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!

12. Future Echos

A VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE
The Descended Shadow
Chapter XII
Future Echos

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.

………

A hushed, laboured breathing infested the cool damp air. The forest appeared deserted, however it most certainly wasn't. Almost entirely invisible to the naked eye men had buried themselves under the foliage disguised from view. The only sign of their existence was the rare glint of their armour or the almost inaudible breathing. For all intends and purposes they were not there.

It was a cold damp morning, the early dew still hung in the air. This clearing looked over a stretch of dirt road, about four men broad. First the sound filled the air, the sound of dozens of pairs of feet marching, moving towards them in an unquiet sync. Then slowly, but surely they came into view, their bright metal armour glinting in the early morning sunlight. As they came into sight their synchronised, almost uniformed march allowed their numbers to be measured at last.
"There they are" One of the men whispered over to another to his right, this man continued to watch a moment before smiling,
"Just as she thought. Make ready" This man was Sanjiyan. He slid a sword from his sheath and continued to watch the men's march along the road. All around him other men did the same, but those ahead of him, closer to the road pulled out a different weapon, a bow.

Slowly but surely their arrows were stringed and aimed. Their bowstrings were pulled back and they waited for the order they knew was about to come…
"FIRE" It came from Sanjiyan's lips and their arrows flew. In that split second the soldiers broke from their march and panic set in. A couple of dozen men had already fallen in that initial wave of attack.
"Don't panic!" A man, most likely the squad's commander called to his men. However they didn't follow his orders, many continuing to panic and those who did listen to the order took time to assemble back into a unit. They were still woefully prepared when Sanjiyan gave the next order,
"Charge" and with swords drawn they did.

A couple of kilometres down the road; another group of men were far from hidden. Most of them were working at the sides of the road but one man stood in its centre keeping an eye, and keeping them coordinated. His sword was at his side, but he was furiously pointing too one group of men,
"Are you not done yet?" He asked angrily of the group but instead of answering him they just worked faster, "We don't know how long we have till Sanjiyan has finished mopping up down there" Two of the groups where holding a wire between them, over the road and after levelling it set about tying it to a tree. The man in the centre of the road took exception to this,
"What do you think you are doing?" He asked angrily but before waiting for an answer he grabbed the wire from one of their hands, "It has to be closer to the ground"

One of the men tried to defend himself,
"But general Onoír, if its that close to the ground we wont be able to make it as strong" Onoír ignored his pleas but answered him anyway,
"If the enemy see this it won't matter if it holds" Onoír replied while tying the wire no more than a couple of inches from the ground, their mirrored party following suit. Once it was tied, his eyes followed another wire that was tied to the first, along the forest floor until it came to a stop, tied to the end of a small bell. Next to that however was the key to what they were doing. Angled upwards, layered with foliage was a ballista, fully loaded and ready to fire in the levitated direction of the road. He smiled as he remembered how brilliant his plan was. He was about to turn back to the men and reprimand them for their slow work when he found a familiar and wholly welcome face staring back at him, Gaddes's.

"Sir we're done" He reported, and added as Onoír shook his head, "Is something wrong?" Onoír narrowed his eyes, but not with anger,
"Sir? You may have returned to the army but there's no way in hell I'm gonna allow you to call me that" Gaddes was about to say something back when Onoír cut him off,
"Alright, positions" He called out as loud as the situation would allow, and like magic the men vanished into the trees. Several approached the ballista and several others ballista' like it, while others just ran deeper into the forest, Onoír and Gaddes among them.

Coming to a stop Onoír, Gaddes and three other men laid down on the forests floor, their eyes on the road. After laying like this for well over half an hour Onoír rubbed his hands as he blew on them angrily,
"God, they picked a great morning to attack didn't they" He asked angrily. His voice wasn't whispered, probable because they had long since watched the enemy pass them and there was no sign of any new troop detachments. Gaddes, whom lay beside him, shook his head,
"Come on, at least it isn't raining" He replied and Onoír snapped back,
"Don't jinx it" Onoír continued to blow on his hands as Gaddes looked about him at the other couple of dozen men.
"Are you sure this plan is going to work?" He asked Onoír, whom was very characteristically snide,
"Of course it is going to work!" He mirrored,

"Confidence comes before a fall!" He told Onoír angrily who shushed him,
"Not so loud, are you forgetting where we are?" Gaddes apologised and tried to think of another way to pass the time, but Onoír beat him to it,
"Answer me this Gaddes, why did you join up again?" Onoír asked, "You could have stayed behind, remained with your family" Gaddes looked away a moment before answering,
"I couldn't have stayed at home" He corrected Onoír, "How could I when you needed soldiers, and if I do say so myself you need more of my calibre" Onoír smiled, but there was a second part to his question,
"How did Sarah and Jennifer take it?" He asked but this subject appeared a bit more contentious to him,
"She… Sarah wasn't very pleased with the idea. We had an argument; you know the way she hates to see me fight… I just hope she has cooled down by the time I get back," Gaddes told him sadly, "Jennifer wasn't exactly angry… but worried. I mean if you weren't with me I guess her feelings would have been much harsher"

Gaddes frowned,
"She has changed a lot recently" He commented, "And she's been talking a lot more about you" Onoír laughed,
"Really?" Gaddes's frown became a snide smile,
"You know I think she has a crush on you" Gaddes told her, and then with a laugh added, "You haven't been leading my daughter on have you?" Onoír looked over to make sure that Gaddes's words were in jest before answering,
"It's just a schoolgirl crush, that's all"
"She's not a schoolgirl anymore" Gaddes replied,
"Yeah, but whether she is nineteen or not the sentiments the same. She'll soon get over it" Onoír told him, "No sooner as Nimura gets back…"
"Nimura?" Gaddes asked, more than a little surprised, "She likes him?"

A hard laugh came from Onoír but he tried to silence it,
"What kind of a father are you that you did even know that?" He asked between rounds of laughter. Gaddes shook his head,
"A busy one. I can tell you, kids are great, but once they get past a certain age you don't know anything about them anymore" He smiled, "I guess that's better than knowing everything. There are some things even I don't wanna know"
"Like what?" Onoír asked but before Gaddes could answer him the air was filled with a harsh breathing from the direction of Sanjiyan's men. It was a moment longer before he came into sight but they knew whom he was. Onoír smiled,
"They let one go. I would think Sanjiyan was getting sloppy if we hadn't planned this" Onoír whispered happily, "Soon we'll be in business" Onoír may have spoken quietly, and he may have remained perfectly still but his heart was pounding. Not only was this going to be a decisive battle, but also he hadn't had the opportunity for too long. Not since he had fought with the rebel Talús had he had a real fight.

A moment later they were on their feet, the other men following in suit.
"You sure you can handle this old man?" Onoír asked Gaddes but he just snorted,
"Focus on your job and let me do mine" Gaddes replied and Onoír nodded with a guilty smile,
"Sure thing" It was at this point that the men separated, Gaddes running as quietly as he could through the underbrush, leaving Onoír to overlook the now deserted road. He turned to the other men and his smile vanished,
"What are you men waiting for? An invitation?" He asked them angrily before leading the way deeper into the forest. They hadn't gone far when they came to a stop. Ahead of them were several Gymelef's, disguised and covered in foliage but it was clear from this close that they appeared to be laying face first on the ground, almost in a half finished push up. He looked up at the metallic beast for a moment before promptly crouching and crawling under its belly. He laughed to himself while doing so; if only some of Von's other advisors could see him now. It was only a moment before he reached the Gymelef's control compartment, and grabbing the sides he hauled himself into it. He held onto the sides until he could finally close the chest guard and tie himself in.

He lifted the Gymelef into a kneeling position so he could look out of the compartment to the road, and as he did so he saw everything was going to plan. Down the road a small group of armour clad men walked, at least a dozen and a half Gymelef's to their side. Onoír's adrenaline was pumping as he waited in anticipation for the first shot. He didn't wait long as it was only a moment before they crossed into the centre of the path and the trap was sprung. As the Melef's passed a mighty roar rang in the air and before you could blink at least half of the units fell to the ground, though it was unclear how many of these were actually hit and how many were pulled down by their comrades.

"GO!" Onoír yelled at the top of his lungs, even so he very much doubted that the men at the road would hear him, though the other Melef's around him certainly did. In a moment they had all elevated to their full height and began an almighty sprint at the enemy smashing trees in the process. By the time the enemy Melef's even knew they were there it was too late, as they were hit from both sides of the road. In the immediate confusion several more of the enemies Gymelef's had fallen and the foot soldiers that had survived the initial attack had already fled. Onoír, his sword in his hand found himself in the fiercest of the action, only himself and another holding a variable wall of Melef units. As he fended off yet another sword he only thanked God that the units were unable to use their own Ballista's at such a short range. He parried with several of the units for a while just waiting for the opening he knew would come, and of course it did. The second Melef dropped its guard Onoír stabbed his sword, like a mad man into its chest, no attempt to save the pilots life, in fact the very opposite… this was war. The pilot offered a last minute defence but Onoír's incoming sword bashed his out of the way, and even into his neighbours undefended side. An almighty scream echoed for just a few seconds before being cut short, and the Melef hit the ground, its pilot dead.

Onoír set upon the Gymelef, which was damaged by his neighbour's sword, and taking advantage of the confusion he knocked it to the ground with the butt of his sword. Another of the Melef's lurched at him in obvious desperation. Onoír guessed that the pilots were friends, and toyed with him a moment before throwing him back into several of the other Melef's.

"Is this the best Fraid has to offer?" He asked sarcastically before ploughing his sword into the chest of the Melef he had knocked to the ground only moments before. Some may have considered his actions to be 'evil' but it wasn't he who started this war… but it was for him to protect his home, and the ones he loved. He placed his foot on the Melef to allow him to pull the sword out of the unit he had just 'killed' and threw it like a javelin at the back of an unsuspecting unit whom one of his other men had been fighting. He may have achieved some kills but the enemy were finally fighting better, having regrouped after their anisole onslaught though it wasn't to last long.

Fraid's units in the sudden attack by Fanelia's Gymelef's had forgotten about the hidden horrors that lay disguised in the trees. Although a couple had been destroyed by accident during the fighting the Ballista's had reloaded and prepared for their second volley, which Onoír hoped would finish off the already fragile morale of the remaining Gymelef's and send them into a retreat.

He continued to fight the units waiting for the stream of wood but as he saw the chance of another kill he attacked. At first he wasn't too sure what had happened, he guessed that the Melef he had attacked got the drop on him or something. He only really worked it out when he saw the Melef and the remaining enemies scatter and run back towards their main camp. He laughed, and looked down to see the blood, which was now spreading and saturating his clothes. It wasn't metal that he could see, but the wood of a bolt. Besides the pain he did sigh a little in relief as he took a closer look, it didn't seem to go into anything vital.
"Damn… to be hit by one of my own men" He said to himself, "Embarrassing"

He could feel himself weakening so he set the unit on the ground and relaxed. One of his men came up and knelt so their control compartments were levelled. The chest plate opened and this young man, he couldn't have been over twenty jumped out,
"Sir! Are you alright" Onoír sighed again,
"Why do people always ask such obvious questions?" He muttered and then answered the kid,
"Yeah, but I'm not going anywhere" He ordered him, "follow them back to their main camp and meet up with the rest of the men, follow Gaddes's orders" His words were as loud and forceful as he could make them, and without any argument the kid nodded and returned to his unit. He conveyed the orders to the others before breaking their units into a sprint for the main camp.

At first Onoír just sat there before he finally pulled himself from his seat and opened the chest plate. The pain was extraordinary, even compared to some of the injuries he had previously suffered. It was only a few steps out onto the plate itself, but it felt like an eternity. Once there he looked out over what he had done… all around were the remains of Gymelef's and their pilots. Blood stained the road red… this was war he thought before falling onto the chest plate and just lay there,
"And in the first battle" He said quietly, looking up at the sky, "How embarrassing"

Completely unaware of the battle, which had just started down the road Fraid's armies' camp, was a quiet, almost lazy place. The camp was built not on the road itself but what appeared to have been recently cleared land. The soldier looked around and remembered the amount of work it was to clear it before building the camp. He sighed and looked up at dull sky, the tip of his spear in his point of view. His tent was to his back, but he was glad of it, many of his friends having been sent out to attack the castle. Behind him hundreds of other tents, almost carbine copies of his dotted the plain, many other men like him guarding them. There were a couple Gymelef' towards the centre of the camp but they lay unmoving, their pilots nowhere to be seen.

He lifted a drinking flask from his side and took a drink. It was then that he realised how much his bladder demanded to be relieved. He looked around him and then out into the woods his tent was set-up beside. He took a few steps before another man called to him,
"Where do you think your going?" He asked before he called back,
"Just for a piss, cover for me" The man looked back to their superior whom was quite a bit back practising with his sword,
"Sure, whatever"

He gave him a wave,
"Thanks" and continued into the brush. He shivered as the grass, which was still damp, socked the brim of his trousers. He came to a stop as soon as he was sure he was out of sight, to the far side of a tree. He dropped his trousers and began to relieve himself. He sighed quietly but then a glint of metal caught his eye. Before he could even move, his head was grabbed from behind and a small silver knife slit his throat. He wanted to scream, to shout, to call for help but nothing came out. Then his attacker let go of him and he slumped to the ground.

