Deep dark is his Majesty's kingdom
A portent of tomorrow's world
There shall the liquid give Him power
The red-eyed unborn lord.
Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean. Nightwish.
Life at Indels Castle had settled down into a dull hum. Although Albert still walked about like he was high on some drug, and Emille seemed to be surgically attached to his arm.... But forgetting the happy couple all of the dragoons had decided to outstay the other party guests. Dart could be seen strolling through the town with a group of knights from the 3rd knighthood. Shana had taken up following either Raizel or Lisa about, she seemed constantly worried about her home town. Miranda still stalked about the Castle jumping out of rooms into the hallway at odd moments, or climbing out of the castle via a window. Haschel and Kongol had taken up to teaching many of the knights the Rouge Arts in the practice rooms. And Meru was happily wondering around the town and into bars, where she would tells stories about all her great adventures as a dragoon. The trio however were not in such good spirits; while they maintained a happy face around the dragoons, they were constantly on alert for any word of information. And as their time if Bale together was growing short, they seemed to be working extra hard to listen in on the dragoons.
Raizel had been heading out her own door when she heard Miranda and Dart conversing in the hallway only a few feet away. Hoping for some news of some sort, she flattened herself up against the wall and listened intently.
"Charle's had some winglies looking about the moon for Rose's choker, they are starting to worry that she might have hidden it somewhere before..."
"I know, but she'd have only had four days before she showed up in Ulara. Can't they sense stuff like that?" Dart queried Miranda.
"I thought they could too, I think I'll ask Albert to include that in his letter." Miranda stated.
"You'd think with all the power they have now it wouldn't be too hard to track something like that down." Dart said, a frown forming on his face.
"We could always ask Meru about it..." She paused, "Come on we can talk about it later with Albert."
Rose? I wonder who this is? And a choker? I've never pictured any of them as fashion conscious... She shook her head listened again to the sound of foot steppes. They faded away and Raizel hurried down to breakfast after them.
Alulan found himself alone once again in the main thrown room. Albert had taken to his room with Dart, Miranda and Meru in something which Alulan referred to as "The Dragoonly Conference." It was a little bothering to know that they were probably over they right now talking about himself and what had happened. And if he could only sneak over to the door and open it....
But alas, the moment the door opened the Dragoon spirits would flash and their owners would come prancing out onto the balcony to see who was there. Which was something Alulan had found out by accident about three days before. The strange thing was that other dragoons could enter with out setting off the warning sensors in the Spirits, but whether or not Raizel and Balder could enter Alulan had yet to determine. It was this that made him loath that door with all his heart. He wished that maybe the door would just disappear and leave, but it didn't seem very inclined to listen. It was all that stood between him and all this questions. Two inches of wood, a platform and another thin aspen door that he had no trouble hearing through, were all that stood in his way.
And yes, right about now he's might was set so forcefully on the damnation of that door that he almost missed the Soldier who was creeping across the floor towards him.
A flash of sunlight was what ended up alerting him to the man's presence. "Yes?" he asked slightly bitter at the interruption to his angsty thoughts.
"I've come with a message to King Albert, I must speak to him." The knight answered standing at attention.
Alulan's eyes glazed over the man, he had to have come from some outpost like Hoax for Alulan had never seen him before. The man had grey eyes and wore green under his armor the spear which rested in his hands was metallic all the way through with some small but simple decoration along the handle. For a moment he wondered why the man seemed to be perfectly clean, but then again he had been lusting after opening that door all day.
He walked over and opened the door, instantly Dart, and Miranda opened the other. "There is a messenger here for Albert." Alulan stated, surprised at just how fast they had acted.
"Yeah... Al, there is someone here for you." Dart called back, before walking further out on the platform, "Excuse me." He stated firmly pushing past Alulan, Miranda moving right out behind him giving a distasteful look to Alulan.
Meru was next out, but she just jumped over the side of the platform and dropped to the ground below. Stopping short when her wings appeared. Alulan wondered if she got some sort of kick making people think she was jumping to her death. He turned around knowing Albert would be taking a little while.
"He'll be out in a moment." Alulan said watching the overly clean knight. "What is your name?"
The knight stiffened and turned to him, "Melb-burne." The man said with a slight glare, or perhaps it was worry that flashed in his eyes.
I can't be that frightening can I?
His ears perked up to listen as Kaiser's clanking footsteps came pounding up the stairs, Albert opened the door from his room and walked out.
"What is it." He asked with a friendly manor.
"My lord, here is the message from The Great Commander." The man walked over holding his spear next to him and pulled out a small slip of paper from his pocket. Kaiser burst up the stairs and yelled something out, his voice strangled with worry. The knight jumped the last step and thrust his spear forward.
Alulan had felt something was off since he had asked for the man's name, but somehow the horrible visage which now presented itself was not what he had expected. The knight stood just on the other side of Albert, his hole body seeming to be pushing something forward as if driven by a great rage.
Alulan's mind just couldn't comprehend what that something could be.
