The Descended Shadow

by BC-Butch Cassidy-BC

24 years have passed since Hitomi returned to earth but Gaea is not the same place she left behind. War, oppression and death are all commonplace, and in this shadow a new visitor comes from the Mystic Moon... A new story is Dawning, the Descended Shadow!

9. A relic of the old world

A VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE
The Descended Shadow
Chapter IX
A relic of the old world

Disclaimer – Escaflowne is not mine; the characters and story are the property of Bandai entertainment. The story and characters of 'The Descend Shadow' or 'Shadows of the Past' are the property of Butchs Fan Fiction Forum . Before use of these characters or elements of the story please get permission from Butch Cassidy at

- Visit the Home of 'The Descended Shadow' at
- Character reference at the end of the Fan Fic. If you forget a character, remember.

………

The young pilot looked around him nervously. The attack on the city had only just started, it had only been a couple of days since they had entered the city but it felt like they had been battling for weeks. Their cowardly enemy, the Fanelian's had decided to hide themselves, sneaking between the buildings like rats. His unit had been given the unfortunate duty of securing the city's central hall, and hopefully the governor with it.

The same two scenarios kept playing out in his head. One, that the enemy had abandoned the central hall understanding that it would be their first target, or two they had decided to hang on there and defend it as well as carry out their gorilla attacks. This was why he felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest, they where entering the square just prior to the central hall and if their enemy was going to attack them this would be the place.

His Gymelef clenched his sword tighter and followed the few Gymelef's that lay ahead of him into the paved square. Three separate roads converged in the square, a giant statue in the centre. The statue was that of a huge man, wrapped in a large animalistic coat. Stuck into the dirt by his feet his massive sword accompanied him. On the base of the statue a small caption quoted the man,
"Our homes have burned, our friends and families killed. But we prevailed. Our rivers run red with the blood of our enemies… may this be the last time they do so, for the sake of our children"

The pilot laughed a moment reading the words. A murderer trying to be a poet, how sad. The two Gymelef's ahead of him had stopped to either side of the huge statue and looked ahead of them to the splendorous building that dwarfed them. The city's central hall was a rich looking building stretching up seven stories, even making the massive Gymelef's appear tiny in comparison. Looking up at it they he became consumed by a sense of insignificance. He turned to the Gymelef that was making up the rear of their unit as an excuse to look away from the building. He was about to address its pilot when he saw no sight of the Melef.
"What the?" He cried out, scanning the area for his man. A Gymelef wasn't exactly an easy thing to hide. He clenched his hand to his sword tighter,
"Where are you?" he asked his eyes continuing to scan to the area. With a gulp he yelled back to the Melef's from the front of their unit,
"I think we have a problem"

At first no response came to his warning but then the sound of clashing steel filled the air, followed by loud screaming. As fast as he could he turned back to the statue, only to find the two forward Gymelef's upon the ground unmoving. One had been sliced in half; the second had a sword still embedded in its cockpit. Its hand still on the sword another Gymelef stood above his downed friend. The young pilot let out a gasp as he recognised the Gymelef, it looked like the Ispano Gymelef used by the king of Fanelia, Escaflowne. Removing its sword the Melef turned to him and he took several steps back, fear taking him.

He clumsily raised his sword to the Gymelef as it stepped towards him, his heart pounding.
"Stay where you are!" He ordered but it continued to advance on him. Turning he prepared to run, but found that his path had now been blocked by a couple of new Gymelef's though these where far from as impressive as their kin. Turning back to the Ispano look alike he decided to make his stand. He had nowhere to run… at least he would die a man.

The Ispano look-alike raised its sword to match his stance and prepared itself to fight. With a deep breath he charged the unit with the hope of catching it off guard. Unfortunately that was not the case and the unit easily deflected his attacks. With a clash the Ispano threw the young pilots Gymelef into one of the buildings that dotted the side of the road. With an echoing rumbling sound parts of the building collapse upon the disabled Gymelef. Half buried under the ruins of the building the Ispano approached him. He could see the monstrous unit look down upon him; he was helpless to prevent it, like his friends before him.
"Please don't kill me" He young man pleaded but it did him no good.

In only a moment Néigh had buried his sword into the young mans unit and removed it again, another group of their enemies defeated. Removing his foot from the defeated Melef he sheathed the massive sword, larger than several men on its own. The Gymelef's that had blocked the young mans escape, two of them, joined him.
"How many is that now?" One of the pilots from the new Melef's asked, Néigh laughed,
"Fourteen by my count Kertis, I'm starting to think they have an endless supply of these units" Kertis joined in the laughter,
"No, just the idiots they get to pilot them" Néigh shook his head,
"Come on, let's get under cover before someone comes to see what all the commotion was about"

With Néigh in the lead the Gymelef's slowly made their way northwards through the city streets. Tracking was a slow task with Gymelef's, an endless struggle to make as little noise as possible, and keep out of sight, neither or which where easy when your controlling several tons of metal. To the far north of the city was what used to be the Gymelef storehouse for the city, and that was where they were heading now. The storehouse, deliberately kept away from the centre of the city was built into the mountain that encompassed the city. There was a storage building for show on the site but the storehouse itself was hidden from sight.

As they approached the building the sun had already begun to fall behind the armies camp just over the border in the lands of Fraid. As they had travelled the city they hadn't encountered any other soldiers, though they knew that the city was swarming with them. Néigh took a last look at the setting sun as the others entered the storehouse before he too entered.

The storehouse itself was basically one huge hollowed out hall. It stretched up over half a dozen stories and could house dozens of Melef units, even if it only housed a few now. For such a large hall they where the only ones in it, three in the space for hundreds. The only light that entered the room came from far above them, a filter of hundreds of openings in the roof of which let the light pass into them.

Bringing his Gymelef to a stop, Néigh brought it into a kneel. Removing himself from the control restraints he pushed forward on the metal with all his might until it opened outwards. With a further push the entrance into the cock pit of the Gymelef opened out allowing him to walk onto the steel, which until a moment before was a doorway. With an energy before his age he jumped from the flattened doorway and brought a plume of dust up from the ground as he landed on the dust ridden stone.

He sighed and flattened his hair as he waited for his companions to join him. Turning back he looked up at his Gymelef. He laughed remembering how Fraid's young pilot had reacted to it. It is true that it had been built with similarities in look to that of the now legendary Escaflowne but it was nowhere near as beautiful, and he as skilled as his lord. 'How many years has it been since I got you my friend?' He though before the second pilot came up to him,
"Is that us done for the night?" He asked, to which Néigh answered,
"Yes, for tonight Tréas. You know as well as I that they refuse to hunt us at night. Light is a dead give away when you're dealing with Gorilla tactics"

He laughed,
"Then you won't mind if I get something to eat. I'm starved!"
"Sure, we still have some of the bread left… But make sure you don't eat it all" Néigh told him in all seriousness though it came out more like a joke.
"Don't worry I'll save you some" Tréas responded before heading off to the far side of the hall. Néigh watched him leave, he was a young man only in his late teens but Néigh sensed an air of responsibility about him, he remembered his father telling him that people with black hair where like that, responsible, and Tréas's was as dark as the night sky. He only turned when he felt Kertis hand on his shoulder.
"How do you think things went today?" He asked Néigh; now that he was sure Tréas was out of earshot.
"If things continue like this we don't stand a chance. They're getting smarter" Néigh told him, "At this rate its only of time till they get one of us"

"You really think they could?" Kertis asked, he had never been able to picture one of their pilots being taken down by the raffle their enemy fired at them.
"I do. Skill means nothing when you are outnumbered on this scale. One lucky hit and…" Néigh answered,
"Do you want to keep this from the kid?" Kertis asked, and Néigh nodded,
"There's no need to concern him with this" Néigh reassured him, "Anyway lets get something to eat"

With that they joined Tréas, who promptly offered them some bread.
"Here, its great!" He complemented, "Only four days old!" Néigh laughed taking some of the bread,
"I guess we have a different idea of what's nice" It had now been three days since the forces of Fraid had first entered the city. They had to the best of their ability tried to weaken their forces but it had been getting more and more difficult. In the first wave of attack their forces had become scattered, many of their people being left for dead. He wasn't even sure how many where even alive. It wasn't all bad though, he did know where they would each retreat too. Before the battle, with this in mind each of their squads where given their own hide-away, stocked with supplies and hidden away. They where meant to run their operations from there unless it became imperative that they had to leave. This was theirs, one of the only two Gymelef squads operating in the city, the second commanded by Pashihuxika.

"Well then what shall we do to amuse ourselves tonight?" Kertis asked, "Your not going to tell us another story are you?" His comment was directed at Néigh who snorted disapprovingly,
"You know in my day we were happy to have knowledge passed down to us by our elders"
"I'm only kidding!" Kertis admitted, and leaned up against the wall beside Tréas. Néigh made himself as comfortable as he could on the stone floor and prepared,
"Alright imagine there's a tremendous warm fire burning at your fingertips"
"Don't remind us we don't have one!" Tréas complained.
"You know we can't risk giving our position away, imagine it" Néigh told the lad, "It does help"

"Well let's see… In closing days of the war with Zaibach soon after the Alliance was forged, the leaders of her nations decided they wanted to strike at Zaibach somewhere that would show them that they meant business. As it happened in the south of Asturia the city of Norte had been taken by Zaibach only a few weeks before and they where using it as their staging ground of a planned invasion of Palas. This was going to be the first move of the Alliance, to retake city"
"Norte? You mean the capitol?" Tréas asked, and Néigh nodded,
"One and the same, just it wasn't the capitol of the Alliance back then… Just another city"

"I remember some of this, you where outnumbered weren't you?" Kertis asked,
"Four to One" Néigh added,
"Four to One? Then how on earth did you take the city?" Tréas asked, he didn't see how anyone could hope to take a city when they were outnumbered like that.
"A mixture of their arrogance, our pilots skill and dumb luck" Anyway do you wanna hear this story or are you just going to interrupt me all night?" Tréas held his hands out,
"Ok… Ok… Please continue" He told Néigh and mimed zipping his lips. Néigh nodded and continued.

"Well as the battle plan would go we split our forces in two, one set to gather in front of the cities walls. The second would be aboard transports within a battle fleet at anchor a mile or so off shore. I was on one of those transports."

Néigh took a breath before continuing,
"Our forces outside the city had prepared a bonfire within the camp, as a beckon to the sea fleet to attack. I didn't witness what happened personally but I was told rather than let our men attack the cities walls the Zaibach general decided to launch his attack on the unprepared camp. Well then lit the beckon we assumed all was going to plan, and we were going to come and poke the besieged city in the ass"

He paused a moment as if trying to recall the events of the day,
"Well our forces were holding their ground at camp, though barely. As soon as we were in range our ships opened fire upon the cities own ships and our transports were sent in. As it happened the enemy general panicked and pulled his forces from their attack back into the city… all of them"
"Then we ended up fighting a pitched battle on the beach leading into the city, a losing battle. We had expected a hard fight but we hadn't expected to fight the entirety of the enemies' forces. Call it genius or folly but the enemy general had sealed the city and ordered his forces to focus on us, and ignore the army now besieging the city. We lost thousands of good men that day, and I too would have lost my own life if our forces hadn't managed to breach the walls as quickly as they did.

"We were given the order to retreat but my unit, like many others refused the call. We knew if we pulled out we would lose the city for good, that and Zaibach's full force would be turned on our men outside. They where breaking through our final line when the walls were breached. With it breached it was only a matter of time before their men panicked and scattered. The battle may have only lasted a dozen so hours but they where the longest hours of my life. It wasn't long before we were involved in the march on Zaibach, and the end of the war" He sighed, "They said that would be the end of the fighting"

"I didn't know you fought in the battle of the Desert?" Kertis told him,
"I may not have fought under the Fanelian banner but I did fight" Néigh told him, "As did many others"
"Why didn't you fight under Fanelia's banner?" Tréas asked, and Néigh smiled ironically.
"Not to sure on your history are you?" Néigh asked and Tréas looked insulted,
"I know what I need to" He retorted.

