"I need a drink Bane. Something strong. You got a Guinness?" Ezio asked, lying down by the couch in the living room. A mole rushed in and handed the dragon a flask of an Amber liquid, which Ezio promptly downed then shuddered.
"That's better, that always tends to jerk me into awareness. You seem to have the best timing Bane."
"Aye. I like to be where things are happening. When we heard of your disappearance, we decided to do a bit of digging and found that a Nighthawk sentry had seen you heading south. When we heard of sightings of a dark purple dragoness in the area, we thought it might be Cynder with you guys, so we headed here quickly. It was a volunteer thing. No - " There was a sudden pounding at the door.
"Bane! OPEN UP!" Beam and Photon flanked the door while Bane got ready to open it. As soon as the latch came up, the door burst open as if it had been shot from a cannon and a streak of white almost faster than the eye could track zipped around the room, upto the top floor, then back down, stopping in front of Ezio.
"If you've gotten any of my team killed, I'll finish you. What happened?" Katana demanded to the purple dragon.
"A shadow force attack from one of the alleyways. She'll make it now. She's resting."
"So I saw. Blaze will be good for her." Katana said, settling down on the other side of Ezio, away from Hestia. Bane turned back to the legendary's then, shaking his head.
"You like to leap before you look, don't you Katana? You'll get yeself killed at some point lass, doing that." He said, shaking his head.
"She'll do more than that. Still won't let me make an armor set for her." Anvil said, walking past the living room into the kitchen.
"I already have Armor, Anvil! Don't need some metal sheets protecting me when my own hide is tougher!" The female yelled back, rolling onto her side.
In all, the house was cramped. It was larger for a small towns home, but then it was holding 13 fully grown dragons and the hosts family, plus several refugees. Despite this, the family themselves seemed very happy, as did the refugees. The children were playing with Terridor in the backyard at the moment, climbing all over the massive dragon, whom seemed very content. Brooklyn was talking to him at the moment. Ion had convened with Beam and Photon in the kitchen and were conversing rapidly with the father, as the mother busily moved around the room, making the massive dinner. Blaze was still upstairs with Frost. It had been two days since they had arrived at the home, and the dragoness had only woken for water and food. She still had major blood-loss. Blaze hadn't left her side. He hadn't even taken off his armor.
The host had been very welcoming. To Ezio's surprise, they spoke english, and furthermore, they were very receptive of the dragons, simply nice people. He had discovered a bit later, after talking to them though that they were Christians.
"Why should we refuse people when we are all creatures in Christ? Times might have changed, but our beliefs have not." the wife said, as she slid a plate of potatoes towards Ezio, "Do you mind skinning those?"
Ezio grabbed the first potato and began slicing with the sharp edge of his claw. It worked wonderfully.
"Why is your family living here?" Ezio asked, focusing on his work.
"My husband is a missionary. Around here they worship several gods, and we are here to help them." She said, turning on the mix for the potato salad.
"And how do you help them?" Ezio asked.
"We simply help them with modern amenities. This town did not have electricity before we came. Nor did it have plumbing. Now it's much better, it's bearable. It's livable."
"What about your faith?"
"What about it?"
"Yeah, do you not try and minister to them?"
"Why should we? Our service alone is enough. We have led many people in this town to God, and still our religion grows."
"But WHY?"
"What?"
"Why do you do this for your faith?"
"We do not do it for faith, we do it because it's the right thing to do." Ezio had been surprised. He had been expecting the sort of Christians whom tried to shove their religion down your throat. Instead he found an excellent family.
I wonder if this is what real Christianity is about.
His mother had always been a strong believer, but he had never caught on. And in all his time fighting and traveling, he had seen nothing to support the fact that there was any greater being. He didn't even put faith in the dragons so-called "Ancestors".
WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM
"OPEN UP!" Ezio jerked his head around, dropping the potato in his claws at the same time, and running towards the door. Katana met him.
"No, no, the cellar! We gotta hide." Katana said, rushing around and shoving him towards the hole that had opened in the floor. Katana dived down, but Beam and Photon stayed above the ground, guarding the entrance. There was a rumbling out in the closed in back yard, and Brooklyn rushed blindly in, banging things around. Ion was hot on his heels.
"Oh my ancestors, this is too much, too much of a squall for me. Too much running." Ion muttered.
