Well guys...it's been a while, hurr, I am proud to say that while all of you peeps thought I was just being my normal lazy self, I was actually writing. The catch? Of course, I was also being my normal lazy self...so I'm not yet finished. ;D

What I can say, is that what I'm gonna give to you guys is 5 times as long as the original "Chapter 1", and that I know it'll be finished by Monday.

Why, may you ask? Because I'm going to be in a car for 10 hours to have some "family time" with my FAVORITE cousins. ._.

Anyways, the chance of internet connection is low, but there is still a possiblity that I will be able to post it sometime on Sunday. Until then or Monday, buh bye, and have a great weekend! :D

--Chapter 14--

Thank Vog I was able to to get Dan to go with Demaji to collect firewood, or we'd have gotten nothing done." Mira said as she finished nailing in a tent stake and they wrapped up the building of their campsite.

"What now?" Ren asked, glancing at their circle of tents surrounding an empty fire pit.

"Well, since we still have some sun in the sky, I think you, Rey, and Ron should scout out the area." Mira glanced towards the clouds. "Just hurry, I want you back before Dan flips for letting you do ANYTHING without his consent.

Rey and Ron stood up, getting their weapons from some of the different crates and packs surrounding them, and Ren unwrapped his prized Nitronome before they set off, heading out into the wilderness.

The trees were sparse and the conversation light, due to Rey's unrelenting happiness and joking attitude, and the thrill of finally doing something productive. Somewhere along the way they found a road cutting through the forest.

"Well, what do we have here?" Rey said, approaching it quickly.

"Rey! Wait a second! It could be a trap!" Ren called quickly, racing after him.

"Nah, don't worry so much...the worst we could run into is a couple Trojans or a-" Ron was cut off as a saw dug itself deep into his shoulder, sending him to the ground. Ren and Rey threw themselves to the forest floor, Ren hiding behind one tree and Rey among the roots of another. More saws flew around them, and a couple of axes followed them.

Through this Ren could see Ron was being dragged away by some Menders....Menders with that same Eye of Vaz symbol on their hoods! Ren and Rey could only watch, though, as Ron was dragged, screaming, into a truck and driven away. The two mud covered knights then dragged themselves up and stumbled onto the blacktop.

"I guess there's only one thing to do now, isn't there?" Rey dusted himself off, then answered.

"Yup. Ron's not gonna save himself, is he?" He grinned, and Ren could expect a joke was coming as they continued down the road, following the tire marks.

--Chapter 15--

"Soo...Faust, we meet again. I remember you tried to kill me last time." Zos's face was a swirling mixture of anger, annoyance, and curiosity...a bit more of the latter than usual. "I sure hope you won't try that again...it was quite a pain to murder you."

Faust chuckled, scratching what seemed to be the back of his head that, like Zos, was just a mass of fiery mist. "Do you mind?" He pointed towards a Saringul, and Zos gave a quick shake of the head, signaling his lack of care. Faust then proceeded to melt into the robed figure, and then stepped back in front of the monster looming over the temple altar. He stared directly into Zos's eyes, and smiled.

"So Zos, I see you're out for revenge...it sounds fun and all, but why would it warrant dragging me out from my perfectly fun...well...eh...never mind." His face stayed shrouded, but Necro could almost swear he was grinning devilishly.

"Well Faust, if it came to a fight, you could be quite the ally...or enemy." Zos snapped his fingers, and all the Saringul in the room ran up and formed a circle around him, blocking off any possible route of escape. "It's your choice." Zos's twisted face slowly formed an evil smile.

"In that case," Faust snapped his fingers, and all the guards around him fell to the ground, holding their head, rolling around on the ground in pain, "I'll pick ally." He snapped again, and the Saringul slowly got back up, obviously shaken.

