Author's note: I don't own Dragon Quest IV

Battle For Glory

Chapter 15: Nadiria

Once the raft reached the other isle, they guided the horse and wagon down the path that led into a tunnel. Airlia sighed, "We're there. Nadiria. As soon as we come out of this ram and out of the next room essentially… we're at the Watchtower guarding Nadiria."

Psaro nodded, "Right. And hopefully Rashkaverak will have been able to talk the others that normally preside as guardians over the castle and the main temple within the volcano in the center to not raise their shield."

Alistair nodded, "If he was successful, then we could simply head towards where Aamon should be down here, no?"

The silver haired elf nodded. "Right Alistair. It's going to be a bloody fight though, I warn you now. This is the fight for all of our lives."

The remainder of the trek through the tunnel was in quiet except for crumbling bits of ceiling that fell to the ground from old age. Airlia gave Alistair's hand a reassuring squeeze as they came to one last slope, as predicted. Coming out, they came to a small alcove. She slid off the wagon and went to the door and opened it, hiding her cringe of pain at the burning sensation on her hands as she pushed it. Once the wagon was out of there, she moved away from it and made her way back to the wagon before quietly healing her hands.

Psaro caught the spell and turned her hands over to see the remains of the burns heal. "What in the world… That door wasn't there before and this is proof of it. No one should be harmed passing through that." He used his spells over the injuries and fully healed it.

She shrugged. "I realized it the moments my hands touched it. But better to only have one to heal than two. Who knows what it could have done to you as well Psaro? What if it was meant to kill you?"

He frowned and reluctantly nodded. "Perhaps your Zenithian blood was what prevented worse harm from coming to you… or it could be why you were harmed. At least you're okay my dear. Rose would never forgive me if harm came to you." He chuckled at the end.

Airlia laughed with a nod. "Right. Now let's get the hell out of here." The horse came around the corner, pulling the wagon behind her.

Once they reached the entrance way, they found the purple dragon standing there. He gave a grim smile. "Psaro, the others are behind us. We will aid you to getting to where Aamon should be. We will ally ourselves with you in battle. It's time to put the horror behind us once and for all my Lord."

They went outside to see that there were in fact three other purple dragons, a giant dragon like creature who bore a resemblance to Balzaack though he was black in skin color unlike the aforementioned monster who had murdered Meena and Maya's father. Then there was the flying satyr with full horns and a tail. Psaro smiled as he made the introductions. The satyr had blue skin and purple fur as the elf spoke, "This is Barbatos. He's a powerhouse in every aspect." The man turned to the creature who resembled the old killer. "This is Pruslas. And you already know the Rashaveraks."

The one called Barbatos came forward and bowed to the group. "You helped Lord Psaro when you had no reason to. You have earned my unwavering loyalty."

Pruslas nodded, "Right. Stories are being told of the young woman who risked her life for Rose. If you side with her, and they side with her, then we side with them. Thank you very much."

She smiled at him, "To be honest, most humans would have gladly done what I did. There are their fair share of greedy humans to be sure, but I know that there are many who are genuinely good."

Barbatos nodded, "Like how there are those like Aamon. I completely understand that concept young woman, but you are still revered and hated among monsterkind. Stay close. We will not let them harm you."

Alistair smiled, "Thank you very much Barbatos. I appreciate this. Now let's figure out the best way to go to him. Flying is obvious, but I am concerned he might try to attack you all in the sky."

Pruslas nodded, "He is capable of almost anything. We can bring you down just outside of the castle and enter it with you, travel with you through it. We know the castle like the back of our hand and can help protect you from those who serve Aamon so loyally."

Meena nodded, "That would be most useful I think. Thank you kindly."

Once everyone was situated on or in the wagon, one of the Rashaverak picked up the horse and wagon while Pruslas flew under it to ensure that if it slipped, he could catch it. Barbatos flew ahead of Pruslas as the other creature was a bit slower while the three other Rashaveraks flew in a triangle formation around the one carrying the wagon. Psaro's eyes watered as he witnessed the care they obviously felt for him and by extension the brunette next to him for helping his lover. "Soon Rose… we will have no more fear of anyone."

Alistair smiled over at him, "When our village is fixed up, I'm sure that you and Rose would be more than happy to stay there with us."

Psaro blinked and looked at the man before nodding. "Thank you Alistair. That would be wonderful. Your village didn't really look at me any different when I first came in to investigate it. Back when I wanted to kill to protect my love."

He shook his head, "It's all in the past now my friend. We'll explain everything to my adoptive parents and they'll be okay with you being amongst us, with Rose."

