^^ Energy is my friend! Except for when it deserts me utterly!
Feel happy. I got tired of spending so much time trying to remember how I was getting the plot from Point A to Point B, so I took the trouble of typing up a little game plan for myself before all memory of what was happening here got erased from my little mind. This should help speed up the updates, now that I don't have to bang my head on a wall for several days trying to remember what exactly I was going to do. So from here into Part Two (Yes, there are two parts to this thing. Guard your sanity well, for it may well decide to steal whatever was left of it. Hell, it's already taken mine ^^;) things should run a little more smoothly.
Dart's POV:
It was almost a month before we returned to Ulara. I hadn't been in any particular hurry to get back, so we'd taken a ship to Doneau and rented a horse for the trip across the intervening plains, barrens, and mountains that make up the geography of the kingdom of Tiberoa. I did let him go before we reached the Death Frontier though. The desert is home to many animals, but the horse is not one of them. This isn't to say that the trip was very enjoyable for me either; walking across the burning sands clothed in black during the heat of the day was not my idea of a pleasant trip, so we traveled only at night. After three nights of this, we finally came to the ruined tower where the teleport was situated. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east over the craggy pinnacles of rusted red stone far in the distance that marked the edges of the Death Frontier as I climbed the cracked and worn steps that led into the semi-circle of sandstone blocks that were all that remained of the ancient tower. Pausing just before I reached the teleport pad, I stared out across the barrens, waves of heat already beginning to flicker in the distance even though the sun had only half-risen over the jagged peaks.
/Pretty/ I remarked, for no real reason other than to just break the silence. Ragnarok had been rather quiet during the return trip, barring his thoughts quite firmly from my mind. I'd tried to break through once or twice, more to annoy him than out of any real curiosity, but both times he'd repelled me sharply, warning me to keep my thoughts in my head where they belonged. I almost pointed out to him that he -was- in my head technically, but I thought the better of it at the last minute.
//Mrrmmmph// Ragnarok grunted, his mind elsewhere. //Admiring the scenery doesn't accomplish very much, I've noticed. Why don't you just hop back into Ulara? Unless you'd prefer frying what little brains you have out in this oven for another day//
/Testy/ I commented. /What's got you all worked up now?/
//It's this blasted sun//
That was a new one. /I thought you couldn't feel what I do unless you wanted to/
//Only to a point. This heat gets even to me after a while//
/Oh/ I stepped onto the sand-covered pad, watching as its faint glow flickered into life. There was a slight roaring sound, the twinge of pain in the back of my mind that always seemed to accompany wingly magic, and then the world around me winked briefly out of sight. When it reappeared I was standing in the infinitely cooler atmosphere of Ulara.
Caron, the gatekeeper, stood to one side of the master portal seemingly unperturbed by my sudden appearance. "You certainly took your time getting back here," she said by way of greeting. "Charle was almost starting to lose her patience."
"Almost. Charle never seems to be quite able to step over the line into actual annoyance," I responded, giving the gatekeeper a slight smile. "Hello Caron, long time no see."
"And the same to you," she said, inclining her head slightly. "Now go see Charle before she comes looking for you and that dragon of yours."
//Better get moving, Dart// Ragnarok advised, ignoring Caron's last comment. //If we have to talk to that overdressed wingly then I'd like to get it over with as quickly as possible//
We found Charle seated contentedly beside a flowerbed filled with rather menacing looking biting mandrakes. I noticed that although Charle seemed quite happy to sit amidst the potentially dangerous mandrakes, all else in the area gave them a wide berth, keeping one eye on the swaying plants at all times. I thought her brave until a second thought slipped into my head, one I was positive was much more accurate. She wasn't necessarily brave; the plants actually seemed to be afraid of the tiny wingly woman. For a moment I could actually picture her warning the vicious plants about biting her and waving little pink bows in front of them to back up her threats.
"Dart Honey-pie!" Charle waved me over, beaming and patting the stone bench beside her. "Have a seat, sweetie."
"Ah, I think I'd rather stand," I told her, looking at the mandrakes weaving back and forth behind her meaningfully.
"What, you're afraid of my friends?" She gave a rueful sigh. "Poor children. Nobody wants to go anywhere near them unless they're asleep. But they wouldn't hurt a fly!" She said happily, turning to beam at one such plant that had been slowly creeping forward towards her, mouth partially open. As she smiled broadly at it, the mandrake actually seemed to draw back cringing from her.
//Smart plant// Ragnarok muttered.
I cleared my throat. "Thanks the same, but I think I'll stand. Caron said that you wanted to ask me about something?"