--Chapter 16--

"And then Evangeline fell right on the pile of Royal Jelly!" Rey and Ren burst out laughing, and Ren could easily imagine the look on his now teammate's face as she regained her footing. "That was back on that recon mission at RJP...when we were led by Ronhejun...I mean, this before we even met Mira or Dan-" He stopped when Ren put a single figure up to his mouth, and pointed toward a rectangular stone wall, crumbing with age. From their viewpoint, they could see Gremlins inside of it, several just milling about, as well as some buildings, a couple trucks, and a number of cages off to one side.

They ran down as silently as they could through the bushes, but it didn't really matter with all the noise coming out of the outpost. The two knights heaved themselves against the low wall, and started to make a plan in hushed whispers. After a few hesitant looks into the base, Ren had a basic idea of what they were up against. Nothing really worried him except for a staggering number of Ironclaw Thwackers drilling off to one side...their sheer numbers could probably take him and Rey without much of a fight.

He was suddenly happy to have brought his Nitronome.

At his nod, Rey cocked all five of his Antigua's and hit one against the stone, which made a pretty loud thudding noise. The attention of a nearby guard was drawn by the sound, and it muttered indecipherably as it approached the two. Ren tensed, drew out his beautifully crafted bomb, and set the preferences to remote detonation. He then tucked it back into a pouch at his side. Coiling back, he readied himself to spring out from cover and into the fray that would soon begin.

As the guard started to peer over the stones between them, Ren vaulted over the wall, pulling himself up with one hand and swinging the other around, the blade within his hand burying itself deep into the Gremlin's heart. He then stabilized himself and tore the sword from the dead Gremlin's chest, small flecks of blood staining the grass beneath. He took a second to look at another life ripped to shreds, then calmly trotted into the center of the camp.
Two more enemies charged him, and he stopped, bracing himself. As they were seconds from striking, Ren twisted around, lunging forward and stabbing one, and shield bashing another out of the way. The second after he was able to bring his shield back in front of him, he felt a burning wave of heat. He dug his feet into the ground as a Scorcher's flames licked at his greaves. Looking back towards the perimeter, he nodded slightly, hoping that Rey saw him. He then handed his sword off to his shield arm's hand, and with his free hand reopened his bombpouch, grasping the deadly sphere within tightly.

As the flame faltered, he rolled away to his right, and ran towards the Scorcher, sliding under him and tripping him, then flipping around to his back, and bashing his head into the ground. The mask shook, and Ren sworn that it made a sound exactly akin to the gong back on the Skylark. Turning back to face the crowd, he tossed the Nitronome into the mob of Ironclaw warriors, hesitant to move. One broke out from the group, and was quickly taken out by Rey, furthering the uneasiness of the orange Thwackers. Ren smiled, sure that they had achieved victory.

Of course, his smile didn't last long, considering he was immediately thrown to the ground by a Ghostmane Stalker. His mind suddenly stopped, he was frozen....he was going to die. The thing was, he accepted death. His time was up. But he was still moving...still being carried...controlled. Deflecting its first lunge with his shield, he could feel the sawblades digging deep into his ward. Fumbling with his pocket, he finally was able to pull out his detonator, and armed it.

The saw came down once more, and Ren rolled into it, grabbing the surprised Gremlin's arm with the hand also holding the detonator, and jerked it to the side, plunging into the earth. As the poor creature tried to pull its arm away, Ren clamped down on the button of his detonator only labeled, "boom".
Everything was still for a moment, and then Ren's ears rang and his eyes were blinded by a sudden flash of of white and blue. As his sight returned, he struggled to get to his feet...to move at all. Yet again, he was fueled by Vot, and was able to get up, supporting himself with his sword. His entire body, and his mind, hurt with such intensity that he nearly fell back on his face. Stumbling back to the Gremlin, he offered his hand. Dazed, the monster locked fingers with him gingerly. It then pulled Ren right back to the ground, bringing its saw inches from his neck. Slowly lowering the saw closer and closer to Ren, it began crying a little bit, looking briefly at the charred remains of several of its friends. Its blades nicked Ren's armor, but the pain was nothing compared to what dominated the rest of his body.

