*Where...am I?*

The young Dragoon captain observed the carnage below him. Everywhere he
looked, the ground was littered with the corpses of fallen warriors. A town
burned in the distance. A spectre of blackness stalked through the fields of
slaughter, wreathed in an evil aura. Kyle could not make out the beast's
form, but the six gleaming blades were all too clear as, to his mute horror,
a small battalion of soldiers were shredded in a deadly dance.

Kyle urged his body to move, to do anything, but he was frozen in place, a
silent witness to the massacre. He opened his mouth to scream, but his voice
was drowned out by thundering hoofbeats...



========================================

  F  I  N  A  L    F  A  N  T  A  S  Y
       l    e    g    a    c    y
     -----Knights of the Round-----

 Chapter 16: Knights and Nightmares
  original version by the King in Yellow
 revised by The Eternal Lost Lurker
   FFLegacy created by Brian Stricklin

========================================


Stine let out a mighty groan of pain as he came to. "What...has happened to
the great Beastmaster Stine?"

"You're awake," a voice commented. "You're lucky to be alive."

Stine looked up. He was lying on a plain cot in a room littered with
potions, bandages, and apothecary supplies. "Where am I? What place is this?
Who art thou?"

The young woman who had spoken earlier blinked. "You're in Yahl Russa's
relief clinic. You were found in the mess at the library."

Stine cursed. "Filthy heretics! What more should I have expected from such
scum than to destroy a place of knowledge in their own bid for escape from
the Citizen's Justice which Stine was wont to dispatch upon their
confectionary posteriors!"

The nurse continued to blink. "Oh my...you must have taken a hard hit to the
head..."

Stine stood, and bowed. "Rest assured, fair nightingale, the great
Beastmaster Stine is in reasonably good repair, apart from a mild headache.
Thine care is greatly appreciated, but I must away. There are vicious,
loathesome heretics on the rampage, and it is my duty to deliver unto them
the smiting they so richly deserve!" With that, before the nurse could
protest, Stine departed.

"Oh dear...he forgot his clothes," the young caretaker mused.


******


"Oy, laddie...ye best be wakin' now."

Kyle blinked, and looked up. The smiling face of Jil Fallensand gazed down
at him. "Wha--?"

"Sure as I breathe, ye looked t' be havin' a bad dream, ye did," Jil said.
"In any case, tis time for grub...we're less than a day from th' end o' th'
channel. Best t' be well-fed in case we run into any more nasty surprises."

Kyle nodded, and rose. He groaned and massaged his temples. "Ugh...I think
that dream gave me a headache."

Jil chuckled. "Well, we be fresh out o' healin' potions, so ye'll just have
tae rely on th' water's breeze t' clear yer head." With that, she headed up
to the deck.

Kyle took a few moments to make himself presentable, but his mind lingered
on the dream. *What...did it mean? Did it come from...that Sleeper?* The
thought of the Sleeper reminded him of his earlier woe. *I'm a heretic now.
Just like Marcine. What am I going to do when I face her...? I can't be sure
of anything anymore...*

(You can be sure that you're alive. Jil is alive. Cheney is alive. Everyone
who Kraken didn't take is alive.)

Kyle scowled at the inner voice. Was being alive worth it if his fate was to
be sentenced to the Wall of Fools? He had sided with the Manakyr. He had
awakened a Sleeper. He had--

(Saved lives. Just like Marcine saved that child's life.)

Grumbling, and head hurting worse than before, Kyle made his way abovedecks,
not really feeling like eating, or facing the others.


******


As the sun became visible above the horizon, three campers rose, stretching.
A fourth sat nearby on a rock, having been awake most of the night.

Marcine walked over to Davin, and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Aren't you
tired?"

"Exhausted," Davin sighed. "But...we should get moving."

"Not with you in this condition," Marcine said, worried.

Davin smiled slightly, then raised his voice. "Hey, Mika! You still remember
how to make that Refresh of yours?"

Mika laughed. "Don't be silly, big brother! One Refresh coming right up!"

Marcine blinked, and Davin chuckled. "It's like really potent coffee. It'll
be enough to keep me going until we cover some more ground."

Syeira ambled over. "So where are we going?"

Davin hmmed. "Well...I don't know."

The girls facefaulted. After a long moment, Mika walked over, handing Davin
a steaming cup. Taking a long gulp, Davin stretched. "Ahhh...that's good."

"I've been thinking," Syeira said. "We do still have the Church and that
idiot Stine after us. Shouldn't we try to head someplace where they can't
find us, until the heat dies down?"

"Good point," Davin nodded. "And the only place I can think of where we
could hide out for a while...would be the Ryukin Islands."

"Ryukin?" Marcine echoed. "But how'll we get there?"

"Yeah, it's not like we can head back to Yahl Russa and look for a ship..."

