I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.


First Signet

Cade stared out at the spire rising from the center of the whirlpool a mile out to sea, then shifted his gaze to Rouge. Martel, the woman looking for Stardust to save her daughter, was here, and they'd given her all of theirs, but it wasn't fifty yet. They needed about another twenty. Rouge was a tiny cluster of wooden shacks built on stilts over the water, then wooden walkways and ladders under it, some of them forming a dock where they'd left their small boat, since the Queen Fury wouldn't fit. Aside from the shacks, there was a small island where a few more shacks were built, and on top of which was a huge, open, training area for the village's martial arts style. That was also where they were standing to look at the spire.

Cade shifted his eyes back to the spire again. it was a huge, reddish-brown metal about a about as wide as the Queen Fury was long, probably wider, with several spikes from the top of it, and three frame-like rings around it, two small ones with a larger one in the middle, all three with broken spikes of metal hanging from the bottom.

"That tower could not be made by human technology," Albert was saying.

"Rose, any idea which this is?" Cade asked.

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment. "Charle said the Signet Spheres were at the Magical City Aglis, the Death City Mayfil, and the Law City Zenebatos. If I remember correctly, there was only the Magical City Aglis in this region of the sea."

Cade narrowed his eyes as a low buzzing began in his head, his senses focusing on the tower and the city below the sea, locating two sources. "It's here."

Everyone stared at him, Rose having been discussing what each of the Wingly cities did.

"You can sense it?" Dart asked.

Cade's left hand gripped his sword's scabbard. "And it's not alone."

"There's something in there?" Miranda asked.

"There's someone in there?" Rose asked, Cade nodding. "I don't know who was in command of Aglis."

"Can you tell how strong they are?" Dart asked.

"Less than Faust," Cade said. "More than me. He knows I'm here, though. Not sure if he's hostile or not."

Rose's head turned slightly suddenly. "Whoever it is, they're watching us."

"We'll deal with it once we figure out how to get-" Dart was cut off by the island suddenly beginning to shake violently. "What's going on?"

"Look!" Cade said, pointing out to sea.

They all turned, watching as the sea began to fall away by the tower in a snaking line spreading toward them. Finally, it stopped and the shaking subsided, all of them staring at the path that had been opened for them. Along with the path opening, six curved, finger-like metal spires had risen around the tower, all equally distant from one another and barely a third the size of the tower itself.

"We're being invited in," Cade said.

"The Magical City Aglis had revealed itself," Rose agreed.

"Is this a challenge or a welcome?" Dart asked.

"Let's go and find out," Cade said. "We can take the boat to the path."

The others all nodded and they ran back down to the boat, all of them piling in before Cade steered them toward the split in the water. Once there, they all jumped out of the boat, riding the waterfall down the twenty feet to the soft sea floor, all of them landing easily before standing. Cade drew his sword instantly, tensing, as the path was only thick enough for them to walk three-wide. He stepped up front with Rose and Dart, Miranda preparing herself to fire between them. After a few tense minutes, however, they reached a stone walkway with some round sections along it and sped up quickly, finally reaching a wall with a grey door blocking their path, dark lines running over it in odd shapes, a window-like section over it filled with sweeping lines of golden light, and a sort of spiked metal ring between the top of the door and the window, a shining greed ball of magic in the center of it.

"What is that?" Miranda asked, staring at the green and gold light.

"Magic," Cade said. "Come on. Whether we're being challenged or invited, I expect we're not locked out."

"Agreed," Rose nodded.

Dart stepped forward and pressed a hand to the door, meaning to see if he could push it open, apparently, only for it to split along a curved, slightly crooked seam along the middle, disguised among the dark markings. Dart blinked in surprise before nodding and walking through, Cade and the others following. On the other side, they found themselves inside of a massive, rounded wall around the outside of Aglis. The buildings were rounded and massive, spreading below them like a field of mushroom tops, and in the distance was the main structure of the city, a massive structure like a pair of funnels with their wide ends placed together and dozens of darkened windows along the edge, except for one, which was shining green. There was a mess of floating walkways with teleporter pads on them, some of which had water flowing out from around them and all with three spindly, slightly-curled, insect-leg-like spikes spread around the teleporters. Above them, water flowed like a dome around the city.

"We're heading for the big building," Cade said, pointing. "We'll have to take the walkways."

"We're not the only ones with that idea," Meru said, pointing to the walkways, some of which had monsters standing on them.

Cade narrowed his eyes at them. Red-skinned mermen with black spears, man-sized jellyfish, Minotaurs who wielded enormous silver blades with a huge wrought iron ball on the end, manta ray monsters with spikes along their fronts which he believed were called Scud Sharks, and huge, flying, blue-scaled fish with a feeler handing in front of their faces and green fins. Just then, the path they'd taken to the city sealed.

