Fire Emblem Redux: Dragon's Blood

Chapter 4: In Occupations' Shadow: Part 2

A/N I just now looked at the title of the chapter 4 mission. It's listed as "In Occupation's Shadow." As well… Very VERY strange. Anyway, here we go.

Lyn and Kent were the last to leave. "They bid us a fond Farewell, but, they warn us against staying at the nearby fort tonight. They say a Banshee has haunted it. She wails at night crying one strange sounding name." She shrugged. "As long as it isn't calling Sain or Kent, I think we're safe."

Sain and Kent both glared at Wil. He had gotten off scott free the other night, while Kai was nearly dead in his saddle. I merely just groaned my approval. "Lesh gosh..." She had nearly broken my jaw. She had in fact, sprained it. I never knew it was possible.

Every step my horse took was an hour of pain condensed into one second. I kept the groaning to a minimum. "Ow…" I managed to say clearly.

"I suppose that will keep you from peeping on me again…"

I sighed, and stop screaming in my head, and reached across the group. 'Ariana, take my mount. Garnet, please carry me.'

'Oh no, Kai, I've learned my lesson, I'm not to associate with perverts!' I fixed the dragon with a glare that said 'Do it or I will burn you to ashes with one of my Blessings.'… He did it.

I laid down on the back of the Young Dragon and moaned as I was carried inches off the ground with his delicate flying. 'Much better…'

Kent was the first to notice. "Commander, Your voice is… Well, it's VERY weak." Sain nodded as well. "I've been wounded in much the same way before; it does tend to scramble your thoughts."

I sighed, and strengthen my voice, sitting up rather painfully. 'You see, my Blessings are directly linked to my body, and therefore yours, through your Service to Lyn. The power comes from Heaven, to me, through Lyn, to you. Thus why I take extra care of Lyn in battle.'

Lyn snorted "Yeah right, you just like to gawk at my naked flesh." She smirked. I stopped the dragon, and got up, walking straight towards her. Kent and Sain were Aghast, and Ariana was hopping off the horse to run to me. Wil was just dumbfounded. Florina, of course, snickered.

I punched Lyndis Caelin straight in the face and off her horse. "STUPID GIRL!" I yelled, even with my sore jaw. My voice came out of my mind again. 'How can you be so Elimine Damned IGNORANT! Stop acting like you're some brutal Savage raised by the Taliver Den Mothers! You are a Lady of a Canton Court! You are soon to be the Sole Living heir of that court, if you do not straight up and listen to me. Lyndis, I would not lie to you.' There was pain in my eyes, I could tell.

'Your uncle is poisoning your grandfather. You know this as well as I do. Anyone can see that his Death is not natural. Lord Hausen will not want a Foolish Sacaen Nomad ruling over his Canton when he died.' I snarled. 'Seeing you like this… he would drink the poison straight, if for only to get YOU out of the will.'

'You are a damned fool. Listen to me. Do not think I am some perverted teenager; do not think I am some wizened sage. But I AM the Strategist of this army. You are the Commander and MY charge. If I so chose, I could send them all into the depths of hell my using the Blessing of Mercy. But I could not do that to you, because you are what gives me the power I have. My relationship with you determines how much damage I take using my blessings. If I love you too much, my hand will fall off by using Savior. Not enough and it will as well. The best thing for us to be is the best of friends, like brother and sister.' I coughed a bit, spitting the pinkish liquid out of my mouth. Garnet came to me as did Ariana, and laid me back onto our dragon. 'Garnet, take me to the Fortress.' I looked at the group. 'I expect you all there soon. Within the day. Give Lyn a Vulnerary, and take your lunch now. I'm leaving now.'

The flight was long, but it was not painful Garnet spoke up first… 'Could you… even kill me, as we are right now?' I shook my head.

'No, garnet, I couldn't. Only if you were near Death, or if you betrayed Lyn. But if you were going to betray her at all, I would know beforehand…'

'How?'

'I can see through the eyes of my men and women. They will have some sort of… Feeling to them, is all I can say. Their eyes will be a bit blurry, and hard to read the world from. When I project, I have to tie a lifeline of sorts onto those I am projecting too. They become my five senses but retain their free will. In a sense, I haunt them.'

He nodded as he began to circle the fortress. 'I see… so, the more distracted they are…' I nodded. 'The less useful they are to me. We are not bandits who charge head long into battle. We are a group of warriors with a common goal. It's hard to bring a group like this together, and sometimes, I must be very sneaky in the background to bring the group together. The closer knit a little group is… the better it is for the army. Instead of being a full force of warriors, we are rebels in the face of the world. We must use the land for ourselves.'

The dragon stayed silent as we landed, and he carried me within the Fort. He walked towards the back room. We heard the soft breathing of inhabitants. He peeked around the corner, and then walked forward a bit. A single woman was sleeping on the tiles in the middle of the room. Garnet snuffed in distaste. 'It smells like sickness in here…'

I nodded. 'Because she is sick. This must be the Banshee of the Fort. She's sick, and screams when she is in pain. The walls distort it, and make it sound like a Banshee's wail.' I rolled off of Garnet as he laid down to let me.

