Aerion

[Shorik]

Upon delivering the news of the creature to Alderan, Shorik was offered many a reward, but he refused every one of them.
"Are you sure?" Alderan asked for the fourth time.
"Yes." Shorik replied, "I don't need a reward. If you need my services again, send me a letter."

As they walked out of Alderan's residence, Gardivon looked at Shorik curiously.
"Shorik, you continue to surprise me." he said.
"How so?" the young warrior responded.
"You are different from most humans." Gardivon answered, "Most humans I have known are generally greedy, and selfish. They do not care for almost anybody else. They will willingly screw a friend over to benefit themselves."
"But you are different, Shorik." he continued, "You genuinely care for others, even if they are mere acquantices. You put your life on the line without seeking anything in return. People like you are a rarity."
"Thanks Gardivon.." Shorik said, "But really, I'm not that special."

Just as Gardivon and Shorik were about to take off, a hawk flew to shorik, with a scroll of paper tied to it's leg. It hovered in front of Shorik, who took it as a sign that it was for him. He untied the scroll, and opened it.

Shorik Malentfeis,

Aerigen's forces from Verdian attacked Feroga! I tried to stop her, but Teesha went to Verlian and confronted Aerigen himself. She was unsuccesful, and Aerigen has taken her to Avelix.

I apologize, Shorik, for letting this happen. I pray this reaches you soon. You must go to Avelix.

- Mayor Delfios of Feroga

"Dammit!" Shorik said after finishing the letter.
"What?" Gardivon said.
"Aerigen's got Teesha." Shorik said, "We're heading to Avelix."
"I'll spare you the 'I told you so.'" Gardivon responded, taking off.

[Shorik]

The time it took to get from Elkten to Avelix was about two days with rest. For most of the trip, Shorik only had his objective on his mind. But, as Shorik and Gardivon came closer to Avelix, he began to realize that he was returning to the home he had abandonned years ago. He hadn't kept up with news from his old home, so in truth, he really didn't know what he was going into.

Gardivon landed a few feet away from the entrance to Avelix. Shorik got off, and looked at his former home. It was nothing like what it used to be.

What was once a shining, almost heavenly city was dark, grungy, and ruined. The wall surrounding the city was busted, or even demolished in parts. To top things off, in the center of the city, a black castle was floating above the ground.
"Looks like those myths had an impact on my brother?" Shorik said.
"Huh?" Gardivon said.
"My brother had a habit of reading myths about heroes who would storm a big, evil castle to save the princess." Shorik explained, "By the looks of it, the castles are what drew him in."
"Interesting.." Gardivon said.

As Shorik and Gardivon walked through what remained of the city gates, Shorik realized even more what had been done to the city. The townsfolk wore rags, and had a look of despair in their eyes. Most took shelter in what remained of their homes. Others didn't even have a home to take shelter in. Upon seeing the new arrivals, they began to whisper things to one another. Shorik doubted anyone recognized him. When he ran away he was considerably shorter, and more well-kept.

Then, a man in a full suit of mythril armour walked up to Shorik and Gardivon. He unsheathed a broadsword that looked vaguely familiar.
"Who are you two?" the man said, "And what buisness do you have in this ruin?"
"Shorik Malentfeis, and Gardivon." Shorik replied, "We're here on personal buisness."
"Malentfeis, you say?" the man said, "That's impossible."
"I'm standing here.." Shorik said, "So it's quite possible."
"Then I'm sure you won't object to proving your identity." the man said, pointing his sword at Shorik.
"Fine then." Shorik responded, unsheathing his blade. The two of them began to exchange attacks, each of them resulting in a block or dodge. As Shorik fought, he realized his opponent wasn't aiming to kill. Shorik then used his blade to smack off the man's helmet, reavling...

"Sefito?!" Shorik said, almost dropping his sword.
"Can't call me your dad, Shorik?" Sefito said, recovering from the attack, "I guess it's to be expected."
"Of coruse it's to be expected!" Shorik said, suddenly feeling anger, "You made my life hell as a kid! Being couped up inside all day! Being trained to the point of exhaustion each day! Why should I call you my father?!"

