Authors Note: Chapter 2

Yay more edits :P

Awakening

Ugh, what the hell.

That was the first thing that came to Darian's mind as he woke up from whatever he had just experienced. The warmth that he felt before he was brought here was gone, almost as if it never existed. His entire body was throbbing from whatever had happened to him.

"Ugh, what hit me?"

He slowly pushed himself up, looking around wherever he had been taken. From the looks of things he was in a small relatively plain house. Outside he could see the setting sun. A fire was glowing bright in a fireplace on the wall. Standing up, he hobbled over to it, warming his abnormally cold body.

"Where in the world am I?" He asked as he continued to examine the house.

In the corner of his eye a bright red sparkle of light alerted him to something that was on top of the fireplace. It was a round ruby red stone. Darian instantly assumed that it was a priceless stone.

Take me into your hands and I will guard you with my life.

Darian stopped moving. Despite the fire in front of him a cold tingle ran down his spine once more. The voice that he had heard in the classroom was once again speaking too him. He didn't understand what it meant though. Take 'what' into his hands?

Take the jewel! It is your duty as a Dragoon.

Darian was starting to think that maybe he was going crazy as the voice was commanding him to take what wasn't his. Then he started thinking.

Hey, if some weird voice from my head says take some precious piece of jewellery than why not? Right?

Reaching out for the stone he stopped for a quick second, hovering his hand over the bright red jewel. Finally, taking a deep breath he clasped his hands on the jewel and pulled it off its mantle. The jewel began to glow a bright ruby red in his hands.

"This is…" Darian quietly said, holding the crystal in front of his eyes as it shone brightly.

Darian's ears perked up, he heard the sound of a gasp coming from behind him. Doing a quick turn he saw that there was a woman standing in the doorway, holding a basket that seemed to be filled with fruits and vegetables.

"The spirit…" she began, her voice filled with wonder, "it accepts you as its master."

Darian didn't really know what to say. He knew now that the voice in his head was probably the spirit of whatever was inside the crystal but why would he be the one that was accepted.

"Umm, I guess so?" Darian said quizzically.

Placing the basket of food on a table near the door she walked into a room near the door.

"Dart! Come here." She said, beckoning for whoever this Dart person was to come.

A few seconds later a man walked out of the room. He had spiky blonde hair, set back in a headband. He was wearing torn jeans and had a black sleeveless shirt that revealed scarred muscular arms. He examined Darian at with a surprised look on his face before staring at the familiar object in his hands.

"Well then…" Dart began, "I should probably explain the situation to you."

An hour passed. Dart explained the various aspects of the Dragoon Spirits while Darian explained his history.

"So Darian, you're not from any of the places that we mentioned. You say you're from another world?" The woman asked, her name having been revealed to be Shana.

"Exactly. And I have no idea why I was the one chosen to be the wielder of this Dragoon Spirit thing." Darian answered, pulling out the Red-Eye Dragoon spirit again, it started glowing a little in his hands.

"The dragons pick whoever they think will carry out the deed the best." Dart said as he pulled out what looked to be a greenish-blue coloured orb.

"I should know." He stated.

Darian looked wide eyed as the two orbs neared each other. They seemed to react and pulse with each other, the almost teal but with a hint of gold light was much more powerful and bright than the red light that came out of Darian's jewel.

"As I said before a dragoon spirit is literally what you could call the spirit of a dragon. It is formed just after the death of a dragon. It always forms near the heart of the dragon and you must be quick in reaching it or else it will just disappear. Dragoon spirits were first used to battle a race called the Winglies in the Dragon Campaign ten thousand years ago. It allows whoever has been chosen as the wielder of the spirit to use the power of the dragon, gaining immeasurable physical strength and magic." Dart explained, pocketing the orb that he held.

Darian was in shock. All these words of magical powers and increased strength were really hitting him hard.

"So what you're saying is that I have been chosen as the wielder of a Dragoon Spirit? And that I can do all that stuff you just said?" Darian asked, not believing most of it.

"Yes that is exactly what I am saying." Dart said, the look on Darian's face was still mixed with confusion, "The only problem is that Dragoon spirits only choose new owners when they will be needed soon, which sad to say, means you will have to learn how to use that thing." Dart stated as a crestfallen look appearing on his face.

"But ho-"Darian tried to ask but was interrupted when a loud knock was heard and Dart's door was broken down.

A group of bandit's barged into the house and glared right at Dart and Darian. Shana managed to escape into another room before they had spotted her. Darian had started to panic but Dart urged him to remained calm. The bandits brandished their weapons and pointed them towards Darian and Dart, two blades touching their necks.

"Well what do we have ere?" One of them said as he poked Dart's neck with the tip of his dagger, inching ever so closely to the artery in his neck.

