Day of the Dragon

Chapter 5: Heart of the Dark One

They had finally arrived. Before Van and Escaflowne was a grand gate. This gate, known as the Nether Gate, is said to be the connection between the living world and the afterlife. It took Van and Escaflowne days of searching and asking, but they had finally reached their destination. Van took the three items of the Dragon Armor. In the gate was an indent of a circle. Van took Korment and Banfiza's talisman and inserted them in the indent, and then put the large feather gently upon it. The three objects sank into the gate as though it were made of water. Slowly the doors opened. Van looked into the entrance, but it was all black. It was so black Van thought he had gone blind. Van returned to Escaflowne and hopped in.

"I have a bad feeling, Van." said Escaflowne. "The bowels of the Underworld are not meant for the eyes of the living, not even the king of the Dragon Clan."

"You've seen it?" asked Van.

"I have." responded Escaflowne. "Before I became one with the statue in my tome, I had to journey through the Underworld. It was horrible. Never before in all my days have I seen such a terror."

Then a ghoulish howl echoed from the gate, and Van went into a trance. His eyes went dim and his gaze transfixed on the darkness. Escaflowne walked slowly to the gate, step after step.

"Van? Van, can you hear me?" panicked Escaflowne. "Van, snap out of it! You are being drawn in!"

But Van couldn't hear him. All his senses were closed down and his thoughts were fixed on going through that gate. Escaflowne could not resist Van's command, so he was powerless to stop him. As they entered the gate, the shadow seemed to reach out to them and engulf them. And if you were there, you would have sworn it did. For Van and Escaflowne all went black and time seemed to fly by like seconds.

Soon after Van awoke, still within Escaflowne and still a bit out of focus. Looking around he saw rivers of screaming souls streaking through the air, like there was no ground. Looking down, it seemed they were standing on nothing, but they must have been standing on something. Dazed and confused Van closed his eyes, wishing it was all a dream. Then everything began to shake (if there was anything to shake) and a light appeared before Van and Escaflowne. The warmth of it seemed familiar, so peaceful. Van could not have remembered such a warmth since he saved...

"Hitomi?" Van gasped.

The light began to dim away, and a figure was in its place. It was Hitomi alright, but her eyes were closed and she continued to float in the midair. Van gazed upon her in fear. So many questions rushed through his head. Is she alright? Is she still alive? Where is Ajuk? All these thoughts gave Van a headache. Van attempted to open up Escaflowne, but it did not obey.

"Don't even try, Van." said Escaflowne. "I can't even move myself. Something is holding us down, as much as it pains me to see the Wing Goddess like this."

"We have to do something!" exclaimed Van.

"Ah, but you cannot." bellowed a sinister voice. "She is mine now!"

"Who said that!?" growled Van. "Show yourself you bastard!"

Then to the right of Hitomi appeared a second figure. He wore dark robes with red linen. His face was pale and had a wide-eyed stare that would give you the feeling to back away from him. His black, spiked hair seemed to camouflage with the background. His toothy grin made Van feel so annoyed, like he wanted to knock him out for a millennium. But still Van and Escaflowne could not move, not one inch.

"I, as Escaflowne may know, am Ajuk." said Ajuk. "This 'Wing Goddess' of yours is quite a handful. She didn't come quietly without putting up a fight. Very spunky for a little girl, wouldn't you agree, Van?"

"If you hurt her in any way-" uttered Van in extreme anger. "I will destroy you to the point where it will make your ancestors wail in pain!"

"Now calm down, little king." laughed Ajuk. "I did not harm her. She is only in a deep hibernation state. But even if I did, you cannot move. And besides, how can you kill or destroy someone who is already dead?"

"He is right Van." said Escaflowne. "I saw him die with my own mortal eyes, plummeting to his doom and impaled upon a spear-littered ground."

Van growled in rage at Ajuk, his malevolent grin always present, his dark essence filling his soul. It was not long until Van and Escaflowne felt another presence. And then another. And then another. There were now three additional essences present in this dark place, both Van and Escaflowne could feel it. Looking around, his eyes widened to the point where they looked no more different then Ajuk's. In three different directions were three Dragon Armor. But they were no mere Dragon Armor. On all sides was Sohnar, God of Speed, Banfiza of the Flame, and Korment, the Great Destroyer. They just stood there, gazing at Escaflowne. Van saw their black hearts and his own heart felt cold. Never before did he consider seeing those three again. Each time he barely escaped from them, and now there was a large reunion. Sweat trickled down Van's neck as he dared not imagine what they could do to him in his present state.