"Oh, it's nothing really. I just wanted to get a feeling as to how things stand in the world right now. Poor Blano is at his wits end trying to figure out what happened after that sweet boy Guraha popped him through the portal here." Getting to her feet and giving her long skirt a shake, she started down the walkway that led to the oddly shaped building that housed the living quarters. "He's staying in a room down near the forest right now, the poor old dear," she said fondly. "I'll send someone down to fetch him."
Garren's POV:
Ulara's one of the most peaceful places on earth at most times, but unfortunately it's also the most boring. Sure, agelessness has its pros, but sometimes I think that the cons outweigh them. The big problem with Ulara is that everything is always the same: the same shops, same people, even the same damned clothing styles. It would be a little more bearable if they'd actually let us out into the real world once in a while, but Charle imposed a decree about seven thousand years before I was born that leaving Ulara would be strictly forbidden under any but the most dire of circumstances. And to tell you the truth, after living for four hundred years in boring, constant monotony, I was plain sick of it.
The only thing that ever really happened was when Rose and the dragoons came around just over a hundred years or so ago. For maybe a month or two after they left, Ulara was stirred up into something that was almost, but not quite, excitement as the dragoons struggled to stop Charle's brother Melbu. Then, once that was over and done with, the whole town settled back into its usual sleepy calm as though nothing had ever happened. The next real stir-up hadn't come about until a few months ago when a Moon Child was born on some island out in Illisa Bay. Dart Field, the dragoon who had come to live at Ulara as Rose's replacement a couple of decades or so after the whole Moon crisis, was sent out to hunt it down. I'd seen the guy a few times before, but I'd never really had much of a chance to talk to him. Besides, it was rumored that he shared his body with the Lord of Dragons and that fact made me rather nervous. Winglies and dragons have never really been on great terms with one another, and the Divine Dragon is legendary for his powers of mass destruction. Not the most stimulating agent for a conversation, even if he was contained within a human body.
Presently, Ulara was probably the most active it had been since Rose had returned. Blano, the ancient elder of the Wingly forest to the north, had arrived though one of the portals about a month ago when his village had come under attack by the cultists who supported the Moon Child. Since then he'd been staying in the forest below the town, quietly mourning the loss of his home and the lives of his friends in solitude. Shortly afterward a dragon had appeared outside the town, staying outside for almost a week before someone finally found the courage to go outside and find out what it wanted. Apparently Dart had sent him to guard a cygnet or something. Most of the elders were somewhat skeptical, but Charle had accepted the beast's story without question and allowed him within the town. He now lived in a cavern behind one of the many waterfalls, venturing out into the desert surrounding Ulara once or twice a day to make sure that all was well.
"Pretty sad when the most interesting thing happening in your home is a couple of new house guests," I muttered to myself under my breath. I lay on my back on the side of a fountain out back of the living quarters, dangling my hand in the cool water as I stared up at the sky above. Or at least, what passed as the sky in Ulara. The town is inclosed in a sort of shimmering dome of magic that keeps the passage of time at more or less a standstill. The actual atmosphere inside Ulara, everything from the climate to what the sky looks like is artificial, changing only when necessity demands it. Today the 'sky' was a pale blue, with a few wispy looking clouds scuttling along the upper reaches of the dome. Perfect. Just how a sky should look in a place like this.
In fact, it was so perfect that it made me want to puke.
"Why couldn't it rain for a change?" I burst out suddenly.
My friend Nova, seated on the bench next to the fountain, looked up from her book. "It rained yesterday, Garren," She reminded me, an exasperated look coming to her features. She knew what was coming; we'd had this particular argument hundreds of times before.
"It always rains on Tuesdays. Why can't it rain on a Wednesday for a change?" I thought about it for a moment. "Or maybe it should snow once in a while."
"Why don't you ask Charle?" Nova said sweetly, effectively cutting off the argument. "In fact, here she comes now."
I sat up quickly. Sure enough, Charle was walking through the door between the living quarters and the courtyard, chatting happily with a sandy-haired man dressed entirely in black with a sword clasped to his belt, its naked blade glinting in the morning light. As they drew closer I recognized him to be Dart Field. Sliding off the side of the fountain and getting to my feet, I waved to Charle. " 'Lo, Charle," I called. "Nice weather we're having today." I added rather sarcastically.
If Charle had heard the sarcasm, she ignored it. "Garren sweetie! Just the boy I was looking for!" She said, beaming at me. "Would you mind fetching Blano for us? Tell him that Dart and Arkie are back."
