Hey guys! I finally finished Part 7! Had to wrack my brain to find an interesting plot twist. And I hope the next Chapter will be even more interesting. Enjoy!
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The New Threat:
Part VII: Betrayal
The boy was riding hard through the woods. His horse foamed at the mouth as he pushed it even harder, urging it to finish the last leg of the journey. After what seemed like an age, the horse finally flew into the courtyard of the castle and dropped, its sides heaving from exhaustion. The messenger jumped off the poor creature and sped up the castle steps. He burst into the main hall where seven people were sitting around a long table, talking to each other. Before the guards could stop him, he rushed to a man dressed all in black, with short, platinum hair, and began his message.
"I must deliver this message to the leader of the Dragoons." He said to the man. The man looked over at another warrior in red armor and smirked.
"Yeah, that's me." He replied. The page nodded and launched hurriedly into his message.
"Three hours ago the Twin Castle in Fletz was attacked by an unknown Dragon. The Dragoon, Furion is currently holding it at bay, while waiting for the remaining Dragon Knights to arrive and assist him. King Albert requests that they make haste." With a single movement the seven warriors leapt to their feet and rushed out the door, leaving the confused messenger standing alone in the empty room.
The group burst out the front doors into the courtyard where the horse still lay panting. In seven flashes of light they transformed, Lloyd held back the true power of his stone for now. He'd show them later. The Dragoons winged off towards Fletz at amazing speed. Long tails of light streaming out behind them. Moments later, their Dragon wings having propelled them at incredible speed, they were hovering on the outskirts of the sprawling city. Their eyes scanned the area, finding nothing, fear that they had come too late swept through the group, but then they saw a flash of grey and green high above them. In the next moment, Furion came plummeting down and smashed a cart beneath them. Opening his eyes, he caught sight of his teammates hovering above him. His hair hung limp with sweat around his face, and blood was trickling into his eye from a cut just above his brow. Albert and his soldiers had long since retreated to the castle, severely beaten and exhausted, their dead still littering the scorched ground.
"What took you so long!" Furion called up to them.
"Sorry," Lloyd shot back, "we stopped for some refreshment!"
"Smart-ass." the Jade Dragoon muttered.
"Dragon coming." Came Kongol's voice.
At that moment, a huge stream of fire swept between the Dragoons, they scattered every which way, and looked up at the creature bearing down on them. The Elemental Dragon let out an ear-splitting roar and fired spears of ice at the heroes. Having recovered from their initial shock, however, the Dragoons weren't about to sit back and take a beating. Flying straight into the barrage, they used their weapons to smash the spears before they could have any effect. Seeing a particularly large spear headed Kayla's way, Lloyd sent a blast of energy at it, shattering it into a million tiny diamonds. Shooting a furious glance his way Kayla flew towards another spear and smashed it in mid-flight.
Then, the Dragon was upon them. Before he could react, Kongol was smashed full-force in the chest by its spiked tail. One of the wicked barbs ripping a line across his arm. Dropping his axe he fell into a dive to retrieve it. Meru saw the movement, and slammed her hammer down on the beast's ugly snout with tremendous force. It was stunned for only a moment, but that was all the time that was needed. Calling the Dragon Buster to his hand, Lloyd, nodded at Dart and Kayla. As one, they sped towards the stunned creature, dropping onto its back and hacking off its great wings with a few deft movements. The beast roared with pain, and dropped like a rock, swinging its head from side to side as Shana released her own barrage at its eyes. Haschel fired a huge ball of lightning right down its throat, and Furion slashed off one of its ugly tusks with one swipe of his scythe. With a great scream, the Dragon blasted Shana, with a searing flame and jumped into the sea, diving deep beneath the surface.
The Dragon Knights dropped to the ground and morphed back to their human forms. Dart rushed over to Shana and shook her by her shoulders. She opened her eyes and flung her arms around his neck.
"Dart! What happened? Did we beat it?" She asked hurriedly.
