• 1-Chapters 01-05
• 2-Chapters 06-10
• 3-Chapters 11-15
• 4-Chapters 16-20
• 5-Chapter 21
• 6-Chapter 22
• 7-Chapter 23
• 8-Chapter 24
• 9-Chapter 25
• 10-Epilogue

Warnings: Yaoi, language, violence, lemons,
dramatic angst, etc. Need more? Too bad, ‘cause there isn’t any! Rated R – NC17.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Beyblade or anything to do
with it. Only this fic and its OC’s (if
any).

Pairs: TyKa, ReMa, Hilary/Tala,
Lee/Mariah, others to be decided.

*************************************

Chapter
16

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have
we got everything?” Bryan looked over at Tala.

“I
think so.” The redhead replied. “Except my cousin and the Kinomiya. Where the heck are those two?” He turned toward the house to go search but
stopped.

“Kinomiya
Takao! You are not leaving me
behind!” A furious female voice
suddenly shouted, expressing supreme displeasure. It accompanied the young brunette as she
stormed out of the house, her cousin right behind her.

“It’s
too dangerous for you to come along this time, Hilary!” He shouted back as they faced off in the
front gardens, each trying to glare the other down. “I’m not going to allow you to get put in any
situation that might endanger you. You
are staying here.”

Tala
and Bryan
exchanged glances while Hilary gave a frustrated screech and waved her arms in
the air expressively.

“No,
I’m not! This is my fight, too –
remember? I want to help!”

Before
Tyson could snap back, his eyes glittering angrily, Tala spoke up. “I have to agree with Tyson, Hilary. IT would be best if you stayed here in
relative safety…” He broke off at her murderous glare and took a step back,
sweatdropping and holding up his hands in defence. “I’ll just…go over here.” Tala pulled Bryan over to the horses.

“Coward.” Bryan
snickered.

“Shut
up.” Tala smacked him upside the head.

“Hilary…”
Tyson began again.

“NO! I’m coming with you.” She interrupted him stubbornly as Kai and
Kenny came out of the house. “He was my
grandfather, too, Takao!”

Tyson
closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing back the nasty reply he’d been about
to say as he counted to a thousand, and felt a deep pang in his chest at the
mention of their Grandpa. He felt Kai’s
hands come down on his shoulders and squeeze in silent support and he leaned
back into his phoenix unconsciously.

“Yes,
I know.” The bluenette acknowledged
through gritted teeth. “And I understand
you want a piece of the action, cousin.”
He opened his eyes and Hilary flinched at the visible storm of emotion
in his deep blue eyes. “But you forget
that I am the Kinomiya and I am telling you that you will stay here. It is your duty now to stay safe and
alive until we know how this whole thing is going to play out because, Hilary,
if anything happens to me you will be all that’s left and you
will be the Kinomiya. Gramps would never
forgive me if I let something happen to you that I could have prevented.” Tyson stood stiffly, hands clenched tightly
at his sides, eyes blazing.

Hilary
felt all her outrage drain away and she looked up at him sorrowfully. “Takao…”

“You
are staying. There’s nothing more to be
said on the subject.” Tyson walked
briskly past her to the horses where he began securing his meagre belongings in
the saddlebags.

Kai
sighed and looked down at Kenny. “You’ll
be alright here, Kenny?” He asked. He’d already informed his body servant and
squire that he was being left behind for now.
As much as the brunette would have liked to go along and be of service
to his master, Kenny had been a little relieved that he wouldn’t have to fight.

“Yes,
Your Highness. And I promise to protect
Hilary for Tyson while you’re gone.”
Kenny declared in a soft voice.
Kai smiled faintly and gave the brunette a small pat on the head.

“I
know. I’m sure Tyson will feel better
knowing that, too. Thank you, Kenny.”

The
petit teen beamed.

Rei
and Max finally came out then. Rei had
Tabitha in one arm and a bag held in his other hand, and Max had two bundles of
what looked like clothes and blankets in his hands. Both looked a little flustered and tired – as
if they’d gotten very little sleep the previous night.

“Uh…what
are you doing?” Kai inquired
suspiciously, eyeing the bags and the happy chibi bouncing excitedly in her
father’s arms. Max scowled darkly.

“We’re
coming with you and Tyson.” The blonde
informed Kai with a peeved huff. “We
were planning on it anyway, but now that we’ve pretty much been ordered
to go…”

Rei’s
expression became vaguely awed. “We had
a very interesting conversation last night with two old friends of Dranzer and
Dragoon’s.” He explained at Kai’s
confused look. “I never thought I’d
actually ever meet Driger, you know, let alone Draciel, too.”

“Did
they have to keep us awake all night, though!?”
Max complained. “Because between
them, Tabi, and you,” he gave his mate a slight glare and Rei
blushed. “I got practically no sleep at
all last night!” He stomped over to the
horses with the bags.

“Well,
I guess you’re coming along then.” Kai
shrugged. “We can use all the help we
can get, I suppose. I’m drawing the line
at the baby, however.”

Rei
laughed. “Oh no, Kai. We’re going to leave Tabitha with Max’s
parents while we’re gone. In fact…why don’t
Hilary and Kenny stay there, too?” He
looked at the two in question.

“If
the Mizuharas don’t mind…” Hilary nodded.
“It would probably be better if we stayed in the city rather than alone
out here.”

“I’m
sure Judy will be delighted to have you around, Hil.” Rei smiled.
“Max has your stuff. He’s loading
it right now.”

Kenny
looked a little confused. “If that’s our
things, then where are yours and Max’s?”

“I
don’t need anything for myself and Max only needed a couple of things.” Rei replied, holding up the bag in his other
hand. “They’re in here with Tabitha’s
stuff.”

“Oh.”

“Are
we all ready to leave then?” Tyson
demanded, already on his horse and getting impatient. Kai grinned and led Kenny to his horse,
helping the brunette to mount then swinging himself up behind the brunette.

Hilary
gave Wolborg a quick pat on the head before Tala helped her to mount up behind Bryan. He would have been happy to ride with her
himself – if it hadn’t been for the life-and-limb threatening glare he received
from the protective Kinomiya and the fact that Tala didn’t ride. He was going on foot as he always did, the
faithful white wolf at his side. And
Hilary hadn’t thought riding with her cousin was such a good idea either, in
his current mood.

Rei
handed his daughter up to Max. “You get
to ride with Daddy, kitten, okay?” She
squealed and glomped onto the blonde, clinging happily.

“Urk! Daddy has to breathe, Tabi!” Max gasped out, prying her arms from around
his neck gently.

Tala
raised an eyebrow at the neko-jin as he moved away from the horses and joined
him and Wolborg. “Are you not riding
either?”

“Nope.” Rei sweatdropped. “Horses and I don’t get along so well. I think they object to carrying a tiger or
something.”

Kai
snickered and Tala blinked.

“You
know, I nearly forgot you’re not completely human.” The ice-blue eyed warrior shook his head at
himself.

“Alright,
people. Let’s get moving.” Kai nudged his horse in the ribs and led the
way. Tyson moved up beside him, and they
rode side by side in silence.

As
they neared Marchantria, Tyson finally spoke up.

“What
do you suppose Dranzer and Dragoon are up to?”

“I
don’t know. They said they’d be along
when they were done, though, so I wouldn’t worry about it much.” Kai replied.

“I
guess.”

Kai
glanced over his shoulder at Hilary, who was smiling down at Tala, who was
jogging alongside Bryan’s
horse with Wolborg. “Are you going to
talk to Hilary or something before we leave?”
He asked Tyson quietly, looking back toward his lover. Tyson heaved a sigh.

“I
suppose I should. I was a bit hard on
her…but she just made me so mad!”
The bluenette clenched his fingers around his reigns. “For someone who’s so intent on pointing out my
duties and responsibilities she sure managed to forget her own easily! Still…” Tyson slouched in the saddle. “I can understand her.”

“I
think she feels badly, Tyson.” Kenny
piped up softly. Tyson looked at him and
he continued. “I’ve gotten to know her
pretty well and I could tell. I think
she’s feeling guilty for not thinking before she jumped head first into her
desire to be a part of the fight.”

Tyson
was silent for a bit. As they approached
the gates of the city, he ran a hand through his hair and sat up straighter.

“I’ll
talk to her.” He decided aloud. Kai nodded and gave him an encouraging smile.

“You’ll
work it out, love.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The
group rode into the city and made their way through the streets crowded with
early morning shoppers and merchants to Max’s parents’ home. At the gates that separated them from the
short road up to the house, they watched until a young servant girl appeared
and unlatched the gates for them.

“Hi,
Emily!” Max greeted her. “Are my parents busy?”

“Good
morning, Max…Rei.” She gave them a short
bow and motioned them inside. “I don’t
believe Lady Judy and your father are occupied with business today.” Studying those among the group that she
didn’t recognize, she adjusted the spectacles resting on her nose and peered at
them curiously. “May I ask who these
people are? We were not expecting
company today.”

“They
are friends of ours, Emily.” Rei told
her, taking Tabi from Max so he could dismount.
“They are just passing through.”

“I
see.”

“We’re
right behind you, Emily. If you would
let my parents know I’m here…?” Max
requested and the red haired girl bowed shortly before running off toward the
house. Max led the group onward,
following her with the horses.

Kai
looked down at Kenny as the brunette let out a deep sigh. “Kenny?
Something wrong?” He asked.

The
brunette flushed and shook his head hastily.
“No, Your Highness. Not at all.”

“Hn.” The prince gave him an odd look but let it
drop.

Everyone
else on a horse dismounted at the base of the steps leading up to the front
doors of a rather large house, just as a woman with blonde hair to rival Max’s
came out with a welcoming smile on her face.

“Max! Rei!
What a wonderful surprise!
Oh!” She held out her arms to Rei
and he handed Tabitha to her. “My
goodness! Tabitha, you’ve grown so
much!”

“Grams!” Tabi squealed in delight, latching on to her
grandmother with a purr of greeting. Max
grinned.

“Hi,
Mom! I hope you don’t mind all of us
dropping in like this.”

“Of
course not. Come in, everyone.” She looked around at them all, pausing when
she noticed Tyson and Hilary. “Oh! Is that you, Tyson? And Hilary, too?”