"Well well… It seems this dragon is preparing himself a feast." I heard the voice in the room, and looked around. Garnet tensed. I felt around but drew a blank. I saw the mercenary walk out of the shadows. He wasn't exactly that tall, but he had muscles. A good deal more than Kent, or Sain. He carried himself with a fine grace, which seemed to speak of confidence, deserved or not. "Imagine my surprise when I see this young lady sleeping in this broken down fort. And then I see something that flies like a Pegasus with no rider sweeping in, carrying a clearly injured man." He sighed.

"Looks like it's time to slay a baby dragon before it grows up!" he drew his sword quickly. I held my hand up and placed it on Garnet. He Relaxed at my touch, and sat back, his tail wagging somewhat like a puppies. 'Just defend against him, Garnet. Don't attack, he thinks you're something that your not.'

The young man leapt into the air. His iron sword was nothing to be scared of for Garnet, who just snapped his teeth around it and yanked it free, tossing it aside. He glared at the mercenary. "Young man…" I said quietly.

He looked at me, not a bit of awe on his face. "You can't have been who was talking to the dragon… He wasn't wounded." He frantically looked around.

"Calm down…" I said, and then looked at him while I got a fix on his location with my projection. I let my spirit do the talking for me. 'Look, this dragon is the steed of one of my Women-at-arms. If anything happened to this wyvern, I'd be in some deep shit. He carried me here at my behest. My name is Kai, Strategist of Lyndis' Legion.'

He nodded dumbly as he could vaguely see my ethereal shape beside the dragon. 'Get your sword and sit guard with this dragon. If you see a group of people approaching, ask the dragon if he feels snow coming.' I explained it to garnet at the same time. 'If he does, he'll nod. If it's not, he'll come back inside and get me. You're to carry the woman to safety. Follow the road towards Bern, and you'll find my group. Ask for Kent. Tell him that Kai has sent you.'

I supposed I cut a powerful figure, because with that, Garnet went outside the door, along with the Mercenary. I passed out.

I awoke to the smell of roasting antellius. I stood up slowly and staggered out the door. The woman had gotten up before me. I Looked out, and saw Sain and the Mercenary from earlier sizing each other up. Ariana and Florina were gawking at them. Mostly at Sain. He and the other were in nothing but Tank tops and trousers. Kent and Lyn were sitting beside each other on a log, talking like old friends. Wil was taking care of the sick woman. Garnet nudged my arm from just outside the main door. I smiled, and patted his nose.

The dark-blue clothed man was down in nothing but his trousers and his shirt, the same as Sain. They were having an arm-wrestling match on mid air, eyes cold as steel. For some reason, I couldn't shake the image of two teenage boys wrestling over whom got to take which girl to the Ball… The image seemed to fit. His hair was… rather spikey. I anted to say something but a voice deep inside began pleading with me. I decided zipping it was the best action. The day's events were coming to a close. I coughed a little, the activities stopped.

"Morning…" I muttered. Kent was the first to address me. "Ah, Lord Kai, Allow me to introduce Hiiro Zabukai. He's a mercenary from a nearby village. Seems he was told NOT to go looking for this ladies wife and he still did."

"Probably lost my post because of it. Damned old coot, if he could see what a fighter I really am, he'd understand that I'm not just some simple peasant with a sword!"

Garnet snickered quietly. I vaguely heard the mental word 'spikey…' float through the air. Hiiro immediately looked at me. "Got a problem with my hair?" I pointed at Garnet, and muttered something, though not even I'm sure what it was.

He snorted. "So, I'm supposed to believe the DRAGON is telepathic?" he snickered as he said dragon. He saw garnet start up the camp-fire, apparently. "Look at the big bad commander blaming the helpless dragon pup for his own mouth." He snorted. "Disgusting, old man. You don't even have the balls to fess up for what you said!"

I snarled. Lyn looked at me with worry. I stopped quickly, and sighed behind my teeth. If Lyn was worried about me, she must have snapped out of her rage. My ribs felt a little better, but the pain in my jaw hadn't gone away. Legs still hurt too. Ariana was the first to speak up. "Hiiro, leave him alone. Can't you see he's hurt?"

"No way, I want him to grow a pair. He doesn't have a single bandage on him except for his hands, and he acts like he's been through a damn war all alone!" he snorted, not noticing Lyn look away and close her eyes. "He thinks he can get away with whatever he wants to, whenever he wants. Probably some spoiled Etrurian noble's illegitimate brat! You can't get away with shit like that here!"

Kent and Sain stepped towards him in unison as he ripped the bandage from my hand. He stumbled back. I held up the bared hand in a move to stop them. "Kid… Look me in the face. You see this hand? This is what happens when you help someone in your traveling group stay alive. Do you know how magic works? It requires blood. A prayer requires sacrifice. I combine the two, by praying to Elimine to grant me the spell I need in my time of duress, sacrificing my own flesh and blood so that my fellows may live."

I smirked. Then dropped it, as it hurt like hell. My hand looked somewhat akin to have been put through a meat grinder. But the bones were still in Tact. "The hands are the most important thing for a Warrior. Therefore, if I ask for a blessing onto a warrior, my hands will be wounded. Onto a mage, and it will be my legs. Onto Lyn, and it will very likely be both my hands and my heart."

