Among the Ashes Chapter 91

Among the Ashes

You were my conscience, so solid, now you're like water
And we started drowning, not like we'd sink any further
I let my heart go, it's somewhere down at the bottom
But I'll get a new one and come back for the hope that you've stolen

I'm only human, I've got a skeleton in me
I'm not the villain, despite what you're always preaching
Call me a traitor, I'm just collecting your victims
And they're getting stronger
I hear them calling

I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster, eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Now that you're gone, the world is ours
~Paramore "Monster"


Chapter 91
Choosing Sides



Navarre paused with hand on the tent flap and took a deep breath before he pushed it open and strode inside. "What do you want, Kahira?"

"Excuse me." She stood quickly, turning at the sound of his voice. "What do you think you're doing, barging into my quarters like this?"

"You asked for me," he replied in a growl. "So here I am."

"So I see."

Kahira turned over her shoulder to look back at the shadowed figure of a boy sitting behind her.

"Safi, tell the guards to fetch the prisoner," she ordered. "We'll be leaving soon."

"But he is not safe, Mother." The boy got to his feet, staring at Navarre from the depths of his sunken eyes. "His thoughts are… angry."

"I can handle this one." She stroked the boy's cheek. "Go."

"Yes, Mother," the child replied with absolute deference, and vanished into thin air.

As he disappeared, Kahira turned back to Navarre, the warmth in her eyes melting into a cold look of steel.

"How nice of you to come so very quickly," she commented. "Good to know that you remember how to take orders."

"What do you want?" Navarre repeated, still looming near the entrance.

"You haven't come by to visit since the other night." She shrugged. "I was beginning to think I'd scared you away."

His eyes narrowed scrupulously. "We had a deal. I'm not going anywhere until I collect."

"A deal?" She sat down on a cushion and looked up at him with a tilt of her chin. "I don't remember the terms of any deal."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten so soon."

"What I remember is you crawling in here in the dark, throwing out a proposition that I never actually agreed to, under the ridiculous terms that you could possibly have something to offer me in return, and… not much after that." She flicked her brows at him and turned to study her reflection in the mirror.

His grizzled face twisted and he plowed forward with his shoulders hunched. "You filthy – "

"Careful, Navarre." She warned, looking at him only through the reflection of the glass. "I'm not just another one of your little toys. So easily broken…."

He stopped in his tracks, though the hatred in his eyes only grew with a burning hunger.

Kahira sighed, and turned back to her reflection.

"You're pathetic." She lifted a brush to her hair, the tips lengthening with each stroke until it fell down past her shoulders in flowing auburn waves. "The truth is, you don't know what I want. So you can't possibly give it to me." She pursed her lips, and they brightened to an unnatural shade of red. "You, on the other hand, are completely and utterly predictable. And so easily manipulated that it's hardly any fun at all anymore."

He stepped up behind her slowly, and put his hands on her shoulders. "I can give you what you want…."

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet, moving away to fetch a small bottle of perfume from a nearby cabinet.

"Funny," he sneered, "you don't seem like the picky type. What with that little demon you have crawling around the camp calling you mother."

She stopped with her hand on the bottle, her jaw clenching.

"Little tyke has a few too many of his father's traits to keep that much of a secret, don't you think?" A twisted sense of triumph came over his face as he watched her tense. "Tell me you didn't – "

"It was a favor," she answered through her teeth.

"Oh, I'll bet it was."

"You are treading on dangerous ground," she hissed, her eyes flashing a more crimson red.

"Am I?" He stepped closer, his head rising with an arrogant sneer. "I've never heard our benevolent leader mention he has a son. Did you keep it a secret from him, too?"

"I'm warning you…." Her voice rose, and a heavy gust of wind shook through the tent.

"What, did I strike a nerve? Seems the Witch has a bit of a soft spot for her illegitimate offspring." He chuckled under his breath. "How precious."

"Listen, swine!" Kahira smashed the glass bottle in her fist against the side of the cabinet, leaving nothing but the broken neck in her grasp. "You can say anything you want about me but that child is mine." She threatened him with the jagged edges of the glass. "And not you, or Vale, or anyone else can take that away from me!"

Navarre cocked his head curiously. "Who said anything about Vale?"

Kahira stood, seething up at him.

"You're in way over your head, Navarre." She threw the broken glass aside, and it shattered once again across the ground. "This is a different Black Fang than the one you ran away from four years ago. Don't trouble yourself with matters you can't even begin to understand."

"To be troubled, I'd have to care," he countered. "But it's true, I don't understand. I don't understand how somehow in the last four years you managed to give birth to a, what? Ten year old child? Unless you hid it very well."

"You're right," she agreed. "You don't."

"Maybe his father can clear it up for me. I'm sure he's anxious to talk about his boy. Oh, wait – he's not."

"He never wanted the child," she snapped. "That was my end of the bargain."

Navarre looked her over. "And what was his?"

"Now, that's really none of your business, is it?"

"I make everything my business."

"Which is exactly why you had to run away last time."

"Now, don't tell me you're starting to worry about me."

"To worry, I'd have to care," she echoed. "Let's cut to the chase - you're here because you somehow expect me to murder one of the Four Fangs just to help you."

"Just a kind gesture on my behalf, extending that offer to you, really. After all, if it's not one of the other three to take the fall, then why not you? I'm flexible."

"Lucky for you, so am I."

"Suddenly I'm lucky?"

"Oh, yes. We're creatures of similar taste, you and I." She turned on her heel, the manic look in her eyes flashing again as she pointed her finger to his chest.

"Are we?" He pulled her closer. "How so?"