“Hey,
Mrs. Mizuhara!” Tyson grinned and
waved. “Yep! It’s us.”

“This
is certainly unexpected but I’m so happy to see you both, and alive and well,
no less.” Judy smiled sadly at
them. “I was very upset when I heard
about your father and brother, Tyson, and then your grandfather, too. Max told us all about it.”

“Thank
you, my Lady.” Hilary accepted her
sympathy for them both.

“Actually,
Mom, that’s sort of why we’re here.” Max
explained. “Ah…Tyson is returning with
Kai to go after Boris and Rei and I are going with them to help, too, so we
were wondering if Tabitha could stay here with you for a while.”

“You’re
what?! Max, you can’t be serious!” Judy stared at him.

“Serious
about what, Judy?” Another voice
inquired. A tall, well-muscled man
appeared from the open doors behind her and walked up beside her.

“He
wants to go to the Empire with Tyson and take on the new Emperor!” Judy informed him. “Max, honey, I know you want to help your old
friends, but…”

“It’s
not just that, Mom.” Max sighed. He’d been expecting this. “We’ve sort of been ordered to go along.”

“Ordered? By whom?”

“Draciel
and Driger, Mother.” Stated Rei,
sweatdropping at their expressions that plainly said he was crazy. “No, really.
I’m not crazy and I’m not making it up.”
He explained the visitation to them and took Max’s hand in his own,
linking their fingers. “I know you’re
worried we’ll get hurt or worse, but I promise we’ll be very careful and I
swear I’ll watch over Max.”

Judy
didn’t look very happy about it, and Kai didn’t think she really believed Rei’s
explanation, either. Deciding he ought
to say something, Kai stepped forward and drew everyone’s attention.

“Listen,
Lady Mizuhara. I realize you have no
reason to trust me or anything that I say, but please hear me out anyway. If Max and Rei say that they have had a
visitation by two of the Gods and been told to help Tyson and I reclaim our
lives and help our people, then I believe them.
We have every reason to believe them, you see, because we also have been
favoured with the presence of two other of the Gods.” He paused, feeling Tyson come up beside him
and slip his hand into Kai’s, squeezing gently.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that, of course, but unimportant at
this time. Dranzer has been with me all
my life, even though I didn’t know it.”

“And
Dragon has come to me just as our legends have foretold.” Tyson put in.
“And they are both coming with us to face Boris. In all honesty, ma’am, we could really use
Max and Rei’s help.”

“And
we’d be honoured to have one of the legendary Mizuharas as well as a leader of
the neko-jin tribes fighting at our side.”
Kai finished quietly.

Judy
exchanged a glance with her lifemate then looked back at their only child. “Well, whether we believe all that or not, we
can’t stop you from going, Max.” She
said with a sigh.

“Just
promise you’ll be careful, okay? Tabitha
needs her parents and we still need our son.”
Max’s father drew the blonde young man into a rough hug. “So come home safe and sound.”

“Most
definitely. Thanks, Dad.” Max hugged back and smiled reassuringly.

“We
promise.” Rei added.

Tyson
sighed in relief and beside him Kai relaxed a bit. There had been a moment there where they had
been sure Max’s parents would refuse to allow Max to leave – even if he was
old enough to have not needed permission.

“We
just have one favour to ask, my Lady.”
Kai waved Kenny forward and dropped a hand on his shoulder.

“Could
Hilary and Kenny stay here with you, also?”
Tyson asked. “As much help as I’m
sure they would be, if anything happens to me it will be up to Hilary to take
my place and help reunite the Clans someday.
She would be the next Kinomiya.”

“And
I want Kenny to be safe and away from the fighting. He’s a good fighter, but…” Kai trailed off,
not sure how to say it without insulting Kenny.

“I’m
not ready for this kind of battle and I’m afraid I’d just get in the way.” Kenny finished for him, looking up at Kai
with a small smile. “I appreciate the
sentiment, though, Your Highness.”

“I’m
sorry, Kenny.”

“It’s
alright, my Lord.”

“Of
course they can stay here.” Judy
nodded. “I would very much enjoy the
company.”

“Thank
you so much.” Tyson smiled. “The Clans owe you both a great debt.”

“Oh
what nonsense.” Judy waved that
off. “I’ve known you and Hilary since
you were in diapers and you’ve been great friends to Max all your lives. It is the least we can do to look after them
for you while you’re gone.”

“Still…thank
you.”

Tala
brought Hilary her bag of belongings and Kai handed Kenny his. “I hate to say it, but if we’re going to make
any distance today we need to get moving, cousin.” The red haired warrior gave Kai a meaningful
look and Kai nodded.

“Yes. We had better go.” The prince agreed.

Max
and Rei took a few moments to say their farewells to the blonde’s parents and
to their daughter.

Tyson
left Kai’s side and went over to Hilary, looking down at the ground as he
prepared to apologize.

“I’m
sorry I was hard on you, Hilary…earlier.
I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”

“No,
Takao. I’m sorry! I didn’t think it all through very clearly
and I got very angry with you about something I shouldn’t have. Not to mention that I forgot about my own
responsibilities to our people.” Hilary
shook her head and sniffled a little, and Tyson gathered her into his arms in a
tight embrace.

“We
both got carried away. But I’ll forgive
you if you’ll forgive me, cousin.”

“Deal. You promise me you’ll be very careful? And that as soon as you and Kai get
everything straightened out you’ll send for me?” She pulled away and looked up at him
pleadingly. “I won’t be able to sleep
well or at all not knowing how you are, Takao.”

“I
promise. Don’t worry, Hilary! Everything’s going to be fine.”

Hilary
hugged him hard once more then pushed him away, sniffling. “Go!
Before I don’t let you.”

Tyson
turned and went to his horse, mounting up.
Bryan and Kai followed and got up onto their horses, too.

Tala
glanced at the Kinomiya once before he simply walked up to Hilary and wrapped
one arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him and leaned down to kiss
her lingeringly.

Tyson
blinked then snarled and raised a hand, blue sparks flashing around it. Kai reached over and bravely laid a hand over
Tyson’s.

“Let
it slide, lover. Just this once.” He advised under his breath.

“What
does he think he’s doing?!” Tyson hissed
but subsided, muttering darkly and glaring hard at the back of Tala’s head.

Tala
slowly broke away, very conscious of the angry glare at his skull but brazenly
ignoring it, and stared down into honey brown eyes that were slightly dazed and
a little surprised. “That was a promise,
Hilary. We’ll see each other again.”

“Uh…yes. Okay.”
The brunette blushed and smiled sadly as he let her go and walked
away. Wolborg whimpered and let Hilary
pat him on the head in farewell before trotting after his master.

“Max! Rei!
We have to go!” Tyson called,
hating to tear them away from their family – but then, he hated nearly
everything about this whole situation.

The
two joined them and with a few final waves and tearful goodbyes, the somewhat
odd team of young warriors began the final journey to set right the wrongs that
had plagued the world for too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riding
(or running) until well past sunset, the group finally found a place to set up
camp and settled in for the night. They
arranged a schedule to keep watch, switching off in pairs. Kai and Tyson stayed up first, sitting
together on a large boulder and sharing a blanket, since the nights turned
quite chilly now in the autumn. Rei and
Max were curled up together near the fire under their own blankets. Tala was asleep, with Wolborg stretched out
next to him, and Bryan
was sitting on the other side of the fire, leaning against a tree, also asleep.

Kai
looked down at his dragon as Tyson let out a sigh that ended on a large
yawn. “Sleepy, huh?”

“A
bit. Just nerves, I guess.” Tyson answered, snuggling closer. “You’re nice and warm.”

“Try
not to worry too much, love. We can’t be
entirely sure what we’ll be up against until we get there.”

“I
know. It’s just…we can’t go fight a
Goddess, can we? Boris aside, that’s who
we’re really going to have to face.”

“Let
us worry about that, Takao.”

Both
teens looked up to see their ancestors standing in front of them, hand in
hand. Next to them were two other people
of similar stature – one male and one female.
The male wore clothes that closely resembled Rei’s in style, but were
multi-shades of greens and browns. He
looked even more neko-jin than Rei, however, with ears that had a more
pronounced pointy, cat-shape to them and a set of piercing golden eyes that
were decidedly feline, and his white and green striped tail was curled tightly
around his waist like a belt. His hair
was a shock of pure green, long and straight, and wrapped in a ponytail that
brushed the ground it was so long – much as Rei’s hair was wrapped, only Rei’s
raven locks were quite a bit shorter.

The
female was a petite little sprite with impossibly curly purple hair framing her
face and her sparkling sapphire blue eyes.
She wore a gown much like Dranzer’s only it shimmered and gleamed in the
moonlight, appearing to reflect the light as a fish’s scales would, in shades
of blues, greens, and purples. Around
her waist was a belt of pearls.

Startled
at the arrival of these new, obviously divine, visitors, Kai and Tyson
exchanged quick glances then looked at their Guardians for an explanation,
unable to form words at the moment.

“Do
they not speak?” The feline male blinked
slowly at the two teens, studying them carefully.

Dragoon
rolled his eyes. “Oh yes. I’m afraid we may have startled them,
though. Takao! Snap out of it, kid.” He snapped his fingers in front of Tyson’s
face and Tyson swatted his hand away.

“Cut
it out, Dragoon!”

“Well…you
were spacing out! And close your mouth,
little dragon. You’ll catch flies that way,
if you leave it hanging open like that.”

Tyson
glowered and pressed his lips together firmly.

“Allow
me to introduce Driger and Draciel. My
friends, these are our descendants: Kai and Takao.” Dranzer hastily made the introductions before
an argument could start up.

“It’s
so wonderful to meet you both!” Draciel
exclaimed, smiling brilliantly at them and skipping over to shake their hands
in greeting. “We’ve heard so much about
you!”

“Uh…nice
to meet you, too.” Kai responded,
resisting the need to sweatdrop at the sprite’s Max-like genki-ness. “May I ask what brings you here?”

Dragoon
crossed his arms over his chest. “Like I
said before, leave Drisana to us.
Dranzer and I were discussing the situation when these two dropped by
and threw in their help.”

