entire knighthood was wiped out; I was the only survivor, and the Sandorans took me to Hellena. But I escaped, and I've brought you two other men to help. This is Dart, of Seles, and Chris Keon, of a place you've never heard of and will never see. He'll only be here tonight, though; in the morning he leaves on a journey from which he may not return. But for tonight, rest assured that he can handle himself. And Dart is an expert swordsman."

Kaiser nodded. "Good to have you with us." He turned to Shana. "I take it you, at least, won't be fighting? Perhaps you could help prepare food; we've not had much of late."

Shana nodded. "I'd be happy to."

"Then it's settled." Kaiser turned back to Lavitz. "Sir Lavitz, you three will take the west wall tonight; after we've determined our strategy, show the others the way."

"Of course."

----------------------------------------------

That night, the knight, the warrior, and the confused martial artist stood at the west wall, watching the green, dark forest below them.

"At least we'll know when the enemy is here," Dart commented.

"How so?" Lavitz asked.

"Listen," he said. After a moment, owls could be clearly heard. "When the owls go quiet, you know something large has disturbed them. The Sandoran attack will do that, especially if they bring the Dragon." He pushed himself away from the railing. "Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat."

------------------------------------------------

Unbeknownst to the knights within the fort and the three men on the wall, a tall, dark-haired woman wearing dark violet armor stood not far away, watching. In her hand she held a glowing stone much like Dart's. That man has the potential to be a Dragoon, Rose thought. Tonight I will learn if he can fulfill it. Her gaze turned to the martial artist in black. And there is something about him, as well. Perhaps I will discover it, also...

The owls became silent then, and Rose smiled to herself. It begins.

---------------------------------------

As Dart turned to leave, he noticed the silence. "The owls-"

Lavitz picked up his spear. "They're coming!"

Then the sentry on the east wall called out a warning. "They're coming from the east! The Sandorans are-" His voice stopped abruptly, and he fell from the tower with an arrow through his throat.

Lavitz cursed. "Come on! We've got to stop them!"

"Wait!" Chris called. "They're coming on this side, too!" He raised his gloved fists. "You guys go! I'll handle things here." He smiled coldly.

Lavitz wanted to argue, but he knew there was no other option. "Be careful."

"Always am." Chris turned to the first soldier who had managed to climb up. "Hello. My name is Chris Keon, and I'm going to kill you now." Putting words into actions, he grabbed the confused Sandoran's arm, broke it, and snap-kicked him in the head, breaking his nose and his neck.

He was occupied for the next few minutes, trying to stop the Sandorans from getting up. But he was only one man, and he was at a disadvantage: The enemy could block. He couldn't. Not block swords with his fists.

But just as he was tiring, Lavitz and Dart returned. "Rod Typhoon!" Lavitz called, spinning and knocking Sandorans flying.

"Crush Dance!"

Then another soldier, dressed all in black and carrying a chain, hopped onto the wall. "Well, what do we have here? Three against one? Piece of cake!"

"Big talkers are usually weak," Dart said coldly, and struck.

Weak thought the Sandoran elite might have been, he at least had some knowledge of fighting, for he singled out Chris for his attacks. "What's a newbie doing here?" he sneered. "Waiting to die? Then I'll oblige you!"

Chris took a deep breath; what he was about to attempt was something his sensei had told him only to use in the most dire emergencies, for if used improperly, the consequences to the karate student's body could be disastrous. But if there was a more dire emergency than this, he hadn't yet met it.

So just before the Sandoran's chain reached him, he whispered the post-hypnotic trigger, then whipped his hand out and caught the chain.

The Sandoran looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed. "You think that your little trick will help y- What!?" He broke off, as Chris grabbed the chain with his other hand, twisted, and snapped it. "It- No- That's-"

Before the soldier could get out a coherent sentence, Chris grabbed him by the neck, stared coldly into his eyes, and flung him off the wall, into the trees.

Dart and Lavitz were also staring at him open-mouthed. "How did you-" Dart began.

Chris shook his head. "No time now. We've got bigger problems."

As if to confirm his statement, a knight ran toward them, shouting. "It's G-Giganto!" he screamed.

The three turned as one. "What the blazes is a Giganto?" Chris demanded. He was rapidly gowning tired of hearing of big nasties from Endiness.

His answer came in the form of a giant, who strode into the town like he owned it. He was easily eight feet tall, with a mohawk and an axe to match his stature. "Kongol will kill humans!" he announced, as if in introduction.

"Not these humans," Dart said grimly. "Let's take him out!" The three quickly descended from the wall, rushing to meet this new threat.

Not long into the battle, the Giganto put away his axe. "Giganto don't need weapon! Kongol will beat you with his hands!"