"Sea closed," Kongol said.

"Lovely," Cade grumbled, walking to the first teleporter. "Let's get this long walk over with."

"Why are you so anxious to get this done?" Miranda asked. "What, are you getting tired of being around your girlfriend? or are you just trying to get some time alone with her?"

Cade gripped his sword tighter and stepped onto the teleporter, green light blinding him. A moment later, the light faded and he stepped off of the teleporter and instantly charged the Minotaur that was halfway along the walkway. It snorted as he approached, turning and swiping at him, only for him to leap over the weapon, slashing it across the chest and over the shoulder before landing behind it. As it began to turn, a shining green sphere sped down toward the teleporter. He lunged, slashing it across the side and it staggered to the side, then crashed to the ground heavily just as the sphere faded, leaving all of the others, weapons drawn and ready for a fight, only for them to stare at the dead minotaur as Cade drove his sword down into its head. He ripped the blade back out and turned, walking toward the teleporter on the far side of the walkway as he flipped his sword back around to a normal grip.

"Wait up!" Meru called out, running over to him.

She gave him a worried look but he ignored her, the two of them teleporting to the next walkway together, this time finding a Scud Shark waiting with an Aqua King, the mermen monsters, just beyond it. Cade charged instantly, leaping into the air as the Scud Shark flashed under him. Meru's hammer crashed down on its back, crushing it, and Cade landed at a sprint, slashing the Aqua King's spear out to the side before slashing back the other way as he passed, the Aqua King's head spinning into the air. He slowed down to a walk as Meru caught up with him, the others all joining them just before the teleporter. As they stepped off the next platform, Miranda instantly fired an arrow into the head of a jellyfish, killing it instantly as one of the massive fish shot toward them. Dart and Rose charged, Dart slashing it across the face and deflecting it to the side before Rose slashed it along the side, killing it.

"I'm sorry," Miranda said as they walked along the walkway. "I didn't know you and Rose...split up. I didn't mean to offend you."

Just then, a Minotaur crashed down ahead of them, only for Cade to flash white and vanish, reappearing behind it and slashing it up the back, splitting its spine the long way, killing it instantly.

"He's really mad, isn't he?" Meru asked quietly.

"He's hurting," Haschel said, just as quietly. "He'll be okay."

"He just needs time," Albert said. "Once this journey's over and everything's been settled, he'll be alright."

Meru stared at her feet as they followed Cade through the next teleporter, finding themselves at a round platform with a door to the left and a long pathway ahead of them. As they walked over to Cade, a small creature with pale yellow skin, an elongated head with large, round eyes, long thin arms tipped with two claws each, a grey snake-like tail, and a grey cobra-like hood with red on the inside and a red hexagon on the back above a red diamond floated over to them.

"What's this?" Dart asked.

"It's an artificial being made by magic," Cade said.

"Made by magic?" Rose asked. "There wasn't even that type of technology during the Dragon Campaign."

"Ruff has been in here forever, ruff!" the creature, apparently named Ruff, said excitedly in a high voice. "I only knew the view and sound in here, ruff!"

"It doesn't appear to be hostile," Miranda noted.

"I'm guessing it's meant to bring us to whoever invited us in," Cade said.

"It's rough, ruff," Ruff said. "Ruff doesn't want to say anything, but it's a message so that it's rough, ruff. 'Welcome to the eight heroes fated to be here. And Rose, these thousands of years I have waited were neither as long as eternity nor as short as a mere twinkle of a star. People who confront their fate with courage...I forget the rest." He sped off the way he'd come, only to stop as Rose spoke.

"How do you know my name?" Rose asked.

"You have a fan," Cade said. "And he's a poet."

"Whose message is this?" Dart asked.

"Ruff only know what Ruff hears, ruff," Ruff said. "Ruff doesn't know anything else, ruff."

"Are you on Zieg's side?" Miranda demanded. "Answer me or I'm going to mess you up!"

"He's not on Zieg's side," Cade said. "Zieg doesn't have the power to create life, and Melbu Frahma doesn't care to, maybe doesn't know how. Besides, judging by the wording of the message, whoever sent the message is a fan of Rose's. Definitely not Dart's currently-possessed father."

"Mess you up?" Ruff asked. "Ruff has never seen it and doesn't know, ruff. Show it to Ruff. It should be some rough stuff, ruff."

"Hey, Miranda!" Meru said, stepping between Ruff and Miranda. "This baby didn't do anything! He's too cute to be a bad guy!"

"Ruff is cute?" Ruff asked. "Then you all are not cute, ruff. But Rose is the exception, ruff."

"If you are going to treat me as the exception, why don't you take me to the Signet Sphere?" Rose asked.

"It's your own challenge to go by yourself, ruff," Ruff said. "All is for the sake of the Psychedelic Bomb and Moot, ruff. Ruff is going, ruff. It's rough, ruff."

