Fan Fiction ❯ The Birth Of Cain - Act I ❯ Dragons & Wyverns ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter IV

 

The orbs seemed to shine briefly in return. Cain smiled.

 

--

 

The day was hot, the sun was high, but Cain couldn't be slowed. He walked with his hands crossed, as always. The two swords at his side were slowly swinging with each step. The road narrowed some, as it went into a turn around a hill. As he passed a large patch of bushes, something caught Cain's leg. He looked down and saw a bloody human hand on the road. He grabbed it and pulled a beaten man out of the bushes.

"...Please... sir... help me..."

Cain looked at him, thought for a moment, then said: "I'm no doctor. I can't save your life, but if you've asked me to help, I will defeat whoever did this to you."

"Further along the path... a large... cave..." the man said, then coughed, spilling blood. His breathing was heavy; his lungs were probably punctured. "A great... dragon... horrible... dangerous... it will... kill yo..." but he died before he could finish. Cain let him go, stood up and looked further down the path.

"Dragon... Blizzarex...?" Cain thought out loud, crossed his hands again and started on the path once more. On the path he could see footsteps and a trail of blood. Obviously the man he found had escaped, but made it only to the bushes. A short way further Cain found a large cave five times his height, and just as wide. "Damn... that's big..." Cain looked at the entrance of the cave for a while. He saw blood, clothes, bones, broken boxes and other items. Obviously the man hadn't been alone. It looked more like a group of merchants had been attacked, not knowing what was in the cave. Cain looked into the darkness and hissed through his teeth. "I fear nothing!" he said and vanished into the darkness.

 

--

 

Cain jumped out of the cave just in time for the huge, spinning pillar of fire to miss him. Instead it hit the ground and incinerated everything it touched. In a second the grass was turned to ash and the ground around it turned brown from the intense heat. Cain landed not too far from the cave and, as soon as he landed, drew his sword and took his usual fighting stance. Suddenly a giant light blue dragon burst from the cave.

"Oh SHIT!" Cain shouted and jumped out of the way of the monstrous dragon's claw. Its fingers left three deep marks in the ground. Cain leaped backwards, putting some distance between the two, then looked at his opponent.

The dragon was enormous. Its body was much like a human's, for the exception of its claws and feet. It had a long neck, on the end of which was a six-horned head. The dragon's head was long and the two upper front fangs could be seen. It had white, shining eyes and a strange symbol on its forehead. At the end of the dragon's long tail was a large, sharp disk. The two huge wings on its shoulders made the dragon look all the more intimidating.

The two stared each other down. Looking from the side, it could seem funny. Cain a man, even though a tall one, staring down a dragon that was about six times his size. Suddenly the dragon swung its tail along the ground. Cain jumped over, and ran at the dragon. It spit acid at Cain, but he deflected it with his sword. Cain jumped up and slashed at the dragon's chest, but the attack didn't harm the dragon. It slashed at Cain, but he jumped out of the way. The dragon swung its tail vertically downwards, and Cain barely got out of the way.

"So strong... and fast. Dammit!" and Cain just evaded another swing of the dragon's tail. Two more punches. Cain jumped left and right, but then the dragon swung its tail at Cain horizontally, before he could land. He parried the attack, but it still sent him flying. Cain smashed into a wall of the cave. The dragon punched there again, but Cain jumped over the fist and stuck his sword into the dragon's hand. The dragon roared and grabbed Cain using its other hand and threw him far away, but Cain rebounded in the air and went for his sword. He grabbed it, quickly jumped off the dragon's hand and launched three Judai Toranpus at the dragon's neck. Only the last one penetrated the scales, and even that was just a scratch. Suddenly the dragon took to the air. It inhaled deeply and spat fire, like before. Cain had just jumped at the dragon, so now he could only defend using his sword. The huge fireball at the end of the spinning pillar hit Cain and struck him into the ground. The dragon kept sending the searing flames at Cain for a while, before stopping. As the fire disappeared, it noticed that Cain wasn't there anymore.