"Shut up Ion." Ezio hissed after him as they jumped down to the pit below. There was a small square of light that was cut off and then they were in pitch black darkness.
There was a banging sound as the door flew open, and some mumbling talking. There was a low crackling then behind Ezio and the male turned around.
"Ion, what on earth?"
"Ssh. I'm not going down without a fight, and you know it. This is just in case." He was holding a tiny orb of bright lightning in his hand, and it was making the lowest of rumbling noises as the high voltage arced across his paw.
There was more mumbling, and then a voice rang out.
"Shadow seek. Do so now." Kali swore behind Ezio then, and backed up swiftly. They all backed up. Except Ion. There was a shout then, and someone was rattling at the door.
"What might we find down here then, eh? Sargeant, check the rooms upstairs, subdue those two." The door swung open and looked down, seeing only Ion, with his attack charged.
"Welcome!" And then he fired, his power arcing from his palm to smite the lieutenant in the center of it's forehead. There was a big smoldering hole in the dragons head as he fell from his perch. The Electric guardian leapt from where he was leaving the others behind. Jumping up he perched on the edge of the trapdoor hole and then shot forward, his body arcing with electricity. Ezio had never watched Ion's fighting style before, as he had been otherwise engaged. But now he was more amazed than anything. The Guardians movements were jerking, going from one point to the next. He did not punch, he jabbed, at pressure points, zapping them. One dragon fell to the floor, only his eyes moving and his nose flaring, his shadow power leaking out of him. Ion's paws were blurring at the edges, sizzling the air. Ezio could feel a very faint buzz.
The third shadow force dragon backed up switching and dodging as much as possible. The first vital to go was the dragons powers, which also began to leek out of himself. Then one of his legs gave out. Ezio didn't see how, the attack was too fast. Suddenly, the dragon shot forwards and landed a blow on Ion's chin. As a final attempt, as Ion fell backwards, he sent one claw into the dragons gut. Whatever he did, he struck home. The lieutenant dropped to the ground, paralyzed.
Ion lay on his back, panting hard as there was a final thud in the bedroom above. Blaze shouted down from the room.
"We got him!"
"Where in blazes did you learn that?" Ezio asked quietly, sitting around a fire in the backyard.
"My old pa taught me when I turned three." Ion replied, staring into the fire. He had been unusually quiet, but his willingness to tell this story was surprising, "He died when a group of raiders destroyed our homestead in Northern Oregon. I've been making a life for myself ever since, living off the philosophies he taught me. I was twelve at the time when he died."
"Where did you go?"
"Where didn't I go? I kept low to the ground, but flew the globe. I know the world map like the back of my hand."
Ezio was silent for a bit longer, but he was still curious.
"What were the virtues your dad taught?"
"It's funny, that. My dad was never in a war, never joined an army, never had been raised in a militia, but that dragon knew how to fight. His first lesson to me was that of how lightning, my element, works.
Lightning is not slow. It doesn't deliberate when it strikes. It doesn't give it's prey a chance to run. It doesn't give a warning. It cannot be controlled or contained or nullified. Humans themselves have proven this. They have something called a lightning rod, which as a conductor for lightning. But all it does is lead the voltage away form the home and channel it into the ground where it dies off. It can still strike anywhere. It is energetic, spontaneous, random to the extreme.
My old dragon saw this as an extension of my personality, as an extension of me. I talk incessantly when allowed, speak whats on my mind, and hold very little back.
My old dragon taught me to fight like lightning. He himself was a water dragon, ironically. It was my mum, whom died shortly after my childbirth, that was an electric dragon. She had never used her power once in her life. My dad taught me not to wait, when an enemy presents itsef, to strike immediately. Whenever I fight, whether in large fights or small ones, I always try to get it over with as soon as possible, and focus all my power into that first alpha strike. I never circle my opponent, never growl or attempt to intimidate them, never attempt to move into a better position, I just strike with all the power I can muster every single time. Anymore now it doesn't matter where I strike from, or where I hit on my opponent, I always hit with deadly or near deadly accuracy, instantly, every single time."
"Don't you grow tired quickly?"
"Obviously. You must have seen that while I was fighting them today?" Ion said, glancing Ezio's way, "I was growing fatigued, and that dragon was able to get a hit in on me. But it doesn't matter. Most times I hit so hard in the first strike that I can let myself recharge as I pick a new target to go after."
