Chapter 4: A Pleasant Surprise
"Okay, tell me everything, no lies, and no hiding," Tatyana said, with the remnants of the smile still lingering on her face.
Balian sighed. "All right…Where to begin? I'm from a village called Seles, born and raised as the son of Dart and Shana Feld."
"You're the son of Dart Feld!?" Tatyana yelped.
"Yes, I am," Balian said. "I left Seles about four years ago, to explore the East on my own, as my dad did before the Moon Crisis. When I came back, Seles was in flames, attacked by the werewolves. They'd torn the village apart, and made off with several villagers."
"Where were your parents?" Tatyana asked.
"My father had my mother hide and he used your spirit to fend off the werewolves, but he was bitten, and they both burned alive in our home. I took after the wolves." Balian gestured to his face. "You can see what happened."
Tatyana gasped and began sliding away. Balian rolled his eyes and put up a hand. "Please, I'm not a werewolf yet. The Spirit of the Darkness Dragoon bore itself in my useless eye, and used its power that was now within me to slow the infection."
"…Slow it? For how long?" Tatyana asked.
"We don't know, the only thing that matters is it isn't permanent, that's why I'm heading to Basil. The Dragon believes that if they can tell me where to find the fortress guarding the Divine Dragoon Spirit, the spirit used to kill the Virage Embryo, and its power may be able to destroy the infection," Balian said.
"So you're not a mercenary," Tatyana went on.
"No, just a warrior out to save his own skin," Balian said.
"…How do I know you're not feeding me a lie?" Tatyana asked.
"If I were lying, I imagine that I would have told you that the Dragon had completely eliminated the infection, and if that isn't good enough for you, you're welcome to leave me when we reach the next town," Balian said. A long moment wandered by slowly as Tatyana simply stared at Balian, unmoving and not breathing. Finally, she slid back to Balian's side.
"You said you'd never hurt me, didn't you?" She asked coyly.
"…Well…I wont," Balian answered .
"Well then," she slid closer, "I suppose I still have nothing to worry about, do I?"
"Very smooth. Your romantic conversation capabilities are remarkable," The Dragon said sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Balian blurted. Tatyana jumped at it, and looked hurt for a moment. Balian laughed at this. "No, the Dragon."
"Oh, I see," Tatyana giggled.
"If I were you-but mind you, this is coming from a Dragon-I'd savor the moment a little more than this, you don't know how many more of them you'll have," the Dragon said. Balian looked up to the Blood Moon again, and sighed. He then slid closer to Tatyana.
"The moon will be full again in a little less than two weeks, but we should make it to Basil before then," Balian said.
"What happens to you in two weeks?" Tatyana asked.
"I cant say I know, but this disease is growing within me. I can feel it. It will keep getting worse until one time I will become a werewolf, and go on a hunting spree. With Dragon magic as well in my blood, who knows what the final transformation will portend," Balian said. "I'll be past Basil by then, though, and you'll be safe there. I also can't say there's a lot more that matters to me than that."
Tatyana smiled, and slid her hand onto Balian's, and slipped her fingers into the spaces between his. "You're a caring man, Balian. I'm sorry I wont get to know you better."
With that, all the apprehension that Balian felt previously vanished, and he ducked his head to meet with her own at the lips, with one long passionate kiss. It seemed to last forever, and Balian felt a great change within him, as if he'd been unburdened of something. When the kiss was over, they rested their foreheads on one anothers'.
"…Would you believe I've been waiting for that for three days?" Tatyana said.
Balian gave a small laugh.
"This is going to be trouble, I can see it now," The Dark Dragon said.
"Never," Balian said…
The next morning included an early rise, and an our of hiking until the new lovers reached the entrance to the limestone caves. Inside they found the same beautiful green sights that Dart and his friends had witnessed years earlier, with no less of their original pristine beauty.
The journey through was quick and painless, being as the Dragoons could fly over any obstacles in the way. They stopped halfway through for some lunch, and began again, headed for the light at the end of the cavern they were in.
However, fate would not allow such beauty beheld without some price.
Balian and Tatyana walked casually through the cavern, moving this way and that to avoid certain structures. Yet suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake. They both transformed, and looked to their feet, just as the ground beneath them sunk and gave way to several open mouths. The Dragoons took refuge at the ceiling of the cave, and watched as one, two, three, four, five, then six giant worms burst from the ground, leaping up at the ceiling, and snapping at the new meat with powerful jaws.
"Stay here, I'll take care of them," Balian said. He dropped down, a few feet, and held his swords up.
They began to glow a dark violet, and the ceiling of the cave rumbled as the power within them doubled, again and again. After a minute or so, Balian threw all the magic in his swords down to the floor of the cave.
All but two of the giant worms were sucked into a spinning vortex that now covered the ground beneath them. Suddenly, the worms and the vortex around them froze into a two dimensional picture. Balian gave them a moment to suffer in the dark realm, and then tapped his blades together. "Death Dimension!"
The picture burst up, into a thousand pieces, cutting the remaining worms, and falling back onto the floor, breaking further, assuring the death of four of the six original worms. The other two, angry and bleeding, lunged at Balian, who had sunk another several feet. He turned his blades outward, and began spinning, slicing the mouths and heads of the giant beasts open. With a final explosion of black energy, the worms fell to the floor, headless.
After a moment of silence, they both touched down, and changed back. "Damn," Balian said. "Those must have been the children of the limestone beast my father told me about in these caves. He never said those things made babies," he chuckled. "Oh, well, it was nothing much."
"Yeah, nothing much, we just nearly got eaten, how about lunch?" Tatyana mocked. She gave him a shove, as they walked out of the cave.
"It's about another day's walk to Basil," Balian said.
"Really?" Tatyana said.
"Yes," Balian said with a sigh.
"Are you going to leave me in Basil?" Tatyana said, taking a hold of Balian's hand as they walked.
"It's safer there than with me," Balian answered.
"But you said you'd never hurt me," Tatyana said.
"I wouldn't, but if I lose control of myself, I wont be me. I'll be one of the wolves, and I wont be able to stop myself," Balian said.
"Balian, I don't want to be away from you, with my help you know you could make it to Tiberoa faster," Tatyana said.
"She could help, Balian. We don't know for sure what will happen the next time the Blood Moon is full. You love her, so I understand that you want to protect her, but she would probably be safer with you than in Basil, in the middle of the war," The Dragon said.
Balian spent a few minutes pondering how he felt. The Dragon had made some good points. He was scared for her, but if the war fell to Basil, how would he be sure that Tatyana was safe?
Balian finally reached his decision and sighed. "If something bad happens when the full moon rises, fly high, and get as far away from me as you can," he said.
Tatyana squeezed his hand tightly in response, and they began walking northwest, in the direction of the capital of Serdio.
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, folks, and sorry for the length, too. I promise the next one will be longer. The site was having trouble or something, so I couldn't bring up my chapter sooner. But here it is! Please give me a few reviews, and I'll get the next chapter up faster. Things begin to get interesting once our lovers reach Basil, but you wont know till I update, will you? Later!