"We both enjoy letting a rat dangle by its tail enough to see it really writhe…. Then snap!" She swiped her nail across his heart and leaned in close to his lips. "Bite it off when they're least suspecting."

His lips curled into a smile as he leaned into her hand.

"That's why we work so well together." She drew his cheek along with her hand as she turned to walk away. "Neither of us is afraid to snap off a tail now and then."

"And just whose tail are we talking about snapping?" He ran his hand down her arm and clamped his fist around her wrist.

"Just a rat." She leaned down and whispered against his ear. "You like killing vermin, don't you?"

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." He twisted her arm and shoved her away. "I can see where this is going. You're not going to dangle me by the tail."

"No dangling," she promised. "Just a simple task. One that, if you perform it well, may open up to bigger opportunities in the future."

"Yeah… sounds like dangling to me." He shot her a dirty look and turned to leave.

"Maybe a little," she ceded. "But don't you even want to hear what it is I'm asking you to do?"

Navarre paused with his hand on the flap, and let out his breath.

"What?"

"I have a prisoner who requires… special care," she explained.

Slowly, he looked over his shoulder. "Who?"

She bared her teeth with a menacing smile. "Come with me."

Kahira led him outside, through the camp to a tent set with a pair of armed guards.

"Madam Kahira." They stood and bowed at her approach.

"Out of the way!"

She shunted the guards aside, grabbed a nearby torch and marched inside with Navarre in her wake.

The torchlight filled the tent, illuminating the solitary figure staked to the ground in the center.

For a moment, Navarre simply stared down at the mangled vestiges of a man bound before them. With his head lolled back and his eyes only half-open, he looked more dead than alive. And the maze of bruises and puffy, contused skin on his face left him barely recognizable.

"I present, Marth," Kahira led Navarre around to shine the light more clearly over the prisoner's mangled face. "Prince of Aritia."

Marth groaned weakly, squinting against the sudden burst of light intruding on the darkness. He tried to lean away from the blinding brightness, but could barely move his head.

"I believe you know him." Kahira seized Marth's chin and forced him to face Navarre, though his eyes didn't open again. "That seems to be your handiwork." She indicated the wounds on his back.

Dried blood stained the ragged remains of the man's tunic, clearly showing the poorly-healing wounds of a severe lashing. The thick striations criss-crossed over his skin, leaving his back more wound than actual flesh.

"Yeah… I know him." Navarre's teeth gritted and he spat on the floor. "Why isn't he dead?"

"He will be soon enough. But when he dies, it will be to serve a greater purpose in this war than your own personal satisfaction. Is that clear?"

Navarre's face darkened and he cursed venomously. "I'm not some mindless bandit ready to lick the dirt from your boots, Kahira. If you think I'd actually stoop to guarding this – this - "

He turned and stormed away.

"I'm not asking you to protect him." She rolled her eyes. "I'm asking you to kill him."

Navarre stopped, and his hand fell from the tent flap.

Kahira smiled to herself. "Unless you're not up to the job…."

He made his way back to her, watching her carefully. "What, exactly, do you need me to do?"

"It's simple, really. You keep the Aritians from rescuing their dear prince and then, when the moment is right, you cut out his heart. Think you can handle that?"

"That," he growled, his voice throbbing with anticipation, "that I can handle."

"I thought you might. And who knows… the closer you get him to the castle, the better chance you have of your little mouse being present to witness the execution," she lured. "I'm sure that will catch her attention. Maybe even more than weaseling your way into a position with the Four Fangs would."

"Cut off two tails with one swipe." He furled his dagger to the ground and the blade sank into the earth. "I'll admit it, Kahira… you're good at what you do."

She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder. "I know."

Navarre cast Marth's unconscious figure one last malicious glance before he followed Kahira from the tent.

"Ready the Dragons!" Kahira ordered as she marched outside. "Let's pay Anria a visit."




*****




Manasa kept a silent watch over the battlements of the tower, her eyes trained into the distance. She blinked slowly, not really looking as much as she was listening for an alert from her fellow Sentei guarding the northern border from the forest floor.

The last news they had came from Switch, who had returned from a failed attempt to scout out the Black Fang's camp three days before. He had come back with the discouraging news that Jag and Terak had both been taken captive.

To make matters worse, they had failed to gain any information before their capture, making the entire venture not only useless but leaving them in a worse spot than they had been before.

Manasa shifted to rest her chin on her knees with a sigh that issued a puff of steam from her lips against the cold air.

She knew better than anyone the lengths the Fang would go to obtain information. No matter how bull-headed Jag seemed to be, it would be no defense against the Fang's brutality.

More than likely the Fang had already wrung everything they needed from the two brothers and then left them to rot. If they were even still alive….

Hot tears burned in her eyes and she swallowed the throbbing lump in her throat that never really went away. Even as bleak as Jag and Terak's chances looked, they were still better than Marth's.

He had been in the hands of the Fang now for a nearly a month. No matter how she tried to twist the facts in her mind to allow for some hope of his return, it was getting harder and harder to do with every day that went by.

Even now, looking out over the bleak, fog-laden horizon to the dark forests beyond, it seemed that Anria itself was already mourning the loss of their Prince. Just as she was – though she wouldn't allow herself to.

If he was gone….

She took a deep breath and choked back her tears, every muscle in her body tensing against the anguished trembling that claimed her from the inside. The cold she knew all too well seeping back into her heart. Not the numb, dead cold she had grown used to as a means of existence for all of those years….

A cold that never stopped hurting. That spread through every inch of her, penetrating the depths of her heart. It opened the wound she had so desperately locked shut so long ago.

