A/N: Hello everyone! Whew...this chapter was a lot more difficult to write than I expected and a lot longer than I thought so..well, just read And...I also think I should warn you that it might be a little violent...I think. Oh and since Artemis is a goddess, I decided to use her name as my goddess in the story...heehee hope you don't mind ArtemisMoon Ok, Goddess Artemis here is the goddess of the land and also everything that creeps, crawls, walks and flies...in short, all living things!
omochi-san: thanks you for your R&R's I really appreciate it
Ice-God : no problem on the advice...and more importantly, thanks for your reviews dear friend
Willow: throws confetti, drum rolls and blows little paper trumpet for the "amazing, wonderful Willow-chan" heehee...hope you're happy with that well. I'm really grateful for your suggestions on my dragon names, but I hope you don't mind if I use them as human names too oh and I do have to ask your permission, 'coz I'm very interested in Willow as my female dragon name...what do you say to that!
selene; ok dear! Here's the update...It took a little longer that I anticipated though, but enjoy!
Scarlet Maple: heehee sorry 'bout the cliffhanger thingy...so here's the next chapter! oh and I like your idea about the nose bleeding kenshin...hehehe if that wasn't a serious chapter I might consider rewriting it and I love your oro face
Genesis: hey! no problem if you couldn't review...and I should be thanking you for coming back instead! I really, really appreciate this...thanks again!
ArtemisMoon: hi! heehee...i hope you don't mind me using you name as a goddess in my fic... and well since I couldn't draw, I decided to go for you other advice oh and I think that is a brilliant idea! thanks again for your reviews and all your help!o
Samurai X: hahahaha...thanks for your review! maybe someday I'd write about kenshin, the manslayer...uhhhmmm maybe
Shiari: ooohhhh cute names! Thanks a lot but I hope you wouldn't mind if I use some for people and not dragons! well, "you better not pout" ...errrr no, Santa's not coming to town just yet but here's the next chapter! enjoy
KENSHIN the DRAGON HUNTER Chapter VI: Birth of The Dragon Hunter
Thairu, Driana and Kenshin returned to the castle in silence, that ominous feeling looming over them. They were greeted by Nurdof, the captain of the guards, looking apprehensive. The king and queen looked at each other, before Draina took Kenshin's hand and started to walk away.
"I am glad you're here, your majesty!" Nurdof said, kneeling before his king. "I was going to search for you myself..." This was all Kenshin could here as his mother led him further away from his father.
"How many troops are there?" King Thairu asked.
"Not too many your majesty, but they do have the Hydra, and the giant Cyclops with them!"
"Who leads this army?" Thairu asked, fearing knowledge of the answer.
"Your brother, milord, Prince Shishio!"
Thairu nodded, his face sad. "So I was right all along, it was my brother who attacked Triah! I see now how that mighty kingdom has fallen. Tell me Nurdof, we have been friends for a long time and fought countless of battles together… tell me, do we stand a chance against this enemy?"
Nurdof stood before the king and looked him in the eye. "No, Thairu, we stand no chance of winning! But nonetheless, my soldiers and I will fight to the death... while you take your family and escape."
The king smiled, honored by the loyalty of his friend, but could not agree to his plan. "Thank you Nurdof, but I will lead the men in this battle!"
Nurdof shook his head, and stood for a while before bowing low before the king. Thairu would have none of that and hugged his friend.
"Our scouts have seen Shishio on the west side...he still wears his old armor that's why he was easily recognized" Nurdof said as the king drew away.
"Then I go west..." King Thairu said.
The attack began just minutes after King Thairu and his men rode to face his brother. The few soldiers left, led by Nurdof tried to defend the castle against the two most-feared monsters that Shishio placed under his command, the Hydra and the Cyclops, who were demolishing one structure after the other. Surlow soldiers were well-trained and well-equipped but they were no match for those mythical creatures.
Nurdof is the greatest soldier in Surlow but he too had fallen. Bleeding and near-death, Nurdof heard a familiar laugh. There, standing at the top of the middle head of the Hydra was Shishio, wearing a different armor, which seemed like the...
"No!" Nurdof said with his dying breath, "It's...the...Invictus! Aaaaagghhhh!"
Shishio looked down at the lifeless Nurdof... "You fool! I gave you a chance to follow me, but you chose that stupid brother of mine! Now all of you will pay! BWHAHAHAHAHA!" Shishio said as he commanded the Hydra to drop him off the part of the castle where he saw Driana, towing her little 'brat' with her.
