Kole looked down from the bow of his airship at the wasteland below him. In the distance, a city was in flames. The forests and plains dotting the landscape were gray and brown with death. The Demon Dragonmaster chuckled to himself and turned back towards the cabins. There were momentary flickers to his right, but he didn't stop his stride. "Reports," he ordered in an emotionless voice.
"Our forces have conquered all of the Western kingdoms with the exception of Lucitania," came Thiss' whispering voice. "Arlax has taken an advanced force to start preliminary attacks on the Lucitanian borders."
"What else?" asked Kole.
"Vasen has also arrived on Lunar with his armies," added the Shadow Dragon. "According to him, the kingdoms of Pakkar, Fummara, and Tollssa will fall within days. At least two of those three monarchies are in disarray as it is."
The Demon Dragonmaster stopped at the door to the lower decks and looked over his shoulder. "And what do you have to say, Scorn?"
He could hear the shuffling of the Pestilence Dragon's rags as he shuffled back and forth in his place. "According to Arlax, the Princess and her friends escaped and have returned to the palace in Lucitania itself. She will soon attempt to harness the power of the Goddess' Kiss in order to end my plague."
A frown spread across the dark warrior's face and the shadows under his eyes seemed to darken even more. "See that she does not succeed." With that said, he opened the door and headed for his cabin.
He could still feel his hand. He tried to male a fist, but the muscles wouldn't respond. Then again, how could they respond? He had no hand there. In fact, he had nothing from the elbow down on his left arm. At least I still have my right arm , thought Argile to himself. But you can never again be the same caliber of warrior you once were , chided a voice from the back of his mind.
The large man groaned and turned on his side. He was in his room on the second floor of the palace. It was a normal sized room with the bare essentials like a bed, a dresser, a closet, and a bathing chamber. Argile lay, wearing a white cloth shirt and pants, curled up inside the covers of the bed with a single lantern on to light the room. The Black Knight groaned again and raised himself into a sitting position. He raised the remaining half of his left arm and just stared at it. He tried not to dwell on it, but the same thoughts just kept running through his mind. Never again would he be able to wield his Axe the same. He could never eat correctly again, fix something, or even get dressed! "I'm just not a whole man anymore."
There was a light tapping at his door. He wiped a hand over his bald head and tried to mask his grief. "Yes? Come in."
The door opened slightly, and Connery stuck his head in. "Hey buddy, how ya doing?"
The sight of his young friend brought a small smile to Argile's face. "Hello, Connery." Argile purposefully shoved his bandaged arm under the sheets. "I'm a little better." He lied.
The thief came completely into the room and closed the door behind himself. He grabbed a small chair from nearby a dresser and sat down near Argile. Connery had finally removed the magical armor given to him by the White Crest and changed back into his black and brown pants and multi-colored shirt with a red bandanna on his head. "Did you hear the news?" he asked excitedly.
"What news?"
The smile remained on the thief's face. "Leeta, Carmen, and Carla are back."
Argile knew that this was good news, but his smile betrayed just how much anguish his injury was really causing him. With wisdom beyond his years, Connery saw directly into his large friend's heart. "Talk to me, big guy. It's the arm isn't it?"
Argile merely nodded. His head was now drooping, and he couldn't bring himself to look the thief in the eyes. Connery reached out and laid a hand on the big man's shoulder. "I think I can help," he said in a soft voice.
Argile's head shot up. His eyes were wide with hope. "What?" he said in a hoarse whisper.
Connery nodded with a devilish smile. "I think I can give you your arm back. It might take a little while, since my lab's in Meribia."
"What are you saying?" said Argile with in the tone of a three year old.
Connery let the question hang in the air for a minute. "I can build you a knew arm," he said finally.
Color returned to Argile's face. The feeling of his phantom hand disappeared. He smiled. Connery rose from the chair and headed for the door. "Well, I'm going to go see what everyone else is up to." He opened the door to leave.
"Wait," called Argile. "Let me get some clothes on, and I'll come with you." He jumped out of bed, already pulling off his shirt. Connery just smiled and slipped out of the room to wait.
Cole pulled a dark green tunic over his head and quickly tied a black sash with a red stripe running down the center across his waist. He sat down and brushed some dirt off of his black pants as he pulled on his boots. Finally, just out of habit, he strapped on the Goddess Sword and left the Royal chambers. As he walked down the marble halls, Cole could not stop thinking of Leeta's final words before she left their room. Was he feeling sorry for himself? Was he laying unjust blame on his actions? He continued to question himself when he arrived at the stairs that led to the main hall. A door creaked closed to his right, and the Dragonmaster stopped and looked around.
From the hall to his right came Mirage, walking with an unhappy stride, towards the stairs. His scalp was freshly shaven as was the rest of his ebony face with the exception of the mustache on his upper lip. His white V necked shirt was tucked into his gray pants. And also out of habit, his Scimitar was strapped to his side, and his Crest hung around his neck. "What are you doing here?" they both asked each other at the same time.