The wound he had effortlessly reopened and healed with the gentle power of his touch. Then, just like that, he was gone. The wound reopened. The hole back – bleeding, throbbing and empty inside of her with nothing left to fill it.

She could still feel the last lingering vestiges of his warmth there, slowly fading away, ripping out a piece of her soul with every breath she took.

Cold she could live with. Numbness she could tolerate. The misery of isolation in the dark with no hope of ever breaking through the clouds - that she could survive. That, she had survived.

But not this.

She gritted her teeth and a hot swell of anger overtook her.

He could he do this to her? How could he?

It wasn't fair. To leave her like this - gasping for air, slowly dying from the inside out from a wound that he himself had given her? It was beyond cruel!

Ripping his hand away while he still had a firm grasp on her heart, leaving her here, more alone than ever. Bleeding. Weeping. Shut out from the light he had shed upon her, thrust back into the dark. Falling all over again. Deeper than ever before. Knowing - knowing - that this time, there would be no one to pull her out.

Without him, what did it even matter if she ever surfaced again?

What did anything matter?

How could he leave her like this knowing that, if he died, it was all her fault?

Her broken heart squeezed once more in her chest, threatening to burst. She shuddered with a gasp that broke into a sob and huddled around her knees.

Then something touched her shoulder, and her heart leapt into her throat.

With a strangled cry she jumped and turned to see Roy standing above her with his hands held up in surrender.

"Sorry!" he rushed. "I didn't mean to scare you, I was just…." He paused, then offered her a blanket. "Here."

Heart still racing and tears brimming in her swollen eyes, she stared at him in shock.

Roy shifted anxiously. "You just… you looked…" he shrugged and his shoulders drooped, "cold."

Manasa sniffed and ran her hand under her nose, though she made no movement to accept his offering.

"Here." He draped it over her shoulders for her, then leaned against the parapet with a sigh.

He turned his eyes out over the kingdom, bathed in the pale, dead light of a snowy sunset. They sat a long moment in silence.

"Pretty miserable up here," he commented, still without looking at her. "You been here all day?"

She let out a heavy breath and leaned her cheek against her arms, huddling up under the cover of the blanket.

"Yeah," he swung up to sit on the parapet with one leg dangling, "thought so."

"I haven't heard any news from Jag's men," she reported hoarsely.

"I know."

"I'll report to you as soon as I do."

"I know."

Unsuccessful in her attempt to get rid of him, she huddled back over her knees and went silent again.

But he just sat, watching the sun sink below the battlements with an obnoxiously placid look on his face.

A few minutes passed, and she wiped her eyes, her brow starting to furrow with frustration. "You don't have to stay up here."

"I know."

"You sure seem to know a lot."

"I know enough." He shrugged, and turned his eyes to hers. She couldn't escape the mirrored sense of worry that she found there.

"This isn't the first time he's done this," he said quietly.

"Done what?"

"Vanished and made it look like there's no way he's survived. Really. During the war with Akanea a few years back we lost him during a battle. We were sure he'd been captured or worse. He was gone for so long… if Elice hadn't insisted we keep looking for him, we probably all would have given up hope."

"I think I already am," she replied in a hollow whisper.

"What?"

"Giving up hope."

"Oh, no." He shook his head. "If you'd given up you wouldn't still be up here waiting for him."

Her eyes darkened and she turned her chin away from him, glaring off into the distance with tears blurring her vision.

"It's not over 'til it's over. And if there's one thing I know about you… you won't give up on him. Ever." A melancholy smile pulled at his lips. "I think you're both suckers for a lost cause. Makes you the perfect pair, at least."

She could hear the hint of laughter masking the pain in his voice, and she couldn't help but raise her eyes to his. Her gaze lingered for a moment, and her brow furrowed.

"What?" he asked curiously.

Manasa let out her breath and wiped her eyes. "You look…"

"Taller?" He puffed up his chest and lifted his shoulders with pride.

"I was going to say different."

"Yeah, different." He agreed. "Taller."

Manasa rolled her eyes. "Never mind, it's still you."

He shrugged with the same impish gleam in his eyes that she knew all too well. "Who else should I be?"

"No one," she replied fervently.

Roy smiled, and touched her shoulder. "Just keep a good eye out for him, will you?"

She nodded. "I won't give up."

"Neither will I."

"Lord Roy?"

The call came from one of the soldiers on the battlement below.

Roy shuddered. "I'm never going to get used to being called that," he grumbled, then turned to shout down from the tower. "Up here!"

"Conner's looking for you, Sir." Two soldiers stood at the foot of the ladder, one with his neck craned back as he shouted up. "He says it's urgent."

"I'll be right down," Roy called.

The soldier saluted, then turned to whisper something to his companion.

"Lord Roy," he muttered. "I told them to just call me Captain Abs, but no one listened."

Manasa laughed so unexpectedly she choked on the remnant of her tears and snorted.

Roy smiled at his doing. "I'll never get sick of that joke."

Manasa sputtered for a moment, though her laughter quickly died and a dark shadow fell over her face.

"What?" Roy asked, glancing around in wonder at her change. "What's wrong?"

"They don't like me," she replied stiffly.

He paused, confused. "Who?"

"Them." She jerked her chin towards the shaft where the soldiers stood below. "All of them."

"Them?" His brows arched, then creased. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing." She shrugged it off, keeping her voice at a whisper. "They won't even say it to me."

"Say what?"

"Nothing less than expected. They don't trust me. They think I'm a spy, that I'm leading the Black Fang here to destroy them. You name it."