Suddenly Cain jumped up to the dragon's face and slashed the dragon's left eye. The dragon howled in pain and swung its fist in the air, hitting Cain, who was struck far back, but he rebounded in the air again, landed on the dragon's shoulder and stuck his sword in it. The dragon spun around and shouted. Cain was thrown off the dragon, but he landed on his feet and went back for his sword. As he jumped, the dragon spat acid at him, but Cain turned his back and the acid seemed to be deflected off his robe. Cain pulled out the sword and slashed at the wound he made before with the Judai Toranpus. Blood spilled from the scar, and Cain jumped down. "Time to end this! Chikara no Shiro..." but before Cain could perform the attack, the dragon released a great spout of green acid from its mouth. Cain quickly deflected it with his sword, but the spout kept up and Cain tried to block it, but, suddenly, Cain's sword bent and broke.

"SHIT!" Cain shouted, and then jumped out of the way. He looked at the now broken blade in his hand, cursed and dropped it. 'What the hell am supposed to do n...' suddenly his thought was interrupted by a bright red light. The orbs of the Mithril Sabre shone, as if calling Cain.

"...But I don't use double-edged blades... Hmm... Fine, have it your way," Cain said, as if talking to the sword. Cain quickly untied and tossed away the other sheath, and jumped sideways just in time to evade another blow from the dragon. He jumped onto the cliff, which formed the entry to the dragon's underground cave, and drew his Sabre. "Alright, Blizzarex, your end is now!" Cain shouted and launched a Judai Toranpu. Now it was bigger and much quicker than before. Blizzarex tried to evade it, but the card sliced through the wing's joint, barely leaving the wing there. "Whoa! That's powerful!" Cain said, seeming surprised at the strength of his own attack. The dragon roared in pain and launched at Cain in a final attack.

It was what Cain was waiting for. Cain stalled until the very last moment, and then jumped onto Blizzarex's hand as it smashed boulders off the rock he was standing on. He quickly ran up the hand, shouting "Uchimakasu" while running. As he reached the neck, he swung with both hands, cutting through a lot of Blizzarex's neck. It roared again, but now its cry of pain was cut short, as blood burst forth from the huge wound. Cain cut through the neck, then, without hesitation, jumped high in the air and launched a Judai Toranpu, severing Blizzarex's head completely. Cain landed a bit away from the dragon just before its head hit the ground, then the body collapsed. Cain looked at the sword in his hand. It was perfect. Not even a drop of blood had stayed on it. The blade and the orbs were still glowing. It was strange. It held the energy Cain had given it, enhanced it and lengthened it.

"Surprising, for a man-made weapon... I might just give broadswords a chance," Cain said and smiled, as he sheathed the sword. Cain crossed his arms and continued his way down the path.

 

--

 

Cain soon reached a crossroads. There were two paths to take. One led to the castle of Dragonshard, the local ruling house, a colony of Okoku on the continent of Teikoku. It was known far and wide for its dragon breeding, wyvern riders and dragoons. It had a very powerful army and was often considered as a threat by the emperor of Teikoku. The other road led to a dangerous swamp, that was said to hold some powerful artifact, but was impenetrable. Cain pondered what to do for several moments, then suddenly the orbs of the Mithril Sabre began glowing again. "You think...? I don't know, I've never much liked Okoku OR Dragonshard... though actually sleeping in a bed does sound nice... fine," Cain said and started towards Dragonshard castle.

A short way ahead he was awaited by a group of Dragonshard guards. As he approached, their conversations ceased and they all stared at him. Cain stopped.

"Hey, sir, are you the warrior who defeated Blizzarex?" the captain spoke.

"I have no need of your gratitude or gifts, just let me pass," Cain said, looking the captain in the eye. 'Something's amiss. This isn't right. They're not...'

"Gifts? For what? We're not here to thank you, we're here to arrest you!" the captain said and the guards suddenly turned against Cain with their pikes.

Cain looked at them all with certain pity. "You're here to try," Cain said as he gripped his Sabre. But suddenly the orbs began glowing again. Cain didn't move, as if listening carefully. He loosened his grip on the sword and spread his arms, slowly bowing his head a little. The guards formed a circle around him, still pointing their pikes at him.

"Move!" one shouted and the group began slowly moving to the castle, which could be just seen at the horizon. Cain was walking forward, his arms crossed as usual, looking sideways at his captors. One of the guards caught his eye.

"What're you looking at, freak?" he shouted and hit Cain in the ribs with the blunt end of his pike. Cain didn't even blink.

"I know you're afraid of me, I can see it. I won't hurt you if we continue calmly, but, if you touch me again, I'll kill you," Cain said. The guard was staring at him with a look of terror, the others stopping and staring at the two. At first the guard didn't move, then he became angry and tried to hit Cain again.

