LoD2 Story (other got deleted?) WTF mate?

[Cablevision]

Rose’s eyes opened to a dark room. The candles she had lit had burned down to nothing and smothered themselves out. She got up and walked out into the long corridor outside her room. It was in complete silence except for a few snores. She went outside and felt the cold on her face. She looked up at the moon, its blue veins shining brightly against the black velvet sky. At least some things never change, she thought. Every night for six years, Rose has looked up and seen the moon. It hasn’t moved and neither waned nor waxed. She then looked around her and counted in her mind the things that had changed in her life. She came to the conclusion that nothing of her original life remained. She saw a man approach. He stood next to her and watched the moon with her.

Zieg: “Out for your very early morning moon watch?”

Rose: “You know me all too well...”

Zieg: “I should after all this time.”

Rose: “So... I’m guessing you heard what Diaz said?”

Zieg: “It’s pretty hard to get information out of Shirley... Damia kept a lid on it for about two seconds...”

For the first time in days, Rose laughed. Damia was an interesting character. Other than her age and height, nothing about her changed at all. She then looked over her conclusion and threw it out. She didn’t take into effect the friends she had.

Zieg: “Why do you look at the moon, anyway?”

Rose: “I don’t know... it’s not natural. The way I remember it, the moon always moved, but one day, it just stopped... and became like this.”

Zieg: “I remember... but why, do you think?”

Rose: “The only thing I can say to explain it is that the Winglies have a hand in it.”

Zieg: “What makes you think someone can stop a moon from moving?”

Rose: “Well, from what I’ve seen the Winglies do, they are very possible culprits.”

Zieg: “I suppose you have a point. Well, want to get something to eat or do you want to stand in the cold all day?”

They both went to the Mess Hall, where a handful of soldiers were eating and drinking to their fill. The six parallel tables were very long, long enough to fit at least two-thousand people in the room. All the way at the end, a very tall, muscular man was eating his breakfast. When he saw them enter, he stood up, showing off how tall he really was. He seemed to get even bigger as he quickly moved up the center isle. The ground shook slightly with each of his steps, shaking exponentially greater as he got closer. His armor resembles Rose’s, but it had a hint of gold and the crest was very large.

Belzac: “Good morning to you. How was the meeting with Diaz?”

Rose: “You already know the answer...”

Balzac: “Damn... well, you might as well join me for breakfast.”

Zieg: “Aren’t you done?”

Belzac: “Yes, but I can fit quite a bit more, haha!”

Their plates were covered in eggs and slabs of meat. Rose never liked these meals. It was so much food and it didn’t really taste good. After a few bites, she pushed the plate away. Belzac looked at her questioningly. She shrugged and put her hands on her knees.

Zieg: “You should eat.”

Rose: “I can’t. I’m not that hungry anymore.”

Belzac: “So, you won’t be eating that?”

Rose: “No, you can have it.”

Belzac: “Oh, I’m not gonna eat it... but I do have a little secret to tell you.”

Belzac opened a small bag on the bench beside him revealing all the meat he has been hoarding. He poured what was on Rose’s plate into the bag and closed it. He quickly put it on the floor between his legs.

Rose: “What... what are you...”

Belzac: “I’ve been keeping a dog in my room, and this thing eats a lot of food.”

Zieg: “Er... you know for a fact that Diaz would let you keep a dog. Why are you hiding it?”

Belzac: “Well... I’ll show you later. Just come to my room after today’s meeting.”

Belzac got up and walked out with his bag full of meat. Zieg and Rose stared at each other, not knowing what they should think. Zieg continued to eat while Rose sat, waiting for him to finish.

Zieg: “You know... every day we spend here doing nothing... I feel more and more worthless. We need to be doing something. We don’t fight how we should, we don’t even fight like normal people. No matter how much we try to change his mind, Diaz continues to turn us down.”

Rose: “What can we do but keep trying? I want to fight as much as you do, but if we don’t listen to him, we will be labeled traitors.”

Zieg: “Diaz wouldn’t do that to us.”

Rose: “Do you have any idea how much he has changed?”

Zieg: “No, I don’t. He only meets with you out of all of us. So whatever you say holds us in the balance too.”

Rose: “I know... but what can I say?”

Zieg: “Say you will do it, regardless of what he says.”

Rose: “But... I can’t so that...”

Zieg: “Which is why we haven’t fought yet. We would have fought a year ago, but you couldn’t say it. Say it now... he will not argue, I promise you.”

Rose: “I doubt it.”

Zieg: “Just trust me.”

He left the plate for the cleaners to take and they left the Mess Hall. They made their way to the Command Center where Rose had her daily meeting with Diaz. She walked up to the door while Zieg stood at the bottom of the small set of stairs and waited for her return. She pushed the double doors inward and walked into the well lit room. Diaz sat at the back in his throne. He looked up and motioned for her to sit down. Rose did so as he lifted his red visor. His face was drawn, as if he didn’t sleep the night before. The bags under his eyes were dark and his eyes were glassy. Sweat beaded on his brow and he quickly wiped it with a cloth.

Diaz: “Sorry... I had a small bout with this disease last night. I didn’t get any sleep.”

Rose: “That’s alright. I understand.”

Diaz: “So... do you wish to try and change my mind again?”

Rose: “No...”

Diaz: “What? No? You usually have a mouthful of words for mine ears to hear. So many, in fact, that I tend to have another fit.”

Rose: “I have actually come to change the so called tradition we have in these meetings.”

Diaz: “Do tell. I wish to know.”

Rose: “I want to tell you that we are going into Vellweb.”

Diaz: “I thought I told you, we simply do not have the force to take back Vellweb!”

Rose: “You don’t need to give us any forces. You can stay hear and lick your wounds, be we are ready to serve! We need to fight in order to give ourselves a chance to live on in the future!”

Diaz: “I forbade it before... I shall forbid it again.”

Rose swallowed, afraid of what might come next. She built up her courage and said what she came to say.

Rose: “It doesn’t matter what you say this time... we’re doing it... and that is final. It’s our turn to help you.”

Diaz looked at her with surprise. He sighed and nodded. With one final, hard nod, the visor shut in front of his face.

Diaz: “If that is really how you feel, then by all means, do what you think is right. However, whatever happens to you out there is your fault. I take no responsibility for your lives.”

Rose: “You relinquished that responsibility when you brought us here and trained us. We are our own responsibility now.”

Diaz: “Yes... I suppose.”

Rose stood up and bowed.

Rose: “We shall be victorious.”

Diaz: “Come back safely. I don’t want your death on my conscience.”

Rose: “Who are you kidding, you don’t have a conscience.”

Diaz laughed hard behind his visor. He hacked a cough as the laugh started to take its toll on his brittle body. He signaled for her to leave and she did so. She pulled the double doors back and walked down the stairs where Zieg waited patiently. When he saw her, he stared at her with an unspoken question.

Rose: “Well, when you’re right, you’re right.”

Zieg: “So we can go?”

Rose: “Apparently so.”

Zieg: “YES!”

Zieg’s shout of joy was so loud, several soldiers stopped walking and stared at him as if he were crazy. He looked around, embarrassed at his overreaction. They both quickly went to Belzac’s room, where he told them to meet him about his dog. Several noises were sounding in the room and many of them were questionable. Rose knocked on the door and all the sounds ceased. Then, a quick shuffle was heard.

Belzac: “Who is it?”

Rose: “It’s Zieg and I. You told us to come by.”

Belzac: “Just a minute!”

More shuffling was heard and a loud shattering pierced the door. Rose and Zieg looked at each other, listening to the strange sounds going on inside. The door quickly opened and Belzac pulled both Rose and Zieg into the large room. It was more than twice the size of Rose’s room and the bed took up most of the space. A moving lump was on the bed, struggling to free itself from the blanket that was covering it. Belzac shut the door with such force that the lump shot up with caution. He walked over to the lump and took the blanket from it. The creatures golden scales glistened in the candlelight. Its neck stood up tall and the fang teeth overlapped the bottom lip. It tilted its head to the side and looked at Rose and Zieg with curiosity. Zieg was clueless to what it may be, but Rose knew well enough what it was. What stood in front of them on Belzac’s bed was a hatchling Dragon. It rubbed its head on Belzac’s arm and curled up on his pillow.

[Cablevision]

Rose: “Belzac... how... where... just... explain!”

Belzac: “Isn’t he glorious?”

Rose: “But... how did you get a Dragon?!”

Belzac: “Sh! You don’t want to wake up the whole corridor! I got him from a traveler. He sold me an egg and the egg hatched.”

Zieg: “What makes you think you can keep this here?”

Belzac: “Well, it won’t turn on me because I was present at its hatching. It thinks I’m a parent. But when it grows older... I may have to move it somewhere safe.”

Rose: “I can’t deal with this right now... We’re moving out, Belzac.”

Belzac: “What? We got the order?”

Rose: “Not the order... we are doing this by ourselves.”

Belzac: “I... I see... How am I going to take care of him when I’m gone? He might starve!”

Rose: “Leave him with Diaz.”

Belzac: “But... What if he...”

Rose: “He won’t. Diaz will take good care of him. Now go round the others up. We will take the East Wing. You take the West Wing.”

Belzac threw the Dragon a piece of meat and left the room headed for his side of the Fort. Rose and Zieg went down the corridor and knocked on Syuveil’s door.

Syuveil: “Come in!”

Rose opened the door to see and empty room filled to the brim with books. Many tall piles of books were stacked on the desktop, in imminent danger of toppling. Stacks of paper were all over the bed, as if it wasn’t used for sleeping, just for extra space. Suddenly, a book slammed closed behind the towers of books and Syuveil stood up with his hands high in the air. His armor was tinted green and his hair had been cut very short, shorter than most of the other men. He wore glasses for his reading. His eyesight had been severely compromised after a few solid years of reading. Without them, he was as blind as a bat. He danced around for a little bit and pointed at Rose and Zieg.

Syuveil: “Do you know what this means?!”

Rose: “Er...”

Zieg: “You’re crazy?”

Syuveil: “No! I have finally read all the books in the Fort Library!”

Zieg: “Oh... so you ARE crazy.”

Syuveil: “Humph... Well, you may think it’s strange, but I see it as a great accomplishment. So, what do you want?”

Rose: “We’re going in.”

Syuveil: “Ha! Yeah right, like Diaz would send us in now after the war is practically over! Seriously, why are you here?”

Rose: “Diaz isn’t sending us in, we’re going in by ourselves. Pack whatever you need because we may not come back for a while.”

Syuveil: “This is madness! We aren’t going in with any back up or anything and you expect us to take back a fallen city? Preposterous!”

Rose: “Pack your stuff. You’re going.”

Syuveil: “I didn’t say I wasn’t, but we must be crazy for doing this...”

Syuveil took a large pack and put it on the paper covered bed. He took a stack of books and placed them in his bag along with several other worthless trinkets and items.

Rose: “Syuveil... you aren’t going to have much time for reading...”

Syuveil: “You never know...”

Rose and Zieg left his room as he shuffled and quarreled with himself about what to bring. Rose and Syuveil never really got along, but they both tolerate each other. Syuveil never really believe that this was his destiny, just that it was an obstacle to reach his real fate. Although Rose and the others gave him specific arguments with indisputable evidence, he still refused. He is stubborn, but he would listen. Rose knew she could trust him, but she could not rely on him for much. They went a few corridors down and came to another door.

Rose: “I don’t want to see him.”

Zieg: “I know... but he will only believe you because only you meet with Diaz.”

Rose: “But... I hate him.”

Zieg: “Don’t’ worry... I’ll be with you.”

Rose choked back her pride and knocked on the door. Nothing came from within. She knocked again. In the middle of her knock, the door lightly swung open. In the room, only one candle was lit and light was scarce. Everything was in disarray. It appeared that the room was completely empty. As Rose closed the door, Kanzas appeared from behind the door. His eyes were what Rose feared the most. His eyes were always filled with defiance and hatred, a hatred beyond comprehension for anything living. The only thing that would seem to give him peace was snuffing that life out. Rose recoiled, frightened by his approach. He laughed as she stumbled backward. She shook her head at him and gave him a few choice words. He laughed even harder and slapped his knee with a gloved hand, the armor clinking loudly together.

Zieg: “Alright, that’s enough.”

Kanzas: “What do you want?”

Rose: “We’re moving out. Pack up.”

Rose immediately turned and left Kanzas in his doorway. Zieg tried to catch up to her as she sped down the corridor and away from her least favorite place in all of the Fort. She and Kanzas had never had a very good relationship. It came to Rose’s attention shortly after they reached Bale that Kanzas had befriended her just so she could help him out of his jail cell. He gained her trust and that alone was enough for Diaz to pull some strings to get him out of his sentence. Little did she know, he really did slay his entire family, and many other families across the city of Karlahn. He was a heartless brute that should have rotted away in a cell for the rest of his days. Her feelings wanted him dead, but she knew that without him, they wouldn’t fulfill their destiny. After she turned the corner, she punched the wall, hurting her hand. Her glove turned red as she bled through it and blood dripped onto the floor. She flexed her hand, making sure it wasn’t broken..

Zieg: “You did well.”

Rose: “Really? I couldn’t stand it.”

Zieg: “How could you hate him so much?”

Rose: “He betrayed me... nothing is worse than betrayal.”

Zieg: “Even so, you need to learn to forgive him.”

Rose: “I can’t!”

Rose started to speed down the corridor again. Zieg tried to keep up as several groups of soldiers were waking up, avoiding Rose in one of her rages. They mostly got out of her way, but some were not so lucky. She pushed over three young soldiers who fell to the ground with heavy crunches. Zieg pulled them up quickly and continued to follow her back to her room.

Zieg: “Can’t we talk about this?”

Rose: “No.”

Zieg: “If you don’t, you won’t get over it.”

Rose: “I don’t want to get over it.”

Zieg: “Why are you so stubborn?”

Rose: “I’m stubborn?”

Zieg: “Obviously more than you know. You can’t live the rest of your life in fear of him. And you certainly can’t let him get to you like this.”

Rose: “I’m not afraid! I simply loathe him! I can never forgive him. I’m sorry, but I want to be alone for a while.”

Zieg: *sigh* “Fine, but don’t let it eat you up inside. You need to be all there when we lead the attack.”

Zieg left, seemingly frustrated with Rose, but she didn’t care at the moment, for she was still caught up on her hatred of Kanzas. She sat down on her chair for a while to cool herself down. Talking to him really takes it out of her. All of her energy goes to her anger, but she manages to hold back her urges to beat him to a pulp. She knew that if she really did hit him, he would utterly destroy her, since he was a man of extremes. She felt that, given the provocation, he would kill her.

Rose: “Why am I wasting my time over him? He doesn’t deserve my thoughts.”

Rose got up and opened her door to see Damia standing before her.

Damia: “I heard you and Kanzas had a... confrontation.”

Rose: “More of an exchange of words... I was doing the exchanging.”

Damia: “Haha! Well, he deserves it. He’s a jerk to everybody, so don’t think it’s just you. You may have more of a reason to dislike him than we do, but just try to give him a chance.”

Rose: “I don’t feel like talking about this right now.”

Damia: “That’s okay... I have Training Ground duty. I’ll see you tomorrow when we leave.”

Damia ran down the hallway and stopped halfway, shouting back at Rose.

Damia: “I forgot! Shirley was looking for you!”