"What do you want?" Dart asked calmly, feeling the tip of the small dagger standing still at his neck.

"All of your money and then the glory of burning your home." Another said with a hint of pride in his voice.

How could they do this to such kind people? Bandits, I hate em already. Darian thought.

He had had enough of all of their taunts, quickly standing up and punching one of the bandit's in the gut, causing him to fall back.

"Darian, no!" Dart tried to say, but was too late.

After seeing their comrade go down they quickly made short work of Darian, he might've actually been able to handle one or two of them but the third made things hard. Receiving a kick to the knee he fell quickly. One of the bandits grabbed him by the hair and slammed him into the ground, pinning him.

All of a sudden a loud chorus of screams was heard.

"WINGLIES!" A villager's scream could be heard from outside of their home.

"Looks like the others have started." One of them said.

The bandit that had Darian by the hair had raised his dagger into the air, preparing to swing down and disembowel him. Before he could attack he froze, the dagger falling from his hands. He slumped over on his side with an arrow in his neck.

"Dart!" Shana called from the doorway she had disappeared in to. She tossed him something that Darian couldn't quite see due to him still being on the ground but from what he could see it looked long and brown.

Dart finally sprung into action, jumping from his seat and grabbing the sheath that was thrown to him. He swung the sheath at the closest bandit, knocking him away. Quickly Dart unsheathed the blade. The bandits turned, holding their daggers out as if they were going to attack. There was only one mistake that the bandits had made; attacking in the first place. Dart took a quick swing which disembowelled the first bandit. Blocking a swing from the next opponent he stomped on the bandit's foot, distracting him momentarily before Dart had swung the sword right across the bandit's chest.

"YAAAA"

Dart turned around, swinging his blade one handed, stopping the final bandit in his tracks. Turning around he walked back over to where Darian was and hoisted him up.

"Let's go, we need to see what's going on outside." Dart stated as he ran out.

"Wait! I don't how to use this!" Darian protested as he ran out of the house following Dart.

Before long the battle had caused Dart to separate away from Darian leaving him stranded in a battle with creatures that were apparently called Winglies. Oddly they resembled humans greatly.

"So you're helping defend the village huh?" one of the Wingly bandits spat.

Darian didn't really know what to say to that as the Wingly looked quite interested in beating the crap out of him.

"Um well you see…" Darian tried to say but was interrupted as he ducked under a kick.

Darian realized that the only way he was going to get out of this would be too fight. The only problem was that this Wingly guy was incredibly fast on his feet. Using his limited ability at hand to hand combat he managed to block two incoming punches and even return with a kick.

The kick was easily anticipated though as the Wingly blocked the blow with his leg and returned with a kick of his own. Darian dropped down to one knee from the pain in his leg.

Aww hell! Darian thought as he was left wide open.

The Wingly did a move known in modern days as what is called a flash kick, doing a flip while bringing his foot into Darian's chin. Darian was propelled upwards, straight into a flip before landing on his stomach flat on the ground.

"Ah shit…" Darian growled as he struggled to get up, "That one definitely hurt."

Darian glanced up to see the foot of the Wingly just about to plant itself in his face. Closing his eyes he braced himself for the incoming pain but fortunately it never came. Dart had intervened just in time, swinging not one but two blades around. Darian pulled himself up as Dart cut down the opposing Wingly and turned to him.

"Thanks." Darian managed to say.

"Not a problem." Dart said, looking past Darian's shoulder too see the last approaching band of Winglies.

"So where'd you get the spare?" Darian asked, motioning to the second sword Dart had.

"Looted it off a Wingly." Dart answered, spinning the blade around so the hilt was pointed at Darian, "Take it."

The blade was basically shoved into Darian's hands causing him to fumble with it for a couple of seconds before finally righting it.

"Bu-but I have no idea how to use this." Darian stated quickly.

Dart grinned before motioning towards Darian's pocket where he had put the Dragoon spirit.

"Inside that spirit is the combat skill of me as well as my father. Just the fact that it has accepted you will give you the ability to defend yourself." Dart explained.

Darian, hearing the explanation simply shrugged as he raised the sword and followed Dart to meet the attacking Winglies.

"What do you want with the village?" Dart asked angrily.

Standing in front of them was a small group of five Winglies. They seemed to be the last of any bandit in the area, Dart and Shana having cleared them out quite quickly.

"We're taking everything this village has." One of them said with a hint of insanity in his voice.

"It's not like you have anything that can stop us!" Another said.

Dart smiled again, sometimes these Winglies were just idiots.

"You forget that we have already cleared out the rest of you and that you guys are the last." Dart explained.

The Winglies looked around and realized that Dart was right; the scattered bodies of their comrades were beginning to stink up the area.

"Also you forget that you are in Seles." Dart began; "Now if you'd think back a little, somebody lives in Seles that you shouldn't really mess with."

