A large explosion came from the back of Scion Castle Town, making the fleeing citizens scream louder. Many people laid lifeless on the cobblestone road. All of the town was set ablaze, most of the trees and plants on the sides of the street had already been burned to ash. A tall figure carrying a bloody zanbatou walked across the street of the town. Immediately, two knights rushed over to the dark figure and tried to vanquish him, but the figure easily killed the two knights with his weapon. He then signaled for the army behind him to invade Scion Castle.
The King of Scion watched from the giant stain glass window in the throne room. His face looked grim as he wittnessed his people die, one by one. He then turned to his wife.
"Paige, we are now defeneless against the Shadow Elf invasion. I am afraid that...there is no hope of our kingdom being saved now," he said sadly. Queen Paige hugged her husband for comfort. She then felt a small tug on her dress. Two young girls clung to Queen Paige, both had tears streaming down their faces.
"Mommy, I'm scared," cried the younger princess, tears soaking her mother's dresss.
"What are we going to do?" asked the older princess, worry covering her face. Paige hugged both of her children closer to her.
"Don't worry, Ezra, Neera, we're going to be alright," she said. But are we really going to be safe? She asked herself. Just then several large bangings came from the throne room's large wooden door.
"Oh no," cried King Jacob, "they're here! They'll kill us for sure!" He hugged his wife tighter. Neera and Ezra began to cry louder, more tears running down their faces.
"Jacob," started Paige," we have to save our daughters," she said, looking into Jacob's red eyes, "I don't know if we're going to get out of this alive, but at least we can save our daughters." Jacob looked at the young girls, then nodded at his wife. He then bent over to talk with his daughters.
"Neera, Ezra, you both have to run away and find safety. Your mother and I will stay here, and make sure you two get away safely," said Jacob, who also started to cry along with his family.
"But Daddy, I don't want to leave!" cried Ezra.
"Don't make us leave Mommy!" Neera cried after her sister. Paige bent over to the young princesses and took out two objects from the folds of her dress, a black rose, and a red velvet book. She handed the rose to Neera, and gave Ezra the book.
"Girls, take these and leave immediately. These will help you escape the ruins of the castle. Now please hurry! You must both leave the castle," she said sadly.
Two more large bangs came from the large door, almost knocking it off its hinges.
"Please go girls," said Jacob, "There isn't much time left. You must listen to me and your mother and leave!" Neera and Ezra both nodded, showing that they understood. As they hugged their parents for what seemed to be the last time that they would, many tears came running down, soaking their parents' clothes.
"May the Moon Goddess Crescanna, protect you always," their mother said as the girls ran to their father's throne. Just as the large wooden door was knocked over, Neera and Ezra opened the escape hatch behind their father's large velvet chair and ran through the long tunnel that led to the castle courtyard. The fire that was burning the town, somehow had managed to spread to the castle rooftop, and some parts of the courtyard.
Neera's vison was veiled by the smoke created by the fire. She quickly grabbed her sister's hand and tried to run through the smoke covered yard, avoiding the burning rubble. Ezra who couldn't take anymore of the toxic air, started to cough violently. She then stumbled and lay on the ground, hacking. The smoke was starting to effect Neera also. She too had fallen over and started to cough. What are we going to do now! yelled Neera's mind. Ezra had started to cry, she too knowing that there was no way out.
"Hold on! You're going to be alright," said a mysterious yet familiar voice. Neera felt a pair of hands grabbing her by the waist and helping her up. "Are you alright Neera?" asked the voice.
"J-Jaken?" she asked, feeling dazed. "Jaken, is that you?" She was now able to see his blonde spikey hair and bright blue eyes.
"Yes," he answered back, "c'mon we have to help Ezra up!" They both reached over and hoisted up Ezra who was still coughing. Jaken reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a hankerchief and gave it to Neera. She supported Ezra's back with her hand, and quickly tied it over her face. Jaken lifted Ezra up and put her on his back. He then grabbed Neera's hand and ran straight through the burning courtyard as fast as he could.
The castle town was almost a pile of ash by the time, the three children reached the exit of the castle grounds. Jaken looked around, hoping to find an exit. It wasn't going to be easy, knowing that Shadow Elf Knights could be hiding anywhere in the burnt up town. Ezra who was now able to walk, slid off of Jaken's back.
"Are you sure you should be walking Ezra?" asked Neera.
"Yes, I'm fine. I think I can walk properly now," she replied. Jaken started to walk slowly across the castle town, followed Neera, and Ezra.
"There it is," Jaken said softly, pointing at the exit," We're almost out of here." Just as they were about to escape from the fiery town, two Shadow Elves, hiding behind a mound of rubble, quickly dashed out in front of the three children. They immediately unsheathed their weapons in hope of killing the children. Jaken, who was prepared for just such an occasion, unsheated his training sword, and blocked the sword thrust thrown at him. Neera, and Ezra watched helplessly as Jaken tried to fight off the two Elves. Wow, we're lucky Jaken is a knight in training. Said Neera's mind. Suddenly, the black rose Neera held in the palm of her hand, started to glow with a yellow fluorescent light.
