Hanetsuno I
Yesterday

What is this? Consciousness...? Is this what it's like to be awake? How long have I been asleep? How much of our life is only a dream?

The Great Knight and his princess died fighting the evil ones. Did that happen? Yes, it was a very painful reality that forced itself upon my minds.

After all these countless years, have we really woken up? Why? Our minds are free from the protective barrier of sleep, and our body has escaped the lazy paralysis that held us so long... but why?

Ah, the boy of awesome power. The girl of fantastic beauty and grace. They return to the mortal world, and they need us again. I renew my pledge that our lives are for the purpose of your survival, so that the world may survive as well.

Chapter 1

Roughly eight years later...

It was puzzling how people often know more about life forms that were theoretically nonexistent than they did about animals that couldn't possibly make themselves more obvious. You could approach a small group of people on the street and ask for information about the 'common weaver finch,' and most of your responses would blank looks. You could ask the same group of people about a creature called ' pegasus,' which would allow you to scrape up enough knowledge to write a short informational essay.

This ' pegasus' wasn't a particularly active conversational topic, but it was general knowledge that the beast was believed to be a horse or horse-like creature possessing a pair of wings extending from its shoulder blades. It was common to believe that the horse was white and the wings were feathered. Some scientists suggest that the fable of the pegasus began when some esteemed idiot with bad vision saw a horse with a wing-like pattern of tree branches over it. Despite the color of the supposed horse, the thought of it being white most likely came from the legend mixing with that of the completely unrelated unicorn.

Some people said that the pegasus was actually a type of deer that went extinct, or that it was truly its own unique species before extinction. Some said that the animal was a rare species that still exists. Some said it exists at the bottom of a good-sized keg of beer. Some would say that, as with angels being winged humans, that the pegasus were deceased horses. This was rarely stated; the mention of this theory would spark biologists into a heated debate over the existence of angels with someone ending up religiously offended.

Real or not, this 'pegasus' was generally thought of as a majestic winged creature that only showed itself in fairy tales.

There were several insignifigagant little dots scattered across the map of the country called Felanci, and one of them was labeled as 'Ministrair.' Surely, if a pegasus chose to offer the world a single glimpse of itself, this was the last dot it would ever think of visiting.

Aikel Corselle, a teenager whose aura of civility boggled the dormant minds of his peers, knew just as much about this version of the pegasus as any average person, though the version he was more familiar with was quite different. This one did have wings, but it wasn't really a majestic anything.

At age seven, a few days after his zestful half-birthday, he and a gang of his buddies decided to explore a cave near their town little town just for the sake of doing something they were told not to do. Due to a cave-in, he and his friend Mirran had each been left on their own within dark tunnels.

" AIKEL! Wake up!"

The sound of his mother's impatient voice jarred Aikel from his reflective dream. He jerked to a sitting position and blinked his green eyes in confusion, trying to recognize his surroundings. He wasn't in a cave surrounded by terrifyingly ugly beasts; he was in his room tangled up in his sheets. His fuzzy white companion wasn't flying around the cavern trying to fend off the beasts; he was sliding painfully down the far wall after Aikel's sudden awakening had caused him to be flung across the room.

Aikel yawned and stretched, asking, "Are you okay, Pegasus?" He ran his fingers through his light blond hair and tied a brown band around his forehead.

"Uh-huh..." the creature mumbled. He was round about the size and shape of a large squirrel. He had small downy wings on his shoulders and tuffs of green fur on the tips of his ears and the end of his thin tail. He bounced up into Aikel's lap, and, despite his collision with the wall, his big green eyes glittered with cheer. He smiled and said, "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Aikel responded, "Sorry about--"

"Aikew...!"

Pegasus was buried in a tidal wave of bedding as the door of Aikel's bedroom opened. A blond six-year-old girl entered looking disgruntled and pouty. She stomped comically up to Aikel and pulled fruitlessly on his arm.

"What's the point waking up, if you're gonna sit in bed an' talk to yourself all day?" she demanded, "Mommy wants your help making bweakfast."

"I'm coming, Sibylla," Aikel said to his little sister, using her formal name to show his annoyance. She continued pulling on him, so he got out of bed, carefully keeping Pegasus hidden without squishing him. He yawned again and allowed himself to be tugged out of the room.



* * *

Aikel's friend and opponent hit the polished wooden floor with a pained grunt. His sharpened practice sword fell out of his reach.

"I'm sorry," Aikel said, lowering his own weapon and holding out his hand, "Are you okay, Mirran?"

Mirran blew the bangs of his long black hair out of his face and got up without Aikel's help. He brushed himself off and grumbled something.

"Sorry..." Aikel repeated helplessly.

"You're supposed to be practicing, not killing each other!" Aikel's father, Ministrair's combat instructor, sighed and excused himself from two other students and approached them. He ranted, "That's the fifth-or-so time this week one of you have knocked the other down when you're not supposed to.... It's only Tuesday. Did one of you steal the other's girlfriend or something...?"

"The floor's slippery?" Aikel suggested helplessly.



* * *

Mirran still seemed grumpy when most of the students got together after their class. As always, they met at the restaurant extension of the town's grocery.

"Mr. Olsen's new recipe looks like my mom's meatloaf..." Aikel commented, poking at the brownish substance on his tray, as he sat down at an outdoor table with his friends.

Mirran snorted. Whether or not it was meant as a laugh remained a mystery.

Their friend Terdoan leaned across the table for a better look at the so-called food. "Before or after it's been digested?" he questioned. His messy chin-length tan hair hung down in his eyes, but he ignored it.

"There's not much difference..." Aikel joked. "Appearance-wise, at least."

Flenn looked at Aikel's food and calmly stated, "That's why I never eat at your place...." His hair was short and brown with two long strands of bright green hanging down on either side of his face; he pushed them behind his pointed ears when they slid down in front of his blue eyes.

Linness ventured to ask, "What's it taste like?"

"I'm afraid to try it," Aikel said.

Flenn started to speak, but Mirran's half-sarcastic voice cut in with, "Hey, Kyri, spending time with Daddy this morning?"

The others looked over at a distinctive shade of blue as the girl Mirran was addressing turned toward them. Her eyes, which matched her gray-blue hair, flashed angrily.

"Please convey my congratulations," Mirran said, "that he was able to walk today even though it's been so long since the last time he stopped slacking off long enough to stand up." The others laughed slightly; Aikel smothered a snicker.

Kyri's eyes were piercing, and her face reddened. She kept her cool and said, "You really ought to try putting your foot into your ear instead of your mouth. Boot leather isn't big on intelligence, but it has to do better than that rock you've got up there now."

"Oh, I'm hurt," Mirran feigned. As Kyri quickly walked away, he muttered, "Blue-haired freak...."

"Don't call her a freak because of her hair color," Flenn said indifferently, taking a drink of fruit juice.

"Why not?" Mirran asked, sounding a bit bitter.

Flenn looked up and at him. "Part of my hair's green, man," he pointed out.

"That's because you're an elf."

"Half-elf," Flenn corrected. Mirran rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Maybe that's why the rest of it isn't green," Aikel laughed.

"Anyway," Mirran said. "She a human, believe it or not. Humans don't have blue hair."

"Hmm." Flenn shrugged and returned his limited attention to his drink.

Aikel sighed and let his eyes wander to the sky. It was flawlessly blue and was accented by a pair of fluffy rainless clouds. The sun shined brightly onto the unpainted wooden houses. All the buildings were on short stilts to lessen to worries of the wet season's floods, and most of the houses looked fairly similar save the unique flower pots, wind chimes, gardens, and other adornments. The streets were wide curved paths where constant trampling had prevented grass from growing, and they usually forked in accordance with some tree that was older than the rest of the village.

Aikel spotted Kyri coming back in their direction. She tried to move obliviously to avoid their attention. She probably forgot to buy something, he concluded as he decided to ignore her. Just as she began to pass them, the world seemed to pause in start; everyone in the market area froze as a shrill sound ripped through the air from halfway down the street. The sound was so rarely heard in this town that it took a moment for everyone to recognize it.

A scream?

"Whaa...?" Linness began, standing and looking down the street.

Just the result of someone's practical joke, Aikel thought calmly. Mirran had the habits of a prankster, and Aikel was sure he saw him hide a grin.

Tredoan leaned back to see around Linness. Both of them, along with everyone else on the street had ghost-white faces. The crowd's shock wore off, and everyone in the know screamed. Everyone else tried to see what was happening, but it was blocked by panicked people.

Tredoan turned to his friends and stuttered, "This is... p-probably... not what... it looks like...but... let's get the hell outta here anyway!"

Seeing as Tredoan never shouted or stuttered, Aikel immediately took the unidentified situation more seriously. Mirran and Flenn stood, the latter dragging Aikel out of his seat. He seemed speechless, but he pointed frantically away from the screamer, so Aikel allowed himself to be half-dragged as he ran.

The source of disturbance came into view. A row of five people were sliced apart in mid-step. Aikel froze and gaped at the huge burly ugly humanoids whose sword swipes had been so fatally effortless. One of the three visible soldier-like creatures sliced down another row of fleeing victims. Two men, a woman, and two small children

Their blood spattered on Aikel's clothes. Still bolted to the ground, he looked at the two kids, who were holding each other's hands as they fell. He gasped.

"Aikel!"

The surviving people in the area were dispersing around him. He pried his vision upward and saw that a soldier had singled him out because he wasn't moving. His sword swung.

Something popped Aikel aside the head and knocked him over as the blade cleaved through the air where his neck used to be.

"Aikel! Go!"

"Pegasus?!"

"GO!"

He scrambled up and edged backward before turning around and running. Oh, Sibby...! he cried silently. Pegasus hopped up and clamped his teeth on the warrior's nose. The warrior tried to shake him off before slashing at him. He cut a mark across his own face.

Aikel tripped on someone's arm and skidded across the dirt. He got painfully to his knees and began to feel a pain sharp pain in his lower leg as something landed on a roof. It was large, green, and bipedal, and it was armed with large scaly wings, sharp claws, and a deafening screechy roar.

"A dragon...?" Aikel questioned in awe. The creature looked at him, roared, and turned toward something else. It roared again and swooped down. It faltered before its target and skidded to a hesitant landing. Aikel had to look twice.

Kyri Walshiron had intimidated the beast with a broom held at her side like a staff. She had her legs together, tiptoed like a still dancer, and her free hand was held away from her side as if for graceful balance. It was not any sort of fighting stance, and her face was thoughtfully blank, but the reptile stepped back uncertainly.

One of the strange warriors yelled something at the beast in another language. Its head snapped forward, but Kyri slid to the side of its snapping jaws and jabbed it in the eye with the end of her broom.

Aikel stood and stumbled back down. He looked down at his right lower leg, where there was slash in his pants and skin. His wince tightened, but he struggled up again.

"Sibby!" he called.



Chapter 2



A blur, that's what it was. Just a blur, and only part it was from teary eyes. The rest of it was from the suddenness, the splattering blood, the hateful look of the enemies, and the small wind one felt when narrowly missing a sword or a set of sword-sized teeth.

Kyri leaned against a tree and let her body slide to the ground as she looked up at the other trees. They blurred with the visible portions of the cloudy sky. Hadn't it been bright and sunny just an hour before? The forest was full of cheerful fluffy-looking bushes and leafy trees, some of which had fruit. Any other time, it would have looked soft and peaceful.

But at that moment, it felt like reality itself could tear apart at any second.

"Kyri?" a soft high-pitched voice asked. "Are you... okay?"

Kyri blinked as she acknowledged the words. She slowly turned her head down to the blue and white squirrel-shaped creature at her side who had a short argent horn pointing up from its forehead.

Kyri gave a meaningless mumble and turned her attention back to the patch of sky she'd been looking at before. She hugged a large purse-like brown bag to her side. Her hand twitched, as did the bloodstained knife she was clutching.

"Do you think we lost the bad people?" the small creature questioned. She blinked her blue eyes worriedly. Kyri answered with another mumble, but she stood up and looked toward Ministrair. Only smoke was visible, but the pictures in her mind were as clear as if they were still happening right in front of her.

"M-mah..." she mumbled, and the white creatures ears drooped sadly, "Mama...." She sobbed and allowed a fresh wave a tears to slide down her face. "W-why...?" she questioned.

The small creature opened her mouth to speak, but she found she didn't know the answer. Instead she asked, "What are you going to do, Kyri?"

Kyri only flexed the fingers on her knife's handle.

