BREATH OF FIRE 2

THE RISE OF ST. EVA

Prologue

The winds howled overhead, as the blizzard raged over the arctic drifts. As the sun began to set, a small sledge cruised across the ice, drawn by twin horned beasts. The sledge came to a halt as it reached the drifts, and the rider disembarked. He was a tall lupine hunter, lean yet muscular. His features were swathed with furs and his face hidden by a mask with amber lenses to protect him from the buffeting cold. He cracked the ice at his feet with the head of his spear and drank from the water beneath, mere moments before it froze over once more. After giving the sledge beasts a pat on their backs he ventured into the drifts. Though he strode casually, every sense was alert, and his ears twitched, listening beyond the scream of the wind. But his senses discovered nothing, all living beings had wisely taken refuge from the coming cold of the night, during which little could survive.

He turned to leave, when his nose picked up a scent. He stopped and lifted his mask, to take a better whiff. Human? Not quite, but whatever it was, it was close. He re-secured his mask and climbed over the drift to his left, following the scent. He reached the top and surveyed the surroundings, and then he saw it. It was small figure, wrapped in dark clothes, wading weakly through the snow. Then it collapsed. In alarm, he rushed down the drift, giving a loud howl over the cry of the snowy zephyrs. The sledge beasts churned powder as they hurried to follow their master's call. He bounded over the snow, reaching the fallen figure in a matter of minutes. Kneeling next to it, he turned it over and removed the wraps from its face. It was a woman, a human women, perhaps one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. He looked around, wondering how she had gotten so far in the Nifilheim Wastes. But there was no time for that, she had obviously passed out from the cold, if he did not act quickly, she would freeze to death. The sledge beasts reached him, in a spray of ice, snorting snow from their nostrils. As he moved to lift her, she suddenly came to and gripped him.

"Help me!" she cried frantically, "Please help me!"

"I will," he replied, "But who are ye?"

But it was too late, moments after she had spoken, she lost consciousness once more. He lifted her from the snow and carried her to the sledge, laying her on the floor, and rolling a fur over her. He mounted the sledge, raised his whip and cracked over the beast's head.

"Yah!" he cried.

The beasts took off, heading back southwards away from the drifts and out onto the ice.

Lights flickered in the distance, as the sledge sped across the ice. The hunter reached into his pack and pulled out a horn. Lifting his mask, he placed it to his lips and blew three long blasts on it. Soon the lights began to come into focus as the sledge rapidly approached. The hunter's call was answered by three higher notes, echoing from the lights ahead. As the lights grew nearer, they began to reveal that which their luminescence heralded. A great ship, carved from giant bones, rose from the ice as it cut across the frozen ocean. Three mighty masts rose into the air, their sails billowing out from the yard arms. Lanterns swung in the wind from nearly every available spot, and one large fire burned on the fore deck, its light focused by a mirrored disk. The sledge flew towards the ship, as the hunter raised the horn again and gave another three longs blasts, this time followed by a short trill. This call would signify to those on board that he would need a medic ready once he reached the ship. Two large doors opened on the side of the ship and a gangplank descended to the ice, as the ship dropped anchor and ground to a halt. The hunter looked back to the girl, color had begun to return to her face, but she was not yet far enough away from death's door. The beasts thundered up the gangplank, the sledge rattling behind them and finally sliding into the docking bay. The gangplank was retracted and the doors rumbled closed behind them. The hunter leapt from the sledge, coming face to face with an old hunched lupine woman, accompanied by two young maidens.

"You seem unharmed Yelgan," she said to him in a half barking language, "Why have I been summoned to the sledge dock?"

"Good evening Myla," Yelgan said removing his mask and responding in the same tongue, "I found something out on the ice," he returned to the sledge and lifted the girl out of it, "She is in need of your services."

"She is indeed," Myla said after placing a paw to the girl's cheek, "Give her to my girls, and we will see what we can do."

"Please bring her back, good healer," Yelgan said, as the two girls lifted her from his arms, "She made a request of me, and I would like to be able to help her."

"She is not so far gone that she is beyond my grasp," Myla said, "But time is already against us. I will bring her back Yelgan, and inform you once I am sure of her condition."

The two bowed to each other, and Myla hobbled off to the higher decks. Yelgan turned back to his sledge to unhitch his beasts as two dock boys took the sledge away to clean it. The ship grumbled as the anchors were weighed and it continued on its path across the ice.