Suddenly, a bullet tore though the shoulder of the monster, sending it flying sideways. As it curved away from him, Ren grabbed its saw-arm, grasping it tightly. The creature fell next to him, still held close to Ren by its arm. Ren twisted, and heard a sickening crunching noise. Then they just lay there. After a few seconds, the Gremlin vomited weakly. Ren grasped awareness, drifting away slowly as Rey reached his body.

--Chapter 17--

There was a giant jet-black monster towering over him, flames of darkness leaping out from its fingertips, flowing over him, suffocating him...choking the life out of his body. He again accepted defeat. The fire slowly rose from him, and he again stared into the eyes of the shadow. They were like blue mirrors, but what they showed was a level of awful that Ren threw up just glancing at it. Children...slowly burnt...old Knights, cut into tiny pieces from the toes up...Ren could stand it. It laughed...but it was a laugh that held no happiness...no joy...no love...only sick amusement.

It raised a single fist, dark fire leaping out of his hand, and dropped it down upon Ren. As he felt the heat blast into his face, he rolled. Vot didn't roll...Ren rolled. As he rolled, the sky brightened and the sounds of outrage faded and...

*Wa-thump* Ren cringed, holding his forehead in pain. He opened his eyes, and saw white cloth above him, bits of light shining through. He eased himself up to a sitting position, groaning in the pain that washed over him. If he was to describe this current feeling, he would of said that it felt like his skin was slowly peeled off, then a couple of buckets of Blaze Pepper was sprinkled over him. I'll give you a hint...he didn't feeling too great.

Looking about the tent, he noticed a crate with a rough red cross badly painted on the side. Dragging himself to it, all the while moaning in agony, he reached what he hoped could stop the feeling ripping though his body at the slightest movement.

Digging into it, he located some bandages, along with some other medical applicants that Ren had no idea how to use. He finally sighed, and pushed himself to his feet and looked into it for his desired items. After sorting through some stuff, he grabbed a small box and frantically popped off the lid, pouring the contents into his mouth.

He suddenly fell back to the ground, and turning his head a bit, vomited. Gagging and retching several times, he finally got himself under control. Looking back at the tiny cylinder in his hand, he read: 'Remedy Capsules - Do not take more than one a day.'

Vomiting again, he decided it was going to be a long day.

--Chapter 18--

Outside, the knights were each in their respective groups...the rookies over here...the members of the Band over here...the Gamma 9s over there. The conversation was tense, especially around Mira. Standing up, she addressed the crowd.

"Fellow knights! Brethren! I have a question I'd like to ask you...and I mean ALL of you!" The groups came up to her, and sat down, looking up at her intently. "Do you, or have you ever felt that Danovan here," She pointed at the knight, who sat fairly near her. "is or has weighed down Gamma 9?"
The crowd sat, shocked. Dan jumped to his feet, his face contorted in anger, outrage...and perhaps fear. "How dare you-you...I am your commanding officer...I can't believe it-"

"Aw, shuddup Danny, we found the papers." Demalj held up a small stack of ivory-white documents. Dan's face paled, and his mouth shrank to a tiny frown. Demalj started reading the papers, quickly skimming through most of their contents. "Mira promoted to Defender....Giro promoted to Knight...Me promoted to Knight...Me promoted to Knight Elite....Rey promoted to Knight Elite...Evangeline promoted to Knight...Ron promoted to Soldier...Stevuns promoted to Soldier...how could you do this to us, Dan? How could you deny us of our promotions-our rightful rank?"

"I-I...well...it just-I couldn't..." He slowly stepped back, his hand slowly siding towards the hilt of his sword.