It was Gaddes whom cleaned his knife and placed it back into a holster to his side. As if they had been waiting for him to do the deed a couple of other men came up beside him. Gaddes pulled a couple of small packets wrapped in some form of leather. He handed one to each of them.
"I didn't expect one of them to be out here" Gaddes commented, "Pity"

One of his friends sighed,
"Looks like he was taking a piss"
"Poor bastard" Gaddes opened the top of his packet and dipped a couple of fingers inside. When he removed them they were covered in a green goo, with which he promptly painted his face. His men did the same, and then he covered his hands. When he was finished he motioned to the other to follow him.

He took his steps cautiously and closer to the camp; with each of these his heart took another beat. Just as he reached the edge of the clearing he came to a stop, his accomplices stopping beside him. He made no attempt to hide himself, instead just stood there in the open. It wasn't long before he was noticed. A soldier from the camp called out,
"You there! Identify yourself" But of course he offered no reply. He sighed once and then a deafening crashing filled the air. Gaddes smiled,
"Right on time"

The soldier's interest diverted from them almost immediately, something larger catching their attention. The sound became ever louder before a Gymelef ran right past Gaddes and his men from inside the forest, taking what seemed like half a tree with it. Gaddes' hair blew in the gust as it passed before multiple more units too pasted by. He smiled, and watched any soldier within several hundred meters run for cover in panic.

"Crude but effective" He commented before breaking into a run, "Lets go, we have a job to do" He didn't wait for a reply before sprinting into the camp which their Gymelef' had already started to devastate.

Fraid's troops paid no heed to them as they sneaked ever deeper into the camp, their attention drawn to the Gymelef attacks. Even as they draw into areas of the camp which had yet to suffer attack, they were almost overlooked. Gaddes smiled to himself, taking the good fortune in its stride. He wanted to keep his wits about him but he most certainly didn't expect to be able to enter the camp so easily. He laughed,
"I guess Fraid expected us to roll over like good little vermin. Surrender the castle and run for Fanel"

He came to a stop, kneeling, his back to a tent. One of his company leaned over,
"What was that sir?" He asked but Gaddes knocked it off, his mind now elsewhere.
"Shush" And slowly he brought his head round the corner of the tent to make sure the coast was clear. He was about to move on, when a slight glint of armour caught his eye and he stopped himself in mid-stride. A soldier walked straight into their path, and stopped a moment, his eyes in their direction. Gaddes pulled his head back as quick as he could though he was far from sure if it was quick enough. The man furrowed his brow and approached, finally stopping a couple of meters off their position. Gaddes could feel his heart beating in his throat, and then the soldier turned and walked back down the path he was pulled from.

Gaddes closed his eyes and took a deep sigh of relief.
"That was close" They waited there a couple of minutes, and then when he was sure the coast was clear they moved out. They made their way further and further into the camp, and as they got closer to its centre they were slowed more and more as Fraid's soldiers became less sparse. Many times they had to stop, and wait for men to pass, the Gymelef's battle no longer offering them any protection.

Eventually they slowly approached their goal, stopping by a last tent, a large open area sat ahead of them, several soldiers and Gymelef's its occupants. The Melef's where in a row; each kneeling and their cockpits open as if waiting for their pilots to arrive. The men were all together, three of them in total. Two appeared to be your run of the mill soldiers, one wore a cloak, while the other didn't however between them an older man stood. His hair was black, and its moist which made it look slimly. He wasn't a tall man, but by no means short either, he was, however, thin, incredible thin. He appeared to be looking around himself nervously as he spoke.

Gaddes watched him a moment but as he saw the man begin to look in his direction he pulled back away from his eye line. His eyes were as any others but they appeared to be empty at the same time, hollow. Gaddes quietened his colleagues and listened as well as he could to what they where saying.
"Well what are we to do with those damned things?" One voice asked, "We'll have to pull back if we cant at the very least force them to retreat" The voice that returned was cold as ice,
"Don't worry about such things. I will deal with them myself" There was a sudden crash, and then quiet. Gaddes looked to his side to see a small barrel had been overturned by one of his accomplices. He felt like he could strangle him at that moment, but the mans frozen expression suggested he knew the trouble he could have gotten them into. They remained frozen as stone until the haunting words came.
"Check it out" Came the cold voice and in only a moment his word was enacted. Gaddes gave a quick hand order to his men and they threw themselves behind a second tent as quickly and quietly as possible. The mans approach may only have lasted a few moments but it seemed so much longer as they waited. Gaddes could hear him look around and stop by the barrel. He took a deep breath and decided to take the opportunity that had been opened up to him. The man had his back to them as he was knelling by the barrel, and Gaddes approached him as quietly as could, knife in hand. The man pulled himself back to his feet and bit his lip as he thought. He didn't even notice Gaddes before the knife was embedded in his back and through his heart. Gaddes' hand passed over his mouth to hold back the scream.

Gaddes held the man as he spasmed a moment and then gently laid him upon the ground. He looked down at the man sympathetically, and wiped the blood from his hand. He cursed himself as he remembered exactly why he retired from this 'profession'.

In the distance Gaddes heard the cold voice speak again though he didn't hear the words. In fact the man had been joined by a junior officer whom was offering his superior a report. The young man looked a little wary as he gave his report and although his commander listened carefully he didn't appear too happy at what he was saying.
"… so they have already linked up with the forces from the main road to the castle?" His superior clarified and he nodded,
"Yes General Dolár, and additional forces have since joined the fight from the direction of the castle," He added too which his superior's eyes narrowed,
"What happened to the Melef' we sent that way?"

The young man shook his head,
"We don't know sir. But if their people are attacking us from the same road…" He thought aloud before Dolár fiercely broke him off,
"I 'm not a moron" He bit back, "Tell me is there anything that you do know?" The young man stuttered a little,
"I… there isn't that much that we can know sir. The only thing that we can be sure of is that they don't appear to be interested in venturing too deep into the camp," Dolár thought for a moment, taking note of the return of his hooded subordinate.
"What do you mean?" He asked angrily. The young man whom had hardly recuperated from Dolár last attack appeared to become ever more nervous,
"Well their men and Melef's appear to be keeping their distance for the moment at least. A couple of times they have come quite close but they have always pulled back"
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" He barked and the soldier gulped,
"I just assumed…" He replied but Dolár was no longer paying him much notice,
"Idiots assume" He commented before turning to the soldier whom had returned, "If they are leaving us alone it means…" Before he had even finished turning to him Dolár felt that there was a blade placed cosily to his stomach.

"Don't move" Came Gaddes' voice from beneath the hood. With a shake of his head he dislodged it and Dolár gave him an ironic sorta smile,
"Well played" He turned his head, looking behind him just in time to see his other two men, including the young soldier hit the ground, an arrow silencing them.

Dolár looked Gaddes up and down his hands to his side, and raised an eyebrow,
"So you kill my man? You must be an effective killer. I never even heard him whimper, and he wasn't exactly the type to take it quietly" He laughed, keeping his hollow eyes upon Gaddes,
"We didn't start this war" Gaddes commented the memory of the man still on the edge of his mind,
"Yes, but you are fighting are you not?" He laughed again and grinned, "Which makes you an accomplice. How many people have you killed today? Five, ten, maybe twenty? How many more will you kill?" Gaddes felt strange, but one thing he was sure of was that he couldn't take his eyes of Dolár's.
"I will defend my homeland" Gaddes added, not entirely sure if he should encourage this.
"For king and country. A shallow sentiment indeed" He waved his hand in front of Gaddes face as if to annoy him further. Gaddes turned a moment to call to the others,
"Bring some rope…" It was a mistake to turn. A small knife appeared from Dolár's sleeve and Gaddes barely avoided it. Gaddes dropped his knife from the surprise, made to grab Dolár but failed. His companions raised their bows again but Gaddes waved them off. They needed him alive.

He grabbed his knife and gave chase. It was only a few seconds before the unpleasant realization of where Dolár was headed reached the pit of his stomach. With a jump he entered the cockpit of one of the open Melef's, giving a final little wave before he closed the cockpit up. Gaddes skidded to a halt, he couldn't use a Gymelef. He could do little more than watch as the massive machine awakened and rose to its full high,
"Damn it"

He could only watch transfixed as Dolár lifted his leg. Gaddes could have run, but what good would it have done him? There was no way for him to stop that monster. Just before the foot fell there was a thunderous crash and two Melef's hit the ground Dolár's and another Fraid unit. In a moment the new unit had pitched Dolár to the ground and ripped the cockpits door open. Gaddes smiled,
"Thanks" Though there was no way the unit's pilot could hear them. He wasn't too sure but he could have sworn he recognised the pilot's style, even from the little he saw. He knew a friend piloted it.

The Gates to the forest. It is said that if the someone ever managed to break its walls that the castle would crumble and that it would be swallowed by the earth itself. A bit dramatic, but most myths are. The castle was built on a truly unique natural phenomena, the ground the castle was built upon rose out of a cavern, like a pillar, at no point connecting to the land around it. This gave the impression the castle had a dry moat, but an immeasurable fall awaited anyone whom had the misfortune to fall. Such natural oddities have been spotted elsewhere in the world, however what made the gates to the forest unique was that before rising to the top, the pillar because incredible small, and then expanded again. This left the land precariously balanced.

When Von first suggested the site for the central point of Fanelia, both defensively and economically his advisors swore he was mad. Why? Because the pillar that upheld the site was so thin at its smallest point, too much additional weight on one side over the other would lead to the pillar buckling and falling. Even so he pressed forward and overcame this most grievous of obstacles. Von surmised that if counterweights where placed at eight points around the edge, they could balance the castle and hold the pillar as a perfect defensive position.

The castle took many years to build, but today it stands over the cross point of the four roads of Fanelia, and any army that wished to conquer the country would have to pass through it. An old man stood upon the battlements, looking out over the western road. Below him, the western bridge into the castle stood deserted, a couple of old wagons abandoned in the rush to seal the city. He wondered how the battle faired before a man who looked in his fifties came up behind him,
"Poker?" He asked, to which the old man turned and nodded, "We have just completed entering the castle. What are your orders?" Poker frowned,
"I guess we wait, we cant risk continuing until Onoír returns… and as far as I can tell we have just walked into the beginning of a battle" The man appeared to turn a little pale,
"We'll then shouldn't we go now?" He asked but Poker shook his head,
"No, we couldn't. Its almost nightfall, and we don't even know what the situation is yet. What if there was another army to the south? We would walk right into them"

No comment came from the soldier, and he stood as if waiting for orders. Finally Poker gave him some,
"Get as many people indoors as you can, but just enough room to lie down" He told him, "I don't see us leaving before day break and there wont be that much room to go around"

He saluted before turning on his heel to carry out his orders. When Poker returned to the abandoned road he found it far less abandoned. They were still quite a distance away but he could easily make out the men's colours, those of Fanelia. He smiled,
"This is going to be fun" He commented sarcastically and then coughed. He rubbed his hands together to warm them and abandoned the view. He stood upon the bridge into the castle only minutes later, just as the Fanelian solders arrived. They appeared a sorry lot, an army of exhausted men, but the first did salute to him as he approached,
"Poker Sir" He greeted him, but Poker waved his hand away,
"At ease" The man relaxed and waved to the guard controlling the castles gate. As the metal door was lifted he turned back to Poker, a question burning,
"What are you doing here sir?" He asked. Poker smiled again,
"Don't worry about that, where's the general?"

The soldier gave no complaint and bid Poker to follow,
"This way" Poker was at first surprised that Onoír was not present at the head of the column; after all it was the right thing for its commander to do. As they passed deeper into the crowd of soldier, whom had started to file into the castle, he realised that Onoír was likely injured.

When the soldier came to a stop he did not see Onoír, but he did see someone he did not expect. Pashihuxika stood before him; her face was scarred with several deep cuts, her eyes dishevelled,
"Lilly?" He asked hardly believing his eyes, "What are you?" She however did not see fit to offer an answer,
"Later, first we must get Onoír back" Her voice was weak, it was only then however that Poker noticed the man lying behind her upon a board of wood, carried by four men. The man had a deep cut in his side, and he appeared to be sleeping but he was unmistakably Onoír.

Poker grudgingly agreed and did not encourage an answer again. It was a clear hour before they had entered the castle and gotten Onoír the medical attention he needed. He now lay in a tiny room, one of the few, Poker and Lilly by his side. He had awoken, and was more than just a little surprised by his company.
"What the hell are you two doing here?"

