Golden Sun: The Sands of Time

Chapter 15: Red Dawn
The blade met flesh, digging deep into Ivan's left shoulder. Ivan tried to scream, but no sound came out. He could feel the sword pressing against his bone, until it penetrated with a sharp crack! He writhed in agony, and tears flowed freely down his cheeks. Pain. Existence was pain. Everything about him… fading to black… The karan smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.

"So they let little childlings go to war." He snarled. "They must be getting desperate, hm? No matter. You'll die like all the others."

Ivan drew in another gasp of air. One more second. One more heartbeat, told him he was still alive. But for how long? The karan twisted his sword inside Ivan, smiling as he saw the boy scream for real this time.

The boy was stronger than he'd thought. The karan laughed. This was going to be fun. Might as well mock him a bit. All came down to the same thing in the end, anyhow.

"I saw you with that girl earlier. Wanted to protect her, did you? Too bad, human scum. Once you're dead, I'll bleed her slowly. Maybe the wrists. Or the throat. Yes, the throat'll be a good place."

The boy managed to open his eyes, to stare with naked fury at the karan towering over him. "You won't take her." He said, in a voice that was barely a whisper. "You won't"

The karan laughed. "And what will you do about it, boy? The strange lightning attacks of yours? You're too weak to summon up the energy to even wound me, let alone kill me." He twisted the sword again, and grinned at the howls of pain coming from the brat below him.

"Here's how." The boy managed to hiss out. His right hand shot up, to wrap itself around the sword. Blood began to drip from his hand, but still he held on tenaciously.

The karan laughed. "You really want this sword stuck in your body so badly?"

"No." Ivan managed to gasp out. "But… I need… a conductor." His face twisted into a cross between a grimace and a smirk. "Shine plasma."

The karan howled in surprise and pain as jagged lightning bolts flowed from Ivan's hand into the sword, through the karan's body, blasting through his veins, into his heart. With another howl he fell back, and tried to rise. Bu he could not. His body was paralyzed. He… he was unable to move at all. Even his eyes couldn't move.

The panting, hunched over form of Ivan entered his view, the karan's own sword yanked from his shoulder, resting in Ivan's right hand. With the last of his strength, he lunged forward, plunging the blade deep into the karan's belly.

The redskin jerked, shuddered, and was still. He had made no sound.

Ivan had already turned away. Sheba. Falling to his knees, he managed, inch by inch, to crawl to her side. Turning back to the blocked river, he saw the dim shadows of karan on the opposite side of the barrier. It would only be a matter of time before they broke through, and then, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He could barely keep his eyes open as it was. But he had to protect Sheba somehow. He had promised to. But what could he possibly-

His cape.

Fumbling with only his right hand workable, he managed to remove his cape, and cover most of Sheba's upper body with it. Then, he lay down his body over the rest of hers, doing his best to remove her from sight.

And finally, he fell into blackness, and knew no more.

Felix ducked under the wild swing of one elvish zombie, and cut out it's arm from beneath him. The undead creature merely staggered back slightly before kicking at Felix. Felix dodged the clumsy attack, before swinging the Excalibur in an arc that beheaded the zombie.

The mindless undead will only stop when they can no longer move, Felix realized. Their minds were bound to the dark robed figure that sat silent and impassive on his steed, on the edge of the great battle in the Hall of Eternal Light. And the elves were rapidly giving way. That was not good. Jumping out of the path of another charging zombie, he took this opportunity to stab another karan that had been caught unawares. Behind him, he heard another strangled scream as someone else met his maker. Silently, he prayed it was not one of his friends. Then, he turned to face the small matter of three zombies and five karan advancing on him.

Isaac pivoted out of the way of a lancer trying to impale him, then kicked at the leg. The brute dropped to his knees, still trying to stab at Isaac. No dice. Isaac leapt out of the way, and brought his weapon down on the back of the karan's neck.

Suddenly, from behind, a zombie lashed out at Isaac, knocking him to the ground. Before he could stand up, he felt the zombie's fingers wrap around his neck, choking the life out of him. Before anything came out of that, however, Garet had already tackled the zombie, knocking it off. Running over, Isaac decapitated the zombie in a single stroke.

