Dragon Frost (3 page)

Nafury was on his feet now, certain that he was the next to die.

The girl picked up the keys that had been dropped by Kenshe and looked at Nafury. Then she looked around his cell, likely looking for his spirit shift. "You don't have one, do you?"

"Your power..." was all that Nafury could say. "You are who Sybl was talking about--the other Fay."

The girl's blue eyes dimmed and returned to being red, as if by reflex to defend her identity. "Can you use aeri energy?"

"Yes, but these bars are griffin metal," Nafury stated as he eyed the keys in her hand.

"I need you to help me heal someone, and in return I will help you to escape," the girl said.

"Xirel," Nafury concluded, and watched as she unlocked his cell.

"Yes."

He followed the girl down the halls and up a set of stairs. They soon found Xirel strung up in chains in a larger cell like meat left in the freezer. "You weren't kidding," he said to the chimera Awl in regard to their newest Fay. Nafury caught him after the girl released the second shackle lock. The Awl was tall, but couldn't have weighed half of what he did. He channeled some of his aeri into Xirel's wounds. He started with the flesh that had been ripped away with phelan teeth at his side. Within moments the Awl began to come around.

"I never obtained much of a sense of humour..." Xirel confessed. "Ubi," he continued, looking at the girl.

"I'm okay. Right now we need to get you out of here," she replied.

"Why would you need a sense of humour?" Nafury thought aloud as he pulled Xirel's arm behind his neck to help keep him upright. Then they slowly started out of the dungeon.

"Because...this is the third time a human is rescuing me."

Nafury looked the way they came as several shouts and screams went out.

"I've turned their shifts on them. We need to use the commotion to escape," the young woman said.

Nafury looked at Ubi, taking note that Xirel said that it was the third time.

Ubi's eyes remained red. She fluttered around Xirel, as if trying to generate enough wind to propel him back to his own feet. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's peachy. But the whole Atrum is likely to come down on us now." Nafury said.

They passed like silent shadows as the phelan shifter guards battled it out with their own shifts in the halls. None of them seemed to have the slightest idea to just what was going on.

Kenshe's secret assassination plan was still a secret. It was fortunate for them, for none of the soldiers looked long at them or saw three prisoners making an exit. They made no eye contact with any one, until they were well out of the black castle, through Ubi's means of entry.

Sial met them not far from the courtyard. Nafury helped the girl onto his back, and pulled himself up behind her. Xirel staggered a moment, but soon managed to shift into his white stag form. Giving the stag only a moment to count the legs under him, they hastily made their way for the trees.

FIVE

Nafury opened his eyes and glanced around the rubble they sat amongst. It was all that was left of the Sanctus now. A part of him regretted not seeing the Temple in its glory before the Phoenix burned it to the ground.

"You humans sleep far too much."

Nafury looked across from him, where Xirel held the sleeping girl in his arms. Nafury's once-white, now-battered cloak covered her. She seemed perfectly content to make the chimera Awl into her personal pillow. He checked that the fairy pendant on his neck was still there, and let out a breath of relief as his cloak was all that she took. "She's like Sybl, isn't she?"

Xirel pulled some of the almost-black hair from Ubi's face and studied her closer. "She looks just like Kas, but she has her mother's character."

So this was Xirel, the chimera's leader. He would never have guessed such a frail looking Awl to be capable of achieving much. His long white hair, purple eyes, and bone-thin physique left a lot of questions to how he led anything.

"How insulting of you. Your sister thought that I was truly beautiful," Xirel replied nonchalantly to Nafury's thoughts. He stared at him now with purple eyes that were hard to read. "It would seem that the memories you retained after Daath's exorcism are limited."

"I try to not think about how I nearly destroyed two realms too often. Has a rather depriving affect on my mood," Nafury replied, trying to not let it get to him.

"And so it should. I would have seen to it myself that you were killed for what you did. Sybl was irreplaceable, both as a Fay and who she was."

"It wasn't my choice to stay alive, it was hers," Nafury replied, trying to keep his tone neutral. An Awl was not something he could fight and hope to live. He looked at Ubi for a change of subject. "This Fay can only be her daughter. But how?"