There was a moment when Poker and Lilly' eyes met, before she took the floor, the first to recant her story. She took a deep breath, and told them of the cities defence, their continued gorilla attacks and of their betrayal. This part of the story both Onoír and Poker were already well aware of, as the Fanelian soldier who was set free had already informed them of it. However what they were not aware of was what was to come next,
"We were captured, my brother Neigh and I. A disgrace I know" She muttered angrily, "Dolár, their general enjoyed to make spectacles of our… torture, you know for troop moral. It was just yesterday that they took him away" Onoír thoughts a moment,
"Néigh?" He asked to clarify,
"Yes, I don't know why but he was taken by someone whom was the superior of Dolár. On the night my brother was taken I heard the two of them arguing, something about the four, though I could not be sure" It was Poker' time to ask a question,
"Did you recognise him?" He asked, and she shook her head unknowingly,
"I'm not sure, but he was high ranking" She continued, "This morning they set up camp, ready to attack when about half their force was pulled back, leaving Dolár with the remainder"

"WHAT!" Onoír called out, "You mean to say there are more of them out there?" She nodded sadly, "I can only guess that this man saw something coming and wanted to keep some of their men out of Dolár's hands"
"In the confusion…" She concluded, "I was able to break free and steal a Melef. It was there that I helped an officer and captured Dolár. I think, Gaddes was his name"

A short silence confirmed the end of her tale,
"This is bad news indeed. If that was only half of their men…" Onoír commented, his head elsewhere,
"Well it gets worse" Poker added, sure his story would add to the problems. Onoír turned his attention to Poker,
"Yes, I'm sure they will. You were meant to get here days ago!" Onoír asked angrily. He was not happy at the late arrival of the civilians from Fanel, as it placed them in a particularly difficult position. Poker sighed,
"We ran into some, complications" He said, "It would appear that this castle is not the impenetrable barrier we thought it to be"
"You mean to tell me they have by-passed us?" Onoír asked calmly too which Poker nodded,
"We were approaching the only village between the city and the castle, Suhl I believe was its name" He started, "What we found, however, was not very pleasant. The village had been burned to the ground. At first we were unaware of what had caused the devastation, but the ruins soon made it clear it was not an accident" He paused a moment to think before returning to the story,
"We found evidence of a struggle, and then the bodies. It was like nothing I have seen in twenty years, women, children, not just men murdered, their bodies left to rot" He felt sickened just recounting the story.
"Barbarians" Lilly commented angrily under her breath, "But it doesn't surprise me from what I have seen. These soldiers are not normal Fraid men, but something far worse"

"Anyway, as we finished burying the bodies we found that we were wrong in our assumption that their soldiers had left the area. There was a surprise attack, and though nobody died, there were a lot of men hurt" He continued, "After we got a hand of the situation it was decided to press on, and try to get here as soon as possible. However several more times we were forced to defend ourselves," Onoír's face had gone grave indeed when Poker finished,
"We don't know how many of them there are, or how they got there, but all I do know is that that road is not safe… and no matter what we do here Fanel is potentially wide open"

Not a word passed lips as the gravity of the situation sunk in, then Onoír commented,
"So we potentially face a three pronged attack, from the West, East and North"
"It would appear so" Lilly added sadly, "The question is how long we have" Onoír however, just about cut her right off,
"Before anything else, we need to get the civilians out of here" Onoír stated, but it was Poker whom raised the uneasy question that lay not only in his own, but Lilly's mind also,
"Is this really the time to be worrying about civilians? Surely the castles defences…" This time he was cut off,
"This is not some love-ey dub-ey decision! How the hell are we to defence this place with all those people here?" He told them, but he didn't wait for either to answer his question, "Poker, you will have to leave tonight. If this place should threaten to fall we can't worry about your people"

He got to his feet and gave a polite bow,
"We shall depart via the southern bridge as soon as possible" Onoír nodded and as if it were the seal of approval Poker departed leaving the two generals alone.
"I thought…" Onoír said sadly, "When Urthas fell we assumed you and your brother…" He smiled,
"But we weren't" She returned it, "But Neigh…"

"Don't worry about him, he's a governor," He said in the hope of reassuring her, "They will not risk loosing such a powerful bargaining piece. For all we know he has already been taken to the sisters in Erráre" She sighed,
"I hope so" Then she got to her feet,
"I'd better get out there" She commented, which was true enough. With the threat they were under there was little time to waste. Onoír pulled himself off his pillow,
"I'll come with you," He stated but promptly fell back down,
"You are in no condition to be going," She told him before adding with a laugh, "Besides what good would you do us?" He agreed,
"I guess I wouldn't be too much help"

With that said she left and didn't look back. The moment she cleared the threshold of the doorway her smile vanished to be replaced by respectfully stony features. The first thing she noticed was that the sun had now completely vanished, to be replaced by the moon, the cold however had not seen fit to leave them. She surmised her first duty would be to ensure the safe evacuation of the civilians, however as she jogged towards what looked like the castles central hall she was considering the mammoth task of defending the place. She had failed to defend Urthas but this time should was adamant that she would not fail.

The castles hall was quite an understated building, only as large as it really needed to be. This meant that in comparison to some of the other buildings it was relatively small, in contrast to most castles, when the hall would be the largest building of all. She noted that this could be a good feature for the defence of the building, as it would not be initially clear that this was their centre. The doors to the hall were already open, the loud voices of instruction passing through, it was Pokers what rang the loudest.
"…with care. It is imperative that we leave this castle as soon as possible. Gather your belongings and bring them here, be quick or you may be left behind" The murmurs of discontent were clear in the crowd,
"Why!" One man called out, before another added,
"Yeah. You said we would at least be able to rest here for the night!" The final shouted,
"Are you insane! There are soldiers here, how could you think it would be safer on that road at night!" Von's other advisors were standing shoulder to shoulder with Poker but they were angrily muttering into his ear at the same time. Finally he yelled out,
"This castle is no longer safe! Do you think we would leave unless it was essential? I may be old, but I'm not senile. We leave in half an hour" These final words rang hollow in the hall before he turned and exited straight through the crowd. If any of the crowd's misgivings were still with them, they failed to voice them.

Poker directed her to come with him, and they left the hall,
"And I thought the battlefield was harsh" She joked, but his smile was faint,
"They are tired, and stubborn but they will do what I say" He told her, as other voices started to order the crowd, "I just wish we could remain," She agreed with a nod,
"But we both know that will not be possible"
"I passed on a order to the castles men, they should be assembled by the Eastern gate" Poker informed her, and she silently thanked him before moving off in that direction. She was not sure how much time they would have but she was sure that they were not only dealing with the remains of Fraid's forces, but of those of Asturia as well. There was no other logical explanation for why the bulk of their men retreated. This was a strong castle, but not that strong…

She forced these gloomy thoughts from her mind as she approached the castles only real defence. Her soldiers. The castle was guarded by a full garrison of men, several hundred of them and many Gymelef's however most were already involved in the fight earlier that day, and were far from there best. As she approached they seemed to understand that she was now there commanding officer, and straightened up. She made a motion that indicated that they could relax a little.
"I know you are cold and tired and that the last thing you want to do is be out here, hell even I would like to be in the warmth" She told them, "Unfortunately we don't have a choice in the matter. Why? Soon enough there will be an army, or even two here with the intention of levelling this castle"

It was clear that the men were not really aware of what was going on, only that they had failed to finish the job that morning.
"We are not sure when, but yes, we expect both Asturia's and Fraid's armies to attack the castle on mass, and if we want any hope of beating them, we must be ready. I want you to split into two squads, half of you will sleep now, while the rest are on guard then switch in…" When she was explaining this she did not expect interruption, but one came from a young soldier upon the battlements. He was panicked,
"THERE IS SOMETHING ON THE HORIZON!" He called out, and every head instinctively turned in his direction. Her heart missed a beat; she expected them soon but not this early,
"Stay here" She ordered the men, before latching her hand onto one of the many ladders which lead onto the walls. When she reached its peak it was clear enough that it was the case. The road was blackened so they could not see it, however on the roads horizon it was blazing orange and red, the colour of flame. There was no doubt that it was the Asturian army. She turned her back on the monstrous sight and yelled down to the soldiers,
"Get your gear! It begins tonight!"

The minutes passed as she watched the approaching enemy force with a deep-rooted feeling of gloom. She was still unsure to weather they could possibly win this battle but she was sure they were going to put up one hell of a fight. As their force approached she co-ordinated the troops into defensive positions, however it was not long before she was forced to place the first line of defence onto the field. She stood upon the Eastern wall, directly above the gate, and watched dozens of men orderly exit the castle and stand in three rows facing the oncoming enemies.

She turned, the loud creaking of opening doors catching her attention. She smiled at the first good thing to happy that evening, the southern gate was open, and the civilians were now, slowly making their way out of the castle.
"How long now?" A voice asked, she turned to see Gaddes standing behind her,
"Not long" She warned, "Not long at all" She sighed and looked around her, all along the walls there were men, manning ballistae, holding a bow or just waiting for the inevitable.
"I didn't get a chance to thank you" Gaddes thanked, "You know, for this morning. I guess this isn't the best time though"
"Its Ok" She said, "You ready?" He nodded in reply,
"I've fought in my fair share of battles, but I don't know if anyone is truly ready" She smiled,
"So true"

Stepping forward she leaned over the battlements, the enemy had stopped several hundred meters from the walls, she was pretty still sure that they had not seen their men waiting upon the bridge.
"Deciding how to play this are we," She murmured, "You'd best not underestimate us" The continued waiting was excruciating, every minute seemed like so much longer. She shivered in the cold, and then she saw it, the first move. At first she thought it was her imagination, the single light moving, but soon more joined it and it was clear that a large detachment of soldiers was approaching. She pulled out her sword, and waited for the perfect moment,
"You wish you could be down there don't you?" Gaddes asked and she nodded, "Of course, but I'm no good with a bow. FIRE."

Her order echoed throughout the castles walls and beyond, just as the approaching enemies broke into a charge. The first line of Fanelian soldiers raised their bows, pulled back their strings and let them fly. What appeared like a line of men collapsed, others jumping over the new obstacles. The first line of Fanelian's crouched down and the second line aimed, pulled back, and fired their payload causing even more men to fall to the ground. It was after the second row crouched and the third prepared to fire that they realised something much bigger was approaching. The giant ran through the darkness, and then with one swift jump it over-ed all of the charging men. The archers panicked, the incredibly huge metal frame of a Gymelef looming over them.

As they fled back through the partially opened castle gate Pashihuxika yelled orders,
"FIRE" This time the order was directed at the ballistae stationed across the walls, their target all too clear. As the ballista's fired upon the giant it turned to them and she saw its face clearly at last,
"Scherazade!" She exclaimed, Gaddes's expressions confirming that it was in fact the Gymelef which was personally owned and operated by the legendary Alan Shazar. The pilot seemed to call over to them over the noise of battle, the enemy soldiers trying their best to gain access via the Gate.
"Fanelian traitors, surrender your positions now, and your lives will be spared. Fail to do so, and I shall personally see to it you pay for your kings crimes!

The beast of a machine stepped onto the Eastern Bridge and extended its hand. Lilly and Gaddes jumped away just in time to avoid being crushed by the machines hand. Retracting it Scherazade ripped a large chunk out of the wall, several ballistae falling with the debris. Lilly looked back from were she landed, her feet barely inches from the ruin that used to be the top of the gate house,
"Are you Ok!" Gaddes asked, offering his hand. She looked up at him for only a moment before taking it, and then in another she was gone. She had grab the sides of the ladder onto the walls, and without placing her feet on a step slid right the way down. Upon clearing it she looked at her smoking gloves a second before calling out to the men in charge of the gate,
"Jettison the bridge!" She ordered,
"But if we do that…" He protested,
"If you don't that beast is going to get in here! Do it now!"

He didn't argue again, bolting at the gatehouse. Gaddes whom had just joined her from the walls did likewise but took the opposite side of the gate. They each lifted a wooden board next to the lever which controlled the gate itself. Underneath there was another lever, Gaddes grabbed it and looked over to the other man,
"On three" He yelled before, "One. Two. Three"

Before they could pull it there was a tremendous crash, and a large segment of the main gate was thrown into the castle, as if it were no stronger than a twig. Scherazade's face peered through the hole as it ripped the rest of the wood and gnarled metal away. Gaddes looked up indignity before adding,
"You had best run" And then with a sudden pull he brought the lever up. The other man did likewise and then it started. There was an almighty bang and smoke filled the air. The squeal of dozens of men's screams was only drowned out by the continuing collapse of the bridge into the caesium below.