"Hitomi is in my hands now, Van." said Ajuk. "As long as she is in my clutches, I hold the ability to summon countless Dragon Armor. This way the denizens of Senbena will pay for what they did to me! And soon Escaflowne will be mine. But first, you must die Van, Last of the Dragon Clan!"

Then Sohnar's blade repeatedly struck him like a serpent. Each strike pushed Escaflowne back further. After a dozen strikes Banfiza and Korment released their flaming fury upon Escaflowne with their flamethrowers. Van had never once in his life felt so much torment from such an assault. All he could think about was how he was going to die and let Hitomi be control by this, this freak! The very idea clouded Van's mind until he was no long paying attention to the punishing blows he was receiving.

"Hitomi..." he muttered. "You were always there for me. But now... now I can't do the same for you... I have failed you..."

Wave after wave of hits and Escaflowne was trying to endure every blow as Van's mind wandered.

"After all we have been through, it must end like this?"

The flames were so hot that Escaflowne could not move. Every inch of Van's body was either burnt or bruised or cut. His eyes were wide, untouched by the reality around him. He continued to mutter to himself, muttering about how he blew it. Ajuk watched Van's seemingly endless torment as Hitomi continued to float. It was not until Van looked back at Hitomi that he looked at her eyes open ever so slightly.

Then something snapped.

Everything that Van had thought of until this moment sank into one large thought. That one thought then became one sentence. Then finally, it was made into one word.

"No." he muttered.

Then Escaflowne's heart glowed with an intensity that is said to rival that of the heavens. Banfiza, Korment, and Sohnar, seeing the light, stopped their attacks.

"No." Van again muttered. "You will all DIE!!!!"

The light that emitted from Escaflowne's heart then grew and grew, then made a huge explosion of cosmic proportions. The rivers of undead souls vanished into the shadows, fleeing from the light. Caught in the chaotic explosion, Banfiza, Korment, and Sohnar's molecules slowly dissolved away. They screeched like a thousand banshees until there was nothing left of them. And as Ajuk was caught in the blast, a field of energy suddenly engulfed Hitomi. Van's eyes were no longer the same. The very pupil of his eyes became ocean blue, without a sign of thought within them. No one knows what went on in his mind at that moment, but to be truthful, I don't think he even knows either.

As soon as the explosion ended, Van look to Hitomi, she was alright, but so was Ajuk. For the most part anyway. His body seemed mangled and torn. His gaze was even more malevolent than before (if it could of got any more malevolent).

"How dare you!" exclaimed Ajuk.

But by the time he said that, Escaflowne was before him. At first glance, Escaflowne appeared as a knightly angel. From its back angelic wings had sprouted. Escaflowne's heart was of pure, golden light.

"Die!" shouted Ajuk as his body began to grow.

His skin grew black and his robes fused with his body, creating a black armor. His face was also engulfed in this dark armor, and he kept on growing until he was Escaflowne's size. Ajuk's heart then protruded from his chest, revealing from within an orb. A black, shredded cape sprouted from his back, but then turned into four devilish wings. Ajuk then gave off a war cry that Van wished he would never here again. The Dragon Armor Ajuk had become was all too familiar to Van, but even more familiar to Escaflowne.

It was Shadow Escaflowne.

As Ajuk laughed sinisterly, his voice sounded like there were a thousand Ajuks, each with a deeper or higher voice. His heart was black and did not pump. With the exception of the four wings, Ajuk had become exactly like Escaflowne back at Hitorushima.

"Remember us?" bellowed Ajuk. "You cannot escape from us now! We are one!"

But Van was still in his trace of rage. Escaflowne also refused to speak. After a moment of silence and stillness, Ajuk made the first move. Taking a sword as black as volcanic ash from his back. Charging at full speed, Ajuk attacks Escaflowne. Just as Ajuk came at him, Escaflowne also drew his own sword and parried the attack. Escaflowne came at Ajuk with a counter attack, but Ajuk parried Escaflowne's strike as well. This kept on repeating, blow after blow, hit after hit. There seemed to be no end to this carnage.