“Yes. And neither of us could turn away the
assistance.” Dranzer nodded. “We all discussed it, and together we decided
that it would be best if we faced my little sister together – to drive home the
point that all the wrongs she has done have affected not only myself and
Dragoon but all the inhabitants of this world we’ve been given the duty and
pleasure of protecting.”

“I
don’t understand.” Tyson scratched his
head in confusion. “It hasn’t really
gone that far. It’s mainly
between…well, my family and Kai’s.”

Driger
shook his head. “To a point, that is
correct. However, the blood staining the
earth already – as well as the possibility of even more being spilled if
nothing is done – compels me to do what I can to help solve the problem. And if left unchecked, I believe the evil in
Boris will grow and he will come after my people next. It would be the end of the neko-jin tribes –
not to mention any other demi-human peoples.”

“I
go where Driger goes.” Draciel stated,
dancing back over to him and looping her arm with his as she gazed at him
fondly. “And I will fight because even
the waters here are beginning to be affected by the deeds of that evil
man.” She leaned her head on Driger’s
shoulder and her eyes glimmered with tears.
“The rivers and streams and even the lakes within the Empire are
becoming little better than murky pools of sludge and death – if they remain at
all. So many have run dry…”

Kai’s
eyes widened in distress. “You’re
kidding me. How is that possible?” Tyson made a noise of sympathy and agreement
with his question, leaning against Kai.

“I
wish they were kidding, young phoenix.”
Dragoon sighed and ran a hand though his spiky, white hair. “It’s happening and it’s possible because
that is what evil does. It corrupts and
then seeps out into everything it comes into contact with – spreading like a
plague and increasing in strength as it grows.”

“It
has to stop.” Dranzer’s ruby red eyes
blazed in the darkness. “It will
stop.”

There
were nods of agreement all around.

“Perhaps
you should wake up whoever is next to stand watch and get your sleep.” Draciel suggested when Tyson yawned sleepily
once more.

“What
time is it, anyway?” The bluenette
asked.

“Just
after midnight.” Dragoon answered. “Draciel’s right. Go get some rest, Takao. We just wanted to introduce you and the young
phoenix to Driger and Draciel.”

Kai
nodded and stood up. “It was a pleasure
to meet you both.” He said, bowing
shortly from the waist, in respect.
“It’s Max and Rei’s turn so if you want, you can stick around and keep
them company.”

Driger
stretched lazily, a large yawn of his own flashing a set of sharp-looking
fangs. “I’d rather sleep,
actually.” He said, looking down at
Draciel as she tugged on his arm.
“What?”

“We
should stay up.” The little deity gave
him her most adorable pout and Kai and Tyson stared, trying not to laugh, when
Driger groaned and pretty much caved in immediately.

“
‘Ciel, little sprite, that’s just not fair.”

“Yay!” She cried, knowing he’d given in, and jumped
up into his arms, curling her own around his shoulders and neck and planting
tiny little kisses all over his face.
The White Tiger sighed and his tail uncurled from around his waist to
encircle the bundle of genki Water Goddess in his embrace, emitting a soft
purr.

Dranzer
shook her head and flashed into her phoenix form, flying up to perch in a high
tree branch for the night. Dragoon
sweatdropped at their friends and waved at the two demi-humans before taking
his dragon form and floating up to join his mate.

“Uh…Rei
and Max will be over in a moment.” Kai
declared, tugging Tyson off toward the fire to wake up the neko-jin and the
blonde.

After
doing so, the couple cuddled up together near the fire and let the steady
beating of one another’s heartbeats lull them to sleep.

*~*~*~Tyson’s
Dream*~*~*~

“What
the…? Oh, not this again.” Tyson groaned, recognizing the blank
whiteness of everything around him.
“Gramps? You here?”

“Right
here, T-man!” His grandfather’s voice
declared loudly from directly behind him, startling him badly and making him
jump.

“AH! How many times do I have to tell you not
to do that?!”

The
elder Kinomiya waved that away. “Never
mind that, Takao. We have more important
things to discuss.”

“Such
as? And where have you been,
anyway? I haven’t talked to you since
just before I transformed for the first time.”
Tyson folded his arms over his chest.
“Did you not want to talk to me or something? Have I done something wrong?”

“Oh,
nonsense. There was no reason for me to
come to you again, then, Takao. His
Divine-ness was with you and he told you everything you needed to know. I had nothing to add.” Gramps reached out and ruffled his grandson’s
hair. “Except to tell you how proud I am
of you and how I approve of the agreement you have reached with the
Hiwatari. But I assume you already knew
that?”

“I
do now.” Tyson blushed hotly and looked
at the ground. “So…you don’t mind that
I’ve chosen Kai to be my lifemate? And
his choice of me?”

Gramps
snorted. “Of course I don’t mind. Even a blind man could see how much the two
of you love each other. I have to admit
I wasn’t entirely sure about him at first, but I’ve observed him and now I
think he’s very much your equal in every way that matters. He is a worthy mate for the Kinomiya.”

Tyson
looked up at the old man and sniffled, wiping away a single tear and smiling
happily. “Thanks, Grandpa. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“It’s
just the truth, Takao. Now…” Gramps
dusted off his hands in a business-like manner.
“About why I’ve come to you this time…”

“Yeah?” Tyson asked eagerly – though he was a bit
wary at the same time because he was seriously hoping it wasn’t more bad news.

“I
have something to give you.” Gramps
grinned and suddenly held out a shiny, brand new sword to his grandson. The polished blade was made of gleaming
obsidian, and inlaid in the blade itself was an intricate pattern of a sinuous
dragon of pure silver with two sparkling blue sapphires for eyes. Tyson gasped as he recognized the sword.

“That’s
our family sword! The one that you said
is gone! How…?”

“Let’s
just say I have friends in high places.”
Gramps winked at him and laughed.
“The sword isn’t meant for battle, mind you. It’s purely for ceremonial purposes. But I want you to carry it with you when you
go up against Boris. And when you win,
Takao…”

Tyson
reached out and accepted the beautiful weapon when the elder Kinomiya offered
it to him hilt first. “We don’t know
that we will win…” he began, but Gramps cut him off.

“When
you win, I think you’ll need that sword to gather the Clans once more and
start over – and be expecting a small miracle when you do, little dragon. Something will happen to that sword and it
will help the Clans to accept not only your leadership of them, but Kai’s as
well.”

Tyson
looked down at the blade for a moment then glanced back up at his grandfather,
hugging the sword close to himself.
“Okay, Gramps. I promise I’ll
take good care of this until then.”

“I
know you will, Takao. Now, I think you
should sleep. You need all the rest you
can get for the coming days. I know the
future still seems uncertain and that you aren’t sure what the outcome will be,
but have faith and trust in yourself, Takao, and things will be just fine.”

Gramps’
words echoed quietly in Tyson’s mind as he slowly disappeared and Tyson fell
into a peaceful state of slumber once more.

*~*~*~
End of Tyson’s Dream*~*~*~

*************************************

Chapter 17

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai
awoke slowly the next morning, feeling warm and content with Tyson surrounding
him under their shared blankets. The bluenette
was spooning the phoenix from behind Kai, one arm curled around Kai’s waist,
one leg slipped between Kai’s and tangled with his, and his face buried against
the back of Kai’s neck. The crimson-eyed
prince could feel his lover’s breath flutter evenly over his skin as he
breathed.

The only
problem was that Kai was a bit uncomfortable.
The ground wasn’t exactly a soft mattress, after all.

And what the hell was poking him in the
back, anyway?

Kai
shifted away from the object slightly.
Or at least he tried. Tyson’s arm
tightened around his waist and the phoenix heard a muffled mutter of annoyance
near his ear. Sighing, the captive teen
tried rolling over instead, so he could at least face his lover – and see what was protruding into his
lower back and along his spine. Somehow
he managed it, without disturbing Tyson very much.

What the…?
A sword?! Where did this come
from? Kai blinked owlishly at the
gleaming, glossy obsidian blade between himself and the dragon. It’s
not even a real one. Hn…very nice
craftsmanship, though. Looks kind of
ceremonial or something. I wonder where
it came from… Reaching toward it, he
drew a fingertip along the smooth, flat side of the sword. Immediately he felt a curious burning
sensation tingle over his skin, and the blade glowed red softly. Kai’s eyes widened and he took his hand
away. The glow stopped and the weird
sensation ceased.

Fascinated,
he did it again. And again. And again…until he noticed Tyson stir, open
his sleepy, stormy eyes and begin to purr as their eyes met.

“Good
morning, my love.” The bluenette
whispered in a husky voice. “Having fun
playing with that?”

“Good
morning. And I was not playing with it. I
was…experimenting.” Kai sniffed
indignantly, a small swath of red painting the bridge of his nose. “Where’d this thing come from, anyway? And what’s it for?”

“Uh…you’re
not going to believe this, but…” Tyson explained about his dream to Kai. The prince stared at him silently for a
moment.

“You’re
serious?” He said eventually.

“Very. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the
truth.”

“Huh. Well, if you say that’s how it happened, then
I believe you.” Kai smiled at little and
traced Tyson’s features with a fingertip, flicking away a lock of blue hair
from his eyes. “You’re going to need
something to carry that with.”

“I’m
sure Max can come up with something.”
Tyson replied, confident that his best friend would have an idea or
two. “I guess we have to get up, huh?”

Kai
glanced up at the sky, which was just beginning to turn a hazy blue as the sun
rose. “Yeah. We’ll wake up Max and Rei, get Tala and Bryan back over to the
fire, and make a quick breakfast.”

“Sounds
good!”

“But
first…” Kai slid his fingers into Tyson’s hair and leaned in to press his lips
to his dragon’s softly. Tyson sighed and
his eyes drooped heavily, raising a hand and placing it against Kai’s cheek as
they kissed one another leisurely. After
a long moment, they broke apart and reluctantly sat up.

Kai went
to find Tala and Bryan
(who had had the last watch), while Tyson woke up Max and Rei, then went about
stoking the fire up once again so they could make breakfast.

After
everyone had eaten, cleaned up, and packed up, the group started off on another
day of travel.

Dranzer
flew along high above their heads while Dragoon took the typical, lazy route
and rode curled around his descendant’s shoulders and upper body.