Damia turned and disappeared from sight. Shirley? What could she want? Rose went down the same corridor as Damia and continued until she met Shirley in the hallway with a table taking up the whole width of the hall. She saw Rose and waved her down. As Rose approached the table, she saw that it had a map of Vellweb on it depicting the exact place of the Floating Fortress of which they recently discovered the name, The Tower of Flanvel. Belzac stood behind Shirley as she sat down at the table. Many soldiers wanted to get by, but the table blocked their way. They knew well enough, though, not to mess with any of those seven.

Shirley: “You already know what this is. I’m trying to go over a strategy.”

Rose: “What do you have?”

Shirley: “Diaz is right, we can’t expect to take on the whole army with just the seven of us. We’ll need to go in quietly.”

Rose: “How do you propose we sneak into a flying city? Not to mention a heavily occupied area.”

Shirley: “That’s the tricky part. I’m sure the surrounding area is being patrolled by the Wingly Infantry. And I’m also sure the entrances are guarded as well.”

Rose: “So... we’re marching into a seemingly impossible scenario?”

Shirley: “It’s not impossible. It will just take a lot of time. Or...”

Rose: “Or?”

Shirley: “We’ll have to use decoys while one person goes in and infiltrates the Fortress.”

Rose: “Well, then there would be six people against a whole army and one just hopping around inside a tower. That’s not exactly what we want to do.”

Shirley: “Well, I’m sure you will be all for this idea when you find out who the owner of the Tower is...”

Rose: “Who?”

Shirley: “Your old friend, Faust.”

Rose: “What?!”

Shirley: “I knew it. You want revenge, don’t you?”

Rose: “I’ll do it. I will sneak in and take care of him.”

Shirley: “I thought so. So, we’ll go with the decoy plan. I’ll spread the word. We should leave as soon as possible tonight would be best.”

Shirley stood up and wrapped the map and plan in a scroll and handed it to Belzac. They folded the table and Belzac walked down the corridor and disappeared, headed toward Diaz with their proposed plan of entry. Shirley went into her room and closed the door behind her, leaving the table folded and on the floor, in the way of the passers. Rose still remembered the day when she met Faust. It was also when she discovered her mysterious power. She had managed to injure him and she was sure that he would want to exact revenge on her. Now she can finish her job and stop Faust once and for all. She hurried back to her room where she grabbed a pack and loaded it with supplies and necessities, such as healing herbs and supplements. She kept her armor on and placed her helm into the pack along with the rest of her things. She took the chain from around her neck, lifting the sphere out of her breastplate. The candlelight caught the sphere at an angle that turned the walls purple and black. Rose loved doing this, for it made her remember the past when she had no worries but training. That was all over now, since she had grown up and now held a great responsibility to her race. She sighed and shook her head, trying to remember how she got into this in the first place. Then she remembered her father and brother, the way she found them. Nothing would make her feel better than get her revenge on the people who slaughtered her family. She tied the chain around her neck and thrust the pack over her shoulder. She grabbed her trusty sword and buckled it around her waist, always on the left side. She locked her door and walked to the meeting area, where she and the others always came together for assignments. The sun was beginning to set and everyone was ready to leave. Everything was packed and set for their short trip. Belzac arrived the latest carrying a scroll from Diaz.

Belzac: “I had to tell him about my... pet. He’s sending him to a mountain with the other Dragons and that I can go to see him at any time.”

Zieg: “That’s good. I hope he remembers you when we see him though...”

Belzac: “This scroll wishes us luck, but this mission is not warranted, so any successes are not recognized.”

Rose: “The success doesn’t need to be recognized. We just need to succeed.”

Shirley: “I’m sure if we succeed, we’ll get more recognition than we can handle.”

They nodded and headed for the gate. They drew several soldiers’ gazes and they were afraid that they may have to move out. The gate quickly opened by order of Diaz and they were ushered out by the guards. The trip was short, but they could not fly, for they needed all their energy for the upcoming operation. As they distanced themselves from the Fort, the lights turned into small sparkles, like stars behind them. The night sky was lit up like day with the bright moon overhead. The blue veins shined brighter than the day before, like cracks in stone filled with translucent ice. The cold was bitter, causing their teeth to chatter. Shivers ran up their spines, futile attempts by their bodies to heat themselves up. Their footprints in the snow seemed to disappear with the blowing wind. The snow was like an ocean, the top layer blowing moving like waves and building up against boulders that rolled down from up above the canyon walls. As they continued on, the snow began to recede and the light brown dirt was peeking through the white drifts. The wind was now picking up a mixture of dust and snow, whipping it into their faces making them sting. Their body heat warmed the cold metal of their armor, but it was not enough to stop the brisk, freezing air. They were tired and needed rest. They sat on a nearby boulder and tried to warm up.

Rose: “How much farther is it?”

Shirley: “A few more miles... We should get there a few hours before daybreak.”

Zieg: “We should make our strike as quickly as possible, then. When they least expect it.”

Damia: “Wouldn’t that be during the day, though? They wouldn’t expect an attack in broad daylight.”

Shirley: “Even though that is true, we are too easily seen during the day.”

Kanzas: “Quit your bickering. We don’t need to hide at all. We just need to kill each and every one of them.”

Belzac: “Don’t talk to them that way!”

Kanzas: “What do you know, you big mutt?! I bet you don’t have the backbone to kill someone!”

Belzac: “I have been a soldier for twenty years! I know exactly what it’s like!”

Syuveil: “Please, be quiet. Can’t I get a moments peace without someone yelling all the time?”

Everyone started arguing, their voices echoing into the night. Rose, Zieg, Syuveil and Damia stood off to the side, watching the others exchange words. With each of Kanzas’ comments, Rose grew more angry. What could he possibly know about someone’s feelings? He couldn’t even comprehend his own, for he simply gives into anger far more easily than any other feeling. A small noise radiated from behind them and Rose quickly turned her head. She looked and saw nothing but the boulder and a snowdrift. She heard it again, a crackling that seemed to have come from a burning fire.

[Cablevision]

Zieg: “What’s wrong?”

Rose: “I think we have company... BE QUIET!”

The feuding threesome went silent. Rose continued to stare behind her while the crackling continued. She slowly grabbed her bag and took her helm from it. She placed it on her head and slowly unsheathed her sword. As the tip was about to be released, a Wingly burst from the snowdrift while casting magic. Fireballs flew in all directions, some glancing off their specially made armors. Rose reached to the Wingly with her sword and pierced his neck. Another came from behind unsuspectingly and bashed Rose on the head. Rose fell to the ground and watched her friends get beaten by a mass of Winglies that were in hiding from the start. Her vision was fading and the pain started to subside. Her eyesight was completely gone and she became unconscious. She drifted along, feeling nothing but unease. What seemed like seconds later, she opened her eyes to see a cell-like room. The walls were like tree roots, wiry and rough. The only light in the room was coming from a green circle in the center. She lifted her head and felt a sharp pain in her head. She placed her hands where she had been hit. She was lucky she put on her helm, the blow alone could have killed her. Her helm remained, but her sword was gone from its usual place.

Kanzas: “Good to see you awake... Haha!”

Rose looked over to see Kanzas leaning against the transparent wall. Some magic was shaped to make the image of bars. His back faced her which gave Rose the feeling that he already tried every means of escape.

Rose: “I hope they hit you... really hard.”

Kanzas: “They did... my head was bleeding for hours.”

Rose: “Where are the others?”

Kanzas: “I see Belzac over there, but I’m not so sure about the others.”

Rose: “It seems like you don’t really care.”

Kanzas: “You have to learn to detach. If you have emotions, you can be easily compromised if they are hurt or damaged.”

Rose: “What do you know about emotions?”

Kanzas: “There’s no reason to be sore with me after all these years. You need to learn to get over these things.”

Rose: “Maybe you shouldn’t have stabbed me in the back!”

Kanzas: “I didn’t! You let your guard down! You were too quick to trust, and when you thought you knew me, you thought you were betrayed. It was you who betrayed yourself.”

Rose: “But... you... you killed those people!”

Kanzas: “And?! You need to come up with something better than that! You’ve killed people! I know this for a fact! And yet you think I’m the worse person!”

Rose: “You killed your family. You were lucky enough to even have one.”

Kanzas: “Is that what this is about? Your family? Maybe you should straighten it out with them.”

Rose: “I can’t...”

Kanzas: “Ah... so it is THAT? Well, don’t blame your problems on me. I had nothing to do with the death of your family.”

Rose: “I know...”

Kanzas: “So why do you blame me? I think I already know the answer. You need someone to blame.”

Rose: “That’s not true. I don’t blame you for their deaths... I blame you for setting an example for people. You take families for granted, like they aren’t important at all.”

Kanzas: “My family hindered my potential. So, I had to get rid of them. It’s that simple.”

Rose: “Was it really that simple to kill the people you love?”

Kanzas looked at her with a sinister smile on his face. He was about to answer, but a bright light coming from Rose’s cell interrupted him. She saw a figure approach her and knelt down in front of her. She recognized the red beard, the bald head and the staff he held. His robes crumpled onto the floor while he knelt. He stared at the helmed face of Rose, but he knew not who it was. As he bent to peer into the helm, he cringed with pain and grabbed his shoulder, the one Rose had injured years earlier. She smiled as if she were content, glad that something she inflicted so long ago still pained him today. Luckily for Rose, he could not see the smile. Faust glared at her.

Faust: “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Rose: “Why would you like to know?”

Faust: “Because I have reason to believe that you plan to attack. Explain yourself!”

Rose: “Hahaha! Attack? Us? With seven people against a whole force of Winglies? You need to get some facts straight... or a better reconnaissance team.”

Faust: “Are you insulting me? Because if you are, I swear, by my right as a Wingly, you will pay for it.”

Rose: “I will pay? Will it be similar to what you pulled on Anchorhead six years ago?”

Faust: “How... How do you know about that?!”

Rose: “And your shoulder... it seems to hurt... doesn’t it?”

Faust: “Who...?”

Kanzas: “I wouldn’t push him if I were you...”

Faust: “Who are you?! Tell me!”

Faust grabbed Rose under her arms and held her up high, above the ground. He shook her, as if hoping the answer would drop to the ground. She stayed silent, taunting him into further anger and anxiety. Kanzas saw this and knew how Rose got.

Kanzas: “Er... I wouldn’t push her if I were you...”

Again, Rose stayed silent. Faust shook harder, desperately trying to get an answer out of her. He finally gave up and dropped her with a loud, armored thump. He was breathing heavily with frustration. He quickly turned and ran back to the green circle. In a flash of light, he disappeared from the cell. Rose readjusted herself into a more comfortable position on the floor.

Kanzas: “You did well, kid. But you have to learn when enough is enough.”

Rose: “We’re not done with our discussion.”

Kanzas: “Actually... we are.”

Belzac stirred in the cell adjacent to Kanzas’. He sat up holding his head and groaning with pain. He looked over to see them looking at him and shrugged.

Belzac: “I’m guessing we don’t know where we are.”

Kanzas: “We’re in the Tower.”

Belzac: “How do you know?”

Kanzas: “I managed to stay awake during the ambush.”

Belzac: “Care to explain how you did that? Seems a little suspicious...”

Kanzas: “If you are trying to make it look like I had something to do with this, you might as well stop there!”

Belzac: “Fine... don’t talk to me, I can’t stand you.”

Kanzas: “Okay then.”

Rose: “He’s right, though. We’re in the Tower of Flanvel.”

Belzac: “How can you be sure?”

Rose: “We had a visit from an old friend.”

Belzac: “Oh... You mean...”

Rose: “Yes. Do you see the others?”

Belzac: “I see Damia, but I can’t see anyone else.”

Rose: “We must be in a circular room... How is Damia?”

Belzac: “She’s unconscious, but I can see her breathing.”

Rose: “We have to get out of here... but how?”

Kanzas: “Check that thing in the middle. If he came in through there, maybe you can leave.”

Rose: “I’m sure it’s not that simple.”

Rose stood up and went over to the green circle. She stomped down on it and jumped. Nothing happened. She looked around, looking for other means of escape. Nothing seemed to give way. The walls were completely solid and the invisible cell door with the magical bars were impenetrable. She looked into Kanzas’ cell and into another room. She saw another green circle closed off from everything else.

Rose: “That must be it... the way out.”

She placed her hand on one of the red, glowing bars. They were hard to the touch, as if they were made of metal.

Kanzas: “I already tried them. I can’t bend or break them.”

Rose: “Did you try magic?”

Kanzas: “... No...”

Rose: “Well?”

Kanzas: “What, you’re not gonna do it?”

Rose: “I have to save my energy for Faust. You do it. You have the physical strength.”

Belzac: “What about me?”

Rose: “You need to get the others out of here. You’re the only one I know who can carry all three of them by yourself.”

Belzac: “Ok, you’re right.”

Kanzas: “So, I’m doing all the work?!”

Rose: “Just do it...”

Kanzas: “Fine, fine...”

Kanzas stood back from the bars and grabbed the orb that he hid in the sleeve of his armor. He squeezed it lightly and Rose watched the orb send a surge of purple electricity up his arm. A bright light filled the room and almost blinded them. As it died down, it revealed Kanzas armored as the Lightning Dragoon. The design was much like Rose’s armor, however it was specifically contoured to his way of fighting. Kanzas used his fists in combat which seemed difficult in all this long ranged battle, but with his new abilities and magic, he could now do damage at a great distance, then come in for the kill, the standard strategy for his kind of fighting style. He walked up to the bars, his wings tucked into his back. He grabbed one bar with each hand and began to send bolts of electrical energy into them. They flashed purple and red and began to waver. The bars were flashing brightly and then turned into smoking pillars of light. The bars disappeared and Kanzas’ hands were left smoking. Rose took a step forward and safely passed through the seemingly impregnable wall.

Rose: “Now do the others. Do that wall first to let me out of the prison area. When I’m gone, get the others out and leave.”

Kanzas: “It’s not that easy you know. It’s pretty painful.”

Rose: “That pain is nothing compared to what you’ll feel when you disobey an order.”

Kanzas: “You don’t give the orders, we are the same rank!”

Rose: “Do it!”

Kanzas looked at Rose angrily, but then shrugged it off. He grabbed the bars leading to the main circle and did the same as before. The flashes were brighter then before, the Winglies seemed to have made this wall stronger than the others. This confirmed her original belief, that this green circle was the main connector. Kanzas yelled as the wall turned into large clouds of smoke and disappeared. His hands smoked again, but now his hands burned, causing him great pain.

Rose: “Good. Take a little rest and get to the others. You need to get out as quickly as possible.”

Rose went through the second wall and stood on the green circle. Kanzas shook his hands, trying to cool them off and moved on to Belzac’s bars. Rose stomped down on the green circle, but nothing happened. She felt around with her foot until she felt a small depression. She pressed down on it and she was enveloped in a green light. When it subsided, she was in another room. She was amazed by the technology the Winglies had, and wondered how they could have gotten this far in such a short time. The walls here looked much like the cell walls. A long hallway lay in front of her. She slowly walked through it, making sure that each corner was safe to pass. Shockingly, this place wasn’t swarming with soldiers as she thought it would be. The hallway ended opening up into a huge room, as if the whole tower was completely empty except for the cells. There were holes in the walls, which looked all too familiar to her. She was mesmerized at the greatness of the structure. She looked at the holes and saw something staring back at her. She broke into a sprint down another long hallway as she heard a whistle echo throughout the large tower of holes. Winglies poured out from them and chased her down into the thin corridor. Magic was fired behind her which was grazing her armor and missing entirely. She reached the end of the hall with another green circle. She fumbled with her feet to find the depression and pressed down. She was instantly transported to another room. She stood back from the circle, waiting for Winglies to come through, but none came. She surveyed the room and saw a weapons rack, with her sword hanging from one of the slots. She ran over and grabbed it, buckling it to her waist.

