Sparks of War Chapter 12
The Final Crystal
By Limited Moon
"Stahn..."
Stahn slowly opened his eyes, everything was blurry.
"Stahn, you're awake?"
He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus, he could see Garr, Chelsea and Karyl in the room with him. The last thing he remembered was that man in his dreams, Resmah he called himself. It was as if he wasn't controlling his own body after that.
"Hey, it's good to see you up," Karyl said.
Stahn sat up, and rubbed his eyes more, everything was now in focus.
"W...what happened..," he managed to say.
"You're lucky to be alive, Stahn. You were out in the middle of Phandaria in a tunic and pants," Chelsea said.
"How'd I...get to Phandaria?!" Stahn said, "I was on the boat to Cavalese!"
"Somebody must've stopped you from getting there, or something. I got a line from the Cerafina saying Cavalese was completely decimated. Philia and everyone are heading here now," Garr said.
"Nothing makes sense...where's Aretha, she okay?!" Stahn asked.
"Aretha is fine," Dorien said, "She's hanging in the throne room right now, and she doesen't like it. You're going to REALLY hear it from her today Stahn."
"I think I understand what happened, must've had something to do with that..."Resmah" I think his name was..."
Karyl seemed to back down at the mention of the name, it was as if the name bothered him.
"Resmah?" Garr wondered, "he could be the next in line from Selene..."
"Next in line?!" Stahn asked.
"Yeah, Chelsea here killed Selene!" Karyl said.
"Chelsea?!" Stahn said in disbelief.
"Well, you had better go get Aretha and begin practicing, there's only one more crystal left, and protecting this one, I feel, will be our greatest challenge," Garr said as he left.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Selene's dead... Resmah's turning against me... Throx, you seem to be the only one faithful to your master now," the figure said.
"THERE'S ONLY ONE MORE CRYSTAL LEFT, MASTER. YOU WILL BE FREE SOON," Throx said.
"Yes, I will be free soon. However, Throx, Resmah will be a problem, you MUST destroy him, for good," the figure ordered.
"IT IS ONLY A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR YOU MASTER, IT IS DONE," Throx said, and with that, he vanished.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Stahn practiced out in the training yard, it was an overly nice day, despite the snow. He destroyed several dummies and boards with a swift Assassin attack.
"I think i'm better than ever, Aretha," Stahn said.
"Heh, you must've been pretty damn good with Dymlos to wield me so well, I remember master swordsmen having trouble wielding me," Aretha replied.
"Have you ever met Dymlos before, Aretha?"
"I only remember one Afghan Dymlos, it was in my human years. We were bitter rivals, I doubt stern old Afghan was your Swordian though."
"You never really know, Aretha, you never really know."
"We should take a break, you look tired Stahn," Aretha said.
"Don't be so concerned Aretha," he said walking towards the castle, "I'm just full of energy today," but as he walked toward the castle, he spotted Karyl, looking very strange walk around the back of the castle.
"Hey, Aretha, did you see that?" Stahn asked quietly, following him.
"See what? Why are we going this way?" Aretha replied.
"You'll see, I just saw something strange..."
He walked to the corner, and peered around, he saw Karyl holding his head as if something had really disturbed him, Dorien was with him.
"Karyl, what's wrong?" Dorien said.
"It's happening again..." Karyl replied.
A beam of light engulfed Karyl and Dorien, his features changed drastically, his ears became pointed, his hair grew longer, Golden Armor appeared around his body, and Dorien became larger and more powerful. Karyl shrieked as the beam disappeared, and Stahn quickly ran back around the corner.
"Did you SEE THAT?!" Stahn whispered to Aretha.
"Oh, did I!" she whispered back.
He soon found the transformed Karyl in front of him, somehow, he recognized this new form.
"You saw me awaken didn't you?!" the new Karyl said.
"Uh, awaken? What are you talking about?!" Stahn quickly replied.
"Ha, ha, ha, you are such a weak fool, Stahn, you probably remember me, I am Resmah, Master of Dreams!" he said, rising into the air.
"Karyl's Resmah?!" Aretha said in disbelief, "what about Dorien, what the hell happened to him?!"
"Dorien here, is the key to my awakening!" Resmah said, "I need you, Stahn, to get me the last crystal."
"Me?! NO!" Stahn said, "i'm not getting the last crystal for the likes of you!"
"No, but I know someone who will...come on Stahn, let's fight," Resmah said.
"I trusted you, Karyl!" Stahn said.
"Karyl has nothing to do with me," Resmah said, "he's only my -host-"
Resmah rose into the air, flashing voilently. He then yelled, "DRAGON'S RAGE!!" and released a gigantic beam onto Stahn. Stahn jumped out of the way and cast a Dark Wind on Resmah. Resmah quickly complied and charged, slashing madly, at Stahn. Stahn tried to get out of the way but got slashed in the arm. He threw away his shield and charged at Resmah, slashing furiously with his Asassin techique. It hurt Resmah badly, but nowhere near stopped him. Resmah simply rose out of Stahn's reach.
"This is such a stupid battle," Resmah said, holding his hand into the air, "I need to ask a friend a favor now, go away Stahn."