"I'm sorry..." the creature said quietly. "I wish I could've been more of a help.... I knew this day would come, but I didn't know... that it would be anything like... this...."

"'This day would come,'" Kyri repeated, "What is 'this day?'"

"There are evil dark-hearted creatures in this world.... I told you that, didn't I...?"

Kyri nodded.

"And I knew they would be a threat someday... today.... You have to fight them, Kyri."

"Mm...?"

"You're not alone, though... and you're not helpless," the creature said. "It's been many, many years since your family has had to do any fighting. Memories fade with blood, but you remember because your mother, and grandfather, and great-grandmother each remembered almost as much as the one before them.

"Why do you think your mother, a medicine woman, would know how to fight with a staff? Why do you think she would know how to turn simple dance moves into evasion skills? Why do you think she would learn how to run long, think fast, and jump high? Why do you think she put so much time grinding the knowledge into your head?"

"Mama..." Kyri repeated, hanging her head.

"I'm sorry...."

"None of it's your fault, Unicorn...."

"Still..." the creature mumbled. After a moment, she hissed, "Kyri!"

"Hmm?" Kyri squeaked. Unicorn's ears were perked, so she listened. The sounds of loud speaking were coming from the south, from the smoke. The voices were inhuman. Kyri blinked. "Come on!" She snatched up Unicorn and dashed northward.



* * *

After a few minutes of fast jogging, Kyri and Unicorn stopped and listened for any sign of the enemies. The continued vaguely northward at a slow walking pace until they heard another voice.

"Wait," Unicorn began as Kyri started in the other direction, "I know that voice... from somewhere." They walked cautiously in that direction.

"Are you okay?" the voice was asking urgently, "Come on, we have to keep going!"

Kyri and Unicorn came to a spot where the ground suddenly dropped about five feet. They stood behind a tree on the edge of the drop and looked down at the source of the sounds.

"Aikel...?" Kyri mumbled. Aikel was standing about ten yards away, rubbing his temples, and swooning a bit. Pegasus was bouncing around him frantically. Kyri quietly asked Unicorn, "That little white thing... is it like you?"

"That's Pegasus."

"You know him?"

"Y... not really... maybe. I don't know," Unicorn said uncertainly, "but that boy is a friend of yours, right?"

"No," Kyri said bitterly. "Let's leave before they know we're here." She started to turn away, but Unicorn stopped her.

"If Pegasus is his friend," she said, "he's the person that's suppose to help you fight."

"A person is only as good as their friends--in quality, not quantity," Kyri said firmly. "I don't know about Pegasus, but the rest of Aikel's friends are self-centered obnoxious idiots."

"You mean 'were,' don't you...?"

"Oh... yeah," Kyri said guiltily. How many of them survived those monstrous warriors?

Pegasus squealed as Aikel fell forward and landed unconscious. Kyri's instincts as the daughter of a healer triggered, and she ran down the five-foot-high slope and kneeled at Aikel's side. Pegasus, who seemed ready to pass out himself, hopped back in start as they seemed to appear out of nowhere. Kyri rolled Aikel over and held her hand in front of his face.

"He's breathing fine, so I think he just became overexerted," Kyri observed. "He's bleeding badly, but we'll fix it...." She stepped over him and kneeled back down by his right leg. She took a pair of gloves out of her bag as Unicorn bounced to his other side.

"Um... what are ya doing?" Pegasus asked, feeling clueless.

"We're gonna fix his leg," Unicorn explained. Kyri, her gloves equipped, removed Aikel's boot and rolled up his pant leg.

Pegasus winced at his wound. He said, "I didn't see how he got cut."

"As chaotic as it was back there," Kyri said, " he probably didn't see how he cut himself." She studied the slash for a moment; it extended along most of his calf and seemed fairly deep. She sighed, removed her gloves, and looked at Unicorn. Unicorn made a nodding motion and closed her eyes. Kyri closed her eyes, bowed her head, and pressed her palms together.

Pegasus's eyes widened as Unicorn's horn glowed blue, and a sphere of bluish light appeared between Kyri's palms as she spread them apart. She looked at the light before pressing her palms together again and causing her hands themselves to absorb it and glow. Ignoring the blood, she pressed her hands against Aikel's wound and closed her eyes in concentration. The glow, along with Aikel's injury, faded.

Kyri rummaged through her bag and found a roll of bandages and a small glass jar. She smeared some of the jar's greenish contents onto his leg and bandaged it up.

"Why are you putting all that stuff on there if he's not hurt anymore?" Pegasus asked.

"It's so he won't... unheal," Kyri said; she frowned in frustration from not being able to think of a better word. She put Aikel's boot back on and rolled his pants down. She put the jar and bandages back in her bag and brought out a pair of corked bottles. One was empty, but she filled it with half of the water in the other one. She corked the bottles, putting one away and one on the ground. She stood and picked Unicorn up. She said, "He might need some water when he wakes up."

"Where are you going?" Pegasus asked after they walked a few steps. He flew after them.

"He'll wake up soon. We have no more business here," Kyri said flatly.

"Is he really that bad, Kyri?" Unicorn asked her.

"Yes," she answered coldly. She smiled at Pegasus, patted his head, and told him, "You take care of yourself, okay, little guy?"

He blinked. "Okay." He watched them jog away and went back to Aikel's side.



* * *

It was only a few minutes later when Aikel awoke. His stirring jarred Pegasus from a short nap, and the little creature bounced into his lap when he sat up.

"You missed it!" Pegasus informed energetically.

"Huh...?" Aikel asked wearily.

"Ya know how I've always told you you'd meet a princess, and the two of you would save the world together, and get married, and all that stuff...?"

Aikel rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

"She was here!" Pegasus cried, beaming.

"What?"

"Your princess! She came over and used magic to fix your leg, and she gave you some water, but then she left." Pegasus sighed, but he nudged the bottle of water to Aikel's side and said, "She said you might need the water."

"Yeah..." Aikel admitted, "but I think you've gone nuts, buddy." He inspected his former injury incredulously before lifting the bottle and looking at it as if it might be something of interest.

As he drank from it, Pegasus said, "She was nice and all, but she didn't seem to like you very much.... You must have been a real jerk to make the Princess of Life so angry."

Aikel exhaled loudly after all the gulping he'd done. He asked, "How could I make some girl mad if I've never met her before?"

"I don't know," Pegasus confessed, "but I think she's from your town."

"I know all the girls from Ministrair," Aikel said. "I've dated about a third of them. There are no princesses; only common, everyday, non-royalty girls.... What did she look like?"

"She was kinda shorter than you," Pegasus said thoughtfully, "and her eyes and hair were blue, and she--"

"Blue?" Aikel interrupted. "Her hair was blue?"

"Maybe a little grayish, but, yeah, it's blue," Pegasus said, nodding. "Her friend mentioned her name, but I didn't hear her well."

"Kyri?!" Aikel demanded.

"That's her!" Pegasus voiced gleefully.

"She's... she's... I'm not going to marry her," Aikel insisted.

"Why not?" Pegasus questioned curiously.

"I... I don't even like her," Aikel said hastily. "She's antisocial, and she's got an attitude, and... her hair is blue! Why is her hair blue?"

"Maybe it's because she's a half-angel," Pegasus suggested.

Aikel blinked. "A half- what­?"

"She's part valkyrie," Pegasus explained. "A lot of valkyrie have bluish hair. Purple's common too."

Aikel considered this. "...Oh," he said. "Whatever...." He looked around, and his expression grew sad. He asked, "What happened to others, the villagers?"

"I think most of them escaped into the trees; we just got separated from them," Pegasus said.

"Sibby..." Aikel murmured.

"I'm sure she's fine," Pegasus promised. "Your parents wouldn't let anything happen to her. They're probably worried about you, so let's go find them."

"Yeah... you're right," Aikel said quietly. He lifted Pegasus and stood up, his right leg shaking a bit before he steadied himself. He showed Pegasus the remaining water in the bottom of the bottle and asked, "Are you thirsty?" As Pegasus gladly emptied it, Aikel said, "Most people are afraid of going too far into the Southern Forest, so I guess they'd all stay together on the trail."

Pegasus licked the extra water off his lips and asked, "What's the Southern Forest got to do with this?"

"That's the forest we're in," Aikel said. "I think the trail is probably... this way." He pointed eastward.

"Why is it called the Southern Forest if it's to the north?"

"I don't know; I didn't name it," Aikel grumbled, becoming a bit snappy. "Why don't you fly up and see if you can spot a trail or something?"

Pegasus nodded and fluttered his wings. Upon returning from the treetops, he said, "It is east; we might as well go northeast. I didn't see any of the villagers, but we need to be careful because I did see a wyvern flying around. It's kinda far away, but it looks like it's looking around for stuff." He began to fly northeast, but he let himself be carried when Aikel caught up to him.

"What's a wyvern?" Aikel asked, scaling the five-foot ridge.

"One of those nasty-looking green things."

"I thought that was a dragon or something."

"Nah, dragons are worse."

It took them about fifteen minutes to find the trail, a curved line through the forest where the trees and bushes parted a bit. The dirt was normally weakly trodden, but it looked like it recently been tread over by many feet.

Aikel felt Pegasus quiver, and he backed cautiously behind the trail-side bushes. They continued along side the path under the cover of foliage.

"Something's wrong," Pegasus observed, "Shouldn't forests have... foresty sounds? Like birds? Why is everything so quiet?"

Aikel started to answer, but an immense shadow passed over them. They saw a green-scaled tail move out of sight beyond the treetops. Aikel gulped and said, "I think that, if I were a forest, that thing would shut me up."

"Let's keep going," Pegasus said. The suggestion was punctuated by the wyvern's screech. Aikel nodded and continued trying to tiptoe through the brush. He felt Pegasus quiver again. The trail ahead of them curved; the trees hid their view of it.

An unsettling smell packed their noses, and Aikel's uneasiness felt like spears jabbing at him. For unknown reasons, he jumped back onto the trail and ran along it until he passed the bend and stopped cold. His eyes widened. Pegasus made a few random stuttering sounds before falling silent.

"D-dear God..." Aikel said timorously. That smell was mostly of blood. About twenty yards ahead, the road contained puddles of blood with strips of randomly strewn flesh. Most of the humanoid skeletons had been picked clean, but they hadn't had time to bleach white. Several bones were split apart and tossed around. Some of the flesh was burnt black. There were still stained strips of clothing among the gore.

Despite his terror, Aikel ran forward for a closer look at the scene. The corpses were mutilated beyond identification, but he spotted a bit half-stained sky-blue cloth. Much to Pegasus's discomfort, he bent down to pick it up. The little creature looked up at Aikel questioningly.

As Aikel stared at the cloth, his eyes became tear-filled. He said, "My mother never took this scarf off, because my father gave it to her when they were teenagers.... Even when it clashed with her clothes, she had it tied around her neck or wrist.... She loved it."

"Aikel..." Pegasus pouted. He took flight as he was dropped, and Aikel fell to his knees in the blood. His tears streaked his face and mixed with the puddles of red.

"There were at least fifty people here..." he sobbed. "All the others were back there...."

"Look who's crying now..." a quiet depressed-sounding voice said.

Aikel and Pegasus looked up to see Kyri on the far side of the trail. She had Unicorn in her arms and was shivering a bit. Her face was blank, but her eyes were full of heartbreak and anger.

"Yes, I'm crying now," Aikel said bitterly, "What kind of monster are you, that you wouldn't be?"

"I'd give anything to cry right now," Kyri said, "but I have no tears. They've been wasted on so many meaningless things.... But I was beginning to think you weren't able to cry."

Aikel tried to figure out what she meant. After a few seconds of confusion, his thoughts turned to rage. He clench his trembling blood-covered hands into fists and yelled, "Go lose yourself, you blue-hair freak!"

Kyri glared at him before turning around and stomping angrily out of sight. He watched her disappear among the trees and then turned back to the corpses in front of him.

Pegasus perched atop his friend's head and cautiously said, "Maybe a few of them got away.... We should still head north. Kyri went northeast... so we can go northwest if you want."

Aikel closed his eyes and began to mumble something that Pegasus assumed must be a prayer for the deceased. The little creature, not knowing much about prayers himself, simply closed his eyes in respect, and he flapped his wings to maintain his balance as Aikel stood up.

Aikel took dragging steps northwest along the trail. His emotions made his feet heavy. Pegasus flew along behind him. He wanted to say something comforting, but he didn't know where to start.

He nearly dropped from the air at the sound of a loud trumpeting roar and another scream. Screams were far too familiar to Aikel now, but this one triggered something in him. With hardly a thought, he spun around and ran west, toward the source of the sound. Pegasus flapped madly, failing to keep up.