He turned and floated away, and Cade walked after him. The others all followed, but Ruff proved to be very fast, because within minutes he'd disappeared in the distance. After taking several more teleporters, and killing two more Minotaurs and an Aqua King, they finally caught up with Ruff inside one of the buildings around the main one. They walked into it and reached a room with a round dome of water off to the side that looked like it might have an empty section inside, like a miniature version of Aglis's situation, then another machine off to the side. However, as Ruff turned around, Cade frowned. He had grown to almost double his size in the amount of time they'd been following him, unless it was something else.

"Sorry, phew," the creature said as a smaller identical creature floated over. "We are busy preparing the Psychedelic Bomb and Moot, phew. Sorry, phew."

"It's all in the message by Ruff," the smaller one, which Cade was pretty sure was Ruff, said. "Disturbing our work is too rough, ruff."

"It's been a while since I've been here," Rose said to Ruff as Cade stared along the corridor ahead of them, the same buzz as before returning. "Don't you think you should be nice and tell me more?"

Cade walked past them as Ruff and the other one both turned down her request for information. He walked down the corridor with his sword out, finding himself at yet another set of teleporters. This time, he spread his wings, flying directly toward the source of the feeling, toward whatever Wingly was summoning him. As he landed on the platform extended from the door, a flying shell-like creature floated out of it, a light pink head poking out of a hole in the shell with a pair of thin fins sticking out from the sides on bottom of the shell and a pair of feelers reaching down from the bottom of the face.

"Who are you?" Cade asked.

It darted back into the door, then floated out slowly. "It's just a message from Savan, pino."

"No thank you," Cade said gently. "I'm just going to see the person who made you. You wait here. Rose and the others will be along shortly."

He walked past the creature, which gave him a wide birth. He walked into a round room with a round hole in the floor with the floor sloping up to about waist high around it, a shaft of light shining up from it, Cade sensing magic coming from it. He walked around the hole and out through the next door, once again flying across the floating platforms toward Savan. The closer he got, the more insistent the buzzing became. Then, finally, he reached the main building at long last. The room he walked into had a walkway along the left wall, then a platform on the right side, separated by a gap in the floor, and was decorated with eight color-coded teleporter pads, one for each of the Dragoons, then one grey one that he assumed would be his.

"Welcome, half-breed," a calm male voice said from all around him.

"Savan, I assume," Cade said, looking around. "If you're going to kill me, get out here so we can make a proper battle of it."

"I'm not going to kill you," Savan said, appearing off to the side, standing on a round, floating platform.

He wore a bright green robe with a darker green down the middle of the front and blue cuffs, brown pauldrons with blue plates on them like round scales, had a bald head, and had his wings extended behind him, his wings brighter, more condensed, and reaching halfway down his calves, where as Cade's barely reached three-quarters of the way down his thighs, Meru's reaching even higher. Cade was well aware that that the length of a Wingly's wings was an indication of the strength of his magic, and it gave him a clear answer to how he would do against Savan in a battle of power.

"What do you want?" Cade asked.

"To help you," Savan said. "You are attempting to stop the birth of the God of Destruction. I have spent thousands of years trying to aid Rose in that same task. I developed Moot as a new Signet in order to better seal away the God of Destruction's body. And I am developing the Psychedelic Bomb in order to be a weapon against Zieg in his attempts at reviving it. But you, Cade, you are the one who can help the most. You are the one who hold's Rose's heart."

"No," Cade said. "I was only keeping it warm for Zieg. Once we save him, I'll lose her. And besides..."

"Ah, yes," Savan nodded. "You possess the rarest of Wingly abilities. You can sense magic, and from it, you can see the future."

"There's no way to change it, is there?" Cade asked.

Savan was silent for a long few moments. "The future is not set in stone. Our choices shape it. However..."

"Certain things are certain," Cade said.

Savan nodded. "Even if you told me exactly what your vision was, I wouldn't be able to tell you what parts are set in stone and which can be changed. All you have to do is strive to do better than your vision. Assume that it is true, and prepare as best you can in order to beat it."

"I think we were fighting the God of Destruction," Cade said. "And losing."

Savan stared into the distance in silence. "You need to do whatever you can to be prepared for it. I understand the...near-impossibility of that task. And from what I've seen, that's not the only impossibly-strong enemy you intend to face."

"I believe Zieg is possessed by Melbu Frahma," Cade said. "And we need to find the Vanishing Stone in order to kill Faust."

Savan nodded. "I can't give you the Vanishing Stone. However, I believe you've been looking for these." He held out his right hand and a bowl filled with Stardust appeared in front of Cade, who caught it. "That should give you your fifty, yes?"

"I think so," Cade nodded, pouring them into a small pouch before setting the bowl aside. "Thank you."

