I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Death Frontier
Cade looked between Dart and Rose as the others walked away. They were deep in the Death Frontier, after several days of walking, and had sent the others on ahead so that Dart could settle things with Rose. Dart's eyes flicked to Cade, but Rose shook her head.
"He's not here to interfere," Rose assured him. "He's here for after. Whatever 'after' that may be."
Dart nodded. "Draw your sword."
Rose nodded, face as stoic as ever, and drew her sword. Dart charged instantly, drawing as he closed in, and a moment later, they began to clash. Rose fought hard, pushing Dart hard, though Cade could still see her holding back. She wasn't fighting to her full capacity. She was fighting harder than she normally did, but it was nowhere near the level she'd fought against Lloyd. And yet, she still moved perfectly. Her movements flowed like water, as much a dance as fighting. Dart held his own better than Cade had expected. He pressed Rose hard, putting everything he had into the fight, forcing her back onto the defensive several times. Rose spun around Dart, but he flipped his sword around to reverse grip, stabbing backward at her, forcing her to leap away. He spun instantly, flipping his sword back around before charging and slashing hard. She blocked it, her face screwing up in effort before Dart gave an almighty shove, throwing her back several feet before she landed on her feet. She extended her arm, pointing at her for several seconds as she regarded him critically.
"You've become strong," Rose said finally. "You can take care of yourself, now." She sheathed her sword and lowered her head, closing her eyes, relief and acceptance filling her expression. "Kill me."
Dart stepped forward, raising his sword to her throat. He glared at her for a moment before the hard edge faded from his face and he turned away, sheathing his own sword.
"Why?" Rose asked, staring at him in confusion.
"The Black Monster is dead now," Dart said. "We only have..." He turned back toward her, "a companion who is on the same road."
Rose stared at him in silence for a long while before nodding. Cade walked over to her as Dart turned and walked after the others. Cade set his hand on Rose's shoulder and she reached up to rest her hand on top of it, staring after Dart for a long moment before sighing and dropping her hand. She walked after Dart and Cade watched her for a moment before looking up at the Moon That Never Sets and the stars beyond it. Finally, he sighed, lowering his head and following her. Once they'd caught up with the others, they all turned and continued to walk until well after the sun rose. Finally, they found themselves at a massive sinkhole. Rose pointed to the far left side.
"We need to get over there," Rose said.
"We'll have to go the long way," Cade said, gesturing at a cliff extending out into the sinkhole to their left, blocking progress that way.
The others nodded, most seeming too tired to speak, and they started around the sink hole. As they walked, several massive insects burst out of the sand off to the side, shaking their wings off before taking off, flying toward them. Cade and Meru turned, Cade extending his left arm and Meru holding out both, both forming a sphere of explosive magic energy, firing them into the swarm of insects, the explosions destroying them all. As Cade turned back to the front, the sand before him all but exploded skyward, an enormous sand-colored creature flying out of it and falling toward Miranda. It was a Sandworm, Cade recognized. Its front end was as tall as he was, and about twice as long, its body tapering off to a rounded point, and it had a pair of flippers to move through the sand, and a gaping maw of a mouth filled with huge, pointed teeth. He shot into the air instantly, drawing his sword and stabbing it in the underside, using his strength and momentum to knock it off course before slashing along its underside to remove his blade, the worm crashing to the ground and beginning to soak the sand in its blood. He landed at the front of the group, slashing his sword out to the side to sling the blood off before beginning to walk again. The others all followed, all readying their weapons. After a few minutes, a pair of Sandworms burst out of the ground, Cade and Kongol hurling Meru at one, Meru smashing her mallet into its face, blood spraying out of its mouth as it sailed away. The other crashed into a red barrier beside Cade, the barrier flashing and sending the worm bouncing away. It landed on its back and squirmed for a moment before rolling over and roaring angrily, squirming across the ground back toward them rapidly. Cade turned toward it, only to suddenly spin and dart through the group, slashing a dark green stinger down into the ground then slash it off and spin, leaping over a massive claw, which snapped closed less than a second before he'd escaped it. He flipped backward, landing a short distance from the two Scorpions, only for the sand under him to shift, a third rising from below him. He drove his sword down into its back before launching himself forward, slashing out through the Scorpion's head before landing in front of the one that still had its tail, slashing in an upward arc and splitting its head in half, killing it as well. Just as the last moved to attack him, Rose passed him, stabbing it in the face and killing it. Cade looked to the Sandworm, seeing Dart levering his sword free of its head.
"Thank you," Cade said.
Rose nodded mutely and turned, walking back to the group. Cade nodded to himself, slinging the blood off his sword again before following them. As they worked their way around the sinkhole, they fought several more Sandworms and Scorpions, along with two living cacti, both of which had mouths that extended down the front of their rounded, spiked bodies, then long thin sections extending from the top with two long yellow vines that they could use like tentacles to whip or catch their prey. Finally, they reached an oasis, Cade sighing and wetting a cloth, wiping the blood off his sword with it.