To the
royal couple’s surprise, Driger and Draciel also tagged along. Driger had transformed into a small, white
tiger cub and jogged alongside Rei as he ran.
Draciel rode comfortably in the hood of Max’s travel cloak in a
miniature version of her tortoise form.

They
rode on for a full day, and as the sun was beginning to set, the group reached
the border lands between Oceanus and the Empire.

“Well?” Tala looked up at his cousin from beside
Kai’s horse. “What do you think?” They were observing the border from a safe
distance away, hidden by a grove of trees and bushes. Kai eyed the soldiers wearing Imperial
uniforms.

“Border
patrols.” Kai gave an indelicate
snort. “Wonderful. This is where we snuck across before, and
there just aren’t that many places to do that between Oceanus and the Empire,
what with the river and all…”

“Yeah. So do you have any ideas?”

“Not
really. Short of going over there and
picking a fight, the only other options we have at this point are to either go
way out of our way and see if we can find a ferryman willing to take us across
the river somewhere to bypass the bridges…”

“Or we
wait until it’s dark enough and try to sneak through between patrols?” Tala guessed.
“Risky either way.”

“You got
it.” Kai sighed and glanced at
Tala. “What do you think?”

“If it
were my decision, I’d wait until dark. I
don’t think any of us want to waste time running up and down the border just to
avoid confrontation.” Tala replied.

“I was
kind of thinking that, too.” The
crimson-eyed prince agreed. “Let’s go
back to the others and see what they think.”

The
redhead nodded and snickered quietly.

“What?” Kai glared at him, turning his horse and
nudging him forward.

“You
can’t make a decision on your own anymore?
You have to discuss it with your better half?”

“I do
not! I’m just being courteous! The others are along for this fight of their
own free will and so they will make the decision to follow or not for
themselves…”

“Okay! Okay!
Don’t get your bow in a twist, cousin.
I’m just teasing.” Tala held up
his hands and waved them hastily at the deep scowl the prince was giving
him. “Boy, you’re sure touchy today.”

Kai
looked away and grumbled, “Sorry. I
guess I’m a little on edge.” Tala just
gave him a look and jogged on ahead through the trees to where the others were
waiting.

“Welcome
back, guys.” Max greeted them. “So how’d the situation look?”

“It’s
going to be tricky.” Tala informed them,
patting Wolborg on the head when the white wolf came up to him, wagging his
tail. “Hey, pal.”

“Kai? What’s the situation?” Tyson asked as the prince rode up beside him.

“Border
patrols. I figure they rotate, riding up
and down the border, so that there’s always at least one patrol group at any
one place – with maybe a few minutes between.”
Kai explained. “If we wait until
dark, and we time it right, we may be able to use those few minutes to sneak
across the border.”

“Otherwise,”
Tala added. “We’d have to go out of our
way, move toward the river, and try to find someone willing to ferry us across
– and we’d probably still have to get past the patrols.”

“Fabulous.” Rei growled an expletive under his breath. “Either way we’ll risk confrontation.”

“Exactly.”

“Then we
might as well just try to cross here.” Bryan put his vote
forward. “It seems to me that right
where we are is the best place with the least amount of risk. I mean, if we tried the river, there’s too
much chance that if we ended up fighting any patrols, someone could get shoved
in the water and swept away or something.
The currents are strong and the waters deep.”

“I agree
with Bryan.” Tyson sighed.
“Less risk to the horses, too.”

“Is
everyone agreed then?” Kai asked. Max and Rei nodded and Tala yawned.

“Doesn’t
really matter to me, either way, cousin.
I’m ready for whatever comes.”

“Hn.” Kai grunted.
“Let’s just settle down right here for a while then. We’ll eat, rest up some, and wait for
dark.” He got down of his horse and tied
the reigns to a tree branch. Then he
looked up and let out a whistle, calling for Dranzer.

A shrill
cry answered and seemingly out of no where the beautiful firebird descended
from the skies, swooping in to land on Kai’s offered forearm. Tyson dismounted and left his horse with the
prince’s, joining his lover.

“Hey,
Dranzer! Have a good flight?” He inquired, smiling when she cooed at
him. Kai stroked her feathers fondly in
greeting.

“We’re resting
here until dark, Beautiful.” Kai told
her when she gave him an inquiring look.
“We’ll sneak past the border patrols then, but I was thinking it would
be a good idea to have a destination in mind so that we can go there
immediately instead of just riding around in the dark blindly.” He stopped speaking when a light purr issued
from the Dragon God curled around Tyson and Dranzer looked at him., answering
with a questioning trill. There was a
flash of light and Dragoon suddenly stood beside Tyson in his human form. Dranzer gave a final squawk and launched
herself back up into the air from Kai’s arm, flying off.

“Dranzer
went to scout out a hiding spot for us.
I told her to keep an eye out for any dragons that might still be in the
area because they would know of any good spots to hide.” Dragoon explained.

“Oh. Okay.”
Tyson shrugged. “Are you hungry,
love? I could use a bite to eat.” The bluenette clasped Kai’s hand in his own,
linking their fingers, and tugged him toward where Rei was digging out food
from the saddlebags on Max’s horse. Kai
just rolled his eyes at his lover’s fathomless stomach and followed along
unresisting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dranzer
reappeared shortly before night descended on the group. Taking her human form, she sat next to her
lifemate on a moss-covered log and informed them that she’d found an abandoned
cabin in the woods on the other side of the border, hidden deep within the
trees.

“It’s
not much to look at, but it will do just fine for what we need.” She said.

“You’ll
have to lead us there when we get clear of the patrols.” Kai told her, nodding in acceptance. “Thanks, Dranzer.”

“My
pleasure.”

“Alright. Let’s get everything together and go wait for
our opportunity to cross.” Kai stood up,
dusting his pants off. “And remember, if
we end up having to fight anyone, wound only to knock them unconscious and
incapacitate them. Try not to kill
anyone if you can avoid it.”

“I still
say it would be smarter to just kill them, Kai.” Tala grumbled.

“No. Kai’s right.”
Tyson disagreed. “Dead bodies
attract more attention than people who are knocked unconscious. Whoever finds them would be more likely to
think they were ambushed by bandits or something than by fugitives entering the
Empire illegally.”

“Don’t
worry about it, Tala.” Max said to him
as they made their way toward the tree line.
“Tyson and Kai wouldn’t steer us wrong.”

“Hmph.”

The four
deities took their non-human forms once more as the group stopped at the edge
of the trees and peered through the dark at the borderlands.

{Until
we get to Bay City
and confront Boris, Takao, we will remain in our other forms like this,
otherwise Drisana could sense us and be forewarned of your coming.} Dragoon informed his descendant
mentally. {I hope you don’t mind.}

{Oh
no. Not at all. Do what you think best, Dragoon. I’ll let the others know later, okay?} Tyson responded, Dragoon agreed by purring
quietly as he wrapped his coils around the bluenette’s shoulders and waist once
again.

“I can
still see the dust in the air from when the last patrol went by.” Rei declared, his golden-eyes scanning the
area quickly. “And here comes another.”

“Then
when they ride past, we make a break across the border and try to get to that
forest Dranzer told us about.” Kai said
in a commanding tone. “Go as quickly and
quietly as we can.”

Everyone
agreed and the wait began.

Kali
watched the patrols intently for an hour or so, making sure they really would
have enough time to make the dash stealthily through the dark and past the
Imperial guards.

“Okay. Get ready.”
He whispered to the group. “As
soon as the next patrol goes by, go and follow Dranzer.”

There
was a tense moment of silence while they all waited and watched as another
group of guards rode by. As soon as they
were out of sight, Kai gave the signal and Dranzer launched herself into the
air from her tree branch.

The
group rode out, keeping close together and quiet. Kai led the way, Tyson right beside him, as
they followed the firebird over the border and off into the deep woods that
were located well into the lands of the Empire.

{So far
so good.} Tyson murmured to the dragon
curled around him. {Do you think we made
it past the patrols without being noticed?}

{Don’t
count on it, Takao. But it seems like
it.} Dragoon responded. {Just keep your guard up. From now on, we won’t be completely safe
until Boris is gone and we’ve dealt with Drisana.}

{Believe
me, Dragoon, I don’t plan on it.}

{I
know. I just thought I’d say it
anyway. Oh! Dranzer’s circling. We must be at the cabin.}

Tyson
looked up, peering through the darkness, and spotted a faint red blur circling
overhead. He looked over at Kai and
their eyes met for a brief second, silently acknowledging their arrival. Almost as one simultaneous movement, the two
slowed to a halt and slid off their horses.
Kai held out an arm in time to let Dranzer land when she ghosted down to
join them.

“Let’s
get inside everyone.” The phoenix said
in a hushed voice. He gestured toward
the cabin and followed Tyson, who led the way inside.

“That
was totally nerve-wracking.” Max said,
shutting the door behind them. He looked
around the single room, the only light coming in from the two windows that were
grimy and dirty. “Looks like this place
hasn’t been used in years.”

“Bryan
and I will take the first watch.” Tala
declared. Bryan nodded his agreement. “The rest of you might as well get what rest
you can.”

“You
sure, Tala?” Kai glanced over at him.

“Yeah. I’m too wired to sleep right now
anyway.” Tala nodded, rocking back and
forth on his feet.

“This I
can see.” The prince shook his head and
waved Tala and Bryan
away. “Okay. Go on.”

“Let’s
get the blankets and stuff from the horses, Max.” Rei tugged his mate back outside, following
Tala and Bryan.

{Dranzer
and I will stay outside and keep an eye on things, as well, Takao. Sleep well, little dragon.} Dragoon purred and unwound himself from
around Tyson’s shoulders, weaving his way through the air and out the
door. Dranzer winged her way after him,
leaving the two alone for a few moments until Max and Rei returned.

The
neko-jin and the blonde took up the space on the floor under one window and
were joined by Driger and Draciel. Tyson
arranged one blanket on the floor opposite them along the far wall. He and Kai curled up together under their
other blanket, and Tyson gently rubbed his thumb over Kai’s lips as they stared
into each other’s eyes in silence for a while, until they couldn’t stay awake
any longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For
another three days and nights they rode, moving slowly, and being as stealthy
as they could to avoid the frequent patrols they noticed seemed to be
everywhere.