Just then, the others finally caught up.

"Ah, here you all are," Savan said. "The Signet Sphere you are looking for is safe. It is protected by the Last Kraken."

"Not for long," Cade said.

"He's right," Rose said. "Melbu Frahma had the power to control lesser creatures during the Dragon Campaign. Anything created from the ninety fifth fruit or below."

"Then we should hurry," Savan said.

"Before that, who are you?" Rose asked. "What are you going to do? No, what are you going to make us do?"

"I survived the Dragon Campaign and continued to study magic to reconstruct a Wingly world," Savan said. "Yes, even making myself ageless and immortal. However, the world outside the mirror hasn't needed me. The world of Winglies is no longer desired. I, an immortal body with no purpose. Four thousand years of solitude deprived me of everything. Even the significance of life and the meaning of death. But seven thousand years ago, I was saved by Rose. I found the meaning of life in the Black Monster in the mirror. Rose, who is now confronting her fate. I restarted my study for Rose. And its crystallization is this Psychedelic Bomb and Moot. We will stop the murderous deeds of Zieg, or possibly Melbu Frahma, if you are correct, who continues the plan of the creator, by using the attacking spell the Psychedelic Bomb. And with Moot, we will completely seal the Moon That Never Sets."

"That is the answer to the riddle," Rose said. "No wonder it takes several thousand years."

"Moot will be completed soon," Savan said. "But in order to activate the Psychedelic Bomb, I need the courage of all of you."

"Our courage?" Dart asked.

"It seems that my courage alone is not enough," Savan said. "The Psychedelic Bomb didn't work. I guess I don't have any courage."

"That's not true!" Meru said. "You have courage, Savan!"

"Yes, you have been fighting alone for thousands of years," Haschel said.

"But now, we are here with you," Miranda said.

"Yes," Albert nodded. "Our intention is the same."

"You have to endure your own challenge," Savan said, his floating platform drifting closer. "And we will pour the courage that is born from them into the Psychedelic Bomb and activate it. When you are ready, we will begin."

"I'm ready now," Cade said. "We don't have time to delay."

"Agreed," Dart said. "There's no time to wait."

Savan nodded and teleported away as a bridge of silver magic energy formed, connecting the teleporter pad platform to the walkway. Then, they all walked to their designated teleporters and left in a ball of light the same color as their Dragoon Armor, except for Dart, who Savan asked to wait until the others were all finished. Cade waited until all of the others were gone before stepping onto his own teleporter.

"Wish me luck," Cade said before teleporting away.

When he reappeared, he looked around, seeing he was standing at the center of a golden seal with six Wingly symbols spread around it in gold circles with lines running to the circle at the center, then symbols running in a ring around the outside of the seal and more flowing outward from the center, all of those symbols shifting colors constantly. Around him was an empty void of darkness with twisted pillars barely visible through it, torches below the seal, and symbols flashing from the darkness. He turned in a circle, looking around, but he was alone. Then, finally, Rose and Zieg appeared.

"Someone has to go," Zieg said. "We can't stop it."

"That's not fair," Rose said.

"No, it's not," Zieg agreed. "But it's the only way. It's too strong."

Cade sighed quietly before stepping forward. "I'll fight it. You two get away safely."

"Why you?" Rose asked.

"Because I can't bear to let you be hurt, and because if you have Zieg, you'll be able to be happy," Cade said. "This is the best option."

"Are you sure," Zieg asked. "There may be another way."

"If there were another way, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Cade said. "I will do whatever it takes to protect Rose and ensure her happiness. You two get out of here and I'll deal with finishing this."

They nodded and both turned, running out of the seal. A light began to build behind Cade and he turned, staring at the massive thing before him. It was misshapen with a Giganto-sized torso with its spine disconnected about the bottom of its spine, its left arm missing at the elbow, its right arm expanding into a much, much larger right arm that was heavily misshapen. The larger arm seemed to have its own shoulder, a spike sticking up from beside the point where the torso's arm was connected, then reached down below it into what looked vaguely like a Virage's body, except bigger than a Super Virage. Below the suspended torso was a shining green mass of some kind, which was where the light was coming from. Alex's gut dropped. He knew this form. This was what they'd fought in his nightmarish vision. He took a deep breath before drawing his magic sword, as he had wielded in his nightmare, and exploded forward, only for the light to blind him as he left the seal.

As the light faded, he was standing on his teleporter pad again, his magic sword hanging from his belt where he'd had it before entering the teleporter and tears coating his cheeks. He reached up, wiping his face, then turned, walking silently back across the magic bridge, ignoring the others watching him.

"Savan went ahead to see the results," Miranda said as Dart walked over with them.

"Good," Cade said. "Let's go and join him."