Sefito sighed.
"I see your point, son." he said, "But let's save our issues for another time. Right now, there's something more important going on."

[Shorik]

Sefito led Shorik and Gardivon to what remained of his mansion. There wasn't much. Most of it had been reduced to rubble. However, Shorik did notice the drawing room was still somewhat in tact. The remaining furniture was burned black, and the air was dirty.

"Down here." Sefito said, opening the trapdoor that led to the training room.
"I didn't come here to train." Shorik said, "I came here to save Teesha."
"So you know of her capture, then." Sefito said.
"Yeah...." Shorik responded, "Anyways, I can't waste time!"
"I know." Sefito said, "There's soemone down here with the same goal as you. If all four of us work together, then we have a better chance of success."
"Fine." Shorik said, heading down the steps after his father, with Gardivon behind them.

The training room was in almost perfect condition. Shorik noticed it now served more like an entire home than a training room. There was a makeshift bed in one corner. Food, and cooking tools in another. Sitting in a chair was a young man roughly Shorik's age. He had medium length silver hair, and wore black clothing, with a few pieces of black armour.
"Shorik," Sefito said, "Meet Hikaro. He went with Teesha to confront Aerigen, apparently."
"You WHAT?!" Shorik shouted, walking forward, and pinning Hikaro to the wall, "You were with her, and you didn't stop that bastard from taking her?!"
Before Shorik could start using Hikaro for a punching bag, Sefito grabbed him, and pulled him away.
"Believe me, I tried." Hikaro said, a note of regret in his voice, "But Aerigen blasted me out the window. By the time I jumped back up to them, he was just dissappearing, along with Teesha. I apologize."
Shorik cooled down, and was released from Sefito's grip.
"It's alright." Shorik said, "This is my fault to begin with... If I hadn't left her behind in Feroga..."
"No point dwelling in the past." Gardivon interupted, "What's done is done. We need to focus on a plan."
"The dragon is right." Sefito said, "There are three possible entrances to that castle. All of them are guarded by Death Knights."
"So we pick one and storm it, right?" Shorik said.
"No." Sefito said, "Two of us will storm the main entrance, while the other two wait at the aerial entrance, and then continue forward when the Dark Knights concentrate on the first two."
"Sounds plausable..." Shorik said, "So, who goes to whcih entrance."
"I'll take the main entrance." Sefito said, "You three can decide amongst yourselves."
"I'll take the aerial entrance." Shorik said, "I need to reach Teesha sooner rather than later."
"I'll come with you." Hikaro said, "I need to get revenge on that Aerigen fellow."
"I guess that leaves me to pick off the knights with you Sefito." Gardivon said, "Not that I mind. It'll be fun."
"Alright then." Sefito siad, "Let's get ready."

[Shorik]

Gardivon flew both Shorik and Hikaro to the aerial entrance. There, they got off, and stayed out of sight.
"You'll know when the coast is clear." Gardivon said, "But if you need a signal, listen for a roar."
"Gotcha." Shorik said, before Gardivon flew back down.

A few minutes passed before Shorik and Hikaro heard the sound of armour clanking hurridly. Shorik chanced a look around the corner. The coast was clear.
"Alright." he said, "Let's go."
The two men began to walk down the entrance hall. Shorik noticed that the castle felt and looked more like a dungeon. There may have been nice red carpet lining the halls, and gold torches to light the way, but the walls were dark, and undecorated.
"So.." Shorik said to Hikaro, "How did you wind up helping Teesha confront Aerigen?"
"Well..." Hikaro responded, "I happened to come by Feroga in my hunt for Aerigen. Soon after I came there, the town was attacked. I unfortunatly got myself wounded, and was tended to quickly by Teesha. She mentioned Aerigen, and I became curious. She told me he was most likely in Verlian, and I was about to set off. However, she requested that I took her with me. I agreed. The rest, I assume, you know,"
"Yeah..." Shorik said.
"So what about you?" Hikaro said, "What's your connection to all this?"
"I hate to say it, but that bastard Aerigen is my brother..." Shorik said, "And Teesha is a childhood friend of mine. We only reunited a week ago... But now..."
"I see." Hikaro said.