Davin shook his head. "I know of another port. It'll mean a longer trip,
but...there's a port to the northeast of here, at Ashgar."

"Ashgar?" Syeira asked, eyes wide. "I thought that place was just a myth, or
disappeared a long time ago, or something."

Davin chuckled. "No...Ashgar is very much real. It's just that the Nordrir
don't have much contact with outsiders, because  they have the resources to
cover almost all their needs."

"So...we should head for Ashgar, then?" Mika piped up.

"That'd be the best plan," Davin nodded. "We'll have to skirt the Great
Russa Forest to get there. Going through the forest wouldn't be wise...the
moogles don't like human intrusion into their turf."


******


"I assume you are searching for Darovan's Legacy," a voice resonated from a
dark alley.

The masked form of Siegvin turned to face the voice. "What business is it of
yours, demon?"

An old man stepped out of the alley, chuckling. "None. I simply have
information as to their whereabouts that you might find useful."

"At what cost?" Siegvin asked.

"Oh, no special cost. Just...your sword, and the Heartstone of Thunder."

"And what makes you think I have the Heartstone of Thunder?" Siegvin asked,
amused.

The old man chuckled ominously. "We have our ways. One of our agents saw you
slay Thor."

Siegvin tilted his head. "Indeed. So, why should I give it to you?"

"Because I know where they're headed," the old man said simply.

"And I suppose you consider me incapable of finding them on my own," Siegvin
replied.

The old man shrugged.

"Your information does not interest me, demon," Siegvin said at length. "Get
out of my sight, before I do to you what I did to your ally, so long ago."

"As you wish," the old man replied, before disappearing in a fog of
blackness.

As Siegvin turned to walk away, a figure dropped into his path. "Ho,
stranger! Dost mine ears hear true that you seek the fugitive heretics?"

Siegvin considered the odd man before him. He had the look of an assassin
about him, and a good one. Yet, he moved with an almost animal grace that
spoke of... "I might be seeking them, yes. What business is it of yours,
Beastmaster?"

Stine laughed. "You are keenly observant, friend. I, too, am in pursuit of
the vile brigands who continually elude the Citizen's Justice."

*A Beastmaster...a skilled one...but he speaks the words of a fool. And
yet...* "I assume you are offering the avail of your tracking skills, or
else you would not have bothered to present yourself to me."

Stine smiled broadly. "You assume correctly."

"And what price for your services?" Siegvin asked.

"No cost, friend. While I am certain my skills alone are more than enough to
lay low these fiends, they have proven crafty and cunning. Perhaps, however,
with our forces joined, we can smite them justly."

Siegvin chuckled, the sound ringing hollowly behind his mask. "Yes...perhaps
you are right, friend. Perhaps together we can...smite them." He sobered.
"First, however, I require one thing of you."

"And that is?" Stine asked, eyebrow raised.

"Put some clothes on."


******


Storm clouds gathered over the battlefield as the thunder of hoofbeats
increased. A dark figure on a white steed charged into the fray, wreathed in
ethereal flames, a stout spear raised above his head. Time seemed to speed
up as Kyle watched, the dark warrior and the demon clashing.

Time returned to normal speed as the warrior raised the spear above his
head, and shouted something in a language Kyle could not comprehend. The
spear began to flare with a brilliant light, as the warrior thrust it forth,
into the body of the demon. The spear shattered as it passed through the
creature's thick hide, but the damage had already been done. The demon gave
a horrendous screech of pain as holy light poured from its wound, and it
exploded in a brilliant spray of light and ichor. Its six swords buried
themselves in the ground in a loose circle around the mounted warrior.

"...Kyle? Be ye listenin', lad?"

Kyle's head snapped up. "Huh? Wha...?"

"Ye seem t' be out of it, Kyle. Is there a problem?"

Kyle shook his head. "No...no problem. Just...guess my mind wandered a bit.
You were saying?"

Cheney cast Kyle a worried glance, as did Jil. The captain of the Lucky Star
finally shrugged, and said, "We be a day out o' me port at Ashgar. From
there, we continue on t' Yahl Russa."

Kyle nodded, and took a large bite of the bread on his plate. *What are
these...images I keep seeing? Is that Sleeper showing me these visions?*


******


In the murky waters of the Channel, an armada of hideous shahagin swam
fiercely, using the currents to carry them away from the horror behind them.

A bleeding, heavily injured Kraken flailed at them with singed tentacles,
trying vainly to capture a meal to restore its strength.

At the head of the swarm, a large, powerfully built goblinoid snarled. In a
water-garbled voice, he hissed, "Thisss isss the fault of the
humansss...they sssummoned a Sssleeper to defeat Kraken..."

"The humansss have not yet left the Channel, Your Majesssty," one shahagin
commented.