The others nodded and they walked through the next door, taking a long string of teleporters. Finally, they reached a room with a walkway along the left side, Savan floating beside a small platform sticking out from the middle of it, shining white magic energy flooding along pipes and tubes in the ceiling to a central point. They all walked over to Savan, Cade stepping out onto the platform by unspoken consent.

"Look!" Savan said. "The courage of you all is adding up! The new magic will be born! Give me your hands! Give me your hands to save the world!"

Cade held his hands out just as the light flashed blindingly and a small crystal sphere floated down into his hands. "I don't believe it. It's so much more powerful than I expected."

"Oh...my god!" Savan said. "It's exceeding the limit!"

"Is that bad?" Dart asked.

"No," Cade said as the crystal sphere pulsed with blinding light. "It's growing stronger by the second."

Finally, the light shone for a moment before fading to a faint glow. Cade slipped it into a small pouch for safe keeping.

"My ultimate magic is now complete!" Savan exclaimed.

"Savan, at last I finished the preparations for Moot, ruff," Ruff said as he and the larger creature like him floated in. "It was rough, ruff."

"Our efforts will pay off, phew," the larger one said. "Magic power as strong as the Signet Spheres is gathered in Moot, phew."

Cade stared at the creatures, then at Savan. "How close is Moot to the Signet Sphere?"

"The same chamber, why?" Savan asked.

"Moot is machine-based, right?" Cade asked.

"It is," Savan nodded.

"Then if Zieg damages it sufficiently, the magic power could escape," Cade said. "If Moot is as powerful as the Signet Sphere, if its magic escapes near the Signet Sphere, it would destroy it."

"Moot cannot be transported yet," Savan said. "It requires time to settle before it can be disconnected."

"Then we need to go, now!" Cade said.

Savan nodded and teleported away, Cade and the others all turning and sprinting through the next door. This time, as they ran along a series of teleporter walkways, Savan appeared over the teleporter they needed to use before disappearing as they neared it. Finally, they passed through a huge door into a massive chamber with a long platform to stand on. Cade looked over the edge and stared at a massive mechanical spheres directly below them, orange light shining from inside and his senses screaming at him from the magic inside. In the distance was a flat section of metal with the Signet Sphere over it, along with the usual three metal fingers around it.

"Allow me to show you," Savan said. "This is the Signet Sphere that has continued to seal the Moon That Never Sets, the flesh of the God of Destruction, the evil fruit that is settled in the sky."

Just then the ground began to tremble as an enormous creature began to drag itself toward them. It had a pair of enormous tentacles, each as wide as Cade was tall. It had a thick, white shell with dark grey, horizontal stripes, and enormous spines sticking up in a trail along the Last Kraken's back. It had three enormous, bulging, purple eyes per side, one large one with two smaller ones under it, small feeler-like tentacles around its mouth, several rows of pointed teeth, and dozens of long, pointed, brown legs ending in spikes running along its sides.

"And this is the Last Kraken," Savan introduced. "A magical creature that was born to guard the Signet Sphere. But we have you. It may not be needed."

"It's going to be controlled," Cade said, drawing his magic sword.

"Moot will begin to function in a few minutes," a floating shell creature like the one whose message Cade had ignored said.

"That red light is Moot?" Dart asked, staring down at it. "The new Signet?"

"I'd say more orange than red," Cade said. "But yes."

"When Moot is activated and the new Signet covers the Moon That Never Sets, the ambitions of that man will be terminated," Savan said.

Just then, the Last Kraken shrieked and began to thrash violently.

"What's going on?" Savan asked.

"He's taking control," Cade said, extending his wings and drifting into the air.

"You're as sharp as I'd heard," Zieg's voice said, echoing from the Last Kraken. "How'd you know I'd control it?"

"Because you're not Zieg," Cade said. "You're Melbu Frahma."

The Kraken's eyes watched him for several seconds before Zieg's voice began to laugh.

"Well, I never expected someone to be able to figure me out," Melbu Frahma said. "How'd you know?"

"I could sense more Wingly Magic from you than I have, and it's the only thing that would explain everything," Cade said. "You knew about the Signet Spheres and the Moon Child, you knew that Shana was the Moon Child, you knew how to infiltrate Kadessa, and where in it to send Lloyd in order for him to retrieve the Dragon Buster, and the personality portrayed by Zieg's body changed completely quite suddenly when he prepared to fight the Black Monster and used his Dragoon Spirit, which is what you infected first when you used Soul Transference."

"Very good," Melbu Frahma said. "Perhaps I should have chosen to manipulate you in stead of Lloyd. You'd be a far more useful tool."

"I am nobody's tool," Cade growled. "We're going to stop you, Frahma."

"I'd love to see you try, abomination," Frahma said. "Go, Last Kraken! Destroy the Signet Sphere and Moot along with this city!"