I glanced over at Dart, who had cringed noticeably when Charle had said the name 'Arkie', but kept my mouth shut. Charle was rather infamous for concocting strange pet names for people, so I wasn't really surprised. Nodding, I strolled over to the edge of the courtyard and hopped onto the low wall. About fifty feet or so below the sea of tree tops swayed gently in the breeze, their leafs whispering quietly as they brushed against one another. I waited until the breeze subsided, then jumped off the wall and into open space. I let myself free fall for about thirty feet or so before letting my wings open, slowing gradually and coming to a complete stop a few feet above the nearest treetop. Closing my wings and dropping into the upper branches of the tree nearest to me, I climbed down the broad trunk and jumped to the ground.
I found Blano sitting near the base of one of the waterfalls, watching the brook trout swimming lazily just beneath the turbulent surface. He did not turn as I approach, but instead sighed, a wistful sound bearly audible over the thunder of the falls. "Why do you intrude upon my peace in my time of mourning, young one?" He asked. His voice had been gentle, but I caught a hint of steel in it.
"I'm sorry, Ancient One," I said, half bowing respectively, "but Charle sent me to inform you that Dart has returned. They're up in the main courtyard right now waiting for you."
The frail seeming old man sighed again and left his place beside the river. "I suppose that I should," He said, "Although I fear that the news he brings shall be unpleasant."
"Would you like some assistance?" I asked, unsure of what to do.
Blano shook his head. "That will not be necessary." He closed his eyes and his face grew momentarily serene. Then, with a flash of pale green light, he disappeared.
I stared at the place where he had stood but a moment before, then quickly re-gathered my wits. Frowning slightly and closing my eyes, I summoned up all my strength and prepared to make the jump from where I now stood to the courtyard fifty feet or more above me. Teleporting is a difficult magic to master, and even though my magic skills were considerable, it still was a hard trick for me to pull off. Holding the image of the courtyard above firmly in my mind I released my spell slowly, not wanting to mess up and land myself in the fountain like I had last time. There was a particular wrench in my gut, a sudden sensation of rapid motion, and then I opened my eyes to see where I had landed myself.
My aim wasn't too bad this time. I stood balanced precariously on the wall of the platform, my arms windmilling slightly as I fought to keep my balance. When I was sure that I wasn't about to fall, I hopped off the wall and back onto the platform, suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on me.
"Much better," Charle congratulated me. "You didn't even get wet this time."
I turned slightly red as Dart gave me an odd look, but was grateful when he didn't say anything. Instead he turned back to Blano, who had seated himself on the white stone bench near the fountain. Nova, I noticed absently, seemed to have left as soon as the others had appeared. Then, because I was bored and couldn't really think of anything better to do, I wandered over to the shade of the wall and sat down to eavesdrop.
"You said that you wanted to hear what happened back at the forest?" Dart asked Blano politely, seating himself on the lip of the fountain.
"Yes."
He scratched the back of his neck with one hand. "I'm afraid it's not good. The cultists set fire to the forest when they couldn't find you. The last I heard, Queen Salisa of Deningrad had ordered all hunters, trappers, and woodsmen in the area to pull down a fire break to try to keep it away from the towns. The sounds of their axes echo from the Mortal Dragon Mountain to the most southernmost reaches of the Evergreen Forest."
"What about my home?" Blano asked, although the look on his face spoke louder than words that he already knew what had come to pass.
"I'm sorry Blano, but the cultists pretty much destroyed all but the most permanent of structures. The only thing that I can really be sure of is still standing is the teleporting platforms, but Guraha must have destroyed the portals themselves after he got you to safety because they were in compete ruin."
"What about Meru and Guraha?" He asked, a slightly desperate sound coming into his voice. When Dart only hung his head, shaking it slightly, the Wingly Elder looked stricken. "Was it the cultists?"
Dart nodded. "A rogue Wingly named Demara. She must have attacked them while I was searching for you." He rubbed his forehead with one hand. "Demara stole Meru's dragoon spirit while she was hiding the cygnet, so there was very little they could do to fight her. It seems though, that they managed to kill her before she could kill them, even though they sacrificed themselves in the process." As he spoke, he unfastened something from his belt and held it out for the wingly elder to examine. I craned my neck, trying to get a better look at the object, but whatever it was it was small enough I couldn't see it until he opened his hand.
It was a small, brilliantly blue stone, about the same color as the water sparking in the rivers down below us. Passing the thing to Blano, he let him examine it for a moment or two before resetting it into his belt. "I found this near Demara's body."
Blano straightened slightly, although grief was still etched into his features. "She has paid the ultimate price for her betrayal then," he said solemnly. Then he sighed, and slumped back down onto the bench.
"Blano, stow the grief for a minute. We've got more important things to talk about."
I looked sharply at Dart, who had risen to his feet as he spoke. There was something different about the way that he held himself: his arms were crossed on his chest and his shoulders were squared. There was a regal bearing about him that hadn't been there before; even his voice had changed slightly.
