Twilight

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Adventure Quest (Except my own characters). Maria Despair belongs to Xenolord and is used with permission. Arc belongs to Arc the Archangel.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was out of town.

-'Thoughts'

-"Speech"

Ch. 5

Awe-Inspiring

"Whoa!" Fang gaped at the sight of the city. His gaze was caught by a huge tower that loomed in the back of the city.

"The guardian tower." Drake answered Fang's unasked question.

"It's almost as big as the vampire castle!" Fang said. His attention was caught by a small squeaky voice.

"Hi Drake! Need a quick heal?" Fang sniffed the air and licked his lips.

"Snack!" Cried Fang as he lunged for the shocked moglin. He stopped just short of the small, brown furred creature as it curled into a ball and shivered in fear. He looked behind him to see Drake in dragon form holding his tail.

"Down Fang! Twilly is not breakfast, he's our friend!" He gave Fang a cold stare. Fang straightened up and glanced longingly at the moglin, licking his lips. He shook his head, clearing away his hungry thoughts and waved at Twilly.

"Hi."

"H-hi yourself." Twilly said as he unrolled himself, still shaking.

"Sorry about that Twill, he hasn't eaten in awhile." Drake said, rubbing the moglin's head to calm him down. A loud grumble came from his stomach. "I guess I haven't had something to munch on in long time myself. You better warn Yulgar, he's in for two very hungry customers!" Twilly nodded and scampered off to one of the larger houses. Drake turned to Fang and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Fang, a few things you need to know before we go any further. One, don't eat anyone or anything that is alive in this town, they are my friends. Two, I'm a very respected person here, so don't be surprise if random people start bombarding me with requests or questions or any kind of "quest" in general." He and fang laughed. "Three, we aren't staying long. We go get some food, then I have some business with Yulgar, after that we hit the tower and then we are off on the road again."

"Where are we going so soon?" Fang wondered why they would be in a hurry.

"I need to check on Master Cyrus, my teacher." Drake responded. Their stomachs groaned again and Drake promptly led the way to the Inn Twilly had vanished into earlier. Drake and Fang approached the door. A sweet smell wafted from inside. They burst through the door, catching sight of an empty table that was loaded with food. The two starving friends bolted for the table, Drake tossing a bag of gold on the counter where a burley, brown-haired man stood. The man stared at the two who were now burying their faces into the food and shook his head with a smile.

"Don't eat the table now!" He said with a laugh. "Took me forever to buff out the teeth marks last time."

"Well, that's what I get for having a dragon's appetite!" Drake called back, his eyes turning to slits as he glanced at Yulgar with a smile. Drake took another monstrous bite out of his razorwing leg and looked back to Yulgar. "By the way, how's Battleon's new guardian coming along?" Drake asked between mouthfuls.

"Pretty good I guess, he left about a month ago, while you where out looking for that fire-blood sword or whatever it was. By the way, how did that go?"

"Safiria wouldn't let me have one unless I joined her, so I just blasted one of her peons to get it instead." Fang chuckled at that last part.

"So, who's our furry new customer here?" Yulgar asked, gesturing toward Fang who stopped eating, cheeks bulging with food. He eyed the innkeeper inquisitively.

"This is Fang, the previous owner of my new sword was having a little spat with this one. Bit off more than you could chew, eh?" the three chuckled.

"Haha, but seriously Drake, he eats about as much as you!"

"Well, you shouldn't complain then! It's your profit." Drake said, feigning indignity.

"Not so much as you think…" Yulgar's face turned grim, "Everyone knows the great things you've don lad, but there are those who are scared stiff of you, and it's I little bad for business…"

"Why would anyone who came here be scared of me? I only go after damned souls and those who attack me first. What should any well-meaning citizen have to be afraid of?"

"Don't get me wrong, I think Everyone's got a right to there own path and yours is no exception, but there are those who find your allegiance a little… unnerving."

Drakes eyes went cold, "They have a problem with what I am? Well they can take there complaints to Galanoth, I'm sure he'd love an excuse to go toe-to-talon with master Cyrus." He pushed his plate toward the center of the table and stood up.

'Woah! Wait a minute, did he just say MASTER! This Cyrus guy must be pretty hard-core to be above Drake…' Fang snapped out of his reverie and stood as well.

"Off for another weapon?" The innkeeper asked.

"Actually, yes… Yulgar do you still have that old hilt I found a while back?"

"Drake, you are the biggest pack-rat I ever… ah here it is!" Yulgar withdrew a strange golden handle guard and handed it to Drake. "Don't know why you kept the stupid thing. You could at least have let me make something out of it." Yulgat crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Trust me, I found a good use for it. If everything goes well, I'll show you." Drake smiled slyly as he strode from the inn with Fang in toe, leaving behind a very confused looking Yulgar.