"Well then you should know that at that time Fanelia no longer existed as a direct result of the devastating attack on Fanel and the newly crowned King going into hiding" Néigh told him, "We where a broken nation and the only way we could exact our 'revenge' on Zaibach was to fight in the armies of other nations, until our nation was re-forged. Its ironic but I fought under the banner of Fraid"

Far above them the remaining light of the day had gone, replaced by the dark of night. The hall should have been darkened by the fall of night but above their heads thousands of little lights fluttered around the expansive hall. Thousands, perhaps millions of fireflies bringing some light to the dark of the hall. Tréas became entranced by the same creatures, as he had each night since they had come to the storehouse.
"Why do they come here?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the beauty of the seemingly insignificant creatures. Néigh looked up,
"They come in to nest out from the elements" Néigh told him, "They maybe beautiful but unbelievable fragile. Once they give their light they can't even make it through the night… they sacrifice themselves to give their light"

Néigh was about to start again when a distant crash, stopped him. It was soon followed by a second and a third. Grabbing his sheathed blade Néigh jumped to his feet, Tréas and Kertis doing the same. When the door remained as solid as ever they looked at each other before another collection of crashes filled the air, reverberating in the compact city.
"What was that?" Tréas asked, quite sure that neither of his companions could answer his question. Néigh stepped forward, his sword un-drawn in his hand,
"Whatever it is we're not the targets…" Néigh told them, "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't check it out"

He looked back,
"Come on" He ordered them, "And Kertis, bring the binoculars" Kertis immediately came up beside Néigh and Tréas once he had fetched the small device. Placing it round his neck he indicated to it,
"Got it"

Néigh silently acknowledged him and jogged across the hall, the others on his heels. As he reached the front of the hall, he brought himself to a stop a grabbed onto the sides of a wooden ladder that appeared to be making its way up the walls side.
"We're not going to have to climb that are we" complained Kertis, to which Néigh angrily responded,
"I'd be surprised if you had enough energy to climb with all the complaining you do"

"That hurt" Kertis responded sarcastically and motioned for him to lead the way, Néigh did so placing his foot on the wooden step and starting the climb. There were only a couple of minutes between them stepping on the ladder and Néigh coming to a stop but for him anyway it was an arduous time. First of all he was not a young man, although he could bring out strength in him, his stamina was also not the greatest, that and the continuing crashes from elsewhere in the city were distracting.

Where the ladder came to an end there was an opening in the wall, a tunnel to the outside. Néigh climbed into it but he had at least expected a piece of wood or something to block the tunnel, weather on their end or the cities but there wasn't any. Something he would have to look into after this was all over. Once he cleared the short tunnel, and climbed out the cold air hit him like a wall, and he shivered.
"Burr, its cold" Néigh complained just as Kertis prepared to get out of the tunnel.
"I thought we weren't allowed to complain?" He asked snidely before receiving a cruel look from Néigh that shut him up.

Looking around Néigh could see that they where actually standing on the warehouse that operated as the entrance to their hideout. It roof however was flat, separating it from other building of its kind in the city. Suddenly remembering why they had come out in the first place Néigh rushed along the roof, keeping his head down. Coming to a stop at the end he looked westwards into Fraid, and the cause of the disturbances soon became clear to him.

On the outskirts of the city, a huge plumb of dust was raising. A sudden fearful realization came to him and called back trying to keep his voice down,
"Give me those Binoculars!" Néigh called, "And keep down God damn it!"

Before Kertis had even come to a complete stop Néigh grabbed the binoculars which where still around his neck. Kertis let out a panicked gurgling sound as he was chocked by the burden around his neck. Néigh looked through them, getting a closer look at the base of the plumb of smoke and he sighed.
"Can I breath now?" Kertis asked but Néigh ignored him. He let go of the binoculars allowing him to breath again.
"I can't believe they would go this far" Néigh commented and Kertis became uncharacteristically serous.
"What do you mean?" He asked and Néigh indicated to the plumb.
"See for yourself" He did and as the sight reached his eyes he exclaimed,
"That's barbaric"

The sight he saw was nothing short of Fraid putting their efforts into clearing out the gorillas in the city in the most effective way possible. Remove the places to hide, and so they where using their Gymelef's to one by one bring the building of the city down, to rumble. They where flattening the city to ruins.

Néigh looked to him,
"We must get all our forced together. We must deal with this before it is too late"

………

"Oh come on, is this really the time?!" Von asked, letting his anger get the better of him, Merle sighed. It had been over half a week since Sadako and Nimura had left, half a week. Von hadn't really been himself; his temper was short, his manners weak and his decisions far from his best. That morning Merle had convinced him to come out with her to the gardens, but as it turned out that was just a ploy as she had something she wished to discuss with him, it was this that had fried his temper.
"That doesn't matter" Merle responded, keeping her voice cooled, "Things must continue as normal, until we make the situation in Urthas public anyway"

Von looked around the gardens, its various flowers, trees, and plants. No matter how many times he came out here he couldn't clear the troubles from his mind, not like in the old days. In a time which felt so long ago now he could come into the gardens and his troubles would feel miles away… no longer, now they just followed him there. Von sighed and nodded his head. It was true what she said, if anything out of the ordinary should happen in the castle it would only fuel the rumours that something was amiss. She may have been right but the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment was a party and that was what he was exiling himself too.
"Alright when?" Von asked, fed-up arguing the subject.

"The banquet was planned for this day next week" Merle reminded him, "I think that will be enough time to get everything in place"
"And why are we having it?" Von asked,
"I already told you" Merle answered Von's anger starting to get infectious. Von shook his head,
"No, I mean why did we arrange it in the first place?" Von asked, making himself clearer.
"Oh, it's to mark the completion of Fanel's reconstruction. Ten years to the day"

Von appeared to be slowing down, so Merle slowed to match him,
"It's been a long road…" Von sighed, "A very long road"
"It has been" Merle agreed, "but all the hardships have been worth it" Von slowly nodded, but looked as though he didn't really believe it. Merle noticed, but she didn't make anything of it. She knew what was going through his mind, the same thing that was going through her own mind… They had entered the gardens farthest from the castle, they where completely different from any of the other gardens. They where surrounded by trees, so much so that they appeared to be entering a corridor made up by them, the trees were so thick they blotted out the sky, only a few rays of light making it though. Ahead of them, the corridor formed into clearing, a pillar in its centre. As they came closer Merle could see the pillar stretch up into the tops of the trees and beyond, appearing to pierce the very sky itself. An obelisk.

Von knelt before the pillar, and removing his sword he placed it against its stone. With his head bowed he muttered a few words though Merle couldn't make them out. She stood back away from the pillar-allowing Von to have his moment. The pillar was not just a pillar but was in fact a monument to commemorate the life of Vons teacher, Balgus whose grave actually lay below the very ground of which they stood.

Merle nervously jumped from one foot to the other, she was unnerved by Balgus's grave and the way Von acted around there but she also had a question that she had been dying to ask for ages but she knew Von wouldn't like to answer it. Von sighed,
"Merle if you want to say something… Say it"

She clenched her fist,
"Well. I was wondering if you had any news," She asked, now regretting ever wanting to ask,
"How long have you been scared about asking that?" He asked but when no answer came he continued, "Sadako and Nimura, or Urthas?" This time Merle did answer,
"Both" Von sighed,
"Well yesterday I got an envoy from Urthas. Néigh says there was a deadline before the beginning of the battle. That expired two days ago…" Von took a deep breath,
"And there's been no news of Sadako or Nimura since Onoír returned with his tail between his legs"

"Don't be so hard on him," Merle asked him, "Its better that than them being killed by those criminals. At least this way we know their safe"
"I don't know… at least that way it would not matter" Von asked himself as if oblivious to Merles presence. Her eyes widened,
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, gasping, as she understood, "You don't believe that their tractors do you?" She couldn't believe that he would think such a think such a thing, and about his own daughter too.
"I don't know what to think anymore Merle…" He told her, "Dark shadows haunt my dreams… can we truly trust anyone at the moment? Perhaps in resent years blood has become as thin as water…"

Merle would have argued with him but even if she didn't agree with him she had to admit he had a point. It appeared that all those they called friends where bending over backwards with their knifes. Even if he wasn't sure of Nimura and Sadako's actions she was… she believed them to be true, and would believe so until fate proved her otherwise.

……….

Time… how much time had they been travelling? Nimura sighed and thought about it for a moment. They now been travelling westwards for five days, though he was sure if it wasn't for the constant delays they could have done it in three. Their little tumble was the first of these delays, and his back still gave him the occasional twitch.

They had been delayed several more times since then, including having to go off the road entirely as it appeared to just disappear in front of them. He was tired but they were reaching the end of the first stage of their little journey, exiting Fanelia's borders. Then they could enter Cesario… his home.

He looked over reassuringly to Sadako who was riding beside him, both their horses continuing forward at a slow pace. Ahead of him, though he wasn't sure if Sadako had seen it was their goal, the tunnel that would take them out of the country.
"We're here"

"What already?" Sadako asked surprised at their relatively quick arrival. Nimura nodded,
"Yip" They approached slowly, unsure what to expect. Sometimes this tunnel was guarded by a couple of soldiers and to charge in might give them the wrong idea. It was relatively rare for it to be guarded though as it opened out on the other side to the city of Urthas.
"Halt! Who goes there?" A voice came, Nimura didn't initially see the man who gave the order but did follow his order grinding his stead to a stop. Nimura scanned the area but he couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice.
"Dismount" He ordered again and they did so.
"Want us to raise our hands as well?" Nimura asked sarcastically but the man took no heed of this. When they had safely dismounted, the man stepped out from behind a collection of foliage ahead of the entrance of the cave, his sword raised.
"Who are you? And what business have you here?"

Nimura recognised the man was wearing the colours of Fanelia and so relaxed a little.
"We have business in Cesario, let us pass" Nimura asked but to his surprise he shook his head,
"No one is permitted to pass," He told them, "I have my orders, no one may enter Urthas" Nimura felt bewildered, he hadn't expected any resistance,
"But why?" He asked, and the man shook his head again.
"I need not know why to fulfil my orders" He replied.

Nimura stood for a moment thinking their situation over in his head, 'what could they do, how could they convince him to let them pass?' He looked over the man, he appeared to be alone, but that could just be an appearance, his comrades may be in hiding. They could be surrounded and wouldn't know it, no, forcing passed him wouldn't do. It was at that moment that Sadako touched his shoulder,
"What if we told him that we were sent by the king?" She asked but he at first refused the idea.
"No he would ask for proof, and what proof do we have…" He stopped something occurring to him. He laughed to himself wondering why it hadn't occurred to him sooner. Taking a step forward he addressed the guard.

"We have been sent on an errand to Cesario by Lord Fanel" Nimura told the man, "Let us pass" The guard looked doubtful, and looked upon them scornfully,
"Is that so?" He asked.
"It is" Nimura responded simply, removing his sword from its sheath. The man took a step back, gripping his blade tighter. The guard relaxed as Nimura offered the sword out to him.
"The engraving upon blade should be proof enough" Nimura told him, and sheathing his own blade he took Nimura's. Passing his hands over it his eyes gazed over the sword he took in every detail. The rounded hand guard, a brownish colour, decorated with symbols and runes the man couldn't make out. As he let his eyes pass down the blade, at its base he understood Nimura's comments. Carved into the metal the symbol of the winged dragon, a sword at one side, a tree to the other. This was the symbol of the kingship of Fanelia, a symbol only carved into the swords of those closest to the king.

The man returned the sword to Nimura and bowed,
"I apologized for my disrespect" Nimura smiled, though he couldn't shack the feeling he was taking advantage of his fathers blade.
"Its alright, just let us pass" Nimura told him but again he shook his head,
"As I said sir I can't let anyone pass through this cave," he told them before adding. "But there is another cave further north of here, you may take it and it will by-pass Urthas altogether"

"Where?" Nimura asked, his patience being to run thin.
"Along this road, about an hours walk. There you will enter a field, turn towards the mountain. Continue till you reach the rock face, about twenty yards north you will find the opening to the passage" Nimura sighed openly, and turned from the man,
"Why must everything become more complicated?" He asked himself and returned to Sadako,
"Come on" He motioned to mount his horse but the guards voice caused him to stop.
"You cannot take the horses into the tunnel sir, they will not make it in"

Nimura jumped back off his horse and turned to the man,
"How then do you expect us to make it to Cesario in good speed?" He asked the guard, who had begun to look exceedingly nervous at the anger he had awakened in Nimura.
"You can walk to the tunnel, and through. Not to far to the north of the opening in Cesario there is a small village beside to the river Quattro, from there you can take a boat right into Caderle's harbour" As unpleasing as it was he accepted the news and turned up the road. Sadako came up beside him and they began their unwelcome trek, the guard, and the cave they thought they would be taking shrinking behind them. Turning to Sadako Nimura caught sight of her gloomy features, and said,
"Don't worry about it. It won't delay us by far, not really"

Sadako nodded in agreement, but then turned to him.
"But how long does Fanelia have" Those terrible words hung in the air for a moment and Nimura didn't reawaken speech for a while. The guard was right for they had been walking for about an hour when the entered the field he had mentioned. The trees vanished for the first time since they left their horses and it opened out into the green field.