"Why clean it?" Miranda asked. "I thought it couldn't rust or dull."
"It can't," Cade sad. "But it'll start to stink if I leave the blood on it. Scorpion and Sandworm blood smells absolutely foul."
Miranda nodded, and Cade sheathed his sword, refilling his water. Miranda turned to Rose, who was standing off to the side silently, lost in thought. "What will the Winglies in Ulara know?"
"They should know the way we...or at least I...should go. So, there's no need for you to come," Rose said.
"Are you still saying that?" Miranda asked, glaring at Rose's back and walking over to her. "Don't you understand this is no longer a problem for you alone!?"
Rose turned slightly, shooting Miranda a venomous look. "You just found out about all of this a few days ago, and now you think you can judge me? It's not as easy as pursuing one Wingly."
SLAP!
Rose's head snapped to the side and Miranda turned again, teeth clenched and the hand she'd slapped Rose with curled into a fist beside her head.
"You...You say it was easy!?" Miranda snarled.
"Compared to what Rose has been through, yes," Cade said. "Chasing after Lloyd was probably a nice extended vacation. You could never understand what she's been through, and none of us are in the mood for you 'Boo hoo, poor Princess Miranda' routine, so why don't you just do us all a favor and shut up!?"
Everyone stared at him for a moment before Albert cleared his throat.
"I think we can all agree that none of us can understand the weight fate you have carried, Rose," Albert said placatingly. "But we can at least lighten the burden for you."
"That's why...we're going with you," Dart said. "If you all have the strength to argue, you have the strength to continue."
Everyone nodded, turning to follow Dart, except Rose and Cade. Rose continued to stare into the distance while Cade stared at his feet. He looked up at Dart, who glanced at Rose, but Cade nodded and waved for the others to go. Dart nodded and turned, walking away, Meru casting Cade and Rose a worried look before following the others. Cade opened his mouth to speak, only for his voice to die in his throat. He closed his mouth, swallowed, and tried again, only for his voice to again die in his throat.
"We should go," Rose said.
Cade nodded, eyes again falling to the sand as they walked. They walked quickly, catching up with the others, but no one spoke. After a few minutes, a Sandworm exploded out of the sand behind Cade, only for Cade to turn, launching an explosive magic sphere into it, blasting its underside wide open. Meru again glanced at Cade, but he continued to stare resolutely at the sand. Several more monsters attacked, but each time they did, Cade blasted them with an explosive magic sphere. Finally, after several more hours of walking, they finally reached a cliff with a small circle of cracked and broken stone with a low circular wall around it ad a green teleporter in the center of it. Ahead of them, they couldn't see anything but more endless desert.
"Even if an adventurer is lucky enough to make it through the Death Frontier, nobody can proceed from here," Rose said. "Time was stopped for me eleven thousand years ago by the spell of this choker." She reached up to the choker, pulling it off. "And this is the only way to see Ulara, the Spring Breath Town."
"But where is it?" Haschel asked, climbing up on the wall. "All that's over there is an endless desert."
"No, it's not, Haschel," Meru said flying up into the air beside him. "I sense it. I sense people's feelings over there."
"You can't see it, but it is there, Haschel," Cade said, extending his wings and floating into the air beside Meru. "Rose is right about you not being able to see it. Ulara cast a spell after they fell to hide themselves from the outside."
Rose jumped onto the wall, then to the top of a broken, square pillar off to one side, holding up her choker, which shone instantly. A blinding light shone from the desert before fading, leaving a gaping pit in the desert ahead of them, roughly a mile away. Over the pit was a massive land mass complete with trees, water, and mountains. in the center rested a city of gleaming buildings and walkways, and below the land mass was what looked like a massive body of bright blue water, hundreds of massive roots, each as big around as a building, extended up from the water and the sand around the pit, holding the land mass in the air.
Rose jumped back down to the teleported. "We can fly over there with this."
No one moved for a moment, so Rose looked to Dart.
"Are you afraid?" Rose asked.
Dart shook his head. "I think you are."
Rose stared at her feet for a moment. "Maybe."
Dart took a step forward, setting his hand on her shoulder. "We'll remain by your side."
"I know," Rose said.
Dart nodded and dropped his hand. "Let's go."
Everyone nodded, gathering on the teleporter, except Cade, who remained hovering in the air where he was, staring at the city.
"It's alright, Cade," Rose said. "They won't attack you for entering."
Cade didn't respond, instead staring at the city for another long moment before landing on the teleporter. He held a hand out to the side slightly, his hand shining white for a moment and forcing the teleporter to activate. Then, the teleporter's green light filled their eyes and Alex felt himself begin to move.
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