It was then that Ajuk seized his own attacks and then vanished. A few seconds later he reappeared behind Escaflowne and struck at him. Ajuk had used a hidden cape that was behind his wings to sneak up behind Van and Escaflowne. Ajuk had made a direct hit and Escaflowne ended up falling to the ground in submission. Again Ajuk attempted to strike at Escaflowne, but he had taken flight and Ajuk's attack missed. Putting the cape behind himself, Ajuk spread out his wings and also took to the skies. In the air they clashed. Each blow gave off a sudden burst of wind, like their attacks were in tune with the forces of the sky. The rivers of souls returned from the darkness and circled around and above the two, making a circular arena. This was the battle of the millennia.

Neither side seemed to be giving up. Sparks flew from their red hot blades. The ghoulish cries from the streams of spirits echoed throughout the entire black realm. Such power should never have even gazed upon living world. When finally their swords met, they were at a face-off. The blades screeched while they were forced against each other. Van's gaze grew more hateful by the second. It was a wonder why he too did not become Shadow Escaflowne.

"You can't win, child." bellowed Ajuk. "Darkness consumed you once before, and it shall do it again. We are a lot alike, you and I. Chaos, destruction, bloodthirsty... Great mind do thing alike, I suppose."

"Shut up..." muttered Van. "Shut up and die!"

"Persitant little boy you are." laughed Ajuk. "But no matter. We will destroy you. Darkness will prevail."

"I don't give a hell about you or your darkness." said Van. "You stole Hitomi from me, and for that I will never forgive you."

"So you have fallen in love with the Wing Goddess, eh?" Ajuk again laughed. "In that case, I know how to destroy you!"

Van gave a gasp of horror.

"You wouldn't!" exclaimed Van.

"Ah, but I would." bellowed Ajuk.

Ajuk then descended at an incredible speed, falling toward Hitomi. Van could only look in horror as he saw Ajuk grow closer and closer to Hitomi. But lucky for Van, that is when something really snapped in him. Escaflowne's heart glowed so brightly now that Ajuk stopped his own fall and looked up. He gazed upon the transcendent light that emitted from Escaflowne. Then that light emerged from Escaflowne's heart and came in the form of a ball of energy in the palm of Escaflowne's hands. Such energy pulsed with intense fury.

"What are you doing?!" panicked Ajuk. "Releasing such energy will kill us all! You don't understand what the consequences of this action may be! The very fabric of time and space may collapse and doom us all! Are you prepared to do that, just to save this one little girl?!"

Then finally Van spoke.

"I'll take that as a stupid question." laughed Van, placing the ball above his head, ready to throw.

"But... But how can you harness such power?" questioned Ajuk.

Then Ajuk spotted three tiny blue glows in the ball of energy.

"The Chaos Gem shards!?" Ajuk again panicked. "You attained them from my armors? You will surely send us all into eternal oblivion!"

"Maybe you will." said Van. "But then again, your already dead. If your soul dies there will be nothing left of you. But me and Hitomi are not of this realm. We have a chance to survive because we can leave here. You cannot."

Van then chucked the energy at Ajuk, sending it careening toward him. As the ball hit his chest, Ajuk gave off a shrieking "NOOOOOOO!!!!!". His structure then dissolved into the shadows, blow away into countless particles. The explosion of the blast spread throughout the darkness. No longer bound to Ajuk's spell, Hitomi opened her eyes and saw the explosion. Screaming, she closed her eyes and braced herself. Light surrounded her every being. It was then she blacked out.

Hitomi soon awoke laying on a bed of leaves. She remembered this place as being Adon village. On the other side of the cottage, she saw Van, sleeping. His body was covered in scars and his wings had sprouted, which was also injured. All she could remember after the blast was feeling a great warmth fill her, like she had a guardian angel beside her. Looking outside, she saw Escaflowne, kneeling on one knee and also battle-scarred. She got up and sat beside Van and began stroking his head.

"Thank you, Van." whispered Hitomi. "Once again, you have proved to be my guardian dragon."

Though still in deep slumber, Van gave a warm smile.

That's the final chapter for Day of the Dragon! I want to know your honest opinion about this story. I can't get better if I don't know my flaws! And hey, if I get enough reviews, I may just continue this saga in yet another story. So please read and review to tell me what you think!