"Your surprised?" Ion asked, turning back to Ezio.
"Mildly. The more I learn about you all, the more I learn you've all got a story." Ezio said quietly. Kali walked back into the backyard then, leading two shadow lieutenants. At the same time, they both dropped cloak revealing themselves to be Beam and Photon.
"I trust you have good news, Kali?" Ezio said, standing then.
"Yes. I know where the piece is. The local shadow force has located it. They are waiting for reinforcements before they assault the location."
"And the location?" Ezio asked, anticipating.
"North of the valley of kings."
"Anything Brooklyn?" Ezio asked anxiously again. Brooklyn shook his head, his feet anchored to the ground as the dust and sand flowed through his claws. He seemed annoyed.
"I'll tell you if and when I find something, alright?" Brooklyn said quietly. Ezio nodded and moved off. He didn't like this, his group, whom had snuck out quietly at dawn was greatly exposed out here in the desert. They had flown about one hundred and fifty miles before Kali said they had reached the spot. Ion had been quiet the entire way. Ezio was afraid he might have pushed too far last night.
"I don't like this." Katana said as Ezio approached her, "Were going against a power we know nothing about, which is supposed to be far more powerful than any of us can comprehend. And we've got no idea how to use it or defeat it. How're we supposed to - "
"Contact!" Brooklyn shouted over his shoulder. The group rocketed towards him from all directions, where they had been keeping watch. He was obviously struggling, "It's slippery and deep. Give me a bit."
There were subtle vibrations in the ground now that were getting stronger. When Ezio thought the ground would split open from the quaking, it did. A sharp steeple broke the surface as the foundations the monument were built upon rose from the grave. The massive structure kept rising, getting bigger and bigger. Ezio's eyes went wide when they were cast into it's shadow. The structure must have been five times the size the pyramids of Giza. By some divine luck, the entrance seemed to be right in front of them.
"This temple seems to be made to be navigated by earth dragons only. Similar to how the temple beneath Stonehenge was made for electric dragons only. However, I'm sure I can open most doors." Brooklyn said quietly. There was a quiet pause as the earth dragon focused, then the ground vibrated, and the door in front of them opened. All that could be seen inside was a few feet until there was complete darkness. The group approached the monolith slowly, Ezio at the lead.
The first thing Ezio noticed was that the ruin seemed to be completely intact. It wasn't a ruin at all really, just a structure. There wasn't even any erosion. Not even dust. A little way inside, Ezio used his light element to cause his skin to glow. What he was presented with stunned him at first.
There were three paths to take here, not including the one back to the entrance. However, just a short ways ahead of themselves, Ezio could see the forwards path cut into three sections. The left path cut into two, and the right actually cut into four.
"A labyrinth." Katana said quietly, "And were supposed to get to the center?"
"Yes. I can feel it, but I couldn't tell you where I feel it. It's in there somewhere." Brooklyn said in a hushed voice. None of them knew why they were whispering. The place felt serene, peaceful. But Ezio knew better. This was more like the calm before the storm.
"Take a different path than the others, use elements if you can to guide yourself back if you get lost or need to try again. Watch for traps and enemies around every corner." Ezio whispered, taking the very center path. Katana took the one to the left of him, and Hestia took the one to the right. The others took branching paths, hoping to come across luck. Two were left open. Ezio knew why. Two were missing from their number.
Frost still wasn't healed. She wouldn't be for a long time. Blaze had elected to stay behind and watch her. Bane was also healing, having been wounded by a shadow lieutenant that had been unnecessarily rough. Anvil, as always, stayed behind because of his age. And Terridor could barely even walk now.
Terridor had changed since Ezio had last seen him, at Malefor's home camp. The old war hero had definitely stopped fighting, but beyond that, he seemed so calm. When Brooklyn had asked about this, Terridor had replied with a smile, and a short sentence.
"I'm calm because it's your turn Ezio." He had said in his deep barritone. Not even quake had matched his extremely deep voice.
Now Ezio wasn't sure if he wanted it to be his turn. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be responsible for all these lives, whether they volunteered or not.
Ezio took a left at the next fork, a double, and found himself staring at five different directions, all of them darkened with shadow. He looked back, and found he was utterly alone, the silence pressing in on him. Or maybe it was the stifling air. Or maybe it was that odd feeling that he was being followed. Sweat dripped from his brow as he took a single step towards the middle left fork.
