Standard disclaimer: let’s all say that I own the series and stop these annoying disclaimers, eh? No? I don’t own the series? Oh, snap! Well, there you have it people!

01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

AN: well, this makes chapter six, right? Well, imagine that! I have nothing witty to say, so here are responses to the reviews!

Nina Windia: Hee! Oh, about the whole crystal disease thing… well, actually he already has it. He’s had it for a little while now. The boy in Ryu’s dream was him when he was younger. Heh, sorry about the whole introducing of the characters too fast thing. ~bows~ right. Well, I can see where that would be a problem. Lol I had the same problem with another BoF fic of mine, Dragon Legend. Goodness, I had wayyy too many characters to keep up with. I made a vow to myself not to have more than maybe six or seven main characters at a time after that fic. It’s fun to have a lot of characters, but yeah. It’s hard to keep up with them; you are right about that. Hn. Well, heh the bandits were merely there to chase Ryu and the girls. (and to introduce Garr into the story). Don’t worry, I’ll be going a little slower now that I have gotten all of that out of the way. Thanks for the wonderful piece of advice. ~smiley~

Anime Monkey: Yeah, that does sound kinda weird, huh? Hm, maybe. Or maybe not. Who knows? I can say that Deis has already been introduced in the story. Just not by name. Oh, yeah. Turning to crystal would be bad. Heh, he does have a temporary cure at least. He has the ability to regenerate the crystallized parts of his body. Yeah. Originally, I thought about having him ascend much later, but now seemed like as good as time as any. Glad you liked the story so far :)

random bof fan: you’re back? I haven’t scared you away? Yipee!!!! Hee, glad you liked the story ~smiley~

Thanks for reviewing guys! It gives me the motivation to write more often!!!

“Are you serious?” Nina asked. She crossed her arms and titled her head to the side. “I don’t believe you.”

Garr nodded as he turned his head and looked over at Nina. “Your doubts are well founded,” Garr said as he picked up his halberd and stood up. With a single motion of his hand, the large ancient weapon vanished in a plume of smoke. “However, I am not your enemy.”

Ryu’s eyes narrowed. “I know of your kind, Guardian,” Ryu said, almost spitting out the word guardian. “You killed my people on orders from your hellspawn of a goddess!”

Ryu’s hands balled up into fists as he stood there, shaking from head to toe, but not from anger.

Yuki placed her arms behind her back and started to pace around Garr, never taking her eyes off of Garr. “You saved us from those morons, I’ll give you that… but, how can we trust you? And, what exactly do you mean? Goddess? Destined Children?”

Garr’s eyes widened slightly as he looked over at a fuming Ryu. “Are you telling me that you do not know that you are the Destined Child of the Dragon Clan of Light?”

Ryu shook his head. “Hey, I’m just a country boy from Cedar Woods.”

“Dragon Clan…?” Yuki asked. She glanced over at Ryu. “What?”

“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Ryu crossed his arms and shook his head. “I am no Dragon Clansman. That would mean that I could change into a fire-breathing giant lizard.”

“What?” Garr asked. “What are you saying? You just…”

Ryu shot a fiery glance over at Garr. “Like I said…”

Garr cleared his throat. “I see. It seems like I have…made a mistake in identity,” Garr nodded and placed his hands on the belt of his tunic and stretched his massive wings. “But the matter remains. I am to protect you all from Prince Demus and his Dragoons.”

Yuki sighed. “How do we know that, though? Prince Demus has declared open season on Ryu’s butt and random bandits are trying to catch him for reward money,” Yuki paused and looked down, her fingers twisting the chain of her necklace.

“And, not to mention that you were with the bandits,” Nina added, waging her pointer finger in front of her face. “And, who’s this goddess you speak of? Are you telling me that MYRIA wants to protect us?”

Garr had to suppress a low growl. His eye twitched slightly in annoyance. “I am not at liberty to discuss that right now. I can tell you that you are all better alive than dead.”

“And… this make us want to follow you… HOW?” Yuki asked.

“I can forcefully make you come with me,” Garr growled slightly, causing the ground to rumble slightly.

Ryu flinched as Nina jumped back and darted behind of Ryu. Yuki, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes. Her fingered laced around the hilts of her kodachi. “Are you threatening us?” Yuki said slowly and evenly.

“If that is what it takes,” Garr grumbled.

“Alright then,” Yuki said as she positioned herself between Ryu, Nina, and Garr. “I think you might have to force us then. Because, if you can’t prove that you can be trusted, then…”

Garr yelled in anger as he balled up his left hand into a fist and lunged at Yuki. Yuki smiled and threw her hands forward. “ARMOR OF LIGHT! FOLD PHYSICAL… ACK!” Yuki screamed as Garr moved with inhuman speed. He clubbed Yuki upside the head, causing the girl to not only lose concentration on her spell, but also sent her flying across the ground. Yuki grunted as she slammed against a tree. Yuki’s back arched as she yelled and collapsed to the ground.

