Morning arrived. And with morning came the pain. Mirage's head was a construction site, a festival band, and one of Carla's temper tantrums all rolled into one. Suddenly, he realized that there was another pain besides the one in his head. Something was poking him in the side. The Pirate Lord slowly opened one eye at a time. Standing next to his bed was what looked to be a blond haired, blue eyed, fourteen year old boy jabbing him in the ribs with a small stick. Mirage grabbed the boy by the shirt collar as he shot up. Unfortunately, the pain of his hangover followed him up. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you little bastard?" he tried to shout.
"Testing a theory," he answered simply. "I needed to know if how long a man sleeps off a hangover is due to the ratio of how much beer he ingested the night before."
"Huh?" was all Mirage could utter.
"In simple terms," said the boy,Ê"I want to know if all that beer you drank made you sleep this long."
Mirage couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But you just woke me up with that damn stick!"
The boy shook his head. "No, not really. You were already waking up, I just sped up the process."
Mirage cursed and swung at the boy's head with his other hand. The little wretch was able to break loose from the Pirate's left hand and dodged the swinging right. With the speed of youth, the boy ran from the room and headed for the stairs. Mumbling a variety of curses Mirage called for Argile to wake up. When no answer came he realized that his large friend's bed was empty. Mirage finally got to his feet after several attempts and picked up his Scimitar. He strapped on the Dragon Weapon and left to find his friend. Silently, he was hoping to run into that kid again, or rather his foot was.
Argile lifted the Black Dragon's Axe into the air and brought it crashing down onto the log. Splinters flew everywhere as the log was split in two. Onyl clapped vigorously from her vantage point ten feet away. Argile stopped for a moment to smile at the girl. "I'm surprised to see you doing such a mundane chore with such an impressive looking weapon," remarked Onyl. She walked over to him holding a mug of water. Her red skirt billowed about her legs as she moved, and her plain white blouse was tucked in modestly.
Argile thanked her for the drink and took a long swig. He wiped his mouth and looked down at her. "Well, I needed the work out, and I saw that your wood pile was rather large. So I asked your father if he would mind if I took to chopping fire wood. Also, he is giving me a discount on the rooms as well." Both of them began laughing. "My companion will probably like that." He took a drink and handed the empty mug back to Onyl.
Onyl looked behind him at the now diminished log pile. "It seems that you have chopped most of it. Your work will probably keep the fires warm for some time, but father does like to have a back up supply. Would you like to come with me to the lumber mill outside of town to get some more wood? I'm sure that would not be too much trouble for a man such as yourself."
Small warning bells started to go off inside the big man's head. He knew that the girl was flirting with him, and she was attractive, but he did not want to lead her on. However, this was an opportunity he could not pass up. A chance to try and confirm his suspicions had just presented itself and he had to take it. "That sounds pretty good," he finally answered. "When do we leave?"
She placed the empty mug down on the chopping stump and grabbed his large hand with her smaller one. "Now." She pulled him along and they left the small yard behind The Watering Hole.
They chatted idly as they made their way through the streets of Dermyo. The portion of the town that the inn was located in was not on the water. Most of the town's homes were on the dry land while the shops were all on the water. With the exception of the Hole the buildings of Dermyo were of horrible construction. What homes that were made from stone were all eroded and sinking into the ground. The rest of the houses were all made from various types of wood. Many of the homes were disproportioned and looked as if a child had drawn up the building plans. Argile's thoughts paused for a moment to reflect on that.
It did not take the two of them long to leave the boundaries of the town. Onyl led them west towards a small forest. After ten minutes Dermyo was out of site and the forest was waiting not too far ahead. Argile could not help but notice how poor the land looked. The grass was a dull green amd the trees seemed to droop.The sky was an ever present gray with no hope of clearing up at all. Argile noticed that Onyl was speaking about the land.
"Lately, I can almost feel the pain of the land," she was saying. "I don't understand what it happening to it. One day the river just stopped flowing, and the land began to slowly die. And we haven't seen any merchants for at least three weeks." She looked up at Argile with worried eyes. "Do you know what it going on, Argile?"
Argile wasn't sure how to respond to her question. Could he tell her the truth? Would she be able to handle it? He decided to tell her at least some of it. "There is a war in progress, Onyl." Her face went pale. "That is one of the reasons the land is dying. There is a great evil on Lunar, and it is like a disease that kills over time by eating away at the spirit as well as the body."
Onyl looked down as they continued to walk. "I don't almost feel nature's pain, Argile. I do feel it. It's like a crying child inside of my mind. Sometimes I feel as though I want to cry with it." Unshed tears began to form in her brown eyes. "But then I realize that crying will do nothing. So, I constantly look for ways..." Argile laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her speaking.
A warm wind blew across the dying landscape. Yet the grass did not move, and the trees did not sway, but the hairs on the back of Argile's neck began to rise. He fingered the Black Dragon's Crest with his steel hand. Something was watching them.
Thiss swallowed as he watched from the shadows. It was definitely the Black Knight, and there was definitely something odd about the girl with him. The Shadow Dragon waited for a moment. Yes, it had to be. "Ssshe mussst be the Black," he hissed. He gestured for his minions to attack. The other Knight was not with them, but he could be dealt with later. The Demon Dragon leaned back and watched the monsters descend on their prey.