"...Couldn't lose your job as commander of this unit? Dan, you haven't once given us a real command. Not once. You were never a true-"

"I'm still your commanding officer Mira!" Dan whipped out the sword feebly, stepping back once again. "I have more years of experience than you! I-"

"-Broke law 13b...withholding crew promotions for more than two cycles." Mira leaned back, smiling smugly. Dan backed a few more steps, than full out sprinted for the trees, dropping his sword and shield as he leaped into the shrubbery.

"Well," Mira began, picking her way through the words, "We usually have a celebration for each promotion...but given the circumstances, I say we all gather around the fire, and Rey should bust out those cakes from Biscotti."

Seconds later, they heard rapid gunshots, and Rey returned covered in frosting. "Why don't we just make some pie?"

--Chapter 19--

It had been three cycles since Danovan ran. Ren was almost able to run and fight, but his nights were sleepless, cursed by dreams that dug out his soul. It was always the same giant figure, but every day his retinue grew in size. The last night he had faced Dan, but this form the cowardly leader was engulfed in a purple fire, and was constantly screaming in a high pitched wail that drove Ren to near insanity.

The huge monster of hatred and darkness sent Dan towards him, and Ren pulled out his sword, ready to kill this dark...thing. Seconds before the Dan would get within range of his sword, something happened to Ren that he couldn't of prepared himself for. He, his soul, was being ripped out of his body. His grasp was faltering, and his soul was losing ground. At a certain point, only his toe was left inside its rightful place. Then he slipped out and was quickly dragged by an unseen force towards Dan, who opened his mouth gleefully, as if Ren were some kind of fancy dessert. Turning and running in thin air, Ren gained no ground, and certainly lost some.

As he gave up hope, Dan's mouth opened just a teeny bit wider, and Ren was sucked deep in the torrent of timid and greedy thoughts that surrounded him, as well as a few other souls, screaming for freedom, screaming with an intensity that...

Ren awoke with a start, rising up to a sitting position. He was gasping for breath, and sweat pooled on his brow. Looking over, he saw that his bunkmates, Rey, Milo, Stevuns and Danghu, were already up. Slowly putting on his heavy armor, he felt a new wave of pain, but this time it was just a dull sensation on his skin. Wiping the grime off his forehead, he trotted out into the camp.

Spotting Mira, he went to her. "Hey Mira, do you have a clue of what the status of our plans about that temple up there? I feel kinda out of the loop bein' cooped up in a tent for three cycles."

She turned to face him, looking a bit surprised that he was up. "I'm hoping we can carry out the assault in a couple of cycles...how 'bout I brief you guys on what's going to go down right now, considering there isn't anything else to do." She grinned, and then starting getting everyone together.

--Chapter 20--

"Okay knights, we begin our attack of the Temple of...well, to be honest, I don't really know what it's called..." She paused, trying to regain her sense of authority. Mira wasn't used to being the actual commander...and these kinds of talks weren't her thing. She had issued most orders behind Dan's back, and rallying speeches and briefings weren't the quietest of things.

"...Anyways, we'll be our attack on the Temple within the next two cycles. At the moment, Kantint, Danghu, and Demaij are obtaining some special weaponry and a bunch of Knightvision Goggles at a nearby Outpost. When they get back, all of us will begin approaching the Temple. We'll then split into three groups, one led by me, the other led by Ren, and the third by Jed." another pause as the squad leaders were acknowledged.

"My team will go around back, while Ren and Jed's will hit the front. You guys will distract any soldiers in there, and then we will go in and complete the main objective. Each leader will have a com-unit, and I expect each one of you to use it. Denying commands will result in our failure. I have full faith in you all...this should be a piece of cake."

Smiling, she told them that they may disperse. Turning to the only two remainders, Jed and Ren, she sighed. "Guys, I don't feel good about this...I mean...it just doesn't feel right." Ren thought about sharing his recurring dreams with them, but tried comforting her instead.
"Duncha worry Mira...nothing feels right on your first command, right Jed?"

"Yeah...nothing goes right either."

Ren glared at him for a second with no effect...then sighed to himself. Jed was right, even more than any of them would ever guess.