The Kraken turned toward the Signet Sphere, but Cade quickly extended his index and middle fingers, drawing a circle as they shone before swiping his fingers upward, sending the ball of light streaking into the air. Then, it erupted into a shower of magic blasts which rained down on Kraken just as Cade held his hand in a tiger claw, rotated inward, his fingers all shining. Then, just as the first blast neared the Last Kraken, Cade ripped his hand outward and curled his fingers into a fist. A wave of blood red energy flooded inward to the Last Kraken's back. Then, just as the first magic blast from Cade's first spell hit, the focused point of magic from the second erupted, a spherical barrier of magic trapping all of the blasts inside with the Last Kraken as the explosions filled it. The Kraken shrieked and roared in pain as Cade dropped to the platform where Savan now floated alone, the others having all transformed and taken off already. Cade fell to his knees, gasping and panting for breath as sweat poured down his body. Finally, the explosions and the barrier faded and the Kraken began to rise, shrieking in pain and anger still, horrible burns covering it, but still very much alive.

One of its tentacles swung back but Kongol crashed into it, holding it back, and Meru instantly crashed into the other off to the Kraken's left side as it swiped at the Signet Sphere from the side. Then, Haschel exploded into the Kraken's face just above its mouth, hurling it away from both the Signet Sphere and Moot. Dart, Rose, and Albert all shot down at it instantly, tearing into it and it roared in pain and rage.

"Here, drink this," Savan said, holding a glowing pinkish-red potion out to Cade, who drank it without question.

Instantly, strength flooded him and he stood, picking up his magic sword's hilt and extending the blade before taking off. He streaked own at the Last Kraken as Miranda sent several arrows into the Kraken's face. One of its tentacles swiped at her, but Cade grabbed her, yanking her out of the way before flipping and streaking down at it. He drove his blade into its back beside one of its spines and it shrieked in agony, thrashing violently. One of its tentacles swiped at him and he shot along its back, toward the short, fat tail sticking out of the back of its shell. As the tentacle crashed down on its back, it impaled itself on the Kraken's spines. The Kraken shrieked and yanked its tentacles, breaking the spines off.

"Dart, blast it!" Cade shouted as he arced up into the air. "As much fire as you can muster in one blast!"

Dart nodded just as the Kraken's shell began to pull back, exposing a round, tube-like organ. Cade swore just as a massive blast of pressurized water exploded into Dart, sending him crashing to the floor of the chamber. Rose and Cade both flew down instantly, slashing the Kraken along the sides and it began to turn quickly, its tentacles flailing violently as it did. The rest of the Dragoons still in the air in front of it struggled to fly out of the way, only to inevitably be hit and sent crashing into various places around the room. The Kraken stopped flailing when the spine finally tore free of its tentacle, crashing into Cade and sending him bouncing off of Moot. He groaned, falling to the ground as his armor reformed, though his ribs were shattered.

"Cade!" Rose shouted, streaking down toward him as the Kraken's shell began to rise again.

Before it could fire, Cade swiped his glowing fingers through the air rapidly, fireballs forming in front of the Kraken and flooding into the tube, exploding inside and sending flames erupting from the tube, the Kraken shrieking in pain and retreating, its shell dropping back into place.

"Moonlight!" Miranda shouted, firing an arrow of light magic into the clouds having formed over them, the spell sending a pillar of light down on Cade, healing him most of the way.

Just as he stood, Rose landed beside him, handing him his magic sword's hilt again.

"Thanks," Cade said, extending the blade again. "Shall we?"

"Let's," Rose nodded.

They both shot forward, pulling their blades back as they raced toward the Kraken. As they neared it, a pair of tears fell from its larges eyes, hitting the ground and bursting, only to leave a pair of small fairy-like creatures made from pure white light with spike tails and two butterfly-wing-silhouettes in place of their wings, and two small horn-like spikes extending from their round heads. Both flapped their wings instantly and sent a blast of light up at them. Cade and Rose both avoided it just before Haschel crashed down on top of one of the creatures and Albert stabbed the other, both fading instantly. Then, Rose and Cade both veered sideways, crossing in front of the Kraken and slashing it across the face, then along the sides. As soon as they got up behind it, Kongol crashed down on its back, slamming his axe into its shell, but failing to break through fully. He leaned back instantly as Meru's hammer exploded down on the axe, driving it into the shell fully, but it still ended up just shy of the Last Kraken's flesh. Then, Meru also leaned back just before Haschel flipped over the Kraken from their side, shouting in effort before punching her hammer. Instantly, the shell all but exploded around them and Kongol's axe embedded itself in the Kraken's back. He levered it forward to get the blade sideways then shouted in effort himself before flying downward along the Kraken's back. Finally, he ripped the axe out just before a tentacle wrapped around him, the other swinging up and back, then back down.

