This is it. Here it comes. Now I'm going to sick my toes into the vast pool that are…

ACTION SCENES!

Albeit a small one. There isn't much real fighting going on. Well, there's fighting in the intro bit…

Anyway, Disclaimer: As my plans for world domination have not yet succeeded, I still do not own Baten Kaitos. Dang.

Chapter IV: Spirit's Magic

The blue haired man slashed at another one of the winged monsters with his curved knife. It screeched, a sound both grating and unnatural. He tackled it, landing on top of it as it fell. He jumped up and slashed at its throat swiftly and with deadly accuracy. It made a sickening gurgling sound before it laid still, blood dripping from the cut at its throat. The blue haired man looked around, many more of the monsters filled the large hall, and attacking anyone and everyone they came across. Far off he saw king Ladekahn fighting a pair of the bird monsters, long sword flashing as he struck at them. He even saw queen Corellia throwing spells at another pair even further off. Where the hell did these things come from? He thought, They look like the monsters from Cor Hydrae.

Another one of the bird monsteres descended on him, its single eye glowing with malice. It swung its long handled axeat him, faster than he expected it to be. He ducked quickly, the axe blade barely missing the back of his head. If only I had the foresight to bring my sword! Or just any Magnus! He thought angrily as he slashed at one of the clawed hands holding the axe. The bird-creature shrieked in pain and kicked viciously at him, sending him sprawling almost the length of the hall. He fell hard, completely winded. He felt like maybe a rib or two had been broken. Around him he heard the shouts of people as they fought, in turn, the monsters screeched their grating battle cries. How the hell did these things get here? The blue haired man thought for the hundredth time as he picked himself up. They had just seemed to come out of nowhere and started attacking and doing as they pleased. And they did look so much like the bird monsters from Cor Hydrae…

His thoughts were interrupted as one of the bird monsters landed nearby, its gray wings beating hard. It swung down at him with its long handled axe, a blow that could easily cleave him in two. He jumped aside and the axe blade buried itself several inches into the ice that made up the floor. The blue haired man seized his opportunity as the monster tried to pry its weapon from the floor. He grabbed the back of its head in his right hand and slashed at its neck with the knife in his left. It fell over, twitched a bit, and then laid still. He heard a woman scream and he looked up, searching for the source of the noise. His heart jumped to his throat when he saw one of the bird monsters carrying a woman. She wore a bright pink jumpsuit that stood out starkly against the bird monster's gray feathers. Her blonde hair was messy from the fighting, and flew everywhere as she kicked and screamed at this thing, demanding that it put her down.

"XELHA!" shouted the blue haired man. He tried to run over to her and her captor, blind to the fighting around him. Suddenly an axe head buried itself in front of him and he grinded to a halt. He looked up the length of the axe shaft and saw another one of the bird monsters blocking his way. Before he could react it kicked at him and he was thrown again several feet, landing hard on the side with the broken rib. He cried out in pain, curling up in instinct. He looked up and saw the bird monster drawing closer. It was then that he realized that he had dropped his knife, and he even saw it lying several feet away. As the bird creature raised its axe, the blue haired man was suddenly paralyzed with fear, expecting at any time to feel that great weapon bite into his flesh…

Allyr was worried about Kalas. It was the next morning and he still had not come down off the roof. She knew that he was just being stubborn about this, but something told her it was a little more than that. Something was really bothering him, and she did not know what. But even knowing that would not help her make up with Kalas. She knew that eventually she could probably force him to come down, but that would probably only make the situation worse. She wanted to say something, anything, but what? An apology was first and foremost in her mind. Thought she had no idea how to word it, or when to say it. She figured that all she could do now was wait for Kalas to get close enough to actually talk to the guy. Allyr wondered exactly what had happened for the umpteenth time since last night. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad to be affecting Kalas like this. Judging from his rant the pervious night, Allyr guessed that this was something big. Like, his-world's-gonna-be-blown-to-dust kind of bad. How do you comfort a guy in that kind of scenario? And what had he meant when he said that he did not what to come here in the first place? Was he forced here? How the hell could a spirit be forced to do anything, particularly if it did not want to do it?

As Allyr got dressed that morning, she tried to think of something to say. "I'm sorry about last night," is the classic. Then, "I shouldn't have pushed it," was good too. She had the feeling though, that as soon as she got the opportunity, she would have no idea what to say. The rest of the morning was pretty normal; Allyr went through her daily rituals just as she would any other day. Except she spent every waking minute thinking about what she would say to Kalas if and when she got the chance. Finally she was walking out to her car, with backpack and car key. She could feel Kalas following her, just a presence like the feeling of being watched, though not unpleasant. When she got into the car, she felt Kalas really close by her. As she started up the engine, she tried to think of one of the thousand things she wanted to say to him. And just as she had predicted, none of them came to her. The pair stayed silent for several long minutes, until Allyr got into some heavy traffic on the way to school.

