Warning: Not much has changed. I still shall warn thee of violence, language, Caim, convenient situations, deviations from the original games, blinding grammatical errors, and my lackluster narrative skills.
Disclaimer: I don't own any idea or character from the Drakengard franchise. Those rights are reserved to the creators and distributors to a lesser extent.
Note: The mysterious voice from the first and second chapters will now be shown in bold to try and cut down on confusion. The mysterious voice is supposed to be convenient after all.
Vein of Grief
Chapter 5
Wandering was cruel to both the mind and the body. First you had absolutely nothing better to do then to observe the countryside and the various states disrepair of the human settlements. Then there was the weather, it either got too hot or too cold. It was also too quiet which lead to involuntary wanderings of the mind. Finally there were the monster attacks. The big multi-colored ogre monsters or the little mean ones with staffs and bombs seemed to be everywhere the moment one got a certain distance from the current example of civilization.
Well, Caim really didn't care much about the monsters. They were the one break from the boredom and personal insanity he felt with the absence of his usual bloodlust. You could say it was a vacation of sorts. He was currently in a lull though and his brain kept battering questions at him. He couldn't keep the damn things at bay for forever.
Caim had easily left the Grand Shrine. For reasons not worth speculating on, he barely ran into a live Knight on his way out. His sword had even been propped up against the courtyard's gate on his way out. He pretty much assumed that Seere's instruction kept him from being attacked within the Grand Shrine. The biggest annoyance though was the small contingent of Knights that followed him from the gate. Caim quickly did away with that annoyance the moment they were in the secluded wilderness past the Blessed Plains.
He currently walked the way toward what the few travelers he passed called "Mourning Stream". With the name in mind, he certainly didn't expect for it to be a veritable desert.
Caim took a minute to rest under one of the few sad, dried out trees on the side of the road. It literally looked like a twisted piece of black growing out of the sandy earth and dead, yellow grass. He drew out his sword and made a distasteful face at it. He dug deep to find a rag. He detested monster blood, it was thicker then human and it had a different consistency altogether, that didn't even include the smell.
Caim stopped working at his blade when he noticed how completely silent it had become. There were usually the sounds of far off monsters or animals nearby along with the howling of the wind, all things that he really could care less about. Now it was so quiet it was deafening.
"Caim…Caim."
There was that damned voice again.Caim shook his head and he swiped his sword at the air before him, wanting to draw off his unseen caller. To put it simply, he was irritated with the voices in his head.
"Caim…Caim."
Silence! Stop tormenting me!
Foolish human. Don't you care how she feels? I would hope that there would at least be one spot of grey in that black heart of yours.
It was a veritable party for the voices in Caim's head. For a moment he could still hear the desperate, painful voice but it soon gave way to the uncaring one that he first heard. Caim crossed his arms like a spoiled child and put all of his will toward pushing the voices out, which was harder then it sounded since he didn't rightly know how to even start.
Don't even try.
Vile demon. Get out of my head.
Nice to meet you too.
Only a coward resorts to such tactics. Either show yourself or leave me.
Caim flinched as she came back; her voice was smooth and amused.
Is that any way to treat your benefactor? I'm the one who controls how long you stay in this little predicament. She practically purred.
Don't make me laugh. Who are you?
You're not being polite so I don't think I'll tell you. You can call me what you want.
Foul witch.
Fine. You may call me Mistress.
Caim smiled darkly. It was a small victory but it was nice to know that she wasn't incapable of being annoyed.
Are you supposed to be some sort of God?
What will you do now?
Caim paused. She hadn't answered his question but he didn't call her on it as she brought up an irritatingly good point. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. He still couldn't hear external noise, that in itself made him nervous. He tapped his hand against his leg but it still yielded no noise. Caim got a little out of hand then as he started stabbing the hard grass with the tip of his blade rapidly. Mistress started in on another round of laughter.
You have no battle.
I do you merely took me out of it.
You have no battle.
Caim bit his tongue and gagged involuntarily as he tasted ash. He put his hand into his mouth and drew it back but there was nothing unusual. Perhaps he had just imagined it.
What was he going to do? He shouldn't be expected to remember all that passed but that fact didn't exclude him from the knowledge that he was dangerously clueless.
Perhaps you shouldn't have stormed out of the Hierarch's company. He could have answered many of your questions.
He knew well enough that the Empire and the Union were long gone and the world was currently led by the Knights. The war was over but there was still something big going on, it would be an understatement to say the people in the Grand Shrine were on edge. He also had to take Seere's comment about their General sending men into battle into account. Though there wasn't anything directly said, there was a war going on.