"Ragnarok." Blano said in greeting, his voice hard. "I see that the past few weeks have hardly changed you."
"Blano, I haven't changed my ways since I was created. Why would I bother changing them now?" He turned to Charle, but I noticed that he avoided looking directly into her eyes. "Charle."
"You really didn't have to be that mean, Arkie," She chided. "There are nicer ways to say things."
More than a little confused by these proceedings, I decided that this might be a good time to withdraw. Getting to my feet and staying close to the wall, I crept back through the door and into the main building. I waited to see if anyone had noticed me, then turned to head back out to the gardens out front.
It wasn't until night that I ran into Dart again. It was about eleven o' clock or so, and the dome above our heads reflected the image of the true night sky for once. It was a clear night, with only a few wispy looking tendrils of pale cloud drifting across the star filled sky. The Moon was particularly bright, its light giving a particularly silver cast to everything it touched. I was making my way back from the tavern, something that had become something of a nightly ritual for me of late. Under normal circumstances I'd stay at the bar until about one in the morning or so and drink until I started singing or fell off the bench, but for some reason tonight I didn't feel like getting drunk.
Dart was sitting on the wall along the walkway that led from the bar to the teleporting platforms, absently examining a small gleaming object that caught the moonlight in such a way that it set it to sparkling brightly in the darkness. Seeing him sitting there I paused, unsure of whether or not I should continue on or let him be. But before I could make up my mind, he spoke.
"So you heard what happened?"
So he'd noticed that I'd sat in on his conversation. Not that I'd tried to hide. "Yeah."
"So what do you think? About all that's going on, I mean." He turned to look at me. "Garren, wasn't it?"
I nodded, then shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. Was the Forest really destroyed?"
He nodded. "I'm afraid so. The cultist dragoons set fire to the Forest just before I arrived."
"Cultist Dragoons?" That was new to me.
Dart gave me a funny look. "Just how much did Charle tell you about what happened?"
"Next to nothing. How did the cultists manage to get their hands on the spirits? Charle said that you were supposed to be guarding them."
"That's true, but I think the story you were told might have gotten a little garbled somewhere along the line." He looked back down at the crystalline object he held in one hand. "I guard what spirits I have. Part of what I'm doing right now is recovering them from the cult."
"But how'd they get them in the first place?" I wanted to know.
He laughed. "You sure you're up to a long story? Telling you everything could take a while."
Plunking myself down on the wall next to him, I grinned. "Try me." Despite my former apprehension about the fact that the Divine Dragon lurked somewhere within his mind, I found that I couldn't help but begin to like the man.
Dart shrugged. "Okay, but just remember: you asked for it." Tilting his head back slightly to look up at the moon, he started. At first I asked questions, but I eventually stopped as his story slowly began to drag me in. There was something strangly compelling about the way he spoke, as though there was always something more to what he meant than what he actually said.
When he finally finished, the hour was late. I sat quietly on the wall, digesting what I'd just heard as Dart got to his feet and stretched, slipping the dragoon spirit he'd been fingering through the duration of the story back into its place on his belt. Picking his sword up from where it had lain on the stones beside him, he clipped it back on. "I think it's time I hit the sack," he yawned. "Ark hates having to deal with me when I'm grumpy." Pulling his tattered coat closer about him, he started off in the direction of the living quarters.
"Hey! You going to be around for a while?" I called after him.
He paused then turned back around. "I guess so. I'd like to go after the cult, but I don't think I'd be able to accomplish a whole lot right now. The whole incident in the Forest is likely to be blamed on me, and not being able transform without causing a general uproar would make wiping them out more than a little difficult."
"You can tell me about all that stuff that happened while you and your friends were chasing Lloyd and fighting the Virage Embryo, then?"
"You really like stories that much?"
I grinned. "After listening to the same tired old tales for the past three hundred years or so, yeah. Besides, none of them were as interesting as this."
Now it was Dart's turn to grin. "I guess so, then. Goodnight."
I waited until the sound of his footsteps had faded, then turned my attention back to the stars above. I'm not quite sure how long I sat there thinking, but by the time I finally gave up and went back to my room the horizon had begun to pale with false dawn. I'm not usually a deep thinker, but Dart's tale had given me something to consider. Ulara was caught up rather intimately in the struggle between the Black Monster and the Moon Child, but it seemed to me that we were doing very little compared to what we could do. I'm not sure when it was, but at some point I made the decision to change that, even if it meant breaking the decree and leaving Ulara.
For those of you who asked for another new character, there you go. I've had Garren swimming around in my head for quite a while, and now I finally found an opening for him in the story. I would have put him in regardless, but the requests and suggestions were rather encouraging, no?