"How original," Chris muttered, slamming his own hand into the giant. He was getting worried, now. He'd been using his enhanced strength for several minutes already, and if he kept it up, he'd burn out.

He was forced to rest when Kongol hit him in the chest, knocking him several yards away. Chris hit with bone-jarring force, and just lay there, for a while, trying to recover his breath. He quickly realized that at least one rib was broken.

He was not so quick, though, to recall the healing items King Albert had given him. When he did, Chris was back on his feet in moments.

Just in time to see Dart get smashed to the ground when he tried for a finishing blow. "Now Giganto kills human!" Kongol said happily.

Then Chris's gaze was drawn to a dark shape hurtling out of the sky. When it struck Kongol's axe, he realized that it was a woman in violet armor, with wings on her back. In her hand she carried a rapier, and she pointed it at Dart's chest.

Chris gasped as alien images went through his mind, images of other winged warriors, and finally of a creature with seven wings and seven eyes, which possessed an incredible amount of power. When the view faded, he collapsed to his knees, shaking.

"Wake up!" the woman commanded, rapier still pointed at Dart. "Dragoon of the Red-Eye Dragon!"

Dart stared up at the woman, then gasped as he was enveloped in flame. A burst of fire shot into the sky, then slammed into Kongol, knocking the Giganto off his feet, and sending his axe flying.

When the fire surrounding Dart faded, he was wearing stylized armor the color of flame, with a green jewel set in the center of the chest and a pair of wings on his back. It was very similar to the newcomer's armor. "What on earth is...?" Dart whispered.

"Dart..." Lavitz said, awed. "You... what happened to you?"

"I don't know!"

The woman in violet armor dropped to the ground, no longer wearing the winged armor. "The Knight of the Dragon, the Dragoon was born," she said.

Shana rushed out. "Dart! What happened!?"

The fiery armor vanished in a flash, and Dart collapsed. "Seeing Shana... makes me feel relieved..." he murmured, and passed out.

Then the fallen Giganto got painfully to his feet. "I am surprised that you didn't die," the woman commented.

"Giganto don't die!" Kongol snarled. "Giganto will pay you back!" He fled from the town.

"What happened to Dart?" Shana demanded of the strange woman. "What did you do to him?"

"We should get him inside," the woman replied. "We'll talk then." As Shana and Lavitz lifted Dart's unconscious body, she walked over to Chris, who still knelt on the ground, shaken. "Canst thou stand?" she asked, and held out a hand.

"I believe so, Milady," Chris replied. He took the proffered hand and stood on unsteady legs.

The woman nodded in satisfaction at his response. There is indeed something about him, if he knows the old tongue. There is more here than is apparent. "Who art thou, and what is thy homeland?"

"My name is Chris Keon, Milady, and I come from the frozen lands of Alaska, beyond the edge of the world." Then he started; he had just realized that neither he nor the woman had spoken English, but rather a language that he hadn't realized he'd known.

Rose was startled as well. The frozen lands beyond the edge of the world...? Is he...!? With an effort, she kept her expression calm, but this revelation was stunning even to her. After eleven millennia, is the prophecy finally coming to pass? There was one more way to confirm it. "Canst thou fight?"

"Some, Milady," Chris said, still speaking that strange language, "but I am no warrior."

So it is he, then. The prophecy Syuveil made is finally coming to fruition. Does this bode well or ill, I wonder? She cleared her throat. "My name is Rose," she said, speaking English once more. "You and I must talk, sometime. But I believe it is now time for explanations of a different sort." She nodded toward Shana. "Your friend seems to think I've done something to this Dragoon." Rose walked into the town's inn, where Dart had been taken.

Chris hesitated a moment longer, for he had finally gotten a good look at Rose. There was a dangerous, well-guarded mystique about her that probably frightened most people away from her. Yet somehow this bothered him not at all, as thought he could see through her shell, to her soul within. Rather, he was enchanted by her beauty, attracted by her spirit. He had never met a woman quite like Rose, and certainly none as beautiful.

After a moment, Chris shook it off. What's with me? Then he followed her inside. Yet he could not quite forget that moment...

---------------------------------------

Author's note: Now things begin to get interesting. Rose has entered the story, and before long more of the prophecy shall be revealed. I should note here that I am going to change the Divine Dragoon armor for the purposes of this fic; I find it to be less than aesthetically pleasing. Minor, but something of note.

To answer YSYF, it might be best to quote Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring: Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes. Put another way: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. You know my methods: sequence and order, time and stress! Everything will be revealed at the proper time. And this, I believe, is the proper time to end this chapter. Au revoir! -Solid Shark