The loud bugle echoed again.



Chapter 3

Kyri stood on shaky legs and looked up at the scaly viscous-looking face of the reptilian beast that was before her. The beast swaggered through the bushes on four strong legs while keeping its eyes locked on her. It bellowed and began to move forward. She backed up slowly, cautiously, and hugged Unicorn tighter.

Being beneath a small break in the overhead tree branches, the beast's brown scales glittered in the sunlight. It extended its long neck upward, and its two long black horns seemed to pierce the sky. Its large bat-like wings extended slightly, as if the creature were trying to be even more intimidating. Including its long triangle-tipped tail, the beast was nearly twenty feet long.

"D-dragon...?" Kyri questioned quietly. Unicorn gave a short squeaky mumble. The dragon arched its neck. It bellowed again and snapped its head forward like a cobra. Kyri and Unicorn were knocked sideways to the ground, and something heavy landed on them. The dragon's jaws closed on air. It slashed with one of its talons, and there was a ripping sound.

The heavy thing that had knocked them over got off them. Kyri and Unicorn looked up to see Aikel offering his hand, though his eyes were fixed of the miffed dragon. Kyri took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up, but she took note of the fact that he had a tree branch in his other hand. He traded it to his right hand after helping her up.

"You're not going to fight with just that, are you?" she asked.

"I hope we can get out of here without trying," he answered.

As they backed up a bit, Kyri saw the three bloody gashes in Aikel's back. "Oh, you're hurt!" Kyri warned.

"I'll be okay... for a minute at least," Aikel said.

The dragon growled and edged toward them as it prepared for another attack. It lunged again. The branch gouged its eye. It drew back, grumbling.

It struck again, this time using a head butt. Aikel was knocked back. The dragon rose onto two legs and clawed at him. Kyri grabbed his shirt and yanked him out of the way. The dragon's talons sunk into the tree that had been behind him.

With a lash of the creature's tail, Aikel and Kyri were knocked to their left. Unicorn fell from Kyri's grasp and bounced onto the dragon's leg. The dragon snapped for Aikel again. In mid-lunge, something white slammed into the side of its head but was snatched up when the dragon turned quickly and snapped again. Unicorn had been moving toward its head; she sprang and slammed her horn into the beast's left eye.

It bellowed in pain. Pegasus flapped desperately and escaped while its mouth was open. He was weighed down by a thick coat of saliva and fell to the ground.

"Pegasus..." Aikel scrambled over and picked him up as Kyri stood and caught Unicorn. The dragon butted him into Kyri, and the four of them slammed into a tree. They landed on the ground in a heap.

Kyri seemed to be the only one that hadn't been knocked into half-consciousness. She moved off Aikel carefully, trying not to hurt the wounds on his back. She looked up at the dragon and saw it arch its neck again. She tried to stand firm but couldn't help but cringe and shrink away as its head shot forward. She heard a whip-like sound and looked back up.

A silver-blue rope was noosed around the creature's throat. Its head was being pulled back, but the other end of the rope was hidden in the bushes. Two more ropes, one from either side, flew into view and were fastened around the dragon's muzzle. The beast struggled fruitlessly and snorted in frustration.

"Wha...?" Kyri mumbled incredulously.

The dragon was forced onto its hind legs. A pair of fast-moving figures flitted in front of it in opposite directions, twisting a rope around its wrists. Within a few seconds, its forelegs were bound together tightly, and its tail was fastened to its hind legs. It flapped its wings frantically.

Its captors slowed their flight enough to be seen. A human-like being less than four-feet-tall got behind the dragon's head and grabbed its horns. He had a pair of yellow-tipped antenna-like objects rising up from his bright red hair. Colorful glittery sparkles appeared for a few moments when he flapped his feather-like butterfly wings.  

He yelled, "Friigo! Paralyze the wings!"

A group of five similar creatures surrounded the dragon. Two of them shrunk to about four inches and approached the beast's shoulders. After a moment, its mad flapping dwindled into bits of twitching.

The red-haired person, who was apparently the one in charge, called, "We've failed if its quarry bleeds to death. Somebody do something about them!" Kyri drew back worriedly as he pointed to her. A pair of his followers--one shrunk, one full-size--fluttered toward her.

The larger one landed and kneeled by Aikel. She poured a small bulbous bottle of blue liquid onto her glowing hand. The liquid spilled onto Aikel's back, and his wounds began to fade. The smaller of the two began two glow until she looked like a tiny ball of light with wings. She flew toward Kyri and tapped her on the forehead before descending and doing the same for Pegasus and Unicorn.

"Are you okay?" she asked Kyri in a voice that was sympathetic yet business-like.

"Yes," Kyri said timidly, feeling her pain fade. "Thank you."



* * *

At the sound of a grumbling whimper, Aikel jumped in start again. Pegasus, who was perched on his left shoulder, flapped for balanced. Not bothering to look at him, the red-haired person, having introduced himself as Roki, sighed and said, "For the last time, it's tied up. It can't hurt you." He was walking ahead of everyone, occasionally smoothing his leather hunting clothes. His bright translucent wings were held lazily at an angle.

Kyri was walking quietly to Aikel's right, holding Unicorn in her arms. Six of the full-sized winged people were flying behind carrying the distressed dragon by the ropes that bound it; sparkles fell from their wings when they flapped. Six others were shrunk to a few inches and were flying around with no formation. Their wings didn't sparkle when they were small.

"Are you... faeries?" Kyri asked timidly asked the red-haired leader.

"We're not dwarves," he said laughing.

"Okay..." Kyri said.

"Faeries?" Aikel wondered.

As Roki stepped onto a very large tree root, he turned and called, "Switch!" The smaller faeries grew to about four feet and took dragon's ropes from the others. The others shrunk, and Aikel assumed that they must feel more natural that way. The group continued onward.

Only then did it occur to Aikel that someone should ask where they were being taken.

"Our troop--or village--Nalya," Roki answered, "Since your home was attacked, we'll get you--and any more of your kind we can find--a temporary settlement."

"We're going to live in your village?" Aikel asked.

"Possibly, but I doubt it.... Our troop warder Prithvi knows the details."

The group was walking down-hill. The lower-planted trees were taller, and the treetops were fairly similar in height. The leaves were continually thicker, and the light dimmed. The tips of Roki's antennae were engulfed in small orbs of white light. Following his example, the six smaller faeries began to glow. The others were busy with the dragon.

"Why...?" Kyri said quietly, trailing off.

Aikel had a feeling she was talking to him, and he knew what she meant. Still he asked, "Why what?" and kept his eyes forward.

She looked up at him and asked, "Why did you save me?"

He had carelessly gotten himself injured when he pushed her away from the dragon's strike. He shrugged to her question and crossed his arms nonchalantly. He said, "I'm in training to be a swordsman. Swordsmen protect people whether they like them or not." He turned his head away.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her glare at him, but her scowl turned into a warm smile.

"You're a bad liar," Pegasus whispered.



* * *

Nalya Troop was a plant-scented town that was nearly invisible until you stepped into it. The buildings were small wooden structures, and most of them had leaves on them. Some were on stilts, but most were in the trees on wooden platforms of varied height. Despite the faeries' ability to fly, there were stairs and ladders between platforms and ropes that served as railings.

The city was dark due to the overhead foliage, but a few gaps in the leaves allowed the sunlight to shine through. The sunless places were lit with softly glowing lanterns and a few bright fireflies. The bright flowers and the sparkling darkness gave the place an aura of eerie peace.

Most of the buildings' ceilings were no more than six-feet-high. One of the few that was higher was a long pleasant-looking building on its own platform. It served as an inn for the town's visitors. Roki had left to speak with his superior, and he led Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn to this inn when he returned.

The innkeeper had offered two rooms for the four of them. Aikel and Pegasus took one; Kyri and Unicorn took the other. The room had a long low bed with navy sheets on the right side. There was a small table against the wall by the window, an oval magenta rug in the middle of the floor, and a lantern in the center of the ceiling. Save these and the door, the little wooden room was bare.

When Kyri and Unicorn entered their room, they looked at it wearily for a moment before collapsing onto the bed. After a few moments, there was a knock at the door.

Unicorn looked at Kyri, whose face was buried in a pillow. She bounced halfway to the door and called, "Come in!"

A faery with a tray of fruit entered, asking, "Are you hungry?"

"Thank you," Unicorn said to her as she set the tray down on the table.

As she started to leave, she said, "The large building just to the west of here is café of sorts, if you get bored."

"You want some fruit, Kyri?" Unicorn asked as she hopped onto the table.

"I'm not hungry," Kyri mumbled.

"You should eat something," Unicorn said. She rolled an orange off the table; it fell onto the bed near the pillow. "You've had a long d..." she began. She looked regretful.

"It's all one day?" Kyri asked. She began sobbing into her pillow. Unicorn hopped down and snuggled up against her neck. "My mother was alive this morning...."

See, you can cry, Unicorn thought sadly.



* * *

Unicorn was cuddled affectionately against Kyri's wet face when she awoke with a start. She only recalled being startled and had no idea what had awakened her. She edge quietly away from Kyri and looked around. The room was dimmer because there was no sunlight coming through the window. She could hear the muffled sounds of crickets from outside.

After a moment, she heard something else. She moved to the door and pressed her ear against it. She heard voices that were a bit higher-pitched, like faeries'. The faeries seemed to be right outside but were trying to be quiet, so Unicorn could only make out a few words. She heard Kyri's name and something about summoning, magic, and monsters. Despite their volume, the voices seemed to be arguing.

There was the sound of a door opening quietly, and the faeries voices instantly stopped. After the exchange of a few words, the door closed. The faeries were silent for a moment before Unicorn heard Roki's voice again.

"Prithvi," he said clearly, "we need to try."

There was an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine," a female voice muttered. Unicorn jumped back in start as one of the faeries knocked on the door.

"Come in..." she said. She looked at Kyri, who was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. The door opened and three faeries entered. The woman in the lead was about two inches shorter than Roki, who was behind her, but her air of superiority made her seem three times taller.

Her long hair was a shiny ivory color. A series of small braids began just behind her bangs and was styled in a net shape, hanging down over the rest of her hair. Her silver-blue eyes were hard and piercing. She straightened her dark-red silk robes, glanced at Unicorn, and turned her gaze to Kyri.

"On behalf of our race," she said formally, "I would like to request a favor of you, miss."

Kyri blinked a few times, as if wondering whether or not she was the one being addressed.



Chapter 4

"Do you even know how to summon a faery?"

"Doesn't everybody?"

Aikel looked at Kyri, who had apparently been sincere in her response. He rolled his eyes and said, "Never mind."

"I don't know how to summon a faery," Pegasus said from atop Aikel's head. He squinted his eyes as they passed under a patch of sunlight. Aikel thought he saw Kyri give Pegasus a quick wink, which made him suspect she had been joking.

The ivory-haired woman was Prithvi, head of Nalya Troop. Roki and a brown-haired female were in their smaller sizes and flying after her as she walked across a rope-and-wood bridge. Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn followed behind her, wondering why no one liked to tell them where they were being taken. There were a few buildings on the platform beyond the bridge, one of which had a sign containing a picture of an apple and hatchet. That building seemed to be their destination.

The door opened as a voice from within called, "Thank you, sir. Please come again." The small-sized faery exiting pardoned himself as he nearly flew into Prithvi. She passed him wordlessly, and the other faeries held the door open for Aikel and Kyri.

The building was a general store. There were two rows of wooden shelves on either side of the door excluding those on the side walls. Those on the left were filled with grocery items, while the right side of the store contained things such as pots, pans, buckets, gardening tools, writing utensils, and clothing. A trio of shelves were hung on the far wall behind the counter, and the was a door on each side behind the counter.

The store clerk was ducked behind the counter. As Prithvi approached, the young-looking clerk climbed onto a high stool. She wasn't quite three-feet-tall, but she looked short and slightly stocky in proportion. She had long blond hair that was partly tied into shorter pigtails; the two hairbands she used were red with little gold wings. She had yellow-green robe with a red waistband over a dark-green thick-necked shirt. She had pink-tipped antennae but no wings.

"How may I help you, ma'am?" she asked Prithvi, looking nervous.

"We need a diamond-bladed dagger, twelve smooth three-ounce moonstones, and one well-cut two-pound piece of staurorite," Prithvi listed coldly, getting to the point.