&#CRASH!$ ...Draina held held her son as parts of the wall fell knocking down their three guards and nearly crashing them too!
"Are you alright my love?" Driana asked, hunched over her son protectively. Kenshin looked up then nodded. "Aaaawwww That is so unfortunate. I was hoping he wouldn't be alive to bother us, but it seems I have to take care of that MYSELF! HAHAHAHAHA!" Driana looked at the one who spoke, her eyes fierce.
"Shihsio!" she hissed. "You! You can change your armor, but you can't change your voice, or your black heart!"
WHACK...! Driana fell to the floor hard as Shishio's armored hand struck her across the cheek, and the part of her clothing that Kenshin's hand was clinging on to was ripped due to the force.
Kenshin was staggered with what he saw. Never in his life had he seen his beloved mother treated like that, or anyone else in his father's kingdom for that matter!
He went to her, but he was grabbed behind by the one they call Shishio. "Let me go!" Kenshin cried as he struggled to be free.
Hearing her son's voice, Driana ignored the pain and the nausea that rocked her body and stood up to save Kenshin. But several of Shishio's men who just arrived at the scene held her firmly at both arms.
Laughing, Shishio grabbed Kenshin's hair with one hand and turned the young prince around so Kenshin, hung by his hair, faced him. "Hello there, my dear nephew!" Shishio said squeezing his hand that held Kenshin, making the boy cry out in pain.
"Leave my son alone! He's not your nephew. You gave up that right when you tried to kill Thairu, your own brother!"
One stare from Shishio and a big soldier's hand was clamped on the queen's mouth.
Shishio picked up a piece of broken glass and placed the pointed tip lightly on Kenshin's nose. Kenshin did not flinch this time, his anger at what he had seen and heard that this man had done to his family overcame his fear and confusion. His eyes turned gold, vicious and flashing!
Something about the boy's cold, hard stare made Shishio sweat. "How dare you!" he said as he slashed Kenshin across his left cheek. Blood flowed out Kenshin's face and yet the way his eyes looked did not change. This seemed to have angered Shishio more and he brought the glass back to Kenshins bloody cheek and made another wound crossing the one he just made. But this time Shishio moved the glass slowly, enjoying the way Kenshin's eyes watered and his lips formed a thin line as he tried not to cry out in pain.
"NO...!" Driana thought as she closed her tear-filled eyes. She could not bear to see her son suffering like that. "Oh great Goddess Artemis... Guardian of the land and all that lives on it... PLEASE... PLEASE save my son!" The queen prayed as her heart bled for his son.
"X marks the spot!" Shishio blurted out and laughed out loud so suddenly as he set the bleeding prince down. Everybody was stunned, but the queen seeing this as an opportunity freed her mouth long enough and shouted, "Run, Kenshin...go!"
Kenshin looked at his mother. He would not leave her here with the foes! He must set her free somehow and they should escape together. But the look his mother gave him was something different. This was what his parents have been teaching him ever since he was a child... to think of the kingdom before your self.
He understood what his mother wanted to say. If the kingdom is to survive, he, the prince should survive too! Crying as he never did before in his life, and his heart breaking, Kenshin turned and left his mother.
Some of Shishio's men were about to follow him, but Shishio stopped them. "Count to thirty, then follow him. Whoever sticks his sword in the X- mark on his face will be highly rewarded. Remember...X marks the spot! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shishio said all the time looking at the queen. "You didn't think I'd let him go just like that did you! That brat did steal the kingdom from me!"
Driana's eyes narrowed, and with all the strength she didn't think she possessed, she pulled her hands free and went for the dagger hidden between her breasts. She raised it high and lunged for Shishio.
Kenshin risked one last look back in time to see his mother about to skewer the fiend Shishio. He couldn't help but watch as the blade neared his chest. But to his surprise, and his mother's too, the hard steel blade shattered like a fragile glass as it touched Shishio's armor! After the initial shock, the queen saw Kenshin standing still from the corner of her eye and told him by a look that he should go. Still confused, Kenshin began running away...
When she saw her son move, Driana looked at Shishio. "I see you've found the cursed armor, Invictus!"
"Yes, and thankfully too, for you my dear tried to kill me! But now you know, no one can ever kill me as long as I wear this armor...not even your beloved husband!" Shishio said, his eyes darkening.
"All of you will pay for the sufferings you have caused me! Go get the little brat he ordered to five of his soldiers and they all scampered to be the first to get that reward.