The girl woke with a start. Where was she? After a few moments her vision cleared, and she took in her surroundings. The room was dimly lit by a single oil lamp, but her eyes soon became accustomed to the darkness. She was sitting up, in a bed of some sort of cotton, bound by skins to form a mattress and fur blankets lay over her. There was a small table on the right side of the bed, and the left side was against a wall. She ran her fingers over the wall, it wasn't wood, it was too smooth. Suddenly, the world shifted, and she slid against the wall with a yelp. For a moment gravity centered to the left, before everything shifted back to the right, and a low creaking groan moved across the floor. She moved to stand up out of the bed, and slid the furs off. A chill crept across her skin, as she realized she was unclothed. Pulling one of the blankets around her, she cast about the room for her belongings, struggling to stay upright from the tremors that continued to assault the chamber. Her clothes and the coat she had worn were folded neatly in the seat of a chair. She dropped the fur and pulled them on. Her own clothes consisted of a deep purple leotard with a short blue skirt, a blue vest, a pair of knee high boots and a pair of matching gloves. After dressing, she examined her coat and heavy trousers, only to find that someone had cut them nearly to ribbons. Perplexed she dropped them back onto the chair and pulled the fur blanket around her shoulders again for warmth. Her satchel lay in a corner, along with her bow, quiver of arrows and three small throwing knives. She moved for them, and at that moment the door opened. She dashed to the corner, picked up all three knives and waited for whatever might walk through the door. Voices conversed for a moment outside, and then a figure stepped in, carrying a lamp of its own. Her eyes adjusted to the light and then she saw him. He was a lupine, tall, ruggedly handsome, and appeared to be of a husky breed. A quiver filled with javelins was strapped across his back, and he wore heavy grey furs over his body. He was followed by a short, hunched lupine woman, wrapped in a fur and skin dress. Upon seeing her, he bowed and said something in an unfamiliar tongue. He seemed friendly and so she lowered her knives.

"Who are you?" she asked. The lupine, frowned for a moment, and then replied.

"Ach, yes ah had forgotten that ye speaks in the northern tongue missy," he said, with a thick Scottish accent, "Mah name is Yelgseva Wruthhen, but ye can call meh Yelgan." He bowed and she bowed in return, "And who might ye be?"

"My name is Seiya," she replied, "Where am I?"

"Ach, ye be aboard the great ice ship Fruthven," he said proudly, "This is mah home, I found ye 'alf frozen among the drifts."

"How long was I asleep?" she asked, her tone becoming worried.

"'Bout a day and an 'alf," he replied, "Our medicine woman," he gestured to the elderly lupine who bowed slightly, "Myla tended to ye. Ye was near dead when ah found ye."

"A…a day and a half!" she said, panic taking her voice, "Oh my god! I… I have to get back!"

"Back where?" Myla inquired.

"I was…we were journeying across the ice," Seiya said, "We needed to get out… out there," she made a waving gesture with her left arm, "We stopped for the night in a cave, and we thought it was empty, only it wasn't empty, because we were attacked. Well actually we had been attacked the night before and…"

"Hold on! Slow down missy," he said soothingly, "What attacked ye?"

"A.. a big ice worm!" she replied, "We wandered into it's cave and it attacked us. There was a cave in, and my friends… and my brother were trapped behind the rocks. I got out, and went to find help," she looked up at him franticly, "We have to help them."

"How long ago was this?" Myla asked.

"About… about four days ago," she said half to herself, "I was walking for three days I think, heading due south from the cave. At least my compass said so."

"Then we ought to be able to trace her path back from where I found her," Yelgan said to Myla.

Myla nodded, "Aye, I'll tell the helmsman to bring 'er about, and dispatch a team of trackers to pick up her trail," to Seiya she said, "Don't ye worry about a thing dearie, we'll find ye're friends."

"I want to go with you!" Seiya said and she rushed to the door. She stopped and her legs wavered as she almost passed out again.

"Whoa there missy," Yelgan said half catching her, "Ye be faint with 'unger. Why don't ye come up with meh for a wee bite?"

"I'll take care of everything," Myla said at Seiya's concerned look, "'Tis the nature of the Fruthven Tribe to 'elp those in need."

"Its, it's a little cold," Seiya said wearily.

"Ach, yes ah had almost forgotten," he opened the door and Myla's attendants entered the room, carrying an elegant fur dress that split at the center below the knees, hung just below her shoulders and sported quite a low neckline, "This ought to do the trick," he said as he left the room. A moment later Seiya opened the door, and was momentarily blinded by the large lantern swinging in the hall.

"Are ye ready?" he asked.

"Yes I… oh wait, my bracelet!" she exclaimed. She rushed back into the room, and emerged a moment later holding the bracelet. It was a silver chain, attached to it was a pendent of a silver dragon coiled around a teardrop cut, green crystal, "Okay, I'm ready."

Yelgan offered his arm, which Seiya took and they started down the hall, while Myla headed in the opposite direction. After traveling upwards two decks, they came to the ship's mess, where the cook offered them two bowls of steaming meat stew. They sat at one of the galley tables, where they each took a spoonful of stew before Yelgan struck up a conversation.