"They don't know what they're talking about!" Roy snapped. "Tell me who said that I'll give them a piece of my mind and – "

"None of them said it, Roy." She sighed. "Why do you think I stay as far away from everyone as I possibly can? Because it's the only refuge I have from what they're thinking - all the time. Every time someone sees me, it starts. I don't blame them for not trusting me, or even hating me it's just…." She cringed. "They're right."

"Right about what?"

"I'm the reason Marth's gone." She shrugged helplessly. "Even I can't deny that."

"Well, that's just stupid. If I remember right, he wasn't the only one we were trying to save the Fangs from executing."

"You know what I mean, Roy. I know what they're thinking – what they're all thinking. And the worst part is, they're right."

"Hey. Don't I count as anyone?" He cocked his head. "You let me worry about the knuckleheads down there, and you keep listening for news from Terak." He smiled bracingly, and headed for the ladder.

"How long do you think it will last?" she asked as he swung down into the shaft.

He stopped with his hands on the top rung. "What?"

"How long will they call you 'Lord'… once they find out what you really are?"

Roy tensed, and his jaw tightened. "That's not… I'm not going to – "

"You can't keep it a secret forever. Why would you want to?" She shook her head with heavy regret. "Going back to living a lie…. Is that what you want?"

He cast his eyes down, and hesitated for a long moment before he could answer.

"I'll deal with that when it comes," he said finally. "But that's my problem, not yours."

"It's the same problem, isn't it?" She sighed. "Just… know you're not alone, either," she added quietly.

He nodded, and started to descend.

"Roy." Her head shot up, and she looked to him sharply. "I think it's coming."

His brow furrowed though his eyes lept with panic. "What?"

"Someone's coming!" She stood so quickly that the blanket fell from her shoulders, and she rushed to the edge of the parapets to get a better look out at the horizon. "Dragons…."

"Where?" He followed her gaze until he spotted the three large shadows flying through the clouds in the distance over the eastern plains.

"Roy?" she asked uncertainly, turning to him. "What do we do?"

Roy took a steeling breath and straightened his shoulders. "We fight."

Without waiting for a response, he jumped down the well and slid down the ladder, hitting the ground below at a run.

"Three birds coming home to roost!" he cupped his hands and shouted across the parapets. "Everyone to their stations - now!"

He streaked across the roof, sending out the call. Within moments the bells in the bell towers rang out, sounding the alarm to the whole castle and the city beyond.

"Roy!" Conner rushed down from the tower to meet him on the battlements. "What have you got? Where are they?"

"There, out to the east." Roy huffed. "Manasa just spotted them. Get your archers ready. This is it."

Conner nodded stiffly.

"And send someone to fetch Jeigan. Tell him to keep the Princess safe inside, even if he has to – "

"Too late." Conner interrupted, gesturing over Roy's shoulder.

Roy turned to see Elice making her way across the battlements with Jeigan in step behind her.

"Roy?" Elice rushed up to him, still slinging her quiver across her back. "What happened?"

"Dragon sighting," Roy sighed, shooting Jeigan an angry look.

Jeigan shrugged in frustration and fingered his hair back.

"Where?" Elice gripped her bow and looked to the east.

"You're kidding me, right?" Roy stared at her incredulously.

"What?"

"This." He flicked her bow. "You can't even use your right hand, how do you plan on firing that?"

She lifted her head defensively. "I can shoot just fine."

"Sure you can." He rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not test that out in a full-fledged Dragon attack."

"We don't have much of a choice!" She pointed obstinately to the coming Dragons.

"Oh, yes we do." He plucked the bow from her hand and held it out of her reach. "Stay behind me and you won't need your bow. Better off, go back inside the castle and keep an eye on the other Healing patients and – "

"Oh, no! You're not shunting me back inside like some helpless little – "

"Hey. Why aren't they attacking?" Jeigan pondered loudly, watching as the Dragons lingered in the distance.

Moments passed, but still the Dragons hung back. While two hovered in the clouds, the third kept circling, diving closer and closer to the ground with every pass.

"They're over empty fields," Conner commented. "There's nothing out there to attack."

A distant bellow sounded and a stream of flames issued from the solitary Dragon's mouth.

"What's it doing?" Jeigan frowned, watching as the red Dragon twisted and turned, burning the ground below.

The creature flew with deliberation, curving its neck as it followed a very precise set of movements through the sky. Flames rose up, spewing smoke and burning long trenches through the distant, grassy plains.

Finally, the Dragon stopped spewing flames and rose up to rejoin its two companions hovering in the clouds.

"Look," Conner pointed. "Does that say…."

"Yeah," Roy replied through his teeth. "It does…."

As the smoke dissipated, the pattern of the flames became clear. Three letters stood out in glaring relief across the scorched fields. R…O…Y.

"Oh, no!" Elice protested instantly.

"Elice – " Roy tried to argue.

"No! You're not going out there alone!"

"I never said I was going alone." He protested. "Manasa!"

"Yeah?" She appeared over the ledge of her tower.

"You're coming with me." He marched towards the edge of the roof.

"Her?" Elice spat. "Why her?"

"A Dragon and a Sentei," he muttered. "Seems like an even match going out there, don't you think?"

"But, Roy!" Elice jumped in front of him and stopped him in his tracks. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"Why do you think they want me?" He raised his brows. "They're going to try to get into my head, and we all know that's not hard to do. If I have Manasa, at least she can give me a little interference to hide behind."

Elice's jaw tightened, and she nodded reluctantly.

"We're playing by their rules," Roy sighed. "At least we can try to level the field a little."

"But – "

Before she could argue further Roy pulled her in and kissed her, silencing her worries with his lips. Her defiance quickly melted and she clung to him in desperation.

When he finally broke free, she hung trembling in his arms, breathless from their embrace.

