Third and last chapter of the update, there is one last part for the Fanelian prologue before we go in another place, but i'm still working on it. So you will have to wait (again) to see more.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter, and what is to come.

Again Merry Christmas/Yule/Any other way to spend the winter sostice I may not know, and a Happy new Year ! May 2023 give you some rest, wealth, and health, some some happiness too.

Fanelia, the dragon rise

Being prepared from a young age to the day he would have to hunt a dragon was vastly different from having to do the actual hunting, Van knew it, but reality was always harsher than expected. He was determined, not only to survive of course, but also to survive.

Some part of his heart was still bitter at his brother's absence, him who when he was still a child, would tell him the tale of the rite, and was so kind, even for the fallen drakes of the stories. Folken should have come back, should have been there, been the one, not Van. Being bitter doesn't mean he didn't remember the fact that Folken was better, a better fighter, smarter too than Van. He should have been here, and succeeded, becoming the future king, relieving their parents of their burden, making Fanelia prosper, leading the kingdom in a new golden era !

Instead his brother was the gods knew where, not even giving them news of signs of life, pushing their mother in a depression no one could alleviate. Van missed him, but he was also angry at him for not coming back to them, for breaking his promise.

Even if Balgus and his father have made sure he was trained properly, even if both had reassured him countless time he would not only be victorious in his hunt, and become an excellent king of his own making, he couldn't completely clear his heart and soul of the feeling that he shouldn't be here, be the one.

Van would not fail, because he swore he wouldn't, and he never went back on his words, ever. His rite started a week ago, he had until the end of the moon to complete his hunt, and come back either alive and victorious or… no there was no other option for him.

Until now he crossed paths with several drakes but none that could fit his need. It was common sense really, not all dragons could be hunted for the rite, not all dragons could be hunted after all. A drake too young would be useless, his energist barely formed, and the youngs were rarely alone until they reached a certain age, either a parent was with them for the youngest, or other youngs were prowling together, still learning to hunt and in search of their own territories. Hunting a female was also hazardous, depending on the age and season a female could be more dangerous than a male.

If she is young and nearing the reproduction period before her journey to the nesting grounds, she would attract males with her scent, and fight off unwanted suitors. If she was with a babe, she would go berserk at the first hint of danger to her young. Hunters have found the remains of other dragons who made the mistake of going after such a pair, either to get the mother for reproduction, or to try to eat the young thinking it would be an easy prey, it happens every year, and each time the scenes were gruesome. Older females were not easy prey either, they had more experience, and more cunning than males, they would defend their territories at all cost. Their energist would surely make a great prize, but Van was in a hurry, the sooner he completed the rite, the better, maybe he would have tried, if Zaibach wasn't throwing the shadows of war over them.

No, the best option was to hunt for a male, mature enough to have a territory, and a good energist in his chest, and close to the rut season. Who would believe that hunting a male dragon at such a time would be "easier" ? Males in ruts were more easily spotted, as they were showing off for potential partners, eager to fight, and prone to mistakes, prowling their territories aimlessly. Younger males during ruts could be spotted sometimes acting recklessly, some have been seen trying to fight their own reflection in a lake once. Dragons were unpredictable, some were smart, frighteningly so, but others…

Older males could be more problematic to hunt as they were smarter, and less likely to act recklessly due to their rut, but it would depend if a female was near his territory or not. No, the best dragon to hunt would be a young adult male, no one would fault him in choosing to hunt an "easy" one, because hunting a dragon, any dragon, alone, without more than a sword and shield is anything but easy.

At the end of his second week, he had seen two young females, probably from the same litter as they were prowling together. One old male, covered in scars and looking sick but judging by the direction he was heading, he was on his last journey to take his final rest in one of the dragon cemeteries near the energist mines, if he was sick it could affect his energist, and dragons don't get sick easily, it would regain it's purity when buried for a certain amount of time. He even spotted from afar a new mother and her young, and looking at how nervous the female was, either it was her first, or she had recently encountered another dragon. None of them were what he was aiming for, even if one would say he was lucky to encounter so many and yet not having been spotted or chased by such terrible creatures.

He had been lucky in a way, but he needed to find a dragon and kill it and soon, even if the idea of killing, even one of the fiercest predators of Gaea, wasn't something he wished. He may have learned how to fight, but Balgus always said he was too soft, his heart not hard enough to deal a killing blow, truth be told, Van never enjoyed fighting, even as a game when he was a child.