Feel happy. I got tired of spending so much time trying to remember how I was getting the plot from Point A to Point B, so I took the trouble of typing up a little game plan for myself before all memory of what was happening here got erased from my little mind. This should help speed up the updates, now that I don't have to bang my head on a wall for several days trying to remember what exactly I was going to do. So from here into Part Two (Yes, there are two parts to this thing. Guard your sanity well, for it may well decide to steal whatever was left of it. Hell, it's already taken mine ^^;) things should run a little more smoothly.
Dart's POV:
It was almost a month before we returned to Ulara. I hadn't been in any particular hurry to get back, so we'd taken a ship to Doneau and rented a horse for the trip across the intervening plains, barrens, and mountains that make up the geography of the kingdom of Tiberoa. I did let him go before we reached the Death Frontier though. The desert is home to many animals, but the horse is not one of them. This isn't to say that the trip was very enjoyable for me either; walking across the burning sands clothed in black during the heat of the day was not my idea of a pleasant trip, so we traveled only at night. After three nights of this, we finally came to the ruined tower where the teleport was situated. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east over the craggy pinnacles of rusted red stone far in the distance that marked the edges of the Death Frontier as I climbed the cracked and worn steps that led into the semi-circle of sandstone blocks that were all that remained of the ancient tower. Pausing just before I reached the teleport pad, I stared out across the barrens, waves of heat already beginning to flicker in the distance even though the sun had only half-risen over the jagged peaks.
/Pretty/ I remarked, for no real reason other than to just break the silence. Ragnarok had been rather quiet during the return trip, barring his thoughts quite firmly from my mind. I'd tried to break through once or twice, more to annoy him than out of any real curiosity, but both times he'd repelled me sharply, warning me to keep my thoughts in my head where they belonged. I almost pointed out to him that he -was- in my head technically, but I thought the better of it at the last minute.
//Mrrmmmph// Ragnarok grunted, his mind elsewhere. //Admiring the scenery doesn't accomplish very much, I've noticed. Why don't you just hop back into Ulara? Unless you'd prefer frying what little brains you have out in this oven for another day//
/Testy/ I commented. /What's got you all worked up now?/
//It's this blasted sun//
That was a new one. /I thought you couldn't feel what I do unless you wanted to/
//Only to a point. This heat gets even to me after a while//
/Oh/ I stepped onto the sand-covered pad, watching as its faint glow flickered into life. There was a slight roaring sound, the twinge of pain in the back of my mind that always seemed to accompany wingly magic, and then the world around me winked briefly out of sight. When it reappeared I was standing in the infinitely cooler atmosphere of Ulara.
Caron, the gatekeeper, stood to one side of the master portal seemingly unperturbed by my sudden appearance. "You certainly took your time getting back here," she said by way of greeting. "Charle was almost starting to lose her patience."
"Almost. Charle never seems to be quite able to step over the line into actual annoyance," I responded, giving the gatekeeper a slight smile. "Hello Caron, long time no see."
"And the same to you," she said, inclining her head slightly. "Now go see Charle before she comes looking for you and that dragon of yours."
//Better get moving, Dart// Ragnarok advised, ignoring Caron's last comment. //If we have to talk to that overdressed wingly then I'd like to get it over with as quickly as possible//
We found Charle seated contentedly beside a flowerbed filled with rather menacing looking biting mandrakes. I noticed that although Charle seemed quite happy to sit amidst the potentially dangerous mandrakes, all else in the area gave them a wide berth, keeping one eye on the swaying plants at all times. I thought her brave until a second thought slipped into my head, one I was positive was much more accurate. She wasn't necessarily brave; the plants actually seemed to be afraid of the tiny wingly woman. For a moment I could actually picture her warning the vicious plants about biting her and waving little pink bows in front of them to back up her threats.
"Dart Honey-pie!" Charle waved me over, beaming and patting the stone bench beside her. "Have a seat, sweetie."
"Ah, I think I'd rather stand," I told her, looking at the mandrakes weaving back and forth behind her meaningfully.
"What, you're afraid of my friends?" She gave a rueful sigh. "Poor children. Nobody wants to go anywhere near them unless they're asleep. But they wouldn't hurt a fly!" She said happily, turning to beam at one such plant that had been slowly creeping forward towards her, mouth partially open. As she smiled broadly at it, the mandrake actually seemed to draw back cringing from her.
//Smart plant// Ragnarok muttered.
I cleared my throat. "Thanks the same, but I think I'll stand. Caron said that you wanted to ask me about something?"