The two of them proceeded onwards. Eventually, they came to a room with 5 Dark Knights standing guard.
"Damn." Shorik said, "Think we can take them?"
"Maybe." Hikaro said, "Hopefully your father and Gardivon will catch up."
Nodding his head, Shorik walked into the room, and drew his sword. Hikaro followed after, and drew a longsword.
The Dark Knights took notice of them, and rushed to draw their weapons. Unfortunatly for two of them, Shorik and Hikaro rushed to them and slit their throats before they could defend.
The other three, however, had taken out their weaposn, and began to attack the two intruders. Shorik and Hikaro did their best to fend off the three knights. Soon enough, they were dispatched.
"Not bad." Hikaro said, "You've been trained well."
"It's nothing." Shorik said, "You're pretty good, yourself."

[Shorik]

Where.... am I?
Slowly, Teesha came to. She started to realize she was chained to a wall, with a window opposite her. From here, she could see the city square, where there was a fountain.
Avelix? How did I get here?

Teesha then remembered confronting Aerigen in Verlian with Hikaro. Aerigen had blasted Hikaro out the window, and then sent another one at Teesha, who dodged it. But then Aerigen conjured some debris, and hailed it down on her until she was knocked out. From there, Teesha figured that Aerigen brought her to Avelix.

"Ah, you've come to." said Aerigen's voice. Teesha was snapped out of her thoughts, as she noticed his appearance before her.
"What do you want with me?" she asked.
"Nothing." Aerigen said, "However, I need you to lure Shorik here. And you've done just that."
"Shorik's here?" she said.
"Yes." Aerigen responded, "He and some others are in this very castle right now, intent on rescuing you. Too bad he'll fail."
"He won't!" Teesha protested, "He can't!"
"He can, and will, Teesha." Aerigen, turning around, "Enjoy the show."
He then disappeared into the shadows.

[Shorik]

"Shorik, Hikaro!"
Sefito called out as he and Gardivon caught up with the two of them. Shorik noticed that Sefito bore a few minor cuts.
"You okay?" he asked his father.
"I'm fine." Sefito responded, "Nothing I can't handle."
"Alright then." Shorik said.
"So..." Hikaro said, looking forward, where a large door stood, "What do you think is behind that?"
"Hopefully Teesha." Shorik said, "But, we won't know until we open it."
The young man walked up to the door, and began to push it open, and continued forward, with the other three following him.
"Well this is just great..." Hikaro said.

Before them was a large minotaur with black fur. It wore pieces of stone armour, and wielded a stone axe. The room was barely large enough for the creature, and by the looks of it, the minotaur was irritated by it. It then saw Shorik, Sefito, Hikaro and Gardivon and gave a blood-thristy roar.
"I'll scout a weak spot." Gardivon said, rising into the air, and beginning to circle the minotaur. The three men then split up, and began attacking the creature's legs. The minotaur decided to focus on Shorik, swinging it's axe down at him, forcing him to abandon the offence. After a few dodges, the minotaur quickly followed up with a kick. Sefito ran over, and pushed Shorik out of harm's way, and took the blow.
"Sefito!" Shorik said, going to him, and checking him for wounds, "You shouldn't have done that..."
"You're my son." Sefito responded, getting up, "I'll always look out for you, whether you want it or not."
"Thanks..." Shorik said.

Just then, the minotaur swung it's axe at Sefito. This time, Shorik deflected it with his sword.
"Just returning the favour." he said.
Gardivon then flew down close enough for the men to hear him.
"Best weak point I can find is the back of it's neck."
"I can get there on my own." Hikaro shouted to the others.
"Shorik, you go." Sefito said, "I'll keep the thing distracted down here.
"Alright..." Shorik said, "But watch yourself."
"I will." Sefito said as Shorik jumped onto Gardivon's back.