"So missy, it seems ye've got something of a story behind yer arrival," he said, "Per'aps ye might be willin' to share the tale?" Seiya stirred her stew for a moment, and then held up her arm with the bracelet.

"Well you did save my life, and even if you don't believe me, everything I'm about to tell you is true," she took a bite of her stew as she watched the jewel. Slowly, the crystal changed color from green to orange, she smiled, "Looks like your friendly enough."

"Hmm?" he queried.

"The crystal it can do many things, one of which is reveal the intentions and emotions of those around me," she took another bite, "Funny thing is, my whole story almost revolves around this crystal."

"Sounds like this will be quite a tale," Yelgan said.

"It is, but I'm not sure where to begin," she said, lowering her arm.

"'Ow 'bout the beginin'?" he said.

"Well… alright, it all began with a dragon…"

Ch. 1

It all began with a dragon. Well, perhaps I should tell you a little more about myself. I come from a small village on a continent north east of here. The town is called Wyrtane, where I was born and raised. It was the day before our town's annual festival to celebrate the day our town was founded. We call it the Wyvern Festival. I was sitting in my desk at school, looking out the window and daydreaming as usual.

"Seiya," someone whispered, "Seiya!"

A finger poked me in the ribs and I snapped back to reality, "Huh?" I turned to find my big brother glaring at me.

"Pay attention," he hissed.

"Why? She's just telling us the same story she tells us every year," I whispered back.

"Do you care nothing for your grades?" he asked.

"I do Kai, I'm just not a nerd like you," he replied sticking my tongue out at him.

"Miss Fibashi," Messa, our teacher, called my name from the front of the classroom, "Since you seem to not need to listen, perhaps you would like to come up and give the lesson?"

After a moment of deliberation I smiled, "Thank you Mrs. Messa, I'd like to," Despite the whispered protests and threats from my brother I stood from my desk and walked to the front of the classroom, oozing defiance. Messa was nearly dumbstruck, she hadn't actually expected me to agree. But she recovered quickly and surrendered the lesson to me. I stood at the front, struck a pose that imitated Messa's usual stance and began.

"Well kids, tomorrow is the Wyvern Festival," I began, imitating Messa's voice, much to the class' amusement, "And I think we should all know why we celebrate this day. Long ago, there was a great demon named Deathevn, who threatened to swallow the world in his darkness. He started off small, but began to grow because of the power that his minions were sending to him. No one knew of the terrible offerings that the demons made to their lord and no one could stop them. Then a group of brave warriors lead by a member of the Dragon Clan named Ryu journied across the world, defeating Deathevn's demon overlords. After a titanic battle with Deathevn's mightiest warlord, where Ryu saved his sister Patty, Ryu and his warriors journied down into the underworld, where they faced Deathevn and struck him down. But as the story goes, Deathevn did not die, but instead fell asleep. And so when Ryu and his friends left the underworld, Ryu transformed into a great dragon and fell asleep over the seal, to guard the way to the underworld forever. After this, Patty married a dragon clansman and together they founded our town of Wyrtane where we the dragon clan now live to protect the world should the demons ever rise again. The Wyvern Festival is so that we may never forget the Dragon Clan's responsibility to this world. Now does anybody have any questions?"

The class went wild, hoots and hollers of laughter rang through the room, while Mrs. Messa cried for silence. With a smugly sweet smirk, I waltzed back to my desk.

"You have a real problem you know that," I knew this to be the beginning of one of my brother's lectures. He was right on time, right in the middle of our walk home through a nearby orchard.

"Look, before you go off about how I didn't need to do that, I'm going to tell you right now that I did," I quipped, "We can't all be a goody two-shoes like you Kai."

"This isn't about being a boy… or in your case, a girl-scout Seiya," Kai said, "This is about the fact that you can't back down when you think people are challenging you. You don't have to fight everyone Seiya."

"Why not?" I asked, "I can't help it if people don't like me?"

"It's not that people don't like you Seiya," His tone softened from it's previous aggravation, "It's just that… that?"

"That what Kai?" I asked, as I snatched an apple from a tree.

"Nothing, forget it," he said with a sigh. We walked along in silence for awhile and I looked up to the sky. The sun was peeking through the clouds through which patches of sky could be seen. And then I saw it. A great black figure appeared from behind the clouds, halfway spanning a strip of naked sky. It was far bigger than any bird, and it had a long tail as well as an elongated neck. Two great wings beat the sky and it possessed and arrow shaped head.

"A… a dragon?" I said and I dropped my apple in surprise.

"What?" Kai asked.

"A dragon," I cried pointing, "Look, look!" and just as he turned his face skywards, it disappeared behind the clouds once more.

"What!?" he said in disbelief, "Seiya, your seventeen, your little stories won't fool anyone anymore."