Everyone looked around at the dark beauty of Nadiria. The water was almost ruby red in color because of the different type of sun keeping the skies lit… the grass was a darker green and mountains lined the entire island. In the distance was the beautiful almost obsidian black castle. The monsters came down almost near the castle as Meena shook her head. "This place… it's beautiful Psaro. Wow."

Maya gaped at some of the flowers that were in bloom, their petals were blood red while the stem was black. "That's incredible Psaro… This place has an unearthly beauty to it. Why would anyone want to leave here?" Her voice wasn't judgemental, just curious.

He shook his head, "Unfortunately there isn't enough room here for all of monsterkind. Even the Diabolical Hall isn't enough room with the surrounding area. Then there are natural habitats."

She nodded, "I see. It's just… it's so beautiful here." Her voice was almost breathy with amazement.

Barbatos nodded, "Our world is indeed beautiful. Thank you kindly for your compliments to our world."

Torneko gazed at the castle, "The castle before us is also quite striking. Is that obsidian? Or black granite? It must have taken a long time to build…"

Pruslas chuckled. "It's a mix of both obsidian and granite. It did take a long time to build… I've been alive for three hundred years and it took two hundred of them to be built. You have an eye for quality merchant."

He blushed, "Well I'm just trying to take everything in because it's been like this crazy dream. I can't help but wonder if the fairies are dancing on my head somewhere. I don't want to forget any of this."

Rashaverak nodded, "Understandable. This is quite a rarity as humans can't make it to Zenithia alone nor can they just make it to the stairway to Nadiria. So it's understandable to want to take everything in. Now if I'm not mistaken, there is a human also being held within that castle somewhere. We've infiltrated some of our loyal kind to try and keep guard over him until we can get there to him."

Psaro smiled. "Thank you. I remember he used to be kept in Diabolic Hall until Aamon suggested moving him into the castle when he feared that Alistair was close to discovering the one with him was a trap."

Pruslas nodded. "Right, and since discovering Aamon's own treachery, we sent our guards to try and see if we could get him out, but they haven't returned. This means that they were either discovered or it was too dangerous to get out. I told them not to try anything if it looked too bad."

Ragnar nodded, "Ach that's a good idea. Hopefully he'll be okay. We have our healers to try and ensure that if he is hurt, we can help him."

Airlia held onto the horn, "I have this too… it'll bring the wagon to us when we're ready."

Alena nodded gruffly. "Then let's go kick his ass because no one messes with my father and with my home."

Kyril blushed as he put a calming hand on his princess' shoulder. "Relax Alena, we will but if we go in ready for a fight like that, ready to start a fight… we could end up getting killed before we get far."

She nodded, "I know Kyril… I'm just… I'm so mad. They went after father and our people… I want them to suffer for that."

Borya nodded, "We know my princess, and we will see him dealt with most harshly for that. At least we can do our best, make it to Aamon and then deal with him."

Kyril nodded, "Right, we're with you princess, I promise. We won't lose. Now let's go and see what we can do about getting that soldier, and then dealing with Aamon."

Alistair nodded as they slowly approached the dark, foreboding castle. Gargoyles lined the walls looking over them, their face stuck in a permanent sneer. He held Airlia close to him as they walked slowly to the gates that Pruslas pushed open. Once they were inside, they saw the three statues watching them, but not moving. However, when they walked to the right to avoid the electrified floor panels the statues started moving. Psaro shook his head, "They respond to movement, but if we stick to the edge of the wall, we'll be fine."

They followed him along the wall as it slowly came to another hallway that had more giant gargoyles lining the area. Prusas smiled, "They're to keep intruders out, but obviously it doesn't do much for those who should be here, and those who are here to help. But they're meant to strike fear in the hearts of those carrying bad intentions for monsterkind."

Torneko nodded, "They're frightening yes, but oddly enough, they're beautiful."

Rashaverak grinned, "Why thank you. We worked hard to make them lifelike and thus more frightening. They're said to be based off of guardians in our world that are said to protect our kind."

Meena nodded, "Like how we have our statues of the Goddess, said to watch over our kind and protect us from harm. I see. This is very interesting Rashaverak."

They rounded the corner to where some stairs led upwards. When they came up, they were in another room with a door that was already open as he led them outwards to the balcony overlooking the castle courtyard. Psaro took the lead as he looked out over the land of Nadiria. "Soon we will all be free. Knowing Aamon, he has him in the small room off to the other side of the castle. Out of the way of the path."

Airlia nodded, "I know where you're talking about Psaro. Thank you my friend, now let's go find him and get him out of there. Hopefully he won't be as mean to me as his clone was."

Alistair smiled at her, "How could he be? You're one of the best people any of us has ever met. He would be dumb to be mean to you Airlia." He kissed her forehead before they started rounding the corner to continue into the castle.