"I'll be back," he promised in a whisper, nudging his nose against hers with his eyes still half-closed. "You said you'd marry me. I'm not letting you off the hook this easy."

"Just be careful," she breathed, nuzzling him back.

Roy drew her brow to his warm lips and kissed it slowly. "I will."

He lingered only a moment longer, then pulled away before he lost the strength to do so.

"Ready?" he called up to Manasa.

She teleported from the tower and landed beside him. "Ready."

"All right." Roy positioned himself on the ledge of the roof and looked down at the ground hundreds of feet below.

"You sure about this?" Manasa asked in haste.

"Sure as I'll ever be." He let out his breath and leaned over the edge.

"What's he doing?" Conner asked, looking from face to face. "Roy, what're you doing?"

"Just promise me you won't shoot me," Roy called to his fellow Elite.

Conner's face screwed up in confusion.

"Let's go." Roy hoisted himself up over the parapet, and plummeted from the roof.

"Wait!" Elice screamed.

"Roy!" Conner leapt towards the edge, leaning over it just in time to see Roy burst into flames.

The pillar of fire streaked down the side of the castle, sending a wave of heat up the wall that hit Conner in the face like an explosion. He reeled back and shielded his face against the blast, though it vanished as quickly as it came.

"Roy!" he shouted again. "Where did he – "

He broke off as Manasa flipped herself up over the parapet as well, steadying herself on the edge. A flash of orange streaked past the side of the battlement, and she jumped.

Conner threw himself against the wall again, leaning over to catch a glimpse of Manasa landing on the back of a fiery, orange-scaled Dragon.

"Dragon!" Conner raised the alarm. "Take him down! Take him down!"

At his call the archers turned from their perches and started to shoot, peppering the sky with arrows.

"No!" Elice cried. "Cease fire! Conner, call them off!"

"What?" Conner asked in bewilderment. "Why would I – "

"Cease fire!" Jeigan ordered, his deep voice carrying over the roof like the roll of thunder.

The arrows stopped flying, though the archers stood puzzled by the command.

Manasa spared them a final glance over her shoulder before she tucked down, bending low over the Roy's neck as he beat his wings and sailed out over the courtyard, climbing high into the sky.

"What are you doing?" Conner demanded of Jeigan. "Cease fire? That was a Dragon!"

"I know who it was!" Jeigan retaliated. "He told you not to shoot him!"

"Hey, have you seen it?" Maddox broke up onto the roof from the stairwell. "Roy, have you – "

"He saw it," Jeigan affirmed, still watching as Roy's reptilian figure sailed towards the horizon.

"Did he – " Maddox's eyes widened. "I missed it?" He gestured out towards the vanishing Dragon. "Are you kidding me? He finally transformed, and I missed it?"

"Not important right now, Madds!" Jeigan snapped.

Maddox cursed under his breath and bit his fist in an effort to control himself.

"What's all this?" Kain made his way onto the roof as well. "Maddox, why are you eating your hand?"

"He missed seeing Roy transform," Jeigan explained. "He's still… coping."

"You-you can't be serious – " Conner stammered. "He's a – and you all – you knew?"

"We haven't known for long. It's a truth he only recently discovered himself. I know this is a lot to take in, but if you'll just – "

"We've had a Dragon sitting at the head of our Elite Forces," Conner raged. "And you knew? When were you planning on telling me this?"

"When you needed to know," Jeigan answered firmly. "I guess he decided that's right about now."

"He's a Dragon!" Conner pointed out to the distance where Roy had flown off. "Since when do we take orders from the likes of them?"

"He's Roy." Elice stepped in. "Same as he has always been."

"No…." Conner looked them over, shaking his head as he took a step back. "No, first Sentei, now Dragons? How blind do we have to be to not see where this is going?"

"Watch it, Conner," Jeigan warned.

"You can't seriously be behind this, Jeigan! This is beyond – don't you even see what they're doing? The Black Fang doesn't need to attack us, they've already weaseled their way inside the castle! And you're just standing by and watching it happen!"

"Conner, you will stand down!" Elice ordered him. "Don't forget who you're speaking to!"

"I thought I knew." Conner looked Jeigan over with a sense of betrayal. "None of this bull was happening when you were Regent. But she comes back without Marth, and suddenly we've got a Dragon running the castle… and you're bowing to him."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Jeigan hissed.

"Don't I? We're harboring the enemy, Jeigan! Can't you see what's happening?"

"Am I the enemy?" Jeigan moved in so close that his chest plate banged against Conner's. "Am I?"

"You don't answer to Jeigan, Conner," Elice cut in. "You answer to me."

"I answer to Marth," he corrected. "Last time I checked he was the Prince of Aritia. And there's no way in Anri's kingdom that he would ever stand for this madness!"

"Don't presume to speak for my brother on matters you have no understanding of! Furthermore, regardless of his physical whereabouts I am still your Princess. Now you will fall in line!"

"With all due respect, Your Highness," the corner of Conner's eyes twitched, "I will not."

Elice's countenance fell in astonishment.

"I won't stand by in silence while you hand our kingdom over to the enemy!"

"Arrest him," Elice ordered quietly.

"What?" Maddox asked.

"Arrest him!" she repeated. "For treason. Just do it, Maddox!"

"Yes, Princess." Maddox jumped.

"Treason?" Conner cried in outrage, struggling as Maddox took him into custody. "You can't do this!"

"Afraid she can." Kain stepped in and helped Maddox keep him under control. "And she just did."

"We're fighting a war here!" Conner seethed at Elice. "Which side are you on?"

