OK I am back! kinda. Anway's here's the next chapter and the fact that own nobody except for Kyle, Leena, and Erif. But since this is mostly just about Kyle's POV I don't really focus on anybody else...maybe some support conversations here and there, but nothing really big on those areas. k? k.
Kyle pulled the horse to a stop as he and the rest of the group made a final turn upon a mountain path. Looming before them, in the dawn of the morning sun, was Castle Caelin. Lyn, and Kyle both stared ahead of them at the castle's gleaming bastions, and glowing towers. The castle in the rays of the morning sun was truly a magnificent sight to behold.
"We must prepare ourselves," Kyle said turning the horse to face the rest of the troop. "We've no idea what surprises Lundgren could have in store for us."
Kent nodded. "However there are a few advantages that we possess. The first is that he does not know we've gotten this far. The second is that he will not be receiving any reinforcements from either Eagler or from any of Caelin's neighbors. He will no doubt be receiving the letters from the other Marquees' and shall be rather displeased. The letters would be found heartless by even us here. But this shall only work to upset him, and give us yet a third advantage."
Kyle nodded. "I agree. If we are to strike, though, it should be now. He will be disoriented for a brief minute, and his troops, disorganized."
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye Kyle spotted an advance scout. Just as the man emerged from his hiding place Kyle tossed a knife at him. It struck the man in the back, and he fell to the ground clawing at his back trying to get to the knife that had pierced even his armor.
Kyle leapt from the horse, and ran over to the man pulled the knife out, and hoisted the man to his feet dragging him over to the rest of the group. The man looked up weakly. His eyes were already glassing over. Kyle shook him and the man glanced around awake.
"W-Who are you all?" the soldier asked. Kyle could hear both the fear and inexperience in the voice. This was a young man, no doubt just recruited into the military.
"We are Lyndis's Legion. We have come to return Lyndis and her grandfather to the throne of Marquees. Behind me is Lady Lyndis."
The young man's eyes suddenly went from terrified to ecstatic. He began to rub his hands together in an almost insane manner.
"So…So you mean that you are here to do away with Lord Lundgren?" the young man asked. Kyle nodded.
"Thank you! You all have the blessing of a soldier, and gratitude for not killing me! Please take this sword! It has been in my family's possession for some time…though no one knows what it's for or who made it."
Kyle took the blade in hand. It was old…and rusted... It's value would've been less than an iron sword so it wouldn't be worth much at the market.
"Why didn't your family just sell it?" Kyle asked examining the workmanship.
The soldier shrugged. "My mother wanted to once, but my father wouldn't hear of it. When my mother asked why, he simply responded that he'd gotten it in his travels and so thus it was dear to him."
Kyle put the sword carefully into an unused scabbard. His favorite silver sword had broken and thus the scabbard that had once held a lustrous blade…now held a dingy one. But Kyle shrugged with any luck he would be able to find a smith to polish it up and forge it back to its once prestigious look.
Kyle drew a steel sword he'd been lucky enough to find at one of the markets, and ran down the mountain trail with Lyn not too far behind. Kyle could hear the rest of the group moving in behind them. 'Not even Lundgren can stop us now,' he thought to himself, 'The fool has made his own tomb and to make matters worse it is the castle itself.'
An immense field stretched out before them with some scattered hills breaking up the landscape. A village sat on a nearby knoll that sat only a few feet away from a bridge. Kyle looked into the sky. Dark clouds were beginning to roll in.
"Everyone listen!" he yelled turning to them. "It appears that the weather is turning foul! We should be careful and try not to lose our footing when the ground gets slick!"
Kyle turned to find Lyn standing beside him. "This rain is going to make it rough for our horsemen Rath, Kent, and Sain to get around…all of us as a matter of fact. It seems as though the world doesn't want us to succeed." Kyle drew his blade and thrust it into the air. "But we shall!! Not even if this rain were arrows would I stop until I had seen you through those doors!!"
Lyn looked at Kyle with gratitude and happiness on her face.
"I thank you Kyle," she said, "None would have stood by me…and then you came along. You lied to me saying you were a strategist, but you turned out to be an excellent swordsman. With your help I was able to rally so much support…that now…it seems a shame that our adventure should be coming to an end." Lyn started to cry.