The clerk had looked a bit more surprised with each word. She blinked her sky-blue eyes several times, held her hands up defensively, and said, "Woah, there.... What do ya think this is? A jewelry store? A gem mine?" She recoiled upon Prithvi's cold glare. "I think we have that dagger on our 'stuff-no-one-can-afford shelf' and I can find the moonstones in the back... but I don't know where you think you're gonna find a hunk of faery stone that big. The biggest piece I've seen in my life is hanging around your neck... ma'am."

Only then did Aikel realize that nearly every faery he'd seen had a gem on a string around his or her neck, varying in size and shape between individuals. The jewel was clear and reflected blue and pink light. Prithvi's spherical gem was larger, presumably due to her status. The clerk, though her species was questionable, had a diamond-shape.

Prithvi growled and sighed. She said, "Fine... I'll get the staurorite elsewhere...."

"Excuse me a moment," the clerk said, regaining her professionalism. She turned and leapt up, grabbing onto the lowest of the three shelves on the wall. She climbed up so she could view the top shelf. She slid over, grabbed something, and jumped back to the stool. After placing a dagger on the counter, she dashed off through the door to the left.

Aikel saw Kyri and Unicorn looking at the dagger like it was a pretty necklace. Its blade was apparently made of diamond, but it looked very sharp. The hilt was made of copper.

The clerk returned and placed a pile of smooth shiny black stones next to the dagger. She took out a pad of paper and scribbled some numbers down. She looked up at Prithvi and said, "That's 54 hundred silver pieces."

"Bill us," Prithvi scoffed.



* * *

The moon was full and shining as if all of its pride were at stake. The tree branches seemed to reshape themselves as the moonbeams hit them. The large gap above the center of Nalya seemed to expand and become more circular, while the smaller gaps seemed to disappear. The large gap formed a spotlight on the ground in the middle of the village.

Kyri stepped gingerly into the center of the light and looked up at the moon. She began to space the moonstones in a circle around the edge of the light. She brought a small pile of items into the circle.

Aikel sat cross-legged a few feet away from the circle, leaning against a tree. Pegasus and Unicorn were in front of him. Nearly every faery in the troop was hidden somewhere in the shadows.

Aikel noted that everyone's presence unnerved Kyri. She shivered occasionally, nervously fingering her white cotton dress. She looked at her assorted supplies as if worrying about forgetting something. She closed her eyes and began to mumble a bit.

When she turned her head up and looked at the moon, its light cascaded over her face and sparkled in her eyes. She mouthed north and turned around; her hair looked silver.

In an attempt to start a conversation, Pegasus had asked Aikel several questions. Each one had been answered in various forms of, "Mmm-hmm..." and the little creature was beginning to become annoyed.

"How about this weather we're having?" was his last serious attempt.

"Mmm-hmm...."

"I've been thinking... pink really seems to be your color."

"Mmm-hmm...."

"You should wear pink clothes."

"Mmm-hmm...."

"Yep, bright pink."

"Mmm-hmm...."

"Have you ever had chocolate-covered ants?"

"Mmm-hmm...."

"Ooh, there's an ant. Catch it, and we can cut it in three."

"Mmm-hmm...."

"Ya think the ocean might turn purple someday?"

"Mmm-hmm...."

"Ya think Kyri's hot?"

"Mmm-hmm...."

Pegasus exploded into stifled giggles as Unicorn's fur rose on end. She growled and thumped Pegasus on the nose with one of her front paws. "What?" Pegasus asked, still laughing.

"You could have worded that differently."

The assorted conversations within the crowd stopped as everyone turned to Kyri. She had everything laid out appropriately. A large clear gem was placed on a piece of lacy linen, and Kyri was on her knees facing northeast.

She held the dagger out in front of her and called, "I call to thee, Saraelye! Sister Moon, bestow unto me the power to do battle with curses and dark magic. Corners of the World, protect me, for I humbly honor thee." She did this three more times facing southeast, southwest, and northwest.

She put the dagger down before picking up a tiny silver bell and one of two silver chalices. She stood facing north, rung the bell, and drank from the chalice. She said, "I call upon thee to grant me thy virtue. By thy name, I call ye, for I need you. Serve me well as I do you." She rung the bell again, put it and chalice down, and lifted the second chalice. She stood and poured some of the chalice's contents onto the gem at her feet. She took three gulps from it, ignoring the drops that ran down her chin. She held it out to her right and poured the remaining liquid onto the ground. The gem glowed, then dimmed. After a few moments, she began to gather up her items.

"Did it work?" Aikel asked.

"I don't know," Unicorn said. "She has to do it four times, only once a night."

Aikel sighed.



* * *

Prithvi had personally escorted the four of them back to the inn. Aikel and Pegasus had already gone into their room, and Unicorn was asleep in Kyri's arms.

"Prithvi?" Kyri asked timidly.

"Yes?" the faery asked, her eyes looking as piercing as ever.

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"I suppose."

"Do you think I did the ritual right?"

Prithvi considered and said, "I have no way of knowing until it works. Only bits of the spell have been passed down through our legends. The spell you say you've heard of--that you have just performed--matches all that any of us know."

"Oh...." Kyri chose not to mention that the spell was part of some story her mother had taught to her. "About that dragon.... What did you do with it?"

"It's in a large cage or something. I left that up to the person in charge of wildlife."

Kyri looked skeptical. "Why? What are you going to with it?"

"It will be rehabilitated and replaced into its natural habitat," Prithvi explained. "It's in late adolescence or early adulthood, judging by its size. Knowing orcs, they probably trained it for fighting. Normally dragons are only aggressive when hunting."

"Orcs?" Kyri asked.

"Did the men that attacked your people look human?"

Kyri bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She asked, "Why did they attack us?"

"I'm not positive," Prithvi admitted. "I barely have the gist of it myself, but Queen Saraelye would know. If the rituals don't work, I'll do my best to explain. Otherwise, you probably don't want me to confuse you with my version of the story."

"Okay," Kyri accepted. "...W-why did you choose me to summon your queen?"

"For one, you did know of the ritual. More importantly... there's a few vague scraps of a legend floating around in everyone's head. You fit the description of the person that could do it. You're a girl with... one of those things." She gestured toward Unicorn.

"I met her in the forest when I little," Kyri said, looking down at her friend affectionately. "She saved me from some... creatures... or something."

"All the more proof. Are you a valkyrie?"

"My mother always told me I had valkyrie ancestry, but I thought she was joking."

"Hmm.... Anything else?"

"Nah," Kyri said quietly, "Thank you...."



* * *

The next night, Kyri repeated the ritual while facing predominately east. The next night, she faced west. On the last night, she faced south, the direction in which Aikel had sat each time. He had decided he might as well watch her, as he had nothing else to do.

After emptying the chalice onto the ground, she lifted the large gem at her feet. She cupped it in her palms and held it out at arm's length.

Aikel looked closely at her. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, making her look possessed. She also looked determined, and her voice was loud and clear as she called, "In innocent purity, I shall see thee. Bound yet free, come to me. I have shone thee my virtue, thus I may see thee ... upon this stone...!"

The jewel began to glow brightly as she said 'thus,' and the circle of moonstones lit themselves as well. A beam of light shot upward out of her hands, and the stones lost their glow. Kyri blinked several times, her eyes returning to normal. She relaxed slightly and glanced around. Everything was as silent as death. She looked up questionably.

Aikel's eyes widened as he saw a small-sized faery flutter into the moonlight, and Kyri whirled around to face it. Anyone that hadn't perked up immediately did.

The faery stretched to full-size and extended her large bright wings. The majority of her green long-sleeved shirt ended halfway down her torso, but the front tapered down to a point at the top of her short fringed skirt. There was a silver tiara with a green jewel nestled into her waves of bright red hair. She landed softy on her green gold-rimmed boots and stretched.

"It's nice..." she said quietly, "to feel the fresh air again."



Chapter 5

Aikel looked on curiously as all the faeries in the shadows became full-sized and dropped onto one knee, head bowed. He didn't know whether or not he should bow, but he changed his sitting position into a crouch. Pegasus and Unicorn backed up next to his ankles.

The new faery had a very majestic aura about her. She observed the faeries around her with a warm smile before she turned to Kyri, looking at the stone in the girl's hands.

"You called to me?" she asked. Her voice was still soft, but it was clear and melodious. Kyri nodded a bit nervously, and the faery asked why.

"The other faeries asked me to," Kyri said timidly.

The new faery looked around again, as if considering from whom to request an explanation. She asked them, "Where is your Troop Warder?" Prithvi was at her side in an instant, bowing apologetically.

"Orcs, ogres, and wyverns have been attacking the humans, your Majesty," Prithvi explained, "The entire country of Felanci has been nearly overthrown."

Aikel bit his lip. He felt his eyes get a bit teary.

"Felanci is...?" the new faery asked.

"The human-ruled country occupying the entire west coast of the continent. It contains about half of the northwestern coast. It extends south to the cape."

"And you think the attackers are from the Beginning?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"What of Hanetsuno?"

"I don't know."

"The Warriors of Life?"

"I'm not sure, but...." Prithvi turned her head up toward Kyri.

The new faery turned toward her. With a flap her wings, she was left hovering in a bent-over position. Her face was less than an inch from Kyri's, and the girl looked very uncomfortable. Aikel felt Unicorn tense. The faery asked, "You are the Princess of Life? A valkyrie?"

"Uhh..." Kyri muttered, "No...."

"Part-valkyrie?"

"Maybe.... My mother always told me I was, but I thought she was joking."

"I know Kyri's the Princess of Life," Unicorn mumbled to Pegasus. "It'll be ages before she believes, even though it's so obvious." Pegasus bobbed the front half of his body like nod.

Aikel frowned. How many times had Pegasus told him he was destined to be a knight in crazy stories about the Princess of Life? How many times had he mentioned a wedding in the process? He felt the skin on his face tingle as it turned red.

The faery blinked at Kyri's response, looking deeper into her eyes. She said, "You are the Princess of Life.... You must be...."

"With all due respect," Kyri whimpered, "I think you whacked your head on your way here." She held the stone up like it was evidence.

Prithvi bit her lip, but the other faery laughed lightly as she landed. She said, "Not that badly.... There is evil in this world. No one knows why; no one ever will.... But your and your beloved exist for the sake of controlling the evil creatures."

"Me and my what?" Kyri asked, "I'm... single."

The faery looked a bit confused. Her bright eyes made a quick sweep of the shadows before falling onto Aikel, who abruptly shook his head in defiance. She gestured toward him anyway and asked, "What about him?"

Kyri glanced his way, made a face, and said, "If he were the last male creature alive, I'd swear to celibacy."

"Ah, I'll take your word," the faery said. "But allow me to explain, since only I seem to know.... Over nine-hundred years ago, there was a war that promised to embed itself into the minds of all creatures for thousands of years. I don't know why people have forgotten it...." This thought seemed to sadden her, but she continued.

"There was a king that ruled a country of orcs, ogres, goblins, and trolls. The king was a demon, a species thought to exist only in stories. The species of his subjects were known for bad tempers and cold blood, so the rest of the world wanted nothing to do with this country. One kingdom tried to attack it, but they were beaten easily. The king hated the way his people were treated, and he wanted to crush the rest of the world. He taught his son all the magic he knew and sent him from wizard to sorcerer to cleric to learn more.

"At one point the boy had come to a group of magic-using knights--they were humans--that infused power into small orbs and gems. He learned this long-lost technique from them and created the Orb of Venom. Venom was since considered the secondary element of Fire. After the boy had moved on and become more powerful, he swallowed the orb and brought its magic into his blood. He tried to learn valkyrie magic, the power of healing, from a clan of valkyrie, but he was infuriated to find that he was unable to master the art. By the time he returned to take the throne, he was the most powerful mage of any sort to ever exist. He gained more power from the strong sense of hatred that his people felt for the world. He made an orb out of that too. Hate, like love, is eternal, really. He swallowed the orb and became immortal.

"When he released his armies onto the world, it wasn't for territory or resources; it was to torture. He conquered, killed, destroyed, and tortured the creatures his people hated. There wasn't a single weapon known to anyone that could really make a dent in his troops. The world seemed hopeless.

"Yet that group of knights and that group of valkyrie dared to stand up to them. They were each a small and broken people, but they each contained a person that rallied them together. The knights sent their strong young man--a knight--and the valkyrie sent forth their kind young woman--their princess. They had the power of eight magic orbs and two of the noblest steeds added to the boy's power and the girl's magic. They were the world's heroes, and they fell in love as they fought together.