"I'm sorry about last night," said Kalas suddenly, "I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."

"No, it's my fault," said Allyr feeling embarrassed, "I shouldn't have asked you. I knew it was a sensitive topic, and you kept asking me to knock it off and I didn't listen. I'm sorry."

They were silent for a long time. "It's not your fault," said Kalas quickly, "That still doesn't give me the right to yell at you."

"No, it is my fault," said Allyr, "I shouldn't have gone and prodded you." They were silent for a long while, "Does forgive and forget sound good to you?" said Allyr.

"Fine with me," said Kalas. They said nothing else to each other for the remainder of the trip.

School for Allyr was again a routine affair, and held infinite wonder for Kalas. They said nothing to each other the entire day. Kalas did not ask Allyr to explain anything, and instead contemplated it on his own. Allyr in turn, did not say anything to Kalas, keeping the silence. At the end of the school day, the pair had started heading off to Allyr's car. They had not said a word to each other since the drive over, and neither made any attempt to break it, or wished to break it. "ALLYR!" shouted a female voice behind Allyr. She turned to see Vivian running up to her, blonde hair all over the place, looking like she might not have slept at all the pervious night. "Hi Allyr," said Vivian, "How's life been?"

"Um, Vivi," said Allyr, looking concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Fine!" said Vivian, "I'm better now. I'm not hearing voices now! I'm sorry about yesterday," she hung her head, "I've learned to never drink soda with caffeine in it ever again."

"Um… what does soda have to do with this?" asked Allyr, looking worried for her friend, "Are you…?"

"Fine!" said Vivian, her voice rising half an octave, "I'm perfectly alright!" she gave Allyr a smile that frightened her on many levels.

"Vivi," said Allyr, after giving Kalas a warning glance that clearly said, Say anything and I'll give you hell, "Take a deep breath for me, please?" Vivian complied, "You can breath out damn it!" said Allyr alarmed when her friend started turning blue. "Calm now?" asked Allyr, knowing that her friend could never really be calm, but decided to ask all the same. Vivian nodded, "Okay," said Allyr, "Come with me, I'll take you home."

Five minutes later, Allyr was driving her mother's green car, down one of the city streets. (I've gotta get my own car soon, thought Allyr.) A stressed looking Vivian sat in the passenger seat, and Kalas floated by Allyr's shoulder, wanting to look out the window at the city, and be as far away from Vivian as he could get without leaving the car. He looked out the window, at the buildings, people and carsas they rushed by in a blur of color.

Allyr was turning driving down a street with a group of nondescript stores when Kalas saw something odd, and it bothered him, though exactly why it did he was not sure. In a gap between a grocery store and a beat down little restaurant, stood a little girl. Her skin was unnaturally white, lacking all pigment entirely. She wore only a simply white dress, which left her bare feet exposed. Her hair was as white as the dress, falling loose in the back, with to braids, beaded with black beads, framing her face. Her eyes where what startled him the most, they were completely black, like pits that seemed to lead only to darkness. Though she had no clear irises or pupils, Kalas could have sworn that this girl was looking right at him. Not through him to look at the driver and passenger of the car, but at him. People walked right past this girl, but took no notice, as if they could not see her. In the few seconds that Kalas could see her, she seemed to follow him with her dark gaze. Until Allyr went too far, and he could no longer see the little girl with the black eyes.

He kept looking back, feeling unnerved. She seemed familiar but he could not place it. Then recognition sank in like a heavy physical blow. This only confused him, how could she exist? Unless he was going mad. Or, he had not been hallucinating when he had seen her last. But he must have been hallucinating before; there just was no other explanation. Except he had seen her just now, and he felt sane enough. There was no mistaking her though, not with those eyes that were like pits leading to oblivion. But how could she have been there before, and how could she have been there just now? If she was real, what did this mean? How could she have gotten here anyway? Who or what exactly was she? Was she following him? Why would she want to do that?

Allyr felt Kalas's mix of discomfort, confusion, and something vaguely like fear. She glanced in his direction but said nothing. Allyr was worried about him again. Did he see something that bothered him? She could not think of anything that could really affect him this way. Not immediately anyway.

Allyr gave a groan when she saw the upcoming traffic jam. Vivian said nothing, and just sat in her seat completely silent. As Allyr pulled up behind the nearest car, she started hearing the screaming. "What the…?" said Vivian, sitting up straighter, trying to see past the humongous SUV ahead of them. Then people started running past the car, waving their arms in the air and screaming something that no one could make out. Allyr, with the curiosity of the cat that was killed, quickly got out of the car to look past he SUV and see what the hell was going on. When she saw what it was, she started yelling to.