"I am on Aritia's side! And I'll not have you defying my orders." She shook her head stiffly. "Not now. Not with this many lives at stake. If you refuse to fight with us – "

"Whatever you may think, I am not against Aritia," Conner interrupted in his defense. His eyes moved to shoot Jeigan a dark glance. "Only those who seek to destroy it."

"You openly defy my rule," Elice answered. "I cannot allow you to lead my men into battle."

"And I won't spit on everything I hold dear by joining forces with the likes of them!"

Elice turned and waved him off. "Take him away, Kain."

"Yes, Princess." He bowed slightly and pushed Conner towards the stairs.

"Your father had the right idea about how to deal with Dragons!" Conner shouted back over his shoulder. "Shot them out of the sky and ripped out their hearts! That's our legacy, Elice! You think you can change that and you're condemning us all to death!"

"Hey, King Cornelius was the one that brought Roy here in the first place," Maddox argued. "Get your facts straight!"

"If he had known what kind of blood he was taking in and soiling the castle with, he would have thought twice. Especially if he knew that one day that same beast would be defiling his own daughter!"

"Get him out of here, Kain!" Jeigan urged.

Elice bared her teeth and clenched her fists, glaring down at the ground as Kain dragged him down the stairwell.

A heavy silence fell over the castle, so thick that Elice could hear her own heart pounding with fury.

"I'm sorry about that, Princess," Jeigan apologized quietly.

Elice let out her breath and wiped her eyes, then lifted her head.

"Don't be. He made his choice on where to stand. Now we all must do the same. That choice is clear." She turned her eyes up to the soldiers watching her from the towers above. "You will fight with me, or you are against me. I will suffer no disloyalty, no disrespect, no cowardice or failure of heart!"

She paused, and swallowed.

"I do not claim to be my brother, but I promise you that I will not rest until I have done everything within my power to restore him. But I cannot win this fight alone. I'm putting my faith and my trust in each one of you."

Elice's gaze moved slowly from face to face, meeting the eyes of her soldiers with strength and conviction.

"All I can ask is that you give me a chance to win your trust in return."

Maddox fell to one knee, quivering with anticipation and the sense of electricity that had settled over their heads.

"You have my trust, Princess." He beat his fist against his heart and bowed his head.

"And mine." Jeigan followed his comrade's gesture of fealty.

Slowly, like a wave rippling over the rooftops, the soldiers fell down in deference.

A shiver ran up Elice's spine, and her heart clenched almost painfully. She choked back the swell of emotion wrenching her chest and lifted her head up high, determined to stand as tall as such a display of confidence deserved.

"I thank you…." The Princess' voice trembled, but grew stronger with every breath. "For Marth." She drew his sword from the scabbard at her side with her good hand and raised the tip to the sky.

"For Aritia!"

A mighty cry roared up from the rooftop, echoing against the clouds above like a roll of thunder as her soldiers raised their weapons high.

"Jeigan." She rounded on him, and he stood instantly.

"Yes, Princess."

"Secure this castle! See to it that every soldier we have is armed and manning their positions. The Black Fang stands to attack." Elice turned her eyes back over the walls and out to the horizon. "And we will be ready for them."

"Yes, Princess," he repeated, clamping his fist to his chest once more with a quick bow before he moved off and started shouting orders across the castle roof.

Elice watched with a quiet shiver as Roy's small, orange-scaled form came up upon the three enemy Dragons in the distance.

"Maddox?" she called without turning her head.

"Yes?" He stopped in his tracks and returned to her side.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?"

She looked at him, a crack of emotion showing through in her eyes. "For… doing that."

"Hey," Maddox shrugged slightly, "anyone that has Marth and Roy on their side is someone I want on mine." He smiled faintly. "Now, come on. Let's get your boys back."

Elice nodded and let out her breath, steeling herself once more for the battle that lay ahead.

Even in the midst of the chaos, her eyes were drawn over the wall and the outer gates, out past the borders of the city to the fields beyond where Roy's still-smoking name lay smoldering in ash upon the dead ground.

***

"Was that a good idea?" Manasa asked, shooting a quick glance over her shoulder back at the castle from atop Roy's back.

"What?" he asked, straining his way towards the Dragons circling in the sky ahead.

"Revealing yourself then leaving Elice back there to deal with the fallout," she clarified, brushing a flyaway strand of her windswept hair out of her eyes.

"I didn't – "

"You did. There's going to be a lot of people back there that aren't happy about this."

"I – " he stammered, resisting a fleeting urge to turn and go back. "I didn't think of that."

"Well… lucky for us we have bigger problems." Manasa shrugged it off as she turned her sights back to the Dragons looming closer and closer with every beat of Roy's wings. "What do you think they want with you?"

"I don't know." Roy lowered his nose and began to dive. "But we're about to find out."

Following his lead, the enemy Dragons dove as well, careening into a sudden collision course with the ground. The red Dragon hit land first with a burst of flames that sent a pillar of light into the sky, illuminating the twilight for a moment before shrinking back into itself.

As the flames receded, the figure of a woman was left standing, framed by the smoking remnants of the fire-drawn 'O' on the ground. She shook her strawberry blonde hair back and turned her still-red eyes to the sky as her two companions continued to circle overhead.

Roy caught her gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. He pulled back instinctively, lurching Manasa to the side as he steadied himself in the air.

"What?" she asked, clinging to his neck. "What is it?"

Roy's eyes narrowed and he shot a stream of sparks from his nostrils. "It's Lilina…."

"Lilina?" Manasa craned her neck around to get a better look.

"I think I know what they want," Roy growled, and fell into a dive again.

Manasa jumped off as he neared the ground, and Roy slid into a fiery transformation back into a human.