"With armies behind them, and a few closer friends at their side, the pair--known as the Great Knight and the Princess of Life--got through the demon king's troops and to the castle. They battled the king and managed to destroy his body with their magic. They placed his still-beating heart into a statue that depicted pain and banished his soul into another universe. After the last battle, the knight received a fatal wound. His princess was bruised and bloody, and her energy had been drained. She couldn't heal either of them, and they both died.

"They had had eight friends accompany them into the castle to hold back the king's eight strongest minions. They had no time to grieve for their heroes, because those eight minions stole the warriors' magic orbs and fled, splitting. The heroes' friends followed. They each caught up to one of the sorcerers, who had planned something together. When the sorcerers were nearly beaten, they used the last of their strength to put a curse onto the warriors. The warriors had saved the orbs, but they would each have to stay where they were forever and guard that orb with their life. If anyone tried to take it, their mind would sort of... snap, and all they could think would be, 'Kill, kill.'

"They wouldn't come to their senses until there was a corpse on the ground in front of them. The curse's magic healed them slowly to keep them alive. It could be broken if they were defeated in a battle... beaten within an inch of their lives. Hasn't been broken yet.... For any of them."

The faery's voice was unemotional, like she was a boring history teacher reciting what she knew. Yet somehow, her words held a deep gradually increasing sense of pain. Kyri realized her own eyes were tearful. She was vaguely aware of hearing Queen Saraelye's voice crack once or twice as she explained the curse. The majesty surrounding her seemed to droop for a moment, giving way to sadness.

Yet her eyes regained their brightness when she blinked. She asked, "Wondering where you fit in? The souls of the knight and his princess interwove with those of their clansmen to be reborn in the hearts of a descendent when trouble comes again. It's safe to assume you, Kyri, are the descendent of the valkyrie." She turned away, looking thoughtful.

Kyri frowned in thought, then looked puzzled. "Did I mention my name?" She was sure she hadn't.

Saraelye flashed her a small grin, saying, "The valkyrie always had a sixth sense. They knew when a baby would change the world. They gave those babies special names."

"What's so special about my name?"

"Well, it sounds like val kyrie... but beyond that, I don't know. I just know it's a special name." She left Kyri to her own thoughts on the matter and turned toward Aikel. "I don't care who she says you aren't, get over here anyway."

Kyri's head was bowed as she thought, and her hair shielded most of her face from the moonlight. Its sudden reddish hue went unseen as Aikel scrambled to her side.

"I'm not having much luck with your name...."

"I'm Aikel," he said.

Saraelye nodded. "And these two and Pegasus and Unicorn." It wasn't a guess.

"Do we know you?" Pegasus asked.

"I guess not," Saraelye said, smiling.



* * *



"YOUSEI! Do something right!"

The wingless girl that had been in charge of the store a few days before only became clumsier as her mother's loud snapping voice rattled her eardrums. The woman was a faery with a sharp glare and a short fuse. As her daughter tripped on a mop and dropped a box of glass dishes, the burnt end of that fuse collided with the gunpowder.

The box had been closed, so there was no mess on the floor. The girl grabbed the box, which was nearly as big as her, and headed back into the storeroom she'd just exited. She walked past walls of crates, boxes, and baskets until she reached the far side of the room. She set the box onto a large crate and placed herself onto a smaller adjacent crate.

As she began to separate the unbroken plates from the shards of glass, she muttered, "'Do something right....' Is that even possible for me? I was probably born wrong." She continued her chore.

"Yousei! Come here!" he mother called.

She sighed. "Coming!" She entered the front of the store and discovered that Prithvi and her assistants had returned. She found herself noting that Prithvi wasn't as high-and-mighty as she had been when she was the one in charge of everyone. She still looked very stern, because Queen Saraelye wouldn't want to waste her time keeping people in line.

"Yousei? Go get...." Her mother began to list several items, and Yousei employed a fine-tuned technique of hers. She blanked out in a way and let her subconscious record the items. When the listing was finished, she went back to the store room in search of healing herbs.



* * *

"Baloney," Aikel said.

"I asked you what you thought about the approaching war," Pegasus said, feeling the need to elaborate, "How does that make you think of bologna?"

"I meant 'baloney' as in 'nonsense,'" Aikel muttered, sitting on the bed in their room, "I didn't know you meant the war; I thought you were referring to our role in it." He leaned against the pillow with his hands behind his head.

"You still don't believe me?" Pegasus asked, "You're... denying your own destiny."

"Don't go getting poetic on me."

"Seriously..." Pegasus said, hoping onto his friend's chest, "You heard what Queen Saraelye said.... You know what I've said...."

Aikel only rolled his eyes. "I don't believe in destiny."

"Why did you save her?"

"Hmm?" Aikel looked down at him, his face reddening again.

"Remember when we met?" Pegasus asked, apparently changing the subject. "I had partial amnesia. I remembered my name, my skills, and you. I didn't know what I was or how I came into existence. But even though I'd never seen you before, I knew who you were. I have this instinct embedded into my brain... whenever I get the slightest feeling that you're in trouble, I'm there. No second thoughts, no first thoughts. Keep that in mind."

Aikel raised an eyebrow skeptically. Pegasus grinned.

"You didn't want anything to do with Kyri," he reminded. "Just for the sake of having nothing to do with her, you made sure we didn't go the same way she and Unicorn did. But then she screamed. You didn't have time to think. You weren't even startled. You just ran. Fast. No second thoughts, no first thoughts. Just purpose. Just instinct. Like my instinct."

"What's your point?" Aikel growled. His face was very red, but Pegasus couldn't tell if it was anger or embarrassment.

"Why did you jump in there and save her?" Pegasus repeated.

"I suppose... it was instinctive..." Aikel admitted quietly, "But still, what's your point?"

"My point: Maybe you two aren't gonna fall in love and get married, et cetera, et cetera, because maybe that's just what your ancestors were gonna do... maybe you won't even become friends... you're still destined to be partners and fight the enemy together."

Redder still, Aikel sighed. "Go to sleep."



* * *

"This must have required a very talented artist," Saraelye observed as she pointed out a tapestry. She was giving herself a tour of the village headquarters, and Kyri and Unicorn were at her side in an empty hallway.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Kyri commented.

The picture in the tapestry depicted an armored man with long blond hair looking over his shoulder at a blue-haired woman. It showed very little below their shoulders, but their eyes sparkled with a sense of life. The man was gripping a gold strap, and the woman had a vine in each hand. The vines and the strap seemed to connect to the same thing in front of the two. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't included in the picture, but there was a wind-swept white feather floating down into the scene.

"What are they doing?" Unicorn asked, "It's hard to tell."

"They're riding a very large, very powerful horse," Saraelye said. "It should have been included in the picture. Perhaps the artist didn't know how to weave it in properly."

"Those two people are..." Kyri began, thinking of the story she'd just heard.

"Yes," Saraelye said. "That's the knight and his princess."

Kyri switched her attention from the cloth's artistic value to its subject matter. She said, "Whenever you refer to them that way, you say, 'the knight and his princess.' Like he owns her or something." She spoke it questioningly.

Saraelye gave a tiny laugh. "When he addressed her, he liked to say things like 'my sweetheart,' 'my darling,' 'my princess,' 'my angel,' 'my flower....' Things like that. Sometimes they'd forget there were other people around, and they'd start talking about how much they loved each other. It never failed that she'd end up telling him that she'd always be his princess. Of course, you could always say 'the princess and her knight,' but that just doesn't roll off the tongue as well."

She spoke the last part with a lopsided smile to cover up her sadder one. Kyri suddenly realized that Saraelye must have known them personally. She wasn't sure how it was possible, but it seemed to be.

"They must have really loved each other," she said.

Saraelye nodded. "You should probably go get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for you."

On their way across the bridge to the inn, Kyri said, "I never got a chance to thank you, Unicorn."

"Hmm?" the little creature mumbled, "What'd I do?"

"You were protecting me from that dragon."

"I wasn't very helpful," Unicorn said. " Aikel did most of the work. You should thank him."

Kyri winced. "I started to, but he got all snappy with me. Plus I nearly died of fright when he rammed into me."

"Yeah, but he risked his life for you. I don't think he dislikes you quite as much as he says he does."

Kyri just shrugged.



Chapter 6

There wasn't any real path between Nalya Troop and Mt. Nidavellir, but getting out of the forest seemed to be the hardest part. It was, after all, about four-fifths of the journey. Aikel and Kyri were each clad in new white clothing and soft leather armor. Pegasus and Unicorn were on their shoulders, and they had an unexplored pack of supplies around their waists. Kyri had a walking stick in one hand, and there was a short sword hanging on Aikel's belt.

The forest was darkened by its foliage, and the sun was hanging low in the east. Kyri found it unnerving that the area was so quiet; she felt like something might be sneaking up on them. She focused half of her attention ahead of her, while the rest of her mind wandered back to some of the information Saraelye had given them. They had to find the magic orbs that were used to defeat evil before. The orbs of Primary Elements had to be obtained before the secondary ones. An example was Water being a Primary Element while Ice was a Secondary Element. The nearest Primary orb was the Orb of Earth, the Soil Orb. It was hidden certainly somewhere in the Nidavellir Caverns.

Aikel sighed as he trudged over a tree root. He muttered, "How did we get conned into this?"

"Doesn't matter," Kyri mumbled. "You couldn't win a fight versus a hamster, so we're doomed."

Aikel made a growl-like grumble and said, "Like you could do better."

"I'm not supposed to do better," Kyri responded. While many women chose to learn fighting skills alongside more womanly duties, it wasn't an insult to tell a girl she was a bad fighter.

Aikel scowled at her. "Even if you were a boy, you wouldn't even be able to pick up a sword. You may have valkyrie blood on one side, but you've got the genes of a lazy pig on the other."

Kyri fumed. "We'll see how long you last on your own!" She turned and vanished into the trees with Unicorn.

Aikel watched her go before he continued the way he'd be going.

"Aikel, we need to go find them," Pegasus insisted.

"No we don't," Aikel said. "Kyri wouldn't come back with us anyway. It's okay because we're better off on our own."

"But you two--"

"We're supposed to get those eight orbs, right?" Aikel asked, "We'll each pick up four of them on our own. The job gets done faster and easier. And...."

"And...?"

Aikel's eyes darkened. "The troops that attack Ministrair... they destroyed my life. I don't need her help to destroy theirs." He continued on wordlessly, ignoring his friend's sad look.

When they emerged onto the plains, the cliffs of their destination were clear in the distance. A few miles of tall yellowish grass was all that stood in their way.

"Aikel...?" Pegasus tensely. Aikel felt him inhale deeply in an attempt to make himself look bigger.

"What is--?" He had turned a bit, but he stopped speaking when he saw something move in a nearby bush. He reached for his sword and called, "Who's there?"

Pegasus let out a growl that was too high-pitched to be intimidating. A moment later, he shouted in start and jumped as he and Aikel were surrounded by five figures that jumped forward to attack. His fur emitted a blue energy wave that collided with the swords that came down on them. The attackers stepped back as their swords were blocked. One of the blades were snapped in half.

Aikel dashed out of their circle and drew his sword; Pegasus flew over him protectively. The men were dirty-skinned with ugly armor over thin bodies of muscle. They lunged. Aikel raised his sword to block. Two swords plus the broken one were pushed away, but the other two went lower and slashed at his stomach. His armor was ripped, but his wounds were shallow.

He slashed at the closest man, hitting his chest. As the man's blood dripped through the gap, he seemed to become stronger and faster. Aikel shoved him away and ducked under another sword. Pegasus collided with the attacker's ankles and used the man's momentum to trip him. Aikel shoved his sword through the man's back and hopped away from the others.

The four men were grouped side-by-side as they rushed at him. He held his sword out in front and waited. When they approached him, he dropped and sliced them across their shins. He dragged his blade up through the skin of the second man and pushed past him unharmed. Pegasus popped one of them in the side of his head.

When they attacked him again, the man with the broken sword managed to slice at his shoulder. Aikel jump, kicked the man, and shoved his sword downward through his throat. He got a few more slashes from the others and rushed to move. The plains were at his back.

Pegasus dropped down near Aikel's head and said, "Best to run when they're distracted." He flew back up. Aikel parried part of the next attack, but the injured man's sword sank into the leather over his hip. Pegasus knocked him away, and Aikel stabbed the man with the chest wound. He shoved the other one away.

Pegasus was still pestering the other man. He felt the man's left hand grab him from above. Pegasus cringed and released another bluish wave of energy. The blast knocked hit the man's head and dazed him. Pegasus dropped and flew under the second man's legs. He bounced up and collided with his chin.