Gardivon dropped Shorik off at the back of the minotaur's neck, and then dived back down to help Sefito out. Hikaro then jumped up to meet Shorik. They nodded to each other and began hacking at the neck, drawign more and more blood each time. Then, they both plunged their swords as far as they could into the beast's neck. They kept them plunged as it began to fall to the ground, and hung on tight.
"Is it dead?" Hikaro asked.
"I think so." Shorik said, "In any case, we can proceed forward."
Suddenly, the minotaur's body glowed red, and shrunk into a sword, and a stone.
"Interesting.." Hikaro said, reaching forward to grab the items. However, the sword flashed, and repeled him.
"Weird..." he said, "You try."
Shorik reached forward and grabbed the sword and the stone. Neither repeled him. He then strapped the sword to his back.
"Damn." Hikaro said, "Lucky you."

[Shorik]

Beyond the room with the minotaur, there was a long series of stairs. As the group climbed them, they each felt a feeling that their goal was at the end. None of them said anything. Finally, they came to another large door. Shorik stepped forward and opened it.

On the other side of the door was a circular room with glass windows serving as walls. In the center of the room stood Aerigen. He hadn't really changed from Shorik's last encounter.
"About time you made it." Aerigen said calmly, "I was almost worried that the minotaur would've finished you off."
"Where's Teesha? Tell me now!" Shorik demanded.
Aerigen chuckled, and then outstretched his left arm. Teesha's figure then appeared beside him, crouched over.
"Teesha!" Shorik said, running towards her. Aerigen then stretched his his left arm outward, creating a blast of wind. Oddly, it didn't affect Shorik, but instead, it blasted Sefito, Gardivon and Hikaro through the windows, and down to the ground. Hikaro, however, stabbed his sword into the ground just before he was ejected, and got back up.

Shorik looked back to Aerigen and realized Teesha had only been an illusion.
"You think I would make it that easy?" Aerigen said. He then conured two blades of energy to his hands, and rushed to strike Shorik.

Hikaro, however, rushed in, and tackled Aerigen.
"I've got a score to settle with you!" he said, as Aerigen got up.
"Ah yes.." Aerigen said, "The last Shadow Warrior. Come to avenge your dead race?"
Hikaro only glared at Aerigen. Shorik, meanwhile, unsheathed his swords.
"Two against one." Aerigen said, still calm as ever, "Of course, you two can't defeat me, even teamed up."
The three fo them then engaged in battle. Shorik was rather surprised at his brother's skill. As he remembered, Aerigen had never been that good with one sword, let alone two. But then he deduced that it was probably Aerigen's magic that was providing the skill. It was doing a good job, too. with his two swords, Aerigen was easily blocking three swords, while managing to land occasional hits on Hikaro and Shorik.

After five minutes of continous battle, Aerigen backed off. He hardly looked tired at all. Shorik, however, was feeling a little weaker, and he could see Hikaro panting.
"Damn." he said, "Your brother's good."
"It's not him..." Shorik responded, "It's just that damn magic of his. Trust me."
"Magic or not, he's been able to keep us from killing him." Hikaro said.

[Shorik]

Aerigen grinned.
"Not even a scratch." he said, "My, my... You two aren't as strong as I originally expected."
He then unleashed a blast of wind at Hariko, which this time, the Shadow Warrior couldn't recover from as he fell to the ground below.

Hardly giving a moment's pause, Aerigen then rushed to attack Shorik with his energy blades. Shorik managed to block them, but Aerigen kept pushing forward.
Dammit! I can't let him beat me!
Unknown to both combatants, teh stoen Shorik had recently acquired began to glow red, and feed energy into Shorik, who began to feel stronger. Slowly, but surely, the young man pushed back against aerigen's blades, and broke through. He then took the opening, and gave Aerigen a nice gash across his torso.
"Gah!" Aerigen said, rising into the air. Dark energy gathered at his wound, and healed it. Grinning again, Aerigen turned one of his energy blades into an orb of pure dark energy. He then threw the orb right into the center of the floor, which began to crumble to pieces under Shorik's feet. Before he knew it, Shorik was falling through darkness. Eventually, he landed on a floor of some sort. Getting up, he realized that there was no visible floor. All around him was just black.