"Kongol!" Meru shouted, slamming her hammer into the tentacle, only for the tentacle's momentum to hurl her away before slapping down on Kongol, blasting him down out of the one holding him, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Wake Dart up!" Cade shouted to Rose.

She nodded and turned, flying toward Dart, who was lying on the floor still, back in his human form and completely unconscious. Just then, however, the Kraken's tentacles curled up as it shook, lightning flying off of its spines and feelers. Instantly, icicles began to appear around Dart and Cade shouted in effort, shoving his arms forward, a blue light shining from Dart just in time for the icicles to begin shattering against Dart's body, though their impacts still had enough force to bounce him off the ground rapidly. Finally, they ended and Rose spun, hurling sword into the broken spot in the Kraken's shell, beginning to absorb a bit of its life force as Miranda used Moonlight again. Cade landed beside Dart as the two spells began to affect heal him, Cade getting the splash effect of Rose's Astral Drain as he added his own healing spell to the mix. Once it was over, Dart pushed himself up, holding his hand to his head for a moment before growling in annoyance and transforming again.

"Let's try this again," Dart growled, raising his sword over his head. "Explosion!"

He drove his sword into the ground as Cade leapt away from him. Flames exploded up around him instantly before a trail of flames tore across the floor and under the Last Kraken before a massive sea of flames suddenly spread from under it. It shrieked in pain, rearing back just as the flames all surged inward and flew into the air as a half-dozen fireballs which shot into the air before falling into the floor again. Then, explosions began to light the floor all around the room, the Kraken shrieking and thrashing as a sea of explosions rocked the room.

"Too much!" Cade shouted over the explosions, his arms extended toward Moot, shining blue energy racing around the outside of it.

Finally the explosions ended and Cade sighed, allowing his barrier to fade, just in time for the Kraken's tentacle to swipe out of the smoke the explosions had formed, swiping all of the Dragoons and Cade out of the air all at once, sending them all crashing into the wall around the room. Dart and Cade both shoved themselves out of the wall first, just in time for Cade to hold out his left hand, a blue barrier forming in time for the Kraken's water cannon blast to part around it, shattering the wall behind him without hurting him. Then, Dart shout in effort, his wings suddenly encased in flames and flames roaring backward around him from the tip of his sword.

"Final Burst!" Dart shouted, exploding forward.

A trail of flames chased him, but the Kraken tried to scuttle sideways. As it did, it made the mistake of raising itself and Dart tore past underneath it, his sword splitting its underside wide open at the same time as his magic superheated the metal of the floor below the Last Kraken, causing it to explode a moment later, the Kraken shrieking in agony and thrashing in the middle of the puddle of melted metal and flames. Finally, the flames faded and the Kraken collapsed to the ground, loud, heavy breaths growling in and out of it.

"Is it finished?" Meru asked.

"Not yet," Cade said, raising his sword, the blade extending a bit. "I'll finish it."

They all nodded and Cade shot down toward it, pulling his sword back. Then, the Kraken shrieked deafeningly, a tentacle flashing around and crashing into Cade, sending him exploding into the side of Moot hard enough to crater the metal. Instantly, the magic inside of it began to rage against itself in an attempt to escape. Cade swore harshly as the Kraken rose, turning and firing a blast of water at him. He swore and blocked it with a barrier, but the water that went around him hit Moot, blasting through the metal completely and a siren began to shriek, red lights flashing everywhere. Everyone else swore as Cade's left hand snapped up, his index and middle fingers shining before he swiped his arm down, diagonally up to the left, straight to the right, then up and left again. A wave of pure white light flooded into the Kraken, passing into its skin. Then, a moment later, the spell exploded, the sphere of silver magic energy appearing so fast that the Kraken's body didn't have time to be blown apart. The sphere expanded rapidly, bits of the floor and the Last Kraken shining pure white as they were incinerated, causing flashes of white light to race up the explosion toward the top of it before fading.

Finally, the spell flashed blindingly white and faded. Cade sighed, his wings fading finally as the agony of having his ribs shattered again by the repeated impacts and the exhaustion of using that spell while weakened claimed him. Meru and Rose caught him, flying him up to the platform where the others all landed around them, everyone transforming back to normal, Rose pouring a healing potion into his mouth. He groaned, stirring, and pushed himself up, looking down at Moot, where bright orange electricity formed from magic energy was beginning to flash over it. An alarm was screaming "Danger!" at them along with the siren.

"Fuck," Cade said. "It's gonna blow."

"The Signet Sphere is resonating with the runaway reaction from Moot," Savan informed them as the Signet Sphere began to pulsate.

"Dammit!" Dart swore. "And after all the work we went through the stop the Last Kraken!"

"I'll teleport you all out," Savan said, just before a blinding white light flashed and they found themselves outside the main chamber again, the door sealed.

Dart an Rose darted to the door instantly, Dart pounding his fists on the door.