Kyle placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face so that she looked him in the eyes. "Lyn…" he said. "This is but an ending to one story. There are still a thousand more to be told, at the very least! This day shall see a traitor's death, and the union of relatives. So for now let your sword cling fast to its righteous conviction. That is what shall see you through this battle."
She nodded and her lips curled into a smile. "You've been my greatest of friend's and my longest companion. You've always been trying to look out for me…and…I just wish to thank you."
Kyle grinned. "Lyn, almost one year ago you saved my life from the harsh plains. I promised you then that I wouldn't stop until I'd gotten you to see this man… I promised to be by your side…until that day. The day is fast approaching and it shall see the end of Lundgren. Now come. We must put this all to an end, and put your granduncle to the blade."
Lyn nodded. Holding her blade she charged down the mountain path. Kyle was quick to follow close behind her. He did his best to keep pace with her, but she was far too quick and ran past him. Kyle quickly found himself immersed in the excitement of battle. He locked blades with a mercenary, and after pushing the man back a few feet he broke the contact and brought his foot down atop his foe's head in a deadly heel drop. The feeling of the man's skull shattering underneath Kyle's heel was both sickening, and a little thrilling.
Kyle looked around and could feel the adrenaline rushing through his blood. This was his environment. He reveled in the fighting, and killing. No one could change what had been bred into him. He loved the carnage he didn't mind snapping bones whether it was with his hands or his blade the sounds, and smells of battle enthralled him. He leapt over a mage, and impaled the man with a quick back thrust, and then ran on.
A cavalier charged at him, and attempted to impale him on the end of a lance. Kyle ducked to the right, and suddenly leapt up, and slashed the man off his horse. The knight fell to the ground and looked up in terror at Kyle. Kyle raised his blade to kill this dismounted foe until he remembered the codex he'd been raised to know: Kill not the unarmed enemy. There is no honor in this.
He regained control of his senses and ran off again; dodged two arrows raced forward and slashed through the torso of the opposing archer. His foe clutched at the area where the blade had sliced open and fell to the ground. Kyle kept on moving without looking back. He knew that if he did then he would most likely kill the man.
Kyle locked blades with a second mercenary. He was immediately impressed by the man's strength.
"I must tell you that you are quite my equal in physical strength," Kyle complimented. The other man didn't say a word. "However when it comes to skill…" Kyle broke the lock jumped back and in the blink of an eye cleaved the man from his left shoulder down to his left thigh. The two halves of the man fell away from each other and hit the ground. "…I am the better of the two of us."
Kyle looked around. He was near the castle now. His love of war had taken him too far again, but when he turned around he noticed that he'd managed to control himself to only kill four people. He scoffed. 'Only four?' he thought to himself. 'That's pathetic! I know I can do better than that!' Kyle noticed Lyn standing before the gate and decided to make sure she was unharmed. Though she was greater than he in terms of speed…he wasn't certain how strong she actually was.
He stopped though when he heard the sounds of heavy metal boots clanking from the castle. Kyle gazed in awe at the man armored in head to toe just as Wallace had been.
If this was Lundgren then he was at least loud. Kyle could hear every word he said from about ten feet away: "Hm. So my grandniece and her little band of rug rats have come to play with the big boys, eh? Do you understand what sort of debacle you have put the people of Caelin through?" There was a bit of silence. "I suppose it doesn't matter. Soon you shall be dead, and I shall send your grandfather to join you after I've dealt with the rest of your friends."
The battle began. Lundgren attempted to impale Lyn on the end of his spear, but the girl deftly evaded the blow. Then it was Lyn's turn. She leapt forward and slashed at him. At first it seemed as though she had missed when suddenly a small cut appeared upon Lundgren's cheek. Lyn turned and smiled. Lundgren howled like some crazed animal, and brought his metal-gloved hand round and slapped her across the face. The metal added something to the blow. Lyn hit the ground and rolled a ways, and her Manni Katti blade settled in the ground a few feet away.