"Now! Go!" he called. Aikel backed away. He turned and began a limping run when he saw that Pegasus was following.



* * *

Aikel trudged toward a town full of squat buildings and mounds of dirt. His clothes were stained with patches of dark red. He grabbed the pack on his waist and turned it around in front. It contained a small bag of leaves, a handkerchief, a flask of water, a dagger, a map, a set of silverware, the compass he'd been using, and a pouch full of coins.

"I was sure I'd heard someone mention bandages," Aikel said weakly. "They give me silverware instead."

"They probably figured that Kyri would know more about bandages than you," Pegasus said from behind, "and what if you end up in some place where there's no clean silverware?"

"What are these?" Aikel asked. He opened the bag of leaves and showed its contents to Pegasus.

"I think they're healing herbs."

"So why do I have them?"

"Maybe Kyri had too much to carry," Pegasus said. He was panting.

"Are you okay?" Aikel asked, turning. Pegasus was flying low at various heights. He looked like he was ready to collapse.

He struggled to reach Aikel's shoulder and said, "I need some rest."

"I know how you feel," Aikel said. He approached the gate to the town. There was a booth, like a trader's stall, with a sign saying 'Welcome to Haunkyo.'

A short stocky man seemed to be looking for something behind the booth. He heard Aikel approach and said, "Just a minute there." After a moment, he mumbled, "Darned thing.... There. Fixed." He sat up. "Hello and--Holy iron ore! What happened to you?!" He eyed Aikel's injuries incredulously.

"Some soldiers or something..." Aikel said uncertainly. He pointed back the way he came.

"Oh... from Felanci?" the dwarf asked quietly. He looked as if he thought that saying the country's name would cause something horrible to happen.

"Mmm-hmm..." Aikel mumbled, "Can you point me to a store that sells bandages or something?"

"Uh, down the main street, second building on the left. Has a red cross on it," the dwarf said.

"Thank you," Aikel said.

The pharmacist looked almost as surprised as the other dwarf. She sold Aikel a roll of bandages and directed him to the Haunkyo Inn.

"Hoo-boy..." the innkeeper chuckled. "You're the third banged up human that's come in here today."

"Really?" Aikel asked.

"A black-haired kid crawled in early this mornin' and left at about eleven. A blue-haired girl showed up at noon, took a nap, and left."

"Kyri?" Aikel wondered.

"You know her?" the innkeeper asked. "I think she went to see the Fernon Tunnels."

"What's that?"

The dwarf rolled his eyes. "Our tourist trap. It's an old mine shaft that leads into the cave area. The tour doesn't that far in 'cause of all the animals that are in the caverns."

"Hmm...."

"Are you gonna stay that night or take a nap and leave?" the innkeeper asked.

"I just need to rest awhile," Aikel said.

"That's fifteen silver pieces. Twenty-five if you stay the night."



Chapter 7



"This area was popular for its emerozite, which is what they used to make gemcoins. Now'days, emerozite's so scarce that it's worth more than ten coppers. So your silver pieces each have the value of ten pieces of green glass."

Kyri pretended to be interested in the hunk of green crystal that Choppiri was waving at her. She had Unicorn under one arm and a torch in the other hand. She rocked back on her heels as the dwarf explained the tunnel's history. She was impressed that so much information could pertain to an elongated hole in the ground.

Choppiri lead her to a small rope fence across the tunnel's diameter and began to explain what was past it. "When they were drillin' in hopes of extendin' the space, the ended up breaking through into a big cavern. You may have seen the main entrance to it when you arrived, but it's a-swarmin' with as many big hungry beasts as the rest o' the place.

"There's this rumor about some really valuable jewel hidden down there, but it's not a natural mineral. That jewel's gotta be some stupid rumor, but lotsa stupid people have gone into the cave looking for it. None them's ever come out save some elf that stumbled to the entrance and bled to death 'fore anyone could help 'im."

"A jewel?" Kyri asked. Success.

"Yep. Even if it's down there, it ain't worth risking your life." He waved his torch for emphasis.

"What sort of animals are in there?"

"Lotsa things. Bats are common. The smaller ones come in here all the time, but there are some huge ones back there. The place doesn't strike me as being big on plant life, so they're pro'ly carnivorous. There's some big felines in there too.... Someone mentioned a gorgon but that's unlikely.... Might be dragons down there. And the cockatrice are famous."

"Cockatrice? What are those?" Kyri asked.

"A cockatrice is a white venomous bird that defends itself by peckin' whatever provokes it. Whatever it pecks is infected with the venom. This type o' venom-- wuzzit called? Petramirafisomething, or whatever--it turns a person to stone. Like a statue. To the best of anyone's knowledge, that's the equivalent of dead. If it weren't for them cockatrice, we'd have a lot more idiots goin' in there and gettin' eaten by the other stuffs. They scare away the semi-stupid folks."

"How far away is that cavern entrance?" Kyri asked.

"Mmm... 'bout twenty yards?"

"...May I keep this torch, sir?"

"We offer little pieces of iron as a souvenir."

"I'd rather have the torch."

"Suit yourself...." His eyes nearly popped out of his head when Kyri picked up the edges of her skirt and swung her leg over the rope. "Hey, Missy! That rope's there for a reason! There are hungry things past that hole, but they come this-a-way sometimes! Get back here!" He jumped the rope and jogged after her.

"I need that jewel, sir. It might be magical."

"MAGICAL?! There's a new one!"

Kyri reached the gap in the wall and began to enlarge it by poking at the soft dirt.

"That's supposed to help keep the critters out!" Choppiri snapped.

"I'm sorry," Kyri said. "I'll try to fix it when I get through."

"Why do ya want that jewel so bad?!"

"I... don't want to talk about it," Kyri asked. I want to save the world? That's not why.

"You're not listening to me..." Choppiri grumbled.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Choppiri emitted a growl. "There's a steep drop past that hole. Since... you're so determined... I'll help you down fer your own good." He took a rope with a grappling hook out of his pack. "Ya won't do good at dodgin' them cockatrice if you're all bruisey and whatnot."

Kyri smiled gratefully. "Thank you." She latched the grappling hook into the dirt and slid down the rope after Unicorn.

"I'll leave this here," Choppiri said, adding, "Crazy nutcase...."

Unicorn hopped onto Kyri's head to give her better use of her staff and torch. Kyri shuddered as her torchlight revealed the movement of a large beetle on the cave wall. There wasn't much to see save dirt and rocks, but there were distant squeaky sounds and an unpleasant musty smell. She advanced warily through the tunnels.

"I hope this isn't a big maze down here..." Kyri said worriedly as they reached a fork in the tunnel. It'd be nearly impossible to find one little orb in a huge dark creepy insect-filled maze.

"You can't go wrong with right," Unicorn piped up.

Kyri considered. There was no reason to go left. She was aware that the faint squeaks had gotten louder, but they echoed too much to determine their origin. She stared down the right path, pressed her lips together, and walked in that direction.

She looked around nervously as she walked. She was very positive that the squeaks were much louder. The tunnel was widening as well. The ceiling rose and the ground lowered. Suddenly the sounds seemed to come from directly above her. The torchlight was swallowed by the darkness and reveal nothing, so she fought the urge to turn back and walked rigidly on.

She inhaled deeply, ignoring the cavern's musty scent. Mama always said, 'Courage gets you through things; courage gets it done,' she thought, holding her breath. She was reminded of her mother, and she blinked forcefully to fight off her tears. She silently repeated, Courage gets you through things; courage gets it done. Courage gets you through things; courage gets it done....

A rat-sized piece of the shadows flitted across the floor inches from her foot. The suddenness made her jump, scream, and drop the torch. Unicorn lost her balance and landed on the floor near the still-lit torch.

Kyri, temporarily traumatized, heard Unicorn say something about the shadowed thing being some sort of rodent; she stood where she was, twitchy, wide-eyed, and frozen with start.

"Kyri!" Unicorn hissed, bringing her to partial sense. Kyri followed her gaze upward and nearly fainted at the sight of many pairs of orange glowing eyes.

The creature that owned one pair detached its hold on the ceiling. It feel a ways before it spread a set of wings that spanned across more than six feet. Kyri let out another scream and dropped to her knees as the creature flew over her. The creature's companions took flight, and the air was filled with the sounds of flapping wings and high-pitched calls.

One of the beasts hovered down and slapped at Kyri with its large leathery wings. She cringed and curled up, whimpering. Unicorn rolled into a ball, bounced into a rock, and used her quick burst-like ricochet to ram the bat in the head. It was knocked to the ground where it landed hard. Its wings crumple beneath its impact and made a few snapping noises. The sounds of the other bats blared to a higher volume as they became frantic.

"Kyri!" Unicorn snapped. "You have a staff for a reason!"

Kyri wiped off her tears with a dusty hand. She tightened her fingers on her staff and edged toward the torch. She stood shakily and braced herself in the dome of illumination it provided. Many bats swooped down upon her. They made a quick swipe with their feet or claws, usually missing, and flew back up. Kyri readied herself and slammed the top of her staff into an approaching bat. It flapped wildly and darted away.

After a few more whacks, a sudden horrible sound ripped through the cavern. The bats emitted a blood-chilling scream in unison and quickly made themselves scarce.

It was too sudden for Kyri to have scared them away. Unicorn had been fighting with her oddly powerful ricochet ability, but she seemed confused as well. Kyri jumped as a statue of one of the larger bats fell to the ground. It was a perfectly carved piece of stone depicting the bat's flight, but the thin wings were smashed into gravel as it slammed into the dirt.

A bird scarcely larger than a pigeon landed on the statue's cracked body. It was white with long blue-tipped feathers on its crest, wingtips, and tail. Its beak curved slightly to a sharp point, and its black eyes blinked innocently. It cocked its head to the side and looked at Kyri with apparent thoughtfulness.

"Is that a...?" Kyri asked.

The cockatrice flapped and cried out. Similar calls answered, and about five other white shapes appeared and began to fly in a circle. The first cockatrice took flight and swooped up at Kyri. She ducked while waving her staff at it. She snatched up the torch and waved it at the other birds to drive them away. One of them swerved and dived at her face.

She dropped her staff as she felt its talons clawing at her cheek. The cockatrice made a quick upward sweep of its head, and its beak left a vertical line of blood in her skin. The bird shrieked. They all backed away and continued their circular motion.

Unicorn rubbed against her leg and asked, "Did its beak scratch you, Kyri?"

Kyri felt her cheek and looked at her blood in fear. A wave a panic made her shiver. Her fingers felt very stiff. It's just my imagination, she told herself. She painfully flexed her bloody hand.

"Pick your staff up so we can run," Unicorn said. She tensed as if she was about to bounce. "Use the torch to keep them away."

Kyri picked her staff up in her blood-covered left hand and got ready to run. Unicorn bounced and used the ground for another forceful ricochet. Her bullet-like motion scattered the birds, and Kyri darted through the opening. They made a beeline for the tunnel from which they came.

Kyri stumbled and fell. She could hardly bend her knees, and her stiff fingers seemed to be adhered together. Unicorn bounced back to her as the cockatrices caught up and continued to flock overhead. They were very patient.

"Come on, Kyri," Unicorn coaxed. "Get up. You can do it...."

One of the cockatrices squawked. A few of them parted from the circle and returned with a rock in their talons. Kyri squeaked in pain as the rocks were tossed onto her. Unicorn bit her sleeve and tried to pull her, but she wouldn't move.

A cockatrice cried out as it was knocked out of its flight. It fell to the dirt with a bloody gash digging through its carcass. A few others were chopped out of the air. Kyri forced herself to sit up, ignoring the cockatrices' new target. Unicorn's horn glowed as the little creature prepared to help her heal herself.

By the time they were done with their magic, the birds were all dead or frightened away. Kyri looked up to see Aikel offering his hand her. Her stiffness caused by the birds' venom had been replaced by the stiffness caused by fatigue. She wavered as he helped her up, and she grabbed his shoulder for balance. She felt him flinch as her hand collided with uneven flesh that was hot, wet, and sticky.

"You're hurt," she mumbled, observing his other wounds. A few were covered with badly wrapped bandages. Pegasus was fairly uninjured, but he looked worn and tired.

"We came in here with what those dwarves called the main entrance," Aikel said. "There were some nasty things, but it's no big deal."