Onyl cried out as the attack began. Monsters suddenly appeared all around Argile and herself. She turned to her large companion and stared in awe as he was suddenly surrounded by a black flash. His dusty shirt was replaced by jet black armor that covered his entire torso. The center of the armor was covered by a strange symbol of what looked like a black dragon in front of a golden sun. A circlet appeared on his bald head, and his now gauntleted right hand took hold of the massive, double bladed axe on his back. Argile took position in front of her and began to twirl the axe with deadly ease. Onyl was forced to look away from her protector to see exactly what was attacking them.
Ten creatures were circling them now. Each one was fully armored from helmets to steel boots. They all carried swords, and each one had a set of glowing red eyes. "Argile, what are they?" whispered Onyl.
"Death knights," his said in a low voice. "Very dangerous and not easily defeated."
"Can you stop them?" she asked hopefully.
He gave her a quick look and a smile. "I won't let them near you, Onyl. You have my word as the Black Dragon Knight."
There was something in the way he said "Black Dragon" that rung in her ears. As if that had a meaning to her very life. She watched carefully as Argile took a fighting stance and prepared to meet the first charge. Somehow, Onyl could feel Argile begin to draw power into his body and soul. Almost as if she were helping to fuel his strength. The first dark armored death knight attacked, and Argile meet it with a battle cry. Axe spinning, the Black Knight tore right past the death knight. The black blades of Argile's axe cut the undead monster in two. It bellowed an unearthly cry as it burst into flames. Argile continued his charge and met the next death knight. Their weapons clashed, and axe cleaved sword in half. Argile kicked the monster in the stomach and chopped down just as if the knight were a log. The axe blade cut into the undead's armor causing the creature to burst into flames.
Suddenly, a shadow played itself across the ground in front of Onyl. She turned around to see two of the death knights rearing back to strike her. She cried out Argile's name as she dodged the deadly blades of the undead. Like a flash of dark lightning Argile was there beside her. He thrust out his left arm and caught one blade as it was descending upon Onyl. He pushed it away and parried the second death knight's attack. He kicked that one away, but the first, now joined by a third, was advancing again. The Black Knight made two wide arcs with his axe to keep the advancing enemies away. Then he turned just in time to parry yet another death knight's sword. Argile followed the parry and thrust his shoulder into the creature knocking it down. Then he turned back to the previous three death knights. With one mighty swing of his axe, Argile parried all three swords and kept the undead knights at bay.
Argile quickly reversed his axe and brought it down hard on the ground in front of him. Suddenly, a wave of earth flew upwards and covered the three death knights completely. According to Onyl's count that made five death knights down. Argile spun around to face the remaining five undead abominations. Onyl actually thought that they were going to make it out alive until she saw ten more knights appear behind the five before them. Not waiting to be attacked, Argile charged at the first five before the next ten could get into attacking positions. One death knight exploded in flames as its head left its body, but the remaining four quickly circled Argile. The Black Knight slashed at another one and turned it to ash, but one of the three remaining knights attacked before Argile could defend himself. The monster scored a hit on the exposed flesh of Argile's right arm. Argile cried out in pain and somehow broke from the circle. With a heave, he threw the axe at the three death knights. "Ebony Discus!" he shouted. The axe became a black ball of fire as it sliced through the three death knights leaving nothing but ash behind.
Argile caught the axe with his artificial left arm and back peddled to where Onyl was standing. "My right arm is useless," he told her through clenched teeth. "Their swords are made to paralyze their victims. Fortunately, I'm strong enough so it only affected my right arm." The new ten death knights were now advancing on them. Argile placed himself in front of Onyl. "Onyl, you are going to have to make a run for it," he ordered. "I'll hold them as long as I can. You have to tell my friend Mirage what happened. Do not worry, he will take care of you and see that no harm comes to you."
"I'm not leaving you, Argile!" she cried. "What if you become one of them!?"
He smiled. "Do not worry about me. My soul is faithful to Althena. They will not be able to turn me."
Onyl couldn't take it. She just couldn't understand what was going on, and why it was happening to her. Anger started to flow throughout her being. Why was it that whenever her life started to look good, something bad always happened? Why were bad things always trying to ruin her life? All she wanted was to have a boyfriend that wasn't related to an entire town! And just as two good looking guys come into town, one of them is about to be killed! She just couldn't take it any more! Red hot anger filled the young girl until it took complete control of her.
Argile wasn't sure exactly what happened next. One second he was telling Onyl to run, and then the girl was yelling at the top of her lungs. He turned to look down at her and almost jumped back. Her eyes were glowing red, and her body was surrounded by a black aura. She strode right past the stunned Knight and walked towards the approaching death knights. Then she thrust out both of her hands and screamed. That's when the landscape began to shake. The death knights stopped short and looked around. The earth beneath them suddenly opened up and swallowed them whole. Then with a thunderous crash the ground closed, and there was no trace of the death knights. Argile looked at Onyl in utter awe. Her scream ended, and her arms fell to her sides just before she collapsed.
Argile quickly secured his Axe on his back with his left hand and ran to her side. He got to his knees and discovered that Onyl was out cold. "I think this definitely proves my suspicions." With apparent ease, the Black Knight threw her over his left shoulder and made his way back to Dermyo.
Thiss shook his head is disgust. Those had been some of his best death knights. He considered attacking the Black Dragon Knight and the girl, but decided not to in the end. Just killing the Black Knight and his respective Dragon would not be enough, now. He wanted to make them suffer for this embarrassment. So, he would wait until the Black Knight rejoined the Blue Knight, who was probably with the new Blue Dragon of Althena. Then Thiss would just kill them all at once. And in the process, the Shadow Dragon would probably get to cause numerous amounts of carnage at the same time. Yes, he liked that idea much better. Thiss smiled a thin smile and faded back into the shadows to wait for night fall.