How far did I fall?
The young man looked up. He couldn't see anything. It was all black. But then, Something came into sight.
It was Aerigen, diving straight for Shorik, with two dark energy blades in his hands.
Shorik jumped out of the way, and rushed at Aerigen, who quickly got up, and blocked the attack. The two brothers clashed blades for what seemed like eternity for Shorik. Aerigen was gaining the upper hand though. The strength Shorik had gained from the stone had faded. Even when he tried using the agility stone, Aerigen matched it. With no other options left, Shorik was getting worn out. Finally, he couldn't fight any longer, and fell to his knees.
"Well, that was fun, brother." Aerigen said, dismissing the energy blades, "But now it's time to end this."
He then picked up Shorik by the shirt, and flung him forward.

Suddenly, Shorik was flying out the window of Aerigen's castle, and then falling to the ground below.
No..
After a long fall, Shorik landed hard on the ground, in the city square. Too weak to do anything, he remained on the ground as Hariko, Sefito, and Gardivon rushed over to him.
Then, all of a sudden, Shorik saw an exact copy of him get up from the same place he was.
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"Shorik are you okay?" Sefito said, as his son got up.
"No..." Shorik said drawing his blades, "I'm not okay, Sefito. I've had it with you. All those years of training me to exhaustion, excluding me from the rest of the kids... Then you interfere and 'protect' me, when I can handle it on my own. I can't even stand the thought of you, Sefito. It's time I erase you from my life permanently, like I should've before!"
Shocked, Sefito was defenseless, as his son began attacking him furiously. He was then tossed onto the statue in the fountain. It was of a gryphon. Shorik then jumped up onto the statue, and raised both his swords in the air, about to stab Sefito. The old knight's heart was racing. He knew Shorik hated him, but never did he imagine that he hated him so much as to murder him.

And then, just before the blades were plunged into his heart, Sefito saw through the illusion. It was not Shorik killing him. It was Aerigen, disguised to appear as Shorik. Before any furhter thoughts raced in his mind, he was dead.
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The real Shorik observed his father's murder from the ground, unable to move, or speak. In his mind, he was crying out.
No! Don't kill him! Dad!
Then, just after the blades exited Sefito's body, Shorik momentarily blacked out. Next thing he knew, he was standing over hsi father's dead body, wielding his two swords. Blood was pouring from Sefito's chest, and spilling over the statue, and into the fountain water, dying it red. He looked up, and realized there was a crowd of citizens looking at him with horror. They believed Shorik had killed his father. Slowly, their faces turned from horror, to anger. Thier silence was replaced with shouts of fury, and death threats. Shorik looked over to Gardivon. Their eyes locked, and Gardivon nodded. At least he knew the truth.

Shorik then jumped down, and mounted Gardivon. From there, they took off to the skies.

[Shorik]

Part II

Two months had passed since Sefito's death. In that time, Aerigen took control of Aerion. Since then, Aerion has become a darker place. Death Knights have taken post in almost every city and village. People have an inshakable fear about them every day. However, there are small resistance groups hidden across the land.

As for the fate of Shorik Malentfeis, he has been branded a murderer, and is to be arrested on sight. He has managed to lie low with a disguise these last months. He and Gardivon stopped travelling together to avoid drawing attention. For the past two months, Shorik has searched for Teesha, but with little success.
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"Damn, it's cold!"
Shorik was walking through the Latrion Mountains of the Glacied region. The Death Knights had sent him an order to eliminate a resistance group based here. Well, actually, they sent it to 'Sir Eltos Drakon'.

Drakon was dead, though. About a week after the events at Avelix, Shorik had snuck up on him, and killed him. He then took his clothes, armour, and greatsword. He then gave Gardivon his clothes and belongings, and asked him to keep them safe until he could reclaim them. That had been the last time Shorik saw Gardivon.

So now, Shorik wore black cloth pants, shirt, and boots. Overtop, he wore black gauntlets, breastplate, shoulderguards, shinguards, and a helmet. The armour's material was unknown to Shorik, but it had something of a demonesque like appearance.

In any case, Shorik was not enjoying this. Sure, he could simply not execute the order, but then he'd run the risk of being hunted down. The reason he had taken the armour in the first place was to avoid that.

About an hour later, Shorik had laid down a small camp. There wasn't any good shelter, so he couldn't make a fire without it beign snuffed out by the winds. But, he could at least sit down, and relax for a bit while he ate a piece of cold bread.