Kyle knew what Lundgren was going to attempt to do. He was going for the coup de grace. While she was on the ground helpless he was going to kill her. No, he wasn't. Kyle wouldn't let him. They had all come too far for it all to end here… He would stop this villain.
Kyle sprinted towards them both from ten feet away as Lundgren went into his prepared monologue. He grabbed Lyn's blade as he passed it.
"So tell me daughter of Madelyn," Lundgren said as he loomed over her, "does it hurt inside to know that you came so far only to have fate dictate that you die at my lance? I wish to know. I wish for history to tell of how Lyndis, daughter of Madelyn Haussen, and a Sacaen mongrel, told me the great Marquess Lundgren of how much she hated me…" He waited for a few moments in silence. "What? Is that truly it?" he asked. "Do you have no last words? Will you not even beg for your life?!" Lyn didn't say anything. She continued to stare at the ground. A clap of thunder resounded throughout the valley as a storm rolled in. "What an anticlimactic ending this has become. Is this how you would have history remember you Lyndis? Do you just wish to die like your people have? Without a word? Will the great rebellious hero Lyndis not even say a word to grace her better?!" Still Lyn remained silent. "Very well," Lundgren said. "I shall grant you the death you seek. But do not fear. You should rejoice. You shall be with your mother and father and your grandfather shall join you soon after."
Kyle's feet pounded hard as rain began to strike the ground. It was a heavy rain, and it began to soak his clothes, hair, face, and both blades in his hand. He could feel the fear of losing Lyn. He watched in horror as a bolt of lightning cast a brief shadow of Lundgren's raised spear against the stone of the castle. The lance was coming down. It got closer and closer to Lyn until suddenly…Kyle leapt over her head, and caught the head of the spear in the two swords crossed like an X.
"W-WHAT?! Who are you?!" Lundgren asked in surprise.
Kyle glared at him. "I am a former assassin of the Black Fang, second only to Jaffar, Angel of Death. I have promised my blade and my life to Lyn…and you will not take her life away!!"
Lundgren smiled menacingly. "You're right. I'll take yours first!!" He pulled the lance back. Kyle dropped Lyn's blade down in front of her. She looked up as Lundgren's silver lane pierced through Kyle's abdomen and stopped inches from her own head.
"Now do you see the futility of challenging me?" Lundgren asked. "You never had a hope to beat me from the beginning of this story. The fates have chosen me to lead Caelin into the future!"
There was a stir from the end of the lance. "Oh? Still alive are you? Don't worry it will all be over soon." Lundgren attempted to pull the lance out of Kyle, only to find that it wouldn't budge. He looked down and noticed with shock that Kyle's fingers were wrapped around the shaft of the lance just above the spearhead.
He started to pull harder, but nothing he did made the lance move. Kyle's head began to move upward, and when a bolt of lightning lit the darkness that was cast over his face Lundgren shrank back in terror at Kyle's expression.
Lundgren could only watch as Kyle was filled with inhuman strength, pulled the spear out of his stomach and held it high into the air.
"What…what are you?!" Lundgren asked. Kyle ran forward and impaled Lundgren on his own spear and continued running until the castle walls stopped him. Kyle glared at Lundgren with an animalistic expression on his face. It was the rage of an animal.
Lundgren gazed at him with ever dimming eyes. "So…" he said, "You're…that…man…he…" Kyle's face shifted back to the normal human face, and he stumbled back with human anger still crossing his face.
"L-Lundgren…" Kyle gasped out, "you…you deserve the fate…you have received… Many your soul…go to the Great Spirit…and may it have mercy upon…you…" Then he suddenly fell backwards. At that moment he could see the first day he met Lyn. He was looking up into the sky as rain continued to fall all around him, and he could see Lyn's smiling, angelic face smiling down upon.
He heard her calling his name. "L-Lyn…" Kyle reached his hand into the air. He felt someone take his hand in theirs. He turned his head weakly and saw Lyn's face marred with concern. "…I…I had to…kill…him… He…He wanted…to…destroy you…and your grandfather…"
She looked down at him where he lay. "I know," she said with a weak smile. "Just hang on. Serra is on her way…and she's going to heal you and you are going to get better."