"Shut up!" he shouted and struck, but this time Cain caught the pike and punched the guard in the face so hard, he flew backwards about ten feet and landed on his head with an awful cracking sound. He broke his neck. Another guard quickly rushed to assist his mate, but when he turned the body over, he saw that the punch had sent the nose-bone into the guard's head.

"H... he's dead!" the guard said, shocked.

"I gave him fair warning. Now, I don't want to have to sleep on the street, so let's continue on our way," Cain said and began walking. The other guards were still for a moment, then continued their way. All the way to Dragonshard no guard looked at Cain.

 

--

 

The castle of Dragonshard was immense. The sheer size of it was awe-inspiring and intimidating. Although when Cain looked at it his expression didn't change. It was an invisible, yet felt smile of, perhaps, knowledge or maybe mocking. Dragons with riders, called wyverns after their taming, formed a large spinning circle around the top of the castle. There were several hundred of them in the air and twice as many still on the ground. It was no wonder the emperor was afraid of this army.

Cain passed through the ranks, under the provision of the two dozen guards accompanying him. He drew many curious looks from the wyvern riders and dragoons, the base of the Dragonshard army. Many were taking up, repairing or sharpening weapons. Though this army was supposed to be purely for protection, it could be seen that they are up to more than plain defense. The wyverns were dragons a lot like Blizzarex. Actually they looked just like Blizzarex, only much smaller, but still bigger than the greatest stallion, and they were more lizard-like, standing on all four legs.

Cain and his guards entered the great castle. Passing through many halls and climbing many staircases, they finally reached what seemed to be the marquess' main hall. It was huge. The ceiling could be barely seen, the windows on its sides were almost just as large. Every window was not just a piece of glass, but a beautiful colorful mosaic, showing many pictures of Okoku's past and mythology. Many old kings and famed heroes, warriors, wise men, probably of the same family line as the marquess of Dragonshard, great battles and events. All these pictures flashed before Cain's eyes as he and his captors passed the many windows, approaching the throne. They were walking on a dark blue carpet with yellow decorations, which were placed on a floor of a smooth white stone. It was so clear and clean, that it reflected your face as you looked at it. Such was the entire room. Starting with the floor, rising with the great columns and spreading onto the walls, covered with dark blue and yellow carpets, matching the one Cain was walking on. The columns had two torches on each side, to light these magnificent halls when daylight shone on this castle's owner's homeland - Okoku. Soon Cain reached the throne. It was also very tall and massive, made of oak and covered with blue material, also matching the carpets. The marquess was dressed in a heavy cape the same color and wore a luxurious silver crown, full of jewels of different colors.

The captain of Cain's guards stepped forth and bowed. The others did so also, but Cain didn't move. "We have brought you the slayer of Blizzarex, as you asked, my liege," the captain said, then motioned towards Cain. The marquess looked at him, then stood up and slowly made his way down the many stairs, leading to his throne.

"Captain, there were two dozen of you when you left. Now there are only twenty three. Where is the man you lost?"

The captain was silent for a moment. "Sire, Sain was killed by this man."

The marquess looked at Cain with disgust and eyed him from head to foot, as if looking at Cain from above. "And why have you not taken his sword? I'm sure Mark would be still alive, if you hadn't done such a stupid thing, as leaving him his sword!"

"It was Sain, sir. And this man never touched his sword," the captain replied, not looking the marquess in his face. The marquess was a tall, dark man. Under the cape was a massive, muscular body. The marquess' dark hair and eyes, and constant look of disgust left the image of an arrogant rich man, which was probably true for this one.

"Well, what did he do to him? Bite him?" the marquess said, the tone of voice made it sound like a scolding of the captain. An uncomfortable silence ensued. "He doesn't really look that tough, to kill someone, unarmed."

"But, sire..."

"NO! You have failed, there will be no arguing. You will be taken away your captaincy. Be grateful that I don't really punish you." The ex-captain dropped his head.

"...Yes, sire..."

"Now, get out of my sight!" the marquess said and turned to Cain. "So... you are the cause of our trouble. Tell me, was it really you, who slay Blizzarex?"

"Yes."

The marquess looked Cain in the eyes. "Did you do it alone?"

"Yes," Cain replied flatly.

"Liar! You couldn't have! You're not nearly strong enough to fight Blizzarex! No man is!"