After he was finished with the bread, Shorik looked up the path. It was then that he saw smoke. A lot of smoke.
Looks like too much for a campfire, or anything of that sort. Better check it out.
With that thought in mind, Shorik gathered his things, and started running towards the smoke.

[Shorik]

Shorik's instincts were right. The source of the smoke wasn't a small campfire, but rather a small village set ablaze. There were people running about in a panic, while others were huddled in a corner, closing their eyes and wishing it wasn't happening.

In the center of all this was an older man wearing a thick red coat, and black clothign underneath. His hair was long, and white. He was laughing almost maniacally.
"That's what ya get for supporting that bastard!" he cried out, "To not take arms against Aerigen is just like serving him. May you all burn in hell!"
With that, the man ran off. Shorik was tempted to pursue him, but leaving these people to die wasn't in the young man's nature.

Shorik began barging into the houses, freeing anyone trapped in them. After managing this, he tried coming up with a solution to putting out the fires.

Before he could come up with a solution, however, a jet of water shot out from behind him, and onto one of the burning houses, extinguishing the flames. He turned around to see Hikaro, who was now firing another jet of water at another house. Within minutes, all the houses were extinguished.
"Good job, there." Shorik said to Hikaro, forgetting about his appearance.
"Hmph!" Hikaro said, backing away, "You're probably the one who started it, Death Knight!"
Shorik was momentarily shocked before he remembered his appearance.
"No, sir. He didn't." said one of the villagers, "He came and saved my husband from the flames, along with others. Thank you both!"

Hikaro looked at Shorik, still not convinced.
"Come with me." Shorik said.
"Why?" Hikaro asked.
"Because," Shorik responded, holding his blade to Hikaro's neck, "You were with Shorik Malentfeis when he murdered Sefito Malentfeis. I need you to tell me what you know, or you can die right here."
Hikaro thought about it for a moment.
"Fine." he said.

The two men walked out of the village, in the direction that the man in the red robe went. After making sure there was nobody else around, Shorik removed his helmet.
"Shorik?!" Hikaro said, "What the hell? What are you doing in that get-up?"
"Lying low." he responded, "Perfect disguise, no?"
"Yeah..." Hikaro said, "But wait, why didn't you just reveal yourself back there instead of threatening to kill me?"
"Even in a small village like that, there could be a greedy bastard who would seel me to Aerigen." Shorik said.

[Shorik]

Shorik and Hikaro found a cave up the path, and made camp there. They caught up with what the other was doing for the past two months. It turned out Hikaro had been seeking out Shorik while trying to start a resistance group.
"I at least managed to do one of those." he said, as he started cooking some meat over the fire.

"Well.." Shorik started, "You're not gonna like this, but I've been sent here to snuff out a reistance group."
"What?" Hikaro said, "Can't you just avoid it? Or pass it off to somebody else?"
"If I could, I would." Shorik said, "But, in any case, something tells me the resistance group was behind that fire."
Shorik told Hikaro of the white haired-man he had seen earlier.
"Damn.." Hikaro said, taking off the cooked meat and taking a bite out of it, "That's messed up."
"Yeah." Shorik said.

The two of them ate the meat, and then some water to wash it down. Shorik then consulted a map.
"Alright." he said, "If this map is correct, then the resistance hideout is a 5 minute walk from here. When evening falls, I'll go in, and just take care of the leader, and the bastard who caused that fire. If you want to help, then by all means do. If not, then I understand."
"I'll help ya." Hikaro said, "A resistance group that sets fire to small villages? Not the kind I'd like to associate with."

[Shorik]

As night came, Shorik and Hikaro watched from a small cliff overlooking the resistance camp. Most of the people were going to bed, while five stayed up for guard duty. Shorik observed them, and noticed that these men didn't look like they had any professional training in combat. All five of them were armed with multiple throwing knives, and two larger daggers.

"They're just petty rogues..." Hikaro said.
"Yeah.." Shorik agreed, "Just knock them out. The only one we need dead is the leader."
The two men waited for another hour before they executed their plan. Hikaro was stealthy enough to enter in undetected. He would then distract the guards while Shorik came in from behind, and proceeded to knock them out with a quick knock to the head.