--Chapter 21--

Ren finally had a close-up view of the stone building they had spent so much time preparing to attack. To be honest, he felt they were blowing things out of proportions a bit. You know, they'd kill a few Greavers, and the Greavers would slash at them a bit...but he didn't really see why everyone was making a big deal out of it. Stuff like breaking into groups was totally unnecessary, but he could see where Mira was coming from. The whole Gremlin thing probably scared her into timidness...though it could also be related to the fact of it being her first mission...

The building itself was old and worn, obviously dating by to a time before the Knights. It was made of a faded grey stone, and its once sharply cut edges were rounded by the constant onslaught of the elements. The remaining sides of arches stood in ruin, as though a giant hand swept through the place. Most of the roof was caved in, light shining into the inner rooms through the gaps. It was in sad shape, Ren could see. Frowning slightly, he squinted into the sunlight. He thought that he had seen something...but you always think like that before mission.

They came to a halt, Mira signaled her team to follow her, and she waved to the others. As she turned around, she jolted to a stop. Rapidly spinning back towards Ren, she grabbed him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The move was so unexpected that Ren near fell back into Kantint, who was behind him, smiling slightly. Ren was in a daze for a second...and it felt nice. It was a warm sensation in his stomach. The warmth spread with haste throughout his body, surfacing to his skin. He smiled. Not just your average grin, but a smile that came straight out of that warmth. But the moment ended as she turned once again and took the lead position of her team. As they walked away, Ren mentally wished her luck, hoping that she was incorrect about her views of the mission.

Facing Danghu, he asked, "You have the 'Light Bringer'?"

"You mean this?" The stranger heaved a giant rocket-launcher onto its shoulder.

"Yup...fire at that door on my signal...everyone knows the plan, right?" He was responded by several nods and a few quiet replies, all saying yes, one way or another.

He raised his fist, then pointed towards the large wooden doorway. A streak of smoke bellowed out of the weapon on the Stranger's shoulder, and the rocket glided a few feet away from them, than sped away with great haste towards its target. Through the haze settling upon their position, Ren could see the explosion on the other end. Turning to Kantint, he made a movement with his arm facing the temple, but the bomber was already bringing back his arm and launching the bomb towards the dust cloud covering where the door once stood.

The idea was, if anyone was waiting on the other side of the doorway, they would be revealed by Kantint's Graviton Vortex. Although visibility was at a minimum, he could guess that they had caught a least a Greaver or two.

He was wrong...the smoke cleared to should only large piles of dust. Ren thought it was a tad strange, but the mission had to go on...weird dust or no weird dust.

They all approached the entrance slowly..but again, there was nothing. Ren shrugged off the cold feeling he was getting, and turned back to Jed.
"Well, it seems that this is where we spilt. I'll see you on the other side, 'kay?" Jed only nodded, then began separating his knights from Ren's team. His smaller group consisted of Kantint, Danghu, Milo, and of course, himself. Waving to them, Ren stepped into the darkness.

--Chapter 22--

They were everywhere. Not one of them wasn't tired...but him? His whole being hurt, from the fatigue...from the welts, slashes, and burns covering his battered body. He knew that he was getting too old for this...he should of retired when he had the chance. The shadows...the Saringul...they were all around him. He abandoned his last couple of bombs, and drew his Valiance, trying to hold back the waves of them.

Danghu was next to him, trying to stay up and alive in the torrents of the deadly assailants. Out of bombs, he was swinging around his pack into the crowd of creatures rushing to end the lives of the surviving Knight and Stranger.

Kantint cut deep into the torso of one of the robed phantoms, and it crumbled away into dust, quickly flying away with the wind. The dust was starting to pile up at their feet, and it burned his eyes and nose. He was crying, clearing his eyes of the devilish powder, but making it near impossible to see. Not that he had great eyesight to begin with though. He reminded himself once again that he was too old to die.