As the dust cleared Gaddes found that the bridge had indeed collapse, but they had a wholly new problem on their hands. Getting back to its feet just inside the gate was Scherazade.
"MELEF'S" Came Lilly's voice, "EVERYONE ELSE, GET OUT OF HERE!" They didn't need telling twice, almost everyone running for their lives in every direction. She couldn't blame their eagerness; she may have been tempted to do the same. It was only a moment before Scherazade was back on its feet, and another before three Fanelian Gymelef's broke onto the scene. She waved one to a complete stop,
"Get out!" She ordered; the pilot followed it obediently, though his face told another story. She entered it without much trouble, strapped herself in and with a creak of her neck,
"Lets get on with this" With a nod she moved out. Moments later she noticed another Melef by her left flank,
"You, why aren't you with the others?" She demanded but she heard a laugh from the other unit,
"Lady, I don't take orders from you" The voice returned, it was Sanjiyan, "Besides you look like you could use some backup yourself" She didn't know him but replied calmly enough,
"Then what the hell are you doing here?" She asked again, but there was no reply this time. Scherazade had already disposed of the other Melef'. She neglected to keep her eyes firmly on their target, and Scherazade was quick to capitalise on it. It charged at her, its sword drawn leaving her no option but to jump from its path. She cursed under her breath and pulled herself out of the dirt. As she turned the monsters great hand reached for her, leaving her just the moment she needed to grab it and hold it in place.

Sharazads pilot pushed harder but still she blocked it. Looking up at it through the cage of the cockpit she only then realised the size of the unit. She knew special unit Melef's were larger than the average models but she never realised just how much more. It towered over her, another half over her height. With the continued pressure she could feel her unit being pushed back along the road, before her back was finally pushed into a building. She was feeling the strain before raising her leg she kicked it backwards into the courtyard. She pulled herself up, some of the wall falling around her,
"How dare you!" She heard the voice but it took another second for it's meaning to register with her. A lone Gymelef had run into the courtyard, obviously unable to control himself. Others soon joined him, which surrounded the massive Gymelef.
"Get back!" She yelled out to them but it was soon too late for them to.

The first Melef to change, keen for first blood pulled its sword and brought it down upon Scherazade. At first it failed to do anything, but then just as the blade came down upon it, it took its two handed blade into a single hand and with the other grabbed the sword that attacked it. The disbelief was tangible and before the soldier could retreat Scherazade tightened its grip on the sword and it shattered in its hand. Then forming a fist it grabbed the Melef.
"Let go of him!" Another yelled before charging and a faint snigger emerged from Scherazade's cockpit. Raising the first off the ground he move it forming a shield against his friends. The Fanelian swords cut deep into the steel of their comrade before jamming in the metal frame. They frantically tried to retract them as Scherazade dropped it and took his own sword back into both hands. With one swing he tore the three Melef's apart.

It only took several more minutes for it to completely eradicate the rest of the units as Lilly watched powerlessly. Her swords grip tightening in her hand she made to approach the beast and it turned to meet her,
"Why!" She called out it its pilot, "Why are you doing this?" An untimely hiss greeted them from the inside of the unit,
"You dare ask us that! Ask me!" He yelled, "He was the greatest of all Asturian'!" He left his sentence unfinished as he charged her. She was not too sure how, but she managed to block the sword as it approached her, and just as well, as it would have sliced her in two.
"He was the greatest of us, and your nation is responsible for his death!" The sword came ever closer, even threatening to make contact with her cage, "He was my mentor" This comment was followed with a confused few seconds when Sanjiyan literally jumped Scherazade leaving them both in the dirt. Finally she knew who the pilot was, blinded by hate she was not taking on any ordinary pilot. She was awoken by a huge crash, as Sanjiyan somehow managed to throw the Melef through a building to the side of the courtyard. She came up beside him,
"Who the hell is this guy?" He asked gasping for breath. She watched the dust cloud that used to be a house,
"Areon. Protégé of Alan Shazar, and something of a prodigy himself" She told him, "Youngest ever soldier in the Asturian army and considered one of the finest Melef pilots this side of Cesario" Sanjiyan snorted,
"Great. Just great"

She wasn't sure but she thought she could see moment in the cloud. She turned to a group of solders passing,
"Protect the civilians, once they are clear get everyone on the Levi-ship" She told them quickly, "Got it?" They nodded, but she didn't stay with them long enough to see. She was watching the cloud again,
"We just need to hold it off until they get them out of here" She told him and this time he didn't have a snide comment to return,
"I will follow your orders this once" He told her, "But don't get used to it"

They waited, their hearts racing, waiting for the dust to clear. The seconds bleed on, before without warning a massive piece of debris smashed into Lilly's unit. She was thrown back, and Sanjiyan raised his sword just as Scherazade threw itself at him through the wall of dust. He blocked the heavy blade, but it could feel his own suffer under the strain. In the space of only a few seconds Scherazade pulled itself back, and raising its sword again it launched into a veritable series of attacks on Sanjiyan' unit.

He blocked the sword each time it came at him but he knew he couldn't hope to hold the massive beast of a Gymelef for long. With each strike it seemed that his sword was beginning to chip. As the last of the series of attacks came at him, Sanjiyan took the blunt side of his sword in his second hand, holding it over his head like a shield to the blade.

When the two blades met there was a tremendous crash of steel. Sparks flew, confusing the visual more, but it soon because clear to Sanjiyan that his sword did not offer the strength he required. The sword split in two, shards flying in all directions; furthermore, Scherazade's sword continued its approach. A lesser man would not have been able to move at the speed Sanjiyan did, not that it offered him much. He threw himself to the side, but the sword still came down with such force that it went clean through his Gymelef's shoulder. Moments later he lay on the ground, his arm cleanly severed from his Melef. He got his face off the road in time to turn and face the sword, which had removed his arm.
"Who are you?" He asked, "You are no ordinary pilot" It may have been a compliment of sorts, but Sanjiyan didn't take it as such,
"And what does that matter to you?" Sanjiyan told him angrily, "Its not like you are either" The laugh which came from the inside of Scherazade came out several times louder than it was originally, the metal frame amplifying the sound.
"Maybe I am," He added, "But I expected more of a fight from the legendary Fanelian's," He laughed again, "Your pitiful little country has put up no resistance at all"

"Well maybe if you didn't launch a cowardly attack, in the middle of the night, with your friends on your heels" Sanjiyan told him spiteful, "I'm no Fanelian, I'm Zaibach born, and I know what it is like to fight a hopeless war. Believe me, these people are ready for it and with every ounce of their energy they will fight you. You'll never make it to the Royal Palac…"
"Shut up! It was this country that provoked the rage of the Sea Dragon Jichia. Your cowardly assassins in the night. You killed my master, refused to surrender the guilty party, set fire to Norte"

"What?" Sanjiyan exclaimed, "What do you mean Norte" Norte was the capitol of the alliance, the city where the Hall of Kings, the council of representatives met, the very symbol of the alliances break from the past. When Areon' voice returned it was far colder than it had ever been,
"You don't even have the gall to own up for your own crimes? Well I guess I'll humour you" He told Sanjiyan, "It was only last week that agents of Fanelia set fire to the ancient city, the council buildings, the homes, everything. Within a few short hours the entire city was razed to the ground, and the council of representatives murdered" Sanjiyan didn't reply, this was all news to him, and bad news at that, "Oh but that's not the last of it. Your people have been busy, real busy. Attacks on those loyal all over the alliance, the assassination of Kaja, fires set in other nations capitols. Caderle. Palas. Egzardia. Your nation shall pay for its crimes with the blood of those whom' loyalty is to it, and not to the alliance"

The sword was pulled back ready to strike the final blow and Sanjiyan knew he would not be able to avoid it. He remained still. However before the blade was brought down on him, another pierced through the chest casing of Scherazade. He saw the blade poking through and Scherazade stopped moving. Lilly' Gymelef quickly came around to him, and took his remaining arm,
"Come on, we have to get out of here" Sanjiyan got to his feet,
"But what about the evacuation?" He asked,
"The civilians are already away," She told him, "And they're collapsing the bridge. Now!"

"Wrong place" A voice came from Scherazade, "Do you know nothing about Asturian armour?" He joked as he placed his hand behind his back and pulled her sword out of his unit. She lifted Sanjiyan's old sword off the ground, removing his disembodied hand from the blade. Scherazade sheathed his own blade, and offered Lilly' own back to her,
"You put up a valiant fight" He told them, "Go" She took the sword, and without taking her eyes off him they made their way but he called out to them,
"This is over for now but we will meet again in Fanel" He told them, "I look forward to it" Then without another glance back they crossed the city, passed burning buildings and boarded the few Levi-Ships that remained in the port.

When she saw the castle and its city from above, its buildings aflame, she could not help but cry. Of course, nobody saw her tears, but the memories of what had happened to her own home were still with her. Fanel was going to be the next city to burn.

………

There was a quick shallow breathing, his eyes were darting from side to side seeing what he could through the metal bars which disrupted his view from the Gymelef' cockpit. His back was to a building, and though his breathing was shallow it was not from fear, it was more like he was trying to mask the sound. He stood in what appeared to be an alleyway, and then the reason he ducked into the alley became clear, another Melef walked past the alleys opening. His heart missed a beat,
"…They have already come this far" He exclaimed, and once the man had passed he continued to watch the opening as if expecting someone else to pass by it. A moment later he came to the conclusion that the other Melef was alone.

He stood in a cross junction, roads between building heading in all directions of the compass. Abandoning his view he silently jogged off parallel to the other Gymelef's path, as he passed through the next cross-junction he again saw his enemy. He quickened his pace, and then when the next cross-junction came he turned north, closing the gap between himself at his enemy. He finally came to a stop at the edge of the opening and pulled his sword from his sheath. He raised it so he could reflect what lay beyond the opening, and there was the on-coming Melef. He waited, and then just before he passed the opening he jumped out of the alleyway and kicked the surprised Melef to the ground. It pulled itself up, holding its weight on its hands before all movement was ceased with a horizontally placed sword to the neck.

"Where are the rest of them?" He asked the downed pilot, but when no answer came he added, "Now!"
"If you are going to end it, do so! I will not betray my comrades, not to you, not to anyone" Was the answer that came, in reply the sword made a pass at the unit's cockpit, but it was stopped before it touched the metal. The triumphant pilot laughed,
"Fall down!" He laughed, "I killed you"

As if following the order the Gymelef fell on its back, and the cockpit opened, the pilot immerging,
"Come on, where are they!" The pilot asked again, but the pilot whom had just abandoned his unit refused to answer,
"Lord Von, you just killed me. How am I to answer your question?"
"Typical" Von laughed, retracting his Melef sword.

Suddenly Von became aware of the loud footsteps of a fast approaching Melef. He sheathed his sword and ducked back into the alley just as the other Melef came running around the corner. Von didn't look, but he could still hear what was happening around the corner of the building he was now ducking behind. There was a shuffling for a few moments before the pilot of the new Melef asked,
"What happened? Where did he go?" His voice was anxious, almost scared. The 'dead' pilot sarcastically returned,
"The dead do not speak"

The pilot cursed and then there was nothing. A couple of seconds passed before Von decided to retreat further down the alley. It was a good move to make, as just as he had turned the corner at the cross-junction the Melef came into the alley. Von sighed and looked to his arm. The arm was different than the other Melef's, as it appeared to have a ballista mounted on it.
"I guess now is as good a time as any to test this" He commented to himself quietly before loading what appeared to be a small blunt piece of wood onto it. At the head of the wood, however, was what appeared to be a filled sack. He placed it carefully into the arm, and then ever so slowly manoeuvred the arm around the corner and into the direct line of sight of the other Melef. He waited a moment, aimed, and then fired it.

There was a surprised yelp from the man before what sounded like an extremely unpleasant splash as the bag tore open on impact. Dropping his arm, Von rounded the corner and smiled at the sight. The other Melef was covered, from head to foot in manure, and was frantically battering it off!
"Your dead" Von called out to the pilot before taking off down the southern road. He thought he could faintly hear the man yell back at him, but he felt it was probably better that he didn't hear what he called him. He continued down the road for a few minutes before reminding himself,
"Two down, one to go"

He had no idea where his third target was but spent the time thinking the morning over in his head. Since Onoír left for The Gates, he had taken over his job of training the new recruits personally. The pervious night he had selected three recruits at random to see how they had improved since training had started. It was the job of the three of them to hunt Von down, and 'kill' him. Their battlefield? The entire third level of the city of Fanel. Of course it was all an exercise and there was no real danger to the city or the pilots. He had spent the first hour of the match keeping an eye on the men and spooking them, only recently getting serous with them. Their biggest problem was they were over confident, nothing more, and nothing less. Even if there is only one enemy… especially if there is only one enemy you have to treat him like a wild animal, and be ready for anything.

Before he knew it he came out at the end of the alleyway, and right into a stone courtyard. Ahead of him was the majestic chapel, which stood at the edge of the cities walls. He gulped as he looked up at the structure. It had been over a year since he had last looked upon the building from so close, and it didn't sit well with him. The building, and what lay beneath had been on his mind a lot recently… and the feeling was tangible.
"Will I look upon you again soon… sleeping Dragon?" He muttered and then he became aware of a sword to the side of his Melef's neck,
"I do believe you are dead Lord Von," The pilot mentioned, and Von nodded while turning to him,
"I do believe you I am" He smiled, "Pity, I was just starting to enjoy it," He laughed and opening his cockpit he beaconed the other Melef' pilot to do the same. He took the hand of the pilot,
"Good work, now come on back to the barracks to gloat"

Von spent almost the entire day with the recruits, continuing their training. It was in the early evening that he finally began to make his way back to the castle, alone. He climbed the steps out of the city and into the castles grounds, as the darkened sky seemed ominous. It was quite late; the sun had long since vanished under the horizon even in this season of longer days. He passed the fountain without a second glace and entered the heated walls of the castle.