I sat down on the log. "Return when you at least have the decency to not insult a man who is wounded." And with that, Kent and Sain grabbed him up by the arms, while Florina carried his armor. They flung him out of the light of the campfire roughly. She tossed his armor and his sword to him. "Don't ever insult my commander, brat." She said very firmly, and turned promptly to the fire, walking like she wanted to prove a point.

I sighed. "So what did I miss?"

Sain spoke first. "He seemed very nice. He was standing guard with Garnet, though he was absently talking to him."

Garnet snuck closer to the fire, placing his head in Ariana's lap and curling around her so she could lean back. He spoke up next. 'He didn't realize that I was replying to him. He kept thinking, 'That's probably what the dragon would say.' After I spoke to him, almost like he was listening but not comprehending what was happening.' The half-dragon moved his wings in a vaguely shrug-like gesture.

I nodded. "So, Lyn, have you thought about what I said?"

She nodded solemnly. She stood up. "I need to talk to you alone."

I nodded, and stood slowly, looking at the strange woman. "Before I go talk with my Lady, what would your name be?"

"Natalie…"

I nodded, and walked towards Lyn who stood on the edge of the firelight. She stood there looking like she had before we started this journey, unsure and afraid. "I'm… sorry, Kai."

I shook my head. "There's no need to be sorry. You've seen some things that… not many people see. You've done things most Paladins fear to even think of." I sighed. "You shouldn't be afraid. Or unsure. You're doing the right thing, but you have to understand…"

"You're not invulnerable… You're flesh and blood and bone, just like me. You're … Human. You're not some guardian angel."

I hesitated slightly. "Heh… if I was, I would never leave you alone. Be glad that I'm not. Because then I would have nothing to sacrifice for these blessings." I shook my head. "As strong as I am, I need to draw on your strength as well. For all intents and purposes, you're my… Well, for lack of a better word, you're my soul-mate. But, I'm forbidden to touch you. I'm forbidden to feel anything but love for you, but I can't love you. You have to understand, For all intents and purposes, I'm your brother."

"I… don't understand…" she looked at me like I was crazy.

"My power comes from three places. Elimine, blessed as she is, my own blood as a sacrifice, and you as the cipher. Elimine gives me permission to use one of her blessings at the price of my own blood, but ONLY if it used on you, or someone else who carries my amulet." I lightly ran a finger around my Heaven Seal. It was pulsing again. Something would happen soon. "Basically, carrying that amulet makes you a gateway into this world for Divine power. My blood may be within it, but, it is Elimine's power. Everything I have, I owe to her."

Suddenly, Lyn reached for her sword and I felt a sharp pain in my arm. I heard my heaven seal pulse, and felt the hot glow on my leg. As I began to fade out, I felt the blood of the man splash upon me, and I heard Lyn yell "TO ARMS! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" in the distance I heard a voice scream "GANELEON!"

Hiiro heard the scream. He didn't know why, but he turned around, and threw his sword over his shoulder, running for all he was worth in the pale morning light. "Don't worry, I'm coming…" he said to no one but himself.

The camp scrambled. The fire was kicked out by garnet as he tugged Ariana onto his back, grabbing up the parcel of armor that was Florina's. Her sharp whistle brought her Pegasus out of the nearby field and they dashed inside. Kent grabbed up his sword, and whistled, his mare, Kunoichi, came running up beside him. Sain's Stallion was of course, hot in pursuit. Wil stepped into the fort, and readied his arrows while dragging Natalie into the safety of the stone ruins. Kent was on his horses back before Lyn could even get a good start on the bandits. He rode Kunoichi hard, stopping the mare quickly to grab Lyn up and pull her on the back. She grabbed for Kai as the bandit began to bring his axe down for the felling blow…

Black… nothing but pitch black surrounded me… but I could somehow see. A Blue figure was dragging me away, her blade coming up to met an axe and it was shattered as her blade sliced through and into the brigand's face, killing him quickly. I was being pulled again. Something red, a blur, rode up. I could see four legs, but nothing else. He grabbed up my savior and I wanted to scream no as I felt the blackness closing in. But out of the darkness came a green blur. "FOR CAELIN!" I heard as brightly as if it were in my ear. I could see Sain's face as he drove his lance through the man, lifting him off the ground and causing his axe to cleave into his leg from the sheer force of the blow. The spear was firmly lodged where the black shadow's heart should be.

Quickly, the blade of the spear lunged upward as the man was pulled underneath the warhorses feet. He quickly grabbed me up as I reached for the man on the horse, though his name escaped me. I could only think of one name for this savior. Demon. I felt the darkness surround me once again.

Lyn was shouting orders as they garrisoned the fort quickly, Sain putting Kai down on the ground beside Natalie, who immediately began to patch his wounds. "I'll defend our flank. Wil, Patrol the area, Florina as well. The leftmost edge of the fort looked weak. They might try to bust it down. Sain, Kent, Maintain the front entrance, the back is sturdy. They won't be able to get in, so those two will be safe." She nodded slowly. "I'll take the right flank." She dashed off towards the right side of the fort. Natalie stopped her though. "If… If you see my husband, his name is Dorcas. He wears a dirty brown tunic. He carries an axe his father gave him, and he's very accurate with it when he throws. Don't fight him, tell him Natalie is inside."