Garr sighed as he slowly approached Yuki. When Ryu moved to stop Garr, Garr made a hand motion to stop Ryu. Yuki coughed and glared up at Garr as he stopped a few feet away from the young girl.

“One thousand years have given me the time to hone my melee skills to what you see now,” Garr said. “If I was your enemy, I could have taken your head off in one fell swoop.”

Yuki growled as she wiped her mouth off with her gloved hand and forced herself to her feet. “Oh, yeah sure. Like I believe that you only feel goodwill towards us after you ATTACKED ME!”

Garr hmphed and cracked his neck. “I meant what I said. By freewill or by force, you WILL come with me.”

“We will NEVER go with you!” Yuki screamed, her pale green eyes suddenly flashing to gold and back to green again.

“I see now,” Garr said. “And, how do plan to oppose someone ancient and powerful such as myself?”

Ryu growled and drew his short sword. He pointed it at Garr. “We maybe children, but we are strong in our own right,” Ryu’s right arm twitched and he suppressed a gasp. He shook his arm and steeled his gaze on the Guardian.

Nina stepped out from behind Ryu and assumed a fighting position. “Sure, we may be out matched. We may be even outclassed. We might even die, but we will never give in to the likes of you!”

“Not exactly helping with the confidence booster, Nina!” Ryu snapped.

“You are sure about this?” Garr asked, his voice skeptic. “I can kill all three of you in a single swoop.”

“Better dead than a sacrifice!” Ryu yelled, earning him a sideways glance from Nina and Yuki.

“Sacrifice?” Yuki asked. “For what?”

“His goddess!” Ryu said.

“Um?” Nina asked.

“He,” Ryu started to say, but he was cut off in midsentance when his necklace started to flash multi-rainbow colored. “Huh?”

Nina blinked and walked over to Ryu. “What’s that?”

Ryu looked down at the necklace. “Its… it shows the true heart of the person in question,” Ryu quickly explained. “It… means Garr is telling the truth. He really means to protect us.”

Yuki shook her head. “We are suppose to trust a guy that attacked us?”

Nina sighed and looked over at Ryu. “Is that thing right?”

Ryu sighed heavily and nodded. “Sadly… yes,” Ryu said as he turned to Garr. “Okay, I’m listening. Where exactly do you want to take us?”

“Angel Tower,” Garr said, much to the surprise of Ryu, Yuki, and Nina.

“But that’s where I was going,” Ryu said.

Garr nodded. “Perhaps this is fate at work, then?”

“Maybe…” Ryu sighed.

Garr turned his attention to the campsite. “I suggest we do not stay here long. It will not be long before Treiba’s unit catches wind of… my… slaughtering of her bugs,” Ryu gave a guarded look at Ryu. “Clean up your site and we shall get going.”

01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

Yuki, Nina, and Ryu walked a few feet behind of Garr. The four of them had walked in silence for a few hours, not really sure what to say. Yuki and Nina still didn’t trust Garr, but Ryu had said that he could be trusted, so what to do?

If what Garr said was true about what he said about what Jin had said, then Yuki was really going to have to question him about who he kept in his circle of friends. She knew her brother to be a genius, or so everyone who knew him said, but she really did question his sanity sometimes. She didn’t like the Guardian. She liked him even less then the bandits that attacked with him.

As they had walked through the woods, various creatures attacked the quartet. Garr and Ryu had taken care of most of the ones on the ground and Yuki had taken down the ones in the air with her strange lightning attack. Nina had no weapon or spells to attack with other than her fists and feet, so she hung back while everyone else fought. Besides, she didn’t want to get in the way.

Nina walked beside of Ryu and kept glancing at him at random times throughout the hike. She was starting to get really tired, but she didn’t exactly want to slow her companions down. How strange a word for her to use now. She had never had too many friends. Her parents always said that as royalty, she should not interact with the common folk, lest her peers look down upon her.

Though Nina now had to ask the question, what peers? Her mother would rather have her trapped in the castle, where she could keep an eye on her rebellious daughter, than allow her any kind of freedom. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Strife would find her again.

She didn’t know how her bodyguard kept finding her, but he always did. And every time he brought her back, she would get in even more trouble than her parents. If only she had been born not royalty.

Nina snapped out of her musings when she saw that everyone had stopped walking. They were standing a few feet away from an ornate stone building. Garr nodded and gestured towards the building.

