Authors Note: Chapter 15

Welcome to Disk 2. This is where we'll discover some new things about the Dragoon's. Hope you enjoy this.

Dawn of the Eclipse

He hugged himself as he sat on his knees, tears falling from his eyes as he felt the fire burn into his skin. Flames surrounded him, alone in this barren wasteland. The burning sensations going through his body felt like nothing he had ever experienced before; the only thing he could picture in his mind was death, pain and fire. His sword lay in front of him, the blade glowing red from the intense heat. Darian collapsed over as the exhaustion took him over. The flames quickly tried to creep over him but were stopped as he came back up again, dissipating the flames.

"No." He whispered, regaining his composure and returning to his feet.

There was no way he was going to let himself be defeated that easily. He tried to take another step but quickly fell to his knees again.

"Damn." He growled.

Looking to his side he spotted his sword. Reaching out he grabbed the hilt, clutching it tightly. Sticking it into the ground he stood up, using it as a crutch. Moving slowly he started walking through the endless valley of fire. Not knowing where he was going, but only hoping for a way out.

Tara kneeled beside Darian's bed, watching him sadly as he shook in his unconscious state. They had brought him back to the Forest of the Winglies shortly after their battle with Gidarl. Ancestor Blano, seeing Darian's condition immediately gave them a few rooms to rest and to wait for Darian to wake.

Dart stood beside Tara, also overlooking Darian's condition. His usual tough look was mixed with confusion and sadness. The confusion came from the mysterious dragoon transformation that Darian underwent during the battle with Gidarl. After Darian had finished off Gidarl Dart had thought that he would've had to restrain Darian before he hurt someone or himself. The cold look in his eyes had warned Dart that something was wrong.

Dart had noticed that the transformation had occurred when Tara was in immediate life threatening danger. Even he was shocked when Gidarl destroyed the building and came after the group in his new form but when Darian saw him in a split second Darian had changed from the one that he knew into some blazing monster. When Gidarl had been finished for good Darian fell back to the platform, unconscious from exhaustion. Dart assumed that because it was Darian's first time using that form that his body was not used to it. His only question was would he have to use it again.

"I should question Ancestor Blano about this. Shane, come get me if Darian wakes up." Dart ordered before leaving the room.

Shane, who was leaning against the wall near the door nodded in confirmation as Dart left. Shane glanced over at Darian's body. Reading his pained face, realizing that something must be tormenting him right now. Fiddling with the hilt of his sheathed rapier Shane watched as Tara`s tears hit Darian`s still chest, he could hear her quiet whispers of the words "wake up" over and over again.

You can wield that power too.

Shane was shocked to hear the dragon's voice in his mind after so long of not hearing it. Focusing intently on its words he closed his eyes to pay his full attention to the conversation.

Every dragoon knight has the ability to use the power that your friend did. Usually the transformation is achieved by extreme emotion.

That explained why Darian transformed. Tara was in danger and his spirit reacted with that.

But others can control it. My previous master, she had an alias known as the Black Monster. She was really the darkness dragoon but anyone who saw her would really just see a shroud of black darkness with black burning wings and red eyes. That was her transformation and she had perfect control of it.

Shane was shocked to hear that such power could be controlled. He knew that if the party could gain access to such power that things would become a lot easier for them.

Work on it child, Practice.

Shane nodded before taking a step to go outside to begin his training but was stopped when the voice spoke up again.

Not now. Stay with your friend. He should wake soon.

The voice said no more after that. Shane glanced over at Darian and Tara. He noticed that Darian was shuffling around a lot more now and his unconscious sleep seemed to be more of a deep sleep now, but the look on his face was still one of torment. It disturbed him. Shane leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms as he watched and waited. The only thing on his mind though was how he could work on gaining control of the transformation.

Darian continued to walk throughout the wasteland, coughing as the smoke filled his lungs. He slipped, falling to one knee again only to recover quickly. Darian was determined to get out of wherever he was and he wasn't going to die before he did it. Darian looked around and too his surprise he saw two things. One, a large wall of fire that burned in all places except for one small pathway, two, a bright light behind the fire, the brightest thing in the entire valley.

"I'm going to assume that that's where I need to go." Darian grinned.

Sighing, once more Darian started walking towards the light, hoping for a way out of the valley.