"Oh, it's nothing really. I just wanted to get a feeling as to how things stand in the world right now. Poor Blano is at his wits end trying to figure out what happened after that sweet boy Guraha popped him through the portal here." Getting to her feet and giving her long skirt a shake, she started down the walkway that led to the oddly shaped building that housed the living quarters. "He's staying in a room down near the forest right now, the poor old dear," she said fondly. "I'll send someone down to fetch him."
Garren's POV:
Ulara's one of the most peaceful places on earth at most times, but unfortunately it's also the most boring. Sure, agelessness has its pros, but sometimes I think that the cons outweigh them. The big problem with Ulara is that everything is always the same: the same shops, same people, even the same damned clothing styles. It would be a little more bearable if they'd actually let us out into the real world once in a while, but Charle imposed a decree about seven thousand years before I was born that leaving Ulara would be strictly forbidden under any but the most dire of circumstances. And to tell you the truth, after living for four hundred years in boring, constant monotony, I was plain sick of it.
The only thing that ever really happened was when Rose and the dragoons came around just over a hundred years or so ago. For maybe a month or two after they left, Ulara was stirred up into something that was almost, but not quite, excitement as the dragoons struggled to stop Charle's brother Melbu. Then, once that was over and done with, the whole town settled back into its usual sleepy calm as though nothing had ever happened. The next real stir-up hadn't come about until a few months ago when a Moon Child was born on some island out in Illisa Bay. Dart Field, the dragoon who had come to live at Ulara as Rose's replacement a couple of decades or so after the whole Moon crisis, was sent out to hunt it down. I'd seen the guy a few times before, but I'd never really had much of a chance to talk to him. Besides, it was rumored that he shared his body with the Lord of Dragons and that fact made me rather nervous. Winglies and dragons have never really been on great terms with one another, and the Divine Dragon is legendary for his powers of mass destruction. Not the most stimulating agent for a conversation, even if he was contained within a human body.
Presently, Ulara was probably the most active it had been since Rose had returned. Blano, the ancient elder of the Wingly forest to the north, had arrived though one of the portals about a month ago when his village had come under attack by the cultists who supported the Moon Child. Since then he'd been staying in the forest below the town, quietly mourning the loss of his home and the lives of his friends in solitude. Shortly afterward a dragon had appeared outside the town, staying outside for almost a week before someone finally found the courage to go outside and find out what it wanted. Apparently Dart had sent him to guard a cygnet or something. Most of the elders were somewhat skeptical, but Charle had accepted the beast's story without question and allowed him within the town. He now lived in a cavern behind one of the many waterfalls, venturing out into the desert surrounding Ulara once or twice a day to make sure that all was well.
"Pretty sad when the most interesting thing happening in your home is a couple of new house guests," I muttered to myself under my breath. I lay on my back on the side of a fountain out back of the living quarters, dangling my hand in the cool water as I stared up at the sky above. Or at least, what passed as the sky in Ulara. The town is inclosed in a sort of shimmering dome of magic that keeps the passage of time at more or less a standstill. The actual atmosphere inside Ulara, everything from the climate to what the sky looks like is artificial, changing only when necessity demands it. Today the 'sky' was a pale blue, with a few wispy looking clouds scuttling along the upper reaches of the dome. Perfect. Just how a sky should look in a place like this.
In fact, it was so perfect that it made me want to puke.
"Why couldn't it rain for a change?" I burst out suddenly.
My friend Nova, seated on the bench next to the fountain, looked up from her book. "It rained yesterday, Garren," She reminded me, an exasperated look coming to her features. She knew what was coming; we'd had this particular argument hundreds of times before.
"It always rains on Tuesdays. Why can't it rain on a Wednesday for a change?" I thought about it for a moment. "Or maybe it should snow once in a while."
"Why don't you ask Charle?" Nova said sweetly, effectively cutting off the argument. "In fact, here she comes now."
I sat up quickly. Sure enough, Charle was walking through the door between the living quarters and the courtyard, chatting happily with a sandy-haired man dressed entirely in black with a sword clasped to his belt, its naked blade glinting in the morning light. As they drew closer I recognized him to be Dart Field. Sliding off the side of the fountain and getting to my feet, I waved to Charle. " 'Lo, Charle," I called. "Nice weather we're having today." I added rather sarcastically.
If Charle had heard the sarcasm, she ignored it. "Garren sweetie! Just the boy I was looking for!" She said, beaming at me. "Would you mind fetching Blano for us? Tell him that Dart and Arkie are back."