“A temple dedicated to Ladon, the Dragon God,” Garr said.

Ryu nodded. “We should stop here for a moment and pray for a safe journey.”

Nina nodded. “Yeah, its been a few days since I last went to service. We should go.”

Ryu and Nina started for the temple, but stopped and turned around when they noticed that Yuki and Garr weren’t following. Garr merely shook his head.

“I am a Guardian,” was Garr’s simple reply.

Yuki shook her head. “I don’t worship Ladon. Sorry. You’ll have to go without me.”

Ryu and Nina gave the two confused looks, but walked towards the temple anyway. Garr walked over to a tree and sat down with his legs crossed and proceeded to mediate. Yuki sighed and walked over to the tree that Garr was sitting under and jumped up into the tree and sat down on one of the branches.

01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

Ryu and Nina pushed open the heavy oak doors and walked into the temple. Stain glass windows lined the walls and in between each window was a lit torch. The windows themselves depicted various scenes from the past, including scenes from the Dragon Wars where the Brood fought against the Guardians, the Goddess War, and such other scenes.

There was a red carpet down the center aisle, which led up to a stone altar with a miniature stone statute in the likeness of a dragon sitting on its haunches sitting on top of it. Pews were on either side of the main aisle, were various clansmen dressed in torn traveling clothes were either sitting or kneeling in prayer, or just sitting there enjoying the peace and solitude.

There were two side doors of either side of the sanctuary that led off into side rooms, where weary traveler could rest before continuing on their journey. An old man with a long white beard, dressed in white and blue robes, was standing at the head of the altar.

He noticed Ryu and Nina and smiled warmly. He stepped down and walked slowly and a little shakily towards Nina and Ryu.

“Welcome children,” the old man said. “To the Brine Temple. I am Father Woltar. What brings you here to Ladon’s house this day?”

Ryu smiled. Ladonic priest. “We are merely travelers in need of rest. We wish to pay our respects to the Holy Father Ladon, god of travelers.”

Father Woltar nodded. He swept his robed arm in a wide arc, gesturing to the pews and altar. “Then pray and rest. If you are in need of shelter for the night, the guestrooms are available for you.”

Ryu and Nina nodded as the priest slowly made his way back to the altar. Nina tugged on Ryu’s arm and gestured to one of the back pews to Ryu. Ryu nodded and they both quietly walked over to the back row and sat down on the wooden pews.

Ryu clasped his hands in prayer and bowed his head. Nina smiled slightly and did the same.

Ryu sighed as he tried to concentrate on his prayers to his god. How long was it since he last been in one of the temples or churches of the holy father? He couldn’t remember anymore. Cedar Woods was too dangerous for a priest to come and set up a church in. Besides, his father wasn’t a follower of Ladon; he was a devout servant to the Yggdrasil. Even though Cedar Village had a small temple on the outskirts of the village, Bunyan didn’t go there often. In fact, Bunyan only went to the village when he needed supplies.

Most of the things he needed he either grew or made. Besides, Ryu told Bunyan that he didn’t remember anything about himself that fateful day four years ago, when Bunyan had found him.

All in order to hide his true self. He lied to his father, he lied to his friends. Ryu’s eyes squeezed shut in reflex as he gripped his hands tighter. He remembered. He remembered far too much. He knew about the cloaked man that had bravely stood between the raging dragons. He knew that the man was no ordinary man, especially after that man had forced both dragons back to their humanoid forms with just a single gesture of his hands.

That man had saved Ryu that night. He had held off Demus and somehow teleported Ryu to safety. He wanted to forget. Ryu just wanted to be a normal eleven-year-old boy. With Bunyan, Ryu could be normal, but Demus had found him again. So, he was forced to flee once again. Only this time, he dragged three others with him.

His mind drifted to Yuki and Jin. The two had been so willing to help him get away from the bandits that only wanted award money. But Jin had gotten hurt in the process of defending him and his sister. Yuki could have just gone home. But she wanted to help Ryu and look for her missing brother. For all Ryu knew, Jin was back home in Crete and safe and sound.

He frowned when he thought of the Wyndian princess. The girl was far too familiar for comfort. She had saved him and Yuki when she had heard about his and Yuki’s unfair imprisonment. She wasn’t even a fighter. She had said it herself. She was there because she was scared that the bandits would get her again. Or maybe she was there just for the adventure. Either way, a runaway princess was now accompanying him.

His thoughts drifted off to his newest traveling companion. Garr was a Guardian who, according to history, slayed over 5,000 of his kind. His kind. He had lied to Nina and Yuki about him being a dragon. Ladon would not think highly of Ryu lying.

If only Demus wasn’t after him!