"Thanks for the help." He said to Garet.

"What help?" Garet replied. "Some moron kicked me and knocked me back. Lucky I collided with something soft. What is it, anyway?"

Isaac merely rolled his eyes before returning to the battle.

Just then, one of the doors on the far side of the room flew open, allowing a fresh wave of ravenous karan to pour in. At their head was a karan donned in black armor, holding a mighty war axe.

Isaac turned, the only one in the general area to face them. The others were more preoccupied with killing each other.

The karan in black armor strode forth. "We have met before, human. I am Grisnakh, and I promised you I would be your greatest fear. That will come true today, human scum."

Isaac chuckled grimly as he readied his weapon. "I dunno about greatest fear, but that's out of the question unless you pick one weapon and stick with it."

"You dare mock me?!" Grisnakh snarled. "Kill him!"

"I don't think so." Isaac whispered. Raising his Sol Blade into the air, he cried aloud. "I summon the judge of heaven, the keeper of the Book of Life, the warrior of the apocalypse, and the lord of the earth! Judgment!"

Thunder boom, the sky roiled, and from the air itself an unearthly voice seemed to vibrate.

You whose hands bear the blood of a thousand innocents, you who slaughtered the elves of Anthis, you who I find guilty, thy only reward is the eternal sleep of death!

From the sky a blue bolt of destruction smashed into the land, and a gigantic shockwave emerged, consuming everything in it's path. Entering the hall, the it smashed into the karan behind Grisnakh, the rumble of the blast drowning out their screams of pain.

When the smoke finally cleared, Isaac saw Grisnakh standing unscathed. Behind him, no karan had survived. He gave a tiny smile. "That was a powerful spell indeed, human. But I seem to have survived it. It does not matter how many of my kin you kill, only that you will die now!"

And with that, Grisnakh lunged forward.

"Searing Beam!"

A crimson ray of light stabbed forward, smashing into the Aerion. With a screech, the bat-like creature tumbled towards the ground, smashing into one of the spires that dotted the castle. Beside her, Picard worked in tandem, Masamune slashing at any of the bats that came too close. Several archers were also there, on the tallest peak of the mountain, shooting any aerion that came within the range of their arrows. Nearly two thousand of the bat like creatures circled the skies, and the elves and adepts were hard-pressed to defend themselves.

Beside her, Picard leaned on his sword, panting heavily. "I do not think I will be able to sustain these actions for much longer." He muttered. "My physical body has it's limits."

Jenna grimaced. "The only thing left to do is a summon. And the strongest we can activate is Ulysses."

Picard shrugged. "If it works, it works. If not, then we keep fighting."

Jenna nodded. "Fine. I'll do it." Closing her eyes, she concentrated, feeling the power of Mars flowing through her veins, connecting with Picard's djinni, and changing into something far more potent than either of the two elements separate. Opening her eyes, she cried to the false dawn. "I call upon the legendary wandering mage! The one who battled the Cyclops, who braved the twin terrors of Charybdis and Scylla! Ulysess! Come forth!"

A single piece of parchment fluttered down through the darkened sky, then burst into flames. As the fire died down, it revealed the figure of Ulysess. More papers fell from the sky, and from some secret rune known only by Ulysess, they mutated into gigantic snapping claws, that snatched up the aerions, flinging them to the ground far below. With several psynergetic sparks, Ulysess disappeared into the void.

Jenna slumped to the ground, panting. "Dammit" She muttered. "These summons always seem to take more out of me than the rest of you guys."

Picard shrugged, before chopping off a wing from another aerion that had attempted a dive bombing attack. "Your psynergy is stronger than most though. I'd use that to my advantage if I could." Before he could continue, a spear from one of the aerion riders struck his thigh. With a groan of pain, Picard slumped to the ground.

The aerion was circling closer, intent on knocking Jenna off the tower. He never saw the dragon of fire rise up from behind him, incinerating it's rider in an instant. Riderless, the aerion wheeled in a confused arc before getting impaled with an arrow by one of the archers.