I glanced over at Dart, who had cringed noticeably when Charle had said the name 'Arkie', but kept my mouth shut. Charle was rather infamous for concocting strange pet names for people, so I wasn't really surprised. Nodding, I strolled over to the edge of the courtyard and hopped onto the low wall. About fifty feet or so below the sea of tree tops swayed gently in the breeze, their leafs whispering quietly as they brushed against one another. I waited until the breeze subsided, then jumped off the wall and into open space. I let myself free fall for about thirty feet or so before letting my wings open, slowing gradually and coming to a complete stop a few feet above the nearest treetop. Closing my wings and dropping into the upper branches of the tree nearest to me, I climbed down the broad trunk and jumped to the ground.
I found Blano sitting near the base of one of the waterfalls, watching the brook trout swimming lazily just beneath the turbulent surface. He did not turn as I approach, but instead sighed, a wistful sound bearly audible over the thunder of the falls. "Why do you intrude upon my peace in my time of mourning, young one?" He asked. His voice had been gentle, but I caught a hint of steel in it.
"I'm sorry, Ancient One," I said, half bowing respectively, "but Charle sent me to inform you that Dart has returned. They're up in the main courtyard right now waiting for you."
The frail seeming old man sighed again and left his place beside the river. "I suppose that I should," He said, "Although I fear that the news he brings shall be unpleasant."
"Would you like some assistance?" I asked, unsure of what to do.
Blano shook his head. "That will not be necessary." He closed his eyes and his face grew momentarily serene. Then, with a flash of pale green light, he disappeared.
I stared at the place where he had stood but a moment before, then quickly re-gathered my wits. Frowning slightly and closing my eyes, I summoned up all my strength and prepared to make the jump from where I now stood to the courtyard fifty feet or more above me. Teleporting is a difficult magic to master, and even though my magic skills were considerable, it still was a hard trick for me to pull off. Holding the image of the courtyard above firmly in my mind I released my spell slowly, not wanting to mess up and land myself in the fountain like I had last time. There was a particular wrench in my gut, a sudden sensation of rapid motion, and then I opened my eyes to see where I had landed myself.
My aim wasn't too bad this time. I stood balanced precariously on the wall of the platform, my arms windmilling slightly as I fought to keep my balance. When I was sure that I wasn't about to fall, I hopped off the wall and back onto the platform, suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on me.
"Much better," Charle congratulated me. "You didn't even get wet this time."
I turned slightly red as Dart gave me an odd look, but was grateful when he didn't say anything. Instead he turned back to Blano, who had seated himself on the white stone bench near the fountain. Nova, I noticed absently, seemed to have left as soon as the others had appeared. Then, because I was bored and couldn't really think of anything better to do, I wandered over to the shade of the wall and sat down to eavesdrop.
"You said that you wanted to hear what happened back at the forest?" Dart asked Blano politely, seating himself on the lip of the fountain.
"Yes."
He scratched the back of his neck with one hand. "I'm afraid it's not good. The cultists set fire to the forest when they couldn't find you. The last I heard, Queen Salisa of Deningrad had ordered all hunters, trappers, and woodsmen in the area to pull down a fire break to try to keep it away from the towns. The sounds of their axes echo from the Mortal Dragon Mountain to the most southernmost reaches of the Evergreen Forest."
"What about my home?" Blano asked, although the look on his face spoke louder than words that he already knew what had come to pass.
"I'm sorry Blano, but the cultists pretty much destroyed all but the most permanent of structures. The only thing that I can really be sure of is still standing is the teleporting platforms, but Guraha must have destroyed the portals themselves after he got you to safety because they were in compete ruin."
"What about Meru and Guraha?" He asked, a slightly desperate sound coming into his voice. When Dart only hung his head, shaking it slightly, the Wingly Elder looked stricken. "Was it the cultists?"
Dart nodded. "A rogue Wingly named Demara. She must have attacked them while I was searching for you." He rubbed his forehead with one hand. "Demara stole Meru's dragoon spirit while she was hiding the cygnet, so there was very little they could do to fight her. It seems though, that they managed to kill her before she could kill them, even though they sacrificed themselves in the process." As he spoke, he unfastened something from his belt and held it out for the wingly elder to examine. I craned my neck, trying to get a better look at the object, but whatever it was it was small enough I couldn't see it until he opened his hand.
It was a small, brilliantly blue stone, about the same color as the water sparking in the rivers down below us. Passing the thing to Blano, he let him examine it for a moment or two before resetting it into his belt. "I found this near Demara's body."
Blano straightened slightly, although grief was still etched into his features. "She has paid the ultimate price for her betrayal then," he said solemnly. Then he sighed, and slumped back down onto the bench.
"Blano, stow the grief for a minute. We've got more important things to talk about."
I looked sharply at Dart, who had risen to his feet as he spoke. There was something different about the way that he held himself: his arms were crossed on his chest and his shoulders were squared. There was a regal bearing about him that hadn't been there before; even his voice had changed slightly.