Even in the dark, Kyri could see the wetness in his eyes. He was almost in tears from the pain. She looked at Unicorn, who made a nodding motion, and the two of them concentrated on a spell. Aikel started to speak, but he fell silent as Kyri pressed her glowing palms against his collar bone.

He blinked as he watched his skin seal itself up. He saw Kyri swoon, and he put his hand up to steady her.

She flashed an embarrassed grin. The grin shifted to a small giggle as she said, "You look like a half-raveled mummy!"

He didn't disagree with her, seeing as he had put on his own bandages, but he rolled his eyes for lack of a better response. He sighed. "Well, I assume you're down here for the same reason we are, so we might as well get it over with together." He noted the accidental hint of bitterness in his voice.

"All right," Kyri said quietly.

After a moment of conversing, they determined that they come from different paths in the same tunnel. That direction led to both exits, so they'd have to go the way Kyri and Unicorn had been going before the bats had attacked them. Aikel tried to use Kyri's torch to relight his own, but it refused to hold more than a few sparks. He took the lead with Kyri's torch and gestured for the others to follow him.

After a few minutes of walking down the tunnel, Aikel heard Unicorn say something to Kyri. He looked back. Kyri was a few yards behind him, mostly shadowed. She was gripping her staff and walking slowly, hobbling almost. Unicorn was on her shoulder looking worried.

"We don't have all century..." Aikel stated curtly. He spoke it more quietly than he'd meant to, and he didn't think she'd hear him clearly. Yet she seemed hurt, and her sad blue eyes drilled through him when she looked up. He shivered and said, "Come on...."

She sped up enough to stay behind him. He glanced at Pegasus, who was flying at his side. The little creature looked concerned. Aikel pressed his lips together worriedly. Kyri let out a small gasp.

There was a tail on the ground a few feet ahead of Aikel. It connected to a large brown quadruped that was resting against a rock. The creature had its head raised and looked at them through gold eyes that were tired but wary. The feline bristled its shaggy fur and started to stand.

"I... think we woke it up..." Pegasus whimpered. The cat growled and crouched. Aikel traded the torch to his left hand and reached for his sword.

The cat lunged. Aikel swung his blade at it, but it shoved past him. It startled Kyri into the tunnel's wall, swiping at her with its claws. She whimpered and tried to hit it with her staff. Aikel swung at it again, slicing its ribs. Kyri screamed as the claws ripped her skirt. Unicorn slammed into the beast's head.

The cat backed away from the onslaught and observed them. After a moment, it turned and jogged down the tunnel. Kyri slid down the wall and came to a rest on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Aikel asked her, sheathing his sword. The response was a squeaky groan.

"You're hurt?" Unicorn asked, rubbing against Kyri's knee. "Come on, we can heal you."

When Kyri moved, Aikel saw the wound that ran down most of her left thigh. She positioned herself in front of Unicorn as she always did while healing.

"Concentrate," Unicorn reminded. It took longer for her to transfer the energy to Kyri. The sphere of light that formed in the girl's hands took time to grow. She seemed to give the light a weak shove into the wound.

"Are you okay?" Aikel repeated after a moment.

Kyri forced herself to stand, and she hobbled over to the rock the cat had been leaning against. She sat on it and hugged her staff close to her.

Aikel observed her leg. It was unwounded, though her skirt was torn from mid-thigh to the bottom hem. He wondered why she'd picked that time to sit down and said, "Uh... we should probably go...."

Kyri repositioned her staff as if she'd need it to stand, but Unicorn stopped her. "She's gotta rest a while. She just used three spells in a short amount of time. It really drains her."

"Hmm..." Aikel grumbled. He progressed through the tunnel for a few feet and leaned against the wall. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Kyri look up at him with a sad pleading gaze.

Leave it to a girl to act so dependent, he thought bitterly. It would be biased for him too judge all females that way, but it just figured that he'd be stuck in a cave with the weak and helpless weirdo....

After several minutes, he let out an impatient sigh. Kyri forced herself to stand, but still quivered and clung to her staff.

"Are you ready?" Aikel asked blandly. Kyri nodded, her stance wavering. Aikel said, "Let me see your staff for a minute." He moved toward her and held out his free hand.

She looked at him uncertainly. She leaned cautiously against the wall, gripped it with one hand, and held her staff forward.

He pushed it back toward her, bitterly saying, "You can't even stand up on your own. Sit back down before you hurt yourself."

"I'll be okay," Kyri mumbled, looking hurt. Pegasus and Unicorn looked at her worriedly.

"You're about half-recharged," Aikel snapped. "You're too weak, and you're going to get hurt again. What if that happens in a spot more dangerous than this? What if we have to do some climbing?"

Kyri sat back down and stared at the dirt beneath her. A tear slid down her cheek, but she tried to hide it by letting her hair hang in the way.

Aikel went back to his spot and sighed. "Look. I'm not going to leave you here or anything."

She nodded and tried to hide a sniffle.

After an hour and a half of waiting, they were ready to continue. Kyri could walk without support, but she occasionally found herself having to jog a few yards to keep up with Aikel and Pegasus. They began to enter another large cavern, and she put out extra effort into staying close to the torch's light.

"What's that noise...?" she murmured worriedly.

"I dunno.... Probably something with really huge teeth," Aikel answered casually. "For all I know it could be right behind us... ready to snapped your head right off."

Kyri gave a terrified whimper and pressed herself against him while rubbing her neck. He stopped walking and gave her an annoyed glare.

"Aikel, have some compassion," she heard Pegasus whisper. "Can't you tell she's scared enough?"

"I'm not scared," she countered before Aikel could respond. She saw him roll his eyes. "I'm just being cautious."

"Right," Aikel said sarcastically, trying to edge away from the physical contact he had with her. He continued walking and left her hurrying to catch up.

She was sure she'd heard something. Something like a large creature walking slowly in the soft dirt. It could be just beyond the torchlight. Anything more than five feet away was invisible. And it could have a reach of more than five feet.

As tense as these thoughts made her, she nearly fainted when Aikel stopped and caused her to bump into him. She looked up expecting to see his disapproving glare. Instead he was looking into the shadows to their left.

He squinted, trying to see. Pegasus and Unicorn fidgeted as his eyes widened. The torchlight was reflected in a pair of large yellow eyes. Kyri whimpered and saw Aikel's eyes widen further.

"Oh, sh...!" His exclamation was swallowed up by the creature's loud echoing roar. He unsheathed his sword and swung it as the beast lunged forward. In the vagueness of the torchlight, Kyri could see a reptile that dwarfed the one she encountered in the woods. The brown-scaled dragon gave Aikel a warning snap. He held the torch toward Kyri and told her, "Stay back."

She took the torch and watched him ready himself. The dragon's head snapped forward for another attack. He dug the end of his blade into its muzzle. The beast bellowed in pain and drew away.

"Come on!" Aikel grabbed Kyri's wrist and ran with her. Unicorn was being carried under the arm she used to hold the torch, and Pegasus was flying behind them. The far end of the cavern narrowed into another tunnel, and they ran for it. Kyri's arm hurt as Aikel pulled on it. He ran much faster than she did.

The dragon ran after them and used its impossibly large wing to slap them from behind and knock them forward. Kyri dropped her staff, the torch, and Unicorn as she stumbled and fell. Her head made a painful collision with a stone.



Chapter 8



"Kyri? Come on, Kyri, wake up."

Unicorn? Kyri wondered. It must be time for breakfast... but it's so dark.... Why does my head hurt so much?

"Come, girl, get up." The feminine voice was bold but kind. Kyri hadn't realized how difficult it was going be to open her eyes. She forced her eyelids up and found herself staring at what looked like horse's legs. The room was dark and lit with several torches on the walls. She was on some sort of low platform or table made of hard cold stone.

She looked up and gasped. "You're... a centaur...?"

A woman's waist began at the base of what would have been the horse's neck. Both halves of her looked thin but muscular. She had short messy blond hair; a few long thin whitish feathers began at the center of her hairline and flowed back. She had feathered wristbands and a spear with feathers tied to it. Her dark eyes reflected orange when the torchlight hit them.

"Something like that," she said to Kyri. "Your friends had the same reaction. What's so amazing about a centaur?" Then she seemed a little alarmed. "They aren't extinct out there, are they?"

"N-no..." Kyri said. "There just aren't any centaurs where we live." She sat up and found herself on the second-lowest step of a large stone staircase. Unicorn hopped into her lap and cuddled against her. She felt her hair and found that there was a bandage wrapped around her head. Her skull ached and there was a cut on her forehead.

"I'm Terraia," the centaur said.

"I'm Kyri. It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

Terraia smiled back. "I'll assume you and your friends are hungry. You're humans? Omnivores? You like fruit, no?"

"Yeah..." Kyri mumbled hesitantly.

"Ah, give me moment." Terraia jumped with surprising ease and landed halfway up the stairs. Kyri watched her walk through a large door-like hole in the cave wall. She blinked in surprise as she noticed that the centaur's back legs ended in sharp-clawed talons. Her tail was made of long thin feathers.

"While you were still asleep, she told us why she looks like that," Unicorn began. "She's spent so much time studying the magical properties of the Earth element that her body has started to look a little like a cockatrice."

Kyri nodded and gave a mumble of acknowledgment. She looked around and stifled a gasp. There was a wooden pole attached horizontally to the far wall. Four cockatrices sat on it as they preened themselves, and there was another large feline lying on the floor below. The cat was smaller than the other one, but it looked cleaner and healthier. It looked warily at Aikel, who leaned against the wall returning the expression. Pegasus sat atop Aikel's head giving the cat a stronger scowl.

Kyri studied their expressions for a moment. Pegasus was indeed quite wary of the beast, though Aikel looked at it as if he was just using it as an excuse to stare at something while he looked at his own thoughts.

"Apple?"

Kyri twitched in start as Terraia's voice jarred her consciousness. She looked up and saw an apple resting in the centaur's palm. She hadn't felt hungry before, but her stomach quaked as her eyes touched the fruit's flawless red flesh. Her innards wanted to collapse in on themselves, though they were about to be torn apart from the inside out. That indecision was the only thing that kept her belly intact. She nodded desperately and attempted to shove the whole apple into her mouth the moment it was handed to her.

Terraia looked at her with mild surprise. She said, "Maybe I should just bring you a big piece of meat next time, no?" She handed an apple to Unicorn and headed toward Aikel and Pegasus. After they accepted their apples, she left again.

" Shinkoo...!" Kyri called, attempting to express her gratitude with a stuffed mouth. As she gnawed the apple's remains off its core, it occurred to her that she had no idea how she'd gotten to her current location. "What happened?" she asked Aikel, Pegasus, and Unicorn.

There were several events that the question could have pertained to, but Aikel seemed to understand. He said, "When the dragon's wing hit us, you got knocked out. Pegasus and Unicorn were just stunned... knocked silly, and I got clawed at a little." He fingered one of his many bandages with his right hand. "We were kinda knocked into the path leading to Terraia's living quarters. She's used to the dragon, so she scared it off when she heard us. She carried us here and gave us bandages."

"How bad are you hurt?" Kyri lifted Unicorn and moved toward him. He drew back when she touched his left forearm.

"It's not that bad, but it's too painful for you to be poking at!" he snapped.

She ignored him and took his bandaged arm in her hands. "Is it broken?"

He was hesitant to answer. "Yeah."

"I'm guessing that's the worst of your injuries.... Do we have enough energy, Unicorn?"

"Yup," Unicorn said confidently. "At least I do. You look okay, but we need to fix your head too."

Kyri nodded and began her spell. She forced the energy into Aikel's arm and felt him quiver a bit. She healed her own head and began to remove his bandages as she heard the clop and scrape of hooves and talons.

"That was a quick recovery," Terraia commented. After a moment, she commented, "You two seem so familiar.... I don't know how that's possible."

"I don't recall having ever met a centaur, so you must be thinking of someone else," Kyri said cheerfully.

"Yes.... I've been in here a long time. If you were old enough for me to have known you before, I'd remember you clearly.... I think...." Her eyes narrowed, and she seemed to be looking for holes in her memory. She shook her head and said, "Anyway... I assume you're tired. It might be a tough trip out of the cave, so I'll give you a place to rest for the night.... Or what ever time of day it is out there."

"Oh, that's so nice of you," Kyri said gratefully, "but we can't leave yet."

"No? Why not?"

"We're looking for... something," Aikel said.

Terraia rolled her eyes and said, "A lot of people come down here looking for things. The only things they find are the things that find them."

"We're looking for something important," Aikel elaborated.

"It can't be more important than your life, kids."