Connor and Sean, waiting just outside the room were both talking about the previous day. Sean had not expected Darian to stay unconscious for this long but having never experienced whatever Darian went through Sean had no idea how long he might be asleep. Connor hadn't slept at all since the last day. When one of the crew was down it was hard to rest when worrying about the other. Shane had given them news on Darian's condition every five minutes or so and they were happy to know that he seemed to be getting better.

Connor sighed with relief as Shane stepped back into the room.

"Y'know Sean? Why do you think Darian made such a drastic transformation?" Connor asked, still not fully understanding Darian's new transformation.

Sean sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't have a clue. But we should know soon. Dart went to go see that Blano guy so we'll probably get news shortly." Sean explained.

Connor sighed, leaning against the wall and sliding his back down it until he was seated on the floor.

Sitting outside near the center of the forest were Chaos and Nicole. When they got back to the Forest of the Winglies Ancestor Blano didn't have a problem with also giving them housing. Nicole thanked him graciously but Chaos wasn't too sure. He thought that after everything that he'd done that forgiveness would be something he would've never been given.

Noticing the troubled look on Chaos's face Nicole elbowed him lightly while laughing quietly. Although she acted serious while on a mission she was actually quite a cheerful person when with friends and family.

"Hey Chaos cheer up. We were forgiven. Not everybody is going to hold what we did against us." Nicole said

Chaos sighed, he knew she was right but he just couldn't let it go. He tormented himself, wondering how he let himself get controlled by Gidarl so easily.

Heh, world domination…my ass.

Chaos sighed, tilting his head to look at Nicole.

"Yeah you're right. Let's just let it go and help the others with whatever they need." Chaos said.

Nicole nodded before resting back on a nearby wall. Chaos wasn't entirely fine though. He remembered Gidarl mentioning accomplices and Chaos knew exactly who they were. He pictured the two others in his mind, remembering them from the meetings that he had attended between them and Gidarl.

One was tall and bulky. Tanned skin and no hair with large heavy metal armour adorning his body. A large claymore and an even bigger axe were strapped to his back. The man looked plain evil.

Vectus

The other was around six feet tall and thinner than Vectus. Again this one had tanned skin and long silver hair going down to just below his breast. He wore the traditional Wingly armour and had an extremely oversized katana sheathed at his hip. This one looked calm but sadistic at the same time, as if he would burn you and then watch and laugh.

Kiros

As Chaos mentioned Kiros's name in his mind he sighed. He didn't know Vectus personally as they never really spoke before the meetings but he knew Kiros well, dating far beyond before he even joined Gidarl.

Why did you leave me and Nicole…brother.

"Listen closely Dart as I will only explain this once." Ancestor Blano instructed.

Dart, who had wanted more information on the transformation that Darian underwent had asked Ancestor Blano if he had known anything. The Ancestor did know quite a lot and in fact had actually heard of it happening long before.

"The transformation that your friend went through is in actuality, the strongest point of power a Dragoon Knight can access. It occurs when a Dragoon Knight suffers from his emotions at such an extremity where they explode and increase their power immensely. The specific name for this was called an Eclipse Dragoon." Ancestor Blano explained.

"It has been known that the power is also controllable but that either requires a natural talent for it or previous usages to get used to the flow. Only a few Dragoon Knights have used the power though. Three to be exact, Kanzas the previous Thunder Dragoon once got so filled with rage and the need for power that he reached this form once. He destroyed an entire Wingly Village before the few survivors managed to drive him back with magic. The Darkness Dragoon that once travelled with you and also fought in the Dragon Campaign. Rose had complete control over her Eclipse but never used it in fear of losing that control. The only time she ever let herself be taken over by its power was when she worked as the Black Monster. Using the Eclipse to hide her identity from the people she killed. And finally your friend Darian has also harnessed the power somewhat." Blano finished.

Taking in the explanation Dart was surprised to hear that Rose could use this transformation and actually had control over it. Remembering Rose as the Black Monster that one fateful night back in Neet he remembered the complete fear that was set into him just by looking at her. A humanoid figure with wings, surrounded by deadly black fire. The thought still frightened him.

"Thank you Ancestor. I shall go inform my comrades of this news." Dart said, turning around to walk to the teleporter that led back to the mainland of the Forest of the Winglies.