"Her soul is of the Fay who was born to Erebus and Asil on the first Aster. As such, she is also Sybl's daughter," Xirel explained, his tone once again neutral.

"If this is true, then why are we finding her now? She must be at least fifteen."

"Her past is a tragic and complicated one."

Nafury rubbed his cold arms as he gave a quick look to the Threads around them, sensing for any danger. "She was reincarnated on Earth?"

"Indeed. But she has been made fragile and hateful. Earth's Sentries have slaughtered her countless times over the millennium. Everyday a bit more of her dies as she remembers the injustice done to her."

Nafury looked at Xirel. "Kas supposedly had all his memories of his life on the first Aster as Erebus. Why didn't he do something about that?"

"Because Kas was the one who banished her there," Xirel answered.

"Why would he do that? Who could do that for that matter?"

"Her power is very dangerous, and while she is a human now, I cannot speak for how she may have been as a complete Fay. I do know, however, that Kas never did anything without carefully calculating its repercussions. He was the exact opposite of his soultwin in that respect."

"Does she know who I am?" Nafury asked and finished with a gulp.

"Yes, I told her while you were asleep."

"Does she blame me for what happened?"

"No. I told her that you were possessed and Sybl saved you. That's all I told her of you," Xirel replied.

Nafury relaxed a little. The rest of the story could wait, for now. Or forever.

"She believed that Sybl purposely left her alone and motherless. Only, it wasn't your sister's fault. Kas took the memories of their daughter into death with him. It was why he never became close with Sybl, lest that memory return to her."

"But why would he do something like that? This is their daughter we're talking about!"

"Erebus was the one to cast out Ubi from the first Aster and send her to Earth. She was an abomination; a threat to the stability of the planet and considered a monster. As you have already seen, she can bend shifts to her will. I made the mistake of touching her when I found her on Earth. Without warning and entirely by reflex, she ripped my Awl self right out of my shift. If I didn't look so horrifying in that state she might have killed me right there. Fortunately, she remembered me from her previous incarnation, when I was still a Sentry. So I got a hold of myself again and grabbed her quick and brought her back through the Gate. But Kenshe's army was waiting when we returned and we were separated. She utilized one of the True to reach the Atrum and rescue us."

A howl went out from the True in the distance. Nafury wondered if they could hear this far. "If she wasn't right there, I wouldn't believe any of it." He focused back on Xirel's unreadable eyes. "How do you know so much?"

"Awls were once Sentry on Earth. I once watched Hino kill one of her previous incarnations before my very eyes. It was on that day that I made the choice to come to Aster. Asteria once granted you and the other Three Generals a soul and a place on her world. Similarly, the Great Dragon allowed me to live in a body that the Chimera Mother had killed in her fury. The will of the Caelestis within the Great Dragon makes Him merciful."

"Next to your sickly appearance, what was your flaw?" Nafury asked, curious. He remembered bits and pieces of the Last War when he was Damek. The chimeras had retaliated for being slaughtered for their imperfections and the Feharin had won the War, but lost their Golden City and the Third Continent. More importantly, they had lost Sybl when she was Asil.

Sadness darkened Xirel's purple eyes and he didn't answer him. Instead, he looked at Ubi. "Time is against us. We only have until all her memories return to save her, and there is another problem as well."

"Like the entire Suzerain Continent now hunting us down?" Nafury said.

"Your adopted father is still alive. In saving Ubi, I also unavoidably opened the Gate for his return here. He is going to come for her."

"Oh just great," Nafury replied. "Of all the damn problems we have to deal with as it is, that bastard has to still be alive." He looked at Ubi as she slightly tilted her head their way. She was likely listening in on their conversation while pretending to be asleep.

"Mind your words, Fallen Prince, for Simera has been keeping her safe until I found her. He will come for her. If she falls into his hands on Aster, he will use her to burn the Suzerain Continent to the ground."

"Then let him, why should I care if he does? Kenshe would have seen us killed in a cold corner of his spire. Then he would have dumped our bodies amongst a heap of garbage."