Cain rolled his eyes and replied coldly: "That's what Blizzarex thought, too. You "royals" sorely over-estimate yourselves and underestimate others. And I'm not really your average... man."

The marquess' face showed fury and hatred. "Well, tell me, great warrior, around what time did you defeat the greatest of dragons?"

"I haven't," Cain answered.

"What? But you said that you killed him!"

"No, I said I killed Blizzarex. I've never even seen Bahamut."

"You mock me?" the marquess shouted in ridiculous shock.

"I don't answer stupid questions," Cain said, his voice cool, but his words were like burning coal on the marquess' head.

"Dammit, when did you kill Blizzarex?" the marquess yelled at Cain, saliva flying from his mouth.

"A bit after three. Is that accurate enough?" Cain said, clearly annoyed by the marquess' interrogation.

The marquess wanted to say something in return, but then just smiled. "Well, you must be SOMEHOW involved, for that is the time our wyverns began acting strange and ignoring orders... Do you know why that happened?"

"The wyverns figured you're not superior to them in intellect?" Cain asked sarcastically.

"Heh-heh. You're quite the jester. I wonder if you'll be as funny when we cut out your tongue," the marquess replied.

"Oh, sheez, that is the dumbest thing you've said this far. Did you come up with it yourself, or did you hire some other dumb-ass like yourself to think for you?"

The marquess' eye began twitching, as he tried to keep his composure. His tries to intimidate this arrogant stranger were obviously failing. "You're the first inhabitant of Teikoku, who's not an ally, that's going to know this. Okoku is planning an invasion into Teikoku, and Dragonshard was to lead the attack, giving the first strike with our wyvern army. But you ruined our entire plan, turning our wyvern armies into uncontrollable packs! And more than that, Blizzarex was to be general! He was going to be MY wyvern, the only dragon worthy of being called mine! You and your cowardly friends killed MY dragon!"

Suddenly one of the marquess' personal guards rushed to the scene, stopping the argument. "Sire, horrible news. The wyverns have risen against us! They quickly killed their riders and are now fighting the dragoons. What shall we do?"

The marquess burst into a rage. He grabbed the guard's lance and stuck it through his chest. He then dropped his cloak, revealing a large black-and-yellow armor. The marquess drew his massive, slightly zigzag-shaped, double-edged sword and put its tip to Cain's throat. "Guards, kill him NOW!" But the guards didn't move. After seeing what Cain could do, they were beginning to change their minds about the foaming marquess being the scariest person they knew. No one dared move. The guards looked at each other and lowered their weapons. The marquess looked at his guards wide-eyed. "COWARDS!" he shouted and with a swing of his sword killed the guard next to him. He then cut off the head of the guard next to the first. The others gasped and ran. Despite his size and especially the weight of his armor, the marquess was surprisingly quick and accurate.

"I will kill you myself," the marquess hissed and launched at Cain, his sword drawn back, ready to strike. Cain turned sideways and the first vertical attack missed. The marquess swung diagonally, but Cain caught his hand. The marquess punched Cain's right side, but Cain stood still. The marquess punched again and again. Then Cain deflected one of the punches with his own. Something cracked: the marquess' right hand was crushed. "Damn..."

Cain took several steps back as the marquess tried to bend his fingers, his face clearly etching pain. "Tell me, marquess Dragonshard, how the hell were YOU going to tame Blizzarex? You aren't nearly strong enough to fight it, nor, I think, is your army. And its children wouldn't fight Blizzarex either."

Something seemed to suddenly hit the marquess. His head slowly rose and a look of confusion, shock and terror in his eyes. "Ch-children?" he barely got the words over his lips.

"Oh, honestly, haven't you noticed? Your "wyverns" are all Blizzarex's children. The resemblance isn't coincidence. Maybe that's why your wyverns went berserk when Blizzarex was killed. Dragons have a well-developed sense for their family. Trust me, I know."

The marquess' head dropped back down, he was thinking something over. "W-we knew that there was some connection between Blizzarex and our wyverns, but children..." For a moment there was silence, but suddenly the marquess looked up at Cain, with the same anger as before. "Even more, you ruined our plans! You shall die here today!" the marquess yelled. He grabbed the sword he had dropped when their punches met and ran at Cain.