Dart left without another word. Stepping through the teleporter to get back to the others. He only hoped that by the time he got back that Darian was awake again.

Tristan growled angrily, punching a wall leaving a large dent in it. Mai touched his shoulder softly trying to get him to calm down before he hurt himself or somebody else. After the battle Tristan couldn't stop thinking about the outcome. Gidarl had told them about his accomplices and they had almost lost a member of their team. If Gidarl was that strong to need the combined strength of Darian, Chaos and Sean to defeat him he wondered how strong the other two were.

"Damnit Mai. What's the point anymore?!" Tristan growled.

Mai looked shocked by what he had just said.

"How could you possibly say that!? We're fighting to go home! And to possibly save two worlds." Mai answered.

Tristan sighed.

"How? We fought Gidarl and he almost killed us. He had his hands on Tara! She was all he needed. He would've killed us all if he had become this god that he was talking about! And now there's accomplices! If they're any stronger than Gidarl was than there is no way we can win!" Tristan argued.

"We have the Dragoon Spirits." Mai stated.

"Yeah and one of us has this weird transformation that almost killed him in the process! Much help they're going to do when we can't even use them to their full extent without killing ourselves!" Tristan growled.

"None of us even know how to reach that power! Darian looked as if he did that on instinct! There's no way he would learn that skill without telling any of us!" Mai tried to explain.

Tristan growled again, blinded by anger he turned away.

"I'm leaving. Don't follow me." Tristan stated before walking out of the room.

Mai stood there shocked. This was the first time she had seen Tristan so angry at anyone but one of their enemies. A tear fell from her eye but quickly dried as she basically ran out of the room, heading in the direction of where Darian was asleep.

I have to tell the others about this.

Darian had finally made it to the wall of fire. He looked up at it almost in fear as the flames rose higher than the clouds. Looking straight ahead again he saw his objective, the light that would hopefully get him out of this place. Darian lifted his blade in a ready position, his legs were rested enough that he could use them normally again and he was ready to make one final last ditch effort to get out of this place.

Now or never

Darian sprung forward, running at full speed towards the wall of fire. He ran right into it and although the flames bit his skin he continued to run. Surprised that the fire had not killed him instantly he continued to run. But soon after that he felt the burning pain start to go straight through. He felt the pain of the fire touching raw skin. He could feel himself slowing down, but he was so close, he wasn't going to let himself die this close.

Not now! I'm getting out of here!

Darian jumped forward and was surrounded in an aura of fire as the Dragoon transformation occurred. His regular Dragoon transformation caused the fire to ripple around him. Darian hovered in the middle of the flames, looking around him as the fire avoided his body. Darian grinned as he flew forward and into the light.

Darian sprung forward, sitting upright in the bed. Shane was surprised to see the sudden movement and Tara had to move back to avoid getting hit by his body. Before Darian could even speak he was attacked by Tara's arms, constricting him in a tight hug.

"Don't ever do that again you asshole!" Tara said between sobs.

Darian laughed slightly as Tara let go of him. He looked over at Shane and waved, Shane grinned.

"How long have I been out?" Darian asked.

"Not long, just over a day." Shane replied

Before Darian could say anything else Sean and Connor busted in. They both looked happy to see him awake.

"Haha good to see ya buddy." Connor laughed.

"Feel good after sleeping for a day?" Sean asked.

Darian laughed.

"Yeah, I'm all rested up."

Shortly after that, Dart walked in. He smiled towards Darian glad to see he was awake but did not say anything about it as he had more important things to talk about.

"Guys I have information from Blano about Darian's transformation." Dart said.

Darian stood up from the bed, stretching himself out before picking up his sword which was lying beside his bed.

"Well then, tell us what the hell happened out there." Darian said.

Dart was about to continue before Mai also burst in out of breath.

"Hurry, Tristan is leaving!" Mai quickly said.

Everyone was shocked but Darian quickly ran towards the door to try and catch up with him. Despite being out for a day he felt fine.

"Where is he!?" Darian asked.

"He's heading for the exit to the forest." Mai quickly explained.

Without another word Darian was out the door, running as fast as he could to catch up with Tristan. The rest of the group all glanced at each other before following Darian. They were surprised by how fast Darian actually was as he was at least two teleporters ahead of everybody already.