The stem grew into a hilt, large enough for Neera to grasp tightly. The leaf extended itself into a hand guard, covereing her hand. And out of the black petals came a rapier blade with thorns on the sides. Neera now held in her hands, a beautiful rose rapier. Without any second thoughts on how the rose became a sword, Neera leapt out and assisted Jaken in fighting the elves. Somehow, Jaken and Neera, defeated the Shadow Elves with ease. As they were about to make their way towards the exit, five more Shadow Elves who noticed their comrades being slayed, unsheated their weapons and ran towards Jaken, Neera, and Ezra. The red-velvet book Ezra held in her hands began to glow the same way Neera's black rose did. She quickly opened up the book to the page that was glowing, and quickly recited a spell.
"Fire," she said as she held out her hand, burning two of the Elves to death. Before she could read another spell, the two remaining elves were right in front of them., holding out their weapons, ready to slay the three kids. Just then, a mysterious figure jumped out in front of the young refugees, and struck down the two Shadow Elves with a strange looking axe. Neera stared at the two slain elves on the floor, taking a deep breath of relief. The short assailant slowly turned around, revealing to the others that their savior was a young Shadow Elf child, about the same ages as the children. Ezra looked at him with shock. He was different from the other elves. He had silky, silver hair that was tied back into a short ponytail, and golden eyes. The trait that defined him as a Shadow Elf was his pointy ears, and body tone.
"Hurry you guys," he cried, "the exit is right over there, and a couple of chocobos should be waiting for you guys at the end of the drawbridge." The three kids, stared oddly at the young shadow elf.
"Um, why are you helping us? Aren't you one of them?" asked Neera with a surprised look on her face.
"That's not important right now," he replied quickly, "what's important is that you guys gotta get outta here. I'll help you fight any more Shadow Elves that might be waiting up ahead." Jaken and Neera nodded, and started off for the drawbridge exit. Ezra turned around to take one last look at her home, praying for her parents to still be alive.
"I'm sure your parents are fine, my older brother Jenzo probably isn't going to kill them," the young elf said, trying to comfort the princess.
"Thanks," she said, a part of her feeling relieved. She gave the young elf a hug, making him turn bright red.
"C'mon, we have to go now," he said, gently pulling her arms off of his waist, "I'll explain everything when we escape on the chocobos."
"Wait, before we go, since you are helping us, can you at least tell me your name?" Ezra asked.
"Its Malakai," he replied, "and yours?"
"Its Ezra," she said, "Jaken is the spikey haired boy, and that blonde girl, my sister, her name is Neera."
"Great to meet you, but we need to leave," Malakai said quickly. He then grabbed her hand and started off for the drawbridge, following Jaken and Neera.
Running through the drawbridge wasn't going to be easy. Eight Shadow Elves had stationed themselves in front of the gate, waiting for anyone who might want to escape. As the group approached the exit of the castle town, the eight elves standing guard, unsheathed their weapons as their comrades had done before, and slowly approached the four children.
Malakai removed the odd looking axe from his side, and charged at the elves, followed by Jaken with his training sword, and Neera with her rapier. With Malakai as one of their allies, deafeating the elves was an easy task. Ezra ran and flipped the switch, dropping the drawbridge. And as Malakai had promised, two yellow chocobos stood there, waiting for them. Just as they were about to mount their chocobos, a sound of a roaring army approaching, rang though the group's ears.
"Oh no," cried Neera, "I think the Shadow Elves heard of our escape!" The Shadowy figure holding the zanbatou had appeared in front of the large Shadow Elf army. Malakai looked back at the others then nodded.
"You guys go ahead, I'll have to hold them off for you guys to escape safely," he said bravely. Neera and Jaken both frowned, but they understood.
"May the moon goddess protect you Malakai," Jaken said.
"Thank you for everything Malakai," Neera said, smiling.
"Well, you guys needed to live, you guys are important to the future of the land of Scion," he replied. He then removed his axe from his side and started to walk off in the direction of the army.
"Malakai, wait!" cried Ezra. She removed her lightning-bolt chain necklace, then tied it onto Malakai's neck.
"Please...always remember me, and I hope that we'll meet again someday," she said, tears starting to run down her face. She gave Malakai a kiss on the cheek before mounting her chocobo, again making him turn bright red. Jaken and Ezra snapped the reins and their horses, making them speed off into the distance.
Malakai charged at the figure carrying the zanbatou. Ezra looked back one more time before disappearing over the horizon. The figure slashed Malakai across the face once, making him fall to the ground, his body looking lifeless. Ezra's face was suddenly flooded with tears. She screamed out his name, her voice echoing all throughout the vast plain. The Shadowy figure watched as the two chocobos carrying the young refugees, disappear over the horizon, into the sun. He then grabbed his unconcious little brother's body and walked back into the demolished castle town, followed by the army of Shadow Elves.