You're still preoccupied with the past.
Caim scoffed. He knew his sister was dead even though it hadn't been said in so many words.
Then there's the pact that you can't remember making and why would you? You were taken from a point before you even made it.
Caim had a sudden desire to disembowel whatever sort of body or creature went along with that arrogant voice.
Do not mention that. How is it even possible that I am bound by a pact that I never consented to?
Do not ask me, I only take you from time to time.
He paused in thought and gave the air before him a glare that promised violence.
Okay so I lied but I'm the one in control so I can do that. Come on, stop brooding and do something.
Caim thought that her suggestion was quite the novel idea. He rushed to his feet and drew his sword before driving it angrily into the dead wood of the tree from which he still sought shelter.
Damn you, stop thinking that all of this is such a great amusement. I swear if I ever find you I'll…His thoughts became sincerely less complex when he went on to visualize cutting up some sort of beast with a woman's face. He thought he could hear her laughing in head. Looking crazier then ever, Caim glanced all around and then toward the sky. If this 'Mistress' was one of the gods then he definitely didn't believe in her.
The external noise came back then, she was gone. Perhaps in celebration, Caim found it in him to relax; he even leaned back against the tree. He kept his eyes on the gloomy grey sky and he finally accepted the fact that he really didn't have a purpose here.
Something black streaked across the sky. Caim started and he ran out from under the tree so his eyes could track its trajectory across the sky. He could hear the strong, rapid beat of wings and he could almost feel the scream of fire as it hit the airships in pursuit of the black form. It was a dragon. Pure, unrefined hatred boiled in Caim and before he realized he was out and running toward it. It didn't matter that it was so far, so futile a target for him to pursue. He threw logic to the winds and ran haphazardly through the Mourning Stream, after the black dragon with no other purpose in mind.
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To say that Nowe was impressed by the red dragon's ability to fight would be comparable to stating that humans had to breathe. It was just that obvious. She treated her battles as something so natural that he would do her a disservice with simple compliments. While riding astride her in battle, Nowe got to see firsthand the desperation he had only felt at odd points on his journey so far. Legna always seemed so in control even in air battles they had run about only a few times.
Angelus had taken out all the targets in the sky in good time. She was hit several times but she pushed forward without regard to recovery. Nowe's mind was still so engulfed by her fighting he barely realized when she reached the narrow mountains before the Imperial Gaol.
"Child, pay attention. There are archers within that small passage. You will have to go in on foot and I shall follow when you have eradicated them," she said.
Nowe snapped out of his stupor and his eyes immediately widened as they took in the sheer numbers of dark clad soldiers waiting within the mountain pass.
"I have to take out all of them?" he asked in sheer shock. Her earlier amusement seemed to fade.
"Oh…I am used to Caim joyously killing all enemy soldiers. As long as we can make it through I suppose it does not matter how many of their numbers you kill. The Empire has a frightening amount of soldiers from what I have seen up until now so I would not discourage you from killing as many as possible."
She spoke of such barbaric acts like they were perfectly normal. She and Legna shared the same view of war and enemy soldiers; that was for certain. Well, they were dragons so what need did they have for humans? Nowe hesitantly nodded.
"I'll do my best." Nowe braced himself as the red dragon dived close to the ground. He leapt off in the spot that most resembled a clearing and drew his sword.
He met the first line of enemies with a great slash before darting from soldier to soldier, catching them swiftly but sometimes not enough to do more then incapacitate. The red dragon watched while she circled above the battle.
Nowe was perhaps a little too careless as one of the men he could have sworn he cut down clambered to his feet and raised his sword from behind to strike. The red dragon let out a series of fireballs at the last minute. She got the soldier and she almost got Nowe in the process as well. He straightened and looked up at her quizzically.
"You should pay attention, child. You lenience is not doing you any favors."
Nowe's sword slammed against a large soldier's helmet, ringing it like a bell.
"I don't…pretend to enjoy killing or battles. I think that…humans should stray from sheer violence. War is…one thing but I don't like to see such suffering." There were long pauses between some of the words as Nowe dodged and he even did an impressive flip backwards at one instance.
"It would seem that you like humanity more then that human," she said.
"Why is that odd?"
"Keep moving or else you shall lose. You are a surprisingly strong fighter despite your apparent convictions."
The young man stiffened and he aimed just short of the chest on the next man he attacked. He couldn't help not being eager to kill, especially since he knew nothing about the enemy that he was fighting.
