"Oh, ugh... where are we? Damn you, Dark Force! Damn you!" Prince Sean shouted as he stood up and shook his head. He squinted, yet he still couldn't make sense of where he was. The rest of the party couldn't fathom out where they were, either. As soon as Lune had shaken out all the confusion from his head, he strode over to Sean.
"I think I know where we are." he said. The prince turned around and looked him in the eye.
"So then? Where are we?" Sean asked rudely.
"We're on Samesinian Heights, the sky city that floats above Samesina." Lune explained. Eventually, Wren, Laya, Stuart and King Ayn were focussed enough to join them.
"Lune, you said before that we're in a sky city. Is this where that Sword of Eternal Justice is?" Laya asked.
"Yep, it is. Long ago, during the Orakian-Layan war, Orakio's twin brother Rulakir brought a silver sword up here, and he hid from the fighting here as well. Rumour has it that he's still alive!" Lune replied. Sean assumed that Rulakir had used cryogenic sleep, but Lune said he hadn't.
"No, Sean, it was actually his sheer hatred of Layans that kept him alive!" Lune said triumphantly. Stuart was completely bamboozled - how could hatred keep someone alive?
"Hmm, that's really weird, Lune. It may be best to forget all that." Ayn suggested. Lune sighed and told everyone that he'd talked nonsense. Sean agreed with him. Laya giggled.
"Anyway, we should stop this prattle and find Rulakir. It's only a matter of time before Dark Force obliterates Samesina, and everyone with it!" Wren said sternly. Sean and Laya stopped laughing and followed Wren to a large open plaza. There were several people wandering around. Sean went over to an old woman standing by a tree.
"Hey, you! Do you know Rulakir?" Sean asked in his normal unprincely manner. The woman flinched slightly.
"Young man, you need to learn some manners. And yes, I do know Rulakir. He is the King of Samesinian Heights." she replied.
"Well where is he?"
"Be nice to me, then."
"Gee, fine. Can you tell me where he is, please?"
"Indeed. Just carry straight on through the plaza and when you get to the gatehouse, take the left-hand staircase. Go straight down the corridor, and the throne room is on your second right." Thanking the woman, Sean lead the party through the plaza, to the gatehouse, up the left-hand staircase and straight down the corridor. When the party got to the door, Sean opened it and stepped in, followed by Lune, Laya, Wren, Ayn and Stuart.
"Are you Rulakir, King of Samesinian Heights?" Sean asked a man who was standing at a huge window that overlooked the plaza.
"Yes, that's me." Rulakir replied as he turned to face Sean. He was a middle-aged man who had some flair about him, if not much. He was more a warrior than a ruler.
"OK. My grandfather, Lyle... he told me about a sword called the Sword of Eternal Justice, which is the only thing that can defeat Dark Force, and Emperor Lune says that you have it. So, do you have it?" Rulakir raised an eyebrow when Sean had mentioned Emperor Lune.
"Emperor Lune? He worked for my brother's enemy, and I have no desire to trust the ramblings of that delusioned old man. That means I have no desire to trust you either." Rulakir said darkly. Laya stepped in front of Sean.
"OK, I understand that you are with my sister's enemy, but you must help us! We need the Sword of Eternal Justice to defeat Dark Force, for it is roaming Samesina and making Prince Sean's grandfather look like a murderous brute!" Laya pleaded. Rulakir stamped his foot.
"Quiet, little girl. Orakio and Laya sealed that vile being away 1,000 years ago." he said sternly.
"But, Rulakir... two demons, by the names of Sanqar and Malignus, used the Layan Eyes to break the seal! They even captured Lyle, and now Dark Force is using him to destroy Samesina!" Laya wailed. Rulakir raised an eyebrow again.
"And who gathered the Layan Eyes?"
"Well, Prince Sean did, but we didn't know that the Layan Eyes broke the seal that kept Dark Force from coming back until it was too late!" Rulakir's face began to contort with rage.