"Then, my followersss...we ssstrike!" And with that, King Dagon of the
shahagin led his troops to battle.


******


Davin, Mika, Marcine, and Syeira marveled at the waters below as they
crossed a great stone bridge spanning the Northern Channel. "Wow...what a
place," Mika commented.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't want to have to take a ship through here. These
waters are dangerous," Davin remarked.

"Seems like somebody didn't tell that ship," Syeira commented, pointing
south.

The others looked, and sure enough, a ship was bravely churning the waters
with a paddlewheel. Davin blinked. "That's the Lucky Star. I'd recognize her
anywhere."

The four travellers leaned against the railing of the bridge, watching the
Lucky Star as it approached. As the ship drew near the bridge, however,
Marcine gasped. "Oh, no..."

"What is it, Marcine?" Davin asked.

Marcine pointed. "Look, on deck. A Dragoon." Indeed, there was a lone
Dragoon standing watch on the deck of the ship.

Davin cursed. "Damn. We'd better get moving before they spot us."

"I think it's too late..." Mika commented. The four looked to the deck
of the ship, where the Dragoon had moved over to peer through a scope 
one of the sailors had been manning. The soldier seemed startled for a 
moment, then promptly ran belowdecks.

"Oh...hell," Davin commented.


******


"Captain!" The Dragoon on watch came running into the galley. "We spotted
the heretics, up on the crossbridge!"

"Heretics?" Jil asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kyle made a mental note to berate the soldier later for discussing such
matters openly, then nodded to his subordinate. "Are you certain?"

"Absolutely certain, sir," the younger Dragoon replied.

Kyle wiped his mouth with his napkin. "If they're on the bridge, they must
be heading east--they were already at Yahl Russa." He frowned. "Where would
they be going, then?"

It was Jil who spoke up next. "Well, if anyone's travelin' east over th'
bridge, it wouldnae be t' go int' th' forest. Not a safe place for humans."
She hmmed. "Maybe they be headin' t' Ashgar?"

"Ashgar?" Kyle asked.

"Aye...tis where I planned t' put int' port t' unload me cargo," Jil
replied.

Kyle thought for a moment. "Well, if they're not in Yahl Russa anymore,
there's no sense in going there. So..." he said at length. "I suppose that
your next stop is our next stop, Captain." *And this whole mess can finally
be resolved...*

"If ye say so, lad," Jil said, finishing her coffee.


******


Night fell without incident. While on the outskirts of the forest, the four
fugitives were setting up camp, the Lucky Star plodded onward, nearing the
mouth of the Northern Channel.

On deck, the night watch stood ready to deal with any problems that might
arise. Below deck, the remaining crew slept peacefully.

Almost all of them, that is...


******


"Humans...we serve them, we protect them, we fight for them, and this is how
they repay us?"

A dark figure stood, clenching a mist-filled orb in one hand and a curved
sword in the other.

"Your words are unwise, brother," a rasping voice spoke from the surrounding
fog. "Your actions are less wise. What you intend is..."

"Is what is right for *me*," the dark figure spoke. "I refuse to be banished
to eternal slumber by the order of weak, foolish, traitorous *humans*." With
that, the dark figure raised his sword, and brought it down upon the sphere.
The crystal cracked, and with a thunderous explosion and a shower of sparks,
split in half, the charred, blackened remains falling to the ground as the
mist within escaped.

Suddenly, lightning crackled, and in a spray of icy mist and a whirling
column of flames, the enforcer of the gods, Tritoch, appeared. A single tear
fell from the beast's eye.

"So, you have come to punish me for my treachery," the dark figure said,
holding his sword loosely. "Then so be it."

Tritoch's blast roared forth, as a whispered echo from the mists spoke the
words of the ancient rite, in a language no human was ever meant to hear.

The dark figure roared in pain as the blast struck him full in the face,
searing his eyes shut for all time. He buried the point of his sword in the
ground to brace himself against the shock.

A voice whispered from the mists, tinged with sorrow, "You are hereby
banished from this realm, stripped of your status. Your name will be
stricken from history, never to be spoken again. You will live forever among
the humans you so despise, blind to their world, never to appreciate its
beauty and the reasons we live to protect it, and them. Go now, fallen king
of the Nordrir. Get thee from our sight!"

And the fallen one faded from view, even as Tritoch returned to its slumber.

And Kyle Cavanaugh witnessed the entire affair.


******

Author's Notes:

Whew. Okay, that's done.

I hope you all enjoy this rewrite. I did my best to create a chapter that
stayed true to continuity, advanced some plotlines I personally wanted
to see advanced, and still remained largely true to KiY's original version
in terms of development and some of the ideas implemented.

Never let it be said that I don't put my money where my mouth is. ^_^