Lyn nodded her acceptance, and dashed off towards the right side, standing at the edge of the door. The morning light allowed her to see out. Innumerable men stood outside, smirking at her.

Sain looked out and dodged another arrow as he slipped his last gauntlet on. "There…. Whoa!" he ducked down as an arrow struck sparks on the stone beside his head. "Too many to count… Elimine, I'd give my left nut to be back in that cabin right now…"

Kent smirked. "Even with the rawness?"

Sain frowned. "You have a good point there." He pulled his sword as he took a brief look again, and held it in his left hand. "Looks like quite a few axe men, and not a few archers." They heard the sound of crumbling stone and Ariana frowned. "They're busting down the western wall!" Garnet snarled and went back to the doorway to the middle of the fort. Ariana followed slowly and took out her spear, but garnet pulled it away. He nudged the book closer to her. Kai had been teaching her the words on its pages written in the dark red ink.

"But I can't read Garnet!" He fixed her with a stare, and she nodded. "Well, if you think I can, then I can!" The defense was ready.

Wil and Florina stood ready as the last blow crumbled the wall. He sighted down the arrow… he inhaled completely. He waited… The man dashed in wielding his axe with a berserker's cry. The shaft of the arrows flew from the bow, and passed cleanly through the man's trachea. He gurgled slowly before he fell back, the arrow sticking out the back of his neck, directly through the bone. Florina was next, the high ceilings of the place allowing her Pegasus room to swoop. Her lance was slim, but it was light, and as she dove on her flying mount, the swordsman who turned the corner had no chance. The lance punctured his lung on her first clean pass, and ripped out from between the lungs. He fell to ground in agony. Her mount rose into the air and spun, before rushing back at the man. Her lance ripped into the back of his skull, and with a sickening rip, it came clear of his body, aided by an arrow just moments before piercing his throat.

Sain rode his mount out in front of the door, angling his spear to take the unarmed man in the chest. It did so, but did not rip, or break. He dragged the man with him towards Kent. As they passed each other, Sain ripped free the spread by stopping his mount, flinging the nearly dead man forward, slinging him free of the spear. His sword was in his left hand, and it ripped into the next man's arm and cut through like butter.

Kent was doing much the same, but not stopping with one. He was riding out into the fray, his mare dancing around, kicking and whinnying as his blade flashed around him in a circle. Flowing blood circled the red armored man as if he were walking in a sea of the dying, his horse started to retreat as he felled the fourth in a row. She ran inside and he looked at the arrow sticking from her hind-quarters. He snarled. "They got Kuno."

Sain slapped another with the flat of his spear and jammed his sword through the man as his axe reeled back. "A few have glanced me and my stallion as well!" he snarled as another tried to flank him, his horse bucking at the sight. When the horse came down, Sain's spear was through the man from shoulder to stomach.

Lyn was having equal difficulty. But there were fewer charging in. And then she saw him, hefting his axe. The cloth tied about the base and his wrist unwound a bit as he reared back, and threw the weapon. The sound of cloth whistling in air cut in twine was a fearsome one. Lyn ducked down as the axe man swung horizontally. Her luck was to have the axe-thrower's weapon cut the man's arm off, sending the still moving axe and severed arm around the corner, cleaving into another's shin. She grinned as the both howled and her blade came up in an arc, cleaving both the man's leg and the cloth from the thrown axe, in two.

She grinned lightly as he hefted the much heavier axe in his other hand. "I'm sorry I have to do this… but I need the money." He hefted the axe high, and brought it down in a crescent with one hand. She merely stepped aside, and slapped his with the flat of the Mani-Katti.

"You must be Dorcas." She said as he tried to bulldozer her. She once again sidestepped. "Maybe." He ripped the axe out with a spin of his arm and slashed sideways. She back flipped away from it.

"So I suppose you don't care…" she said as she stepped forward, her sword biting into the wood of his axe's handle and her knee coming to meet his stomach, eliciting a grunt. "That we're protecting Natalie…."

He stopped completely. "Natalie's here?" Lyndis nodded quietly. He smirked and pulled his axes free, smiling. "Looks like daddy's got a new job." He turned around, and walked towards the door leading out. A swordsman stepped in and raised his eyebrow. "I knew you were Soft, Dorcas, but really, the bitch just tried t-" He was silenced in a shower of blood as an axe flew clean through his neck without him having time to see the throw. The cloth on the axe was pulled and it came spinning back into his hand. He smirked. "Yeah, but you knew my wife was here." He walked out of the door.

The small geyser of blood died down as the headless body fell to its knees. Lyn felt a little sick as she saw the head of the man blink with the realization that he was dead.

Hiiro charged towards the main gate of the fortress, cutting one of the brigands in his way in two. He leapt towards the main gate, and came down harshly, his sword biting into the back of another mercenary who didn't have the privilege of decent chain-mail. His back split open like a butterfly shrimp as Hiiro rolled into the main of the room and panted. "Sorry I'm late!"