"It was there Kai!" I shrieked, "It was a dragon, it was too big to be anything else!"

"Seiya, nobody's seen a dragon in over a hundred years," Kai said, "Even we Dragon Clansmen lost the dragon powers long ago."

"I'm not lying, Kai!" I stomped my foot indignantly, "It was there!"

"I'm sorry Seiya," he said, "But can you expect me to believe something that's not there?"

"No," I sighed, "I guess you can't… but it was there." He didn't answer, and we walked in silence all the way home. Once we reached the door of our house I grabbed Kai's arm, "You know we don't have to tell mom and dad about what happened at school today," I said.

"They'll find out sooner or later," Kai said, "If it was me, I'd want to be the one to tell them first, and steal Messa's thunder when she tries to make more trouble for you."

"Aha! So you admit that she tries to make trouble!" I said triumphantly.

"Seiya," he shook his head and opened the door.

"Ah good your home," my father was the first to greet us, "Kai, I'll need your help with the fire wood so your mother can finish dinner."

"Yes father," Kai said as he dropped his book bag by the hat rack.

"Seiya," my mom called from the kitchen, "Could you run down to the tailors and pick up my order, he said it would be ready today but I'm completely swamped."

"Yes mother!" I called as I too dropped my bags and headed back out the door.

Dinner and our chores passed quickly that evening, and I soon found myself in my room finishing up my homework. As I closed my books I rushed to the closet and pulled out my costume for the Wyvern Festival. I pulled out a long purple kimono. It was hemmed with red, and a long green dragon curled coiled around the entire robe, starting at the feet and ending with it's head squarely in the center of the back. It had long, white water sleeves, inside which I had sewn several pockets so I could carry more things without adding a bag that might take away some of the beauty of my costume. I laid it out on my bed and added a few last touches to the design and then ran to my closet again. Out of the corner of the closet I pulled a small wallet which contained five sharp throwing knives. I pulled my costume on, and placed each knife in a different pocket inside the sleeves, within easy reach. Turning to the wall, I assumed a fighting stance and then let instinct run it's course. I had made the sleeves well, as I plucked the blades from the pockets, and flung them outwards, the sleeves followed my movements perfectly and the knives never touched them as they flew through the air. With lighting speed four blades embedded into the wall. The fifth however cut straight through the wood and I heard it thunk into the hard wood of my brother's bed. A minute later, Kai opened the door to my room holding the knife.

"Not bad, but a little less wrist," he said.

"Thanks," I took the knife from him sheepishly.

"How did you throw that with the sleeves," he asked.

"None of your business," I said, tossing the blade onto my bed, "What are you dressing as?"

"A dragon knight," he said, "Like the clansmen of old, Carter, the blacksmith's son and I are going as the same thing so he's been making our armor while I supply the appropriate markings and decorations."

"Ah, interesting," I said, while wondering what a dragon knight might look like.

"What are you supposed to be," he asked.

"It's an original design," I said standing up and twirling.

"Don't you think the neckline is a little low," Kai said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just trying to turn a few heads, dear brother," I quipped sticking my tongue out at him.

"Dad will never approve," he shook his head as he left the room, "G'nite."

"Good-night, big brother!" I called with a laugh.

Wyvern Festivals are always wonderful. Everything is decorated; paper dragons hang from every doorway and flagpole, while dragon kites dance across the sky. People from far and near come to the Festival, for it is truly a sight to behold. However, this year, the festival was spectacular! Everyone had gone all out with costumes, decorations and event planning. As my family and I walked through the square we saw all kinds of people that had just arrived in town. There was a group of monkey people belonging to the race called the Highlanders from the far eastern city of Highfort. A pair of performers danced in the square, they were two cat women from the Woren race. Three tall dog men strode impressively through the square, bedecked with much finery, Kai told me they were from the Grassrunner tribe. We walked to the large sign post in the middle of the square where the list for the tournaments had been posted. I was signed up for archery, marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat. As I studied the list I noticed that Kai's name showed up on every single sword fighting tournament, and rightly so. Kai was an incredible swordsman, and had nearly mastered at least one style of fighting with just about any kind of sword. I had always preferred projectile weapons myself, but I took after my mother, who had also signed up for archery and marksmanship. After saying farewell to my family I headed for the ring where the archery competition was being held. On my way I passed two very large men, an armadillo man and a man who looked like a bull. I knew the bull to be a Guntzian and the armadillo was called a Hardshell, but it was rare that these races where seen this far west.

I entered the preparation tent near the ring and found the stall with my equipment. Unfortunately I hadn't been allowed to bring my own bow and arrows, since many times contestants had used hybrid arrows or special bows to improve their chances of winning. I pulled off my costume and put on the white judo uniform that was provided me. I strapped the quiver to my back, picked up my bow, and marched out to the field.

