Meanwhile, a beautiful girl with hair that was a shimmering blonde in the summer and brown in the winter was running through a field towards Seles. She was very fast, faster than a lot of the boys in town, and she was just as tall as most of them too. She knew the way through the field; she had been here many times before. She knew where to jump over this log and where to duck or swerve to miss that branch. She came to the tree line that met with the end of the field. Within moments she’d be running through Seles. Once she reached her hometown, she kept running, dodging vendors and couples out for a stroll. She was close to home now. It was a good thing too, all that running and she was just now starting to hurt. She saw her house, she could call for her mom and dad before she got there, she was close enough for them to hear her. “Mom, dad, Kongol’s coming in and he’s coming in too fast. He is gonna crash!” Shana, a woman whose beauty was matched by her daughters, was the first out of the doorway directly followed by Dart.
“Tara, what are you talking about?” Dart asked as he came to the door. Tara pointed to where Kongol was flying, although it wasn’t necessary. The huge, golden giant could easily be seen against the calm blue sky. They could all see his landing site, the field and the tree line met where Tara had been running a moment before, thankfully there was nothing he could damage. Dart, Shana and Tara ran and watched Kongol start tumbling as he got closer. Something was wrong, they all knew it and pushed harder to meet him. When he landed, the earth cracked and shook violently as Kongol created a crater the size of two houses. After Dart and Shana adjusted to the vibration and Tara had caught up, the three ran over the new obstacles created by the giant’s landing. Reaching Kongol, the three realized that physically, he was fine but he was crying uncontrollably. Once Kongol got quiet, he could finally tell Dart what was so important. “Master Haschel said time to be with Claire, he said she is calling him. Master Haschel still ok, but time short. Everyone else knows, you were last.” As soon as Kongol was done speaking, Tara looked to her father who was already transforming.
“Kongol are you ok to fly?” He asked.
“Yes, Kongol feel ok.”
A little reluctantly, Dart said, “I want you to carry Tara. Carefully!”
“Yes Dart, I understand. Kongol will be very careful.” Kongol transformed and held out his hand to Tara. She took his hand and remembered how he used to care for her so gently despite the hands made for battle. She trusted these hands with the utmost care. In Kongol’s bear-like arms, Tara looked over and saw her mother in her father’s arms and remembered the story her parents had told her about the dragoon origins. Her father took off and Kongol looked down to make sure Tara was ok to fly. She smiled her approval and Kongol took off after her father. With the dragoon speed Kongol and her father had, it didn’t take long to get to Rouge.
The four landed right beside the practice deck and Kongol and Dart changed back into human and giganto. Tara looked at the somewhat familiar settings of Rouge, which she had seen about three times within her lifetime. When she was here before, her parents had showed her where Aglis had risen out of the surrounding sea. If she hadn’t turned around, she would’ve been left behind. All four walked across the practice deck and down a short path to Haschel’s home. He had moved recently so the walk to the deck so he could supervise his student’s practice wasn’t so long. Outside Meru and her husband Guaraha were sitting outside the house. As soon as Meru saw Dart, she stood up and went to him. Dart had never seen Meru so serious but this was a serious matter.
Kongol led the way into the house, Dart followed by Shana and then Tara. Kongol stepped through the doorway made to fit his size and went to the left so the three could enter. Dart and Shana walked through and immediately looked to see who else was there. Albert and Emille were standing at the back, dart guessed they had already been here quite some time and said what they wanted to say. He saw Miranda stand up beside Haschel and calm walking towards Albert and Emille. Haschel’s attention was now free and turned to Dart. His aged, tanned face unfolded out into a smile. Dart and Shana walked towards his bed and kneeled down. Haschel could see the tears forming in Darts eyes and said “Dart, this is not a sad moment. I’ve done many great things and I’m being rewarded. My searching couldn’t re-unite me with your mother, but maybe time can.”
All Dart could do was nod and look away. Shana looked to Haschel and started to cry. “Haschel,” she said “you are the strongest man I know. You’ve lived to the age of ninety-three. That’s quite an achievement considering the entire time you were always practicing your art.”
He looked at her face, just as lovely as the day they destroyed the moon. He said “Shana, your words flatter me, but my art is what has kept me going so long. But it has been long enough.” He looked to the doorway and saw Tara staring in. “Ah, my great-grand daughter. You are the best sight for my sore eyes.” Tara chuckled, flattered by his comment, but tat didn’t last for long and she too started to cry. Dart and Shana looked up to see Emille leaving; Meru came in and took her place. Haschel looked at all of his dragoon companions and his great-grand daughter. “Being with you young people has reminded me of my Claire,” was all Haschel said to the group. He closed his eyes and suddenly started glowing purple. Everyone soon figured out it was his dragoon spirit, which made sense. What didn’t make sense was when another purple glow separated from Haschel’s. Then came a red, dark blue, blue, green, gold and white glow came out of Haschel’s. All the glows floated but the dark blue, which descended to beside Haschel and shined, filling the room. When the light had subsided, to everyone’s amazement, Rose was standing beside Haschel. He opened his eyes and smiled, saying “I thought I felt your warmth again.” Rose held out her hand to Haschel, “Come on, there’s this woman I met who can’t wait to see you again.” Rose and Haschel glowed their dragoon colors in sync with the other spirits. The room filled up with all the colors and faded out eventually. A lifeless Haschel was left behind, his eyes closed and the corners of his mouth showing hints of a smile. Kongol picked up his old master as well as his friend, and left.