Faust: “Impressive... you escaped...”

Rose turned to see the man she came to face. Faust sat on his throne next to a green panel that had Wingly characters on it. He stood up and walked over to her, using his staff to walk. He still could not see her face, due to her helm.

Faust: “Take that off. Let me see your face.”

Rose was reluctant to take it off, but she did as he said. She slid the helm off her head and threw it to the side. As Faust gazed upon her features, his face contorted into a grimace.

Faust: “I knew it! At long last, I will finally get my revenge!”

Rose: “Well? I’m right here.”

Faust: “You are too rebellious for your own good. You need to listen to your elders.”

Rose: “You’re not an elder. You’re just old.”

Faust: “Why you...”

Faust cast a spell quickly and blew a fireball toward her. It hit her in the chest and pushed her back a few feet. She remained on her feet and stood up straight after the blow. Faust looked angry.

Rose: “It seems you’ve decayed, old man...”

Faust: “I WILL win!”

Rose unsheathed her sword while Faust changed his staff into a Claymore using magic. He struggled to swing its heavy weight, but managed to lighten it with more magic. Rose wanted to play with him, for she had been waiting for this for a very long time. She darted forward and jabbed with her sword. He quickly forced it out of the way and swung down. Rose sidestepped and jabbed again, and again, and again. Faust managed to block each and every one of the attacks and swung his sword down as hard as he could. His attacks were so slow, Rose was easily dodging all of them.

Rose: “You’ll have to do better than that, old man!”

Faust’s movements became faster and more accurate. Rose ducked under a horizontal blow and jabbed again. Her sword was deflected by some invisible shield that surrounded Faust’s body. Faust laughed as he swung again. Rose jumped over the strike and slashed with her sword. Her sword came to rest on the invisible shield. Faust laughed again and pushed her away with magic, causing her to fall on her back.

Faust: “I’ve been toying with you, Child! You can’t win, for I am second in command of the greatest army in all of Endiness!”

Faust threw his sword into the air and it shattered into several thousand glass shards. The shards rained down upon the whole room, dissolving before hitting Faust. The shards glanced off Rose’s armor, she protected her face with her hands. Faust laughed haughtily again, as if he had won. Rose stood up and picked up her sword from the broken glass. Faust continued to laugh and speak in a singsong voice.

Faust: “That’s what you get when you cross a Wingly, especially the second most powerful in all the world!”

Rose: “Only second most powerful... that means if you’re defeated, your race might rethink their place in power.”

Faust: “You really are a stupid child... I am the most powerful of them all! My commander is not worthy! I SHALL RULE!!”

Rose grabbed the orb and squeezed down. Faust formed a new sword and charged her. He watched her get engulfed in a dark sphere. He slowed down and dropped the sword. As Rose emerged, he ran with fear toward his throne. He sat down and fumbled with the panel. He pushed random areas until one sounded a loud boom throughout the entire Tower. Fire came out of the nearby hallways, filling the whole room.

[Cablevision]

Faust: “If I can’t win, I’ll take you down with me!”

Rose felt the Tower dip to the right. All the things that were not nailed down started to roll across the floor to the other side.

Rose: “What did you do?!”

Faust: “The Tower of Flanvel is falling! The ultimate annihilation!”

Rose flew into the air and struck at Faust. He attempted to push her again with his magic but his was too weak compared to hers. He was thrown into a hallway where another burst of flames enveloped him and he disappeared from sight. Rose looked for him, unsatisfied with her thirst for his blood. She could not find. Him. The floor was now almost parallel to her and she needed to escape. The corridors still blasted flames into the large room. She flew to one of the walls and placed her hand on it. A dark ball of emptiness formed on the wall. The each molecule of wall was being sucked in by this ball of darkness until it formed a hole, revealing the morning light. She blocked her eyes from the sun and flew out through the hole she created. She flew to what she thought was a safe distance away and hovered above the falling Tower. The Tower had straightened itself out and now was falling bottom first into the glacier down below. The glacier broke apart and the Tower sank lower and lower until it was out of sight, completely engulfed in ice and snow. Water vapor rose above the tower, the fires were melting parts of the glacier. The steam eventually stopped as the fires were snuffed out of existence. She looked around for signs of her friends. Had they escaped the Tower in time? She flew down to the snowy ground where they took a rest earlier in the night. There, she saw everyone waiting for any signs of her presence. She landed and they sighed with relief as she reverted back to her normal form. They all stared at the rising steam where the Tower fell, both shocked and happy.

Zieg: “A little overdone, don’t you think so?”

Rose: “Faust did it. He was afraid...”

Belzac: “So, he’s dead?”

Rose: “I hope so... the flames took him. But I didn’t see a body.”

Belzac: “I’m sure he won’t rear his ugly head. I’m sure if they knew he had failed, they would kill him.”

Rose: “I hope you’re right...”

They walked to Vellweb, their original destination. The snow was gone and the dirt was dry and fine grained. The cliff they came to overlooked the entire city. They were horrified when they saw what had taken place. The soldiers that had been sucked into the sand had decayed, releasing their bodily fluids into the surrounding dirt. They saw a field a Devil’s Kisses, the repulsive flower that feeds on human blood. Beyond that, the Winglies had abandoned a large structure, a seven-pronged tower that was still under construction, but in good shape.

Zieg: “I wonder what Diaz will say after we tell him we succeeded...”

Rose: “I know exactly what he’ll say.”

Everyone looked at Rose and she looked back at them with a smile on her face.

Rose: “He would say... ‘You can have the tower.’”

The sun rose higher as the day went on, the Moon That Never Sets still king of the sky.

[Cablevision]

Chapter 12: Danger in the Depths, The Battle of Aglis



The room was completely dark. The slightest noise echoed and a decrescendo was heard as the sound wore itself out. A small crack of light came forth from the door as it was opened, letting in a woman in a black cloak.

Woman: “I have bad news, my Liege.”

A fire was lit at the other end of the room. The fire followed a path of flammable liquid until it completely circled the room. The fire then went toward the middle, still following its designated trail. It entered a large chandelier where large pits of oil were set ablaze with the hungry flame. The now well lit room had marble flooring and columns. The flattened and distorted tree root lay near the middle. A green figure stood on its surface, then disappeared. The man behind the tree root stared at the woman as she approached. He seemed angry and frustrated with her visit. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow. His muscles atrophied from little use and magic as it took its toll on the body.

Charle: “It’s about Faust, brother.”

Melbu: “Is he dead?”

Charle: “I believe he is... I’m sorry...”

Melbu: “Don’t be... I’m glad he’s dead.”

Charle: “But... but Melbu, he was one of our strongest magicians! He’s second in command, and the humans killed him!”

Melbu: “Did they? I’m sure it was Faust who destroyed himself. Did you know he was conspiring against me?”

Charle: “What? But... it can’t be true!”

Melbu: “Oh, it was true. He thought he was stronger than I. He is lucky though...”

Charle: “Why is that?”

Melbu: “He didn’t have to deal with me. He got off easy.”

Charle: “But, what is worse than death?”

Melbu: “There is only one thing that is worse than death, and that is not being allowed to die. I would have made sure that Faust’s life was a living hell. I wouldn’t kill him, just make him want to die.”

Charle: “I don’t understand your logic... No Winglies can die from age-“

Melbu: “Exactly. It’s the perfect torture. He would want to die, but he would be kept alive, thus losing all hope.”

Charle: “How can you be so cruel?”

Melbu stood up. Although his muscles had grown weak, he stood tall and cast an ominous shadow on Charle. She recoiled and knelt down before him, begging his forgiveness. He knelt in front of her and put his long, bony fingers on her shoulders. She looked into his eyes, his gray and lifeless eyes, and could not see what was behind them. For the first time, she could no longer see her brother. The emptiness that filled him spread to every inch of her. She turned away from his face, for it hurt too much to see him as he is now.

Charle: “What has happened to you, brother?”

Melbu: “I have changed, Charle. My mind has been opened to everything in the world. I now see the very outline of life itself! I now understand the magic forward and back!”

Charle: “And what was the price, Melbu?”

Melbu: “Price?”

He stood up and walked back to his seat, surveying the craftsmanship of each detail and carving in the wooden frame. He put his hands up to the ceiling.

Melbu: “I am the most powerful being in all of Endiness! My muscles seem to have weakened, but I am much more powerful than any man and Giganto. My magic is greater than anything on this planet! Including Dragons...”

Charle: “It’s as if I don’t know who you are anymore… This campaign, this hunger for power… What have you done? What are you trying to do?!”

Melbu: “Have I lost you as well, my dear sister? All I have ever asked of you was your trust and support. I gave you everything, food, water, a high and mighty life, and what I get in return is doubt and betrayal… You have wronged me…”

Charle: “You’re wrong… It is you who have wronged me. I gave you years upon years of trust, yet you betray it after all this time. It’s as if… you planned it…”

Melbu: “You speak nonsense.”

He turned his back to her and admired his throne again. It struck her that she had strummed a nerve that revealed the secret to which it was attached. She lowered her head, turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Melbu snapped his fingers. A soldier appeared and bowed.

Melbu: “My sister knows too much.”

The soldier looked up, questioningly.

Melbu: “See to it that she will never speak again.”

The soldier nodded and vanished. Melbu cracked a smile as he thought of the good times he and his sister had, and what he now must do.

Melbu: “So be it…”

Charle walked briskly through the long corridor, passing several guards along the way. None of them budged until she passed. They followed behind her, marching with weapons in hand, just as they were instructed to do. She turned to them and asked them to halt. They followed her order and stopped where they stood. Charle smiled. She had become even more jumpy ever since her brother became this way. She heard clanking armor behind her. She spun around, expecting the worst, but to her surprise, she saw a close friend. He knelt before her and explained the situation through a whisper only she could hear. She nodded and reluctantly and signaled to the other soldiers. They dropped their weapons and summoned a circle of magic underneath her. A man shouted from the other side of the corridor and came running with his sword. As Charle disappeared, the last thing she saw was her dear friend being stabbed through the chest. As he fell, she appeared in a new destination. Another female Wingly stood in front of her as she appeared in the city where Charle and her brother grew up.

Female Wingly: “Are you alright, Ma’am?”

Charle: “Yes, I am fine.”

Female Wingly: “So… the plan is underway, then?”

Charle: “It has been underway for six years…”

She walked past the Wingly as she nodded with content. Charle entered her old house, from which she began her planning.

Rose stretched out on her new cot. Her suit of armor lay in pieces on her table next to a leather bag filled with the last of her things. Her new room was spacious, walls covered in dark cloth, making the room darker than it really was. A fancy carpet with delicate patterns of golden thread added a small amount of color to the room, which was greatly needed. She wore her tunic, which was light and more comfortable than her armor, which she wore most of the time. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. The extra weight that the armor supplied left her light and made it easy to move. She jumped up a few times, the strength of her legs sending her at least a foot in the air. She felt as though nothing was holding her down, as though she had no worries. A knock on her door sent a sudden shiver down her spine. A guard screamed at a friend of his who had apparently pushed him into the door. Realizing whose door it was, they quickly ran, leaving only tracks behind. Rose shook her head in annoyance. She turned toward her pack only to be interrupted again by another knock on the door. She rushed over and opened it swiftly and angrily.

Rose: “What?!”

Damia stood there, taken aback by her sudden outburst. Rose sighed. She apologized to Damia and welcomed her into her room. Damia sat down on her bed, obviously upset. Her normal glow and giddiness had been fading slowly over time, which worried Rose about her wellbeing. This change was now noticeable even to the untrained eye. Her head was drooped. She was pale and she seemed completely out of routine. Rose couldn’t take this anymore. She loved Damia like a little sister and the last thing she ever wanted was her to feel this way.

Rose: “Is something wrong?”

Damia said nothing. Her head remained lowered. Rose sat next to her, hoping that she can bring her out of this slump.

Rose: “So… how do you like your new room? Isn’t it fantastic?”

Damia: “It’s a great room…”

Rose: “And the location! This tower is incredible! Leave it to the Winglies to construct something of this magnitude.”

Damia: “Yeah… amazing…”

Rose: “But nothing matches the human ingenuity. We can do all of this without magic at all!”

Damia: “What are you doing?”

Rose had made the attempt of cheering her up, but Damia saw right through it.

Rose: “If there is something bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”

Damia: “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rose: “You might feel better if you do.”

Damia: “I don’t feel like it.”

Rose: “But if you don’t-“

Damia: “What does it matter?!”

Damia’s eyes met Rose’s. Her eyes were filled with tears. Rose’s gaze hardened as she surveyed Damia’s evident despair. Damia regretted the words as she said them. She thrust her head onto Rose’s shoulder and let the tears flow. Years of pent up frustration and sadness were let out as Rose patted her on the back. Several minutes passed as Damia finished her release of emotion. Her sentences were broken with sobs as she tried to explain why she felt this way, but words would not come. After several more moments, Damia became coherent enough to speak.

Damia: “It’s hard to say, really. I’m not really sure what this is…”

Rose: “Just try to explain it.”

Damia: “It’s… the Call of the Ocean…”

Rose was puzzled by this. She had never heard of such a thing. Maybe there were things that Damia had known all along. She thought that because of Damia’s lineage, she may feel things that full bred humans could not feel. The Mer-people were an interesting race, in which they could sense and feel the waves and water. They could predict the actions of water as well as the ability to breathe in it. Water is the central point of a Mer-person’s life.

Rose: “What do you mean?”

Damia: “I have this feeling… that I may have to go back…”

Rose: “Back? To what? Where?”

Damia: “Home… I need to go back home.”

Rose: “But… isn’t that-?”

Damia: “It is… I have to find my mother. I think she wants me to come back… but…”

Rose: “But you don’t know where she is…”

Damia: “Yeah…”

Rose: “Well, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Damia looked up at her questioningly. Rose walked over to the door and opened it for her. She knew that Damia had to figure this out for herself. She was fifteen now and she was old enough to make her own decisions. Damia stood up and walked to the door.

Damia: “I need help… I don’t even know where to start.”

Rose: “You don’t need any help. You’re an amazing individual and I’m sure that you can find any answer you want. Just try. I remember you telling me she lived in the Lake at Jokuhl. Isn’t that where she is?”

Damia: “I don’t think so… that lake could lead anywhere, even into the ocean.”

Rose: “Well, ask Syuveil, I’ sure he’ll have some books on this sort of thing.”