Five rounds later, I was still in the tournament. Archery would be postponed for the next two hours so the contestants could go and compete in their other competitions. I had some time before my next even so I ran over to the fencing ring, where my brother was squaring off against Yakuta, one of the few men in the village with skills to challenge my brother's. I arrived just in time to hear the first ring of crossed steel. This was the final round of the fencing competitions, and was the most spectacular. Behind each contestant was a rack of swords in varying size, shape, and style. Either contestant could change swords and anytime, but a wrong choice would be the end of the competition. At the moment they were using sabers. Kai parried Yakuta's blow and lunged forwards, as Yakuta blocked, and swung with his free arm. Kai caught the fist in his ribs and hit the ground, rolling to avoid Yakuta's blade. Kai rolled to his feet, just in time to block and parry Yakuta's next assault. Sparks began to fly as the blades moved faster. With a quick twist, my brother deflected one of Yakuta's attacks. His blade flashed downwards, and pinned the edge of Yakuta's pant leg to the ground. Back flipping away, Kai ran back to the rack and pulled a one handed katana. Drawing it from it's sheath and rushed Yakuta. Yakuta wrenched the saber free from the ground and stood ready to face Kai's attack with both swords. Katana met saber, and Kai blocked the second saber with the sheath. They whirled and danced round each other, each utilizing their two fisted assault on each other. The crowd gasped, as many times it seemed that one might fall, but then quickly recovered. Yakuta stabbed forwards with both swords, which Kai blocked, raised the katana and brought it down in both blades, breaking them. Yakuta flung both hilts in Kai's face and turned and ran back to his rack, pulling a broad sword. The larger sword swung over head as Kai ducked and dodged. While Yakuta was slower with the big blade, Kai couldn't afford to block, for fear of breaking his own weapon. As Kai ducked, Yakuta kicked him in the chest, knocking him over on his back. Yakuta raised the sword and brought it down, despite the cries of warning from the judges. Kai thrust the katana and sheath up to block, and both sword and scabbard shattered under the blow. Kai rolled aside and dropped the broken blade.

"You could have killed me!" he shouted.

"Too bad Kai, you're not going to beat me this year again!" Yakuta snarled and charged.

Kai ran back to his rack, and drew a light long sword, his best weapon. While it was a light thin blade, it had a much longer reach than any of the other swords, and allowed Kai to utilize his speed to its fullest. Kai dashed in, dodging Yakuta's blows, and lashing out with his own blade. Yakuta could barely block in time, and soon Kai had him on the defensive. Yakuta finally realized he could not win now, and dropped the broad sword. He ran back to his rack and drew a short sword and shield, his own best weapons. The fight was really on now. Knowing Kai, he would not kill Yakuta, but he would seek to wound him, and possibly cripple him if he had to. It was clear however that Yakuta intended to kill. The referees tweeted their whistles, but neither warrior showed any signs of stopping. The whirl and clash of steel resounded through the now silent fighting ring, the crowd seemed to be holding their breaths, sure that someone would die here. As I watched Yakuta's tactics, I finally spotted his weakness. He tired himself out with the broadsword and so while, he was pressing his attack on Kai, didn't have the energy to do any real damage. In fact, he was mostly deflecting Kai's attacks in an effort to give himself time to catch his breath. Kai must have noticed this just as I did, because he suddenly went on a vicious offensive. The long sword had a much greater reach than Yakuta's weapons, but Yakuta could still block and then strike. Kai closed the distance between them, getting close… tempting Yakuta to use his sword. The clashed and held their blades pressed against each other.

"Yakuta," Kai said through clenched teeth, "This is your choice, to the death?"

"To the death!" Yakuta spat. A savage smile crossed Kai's face, as he brought his knee into Yakuta's chest. Yakuta doubled over, and Kai lashed his blade across Yakuta's sword arm. Yakuta dropped his sword with a cry, as he began swinging his shield at Kai. With a savage roundhouse, Kai knocked Yakuta to the ground, leapt on top of him and raised his sword. For a tense moment, all held their breath, as the sword point wavered above Yakuta's neck. Kai held his position for a moment, and then, nicked him lightly across the chest, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Touché," he said triumphantly, dropped his sword and walked away. Yakuta lay on the ground seething. I smiled and was about to cheer when I saw Yakuta reaching for something in his boot. It was a knife! I stood, notched an arrow to my bow, and let fly, just as Yakuta raised the blade to throw. The arrow neatly pierced his palm, and blood spurted from his hand. Yakuta hit the ground with a scream, holding his hand. Kai looked at Yakuta, then up and me and smiled.