"Savan!" Dart shouted. "You have to come too!"

"I will see this 'til the end," Savan said. "You should hurry to the next city, the Signet Sphere of Aglis is now being destroyed."

"Are you really going to let yourself go out alone!?" Dart shouted.

"Even if my body vanishes, my heart will remain," Savan said. "It will give you wings to fly the sky, to the Moon that Never Sets, where Zieg is heading."

"I still have something to ask you!" Rose shouted over Dart's pounding.

"Rose, I am grateful," Savan said. "Rose...you were my-"

The ground lurched as the Signet Sphere and Moot exploded, cutting off Savan's last words. Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

"We don't have time to be sad," Rose said, walking away from the door.

Just as Cade began to turn away, however, he froze, a deafening buzzing filling his head, making him spin back toward the door. As he did, a massive stream of magic particles passed through the door, flooding across the distance and slamming into Cade's chest, lifting him into the air and making him go limp, his body tilting back like he was being lifted by the chest.

"Cade!" Rose gasped.

"What's happening?" Meru asked.

Then, the last of the magic passed into Cade's body and he dropped to his feet, his eyes shining bright green for a moment before settling back to their normal appearance.

"What the hell was that?" Dart asked.

"Are you still you?" Rose asked, holding her sword to his throat.

Cade stared at his hands for a moment before extending his wings, which were now a blue-white and much more focused than before, the particles making them up racing along the length of the wings faster, and this time making it to about with his ankles before fading.

"He...gave me his magic," Cade said. "All of it."

"Is that all he gave you?" Rose asked.

Cade stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath. "My nightmare was us fighting against the God of Destruction. We defeated it several times, but its fifth form was more powerful than us, and it defeated us in an instant. I sacrificed myself in order to keep you alive, and in doing so, I killed the God of Destruction."

"Do you have an ability that can do that?" Haschel asked.

"One," Cade said. "Which is why we need to get moving so that we can stop Melbu Frahma before the God of Destruction can be born."

Rose remained where she was for a moment before lowering her sword and sheathing it. "I'm glad you're still you."

Cade smiled and nodded, then turned, raising a hand and focusing before teleporting himself and everyone else to the chamber where they'd faced their tests to gather their courage into the the Psychedelic Bomb. Lying on the floor before them was Buckle.

"Buckle!" Miranda gasped, kneeling beside him.

"Miranda, you are still annoying, uck," the floating shell creature said. "Are other people safe, uck?"

"Savan died," Buckle said. "Buckle and other creatures cannot live without Savan, uck."

"Can't we do something for you?" Miranda asked. "Can't you be saved with the Dragoon's power?" She looked around at Cade. "Can't you do something!? You have Savan's magic!"

"I don't know how," Cade said.

"Be quiet, uck," Buckle said, voice fading. "Good night, uck." Then, he fell to the side.

"Are you playing dead again?" Miranda asked. "Give me a break!"

"We can meet again soon, uck," Buckle said weakly. "Closing...my eyes...and soon, uck." Then he was gone.

Miranda swallowed hard and stood just as Cade felt a bit more of Savan's magic flowing into him. Cade focused and teleported them to the room with the hole in the floor and they found two more of the same kind of creatures, these ones showed them an image in the pillar of light that showed Melbu Frahma smashing the Moon Mirror before the image faded. Then, they told them that he was in Zenebatos. He told them the teleporter would take them there before the two of them also died, the magic inside of them flowing into Cade. He teleported them one more time, reaching the area where Ruff had been working and found him and the larger one both already dead, their magic flowing into him as soon as he appeared in the room.

"They're already dead," Meru said sadly, kneeling beside Ruff.

"We won't let their deaths be in vain," Dart said.

"Come on," Cade said, walking toward the path back to the water. "This city's going to collapse soon. We need to get to the teleporter before the water comes down and crushes us all."

The others all nodded and they all hurried along the trail of teleporters to the fork in the path, taking the door off to the side this time and finding themselves in a round room with red lights around the outside and a clear floor with magic flowing in toward the green teleporter in the center.

"It looks like the one in my forest," Meru said.

"This can take us to Zenebatos instantly," Rose said. "It's completely different."

"Winglies had such astonishing magic power, moving between cities instantly like this," Albert said.

"It's astonishing alright," Haschel said. "But I cannot accept life being generated by magic."

"Me neither," Miranda said. "It's too depressing to be born to do just one thing."

"We all were, though," Cade said. "We were born to reproduce. All life was. And life itself was created in order to eventually be snuffed out by the God of Destruction."

"Unless your theory is correct and it was always meant to be our choice," Dart said.

"Let's go," Rose said. "We need to hurry to Zenebatos."

The others all nodded and they all stepped onto the teleporter pad, a blinding golden light filling their eyes instantly before they jerked into motion.


Leave a review.