Dart pulled a teal orb out of his pocket causing the Winglies to gasp in shock as they realized what they were up against. Darian noticed that the orb that Dart had looked almost exactly like his own. Before Darian could ask though he was interrupted as Dart did something that amazed him.

Dart held the orb above his head and a bright light blew out of it. Dart's body seemed to be changing, silver armour appeared over it. His sword changed into a larger, more devastating blade and his other arm seemed to meld with a large cannon. The thing that surprised Darian the most were the six large wings that seemed to meld with Dart's back.

"A Dragoon!" The Winglies all uttered at once.

"ATTACK" another said bravely as they charged.

Three of the Winglies had gone after Dart while the last two flew after Darian. Dart simply blocked a swipe from a Wingly blade and countered with a stab of his own, right through the unsuspecting Wingly. He dodged another attack, flying high over a charging Wingly. When the Wingly stopped to look around, Dart came flying back down and stabbed through it.

Dart still had another Wingly to deal with and so he was of no help to Darian as he was attacked.

What to do, what to do! No! Focus. My mom and dad are probably worried sick; I can't go and die now. And I've gotta help Dart, Come on!

Don't worry child. All you must do is control your inner strength and I will come to you. Use the insanity of battle to your advantage.

"The insanity of battle huh?" Darian muttered to himself.

He held his sword out, pointed at the two Winglies that were in front of him. He focussed all his willpower into remembering the warmth that he had felt when he had touched the Dragoon spirit. Deep inside him he could feel the dormant power, he prayed that it would grant him the strength he needed. Answering his calls the power exploded and the spirit awakened.

Darian looked at his hands as the transformation began. The fiery warmth returned to his body as the ground around him burned. His sword changed from the normal Wingly blade to a blade that was tinted red and double edged. The red armour of the Red Eye Dragoon covered Darian's body in an instant and he felt the two wings grow onto his back. When the light faded around him, Darian was completely changed, berserk even.

Darian looked at himself, surprised that it worked.

"Alright, let's do this." He said as he lifted off the ground, followed by the two Winglies.

The Winglies both attacked him at the same time, coordinating their movements with each other hoping that their speed would be able to strike Darian down quickly. Darian on the other hand was managing to keep up with the Winglies strikes easily. Holding his blade with one hand he seamlessly blocked the two blades of his opposition without even flinching.

Flying into a quick spun he swung outward, cleaving right through one of the Wingly's bodies. The Wingly fell to the ground dead but the other continued to pound on Darian's blade. Darian blocked a swing that was aimed for his head and dashed forward, planting his fist in the Wingly's face. After the punch he quickly spun around and cleaved the Wingly in half.

As the second and last Wingly was killed Darian hovered back to the ground. Dart had just finished killing the last Wingly inside the village as he hovered over to Darian. Darian's transformation ended shortly after as he dropped to one knee as soon as his feet touched ground.

"That…" Darian started, getting back to his feet, "felt great!" he said as he stretched his arms.

"Good." Dart sighed, "You're going to have to get used to it."

Darian turned too Dart as Dart reverted back to his normal form. Shana had also walked over to the duo. She looked as if she hadn't been touched once but the quiver on her back was close to empty.

"Will you be going?" Shana asked Dart calmly.

He looked at her before sighing. Having only just returned from his original journey a few months ago he didn't want to leave Shana again so soon.

"Yes." He answered.

Shana nodded before reaching up and giving Dart a soft peck on the lips before turning away.

"I'll stay here and take care of the villagers." Shana stated, "Make sure you two come back alive." She said as she walked off.

Dart and Darian both waved to the woman before they turned in the direction of the forest.

"So are there more Dragoon's then just you and I?" Darian asked curiously.

"Yes, there are six others." Dart answered, "And we are going to go meet one of them. We'll be going through the forest and heading for Bale We're going to need their assistance." Dart said.

Darian was surprised that there were so many other Dragoons.

"Who are we going to meet in Bale?" Darian asked as he followed Dart.

"The king." He answered, "His names Albert, he's one of my closest friends and a very powerful ally." Dart explained.

Of course a king is a Dragoon.

That was Darian's thought after he heard the answer to his question.

Unbeknownst to everybody, someone had been watching the entirety of what had gone on in Seles. Standing on a hill high above there was another man; he looked to be around eighteen. He was wearing black jeans and a hooded robe around his body.

"He was in my class." The man said too seemingly nobody

He looked down in his palm, the dark blue orb radiating a dark glow. He sighed as he turned to walk down the hill and on to the path too Bale.

Don't be careless child. A voice said in his head.

"Shut up." The man growled with an annoyed tone in his voice as he entered the alternate path into the forest to continue following Dart and Darian.

Enjoy the edit.

Fox