Chapter One: Chaos in the tower

Tao awoke from her unconscious state to see Max hovering over her; he looked extremely worried. She fully opened her eyes, and sat up. An excruciating pain in her side forced her to scream.

Khris rushed to her side, muttering several derogatory comments toward the Shianwa tribe.

Groaning, Tao managed to squeal, "Khris...I think my rib is broken!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and moistening the earth beneath her.

The healer muttered the incantation required for mending broken bones. A stream of icy blue energy ran off of Khris's fingers and staff, and was directed toward Tao's left side. The magic juxtaposed against the creamy-white canvas tarp that yielded a very crude tent. Five figures were silhouetted against the tarp – four humanoid ones and one bird-like one.

Soothing feelings began to undermine the agony Tao felt.

"What are these things and why do they want to get rid of the Shining
Force?" Max inquired of Zylo and Luke. Glaring at the two, he looked
like he expected an answer, but none came. After a brief pause, Max
continued. "Well? Don't you have any information at all?" His comrades
shook their heads.

He sighed.

"Oh well. Once Tao is well enough, let's go find the five that were kidnapped."

The two women emerged from the makeshift tent, almost ready to continue their
quest to find their lost companions. Tao yawned slightly; she made it
apparent that she needed a rest.

Max said, facetiously, "You were just asleep for fourteen hours!" He grinned, but agreed to take another break from their not-yet-started journey. He allowed Tao back into the canvas tarp. "Just don't be too long!" he called.

He removed his headband and cape, and laid down on his back, on the
dirty ground. They were out of the forest now, and under a bright,
sunny sky. The tower looming in the distance reminded Max of why he
was fighting the evil threatening his land. A foreboding darkness
hovered over the massive skyscraper. Darksol's lair.

Zylo ensconced himself a few feet from Max, against a tree trunk. He
sighed as he leaned back, looking up at the myriad of limbs and
boughs, with small green leaves adorning each of them.

"Why can't evil be like the leaves, Max?" Zylo inquired, sighing again.

"Hm?" Max lifted himself off of the ground, and turned toward Zylo.
"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that, leaves never harm anyone, yet everyone seems to
hold some sort of grudge against them – they burn down forests, they
cut down trees, they pick leaves off of trees...Why can't people be more
considerate, and not do anything to hurt anyone else?"

Max was surprised that Zylo, who had single-handedly fought off many
of their previous threats, was saying this. He hesitated a moment,
then spoke.

"Zylo," he began, "evil is a strange thing. It works much differently than you'd think. When one is like Darksol, there is a shroud of irrationality that blinds them into thinking that destruction is the right thing to do."

"But...what causes them to be ev- like that?" the wolfman pressed on.

The leader of the Shining Force shook his head, signaling that he had no idea. "Sometimes...they are born like that. Sometimes, they are influenced by other people or things...but, to be totally honest, I don't know."

Zylo nodded, and laid himself down on the ground. "You think Darksol can be defeated? I mean, he has so much protection and so many warriors advocating him that one's knees would be knocking together just thinking about it."

Max glared at his companion. "Zylo," he said, pausing. "As a 'hero' to Guardiana, I make it a point not hold any doubts whatsoever when thinking about fighting Darksol." He stood, holding his hair in an annoyed fashion. "Now, will you please stop asking me petty questions that I have to think about? I'm really tired and would like a rest."

- - -

Darksol stood two thousand feet above the ground, on his petite balcony tucked into a small alcove on the east side of his monstrous tower. He looked out across the plains and fields of tall grass that engulfed the structure, combing the area for some sort of signal. He didn't expect to see any, but he couldn't be too sure. With the thousands of captors digging about, one of them would have to find it sooner or later.

"Master." Darksol turned and was startled to find Ramladu standing in the doorframe. He looked furious, but before he could take one breath, Ramladu apologized, and continued. "One of our Air Scouts claims that they saw the Shining Force making their way here."

"This is not an opportunity to start complaining or worrying, Ramladu." Darksol was scowling.

"Yes, sire." Ramladu turned and walked off, bright red cape billowing in the air behind him. He soon disappeared down the stairs, leaving Darksol on his own again.

Giving in to that day, Darksol faced the door and disappeared into the enormous tower. The leaves of the trees in the plaza below grew darker and darker in the fading daylight, and Ramladu whipped past them without stopping to admire their beauty. For, he was too infested with bad thoughts to be stopping for that sort of thing.

- - -

Lowe trudged through the thick forest with two armed guards at either of his sides. He couldn't possibly escape now, and didn't have enough magical ability to get himself out of whatever would be presented to him. The healer didn't doubt that Darksol would force him into some sort of grueling laborious task. But he wasn't thinking of these things at the moment; he was only thinking about the other four of his comrades that had been captured, and wondering how they were faring.