Damia smiled and left the room. Rose closed the door with a sigh and went to her bed to stretch out again. Damia was lucky. She actually has a place to go back to. Rose has a pile of ashes that have surely been looted and built upon by traveling vagabonds. She has a small cabin in which several children lived, which is also probably completely destroyed by Winglies. She had a carriage pulled by horses that had been burned for wood in Fort Magrad, in which she lived for quite some time in a stone, dank room. Her home was never definite. But she wanted this tower, this very room to be her new, permanent home. She closed her eyes, thinking about the strange weather that had spread to Vellweb. The normally arid land had received cold weather accompanied with two inches of snow. Perhaps this was due to the sudden shift of glacial ice from the destruction of Flanvel. She did not know for sure, however, for she neither wanted nor cared for news on the fate of Faust. His destruction led to an extreme movement from Fort Magrad. Seventy thousand human troops moved from Magrad and Bale to Vellweb to prevent another loss of the city. This however, had spread the troops too thin, but there is so little land left, they no longer worried about it. Diaz’s job was becoming increasingly hard, since he now tried to incorporate her power into the plans of attack. There was a vast difference in power between their strongest soldier and the power of the Dragon, which caused problems in balance. She fell into a light sleep until she was awoken by another knock. It was heavy, a very familiar knock. She opened the door to see Belzac with his travel pack.

Rose: “You just get back?”

Belzac: “Yeah, sorry, did I wake you?”

Rose: “Not really, I wasn’t asleep yet. How is he?”

Belzac: “He’s great! He made a whole bunch of new friends and all the other Dragons are so nice to him.”

Rose: “So there were other Dragons on the mountain… maybe we can find a few more…”

Belzac: “What?”

Rose: “Nothing. How much did he grow?”

Belzac: “He’s as big as I am now! It’s incredible how fast they grow!”

Rose: “Good, good. Anything else?”

Belzac: “Yes, actually, there is one thing.”

Rose crossed her arms. She let Belzac explain his concern.

Belzac: “When I was on the mountain. I felt a strange presence. The same presence I feel when I’m near one of the Dragons.”

Rose: “A presence?”

Belzac: “Yes, but something different from the normal feeling… like… an emptiness and anger.”

Rose: “I don’t know… I wouldn’t let it bother you, though. As long as you and your Dragon are all right, it all should be fine.”

Belzac: “Yeah, I guess. Have a good rest!”

Belzac closed the door behind him with a thud. Rose knew Belzac would worry if she told him that his feeling was well founded. She thought it was better to keep him in the dark about such matters. She lay down on her bed again, closing her eyes again. The sleep finally came to her, after a long wait.

Damia entered Syuveil’s room, in which several hundred books were present. Syuveil lifted his head at the interruption, annoyed and surprised by the visit.

Syuveil: “May I help you with something, Damia?”

Damia: “Um… Do you have any books on Legends and Folktales?”

Syuveil: “Of course! Are you interested in such things?”

Damia: “Only one aspect.”

Syuveil: “And that is?”

Damia: “Um… Mermaids…”

Syuveil: “Hm… I may have something on them. Why so sudden?”

Damia: “Well, I don’t know, I have always been fascinated with such things.”

Syuveil walked over to a tall pile of books stacked vertically all the way to the ceiling. He surveyed the spine of each and every book in the pile.

Syuveil: “It’s very good that a girl so young is interested in reading, regardless of what genre it is. Whether it be mystery, folklore, history, a good book will feed the mind for years and years without end.”

He plucked a book from the pile, each book above it falling one space lower. He smiled with glee.

Syuveil: “I’m getting better at that. The last time I tried it, it all fell on top of me.”

He handed her the book and went back to his desk. He buried his face into the book he had been reading and continued talking.

Syuveil: “I have always loved reading. How about you, Damia, do you like reading?”

When he looked up, she has vanished with his book, door wide open and flapping in the cold breeze.

Syuveil: “I hope she brings that back, it’s one of my favorites.”

Damia ran to the new Mess Hall and slammed the book down on the nearby table. As usual, many of the soldiers made way for her. They feared her as much as they did the others, even though she was younger than they. She leafed through the book quickly, skimming all of the information for any sign of Mermaids and their potential places of origin. She spent several minutes searching through it, getting more and more impatient as she went on.

Zieg: “You alright, Damia?”

Zieg stood over her, wondering what she was doing. She glanced at him and looked back at her book.

Damia: “I’m fine. I’m just doing a little reading.”

Zieg: “You must really read fast, because you just blew by ten pages.”

Damia: “I’m looking for something specific.”

Zieg: “Hm, need any help?”

Damia: “No, I’m fine, thanks anyway.”

Zieg: “I see. Don’t stress yourself out.”

He left the Mess Hall, leaving Damia to her reading. Page after page went by and nothing looked remotely helpful. She finally reached the last few pages containing only one paragraph about Mer-people. It stated only that they were aquatic humanoids that have rarely been seen, but they are known to exist. The book spoke of nothing more. She shut it loudly, frustrated with an unsuccessful search. She threw it on the floor, making a loud echoing noise. She put her head into her hands, close to sobbing. She felt a small glimmer of hope and picked up the book, hoping that in her rushed search she had missed something. She placed it on the table and opened it. The book opened to a page with a folded up piece of paper. She unfolded it revealing a map of the area between the Lake of Jokuhl and the ocean to the north. On the map were several drawings of arrows and a small dot where it was clearly marked. She folded the map again and placed it in her pocket. She took the book and dropped it off at Syuveil’s room. The sky became dark quickly. The moon was as still as it was six years ago. The blue veins shined brighter than the stars. She traveled back to her room. It was bright and filled with amazing tapestries. A fountain lay in the middle, filling the room with the calming sound of running water. She lay herself down on her cot and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Rose arrived at the stone bridge in the middle of the night. She looked up at the sky, wondering how such a thing could exist. A sheet of darkness spread across the entire horizon with sparkles of light dotting it in random, yet precise ways, as if to make each one important. As she stared, a star shot across the sky. She was awed and looked for more like it, but none came.

Zieg: “You don’t see very many of those. You were lucky to even see that one.”

Rose: “What took you so long?”

Zieg: “You’re early, as usual.”

He stood next to her and looked up at the sky.

Zieg: “Why do you look at it so much?”

Rose: “It’s mysterious. The stars, the moon, they all have a purpose, regardless of placement. They form patterns, shapes, pictures. It amazes me.”

Zieg: “I guess I never really noticed before… show me some of these pictures.”

Rose pointed to a star directly in front of them.

Rose: “Follow that one up and around to the right. You notice the pattern? It looks somewhat like a fish.”

Zieg looked carefully, trying to follow her instructions. His eyes widened as he finally noticed the shape.

Zieg: “Wow! I really see them. Are there anymore?”

Rose: “There are hundreds!”

Zieg: “Hundreds…?!”

Rose chuckled at his enthusiasm. She showed him a few more patterns, each one met with his amazement. She had never really had a chance to talk with him like this. There was always an interruption such as training or other soldiers. Tonight seemed different. Patrolling soldiers had gone, leaving only them together. For once in a very long time, Rose could say that she enjoyed herself with him, as if it was what should have been happening since the day they met. She felt a new swell of feelings in her, things she had never felt before. She tried to suppress them, avoiding making them evident. She had no idea what to do with such feelings. They frightened her and were beyond her knowledge of her own emotions. She could do only one thing.

Rose: “Er… I have to go. I’m a little tired.”

Zieg: “What?”

Rose: “I’m sorry, I really have to go. I need some rest.”

Zieg: “Need me to walk you back to your tower?”

Rose: “No!”

Zieg was shocked by her explosive reaction. He knew this was unlike her and was apparently worried.

Rose: “Um… Bye.”

[Cablevision]

She turned tail and fled. She walked briskly back to the room in her tower. The sky was reaching its pinnacle of darkness before the sun was to rise. She slammed her door shut with a loud plunk. She heaved breaths and leaned on her shut door. Her cheeks were red and hot. She could not understand her state of mind, which frightened her even further. She took several minutes to calm down and to control her feelings. She lay on her cot, nervous and disheveled. She stared at the dark, stone ceiling, still confused and slightly angered. She was disgusted with herself that she didn’t even know her own emotions. Nothing infuriated her more than things she didn’t know, especially if it was happening within her very mind. Over time spent lying down, her eyes felt heavy. The light in the room was beginning to increase as the sun was rising.

Rose: “Damn… through the whole night…”

She made it a goal to sleep, for she had no planned itinerary for that day. She would only worry about the very same thing again later.

Damia sat up on her bed early in the morning. The water still trickled in the fountain. She packed a bag with essentials and her plated armor. She shut her door softly, avoiding waking the others. She made her way down the stairs and out of her tower. She hurried toward the temporary southern gate trying to keep as low a profile as possible. She reached the stone bridge where she found Rose watching the horizon change colors. Damia ducked out of her sight, making sure Rose didn’t see her. She passed seemingly unnoticed and continued to the gate. As she began to exit, she heard footsteps behind her.

?: “Where do you think you’re going?”

She turned slowly, ready for a scolding only to find Diaz standing there.

Damia: “Why are you here?”

Diaz: “I should ask you the same question.”

Damia: “I have something to take care of.”

Diaz: “So do I, but are yours to be taken care of outside of Vellweb?”

Damia looked at the dirt, thinking of something to say. She then thought it wasn’t the best act to lie to her Commander and old time friend.

Damia: “I’m going to help my family.”

Diaz looked concerned, for he knew more about her history than she could possibly think. He thought on her ability and incredible skills.

Diaz: “You are aware of the risks?”

Damia: “Yes…”

Diaz: “Hm…”

They both stared at the dirt, contemplating what may happen in the days to come. A life is at stake and they both know it. When a life is taken into account, choices become harder and harder to make, though once the choice is made, there is always a hint of regret. This was a unique incident. Either one life or many will fall victim to the choice. Diaz looked up at her just as she looked at him.

Diaz: “Be careful…”

Damia: “I will.”

Diaz: “Don’t do anything reckless. The last thing we want is for you to…”

Damia: “I know, I won’t be rash, I promise.”

Damia adjusted the bags on her shoulder and turned away. She walked through the gate looking back as she passed the turn into the glacier. Diaz had gone, leaving her a view of the towers in the distance. She trudged through the light blanket of snow, her feet becoming dampened by the melting water crystals. She stopped in front of what seemed to be a wall of snow, which was in fact a terrible blizzard. She looked back, wondering if she had made a mistake and even leaned toward the open trail. Her hair blew in her face as she looked at the snow and made her resolve. She turned toward the blizzard and stepped into the blistering winds that were like daggers cutting to the bone.

Rose saw Diaz approaching the bridge. She remained where she was, for Diaz seemed to be headed straight for her. He stood next to her without a word and stared into the sky. The stars were almost gone and the moon grew ever brighter. Rose felt awkward to be with him. They had grown apart over these few years and what once was a great friendship was now a passing glance. Rose knew only one way to break the tension.

Rose: “I never see you out here. You rarely leave headquarters.”

Diaz: “I had some business to take care of, if you don’t mind.”

Rose: “Of course I don’t mind. Would it matter if I did?”

Diaz: “Actually…”

Rose: “Huh?”

Diaz: “It would mean the world…”

Rose looked puzzled and didn’t hide it. Diaz saw her expression and chuckled.

Diaz: “It’s important that everyone agrees with everyone else. If they didn’t, nothing would get done. There would be too many factions vying for supremacy that the main cause is lost in political strife. There is always one person who everyone will agree with because that person shall bring the truth to light. People love the truth, but sometimes the truth is too much for them to bear. Very much like this truth, which I will tell you now…”

Rose: “What truth? What more could there be?”

Diaz: “The truth about the Wingly ambition.”

Rose: “Their ambition? Isn’t it just to rule other species?”

Diaz: “Exactly, a single faction vying for ultimate supremacy keeping alive an ulterior motive.”

Rose: “What is this motive?”

Diaz: “The Winglies want supremacy… but the leader of the Winglies wants only one thing… the destruction of the world.”

Rose couldn’t help but laugh. How could a single person destroy the entire world? It’s impossible, even for the Winglies.

Diaz: “You laugh, but you have done just as I have said. The truth was too much for you to handle, so you choose not to believe it.”

Rose: “And how does this supposed Wingly leader plan to attempt this obliteration of the world?”

Diaz: “Simply put…”

Diaz points up. Rose followed his finger as it rested at the moon. She looked at him is astonishment, but she still shook her head in disbelief.

Diaz: “If he has the power to stop it, he has the power to wield it. Whether you like the idea or not, this is how it will happen and it will be up to you to stop it.”

Rose was dumbfounded but still against such a ludicrous claim. Diaz turned toward the headquarters and began to walk away. He waved behind himself.

Diaz: “That’s enough truth for today. Have a nice day off.”

Rose stared up at the motionless moon where it had remained for six years. She felt something tugging at her stomach and became anxious.

Rose: “How can it be real? Why did he tell me that anyway?”

Rose sighed and disregarded the conversation, hoping that it wouldn’t be important in the future. She headed toward the mess hall where she sat and put her head in her hands and began to drowse. The kitchen was empty and none of the soldiers were up. Only a few people are usually up at this hour. She, Diaz and the night guards use this time for catching up of leftover work and or preparations for any military activities. She jumped out of a daze as the sound of a pot being dropped echoed throughout the hall. Her heart raced slightly but quickly calmed as Belzac walked into the mess hall. He sat across from her, his head several feet above her own. She couldn’t keep her eyes on his face for too long, for doing so would strain her neck to the point of snapping in two. They waited together, speaking about any news they had heard. Rose left the contents of her conversation with Diaz a secret because there is no point in spreading any false truths. Belzac told her of his Dragon pet and how large he had gotten.

Belzac: “Several times the size of me, I tell ya! He’s really growing nicely!”

Rose: “It seems he won’t turn out like the one we met on the plains all those years ago. Same color, but different parents, no doubt.”

Belzac: “Well, I don’t know. He could have the same parents, just possibly a different mother. The golden scales are definitely the Plains Dragon’s, I would assume the size is from another.”

Rose: “Is there any chance of riding?”

Belzac: “Oh boy, I highly doubt it. I think he has reached his peak in size, and even if he kept growing, I wouldn’t step foot on him. I’ll stay as close to the hard and solid earth as possible. It has served me well all these years and I don’t plan on changing that, ha ha!”

Rose: “But, you can fly, remember?”

Belzac: “Oh… Yeah… You know I’m not a good flier.”

They continued on with their conversation, Rose becoming more and more vocal. She saw Syuveil approach and she waved him over to their table.

Rose: “So how goes the library development?”

Syuveil: “It goes swimmingly. It has an excellent collection of works from many places.”

Rose: “Even the ones you stole?”

Syuveil: “Yes… What’s that now?”

They laughed together, enjoying each other’s company. Zieg and Shirley came with the surge of soldiers that were finally waking up from their well-earned sleep. The kitchens were fired up and food was beginning to fill their stomachs. The conversations continued.

Zieg: “I was thinking that maybe we should take a trip to this mountain Belzac keeps blabbing about.”

Belzac: “What?”

Shirley: “Yeah, that sounds like fun!”

Rose: “We could fly around with the Dragons, if they don’t attack us for being there in the first place.”

Syuveil: “Who knows until we try, right? My books say-“

Kanzas: “Your books can’t predict the future.”

Kanzas found his way over and sat down at the end of the table, looking at Syuveil with a smirk on his face.

Syuveil: “Ah, Kanzas, on the contrary, many of my books are of constellation records. The movement of stars in the sky written down over several years of research which can later be used to… Kanzas?”

Kanzas: “You’re still talking?”

Syuveil: “Gr…”

They ate to their fill and continued talking amongst themselves. The conversations began to lose their flare as the table became more silent. Not until it quieted down did everyone really survey who was at the table. They all came to the same conclusion.

Shirley: “Did anyone see Damia today?”

Rose: “I saw her last night.”

Syuveil: “As did I.”

Belzac: “Anyone see her this morning?”