Kyri swallowed hard and glanced at Aikel. The verbalization of the danger seemed to throw him back, but he still looked determined. He started to speak but Kyri said, "Yes! It is more important than our lives. It's as important as other people's deaths!"

"Please..." Terraia muttered. "You're still alive. You don't want to die in a place like this.... You're looking for a jewel of some kind, like everyone else? What makes you think it'll help you?" She put her hands on her waist and turned her head to the side.

"Someone told us we needed the Soil Orb," Kyri protested. "I really think we can trust her...."

Terraia's eyes widened and snapped back to Kyri's direction. "S...?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously before she turned them away again. She thought for a moment. After a long minute, she asked, "Why not just go to sleep for now, no? Come here." She headed for the door before anyone could respond. The others followed her to another room-like portion of the cave. It had some leaves and blankets on two short tables in the corners.

Terraia waved her hand toward the leave-covered tables. "That's the best I can do for you. I usually sleep standing up."

"Thank you..." Kyri mumbled. She was curious about Terraia's knowledge, but she had the feeling she wouldn't learn anything else for a while. There was nothing to do but sleep.

Her back ached when she woke up. She wasn't used to sleeping on stone and leaves. She was still tired, so she assumed she'd been awakened by either the pain or the fact that Unicorn was breathing in her face. She changed her assumption when she heard the sound of Terraia's steps.

The centaur was pacing around and was all but pulling her hair out. Every now and then, she'd pause and stomp her hooves in frustration. She nearly sprang through the cave's ceiling when Kyri touched her arm. She was fuming when she landed.

"What's wrong?" Kyri asked softly, easing her anger.

Terraia sighed. She said, "I know who you are, and I know who you're supposed to be. Those are two different things right now. Why do you have to be here?" She looked like she was about to cry, but the torches made her eyes glow eerily orange. She said, "I don't get to save most of the people that come down here. Almost all of them die sooner or later. Their screams echo in the tunnels, and then they echo in my head.... I know where your orb is, but I don't want your screams added to my nightmares."

She turned and galloped out of the room before Kyri could answer.



* * *

It was impossible to define the time of day, so Aikel, Kyri, Unicorn, and Pegasus had to let their instincts decide when it was 'morning.' Terraia looked frustrated and sleep-deprived. Her mood did not improve when her visitors continued to pester her about the orb.

"Have you found any other items like this?" she asked.

"No..." Kyri said. "But there are others, and we'll need to find them too...."

"Why start with this one?" Terraia asked quietly. "Why would you come down here for that little ball while you're still so young and weak...?"

"Who are you calling weak?!" Aikel demanded, approaching her. She looked at him aloofly through the corner of her eye. She made a quick motion and poked him in the chest with one finger. He skidded back several inches after being knocked off his feet. Pegasus fluttered down to him to check for injuries.

"I don't know what the standards are out there," Terraia said, "but they're high in here. This is a cold empty place. The only thing we do is fight each other, because there's no point in anything else. There are mean things in here, and I could destroy each one of them easily. Three of my five pets could kill the average beast in a single peck. I all but control a tribe of gorgons. I know what tough is, and you're not it."

Aikel, who was obviously quite miffed, stood up and started to respond angrily, but Kyri shoved him aside. She growled, "We need that orb! I have a score to settle, and that thing is gonna help me get it done!"

"I guess you don't have a life to lose then," Terraia scoffed.

"No," Kyri said calmly, "I don't."

Terraia scowled as if that alone would knock the girl back. She sighed a weakly said, "Fine... I warned you though."

Kyri nodded. Aikel frowned, looking distant. Pegasus and Unicorn just looked on silently.

They straightened their armor, cleaned off their weapons, and lit a new trio of torches. They followed Terraia out of her living area. The centaur had her four cockatrices perched on the spine of her horse-like half, and her cat was at her side.

They heard the sound of the dragon as they left. Terraia waved her spear and yelled at it, and it stayed away. They proceeded into a previously unnoticed path in the side of the cavern. It led downhill, and began to form into carved steps.

There were rough glass-like domes covering the tiny fires that lined path. They made the flames shine a purplish light around the tunnel. Far down the trail, there was another cavern. It was filled with round mud huts. The purple gemstones that shielded the light source were atop seven-foot poles. There were red-eyed creatures that slithered away from the purple-lit path as Terraia walked past them.

Only their eyes were visible from within the blanket-like shadows, but Kyri thought the creatures looked about human-sized. They made the cavern echo with cautious hissing sounds.

Kyri held Unicorn and her staff tightly and walked as close behind Aikel as she could without stepping on his heels. She could sense the stiffness of his muscles as he avoided the creatures' gaze. They were nerve-racking

Beyond the village-like assembly of huts, there was gap in the wall that had to be squeezed through. The four cockatrices and the cat stopped in a guard-like stance and watched the red-eyed creatures.

The walls of the gap were uneven but scraped smooth. Terraia forced herself through and waited for her followers. Despite their lesser width, the action was harder for them than it was for her.

The new room was large and empty. The floor was bare rock carved into several short merging stairways that didn't have a real direction. There was an underground stream that had carved a smooth path down the left side of the room. It disappeared down an opening in the wall.

Terraia trotted around the room using her torch to light the ones hanging on the wall. She climbed up the chaotic mass of staircases and approached a large flat stone near the wall. After staring at it for a moment, she turned from it and pushed it away with her talons.

Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn caught up to her and looked into the bowl-shaped hole that the rock had covered. It contained a clear golden orb the size of a large man's fist.

Kyri noted that Terraia was still turned away. She had a saddened look of defeat on her face.

"Is that it?" Aikel asked, still concentrating on the orb.

"Yes," Terraia answered quietly. She pressed her lips together. Aikel shrugged and started to bend over toward the orb. Terraia's eyes widened and quickly narrowed.

"Aikel!" Kyri called. Aikel grunted as Terraia's talons slammed him into the right-hand wall.

"Hey!" Pegasus shouted. He flew toward her, about to slam into her head. She prepared to block with her spear, but he dodged her, spun past, and slammed her from the other side. Her eyes looked unfocused.

"Remember what Saraelye said about the curse?" Kyri asked as she helped Aikel up, "She's not going to let us take that orb. We have to...."

Aikel only nodded as he drew his sword. Terraia knocked Pegasus and Unicorn away and charged toward them. Aikel parried her stab, and Kyri jabbed at her stomach with the end of her staff. She jumped away and swung her spear at their heads. Aikel blocked the move. Unicorn ricocheted off the ground and slammed the belly of her horse-like half.

Terraia cringed and bound backwards. She swung her spear to knock Pegasus back. She held it out straight and charged for Aikel. He readied himself. She deliberately missed him. She whacked Kyri instead. The girl squeaked and tumbled down a few stairs.

Her fall distracted Aikel, and Terraia nearly skewered him. He slashed at her. She cringed, and his blade collided with stone. The stone faded back into Terraia's flesh as he pulled his sword away in start.

The centaur jumped away. She skidded sideways and used her body to press Aikel against the wall. His arms were pinned and he couldn't use his sword. Pegasus tackled her and caused enough distraction for Aikel to push her and get away.

He moved around her and backed toward the left side of the room. She charged, spear forward. She reared back at the last moment and jabbed her front legs forward. Her hooves collided with Aikel's chest. He was thrown into the left wall. He landed in the water and slid down the streambed. Pegasus flew into Terraia's face and released an energy burst. She was already in a two-legged crouch and the force knocked her off-balance. She shrieked in pain as she landed awkwardly on her back.

Aikel staggered up and wheezed in an attempt to refill his lungs. He dashed up the stones and prepared to strike Terraia. She cringed and turned to stone as she was hit. She returned to normal and rolled to her side. Aikel swung again, still hitting her stone shell. He added three more useless blows before she stood. She backed off and prepared to strike.

Something else grabbed her attention. She, Aikel, and Pegasus turned to Kyri. She was standing where she'd fallen before. Unicorn was helping her charge for a spell.

Aikel slashed and drew a cut in Terraia's upper foreleg while she was distracted. He ran toward Kyri and stood between her and Terraia. Terraia crouched and leapt over him. She started to strike the girl, but Pegasus blocked her until Aikel could knock her away.

Kyri's eyes were closed. She and Unicorn obliviously continued their quiet mumbling. They were vulnerable. Aikel and Pegasus stood protectively in front of them. Terraia held her spear out and charged.

Aikel concentrated on the spearhead. Right before it gutted him, he forced the weapon aside with his own and slid forward. He stabbed Terraia just below the center of her ribcage. He cursed as he struck her stone armor again.

When she returned to flesh, she reared up and swung her arms back. Aikel was thrown over her. He hit the floor and had the wind knocked out of him again. Terraia swung her spear at Kyri, who abruptly ducked under the blow. Her hands had a golden glow.

While Terraia's arm was still crossed to the side, Kyri lunged forward and pressed her hands onto her. Terraia swung her arm back and knocked her away, but her whole body was glowing gold.

Kyri ran over to help Aikel up and steady him. She asked, "Are you all right?"

"I can't... hit her..." Aikel stated weakly.

"Try it one more time.... Pegasus and Unicorn? You and I distract her."

Terraia stopped glowing and jumped toward them. Kyri charged forward. Pegasus hit the side of Terraia's head and tried to cling to her hair, and Kyri got inside her swing to hit her in the chin with her staff. Unicorn clamp her teeth onto her wrist. Pegasus tumbled onto her back, pressed himself against her spine, and emitted an energy burst. She screeched.

She tried to back away. Kyri's staff was hooked around one foreleg and in front of the other. She move to the side, trying to knock the centaur over. Terraia thrashed wildly and managed to shake them off her. Aikel was rushing at her, ready to swing.

She cringed, but nothing happened. Aikel's sword put a deep gash in her stomach and hip. He jumped away as she tried to stab him. She felt Kyri whack her in the head and staggered forward. She parried Aikel's blow.

Pegasus flew around her head trying to bite her. Unicorn bounced to the far side of her. Kyri sprang low and slammed into her forelegs. Pegasus and Unicorn slammed her head from the other direction. She was knocked over, and Kyri went under her.

She hit the uneven ground and failed at scrambling upward. Aikel raised his sword. He sunk the tip of it into her side behind her foreleg. She flinched

He pulled away as she went limp. He shivered.

Kyri looked on sadly. "... Terraia?" Terraia's eyes opened and looked at her with a sad kindness before closing again. "Come on," she said to Unicorn. The got on either side of her and prepared a healing spell. Aikel started to protest but decided against it.

Kyri helped Terraia to her knees after her wounds had been sealed up. "Thank you," Terraia mumbled tiredly. "I hope you'll... accept my apologies for what I was forced to do...."

"Of course...." Kyri smiled. "Saraelye explained everything to us. We know you had no choice."

Terraia nodded thankfully. She gestured toward the hole with the orb. "You can go get that. I don't want to keep it."

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Aikel said.

Terraia smiled graciously. "Give me a few moments to regain my composure. I'll need it to keep those gorgons away. I don't need to be at full strength; I just need to look tough. I'll escort you all the way out of the cave."



* * *

Aikel collapsed onto one of the beds in Haunkyo's inn and immediately decided that it was the most comfortable bed any creature had ever assembled. Kyri had healed his battle wounds, but his muscles ached. He forced himself to sit up so that he could remove his armor and supply pack. The pack was heavy with the weight of the orb.

He heard a soft sigh from behind him as Kyri climbed into the room's second bed and buried herself and Unicorn in the blankets. Pegasus had already fallen asleep near Aikel's pillow. Aikel sighed wearily and laid down.

Despite his fatigue, his eyes remained open. He glance at Kyri. She looked like a little girl. He remembered the things she'd said to Terraia.

"Hey...?" he asked. She opened her eyes to acknowledge him. "These orbs seem to be really important to you.... Why is that?"

"My mother..." Kyri mumbled sadly. "She was all I had. Now she's gone. I wanna make them pay...." Her voice cracked.

"What about your father?"

"He died of an accident when I was little."

Aikel frowned in confusion. "Who's the man that my friends and I sometimes see you with?"

"He's my uncle," Kyri answered, closing her eyes. "He lives in Turni, and he comes by every week or two to make sure my mom and I doing okay.... Since people thought he was my father, they thought he didn't come outside very often.... He was always so nice though. He always bought me things.... I've probably lost him too."

"I'm sorry," Aikel said. He felt a pang of guilt; he'd backed his friends up when they'd mocked someone close to her that had died. He thought of his own family. He turned away so that Kyri wouldn't see his tears if she opened her eyes again.