"So, where are we going now?" Fang asked, looking around at all the strange houses and wondering which one they would visit next. To his surprise, Drake started to walk straight up the street, directly toward the huge tower. "I-I-in there!"

Drake nodded his head, and walked past the guards on the side of the door. But as Fang tried to follow, the spears crossed in front of him to block his way. Drake spun around confused.

"Halt! No non-guardian may pass this door." One of the guards said.

"But I'm with…" Fang started to protest.

"No exceptions!"

Drake stepped toward one of them, "Come on, he's with me. You can make an exception in my case right?" he pleaded with the guard.

"I said no exceptions, and that's final!" The guard turned his stern face to Drake, but his intimidating figure withered slightly under Drakes gaze. Drake began to growl in frustration as the guard refused to back down.

"Actually…" a voice behind Drake said. An armored hand came to rest on Drake's spiked shoulder plate, "I do believe he can come in. after all, there's nothing saying guardian "pets" aren't allowed. Let Drake's dog through why don't you." The figure smiled up at Drake who smiled back.

"Thanks Nimrod, I owe you one… well, I owe you a few… but you get the idea…" Drake rambled under his breath to the guardian. Nimrod winked at him then retuned to his table where he started flipping through a book. Fang walked up next to Drake and looked at him with a small amount of distain.

"So, do I have to sit or rollover or something?" he asked. His serious face twitched a little and a smile crept across his face. They both started laughing.

Drake led Fang up a staircase to the right side of the tower and into a strange circular room with a glowing column of light coming from the center.

"I'll only be a bit, wait here for me will you?" Drake said as he walked toward the beam, the strange golden hilt in hand. Fang nodded and sat next to the wall and watched as Drake disappeared into the beam.

"Do you have any fish?" a squeaky voice called. Fang looked to his left and saw a little yellow mooglin in the doorway. Fang resisted the urge to lunge at and instead found himself examining his claws. He heard the small creature come closer. Fang was almost sweating now, focusing hard on a knot of fur on the end of his tail. His mouth watered and the vision the small morsel appeared in his hands. This was too much. He shut his eyes and bit down hard on the illusion, only to find his tail now painfully pinched between his teeth. His loud yelp sent the mooglin scampering away.

Almost instantly, someone started coming out of it. Fang stood up. But it wasn't Drake who came through, it was a woman. She wore armor similar to that the guards were wearing earlier, except hers was white. She had black hair that bunched up around her shoulders. She caught sight of him and glared. This action took Fang aback. Suddenly though, as if recognizing what she was staring at, her eyes went wide and she glanced at the teleporter. She bolted from the room. Fang shugged and sat back down. Downstairs he heard a-"good evening madam Despair."

"I'm back!" Fang jumped. He looked back at the teleporter and saw Drake walking out of it with something behind his back.

"What's that" Fang pointed to Drakes arms.

"This, my friend, is the answer to my sword-breaking problem! Walla!" He pulled the object in front of him to reveal a truly magnificent sword. The blade had strange markings o it, four in total, and seemed to emanate a faint light. The handguard he had seen earlier was sealed seamlessly to the blade and handle, which had a small red gem in the pommel. "It's called the Blade of Awe. It was a real pain finding the pieces, but it can't be broken and it's got all these insane powers!" Drake was practically jumping with excitement.

"I can see where it got it's name…" Fang said, gazing at the sword. Drake's face suddenly went blank as he looked out the window.

"And we'll be seeing just how good it is if we don't get past Granemor by sunset!" he bolted out the door and toward the exit, Fang in toe.

"Why are we heading North again?" Fang asked.

"To visit a friend of mine. But we don't want to be caught out near the woods by midnight. My wings should get us as far as we need but…" Drake trailed off as he skidded to a halt outside the Inn.

"You push your luck too far, Drake…" The shuddering Twilly leaned out from behind a steel-clad boot. Drake stared heavily into the hazel eyes of possibly the greatest hero of all Lore: Artix Kreiger.

"What line have I crossed now?" Drake asked, then he noticed that Artix's gaze was not on him, but Fang. Drake's back glowed and a silvery wing unfurled to block Fang from the paladin's view. "He is my charge, he has done nothing wrong." Drake made sure not to raise his voice.

"You know full well that I will not permit the denizens of Darkovia run amuck on civil ground!" Artix said sternly, his grip tightening on the handle of his axe.

"I also know that you crave a united and peaceful Lore as much as I do, so take into consideration that not ALL creatures are the same. How else do you think Galanoth can call a dragon to help him when he hunts them as a living? Because he can accept that at least one… Speak of the devil…" Drake stopped and watched as Galanoth came galloping up on his horse. He dismounted and gave Artix a welcoming slap on the back. Then he seemed to notice who his friend was staring at.

"Well, I see you made it back okay. Where is your fuzzy friend?" Galanoth said looking about. Drake dematerialized his wing to let him see, showing a very indignant Fang looking at Galanoth. "Ah, there he is, thanks again for the sharp shooting earlier." He gave a friendly nod to Fang and turned back to Artix who now looked taken aback.