"I guess we head towards the mountain" Nimura commented and Sadako replied half-heartedly.
"Yeah, I suppose" Nimura thought for a moment, it was evident that the delay had gotten her down. As they turned towards the mountain, they prepared to enter the dead brush, and darkness of the overhanging trees. Nimura stopped, a moment later, several steps ahead Sadako stopped too.
"What is it?" Sadako asked. Nimura looked up,
"Look up" He told her, "What do you see?" Sadako sighed at the seemingly stupid request,
"Is this really the time?" She asked, but Nimura insisted,
"Look up, and what do you see?"

Taking a deep breath Sadako looked up, and saw the sky. Upon the mantle of creation gently floating by there were several white fluffy clouds. Black against the blue she could see hundreds of birds, fluttering across the sky, unaffected by events upon the ground.
"I see clouds and birds," She answered,
"Then smile," He answered, and she turned to him, melting.

"Have I been that out of it?" She asked, Nimura tried to look innocent.
"Maybe not" Nimura conceded, "But if you keep on thinking of bad things bad things will happen" She pulled a smile,
"Alright. Its not like this will be too much of a delay, not really"
"Exactly, now come on, the sooner we get going the sooner we will get there" Nimura told her and taking her hand he lead them into the thick clumps of overhanging trees. But unknown to him, or her she blushed. It was only a few minutes before Nimura's enthusiasm died away and they reverted to a more ordinarily paced walk.

"Nimura?" She asked, the silence of their surroundings felt like it was suffocating her. Nimura replied, but she was not sure what to say, she just wanted to say something to break the silence. The light had really all but gone now, leaving only small beams of light crossing their path once in a while.
"Tell me about Letús" She asked and the second she had she bit her tongue. She had asked the first question she could think of. Nimura did not reply at first but just as Sadako began to panic he did.
"What would you like to know?" He asked to Sadako's surprise. She expected him to dodge the question… she knew she would in his place or at least ignore it. She decided to take the opportunity, and asked.
"Well you have talked about him with such kindness, I just wanted to know who he was?"

"He was the one, the only one who spared me" Nimura told her and took a deep breath, "Just imagine, my mother and father dead… lost in a foreign land. For years after my arrival I wandered, no real goal… other than survival anyway" Sadako was about to change the subject when he continued,
"He was a teacher you know," He told her, turning just for a moment "Before the war with the Alliance he taught young teens. After the war he even tried to get on with Zaibach's new occupiers. His friends went off to fight, but he stayed. He never believed it was his place to do anything but teach but then one day…"

He took a deep breath and Sadako could feel what was coming,
"One day?"
"One day he was heading home, it was dark and not too many people where around. He was passing an alleyway, when a scream caught his attention, that of a women. He looked back into the alleyway and what he saw petrified him"

Nimura's hand had begun to shake, he too knowing what horror Letús had witnessed.
"There was a young couple, surrounded by five Alliance soldiers. The man was on the ground barely moving as the boats of the soldiers hit him, the women was being…" He broke off for a moment, but it was all too clear from his words what was happening.
"He witnessed those soldiers doing terrible, evil things to that couple, things he later told me he could never truly express. He remained there for only a matter of minutes his blood boiling, but did nothing to stop them, he was a coward. As the days wore on he couldn't forget the images of what he had seen that night and he left the city, to joined the rebels. It wasn't long before he rose to the top, his high level of education going to good use. It was years before he told me this, and I have no doubt it is true."

He stopped again and Sadako could see the pain he was suffering.
"Lets just leave it there" Nimura told her quietly. She took a step towards him.
"Nimura, I…"
"Forget it," He said his voice cold. Neither of them spoke again until their path came to an end, splitting to the left and right, the mountain straight ahead, its grey almost invisible for the green. Without looking twice Nimura fought his way into the heavy brush, Sadako remaining behind, awaiting his call. And so it came,
"Sadako, the cave is here," He told her, almost as if nothing had been said between them. Slightly reassured Sadako joined him, pushing through the same foliage until she tripped and hit the floor of the opening of the cave. Immediately recovering herself she looked up into Nimura's widen eyes,
"You didn't see that" She teased; he shook his head and offered his hand.
"I hope you aren't going to be like this the whole way," he asked, but she ignored the comment.

They now stood within what appeared to be the mouth of the cave the guard had spoken of, all the light that could illuminated the grey rock. The floor was made up of a brownish dry dirt, she knew this as it was now over her clothes.

She brushed herself down as Nimura grabbed a cone shaped object from the side of the caves wall. Before she could ask the obvious question he scrapped it down the wall and it burst into flames, illuminating the whole of the cave, for meters ahead. The red glow of the fire played menacingly with the shadows of the cave.

Turning to her, Nimura made sure to keep the touch away,
"I'll lead, with the light. Stay close behind me, and be careful" He told her, which struck a cord.
"I can take care of myself," She told him,
"I didn't mean it like that" He told her calmly, "All I meant was this cave is filled with holes, overhangs and many other dangers. Be wary of them"

They walked for what felt like hours, one long tunnel heading westwards. The tunnel didn't look like it had been formed naturally to Sadako; she guessed that it used to be an old route through the mountains. Every so often they would pass what appeared to be a blocked passageway that connected onto the one they travelled, but where they lead she could only guess. Even if it was man made the dangers still existed, the tunnel having fallen into disrepair, and left to nature. Small spiky crystals had formed upon the roof, hundreds of years in the making. The air was filled with the constant drip-drip of water falling from the ceiling, and more than once she had been hit by it.

Step by step they made their way, minute by minute ever mindful of the dangers that could lurk in the darkness just beyond their torch. Sadako had tried to keep up conversation between them as they travelled but she found it more and more difficult to think of new topics. She was still rattling her brain for a new one when Nimura saved her the trouble.
"Sadako what do you know of the legends of Cesario?"

She shook her head, her hair dancing pathetically,
"Nothing" She answered, "It really never came up before"
"Would you like to hear?" He asked, to which she responded,
"Oh yes please" She really wasn't too keen on the subject but anything that kept them from letting the cave go silent was a good thing.
"Today Cesario is ruled by the Steward, a man left on the throne until the Return of the king. You could say he's keeping it warm for the king. Although he has no real official authority he is the one who is in control of the Kingdom of Cesario"

"What happened to the king?" Sadako asked interest beginning to perk in her,
"The old king was murdered. He was killed in an attempted Coup by the head of the guards set with the task of his protection, The Wolves. The only members of the family to escape where the queen and her young son."
"You said the old king? There was a new one?" She asked to which Nimura nodded,
"Yes, that prince eventually returned and took the throne again, but it never lasted. Events conspired against the new king, before he too went missing and is presumed dead" Nimura's fist was shaking as he recounted the tail, it obviously hurting him.

"The steward is a good man, but he holds the kingdom together only by a thread. If some large event should weaken his popular support it is very likely that the kingdom will descend into another civil war, possible even splitting the nation like in the days before the kingship"

Sadako now paying a great deal of attention to Nimura had started to pay less attention to where she was walking.
"What I don't get is if there was a coup how did the Stew…" She started but under a blanket of crashes her words vanished. Nimura instantly turned, but couldn't see a thing for the dust that had filled the tunnel. He couldn't see her.
"SADAKO!" He called out hoping for a reply but didn't get one. It was as the final reminisces of the crashing came to a stop that he could hear her coughing… below him.

"Nimura?" She asked, "Can you hear me?" As the dust cleared Nimura fell to his knees and looked down the hole that had now formed in the floor of the tunnel. It appeared that half the wall and the floor had fallen through, and lying eight foot below him in the debris was Sadako.
"Sadako are you OK?" He asked, his voice panicked.
"Yeah" She answered, almost tiredly, "I think so anyway" Nimura calmed, and smiled,
"What was that I told you about falling?" He asked trying to lighten the situation. Sadako laughed a moment, some of the dust shaking from her,
"I didn't mean to"

Pulling himself over the edge Nimura climbed into the hole though he knew well that he wouldn't be able to climb back up again. He carefully stepped to avoid dislodging any of the debris onto Sadako. As he got to the bottom to his relief he saw that the hole was in fact another passage, travelling in the same western direction, even if it wasn't as direct as their original. Now he could see Sadako up close he saw how very lucky she was as most of the debris had missed hitting her, instead showering her with the dust. She lay in a heap where she fell, looking up at him with ironic eyes.
"If you breath a word of this to anyone" She threatened him. Offering his hand she took it,
"But you already said that when you fell before" He reminded her,
"Don't mention that either," She told him as he lifted her out of the rock, the thickest dust falling. She took a look around now that she could,
"So what do we do?" She asked, "I guess the old path isn't an option" Nimura nodded and looked down the new path.
"I guess we'll be exploring" Nimura told her and took a step westwards.

Sadako beat some of the dust from her clothes, hoping to get as much of it off as she possible could,
"Well you know what they say, all roads lead to Rome" Nimura looked blankly,
"Where?" She laughed a moment,
"Forget it"

As they made their way down the new passage the feeling was a lot lighter than earlier. Neither of them knew where this passage was leading them, or even if it was really going to take them out but they didn't let that trouble their thoughts.

As time went on Sadako become further aware of the discomfort of her surroundings. She wouldn't say that she was claustrophobic or anything but she hated being cooped up so tightly for such a long time. It had been another couple of hours when Nimura suddenly went silence. She probable wouldn't have noticed but he was in the middle of a sentence when he did. She blinked looking up, hoping to see what he had,
"What is it?" She asked

He didn't answer her but she could tell that it wasn't something bad that had caught his attention. It was only then that she noticed that the passage ahead of them, even with Nimura's torch lowered was lit. She beamed,
"Well what are we waiting for?" she asked pushing passed him. Behind her as she ran she heard him call out,
"Stop!" But Sadako ignored the call.

As she continued to get closer to the source of the light she became more excited, so much so she didn't even hear Nimura chasing after her. She was just about to reach the source of the light when she was grabbed from behind. Tackling her, Nimura brought her to the ground, both of them hitting it painfully. She was about to challenge him angrily when he beat her to it,
"What the hell are you doing?!" He asked angrily letting her go, and rising to his knees, "Are you blind?"
"What?" She answered unsure what to think. Turning she looked down the passageway she had been running and it all occurred to her,
"Oh"

The light at the end of the tunnel had blinded her to what awaited her, Nimura having seen it as he stopped and waited for his eyes to adjust. It was lucky that Nimura had stopped her when he did as they were no longer in the tunnel but on a short shelf. They had entered a massive cavern, dozens of feet up, and hundreds down into a seemingly bottomless pit. Upon the far side of the roof, there was a small hole, which the light was streaming in from, far too little to fill the whole cavern. As the light entered it shone into a single crystal, which refracted the light throughout the cavern.

What was truly breathtaking about the cavern was that it was filled with hundreds, if not thousands of small crystals, each spreading the light further. The final effect as the cavern they had found themselves in, a cavern perfectly lit like the world outside, beauty itself.

She was so taken with the sight she never even took her eyes off it until Nimura spoke again,
"Forget it, lets just get out of here," He told her tiredly. He had had enough excitement for one day, way too much. Sadako got to her feet and nodded,
"Alright"

Nimura stared across a ledge that circumnavigated the whole of the cavern. As they walked the ledge Sadako kept her wits about her, sure not to make the same mistakes again. The further they travelled the path began to slop upwards towards the whole in the roof that offered their escape.
"This isn't natural" Nimura thought aloud,
"What do you mean?" Sadako asked Nimura, reply to his indirect statement.