"No, it got away again. But I'm more worried about you. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Love. The Dragoon armor deflected the worst of it. All I've got are some singed hairs." Dart smiled and kissed her forehead, then took her by the hand and helped her up. Lloyd landed next to Kayla and looked her up and down.
"You alright, Kay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Came her short reply. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered,
"You still mad at me?"
"What do you think?" She snapped, and stalked off to find Meru.
On the other side of the square Meru was bandaging up Kongol's arm as he sat on the cart that Furion had broken. Haschel stood nearby making jokes about her healing abilities, and Furion was sitting exhaustedly on a nearby bench. Kayla walked over to the small group and tapped Meru lightly on the shoulder. The Wingly turned and saw her friend.
"Hey, Kay."
"How can I help?" Asked Kayla.
"I think I've got it pretty much covered, thanks anyway."
"Why you no with white-hair man?" The Giganto inquired. Kayla waved a hand carelessly in front of her face.
"He's treating me like a child." She said, as Haschel laughed.
"I'm not surprised." Said the Martial Arts Master. "He was worried sick about you when you died. Nearly picked a fight with me."
"Yeah, that sounds like Lloyd." Meru piped up.
A few minutes later, a trumpet blared, and a large entourage of courtiers came marching out of the Castle. Albert shoved them out of the way and stood before his friends. The Dragon Knights immediately dropped to their knees, all except Lloyd, who stood there with his arms crossed that familiar smirk on his lips. With a slightly annoyed glance at the Wingly, the King rushed toward his comrades.
"Get up! Don't be stupid, get up!" He called to them. Rushing to Dart, he took him by the arm and yanked him upright. "Don't be stupid. We're friends."
"Uh, yeah." He nodded to the others and they slowly got to their feet as well.
"What happened?"
Lloyd walked up and stood next to Dart, smirking at the king, much to his irritation, Dart shot the Wingly a look, and launched into his account of the battle with the Dragon. Albert waited until he was done to ask his questions.
"So, that Thing was a Dragon?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"I thought all the Dragons were dead?"
"They are. I think this might be a new Dragon."
"A new Dragon!" The king burst out. "Where the hell could it come from!" Dart just shrugged.
"No idea."
"Then how do we stop it?"
"I don't know." With a smirk, Lloyd walked over and draped a hand casually over the King's shoulder.
"Hey, Al. Lighten up. I know how the thing exists, and I know how to kill it." Albert disdainfully moved out from under the Wingly's arm and stared hard at him.
"Do tell."
"The only way that Dragon can exist, is if someone created it. And the only way to destroy it is to destroy the person who created it." The people around him stared as if he had just announced he was a woman.
"How do you know all this?" Albert finally asked, breaking the silence. Lloyd just shrugged.
"I read."
"How do we find out who made it?"
"You have to access its memories. That should get you what you need."
"You heard the man!" the King barked. "Get a move on. We need a way to trap it, and someone who can access its mind." The soldiers threw him a salute and marched back up to the castle.
Soon, a decidedly feminine figure came running down the steps and flew straight into Albert's arms. Emille rested her head on her husband's shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. Lloyd watched the two of them for a long moment, his face unreadable. Then, he powered up and winged away, back towards Bale. Kayla followed him with her eyes until he flashed out of sight, a pang of regret shooting through her. But she just shook it off, and followed the others into the castle.
Far, far away, Zackwell stared into his pool, watching the events he had set in motion unfold. So the Wingly knew how to defeat the Dragon, that might prove to be an annoyance, he thought. I shall simply have to get rid of him. And I know just how to do it. With a small smile he pulled a piece of parchment towards him and began to write.
Moments later, the same messenger boy who had delivered the king's summons earlier that day, came running up the steps of the Twin Castle and burst into the dining room. The torches burned brightly in their brackets, and the table was set. Around the table sat nine people, the King, his Queen, and seven of the eight Dragoons. Shoving the guards aside, the boy flew to Albert's side.
"My Lord! A message my Lord." He said.
"From whom?"
