This is a fiction I just started re-writing and expanding upon. It was originally going to be a Final Fantasy based story (not connected with any of the current games or anything, but incorporating Final Fantasy material such as the magic names and other things along those lines) but I decided to make it a stand alone story. I'm still retaining a Final Fantasy-ish sense to the material, so that it doesn't come off as being totally foreign. In any case, feel free to comment or criticize as much as you like, since that's why I'm posting it up here.
Prologue
The dark silhouette continued to dance about the wall from the flickering candle sitting on a stand by his bed; being the only form of comfort he had from the torrential nightmares pervading his body. A cold bead of sweat crept down his brow off his cerulean hair, followed by him jumping out from the sanctity of his blankets. The past week has been the same for him from nightfall to daybreak, a painful dream that grows increasingly severe the harder he tries to sleep.
For the last six days his mind has always created this same scenario; he leaves his house a few hours after sunrise, leaving for the port city of Zilh while carrying his brother's sword, which he called "Okanashira", after the legendary sea serpent whose bones, in fact the hardest known metal called trypasium, were sculpted to make the weapon. He had often walked that road before, yet still knew that it was indeed highly dangerous to travel it without protection. Often prowling the rocky summits that surround the small dirt trail is a rather large clan of primitive, yet highly vicious reptilian creatures known as Xovanian, who showed little hesitance to kill a passerby.
Walking into a small clearing that marked the beginning of the Kyl'sau Forest, he noticed a few yards away a young woman, lying unconscious on the ground. Rushing to the figure's side, he was immediately struck by her beauty; which could easily rival the divine spirits of the heavens, only to notice a few seconds later a pulsating silver crystal clenched tightly in her left hand. Quickly scooping her up into his arms, the boy became aware of an increasingly loud rumbling in the distance. Few creatures in the forest were of such size, and most would rather shy away from a human rather than charge mindlessly towards one. This left only one deadly monstrosity, the dreaded Py'yon demon, a creature capable of annihilating an entire legion of Dragoons, the finest military force that serve the sovereign of half the known world, Lord Kieun Vlorsutes the XVIII. He knew that there was no way for him to survive a skirmish with the Py'yon, so he quickly began dashing down the road, the reverberating splintering of the forest behind him growing ever closer, until he knew that there was no possible way that he could outrun it. Still, his sense of honor forced him onward, hoping that he could possibly reach the cave that had been a hiding place when he and his brother played together ever so long ago. Suddenly, the trees lining the dirt-ridden path to his right shattered as a lumbering form charged out, causing him to jump back in alarm. The monstrosity he feared, the Py'yon, was before him, its dark gray skin etched with the scars of several battles, but whether against men, Xovanian, or even the Py'yon was the least of his concern. All that mattered to him now was the survival of both himself and the delicate creature he held in his arms.
The beast rocked its head back and forth to throw the multitude of branches driven onto its horns, the twin bone-like protrusions arched towards its snout from their base above its eye ridges. However, these were easily dwarfed by the monstrous horn jutting from its snout, a dreadful weapon that could easily impale a Vinuun bull from nose to tail several times over.
Looking down at the girl he held, he realized that there was no way for both to escape the advent of this beast alive, and the choice that some others would ponder upon came naturally to him, his life would be forfeit to save hers. Rushing towards a nearly impenetrable thicket, he gently laid her down before unsheathing Okanashira. His brother's blade shimmered as the bright blue metal left its scabbard, but even with the precious bone of the sacred serpent of old gripped tightly in his hand, his chances would be slim to even survive.
Glancing once at the girl, he sighed heavily and turned towards the Py'yon, which returned his gaze with the darkest of eyes, those pools of chaos echoed through the warrior's mind as his grip on the sword tightened. Roaring defiantly at this new adversary, the abomination pawed at the soil with its left foreleg, expelling a cloud of dust in an unceasing manner. The boy quickly dashed forward, erupting from the smoky veil with his blade before him, tearing a trench across the beast's side before jumping away. The dreadful roar from before was instantly replaced by a shrill hiss of pain and anger as the Py'yon twisted about and whipped its tail at the youth, who somersaulted over it with relative ease.
Bringing Okanashira about, the warrior lifted his left hand, glowing a bright red as he concentrated his life energy into a volatile form; a deadly fire magic known as the Ennetsujigoku; the Flames of Hell. Dropping his sacred weapon to the ground before clutching his left arm by the wrist, he released the now gargantuan orb of flame towards the Py'yon, engulfing it in a cyclone of energy that spiraled towards the heavens.
Dropping to one knee, the warrior suddenly was struck by the beast, the Ennetsujigoku appearing to be nothing more than an annoyance to it, its tail snapping solidly across his chest with sufficient force to throw him against a tree on the other side of the road. Gasping for air while trying to push himself off the ground, he instantly realized that nearly all his ribs were broken, the pain so unbearable that he collapsed again to the earth beneath him.
Lumbering slowly towards his fallen foe, the monstrosity suddenly swiveled about, hissing angrily as its eyes fell on the girl, her light purple dress flapping about her body, as her hazel eyes falling gently on the silver gem now radiating sporadically. Attempting to shout a warning to her, the warrior, now pinned beneath the weight of the Py'yon's right paw, found that not an ounce of strength could be mustered from his dying form to say a word.
Suddenly, a beam of light erupted from the crystal, quickly lancing towards the sky before expanding outward in a radiating arc, forming some sort of doorway within the cloud surface. Never moving her eyes from the jewel in her hand, she suddenly turned her stare to the portal, screaming, "Ryuun!" Though he initially thought it a hallucination, the boy became in awe at the form that darted from the threshold she manifested, several silvery streams of light that slowly amalgamated into a single entity, its gaping wings quickly filling with air as it darted to the ground, landing before the Py'yon in a sea of tempest dust.
The dragon, or what he perceived as a dragon, was roughly about the same size as the beast which had released his body from the vice grip it had with the soil, but its body was far different. Its entire frame was encased in silver scales, which resonated with brilliance unable to be matched by worldly metal, and as such, created a streamlined shape, as compared to the hulking juggernaut that was the Py'yon.
Its tail struck furiously against the bare path as Ryuun unleashed a dreadful roar from deep within its maw, the song of anger and despair spiraling through it as if made from it. The abomination quickly answered with its own death cry, charging at this celestial summon with its snout horn bent low, only to be met with dead air. The dragon darted with unbelievable speed to his right, missing the initial charge while following up with his own, a deadly swipe with its forepaw, ripping a fissure across the beast's flank before using his tail to buckle its hind legs.
Much as before, the Py'yon screeched in agony, vainly trying to stay upright, only to be struck across the face by another violent blow from the dragon's forepaw; three crimson streams of blood flew from the monster's face as the claws raked through its flesh. Dodging the huge strands of tissue torn off by the silver beast's relentless assault, the boy suddenly found himself pinned beneath the hulking weight of the paralyzed Py'yon, the hulking body shattering nearly every bone in his own body as the dragon took to the skies.
However, not satisfied with merely maiming his quarry, the gray winged monster came about and opened its maw; the air between the jaws slowly began to warp and twist as it took on a bluish aura. The veins across its wings pulsated with similar blue light while the dragon locked his view on the Py'yon before releasing the pent-up energy over top its hide in a tremendous beam. As the charred skin of the abomination melted away, another, far more intense stream rushed from the dragon's mouth, incinerating the monster, and the warrior, instantaneously.
It is always in this moment that he awakens; the span of hours of anguish and torment experienced in a matter of minutes.
Edited, Mar 28th 2008 1:20am by Vlorsutes