Kenshin ran as fast as his little frame could go but soon, five men were behind him, cornering him. Kenshin had only one option left to go as he was surrounded, and that is through the window. It was a very high drop but considering the odds, Kenshin felt he had no choice. He was preparing himself to jump mentally, when the Cyclops destroyed a structure nearby, which caused a tremor and Kenshin lost his balance and fell out!
"Damn!" one of the soldiers said as they looked below seeing nothing but smoke and dust and the Cyclops passing by. "I think the Cyclops ate him!" another soldier said, disappointed that the reward was lost.
Their officer laughed and took out his sword. He grabbed the nearest soldier, and stabbed him.
As the man was dying and spitting out blood before him, the officer looked at the other soldiers and said, "If anyone asks, this is the kid's blood, unfortunately we cannot bring him with us 'coz he fell out the window and the Cyclops ate him, UNDERSTOOD!" Everyone else who chose to live nodded and the soldiers headed back to their master to report their 'success'…
Driana watched as the soldiers came back grinning from ear to ear. Her heart sank as they proudly told Shishio of her son's death. "NO!" Driana shouted wanting each and everyone of them to die, and wanting more than anything to die too!
Shishio grabbed Driana by the neck and brought her on the Hydra.
As the Hydra reached its full height, Shishio said to the heart- broken Driana "Join your son my dear sister-in-law" and pushed her away. The queen closed her eyes feeling the bliss of falling to her death... and joining her beloved Kenshin.
But suddenly, she felt herself lifted up. Driana opened her eyes to see... "Dargove!"
"That damn meddling dragon!" Shishio said. He took out a bow and arrow but before fitting the arrow, he dipped it in poison. "It's not enough to kill that pest but it would definitely slow him down!" he thought. Shishio aimed at Dargove and hit his mark.
"Aaaarrrgh!" Dargove roared as the arrow hit his arm, the one holding the queen. Dargove sensed the poison running through his system and he began to loosen his grip on the queen.
Driana felt the jerk and looked up to see blood flowing from the dragon's arm. "Dargove…" she whispered.
"It's alright milady" Dargove said, but his movements began to slow down. "I have to get you out of here!"
"No you don't!" Driana cried out. "Shishio's going for Thairu, and he's wearing Invictus!"
Dargove looked back and saw that Driana was right. That is the cursed armor Invictus! He looked apologetically at the queen but the queen seemed to be very deep in thought.
"My Kenshin is dead!" she said almost barely audible, but Dargove heard it and felt so saddened by the news. Driana looked him in the eye and Dargove saw that her eyes were shining, almost at peace, then, he read what she was about to do!
"No milady! Please, do not it!" Dargove pleaded, feeling weaker and weaker by the moment because of the poison.
"Thairu's life is more important than mine at the moment. Without him the people would be lost! Save him Dargove and waste no more time on me!" Driana stroked Dargove's claw then pried it open.
Dargove tried hard to hold on to her, but the poison had caused his arm to be paralyzed temporarily, and the queen looked at him and whispered, "This is not your fault Dargove…" before she once again fell. This time, to her death…
"NOOOOO!" Dargove roared as he felt a part of him dying too! And for the first time, in all the centuries that the great Dargove had lived, tears fell from his large eyes!
Kenshin, who fell and landed on the moat, swam through the bloody water. Falling and tripping over the ruins of his father's kingdom, and the dead bodies of his father's loyal soldiers, Kenshin walked on. Only one thought in his mind kept him going. His mother and father are still alive and he was going to find them.
He felt a great shadow above and saw something that awoke within him a bright ray of hope. Dargove the dragon has his mother, and is here to help them! But as he followed the dragon, the young prince stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the great beast release his mother in mid-air…
Kenshin shook his head, wanting to wake up from the nightmare he was seeing before him but he couldn't! He wanted to shut his eyes and not see anything, but he couldn't do that either! His mother's body was falling at a deathly speed and Kenshin saw her body bounce back up due to the force as she slammed to the ground.
Kenshin opened his mouth wanting to scream… wanting to die… wanting to kill! Then, he heard the dragon roaring above him and flying toward the direction that Shishio went. Kenshin suddenly felt it, the danger approaching, not for him but for his…
"FATHER!" Kenshin shouted as he followed the beast that had betrayed him and his family…
...to be continued(c",)
In the next chapter, Kenshin follows the dragon blindly...but what would he witness this time, and who could save him? Please stay tuned everyone!