"Ragnarok." Blano said in greeting, his voice hard. "I see that the past few weeks have hardly changed you."
"Blano, I haven't changed my ways since I was created. Why would I bother changing them now?" He turned to Charle, but I noticed that he avoided looking directly into her eyes. "Charle."
"You really didn't have to be that mean, Arkie," She chided. "There are nicer ways to say things."
More than a little confused by these proceedings, I decided that this might be a good time to withdraw. Getting to my feet and staying close to the wall, I crept back through the door and into the main building. I waited to see if anyone had noticed me, then turned to head back out to the gardens out front.
It wasn't until night that I ran into Dart again. It was about eleven o' clock or so, and the dome above our heads reflected the image of the true night sky for once. It was a clear night, with only a few wispy looking tendrils of pale cloud drifting across the star filled sky. The Moon was particularly bright, its light giving a particularly silver cast to everything it touched. I was making my way back from the tavern, something that had become something of a nightly ritual for me of late. Under normal circumstances I'd stay at the bar until about one in the morning or so and drink until I started singing or fell off the bench, but for some reason tonight I didn't feel like getting drunk.
Dart was sitting on the wall along the walkway that led from the bar to the teleporting platforms, absently examining a small gleaming object that caught the moonlight in such a way that it set it to sparkling brightly in the darkness. Seeing him sitting there I paused, unsure of whether or not I should continue on or let him be. But before I could make up my mind, he spoke.
"So you heard what happened?"
So he'd noticed that I'd sat in on his conversation. Not that I'd tried to hide. "Yeah."
"So what do you think? About all that's going on, I mean." He turned to look at me. "Garren, wasn't it?"
I nodded, then shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. Was the Forest really destroyed?"
He nodded. "I'm afraid so. The cultist dragoons set fire to the Forest just before I arrived."
"Cultist Dragoons?" That was new to me.
Dart gave me a funny look. "Just how much did Charle tell you about what happened?"
"Next to nothing. How did the cultists manage to get their hands on the spirits? Charle said that you were supposed to be guarding them."
"That's true, but I think the story you were told might have gotten a little garbled somewhere along the line." He looked back down at the crystalline object he held in one hand. "I guard what spirits I have. Part of what I'm doing right now is recovering them from the cult."
"But how'd they get them in the first place?" I wanted to know.
He laughed. "You sure you're up to a long story? Telling you everything could take a while."
Plunking myself down on the wall next to him, I grinned. "Try me." Despite my former apprehension about the fact that the Divine Dragon lurked somewhere within his mind, I found that I couldn't help but begin to like the man.
Dart shrugged. "Okay, but just remember: you asked for it." Tilting his head back slightly to look up at the moon, he started. At first I asked questions, but I eventually stopped as his story slowly began to drag me in. There was something strangly compelling about the way he spoke, as though there was always something more to what he meant than what he actually said.
When he finally finished, the hour was late. I sat quietly on the wall, digesting what I'd just heard as Dart got to his feet and stretched, slipping the dragoon spirit he'd been fingering through the duration of the story back into its place on his belt. Picking his sword up from where it had lain on the stones beside him, he clipped it back on. "I think it's time I hit the sack," he yawned. "Ark hates having to deal with me when I'm grumpy." Pulling his tattered coat closer about him, he started off in the direction of the living quarters.
"Hey! You going to be around for a while?" I called after him.
He paused then turned back around. "I guess so. I'd like to go after the cult, but I don't think I'd be able to accomplish a whole lot right now. The whole incident in the Forest is likely to be blamed on me, and not being able transform without causing a general uproar would make wiping them out more than a little difficult."
"You can tell me about all that stuff that happened while you and your friends were chasing Lloyd and fighting the Virage Embryo, then?"
"You really like stories that much?"
I grinned. "After listening to the same tired old tales for the past three hundred years or so, yeah. Besides, none of them were as interesting as this."
Now it was Dart's turn to grin. "I guess so, then. Goodnight."
I waited until the sound of his footsteps had faded, then turned my attention back to the stars above. I'm not quite sure how long I sat there thinking, but by the time I finally gave up and went back to my room the horizon had begun to pale with false dawn. I'm not usually a deep thinker, but Dart's tale had given me something to consider. Ulara was caught up rather intimately in the struggle between the Black Monster and the Moon Child, but it seemed to me that we were doing very little compared to what we could do. I'm not sure when it was, but at some point I made the decision to change that, even if it meant breaking the decree and leaving Ulara.
For those of you who asked for another new character, there you go. I've had Garren swimming around in my head for quite a while, and now I finally found an opening for him in the story. I would have put him in regardless, but the requests and suggestions were rather encouraging, no?