Shaking his head at his own foolishness, he got on with his hunt, having second thoughts would only lead to his death.

It took him three more days to find a lone male dragon old enough to meet his needs, then start his real trial, hunting and killing it, and surviving the process. This male was bigger than average, and looked at his surroundings sharply, Van would need all of his wits to defeat him, sneaking on it would be hard enough, but fighting head on without care would result in a disaster. Escaflowne would be his witness, he would give his all to be victorious, he had studied what his forefathers had gone through, reading journals of those who came before him; learning what had worked, and how generation after generation dragons had become smarter. Some tactics would be useless, the weather and season not being quite right, but he could use other things to his advantage.

First Hh needs to lure it to a more favorable terrain, a deeper part of the forest would work for him, the dragon would have a harder time moving with close trees in his way. He also needs a more humid soil, making it heavier for the beast, and making its fiery breath less dangerous for the area. No need to have an uncontrolled forest fire on top of the hunt. If it was muddy it would also work against the dragon camouflage skills, Van needed to see his opponent after all.

Once Van finished his preparations, he made one last prayer to Escaflowne, and went to seek the dragon.

Getting it's attention was easy enough, he looked like an easy prey to such a predator, but was moving faster than the dragon, using his size to his advantage in the forest with the low hanging branches and fallen trees to gain some distance with the beast. Of course he breathed fire at him to try to get him, and reduce the number of obstacles in his way, but fresh wood, recently drenched in rain, was not easily burned. To keep him on his tail, Van goaded him, dragons understanding the provocations of a smaller creature against them.

As he ran Van could see the trees growing more and more apart, but also how the ground under his feet was getting more and more moist. He was near his desired destination, a clearing with a more swamp natured soil, not soaked enough to become dangerous for a human but enough to hinder a heavy dragon by making it slip, or making his movements harder. Dragons were more sensitive to the cold, like every kind of lizard, the one running after him would not really suffer from a bit of cold mud, but it would be enough to take advantage of him.

He was reaching the last trees before the clearing when the dragon caught up with him and hit him in the ribs, sending him rolling in the clearing. Thanks to his armor the damage was reduced but he still vomited some bile and blood from the strength of the impact, his ribs didn't feel broken but he would feel it for days he was sure of it. He just got back on his feet when the dragon arrived in front of him in the clearing roaring as loudly as he could. Van managed to dodge him as he charged, intending to plunge his sword in his flank as he passed him, but his blade didn't do anything but bounce on it, the scales too tough for it.

Of course he knew dragons scales were tough, and only the ones on the belly of the animal were moderately softer, but his sword was especially made to cut through the scales and leathers of the beasts, it was going to be a major problem.

Maybe this dragon was tougher than expected, but Van wouldn't be deterred by this, he had more than just his sword to fight the fire breathing drake. He would not turn his back on his enemy, never. He quickly used his folding shield to protect himself from the fire the dragon was spraying at him, the mud hardening under his feet, but also around and under the dragon, cracking and breaking under its weight. It was to Van's advantage as this fire released steam from the water filled soil, creating a mist in which he could prepare his next attack. He had to be fast, the dragon was not deterred by the momentary lack of clear visibility, he could still follow him by scent and sounds.

He had to act faster than his target, and get his crossbow ready, the arrows were especially made for hunting, resistant to fire and with a crystal sharpened arrowhead which would explode in pieces on impact. Just as the mist cleared itself, the dragon turned his head to focus his left eye on Van, it only took the blink of an eye, both for Van and the dragon, to pull the trigger, and send the arrow straight into the eye of the beast.

The shock from such gruesome injury sends the dragon reeling on its back, flailing from the pain, breaking its equilibrium. His heretic movements send up dust and mud in clouds around him blocking Van's view of the limbs, and by doing so, he couldn't avoid the enormous tail that slapped him straight in the chest.

The dragon got back on his feet quickly, still disoriented by the loss of a part of its eyesight, but no less dangerous. Yet as Van got back up, the beast no longer seemed interested in him. For some reason, it was looking around, tasting the air as if searching for something. Surely not another dragon, it was as if he was looking for another, easier prey. It enraged Van when the drake turned its back on him, like he was ready to leave, no longer finding his opponent worthy.

With all his might Van used his sword on the exposed back of the animal, refusing to be dismissed so easily.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me !"