No one said a thing; no one knew what to say. Albert was the first to leave; his excuse was about poor old Noish alone with his kids. Miranda was next, probably going to check on Queen Theresa. Meru stayed a short while, lost in thought, but she too left. She and Guaraha went to see the ancestor about wingly uprisings. After twenty-three years, there were still some winglies who couldn’t forget the past and live peacefully with humans. Dart, Shana and Tara waited for Kongol to come back. It was a while, he had a lot to do and say probably. A little while after sunset, Kongol solemnly walked through the doorway. All four just looked at each other until Shana spoke up after a bit. “Kongol, do you want to stay with us?”
“No, Kongol must carry on Master Haschel’s art in Rouge.” He said.
“OK,” Dart spoke up, “but you’ll always have a place with us in Seles. We should get back before it’s too late. It was good seeing you again Kongol, as always. I’m just sorry it was under such circumstances.” All Kongol did was nod his recognition. They all went outside, Dart, Shana and Tara going father out than Kongol. Dart transformed and Shana hooked her hands around his neck and sat on his powerful Divine Dragoon arm. Tara stepped towards her father and he motioned for her to get on his back. She climbed on and put her arms where her mother’s had been, Shana now had her arms on Dart’s shoulders. Dart rose from the ground and started away from Rouge. Before her dad used his dragoon speed to get home, Tara looked back at Kongol and met his gaze. She wondered if he was even looking at them or was lost in thought about his recently deceased friend.
Minutes later, Dart, Shana and Tara had landed beside the crater Kongol had made that afternoon. No one said a thing as they all walked to their house. Once inside, Tara started making her way downstairs to her room. She stopped within the doorway and turned to her parents. “What happens to the dragoon spirit now?” She asked. Dart and Shana looked at each other and back to Tara. “You know, we only know about the spirits when we have used them. We have no clue about the living except from what I’ve seen of Mayfil and there were no dragoon spirits being kept there. But then again, there were no extra dragoon spirits, we had them all.” Dart explained.
“I was just wondering.” Tara replied. “Good night mom, dad.” And she left for her bed. After brushing her hair and putting on her bedclothes, Tara lay under the blanket Miranda gave her. It had come from Mille Sesau where it continually snowed, so it had to be warm. Falling asleep that night had been hard, even with the overpowering warmth of her blanket. Finally, all the flying mixed along with her emotions was enough to make Tara fall asleep. In her dream, she walked out of her house and went to the crater that Kongol’s out of control landing had happened. For some reason that she didn’t know, she started digging, right in the middle of the crater. After a few handfuls of dirt were removed, a circle of lights floated out of the spot where she had been digging. The circle of lights had the seven colors of the Dragoon hero’s. The circle floated above her head, then descended and formed a ring around her waist, all the time rotating. The circle glowed brilliantly. While the circle of lights was rotating and glowing, an eighth color of light appeared in front of Tara’s heart. Realizing that this was the Divine Dragoon Spirit, Tara grabbed it and felt the warm light wash through her entire body. In her mind, she told the spirit that she wanted to see her great grandfather again, and she knew that the spirit would help her there. Tara took the warmth and used it to ascend. The Divine Dragoon Spirit along with the other spirits around her waist guided her up into the clouds. They were taking her to see Haschel, or she was going there with the help of the spirits. The spirits were at her command, and she wanted to go to Rouge. They landed on the practice deck, with no sight of Haschel; she flew to Neet, at the site of her mothers and most of the old villager’s grave. No sight of Haschel there, she returned home. She landed in front of her house with only one Dragoon Spirit, the Violet Dragoon Spirit. The spirit was pulling her inside, into her house. She ran in, but found no Haschel. She went down to her room and found Haschel sitting on her bed. Hearing her footsteps, Haschel turned around and greeted Tara with a smile. She went to hug him, but he stood up and pulled away. “Tara, I am gone, and nothing can change that. If you want to have me so much, look inside of you, because in your heart is where I will always live.” When that was said, Haschel moved to give Tara a hug. When they hugged, Haschel gave off a faint purple glow, and merged with Tara. A look of surprise came across her face, until a purple glow and a warm feeling came from her heart, making her smile.