They looked at each other as they all shook their heads. They immediately stood up and left the mess hall. They split up in search of Damia’s whereabouts. The first place they checked was her room. The bed was made and her packs and armor were gone. When no news came of her, they assembled again in the mess hall and sat down to think.

Rose: “When you saw Damia, did she say anything out of the ordinary?”

Syuveil: “She asked for a book, nothing more.”

Zieg: “Yeah, I saw her reading that book!”

Rose: “Anything else?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Rose: “What was the book about, Syuveil?”

Syuveil: “Er, it was about folklore and myths.”

Rose: “Anything in specific?”

Syuveil: “Well, she did ask for a book specifically on Mermaids.”

Rose thought for a second and remembered the conversation she and Damia had in her room about the Call of the Ocean. She felt a deep sinking feeling in her gut, making her extremely uncomfortable. All of the others picked up on her discomfort. She looked up at them.

Rose: “We may have a problem…”

Rose wrenched open the door to the headquarters interrupting a meeting with a group of Diaz’s subordinates screaming at Diaz. Diaz sent them out of the room.

Rose: “We can’t find Damia! I think I know where she went so we’re going to go get her!”

Diaz: “I’m afraid not…”

Rose: “What?”

Diaz: “You see, I saw Damia this morning. She has something she alone needs to do and we cannot interfere.”

Rose: “But… she might die!”

Diaz looked away with sorrow.

Diaz: “She knew that when she left the city. There’s nothing we can do for her now but pray for her safe return.”

Rose: “How can you just sit there and say that young girl has to die?! She’s like a sister to you!”

Diaz: “People make choices. I am not her brother, so I could not understand what was going through her mind about this dilemma, but she knows what she must do and I as well as you must respect her wishes. She doesn’t want harm to befall her friends… her family, so she left early this morning for the lake to the north of Jokuhl.”

Rose: “We must go after her!”

Diaz: “No! She must resolve this on her own!”

Rose: “Gr… How can you say that?”

Diaz: “Because I believe she will not let us down. Besides… even if you did go after her, you couldn’t help. You can’t take the fight to the bottomless depths of the sea…”

Rose was enraged. She tried to retaliate but she couldn’t bring herself to scream anymore. She clenched her fists, lowered her head in defeat and left the room leaving Diaz to his lonesome. Her friends stood at the gate, packed and ready, waiting for the order to head out.

Zieg: “I packed your things so we could leave quickly.”

Rose: “We’re not going anywhere.”

They looked at her, puzzled. She kept her gaze down at the dirt, the others staring at her with confusion and helplessness.

Shirley: “What do you…?”

Rose: “This is something she must do on her own… we can’t help her.”

Belzac: “But she could-“

Rose: “Yes… she could. But… we can’t help.”

They stood there with their packs on their shoulders. Rose finally looked up toward the gate and through to the beginning of the glacier where Damia definitely passed through.
Kanzas tore away from the group and glumly walked back to his tower. One by one, Syuveil, Shirley, Belzac and finally Zieg left the gate and headed back to their own rooms. Rose continued to stare out through the gate, contemplating what would happen to her sister.

The land rushed by below her as Damia flew through the midday sky. The sun warmed her body after the trip through the relentless snow storms of the glacier. The light was refreshing like cool, crisp water on a parched throat. She surveyed the lands that she had once traveled and was surprised by the little change. The earth kicked up by the Gold Dragon was still jagged and had become barren of life. The stormy mountains were now bathed with light, something that the creatures of that range were awaiting for years. She flew with great haste, trying to waste as little time as possible. She knew there wasn’t much time left and it could all be over if she didn’t arrive at all. The city that is the supposed home of her family had been there for many years, before the land crept up around them, trapping them in the lake, separate from the ocean save for a small river tributary that leads to the main exit of the lake. This was considered prime location, for the enemies of the Mer-people could neither ambush them nor flank them, for there was only one mean of escape.

The sun was setting and the moon became the only source of light in the skies. The stars seemed blackened by some ominous clouds, foreboding the future to come. Damia landed with her pack safely on a patch of grass. A slight dew had formed on the blades, sparkling in the constant moonlight. She tossed herself onto the ground and used her pack as a pillow. She looked up at the sky, wondering if she would make it in time. She understood the severity of the situation, but nothing can be done if she didn’t have the strength to do anything. A little rest wouldn’t hurt, or would it? She saw a bright flash in the clouds and then a loud rumble.

Damia: “A storm?”

She stood up carrying her pack and hurried along to her destination. She had come far but was it even worth it? Her mother abandoned her when she was a baby, could she possibly help a person who didn’t care enough to even keep her? Even Rose, who wasn’t even blood related to her, cared more deeply than her mother. But it seems that that is the major reason why Damia was going in the first place, blood relation. She couldn’t let down her family, her race, or herself. She holds power that no other could possibly have and she will use it to the best of her abilities to hold back the Wingly onslaught.

She came to the top of a hill that overlooked the ruined town of Jokuhl. Nothing but rotten wooden frames of buildings that were burned years ago remained standing; however, the town had guests. Damia crouched low to the ground and approached the Wingly encampment. They had made use of the debris for fires and a guard tower. She pinned herself against the tower leg, avoiding detection. She froze the leg with her magic until it was cold enough to burn flesh. She then froze the adjacent leg. She lined herself up between them and, with swift kicks, shattering the frozen wood. The tower began to lean toward the encampment, the Wingly atop the tower screaming, alerting his comrades.

Damia: “Right on top of them…”

The other tower legs snapped, allowing the tower to fall directly onto the tents of the encampment. Damia quickly dispatched the remaining hindrances before moving on to the lake shore. She stood before the small waves as they crashed at her feet. This was the point of no return. One step could change her fate. Another choice lay before her, life or death. Her life depended upon the direction of a step. She swallowed as if her own pride tried to make an escape. She dropped her pack and took a step toward the water. It was cold and seemed to repel from her very skin. She grabbed her weapon, the large mace, and entered the lake. As the water crept up her body, ankles, knees, waist, chest, her heart began to pound faster and faster. She dreaded the time when she must lower her head, truly committing her to this endeavor. She prepared herself for the possible devastation she may see, but this is the consequence of war. Nothing could be done for the souls lost, but something must be done for the souls yet to perish. The water reached her nose and she stopped walking. A tear ran down her face as she kicked off the sandy bottom with her legs and began to swim out into the deepest part of the lake. The swimming came naturally. Her speed in the water seemed unmatched, she could outrun anything. Her breathing seemed controlled. She felt as if she was breathing at times in the waters of the lake. The bed of sand suddenly dropped out from under her. A steep cliff dropped what seemed like miles into deep blue. She looked into the black abyss trying to find any sign of life. In the distance, she saw glimmering light. It was small, but any light down in the depths gave her hope. She began to swim toward it not realizing what dangers may lay in deeper waters.

The water was cold and getting colder by the second. The closer she got to the light, the larger it became. Strangely, the water began to become warmer as the light neared. What seemed like minutes turned to hours. The light was now distinguishable as a large underwater palace. Damia felt a sigh of relief when she got closer to her people. She began to swim harder beyond belief. She closed in on the palace as she was now surrounded completely in light. She could make out people as she approached. She saw another light radiate from another source, one not from the palace. She stopped, watching what would unfold. The stray light went through the palace as if it wasn’t there. The palace then exploded into a flurry of flames that were quickly snuffed out by the cold, dark water. She stared, wide-eyed, as the last of the light dissipated. Damia was heartbroken as the darkness closed in around her. The light that came from the palace had disappeared and no movement or disturbance in the current could be felt.

Damia: “I… failed…”

Damia bawled into her own hands at this defeat. She had the ability to help, but didn’t even get a chance. Her tears seemed pointless, for they instantly mixed with the water and drifted away as if they had never existed. She felt another warmth through the water that hit her like she had been licked by flames from a torch. She peeked through her fingers seeing several lights circled around a single structure. The lights swept through the water in which the palace had been. Damia watched as the lights lit up rubble of a once elegant and sacred structure. It then hit Damia. Something was surveying the destruction. She started to swim toward the foreign structure, trying to see what it was. What lay before her was a large underwater tower surrounded by large groups of Winglies that were using magic to withstand the great pressure of deep water as well as a certain apparatus on their heads to breathe. They swam through the water, searching for anything they could salvage, such as jewels and any sacred artifacts. Damia continued as hard as she could toward them, rage apparent in her eyes and a fire burning in her chest. She saw a large building of definite Wingly design. It seemed as if they did not notice her as she slipped through the slit-like openings in the hull of the building. She came to surface within the structure, sticking her head out of the water to survey her surroundings. She raised herself out of the water and onto the hard artificial ground made of stone… or was it wood? She was curious as to how the Winglies could make something harder than it really was, perhaps magic came into play.

She entered the corridor in front of her and made her way down to the center of the establishment. The place was barren, not a sound was heard but her footsteps echoing throughout the hall as she ran. She reached the end of the hall and came to a drop off. The floor disappeared into a room with several green floor pads and water trickling from every orifice of the ceiling. She had not known about the type of style Winglies had, but she knew that it was something to appreciate, even though the Winglies were ruthless barbarians that needed to be stopped. She peered down into the deep room where she saw bodies of soldiers floating in the water, Wingly and Mermaid alike. She became infuriated again and found herself running back and forth on the platform on which she stood. She saw the green floor pad and stepped onto it. She felt around and felt a small rise in it. Pressing down on it, she was transported to a new platform. She entered the corridor there and found herself in a room with several large tanks filled with water. She was horrified when she discovered what was trapped inside them. Dozens of Mer-people were aware of her presence and slammed their fists on the glass, trying to get her attention. She heard footsteps behind one of the tanks, and saw a Wingly turn the corner.

Wingly: “That’s enough! Stop banging on the glass! You can’t… Oh, well, it seems we have an intruder.”

[Cablevision]

The Wingly drew his weapon and charged her. She easily sidestepped his blow with a graceful slide and tripped him, knocking him face down on the floor. She knelt on his back gripping the Wingly’s head with her hands and pulled upward. Despite his screams of pain, she continued to pull until his neck gave way and snapped. His screams stopped and he went limp within an instant. The Mer-people continued banging the glass, hands beginning to become raw and bleed. She looked at them, wondering what she had to do. She shrugged at them as they motioned for her to go to some strange, blinking panel. She walked over to it and became overwhelmed with the many buttons. The Wingly language confused her and she looked at the Mer-people in a puzzled way. They were getting restless now, beginning to scream in Mermish which sounded like hoarse grunts from out of the water. She couldn’t understand anything. Her frustration peaked as another Wingly entered the room, whom she quickly dispatched. With annoyance, she grabbed her mace from her back and smashed the console, destroying the lights and sending glass all over the floor. She smashed it again and again, hoping that her frustration will be put to good use and finally do something right. The terminal sparked amazingly and she heard a draining sound. She looked at the tanks and noticed the water level falling and the Mer-people heading for the large opening in the floor, swimming out through it. She knew this was all she could do and made her way back the way she came. She used the same pad to reach the slit-like openings.

She left the Wingly structure and saw a battle begin before her eyes. The Mer-people she had freed earlier were now engaging the Winglies in battle around the ruins. She swam swiftly to join them, killing all who opposed. As she continued to swim, one Mermaid grabbed her arm, stopping her from going any further. Damia turned to face her. The Mermaid’s eyes glimmered in the searchlights of the Wingly structure, a look of complete astonishment upon her face as if she could not believe what she was seeing. Damia, however, knew exactly what she was seeing. Before she could say anything, the Mermaid threw herself around Damia and embraced her in the deep, dark waters. She had finally met her, the person who had given birth to her, given her up, abandoned her on the surface world, but never stopped loving her, her mother. Amidst the battle, they continued to hold each other, neither of them wished to let go. They wished they could stay like this forever. It was something that seemed too good to be true. Damia suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back and stomach. Her mother fell limp in her arms. She grabbed her mother by the shoulders and pushed her back and looked down. A large javelin had pierced right through Damia’s stomach from behind and into her mother. The water around her turned red with blood as both leaked the crimson liquid. Damia stared at her mother’s face while the atmosphere turned a sanguine color. She had her mother in her arms, finally, and they seemed inseparable, but just as quickly, they were torn apart.

Her grip lightened as her strength began to leak out with the blood from her wounds. Her mother’s body floated upward toward the surface and out of sight. Her vision started to fade. She was traveling down a long tunnel with a faint light at the end.

Damia: “Does it really have to end like this…?”

Her life flashed before her eyes. Her childhood, full of grief and solitude, reminded her of how terrible it was in the past. A life without a family and friends, something every child needs, but she was left without. Then she saw when she met the person who changed her life, taught her how to live with a family and live life. She taught her how to make friends, how to fight, how to love. The rest of her life passed as quickly as it was lived, memories of the good and bad times escaped into the water with blood. She then realized, at last, that she had not been searching for a family, but had already found one. A new burst of strength came over her as a bright blue light engulfed her. This power, she knew could not save her, but it would allow her to fight one last time. The Mer-people in the distance saw the light and quickly swam away. The Winglies through their fists in the air with triumph, but turned to notice Damia coming at them, freezing the water in her wake. They cowered before her, their fate sealed. She shut her eyes, overwhelmed her own body with power. A large explosion emitted from her, spreading fire and ice alike. All of the Winglies were engulfed and immediately obliterated from existence. Their bodies broke down, fading away as the base make-up of their skin was completely destroyed. Damia could neither see, hear, or feel and, eventually, had become unaware of her existence. She faded as they did, but with contempt and acceptance. The explosion died away beneath the surface of the water, none survived. The searchlights of the structure shut down and began to move away from the battlefield in utter defeat.

The shockwave traveled throughout the entire lake, the surface bulging like a large creature was awaking from its thousand year slumber and wanted to taste the fresh air. A giant splash erupted from the surface, sending millions of water droplets into the air. The water rose high before it began to splash back down to the water from which it came. The body of Damia’s mother floated upon the surface being showered with water, the Moon That Never Sets glimmering in her eyes, an eerie glow that signified a fulfilled life.

[Cablevision]

Chapter 13: Law or Anarchy, War in Zenebatos



Three weeks had passed since Damia left. Rose anxiously awaited her return, but after the first week, she began to believe the worst. She had a feeling in her stomach that something terrible had happened, gut wrenching and hard to ignore. The feeling nagged her for days, the pain radiating from her like heat and infecting her other friends. Every day, she returned to Diaz’s meeting chamber and asks him if any word came in about Damia’s whereabouts. He gave the same response each time, “I’m afraid not… maybe tomorrow.”

Every time she passed the gate, she would glance hopefully into the path beyond expecting to see a familiar silhouette growing closer to her. Each time, there was no silhouette, no friendly face, no sign of life at all. It was extremely lonely. Nothing she did would overcome it. Her thoughts were invaded by Damia, disallowing her to have a train of thought without it derailing. She would wait in her room staring at the ceiling, waiting for the light knock on her door with the laugh that usually accompanied it. She felt empty, angry, and fearful. The mix of emotions confused her even further to the point where she couldn’t even trust her own thoughts, which made her uneasy.

A knock came on the door.
“Come in,” she said with anticipation.

The door opened and revealed Shirley. Rose let out a sigh. Shirley walked over and sat on the end of the bed, looking at her feet the whole time.

“I know it’s tough, but we have to accept it,” Shirley quickly said.

“Accept what?” Rose asked with a hint of denial in her voice. “Damia isn’t dead.”