A scream ripped through the air, and Ezio's neck hairs stood on end. It was male. He was about to turn and run back to help when he heard more shouting.
"DAMNIT PHOTON, YOU DORK FACE!" It was Beam. Ezio guessed that Photon had snuck up behind him. Ezio laughed aloud, and heard the others as well.
"Well, it's good to hear someones voice." He heard Hestia call from one of the other tunnels. It echoed in front of him. Directly in front of him, from one of his tunnels.
"Hestia, it's me, Ezio. This one connects to my branch, head back to one of your others!" He shouted at her.
"Alright, thanks Ez." She called back. Ezio again struck out on his original course. The path sloped upwards and to his right, climbing over the center course.
This maze works in three dimensions, great.
Ezio still had the feeling he was being followed. And several branches later, after leaving a spot of light at the entrance to each fork he took, he was completely lost. And his friends voices kept on getting dimmer and dimmer.
Eventually, he broke into a run, hoping to find the entrance by sheer dumb luck. The end of a tunnel was up ahead. He was sprinting full out now.
He broke out into a large chamber, but it was obviously not the place he was looking for. It was large and circular, and there must have been fifty different paths. He turned slowly in the center, hoping to find something.
Nothing. Not a speck of light, not a trace of elemental energy, not one thing. Except that omnipresent feeling of being watched. The chamber was pitch black, but because of his draconic eyes, he could see clearly, even though it was dim. Or was it?
Dimmer. And dimmer still. Finally, he lost all perception as he lost any reference point on meaningful features.
The room is getting darker?
"Hello?"
Nothing. Except...
There wasn't a roar or anything, he just felt something brush his side. It was the lightest of touches, so light he wasn't even sure whether it was there or – no wait, there it was again, this time on the very tip of his nose.
A shiver ran up his spine now. He didn't know what or who it was, what it's powers were, whether it was good or bad.
The voice that came next almost sounded like a breath of wind, it was so quiet. But so profound was his loneliness that he heard it loud and clear.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo goooooooooooOOOOoooooes theeeeeeeeeeeere?" The breath of voice didn't creak or howl. It more wished the words into existence, as if it vibrated the air around him for the sole purpose of making communication. It's pitch varied, almost like the wind though.
"I am Ezio Starfire!" Ezio proclaimed to the voice, "A guardian of the Lance of Longinus, protector of peace, and a paladin of the people."
Then a new voice joined in. This one chilled the blood in his veins. He knew this voice. He knew it from one nightmare that had felt more reality than dream.
"You should teach him a lesson sir." The original voice said nothing, but there was a visible shift in where he was. Suddenly, he blinked, and there was Nova standing in front of him. He blinked again, several times. She looked real enough. He approached her slowly. Yes, everything was there. But she stared at something behind him. He turned, and nearly died of shock. This was Nova too. It was even a Nova he recognized. Barely.
She was bleeding from a small deep slice in her skin, which must have punctured her lung. Both wings were broken, her collarbone snapped so that it hung at an odd angle. One leg was broken so much that it was folded mostly back on itself, and the bone protruded in sharp jagged edges. Her tail had been sliced completely clean off about two feet from the base of her tail. Her esophagus was exposed, the jugular vein snapped clean in half. He could see part of her intestines lying on the ground. By all means, this creature should have been completely dead. But Ezio never forgot the fact that she began moving. She got UP. Her head turned towards him and he saw one eye had been gouged completely out, the retina dangling in the socket. The last thing Ezio remembered was the fact that there was more blood than there should have been, probably his own mixed with hers.
The zombie, or reincarnation, or beast or Nova, whatever it was, cackled madly with the second voices sound, croaking past a throat that should have made no sound.
"You should be afraid now, young fool. I did warn you."
WHY! WHY DO I FEAR!
"You fear that you may lose her..." She said, or it, or whatever. Ezio's mind raced madly.
I HAVE LOST HER! THAT IS NOT WHY!
"Then you fear you may lose her heart. I could always give it to you..."
Ezio fought madly with this demon, whatever it was. He fought harder and harder until something in his mind snapped back to where it was supposed to be. He could actually feel his sanity return to normal.
NO!