“Boris
must be incredibly paranoid.” Max said
as they watched another group of Imperial guards ride by on the road from their
hiding place in the bushes near the road.
“Or are there usually so many guards running around the Empire?”

“No.” Kai shook his head. “Either he’s trying to keep rebellions from
breaking out or he is paranoid and knows we’re going to come after him
eventually.”

“That
and he’s just insane.” Tala added.

“Can’t
argue with that.” Tyson made a face.

“Let’s
go.” Bryan motioned everyone to follow him. “Before another patrol comes by and we’re
discovered.”

“We
should be getting close to Bay City
by now.” Kai murmured to Tyson as they
rode farther down the road. “Once we
reach the walls, we’ll have to leave the horses outside the city and sneak in
through hone of the other secret exits/entrances.”

Tyson
nodded. “It’ll probably be easier to
sneak around the city without the horses, anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“You
know, cousin, it would probably be better if we left the horses somewhere at a
distance from the city rather than just outside the walls.” Tala pointed out. “Someone is bound to see the horses if we
just left them there and get curious about them – and where their owners are. I think we should find a farm willing to
stable them for us instead.”

Kai
frowned thoughtfully, mulling over that logic for a moment. “Perhaps you’re right, Tala. Do you know of any place that would be
willing to stable them?”

“Of
course I am.”

“There’s
an in within an hour’s walk of the city that we Royal Guards frequented
often.” Bryan suggested, preventing an argument. At the others’ looks of curiosity, he flushed
a bit and grumbled, “What? We weren’t
allowed to ‘consort’ with the Palace maids – or each other for that matter –
anywhere within the city. So we’d go to
the inn instead.”

“Actually,
we weren’t supposed to have relationships of any kind at all but that didn’t
stop a lot of us.” Tala grinned
wickedly. “Much to Boris’ disgust.”

Tyson
narrowed his eyes at Tala. “I really
hope you aren’t thinking of taking my cousin to this inn, Tala, because I’d
really hate to have to hunt you down and…”

“Come,
now, Kinomiya…I would never think of doing any such thing to Lady Hilary. She means too much to me and I respect her
more than that.” Tala defended himself. Wolborg let out a yip that sounded
suspiciously like an agreement. The
bluenette just gave them both a warning scowl and Kai sighed and decided to
intervene before an argument started.

“Alright,
you two. Tyson, love, let it rest. And Tala, keep your thoughts on the task at
hand, please. Focus, cousin.”

“Look,
the inn’s a good place to leave the horses.
Max and Rei can pose as travellers and take them in for us and then
rejoin us to move on to the Palace.” The
red-headed warrior said. “None of the
rest of us can go near the place without being spotted and recognized so it’ll
have to be them.”

“It’s
fine with us.” Rei agreed. “Kai?
Tyson?”

They
looked at one another. “What do you
think?” Kai inquired.

“It
sounds like a decent plan to me, Kai.
Tala’s right about leaving the horses outside the city walls – though I
hate to admit it.” The dragon grimaced
and Tala shot him a look.

“Why
does everyone pick on me? And why can’t
you people just trust me for once?
Especially you, cousin!”

“Who
said we don’t?” Kai shot back. “Honestly, Tala, you wouldn’t be here right
now if Tyson and I didn’t trust you…” the hard stare he gave his cousin was
scary and cold. The red head looked
away, unable to hold that gaze very long.

“I’m
sorry, Your Highness.” Tala apologized
softly. “I didn’t…I mean, I know I’m not
always the most reliable person in the world, but this time…”

Kai
closed his eyes and reigned in his horse, forcing the others to stop, too. “Forget it, Tala. We’re all on edge and it’s making
us…disagreeable. I know you too well,
cousin, and I have always known where your true loyalties lie. Besides, I owe you.”

Tala’s
head whipped around to stare at Kai in surprise and confusion. “You owe me?
For what?”

“I’d
never have made it through Boris’ training and…the punishments for failure if
it hadn’t been for you – and you, also, Bryan.” The prince gave them a tiny smile, though
Tyson could see the haunted look in his crimson eyes. “in a way, you two helped make me who I am
today.”

“Urk.” Tala winced. “No offence, Kai, but that’s a
very scary thought.”

“Maybe. But it’s still the truth.”

“So
where is this inn,, anyway? Are we
nearing it?” Rei wanted to know, sensing
the need to break up the solemnity of the conversation and turning it back on
track again.

“Not
much farther. About another mile or so
down this road, I’d guess.” Bryan responded.

“Maybe
we should walk the rest of the way?” Max
looked at Rei.

“It’ll
have to wait.” Tyson said suddenly. Everyone looked at him and saw his grim
expression as he stared back up the road in the direction they’d come from..

“Oh,
great.” Tala sighed. “Looks like we’ve been discovered.”

“Imperial
soldiers.” Bryan shook his head, drawing his sword with
one hand while grasping the reigns of this horse firmly with the other.

“Kai?” Tyson questioned, drawing his horse up next
to Kai’s.

“They’ve
seen us. We have no choice but to
fight.” The prince confirmed. He could hear the shouts and exclamations as
the soldiers hurried toward them.

“Uh…guys? Would this be a bad time to mention I’m not a
warrior?” Max clutched his reigns.

“Don’t
worry, buddy, and stick close to me.
You’ll be fine.” Tyson pulled a
sword from the sheathe on his saddle and tossed it to the blonde. “But just in case, hang onto that.”

“But…”

“I don’t
need it, Max.” Tyson looked back at the
soldiers and a light breeze came up, rustling their clothes and hair as well as
the leaves on the trees around them that had already undergone their autumn
transformation to fall colours of reds, oranges, browns, and yellows. His eyes went stormy silver-blue and Dragoon
uncurled from around his shoulders and floated up and way.

{Dranzer,
Draciel, Driger and I will stay out of the fight for now, Takao. We’re too close to Drisana to use our powers
now. We’d never be able to sneak up on
her.}

{Sure. We can handle it, Dragoon.}

The
Imperial soldiers rode up to them and surrounded the group in a half-circle,
weapons steadily directed at them.

“You
dare to return and show your faces in the Empire, you filthy traitors!” One of them shouted. “By order of His Majesty, Emperor Boris…”

“And you
pathetic weaklings dare speak so to me and call that evil, murdering
bastard, Boris, by my rightful
title?” Kai glowered at the one who’d
spoken. “No, soldier, how dare you.”
Faster than anyone could see the phoenix had drawn an arrow and loosed
it on the soldier, piercing his armour easily, as if he wasn’t even wearing
it. The man toppled over with a stunned
cry and the arrow suddenly burst into flame, consuming him.

“We will
give you all one opportunity to leave without further struggle.” Tala called out, leaning casually against
Kai’s horse as he eyed the soldiers disdainfully. “You must know you have no chance against
us. It would be foolish to waste your
lives for the monster who has usurped the throne.”

The
soldiers exchanged glances among themselves, obviously unsure what course of
action to take. Then one of them stepped
forward, brandishing his sword in a threatening manner, and said, “Do not listen
to them, men! They are trying to
confuse and weaken us! Attack! For the Empire, attack!”

“Well, I
tried.” Tala shrugged and the battle
began. The soldiers charged and soon the
sounds of fighting filled the evening quiet and the metal of the swords flashed
in the rapidly fading daylight.

Many of
the soldiers fell without much effort, but some of the older, more experienced
ones managed to hang on and put up a better fight. However, as Tala had said, they were not
match for their opponents, and the fight soon ended.

Rei blew
a loose strand of hair out of his eyes, breathing heavily. “Is everyone okay? Maxie?”

“I’m
fine, Rei. You?” the blonde slid off his horse and checked his
mate over. “You’ve got blood on
you. Are you wounded?”

“No. It’s all theirs.” Rei’s fangs glinted and he jerked a thumb
over his shoulder at the bodies littering the ground.

“Kai?” Tala dusted his hands off in a business-like
manner and looked up at his cousin.
“You’re not hurt are you?”

“I’m
fine. But…” The crimson eyed teen was
looking around worriedly. “Where’s
Tyson?”

The red
head blinked and began looking around, too.
“I don’t know. Tyson!?” He called, moving to check the dead and
silently praying that the bluenette wasn’t among them.

“Over
here!” Bryan’s voice suddenly echoed. “He’s over here! I need a hand, though…”

The
others hurried over and Kai slid off his horse, moving to Tyson’s side
quickly. The dragon was partially
trapped under his horse, which had a large gaping sword wound in it’s side.

“Tyson!” Kai reached out and laid a palm against his
forehead.

“I’m
okay, love.” The bluenette winced when
he tried to move. “Ow! Damn it!
Someone get this horse off of me!”

Tala,
Bryan, and Max worked together to lift the dead weight of the poor animal off
of Tyson long enough for Kai and Rei to pull him out of the way.

“You
take care of him, cousin. We’ll see to
the clean-up.” Tala motioned the others
away and led them over to hide the evidence of the battle, leaving Kai and Tyson
alone for a while.

“Is
anything broken?” Kai asked softly,
gently running his hands over his lover’s legs and torso, checking for broken
bones and ribs. “What happened?”

“I don’t
think I broke anything.” Tyson flinched
when he tried moving his arm. “Ow! But my shoulder is killing me and I can’t
feel my arm…”

Kai
probed carefully with his fingers and Tyson let out a small pained noise. “Sorry, love.
It’s just dislocated. I can set
it again for you and that will hurt – a lot – but after it should stop hurting
so much, though it will be sore for a while.”

“Great. Fine, Kai.
Just do it.” Tyson grimaced in
pain. Dragoon and the other deities
returned, Driger and Draciel sitting together nearby on the ground while
Dranzer perched herself on an overhanging tree branch. The Dragon God encircled his descendant’s
upper body and held on firmly, looking to Kai for a brief moment as the prince
grasped Tyson’s arm and braced himself for what he had to do.

{I will
hold him, young phoenix.} Dragoon assured
him. Tyson closed his eyes and took a
few deep breaths.

“Ready,
Tyson? On three…” Kai took a deep breath
himself and said, “Three!” sharply twisting and creating a loud popping sound
as his dragon’s shoulder joint slipped back into place. Tyson let out a choked howl of intense pain
and a few tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Fuck!” He cursed, whimpering and clutching his arm
to his chest protectively. After the
initial pain began to recede, though, he found Kai to be right and that he
could feel his arm again. Dragoon let
him go with a soothing purr and floated upward to join Dranzer.