“It’s been three weeks… she went into battle, I’m sure of it. The fact that she didn’t return is significant.”

“Maybe,” she thought, “she rejoined her family and is living with them. I’m sure her mother was very happy to meet her after all this time.”

“Come on, Rose!” shouted Shirley. “We don’t even know if her mother is alive, especially since we are at war! Also, searching what could be the entire ocean for one specific clan of Mermaids is almost impossible, even with something as luring as the, ‘Call of the Ocean.’”

“She IS alive!” she exclaimed, now getting annoyed.

“You want her to be alive, and I do too!” Shirley admitted. “I loved her just as much as you did! She was part of the family! I got even more concerned each day that she remained absent. But you must also realize what I have realized.”

Rose looked at her, now distressed that the conversation went this far. As much as she thought about Damia, she did not want to talk about how she felt, mostly because she couldn’t explain it.

“Damia was a soldier,” said Shirley. “Soldiers are part of the big family. They fight together, live together, eat together… die together. Soldiers fight for what they believe. Damia believed that the world could be better, but, unfortunately, she perished before she could see her belief enacted in the real world. I’m sure she fought, and fought gallantly no less.”

Rose lowered her gaze. She didn’t want to admit it, but with each of Shirley’s words, she started to doubt any evidence that Damia could be alive. Her eyes began to well up with tears but she blinked them back.

“Just follow your instincts,” Shirley said. “They are usually right in these kinds of things. I don’t like to think she’s gone… but that’s how it is. I’ve accepted it. You should do the same.”

Shirley stood up and left the room without another word. Rose rolled onto her side, facing the door. Although some hope remained, it was quickly being transformed into certainty. She could think of nothing else but Damia. Her brain rattled inside her own head, distraught and dumbfounded. Never had Rose felt that she wanted to cry, but couldn’t bring herself to blink the tears away. She shook her head as if to toss the sadness into the air like little specs of dust. She decided, at long last, to leave her room and go to the mess hall. She had nearly starved herself days ago and did not want to go through it again. She felt sick and drained for hours which felt like years. She walked aimlessly through the corridors and down the tower steps. Young soldiers stayed a large distance away, hoping that she would not lash out unexpectedly in a vengeful rage.

She found herself outside and in front of the mess hall doors with no recollection of even stepping out of the tower. She pressed on and looked around as a few eyes fell upon her. She scanned each row, looking for familiar faces or an empty table. Her gaze dropped onto a large soldier and a man clad in red. She shuffled over and sat down beside them without making a greeting or a sound at all. They looked at her as she stared at the table in front of her, counting the grains threaded through the wood. She felt a hand on her back as Zieg tried to console her.

“I know it’s hard. This is war, remember?” he said softly. “I understand that she was a very close friend, but, and I hate to say this, casualties are normal in such instances. She went to an entire Wingly city by herself. How can we be sure that…?”

He stopped there to prevent doing more harm than good. Rose felt anger rise within her, but suppressed it. He was right and she knew it. Nothing she can do will bring Damia back.

“The only thing I’m really upset about,” she said in a low voice, “is that you can accept it so readily. It’s as if you expected it to happen.”

“Trust me, I knew of Damia’s skill and I know for a fact that it would take a hell of a lot more than one Wingly to take her down in a fair fight, but no matter how powerful the warrior is, a single distraction and an enemy strike is the death of ANY warrior,” he said with a tone of finality.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” she sighed. “I just wish I knew more about her… death.”

“I wish that too. I bet she went out valiantly. Damia doesn’t know shame,” he said, hanging his head.

“She was a great warrior!” said Belzac, chiming in out of nowhere. “She may have been young, but she understood what she was doing.”

Rose nodded slightly, finally feeling some pressure lifting from her shoulders.

“I’m just happy I could talk about it…” she confessed.

“Well, don’t let me break up this little get-together, but I think,” Kanzas interjected from behind them, “we know she succeeded.”

“How do… no, how COULD you know that?” Belzac said a little annoyed.

“Because,” he replied defiantly, “if she were to fail, she would have returned, face buried in her arms and crying her eyes out about how she ‘couldn’t do it’.”

“You bastard!” Rose exclaimed. “How could you! She was your friend!”

“Friends separate over time. It is inevitable that they will completely disappear from your life, it’s just a matter of when…” Kanzas said haughtily.

Rose jumped to her feet and felt her fist fly through the air in a vent of fury. She hoped that she would both hit and miss for this was completely uncalled for, but she just wanted to do it more than anything. Kanzas sidestepped with inhuman speed and caught her fist in his own. She struggled to be released, but his strength was beyond her own. She felt him squeeze harder on her fist, feeling her knuckles crunch together.

“Release me,” she commanded.

He didn’t budge. His hand closed harder upon her own, the nerves in her hand screaming with pain. He smirked at her.

“Release me!” she exclaimed. “I said, LET GO!”

“LET HER GO!” Belzac and Zieg said together as they stood up hastily.

Kanzas’ smirk grew wider and, with a last small crunch of pressure, he released his grip and turned away from them. “You know I’m right…” he said before walking out of the mess hall.

Rose nursed her hand, the knuckles sore and still stinging with pain. She noticed that everyone who was eating was staring at her with shocked expressions. Zieg placed his hands on her shoulders. He caught a glimpse of her hand.

“He bruised it,” said Zieg disgusted. “What’s gotten into him? He never used to be this ruthless…”

“Yes he has,” Rose said. “We simply never saw it.”

Rose reluctantly ate the food they placed in front of her. The food didn’t seem to have any taste. She choked it down just so the two of them would stop hounding her. Syuveil joined them shortly after. With a large book in his hand, he sat next to Belzac and placed the tome on the seat between them.

“Decided to come out of that prison cell, Syuveil?” said Zieg with an attempt at humor.

“It most certainly is not a prison cell,” he said with great distaste. “It is a library, a source of knowledge for all those who wish to learn and exercise the mind.”

Belzac made snoring noises that seemed to shake the table. They chuckled as Syuveil waved him off, calling him a, “Big Baboon.”

“Anyway,” Syuveil continued, “I didn’t come out just to get made fun of. I met with Diaz and he wants me to gather everyone for a meeting in one hour.”

They went silently immediately, as if waiting for him to elaborate. When he shrugged, they sighed with annoyance.”

“He never wants to meet with us,” said Zieg with surprise, “only with Rose.”

“I have no idea what this is about if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said quickly as the eyes fell upon her. “I haven’t seen him since Damia left.”

“Well, that’s all. I have to get Shirley and Kanzas,” said Syuveil, getting up.

“That’s ok, Syuveil,” Belzac said, also standing up. “I can get Shirley for you.”

“Good. One less trip for me,” said Syuveil happily.

“I’ll get Kanzas,” said Rose to everyone’s surprise. “I need to speak with him anyway…”

Zieg looked at her nervously. Syuveil didn’t seem to notice as he smiled gratefully. They all left the mess hall and set out for the towers. Syuveil’s endless bickering with Belzac kept them entertained as the steep tower stairs came upon them. They separated and Rose and Zieg followed Rose to Kanzas’ room.

“You don’t have to go with me, you know?” she said.

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to,” he said, hoping to end it there.

“I’m not going to kill him! I’m just going to give him a stern talking to,” she said with a mock smile on her face.

“Well, your form of ‘talking to,’ can sometimes lead to physical injury…” he said with worry.

They arrived at his door, a smell of horrid incense fuming through the cracks. Rose knocked heavily on the door making Zieg wonder if the door would fly off its hinges. She heard Kanzas grunt and assumed that was the signal for entry. She saw him kneeling before a mantle that was lined with dolls that, she assumed, he knit by himself. He was mumbling words to himself that she could not hear.

“Kanzas,” she said, hoping he would just stay the way he was just so she wouldn’t see his face. He grunted in acknowledgement. “Diaz wants us to meet him in the HQ in one hour.”

“Is that so?” he asked. “I thought you were here to get revenge on me.”

“Don’t think that didn’t occur to me,” she threatened holding up her hand, bruised and swollen. “But why should I worry myself with idiocy exhibited by a good-for-nothing swine!”

“Rose!” said Zieg with astonishment.

“Don’t come into MY home and insult me!” Kanzas said with annoyance in his voice. “You deserved what you got. It’s not my fault you lost control.”

“Who lost control?! Look at my hand! And you say I lost control?! HA!” she said now starting to rant.

“It was either your hand or my face. I chose your hand,” he said calmly.

“You… YOU…!” Rose shouted as she lunged.

Zieg made to catch her but she was too fast. Kanzas stood, ready for anything. Rose saw this and changed her place. She stopped and grabbed one of the dolls from the mantle on the left wall. Kanzas’ face went stark white and Zieg stood there, feet planted in confusion. Rose smiled as Kanzas started to snarl.

“You… give that back!” demanded Kanzas. “I swear, if you do anything to it, I’ll…!”

“You’ll what?” Rose said strongly. “It’s just a doll. What significance can a doll possibly have?”

Kanzas let out a long laugh. It was insane and echoed in their ears even after he stopped. He looked her directly in the eyes.
“That isn’t just a doll.”

Rose looked at it in her uninjured hand, its lifeless eyes staring up at her. It was a stare that seemed to pierce her very soul.

“That doll,” Kanzas said while pointing to it, “represents a single life that I have snuffed out.”

As these words processed in her mind, her hand loosened and dropped the doll. It bounced slightly toward Kanzas and he bent over and picked it up.

“All of these dolls, actually,” he said placing the doll back in its place, “are representations of the people I have killed.”

“That’s… that’s…” she said in horror.

“It is a belief of mine,” he said admiring his work. “I believe that when someone is killed, a piece of their soul is torn from them and stored in the killer.” He walked to the other side of the room to look at the rest of his dolls. “So, I knit a doll in the likeness of each person and, ‘place,’ the shard of soul into it. It is to make sure I don’t lose myself.”

“It’s… disgusting!” Rose said at last. “These… they were people!”

“Yes,” he said in agreement, “that is what makes them the most dangerous to kill. They have feelings, thoughts, and even reactions. They are a dangerous thing to assimilate. That is why I place what is left of them inside these dolls… to prevent them from taking me over.”

“How can you mock life like this?!” Rose asked in anger and fear. “It’s unthinkable!”

“Is it really?” Kanzas said jokingly. “I do not think of it as a mockery of what they once were. I am doing them a favor.”

“Doing them a favor? What could this possibly do for them?!” she questioned.

“Ease them through the pain of death,” he said simply. “I burn incense to calm them. I put them into dolls because they have nowhere else to go.”

“You’re a sick,” she said finally, “disgusting excuse for a human.”

She turned away and made for the door. Zieg watched her pass as he was still planted.

“One hour, right?” Kanzas asked.

Rose stopped and said without turning, “One hour.”

She finally left the room leaving Zieg behind with Kanzas.

“Make sure that next time,” Kanzas said mockingly, “she doesn’t pick a fight with a martial arts master.”

Kanzas cackled again as Zieg hurried out of the room, slamming the door shut with a loud thud. He quickly caught up with Rose and remained speechless. When he could finally open his mouth, Rose easily shut him down, “Forget it…”

The hour passed quickly as they waited in the chamber. They didn’t know what to expect from this meeting. Diaz only spoke with Rose. So calling all of them was both a shocking and exciting moment. What could Diaz have in store for them? They awaited his arrival with much anticipation. Finally, the door cranked open and Diaz stepped through. He held a large scroll, which Rose could discern as a map. He placed it on the table and looked around. Noticing that everyone was present, he unrolled the map and flattened it onto the table and placed pins at the corners. He looked around again, hoping that someone would ask a question, but no one said anything.

“So,” Diaz started, “I have been deliberating with a few colleagues about the future of this army. We had to answer many questions, like, ‘Will we wait for the Winglies to find us and destroy us once and for all?’ and, ‘What do we do now?’ Well, let me tell you, the answer to the first is, absolutely not! The second question, however, was much more difficult to answer. Let me assure you that we have come up with a plan that will be a major turning point in this war.”

Silence remained all round the table. Again, Diaz hoped for a question, but no one spoke up.

“Before we can enact this plan,” he continued, “we need a little, ‘insurance.’ This is where you come into the picture.”

“Finally some action!” exclaimed Kanzas in triumph.

Rose scoffed at his reaction. Of course someone like him would be happy for battle. He could add to his doll collection. She ignored his whoops of joy and continued to listen.

“This is also where our problem arises,” Diaz said with disdain. “The Council and I think we need something else to help our efforts, along with your powers of course.”

“What have you come up with?” Rose asked.

“We have come up with,” he said pausing, “absolutely nothing… We were hoping all of you would come up with something. The Council is still unaware of ALL the powers you may possess, as am I. I also have a sneaking suspicion that none of you know the full extent of your powers either.”

Everyone’s feet shifted as if the floor had moved suddenly. It was true. They had never used all of their powers and may even have undiscovered abilities.

“But,” Diaz continued, “we must not let this discourage us. That is why The Council and I have decided to allow you all to come up with something. Put your heads together and come up with a plan that plays to all of your advantages and to the disadvantages of the Winglies.”

“That’s it?” Shirley asked with annoyance. “You expect us to come up with something? We don’t even know where we’re going!”

“I could tell you that, but would it make a difference?” he asked. “You know the characteristics of a Wingly city. You have studied their structures for years. You should be able to reach the Bridge while wearing a blindfold!”

“We’ll need more information!” she demanded. “How do we come up with a plan if we don’t know anything?!”

“That is all I can disclose to you at this time,” Diaz said calmly. “I suggest you take as much time as needed. Come see me when you have your plan.” Without another word, Diaz left through the wooden door to the center of the headquarters.

They walked through the dirt and sand toward the mess hall. Their brains rattled with possibilities. They spewed any ideas they had only to take them back with unsatisfied reactions. They sat around a large table and continued sending ideas to and fro.

Several hours passed and they had come up with nothing. Shirley and Belzac were talking animatedly, Kanzas was playing with his fingers and Zieg was lightly slamming his forehead against the wooden table. Rose also felt the need to do this, but she thought she must exhaust all other methods of thinking before trying out Zieg’s new brainstorming method. She stared at her bruised and swollen hand, hoping that the swelling would go down before long. Soldiers were coming and going, eating their meals and having fun with their comrades. She focused in upon the cooks carrying hunks of meat from pot to pot dropping some into each one. Her eyes fell upon Zieg once more, who was now playing with his ears, his forehead still against the warm wood. Rose looked on questioningly. He finally noticed she was staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“What are you doing?” she asked in turn.

“I’m trying to think,” he replied.

“Yeah, I can see that…” she said jokingly.

Zieg chuckled and continued his odd ritual. The others had noticed as well and shook their heads, thinking he may have cracked under the pressure. Shortly after, he screamed at the top of his lungs, “AHA!” causing everyone in the hall to jump. He shook his head and went back to his previous method.

“Ok, that’s enough,” Rose said.

“At least I’m trying to think!” Zieg said sneaking a glance at everyone else. “Besides, what can we do but transform and start beating them to death?”

“We can do it more efficiently and effectively,” replied Shirley with sarcasm. “Especially if we use you as a decoy so we can easily take out the city.”

“Me, the decoy?” Zieg asked with shock. “But that would be…”

“Suicide, yes. Don’t worry, though,” she continued with a grin on her face, “you’re death will defeat the entire Wingly race!”