01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

While Nina and Ryu were in the temple praying, Yuki and Garr sat outside in the mid-afternoon sun. Garr tried his best to meditate, but Yuki’s singing and constant chatting were beginning to unnerve him in ways he didn’t think were even possible anymore.

Garr was by no means a people person. He liked children even less. So, why hadn’t he shouted at the preteen and told her to shut up? Maybe it might have something to do with the fact that she had earned his respect by standing up to him. Or maybe it had something to do with the golden eyes. He wasn’t sure which it was.

He knew of only one other person that did that… his goddess. He was sure that Yuki didn’t have any connections to his goddess, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. Though, one question did bother him. One, he felt the need to get answered soon.

“Will you miss me when I'm gone? Will you remember all the good times we've had? The hardest thing about leaving is saying goodbye...” Yuki’s grating singing voice shattered the blissful silence. Yuki grinned as she looked down at Garr from her branch in the tree. She kicked her legs back and forth as she slightly swayed back and forth.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you could not sing?” Garr sighed as he opened his eyes in annoyance. He basically gave up trying to meditate.

“All the time,” Yuki said.

“Tell me something,” Garr said as he closed his eyes again. “Why did you not go with Nina and Ryu into the temple to pray?”

“I’m not a Ladonite,” Yuki said. “I would never pray to a god that allows his people to kill innocents.”

This got Garr’s attention. Garr opened his eyes and looked up at Yuki. Her happy expression changed to one of anger.

“What do you mean?” Garr asked.

“I’m not too fond of dragons,” Yuki said. “Not after what happened at Lahan four years ago.”

“Lahan?”

“A village in Ceres Region,” Yuki said. “My hometown, actually. The dragons destroyed the place. You heard of the Lahan Massacre?” Garr nodded. “Well, Dragnier’s Royal Dragoon unit laid waste to the place. They killed so many people, including my parents,” Yuki sighed. “I guess I’m still bitter about it.”

“That is understandable,” Garr said. “The Dragon Clan is said to possess incredible powers of destruction.”

“Is that why you killed so many back in the day?” Yuki asked.

“I was under the impression that they were evil. On orders from the goddess Myria, we Guardians slaughtered as many dragons as we could. Man, woman, child, it made no difference in my eyes… until…”

“The history books say that a Guardian accompanied the Dragon Prince of Dragnier to the ruins of Caer Xhan and confronted the goddess and killed her. Then the Prince slayed the last of the Guardians, because that Guardian wanted to kill the Prince and use him as a sacrifice to his goddess. Or so the history books say.”

“It would seem that your history books are wrong,” Garr grumbled.

“That is what the Ladonic teachings also say,” Yuki said. “That the Dragon Clan were protectors of the innocent and the goddess was an evil being that only wanted to destroy the world.”

“Some were,” Garr said.

“But other sources say that the Dragon Clan also wanted to rule the world. They even started a war that threatened the entire wellbeing of the world.”

“That is also true.”

Yuki sighed and crossed her left leg over her right. “History is written by the side that wins the wars. My brother has really old books that talk about the Goddess War and the Dragon Wars. He also said that if you look at Urkan teachings, it talks about how the Dragon Clan is evil and the goddess Myria was only trying to protect her world by eliminating that which threatens it.”

“Many people have different beliefs. I have learned this the hard way,” Garr said.

“Still. I don’t care if they are heroes or murderers. What happened in Lahan can not be forgiven. My brother says I should forgive what happened, but… I saw my mother stabbed right in front of me. How am I suppose to forgive that?”

Garr nodded. “War is a terrible thing. It can make people do horrible things. Especially if it is a war based on religion. Take it from me.”

“But, what happened in Lahan wasn’t because of a war…” Yuki said. “The Brood just wanted to abuse their power and authority because the Ceres Region didn’t want to ally themselves with Dragnier.”

“Is that what you believe?” Garr asked gently. Yuki nodded.

“Why else would they be there? I mean, it’s not like they had a reason to be there. Lahan didn’t attack them or anything!”

“I see…” Garr mused.

“What?”

Garr opened his mouth to say something, but stopped short when he saw Nina and Ryu come walking out of the temple. Garr stood up as Yuki jumped down from the tree. Ryu and Nina nodded and walked over to Yuki.

Garr placed his hands on his belt and stretched his wings.

“I think we should head out towards the closest town before nightfall.”

“That would be Tantar,” Nina said. “The home of the Forest Clan.”

Ryu grinned. “So, should we head out now or wait?”

Garr looked at the three. “Are you all done here?” the three nodded. “Alright then. Let’s head out. We should get to Tantar by nightfall if we hurry.”

 

To be continued…