After knocking out the last guard, Shorik looked around. Most of the tents were shabby, and even ripped in places. However, at the back of the camp was one that looked quite well-kept, and much larger than the others. Shorik figured this would be the leader's tent.
"Well then.." Shorik said, "This is pretty easy."
"Watch as you jinx us." Hikaro laughed.
"Bah.." Shorik said, "We make our own luck."
They then proceeded to the Leader's tent.

[Shorik]

The inside of the Leader's tent was just as well-kept as the outside. It was spacious enough to have a desk with some books, a tub for washing in, and an actual bed instead of a cot.

In the bed was the man who Shorik had seen burnign the nearby village.
"Well.." Hikaro whispered, "Two birds, one stone."
Shorik nodded, and drew his sword, ready to slit the throat of this man. Before he could act, though, there was a blinding light. When it subsided, they were no longer in the tent. They were out on a frozen lake, while the man was standing before them, with a quarterstaff in his hands.
"Ha!" the man laughed triumphantly, "Though you could kill me in my sleep? Foolish creatures! No servant of Aerigen will end my life!"
The man then rushed forward, and attacked wildly with his weapon. Both Shorik and Hikaro avoided it with ease. The man had no real technique. Within minutes, both of them had landed a good amount of strikes on him, and the man was moments from his last breath.
"Hmph... Better than... the average.... knight." he panted, "You may have defeated me..... but you will not live..... to tell of your victory!"
The man then stood up, and raised his arms to the skies.
"Aquelos!" he called out, "Come forth, and deliver your wrath to these fools! Wipe them clean off the face of Aerion!"

Shorik and Hikaro could feel some sort of tremor below them. Then, from behind the defeated man, a serpent dragon emerged from under the ice. It was pale blue in colour, while it's body glistened like water. the end of it's tail had a blade roughly the size of Shorik's body attatched to it. The dragon looked at Shorik and Hikaro and roared fiercely. The man, who seemed to have lost all remaining strength from summoning the creature, fell forward to the ground, with a confident grin eternally etched into his face.
"Well then..." Hikaro said, "This should be fun."

"Maybe.. " Shorik said, "If we plan this right, at least. Any idea where it's weak spot would be?"
At that moment, Aquelos lunged at the two young men, who rolled out of the way. As it flew past them, Hikaro noticed a jewel on the back of it's neck.
"I'm betting it would be that jewel there..." he said, pointing to it.
"Alright." Shorik responded, "I'll get myself up there and test that theory. Try and keep it busy."

As Hikaro fired magic at the Aquelos, Shorik ran for it's tail, and jumped on. He then started climbing it,a dn eventually reached it's back. The creature noticed this, though, and tried to stab Shorik with it's bladed tail. The young warrior slid down a few feet, causing the tail to miss, and plunge into it's own back. The Aquelos screamed in pain as it took out the blade. Shorik then called out to Hikaro, "Created another weak point for you!"

Shorik resumed hsi clinmb up the Aquelos' back, until he finally reached the jewel. Once there, he began to strike rapidly with his greatsword, while Hikaro fired his magic at the wound. Eventually, the creature couldn't take any more of it, and crashed onto the ice, dead. It began to fade away into little wisps of magic.
Shorik then looked to the body of teh Resistance Leader.
"Well.." he said, "He was right. He didn't die by the hands of aerigen's servants.."

[Shorik]

Jakova. It was a small, hardly known town in the Trevion region. Hardly anyone came here, and those who did usually only by chance. A nice place to live if you wanted to be cut off from the rest of the world.

Hikaro had unknowingly passed into this town while he was exploring the Trevion region. It had been a week or two since he and Shorik had slain the Aquelos. Since then, Shorik had gone into the Unclaimed Lands to continue his search, and Hikaro went off on his own, after promising Shorik he'd keep an eye out for Teesha.