"Carla's too lazy to get out of bed, and she felt that at least one of us should be at the temple to see the ceremony," said Mirage with a yawn.
Cole nodded and made a small grimace. "I had a fight with Leeta before she left, and I figured that I should be there."
Mirage gave him a knowing grin. "That's probably the wisest thing you can do, boss." He started down t he stairs. "Come let's go before you get into even more trouble, and so I don't first get into it."
The guards let the Dragonmaster and the Blue Knight leave the palace grounds without any argument. As they strolled through the deserted streets, both men curled their noses a the smell of bonfires fueled by human corpses. "I hope this ceremony works," said Mirage in low tones.
"You and me both," replied Cole. "It won't do us much good to defend a kingdom if it's already dead."
Mirage shook his head solemnly. "Remember, though, that was their plan from the beginning. Make us all so sick that we can't fight."
Cole gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, but they didn't count on Carla, Leeta, and Carmen finding a cure." He was quiet for a minute. "Or on us escaping that trap."
Mirage looked at his friend while they walked. "You're not still blaming yourself for that. Are you?"
The green eyed warrior lowered his head. "I could have done so many things differently that night. I should have seen the trap! I should have taken the opportunity to kill myself! I mean my double. If I'd done at least one of those things, Argile would still have his arm, and we wouldn't be preparing for war."
"You're wrong," said Mirage in a flat tone. "You remember what your double said. The Hades Army was already on this side of the world. It was just waiting for the go ahead signal." He gestured with his hands as he spoke. "We should be glad they attacked now while they were still far enough away from us, so that we could at least prepare some for the inevitable."
Cole only grunted in response. The two friends continued to walk down the cobble stone streets. All the lights were out inside the building they passed by. Lunar was at its zenith just as they reached the city's Temple to Althena. Its pale light shone down to illuminate the pearl white stone of the temple. The square shape of the temple was topped off by an arched roof as were all the temples to the Goddess. Pillars of the whitest stone encircles the temple to hold up the roof. Mirage and Cole slowly scaled the steps and entered through the temple's open front door.
Inside, the stones were just as white. A large red carpet stretched from the entrance to other end of the temple where a large statue of Althena stood with a smile upon her face. The two warriors walked down the carpet, between more pillars, and stopped at the foot of the dais where the statue stood. Lamps hung from the ceiling emitting a soft golden glow through out the large chamber. Also, gathered at the dais were Leeta, the Head Priestess Juna, and a squad of temple guards standing in place on each side of the dais. Cole looked at Leeta, and the Princess just turned her head away.
Suddenly, there was a weight on the Dragonmaster's left shoulder. He turned his head slightly to see Vaul perched there. Cole couldn't help but smile at the baby Gold. "And what are you doing up this late?"
Vaul shrugged his furry shoulders. "Mom thought it might be a good experience for me to see something like this. That, and I was the only one she could keep awake." Cole scratched the cat like creature behind the ears, and he made a little purring sound.
"Lunar is at its zenith," said Juna in a soft yet commanding voice. She wore the same white robes all priests and priestesses wore, but her's had runes scrolled on them to signify her rank. Her face was pale with a mass of dark hair spilling around it. Brown eyes blinked beneath her bangs while she clutched a walking staff in her hands. "We should begin now, your Highness," she added.
Leeta nodded and placed her self before the statue. She started to chant and held up both her hands before Althena's smile. In the palms of her hands lay the Goddess' Kiss. The Kiss itself was a small red sphere of a jewel placed in the center of a oval shaped purple and pink rune. Leeta had told Cole that the Rune was said to be a portion of the Goddess' Crest. The Princess' voice grew louder as she started to call upon the power of the Goddess to release the magic to the Kiss in order to heal the sick. Cole was so caught up in the ceremony, that he was slightly startled when Vaul started to whisper in his ear.
"Hey, Cole. Look at those temple guards. They don't look too good." The Dragonmaster followed Vaul's tiny pointing paw and looked at the guards.
Each one of the guards was twitching noticeably. Cole's hand drifted to his sword as he nudged Mirage. The Pirate took one look at them, and his hand, too, went to the hilt of his Scimitar. Then, in a universal cry, all the guards threw up their hands and started to grow. The white armor they had all been wearing fell from their bodies and dropped to the floor with loud clangs. Dark gray hair sprouted all over their bodies, and their heads started change shape. Large mussels grew out filled with sharp teeth. Their ears became larger and pointed. "Wererats!" cried Vaul as he leaped off of Cole's shoulder and took to the air.
By this time, Leeta was surrounded in a bright blue aura and oblivious to the events around her. Juna jumped back and ran to the sides of Cole and Mirage. The rats, now fully transformed, roared in challenge to the warriors. Cole only smiled to his friend and pulled the Goddess' Sword from its sheath. He looked at his blade and chuckled. "Let's be glad that old habits die hard."