"TRISTAN STOP!"

Tristan stopped just in front of the teleporter to get outside of the city. Darian had almost caught up to him. Tristan had his head hung low and his spear out; the anger could still be seen on his face. Darian could tell something was up and he was right. Right before Darian could reach him Tristan quickly spun around and swung his spear at him. Thanks to Darian's assumption he had the time to pull his sword out and deflect the blow.

"Let me leave Darian!" Tristan ordered.

"Not a chance in hell!" Darian retaliated.

Tristan took his spear back only to slash out again. Darian deflected the attacks once more. He went on the defensive as Tristan lashed out at him. His words couldn't stop Tristan from attacking he was too blinded by rage and loss of hope. Darian eventually decided to try to attack once, just to subdue Tristan and stop him. He swung his blade over his head and down onto Tristan but he blocked it with the shaft of his spear.

The two weapons locked together and neither showed any sign of letting up. Tristan and Darian both looked at their weapons and back at each other. They both dropped their weapons and started attacking each other again. Tristan dashed forward punching Darian in the gut.

The punch sent Darian skidding backwards only to be followed still by Tristan. He swung his fist again but Darian blocked it, grabbing his arm and pulling him closer. Darian used the force of the pull to use his other hand to punch Tristan twice in the stomach, causing him to hunch over in pain. Darian then slid his foot behind Tristan and swept his feet, causing him to fall.

Darian grabbed Tristan, picking him up by his clothes and slammed him against the closest wall. By now everyone else had caught up, including Chaos and Nicole who were passed on the way here, and was watching the fight intently.

"Honestly Tristan what do you think you'll achieve by leaving!" Darian growled angrily.

"I'll find my own way home! One that doesn't involve basically committing suicide against a group of angry Winglies! I'd rather not die!" Tristan spat back.

"You idiot that's our only way home!" Darian said angrily, becoming annoyed of Tristan's attitude.

Darian reached back to punch Tristan in the stomach again, hopefully to knock him out but to his surprise as he punched forward Tristan had managed to catch his fist. Darian was sent backwards by a strong gust of wind. All of a sudden Tristan's dragoon wings shot out of his back as a different transformation occurred. His spear returned to his hands and his armour was slightly altered to allow easier movement but more protection. His eyes were a glazed jade colour and there were visible torrents of wind surrounding him.

Darian crawled backwards as Tristan flew over him, landing beside the teleporter to the outside world. The only things going through Tristan's mind were anger and that he didn't want to hurt anybody too seriously. Backing up slowly he quickly shot off through the teleporter, flying away to places unknown.

Everyone crowded around Darian who quickly stood up. Darian sighed as his plan to keep Tristan from leaving. Everyone else looked either worried or angry about Tristan's actions.

"Well now things just keep getting worse don't they?" Sean muttered.

Everyone else sighed in defeat. Dart was the first one to break the silence.

"We'll have to go without him. We'll find him eventually but we do have to continue with our journey. We have Gidarl's accomplices to worry about still. I also have info about the new Dragoon Transformations." Dart said

"I also have info about it." Shane muttered.

"And I know of Gidarl's accomplices." Chaos added.

Everyone sighed one last time before nodding again. They were still bothered by they're situation but they only had one choice but to wait for Dart, Shane and Chaos to explain their situation.

Tristan had landed far from the Forest of the Winglies. He actually had no idea where he was anymore. Wherever it was there were lots of trees, great, he landed in some unknown forest. He was tired and lost; using his spear as a walking stick after the Eclipse Transformation had ran out. He felt as if he was going to pass out.

He thought he could smell fire, he looked in the direction of the smell and just off in the distance above the trees he could see rising smoke. He started to go towards the smoke but fell over. His vision was fading; he was just too tired to keep going. As his vision blacked out he saw a strange figure with a long weapon on its back and scaled dark blue armour stand in front of him. It kneeled down and quickly picked him up. Tristan tried to protest but the figure hushed him.

"Just sleep, we'll talk later." It said.

Unable to say anymore Tristan quickly passed out. In his mind before he completely fell unconscious he knew he'd solve everything when he woke up but he still feared what was going to happen to him.

And so…Disk 2 is onnnnnn. R&R Fellas. Hope you enjoyed. Seeya next time.

Fox

PS: I got a new computer, Wewt