The vicar carried his staff in his right hand, wondering how much physical damage he could deal to the two guards with it. But he decided against it, seeing the plan as futile; the two men had pistols, which were something new to Lowe. He'd never heard of a metal machine that could spit lead out at others.

The forestcleared, showing an open field littered with unwashed civilians. Lowe stared in horror.

"Do I have to work-" Lowe started, but was cut off by a grunt and nod from one of the guards. The vicar sighed. Just great, Lowe thought, putting a disgusted expression on his face. As if anything I do is going to make them change their minds... He walked out into the field, stumbling past a myriad of holes that the people were digging.

Upon arrival at the tower, a servant of Darksol's asked for some sort of card. Lowe couldn't understand the accent that the servant was talking in, but remembered the two guards forcing a slip of paper into one of his pockets. He pulled it out, revealing his name to the person in front of him.

Darksol's servant collected the card from him, and told him to grab anything that could penetrate the dirt on the ground, and start digging. Lowe opened his mouth to inquire, "Dig for what?" but the man just silenced him and dismissed him. He sighed again, and started off to find a vacant area in the enormous field.

- - -

Ken the centaur cantered a few yards ahead of his captors. He couldn't stand trotting with the ugly beings, and was bothered by the fact that he'd let them capture him. He kept revisiting the moment that they were able to subdue his wild kicking, and how he could've crushed them, but hesitated a moment too long. He should've won that battle. And now, the centaur decided that it was because of him that he and four of his companions in the Force were kidnapped.

His blonde tail swayed with every step he took. Low-lying limbs of trees whipped past him as he increased his pace, almost as if he wanted to escape. And he badly wanted to, but knew that that would be impossible; he had seen those long, metal machines before, and knew what sorts of things they could do to him. The last thing he needed now was an injury.

Jumping a few feet above the ground, the majestic paladin just cleared the stone wall that marked the territory of Darksol. They had almost reached their destination point. The trees and shrubs became sparser and more widely spaced than they were in the forest. Soon enough, the trees disappeared, and were replaced with grass that almost reached his haunches.

Only a short gallop away stood the towering building that Darksol resided in. Even closer were the enslaved people of Panmei and the surrounding countries digging holes all over the place.

"How am I supposed to dig holes?" the centaur muttered to himself. "I can barely reach the ground with a shovel."

Ken approached someone standing in the lovely plaza outside of Darksol's tower. The person eyed the centaur from top to bottom, and decided that digging wouldn't be the right thing for this particular case.

"Follow me," Darksol's servant said, strictly. The servant turned, and strode toward the skyscraping structure. Ken allowed his legs to trot after the person, and soon caught up with him. Out of the corner of his eye, Ken thought he spotted Lowe. He eyed the person he claimed to be a member of the Force, and determined it was. Rather than calling out to him, Ken decided that doing that would only cause separation between them while working here.

After seeing Lowe again, Ken was reminded of the kidnapping. After two of the muscular Shianwa members successfully managed to capture one member of the Force, they all went off in their own directions, traveling away from each other. Ken was thrust toward the north by his captors, and he tried to resist them. He did not succeed, but managed to acquire a bruise on his face because of it.

The paladin was snapped back into the present when a skinny, elder man in a red cape hit his arm quite hard.

"Ramladu," he breathed, making sure that anyone who heard him could sense his disgust. He managed to calm himself down, and not start a riot.

Ramladu grinned evilly, and replied, "Yes, Ken, it's me. And I have a special job for you. You are going to help built a line of fortifications around Panmei, to ensure your friends don't attempt to overthrow what Master Darksol has achieved." Ramladu was already making Ken's temper boil. "Here are your new comrades." He motioned toward a group of civilians huddled together a little further into the tower. "There are, of course, going to be more added to your group as we acquire new captives."

Ken chose then to act. He lifted his front legs, kicking Ramladu straight in the face with his rock solid hooves. Darksol's first servant was sent sailing through the air as half a dozen of the Shianwa guards rushed into the building. Bullets were flying all around the foyer of the tower, a few managing to embed themselves in the fine granite walls.

Ken miraculously survived this shootout, with his fist firmly gripping the back of his invincible shield. He gained on the guards, taking out all six of them with a few kicks of his hind legs.

The servant that Ken met up with in the plaza was mumbling something under their breath, in a corner of the room. Soon enough, crystals of ice were conjured up and sent flying in the direction of the paladin. He knew he couldn't dodge this attack, and braced himself for the worst.

A cold wave passed over him, freezing his armor and making his limbs stiff and numb. He collapsed as his knees buckled underneath him, feeling a sharp pain in his two front legs. He whinnied and shrieked annoyingly, causing only more noise to fill the foyer.

A door at the end of the hallway flew open, and the embodiment of pure evil entered the chaotic room.