Sain and Kent looked to each other. "Apology accepted. Now let's turn the tides in this." The three stepped out in front of the door. Kent and Sain had dismounted out of fear for their mounts, because of their wounds. Sain smirked as an arrow spat rock shards at his face as it collided with the stone. A ribbon of blood oozed down his face. Kent merely smiled as he shook some of blood from his sword. Hiiro looked between them and smiled, hefting his own broader iron sword onto his shoulder. "Thirty to one odds guys…"

Sain looked at him and smirked. "You're right." He placed his spear over his back and drew his backup dagger. "My spear WAS kind of unfair."

Hiiro grinned. "To the butcher's work then."

Wil loosed another arrow. "Florina, go get me some more arrows! I'm running low here, and you're faster!" She nodded quickly as he feathered yet another intruder. There was a veritable sea of blood running around the rubble of the wall. He stayed on his knee, and smirked, feeling the blood soak into his pants. It didn't make him feel like a cold murderer, but it did make him remember his roots, hunting for southern Elk in the Daein forests.

Ariana stepped out of the door way as Florina whipped past. She ran to the main door and looked out. The Fort was becoming quieter and quieter. She saw a green blur amongst the sea of red mist. Kent's one sword was dicing any who dared stray within it's boundaries as he practiced an Ilian art known as "Kata of the Falling Leaf." More or less, it was a dance of death. The one sword would cleave ribbons of blood into anything that strayed to near its path. Hiiro was back she saw, his broadsword swung in great paths that left men fleeing from its massive range. If one would try to run, he would leap into the air and come down with his blade from a summersault, and cleave the man neatly in two, splattering blood across the field. The young man had been trained formally. But what really caught her eye was her demon.

Sain was moving quickly, taking powerful slashes and defending with a dagger. His lance was thrown across his back, and he was smirking from behind the blood that covered his face. A brigand would make a short leap to cut through Sain, but the green armored demon would have none of it. His dagger came up into the axe with such force, from his BLINDSIDE, that the axe would be shoved back. And in a quick spin, Sain cut into his side, the sharp blade of his sword cutting the man free of his legs, while he jammed the dagger into the man's face. The scream of pain was cut short by the swift removal of the dagger and a spin, slashing the vocal cords of his foe, and blocking another axe in one swift movement, this time his fist would knock the axe away, and his sword would sink into the stomach of his foe and rip up, popping the man's ribs in two, leaving a gaping hole where his innards should have been. She was Fascinated.

Florina flew by, taking a moment to spot Hiiro leaping into the air. His sword came down with enough force to cut the next man's back open like a clam being split. His sword came out with a curve and he cut two stunned axe men across the stomach, smirking as their bellies emptied of their guts. She flew on, and dropped their extra quiver down beside Wil. "Only 45 arrows?" She drove her Pegasus down and rammed her spear through another man's arm, bringing the blood gushing like a fountain. Another arrow whizzed by and buried it's self in his heart. She could see the bones shatter and shards of the newly shattered ribcage shoot out of his back from the force of the arrow.

"It was all we had." She screamed as an arrow shot into her arm. "AHH!" her Pegasus bucked as she flew off the back of the Pegasus-Mare, and she started to fall. Her Pegasus swooped about as fast as it could, coming down and catching her inches from the ground.

Wil nearly panicked. He was in truth, scared of other archers. He grabbed the flying-mare's reigns and led her around the corner. "HELP!" he yelled. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and cursed. He hadn't picked up the other. He turned out around the corner, loosing his arrow hastily, and cleanly missing the other archer. The foe's arrow had been loosed already, and fount its head buried nicely in Wil's leg. "DAMN!" he yelled.

Hiiro heard the commotion. Sain was about to rush back, when Hiiro shook his head. Sain nodded, and dashed to the middle of the space between him and the mercenary, inhaling deeply. Kent also took up slack, moving his whirling blade and footwork towards the middle of the two groups. Sain wiped blood from a slash on his face. Kent ignored the dents in his armor from a faulty step and getting caught with an axe. He stopped his Kata, and stood at the ready with his sword, taking a grip on the slightly longer handle, and smiling. "I suppose this might be the end, my friend."

Sain smirked. "Nah, I don't think so. After all, I'm still scared of women. Let's not break our pact." Kent smiled and nodded. "Then I guess we can't die."

"We're not allowed to." Together, they stood tall, and held their weapons. Sain stood tall with his sword and dagger, while Kent held his iron sword like it was an Ilian Katana. "FOR CAELIN!" they yelled together and charged the enemy ranks.

Hiiro used the blood on his boots to allow him to slide into the hall of the fort, and Dashed towards the west side. He saw the other archer standing above Wil, pulling back the string. The dark blue chain mail barely made a sound as the mercenary charged towards the archer, his sword out and ready to slice. The archer barely looked up as Hiiro's great-sword like weapon cut through his foe, the bow and arrow falling in two as the blade bit into the man's elbow and ran out, cutting along the bone, filleting most of his forearm and cutting his upper arm open like a muffin. He slid on his blood soaked boots, and the blade continued to flow over his foe's body, all while Florina looked on in awe. It followed along the collar bone's path until it exited half way out of the archer's neck. Hiiro kicked the wall, and was surprised to see that it suddenly found traction again, and propelled him towards the other wall in the long hall of rubble and corpses. His sword spun with him, and caught the archer in the side of the head, cutting into his temple and breaking through the skull, leaving a pale grey organ exposed, even as blood oozed over it.