He took a breath of the cooling air,
"Look at the path we're climbing, there is no way that this was natural. I don't know who or when this was built but whoever it was they had some powerful technology" He explained, "Not even Zaibach during the war had technology that could make a cavern like this and not to mention the crystal formations. No this was purposefully built, the question is what happened to whoever built it?"
"Maybe it was the Atlantian's?" Sadako added, though she had no idea what how Atlantian's may live. Nimura looked around again, the wide-open spaces, the light sources separated from the paths,
"Somewhere to come when the persecutions in the outside world get too bad?" Nimura though aloud, "Perhaps, but I doubt it is something we will discover"

As they reached the far side of the cavern they where a lot higher than they where beforehand, allowing them to look down upon the whole of the cavern. Sadako took a moment to do so but Nimura bashed on, and stepping under the opening in the roof he jumped, grabbing onto the edges of the hole. With all his strength he pulled himself out, and secured himself on the other side. He offered his hand to Sadako through the hole,
"Come on" He told her and she took it. With all his strength he lifted her out of the hole, and up to him. He felt his arm strain under the effort but he refused to let go. He let out a sigh of relief as he put her down and for the first time looked around their new surroundings.

They had come into another cave, though only the mouth of one. They lay under the shelf that made up its entrance and though he didn't really want to move he forced himself to his feet, and out of the door to see where they where. He found the cave opened out onto a mountain path, leading down the side of the mountain, into Cesario. Sadako came out behind him and looked,
"So we have to find that village, and our directions are useless now" She commented sadly, but Nimura retorted,
"It shouldn't be that hard to find. All the streams and waters around here go into the River Quattro, and that's where we'll find our village"

"Alright" Sadako added, "but before we do that lets get some sleep. It'll be dark soon, and its has been a long day" Nimura laughed,
"Couldn't agree more"

………

"The mountains that cover Fanelia's Western border are hundreds of miles in length, nearly forming an impenetrable wall," Néigh told the young and impressionable Tréas,
"Yeah I know, I wasn't born yesterday" Tréas retorted, Néigh frowned disapprovingly,
"Of course you know that, but it's the introduction to the story!" Néigh told him angrily. Tréas pouted,
"Alright"

Kertis had left them the night the destruction began. It had been two nights since; and Néigh was starting to become concerned for the man. He had been sent to gather all of the fighters they had in the city, for what would be the point of victory if the city was left in ruins? Since then the Alliance Gymelef's had been at work day and night flattening everything in the city. It was a truly barbaric act, and it pained him to see the Alliance he had fought for the instigators of such an act. He and Tréas had been out in their Gymelef's but it appeared their enemies had learned from their past mistakes and where now keeping their Melef's back.

Unknown to Tréas Néigh had already made his mind up; if Kertis failed to return that night he would leave himself.
"You know the mountains stretch for hundreds of miles, but did you know they are inhabited by Draconian's?" Tréas head shot up,
"What?" He asked the shock evident in his voice, Néigh nodded,
"According to ledged, just after the Draconian's fled Atlantis they spread all over Gaia. Those who came here built their homes in the mountains, huge tunnel systems, and caverns… a place they could call home. As time passed more and more of them ventured outside and the mountains more became safe houses than homes," Néigh told the boy.

"Do you think its true?" He asked, and Néigh shook his head,
"I don't know, but most legends are based on fact" said Néigh, "They could well be up there watching us" Tréas clenched his fist,
"If they are up there we should go up there and kick them out" Tréas told him, "Dirty creatures infecting our lands" Néigh nodded,
"Maybe but lets deal with one enemy at a time shall we" Néigh told him, "We have more than enough people to fight right here"
"Yeah, I suppose" Tréas said before going quiet for a moment, as if he were considering something,
"Sir. Shouldn't Kertis be back by now?"

Néigh sighed,
"He should be," He told Tréas simply.
"Do you think he's Ok" Tréas asked, and Néigh laughed,
"Don't worry about it, Kertis can take care of himself" Néigh was about to change the subject when he thought her heard something behind him. He froze, and placed his finger to his lips, to warn Tréas to be quiet. Taking up his sword he got to his feet and approached the ladder, which lead down from the outside roof. He tightened his grip in preparation to use it if the need should come.

Without any warning a cloaked figure hit the floor in front of him, crouched. Néigh jumped back from the initial surprise but quickly raised his sword and approached the figure.
"Who are you?" He asked threateningly. The figure rose to its feet, revealing an obviously feminine figure under the cloak. From under the shadowed hood he thought he could see some a tough of brown hair.
"Is this how you welcome me?" He figure asked before throwing the hood back, "And it was you who invited me"

Néigh was right; she had long light brown hair, and eyes the colour of emerald. She wore a smile on her middle-aged face, one Néigh had seen a thousand times before. It was Pashihuxika. Néigh lowered his weapon as a precursor to dropping it. Taking her in his arms he embraced her in a friendly hug.
"Its good to see you" Néigh asked her, "But you got my message?" She nodded,
"Of course. Didn't your man tell you?"

Néigh shook his head,
"He hasn't returned" Pashihuxika's eyes darkened under suspicion.
"Could he have been captured?" Pashihuxika asked, to which Néigh sighed,
"Its possible though unlikely. He is a very capable lad… I would never have sent him if I didn't think so"
"Would he talk?" She asked cutting in mercilessly straight to the point. Néigh's face-hardened, as if insulted by the suggestion,
"My people know how to keep their mouths shut," He told her a little acid accompanying the words. She was obviously taken aback by his outburst,
"I wasn't suggesting they couldn't," She told him, "But just because he's your subordinate we can't overlook the possibility" Néigh shook his head,
"Maybe but he wouldn't, I would bet on that. But how are things looking?"

She relaxed again,
"As numbers go there are only about thirty of us left. No more" She told him, "They are making there way here. Until then we can discuss your plan"
"Plan? I mentioned no plan?" Néigh informed her. She shook her head with a smile,
"Alexander" She told him using his first name for the first time, "You would never have got us to come if you were lacking a plan" He matched her smile,
"Sometimes I think you know me too well" Néigh retorted before heading back towards the end of the hall, where Tréas was watching their new arrival.
"Its good to know how you're going to act… No one else could make heads or tails of that mind of your" She told him, keeping a step behind the man.

"Very true" And upon arrival he called out to Tréas,
"Young'in" He got to his feet,
"Yeah" He responded a frown on his face.
"Go over there and straighten up those Gymelef's. We want the place looking nice for our guests"
"Yes sir" Tréas responded, but under his breath added, "And would it kill you to use my name?"
"What was that?" Néigh challenged the boy but he shrugged it off,
"Nothing"

With Tréas off Néigh and Pashihuxika had the place to themselves,
"Take a seat, or a blanket to be more exact" He commented taking one himself. For a moment nether of them broke the silence, just looking to the other a moment.
"Well what's this great plan of your?" Pashihuxika asked, at last breaking it.

With a kick of his foot Néigh flattened the reminisces of an old fire, once lit long ago by children with too much time on their hands. The ashes spread across the floor, a black soot covering the rock. Picking up on of the burned sticks out of the ruins he drew into the black. He drew a U shape into the back, and indicated to it.
"This is Urthas" He commented, as she looked on, "And this is the area that has been decimated" He scored into the black wavy lines to indicate the ruined parts of the city.

"From what I know about Fraid, and their General I believe that this carnage is a diversion. From what I can see from here, their demolition teams appear almost undefended. I guess they are hoping that we will run into this blind, confident by their weak defences. No doubt then they will spring their trap"
"Maybe they have just overlooked their weak defences?" Pashihuxika added but Néigh shook his head,
"A few troops less and I may have agreed but those Gymelef's are in the open and practically alone! No, it would be foul hardy to underestimate them. The trap is there, weather we see it is irrelevant"

"So what do you suggest?" Pashihuxika asked, keeping her eyes on his soot map. He slammed the half burned stick into the soot far beyond the ruins, beyond the city itself.
"We attack them here, were they least expect it. Base camp" Pashihuxika's eyes drooped, her smile vanished,
"You have got to be kidding" Was her basic comment on the suggestion. Néigh nodded,
"I'm perfectly serious" He added, "All we have to do is get into their command tent, and kill their general. At the same time we shall launch two other low-key attacks on their base. Once news of these attacks spread, the panic will do the damage for us" His smile enlarged further,
"Their morale will fail, and they will be sure of our large numbers. Their most likely course of action will be to retreat back into Fraid and regroup, or if we're lucky they may even wait for a new commander and chief. This will give Fanel weeks, maybe even months to work this mess out"

Pashihuxika thought for a moment, Néigh's words on her thoughts. She waited a moment before casting judgement,
"Its so crazy it might actually work. Threes simultaneous attacks? They'll think there are hundreds of us! And without a leader the army will be useless, weak. How do you come up with these sorts of plans?"
"I have seen too many failed campaigns, far too many" he answered, "There is only one pitfall, it will take our men a couple of days to get into place for the attack, and in this time they will have free reign of the city. And if they decide to counter strike without our defence, it could be disastrous. What do you think?"

"It would be risky" Pashihuxika answered, before adding a smile to her words, "But without risk there can be no victory. I say we do it"
"I knew I could count on that, I knew I could"

"Sir!" Tréas's voice tore through the air like a hot knife. He jumped to his feet and turned to the direction from which the call came, he gasped. Tréas's stood next to the door that lead into their hidey-hole from the ground, and upon his arm he helped support an exhausted looking form. The form was that of Kertis, his tired eyes glazing across the hall.
"Christ" Néigh swore, rushing to his men, Pashihuxika on his heels. Taking Kertis second arm, he added his weight to Kertis support. Kertis smiled, and looked over to Néigh,
"I don't need this much help"
"Shut up and take what's given" Néigh responded before bring Kertis to the back of the hall and laying him down upon one of the blankets. Kertis sighed with relief as he was lied down. Néigh whispered to Tréas,
"Where did you find him?"
"I went out to check the perimeter, and there he was. He looked like he was about to collapse" Tréas answered, continuing to whisper. Néigh nodded,
"Thank you…" Néigh thanked him before indicating to the door, "Get that closed"

He nodded before reluctantly following Néigh's direction. Néigh turned his attention back to Kertis, and kneed down beside him,
"Sorry I'm late" Kertis joked, and Néigh gave a pathetic, sympatric sort of laugh.
"What happened to you?" Néigh asked, he hadn't really known Kertis that long, or that much about him but he had never seen him like this. It was only luck that he had appeared in the same group as Néigh but since then they had become more like friends than an old man and his subordinate.
"Long story" Kertis answered simply, Néigh got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it but he forced the issue anyway.
"It doesn't look like your going anywhere soon"

Kertis took a deep breath, and began his story but instead of looking Néigh in the eyes he looked over his shoulder, almost like he was ashamed to meet his gaze.
"It wasn't that long after I had left the generals encampment. I was attacked by a small squad of Fraid's men" Kertis started. Néigh looked over to Pashihuxika who nodded agreeing with this part of the story.
"I had no choice but to fight them but finally I managed to lose them, or so I thought. I was zig zagging my way through the building, and down an alleyway something hit me. To tell you the truth I'm not sure what it was, I didn't see what it was before it got me but no doubt it was the back of one of their swords." He took a pause to let the information sink in before continuing.
"When I came too I was being dragging down a street by one of them, one of a column of about a dozen. They were confident, as they hadn't even bothered to tie me up" Kertis continued, "Once I was sure I was fully awake a broke from the louts grip and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I hid, for hours and hours I hid, too scared to sleep, too scared to leave, encase they where waiting. Eventually I did and made it back here"

Néigh watched as his gaze dropped to the floor. This is why he didn't want to talk about it; this is why he was ashamed. Leaning forward he raised Kertis chin,
"Chin up. Kertis you did the right thing in the right situation. No soldier is immune to fear, just think of how it could have turned out if you hadn't been afraid. You could have been captured"
"I suppose" Kertis muttered his normal good humour absent,
"You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing at all"

Néigh stayed with Kertis for quite a while after that but soon enough he had to leave his bedside. Kertis looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept for day, but before long their guests had begun to arrive. Each of the teams where spread across the city each coming from a different direction, a different place, which helped to minimise any suspicious large groups moving about. The smaller the target the harder it is to track, like a needle in a haystack, when the needle is moving around.