"Stay close to me," he whispered to her, taking position in front of her.

"You got it," she agreed readily.

He swallowed nervously. "Is my mind blocked?"

"Yes. As much as I can manage."

He let out his breath. "Good."

They tread carefully over the hot, scorched ground. Here and there small patches of grass still lay burning, the embers glowing in the ever-thickening darkness.

Peering through the haze of smoke and dust, Roy could just make out a shadowy figure slowly coming into view.

"I see you got my message," Lilina's voice sounded as she emerged through the smog. "I'm a little surprised you came. To be honest, I expected you to run and hide like last time."

The hairs on the back of Roy's neck stood on end, and he clenched his fists.

"What do you want, Lilina?" he rumbled.

"And what makes you think I'm the one in charge?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a threatening smile. "Just because you're afraid of me – "

"Afraid?" he snorted. "You're the one hiding under Vale's cloak!"

"I see the human took you back," she snarled. "How does it feel, being locked up in the basement like a pet?"

"Lilina!" A second voice broke through the clouds. "How quickly we forget the reason we're paying this visit."

Lilina gritted her teeth but grudgingly went silent as Kahira stepped out of the haze to face Roy.

"And who's the one on a leash?" Roy sneered.

"I didn't come here to facilitate your lovers' quarrel," Kahira clarified, turning her eyes to Manasa. "There will be time to work out our personal differences soon enough."

"What do you want with me?" Roy looked her over carefully, shielding Manasa as best he could behind his shoulder.

"Just wanted to return something to you." She turned her eyes skyward as a dark shadow fell over them.

A blue Dragon dove down from overhead, clutching a limp figure in its claws. It skimmed down low, and dropped its cargo onto the charred grass with a thump.

"You didn't – " Manasa's eyes widened in horror and she ran to the discarded captive's side, but Kahira stepped in front of the figure, blocking him.

"Nice try." She towered over Manasa. "But I'm afraid the Prince is far too valuable to relinquish. This on the other hand."

Kahira kicked the figure over onto his back, eliciting a weak moan from his lips. Manasa peered through the growing darkness and looked the wounded man over with a strange mixture of both disappointment and relief overtaking her.

"Jag?" She fell down at Jagat's side and smoothed back the damp hair from his brow to reveal his bruised and bloodied face.

"Hey, Shorty…" he wheezed, squinting up at her.

"You okay?"

He tried to smile as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, though he stopped short with a pained grunt and clutched his ribs. "Never better."

Teeth bared, Manasa turned her eyes back up to Kahira with a flash of rage. "Where is he?"

"Still alive. That's all you need know," Kahira replied coolly. "Though, that condition is liable to change very soon… depending on your cooperation."

Manasa clenched the dirt beneath her in her fists, reeling back to charge, but Roy caught her before she could make a move.

"Manasa, we knew they'd play this card." Roy grabbed her shoulders from behind and whispered the warning into her ear. "Don't let her get to you."

"Just like you're not letting your old friend here get to you?" Kahira asked, flicking her eyes to Lilina. "You haven't stopped thinking about her since we arrived. It takes a lot of passion to fuel such hatred. Emotions blur the lines between the two so easily…."

"And just who are you?" Roy seethed, his cheeks turning pink with heat. "One of Vale's attack dogs?"

"Kahira," she introduced herself. "Of the Four Fangs."

"Like I said…." He rolled his eyes. "Pretty gutsy of you to come right out and say it. Don't the Four Fangs usually cower in secret, afraid to show their real faces?"

"I've no reason to hide my face." She smiled. "I want all of Aritia to know the name of the woman who will bring it to its knees."

"Cute." Roy dismissed it. "So what do you want with me? Or is it just that, between the two of you, my name was the only one you could manage to spell?"

"We asked for you because we're giving you one last chance to see reason!" Lilina snapped back.

"So now it's mercy that brings you attacking? This just keeps getting better and better!"

"If you refuse us – "

"You'll what?" he shouted. "Burn us to the ground? Something tells me you're already planning on that!"

"Lilina's told me all about you, Roy." Kahira stepped in. "Not only are you a formidable force within the Aritian government and military," she paused, appraising Roy with her eyes, "but you also stand as the one most likely to sympathize with our cause."

"Your cause?" he snorted. "What's that? Being a couple of bitter hags with nothing better to do than to pick a fight?"

"You do have fire." Kahira forced a smile that tightened her lips unnaturally around her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "I'm speaking on a much bigger scale, Roy. More than ever before… you stand alone. But you needn't be. Just look at what you've accomplished."

Kahira started forward slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

"Abandoned in this wretched place when you were nothing more than a child, orphaned, forsaken…. Left to fend for yourself you managed to crawl out of the depths of obscurity to become the man you are today."

She stopped, just inches in front of him, and ran her nails across the breastplate of his armor with a shivering scratch.

"The most powerful man in Aritia…" she whispered. "An entire Kingdom at your mercy. An army in your hands… you have the power to shape this war. Or, to prevent it completely."

"So that's what this is." He jerked away from her grasp, standing as a sentinel over Manasa and Jag. "You want us to roll over and die without even taking a stand."

"But you will take a stand." Kahira's face brightened with a hungry enthusiasm. "Just think of it. You can take control of the very civilization that was built up by slaughtering your ancestors. No longer will you be persecuted and afraid - but revered, respected… honored." Her voice softened. "Isn't that what you want?"

"If you're proud of yourself for thinking you can get into my head, you're just fooling yourself, lady." A mirthless grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "And even then, you're way off. You have no idea what I want."

"To marry a human," Kahira whispered enticingly. "The princess at that. Can you image what they'll do when they realize they have a Dragon vying for their throne?"