Just as he entered the castle he crossed into the great banquet hall. It was in this same hall that he had entertained many guests on various occasions. Now however, the tables were back against the walls, only a few candles lit for those whom decided to travel through it. Without its pomp, its pageantry the hall just seemed empty. Directly opposite the doors Von came through there was another set of large Oak doors, and it was these that he passed through next. He pushed them open like he had a hundred times before and walked right into the throne room, his throne room.

He walked down the scarlet carpet, the statues he had seen a hundred times before dwarfing him on either side. At the end of the long rectangular room he climbed the few steps to his throne and took it unceremoniously. He was tired, and his mind was clouded.

The Fanelian royal throne room was built up of three sections. In the centre of the room lay a pathway, huge statues of the countries old kings and heroes on either side. To the end of this pathway was the king's throne, his queens beside him. On each side of this central segment of the room there was a raised area looking over the pathway and the throne. Long, narrow benches filled these sections, set out for the Kings advisors, the court, and guests of the crown. It was, however rare for the Kings court to be called into session, only in the gravest of circumstances, or for national events. Usually the seats remained empty, Von alone in the room he had designed.

Von was never a fan of 'elaborate' design for places he would use, but this throne room was the one exception. The room was not his, nor would it ever be, it belonged to his position and that position demanded such a display of power. He may have designed the room, but he hated it just as much.

Standing tall on the left hand-side wall, from his throne stood the largest portrait in the castle. He looked over to it, and his mother and father starred back at him. To see this painting would usually bring at least some peace to his heart, but it hadn't recently. He sighed. The painting was not the original, which had been destroyed in the fires which engulfed the old Fanel, but a re-imagining of the original. It was recreated from the memories of those who had known the past King and Queen, including his own.

"Difficult times lay ahead, father" He spoke, his eyes on the paint of his father, "What would you do?" Of course no reply came, but Von did not expect one,
"They are coming. The days of small wars… they are nothing but a distant memory now. That cursed war with Zaibach was the point of no return, and no matter how hard we try to go back to the relative security of those days we cant. We are here, and because of my own self-righteousness Fanelia will be torn asunder all over again"

"How would you have handled these times father? How would you have dealt with this alliance… of course you would have probable be running it single-handedly by now, isn't that right"
"Any advice?" He asked with an ironic snigger, "No? Of course not, you're a piece of cloth aren't you"
"What will be, will be" Came a familiar voice from the end of the hall. It spooked Von a moment until it registered that the voice was that of Merle. He glanced down the hall and gave her a faint smile and she came down the carpet,
"That's what he would say. What will be, will be," She repeated but this time his smile vanished,
"That wont protect this city" Von retorted, and she nodded,
"Of course it won't, but neither will you're worrying or talking to a portrait of your father" She took the queens throne to his left but never took her eyes off him,
"I guess it is a little defeatist of me" He commented,
"A little?" She joked, and took his hand in hers,
"This is not going to do you any good," She told him, "You are tired, you should sleep"

He nodded,
"I suppose," He admitted and with a final glance to his father and mother he got to his feet and ruffled Merles hair,
"Thanks" He said with a smile, "I appreciate it" She just smiled and ushered him on,
"Goodnight Von"

Returning to his room he tried to clear his mind entirely of any unpleasant thoughts. It had been over a month since Alan's death and since then he had been anything but himself. The weight that lay upon his mind was indeed heavy, but every piece of news, or lack there of caused him to worry more. It had been weeks since Sadako and Nimura left, and not a word. Any news they did get seemed to get worse and worse. Whispers of betrayal and plots, which he couldn't even begin to fathom.

When he entered his room he found the candles, which lit the small room were already alight to welcome him. This was as it normally would be, but he had never wondered how they were lit. He smiled, imagining someone whose job was to cross the castle replacing and lighting candles. He would normally read by a candle before he sleeping but even if he tried he doubted he would have much success anyway.

Removing his coat he placed it over the chair, which sat by the window, and then gently blew out the candle, which stood just above his desk. He then slowly removed his clothes and placed them upon the chair along with his coat. Finally he pulled over the covers and entered the bed, before pulling them back over himself. He shivered a moment, as the cool sheets covered him but then warmed. As he lay he cleared his mind as well as he could, and then in time his eyes drooped and he feel into a sleep.

When Von opened his eyes he found himself standing on the green grass of his own gardens, outside the castle. The grass was still covered in the dew of the early morning. He wasn't too sure how, but he knew this was a dream, or a vision or something like that. His eyes crossed the skyline of Fanel, which lay below him and he let out a gasp. Glittering in the morning sunlight the city lay, mainly in ruins. Buildings where charred, the walls ripped asunder, and streets covered in debris. The turrets lay in ruins and the chapel was ripped in two.

He turned his eyes from the sight, a deep sinking feeling taking him. His eyes fell on the graveyard next to the gardens, and what appeared to be a precession near its entrance. He squinted, but couldn't make out any of the many figures. Slowly, almost without his orders his legs carried him down the hill towards the gates to the graveyard. A million thoughts were crossing his mind, none of them pleasant, but still he approached. He didn't know what it was that drew him to the precession, instinct, a morbid wish to know, fate, he just couldn't tell. Finally he crossed the threshold of the gates and entered the graveyard, but nobody paid him any attention.

As if they were in fact waiting for him, some form of alien funeral began. He heard the voices but could not see their faces,
"The life of a fighter is not a life without peril. We may delay death, but we must never forget that death is forever on our door. It is times like now that we are all reminded of this, our duty to be ready to lay down our lives for the future of our home and families" Following this speech every person in the crowd chanted in unison,
"Nós vivere causá ille futurús, nós futurús causá illic vivere"

Von's heart rate began to increase, and he pushed into the crowd in an attempt to reach its front. He couldn't force them; no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to affect them. He looked around him, and his heart rate increasing still further he started jogged around the crowd,
"We are one, and have had parts of us torn away. But now we have healed" Came a second voice before again the crowd reiterated,
"Nós vivere causá ille futurús, nós futurús causá illic vivere"

As he rushed past the crowd it seemed as if they just kept on going, never coming to an end. The first voice spoke again,
"The end is not the end, but a new beginning. We have lost…. Yes, but for all the futures to come we shall be accompanied by all we have lost" With a leap of joy in his heart Von finally came to the end of the crowd, the grave and those two figures whom flanked it all became visible to him. His eyes crossed the crowd, many faces he knew, but many more than he did not. Merle was there, Sanjiyan, Poker, Lilly, Eric, Lore, and many others from the castle. They all looked exhausted, so tired. Then he saw… her. At first he didn't see her, Sadako, but she stood in the dead centre of the crowd, Merles arm around her. Her eyes were red, and she was crying.

Slowly he turned his head to the grave, and those performing the ceremony. The headstone read, 'He fought for the future. He died in her arms" He could barely bring himself to look down to the name but there it was engraved. His heart sank, and he suddenly felt sick,
'Nimura Kosime"

His eyes turned to those performing the ceremony. To the graves left was a large man, his clothes and stature spoke volumes of his position, but his face was scarred, and his eyes were cold. His brown hair was cut short, but still unruly. Von almost gasped,
"Dawn?" He asked, his heart racing, "But your…" Just as he spoke Dawn continued the ceremony,
"Goodbye, my son"

The second man spoke, and Von turned to face himself. This Von looked extremely tired, his hair and bread whitening, his body weak, his eyes so old.
"Goodbye, my son" He heard himself add before turning his head and speaking right to his younger self,
"There is nothing you can do to prevent this" As if that was the final line Von found himself falling, like he fell through the very ground before coming to a stop somewhere entirely different.

He found himself in a new, grand room, one even grander than the throne room he left behind in Fanel. The walls were decorated with weapons, and massive canvases of past wars and victories. To one end there was a huge stone throne, to the other a large oak door dwarfed the rest of the room. All around the hall there were tall slits in the walls which let light stream into the room. Behind the throne a massive red flag hung, covering the entire wall, marked with the symbol of the Psi , a dark black against the red. The flag of Fraid.

It took a moment but Von realised that this was the Fraid royal throne room. Which meant that… Just as he thought, the room's owner came into view. He stepped out from behind the huge flag, and admired one of the paintings for a moment before removing his sword. It was a long sword in his hands, elaborately decorated, with two ornamental snakes circling the bottom of the blade, entwined around each other. The man himself stood six foot from the ground, with long blond hair. He wore a long black coat that stretched down to his ankles. On the 3rd finger of his right hand was placed a small oval ring, with the symbol of a sword, entwined with two snakes… like his blade. It was Chid duke de Fraid.

He continued to admire the painting, when there was a loud clash at the opposite end of the hall, as the large door was thrown open. In stepped two whom Von would recognise anytime, Nimura, and his daughter, Sadako. He followed the scene as it continued in front of him,
"Tell me children, are you much for art?" Chid asked, "I ask because I keep on hearing that this generation just doesn't appreciate the true artistic endeavours of this world. Would you agree?"
"Are you Chid Duke de Fraid?" Nimura asked, his clothes looked filthy, he looked tired. His sword was drawn and already dyed red.
"You see, this paint I am particularly fond of. You see how he uses the brush strokes to highlight the…" But Nimura cut him off.
"Are you Chid Duke de Fraid?" Nimura called out again angrier. Chid sighed and turned to face him,
"Now that was rude young man. Please do not interrupt your elders" Child told him, "Yes I am he"

"Then you will pay for your crimes" Sadako added, her clothes were also covered in dirt, even ripped in places. Her hair was a complete mess, and she too appeared exhausted. Chid laughed,
"If it is glory you want boy you will have to do better. Face me if you will" Chid yelled. Nimura spat some blood onto the white marble floor, staining it.

"It is not glory that I seek" Nimura told him calmly, "But your end…. Chid" Chid laughed,
"I have been trained by the best in Gaea, by Alan Shazar, Von Fanel, and yes your father, Dawn Kosime. Do you really believe you can defeat me? With only a little girl backing you up!"
Sadako grasped her sword tighter and run at Chid. He turned effortlessly to her.
"Sadako NO!" Nimura yelled, but it was too late. Chid parried Sadako's attacks. Forcing her sword into the ground and he held it in place with his foot. Lifting his own he thrust it into her shoulder. Sadako screamed in pain as he lifted the sword upwards, lifting her off the ground. Chid shook his head,
"Silly Girl"

Von was about to run to her aid when the scene seemed to dye a grey colour its characters freezing in place,
"Sad isn't it?" Came a voice from beside him, "They know they cannot defeat him and yet they still continue to try" Von turned to find Hitomi standing next to him. She didn't look a day older than she did the day she left Gaea. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, before he could stop himself he embraced her in a hug. She did not stop him, but she did not return the gesture. Finally he let her go, his eyes weakened,
"I can't believe…" He started but she stopped him,
"Then don't," She told him forcefully, "I am not the person you see me as"

Von stepped back,
"What?" He stuttered, "But you…"
"It doesn't matter what I look like, I am not her"
"Then who are you?" He asked, "What are you?" She shook her head,
"You will never be given those answers. I am here to tell you one thing, and one thing only, you can make this future cease to be. This one and the future of Fanel you also witnessed"
"WHAT?" He asked her, "How?"

"Simple" She replied and then a small smile formed on her lips, "Die…"
Then as quickly as it came the vision faded, all the while Von yelling back,
"What do you mean?"

He opened his eyes back in his bedroom. He lay on his side peering into the darkness. He was shivering, and he gulped as he remembered her last word, "Die". It did not sit easy with him. Behind him his door opened, and he sensed someone enter the room. Her shallow breathing was clear in the now quiet room.
"Von?" Merle asked, "Are you alright?" He did not answer but she chose to slowly approach the bed. Her voice was scared, but still he did not answer her question,
"I heard you shouting" She asked again, "Are you alright?"

Still no answer came and he felt her lay down on the bed beside him.
"Please answer me," She asked again, but this time he did answer,
"A bad dream, nothing more" He lied quietly. He couldn't possibly have seen it but he sensed that she smiled,
"That's good" He felt her wrap her arms around him, and take his hands in hers, placing her body up to his. She quietly whispered into his ear,
"Could I stay with you tonight?" She asked, and after only a moment he replied,
"Yes" She lay her head down on the pillow and relaxed her arms around him. It was not long before they both slept, and the rest of Von's night was dreamless.

………

It had been almost a week since Nimura had been hurt. He would awaken every now and again, but most of the time he was still out of it. His fever had gone down and his wound was healing. Sadako was quite optimistic about the whole thing; because she knew he was getting better and that soon he would be back to normal. She spent her days talking with Géaroid, when he wasn't off doing whatever it is that he does when he is away from them. She felt she had learned so much about Gaea from their conversations, and it was on this morning that Géaroid pulled out his map.