Kai
pulled Tyson into his arms and buried his face in Tyson’s hair with a
shuddering sigh. He fought back the
nausea that had welled up in his stomach at the sound of Tyson’s shoulder and
his cry of pain. “I’m sorry, Tyson. Is it any better?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”
Tyson leaned against Kai’s chest wearily and flexed his fingers, working
the feeling back into them and to get the blood flowing again. “It wasn’t your fault, Kai.”

“I know,
but I’m still sorry for the pain I had to cause you to put your shoulder
right.” Kai apologized again, brushing
his lips across Tyson’s brow. “How’d you
end up under your horse, anyway?”

“One of
the soldiers tried to make a break for it – probably to run and get help – so I
went after him to stop him. But he
dodged to the side just in time to avoid me riding him down and stuck his sword
in my horse, the bastard.” Tyson growled
a little. “My horse just keeled over and
I landed on my shoulder, which is probably how I dislocated it.”

“You’re
lucky it wasn’t worse than that.” Kai
felt a chill at the possibilities.
“Gods.”

“Hey. I’m okay, though. No use dwelling on the could-have-beens,
beloved.” Tyson looked up into Kai’s
eyes and drew his mouth down to meet his own with his good hand. Kissing him slowly, with a reassuring sort of
gentleness, Tyson pressed his lips to Kai’s firmly and held them there for
quite sometime, until he felt the tension in his lover’s body drain away and
relax slightly. Then he pulled back and
smiled. “I love you.”

Kai
wanted to melt into a puddle but refrained with admirable restraint, flushing a
little. “I love you. Come on, Tyson. Let’s get up, shall we?” He helped the bluenette stand and wrapped an
arm around his waist when Tyson teetered shakily on his feet.

“Whoa. Vertigo.”
Tyson shook his head to clear it and make his ears stop ringing, leaning
against Kai willingly for support.

The
others had buried the bodies of the soldiers and were working to hide the
burials by spreading dead leaves and broken twigs and branches around. When it was done, they used the last of their
water supply to clean themselves up a bit – especially Re and Max, who had to
be fairly clean when they took the horses to the inn to get them stabled. Rei had to change his clothes, too, since the
ones he wore were white and had blood on them.

Just as
they were preparing to leave, Bryan
stepped up and slapped a cloth pouch that jingled into each of their hands.

“Take these. It’s the money those soldiers had on
them. Use it to pay the innkeeper for
stabling the horses and promise more if they’re well taken care of when we
return.” The lavender haired warrior
instructed.

“I don’t
know…” Max hesitated, eyeing the purse with distaste.

“I know
what you’re thinking, Max.” Kai shook
his head. “But I don’t think they care
what you do with it, wherever those soldiers might be now. Consider it their contribution to getting
Boris off the throne.”

“Well…I
suppose. It just feels wrong – like
we’re stealing from the dead, or something.”

“Let’s
go, Maxie. We should all get out of here
before we’re caught again.” Rei ushered
his mate away, leading Kai and Bryan’s
horses while Max led his own. “Be safe,
guys.”

“You,
too.” Tyson nodded, waving. “You know where to meet us?”

“Yep. We’ll see you again soon.”

The
group split up then – Max and Rei heading for the inn while Kai, Tyson, Bryan,
and Tala made their way toward Bay City and their ultimate destination: the Imperial
Palace, Boris, and the dark phoenix Goddess, Drisana.

****************************

Chapter 18

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai
pulled the hood of his cloak up more, huddling into the woollen material in a
vain effort to keep warm. By the time
they’d reached the outer walls of Bay
City, it had begun to rain – an outright downpour.

“Well,
on the bright side, the rain and mist will help make it easier for us to be
stealthy.” Tyson said quietly, doing his
best to be optimistic. “There won’t be
as many people out and about in this weather.”

“True. But we’ll still need to be careful,
Kinomiya.” Tala pointed out. Bryan
nodded in agreement, absently petting Wolborg, who was sitting between the two
warriors as they all sat under the shelter of a grove of small trees.

“I just
wish Max and Rei would hurry.” Kai said,
shivering. “I don’t like being out here
in the open like this. It’s too easy to
be spotted and caught.”

“It’ll
be okay, Kai.” Tyson reached out and
took one of Kai’s hands between his own, rubbing it to warm his cold skin in
reassurance. “Oh! Beloved, your hands are like ice cubes.”

“I’ve
never done well in storms.” Kai
admitted. “It’s like they leech the heat
right out of me.”

{This
storm is an abnormal one, Takao.} Dragoon’s
voice put in, a frown in his tone. Tyson
sent a questioning thought to him and the Dragon God sighed. {Let me think about it more.} Tyson nodded and looked back down at Kai.

“Well,
just hold on a little while longer and you’ll be warm and dry soon.” Tyson pulled the prince to his chest and
wrapped his arms and his own cloak around them both. “There.
Any better?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

Tyson
nodded, not saying anything even though he knew his lover was lying. The crimson-eyed prince was still shivering. He looked over at Tala and Bryan.
“How about you two?”

“We’re
fine, Kinomiya. Wolborg’s keeping us
warm with this nice fur coat of his.”
Tala scratched the white wolf’s ears fondly.

“I just
hope my sword doesn’t get all rusted from this rain.” Bryan
muttered, scowling darkly at the weather.

Wolborg
raised his head from his paws, ears twitching, and suddenly a rather wet,
white-furred tiger cub came through the low underbrush. Tyson let out a breath of relief.

“Hi,
Driger.” He greeted the cub, who turned
golden eyes on the two huddling teens.

{Takao. Max, Rei, and Draciel are right behind
me.} The Tiger shook himself, trying to
get rid of the moisture in his fur, and sat on the leafy ground to begin
grooming himself. He didn’t look very
pleased with the weather.

Tyson
relayed the message, his arms tightening around Kai as the prince continued to
shiver.

“Good.” Tala nodded, though he was watching his
cousin critically. “Kai, you don’t look
so good.”

“I…I’m
fine.” Kai scowled at him in warning,
and Tala shrugged, looking away.

{Dragoon? Something’s wrong with Kai.} Tyson ran his fingers through Kai’s bangs,
pushing them out of Kai’s face.

{I
know. Dranzer’s not feeling very well,
either.} Worry laced the Dragon’s
voice. {In fact, she’s moulting.}

Tyson
blinked. {Moulting? What’s wrong with them?}

{I wish
I knew. Just keep an eye on the young
phoenix, Takao. I’ll worry about
Dranzer.}

{Alright. But as soon as you know something…}

{I’ll
let you know. Oh, and I see Max and
Rei. They’re just coming through the
trees.}

Tyson
gave Dragoon a mental thank you and got to his feet, taking off his cloak and
wrapping it around his lover as the blonde and neko-jin came through to their
hiding spot.

“Hey,
guys. Everyone made it?” Max looked around at them all.

“Yeah. Any trouble?”
Bryan
stood, too, lending Tala a hand up.

“No. The horses are being well taken care of. And with this absolutely shitty weather, we
didn’t see a soul on the way here.” Rei
replied, shaking out his cloak and wringing the water out of his hair. He looked even less impressed with the
weather than Driger had. “Ugh! I hate
rain.”

Bryan smirked. “You really are a kitty-cat, aren’t you?”

“Bryan, shut up.” Tala scolded.
“Leave him alone.”

“Let’s
get going then.” Tyson helped Kai up and
lay a hand to his cheek. “You need to
lead us in, love. Okay? I’m right here with you.”

“Just
go. I’m okay, Tyson.” Kai grumbled and stepped forward, stubborn to
the end, but stumbled slightly and had to grab onto the bluenette’s arm.

“Uh
huh. I know. Indulge me, Kai.”

The
phoenix sighed and gave a small nod, letting Tyson support him as he led the
group toward the wall where the secret door they would use to enter the city
was located.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They
made their way through the city streets unnoticed. The rain continued to pour down on them in
sheets of water. Once they reached the
servants’ entrance of the inner walls, which separated the rest of Bay City from the Palace,
they stopped and took shelter under a low, thatched roof that hung just above
the double doors.

Kai
leaned against the wall, eyes closed, and tried to catch his breath. He hated feeling so weak – and not knowing
why he did. He opened his eyes again as
he felt Tyson’s hand cover his own, stroking soothingly. He managed to give it a squeeze to let his
dragon know he was okay.

Dragoon
and Dranzer swooped in from above, landing on the posts of a wooden fence near
the doors.

{We checked
and the doors are actually unlocked so you can go in. There’s no one around in there now.} Dragoon informed Tyson. {But you’d better hurry. There were guards on patrol along the walls
and they’re coming this way.}

“We have
to go on.” Tyson said to the
others, moving to the doors. “Before the guards come this way.”

Tala
laid a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. “Let Bryan
and I go in first. Then follow us.”

“Tala…”
Kai spoke up, pushing himself away from the wall. “Remember what we planned. Get to the gates and close them. We’ll go to the barracks and see if we can
recruit some help.”

“And if
not?”

Kai
closed his eyes again for a moment, fighting off the urge to fall asleep
standing up. When he opened them again,
he said in a voice that wavered only slightly.
“We lock them into the barracks.
I don’t want anyone else to lose their lives if it can be prevented.”

Tala
regarded him steadily for a moment then gave a quick bow. “As Your Highness commands, so shall it
be. Leave it to us, cousin.” He grabbed Bryan’s arm and the two went to the doors,
opening one carefully then slipping inside.
A moment later Tala poked his head out.
“Come on. It’s clear.”

Tyson,
Kai, Max, and Rei slipped inside and Rei closed the door behind them, locking
it. Together they blocked the doors as
best they could and watched Tala, Bryan,
and Wolborg sprint off into the darkened, empty courtyard, heading for the
front gates.

Tyson
slipped an arm around Kai’s waist and the remaining four young men and their
accompanying deities-in-disguise went in the direction of the barracks.

“What’s
wrong with Kai?” Rei asked at a whisper
as they slinked from hiding place to hiding place toward the barracks.

“I’m
fine, Rei.” Kai said before Tyson
could. “I’m just…anxious.”