Turning to Picard, Jenna prepared to cast Aura to soothe his wounds, but she found he had already yanked out the spear and healed himself, all the while muttering several unrepeatables.

"Never expected you to say those sort of things." Jenna smirked.

Picard's only reply was a noncommittal snort.

Isaac stumbled back from another blow that Grisnakh dealt. Ducking under the swing, he stabbed forward, trying to puncture the breastplate. But Grisnakh had already anticipated this and leapt away. Drawing a dagger from his belt, he hurled it at Isaac. Isaac dived out of the way. Not fast enough. It had nicked his arm. Looking up, he saw his foe raising his axe, ready to bring it crashing down on his skull.

Not this time.

"Flint!"

A flash of golden light, and Grisnakh staggered back, clutching his bleeding side. What the hell had that been? He began to feel, for the first time, a tiny trickle of fear entered his thoughts. This boy… never! With a scream of rage he grabbed a lance that had lain by the side of one of the dead elves, and hurled it straight at the boy still climbing to his feet.

Isaac didn't even have time to blink before he felt the spear hit his chest, knocking him flat on his back. The force behind the shield had been huge, but his armor had held, and he was unscathed. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he rolled to the side in alarm as Grisnakh once again brought his axe down on the floor, breaking one of the marble slabs. Before he could stand once again, he detected a faint numbness in his arm. What-?

Grisnakh noticed his puzzled expression and smiled. "Why, little human. I assume you know my dagger was poisoned? No? What a pity."

Isaac growled dangerously. "You'll pay." He whispered. Lunging forward, he flew into a series of slashes, lunges, parries, and ripostes designed to get through any defence his foe could put up. He had practiced this dozens of times with Felix and Garet and knew it perfectly.

One small problem. His right arm was rapidly weakening and he was beginning to feel the same numbness in his legs. His entire body was slowing down, and Grisnakh knew it. With a single kick, he knocked Isaac back onto the floor, and this time Isaac couldn't get up.

Grisnakh stared down at the fallen human. So weak. So pathetic. Raising his great axe above his head, he let out a howl of victory.

He howled until the arrow pierced his second heart.

He stared down at the offending black-feathered shaft still sticking out from his chest. "Impossible…" He managed with a choking voice. Then he fell to the floor and did not move again.

"That was for my father." Davion whispered as he lowered his bow. Mia, behind him, dashed over to Isaac to cure him of whatever affliction that had affected him.

Alex sighed wearily as he allowed the psynergy around him to dissipate. Davion in his blind fury had threw himself into the ranks of the karan like a madman, and more often than not it was Alex and Mia who had to watch his back. At least now the majority of the karan in the Hall were falling back.

Just then, from the far end of the room, he heard a shrill scream that sounded like the howl of a banshee itself. Turning to the end of the hall, his azure eyes widened as he saw a dark robed figure atop a horse, runeblade sweeping through the air, heading for the center of the room.

Garet dived under the swing of the dark rider's sword, and stabbed upwards. The horse reared back and screamed in pain, blood flowing freely from it's haunch.

The Dark Knight seemed to realize that there was a human under him, and swerved out of the way. From his sword a coil of sickly green energy emerged, smashing into Garet and draining his life energies. Garet only managed a strangled cry before slumping to the floor.

Maelgrim eyed the dead human. No, not dead yet. He could still see the steady rise and fall of his chest. Extraordinary resilience for a mere child. Raising his sword, he was about to bring it crashing down onto the boy when a sudden surge of water gushed forth, staggering him dislodging him from his horse. Brought to the ground, he looked up to see a blue haired human standing with arms outstretched, glaring at him.

Was this the same boy at the gates? No, he was different. He was older and bore no brand. And he wore a mark of a betrayer. Rising up, he summoned up another blast of dark energy and launched it at the human.

Alex dodged the swirling beam, and jumped over the next one. The Dark Knight seemed merely to be playing a game, biding his time until he could release a far more potent spell. He would have to be very caref-

There! A huge black orb, almost seeming to suck in all light around it emerged from the Dark Knight's hand. With astonishing speed it surged forward, straight towards Alex. It took all of his available agility to dodge the orb of darkness that flew towards him.