Roy took a step back, panic twitching in his eyes. "I've heard enough."

"Look around you, Roy!" Lilina burst, gesturing to the two Dragons still circling above them in the sky. "You're fighting a losing battle and it hasn't even started yet."

"Believe me," he lowered his head and stretched out his arms as his hands burst into flames, "it's already started."

"We're giving you a chance to save your kingdom from a useless massacre and secure your own position of power," Kahira offered. "That's not a proposition to throw away lightly."

"So we surrender and you'll what?" Flames crawled up Roy's arms as his hands slowly shifted into thick, muscled claws. "You'll just give Marth back?" He huffed mirthlessly. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"I could give the order and kill him now."

"If you were really willing to do that, you wouldn't be here."

"That's quite a gamble to take with your Prince's life on the line."

"I don't have reason to believe anything you say!" Roy charged. "Your threats mean nothing. For all I know, he's already dead!"

"Which brings us to the reason that he isn't." Kahira motioned to Jag. "Tell them."

Manasa looked down at Jag, pleading with her eyes.

He bit his tongue, looking from face to face in building frustration until he cracked.

"He's alive," he conceded, dropping his gaze to the ground.

A chill ran down Roy's spine.

"You're… you're sure?" he asked breathlessly.

Jag nodded. "Saw him this morning - conveniently." He shot Kahira a dark look. "He's not in good shape… but he's alive."

Roy paused, deliberating before he turned to Manasa. "Is he – "

"He's telling the truth," Manasa confirmed in a whisper, staring into Jag's eyes with a growing horror paling her face. "I can… I can see it – "

"Sorry, Shorty." Jag cringed and turned away, as though ashamed of the images he had stored away in his head.

"Would you like any more proof?" Kahira asked dryly.

Roy rounded on her with a new fury burning in his eyes. "If Marth is still alive, he'd want us to fight… no matter what the cost."

"Would he?" She cocked her head. "And what would his sister think about that, I wonder?"

"We're done here." Roy shook his head, and turned away. "Come on, Manasa! Get Jag up. We're going."

"Roy!" Kahira called after him. "I'm warning you, if you walk away from us now you won't get this offer again."

"Keep it." He hoisted Jag to his feet. "There's no way I'm joining you."

"Very well," she conceded with a quiet air of triumph. "Lilina, you know what to do."

"Bring you the head of the Aritian Princess," Lilina purred, flames crawling across her skin until they consumed her. "So she can rot alongside her brother."

A sharp sting prickled Roy's spine, and he slowed to a stop as his blood began to boil.

"I don't know what I'm looking forward to more, Roy." Lilina teased, rising up out of the pillar of flames back in the body of a red-scaled Dragon. "Hearing her scream… or watching your face as she bleeds dry." Her forked tongue flicked through her teeth. "Decisions, decisions…."

Roy turned slowly to face her.

"I warned you that night, remember? When you pushed me away." The Dragon crouched low over her shoulders, pawing the blackened ground like a cat preparing to strike. "I told you to choose… and that if you chose wrong, I'd kill her."

Roy face twisted into the half-formed features of the beast he held caged inside. The pillar of fire rose up and surrounded him, sending a billowing cloud of black smoke into the night sky.

"Why are you doing this?" he growled, his body growing in stature even as he spoke.

"Oh, you know." She licked her lips. "A woman scorned and all that."

"So you're still just looking for revenge against Nils…."

"Oh, it's so much bigger than that now." She rose up to her full, towering height, looming over Roy with her wings beating against the sky.

"Manasa, take Jag and go," Roy ordered without even looking over his shoulder.

"But – " she stammered, staring up in fear at the blazing Dragon baring down on them.

"Manasa, I said go!" A fresh wave of flames exploded from Roy's skin and a fully-formed Dragon emerged from the inferno.

Manasa and Jag stumbled back, shielding their faces from the heat of the blast. The orange Dragon ascended from the flames with a roar that shook the ground beneath their feet, nearly toppling them both again.

"Go!" Roy snapped, his reptilian muscles tensing as he poised himself between his comrades and Lilina's monstrous form. "Now!"

"Better listen to the man," Jag agreed weakly.

"Okay," Manasa panted, backing away as best she could with Jag's weighty load hanging on her shoulder. "Okay, hold onto me. One, two – "

"Three!" Jag finished for her. "Go, now, g- "

Manasa scrunched her eyes shut and the pair vanished, leaving nothing behind but a set of footprints in the ash.

With his comrades safely gone, Roy turned his full attention to Lilina. His shoulders hunched and he fell into a slow circling motion with her as they sized each other up for battle.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Lilina cocked her horned head. "There's no Uncle Nils around to save you this time."

She launched forward with a hiss and a snap of her jaws, and Roy barely dodged the attack.

"I've got a thousand years on you, boy." Her head weaved from side to side like a snake on her long neck. "You have no idea what you're up against."

"Thanks for the warning, Granny," Roy huffed and reared back with his wings unfurled.

His snarl shook the sky like a roll of thunder as he let loose a firestorm that engulfed the field in a sudden burst of blinding light. Smoke billowed up into the blackened sky, quivering against the blazing heat.

Lilina pulled back, staring in momentary shock at the powerful blaze surrounding her.

Silent as a ghost, Roy sprang through the flames and tackled Lilina from behind. His fangs sank into her neck and the pair tumbled to the ground in a jumbled mess of claws and teeth.

Under the growing tower of smoke, the two Dragons tore at each other's flesh. Their cries of fury shredded the quiet of the night and heralded in the long absent chaos of war across the plains of Aritia.




*****