The dragon looked back at him to hiss, but then his head shot straight in the other direction, and he started to run. Van barely had the time to use his clawed gauntlet to snag himself at the bigger scales, refusing to be left behind by him. it ran nearly to the other side of the clearing before stopping abruptly, ejecting Van from his back. His head was going back and forth looking for something Van couldn't see, but it wasn't important, their duel wasn't finished ! He jumped aside to avoid another bout of flames, but charged at the beast right after as he saw him trying to once again leave the premises.

"Look at me ! Stupid lizard, I am the one you're fighting !"

It seemed the sound of his voice got the attention of the dragon back, who started to sprint ready to charge back head first at Van. As the dragon stopped in his tracks to coil himself and give a mighty head butt to his prey, Van, sword ready to counter the beast's next attack, clearly heard a voice screaming at him.

"NO ! Look up !"

Surprised, Van jumped back just as the sharp end of the tail of the dragon pierced the front of his armor, ripping it in half, plunging the appendage in the muddy ground under his feet, and trapping it in the cold wet earth, thus blocking his movements, and exposing the softer scales of his belly. Van took his chance and jumped ahead, sword plunging into the flesh of the dragon, slicing from the tail to the ribs while both were roaring in rage and fury, one in agony, the in victory.

The dragon reared back, giving Van the opportunity to get around and plunged his sword directly in the chest between the fire lungs. Green blood sprayed and drenched him completely as the dragon fell heavily on his side with one last groan of pain. It was over.

Van took a moment to assert the death of the dragon, and catch his breath. He won, he did it, it was… No it wasn't over, he still had something to do.

His legs were shaking a bit, but he walked up to the body, and raised his sword one more time, plunging perpendicularly to the lethal slash he just made, going deeper into the flesh. He was careful to not damage the front pouches on the chest of the dragon which still contain the gas and fluid the dragons use to breath fire, it was still too fresh and volatile, there is no need to get in direct contact with this. He learned in his history lesson how one of ancestor got severely burnt during his own hunt after damaging the pouches of the dragon, how he survived by pure luck and spite, and how it affected the rest of his life, better not make history repeat itself. It wasn't what he was looking for, his real goal was deeper within.

It took a bit of digging but he reached the heart and the treasure it contained : the drag energist.

Carefully, arms deep in the rapidly cooling flesh, he dug out the precious pink gem. Under the light of the twin moons it looked like it was still beating.

Through his glove the gem was feeling warm, strangely, maybe because his emotions were so shaken at the moment, it was like the energist was giving a pulse in his hand, maybe he was feeling his own heartbeat ? It was such a strange sensation, intoxicating, just like his own guts were twisting, but his skin felt cold, between the mud, the sweat, the blood of the dragon he felt quite gross.

But at the same time he was feeling wonderful, he was victorious, he was to scream his joy to the the world, but refrained from doing so, he was exhausted, and others predators could be lurking nearby, it would be stupid to get them to notice him in his state.

As he was taking a few steps back the corpse of the dragon started to disappear, like it was decaying at lightning pace. The flesh who was until now giving a stench of dragon, blood and death, evaporates like water, and the blood follows like steam, leaving Van without a trace of the fight beside his wounds. It only took a moment, and once the last bit of flesh was gone the skeleton too started its decay, turning into dust carried by the wind, leaving nothing behind.

Of the great mystical beast nothing remained but a single rock bigger than a fist nested in his hand.

It was over now.

Breathing deeply Van lifted his head toward the sky, pressing his prize against his own heart. He was exhausted, he wanted to fall down, to cry, the curl on himself, but his legs were locked in place, and only a single tear escaped his eyes. He would take some time later, right now he needs to get back to his camp, to dress his wounds and to rest. When the sun rose he would start his journey back to Fanelia, back to his home.

It took him a moment to get walking, he couldn't stay in the middle of the clearing for much longer, he was too exposed. but as his legs, still slightly shaking from the ordeal he remembered the voice he heard just as the dragon tried to pierce him with its tail. Who could have shouted at that moment ?

It was clearly a woman's voice, but it was impossible, there was no one for miles around this deep in the dragon forest. No one could have followed him here, was it some kind of hallucination ? Had he hurt his head during the fight and caused him to hallucinate the warning ?

Van shook his head, he was too tired for this, he needed to rest.