As the day rolled on their numbers increased, and by mid afternoon most if not all of those coming had arrived. For safeties sake they kept their voices to a minimum, the sound of thirty men yelling and shouting would act as a beckon to their enemies. Most of the men occupied the far western side of the hall, with the Gymelef's, while Kertis was at the far Eastern side still recuperating. Néigh and Pashihuxika were away from the main group discussing matters between themselves.
"I think you should take the stage" Néigh told her speaking his mind, "You are their commander, their obvious superior. They respect you" Pashihuxika shook her head,
"Maybe but you're their commander in chief, you outrank me. If I were to it would look weak. You're their leader, lead them…" She told him, as much as he wanted to argue she was at least a little right. It may not be the most ideal situation but it would make them look weak in the eyes of their men if she should speak… he hated logic. He had spoken to large crowds before but not usually ones made up of soldiers. These are men who had suffered and died over the past week because of his orders and here he was asking them to do it again.
"Alright but keep an eyes on things, you never know what might happen. If you expect the unexpected nothing with surprise you"

Leaving her he approached Kertis, and knelt down beside him.
"We're about to start" Néigh told him, "Are you sure about this?" Kertis who had had his eyes closed slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He opened his eyes and looked to Néigh,
"I wont miss this. No chance" Néigh nodded and offered him his hand. Kertis took it and Néigh pulled him to his feet, his blanket landing in a heap on the floor. Holding Kertis arm Néigh lead him to the back of the crowd of soldiers, and then the side, the Gymelef's clearly visible through the swarm of men. Kertis leaned against the wall, and relaxed a little as the stone offered him true support.
"Thanks" Kertis thanked Néigh, too which he nodded,
"Just pay attention. I don't like to repeat myself" Néigh told him, and Kertis smirked,
"Sure thing"

"I'll stay with him sir" At first Néigh didn't know who's voice it was but soon realised it to be that of Tréas. He had somehow managed to sneak up without Néigh noticing.
"No" Néigh told him, "He can take care of himself, you come with me" Tréas may have been less keen on his suggestion but he kept his complaint silent and followed Néigh anyway. They crossed through the crowd until they came out at its front, standing in front of and to the middle of the three Gymelef's. The crowd of soldiers continued to chatter amongst themselves until becoming aware of Néigh.

"Stand by my side" Néigh whispered into Tréas's ear, "And look dignified" Néigh had thrown Tréas into the most terrifying experience he had been apart of in his life, as each of the pairs of eyes turned to focus on Néigh and himself. He felt like he couldn't breathe but he did what he was told and tried to look as dignified as a scared man could.

"Welcome" Néigh greeted the crowd, "I believe it is clear enough why we have gathered here" There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd, but Néigh continued to clarify anyway,
"We are here because of the barbarous tactics that the forces of the Alliances have turned on our city. No longer can we hide in the shadows, no longer can we strike at our enemies with the relative safety of our hideouts. It is time that we strike back hard" Néigh stopped for a moment, and a bodiless voice called out from the crowd,
"That's all and fine but how do you plan to do that!?"

As Néigh continued, Kertis listened to the words though it appeared he was distracted by something else. He continued to look around him nervously, to the ceiling, to the door. He was so engrossed he never noticed Pashihuxika come up beside him,
"What's wrong?" She asked, "You look like you've seen a ghost"

Kertis eyes shot to her, she noticed an almost panicked expression in them.
"I don't know, maybe I'm going nuts but I keep seeing things moving. Up there" He told her, indicating to the ceiling. Pashihuxika looked up, she hadn't noticed before but there were dozens of openings… what if somebody was up there?

She nodded,
"Alright, I'll check it out. Just keep your eyes pealed" Kertis nodded in agreement and she headed off. He had no idea how she was going to 'check it out' but he was sure she would find a way. Ignoring her orders he lifted himself off the wall, and unsheathed the sword that never left his side. He stepped through the crowd of men, none of them giving him a second glance, Néigh's words still echoing in his ears. As he reached the front of the throng he clenched onto the sword ever tighter.

Stepping out of the crowd, Kertis raised the sword and placed it to Néigh's neck.
"Shut up" Kertis ordered him. Néigh looked down at the sword and then to the man who held it.
"Kertis, what the hell are you doing?" Néigh asked his voice very calm for someone who had a sword held to their throat. It had an instant reaction from the crowd, thirty men taking hold of their swords hilts at once.
"Anyone try it and he loses his head" Kertis warned the crowd fiercely, but Tréas had already drawn his sword and held it aggressively. Kertis looked over to the boy, a pitying look in his eyes.
"Don't Tréas. Don't," Kertis warned him, but he didn't appear to be listening.
"Why?" He asked Kertis, "Why"
"Youth is stupid, and loyalty blinding" Kertis insulted him, and looked over to Néigh "You wanna know why? You believed that story, hiding? I would never hide. I was captured, yes, but then I had a revelation. Why are we blindly following this FOOL!?"

Kertis narrowed his eyes angrily,
"There is an army out there that demands the surrender of Von Fanel. An army of 'The Alliance', did any of you think of whether Von is guilty of these crimes before rushing to his defence! We have spilled our blood for the sake of a criminal, and all because of the arrogance of our leadership!" The murmurs in the crowd were becoming more vocal, many of them agreeing with Kertis.
"If we turn ourselves in, and surrender the city we can spare more bloodshed, and spare our city from total annihilation"

"That's a wise course of action," A silky voice echoed across the hall from behind them. The crowd turned, and cleared a path for those at the front to see. A column of soldiers, two rows thick had amassed at the back of the hall, each in the uniform of the Fraid guards. The standard barer carrying the flag of Fraid clearly marked with the blood red Psi. In the centre of this mass of men, one stood out specially. He was dressed richly, a long fur coat across the ground behind him, his silky black covering his shoulders. He looked like the last place he would go was to battle, but there he was with a sword in his hand. It was held to the throat of Pashihuxika, this was the man who had called out.

"Who are you?" One of the men called out from inside the crowd of Fanelian soldiers.
"My name is Dolár, commander of this force. I offer free passage to anyone who would like to surrender now. Those who don't… won't need to worry about free passage" The man told the men, his voice was friendly but with the tongue of a devil.
"Don't!" Pashihuxika called out, fighting the mans grip, "Don't trust him!"

"Shut up" Dolár ordered, tightening his grip on her, "Don't let her stupidity blind the rest of you. You have a chance to leave, don't waste it. Those who do want to leave step forward, and do so" The Fraid guards parted and offered a path to the Fanelian's. The sight that greeted Néigh's eyes would have been truly revolting to any leader of men. Each and every man in the crowd had shown their worth, leaving through the path the Fraid soldiers made for them. Once they had left the only Fanelian's left in the hall were Néigh, Tréas, Kertis and Pashihuxika.

Dolár stepped forward, Pashihuxika still to his blade, and approached the rest of them.
"A leader without any men, is like a king without a country" He mocked, "The question is which of you is Governor Néigh" Néigh was about to speak up when Pashihuxika called out.
"I'm the governor. If you plan to kill me do so" At first Dolár sniggered and then laughed. Then the laugher was gone, replaced by harsh words,
"Do you take me for a fool Pashihuxika Néigh?" Her heart missed a beat,
"Your brother is the one we are looking for, not you" He shook his head, the looks of surprise quite evident on Tréas and Kertis, "You kept it hidden from your people, your subordinates, everyone. We're you so deluded as to believe that you could keep it that way forever? Why? Who cares" Removing his sword from her neck, her threw her forward. She landing painfully on the stone floor,
"Take those two away" Dolár ordered pointing to Pashihuxika and Néigh. Kertis took his sword from Néigh's neck and sent him to his sister. He helped her up before the guards came,
"Don't worry" He reassured her, but then grabbed by the guards they were lead out of the room. Now he turned his attention to Kertis and Tréas,
"Drop your blade child, you look like an idiot!" Dolár called out to Tréas who had kept his sword up still threatening Kertis, "Go back to your king… and tell him we are coming for his head" He pointed at the door and reluctantly he left, giving the soldiers rotten looks as he passed.

Once he had left Kertis stepped forward.
"That's it, I can leave now?" Kertis asked, and Dolár nodded pointing to one of his men,
"Give him his reward" Drawing his sword the soldier stabbed Kertis before he could react, and defend himself. Gasping for air, Kertis fell to his knees. It felt like his very energy was leaking from him,
"But I did what you asked?" He questioned, his eyes wide with dismay.
"And you did a good job too but as a wise man once said, 'never trust a traitor… even one you created'" Leaving Kertis there, he turned to his guard.
"Make sure governor Néigh and his sister are kept well… I still have a use for them" Dolár told him and walked on before adding, "And deal with the prisoners quickly. We have little time to spare… Fanel awaits"

………

The cold wet air lapped onto Nimura's face. The calm waves of water, which had surrounded him, had become rougher as time had pasted aboard the tiny ship. He stood leaning over the side of the deck railing, his mind away in thought.

It had been another couple of days since they had come out of the mountain into Cesario, adding further to the delay they had suffered. The mountain on which they had found themselves on offered a path down to the village but it was an old on, adding to the danger of the rock face. As they climbed down, at times some gravel or even a rock would fall from far up in the mountain. He remembered the old tales his father told of a mystical beast that protected the mountain from those who might scale their peaks, Golems. It was most likely the wind, but the thought was still haunting.

The village wasn't much help either. Although the village received dozens of travellers, the locals were far from the friendliest, most ignoring them and their questions. It had taken them ages to find a ship that was sailing for Caderle. Nimura sighed and let his eyes wander. They may only have been travelling up a river, the sides of which where clearly visible but it felt like they where in another world entirely. Looking up at the fast setting sun he sighed, though inaudible over the squeals of the wind

"By morning we will arrive" He reminded himself, "Home" It had been so long since he and his mother had left the city… would anyone recognise him there? Will he, or Sadako be in any danger there? This father had enemies in the city but even more friends, could they help? He shook his head, when he was in the city he had to keep a low profile. Just anther travelling come to the city for undisclosed business, just one in an ocean of such traveller.
Another particularly cold spray of water hit Nimura's face and he decided it was time to go back inside. The weather was getting rough, and the last thing he wanted was to get too wet outside. He lifted himself off the gang rail and turned back to the ship. It was a small ship, only capable of carrying about eight passengers along with the crew, but the size didn't matter. Only the destination. In a moment he had passed through the decks doors and he was inside, the obvious heat hitting him presently as he entered

It was a plain room that Nimura entered, the walls wooden like those in most ships, giving an almost claustrophobic feel to it. Around the room there were several different tables, each with a couple of chairs and a small, basic sofa. It was at one of these tables that Sadako sat though she wasn't alone. He approached couscously but she turned to him and smiled,
"Nimura" She greeted him, "Come join us" It was Sadako who sat upon the sofa and she patted the unoccupied side, inviting him to take it. He did, and as he sat he got his first good look at the couple Sadako was speaking to. Opposite them was an older couple, Nimura guessed they were in their fifties. They appeared somewhat bureaucratic, not afraid to show off their rich clothes. Nimura could tell just by looking at them that they were a married couple; there was just something about them.
"This is Mr and Mrs Haliway" Sadako introduced them, and they nodded to their names.

"It's a pleasure to meet you young man, Nimura was it?" The man asked,
"It is" Nimura replied quite simply. The conversation stopped there, almost as if Nimura had sucked all the life out of the room when he entered. The silence was deafening, until Sadako eventually broke it.
"So why is it you are travelling to Caderle?" She asked in a desperate attempt to save the conversation she had been enjoying with the elderly couple. The old lady thought for a moment before answering,
"We have been travelling everywhere. From Asturia to Zaibach, we have been travelling all over, seeing Gaia. Before it is too late for us to"
"That's nice" Sadako responded before Nimura added,
"Your accent is unfamiliar, where are you from?" The old man looked him over closely,
"Your straight to the point aren't you" He commented, "Alright, were from the west… beyond the borders of Fraid" Nimura had now perked up,
"You mean you're from Entóntria?" He asked, hiding any emotion from his words.

The old man didn't move his gaze from him,
"No, not that it matters. Beyond that, Entóntria is just one of many nations, and Alliances in the world"
"Do these nations side with Entóntria?" Nimura asked forgetting his manner and letting his feelings get the better of him. The old mans fake smile vanished, replaced instead by a scowl.
"You Alliance ones, your all the same" He started, raising his voice a little, "Do you truly believe you are that important to the rest of Gaia? You are but a speck in comparison to some of the Alliances that exist on this world, and yet your arrogance is boundless.
"George, quiet" His wife interrupted angrily, "There is no need for that"

"I'm Sorry" He apologised, "I didn't mean to take that out on you. You know we didn't even want to head this way" It was Sadako he picked up on this,
"What do you mean?" She asked, "What happened?" He sighed angrily,
"Well we were going to head through Fanelia, Asturia, and get a boat there but when we tried to get through into their city Urthas some moody Alliance soldiers started telling us that we weren't allowed through!"
"So what did you do?" She continued, and he finished,
"Well what else could we do? We headed north, and head through Cesario, Basram and then into Asturia"

"Do you remember what symbol the soldiers where wearing?" Nimura asked. The old man thought for a moment, but shook his head,
"I don't remember. Sorry" But then his wife interrupted,
"It was a dark red, I remember that" Nimura nodded,
"Fraid soldiers" Nimura murmured to himself. He turned to tell Sadako that that must have been the siege of Urthas but the look she bore told him that she already knew.