"Oh my god!" she shouted, "This can't be happening!" Vivian got out and Kalas floated up to Allyr to see what was the matter. What met them scared Vivian and confused Kalas. Ahead of them by many cars was a Sabre Dragon, a creature native to Kalas's world. It was easily twenty feet high and as long as Allyr's whole house. Its skin was the color and texture of damp old moss. It walked on all fours, the back two feet taloned like bird claws, the front two feet had only one toe, elongated and curled. Growths shaped like mushrooms grew from the beast's back. Whenever it moved the growths would wiggle like jell-o, and thick clouds of green spores puffed out from the growths. Its triangular head was tall, beyond anything that could be considered aesthetically pleasing, with short curled horns and a nose that was also curled. Bulging yellow eyes looked about in search of prey. Burning saliva, like liquid fire dripped from between a gaping mouth filled with bronze colored teeth.

It roared, a sound like a cross between the angry cry of a bear and the great roar of a lion. Spittle flew from its mouth, leaving burning holes wherever it landedbe itflesh or metal. The curled toes on its front feet lashed out like whips, striking machine, building and people alike. Everyone was running away from the great beast, screaming, as none had seen anything like it before, or knew such a creature walked the earth. "W…what the hell is it?" asked Vivian looking like she wanted to run away with the panicked crowd.

"We should get out of here," said Allyr, turning to run with the mad group. Then the Sabre dragon turned its great head and looked at her. With a roar it bounded forward, people and cars being crushed and scattered in its wake like bowling pins. "We should get out of here, NOW!" shouted Allyr, before turning around and bolting. Allyr briefly had the image in her head of her runningheroically towards the dragon yelling a battle cry, preparing to fight it. But then, she was unarmed, it had whip-like toes and teeth. It also happened to be several times taller and heavier than she was. If it wanted to kill her, it could do so simply by stepping on her. Before Allyr ran twenty feet, the dragon bounded over her head, an impressive feat for a beast so big. It landed right in front of Allyr, cutting her off from her escape route. Allyr and Vivian, following close behind stopped in their tracks, as did several others who had been fleeing the giant monster. It roared again, the sound so loud that everyone had to cover their ears.

The beast was suddenly distracted by the sounds of sirens right behind it. It turned its head to see a group of black-and-white cars speeding up to it. It turned around and faced the oncoming vehicles, its eyes lighting up with the thought of more prey. The terrified police officers did one of three things: they turned around and drove off in the opposite direction, sat in the car paralyzed until it collided with a building, the dragon, or another car, or they got out and started firing on the dragon. It gave an angryroar as the bullets buried themselves into its flesh, the sounds of the handguns drowned out by its roar. "They got it!" shouted Vivian.

The dragon roared at the policemen, flaming froth forming at its mouth. It reared up onto its taloned hind legs, before crashing down, the ground shaking as if in the throws of an earthquake. The dragon spat out a great fireball, obliterating anything in its path, and burning anything, be it metal, asphalt or flesh, that was too close. There were screams of fear as the fireball made its blazing path, disturbed by nothing. The fireball left a burning trail of destruction, like the tail of a comet, the asphalt and metal still slightly boiling from the heat left over. The air was filled with the smell of hot asphalt, melting metal and burnt flesh. Bodies of the dead were either reduced to ash, or lay strewn with the injured near the burning trail. The dragon turned around and fixed its yellow gaze on Allyr. Without a word to each other, Vivian and Allyr, and several others bolted off, trying to get away from the monstrosity.

The whole time, Kalas was constantly in a state of panic. When they had been bound before, Allyr had often complained about not being able to actually do anything. Because she had been a spirit, she could neither fight nor offer support that was anything more than just words. Now he realized just how bad it felt to want to do something but not have the power to do anything to change it. He remembered the Spirit Spells he and Allyr could use before, but he was unsure about those. He did not want to take Allyr by surprise, and have the spell go off somewhere they did not want it to go. Casting the spells held risks in themselves. When they were bound before, to cast a Spirit Spell, Allyr would draw up her own power, and then place it in Kalas, and he would them cast the spell. Neither could determine which one of the six it would be, but Kalas could control where it was cast, and Allyr could determine how powerful the spell would be. But even that held possible complications. If Allyr did not give Kalas enough power, the spell would be too weak. If Allyr gave him too much, which had happened five times before, it hurt Kalas physically. His body could not endure the strain, and such a spell would leave him badly injured for days after. Kalas could block the spell before it was cast if he felt that it would endanger him, or did not trust Allyr's judgment, but he did not always guess right about the strength of the spell.

Now that Kalas was the Guardian, he did not want to trigger a spell incase it harmed Allyr, as he did not know exactly how much power to give her. Even if he tried, if Allyr did not trust him enough, the spell would fail before it even started. Even if it did work, there was no guarantee it would kill the dragon, either by missing the dragon, or being too weak a spell to kill it. Either way, if she cast it, chances were high that the strain would at least leave her fatigued for days after, simply because she had never cast one herself before. If the spell drained her, she could not run away and would be easy prey for the dragon. If Allyr died… he would never forgive himself.