The two fought bravely, avenging the deaths of Jed and Milo. Milo didn't have the chance to react. They were upon him before he could reach the hilt of his blade. His death wasn't brave. It was just grim. It gave the team a quick lesson in Saringul eating habits, and wasn't the prettiest thing to watch. It wasn't that sad either. Looking back, Milo must have been miserable, he had no friends within the band, and hardly knew anyone from Gamma 9.
But Jed? That was a whole different story. He was slowly overpowered by a mob, and Kantint and Danghu could only look on as their last glimpse of hope was dashed away. Jed, the one who knew how to deal with this...how to get out alive, was gone. Dead.

But they couldn't stop fighting there...they had to give the others time. They had to warn Ren and Mira. Of course, that was impossible. Jed was the one with the comlink, and the site of his demise had been overrun mere seconds after his death. Even so, they still had to stall the crowds of Saringul that were upon them. The longer that they could hold out, the longer Ren had to regroup with Mira and complete the mission.

Kantint made his way back to Danghu, ducking and weaving through the sea of corrupted robes. Together, back-to-back, they beat anything that came to kill them, but a large number of the monsters simply bypassed them and continued into the Temple.

Kantint was blasting away at a Saringul right in front of him, but his Valiance jammed, and the creatures behind the one who looked like swiss cheese charged at him, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. In seconds, Kantint had a Faust deep in his heart.

No taking a few with him. No last second bomb activation. No brave effort to take a couple with him. Just death.

Only moments later, Danghu was also dead, facedown on the ground next to Kantint, a pool of blue blood growing beneath them.

Deaths are never heroic. They're just sad.

--Chapter 23--

The first thing that Ren noticed was that it was dark. Like...really dark. Turning on his helm-mounted floodlight, he advised his squad to also do so. The abandoned halls they walked through were creepy, shadows flickering at the edge of their vision. The corridor opened up into a spacious hall, the ceiling caved in, and large piles of stone bricks scattered throughout the room. The only other thing occupying any space in the gallery was a large altar, broken in half by a slab of stone that was formerly part of the roof.

They approached the center of the room, circling, watching for any hostiles. Ren pulled out his Comlink, and connected to Mira's channel. There was only static. He tried Jed's, but received the same result. Shrugging, he fumbled with the inner components a bit, then gave up and stood to address his teammates.

"Well, the comlink's fried...and I'm not quite sure what to do other than wait for Mira to get here. I guess we could go back to Jed and try to use his comlink...but Mira would probably flip if she got here and we were out with Jed." He paused, but when nobody said anything, he stated what they would do. "We'll stay here until Mira gets here."

They sat down, and Ren took out the Comlink again, and began examining it with more scrutiny than his previous attempts at fixing the tiny object that they're plans depended so much upon. He knew that someone like Vot or Qwex could fix it, but considering both of them were dead, it seemed like they weren't going to contact anyone anytime soon.

Rubbing his eyes in tired annoyance, he started pacing. His unsettledness roused the curiosity of Faste, who put a hand on Ren's shoulder as he passed.
"Don't blame yourself. Technology has its own agenda, and it's not your fault that the Comlink broke." Ren was surprised by this act of kindness, especially one coming from Faste.

Nodding his thanks, he stopped pacing and turning to his weapons. He hardly touched the hilt of his sword when the echoed crying of terror snaked into the hall. Briefly glancing at each of them, not a word was spoken. No words were needed, as they all knew what the silence was shattered by.

--Chapter 24--

It was mere seconds before the Saringul began rushing through the passageway they had immerged from. Like a faucet being cranked open, they poured into the line of knights. The robed demons were met with the cold steel parrying their attacks and shields of all types to suppress their cleaves.
Ren was out matched by two of them. One lunged forward, but the attack was too clumsy, even for the brainless creature he was matched up against. Saringul may be as stupid as stones, but they were masters at swordsmanship, using every trick in the book, clean or not. Keeping that in mind, Ren stopped himself from taking the bait, and sidestepped into the dive, his shield absorbing the blow driven into him.