The archer fell as the mercenary kicked off the other wall, and spun, going for the last living thing in the hall. A single swordsman hefted his own great sword and smirked, ready to cut the high flying young man in two. But his foe failed to realize something. The building's roof had tried to collapse, just behind Hiiro, and he kicked off of it, driving his body towards his foe. The other mercenary gawked as Hiiro closed his eyes and began spinning.

A man's stomach provided surprisingly little resistance to a great sword when it is coming at him at nearly one hundred horse-lengths a minute. (100 MPH.) Add this to the fact that it was now rotating at something close to the speed of a drill… You get the picture. Wil was shocked to see what had happened. The man's stomach was not simply driven through, it was drilled away. Blood and flesh showered the walls and floor as the blood-covered mercenary drove himself into his foe. The gaping hole could not have been bigger if the man had been hit by a ballista. Hiiro rolled as he came in contact with the stunned man's body, and hit his feet on the ground, leaping up in the air.

The unfortunate axe-man had been trying to run away from this new demon that bounced off of walls and drilled holes in men. The dark blue cloth looked to him like a grim reaper as he turned.

Hiiro used the momentum from the roll to leap into the air, and he came down with his sword between his legs. He was slightly off center of the man. His feet hit the man's shoulder and he jammed the sword down. It did not cut through both side of his body like Hiiro had supposed it would. Instead, it cut into his body much like a sword in a stone. The blade could be seen just behind the brigand's eyeball, and erupting out of his face just below there, plunging into his body, and cutting through the lowest points of the well-exercised man's abdomen.

Unfortunately, the man had fallen to his knees, and so when this blade exited the man's leg, it collided with the ground. A blade can only take so much stress before it breaks. And it deiced to break now. At the collision with stone, the blade sang its protest, and the hilt decided to break off. Hiiro, with all his forward momentum, ended up being flung across the exit of the place with a yelp. "AHH!"

Lucky for him there were plenty of dead or dying men and plenty of blood to break his fall. Of course, that didn't stop him from eventually hitting the ground, and the blood was quite slick, enabling him to skid towards the rear wall of the fort.

Hiiro sat up slowly. "Whoa…. Damn that was cool." He got up, and nearly fell again amongst all the blood. He careful walked across the dying men, using them like stepping stones to avoid the slippery floor, not that the men were any less slippery. He stopped as he passed the man he had drilled through, and grabbed up the great sword his foe had wielded. It was a bit heavier, but it was still wonderful. "A steel blade huh? Not even used either!" He smiled.

The wounded Florina had watch this all with her jaw nearly touching the floor, and Wil was just amazed. Hiiro stopped and helped them up. "Come on; let's get you two patched up. I don't think anyone else will want to come through that way.

The silent effigy of the impaled man looked out at his comrades; the broken great sword impaled through his body did indeed deter other intruders.

Lyn was outside the fort now, with Dorcas. Her sacred blade was lodged into one man's spine in a flash, and Dorcas was bringing his axe down on another with a grunt. His left handed toss of his hand-axe cut into another's chest with a dull THUD. Lyn pulled his sword free, and spun, reflecting the light of the sun off the blade. It was only after she realized the sun wasn't up enough to produce a blinding burst that she wondered how it happened, but it had, and the axe-man in front of her paid dearly for it. Her blade sang in the air as it swiftly fell from the top of its arc, cutting cleanly down the front of the man. A moment afterwards, his right side fell forward and his left side backwards. Lyn could swear she didn't cut him that deeply.

Dorcas was swinging his axe like a wild man, cutting clean through anything that got in his way as he yanked his throwing ace back with the cloth. They continued to cut their way south from the doorway.

Carjiga snarled. "DAMNIT! That's it, bring up our special friend." His minion stuttered. "B-b-but s-sir! We're not sure it won't turn on us!"

"We captured it, didn't we? We can kill it if it does turn!" The archer nodded to the man, and he ran backwards towards the large men holding the beast down. "Let it lose towards the fort."

Garnet sniffed the air. He smelled something unnatural. A mix between a Pegasus's stench and a wyvern's aroma. He dashed towards the main gate.

Sain and Kent were being forced back, but they were taking their toll on the steady stream of men. They stepped back and panted harshly. Their weapons were blood soaked and they were tired. They had been hard at this combat for nearly five hours now. The sun had risen quite high, and it was starting to give them a rather large blind spot. But they heard the roar.

Somewhere between a Dragon and a Pegasus does a Pegavern exist. He result of a desperate female wyvern needing a clutch and a willing Pegasus stallion, these beasts are born. Capable of complete flight and highly resistant to everything except arrows and good steel or silver weapons and sheer frost, these beasts are doomed to death in Bernian lands because of the harsh winters. But this one had lived. The beast swooped down towards the two knights who stared at it in a sense of awe. It roared its displeasure.

Sain and Kent dashed backwards towards the fort, running for their lives. At the door sat calm, and very collected Garnet. Ariana was patting him on the shoulder. "That thing's going to eat us, you know." The Half-dragon looked at her very drolly. 'Duh.'