"Yes, but with Ubi things have changed. Kenshe will have likely guessed by now who he was attacked by. Then there is the matter where I do not believe that the Simera I fought was the same dragon king who left Aster," Xirel said.

"What do you mean?"

"He seemed different. If not, out of touch with himself. If something has overcome Simera, you would likely spot it much easier than myself."

"So we can't run to Toria, and we can't stay here or at the Efereal Mountains. Just where are we to go?" Nafury asked.

Xirel looked to Ubi as she sat up and let out a huge yawn.

"All right, I'll ask her," Nafury said and looked at her. "Where are we going, Princess?"

"I'm not a princess," she replied. "So spare me the little girl talk."

The side of Nafury's mouth twitched at her razor-edge response. He gathered up his cloak from the snow to momentarily disengage himself from the war spark before him. Then he looked towards the trees on sensing someone watching them.

"Kenshe's Pack is back, which means they are here to finish what they started," Xirel said as he got to his feet.

Nafury caught sight of the slender wolf-cat like form of the ayame. It was now their biggest problem, as a Call from her could send the Pack into an unstoppable killing frenzy. "I don't suppose you can take her on?"

Xirel didn't answer, as his fingers moved to defensively organize the Threads around them.

Nafury unsheathed his blade and looked at Ubi who was already a step ahead and flustering the phelans.

"Don't move," Xirel instructed, and lifted his hand to grab and pull down on the invisible Thread around them.

A scream of pain went out, then the furious barks and howls of the Pack as they rushed towards them.

Xirel lifted his hand again, and made a swift motion to the side. The remaining four phelan of the Pack collapsed against the snow like puppets.

"You killed the ayame," Nafury said more matter-of-factly than as a question.

Xirel lowered his hand, as his face finally became readable. It had become laden with fear. "I did not deal her a lethal blow..."

Nafury froze in turn when the air around them became an uneasy stillness. It was eerily familiar. When the shadow of a dragon blocked out the light of the Sylvan Aur on them, it became clear that they weren't the only Thread puppeteers here.

SIX

No one moved except Xirel. The Awl only slightly twitched his fingers as Simera landed some meters from them. The dragon darkened the snow around it with a shadow of fear that stretched well beyond his size.

Nafury tried to reach out his psi to Simera, but it was as if he was calling someone who was far away. "I think you're right--that's not the Simera I remember, either."

Xirel slowly nodded as his entire focus remained on the Black Death before them. It wasn't often that dragons faced off against Awls, but it almost always ended badly. They usually ended up killing each other.

Nafury looked to his feet as he could feel Simera's power swell where he stood.

"When he strikes, take Ubi and run," Xirel whispered without looking at Nafury.

"What about you?" Nafury asked in concern.

"She's more important than either of us," Xirel said. His hand began to slowly rise to match the growing dark power under them.

Simera's light blue eyes glowed brighter. He was not tolerating their small movements.

Nafury had less than a heartbeat to react when Simera unleashed his power. The black dragon sent his mastery rushing towards them from the ground as a geyser of estus energy. It coated Nafury like a thick oil, before pulling him down to the ground. 

Xirel was caught as well, but managed to snap enough Threads to free Nafury and Ubi from the black ooze. Then he cut another Thread with his nails which disabled Simera's front leg.

Nafury grabbed Ubi and made a run for it through the ruins of the Sanctus. He hoped against hope to cut the line of sight that made the dragon's power against them possible.

Ubi tried to keep up, but tripped over the rubble and landed hard on her hands and knees with a cry.

Nafury tried to get her back on her feet, but the Threads to his lungs were caught and pulled taught. He gasped for air, before falling to his own knees as he couldn't breathe. Seeing the fear in Ubi's eyes he forced himself to focus on his remaining air, not struggle the last of it out. He looked up as Simera landed on a wayward pillar overhead and looked down at them.

"Give me the Fay and I will grant you a swift death." Simera let out a warning growl.

Not going to happen. I won't let you turn her into the monster you made me into!
Nafury shouted back at the dragon's psi.