Whirling, he turned back to the Dark Knight, expecting some new devilry to emerge from his hands. But he merely stood, silent and impassive. "Behind you, mortal."

Before Alex could turn, he felt a sudden spasm of power behind him, and he couldn't move. He cursed silently. What an idiot! He should have realized that the spell was a homing one! And now the Dark Knight was moving almost casually towards him, the battle around them unnoticed. Alex tried to raise his hand. Freeze Prism. His strongest psynergy. He needed it to blast this…… demon in front of it back. But he couldn't move. Even his eyes couldn't blink.

The Dark Knight stopped in front of Alex, staring at him with invisible eyes. "You will be the first blow against the adepts of Weyard." His sword flashed, and whether through some spell or merely the physical strength of the Dark Knight, Alex was sent flying through the air, until his body smashed into the wall, and crumpled to the ground.

Ply.

But he couldn't. Now, when he needed it the most, his energy had deserted him. Even as that sword had struck, all of his psynergy had been drained. What kind of power did that cloaked figure have? As he raised his head, fighting to draw in another gasp, he saw the Dark Knight walking towards him, sword raised.

The blue-haired human had been amusing, Maelgrim mused. But it was time to end this. He was about to step forward, and slay him, when he heard the scream of his horse behind him. Turning, he saw the red haired boy, apparently recovered, removing his sword from the corpse of his steed. The boy's recuperative powers… they were nothing short of amazing.

"It's around now you realize turning your back on any enemy is stupid." The boy said in an almost conversational tone.

Maelgrim only hesitated a second before charging forward, runeblade swinging in a wide arc. The boy merely raised his hand, and stared straight at Maelgrim for an instant.

"Heat wave."

A plume of fire erupted from the boy's hand, igniting and setting ablaze his cloak. The Dark Knight merely flung it off, revealing a magnificent suit of armor.

Garet stared with wide eyes at the Dark Knight. Where his head should have been only wisps of smoke were, forming the vague outline of a face. With a roar of rage, the Dark Knight flung forth his hand and a swirling tempest of death and decaying power emerged from it, blasting Garet back. Stumbling over a cadaver, he fell to the ground,

Maelgrim strode forth. He would not make the same mistake again. This boy would die now. As the blade came to rest on the boy's throat, Maelgrim snarled in anger. "You wretched, worthless human. You will pay the ultimate price for daring to raise your hand to strike me."

The boy glared up at Maelgrim. "Maybe you don't realize this, but adepts never go out alone. And like I said, turning your back on one is stupid."

Suddenly, the horrible sound of rending metal resounded through his years, and pain exploded through his body. His head slumped, and he saw a silvery, ghost like blade with ancient runes stabbing through his chest and armor. Twisting his head, he saw a dark haired boy, whose bangs fell to his shoulders, partially obscuring his brown eyes. With a sneer, the new adept yanked the sword out from Maelgrim, dumping him to the floor. The ghost-like weapon in the boy's hands dissipated.

"No…" Maelgrim hissed as he crashed to the floor. "No weapon can wound me… how…"

"This is no ordinary blade." The dark haired adept replied. "I fancy you don't realize that that sword that cut you was made from psynergy. Legend, some call it. And it spells your doom."

From the air, two more identical swords fell, one piercing through his torso, and the last stabbing through his crown.

Felix stepped back in shock as a hurricane seemed to spring up from the Dark Knight, his form rapidly dissipating into the air. With a final tortured scream, the Dark Knight collapsed, and from the suit of armor a gray spirit rose, blown away by the winds, out of a window to the desert air, and finally faded away.

Around the castle, the battle was beginning to wane. The elves, outnumbered and outmatched, were all but a spent force. Howling in victory, the karan pressed forward. Soon, the fortress would be theirs, and they would begin the final purging of the elves from the desert lands. Victory was at hand.

But even as they raised their weapons, to slay their current foe or proclaim victory, their howls and laughter caught in their throats. Around the walls of Anthis a fell wind blew, and the shadow of a rumor too dark and terrible to contemplate was made known.