"Isn't it a fellow Wyvern?" The calm young dragon shook his head. 'No, it's a Pegavern, for lack of a better name. Result of a desperate wyvern and a willing stallion Pegasus. Very nasty and very stupid, but very mean, and always hungry. I suppose I should kill it.'

Ariana nodded solemnly as Kent and Sain dashed by her and took cover. Garnet lazily stood up and yawned as the beast landed In front of him and his mistress. It hissed at the pair of its deniers. Ariana shivered. "C-c-c-cold…" she turned pale, and ran into the fort. "It breathes the winter!"

In fact, it did. It inhaled deeply, and pushed forth its magic, the frosting winds running into the fort's walls, leaving a snow-like power on everything. Garnet merely shook it off. 'Got anything better?' It looked at him with an expression of boredom. 'You might want to cover your ears, guys…'

Garnet stood up slowly, and craned his head. Instead of hearing the hissing of breath, they heard a low growl. The Pegavern glared at its new prey, who withstood its freezing breath. The growl began to get deeper in tone, and Sain suddenly realized what was happening. "ROAR!" he yelled, and dived into the blood soaked hall, holding his ears tightly. Kent grabbed Ariana, and pulled her towards the inner room as she started to hyperventilate. "Cold… cold… winter…" Kent winced as he placed his hands over her ears.

Garnet's growl suddenly erupted into nothing less than an earsplitting roar. And he hadn't even stretched his neck out yet. Wyverns do have a breath weapon, of sorts, but instead of exhaling liquid flame or anything of the sort, they drew the air into their bodies, heating it up, this is where a wyvern's roar comes from. Bones in the wyvern's neck rattle about as the air is inhaled, causing sound, that builds as the air intake becomes more powerful.

This however, was somewhere between a wyvern's roar and a dragon's. A dragon's roar had magical properties. Apparently, Garnet's did too. The ear-splitting sound rocked forth like a wave, slamming the Pegavern with force enough to burst its eardrums. The men in the direct path behind the Pegavern screamed in pain as their ears began to bleed, and not a few lost some teeth from the sheer force of the vibration.

The actual exhaling is a different story all-together. Young dragons, often called drakes, are somewhere between stages of evolution. Their wings allow flight, but they cannot breathe flame, though their roars are about as powerful as they will be as full grown dragons. At a Wyvern's second year, its body temperature spikes, keeping the beast at a very comfortable hundred fifty degrees. This of course, is hot. Combine that with a Half-step of dragon blood, (Thereby enhancing the temperature, AND speeding the development of dragon biology) and you get a four hundred degree blast of hot air soaked with an accelerant. This is what happened to the army in front of Garnet.

The young Half-dragon exhaled quickly, feeling something inside his body empty, unlike when he had melted Glass. He tasted something peculiarly sweet in his breath as he exhaled, and he felt the air from his mouth heat enormously. Then he felt the flames erupt. The air was hot, and already swathing the Pegavern's fur-like scales, and hitting the men behind, but when the liquid soaked the air about them…

Lyn saw the signs of Garnet using his breath as she and Dorcas stopped their southward Advance to gawk at the freakish beast the bandits had released. She saw a kind of white mist erupt from the young-dragon's head as he exhaled his breath. Then she saw it happen. The flame started at the young-dragon's mouth, but it then erupted across the field like a million Elfire spells at once. "Holy Horse Lords of the Sky…" The wave of heated air was already blackening the men behind the beast's axes and flesh, but when the accelerant hit them, it was like watching hell come onto earth. The wide cone of soaked air blasted the men with the whitish liquid, and then it caught fire, each drop not burning, but exploding as though it were an entire tome of fire in one moment. She could see the men go flying through the air, limbs blown off, a roasted flesh sloping wetly off of fire-scorched bones.

Garnet stopped exhaling as he felt the accelerant empty from him. He spat a little, and coughed. 'Whoa… that was new.' The smoke in front of him drifted away slowly, revealing the Pegavern. Its fur was ablaze, and scales had been blown out of its flesh, and it had gaping holes where skin should have been. It leaned down and roared its protest as it snapped at Garnet. The smaller, more nimble beast dashed outside and flew, pulling the fight into the air. The twin dragons danced in the air, the slower bigger Pegavern was having trouble keeping up, seeing as holes had been blown in its wings.

Garnet snarled as he dodged another bite. He swooped around, somehow getting around the Pegavern's neck. His fangs still dripped with the accelerant. The liquid poured into the beast's bloodstream. And wyvern breath is hot, causing the normally cold bodied creature to begin to heat up. Garnet locked his claws into a bare spot on the Pegavern's back. He didn't let go for quite a time. The flight of this beast was doomed. Garnet ripped his teeth away, pulling quite a bit of flesh with it. Accelerant soaked blood poured out of the beast and onto the men down below who were preparing for another assault. But Garnet didn't release the beast just yet. He reached back with his neck, and bit into the Pegavern's more fragile wing. He ripped it away calmly. He released his hold on the Pegavern, and smirked. The beast fell away, out of the sky, and landed on two very frightened men.

