Loss and Pain

Most people that have dreams that they insist are real are thought to be crazy. Only, Jase new that he wasn't crazy. He knew that the "shit was about to hit the fan." He didn't want to worry Vicky because she already stressed how worried she was about this, but he knew he couldn't hide the facts from her for long. He deceided that he would tell her when she woke up, but for now he would let her sleep. In the time that it took Vicky to finish sleeping Jase had decieded that it would be best to gather his friends to either his or Vicky's house to explain what was going on. Just as that thought ran through his head his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up carefully and luckily it was on vibrate so it didn't wake up Vicky.

"Hello?" Jase asked in a slightly lower voice than he would normally use.

"Yo Jase you got to turn on the TV and see the crazy shit that's happening," came Chaz's response.

"I know what's going on already and I'll explain later just get everyone from the old crew to Vicky's house on the double," Jase said. "I'll explain everything here."

"Alright man I'll call everyone up and get my own ass over there pronto. See you in a few," Chaz answered.

"Alright see you and be careful who knows what will happen," Jase said with genuine concern hanging up. He decieded now would be a good time for Vicky to wake up being that everyone would be at her house in a matter of minutes. He shook her lightly saying, "Vicky, come on wake up."

"hm what's going on," she said because as she woke up she saw a look of deep thought and concern on Jase's face.

"Everyone is on their way here," Jase said.

"What do you mean? Our friends from school? Why?" She asked starting to get worried.

"Do you remember what you were worried about last night?" he asked.

"Yes but what does…oh my god. Its happened, the war has started, but why call everyone here?" she asked

"I want to explain to everyone what has happened and what I intend to do about it," Jase said

"Just remember what you promised me," she said with tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"I remember and I intend to keep it," he said as he took her in his arms holding her tight. He looked down at her and she looked up. Their lips met and it quickly became a deep and passionate kiss. However the doorbell rang as soon as they really started getting into it. They broke, reluctantly as Jase went to open the door materializing a mid-sized dagger as he walked just in case. He opened it to find Chaz standing there looking at him and the dagger.

"Can I come in or are you just gonna stick me with that nasty looking balde he said with a smile," Chaz joked as walked in. One of his traits was to make any situation into a joke.

"Yeah, so you know what's going on?" Jase said as Chaz just nodded. "I bet you don't know the whole story though, the history of the creatures in the flying cities," Jase continued.

"No I do and judging from the way you are talking you are a Dragoon too," Chaz said

"What do you mean Dragoon too? You're a Dragoon?" Jase said with the utmost surprise. Then Jase heard the dragon inside of him, "The Dragoons are known to flock together. Either they know each other before hand or have spent time with and gotten close to a Dragoon. Such was the case with Dart and company many eons ago. Suspect that the other friends that will arrive will also be Dragoons." The dragon concluded.

"So which one are you?" Chaz asked

"I am the Dragoon of the Red-Eyed Dragon," Jase answered

"Wow, mine told me that he was the strongest next to the Divine Dragon himself. Me? I'm the Dragoon of the Jade Dragon," Chaz said

"I wonder what the others will be," Jase said

"What do you mean?" Chaz asked

"My Dragon Spirit said to expect the others to be dragoons as well," Jase said

"Really, cool that would be great if we could all fight side by side as friends," Chaz responded. As he finished the doorbell rang. Jase immediately picked up the dagger and went to see who it was. He returned with Kyle and Jess who were holding hands.

"God damn it man you have the worst timing calling us like that he directed at Chaz," Kyle said

"What?" Chaz responded.

"Are you two Dragoons as well?" Jase asked.

"Yes," they both answered together confused, but gathering enough to know that the others were Dragoons as well. They were only wrong about one person.

"You had to call when you did. I don't want to go into battle and possibly die a virgin," said Kyle. Jess immediately hit him hard on the head.

"Ouch what was that for," he asked.

"Just tell the whole world what we were about to do why don't you," Jess said.

"Sorry," Kyle said looking down at his feet. The doorbell rang yet again and this time Jase didn't bother with the dagger. He went and opened the door to come face to face with a giant. His name was Jahim and he had to be 6'7" and 300 pounds of muscle. In short he was one of the biggest people you could ever meet. Jase was happy to call him a friend.

"Yo little dawg you been hearin what's goin on," Jahim greeted Jase.

"Yeah man come on in. I'm assuming that you are a Dragoon. Am I right?" Jase asked

"Now how in the hell do you know that?" Asked Jahim.

"Wild guess J. It's just that everyone else here except for Vicky is one. Which I am very thankful for," Jase said.