Nowe rushed toward the interior of the pass, taking out more soldiers as he did. He mainly concentrated on taking out all of the archers and the more threatening clumps of soldiers. For some soldiers, killing their leader would leave them blinking and looking around. It was startling for Nowe to be confronted with the Empire soldiers. It was like they weren't even human.
"Red Dragon, can you still hear the voice?" Nowe asked.
"It has grown faint but yes, I can still hear. The gaol is just up ahead."
Nowe broke through the last big cluster of soldiers and out of the pass. He looked up to just make sure he was level with the dragon before he continued.
It was dark but he could see a large, desolate building just on the other side of the bridge. The only source of light came from small fires and torches that lined the way to the bridge and around the gaol.
"What a terrible place..."
"What did you expect?"
"How do we get in?" He asked.
"Here. Get onto my back again and I shall move us closer. You would only run through these fiends anyway."
Nowe nodded and he leapt when she swooped down behind him. Mounting a dragon in the heat of battle was one of those moves that, when successful, made him feel infinitely impressive. He would quickly orient himself and then it was just a matter of enjoying the wind and egging the dragon on while still reeling from the success of the jump. When failed he would fall hard onto his rear and be rewarded by Legna's claws scraping the top of his head. This time, thankfully for his pride, it was a success. Nowe put one hand on her neck and sheathed his sword.
The red dragon had a bit of an issue trying to evade all the arrows that were now entirely concerned with bringing her down. Every time she would do an impressive, unsettling turn in the air they would merely follow her and try again the moment she stopped. After a few minutes of this she had lost all patience. The red dragon growled and she moved from formation to formation to incinerate the archers. When she had taken care of enough so that she could fly without so much of an eye to the marksmen, she started in one the clumps of normal soldiers relentlessly.
Nowe flushed, she had just taken him up again so he was out of the way. He tapped her neck lightly.
"I can go down if you're getting tired of trying to take them all…"
"It was enough of an agony to see you before; I do not wish to repeat the experience. I suppose it will take me time to adjust to your habits."
By this time there were few soldiers left to fight. The red dragon circled to the entrance of the gaol before Nowe jumped off. He glanced up at the depressing building and started as he heard a voice from behind.
"Hello young Nowe. It seems we've made good time. The Goddess is safe," Leonard said as he galloped toward them. Nowe dived to the side when he saw he was in the animal's direct path. Leonard hadn't really judged the distance to the gaol nor did he contemplate how fast he was going. The fact that he couldn't see really didn't help either. The horse whinnied and came to an abrupt halt about a foot before the wall. Leonard wasn't so lucky. He sailed over his saddle and smacked hard into the grimy stone. Nowe stared in horror and looked about when he heard a snide, high-pitched giggle from around the horse.
"Leonard, are you okay?" Nowe asked as he approached the fallen blind man. Leonard gripped the wall for support as he got back to his feet. He rubbed his nose and turned his head toward the source of the giggling.
"You should have warned me. I shall be fine but I thank you for your concern," he replied.
Nowe turned his head back to the horse as the malicious laugher increased. He jumped as a disgustingly green fairy zipped out and came to float before his face. It inspected him before going into motion again. The fairy made such dizzying arcs and spins that the young man had to close his eyes temporarily.
"Oh my, oh my so this is the one that replaced the bloody human? I liked the other one better, this one looks like he's about to cry."
"I am not," Nowe protested as he rubbed his eyes.
"I suggest you ignore it," the red dragon advised.
"I agree. This creature is a burden even to me," Leonard added.
"Now that's not nice to say, I'm your partner after all. Oh look, the old, ugly bald man comes."
The fairy moved to Leonard and Verdelet came level with the party.
"I can still hear the voice from inside. We should not dally, the Goddess' burden grows stronger by the second," he mourned.
Nowe sighed and pushed against the large wooden doors. He distantly remembered Verdelet from when he was a very small child but he honestly hadn't recalled that the man had an inescapable flair for the dramatic.
When he had the doors open, Nowe clearly heard high-pitched laughing. It was erratic and uncontrolled, the laugh of someone quite unbalanced.
"Is that the voice that you heard?" he queried.
"I believe that is the source of it," Verdelet responded.
If he had been a more pessimistic person Nowe would have quit right then and there.
Writing this chapter proved to be a challenge. I completely sympathize with Caim's "what the hell am I doing?" sort of attitude. Thank you all for your comments; it's nice to get honest feedback. As always, thanks for reading.