Rei
raised an eyebrow but let the subject drop when Tyson shook his head at the
raven-haired neko-jin.

They
reached the barracks and hid behind a pile of hay bales to wait for the signal
from Tala and Bryan
to let them know the gates were closed.

“When we
hear it, we go in, and let me do the talking, alright?” Kai instructed. The others nodded, and Rei put Driger down on
the bale of hay next to him. Max put
Draciel next to the White Tiger and gave the tortoise a fond pat.

“They’ll
be okay here, right?” He asked his mate.

“They’ll
be just fine, Max.” Tyson smiled. “They aren’t normal animals, after all.”

“I
know. I just…” The blonde looked down at
Draciel. “I’m growing attached to her, I
suppose.”

Rei
squeezed Max’s shoulder. “I think we’ve
all gotten attached, sprite.”

A
sudden, hair-raising howl rose up and echoed on the driving winds, making them
all jump.

“There’s
Wolborg.” Kai said, feeling a jolt of
adrenaline rush through him and because of it, he felt a little better. “Let’s go.”
He stood up to go to the doors, but was held back by a hand on his
arm. “What? Tyson?”

“One
thing…” Tyson pulled Kai toward him and drew him down to press their mouths
together firmly and a little desperately.
Kai muttered something against Tyson’s lips and kissed back, reaching up
with one hand to thread his fingers through his damp, midnight blue hair. Forcing himself to pull away from the heat
radiating so invitingly off of the bluenette, Kai gave him one last kiss and
turned away, moving to the doors. He
drew his bow and an arrow, looked to either side as Rei and Tyson took up
positions on either side of him and Max at his back, and kicked in the doors.

Inside,
the Royal Guards were scrambling around trying to get their weapons as the
prince led his team in and they took up defensive positions around him.

“Everyone
stop.” Kai commanded, a blatant threat in his tone
that made everyone in freeze in place and stare at him in shock.

“Your
Highness?!” One Guard exclaimed.

“You
will all put up your weapons and sit down.” The prince commanded again, flicking his
arrow at the room for emphasis. “Because
I can, and will, send this place up into flames if I am not obeyed
immediately.”

“Do
it.” A tall, bulky young man ordered,
stepping forward. “All it will take is
one well-placed arrow.”

Kai
nodded at the Guard. “Spencer.”

“Your
Highness. Uh…welcome home?”

“Not
just yet, Spencer. But soon. I’ve returned for my throne and my
birthright.” The phoenix lowered his
arrow, but didn’t put it away yet. “Is
there anyone here who has a problem with that?
Because if so, I will allow you safe passage out of the Palace before
the fighting starts.”

There
was silence among the Guards and many shared looks of scepticism.

“No
offence, Prince Kai, but how can you guarantee safe passage to anyone? The Palace is no longer yours.” A much smaller Guard stepped forward to stand
next to Spencer and stared up at Kai in question.

“The
Palace has been secured, Ian.” Tala’s
voice broke the news just before he sauntered into the room like he’d never
left. “If you lot don’t particularly
enjoy having that sadistic bastard as an Emperor, then perhaps you’d care to
help us kick is evil, murdering ass off my cousin’s throne?”

“Murder?!” Someone gasped in astonishment.

“That’s
a very serious charge you’re making, Tala.”
Ian warned. “And why should we
trust the word of someone like you who has been declared a traitor and exiled?”

Ice-blue
eyes flashed and before anyone could move, Tala was suddenly on the little
teen, pinning him to the floor with a growl.

“You
dare?” He snarled angrily. “I have my faults, but I am no traitor!”

“Tala…cousin,
reign in that hot-head of yours.” Kai
snapped.

“Oh, no,
Kai. I want to hear his reasoning behind
calling me a traitor – when he, and every last one of you in this room…” The
red haired warrior gave a furious glare to all the Guards, making them shrink
back. “…are the ones who are supporting
that demon’s work! Have you all
forgotten the tortures we’ve all been put through at Boris’ hands – in the name
of ‘training’? The whippings? The beatings?”

Frowns
and ashamed expressions spread among the Guards. Tala’s eyes narrowed and he stiffened, a fist
raising above Ian when the smaller teen tried to squirm away.

“That’s
enough, Tala. Back off…now.”
Kai ordered. Body wound tight,
like a spring ready to uncoil, the red-headed teen slowly released Ian and
withdrew to Kai’s left side, crouching down on one knee and watching the group
of soldier’s he’d once commanded with an ice-cold stare.

“Boris
is the traitor.” Tala said. “Not me.”

“What
were we supposed to do, Tala?” Spencer
held out his hands in a pleading gesture for understanding. “If we’d rebelled, we’d all be dead and
nothing would have been solved.”

“You
could have left!”

“Oh
yeah.” Ian snorted, tears shining in his
eyes. “I’m sure he’d have just let us
all walk away unharmed.”

“They
did what they had to do.” Kai
interrupted, wanting to get back on track.
“Now, I’m going to do what I have to so I can avenge my grandfather, and
all the innocent people who have died because of one man’s evil ambitions. I will get vengeance for the Dragon Clans who
have lost everything.” The crimson-eyed
prince glanced at Tyson, who met his gaze solemnly. “Boris killed Voltaire Hiwatari, he is
responsible for the death of the Kinomiya, his son and eldest grandson, and
Boris nearly had my life, Tala’s life, and Bryan’s life on his already blood-soaked
hands.”

“Decide
now.” Tala said in a low voice. “Will you follow the true heir to the Empire,
or will you follow the sorcerer who made all our lives hell from the minute he
came here?”

Ian and
Spencer looked around at their fellow Royal Guards briefly then moved toward
Kai and went down to their knees before him.

“We will
follow the Hiwatari heir until death.”
Spencer declared, bowing his head.
Ian made an agreeing noise and did the same. The rest of the Guards were down on their
knees in supplication not long after.
Kai looked around the room, a small tingle of relief passing through
him. He looked down at Tala and nodded.

“Now
that that’s settled, take command Tala.
Secure the inside of the Palace and confine all the servants, the court,
and anyone else who is lurking around in there to their rooms. Max and Rei, help Bryan keep the gates and the fortress walls
secured, if you would.”

“You
bet, Kai.” Max nodded and went outside
with Rei, taking a squad of Guards with them.

“Kai?” Tyson came up on his lover’s right side and
laid a hand on his shoulder. “Are you
sure we won’t need them when we confront Boris?”

The
prince shook his head. “I don’t know, Kinomiya. But right now we need them out there keeping
the rest of the world from interfering.”
He sighed and teetered a little. Tyson
quickly wrapped an arm around his waist in support and made worried noises.

“Do you
have any idea what’s wrong, love?” Tyson
asked quietly as group after group of Guards rushed past them, hurrying to
follow Tala’s orders as he dispatched them right, left, and centre.

Kai
closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his focus, and leaned into Tyson
briefly. “No. I’m cold, and it feels like all my energy is
slowly draining away.”

A light
purr resonated from the feet and they looked down to see Driger and Draciel
there.

“When
did you two come in? Oh…never
mind.” Tyson shook his head.

{We’ll
be coming with you to the throne room, Takao.}
Driger informed him. {Dragoon and
Dranzer are outside waiting for us.}

“Alright. Let’s go, then.” Tyson bent and picked up Draciel, grunting at
the tortoise’s weight. “Good grief,
Draciel. How does Max do it?”

{My
little water sprite has a great gift of strength. And we tortoises are heavy because of our
shells. I apologize for that,
Takao.} She replied.

{Oh, no,
Draciel. It’s fine. I’m just not used to it, that’s all. I’m used to Dragoon – and if you think you’re heavy, try lifting him sometime.} Tyson winked at her, earning a tinkling
laugh.

“Come
on, Tyson.” Kai began walking, forcing
Tyson to move with him or let go of the phoenix.

Tala
jogged up beside them on Kai’s other side.
“I’m going with you, cousin. I
want to be there when you take Boris down.”

Sighing,
Kai shrugged. “Whatever. Are they necessary, though?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the
squad of elite Guards Tala had held back and who were following them close
behind as they made their way to toward the citadel. Driger padded along at Kai and Tyson’s feet.

“Yes. See, they’re going to pretend to have
‘captured’ us and bring us before His
Majesty for judgment.” Tala spat the
title Boris had usurped with heavy sarcasm.
“It’ll get us inside with no trouble and once there, Boris is all
yours.”

“Fine.” Kai agreed, removing one of his cloaks and
giving it to Tyson, then pulling off his own cloak and slipping his bow and
quiver back on underneath it so they’d be hidden by the heavy, wet woollen
garment.

At the
doors of the citadel, which led to the Great Hall, Tala handed his sword to the
Spencer and clasped his hands behind his back, as if they were bound
together. Kai and Tyson mimicked him and
the nine other Guards formed up around them with Spencer in the lead. The tall warrior opened the doors and strode
inside.

{We’re
in the Great Hall, Dragoon. Where are
you and Dranzer?} Tyson threw the
inquiry out in the general direction he could sense his ancestor from.

{We’re
making our way to the throne room, Takao.
We had to come in through the west tower. We’ll meet you there. Don’t do anything until we get there,
though.} Dragoon responded immediately.

{Believe
me, we won’t. How’s Dranzer?}

{Out of
sorts, to say the least. It’s like she’s
suddenly exhausted or something.} The
Dragon God sounded very worried to Tyson and it sent a chill down his spine. {How is Kai?}

{He’s
holding up, but he said he feels like how you said Dranzer seems to. What could be doing this to them?}

{I’m not
certain. I’ll think about it a bit
more. For now, just take care.}

{You,
too, Dragoon. Oh! We’re outside the throne room doors now.}

{And
we’re just slipping inside from the servants’ entrance behind the dais.}

{Be
careful.}

“Tyson?” Kai whispered, nudging him in the ribs. “Hey.”

“Sorry. Conferring with my ancestor. They’re already in there and waiting.” Tyson whispered back.

“Good. Let’s do this.” Kai nodded at Spencer and the tall young man
opened the door and spoke briefly to the Royal Guards inside. The other door opened, and Kai, Tyson, and
Tala let themselves be herded into the throne room, their heads bowed low and
hidden by the hoods of their cloaks so that no one could identify them.