It was high moon, and they sat out in the sunlight. Géaroid placed the map of the alliance, and the surrounding countries down in front of her, and gave her a look, which said 'Pop quiz'. She looked down at the worn map, and knew she was not in for a good time.

He took a deep breath and pointed to the Eastern Ocean,
"The alliance starts here, at the Eastern Ocean and" He moved his finger westwards, "past Asturia, Fanelia, Fraid and Erráre you come to its western most border with Entóntria" He then lifted his finger and placed it on the expanse of water which sat south of Zaibach,
"Then from Zaibach in the south past" He said now moving his finger north, "Fanelia, Cesario, Basram, Deadalus until you come to the Northern Sea" Sadako nodded, it seemed simple enough,
"Now if you look you can see Fraid, Zaibach and Asturia are the largest nations in the alliance, in that order. Fraid to the West, Zaibach to the south and Asturia to the East. The rest of the alliances countries are sandwiched in the centre or north, Fanelia among them"

Géaroid dropped his finger on a small territory to the West of Fraid,
"What is special about this kingdom?" He asked and she thought for a moment before answering,
"That's Erráre isn't it?" She asked, "There was a war between them and the alliance, and since then Fraid has claimed their land" Géaroid nodded and she smiled,
"Yes!" She cheered, "I got it right!" She expected Géaroid to try giving her another question or two but instead he folded up the map and placed it into his bag. She waited a second and then she finally decided to ask a question that had been bothering her for days now,
"Géaroid?" She asked, he looked over to her, "Have you ever been in Caderle?" Géaroid took a deep breath, and then asked,
"What makes you ask?" She shrugged her shoulder,
"I was just wondering if you have been there. We were just there and I was wondering"

Géaroid nodded,
"I have been there, but what where you doing in that city?" She looked to her feet,
"You know we are trying to gather the support of the different kings and rulers of the alliance. Well the Steward was the first on our list," She told him,
"And what did he say?" He asked, most interested in the subject,
"Well" She started, "At first he wouldn't see us. Then once he was sure eyes were not on us he, in a manner of speaking, snuck me in the back door"
"And what did he say?" He asked,
"Not much. He was going to help Fanelia, but only with supplies. Apparently he could not risk Fraid turning its rage on Cesario" When Géaroid failed to comment she found him staring into space angrily,
"Géaroid?" She asked,
"That cowardly little toad" He exclaimed angrily, "How dare he play politics at a time like this. Even if the retribution on Cesario were to be complete destruction to wait and do nothing would be even worse. Does he not realise that the alternative will be so much worse, even if Fanelia is to fall without any other nation coming to their aid they would not be the last" Once he had let that out of his system Géaroid only sighed and laid back on the grass. Sadako couldn't keep a straight face and laughed,
"Did I say something funny?" He asked, and she shook her head,
"No, its just… no forget it" She told him, and he rose up again,
"No, what is it you find so funny?" He asked, sure it wasn't anything he said.

She paused for a moment, as if trying to find a way out of it before giving up,
"Well your wearing a large black cloak there" She said, "And lying in the sunshine" She told him, and he just frowned,
"I guess it would look rather silly"

The lightened mood did not last long, Géaroid steering it back,
"Is it not crazy, so many wars, so much happening at once? Fanelia, the alliance, Entóntria, Zaibach. Do we really have a group of people who want to fight?" Géaroid asked, almost wanting Sadako to prove him wrong, and so she did,
"War doesn't usually happen because someone plans it that way. Ages ago on the Eart… , the Mystic Moon was a really large war, one of the largest the world had ever seen. You see, what happened was that there were two countries, and one had occupied the other in an earlier war. Well, as a mark of friendship the prince of the occupiers visited the capitol of the smaller country. While there he was attacked and killed by a radical who wanted independence for his homeland"
"Yeah," Géaroid said, as if edging her on,
"Then the larger country near enough declared war on the small country and brought tons of tanks and soldiers into the city" She continued but he interrupted her,
"Thanks?" He asked, perplexed by the meaning of the word but she shook her head,
"No, tanks. How can I put this…they're like Gymelef's on wheels that fire flaming arrows" He nodded to say he understood.

"Well, anyway, the smaller country had a lot of support from a large power in the area, a country by the name of 'Russia'. When they saw the attacks on the people of the smaller country they declared war on the occupier and a domino effect was set off. You see at the time there were two dominant alliances, each spanning dozens of countries over many thousands of miles. The Occupier and Russia were on opposite sides of these great alliances, and soon enough as the war advanced between the two their other allies were brought into the fight. Before long a global war has started, which lasted over four years. After it had finished millions of people were dead, and huge areas of the world were devastated" She finished, "And it all started because of a single man assassinated a prince. My point is that even though they did cause the war, neither of them foresaw it, or even wished it to happen in the end"

"So you're saying this all could be a coincidence, one event leading to the other?" Géaroid asked, confirming her reasoning and she nodded, "I guess it could. But what happened with your world. After such a war could it be possible for anyone to still fight another in the future?"

She shook her head,
"You tell me, Gaea has been embroiled in ever larger wars, and yet they continue to happen. Yes, back on the Mystic Moon even though so much was destroyed only twenty years later an even greater war broke out, leading to the deaths of over twenty- million people" She sighed, "And some fear an even larger war is only a matter of time" A saddened look took Géaroid,
"Well that isn't a great outlook for the future" He said before digging his hand into his bag and pulling the map out again,
"Here" He told her, "We wont be together for too much longer and I get the feeling you will need this more than I will" She took it but it didn't stop her from asking her question,
"What do you mean split up?" She asked, "I thought you were going to come with us?" Géaroid shook his head,
"No, something has come up. I will be heading back to Cesario" She didn't understand,
"Why?" She asked but he didn't offer a straight answer,
"I can't say, you shouldn't worry, for I don't. I know you two will be able to look after yourselves"

He got to his feet and looked up at the sky,
"Well it's getting late so I better…" He started but Sadako cut him off before he was able to finish,
"You're going already?" She asked anxiously, "You can't"
"Of course I'm not going yet, if only you would let me finish my sentence" He told her, "I better get some more fire wood" She stepped back,
"Oh. That's Ok"
"Well I would hope so, unless you want to freeze tonight" He joked before heading off, "I'll be back before sun down"

She too turned, but headed back into their make shift 'home'. Nimura lay, still sleeping at the back of the cave, a blanket over him, and a wet cloth on his forehead. She kneeled down beside him, took the cloth and wetting it placed it back on his head. She sighed and took his hand,
"Please wake up soon, Ok?" She asked. He would awaken soon, she was sure of it and he would be stronger for it.

………

"Lord Von?" The voice came a little hazy, and then Von opened his eyes. He was facing the window, the bright light impairing his vision at first. He lifted his head and looked behind him at the door, a young man stood there,
"Yes?" Von asked, and then the nervous young man continued,
"Well, Onoír sir. He has returned from The Gates," He told Von, "He awaits your convenience in the council chambers" Then the young man promptly made his exit. Von took a deep breath and was about to pull himself up when he caught sight of Merles arm, still around him. He smiled, and gently lifted her hand off him. Then slowly, not to wake her he got out of bed and shook his head to make sure he was awake. He looked to his bathroom longingly for a wash but guessed he should really hurry to see how things with Onoír went. He slowly got dressed, fixed his hair and looked in the mirror to confirm he looked 'OK'. Before leaving he leaned over and kissed Merle on the cheek.

When he crossed into the corridor it was quiet. He just couldn't get used to this lack of activity. Even two weeks ago he would have to really search for any part of the castle, which offered a moment of silence, but now it was as if all of the life has been sucked out of the place.

It was not long before he came to the Council Chamber; the large room just above the castles throne room. It had been over a week since he had dismissed his Council of advisors and this was the first time he had come back since. He took a deep breath before pushing the door open and entering the room.

The first thing that caught his eyes was Onoír, and how he was bandaged up at the far end of the table. At first he never even noticed the others, Lilly and Sanjiyan and when he did notice them he took his seat before acknowledging them. He could already tell from their faces that things had not gone exactly as planned.
"Well…" He started; "Welcome back" Von moved his eyes to meet with Lilly's,
"And a special welcome to you Mrs Lilly Pashihuxika. It has been along time" She bowed,
"It has been My Lord"
"Well, shall we begin" This time it was Onoír who nodded.

"The Gates to the Forest have fallen to the enemy sire," Onoír told him simply and directly, with absolutely no attempt to soften the blow. Von waited and then said,
"I assume you are going to give me a little more detail"
"Yes" Onoír answered, "At first things went exactly to plan. Fraid' forces were ambushed, and their camp destroyed exactly as we planned. Unfortunately we suffered additional losses in that battle than we expected" Onoír took a breath before continuing,
"Running battles to pacify those whom refused to run continued throughout most of the day, though we did have a couple of nice surprises. Gaddes managed to capture the enemies general, a man by the name of Dolár" Von was informed before he interjected,
"Dolár?" Von asked, "That slimy little devil? When did he become a general?" Onoír shook his head,
"I don't know as of yet Sire, but I hope he will start to talk once we get him settled in" Onoír replied, "We may not be as barbaric as to torture a human being but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve" Von nodded as if he was ordering Onoír to continue with the debriefing,
"We also freed Lilly. She had been imprisoned by the enemy for 'information gathering'" Onoír completed and then with a nod gave Lilly the floor.

"After Urthas fell to the enemy they took my brother and I into custody" She started but Von already interrupted her,
"Only you two? What happened to the rest of the men?" He asked but she blinked with disbelief,
"What?" She asked, "Their leader, Dolár, said if they surrendered to him they would be allowed to come back to Fanel unharmed. Aren't they here?" Von shook his head,
"Only one young man made it back to the city, Tréas, I think was his name" Her eyes widened,
"He made it back?" She asked, a little relief in her voice, "Well that's little good news at least"
"Anyway, do continue" Von encouraged her.

"We were thrown into a makeshift cell in their camp, were we were…" She continued but started to lose it a little, Von was going to offer her a chance to stop when she continued like it was nothing "We were systematically tortured. Neigh and myself. Don't worry they didn't get anything out of us. However on the night before the battle at the Gates to the Forest another man came and took my brother. When I escaped in the confusion of the battle the next day I found he didn't just leave with my brother as at least half of Fraid's men had also gone"
"What man?" Von asked,
"I didn't know him, and he didn't offer a name, but he appeared to be elegant. Almost royal. His hair was long and brown and he was tall, very tall but slender. Don't know who he was but he and Dolár argued about something and he seemed to be Dolár' superior. I'm not sure if it means anything but he did mention something called 'The four?'" This was news to Onoír as well who reacted accordingly,
"The four?" Onoír asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, definitely" She replied and looked around as if hoping someone would explain,
"Do you think he has members of The Four directing the battle?" Onoír asked Von,
"Perhaps, but that isn't good for us. It means we are not dealing with just your everyday soldiers"
"Um?" Lilly asked, totally lost, but it was actually Sanjiyan, who answered entering the conversation for the first time,
"The four are Chid's personal soldiers," He told her, "Four of the best fighters and tacticians in Gaea and worst of all they follow his orders alone. Few who go up against them come out alive. I knew one of them was working in Zaibach but here too?"

"Yes I had a run in with him" Von commented but quickly turned the conversation back, "This is not good news but it is far from the worse. If what you are saying is true only a fraction of the enemies forces have been destroyed" He was met with a slow nod,
"Great" Von added sarcastically.
"During the night" Onoír said, bringing the conversation back to the battle, "We were attacked by the forces from Asturia. We did hold them off for a time, but eventually we were overwhelmed"
"We also came face to face with the new pilot of the Gymelef Scherazade" Lilly interjected, "And he packs quite a punch"
"Areon" Von commented, "So he got his hands on it"

"Is that it?" Von asked, his mood sour, Onoír and Lilly nodded but then Sanjiyan again returned to the conversation,
"Von, I got a little information from the outside, from this Areon fellow. Bad news"
"Well that's the only kind we seemed to be getting. What's been happening?"
"I don't know if it is true or not, but he said that there have been dozens of attacks instrumented by 'Fanelian Assassins'. Cities across the alliance have been attacked including Caderle, Palas and Egzardia" Sanjiyan told them and Von snorted angry,
"They don't expect the people of the alliance nations to swallow this do they?"

"Fear is a powerful weapon Von, and these guys have been dispensing it by the bucket load" Sanjiyan told him,
"Because of a few fires in a couple of cities?" Von asked,
"Not just that. He said that the first target was Norte," He continued, and suddenly Vons eyes flashed, "The Council building was destroyed while the Council of Representatives in session. The fires spread and destroyed most of the city before being brought under control"
"…!" Von started, "The Council… is dead!" His throat had gone dry,
"How could this possible be?" Onoír asked angrily, "And how could they possible blame us for this!"