Kyle shook his head. "I don't know…" he replied. "…I just…don't know…anymore…" But then he looked straight into her eyes. "But…whatever does…happen…just know…that I'm happy to have…known…you…milady…Lyndis…"
Kyle felt his eyes starting to shut. She squeezed his hand tighter and screamed his name. He tried to open his eyes wider, tried to hear her…but he couldn't. He had lived for a long time for this moment. This was…not the end he'd envisioned… But anything was better than living as an assassin. The only regret that he had was not speaking to Lyn about everything. That was what he wanted most…to speak to Lyndis…and tell her his hopes…his fears…and everything else…but now it was too late. Suddenly he blacked out.
Kyle felt as if he was drifting down a river. He could tell he was going downstream…but the destination was unknown. In fact the entire area was foreign to him. As he looked left and right he could dragons, and humans walking together and talking, and laughing…but…dragons had been gone from this world for many, many years… Suddenly he came to a stop in front of a large dragon with white feathers for scales.
"Welcome young one," the dragon said.
Kyle remained silent for a few moments. He had no idea where he was there were dragons and people acting calmly in each other's presence.
"Again," the dragon said, "Welcome young one."
Kyle watched the dragon's gentle eyes. "…Well met my lady," he replied.
"I have not seen one of our own kind visit this place in many centuries. Tell me, what is your name child?" the dragon asked.
"Kyle," he replied. "My name is Kyle."
The dragon craned its neck down and gazed at him with large blue sapphire eyes. "Is your true name Kyle? Or is that your human name?"
Kyle hesitated for a few moments. "I'm…not sure I get what you mean…"
The dragon raised its neck again, and moved one wing as if commanding him to follow. "Years, and years ago there was a great war between dragons and humans. It was known as The Scouring."
Kyle nodded. "I know. I remember that much of my history lessons."
"You are a bright lad," the dragon said as they walked along. "However what you no doubt did not know is that some dragons and humans mated before the scouring had occurred. The offspring of these often forbidden became known as manakete. In the dragon tongue this means half-dragons. Humans adopted the word manakete to describe anyone that was at least part-dragon. You see part-dragons are at least slightly stronger than normal humans, and have about twice the longevity. The thinner the blood of a human is the longer the dragon will live. You see you are actually a manakete. But you only have one eighth the human blood so you will be able to live a long life. But you may surrender your life at any time. You see any manakete can surrender their longevity by standing in front of the dragon's gate, and holding a dragonstone in their hands. Their extra life force will pass into it and they will become human. Do you think you want to make that sort of sacrifice?"
Kyle stopped and looked up at the dragon. "What do you mean? I'm not a manakete am I? I thought that I was just some dumb human from the Black Fang."
The dragon looked toward the horizon as a sun began to rise.
"It is far too late to speak of such things," the dragon said. "It seems that you are returning to the world of the living. Please keep in mind all I have said."
The vision in front of Kyle was suddenly hidden from his sight as the dawn began to grow brighter and brighter and brighter. Suddenly he sat up in a bed in what looked like an infirmary. He looked around the area. He seemed to still be alive. But how? He could tell that he was still wearing his pants at least but he could feel a bandage over his stomach. He moved back the sheets. Indeed he was wearing a bandage. The bandage was over the area where he'd been injured by Lundgren's lance.
He could feel someone's hand on the ruffles of the bed. Kyle looked down and noticed Lyn sitting in a chair, with her head lying on the bed itself, and her fingers clutching at the sheets of the bed.
Kyle tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh Lyndis."
She seemed to swat his hand away. "Not now daddy…" she mumbled, "I'm waiting for Kyle to wake up."
Kyle grinned and yelled, "Lyn wake up!!"
The girl awoke with a startled expression, and looked around. When she saw Kyle sitting up in the bed tears of joy started to stream down her face. She leapt onto the bed and grabbed him in a hug.
"Kyle! You're awake! The clerics said that you might never wake up!!"
Kyle laughed a little. "OH come on you know I'm tougher than that."
Lyn giggled. "Yes I should have known better than to doubt the survival skills of Kyle!" She helped him out of the bed. "Come," she said, "Let's go introduce you to my grandfather. I'm sure that he'll be happy to meet you. After all you're the reason we got here."