Lyn and Dorcas ran for the fort. She ducked inside the main room and screamed "DOWN! EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Garnet landed in front of the two men, and smiled, biting into the Pegavern's exposed stomach as it breathed its last. 'Hello, Gentlemen. My name is Garnet. I am a very evil wyvern, with a very evil agenda. You see, your men hurt the man my mistress seems to like. This is bad. This is very bad. For you.' He smiled quietly and pushed the flesh underneath the two men's heads. Garnet looked at the body of the Pegavern, and he already felt his accelerant gland begin to refill. Of course, it was nowhere near full, but it was enough. He calmly stepped around to the front of the dying beast, which tried to roar at him. He waited until the jaws opened, then snapped, using his tongue to hold the beast's throat open as he shot a stream of accelerant down it's gullet. He jerked quickly, hearing a satisfying snap, and he knew he had broken the beast's neck, so that it couldn't vomit. He quickly released his grip, and let its jaw snap shut. He calmly stalked around to the front of the two men again, and spat a bit of accelerant in a strip along the ground.

They looked at the dragon with pure fear in their eyes. His slightly golden-scarlet tinted scales shimmered in the mid-morning light. He blew a stream of hot air at the accelerant, which started to burn slowly. 'I wonder what happens when this flame reaches that piece of meat under your heads, that's filled with my venom.' He smiled. 'I would love to stay and find out, but I'm afraid my Mistress may need me. Cheerio, Gents! Have a fine day, and I wish you well in the rest of your life!' Garnet walked away and flapped his wings, getting altitude as the rest of the men under the service of Carjiga gathered around to see what happened to their leader. Garnet smiled, and landed in the main place, before snuggling up to Ariana. The rest of them looked at garnet with raised eyebrows. 'I believe you like big blazing fires, my queen?'

Ariana giggled. "Oh yes, Sir Wyvern, I love fire!" She snuggled into garnet's fading fur. He walked towards the main entrance to the fort. He looked back over his shoulders. 'I suggest you take cover.' He said simply.

Carjiga sighed as his assistant kept trying to blow the flame out. It only succeeded in accelerating it. "I didn't want to die today…"

The explosion rocked the nearby countryside for a full forty seconds. The first explosions they heard were small and in short bursts. They were explosions nonetheless, though most knew not what they were. Of course, once the flames and explosions had reached to the stomach…

Garnet himself was surprised at the force of the blast. Ariana simply whooped. The corpse of the Pegavern suddenly became a fine red mist in about a second, and then he saw the enormous fireball reaching into the sky like a protest of the very earth. The men who had been soaked in the liquid were blown back, and exploded in the heated air, turning into red colored showers in mid air. It looked almost like the Ilian 'Fireworks' Ariana was so interested in. Two scorched skulls landed in front of him. 'Huh… Looks like their heads got blown off first. Oh well.' Ariana whooped and hollered as she watched the massive fireball rise into the sky.

I smiled as I lay their peacefully, watching the world through garnet's eyes. I looked back over my shoulder. "I thank you Elimine, for granting Garnet that power." She smiled. "I granted nothing. That power is from within him. That is his birth-right. I protected your army for you while you were wounded. A Cleric will be along soon, I hope. We need you fighting fit." She patted me on the shoulder.

I shrugged. "I suppose it wasn't a bad trade. I wouldn't have seen something like this in my old life. A nuclear explosion, in this world? That's just a bit extraordinary." I smiled.

Elimine grinned. "When your world is extraordinary in and of it's self, you tend to take the unexpected for granted."

I smiled, and lay back down with my body, rather enjoying the down-time.

Erk was the first to get up. "DAMN! What in Elimine's great name was that!"

Serra shrugged, and stood up, running towards the massive fireball rising into the sky. "Well, all I know is I want to find out!"

Erk sighed. "Wait up, Serra!" he dashed after the hyperactive priestess.

Well, there we go, another installment of my story. Hope you all liked it!

Tune in next time!

Explanations for this chapter: Hiiro was an OC submitted by Razorangel that seemed to strike my interest. Then again, he seems very… Spike Spiegel like and I like Spike. What can I say? Shrug

Garnet's breath? Simple. As a base for being a dragon, I'm mixing two different dragon types. In Reign of Fire, the dragons breathe fire by mixing an Accelerant and a Catalyst, there by making the air burn, thus breathing fire. In a wyvern, which are basically winged komodo dragons, the teeth are coated in bacteria after a certain age, insuring that the Komodo gets a kill if it gets a bite. Therefore, Garnet, being only half dragon, would only get one part of the dragon system, and one part of the wyvern system. The dragon part I choose is the accelerant. And being warm blooded, they would have warm breath, but, being as big as they are, to keep the skin correctly heated, they would need a MASSIVE internal body temperature. His fangs are coated in the accelerant with every breath, no matter how insignificant, insuring that he can breathe fire when he needs to, or just make things explode when he bites them.

Thus: Garnet breathes out little white specks that are flammable, and explosive if in concentrations. Somewhat like gasoline. Garnet's heated breath hits these specks. It's enough to melt Glass' sword, so it's enough to make these things go boom. TADA! Explosive breathing wyvern!

. There, happy now all you unbelievers?