The other one had already began it's swing at where his body would have been if he had dodged the first strike, at Ren could see the confused look in it's eyes as the moron tried to figure out why his Faust wasn't plunged deep into the knight's heart. Ren, taking the opportunity, tripped the Saringul that had started the move, then sliced the other as it tried to bring back up its sword. Spinning, he flipped his sword downward, and thrusted it deep into the downed opponent.

Before he could even turn back to face the others, he felt something tear through his side. Looking down mid-jump, he saw that a Faust had found its way through his armor, leaving what seemed to be a small cut. The pain of it, a burning feeling deep within him, brought on a change in his fighting. Though the wound physically disadvantaged him, the rage carried him on. He didn't think anymore, he just did. He didn't fight anymore, he just killed. He didn't feel anymore, he just...lived.

Minutes blurred into seconds, and the Saringul continued. There was no stop to the horde that thrusted itself upon the knights. Bodies became sore, and then weak, with exhaustion. The line of knights was slowly pushed back.

Ren tripped over one of the many stone lying scattered on the ground, and he truly didn't have the strength to haul himself to his feet. His eyes were facing away from the battle, towards the altar. He looked at it, his eyelids slowly winning the battle to stay awake...to stay alive. Then he saw it...something that would haunt him for the rest of life. Snakes of shadow slithered out of the gap between the two halves of the altar, floating through the air towards the knights. The latter noticed nothing, to busy trying to stay alive.

As the serpents of death devoured the knights, Ren was pulled to his feet by two Saringul wearing purple wrappings, perhaps officers. He couldn't help but feel almost envious of his brethren. After all, shock was the only painkiller they were going to be given, and Ren had missed his chance for a quick ending. As he was dragged to the foot of the altar, he noticed that the snakes were merging into each other, ending up in a form that sent chills down Ren's back and terror into his heart.

It was his dream monster, and it was real.

--Chapter 25--

Of course, he almost doubted the whole "real" part. He could've hit his head as he fell, and could be dreaming the snakes and the giant. Then again, he could be still in the medical tent after the bomb back at the Gremlin outpost. He could still be in his bed at Haven, and could've dreamt the whole thing. It sure felt like a dream. More of a nightmare, to be exact.

But, mostly due to the pain, he knew that it couldn't be a nightmare. It was a daymare.

The giant laughed. It laughed. His teammates killed, the mission failed, his death approaching, and it was that laugh, that cruel and nasty laugh that got Ren to snap out of it. He finally woke up.

In his mind, he whispered, "Vot, if there's any chance that you'd be willing to save me...I'd love some help right about now."

"Well then, you could've asked...you know...a bit earlier. Before your squad was dead." He sounded tired, like he hadn't slept in days. "You know about that whole bonding thing?"

"Yeah, you nearly killed me with my own thoughts."

"Yup...well, I was thinking about taking it to the next level..."

"Whut?"

"...by bonding our bodies-"

"No." Ren could vividly remember the feeling of sinking deeper and deeper into his own mind.

"Well, it doesn't seem like you have much of a choice."

Looking out through his own eyes, Ren could see that the giant was ordering knights and Saringul around. It picked out Danovan and Haden, and sent them forward.

"Okay...do it." His eyes were then engulfed in a wave of light, blinding him. When his vision came back, he noticed that nothing about his armor had changed...he was expecting something more...angelic. Like maybe...the "Angelic Set". Looking into his hands, he saw that his old saber had disappeared, replaced by what looked like a Gran Faust, but without the fiendish outline of dark energy. On his shield arm rested the famed Severin, it's Luminite lining gleaming in the midday sun.

Looking back, he saw that the air was full of dust particles, all being carried by the updraft into the sky. The Saringul were gone, smitten by the blast of heavenly light. The two former Knights seemed dazed, but not injured.