"So you believed the false hope of Laya's Treasure. It was only named that to remove the fears of the Samesinian people. Would you like to know that there's an evil beyond legend sealed beneath your feet?" Rulakir said nastily. Lune strode forward.
"Rulakir, I sincerely apologise for all the grief I caused you and your brother. Now, we need the Sword of Eternal Justice to defeat Dark Force. If you do that, I am entirely in your debt." Lune said proudly, bowing before Rulakir. He just laughed.
"You will have to prove your worth, Lune. Defeat me and the Sword of Eternal Justice is yours. Lose and your life is mine." Rulakir snarled, withdrawing a sword from its scabbard. It wasn't the Sword of Eternal Justice, however. Its blade was a pure black, and the hilt was made of gold, entwined with silver and encrusted with black opals.
"My brother's sword will shed your blood." Rulakir said, swishing the sword threateningly. Lune dodged the blade and withdrew his sword from his belt.
"My own sword will eat your sword for breakfast!" Lune shouted, jumping into the air and swiping the sword. The rushing air ruffled Rulakir's hair. Sean, Laya, Ayn, Wren and Stuart stepped back and stayed back. Rulakir bared his sword at Lune. Lune did the same to Rulakir.
"Eat my sword, Rulakir!" Lune roared, thrashing the sword around and spinning on his heel. He jumped, backflipped, brought the sword down... and caught Rulakir in the left shoulder. The resulting wound was not a severe one, but it was enough to make Rulakir cringe in pain. Rulakir retaliated by swinging his sword at Lune, which caught him in the side and opened a small gash. Lune doubled up in pain.
"Well, Lune! You're just not as good a fighter as I remember. Maybe you really are as weak as Orakio said." Rulakir said, with a sharp edge to his voice.
"These things happen, Rulakir. Well, wouldn't you be a little out of practice if you'd been in cryogenic sleep for 1,000 years?" Lune replied sinisterly. Rulakir replied with a laugh. From the corner of the room, Prince Sean and the party were silently cheering Lune on.
"Do you reckon he'd notice if I cast a technique on Lune?" Sean asked Ayn quietly.
"Not a clue. But I'd be tempted not to risk it." Ayn hissed in reply.
"Dad, I'm gonna do it anyway..." Sean waved his arms, chanted a few incomprehensible words under his breath and cast the Shifta Technique on Lune. This particular technique is a support technique, and it increases the target's damage potential (the amount it increases by depends on the experience of the caster) for 10 minutes. That meant that Lune would have 10 minutes to do more damage than he normally would to Rulakir.
Meanwhile, Lune and Rulakir were still engaged in their swordfight. Lune was beginning to tire, but Rulakir showed no mercy.
"Hang on, let me regain my breath." Lune panted. Rulakir touched his throat with the blade of his sword.
"Not yet, Lune. Fight me, you chicken!" Rulakir snapped.
"I need to..." Lune began, but he felt the power of Sean's Shifta Technique flooding into him.
"What?" Rulakir asked, "You need to what?"
"I need to make mincemeat out of you, Rulakir!" Lune yelled, standing upright and thrusting the sword at Rulakir. He just caught him in the right arm, but the Shifta Technique meant that the small cut turned into a rather ugly gash. Rulakir clutched his arm in pain.
"Hey, Lune! Not bad... for a cheater. The blade only just caught me, yet it really wounded me! Who's using Shifta Techniques?" Rulakir said in shock as he tried to stem the flow of blood from the wound in his arm.
"Shifta Techniques? I have no idea what you're on about!" Lune replied, feigning surprise. He charged at Rulakir again and swung the sword at his leg. The blade contacted Rulakir's left leg, opening a very nasty wound. Blood leaked out of the wound, staining Rulakir's garments. Rulakir, despite having excruciating pain tearing through his right arm, thrust his sword at Lune. The blade contacted Lune's sword with a resonating clang. Rulakir was puzzled. He had been aiming for Lune's chest, yet he had only hit his sword. Lune hadn't even defended against the blow.