"Thankful for us being Dragoons or because Vicky aint one?" J asked

"Both, I'm gonna need help, but I don't want her getting involved. She means too much to me to let her risk her life." Jase said

"Aw aint that sweet," J said very gushy like.

"Fuck you man the only one we are waiting for is Sam," Jase said and the doorbell rang one last time. J decieded to take the initiative and answer.

"Hey little girl how you been," J said

"Alright I guess," came the voice of the raven haired goth that just walked in.

"Everyone else is in the living room and all of us with the exception of Vicky are Dragoons," Jase said.

"We may soon rectify that," Sam said

"What do you mean?" Jase asked but she was already walking away. Once in the living room everyone took a seat and told everyone else what Dragoon they are. Jase and Chaz already introduced themselves. They found out that J was the Golden Dragoon, Kyle was the Violet Dragoon, Jess was the Blue Dragoon, and Sam was the Dark Dragoon.

"Well it appears that we are missing one Dragoon, but it will have to do," Jase said

"No we aren't. She just doesn't realize that she is a Dragoon yet," Sam said

"What are you talking about?" Kyle interjected and got a death glare for what he thought was no reason.

"When I got my spirit it gave me another to hold in trust. It said I would know who the owner was in time and now I know. Vicky is the Dragoon of the White-Silver Dragon," she concluded holding the spirit out to Vicky.

"Fuck," Jase cursed under his breath

"What's wrong?" Vicky asked

"I was hoping to keep you out of this so that you would be safe," Jase said to her

"It's too late now the spirit accepts her and awaits the fusion," Sam said

"I know…at least you have the healing spells. If anyone is safest it is you. If you get hurt you can always heal yourself," Jase responded. That was when the spirit fused with Vicky flooding her with the knowledge. While all other effects occurred she was not hurt like the others because of the healing properties of the spirit.

"Okay I'm good now," Vicky said. It was then that Jase felt something. It was like there was a void in his life. It was like he lost something dear to him, but Vicky was fine standing in front of him. That was when it hit him. His family. Jase took off running for the door without explanation. Everyone was taken aback by his actions and didn't know what to do. By the time they reached the door he was already out of site. He was flying full speed to his house where he hoped that he wasn't to late, but deep down he knew that he already was. When he got there he saw his house with the door off its hinges and multiple windows broken. Jase didn't want to go inside but knew that he had to. At first it seemed that no one was there, but when he walked into the den he was sickened by what he saw. The mutilated bodies of his brother, father, and worst of all, his mother. In their blood a message was written on the wall. It said 'Vengence against those that seek to fight against their rightful masters.' Jase stumbled outside and fell to his knees. He threw his head back and let out a scream of utter anger and sorrow. He would make them pay. He would kill them all. He wouldn't let this happen to anyone else. He looked into the sky to his right and saw a floating fortress. Heedless of all the winglies and virage that flew around it, and he flew straight for it. His anger had driven him to an insanity of pure hatred. It would fuel him until he had his fill of blood.

As he flew towards the fortress a virage broke away to intercept him. He did not care for it would only be the first to die in the carnage that he wished for. With one swipe of his sword the virage was seared in half. The wound burned closed and the two sealed halves fell to earth. He flew high above the city and readied what he knew would be a once in a lifetime attack because he knew that this was a once in a lifetime loss. He could never be angrier then he was right now. He raised his hands in front of him and gathered a giant ball of fiery energy. He launched it at the wingly fort and watched with a small smirk as the bomb detonated with the force of a nuclear weapon. They were high enough so that the explosion didn't do more than blow out the windows of the houses below, and Jase was able to contain the rest to the confines of the wingly city. He knew that nothing would survive that. While it had the force of a nuke the heat generated was ten times greater. He watched as the fort fell and suddenly with his anger appeased at the moment he felt the sorrow overwhelm him. As the fortress crashed back into the spot where it rose from, Jase flew back to his house were he kneeled in front of his now dead family and wept.