The silent conversation only lasted a moment but it was enough time for the old man to change the subject,
"So you kids, you tied the knot yet?" This took a moment to register with Nimura but by the time he realised what he meant Sadako was already in the mists of a rebuttal. She threw her arms around Nimura, and hugged him,
"Na, we're not like that!" She told them, "Nimura's my brother" The old man looked from her to Nimura and back again Nimura trying his hardest not to seem surprised. He didn't look as convincing as she would have liked,
"Your brother and sister, and yet you stay in the same room?" He asked, Nimura nodded finally helping Sadako,
"Sure, we've always been close…" He told him, and whispered, "And it's cheaper that way" After a moment the old man laughed,
"That it is! That it is" Sadako let him go, their con having been an obvious success. Nimura prepared himself for the next inevitable question.

"So why you going to Caderle?" The old man asked, just as Nimura thought he would.
"We're visiting family" Nimura lied, "Some old relations of ours" His wife nodded,
"That's nice… I hope you have a nice time. I've always liked it when the family comes round for a visit" They were about to start down a new avenue of conversation when a sailor came into the room, and coughed grabbing their attention.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but the weather is starting to get very bad" He told them, "I'm sorry but we are going to have to ask you to return to your cabins for your own safety" Nimura hadn't noticed it before but the ship had been rocking a lot sharper than it had been. The old couple immediately got to their feet,
"And just as we were getting to know each other. Well, goodnight" The old man said, preparing to leave. His wife added,
"Safe journey to you"

Sadako nodded, the sailor leaving the room.
"And the same to you. Perhaps we meet again," She told them,
"Perhaps" The old man and with his wife in pursuit they left the room, leaving Sadako and Nimura seated alone. They remained quiet for a moment before turning to each other. Nimura raised an eyebrow,
"Brother?" He asked her, and she shook her head,
"It was the first thing I could think of" She defended herself, getting to her feet. Nimura joined her,
"But I don't even look like you?" He added, and she scowled,
"It worked didn't it? Don't question the means, just the ends"

And with that said they headed out as well, leaving the room empty. They would arrive the next morning… but Nimura was unsure of what he would find. It had been so many years…

………

The city of Fanel was destroyed; its peoples scattered, but as the Phoenix rises from the ashes the city was rebuild and its peoples returned. The reconstruction had caused fifteen long years of hardship for the peoples of Fanelia, but once the last stone had been laid their city was once again theirs. Since that day the people had celebrated it. It's that night, and the cities alive.

Within the closed Sarah's inn, Gaddes and Onoír shared a table, and were talking over drinks. The fire in the back of the inn was burning very low, obviously being left to die out. They had been sitting there, low conversation in the air for a short while now, the froth still on their ales. Onoír had come down to the Inn so he could escort the family up to the castle for the banquet, but upon his arrival it appeared that only Gaddes was ready to go, and so they sat, waiting for the girls. Onoír was dressed it a rich material, which looked smooth to the touch. It appeared to be made up of several layers, the jacket the same dark blue he would usually wear, stretching down beyond his knees. Under it he appeared to be wearing a blood-red waistcoat, and a cream coloured shirt. Gaddes's plain brown clothes, though special for the occasion seemed to pale in comparison to Onoír. But no the less the two friends where enjoying a pint together.

They had just come off one subject when Gaddes started a wholly new one,
"So what's been happening round the castle? Much interesting going on?"
"It's been busy but nothing special. A little of this and that… I don't know but those new recruits appear to be getting worse every year" Onoír replied quickly changing the subject. He bit his tongue, even if what he had said was accurate, it didn't make him feel any better that he couldn't tell Gaddes the whole truth.

It had been years… years since Gaddes and he had first met. It wasn't too long after Gaddes had moved to Fanel, leaving Alan's Levi-ship 'The crusade' behind him. Onoír was still a young man at the time, and being young he was blessed with stupidity and arrogance. He felt himself quite the card player, and visited Sarah's inn looking for a game, only to find Gaddes. At the time all he saw was a striking Asturian man, and he challenged him to a couple of games. It wasn't long before Onoír had realised his mistake, and after only a short while he had been cleaned out of a month's salary. A strange thing to base a friendship on but Onoír kept coming back, vowing never to give up until he had wiped the smug off Gaddes's face. After a while of losing he promptly forgot the vow and they had been friends ever since. As the years went on he had become close to Sarah and Luke as well, but specially so with Jennifer their only daughter. At first Onoír was not happy with the uncle like role, but he had become quite fond of the girl. Even now into her teens she still came to him for advice, or maybe just to escape her parents.

"That's just proof that your getting older… your never satisfied" Gaddes answered and Onoír was about to insult him back but it was unnecessary as it was then that Sarah and Jennifer decided to make their entrance. Both Gaddes and Onoír turned to them, sensing that someone new had entered the room. Onoír unwittingly straitened his back, as he took in every detail.

Sarah stood buried in an elegant dress, which seemed to sparkle in the candlelight. It was a traditional dress, marginalizing her stomach while inflaming both the chest and lower regions of the dress way out of proportion. He couldn't make out the colour perfectly in the light but it appeared to be a creamy pink colour, while embodied in satin. Her hair was perfectly combed back, and she had her arms folded carefully in front of her.

On the other hand, Jennifer wore a dress, which clung to her tighter, but like her mothers ran to her toes. It was a crystal white colour, which made her appear almost radiant. She wore her hair down as well but it proved more unruly than her mothers and covered her shoulders. Unlike her mother she wore an uncertain smile, as she was looked up and down. It didn't occur to Onoír until now but this was her first time being a royal guest.

Onoír stepped up to Sarah, and kneeled upon one leg before her. Taking her hand he kissed it,
"You look beautiful Sarah" He complemented her. She motioned for him to get up. She half hid a smile,
"Please Onoír, there's no need for that," She told him, but he only smiled in return,
"I was always taught to greet a lady in the manner she's presented" Onoír replied before turning to Jennifer. He wasn't sure but he though he could see her blush out of the corner of his eye. Jennifer's unsure smile was still with her, but he returned a more sincere one.
"Jen, look at you… never thought I'd see the day you would wear one of these" Onoír commented, and she nodded,
"Thank you" She thanked him for his words. He then patted her head, and scuffed up her hair,
"You scrubbed up well" He joked. She immediately straightened her back and growled at him,
"What's that meant to mean?" She asked angrily, before Onoír returned to arms length,
"I'm only joking"

"Now, now, we don't want to be late" Gaddes said stepping in. It was true, if they didn't leave soon they would be late but he really just wanted to stop anything from escalating. Sarah nodded,
"We'd better" Jennifer returned to her original, lady like composer as they started out. As they passed through the streets most turned to see them walk by. As they did make their way through the streets they where hypnotised, taking in all that was around them. Although it was after night fall there were still hundreds of stalls lining the streets, and even in the Courtyard of the Kings entertainers where pleasing the crowds. There were hundreds of men and women, but those who really caught their attention where the children, running rampant and playing in the cobbled streets. Usually children weren't allowed to be so unruly but as this was a special night, the parents must have let them have a little fun. Jennifer sighed, and Onoír looked over to her,
"What is it?" He asked,
"Oh, nothing. Just remembering the first time mother brought me out during these celebrations. Happy times."
"Probable the last time too" Onoír commented his words barely over the sounds of merriment, Jennifer just caught them.
"What do you mean?"

Onoír looked up innocently,
"Nothing, just thinking aloud" As they exited the courtyard of the kings and began their assent into the castles grounds they passed a band preparing to play. The crowds began to gather around them, many of their faces painted in reds, blues and especially greens. Jennifer couldn't remember the last time she had seen so many smiles… not recently for sure.

In the castle far above them, each window burned yellow, their way being lit by torches on each side of the road, and stairs as they ascended. In the gentle glitter of flame the castle looked so beautiful, so beautiful. Jennifer had entered the castle hundreds of times before but never had it felt quite like that night. She felt like she could taste the very enthusiasm in the air, she guessed it wasn't just her who was happy to see some extra joy as she saw a small smile peel across her mothers face.

They crossed passed the fountain and into the castle, the massive corridor glittering in the candlelight. Hundreds of stone and wooden figures looked down upon them from high. At the far end of the corridor was a doorway, which seemed brighter even than the hallway, that was the door into the castles Great Hall. As they approached they could feel the warmth emanate from the hall, the sound of the voices of these inside reaching there ears.

As they approached the hall Onoír straightened his back, he was trying to put across an image of authority. Passing through the doorway a magnificent sight reached their eyes. The hall itself was lit with hundreds of candles, which gave the hall the feeling of daylight. Around the walls thousands of flowers added to decoration, amplified by dozens of ornaments and decorations across some of the tables that rounded the room. To the far side of the room there was one large table, set with all the crockery for a feast, though the food had yet to materialize.

Dozens of men and women were spread throughout the hall, some standing and talking, some listening or even dancing to the live orchestra but all where elaborately dressed for the occasion. Jennifer felt like she would fit in well with her own dress, but wasn't sure what she was really meant to do. She was about to grab Onoír's attention when someone caught his. As Merle, dressed in a beautiful long white dress passed by he called out to her.
"Merle"

She came over, and he bowed to her,
"You look beautiful, my lady" Onoír complemented her but she waved it off,
"I don't think you called me over just to complement me," Merle asked and Onoír nodded,
"Sorry, yes. I was wondering, where Von is?" He asked, "I have a couple of things to discuss with him" Merle hardened a little,
"Von is correctly indisposed, you can talk to him after the party" Her voice and her words didn't seem to match. His request seemed to almost anger her but he didn't get the chance to ask why as Jennifer took his hand.
"Come on Onoír, let's dance"

And so Merle watched Jennifer drag Onoír into the throng within the hall, and returned to her original course. When she passed from the hall it appeared like she had been swallowed by darkness, the light in the castles corridors so dim in comparison. She passed through the silent walkways, in an unnatural hurry, her shoes tapping repetitively on the hard stone. It had been a long time since she had seen the corridors that empty, many years indeed. The paintings above her appeared to watch her passing, shadowy figures warning of her approach.

She shivered, it was a cold night, and her dress didn't offer that much protection, or warmth. She sighed, reaching her destination. With a bash she rapped on the door, and then without waiting for a reply from the occupant she barged in.
"Von, your late!" She reminded him angrily. His candlelit form was visible beside the bed, in one hand a shirt, in the other the candle that emanated the light. He was topless, and frowned at Merle.
"Merle, stop that. At least wait for a reply, I could have been naked" Von protested placing the candle down on the nightstand. Merle shook her head,
"Why should I do that, its nothing I haven't seen before" She reminded him.
"Come on, it was different when we were kids and I'm not that late" He smiled, "Its not like they can start the party without me"

"What about courtesy to your guests?" Merle reminded him, she may not have sounded it but his words had pleased her. It had been along time since she had last heard Von make a joke… and it relieved her to hear one now. Taking the shirt from him she opened it out, and took his arm.
"There is quite a party brewing outside" Merle commented, slipping the shirts sleeve onto Von's arm,
"Really?" Vons answered, as she wrapped her arms around him, passing the shirt round his back.
"Yeah, it almost makes me sad I'm stuck at this one" She continued, Von placing his second arm into the shirt. Merle pulled it together hiding his chest from view.
"You mean the one you arranged and organised?" Von asked, sarcastically. Merle started to button it,
"Well I never said I would make it a good party, just a party, and theirs appears a lot more fun"
"Well you could always sneak out, I'm sure nobody would notice" Von joked and she smiled in return. As she finished buttoning the shirt, Von took her hands,
"You truly look beautiful tonight… What would I do without you?" He asked, a glint of seriousness in his eyes.
"Forty-two and unable to get on your own shirt…" She mocked, "Anyway, lets get your coat"

She pulled away from him, but he took her shoulder,
"I'm serious Merle, I know I shouldn't depend on you but…" Von started but she shushed him,
"Don't think about it. I am yours, and always will be" Turning she cupped her hands around his, Von withdrew a little,
"Merle I…" He started but she shushed him again,
"I know you don't see me that way… but I will always be waiting" She let go of his hands, "Anyway which coat should you wear?"