That evening, the awards ceremony was held. I lost in hand-to-hand, but took silver in marksmanship and gold in archery. My mother beat me to the gold at marksmanship, and Kai took gold for two of his fencing competitions, and silver in the other three. I stood on my platform, proudly holding my medals and waved to my dad. A strange feeling came over me, a tingling at the back of my neck, the same feeling I got when something bad was about to happened. And it happened. An unearthly shriek broke the revered silence of the ceremonies. All turned, looking for the source, moments before chaos broke loose. A dragon, big and black with a long white mane flew backwards overhead, before smashing into the tents in the center of the town square. Shortly afterwards, he was followed by two horned, winged beasts. The dragon snarled and lashed out with his tail, wrapping it around the neck of the first beast, while raising his claws to grapple with the second. But these beasts were not alone. The town suddenly came alive, as strange monsters came rushing into our village. They were hideous, deformed and smelt of death. Had we been any normal town, all would have panicked, but we were no ordinary village. As dragon clansmen we were all well trained in the arts of battle, and taking up the weapons that had been used in the competitions that day, we fought back. I slung a quiver over my shoulder, and picked up a bow. What were these things, perhaps Palan, the elder would know. I notched an arrow to the bow and took a monster down through the eye. Climbing a tree, I saw that the dragon had slain the two larger beasts and was flying back south of the village. Finally I caught sight of Palan, my father was defending him. I leapt from my perch and dashed across the square, releasing arrows into the swarm as I went. After what seemed like forever I finally reached them.

"Elder Palan," I panted, "What is this?"

The elder looked at me, his eyes filled with despair, "They are demons," he said, "The seal has been broken."

"What seal?" I asked, as I fired off another shaft.

"The seal that our town protects," my father said, he swung his spear over head, knocking back another monster, "It is in a shrine to the south. Something must have broken it, and these demons have been released."

"How do we seal it?" Kai had run up behind me as he asked the question.

"It can only be sealed by the blood of a dragon clansmen, for the seal is tied to our very existence," Palan said, "It is not broken, or else we would all surely be dead, but even a crack in the seal would be all the demons need to escape the underworld. Go to the seal, and offer blood upon it, and it will be renewed."

"Come on Seiya," Kai grabbed me arm and started running, "Mom!" he shouted. My mother was on a rooftop, dealing death from above with her arrows, "South gate!" Kai cried to her. My mother acknowledged his signal.

"What are we going to do Kai," I asked, ducking to avoid a claw swipe.

"Re-seal the seal of course!" he said, "It needs dragon blood right? We just cut ourselves and bleed on it."

"Kai, that dragon," I said, "It was the same dragon I saw the other day!" As we reached the gate, Kai said nothing, contemplating what I had just said. My mother ran up to us.

"What are you up to now?" she asked slightly breathless.

"We're going to re-seal the seal," Kai said, "Dad's busy, but we need help."

"No," she said flatly, "It's far too dangerous; send one of the warriors to take care of that!"

"Mom!" I stomped my foot, "We don't have time for this. That seal is leaking demons by the minute. The warriors are doing their job, defending the town, but if the seal isn't closed, we'll be quickly over run and overwhelmed. Now will you help us or not!?!" I surprised myself; I had never spoken to mother this way. I more than expected her to slap me in the mouth, but instead she simply nodded.

"Yes… yes I will help you," she said, drawing an arrow and notching it to her bow, "We must be swift." With that said, the three of us ran out the gate and into the woods. Dashing over the green, and ducking to avoid branches, we ran, avoiding the demons that were swarming through the woods towards the town. At points we were forced to stop and fight, but we eventually made it. The shrine was built on a treeless hill that rose above the leaves of the forest. It was little more than four pillars and a thatched roof set upon a stone dais. But the pillars were gone, smashed to bits, and all that remained was the dais. Upon it, was the dragon. His claws flashed and his wings beat the air, as he tried to hold back the hordes emerging from the seal. Two more great demons leapt forth and drove him back, allowing their comrades to escape.

"We have to help him!" I cried.

"Leave that to me," my mother said, "You two, close the seal, you have a plan I presume," we both nodded, "Good, then Godspeed, and may Shen-liu be with you!" We ran up hill towards the seal, as my mother began firing arrows at the great demons, drawing their attention. Kai's sword flashed before us and my shafts flew over head, clearing our path. Finally we reached the seal. Upon the floor of the dais, was inscribed a large circle and many incantations had been written inside it in an ancient tongue. A fissure of blackness cut through the center of the seal, and the cries of untold evils could be heard beneath. Kai stabbed downwards as something tried to climb out, and he kicked it back down.