This was how the others found him. They helped him bury his family and after went back to Vicky's house. The others informed Vicky's parents of what had happened while Jase sat with his head buried in Vicky's neck as he cried. She gently stroked his hair and tried to comfort him. He was no longer crying for just his parents but at the fact that there could have been innocent winglies, women and children, that had nothing to do with the murder of his family. There could have even been soldiers that disagreed with the plan, and now he would never know now because there was only ash left if that. And it was his doing, but it was a war and they struck first. The image of the attack went over and over in his mind. He watched as all life, wingly and virage alike, were indiscriminately incinerated into nothingness. He knew that that image would plague his mind until he died. He hadn't felt this bad when he killed the winglies in NYC, but that was because he felt some honor, he gave them a chance and then fought them hand to hand. Not like this where there was no hope of survival. Vicky still tried to comfort him knowing full well what he had done, and he was happy for this. He was happy because she was all that he had left. His grandparents died not long ago and both of his parents were only children. He had no living relatives. He knew that he would have to get over it or he would put his friends at risk as well and that included Vicky. However, how does one get over the murder of your whole family? To him it just didn't seem possible.

Over on the other side of the room the other Dragoons were sitting and talking about what happened.

"Taint right. How you kill people like that and leave em for their son to find," J said. "I agree wit what he did. In his place I woulda dun da same thing."

"Yeah I would be rightfully pissed and I can't even come close to understanding how he is feeling. I don't think I could take it if that happened to me. I might just kill myself out of grief," Kyle said.

"Don't even think like that. For one thing we need your help in this and for another…I need you. I don't know what I would do without this shoulder to lean on in these troubled times," Jess said sincerely with tears starting to well up in her eyes at just the thought of not having Kyle around with her. At this point Chaz, who along with Sam have not yet said a word, spoke up, "We gotta help him pull out of this. He's the strongest among us. What he did today proves that in a cinch he could wipe all of us out at once and we know we are strong. He also isn't just grieving for his parents anymore," this got a few quizzical looks, "he didn't think about any innocents that might have been in that city when he hit it. He didn't think about that until after."

"There aint no innocents in a war," J said.

"There is a good possibility that there were women and children in that fort when he blasted it. The families of the garrison. He killed whole families effectively becoming them with what they did to him. This hit him as hard as if not harder then the deaths of his family," Sam said finally joining the conversation.

"And you can tell all of this how?" Kyle asked

"I'm an emo, emotions are my thing trust me I can tell," the goth replied

"Whatever, so how do we help him out of this potentially suicidal depression," Jess said

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," Chaz said once more drifting into deep thought. In the meantime Jase had fallen asleep on Vicky's shoulder. She continued to stroke his hair as she too started to cry from seeing him like this. She leaned her head against his and drifted to sleep hoping that all of this was just a dream.

When Jase woke up he still felt horrible, but he knew he was pass the worst. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he couldn't bring them back. He knew that, except for Vicky and the others, he was alone. He would fight, because he had to defend those that he cared about, and because his friends needed him. He would lead them to victory or die trying. He vowed that as long as he drew breathe he would not allow the winglies to rule over the humans and make them slaves. With that resolved in his mind the dreaded doorbell rang again. It woke everyone up some of them gathering energy in their hands to prepare for anything. 'Wow they are really on edge after what happened last night' he thought as he summoned his sword and went to answer the door. When he opened it he saw a general flanked by two lieutenants who were probably his aids.

"Greetings, I am General Victor I am here looking for the creature that brought down that fort yesterday. Our satellites tracked him to this location," the General said

"Well come on in Sir," Jase said. My name is Jason Hintly, but everyone just calls me Jase.

"Well Jase, what can you tell me about that winged warrior that destroyed that fort?" General Victor asked. At first Jase was skeptical about answering. He looked deep into the general's eyes and saw no hint of deception or anything of the like. He decided to ask the necessary questions anyway.

"What do you want him for?" asked Jase.

"Well first I want to thank him for helping us get rid of one of their outposts. They have been attacking local facilities from that location and any attempt that we made ended in failure. We were running out of options. That blast was something and I want whatever made that to be my friend. Because I sure as hell don't want him as an enemy," Said the general

"Well you just convinced him. Although I am a little wary still. Friends are not made so easily in troubled times as these. We are the Dragoons. The warriors that use the power of dragons as their arsenal," said Jase motioning to everyone else in the room.

"And which of you was it that made that explosion?" the general asked still confused.

"Maybe I was a little unclear. When I said you convinced him I was speaking of myself general. I am the Dragoon of the Red-Eyed Dragon and I hold power over the element of fire," said Jase making the other introductions. "But I wouldn't expect a blast like that again general. The only reason it occurred was because I was under extreme emotional stress and they were the ones to anger me."

"What if they anger you like that again," asked the general

"It is highly improbable that that can happen again as they would have to resurrect my family and kill them again," he said with some strain in his voice. Most writ it off, but Vicky walked up to him and took his hand to calm him some. It worked. Vicky motioned to the chair and said, "Would you like a seat."