"NO! I HAVE NOT LOST HER! Nor shall I ever. This is not Nova, and we both know it. This an abomination. A treacherous lie, made to cause pain! There is nothing I fear, except fear itself! For I know that if I die, if I fail in my mission and we all end up in the bowls of hell, she will always be there. Even if we are at the farthest reaches from each other, physical, mental, or spiritual, it matters not, I can rest easy knowing that her spirit and her love that she wholeheartedly gave me will always be there! No, in the name of the Ancient, BEGONE, demon of pain, and may you never lay siege to my shadow again!" There was a rush of air and a pop, and Ezio was back in the circular chamber. There were even lamps on and Ezio could see clearly. There was no sign of any demon, only one figure, whom he knew from mythology right away...
"Greetings, Death." Ezio addressed the cloaked figure. Ezio was glad he could not see his face, glad that he had not pounced, "You have been shadowing me."
The howling voice came from Death now, although it was of much higher clarity. He stood not ten feet away. His Sickle slung across his back, honed to a perfect edge, "I have. If you know I have been shadowing you, then you probably also have figured that I have not pounced yet either."
Ezio knew now, that the sound of Death's voice was not the howl of wind. Most like the rush of life. Or Death, whichever way you look at it.
"You seek the female whom escaped my grasp." It was not a question. Ezio nodded, not taking his eyes off the figure. He didn't trust Death. Not yet anyways. He wasn't ready to die.
"I am owed her."
"Hardly. Her appointed time may have come, but if it did, and she did not arrive to the party, then she is simply rescheduling." Death produced a tiny image of Nova in his hands. Ezio was going to glance at it quickly, but he stopped when he saw it. The body was of remarkable clarity, but her eyes captured his intentions. Love, primarily, but ferocity, unblemished, wise, caring, free eyes stared back. It was a perfect replica of her, in every way. Nova turned, smiled at Ezio, then rotated completely to death, smiled again, and talked to him from his palm.
"Sorry, friend, but I decide my own time, not you." She said quietly.
Ezio knew then that she was alive. All he had to do was just get to her.
"How did she escape?" Ezio asked quietly.
"She saw my hands and face, and merely funneled her energy into you."
WHAT!
"I can see it too. Her traits shine like a beacon in you. She is not dead, and thus not in heaven, nor hell. Only in between. I'll have her some day, but she is right. It is her choice, she is one of the few to make it. You yourself have the same choice."
"Why did you come?"
"To give you fair warning friend. I shall be watching much closer as your goal approaches. So far I have held off from attempting to claim you, simply because your actions are noble and pure. You wish to save her life, simply because she deserves better. She's had it hard, and your right, I agree. None of your actions have been for yourself. And I do not take those whom have such righteous souls. However, you'll soon learn that sometimes, bad people make good choices for the wrong reasons. And even more often, good people make bad choices, for the same reasons. Learn from that. I'll be watching."
With a swish of his cloak, he was gone. Leaving only a note behind. It had longhand writing on it, which was fancy and precise at the same time.
Say hello to our mutual friend for me.
It had a portrait of Nova beneath the message. It was incredibly detailed. Ezio felt a strong hunger to see the female again, but he squashed that feeling right away.
"If I want this to turn out for the better, I must do this for her, not for my desire of her." Ezio said quietly.
There was silence for a long while, then the ground began to vibrate slowly, as if there was great machinery beneath him.
"No, that wasn't right!" Brooklyn said loudly beneath him, "Ezio?"
"In a bit! Head back outside, I think this is it!" He was rotating upwards, the floor being lifted like a massive elevator. Finally, the ceiling came into view, and stopped about twenty feet above himself. The walls closed in to make a square room out of a circular one. Then, a couple of clicks opened a door in the ceiling, and out lowered a tiny pyramid, pointing towards the stone floor. The point was exposed, and in crystal clear glass was a very long rod, threaded at both ends, and engraved with intricate licks of flame.
Ezio was about to grab the piece of staff when the very dragoness he knew would be there caught the corner of his eye, lunging at him from the shadows. He could have sworn he saw death then, but he rolled his head and made his body follow, slamming onto his side as the females outstretched talons whipped overhead. The legendary came to a sliding stop on the other side of the room.
"Greetings, Cynder." He said, nodding to the Shadow Dragoness and not taking his eyes off of her.