That night, Alex and the others once again were visited by dreams. Each of them with a very different dream indeed. Alex, as usual, was dreaming of his wife, Luna. No matter how much he could believe that she was okay in the Dark Earth. He still had dreams, no, more like memories. Memories of the peaceful village of Burg where Alex and Luna lived. As he slept, Alex smiled.
Aren, however, had a dream as well. Well, it was more like a nightmare. He had a nightmare of a beautiful women with long black hair. She was being held in the capitol city of Vargania. This woman's name was Maria. Maria Rykule, Aren's wife.
"Nooo!" he hollered out in his sleep. "Maria, no!" Aren began convulsing violently. His arms flailed back and forth as he screamed the woman's name out in his sleep. By now he had awoken everyone except Nevanyk (although Nevanyk was probably awake, but didn't care much about the situation, so he ignored it).
Alex approached Aren and tried to wake him from his dream. Alex grabbed Aren's wrists to stop them from hitting him in the face. He then began to shake him, and called out his name. It seemed like it was doing nothing, then suddenly, Aren opened his eyes.
"Are you all right?" Jezza asked concerned. Aren sat up, now fully awake. "You were having a nightmare," she said. "We were pretty worried about you."
Aren looked around at everything. He saw that everyone had their eyes fixed on him. Everyone that is, except Nevanyk of course. He began to laugh. "Oh, don't worry," he said. "I get those once and a while."
"Don't they bother you?" Alex asked.
"Naah!" Aren responded. "I've gotten used to them."
"Aren," Jezza asked, "I don't mean to pry, but who's Maria?"
"I said her name!? Wow! I didn't know I yelled it in my sleep!" Aren began to laugh again, which contrasted the fact that he just had a horrifying nightmare. After he stopped laughing, he began to answer Jezza's question. "Maria," Aren said, "is my wife."
"What?!" The response was universal. "I never knew you were married!" Mathis said that.
"Never thought that there was need for it." Aren looked around at them. They wouldn't let this go, and he knew it. It looked like he would have to tell them everything. From the beginning. Aren started the only way he knew how. "It's a long story.
"Like I said before, I used to be one of Varganian's Elite, a personal bodyguard to the Emperor. In that position, I learned of the evils that the Empire were committing. My wife, Maria, also knew, for I would tell her about the things that I saw. Maria would always bug me. She said that I should stand up to them, and stop them. But," Aren stopped. He let his head hang in shame. "I was a coward.
"Then, one day, everything changed. Ten years ago, my life changed for good. I helped a young member of the renowned Fire Force escape." Aren looked at the young red-head. "That was you," he said. "I was the one who helped you escape from their grasp."
Jezza was astounded. The person who had practically saved her life, was sitting right in front of her. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether to hug him, or just to say thank you. So, she said nothing.
"Somehow," Aren continued, "Vargan found out about my treachery. He ordered me to be captured and brought to him. I knew he was going to throw me in the life shaver. I had no choice; I had to run.
"Maria and I were to escape together; to run off someplace in the country and disappear. However, the Empire was faster than I thought. Before I had a chance to run, they were already at our house. I escaped while Maria stalled them. I never saw her again."
Aren's tale was finished. Now everyone knew of his past. They all felt terribly bad for him. It must be awful to just leave your loved ones behind.
Nevanyk arose from his feigned slumber. He walked over to Aren and asked him a question. "So, you mean to say that you abandoned your wife so that you could escape." It seems that Nevanyk had in fact been listening to Aren's tale. "Not only that, but as you ran from the Fire Force, you allowed countless lives to be lost, and you still live." Nevanyk studied Aren for a moment, expecting an answer; none came. "Well, it seems that I'm not the only intelligent warrior in this little band, eh!" Nevanyk began to laugh maniacally.
Everyone stared at Nevanyk with either confusion, or disgust. Doesn't this man have any feelings?! Jezza thought. How could he say such a thing to Aren like that!? "Don't listen to Nevanyk, Aren." She turned her head sharply and looked at the Nevanyk with cold eyes. "We all know your not as cold-hearted as he is."
Aren shook his head. He said one thing that startled them all. "No Jezza, I am."