"From Mr. Lloyd, my liege." The former Wind Dragoon ripped the message from the messenger's hands and read it. Then he passed it to Dart, who was seated at his right. The message read,
Dragoons,
I know who created the Dragon. Meet me at Mount Dragon Tomb.
Lloyd
After a few moments, Dart looked up from the parchment at the group.
"It's Lloyd; he knows who set the Dragon on us." Without a sound, the Dragon Knights got up from their seats and filed out of the Hall. Albert watched them go, his silence matching theirs. Soon, this would all be over.
Back in Bale, Lloyd paced back and forth across the floor of the training room. His eyes were closed, as if he was concentrating hard on something, and his fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides. She's still mad at me. Still mad…still mad… "STILL MAD!" He burst out. With one swift motion, he generated a sphere of energy in his palm, pulling power into it from the surrounding air. It grew larger and larger finally he flung it furiously at one of the large training posts. The tree trunk exploded, sending splinters flying every which way. With a cry of frustration and pent up anger, the Wingly drew his sword and flashed across the room.
One hour later, the training room was unrecognizable. Scorch marks covered the usually spotless walls, and the training posts lay in ruins, slashed to tiny pieces. A huge, blackened crater had appeared in the middle of the floor, and at the bottom of the crater was Lloyd. He leaned heavily on his sword, sweat dripped to the ground from his limp hair. His breath came in short gasps, and he bled from a deep cut across his cheek, where a flying chip of stone had cut into the tender flesh.
"She wants to stay mad at me? Fine, time to get even." With a smirk he vanished, leaving the ravaged room for the guards to find.
Three days after laving Fletz, the seven Dragoons stepped off the Queen Fury, onto the docks of Fueno. Quickly they rented horses from a nearby stable, and rode full tilt towards Mount Dragon Tomb. In a matter of hours, they had reached the pass. It was almost a year since they had last been to this place, yet nothing seemed to have changed. The same guard still stood at attention, the trees still looked half-withered and foreboding.
With a nod to the drowsy guard, Dart led the team through the pass. The landscape became increasingly gray and dead. The rocks burned with an inhuman heat, and the distant cries of some animal echoed off the sides of the valley. The small troop walked close together, weapons drawn, their eyes scanning every crevice and shadow for evidence of a trap. Unconsciously, Shana drew closer to Dart, who wrapped his free arm around her waist.
Kayla watched the two, wishing she hadn't been so pigheaded towards Lloyd; he only wanted to protect me. He did it because he cares. And I pushed him away. She shook off the depressing thoughts again, and gripped her daggers tighter. She'd apologize to him later. Right now they had to concentrate on getting to the meeting place alive. Suddenly, a flying green form slammed into her, sending her hurtling through the air towards a particularly large group of razor sharp rocks. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact, then something else slammed into her and grabbed her, hauling her out of the air and dropping her lightly onto her feet.
"Be careful would you? I'm too old to be saving careless young women." Grumbled the Thunder Dragoon. She shot him an annoyed look and rushed over towards Meru who had also been knocked down by the creature.
"You okay Meru?" She asked.
"I'm fine. What was that thing?"
"Kongol think we find out soon." Came the Giganto's voice.
"Dragoons! On your guard, we're surrounded!" Shouted Dart to the rest. Looking up, Kayla saw lines upon lines of the creatures. Green scales, long, cruel talons, huge bat-like wings, and razor sharp teeth, dripping a dark liquid.
"Oh, damn." She breathed, as the animals attacked.
Lloyd jumped into the sky for the second time that day. Winging away towards Mount Dragon Tomb, the wind whipped across his face, and he pulled a black bandana from his pocket and tied it around his mouth and nose, making himself look like a bandit. His sword was in his hand as he dropped out of the air into the valley that led to the summit of the mountain. Quickly, he ran uphill, following the crude path that would lead him to his friends.
Dart drove his sword through the heart of the last beast. With a high-pitched scream, it feel to the ground, its tail swinging madly for a few moments until its brain realized it was dead and stopped sending signals to its muscles. Shana was already working on healing a deep slash that one of the animals had given Meru; and Haschel was poking around the dead bodies. The corpses steamed as they lay scattered on the ground, and a putrid stink was already beginning to fill the area.