Everyone laughed again, but the familiar silence took over. Minutes seemed like hours until they decided to start from scratch.

“What do we know?” Rose asked.

“Nothing,” Shirley scowled.

“That’s not true. We know that we are mounting an attack against the Winglies. What do we know about them?” Rose asked again.

“They have high physical prowess, advanced magical skills, extremely powerful weaponry,” the list seemed to go on and on until Zieg finally finished, “Oh yeah, and they can fly.”

“And what can we do?” she asked.

“Just about all of that too,” Zieg said.

“So, why do you think we can’t beat them?” she finally posed.

“Well, if you haven’t noticed already, there are only sev-,” Zieg paused, “six of us and about two-hundred-fifty-thousand of them…”

“Good answer…” she said feeling a drop in confidence. “What else do we know?”

“The attack is on a city,” Belzac said. “We should expect this to be an aerial battle.”

“Hm, what else?” Rose asked.

“Their structures are heavily guarded and some even have artillery,” Belzac said, his voice trailing off. “How can we get passed that?”

“That’s what we need to figure out!” Rose exclaimed. “We know all about the guts of the cities and we can handle that, so how to we get into it?”

“If I may,” Kanzas said to everyone’s surprise, “I see this very same situation in martial arts. You expose a weakness by attacking the points around it. Once the weakness is apparent, you strike.”

“What… did you have in mind?” Rose said swallowing her pride.

[Cablevision]

They discussed the plan repeatedly until each of them had it committed to memory. The sun had already set and the moon showed bright in its usual spot in the sky, like it did every night. They agreed to wait until the morning before telling Diaz about their plan. They walked together toward their towers. Each of them entered their own rooms to sleep after a hard day of thought. Rose and Zieg were the last ones to reach their rooms. Zieg walked her to her room and wished her a goodnight. She smiled and closed her door. Tomorrow was an important day. They were about to show the Council what they could do. This may finally give them reason enough to use their powers in the struggle against the Wingly forces.

Rose fell onto her bed, her eyelids heavy and sleep coming on quickly. She was physically and mentally exhausted. Things were about to change for her, and not just for her, but for the entire human race. She may have been excited to enact their surprise attack, but she couldn’t prevent the doubt from sneaking into her thoughts. Not only was the plan completely last minute, but it also was thought up by a madman. Although she didn’t like Kanzas, she had a small amount of trust in him. She knows what side he is on and that is good enough for her. She shut her eyes and listened to the slight clinking of the night patrol’s armor before drifting off into the world of dreams.
The marble hall lit up with a green light from the gnarled tree stump in the center of the room. There stood a grey and sinister man, peering into the light, reading inscriptions, deciphering code, and planning. The large wooden doors shook loudly as a knocker was pushed against it three times. A stream of white light broke the greenish gloom as an emissary entered carrying a parcel. Behind the emissary, another large man entered the hall. They approached the gnarled stump and knelt before the grey man. Light was immediately restored to the room and the slime green light vanished.

“Have news of my sister reached our ears?” questioned Melbu.

The large Wingly stood up and grabbed the parcel from the emissary, who promptly bowed and left.

“I’m afraid not, My Lord. She has eluded us, probably for good,” said the Wingly.

“No use crying over spilt milk. She wouldn’t dare cross her brother. What of the project?” he asked.

The Wingly opened the parcel and looked it over quickly.

“The project is coming along nicely. We have successfully bred one and can easily breed several more within the next twenty-four hours,” said the Wingly happily.

“Excellent. You have all done well. As for execution of the project…” he paused.

“Execution, sir?” the Wingly wondered.

“I want no less than a dozen of these creatures at each of the cities the humans haven’t touched yet, even the ones they don’t know about yet,” Melbu commanded.

“A dozen?! My Lord, I beg you, give us more time! We may have bred them, but we have reason to believe that they aren’t domesticated yet!” exclaimed the Wingly.

“What reason? Who are you to say what we can and cannot do? You aren’t even head of the project. I wish to speak with the project head,” he demanded.

“Our reason, sir, is that they have killed a few of us, they do not know that we are their masters yet!” he explained.

“Bring me the project head,” Melbu demanded again.

“Yes, sir, which piece of his body do you wish to speak to? It may take a few minutes to find them all, but rest assured, we’ll get the one you want,” said the Wingly jokingly.

Melbu glared at him and he apologized immediately.

“I said I want NO LESS than a dozen of these creatures at each of our cities. Is that clear?” he said in an ominous tone.

“U-understood. I will pass on the message right now. The Virage will be ready for distribution by tomorrow night,” said the Wingly disheartened.

The Wingly left the room and the light left it once again. The green glow filled it again and Melbu continued to plan his great empire.

Rose got up the next morning, nervous and panting. The thoughts of the previous night brought her nightmares that could rival all others. In one, she felt that her words wouldn’t come and she was pelted with stones. In another, she was climbing a ladder and the person in front of her kicked at her hands and she fell hundreds of stories.

She wiped her brow clean of sweat and splashed water onto her face. She held onto the sides of the stone water basin and leaned against it. She stared at her reflection in the clear water, surveying her long black hair and oddly dark violet eyes. Hoping that everything would go as planned, she dressed herself and left her room. Everyone but Belzac was standing at the bottom of the towers waiting for her.

“Belzac said to meet him there,” Shirley said quickly. “He had something to speak to Diaz about.”

They all walked to the headquarters to give their plans to the Council. Never had Rose been so nervous, even before battle. As she moved closer to her destination, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to ruin it for everyone. This is their one chance to prove themselves and yet the lives of five others are in her hands. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the large wooden doors. She pressed forward and looked back. They gave her encouraging looks, trying to ease the moment. She pursed her lips and opened the doors. As she walked in, she immediately noticed raised voices. Belzac was talking animatedly to Diaz who was shaking his head very fast for someone in his condition. She walked forward and cleared her throat with an, “Ahem!” to alert them to her presence. Belzac turned sharply and Diaz nodded accordingly.

“We’ll get back to this later, Belzac,” Diaz said at last.

“But I want to visit him! I want to make sure he’s alive and well…” Belzac trailed off.

“You’ll get your chance, but we have a great mobilization in progress and we need all of our trump cards active and focused,” Diaz said with finality.

Belzac shrugged and saluted Diaz before leaving. As he passed Rose, she gave her a heavy pat on the back that almost knocked her over. Diaz stood up after the heavy doors shut behind the giant man. His stature was slightly shrunken and he walked with a limp. He wasn’t old, but his body didn’t care. It fell apart as he remained the same, the price of stress and disease.

“The Council is waiting. It’s time,” he said without hesitation.

He walked over to another set of doors gilded with iron. The hinges grinded like someone hadn’t oiled it in a long time. Inside the room was a large semicircular table along the back wall. Ten people sat around the outside of the table, six men and four women. An eleventh seat in the middle was open for Diaz, Rose assumed. The center of the half-circle was open for speakers, where Rose would be making her speech. As she took her place in the room, Diaz stood behind her and not in his seat. Another man entered the room. He was old, had a long face and his left hand was gloved and, Rose noticed, much smaller than his right. He sat down in the center seat and looked toward Rose. He motioned for her to begin with his good hand. When she opened her mouth, Diaz stepped forward.

“Today, we put forth the motion to use the power of Dragoons in the upcoming invasion of the Wingly city of Zenebatos. Representing for this motion is Dragoon Rose-“

“And I will be representing against the motion!” a smaller, mousy woman on the Council said standing up.

“I was not aware there would be a motion against this. I assumed that if we don’t use Dragoons, we don’t attack at all,” Diaz said taken aback.

“You assumed wrong, Commander. We are going to attack, whether or not we send these people to do all the work,” she said smugly.

Rose stepped forward to avoid Diaz getting into a heated battle of words. He retreated quickly and clutched his chest, revealing how heated he was getting. Rose searched for words but her brain was racing faster and faster as the seconds passed. She assumed she took too long as the other woman began to speak.

“I believe these people should not be used in battle. They are too powerful and those with power seek to use it. This use can be horribly misplaced due to the fact that even they don’t know the extent of their powers. Also, this leaves them the window to disobey orders which is treason in the Human Military. This power and the ability to use it must be constricted as much as possible to dull any further conflicts that we may have in the future. I propose that we send our human troops to take Zenebatos. We will have our human pride at least,” she finished at last.

A few of the Council members mumbled amongst themselves. This made Rose nervous. Whatever these people were talking about, Rose had to change it. Whatever she says now must persuade them that this woman is wrong on all her points. Her words weren’t fluent. She thought all she had to do was explain the plan which they had come up with in the previous night, but the Council hadn’t even decided on it yet. She took each of the woman’s points and tried to turn them in her favor.

“I… No… We believe that the Dragoons should be sent into battle in Zenebatos. It is true that we seek to use our power, but we are still human. We would never try to destroy something that we were part of because that would destroy us all. Too much lies on the Human Race that there is no time to fight over diplomacy. We must take action. Yes, our powers could be beyond our imagination, but we can assure you that they will not be used against you. The human pride you speak of only exists within these walls and within the minds of the soldiers. There is no pride on the battlefield, only death. Are you really proposing to send tens of thousands to their deaths instead of six to our victory?” Rose asked.

The people mumbled in great haste and the woman smiled.

“If the choice is between tens of thousands that I can control and six that have minds of their own, the six are not looking good,” she said confidently.

“So, if we do choose to send the soldiers, answer me this. How do you plan to get them into the city? The city floats above ground and, as far as I know, normal humans do not possess the skill of flight. Will you fly them in on eagle’s wings?”

The Council laughed and the woman blushed. She quickly thought up a retort.

“We attack with artillery and bring the city down to our level!”

“Why do that? Why waste money, supplies and time to march our soldiers there simply to drop a city on them?”

“Well-“

“Why not just send six people who can fly and have powers of magic that our foot-soldiers do not to take down the city? My plan has one step while yours has two. Also, the amount of people involved and casualties are kept at an extreme minimum. As far as I’m concerned, my plan is more efficient.”

“I-“

“What have you to lose? Even if we fail, you still have several thousand soldiers to back you up. Obviously, this is better than several thousand casualties and only six to guard you.”

The Council watched this debate closely. The mousy woman froze as Rose blasted point after point her way. She looked at her fellow members and back to Rose. She lowered her head and sat down, accepting her defeat. The head of the Council finally spoke. His voice was very strained and easily noticeable in a crowd. He had a perfect speaking voice, loud yet still gentle.

“Let me propose something else… How about sending our soldiers with a Dragoon overseer?”

“The problem still stands. Should the soldiers attack from below and the single Dragoon from above? If the soldiers fire artillery, the Dragoon may be hit. If the city falls, the soldiers are at risk. I want to save as many human lives as possible and still have a chance for victory and my plan is the only conceivable way,” Rose said with confidence.

The old man nodded in agreement. He grabbed his crippled hand and mumbled something to himself. He stood up at last after several moments of silence and announced his verdict.

“The motion for Dragoon mobilization has been accepted. The six Dragoons will be sent into battle with the Winglies in the Law City of Zenebatos. This Council is adjourned.”

The old man left the room followed by the other Council members. The woman Rose debated with quickly shuffled across the floor, through the door and into her chambers. Rose turned to Diaz who was smiling widely. He led her into the previous room where he sat in his usual seat. He let out a sigh, as if his legs were tired from just ten minutes of standing.

“Well done. Now, since you already have a plan, we can mobilize quickly. Three days should be enough time to rest up and get supplies together. Tell the others as soon as possible,” Diaz commanded.

“I will… Are you okay?” she asked curiously.

“Er… I’m fine… Just fine…” he said sadly.

He gave her a reassuring look, but she saw right through it. He is definitely not feeling well, not well at all. Without a fight, she left the room through the big double doors to speak to five curious faces. As she emerged, they stood up and looked at her with questioning looks. Rose let out a sigh of relief and nodded. The whole group exhaled simultaneously and a small cheer of victory broke out. Rose wiped sweat from her brow and decided to sit down. Everyone followed her example and sat along with her.

“So? Do we fight?” Zieg asked eagerly.

“We fight!” Rose said at last.

Belzac did a fist pump and almost hit Kanzas who looked shocked by the sudden movement of air near his face. Syuveil shook his head and tucked away a note he had written to himself. Rose spoke again.

“It wasn’t easy. It turns out that we weren’t supposed to explain the plan to the Council, but convince them to let us go at all. I had to debate with this woman who didn’t seem to like me at all… But, all in all, we’re going to Zenebatos to fight. Diaz said we have three days to prepare,” Rose finished.

“We really don’t need anything… we should just go now,” pushed Kanzas.

“We need rest,” Shirley said coolly. “We need to be at the top of our game if the six of us are going to take down an entire city. What do we know about the city?”

“Other than the basic structure of Wingly Cities, nothing,” said Zieg with much disdain.

“Actually…” Rose started. The other looked toward her. “They did say something about it being, ‘The Law City.’”

“That’s a big piece of information. It opens up a lot of possibilities,” Shirley said happily. “It could mean that the city is where their legislation resides. Imagine what information on other cities we could salvage from records! That’s priceless to us!”

“This could be fun…” Kanzas said smugly.

“So, three days to rest and then we’re off to change the future… sounds incredible!” Rose said with a smile.

They stood up and walked toward their towers where they would begin their time of rest. Rose entered her room and prepared herself for a well deserved nap. She splashed water on her face as she did earlier and laid herself into her bed. She stared at the ceiling, hands clasped behind her head, following the grooves she had followed many times before. She felt her eyes get heavy and start to close without any help from her. Her mind drifted from topic to topic and they added themselves to her odd dreams. She awoke with a start to a knock on her door. She rubbed her face to get the tired look off of it and responded with a, “Come in!” Zieg entered a moment later and sat in her chair.

“How goes the rest of your day, Rose?” He asked with something evidently on his mind.

“It hasn’t started yet…” she said with some annoyance in her voice.

“Oh, well, I just didn’t know what to do with my spare time, so I came here…” he said trailing off.

Rose sensed the awkwardness in the air. Something was on his mind and it was clouding the atmosphere in the room.

“Is there something you wanted to tell me?” Rose asked hesitantly.

“Er… Yes, actually, I did,” he said. “I wanted to talk about… us.”

Rose was taken aback. She looked at the floor tiles searching for words to say. Instead, Zieg spoke for her.

“I’ve been thinking… We’ve been together for a long time and I can’t deny that I have feelings for you that I don’t seem to have for anyone else…” he said breathing deeply.

Rose felt her heart jump. Her breathing began to increase dramatically. Blood rushed to her face and she felt hot. Her eyes fluttered from tile to tile without much thought. She looked at Zieg and noticed he was doing the same to the tiles below his feet.

“I’ve never felt this before, Rose… I can’t shake it,” he said again. “I can’t…”

“I-“

“We’ve never really spoken about it, but I know I feel it from you… sometimes…”

“Are you-“

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” he froze on his words.

[Cablevision]

Rose knew what he was talking about. There have been several moments where she just wanted Zieg around her. Other times, she felt like she wanted something more. This frightened her more than anything. The only people she loved were her father and brother and they were taken from her a long time ago. Even Damia was closer to her than Zieg was at times.

“I’m trying to say that… I love you, Rose,” Zieg said standing.

Now, it was out. She had dreaded him saying it, because she had no response. She looked at him for what seemed ages. His stare never left hers as she searched and searched for something to say.

“I know this is tough to grasp, but it was eating me up inside and I wanted to get it out before the battle,” he said speaking in her place. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t told you.”