"Hopeless," Cain sighed; eyes closed, and drew his Sabre. He opened his eyes and shouted "Judai Toranpu!" The card flew through the hall upright, the wind from its spinning edges ripping up the carpet in its path. The marquess blocked the card, legs apart, but it instead seemed to just pass through him. His eyes were shooting around in confusion. Then half of his blade fell off.

"Oh, G..." Blood trickled from his forehead. He fell apart, his blood turning the torn carpet under him violet.

Cain sheathed his Sabre and headed back to the exit. He passed through the enormous doors to reveal a terrible sight. The ground was covered in blood, bones and limbs, burning clothes and armor. Everyone was dead and the massive wyvern army was circling in the sky, partially blocking out the sunlight.

"Damn, that's a lot of dragons..." Cain said, looking at the hard-to-number army. He stood in the shade of the castle, Sabre in hand, looking up at the swirling pillar of dragons. Cain hissed through his teeth. "Kids..." He drew his sword back and launched a Judai Toranpu upwards. It cut through three dragons and drew the attention of the entire army. The dragons began descending, coming closer to Cain.

Suddenly Cain jumped high and cut off the head of a dragon. He jumped again in mid-air and with one swing killed three more dragons. He landed on the back of one dragon and immediately jumped higher up, killing wyverns on both sides. One of the dragons spat fire at him, but Cain turned his back and the fire was deflected by something that seemed like an invisible barrier. He killed another dragon, which attacked him, and slowly began falling. He was tackled head-on by a dragon, and was quickly nearing the ground. Cain spun around, switching places with the dragon, Cain now being on top. He jumped up and launched a Judai Toranpu, which killed four more dragons. Cain kept jumping from dragon to dragon, killing many. Soon there was a constant rain of dragons and their limbs, but, despite Cain's efforts, their numbers didn't seem to decrease.

He finally landed on the ground, breathing slowly. "Damn," he cursed and launched another Judai Toranpu, killing several attacking dragons. Cain constantly deflected flames with his Sabre and robe, then killed the attackers. The bodies soon began forming piles around Cain, but the dragons just kept coming. Still Cain seemed tireless, as he kept fighting off the attackers. Suddenly the attacks stopped. The dragons first returned to swirling in the sky, and then parted, as if giving way.

Then Cain heard a loud roar. Then another, just like it. Then the wyverns around him replied, resulting in the deafening cry of a thousand dragons. Cain winced at the noise.

Suddenly a great spiral of fire shot at Cain. He jumped sideways, just in time for it to miss. Then another appeared right beside the first. Cain quickly jumped over it, and then jumped sideways in the air away from it. Blizzarex appeared, only this time it had two heads.

For a moment Cain stood still and looked Blizzarex in the eyes. 'What are you going to do?'

'I will rule this world.'

'You think nobody's going to stop you?'

'I think someone might try.'

'Even with this army you can't take everyone.'

'I know. That's why we're going to kill all the dragons first.'

'...Abel...'

'That's right, your little brother, too. Your clan is gone, Cain. You are only a shadow of your former self. You aren't worthy of respect.'

Cain smiled. 'You know, you just made a big mistake.'

'Oh, really? What's that?'

'You shouldn't have let me know Abel's in danger...' Suddenly a brilliant white light burst from him. Another loud roar filled the air, yet different from the ones before. The light disappeared, and instead of Cain stood a dragon.

It was about nine feet tall, completely white. It had great wings coming from its shoulders. It wore white shogun-like armor with gauntlets. Its head was hidden behind a metal helmet in the form of a dragon's head, with a red cross like Cain's, on the forehead. The dragon's back was hidden behind long, white hair, reaching to its ankles and as wide as its shoulders. Looking through two dark holes the helm were Cain's eyes.

Blizzarex froze. "Who are you?" it asked in dragons tongue.

"I am he, who protects what is important," Cain replied and in a sudden burst of speed attacked Blizzarex.

 

--

 

Cain regained his consciousness and sat up. All around him were dead bodies of man and dragon. He stood up and looked at the battlefield. There were none left, nobody at all. The dragons had killed the humans, then Cain beat the dragons. One of Blizzarex's large arms lay on the ground not too far from Cain. He looked behind him and saw that the castle of Dragonshard was no more. Now there was only a great crater from an immense explosion.

Cain looked at his hands, which didn't show any marks from the many foes he defeated with them. Suddenly he felt something in the distance. Cain spun around, pondered for a moment, smiled, and began running.