"Give me your wrist!" he said. I held my arm out and he swiftly drew the blade across my wrist. A line of blood appeared almost instantly. He did the same to his wrist, "Ready?" I nodded, and at the same time, we turned our arms over. The blood fell in droplets, spattering in the stone. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, and then the blood began to move. Crawling towards the open edge of the seal, and beginning to reform the stone and repaint the letters inscribed there. The great demons that had been fighting the dragon, stopped, saw us, and rushed towards us, screaming angrily. The dragon picked itself up, and tackled them from behind. I closed my eyes, fearful that we would not seal it in time, that some new evil might emerge, or that the other demons might get us if the dragon failed to hold them off. And then, with a snap, the stone closed, and the seal reformed. The letters spouted light as the seal closed off, our blood had done its work. The demons shrieked in anguish, and turned on the dragon. The poor dragon was already tired from his battle, and though he fought back savagely they overcame him and with a swift blow to the head, knocked him unconscious. Lifting his fallen form, they spread their wings and carried him off into the sky. I shot arrows at them, but they were soon out of range.

"Mom!" Kai cried, and rushed down the hill, I lowered my eyes, to find the bleeding form of my mother, laid upon the grass of the mound. We ran to her. She was not dead, but badly wounded, a large gash across her stomach. She tried to mutter something, but we could not understand. Together we carefully lifted her, and carried her back to town. When we arrive, Wyrtane Village looked like a war zone, bodies of both our clansmen and demons were strewn everywhere, but it was clear that we had won. The survivors had been surveying the wreckage and tending to their wounded loved ones. Our father caught sight of us, and then my mother and ran to us. Kai's head was bowed, and I ran to my father, and he caught me in an embrace, and then I lost it. I burst out crying, crying for the pain and sorrow our once quite little town had suffered.

Usal, our town healer, managed to stabilize my mother's condition. The following night, the surviving members of our village met at the town hall to discuss what had happened. Our family arrived late, and when we came in, the hall was in an uproar. Blind accusations flew through the air, as the town elders called for order. My father and my brother looked at each other and nodded. Moving towards one of the back benches, they over turned it, throwing all seated upon it to the ground, lifted it over their heads and threw it down the aisle. Many ducked out of the way, and soon all were silent.

"The floor is yours elders," my father said, with a glare to the gathered townspeople.

"Thank you Kairan," Palan said standing, "People of Wyrtane, hear me!" We took our seats.

"This better be good," I whispered, to Kai, who shushed me.

"People of Wyrtane, the attack on our village is not by the doing of any we see here today," Palan continued, "Nay, none in this assembly have that power. The cracking of the seal would have to have been done by one who knew its secrets, or by one who had the strength to break through from the other side. But the seal we guard is not the only seal that bars the path to the underworld, there is another, on the far side of the world, and it too is guarded, by a great sleeping dragon."

"Was that the dragon we saw today?" someone asked.

"No," another elder said, "I think not. The Great Dragon would not abandon his post, nor could he, for his sleep is eternal, until such time as someone awakens him, or his seal is broken."

"However, if indeed someone or something forced its way through the seal, the Great Dragon will know," Palan said, "After much deliberation, it is the opinion of this council that we must send someone to awaken the Great Dragon and stop this evil before it spreads across the world." This set the hall off once more. Objections and affirmations were flung with wild abandon. My father and brother stood once again and lifted the bench they had thrown. Silence quickly settled once more.

"But who will go?" someone asked.

"We have decided," the oldest member of the council spoke up, "And our reasons are twofold. The clansmen we will send are to be Kai and Seiya, the children of Kairan." Stunned silence filled the hall, before I broke the ice.

"Whoa, whoa and whoa again!" I said standing, "You can't be serious! You want us to journey halfway across the world…"

"The other side of the world," Palan corrected me.

"The other side of the world," I continued, more than a little annoyed, "To wake up some dragon, and face untold perils, danger and possibly death! I haven't even finished school yet!"

"You are of the linage most direct to our founder Patty," the old elder replied, "Therefore the dragon is most likely to recognize you as its wakers."

"Wakers?" I asked.

"Patty feared that this day would come," Palan explained, "And set a plan into motion. Because if this, there are only certain people in this world who can wake the dragon."

"You spoke of a second reason wise elder," Kai said, standing up next to me, "What is that reason."

"The second reason is because yours is the blood that closed the seal," the old one replied, "The demons in this world will know your blood, and smell it too. They will seek you, for you now are the only ones that can open the seal."

"Why us? Why should our blood make any difference?" I crossed my arms rather defiantly.

"When the seal was created it was made so that the only thing that could open it was the life of a dragon clansman, thusly making it nigh impossible for anyone but a clansman to open it," Palan interjected, "But when you resealed it with your blood, the locking spell transferred to your lives. Just as the seal was once tied to our race's existence, the seal is now tied to your very life. If you die, so will that seal. The demons know this and will stop at nothing to find you and slay you."

"By sending you away," the old one continued, "We are protecting our village as well, for as long as you remain here, the demons will most certainly return and even more lives will be lost."