"Come on, guys. Let's get out of here." Shana said. The others eagerly assented and the group began its trek again. But just as they had left the bodies behind them a black figure slammed into Kayla and sent her flying. Oh for god's sake, she thought as Haschel caught her again.
"We really have to stop meeting like this." He quipped. She just ignored him and jumped up, drawing her daggers, her eyes scanning the walls on either side of them. There was nothing there. Suddenly, Meru cried out as she was sent flying into the rock wall, slamming her head against it, and passing out. Kongol, enraged at this treatment of the
Wingly girl, began swinging his axe wildly about. But in the next instant something hard and cold had smashed into the crown of his head with incredible force, and he too blacked out. Furion stood his ground, his scythe at the ready his eyes searching every bit of shadow, he saw a dark flash and swung at it, hit air, the felt the hilt of a sword slam into his temple and crumpled to the ground. Dart whirled just in time to see Haschel get knocked out as well. Leaving just him, Shana, and Kayla to deal with their unseen attacker. The Fire Dragoon watched helplessly as another dark blur flashed behind Shana, and she dropped to the ground.
"Where are you! Show yourself, coward!" He shouted.
As soon as he did, a figure materialized in front of him, dressed all in black, a piece of cloth hiding the lower half of his face, and sent him headfirst into the rock wall. Jumping back, blood trickling down his face, from a gash in his forehead, he span around, swinging his sword at the attacker. Hitting nothing but empty air, he whirled again, only to be sent flying into Kayla, who stood bewildered as he came barreling into her. Slowly, he got up and helped her to her feet. Then, he picked up his sword and thrust his hand to the stone hidden in his armor.
"Red Eye Dragoon! Emerge!" He cried, and closed his eyes as he felt the flames envelop him, their warmth reassuring him. The red light played across the silent walls, as he transformed. In the next instant, he had a fireball in his left hand and his flaming sword in his right. "Come on coward! Show yourself!" He shouted again.
The figure appeared again, a ball of energy in its own hand, pointed straight towards Dart's own sphere of flames. The Dragoon sent more power into his fireball, causing it to grow, and the black clad man did the same. Dart detected the shift in the man's eyes a moment too late, the ball of energy slammed into him sending him careening straight into the rocks again. His head slammed against one and he remembered no more.
Now the villain turned on Kayla who stood there as if nailed to the ground beneath her feet. He just beat Dart, the strongest Dragoon I know. What chance do I stand? I wish Lloyd was here, he'd kick this guy's ass. The thought burned into her mind, as the figure powered up another ball of energy. In the next instant, her instincts cast her mind aside, and she too transformed into her Dragoon form. Holding her daggers out in front of her, she generated her own sphere of magic, it crackled with the power it contained, red spots floating across its black surface. The two combatants fired off their charges at the same moment. The two spheres colliding mid-way between the warriors. They seemed to writhe together in some twisted dance for long moments, then, in a brilliant flash of orange light, neutralized each other. Quick as a flash, Kayla flung a dagger for her enemy; it left a long, deep slash across his upper arm before returning to her hand.
"Now, show your face. Or are you afraid."
"No," the man finally spoke, his voice was all too familiar, but it couldn't be, "but you might be." With slow, deliberate movements, he untied the cloth from around his face and let it fall. The moment she saw his face her knees gave out and she reverted to her human form, falling to her knees in the dust.
"No, it can't be. No…" She looked up at the man standing there smirking at her.
"What's the matter?" Lloyd said, as he powered up another energy sphere. "Cat got your tongue?" Then he laughed, a deep, menacing laugh, and threw the sphere at the girl who knelt, crying, on the ground.
To be continued…
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Well, hope you enjoyed it, and sorry for taking so long to get it up. Part 8 is in the works. So you shouldn't have to wait too long. I hope. And would love more reviews! Thanks!