"No that is quiet alright, thank you," said the general. "well now for the mainreason that I am here. We want you and you Dragoons to fight for us. We need all of the help that we can get."

"We will not fight for you," Jase said getting some astonished looks from his own teammates. "We will fight with you, but not for you. We won't follow your orders or anything like that. We know best how to deal with the winglies and your procedures and chain of command will only get in the way of our duties as Dragoons."

The general nodded at this. "Well we could offer you lodgings in a military facility so that if there is an offensive you will be at hand for advising. You are also a target and we would like to get you out of the general civilian area to minimize collateral damage."

"I guess that is a fair offer," Jase said looking back at his friends. They all nodded and stood.

"We are pretty much ready to go anywhere," said Kyle

"Well we don't have transport yet available to take you there, but it isn't that far," the general said

"Pfft we don need no transportation boss. We can fly any where you want us right now," J said

"Very well, I'll show you where it is," and with that one of his assistants pulled out a portfolio of maps. After telling them its location he phoned the base informing them of the arrival of the Dragoons. Then he got to witness all of the Dragoons transforming and taking flight. It was only about ten minutes from when they left Vicky's house to when they got to where they were going. The place appeared to be a well defended fortress. Mass numbers of sentries were patrolling the perimeter while anti-aircraft guns scanned the sky, along with a wide range of machine guns. The Dragoons landed in the main yard near the flagpole. Soldiers stared, but did nothing to stop them having been informed of their arrival. A colonel approached the winged warriors and directed them to the command building. Once there they returned to their normal selves they were told where their quarters were. They were also told that even though they didn't want it, they would be given field commissions as majors except for Jase who would be a colonel. They would be free of the chain of command, but if they ended up leading men into battle they would need a rank to distinguish them. They would be staying in a newly constructed barracks that was supposed to house a bunch of officers that were killed in transit. After they settled in they left to their homes to gather their clothes and personal belongings. The only person that was not looking forward to getting his things was Jase. Vicky offered to go with him, but he decided against it. He didn't want her to see him in the state that he knew that he might be in once he went inside. When he arrived at his house he stood looking at it all broken down and damaged. A single tear slid down his cheek as he walked inside. Not looking at the den he went upstairs to his room. He gathered all of his clothes in a suitcase and put his personal effects in a duffel bag. He also grabbed his brothers i-pod and saw his ring on his dresser. Jase had tried it on once and knew that it would fit. It was a silver ring. It was nothing more than a band, but engraved on the inside was 'To the best brother and son from Jase, Mom and Dad.' Jase had given his parents the idea to buy it and had chipped in for half. Despite how much anger he had for all that his brother did, Jase could never hate him. There was a part of him that was torn as he read the inscription. He fell on his brother's bed and broke down crying. After awhile he sat up and turned on the stereo just to listen to the sound of it. Paschendale by Iron Maiden came out of the speakers.

In a foreign field he lay
Lonely soldier, unknown grave
On his dying words he prays
Tell the world of Paschendale

Relive all that he's been through
Last communion of his soul
Rust your bullets with his tears
Let me tell you 'bout his years

Laying low in a blood filled trench
Kill tim 'til my very own death
On my face I can feel the falling rain
Never see my friends again

In the smoke, in the mud and lead
Smell the fear and the feeling of dread
Soon be time to go over the wall
Rapid fire and the end of us all

Whistles, shouts and more gun fire
Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire
Battlefield nothing but a bloody tomb
Be reunited with my dead friends soon

Many soldiers eighteen years
Drown in mud, no more tears
Surely a war no-one can win
Killing time about to begin

Home, far away
From the war, a chance to live again
Home, far away
But the war, no chance to live again

The bodies of ours and our foes
The sea of death it overflows
In no man's land, God only knows
Into jaws of death we go

Crucified as if on a cross
Allied troops they mourn their loss
German war propaganda machine
Such before has never been seen

Swear I heard the angels cry
Pray to god no more may die
So that people know the truth
Tell the tale of Paschendale

Cruelty has a human heart
Every man does play his part
Terror of the men we kill
The human heart is hungry still

I stand my ground for the very last time
Gun is ready as I stand in line
Nervous wait for the whistle to blow
Rush of blood and over we go

Blood is falling like the rain
Its crimson cloak unveils again
The sound of guns can't hide their shame
And so we die on Paschendale

Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire
Running straight at the cannon fire
Running blind as I hold my breath
Say a prayer symphony of death

As we charge the enemy lines
A burst of fire and we go down
I choke a cry but no-one hears
Fell the blood go down my throat

Home, far away
From the war, a chance to live again
Home, far away
But the war, no chance to live again

See my spirit on the wind
Across the lines, beyond the hill
Friend and foe will meet again
Those who died at Paschendale

(Iron Maiden 2003 Dance of Death)

After the song ends Jase gets up and with tears in his eyes puts the ring on his finger.