The next day, they awoke fully refreshed. Aren seemed back to his usual self, despite the incident last night. There was only one thing totally different from when they fell asleep last night. And that was that there was now a city in front of them. Mathis was the first to respond to the city. He only said one thing, but no one needed any more. He said, "Krasis." Everyone else nodded, then walked into the city.
The city looked very old. The strange thing, was that the city was on a hill (although it is also rather strange that a city just appears in front of you when you wake up). Therefore, they had a steep climb before they reached the buildings.
When they finally reached the city, they saw an old, bald man in robes waiting for them. "Greetings, Alex of Lunar, I’ve been expecting you."
Alex was amazed. Not only did he know his name, but he also knew that he was from Lunar. How did he know that? "How do you know that I'm from Lunar?" Alex asked.
"I was told by Vogeron that you would be coming." Every one looked confused. The priest knew that they had no idea who Vogeron was so he told them. "Vogeron is the last surviving Phoenix."
"The last Phoenix!" Mathis shouted. "You mean the one that survived the Great War!?"
"That is correct."
"Where is he?" asked Jezza.
The priest pointed to the tallest building in the city. It was a tower, about one hundred feet high. "He lives in that tower. And he is waiting for you." Without saying another word, the priest led them to the tower.
The tower was very old. The bricks were covered in moss. To Jezza, it looked kind of spooky. They were about to step inside, when the priest stopped them. "You may not enter yet."
"What do you mean we can't enter yet!" objected Mathis.
"You see, Vogeron did indeed survive the Great War, but he was severely injured. He has to sleep most of the day to keep his strength up. He's slept the past two days, just so he has enough energy to help you. I fear that his demise is nigh." No one protested anymore. The priest looked at them, then realized that they didn't know his name. "Please forgive my rudeness, my name is Rederis, head priest of Krasis. Come, I'll show to you to where you can stay."
Rederis led the party to a hut about fifty yards away from the foot of the tower. This where they were to stay that evening. However, it was not yet time for them to sleep, so they went their separate ways, and explored the city a while.
Nevanyk went off alone, to the highest cliff. He stood, motionless. The cool breeze whipped his pony tail back and forth. He stared out into nothing, thinking of his brother. "I'm finally here Brazen. I've made it to Krasis, the city of legend. You would've proud of me." Nevanyk closed his eyes and let his head fall. "I just wish you were here to see it with me."
Alex went off to speak with Rederis. Rederis was very interested in the pendant that Alex wore around his neck. Especially since one of the sides had a portrait of a phoenix on it. Rederis assumed it represented Vogeron. Alex had to explain what the dragon stood for. For some reason, Alex felt no annoyance in, once again, telling his life story.
Aren also went off alone to a secluded cliff. He looked around to make sure no one was looking. When he was positive, he took off his shirt to show numerous scars on his chest. He then pulled out a small dagger out of a scabbard. He raised the dagger high and said, "Oh Maria, please forgive me; it is the only way." As he said this, the dagger came down, and slashed his chest, sending a trickle of blood down his chest. "Another scar upon my chest to compensate for my sins."
Jezza spent the entire day dragging Mathis around by the arm, taking a tour of the city. There were many old buildings which interested Jezza greatly. She assumed some of them went back to as far as the Great War. She continued to babble about how amazing this place is for remaining intact so long.
As night came upon them, the two found themselves, once again, looking up into the sky. Now it was Mathis' turn. He continued to educate Jezza about the constellations in the sky. That's when Mathis remembered what Rederis had said about Vogeron. Soon, he too, will obtain his place in the heavens.
To Mathis, it seemed as if they had been on their journey for the longest time, when, in fact, they had only been traveling for less than a month. And in that short time, Mathis has found that he has developed feelings for this girl; strong feelings. Did Jezza feel the same way? Mathis did not know. All he knew, was that he could no longer gaze at her very long, for he might get lost in her eyes.
As if trying to purposely break the serene moment, Jezza leapt to her feet. "It's getting late, we should get back to the hut." Mathis broke from his train of thought, and followed her back to the hut. Tomorrow was another day. Tomorrow, they would meet with Vogeron, the last phoenix.