"He saved you?" Asked the very confused paladin.

"Yup, this one's got a keen eye with a bow. They should let more Wolves into the Slaying order." Galanoth chuckled.

Smiling and shaking his head at Drake, Artix loosed his hold on his axe. "It seems you've proven me wrong again. We must stop meeting this way."

"And we must stop parting this way…" Drake smiled and patted Artix on the shoulder as he bagan to walk past him, motioning for Fang.

"It was… uh, nice, to meet you…" Fang said sheepishly and held out a hand which Artix slowly took. They looked at eachother and smiled.

"FANG! We'll never make it in time if we don't hurry!" Drake called to him, already in dragon form. Fang gave one last nod and hurried after Drake.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fang awoke to a burning sensation on his ear. He quickly rubbed his head in the dirt to put it out. 'Where did that come from?' he asked himself. It didn't take hi m long to find. Drake lay on his side and let out a loud snore, sending a short jet of flame from his gaping mouth. The sight would have been absolutely comical if it weren't for the fact that they had set up camp in a large field. If he didn't stop, he'd set the whole plain alight. Fang gently crept over to Drake's side and rolled him onto his back so he would not face the grass. Suddenly Fang's mouth began to water, he had caught the scent of a small snack. He quietly snuck off in the direction of the smell.

Fang slowly approached a small clearing and hid behind a bush. Peering through the leaves, he could see the small purple mooglin. 'Wait, PURPLE? Weird color…oh well.' Fang stared longingly at the creature. It seemed to be chuckling to itself about something.

'Drake said not to eat them.' A voice inside Fang's head yelled at him.

'But He said in the town,' another voice perked up, 'Besides, what he doesn't know, won't hurt you.' Fang decided to go with the second voice, besides, who could beat that logic?

He watched silently as the creature raised a small staff and said some strange words. Suddenly the ground around the clearing began splitting open. With a yelp, Fang saw a boney hand clutching his bare ankle. Off in the distance, Fang could hear a snort and what seemed to be a small explosion go off. His attention was caught by the hand and he wrenched it away. The small purple mooglin was now staring at him with a wicked grin, his red eyes fixed on Fang who was now terrified.

"What the heck is going on h… Zorbak!" Drake, in full dragon form, said as he alighted on the ground next to Fang. The caped mooglin gave a mock-bow and muttered something. More hands burst from the ground and latched onto the two's arms and legs.

"Well, it seems my reputation proceeds me… Who do we have here? Can this be?" Zorbak fixed his gaze on Drake. "It is, you're that fire-breathing punk who helped those fools at Battleon hold off my army. Oh revenge is sweeet!" His manic smile broadened as a skeleton pulled itself from the earth with sword in hand and advanced toward the trapped friends. With a lightning movement, Fang had sharply torn away from the hands and pulled out his sword. With one quick upward slash, he had cleaved the undead soldier in half.

"That all you got shorty?" Fang said with a cocky grin as he turned to Face Zorbak. He immediately ate that sentence. Drake had already pulled himself free and was wrestling with five of the hundreds of skeletal warriors now advancing on them. Fang gritted his teeth and lunged into the fray. Skulls flew left and right as Drake sought to reposses his dropped sword, his clawed hand sending bones in every direction. Fang jumped in the air, logging his sword into the skull of an attacker, twisting and bringing the whole body around, flinging into the others. Fang began to charge a large zombie but it was ripped apart by a massive beam of light. Fang looked around and spotted it, Drake had recovered his sword and the golden aura around it was blasting left and right, taking out the undead in droves.

"That it Z? You're losing your touch." Drake laughed as only a few of the small army remained. Zorbak simply pointed his staff Behind Drake and smiled. Now, it was Drake's turn to eat his words. He was caught in the chest and flung over to rest next to Fang and looked up at the massive skeletal form of a Dragon. Moss and dirt clung to its glowing eye sockets and green fire rolled over its still razor-sharp teeth. Debris rained on them as it roared loudly, its spectral rider raising his sword, ready to charge.

Suddenly, a golden blur shot through the air and the rider's body limply fell to the ground, cleanly decapitated. Wide-eyed, Drake and Fang looked at the golden-clad wolf that had landed on the ground, growling at the dracolich. Another glint of gold caught the two's eyes. On a hill overlooking the clearing the shining silhouette of a man could be seen. His short, white hair flowed slightly in the wind and his blue eyes pierced the dark and his smile of utmost confidence. His armor was that of solid gold, but seemed as light as air. In his hand he held a finely-crafted sword with shimmering runes running along it.

Sword in hand the paladin let out a battle cry and raced down the hill.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry this took so long, I've been really busy lately. Next Ch. Is gonna be intense. Don't miss!