"The Dark Knight," They whispered. "The Dark Knight has been slain."

And on the outer walls, perched high upon the beasts known as Aerions, the karan riders saw their doom approach with the rising of the sun.

Hundreds upon thousands of elvish soldiers, garnered from the outlying towns, marching to the aid of their great citadel in her darkest hour. Already they had blocked the mountain pass that was the only exit from Anthis, and their arrows, flying through the air, slew many Aerions, dropping them from the sky.

And so the fighting grew thick and fierce, with odds now even on the field of battle, and when it was over, the dead outnumbered the living, and the elves claimed victory.

But at what cost?

Mia kneeled beside the silent form of Alex. "Pure Ply." She whispered. A sapphire light surrounded Alex, but when it faded, the bloody gash across his chest was just as prominent. Frowning, she was about to recast the spell, when Alex's hand rose, pushing her hand away.

"Forget it, Mia." Alex whispered. "Whatever he did to me… I'm too far gone now. Even revive won't help me."

Mia stared at him with open mouth. "You… you're just going to accept your death like that?!"

Alex sat back, fighting to draw in another gasp of breath. "I think… the problem is that you… as a healer… can't accept anybody dying." He managed a grim smile. "I can feel it, Mia. My vision is growing gray. And I am exhausted. I can feel a numbness seeping into my bones. I'm sorry, Mia. This… this has to be."

Mia was about to reply, but she closed her mouth, and merely nodded. She didn't know what to feel. This man, sitting in front of her, had inspired so much emotion throughout her life.

Hatred for his betrayal. Shock for his blatant casualty about breaking the one vow that they were sworn to and igniting Mercury's fire. Numbness over the Wise One's statement that Alex sought to gain unlimited power from Alchemy.

And yet… she had once laughed with him, played with him in the snowy streets of Imil. She had once gazed into his Azure eyes and felt a kindred spirit. Once, they had been friends. And something more? She would never know now.

"Mia…" Alex's eyes opened once more. Forgive me."

Mia felt the beginning of hot tears welling up in her eyes. Casting her face down, she took Alex's hand in her own.

"Yes, Alex." She replied. "I forgive you."

Alex closed his eyes for the last time, the ghost of a smile on his face. "Goodbye, dear Mia." He said.

And he was gone.

Sheba opened her eyes. She was in the drains under the city. How-? She should be dead! Why had she survived? Why was she here?

Suddenly, she was aware of something heavy pressing her down. Instinctively, she lashed out in fear, thinking that a karan had pinned her down. The weight rolled off without any resistance, and Sheba blood froze as she saw who it was.

"Ivan!"

He was pale, eyes closed and body unmoving. Blood from an ugly wound in his shoulder had stained his tunic, turning it more red than green. Nearby were the corpses of dozens of karan, and the remnants of the barrier that Thor had created.

He had covered her, both with his cape and his body, to protect her, she thought numbly. He had risked his own life to ensure she wouldn't be killed.

She watched the slow rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive, but he wouldn't last much longer unless he received medical aid. She tried to stand, and promptly crashed to the ground again as pain shot up her thigh. Glancing down, she realized that an ugly gash had been opened straight through her leg. There was no way she'd be able to hobble back to the city.

Suddenly, she heard several footsteps, and a second later, a trio of elves entered her view.

"What in the name of-?" One of them asked.

"Please," Sheba implored them. "My friend… he's close to death. We need-"

"Say no more." The leader replied. "Jired, pick the boy up. Gently." Walking over to Sheba, he squatted, bringing his face level to hers. "Can you walk?"

She shook her head. "No, my leg."

The leader cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Alright, we'll carry you." Strong arms grabbed her, and she felt herself being hoisted up. Despite the elvish leader's gentleness, she still felt electric shudders of pain race up her leg. She clenched her teeth. She had to bear the pain.

Turning her head, she saw the silent form of Ivan being carried by Jired. He looked so weak and vulnerable… Silently, she prayed to Jupiter for his safety.