"With the council destroyed there is no form of direct government of the alliance other than through its national sovereign. The Council was formed to be a good between for all our nations and without it, there will be no way to stop one country being what they want without the unambiguous knowledge of the other"
"Just were Chid wants the alliance… dumb and toothless"

"This is…" Lilly started but stopped when the sunlight seemed to disappear from the room entirely, they were in the shadow of something. Von clicked his fingers and pointed to the window, an indication to the guard to check what was happening. Moments later the guard turned back to them,
"It's a Levi-Ship Sire. An Asturian design"

Von was not the only one to get to his feet at hearing this. Onoír, Sanjiyan and Lilly all joined him,
"GET AS MANY GUARDS AS YOU CAN TO THE LEVI PORT!" Von barked at the man angrily, "AND HURRY!" The man ran right out of the door. Von and the others soon followed him, Von and Onoír at the front of the pack. Von could see that Onoír was in a lot of pain,
"You Ok?" Von asked, but Onoír shook it off,
"I've felt better. Nothing like an injury to remind how much one part of you can hurt" Von laughed,
"As long as you don't make a habit of this getting injured business. I seem to remember a young man hospitalising you only a few months ago" Onoír's eyes darkened,
"King or not, if you remind me of that again, you will be seeing an early grave" Vons smile only enlarged,
"Whatever you say"

"Why the hell would the Asturian's attack now?" Lilly asked, calling up to them from behind,
"Why wouldn't they?" He replied, "Nothing they have been doing seemed to have our best interest at heart. I wouldn't doubt anything"
"Yeah but why would they be coming from the north-west? Isn't that the direction of Cesario?" She argued,
"We'll just have to wait and see now wont we" Von finished before they finally came to the doorway that would lead them out to the Levi-port. Von took a deep breath then exited.

The Levi-ship hovered over the port, still to dock. Its close proximity to the ground caused a powerful wind on the port, which caught Von by surprise as he stepped onto the pad. There was a loud monstrous hum. Standing on the very centre of the pad was a man, alone, wrapped in a cloak of beautiful blue. It was blowing in the wind. Von continued until he reached the edge of the pad, then stopped to study the stranger.
"Lord Fanel?" The stranger yelled over the incredible sound of the Levi-ship. Von nodded,
"I am he. But who are you?" Von asked, not dropping his guard. The man with the cloak did not answer at first but waited, then dropped his hood. This reviled the mans bushy brown hair. The long hair was worn lose, his dark green eyes piercing. His face was long, and clean-shaven.

Von immediately grabbed his sword and pulled it from its sheath. Raising it he threatened the man,
"What are you doing here?" Von asked angrily, the man sniggered,
"I guess you already know my name, but for the benefit of your comrades. I am Alexander Wincer, head of the Knights of Celia of Asturia" He bowed as he spoke his name and then beckoned Von to drop his sword,
"I am not here as your enemy" Alexander told him, "I am here under the orders of Her Majesty Queen Milerna of Asturia" He reached his hand into his cloak causing Von to tighten the grip on his sword, he then removed a small rolled piece of parchment sealed with a waxed seal. He held it out to Von just as a dozen and a half soldiers burst through the door behind them and took up positions around their king.

"This explains everything," Alexander said reaching his hand further, Von' eyes transfixed by the paper. He then nodding, and taking his sword into one hand began his approach. One of the soldiers stopped him,
"My Lord, allow me" He asked but Von shook his head,
"There is no need"

He slowly approached Alexander; very slowly those he left behind were left to watch as he did so. Eventually he came only a few feet from him,
"It explains everything," Alexander repeated offering the parchment. Von took it and retreated back a good few meters but still a sizable distance from his guards. He looked at the seal and noted it was not that of Dryden but of Asturia' royal family. He broke it and opened the scroll. His eyes ran down it, and this is what it said,

'My good friend Von Fanel,
I hope this letter finds you well. Events have conspired against you and your allies of late, but still this ally will not betray your trust. I know this letter will not fall into the hands of our enemies so I will speak frankly, I know you were not responsible for the death of Dear Alan but I fear that those whom are ignorant are mixed with those whom are disloyal. For this reason I could not come out publicly and speak in your defence.

My friend, I fear that Dryden is in league with those who would see your nation destroyed so I dare not speak to him about this letter or that which I have sent you. This letter is to be delivered by Alexander, he is a close friend of mine and I ask you to trust him, as I do. He has been given orders to give this to you, and you alone. There are rumblings in the alliance of an unseen enemy and a false figure head, but I know no more than that, the Council of Representatives was my hope to peacefully bring about an end to this madness but that avenue is now long gone as I'm sure you have already been informed.

As confident as I am that this letter will not fall into the hands of those who would misuse it I cannot speak of my plans in Asturia but I hope to bring you more support as time moves on, so I ask this one request of you. Do not give in, and do not surrender. Hold out as long as you can, for as cruel as this may sound the future of Fanel is the least of our worries but the very future of the alliance itself.

I leave you now, and hope to see you again soon. Goodbye, and May the Sea Dragon Jichia look over you.

Milerna'

Von raised his head then read the letter again before waving his guards away,
"He is to be trusted" Von told them and with a nod they departed at once. Onoír came up behind him,
"But sire…" Von handed him the letter and he read it as he approached Alexander again as the Levi-Ship behind him finished docking on the port,
"You have betrayed your king and everything you swore when you joined the Order" Von told him but he shook his head,
"I, like my breather-Ian swore an oath to protect Asturia and her royal family. Not to serve the whims of a King obsessed with his own power" Von looked deep into his eyes and there was unwavering loyalty in them. He nodded,
"Welcome to the Suicide Circle" Alexander smiled with the irony,
"If you don't mind I have brought some friends, and a few gifts" Von too smiled,
"Always welcome"

It appeared to Von that the entire back of the Levi-Ship swung open, revealing one huge warehouse filled to the brim with crates and men. Men started to filter out, beginning with ten men each as elegant as Alexander dressed with matching uniforms, like that under Alexander's cloak and that which Alan once wore. Each wore a vest of a darkened blue colour, complemented with golden rims, underneath it was a shirt which appeared almost whiter than white and a sword by the their side.

As they came to a stop, leaving Alexander in the centre they bowed to Von respectfully.
"The Order of the Knights of Celia is at your service "One of the new Knights told Von, who nodded,
"Thank you, but where is your last member?" Von asked because there were only eleven of the twelve members in front of him. Alexander nodded,
"Perceptive of you My Lord. Our newest knight has been left with the personal protection of Queen Milerna"
"Very well" Von accepted, but quickly steered the conversation, "What else is in your chest of tricks?" Alexander smiled and then another of the individual knights answered,
"We have been loaded with large supplies of swords, both single and two-handed,
"Bows, arrows, chain mail, single handed shields, food, ballista bolts and several harpoon launchers for Levi-Ship counter action" Von nodded at the inventory,
"And they all come with best wishes from Lord Grear of Cesario" Alexander added,
"What?" Von asked, quite surprised at the revelation,
"He told me to pass on that he would be unable to support you publicly, or militarily and that this is the most he could do for the moment"

By this point Onoír and the others had come up behind him,
"Whose this?" He asked, pointing to a large group of tired men exiting the ships hold. Alexander looked back and then answered,
"Don't you recognise your own men?" He asked, "They were under lock and key in Alan Shazar's old border outpost. When the warrant for your arrest went out they decided to keep them there instead of returning them as promised"
"They're…?" Von asked before making to approach them, Onoír stopped him with a hand to the shoulder,
"We have more important matters to attend to" Onoír reminded him,
"More important than welcoming them back?" Von fought back and Onoír nodded,
"Frankly. Yes"

Von sighed,
"I suppose" He admitted, and then whispered to Onoír "Then you three greet them and bring them up to speed on what's been going on. Then take the other Knights down the barracks, I think they will be very helpful with the new recruits"
"Knights, we have an army of recruits here in desperate need of some good training. I would be grateful if you could offer them some of your time" Von asked, which was meet by eleven simultaneous nods, "Onoír will show you around. Alexander, could you come with me"

And of course Alexander did. They crossed the pad, and entered the castle,
"Where are we going?" He asked, to which Von replied,
"We have things to discuss. A lot to clear up" Von spent longer making their way through the corridors than when the left the Council Chamber as they were no longer heading for them. Alexander made note of the artwork as they pasted, much of it appeared old, but was in fact newly done, just made out to look that way. When they did reach their destination, Von's office the door was already open, a fact that completely escaped Von as he entered.

Sitting in his chair, her feet on the table was Merle with a look that could sour milk. He already knew he had chosen the wrong place to meet quietly. Upon their entry Merle took her feet off the table and stood up angrily,
"You left me" She told him angrily,
"Well…" Von started but she didn't want to hear excuses,
"Onoír returned, and you left me behind! I had every right to be at that meeting and you left me behind"
"Of course you had the right…" And then she cut him off again,
"I know I do, but you just left me there, asleep. I only found out you were gone when a young man came into the room to replace the candles!"
"Ah…" Still no chance was given for him to speak,
"Boy was he surprised to see me there, asleep in the kings room"
"I would imagine" Von said, the first full thing he was able to get out,
"You just left me there!" She ended, and then as if noticing him for the first time she looked over to Alexander, back to Von and then back to Alexander,
"Who's this?" She asked,
"Alexander Wincer, of the Knights of Celia" He replied and she reached for her knife but Von waved her to stop,
"We already went though all this. He can be trusted"

She looked at him as if he had grown horns,
"Why?" He threw her the message from Milerna,
"Read this" He told her, "Anyway Alexander you want to take a seat?" Von offered a seat at the large Oak table, which sat to the side of his office. For personal meetings, or meetings with friends he would never bother with the 'stuffy' Council Chamber so he got this brought into his office for just that purpose. At first it looked like Alexander was going to turn down the chair, but then took it.
"Thank you"

Merle took a seat at the other side of the table without taking her eyes off the letter from Milerna. Von took the seat at the head of the table and waited for Merle to finish. He guessed she read it over a couple of times, for when she finally raised her eyes she looked right at Von, and then Alexander.
"You just believed this?" She asked and Von nodded,
"It was most certainly written by her, and the seal finished any doubts I had" She turned the page over to check the seal which she did not have the pleasure of breaking. She didn't offer a retort so Von guessed she was contented enough.

"Well I guess we'd better get started. Alexander, we have been getting discomforting news of fires in alliance capitols and the sacking of Norte, what else can you tell us" Von came out directly and asked, Merle leaned back her eyes wide as this was the first time she had heard this news thanks to Von not waking her. She steamed a moment not that that stopped her from paying attention.
"I'm afraid they are true. Norte was completely destroyed along with the Council of Representatives about a week ago. Since then similar attacks have been made on the alliances largest cities, but luckily they were more prepared, so the attacks caused minimal damage. An attack was even carried out in Caderle the day before we departed" Alexander said, "But this is only the tip of the iceberg. The morning I left we received several unsettling reports. Kaja the personal bodyguard of Chid was murdered in his sleep; the first such attack on Fraid, and Rhyfel head of the Basram Council of Nine was assassinated while hunting with his son. Due to these continuing high profile attacks Chid, still head of the Alliances armed forces has ordered his troops into the Capitols of the Alliance nations"

Von banged his fist on the table,
"They couldn't possible have just let him!" He yelled, "What about the independence of the Nation States!" Alexander shook his head,
"Such things never matter when you are scared. One of the heads of the alliance was just killed! One of our best-protected cities burned to the ground and the other rulers are scared. They believe that Chid will deliver them from that fear" Merle sighed,
"So in essence the alliance has been placed under marshal law"
"Unfortunately yes. But this goes far beyond a simple marshal law situation" Alexander continued, "Chid now has his people in every capitol city of the alliance, every ruler is protected by his men. I fear we are moving into a Coup d'état" It was as if all of the air had been sucked from the room,
"He instrumented everything. From the suffering of the people of Zaibach to cause uprising, and fear in the alliance. These attacks, assassinations, the war on us, the war with Entóntria, everything just to move into this" Von surmised, the final pieces of the puzzle coming together, "He is entering the final stages and there is nothing we can do to stop him!"
"I wouldn't say that. We do have a chance," Alexander said,
"And what is that?" Von asked angrily.
"Fanelia"

Von blinked,
"What do you mean Fanelia?" He took a deep breath,
"I don't believe that he would make his move until Fanel as fallen" Alexander told them, "He knows that he doesn't have the strength to take effective control of the alliance while he is still fighting here so he will wait with his men in place"
"Then once Fanel falls he will make his move" Merle added, and he nodded,
"The longer Fanel holds out, the longer it will be until he makes his move and if we should break any attack we should be able to break his support and stop the Coup before it happens"

"I don't want to rain on this parade but how do you suggest we break their attack?" Von asked, still far from convinced, "We have at least two high powered armies coming this way. We would have trouble dealing with the one in a fair fight, and they're most certainly not going to be squeamish about hitting below the belt"
"I have been hearing whisperings of the fallen king of Cesario" Alexander mentioned and Von sat up,
"How is that possible, he's dead?" Von asked,
"…Not all who are gone are truly lost" Alexander quoted, "We have no proof that he is dead, and I have heard whispers with his name"
"Do you truly believe he may be alive?" Merle asked, excited now,
"I do not know, but if he should I know he would bring Cesario in on our behalf" Alexander explained, "And Milerna is working on Asturia' allegiances"