Merle got him to try on a couple of different coats, but finally they decided on an emerald one, which went down past his waist. They left Von's room in a rush, entering the darkened corridor again. They quickened their pace; Von hoped that their absence from the party was not too conspicuous. He let out a sigh of relief as they reached the Great Hall,
"Lets get this over and done with" Von commented. They were about to step into the hall when Onoír stopped them,
"Lord, I have something I need to speak to you about" Onoír told them, Merle frowned… the last thing she wanted Von to do was work.
"Can it wait?" Von asked angrily, but Onoír shook his head.
"I'm afraid not" Von eventually nodded, and placed his hand on Merles shoulder,
"You go on" He asked her, "I'll be in in a second"

Merle reluctantly nodded,
"Alright" Leaving them she continued into the Great Hall, and was surprised to see that the guests had already been seated. Nobody took notice as she entered the room, most distracted by conversations with their Neighbour. She quietly took her seat to the left of the head of the table, but those near by didn't fail to notice her now. Opposite her was another empty seat, which belonged to Onoír. To the left of Onoír sat Gaddes, and Jennifer beside him. Next to Merle sat Poker and then Sarah. Gaddes and Jennifer had been whispering to each other before Merle took her seat but now Gaddes turned to her,
"Evening Merle. Its been too long" Gaddes greeted her, and Merle smiled,
"It has, why haven't you come for a visit lately?" She asked, and Gaddes bobbed his head too and fro,
"Well business is usually busy, but why haven't you come down to us? We could always do with another customer and I have a family to support you know"

Merle turned her attention to Jennifer, whom now attempted to hide her face, due to her fathers embarrassing comments,
"Is that so…" Merle started, "How are you Jennifer? Well I hope" Jennifer gently nodded, and Merle gave an inward laugh. Jennifer was always like this around her.

It wasn't too long before Von and Onoír entered the room, and this time all the noise in the hall came to an abrupt end, every pair of eyes turning to their king. They though quickly took their seats, and the voices slowly returned across the table.
"Sorry we're late" Onoír apologised, as Merle leaned over to Von.
"What is it?" She asked him her voice as a whisper. Von shook his head,
"Nothing important" He responded keeping his voice down as well.

As time rolled on servants slowly entered the exited the room, placing more and more plates of food onto the table. From breads, vegetables and meats Von thought he could see at least one plate of everything he had ever eaten on the table. He looked over to Merle for a second; she really wanted to make this a special night.
"Well I can't disappoint her," He muttered before getting to his feet, all eyes turning to him again, their conversations forgotten.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the Great Castle Kanzaki on this a very special day. What seems like a lifetime ago we started the reconstruction of Fanel… and we are here to celebrate the completion of that epic task. The last home was erected many years ago but we still remember that which drove us, and built our city" Von started, "A wise man once said, '…What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger…' and I believe these words sum up the hardships we have endured perfectly. Every man, women, and child have sacrificed, so this is night is for you… the people. Enjoy it!"

There was a roar of approval, and the feast had begun. As time wore on the mountains of food in front of them started to turn to molehills. Topics of conversation came and went but after a while the inevitable subject came up. Alan Shazar.
"I remember along time ago, when I was in my prime Alan asked me about the dragons. It seems there's a superstition in Asturia that if you kill a dragon your bloodline will be secured. Well Alan always looking for a challenged asked if I would come out with him hunting. I accepted but I had no idea what I had gotten myself into" Von told them, his story catching the attention of the head of the table,
"Well we tracked one of them for a while until we followed it right back to its nest. It was as we entered the nest that Alan decided to let me know that this was the first time he had ever fought with a dragon" Gaddes shook his head in disbelief, "And there's better to come, now we couldn't turn back and we ended up with more than expected. Three fully-grown dragons… and there we were, me with a single dragon to my name, and Alan… whom had never hunted before. You would be forgiven for thinking this story has a painful ending"

"What happened?" Jennifer asked, burying her previous shyness,
"Well we fought. Alan even if he hadn't fought one before, and knew very little about them turned out to be a fast learner. In the end we managed to get though it alive, and without running away but by the time we got back to the castle neither of us were really up for another hunt"
Poker who had remained quiet made his voice know,
"I believe you where in the hospital for the best part of a month" To which Von embarrasstly nodded, "And if I remember it was I who had to explain your little outing to the council of advisors… none of us could look either of you in the eye for months"

Onoír was about to speak up when another soldier tapped him on the arm. He looked up at the slightly aged soldier,
"Yes?" He asked and the soldier whispered something in his ear. Onoír nodded and gave his apologies,
"I'm afraid other matters demand my attention. I hope to be back soon though" Von dismissed him and thought nothing more of it, though out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a very tired looking young soldier, at the entrance to the hall.
"I knew Alan for as long than I can remember, I owe him everything. If it wasn't for him I would have gotten my job, my posting to his fort, then the crusade, and finally my wife… along with the gentle nudging of someone else" Gaddes started taking Vons mind right off Onoír's conspicuous disappearance, "I propose a toast to Alan"

Gaddes raised his glass, and called out
"To Alan!" Before everyone else raised theirs, and Von added,
"The knight, the friend…"
"The womaniser!" Merle called out, breaking the serious mood and replacing it will laughter. Von smiled, it was the most fun he had had in a long while, and just a few moments later he regretted his positive thinking. He was still recovering when Onoír who had just returned caught his attention. Von immediately pulled himself together seeing the stone cold of Onoír's face.
"I need to speak to you sir" Onoír asked and Von didn't hesitate to follow. He apologised and left quickly with Onoír.

Those who had seen these happenings started to look to their Neighbours, maybe hoping they caught something that they had missed. Merle too was starting to become concerned, earlier Von had said it was nothing but was it? That and she rarely had seen a face like that one on Onoír, very rarely. It only took a few moment but soon enough the sole topic of discussion on the table was the disappearance of the king.
"Merle what's going on?" Jennifer asked, leaning over the now substantially emptied table. She shook her head,
"I don't know" Her response appeared far from satisfactory but it was the truth. She looked from Onoír's empty seat to that of Vons. Something didn't sit right with her.

It was only a few minutes before Onoír reappeared at the door, and then Von though it felt much longer. Onoír took his seat first, and Gaddes whispered into his ear,
"What's happening?" He asked. Onoír seemed a bit white, but whispered back.
"The looming night grows ever longer" Gaddes's perplexed look was well deserved but Onoír offered no more words. Instead he leaned forward a bit over the table and looked directly into Jennifer's eyes. It may have appeared normal enough but she knew what it meant… the rumours were true.

Von stayed on his feet and the voices silenced once more. He cleared his throat and looked over the sea of concerned faces. Vons face was white, he looked completely different than his normal self, a look of total nonchalance and glee consumed his face.
"A cruel irony this night has become, truly so. We as a people have gathered to celebrate the reconstruction of this our home. Tell me why, why do we build when we know destruction is inevitable? " Von's words did nothing to soften the scared looks on the faces of his guests, Onoír looked up at him slowly shacking his head, almost as a warning.
"Rumours have spread of an army that has been amassing on Fanelia's western border, an army of the Alliance. This rumour was no rumour, it was and is true. Why do we build indeed… I had just received news from Urthas, the city no longer stands. The joint armies of Fraid and the Alliance launched their barbaric attack on its people and defenders one week ago. Today not a building remains in the city, the anger of this army of death is unquenchable" There were loud gaspers in the crowd, but most where just too shocked to make any form of response.

"This army has not yet completed its mission, to destroy our home. The reason for their betrayal is unimportant, the methods of their betrayal inconsequence the only thing that matters is this army is heading for Fanel, complete annihilation their only objective. Our armies are ready to face our foe, but they will lose" The mood of the crowd changed from shock to disbelief at the words their king uttered, the horrors he described,
"Why, because this army is no longer alone. One of our posts on the border with Asturia has been destroyed, the handful of survivors detail a massive of metal and men poised to join their counterparts in the west in a full-scale attack against us. Like our fall against Zaibach our nation will be no more, but this time we will watch our doom approach. Good night" With those final words Von turned and walked clean out of the room. Panic, and pandemonium spread throughout the crowd, the odd yell, shout or even whimper. A good number had already run for the door, when Merle jumped to her feet,
"Please remain Claim!" She ordered the crowd but was ignored. Onoír turned to Gaddes,
"Get them home, and now. When this hits the streets panic will spread, go now" Onoír ordered him and there was no argument. He only managed one concerned look to Jennifer's frightened face before he turned to his duties and they were gone.
"Please handle the King" Onoír asked, "I must get my men into the streets to stop a riot… or worse" Merle nodded, for once they agreed on what had to be done. Merle was about to leave when Onoír stopped her,
"Be careful… I have never seen him like this, never" Merle nodded,
"Neither have I"

And with that both Onoír and Merle ran in opposite directions, both moving as fast as their legs could carry them. Pushing them as hard as she could her legs felt like they where going to give out beneath her. She was breathing so hard the cold air started to hurt her lungs but she needed to get to Von, as soon as possible. She guessed he would go to his room, and that was where she was heading. She was scared, really scared… she had never seen Von like that and it really did make her too think the worst. Did he truly believe that which he said? The severity of their new situation was only just becoming apparent to her; did they have a hope… without allies?

Coming to an abrupt stop outside the door of the room she forced down on the handle. When it didn't budge it became apparent that the door was locked from the inside. Von had to be in there. She banged on the door demanding entry,
"Von! Open the door!" She called. She wasn't sure but she thought she could hear his voice inside.

Within the room Von stood by the window alone. His room was lightless other than that which came in through the window. The cold air froze every inch of his body but he couldn't pull his eyes from the city below. The happy voices that called out would soon change to those of terror, to those of fear, and disbelief.
"Did I do the right thing?" He asked, the city keeping his attention. A hand was placed on his shoulder,
"You did the right thing…" A calming voice returned, he looked back into the face of Hitomi. He's eyes softened and his swelling tears began to flow,
"I thought you where gone forever" He cried taking her in his arms.
"I will never again leave your side," She told him, taking him in hers. A menacing smile formed on her lips,
"You did the right thing"

Von was oblivious to Merles shouts but if she had entered the room she would have seen nothing anyway.

………

The nostalgia Nimura felt was insurmountable as he looked over his homeland again for the first time in so many years. The harbour, which lay in front of them, rolled out into the beginnings of the epic city of Caderle. Hundreds of small wooden buildings covered the landscape, stretching into the distance. Far away, almost out of sight the ground rose sharply upwards into the hill, which was the citadel of the palace of the royal family. The hill was too steep to climb, leaving only one road up into the fortress palace. Banners where flown high in the sky proclaiming the cities independence and glory. He was home.

"Good luck on your trip" Nimura was awakened by Sadako's words and when he turned he noticed the old man and his wife.
"You too" The old lady wished them before a nod and they walked off the ship over the gangplank. Sadako turned to Nimura,
"Well shall we go?" She asked a bounce in her voice. Nimura nodded and finding it hard not to be affected by her pleasantness, it lightened him a little and crossed the gangplank with her at his side.
"Well I guess we'd better head to see the Steward" Nimura commented. Sadako nodded,
"But do you think he will help us?" Sadako asked, Nimura didn't answer immediately,
"If he has any sense of honour he will… but maybe all this years have weakened his resolve" Nimura's words did nothing to convince Sadako, "But we can try… really that's all we can do" Sadako nodded,
"Yeah"

They were meant to arrive in Caderle that morning but the previous nights storm had delayed their arrival until the sun was already climbing down the sky. Leaving the harbour, they entered what appeared to be the main road, which lead right up into the palace. The streets were bustling with people going about their day-to-day business, just like those in Fanel. Even the streets where cobbled like those in Fanel. To each side of the road, which was six men across there were stalls sellers selling everything and anything. As well as people, there was also a verity of beast men. Sadako noticed this especially for other than Merle she hadn't seen any beast people in Fanel.
"What you staring at?" Nimura asked, she immediately turned away and looked back up the road,
"Nothing" She claimed but it wasn't too convincing.
"Look natural" Nimura warned her, "The last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves"

They continued on down the road for a while, the buildings seemingly getting richer and bigger as they got closer to the castle. Nimura then all of a sodden informed her,
"When we have seen the Steward I want to get out of the city as soon as possible" Sadako turned to him a confused exasperation on her features,
"Why?" She asked, "This is your home isn't it? Don't you wanna look around?" Nimura shook his head,
"There is nothing I want to see here…" He told her before muttering, "Its not worth the risk" Ahead of them Nimura caught sight of a sign he recognised proclaiming The Sabre's Den Inn. Nimura pointed the place out,
"We're going to have to stay at least one night, so here should be fine"
"Sounds good" Sadako agreed before taking the lead and pushing the door into the inn open. The warm fires heat hit her like a brick wall. It wasn't cold outside but when compared to inside it must have been freezing. The first thing that caught her eye was the large stage to the back of the inn, though it looked empty at the moment. To the left-hand side was the fire, which filled the inn with the heat she now felt and to the right hand side the bar, which a man who appeared to be in his late twenties was surviving drinks.