“I just… I just don’t know what to say!” she said. “This is so sudden… and on the eve of battle,”

“I knew it! I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have brought it up. You don’t need this right now.”

He made a motion to leave but Rose stopped him. She turned him around so she could see his face.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” she said. “I… I have the same feelings for you.”

Zieg’s face lit up and she smiled. Rose had never seen him so happy. His bright blue eyes glistened in the small amount of sun coming in through the window. His blonde hair blew in the draft like a field of grain. Neither of them had ever felt like this, and each other was all they could think about.

The three days flew by like it was an hour. They dreaded the time they had to leave, not because it was a battle, but they had to prove themselves in front of the Council and all of the other soldiers. She fully dressed herself and suited up. She quickly left her room and met everyone at the bottom of the stairs to the towers. They only brought one meal’s ration of food for each of them so as to not go into battle on an empty stomach. They made their way to the headquarters where Diaz was waiting for them in front of the doors. He sat in a chair that was brought out to him from inside the building. When he saw them, he quickly stood and, for a man in his condition, swiftly moved over to them. He shook each of their hands.

“Good luck to all of you. Zenebatos is in the east. It is past Snowfield and hovering above barren mountains,” Diaz informed them.

“Understood,” Rose said.

“Excellent. I need you all you to be on your guard. These Winglies have some terrible tactics up their sleeves, who knows what they’ll do?” Diaz said with a stern smile.

In this meeting, several soldiers and Council members had gathered around them, waiting for them to embark on their journey to battle. They checked each other’s supplies, making sure they had their weapons and food rations. They walked to a more open space while being followed by the people who watched them before. Rose glanced at Zieg and he glanced back. They smiled at each other and stood in formations they had discussed. Now that they were six, it was two vertical parallel lines of three people in each line. Rose was in the middle of the line on the left behind Zieg and in front of Belzac. Kanzas was in the middle of the line of the right behind Syuveil and in front of Shirley. With a flash of light, their colors filled the air as their armors changed to that of Dragoons. They heard people awe as they lifted off the ground and gained momentum toward the east. The next second, they were gone, flying through the air, clouds whipping by their faces leaving water droplets behind.

They flew over the storm clouds that were dropping snow onto the Snowfield below. Lightning jumped from cloud to cloud and occasionally to the ground. They reached a part that cleared and they saw the field below. It was completely covered with, at least, twenty feet of snow and a large amount of it was hanging off the edge of a cliff. One small noise or movement could send hundreds of tons of snow off the cliff and do who knows what. They continued to fly until they noticed the water below was unfrozen. They were getting closer to their objective and decided to land. There was a light layer of snow on the bank of the pond where they set up a small camp. It was still very early morning. They had traveled well over three-hundred miles in less than two hours which was the fastest they had ever traveled in their lives.

“Those days of rest really did me good,” said Belzac stretching. “I was really overworked lately.”

“So overworking includes massive amounts of eating now?” asked Shirley jokingly.

“Oh, ha ha ha, that’s very funny,” Belzac said with sarcasm.

“Enough. Let’s eat before we go any further,” Syuveil suggested.

“Why?” asked Zieg. “You’ll most likely throw it up in the middle of battle anyway. I think we should save it for after… sort of a victory meal.”

They all mostly nodded in agreement while Belzac reluctantly put his food away. They took off again and continued to head east, where the city of Zenebatos waited for them. As the sun began to rise, the city became visible in the distance. Excitement brewed in their bodies. Rose noticed some of them were getting jittery. She looked over at Kanzas who was beginning to pick up speed and gaining on Syuveil’s feet. Suddenly, Kanzas took off at an amazing speed and easily passed both Syuveil and Zieg who headed the lines. They all picked up speed to catch up as to not spoil their plans. The city was fast approaching and their nerves were quickly climbing. As they were no less than three miles away, Zieg called for a halt and they all stopped.

“Do any of you notice something… odd about this city?” Zieg asked.

Rose looked toward the city and tried to see what he noticed. She shook her head as she scanned the entire structure. It was a light brown and quite small for a city. Most of the city lay below the top layer, which is strange due to the fact that many Wingly structures tend to have towers. There was no movement and no…

“There are no defenses whatsoever…” Rose added quickly. “No Winglies, no artillery, no one at all seems to be in the city.”

“Well, that does seem rather odd,” Shirley said.

“I don’t care! I just want to hurt something!” Kanzas said impatiently.

Rose shook her head and continued to look. She thought she saw something move around a pillar and uttered a sound. They looked at her and then tried to see what she was staring at.

“What is it?” Syuveil asked nervously.

“I thought I saw something… I guess not,” Rose said.

“Let’s survey the city a little more and then we’ll head in,” Zieg suggested.

They split into groups of three and went around the city several times before meeting again and speaking their information aloud.

“Nothing,” Zieg said.

“Nothing at all,” Shirley added.

“Is it a trap?” Belzac wondered.

“It most likely is, but, considering the Winglies, I think they would have sprung it right about now,” Syuveil said.

They waited a few seconds and nothing happened. They drew closer to the city making sure that they were cautious of every move they made. They drew closer and closer until they reached the city’s edge and finally landed. They kept looking around, expecting something terrible to jump out and attack them, but nothing came. They walked in a loosely assembled group around on the city floor. They came down, what seemed like an alley between two small buildings. As they turned the corner, something whizzed by at high speeds. They jumped as several more of the same came running by without noticing them. They looked at each other and walked into the lane of traffic. Several more came by and stopped in front of them. They were small and white creatures that didn’t seem to have a face. They were moving but didn’t have life. One of them edged closer to them and spoke in a robotic voice that had to have been automatic. “GUIDE LAPTO: LAW 339: USE BY NON-WINGLIES OF SHOPS IS PROHIBITED!”

The white creatures pushed past them with great speed and continued to travel through the skinny lane of travel. They all looked at each other questioningly.

“What’s going on here?” Shirley asked.

“This is why they call it the Law City!” Syuveil started. “This is where they make laws, ALL of their laws. And, to think they were so powerful, they made this city self-sustaining. No wonder no Winglies are here, they don’t need to be!”

“There has to be someone here,” Rose said quickly. “They can’t just leave their city unguarded.”

Another small Guide Lapto bumped into Rose’s leg and she bent down to see what happened. The Lapto seemed so small and so insignificant. It sang its song, just like the other did. “GUIDE LAPTO: LAW 666: INVASION BY HUMANS SHALL BE HINDERED BY THE PLACEMENT OF MONSTERS!”

Rose’s stomach plummeted. Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the entire city. They looked around for anything that was attracted to the alarm. Sweeping noises were heard from all directions. They were all looking, trying to find the source of the noise.

“This is bad,” Zieg said. “Very bad…”

Rose decided to fly upward to get out of such a confined place. What she saw sent shivers down her spine. Several large grey beasts were floating around them. They each had clawed hands, longs strings of flesh that resembled hair flowing off their heads and large, solid, black eyes that seemed like endless dark skies. They were surrounded by these creatures, nowhere to go.

“Very, VERY bad…” Zieg added.

“We need to do something… before they do,” Rose said in a whisper.

She looked from gap to gap and noticed they were all too small for all of them to fit through. She quickly counted and came up with twelve, two for every one of them. Rose was filled with fear, and she felt the vibes from everyone else feeling their fear as well. One of them made a sudden move and before Rose did anything, Kanzas lunged out and tackled one of the creatures. The other creatures responded in kind and came at them. Rose took her sword and swiped the air, cutting the face of one of them. It let out a scream like metal grinding on stone. She looked at everyone else, making sure they were all right. She noticed Kanzas had already killed the one he attacked, still pummeling the dead body, spraying himself with blue blood. Zieg removed one of their arms while another snuck up on him. Rose flew toward it and sliced its gut. Zieg looked at her appreciatively and flew toward Belzac who was holding three at bay with his battle axe. Shirley fired an arrow into the eye of a creature, partially blinding it.

Kanzas flew in and battled with another two, easily dispatching them with bone crushing blows to the head. He tore them limb from limb, littering the ground with their body parts. Zieg killed another with a flaming chop to the forehead and Syuveil was jabbing another with his spear. Belzac cleaved one and then another in half in two fluid motions. Rose killed the creature that Shirley blinded and went into battle with another. She took off one of its arms and used her abilities of darkness to obliterate most of its lower half. As it fell from the sky, particles of light were forming at its mouth. Rose stared as the light grew and as she was about to attack again, the creature fired its weapon. She flew out of the way just in time to watch the solid beam of light go by her face. She watched the beam run its course and kill one of the creatures’ own. The beam left a clear hole in the head of its companion and both bodies fell to the ground below.

Syuveil managed to kill his foe while Shirley dispatched the twelfth and final creature. Panting, Rose flew to the ground and sat down. The others followed her, looking around to see if there were any more of them. She noticed Kanzas smiling as he floated downward and wiped it off his face when he landed.

“What the hell were those things?” Belzac asked.

“I have no idea…” Shirley said bewildered. “I’ve never seen those things before. The Winglies must have found a new species.”

“Or created one…” Rose added.

“But, that’s impossible!” Zieg thought aloud.

“Well, what are those Guide Laptos then? Cheap imitations of life designed specifically to create laws,” Rose started. “Why can’t they do the same, only they were designed specifically for battle?”

“Good point…” Zieg said.

“At least I got to hurt something,” Kanzas said out of place.

Everyone looked at him strangely. He shrugged and looked around.

“What now?” Rose asked.

“I guess we go back. There doesn’t seem to be anything else here that’s dangerous,” Zieg responded.

“But what do we say? The city is harmless because there are no Winglies?” Syuveil added.

“We can’t say that,” Shirley said. “You have to understand that just because there are no Winglies now does not mean there couldn’t be any in the future.”

In the midst of conversation, Rose noticed a Guide Lapto bumping into her leg. She looked down at it and felt a strange anger.

“WHAT?!” She shouted.

The Lapto jumped back a bit and recited its programmed message. “GUIDE LAPTO: LAW 703: THE LAW PROHIBITS NON-WINGLIES FROM GOING TO THE SIGNET SPHERE!” She looked at it questioningly.

“Signet Sphere? What’s that?” She asked it.

The Lapto didn’t answer and simply sped off down the normal lane of traffic. She looked at everyone else and they responded with the same look.

“I guess our next objective is the Signet Sphere,” she said to them.

They nodded in agreement and they finally took off from their few minutes of rest. They
flew in a tight group, making sure to keep their eyes open to any threats. They came to a large domed building that took up much of the space in the city. They landed in front of it and saw huge doors that were covered in velvet drapes.

“They’re not very good at hiding important things,” Zieg said jokingly.

“Well, they have a law specifically pointing out that we can’t go in, so I’m going to assume that it must be pretty important,” Belzac noted.

They pushed at the door and it didn’t budge. They all stood back as Belzac grunted and took a running start toward the door. He rammed his large body into the doors and they flung open revealing a marble room with walls and walls of books. Syuveil ran forward and chuckled to himself. His Dragoon armor dissipated and he grabbed a book from one of the shelves.

“It’s a library,” Zieg pointed out.

“It’s all in the Wingly language,” Syuveil said. “I’ve seen these runes before! This is amazing!”

“That’s strange…” Rose started. “All of these books are here, yet no one is here to read them. Keep your guard up.”

“I can read this! It talks about some strange topics,” Syuveil told them. “It talks about the Winglies themselves, the Moon, even us!”

“The Moon? Why that?” Zieg asked.

“Apparently, the Winglies…“ Syuveil started but was cut off. Everyone stared at him, his eyes wide. He dropped the book and looked down. A sword was through his gut. Blood dripped into the book he had dropped, staining the runes and ruining them forever. Syuveil’s eyes rolled upward and he fell forward into the pool of his blood. Standing behind him was a small man who preferred to walk on all fours. She grabbed the sword from Syuveil’s body and ran to the back of the room to where two other figures stood. The little man cheered excitedly.

“I got one, Kubila! I got one!” He yelled repeatedly.

“You are trespassing on sacred ground against the law of Zenebatos. We are the executioners, Kubila, Vector, and Selebus. You have been found guilty of all laws and are sentenced to death by execution,” the tall hooded Kubila said without remorse.

Rose stared at Syuveil’s lifeless body, his blood covering the floor. She saw Kubila remove a book from his cloak and begin to read. The room began to shine, books burning and the marble cracking. She looked behind them and saw the door beginning to close.

“They’re trying to trap us!” Rose shouted.

Rose was torn between two choices, fight or run. She looked back at the door and it was half closed already. All of the books were burned and now the shelves caught fire. The heat was rising in the room at a drastic rate. Sweat poured down her face and her skin was starting to burn. She gasped as something grabbed onto her leg and looked down to notice Syuveil in his Dragoon armor, still bleeding profusely.

“Go!” he yelled. “I’ll take c-care of it!”

Rose felt tears well up and she nodded with reluctance. She grabbed as many arms as she could and pulled everyone out of the room, leaving Syuveil behind in the burning room. They snuck through at the last second and took off into the sky. They flew with great speed out of the city and into the western sky. They heard a huge explosion and turned to see the city. The entire city shook and many of the buildings crumbled. The city tilted slightly and stone bricks fell from its edge. Smoke rose from its center and all was quiet. The plume of smoke rose higher and higher and dispersed into the surrounding air. Everyone was panting and hanged their heads. They had just lost one of their own.

“He… he gave himself up for us,” Zieg said sadly.

“He was dying,” Kanzas said. “That’s how I would want to go. If I can’t fight anymore, I will end it right then and there.”

“Let’s get moving,” Rose said.

They looked at her with surprise. They were mourning and she wanted to leave.

“We don’t want to be here if that smoke cloud attracts more Winglies,” She pointed out in monotone.

She began to move west toward Vellweb. She knew everyone was sad about the death of their friend, but she didn’t want his death to be in vain if they were careless. The land passed beneath them at great speed. Thoughts about Syuveil’s last few moments passed through Rose’s head, from the books about humans, Winglies and the Moon to the Signet Sphere. What were these correlations? What were those creatures that ambushed them? It seems that there was more to Winglies than they originally thought. What were they up to? Rose pondered as they flew home, where their life continued and the lives of those lost moved onward to where no one neither could nor would want to go.

[booyaka]

[Holy walls of text, Batman.]

[Cablevision]

Duh-dur. >_>

[MetaSeraphim]

I wonder if we can expect this to be finished after college, but then jobtime starts. . .

[Cablevision]

I have taken the time to edit the previous chapters. Some even have new stuff in them. Check it on FanFiction.

I WILL finish it. It is one of my two novel-like projects. My other one is a Zombie-apocalypse one on Fiction Press. =P

[MetaSeraphim]

Hmm, I'll have to check it out then.

[Cablevision]

I think I still have one or two to edit before they are completely finalized. I only have three chapters left to write. Pretty sweet ride if I don't say so myself.

[MetaSeraphim]

I would most likely wait until it's fully finished, I hate getting hooked on a story and then having to wait for it to finish.

One reason I hate reading manga so much.

[Cablevision]

I understand that. I also hate it that manga comes out so slowly.

OneManga closed down. I was so mad. Now I use CityManga.

[MetaSeraphim]

Never heard of CityManga. I mostly read new releases on MangaStream, though someone randomly said SomeManga if I wanted to read older versions.

[Cablevision]

CityManga is pretty much the same as OneManga. I only use City because it has the series that I read.