A spear ripped through the back of Albert's cloak, clean with only the faintest trace of blood. Alulan's mind was slowly piecing the puzzle out, shock had struck him dumb, but now his mind called for action. Albert's hands were reaching out and gripping the man's shoulder's. He was collapsing, the man was smiling.
Alulan never remembered being taught how to fight, but something was defiantly kicking in. And while Kaiser stood on the other side of the room gawking at the vision of his own King being strung through. Alulan was leaping through the air driving at the Knight who had just impaled his King. His hands grabbed the man's upper arm and in one swift turn he drove the man face first into the ground. Kaiser was moving again, diving at the man on the floor and smashing his fist into the side of the man's head. Alulan could have sworn he saw the eyes flicker from blue to green. But the adrenalin in his body was pumping far to fast for him to be sure of anything.
Albert let out a weak gasp behind them, he had fallen to his knees. His hands were weakly placed around the area in which the spear had penetrated.
"Oh god, Albert..." Alulan felt himself say.
"Alulan go get Miranda!" Kaiser said jumping over to the king who's shoulders were heaving up and down with something like anxiety and pain. The knight carefully placed his hands upon the King's shoulders and spoke to him, "Don't worry Al... You'll be ok, just stay with me..." However as strong as those words might have been they didn't not hide the worry on the war torn face.
Alulan's feet barely found the ground quick enough, he was dashing down the stairs and past maids who knew nothing of their King's horrible predicament. His feet slipped and glided as he rushed to turn around the steps. He rounded them dashed down the steps to where Miranda stood speaking lightly with a maid.
"Miranda!" He called his hand groping to find hers.
"What the hell do you think your doing!?" She yelled shocked and frightened by his bewildering behavior.
"Albert! He's been attacked, common don't stand there like gawking idiot. NOW!" With more force then he knew he had he uprooted the dragoon from her spot and practically dragged her up the steps. Below him he heard Dart yell out.
"The hell!?" Balder who had been standing near him yelled, the pair went racing up the steps after the illusive sliver haired man.
Miranda had stopped trying to free her self from Alulan's grasp, and was now concentrating on not going flying into one of the banisters as they came rounding up the second pair of stairs. The third passed so quickly Alulan wondered if he had really gone up them.
Miranda let go a screech when she saw Albert kneeling on the floor, there was blood leaking all down his clothes and while it had yet to form a pool at his knees it had dyed all his clothing from the waist down.
Alulan jumped when Dart came slamming up the stairs right into him, "What the HELL do you think your doing you-" Dart's voice stopped short in his throat as he looked at Albert who kneeled on the ground, with Miranda kneeling beside him. "Al!" Dart yelled hurrying over. Alulan followed.
Albert's face was turned down, looking at the spear stick out from his stomach. His teeth were clenched, and his face was screwed up with pain. He let out a shuttered gasp for air, and murmured something to Miranda. The light of the healing dragoon formed around her body and wings like glass appeared from her back.
"Dart, help me get this out of him now."
"B-but, Miranda!?" Dart said his face turning white.
"NOW DART! And pull it out from the back, I don't want to risk it cutting him again!" She ordered. "I can stop the blood only once it's OUT!"
Dart nodded dumbly, and went around behind Albert, crouching as he wrapped his hands around the metallic spear head. Alulan found his hand being suddenly crushed inside of Albert's own. Dart pulled back, running the rest of the five feet of the spear's poll through Albert's body and back out the other side. Albert crippled forward as the last of it came out, Miranda's hand shoved Alulan away as she suddenly shot a arrow at the wooden sky above. It sparkled there, and then with a great force fell back down onto Albert's body which was illuminated with light. As the light faded Albert remained prone, and Dart stood there shaking with the bloody spear in hand.
"Help me take him to his room," Miranda said quietly, "I think, I think he'll be alright with time."
Dart nodded and pushed Albert's body upright. The wound which had traveled straight through the King was no longer bleeding as a strange flimsy sort of skin covered it completely. You could just barely see through it to the dark red masses of blood and tissue below.
Balder bent down and grabbed around Albert's shoulders, a few steps away Miranda was detransforming. Dart lifted up Albert's legs and they passed through the open door onto the balcony. Miranda followed deafly behind, and she was followed by Kaiser who stumbled as he took his first steps. Alulan stood there feeling dangerously apart, near his feet the knight lay. Anger overflowed him for not recognizing the danger.
Damnit!
He felt himself give a hearty kick to the nearest object, which just happened to be the knight.
Balder walked back out of the room looking faintly edgy. "Dart says he wants this guy in bars.... I didn't know you could heal a person up like that, he's not bleeding or anything." The was something like amusement on Balder's face, which was actually slightly disturbing.
"Yeah..." Alulan replied, reaching down and pulling up one of the man's arms. Balder took the other and they began to drag/carry the man down stairs.
Noish came walking up the stairs, "Alulan do you know why all those dragoons came run-.... What happened to that poor man!?"
"Albert was attacked by him, he must be some sort of assassin..." Alulan paused.