"On the move we will be harder to find," Kai said thoughtfully, "As well as moving ever closer to accomplishing our own mission."

"You are correct," the old one nodded, "But we will not force this burden upon you, you must accept this, if you will," We hesitated, looking at each other and then at our father.

"What of me father?" a voice rang from the back of the room. We turned to find that the speaker was Yakuta, "I am as strong as they. I wish to defend our world too. Why can I not go?"

"You," Palan said to his son, "Are wounded," he paused and glanced at me, and then continued before I had a chance to object, "And you do not belong to that line."

"But we are…" Yakuta began.

"We are to remain here," Palan said with finality, "And protect this village as best we can," Yakuta nodded sullenly and sat back down.

"We will accept," Kai said. I looked at him in disbelief and he returned my gaze. There was no hesitation, no apprehension. His clear grey eyes were solid and steady, and I could see that he would go, whether I would or not. But he wanted me to be with him and so he added, "For mother." I opened my mouth, and then shut it. How could I refuse now. Theses demons had done this to my mother, and even if I did not want to save the world, I would most certainly save my mother.

"Yes," I said finally with a sigh, "We accept."

That night passed quickly, almost numbly. Father spent the entire night, packing us supplies and tools we might need. We wanted to stay up and help, but he told us to put together any personal things we wanted and go to sleep, we'd need our rest. We awoke the next morning to find breakfast, a hearty fruit and oats porridge, was already on the table. We ate solemnly, realizing that this would be our last home cooked meal for a very long time. The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Carter showed up and offered us a selection of some of his father's best weapons and armor. I took two armored gloves, a few throwing knives. Kai grabbed a shirt of chain mail, light greaves, shoulder and knee armor, and a pair of armored gauntlets. We took our own weapons, not because they were better than the one's Carter brought, but because we knew ours the best. At some point we went back to the town hall, where we met the elders again and the next thing I knew, me and my brother were walking away from our home, our town and our people. We were trekking north, across the fields that separated our town from the northern woods. As we walked, I looked to the sky, running over everything the elders had said in my mind.

"Patty's plan was genius," Palan began as we took our seats before him, "Ryu's warriors had fought long and hard beside him, and wished that the world would be forever protected. Using her magic, Patty caused their emotions for Ryu to be bound into their blood stream, and so, when they married and had children, those emotions passed into their offspring. While the children themselves will feel nothing for Ryu, these emotions can be released in the presence of the dragon, and he will awake to speak with his comrades, or so he will think."

"However," the old one took over, "You will have to locate these souls, and the only way to do so is with this," he held forth a small chest, "This is for you Seiya." I opened it and took out a silver, chain bracelet. Small traces of gold had been inlaid into the links, and from the chain hung a small silver dragon, coiled protectively around a teardrop shaped crystal.

"What's this?" I asked.

"This serves three purposes," Palan said, "This is the Dragon's Tear, it once belonged to Ryu. It has the power to reveal the emotions of those around you depending on the color of the Tear. The second power is that it can locate the ones who hold the power to wake The Great Dragon. And the third is that this was Ryu's most treasured possession, and since Patty's bloodline was blurred long ago, this Tear is all we have to try and wake Ryu."

"Take these," the old one handed Kai a book and a scroll of parchment. Kai unrolled the scroll, "This is a map, drawn by one in Ryu's party named Sten. During their travels they journeyed far across the entire known world, and so this map shows much of what the ancient world looked like. Of course much of this has changed in the last hundred years, but the Tear works with this map. By holding the tear over the map, it will point to the place on the map where you can find the next soul."

"And the book?" Kai asked.

"The book is a journal of sorts, it was written by a woman named Nina," Palan explained, "It catalogues almost every monster or demon that existed in the ancient world. It also gives information on towns, cities, land marks, and even some of the races you may run into. Think of it as… a field guide."

"Now are you ready?" the old one asked, "Good, here are you instructions. You must journey north, to Spargus Woods. Once there search for the village of the Grassmen... yes they do exist. The elder of the Grassmen is named Aok, he is a long time friend of Palan, and of this village. Aok should be able to direct you to the waker that lives in the woods, after that he may give you some further advice, but as far as we know you will be on your own. But be on your guard, if the demons have returned, then monsters and many other evils may have returned with them. Good luck, and Godspeed."

"Seiya," I snapped back to the present as my brother spoke. Looking around I realized that we had cross the field and stood at the edge of Spargus Woods, "You know," he said, "All my life, I've been told never to enter Spargus Woods, and yet here we are."

"Kinda spooky huh?" I said looking in.

"Yeah, but that's where we gotta go, come on," with one hand on the hilt of his sword, and the other holding onto the strap of his pack, he took a deep breath and plunged into the forest. I took one last look back at our town, and then without further ado, stepped into Spargus Woods.