Sadako walked up to the bar and forced her way through the men whom clung to it like bees to honey. It wasn't long till the man noticed her waiting.
"The names Finn, how may I help you young lady?" He asked,
"A friend and I need a couple of rooms for the night"
"That's fine… you want them now?" He replied pouring a drink for another man while continuing the conversation.
"No, we'll be back later on" She told him and he nodded,
"I've never seen you before, were you from?" he asked, more nosey-ness than anything else.
"Fanel" She answered without a second thought. She then stopped, why did she answer Fanel? It wasn't her home… or was it now?
"Fanel? Wonderful city, pity such a tyrant controls the place" He commented. Sadako looked blankly at him,
"What do you mean by that?" She asked quite angrily. Finn froze as if just realising what he had just done,
"No I mean, it was he who killed the head of the Knights of Celia, and split from the Alliance after all," Finn said trying to defend his comment. She frowned and said,
"Don't believe everything your told" before turning and walking back through the crowd. Finn cursed his words before retuning to his more pressing serving duties.

As Sadako approached Nimura he knew something had unsettled her,
"What's wrong?" He asked but she placed a finger to her lips and grabbing him by his sleeve led him out. When they were back in the street Sadako let go and answered his question,
"The man we're renting from believes we're working for a tyrant," Sadako told him but he breathed a sigh of relief before continuing up the road,
"Sadako, you have to expect this. These people are being fed lies; they haven't a clue of what's really going on. It may annoy us to hear but we can't tell them otherwise either, we'll just have to bear it" Nimura told her and she realised how stupid she must have looked back there, telling him what she did. She shrugged her shoulders, what's done is done.

Not too far up beyond the inns door the road split into a cross roads, as they passed through it Sadako noticed that to the east and west the roads converged onto bridges and crossed the expanse of water that surrounds the city on all sides. Caderle was the centre of Cesario, the rivers from the north converged into the lake that the city was built upon. The island in the centre of the lake held the castle and the city they currently stood in, these bridges crossed over to the rest of the city on the main land. The lake, below the city then split into three and headed three ways, leaving the rivers of Cesario to cover each point on the compose.

The streets although still full of people where quite less packed than they were earlier. Suddenly a man step out in front of them and forced them to stop. He appeared to be an old man, wrapped in a dark cloak, a brownie white beard blocking the majority of his features. What they could see were his eyes, which appeared to be mixed with joy and terror.
"Yes?" Nimura challenged him, he pointed to Nimura,
"You…" He spoke his words coming slowly like he was out of breath, "I know you…" Nimura tried to hide his distaste,
"No you don't," He told him,
"Your face…" He muttered, "who…" Nimura without warning grabbed Sadako by the arm and broke into an immediate run almost throwing her off her feet. She would have complained if she weren't too busy running. The man turned and watched them run, still thinking.
"I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" The man called out, "DON'T GO! WE NEED YOU!"

Sadako heard the words plain as day but didn't stop running. Nimura took them off the main road before eventually coming to a stop outside what appeared to be a small house. They both tried to catch their breath but Sadako left it no longer than she had to to challenged him,
"Why did you run?" She asked angrily, her breath still not fully back. He shook his head,
"He was drawing attention to us," Nimura answered between breaths. She wasn't convinced,
"Then what did he mean, 'don't go we need you?'" She asked continuing to pressure him, but Nimura avoided her eyes,
"How am I to know what the ramblings of an old man mean?" Nimura answered. Though Sadako was sure he wasn't telling the whole truth if any of it was, she realised pressuring him would get her nowhere.

It was really starting to get darker, and so they continued off again. They followed that road as far as they could in the direction of the castle before turning back onto the main road. The road was almost entirely deserted now, sellers dismantling their stalls and preparing to head off home. It wasn't long before the buildings vanished and they started the final assent up into the palace. The road had become an immense staircase that led upwards. Its steps where wider and deeper than any Sadako had seen before but she guessed it was to allow horses to be rode up without trouble. At the base of the stairs was the first of the walls of the palace, which was more accurately a doorway, and the solid rock of the hill itself. They were out of breath by the time they had reached the top but they knew they had entered the final stretch of their journey.

The stairs opened out onto a massive courtyard, but a path of approach was laid out for them by a variable wall of guardhouses that lined the path to the palace. Beyond them they could see the houses of the guards and their families, the safest people in the city. They came to a stop as they reached the final wall of the palace. They could see that torches now burned upon the walls, soldier's swords glinting menacingly in the weakened light. A guard stood by the large wooden door a pike in his hand, and a sword sheathed by his side. He stopped him with a gesture of his hand,
"What do you want?" He asked discourteously. Nimura expected as much, guards wouldn't really be used to strangers.

Nimura straightened his back and bid Sadako to do the same, to make themselves look as important as possible.
"We are messengers for King Von Fanel, and we demand an audience with the steward" Nimura pronounced in a loud awe-inspiring voice. The guard didn't seem impressed. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword,
"And these messengers, do they have names?" He asked openly mocking them,
"This is Sadako" Nimura told him, "And I'm Robin" Sadako gave Nimura a quick glance but he continued to act naturally, like his name really was that stupid sounding. The guard now drew his sword and held it too them,
"I will have to ask for you to remain here while I confirm" The guard told them before calling up to the walls,
"Messengers to see the Steward from Fanel. Should I bid them entry?"

One of the guards on the wall acknowledged his request and vanished, assumable to check. In the time they waited, and there was a lot of it the guard never once dropped his sword or took his eyes off the two of them. They sky grew constantly darker but was soon balanced as a man started to light the oil street lamps which lit the streets up again.
"Things certainly have gotten less friendly around here" Nimura commented to Sadako in a whisper as he looked up the blade of the guard's sword. He shook his head; this was not the homecoming he had hoped for. As they waited Nimura paced and Sadako just stood waiting quietly. It was the unfriendliest situation she felt she had ever been in, and that included the dragon attack… at least then she knew the dragon wanted to kill her.

It must have been an hour before the guard whom left popped his head up behind the walls again. He looked down upon them as only a man who knows he is untouchable could,
"The Steward doesn't wish anything to do with you or your king" The man yelled out, "Leave the palace grounds immediately!" Nimura's mouth dropped at the order,
"What's that supposed to mean? What happened our nations Alliances?" Nimura demanded, but the man spat showing his dis-contempt,
"If your king shows no stock in our Alliance it's a weak as the piece of paper it's written on. Leave, and don't return. If you do, the guards now have orders to stop you, by any means necessary"

Nimura's hand was shacking with rage, and turned his back on them,
"This was once a great nation… but now its run by cowards and traitors. May it be cleansed one day soon, or it shall suffer the same fate as its king" The guard was about to force them to leave when they started away, always their backs to the men, the most disrespectful act they could perform at the moment.

As they stepped onto the staircase small droplets of rain fell from the sky, which became a shower… and then a storm. Rain fell so fast and hard Sadako could barely see where they where going, but she made sure to keep to Nimura's side. She was sure he was not in the right mind to lead. She took his arm and led them down the near invisible staircase, shielding her eyes from the fast falling rain. It felt like wave after wave of daggers beating into her, her clothes socked through, her body freezing. After what seemed like an eternity they staggered into the archway of the first gate into the palace. It was thick enough to offer them shelter from the beating rain, and once again she could see Nimura and he could see her.

He fell back against the wall, his clothes squelching against the stone. His head was bowed, his features invisible to her. Falling to his knees Sadako heard him sobbing quietly. She immediately came down beside him,
"Nimura… what's wrong?" His sobs became words, sad words
"Anywhere else but not here…" he sobbed, "but not here" She had no idea of what to say, so she listened,
"They betrayed him… they spit on his grave" He continued to sob, "Father… Mother… what did you die for?" Sadako had heard enough, so she did the only thing she could think to do. Taking him in her arms Sadako locked herself around him in an all-embracing hug. Even through the cold of his clothes he could feel the warmth of her body against his, he could feel her heart beating. He dared not utter a word, that she might let go of him. He felt a lump in his throat block his words, a warm feeling spread throughout his whole being.

He never wanted her to let go, but she did. As he looked up into her eyes, her vision burrowed his, he felt the most sincere smile he had ever shown spread across his lips. Her eyes where shacking, weak like his, hers obscured by her sodden hair. With a soft glide of his hand he pushed them aside and brought her face towards his. Within only a moment their lips locked, for the first time. The feeling he felt was unlike any he had felt before, one of joy, but joy seemed such an inadequate word to describe it. She too felt this feeling as he held her, each showing their feeling for one another in a way words could not.

Eventually the moment faded and they separated, they're eyes looking into each other's. Neither Sadako nor Nimura said a thing; the only sound the gentle patting of the now softening storm outside. Sadako turned her back, and began to walk out from under the arch when Nimura called out to her,
"What's wrong? Were are you going?" She stopped and answered,
"I need to think… just give me the time to do that"

"But I thought you felt the same as I, I thought you…" He continued when she silenced him in a quiet voice,
"How are you meant to know how I feel when I don't even know…?" She told him, "Some time… it's all I ask"

And so Nimura watched her go, walk out into the rain, his heart was still racing.

End of Chapter Nine
………
Butch Cassidy
14.12.04 (Euro-Date system DD.MM.YY)
………

Author Message
……Well that was it, chapter IX. I promised long and I gave it, an ideational 1350 words over my previous longest chapter. I'm sorry that this chapter took me the best part of four months to write but I original set out the gap for other projects, well they never got done. I got introduced to a new time consuming place, which sapped my writing time… we call it university. This chapter was also harder to write than a lot of its predecessors for obvious reasons, the party scene; the fall of Urthas and the last scene were some of the hardest I have written so I hope they turned out Ok in the end. Are you all fired up and ready for chapter X, well don't worry as it will be shorter and will no doubt be quicker to write. I hope to have it out in early February but only time will tell.

Oh believe it or not this was not the first time Dolár (General of Fraid's army) has appeared in the Descended Shadow. If you don't believe me look back at Chapter III. What did you think of this chapter? Please tell me, and my regular reviewers please continue! I love to hear from you, you know who you are, and I always love new reviews, so please review, or if you want to be less public about it just mail me with your thoughts. Do you like D.S? If so try Shadows of the Past, yes I know it hasn't been updated in a while but Sundance is working on it I can assure you!

Well I guess that's me for this time but until February keep reading, and never forget that 'A man may speak great words but unless they are written down they will forever be banished to the pages of history' See ya later, Butch Cassidy.

Cast #Ref Chapter IX (Alphabetical) –

OC – Original Character
NC – New this chapter

Néigh – Néigh is the governor of Fanelia's second city Urthas.
Kertis (NC)– Kertis is a subordinate of Néigh in their gorilla campaign.
Tréas (NC) – Tréas is a young subordinate of Néigh in their gorilla campaign.
Pashihuxika – She is the head of the armed forces within Urthas and friend to Néigh
Balgus (OC) – Von's old teacher, killed in the initial attack on Fanel by Zaibach
Von (OC) – King of Fanel, and father of Sadako. Need I say more?
Merle (OC) – Close friend and confidant of Von, viewed by public as 'queen'
Sadako – Vons daughter, epicentre of the series
Nimura – Close friend to Sadako, ex-rebel and now fighter for Fanelia
Onoír – Head of Fanelia's armies and one of Vons closest advisors.
Dolár – general Fraid's army besieging Urthas
Sarah – Old friend of Dawn, close friend of Fanelian royal family
Gaddes (OC) – Original second of Alan now married to Sarah
Luke – Son of Gaddes and Sarah, in Asturia
Jennifer – Daughter of Gaddes and Sarah, close friend of Onoír
Poker – Vons head advisor.