"Lune simply HAS to win!" Prince Sean shouted from the corner of the room, holding his outstretched hand towards Rulakir.
"So you HAVE been influenced by techniques! Hardly fair, is it? I don't plan to give you the Sword of Eternal Justice now!" Rulakir shouted, clearly angered by Sean's actions.
"Sean, release your technique! I'll distract him, you get that sword!" Lune said to Sean. The prince nodded his head and waited for Lune to engage Rulakir in battle again. He released the technique off Rulakir, and Lune subsequently engaged him in battle. Whilst Rulakir fought Lune, Sean sneaked up behind him and grabbed the first hilt he could see. He pulled on it... and unsheathed a dagger.
"Wrong hilt, Sean! Try the other side!" Lune hissed. The prince nodded and looked at the hilts on Rulakir's other side. He took hold of the centre one and pulled on it. He pulled out a sword with a silvery blade. The hilt gleamed with sapphires, which beautifully offset the bluish-silver glow of the blade.
"That's it! Now I have to disengage!" Lune hissed, fending off Rulakir's sword with a well-aimed sword swing. Just as Rulakir was about to swing at Lune, he checked his swords. He noticed that one was missing. He put his brother's sword back in its scabbard and turned to face Prince Sean and the party.
"You stole the Sword of Eternal Justice? That is not a good thing to do. Hand it back and fight for it!" Rulakir roared, holding his hand out. Sean instinctively stepped back.
"For your information, Rulakir, we need the Sword of Eternal Justice to defeat Dark Force. Who knows how much damage it's caused since it's been released?" Sean explained calmly, his tone having a hint of rudeness to it. Rulakir put his hands on his hips.
"You didn't earn it, fool. You have to earn these things, you can't just steal them." Rulakir snarled.
"Yeah, sure... but I'm in a desperate situation. We have to defeat Dark Force!" Sean replied, darting out of the throne room, closely followed by the rest of the party. Rulakir sighed and didn't bother chasing them.
"Right, where would Dark Force go after its release?" Stuart asked as soon as everyone had escaped from Rulakir's castle. Wren thought for a second.
"He'd probably go for the Chalst Province." the cyborg replied.
"The Chalst Province?"
"Yes. It's the central province of Samesina."
"Well, we've got the sword now, so we can go get Dark Force!" Wren looked unsure. He had a brief ponder.
"No. Actually, I've heard about the Sword of Eternal Justice. We need to place another gem in the hilt, because it doesn't have all its power." Wren said. Sean looked slightly worried.
"So where is this gem then?" the prince asked rudely.
"I remember your grandfather, Rhys, having a gem about the same size as that hollow. We need to go to Dahlia." Wren replied.
"The parts." Lune said suddenly. Wren faced him.
"What parts?" Wren asked.
"Those parts I gave you!" Lune snapped. Instantly, Wren took out the two huge wing-like parts and attached them to his back. He began to transform. Sparks flew and metal clanged as the transformation took place.
Five minutes later, Wren had transformed into an aerojet.
"Now THAT'S cool!" Stuart gasped. Sean clapped a hand over his mouth and told him to be quiet.
"Come on, let's go to Dahlia. Hurry up and get inside!" the computerised voice of Wren said impatiently. Everyone did as he said and climbed inside. The door closed and the engines fired up.
"Does this thing need a pilot?" Laya asked.
"No, because it already has a pilot. Me!" Wren's voice replied.
"So, let's go to Dahlia then..." Lune said. On these words, the Wren-jet began to ascend. The engines gave an almighty roar, and then the Wren-jet zoomed off the surface of Samesinian Heights and headed for Dahlia. The party got there quicker than in the spaceship that Laya had found at Mystoke, the Castle of Silence.