"Yeah, she said she couldn't write it in the letter, what is she doing?" Von asked and Alexander dropped his voice as if protecting his message from being overheard, "There is a rebel faction alive and well in Asturia. Dryden would never let it be known to the public that she defected, so he has tarred them as kidnappers. She is helping them gather their support in a hope of deposing Dryden" Von leaned back,
"She thinks she can depose him?" He asked far from convinced that the act was even possible,
"Yes she does, and she may just do it. Dryden is not the popular monarch in Asturia, and all they really need to do is get her into the castle and speak to the people" Alexander told them, "With that done it would spread like wildfire in the city"
"If Asturia were to change sides, or even just pull back it would at least give us a fighting chance against Fraid" Von thought aloud, "But we would still most likely be fighting a losing battle"
"And that's why I was sent. To give you a fighting chance" Alexander added, to which Von nodded,
"And we appreciate that"

They grew quiet for a moment before Von straightened his back to look as statesmen as possible,
"The I think it is time for us to consider our stand against this coming army. The Gates to the Forest have fallen, and I think it is obvious we're their next target. For the purpose of defending this city, for protecting the very alliance so many died to build. We will stand against the darkness, and we will be the last ones standing" Merle nodded,
"DAMN RIGHT!" She yelled, Alexander to joined in,
"Then we can call this the War Council. A Council for the protection of this city" Von nodded,
"And the protection of its people"
"By the way, we brought a defector with us as well" Alexander warned him,
"Who?" Von asked.
"A young man by the name of Luke"

Onoír stood on one of the castles many defensive balconies, Gaddes beside him. He had been running around the place for several hours now. Getting the cargo into storage, introducing the Knights to the new troops, and a dozen other things he preferred to forget. He sighed. It was only a half hour ago that someone thought fit to tell him of Luke, Gaddes' son had return to Fanel. He had spent the time since searching the castle for Gaddes, and low and behold this was where he found him,
"You alright?" Onoír asked, but Gaddes continued to just stare out into space,
"I'm sure it's a shock, but this is good news isn't it" Onoír told him, but this time he looked over as if noticing Onoír was there for the first time,
"Good?" He clarified, "Why would this be good?"

"Your son has returned. Finally he has come back," Onoír added, a little taken aback. Gaddes forced a laugh,
"Good? My son betrayed my family and me! He abandoned us to play soldier with Alan, to fight for a living" Gaddes told Onoír angrily, Onoír straightened his back,
"Remind me what you did when you were younger? Remind me what you were doing yesterday?" This only seemed to add to Gaddes' mood,
"That was completely different!" He yelled, "I was forced to fight, there was no other choice. But he chose it of his own free will" Now it was Onoír's turn to become angry,
"And what about me then?" Onoír asked angrily, "I was not forced into the army. Does that make me less than you?" Gaddes took a step back from the development then rose to the challenge,
"And what if it does!" Gaddes shouted. He didn't even see the fist hit him. A moment after the words had passed his lips he was on the ground, Onoír having walloped him. He held a hand to his face as he got up,
"What the hell was that…?" Gaddes started before Onoír stopped him dead in his tracks,
"You have got to be the stupidest and most stubborn man I have ever met!" Onoír told him, "Your son is his own man, what right do you have to tell him what he can and cannot be! You should look out for him, but he has to be allowed to make his own mistakes"

Gaddes did not reply, but Onoír didn't want him to yet,
"That boy has been in Asturia when the rhetoric has been that Fanelia was the enemy. I can only imagine the terrible things he has had to put up with being Fanelian born. He helps in the rescue of our men, he abandoned those he took an oath too just so he could return to where he felt he was needed!" Onoír just went on and on, "And this is the welcome you give him! You should be ashamed of yourself"
Gaddes got back to his feet and took a deep breath. Then knocked Onoír back with a punch of his own,
"You feel better now?" Onoír asked as Gaddes nodded,
"I suppose your right…" Gaddes admitted, "But you shouldn't have hit me!" Onoír smiled,
"It took a good kicking to knock some sense into you" Gaddes joined him,
"Perhaps it did" Gaddes made to leave but added,
"I'm gonna head back now" He asked, "Wanna join in?" But Onoír shook his head
"This is one for the family" Gaddes nodded in agreement but before he could leave Onoír placed his hand on his shoulder,
"Treat him right" Onoír told him, "He' been through hell"

And then Gaddes left, leaving Onoír alone on the balcony to look out over the city. He knew things were happening, that they were on the verge of the largest battle he has ever seen, but it just seemed so quiet. He sighed,
"The calm before the storm"

………

Sadako hummed happily as she slowly made her way past a couple of trees. She was beaming, and looked like she couldn't be happier. She picked up a branch and continued on a little further. Earlier that afternoon Géaroid went in search of restocking some of their herbs before their planned departure the day after tomorrow. He said it was important that he had as full a stock as possible.

It wasn't long after he had left that Nimura awoke again, but this time he stayed awake for longer than the few minutes that he normally would be. They were actually able to talk for a while. They spoke for several hours before she noticed the sun beginning to set in the sky. As much as she wanted to stay she had to go, they needed firewood to make it through the night. Since, she had been on cloud nine. She lifted another branch and sighed happily. Things were starting to get back on track.

She walked on a little more completely oblivious to the words on the wind. It was when she picked up a third that she first became aware of them. She thought she heard something and stopped to listen. She waited a moment and just as she was about to return to the task at hand when they reached her ears again. She couldn't make them out entirely but she did hear one word that awakened her curiosity,
"…Fanelia…"

She wasn't too sure what she had heard but she decided to take a closer look. She slowly approached the source of the voices; all the while they became louder. Her heart was pounding, but she still approached in the hope of finding something further worth celebrating.

Finally she found herself on the edge of a clearing, she hid herself behind a tree. The voices were coming from beyond the line of trees so she listened.
"The mission was a success?" A first voice came, followed by a short silence,
"Of course the mission was a success," A second voice returned angrily, "What did you expect?" The first returned nervously,
"I didn't mean to suggest" He started but the second broke him off again,
"Be quiet," The second voice didn't return,

Sadako's heart was beating harder, and harder now. She stole a look round the tree and what she saw made her gasp. There were two men; the second man to speak, the 'boss' was adorned with long white hair, which went down to his waist. His eyes were a cold blue colour, almost as if he was older than measure, and cruel for it. His clothes were plan though they did not seem to fit his character well. Sadako knew him, it was Aosánach, the Draconian she had met in Cesario. The other was a small man, but she turned back against the tree the moment she saw his uniform. He wore, from head to foot the uniform of a soldier of Fraid. She heard Aosánach turn is head suddenly and she placed a hand to her mouth too late to stop the gasp.

A moment later he returned to their conversation,
"Return to Fraid, and give this message to Lord Chid. Lord Rhyfel head of the Basram Council of Nine is dead. Continuing onto the Lord of Fanel" Aosánach told him and then ordered him, "Get going"

Her heart pounded faster and faster, not too sure what to make of what she had heard. Aosánach, the man whom had helped her in Caderle, a Draconian like her, was working for Chid? What did this mean? Behind her she heard them making their way out of the clearing, away from her. Once they were so far gone that she could no longer make out their footsteps. Her breathing became erratic and she fell to her knees, her back to the tree.

What did this mean? 'Lord of Fanel?' did this mean Von, 'Basram Council of Nine', she vaguely remembered Nimura mentioning something about Basram being ruled by a Council of men. What did this all mean? Suddenly, ripping through the silence of the evening she heard a cry for help, and it was most certainly Nimura. She jumped to her feet, and before she knew what she was doing she was running as fast as her legs would carry her back towards their camp. The thoughts of Aosánach were banished as even more frightening ones of Nimura took their place. What was happening, what could be happening?

In the minutes it took for her to get to the camp she heard nothing more, her fear taking her. There was a lump in her throat brought about by the fear. As she skidded to a stop at the camp, her sword in her hands a horrid sinking feeling took hold. Where was Nimura? The cave was empty and he was nowhere to be seen. She found her voice for just a moment to call out to him,
"NIMURA!" But no reply came. There was a sudden thump, and she fell to the ground, her sword beside her. She never saw who hit her, but then she woke up.

A familiar face swam into view, at first it was blurred and then she recognised her. Yukari? What was going on?
"Oh thank God! Sadako you are finally awake!" Yukari wrapped her arms around her; her heart was pounding even faster now,
"What happened?" She asked, and Yukari' face sank,
"You mean you don't remember?" She asked, "There was an accident, you and your mum were…" She slowed and then returned,
"But at least your still with us" Her heart raced and raced,
"Mum?" She asked, but Yukari shook her head,
"She didn't make it"

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

Author Message:
Well here we are, Chapter 12 out of the way… Boy what a time. This is a sign of things to come, war, fear, pain and suffering, but also joy! There are eight more chapters to come… so many? Three-Hundread and Sixteen pages into the series (Excluding Chapter One) or One-Hundread and Eighty-Three Thousand Two-Hundread and Forty-Nine words typed so far. Be warned all ye whom read, you are in for the long haul!

Why oh why was this chapter so delayed! Well you remember that Anime Convention I mentioned in my previous message (Tomo-Dachi) well lets just say it was a success. Since we have been planning for Tomo-Dachi 2006 or TD06 and by God is it a handful. Its gotta be great, with guests like Tiffany Grant, Matt Greenfield, Jonathan Clements and more. Oh so much to do. Anyone in the UK should come, or any of my States side friends, who have more money than sense should come! We could have a chat… if I'm not worked off my feet that is ?

I don't know how you are all gonna react to this chapter, and especially the ending, but rest assured there is an explanation! But you will have to wait until Chapter XIII for that. It will be out when its out, but I don't see it being anywhere near as long as this chapter.

You may have noticed that the ending of this chapter also appeared… rushed. That's because it was. The segment with Onoír and Gaddes was meant to be longer and there was a lot more planned out for Sadako in her last section but because I wanted to get this out, and avoid making it to a fifty-page chapter I cut it down. You think it went OK?

Anyway everyone I will see you in Chapter XIII, and I hope you're all looking forward to it. Bye.
Butch Cassidy

Cast #Ref Chapter XIII (Alphabetical) –

OC – Original Character
NC – New this chapter
(VI) – Chapter first appeared in

Alan (OC) – Old head of Knights of Celia, old friend to Von. Died Chap6 (II)
Alexander – Current head of the Knights of Celia. (X)
Aosánach - A Draconian and one of Fraid' dreaded 'Four' (VI)
Areon – Protégé to Alan Shazar. Now heading Asturia' war on Fanelia (VI)
Chid (OC) – Duke de Fraid. It appears he is the root of the problems (III)
Dawn – Close friend to Von, Nimura' father. Is believed dead. (00)
Dolár – A Fraid General. A mean nasty piece of work. (III)
Dryden (OC) – King of Asturia and would appear to be working with Chid (V)
Eric – Von' advisor on Localised Issues. (XI)
Gaddes (OC) – Alan's old commander. Friend to Onoír. Married to Sarah. (IV)
Géaroid – A mysterious man now helping Sadako and Nimura (II)
Hitomi (OC) – Sadako' mother and lover of Von (II)
Jennifer – Daughter of Gaddes and Sarah. Has a thing for Nimura (IV)
Lilly – Lilly Pashihuxika, Urthas' army chief, brother of Neigh, its Governor (VIII)
Lord Rhyfel (NC) – Head of the Basram Council of Nine. Died Chapter XII (XII)
Lore – Von' advisor on Foreign matters. (XI)
Luke - Son of Gaddes and Sarah. Went to live at Alan' fort in Asturia (VI)
Merle (OC) – Childhood friend, and still close to Von. Figurehead Queen. (III)
Neigh – Ex-Governor of Urthas. Whereabouts unknown (VIII)
Milerna (OC) – Queen of Asturia, old friend of Von. On the Run (00)
Nimura – Old Zaibach rebel, entangled in the alliance' problem, close to Sadako. (II)
Onoír – Head of Fanelia' armies. Von' military advisor. (II)
Poker – Von' chief advisor. Currently fleeing south with Fanel' civilians (IV)
Sadako – Epicentre. Von and Hitomi' daughter. How could you forget her? (II)
Sanjiyan – Zaibach rebel, Ex-friend of Nimura, working on defence of Fanel (II)
Sarah – Wife of Gaddes. Local barwomen. (IV)
Kaja (OC) – Chid's chief bodyguard. Died Chap.12 (XII)
Talús – Original second in Nimura's rebel cell. Died Chap.2 (II)
The Guide – Figure is directing people through visions, appears in many forms (VIII)
Von (OC) – King of Fanelia, father of Sadako. (III)
Yukari (OC) –. Lived with Sadako & Hitomi when she was growing up. Friend (II)