There was nothing that drew Hikaro to this small town. However, he had gone for a while without a nice bed, so the young man decided he'd stay at the inn for the night.
Now where's an inn?
Soon, Hikaro had found The Lost Wind Inn. He went inside to check into a room, when somebody was coming out. It was a young woman with semi-curly, dirty blonde hair, and green eyes. She was wearing a simple purple dress, and was wearing a necklace with a sapphire embedded in obsidian. It took a second from Hikaro to realize that this woman was Teesha.
"Teesha?" he said.
"Yes?" she said, turning to look at him, "Hey... you're... Hikaro, right?"
"Yeah.." Hikaro said, "It's, err... been a while..."
"It has..." Teesha said, "So what are you doing here?"
"Passing through, originally," Hikaro replied, "But I should probably let Shorik know you're here, safe and sound by the looks of it."
"Shorik?" Teesha said, looking angry at the mention of him, "How do you know that swine?"
"Swine?" Hikaro said, confused, "That doesn't sound like a name you'd call somebody you had feelings for..."
"Keyword in that sentence: Had." Teesha said, "Shorik as good as dead to me!"

After a lengthy discussion which had been brought to Teesha's room at the inn, Hikaro knew what had happened to Teesha after the night of Sefito's death. Teesha had been seen it happen from where Aerigen had her kept. At first, she couldn't believe what had happened, but then Aerigen had consoled her. By the sounds of it, Aerigen did a pretty good job of portraying himself as a kind man, and Shorik as an evil one. He had brought Teesha here, gave here an infinate stay at the Lost Wind Inn, free food and necessities, and even training in the ways of healing and holy magic. Teesha was quite happy with this life, and her feelings towards Shorik had grown into hatred.

"Shorik's really not as bad as you think." Hikaro protested, "He and I had gone through Aerigen's castle in Avelix to free you! Honestly!"
"Aerigen told me Shorik had never set foot in the castle." Teesha said, stubbornly, "He came to Avelix so he could destroy it."
"To what purpose?" Hikaro backfired.
"Who knows..." Teesha said, "You never know the rhyme or reason to such men."
"Then explain why I remember things quite differently, and why there were a bunch of dead soldiers." Hikaro said.
"The soldiers died protectign Avelix and the castle from Shorik." Teesha said, "As for your memory, Shorik must've brainwashed you."
Hikaro couldn't help but laugh.
"Seriously?" he said, "I know Shorik's got some capabilitites for Air Magic, but mind control is way beyond his reach. And how do you explain the fact that all the dead soldiers were in the castle, even though Shorik never set foot in there?"
This time, Teesha was slow to respond.
"I.... I.. don't know.." she said, "I don't know how... But I know he did it, okay?!"
"That's not good enough." HJikaro said, "You can't just say he did something even though you have nothing to back it up. If Shorik had been fighting off guards, why were there none present when he killed Sefito? Why did he just leave after killing his father, if he had come to slaughter the entire city? Nobody in that mob could've stopped him, but he fled!"
"Just ......" Teesah said, tears welling up in her eyes, while her voice shivered with anger, "SHUT UP!"
As the words came out of her mouth, a blast of holy magic shot from her, and into Hikaro, who was blown back to the wall. He wasn't that hurt.
"Fine." he said, getting up and dusting himself off, "Obviously he is dead to you. Besides, what do you need him for? You've got it good here, thanks to Aerigen, right? See you around, Teesha."
With that, Hikaro left the Lost Wind Inn, and Jakova all together. It was obvious now. Aerigen had brainwashed Teesha. He had turned her into his ally, and Shorik's enemy. To what purpose, he didn't know. Hikaro thought about telling Shorik about Teesha and what had happened, but he wasn't sure how the young man would take it. That, and a small gut feeling told Hikaro that Shorik would find out soon enough without his help.

[Shorik]

"My Lord, you summoned us?"
A group of Death Commanders had come to Aerigen's quarters at a small outpost in the Unclaimed Lands. Aerigen stood with his back to them, as he looked out the broken wnidow.
"Yes, I have." he said, "Gravirgo has been revived. However, he is beyond control, and is out to reclaim Aerion as his own. Right now, he has set off for the Galian Ruins. Get every available Death Knight to report there. He must be taken out as soon as possible."
"Every available Death Knight?" The head Commander asked.
"Yes." Aerigen responded, still not looking at them, "Every available Death Knight... Even her."
"Yes, My Lord." the Death Commanders said in unison, before leaving.