As the beast gained ground between Allyr and itself, Kalas did not think he had much of a choice. If he did not do something, the Sabre Dragon would surely kill her. "Allyr!" he shouted, hoping to get her attention. As he shouted, he prepared to cast the spell. Reaching inside himself, knowing how to do this with something as deep as instinct, grabbed at the power within. Like someone drawing water from a deep well, he drew the power up, from inside. Not knowing where it came from or cared, he reached out to Allyr with his mind, and gave her his power. Allyr felt it like a sudden injection of adrenaline, swift and exhilarating. The feeling was intoxicating and she welcomed it. Made confident with this new power, she turned to face the charging dragon.

"What are you doing?" shouted Vivian in alarm when she saw her friend change direction. Allyr felt almost invincible, the feeling of power was so intoxicating. For the first time, she really understood why Kalas would betray those who trusted him for this kind of feeling. Vivian stood and stared as her friend was surrounded by silver-white light, like starlight made visible. Her right hand glowed blue as the oncoming monster halted and stared at this strange, glowing human. Allyr, directed almost by instinct, raised her right hand above her head, "I am Water, dispeller of Fire!" she shouted.

"What are you doing?" repeated Vivian alarmed.

"SACRED SPRING!" shouted Allyr, ignoring her friend and thrusting her glowing right hand out in the direction of the Sabre Dragon. A pool of clear water burst from under the body of the dragon. Bright bubbles formed then popped, dowsing the creature in shinning water. The effect was immediate and violent. The dragon thrashed around, the water from the bubbles seeming to burn it. The great torrent beneath it shot up and made the dragon stagger and roar in pain. It fell onto its side, the water subsiding, and after a few shudders, laid still, yellow eyes glazing over.

Somewhere so far that it is impossible to measure, someone looked down at the battle with a frown on his face. Though this introduced an interesting complication; this girl was bound to a Guardian Spirit, and a fairly powerful one by the looks of it. He gazed down at the little black clay bowl filled with clear water that served as his Looking Glass. He brushed some of his long black hair out of his eyes as he bent over the water to get a better view. The dragon had been easy enough to summon and bind to a task, but much harder to send to another world. It was not like he was short on possible sacrifices if he had to summon another monster, but he had his limitations as to how many and how often he could summon. But he had to have her killed. It was almost like an obsession, he had searched her for the first time only a day ago, and yet every time he closed his eyes he could see nothing other than her face. He looked down at the water and thought hard, why was he putting so much faith in a bad dream he had? Maybe, he thought, Because the damn things so often turn out to mean things. He leaned back in the chair with a sigh. Now what? What should he send over to eliminate her? Clearly she had enough power to handle many of this world's lesser monsters. Or should he just try a little harder to just let the whole issue slide? He stood up and looked away from the water, This will take some time, he thought, I have enough problems as it is without pursuing some woman I saw in a dream.

Back in Allyr's world, Vivian was jumping up and down, waving her arms in the air chattering excitedly, "You… you did it!" shouted Vivian triumphantly, "You did it! I don't know how, but you killed it!" Silence greeted this outburst. "Allyr?" she added, when her friend did not respond. Vivian turned to Allyr. She was bent over, hair hiding her face. She had her arms crossed, gripping her shoulders with the opposite hand, and if she was in pain. "Allyr?" said Vivian.

"NOOOO!" shouted Kalas despairingly, recognizing the signs immediately. Allyr keeled over and lay on the ground. Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth, and from both nostrils, leaving shinning trails of crimson on her face. Kalas felt her lose consciousness, and felt his own horror and shame at what he had done. He had given Allyr too much of his own power.

"ALLYR!" shouted Vivian, kneeling by her friend, "What happened?" she looked up, oblivious to all the people now intent on the corpse of the Sabre Dragon, all too dim and stunned to notice that Allyr had killed it, and was now injured. Vivian looked around wildly, "Kalas," she said with a small voice, like she was afraid, "What's wrong with her?" Kalas did not answer. He could already feel his own consciousness slipping. He was bound to Allyr and her soul, if she fell unconscious, he would follow shortly after. It was like the way he imagined drowning would be. Everything at the edges went dark, the little bit of light shrinking like the surface of the water becoming distant to a dying swimmer. He heard Vivian call his name again, but could not seem to remember why she was calling him. Soon, he fell into darkness, and remembered no more.

- Gasp - Cliffhanger!

Before anyone asks, no I did NOT kill Allyr! Jeeze, why would I kill her? If she died there would be no plot.

Anyway, once agian, please review. Soon. I will seriously take anything from anyone. Just please REVIEW!