Mirage drew the Blue Dragon's Scimitar and nodded in agreement. "Just like old times, boss." The humor left his face, and his stance became that of a seasoned fighter.
Cole turned his head to look at Juna. "Can you keep the rats away from Leeta while we deal with them?"
She smiled and gave him a daring look. "What do you think?" she said as she twirled her staff deftly in her hands.
The green eyed warrior nodded with respect to her ability and proceeded to engage the wererats. At first glance, he counted at least twenty of the beasts. Each one was at least eight feet tall and armed with with swords or spears. All at once, the monsters attacked. Cole and Mirage met the first wave, and Juna darted towards the dais to protect the unaware Leeta. One rat lunged at Cole with his sword. The Dragonmaster made a half step to his right and slid his sword past the rat's and across the monster's gut. It fell to the ground, and Cole spun around to parry another attack. His Sword batted away a spear, and his booted foot found the attacker's stomach. A quick thrust and the creature was dead. Cole pulled the Blade free and met another attack from his left. He locked swords with the monster, grabbed its head with his left hand, and bashed it against a nearby pillar.
While Cole dealt deathblow after deathblow, Mirage darted between the large gray bodies leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. A duck under a spear and a slice across an abdomen. A roll under a slashing sword, and a thrust into an exposed back. Mirage jumped back just out of the range of the snapping jaws of a rat. Of course the Pirate knew the price of being bitten by a lycanthrope. The Scimitar burst into blue flame as Mirage tore into a mass of wererats. In a matter of minutes, Cole and Mirage had killed fifteen of the twenty beasts. The five remaining rats gathered into a small group and started backing away from the warriors that seemed to be angels of death.
"Let's finish this," said Mirage with blood lust obvious in his voice. Cole nodded, and they moved in for the kill.
They raised their swords to charge when the rats were surrounded by a gray light. There was a bright flash and suddenly a twenty foot wererat towered over the two men. "I was wondering when this was going to get challenging," said Mirage.
"You know, I'd be just as happy if things never got interesting anymore," countered Cole.
"But then what would we do every day?" replied Mirage with a smirk on his face.
Cole just smiled and shook his head. With the danger level significantly higher, Mirage activated the magic of his Crest. A flash of blue light, and the Blue Knight stood in his magical armor. "Wish I could do that," muttered Cole, who felt naked with his Dragon equipment.
The giant wererat roared and raised its large claws to strike. Cole jumped away from the deadly claws, and Mirage darted in to strike. He momentarily faded away as the Slip Stream attack took affect. There was a quick blue flash as he sliced several gashes in the monster's legs. It cried out and looked to find the cause of its pain. Head turned, it didn't see Cole charge and attack. "Cutting Blade!" The Goddess' Sword flew from his hands like a bolt of white light and left a deep gash in the beast's side. Cole caught his Sword and moved to retreat as the rat counter attacked.
The monster dropped onto all fours and charged the Dragonmaster. Cole tried to dodge it, but the rat moved faster than he though possible. The creature's large shoulder slammed into him, sending Cole through the air and into the wall. Air knocked from his lungs, Cole slid to the ground with a thud. The rat moved in and opened its jaws to bite down, but Mirage charged in and chopped at its rear. The giant rodent screamed in pain and lashed out with its tail. The whip like tail slashed Mirage across the face, dropping him instantly.
The giant rat returned its attention to Cole and opened its drooling maw to bite the Dragonmaster. The stink of its breath made Cole retch inwardly. Still hurting from his meeting with the wall, he couldn't find the energy to react fast enough to raise his Sword in defense. Suddenly, a small golden blur thrust itself at the wererat's face. Hissing and making little roaring sounds, Vaul started to maul the rat's face with his tiny claws. The monster reared up and roared in shock and pain. While it tried to grab the little Dragon, Cole saw his chance to end it. Cole jumped to his feet, braced himself against the wall, and cried "Blue Dragon Driver!"
A blue fireball propelled itself from the wall and drove into the body of the giant wererat. The rat exploded in several directions, sending rat bile everywhere. The Dragon attack ended and Cole got to his feet. He looked around to survey the results of the battle. Mirage was getting to his feet and rubbing a red mark across his face. Cole looked up and saw Vaul hovering in the air with a huge grin on his face. "That was awesome!" he shouted with glee.
There was another cry and the weary Dragonmaster, Knight, and Dragon looked towards the dais. Leeta, still surrounded in a blue aura, cried out as a red beam burst from the Goddess' Kiss and through the roof of the temple. The light faded around the Princess and she lowered her hands. She was breathing heavily as she turned to look at the scene before her. Her face was contorted in confusion. "What's going on here?"
Cole and Mirage just looked at each other, laughed, and fell onto their backs.