He pointed at Stahn and Stahn was completely disabled. He couldn't move nor speak. Resmah motioned again and Aretha flew into a tree.
"Now, awaken, friend, I have a request for you," Resmah said as he pointed at Stahn again. Pain welled up in Stahn's body as if something was trying to burst out of his body. His skin began to harden and turn Red. His head became encased in a red helmet and his body became completely covered in blood red armor.
"That's much better," Resmah said.
"What...do YOU want, Resmah," Stahn said.
"Heh, you still owe me a favor for letting you extract revenge, and I have one for you," Resmah replied releasing Stahn from the paralysis.
"Very well, what do you wish of me, Resmah?" Stahn said.
"I want the last crystal, in the Temple of Wind, Talon. You are perfect for beating the guardian, once you get me this crystal, I will leave you alone, is that a deal?" Resmah said, extending a hand.
"Doesen't sound like much of a challenge, but I will have fun with this 'Guardian' you speak of, nonetheless," 'Talon' said, shaking Resmah's hand.
When Resmah let go of Talon's hand, he saw it was covered in blood. He quickly summoned water to wash it off, "you need to wash that armor, Talon, it has too much blood on it," Resmah said.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Garr, Chelsea, Philia, Rutee, Bruiser, Mary and Lilith wandered the forests looking for the Temple of Wind.
"I still do not believe what Aretha said, Karyl being Resmah and all..," was the first thing Garr said.
"I never thought my brother would be that Red Armored Monster the survivors in Cavalese spoke of, this is so terrible..," Lilith said.
"We can't let Stahn get the last crystal, everyone," Aretha said, she was being held by Garr.
"What will happen if Stahn get's the last crystal, what would Resmah want with it?" Garr asked.
"Hmmm....this onyl brings the Legend of Crystallion to mind, Garr..," Aretha replied.
"Oh, Garr, I recited that to you, remember?" Philia said.
"'Sealed in reflective light', those are the crystals. You only need one to resurrect Crystallion though," Aretha said.
"How would Resmah resurrect Crystallion Aretha?" Philia asked.
"By simply forging a Swordian from the crystal, Crystallion's wandering spirit will return to it and resurrect himself," Aretha said.
"We must hurry then, everyone," Rutee said.
"Right!" everyone replied.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Resmah watched as Talon handled the Guardian with a smile, the crystal would be his soon. As would Crystallion, the great power of Crystallion would surround him. He would become a god. He would no longer need his weak -host- and simply discard him.
Talon finished the Guardian off and took the crystal from it's hiding place. "What a small gem, what would you need with this Resmah?" he asked.
"It's nothing that concerns you, give it to me, quickly!" Resmah snapped.
Then he heard voices outside, Stahn's friends. They were here, he had to hurry. "GIVE IT TO ME TALON!" Resmah yelled.
Talon glowed in a great aura, and in a beam of light, Stahn reformed.
"WHAT?! How on....what happened?!" Resmah yelled.
"Resmah, as powerful as Talon is, he's not stupid," Stahn said, "you see, he's still a part of me, and I know that giving you this crystal is wrong, Resmah."
"You OWED me that crystal, Talon!!" Resmah said.
"I defeated the Guardian, just like you wanted, I owe you nothing. He has let me borrow his power, and now I will use it to free Karyl!" Stahn said, Talon's Sword materialized in his hand.
"How could you, you betrayed me!" Resmah said.
"NO, YOU BETRAYED EVERYONE RESMAH," came Throx's voice from nowhere.
"Throx, you did this, didn't you?!" Resmah said.
"THE HOST IS FREE, AND NOW HAS HIS FULL POWER, HE IS OUR MASTER'S. NOT YOURS, I HAVE ORDERS TO ELIMINATE YOU RESMAH," Throx's voice said.
Stahn simply nodded and thrusted his sword forward, a beam emerged from it and pierced Resmah's body, nearly tearing it apart.
"Such....power...I must....have...the...crys.t...a..l.," he said, disappearing.
When Stahn looked for the crystal in his pouch, it was gone.
Everyone came in at once, Philia ran towards Stahn.
"Are you alright, Stahn?!" she said.
"I...I think so," Stahn said, "I...Resmah got away..."
Lilith ran over to him and embraced him with a hug, "I was so worried, you idiot!"
"I...." was Stahn's only reply.
"No...," Aretha said, "Crystallion, I feel his presence getting closer and closer, we must stop Resmah."
"Where would he be, Aretha?" Garr said.
"Don't you remember, Garr?" Chelsea said, "The place we went to upgrade the Swordians, the Swordian R&D Lab!!"
"Oh no, that's so far...," Garr said.
"I have a way of getting us there," Stahn said, "Talon and I are now one, we are no longer seperated. He has many ways of moving."
Stahn snapped his fingers and Talon's Sword flew outside, it began to grow bigger and bigger, and change form into a dragon.
"We'll use that," Stahn said.
"I guess this means no more nightmares," Lilith said.
"Hey, after we beat Resmah, can someone please give me ALL the details, i'm kind of lost here, not being here from the beginning you know," Mary said.
.