"Dear Soa! How is his Majesty!?"
"The guy's alright, Miranda patched him up so he isn't bleeding anymore." Balder replied. "You should probably go up there."
"Yes, yes!" Noish sprinted off up the steps with a speed that Alulan didn't know the old man had. Near by the maids had stopped and were chattering, "Is this true?" "How can it be?" "How could anyone take down a dragoon?" "Did he not have guards?"
The pair continued on down the steps towards the base level and around to the side of the complex where a few small cells were located. Alulan and Balder tossed the man haphazardly into the cell.
"The pair of you!" Alulan announced to some of the knights. "I want a constant watch over this man, he's not a knight he's an assassin who just attacked King Albert. There is to be two of you, and you are not to speak or listen to what this man says!"
The guards look between each other, and then back at Alulan and Balder.
"Don't worry Albert's gonna be okay, Miranda fixed him up." Balder said comforting the knights. "I'll stay here and watch this guy too, Alulan go up and look after your King."
Alulan nodded a thanks to Balder and headed back up the steps. Emille and her sister came rushing past him. "Alulan!? T-they said Albert was attacked!" Lisa pleaded.
"Yes... He was come on, lets go see him." He said leading the pair of women up the stairs towards Albert's room.
Emille started crying as soon as she walked into the room. Dart was standing beside Miranda looking over him, Miranda was holding out her Spirit over Albert's wound. Emille knelt down next to her, her hand firmly plastered over her mouth. Tears were creeping down over her face and through the rivulets in her hand. Haschel was also in the room, his face plastered with worry. The deeply wrinkled face was far more accented, and the dark skin created even darker shadows making it look as though he had aged into stone.
Alulan found himself being pushed to the side as Meru came pounding into the room. She stared visibly at the seen, her bright eyes budging and her hands scrunching up in furry. "WHERE WERE YOU!?" She screamed turning on Alulan. Her red eyes piercing him and accusing him. "WHAT ABOUT YOU!?" She yelled at Kaiser, swinging her arms down.
"Meru..." Dart spoke, "There was nothing that could have prevented this. The man was dressed as a knight who would have known?"
She softened slightly and looked back around the room, "Is Al gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Why don't you go tell the others." Dart responded disheartened.
Meru's mouth twitched, she gazed back over at Albert and then silently stormed from the room.
The room fell silent as she left, no one else entered the room for sometime. Miranda stood and looked around. "It didn't hit anything that can't be repaired. He'll need time and lots of rest but his own body will heal him. You can let go of that now Dart." She said as she noticed that the spear was still firmly inside his grip. He looked at and hurriedly placed it leaning against the wall as if he were a child who had been caught with something he had been forbidden.
Miranda then let her shoulders sag and walked out of the room. Dart let out a sigh and pulled a chair over from the side of the room. "Here Emille..." He said helping her into the seat. Dart stepped back, and then turned from the room, Haschel followed him. Looking at Kaiser and Alulan with something like hate.
Emille sat hunched in sadness, Lisa walked over to Emille and whispered something quietly in her ear. The queen nodded, and Lisa walked from the room.
Alulan's eyes floated over to Kaiser, who looked back. The pair of them shared a silent nod and walked out onto the balcony where they stood.
"I should have come faster, one of the knights said that he had seen the man grabbing some armor and a spear from in the armory.... It's just I expected that some how you or Albert would figure it out quicker then you did." Kaiser whispered in a hushed and sorrowed sound.
"I could feel something was wrong about him... I should have stayed closer to Albert, not just hung back."
"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known."
But I did feel something was wrong... I know I should trust instincts like those, so why didn't I?
Alulan let out a regretful sigh and glanced across wide fields and prairie stretching to the mountains. They were distant and calm, and looked like great blue towers.
Clouds moved endlessly across the sky heading towards the mountains as if drawn by a unknown force. Birds chirped happily upon the branches of the aspen trees which lingered near a golden shade in the bright sun. The street venders were packing up their sales and hanging notices on the fames. Meru was strolling back and forth across a bridge. Further away at the entrance a pair of merchants had stopped on their way out of town. They were speaking to a Knight, and he was handing them a few pieces of paper. The word of Albert's assassination attempt had spread quickly.
Kaiser felt a cold wind sweep across the side of his face. Fall was fast approaching, and a dark winter waited not long after.
A particularly dark winter... The knight turned back inside, finding no comfort or joy in the image of the city below. Alulan stayed, feeling at peace so high above the troubles and complications which had arose.
....
A/N: I've been wanting to just write some weird descriptive crap at the end of a chapter for a while. But I suck at descriptions, so that there took me a good half an hour to get. .
Well anyway, I'm sorry to all Jade lovers for impaling Albert, but for the sake of the plot it must be done. Just try to refrain from eating me. I think since you all sucked so badly at the last quiz, I shall mock the lot of you.
But in any case I'm going to be gone on Vaction from the 17th to the 23rd, so I'm not going to have any time to crack out nifty fan art. Much apologies, the quiz shall return next chapter. .