Feeling the balance of his new sword, Ren knew that it was far different than his old weapon, but the skills...the instinct was already in him. Haden was the first to come to his senses, and ran at Ren, screaming curses venomously towards him. Ren just ducked and spun, taking the rash knight in the stomach and knocking him to the ground. Jumping back, he blocked Haden's blows with Severin, then faked him out. Haden fell to the ground, and Ren finished him quickly.

He continued towards Dan, who was in the process of clearing his head. The former leader was corrupted, and carried a Faust by his side. They locked blades, attacking and counter-attacking each other over and over again, Dan evenly matched with Ren in their new forms. Finally, Ren knocked his opponent's sword to the ground, plunging his own deep into Danovan's cold, cowardly heart.

Panting, he stepped over the dead body in front of him, then stared up at the giant, wondering what it would do next. It shrank back into the altar, leaving two figures standing at the base. One, a Saringul wearing Black wrappings and wielding two cursed Cutters. The other was a knight using two Troika-like swords. The Saringul looking one began clapping slowly, at what Ren didn't know. The other one was staring past Ren, and although he thought that it must have been some kind of trick, he turned and looked behind him.

He froze mid-turn at the terror that clenched his heart.

--Chapter 26--

Tendrils of shadow rose out of the tiles, snaking into Haden's cold body. The dead knight's eyes popped open, small purple orbs that darted around. A shadowy aura faded in around him, and he got up, materializing a Gran Faust out of air. He walked closer to Ren, his eyes blazing with hate.
"The transfer is complete...the carrier has become the package...I'm alive again!" The thing in Haden's body said with glee, but as though it had caught itself being happy, it stopped abruptly. "Vot...Ren...you have caused me great trouble. But I'm back, and I believe it's your turn to die." He smiled, this time without happiness, only cruelty.

"Zos?" Ren braced himself, readying his gear.

"Fool! You dare disrespect me with your ignorance? I'll rip your guts out and feed them to the wolvers!" Zos charged him with brutal speed, taking him by force.

Ren parried a jab, then dodged a slash, but found himself in a position where he couldn't avoid the oncoming blade. Clipping it with the edge of Severin, his side was only cut lightly. Looking down for a second, he saw that he was barely cut on both sides of his...sides. The throbbing pain inside him was reawakened.

They fought, Ren constantly knocked back...small cuts scored upon his body every few sword-swipes. His skin burned, and the Saringul dust got into his cuts, making his brain writhe in pain within his head. Finally, it was too much. He dropped his weapon and his shield, and dropped to his knees.

Instead of putting him out of his misery, Zos just watched as Ren kneeled there, waiting for it to be over. Ren started fading into lapses of unconsciousness. Falling sideways on the ground, Ren looked up at Zos, who was staring back down at him and laughing. This laughter stopped when one of the purple Cutters buried itself into Zos's (or Haden's) head. Turning to face the two other knights, he saw that the one with the Troikas had the other blade in his gut, and the wielder of the two weapons was saying something that Ren could barely make out.

"Faust works for no one."

Turning back to Zos, he looked into those purple eyes as his vision faded...and they faded with him.

Epilogue:

A single tear fell through the air, the liquid orb breaking on the skin of a lifeless face. A thin film of dust was washed away as the tear rolled down the knight's cheek.

The room was occupied by a small group of knights, a respectful silence lying on the air as the night breeze flowed through the open roof.

Another tear hit the young knight's skin.

He didn't have his weapon with him...nor his shield.

Because he would need them with him.

A third tear.

A knight walked forward, five uncocked Antiguas at his belt. He put his hand on another's shoulder.

She looked up at him, and fourth tear running down her face.

He knelt down, and whispered something in her ear.

She stood up, and they walked out.

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Well, it wasn't my best work, but I put some time into it. I'm just glad that Spiralstory could be put out of its misery and finished.

Eh...nacho anyone? :D

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