"Don't worry bro I'll take care of those bastards for you," Jase said out loud to the empty room. He walked out grabbing his bags on the way. He transformed and flew back to the base. He was the second one to come back. As he walked back to his barracks he saw that the men of the base were looking and whispering. He knew of what they spoke. Word had gotten around that he was the one that caused the giant explosion. He walked into the barracks he saw Sam unpacking her things at her bed. In the time it took to unpack everything the others had returned. After Vicky unpacked she walked over to where Jase lay on his bed staring absently at the ceiling.

"Hey, um do want to go for a walk. I kinda want to see the rest of this base," she asked. Jase smiled and answered, "Sure, I need to get my mind off of these thoughts."

"Thinking of your family again," she asked

"Yeah, but I'm not going to cry anymore. I swore it on my brother's ring that I wouldn't feel sad anymore," he said holding up his ringed finger. They walked a little ways before either of them spoke again. They stopped next to the mess hall which was brimming with activity. Jase turned Vicky to face him and pulled her close to him and rested his forehead against hers. He looked deep into her eyes and saw her happiness from being held by the person she loved. He tilted his head to the side and brought his lips to hers. They kissed passionately in the light from the windows of the mess hall. He broke the kissed and hugged her setting his chin on her shoulder and whispered three words, "I love you." He felt her arms squeeze a little harder before she responded, "I love you too."

They stayed like that for a few minutes whispering into each others ears their concerns. A couple of grunts came out and looked at them. They were obviously drunk or they would have remembered their cautions not to piss off the new residents of the base. They came up to them and started laughing.

"What's so funny private?" Jase said trying to frighten the soldier

"That beautiful thing in your arms hooking up with a shrimpy kid like you. That's what's funny. Girl you need a real man. Come on and I'll show you what I mean," one of the drunken soldiers said as he grabbed Vicky's arm. Before she could even let out a scream Jase had moved and knocked the soldier back breaking his grip.

"Don't touch her, or you'll be dead," Jase said to the soldiers in general but only looking at the one that had grabbed Vicky's arm. Fire raged in his eyes. He was still at the point in his emotional recovery where anything could set him off like a bomb.

"Oh the kid wants to play rough," the soldier Jase had pushed said drawing his combat knife. Jase's eyes widened at the site of the blade.

"I don't want to kill you, but I will defend us," Jase said very sincerely

"Just hand over the girl and I won't kill a punk like you," he said taking a step forward. Seeing the man advance Jase said only one word, "Fine." He summoned his sword out of thin air. He let fire roam freely over his body. He was in complete control of his powers, but they didn't. The other two backed up a couple of steps, but the one with the knife was apparently too drunk to notice the flames. He charged at Jase like an animal. He was no longer thinking straight. Jase knew this and didn't intend to kill him. Jase parried the thrust that the guy sent at him. Jase ducked down under the guy's arm and slid the sharp blade of his sword across the man's Achilles tendon. His foot immediately ceased to function. He lay on the ground screaming in pain. A bunch of people came over from the mess hall. As he dematerialized the blade he told the other soldiers to get the drunken fool to the infirmary. He walked back over to Vicky and they made their way back to the barracks to get some sleep. Jase climbed into his bed and stared at the ceiling. He looked over across the room to see Vicky already asleep. It was then that the air rade siren went off and the PA system called for him.

"Colonel Hintly please report to the command immediately. All personel secure the facility for an all out air attack." The PA announced. Jase jumped out of bed still dressed and ran out of the barracks as the others were waking up. He ran all the way to the command building where he was face to face with a grim faced colonel.

"there are about 20 of those white monstrosities flying towards us as we speak. Our guns don't do shit against them," the colonel said

"Virage…get your men to cover. They will all die if they try to face even one. They are magical creatures that require powerful magic to destroy. This is a job for the Dragoons. Put an announcement out that the other Dragoons are to meet me by the Flagpole." Jase said and walked out getting his mind ready for one hell of a fight.

Some of you out there will probably hate me for the cliffy. Sorry but I must captivate my readers. Please Review I only got one so far and I would like to thank him. Thank You FlyHigh4Life I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Bigger battle scenes ahead. No lemon yet though. It will either be in the next chapter or the one after. PEACE ALL