The
large room brought back a few bad moments for Tyson he’d have much rather not
thought about at the moment – memory of his grandfather’s death still loomed
large over him. Shoving the memory into
the back of his mind, the dragon took an overt look around, noting the position
of the Guards and various other people that he had no idea who they might be.

They
were brought to a stop and pretended to be forced to their knees in front of
the dais, staring down at the floor in front of themselves.

“We
caught these three sneaking around the courtyard, my Emperor.” They heard Spencer say, his voice sounding
loud and hollow in the cavernous room. A
quick glance to either side told Kai that the Guards they’d brought with them
had fanned out around the room, taking up posts as surreptitiously as they
could.

“Is that
so? Spies, perhaps? Did you find out who they are?” Boris’ voice intoned, a note of bored
indifference in his tone.

“No,
Majesty. We thought perhaps, if they are
spies, then you would like the pleasure of getting that information from them
yourself.”

“Hmm…remove
their cloaks, Spencer. I would look upon
these filthy creatures you’ve dropped on my nice clean floors.” Boris commanded.

“There’s
no need for that.” Kai said, rising to
his feet and tossing off his cloak.
Tyson and Tala stood up and did the same, flanking the prince on either
side and preparing to fight if it became necessary. Spencer handed Tala back his sword and
motioned to his Guards to keep out of the way.

“You! How did you get here?!” Boris gasped, sitting up completely on the
ugly black chair that seemed to have replaced the throne Kai remembered. A chain rattled as he stood, and a tiny yelp
was heard from behind the piece of furniture.
Kai frowned.

“Please. You don’t honestly believe the borders are so
secure that we couldn’t slip past them, do you?
And did you really think I
would just go into exile quietly and never come back? Especially
after you murdered my grandfather and usurped my throne?” Kai glared back,
drawing his bow and notching an arrow, prepared to fire. “Now, I think we need to have a little chat…”

Boris
glowered angrily at them, then turned his gaze on Spencer. “You will pay for this betrayal, Spencer!”

The
warrior cringed, but bravely stood up to the sorcerer. “Look around, Boris. The throne room has been taken. The Palace is secure, as are the inner
fortress walls. There is no escape for
you and no help will be able to breach our defences. You’re finished.”

“Oh no,
I don’t think so.” Boris grinned, a
cruel, chilling smile that made Kai begin to worry just a bit. He watched as Boris reached for the chain
attached to his throne and yanked on it, pulling out something…no, someone attached at the other end from
behind the ugly black monstrosity of a chair.
“I have a trump card, you see. I
discovered this little creature out in the woods one day and I discovered it
has great power. Ever since, I’ve used it
to take what I wish…and right now, I wish for the death of the last remaining
Hiwatari!” Boris laughed evilly and
began to chant something under his breath, holding up a hand toward Kai. A murky, hazy greenish-yellow light formed
around his palm and around the figure on the ground at his feet, and flashed
once.

Kai
suddenly felt very light headed and dropped his weapon with a choked cry. A sharp pain pierced his head and his vision
wavered, suddenly going black. As he
collapsed, there was a shrill scream of a phoenix from above, and a shocked,
worried cry from Tyson.

“Kai! No!”
The dragon caught him, gently lowering him to lie partially in his lap
as he fell to his knees to the floor.
“Kai! Say something…”

“What
did you do?” Tala growled at Boris,
drawing his attention away from above and moving in front of Tyson and Kai
protectively.

“I
noticed that pathetic excuse for a prince was suffering from some sort of
energy loss, so I merely accelerated it.”
Boris replied, his laugh turning cruel.
“He never should have returned here.
Now he will die just as that old fool Voltaire did! His energy is mine!”

“Not if
I kill you first!” Tala charged up the
steps, sword held for attack, intending to kill the sorcerer with his bare
hands if necessary, but didn’t make it far.
Boris began to glow a sickly orange colour and the Captain of the Royal
Guards found himself suddenly tossed backward over Tyson and Kai’s heads like a
rag doll. He hit the floor hard and
didn’t move.

Boris
stepped slowly down the dais steps toward the fallen prince and Tyson. “Well, well.
If it isn’t the insolent grandson of that stupid old man who once ruled
the Dragon Clans. What shall I do with
you?”

“You, sorcerer, will do absolutely
nothing!” A voice thundered through
the room from somewhere above. “Because if you even try it, I will use you
for a lightning rod in a thunderstorm the likes of which you have never seen.” A huge crash of thunder boomed through the
room, emphasizing the voice’s words.

“Who
said that?! Come! Show yourself!” Boris shouted, infuriated that anyone would
dare to speak like that to him. Up near
the throne, the little person who had been hunched in on his/herself raised
their head with a small cry of pain and what sounded to Tyson like relief. He saw it was a girl, with impossibly long,
glossy black hair that shone dully like gold that has lost its lustre in the
low lighting of the room. Her eyes were
a strange amber yellow that were currently dull and glassy, but held a spark of
recognition as she looked up toward the vaulted roof of the throne room
hopefully.

Tyson,
recognizing the voice as Dragoon’s, ignored what was going on around him at the
moment and tried to bring Kai back to consciousness. “Kai?
Oh, please, beloved…wake up!
Please…” He begged, tears forming in his eyes as he got no
response. A rustling of feathers and a
loud screech that made everyone wince drew his attention up again and Dranzer
swooped down, landing next to Kai and clicking her beak in worry over him. “Dranzer… can’t you do something to help
him?”

{It’s a
spell, Takao, that’s affecting the weather this way. It finally occurred to me that neither Kai,
nor I, have been exposed to sunlight in several days. As phoenixes, we need the sun to function and
live! I can survive without for long
periods of time, being a Goddess, though I will be severely weakened. But Kai…he can not survive like this as I can
because he is human.} Dranzer explained,
her voice heavy with sadness and an unsure-ness that made Tyson feel a tad
panicky. {The spell must be broken, for
it is draining away what energy has left.
Once the evil Boris has unleashed is gone, the rain should stop, the
clouds should dissipate, and everything should return to normal again.}

“Dranzer…”
A weak, female voice whimpered from the steps above them. “Sister…”

The
firebird looked up at the throne and made an angry squawking sound that made
Tyson very glad it wasn’t directed at him.

“Please,
don’t be angry with me…” The little girl, who Tyson assumed was Drisana,
pleaded, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“I didn’t help him willingly. He
is powerful and I am stupid. He captured
me in the forest and has held me prisoner to his wishes…and then he discovered
a way to take my magic for his own and he uses it to do these horrible things…”
She began to sob, shaking with the force of her tears. “…such terrible things!”

“Shut
up, creature!” Boris snarled and yanked
viciously on the chain, dragging the poor girl down the steps. She immediately fell silent and curled in on
herself again with a whimper. “And who
are you talking to anyway? That bird is
just an animal. A stupid animal…”

Dranzer
apparently had had enough. With a fiery
blast of heat and light, she transformed from her phoenix form to her human one,
burning with her own powers in the face of the darkness surrounding the evil
Boris. Tyson cradled Kai closer and
watched anxiously, looking up toward the ceiling and calling for Dragoon. The Dragon God responded, dropping down from
the ceiling unceremoniously and curling around both Tyson and Kai protectively.

{It’ll
be okay, my young descendant.} He
reassured Tyson.

“Excuse me?
‘A stupid animal?’” Dranzer
repeated Boris’ words furiously, stepping toward him without fear and forcing
him back a couple of steps just from the pure heat radiating off of her. His eyes were wide with surprise and
confusion as he stared at her. “Let me set the record straight, demon. I am not
stupid. And that is my sister you have chained to that really ugly piece of furniture. She may be young, naïve, and a pain in my
neck on occasion, but she is of my blood and she is my responsibility. You will release her this instant, or I
will release her!”

“You…you
are…I…” Boris stuttered, quite comically, actually – although Tyson didn’t feel
like laughing at the moment. “So it was
true! The legend was true! And now I can capture you for my power as
well!” The sadistic man laughed
maniacally and actually tried to cast a spell on the Phoenix.

Only to
discover it wasn’t going to work.

There
was a huge, thunderous roar that echoed suddenly in the room and from behind a
pillar along one side of the room, a fully grown white tiger stalked out, a
rumbling growl rolling through the air in a dire threat. A flash of pure green light blinded Tyson’s
eyes for a moment and then Driger stood there, hands on hips and tail twitching
restlessly as he glared hard at Boris.

“That’s quite enough of that,
sorcerer. You’ve been messing around
with forces beyond your comprehension and control, and I am here to put a stop
to it. Too long have my chosen people
been persecuted because of your influence on the Imperial family, and that,
too, I will stop.” He growled.

A sound
like an ocean wave crashing on a rocky shore pounded through the room, and in
another flash of light, this time purple, Draciel simply appeared right next to
Driger. She reached up and slipped her
hand into one of his and smiled up at him when he looked down at her with equal
fondness. But when the little Water
Goddess turned her gaze on Boris, her sapphire blue eyes had gone hard as
diamond and she let out a hiss of anger at him.

“Your evil has corrupted the very waters of
the world! All life is threatened as
long as you continue to exist and I will not stand for it!” Draciel stamped a foot imperiously.

Dranzer
eyed Boris, who was looking from one deity to the other with a gleeful
expression. “He’s mad. He doesn’t seem to understand just what sort
of trouble he’s in. Well, let me be the
first to…” Her voice trailed off and she suddenly drooped, seeming to
faint. Dragoon flashed into his human
form so quickly Tyson didn’t even have a chance to blink, and caught the fiery
deity in his arms before she could hit the floor.

“Dranzer! Oh no…”

“Dragoon? What happened?” Draciel hurried over to them and reached out
to place her hand to Dranzer’s forehead.
“Oh, my…she’s ill.”

“We must
break the spell…now!” Driger strode
toward the dais to reach Drisana and picked up the chain. Boris, in his madness, tried to stop him, but
couldn’t get near the God of the White Tiger tribe because Draciel had erected
a barrier around him, freezing him in place so that he couldn’t move.

There
was a loud CRACK of sound as the metal of the chain was snapped in two, and a
bright, golden light enveloped the black-haired deity. She sat up, blinking, and looked at her hands
in astonishment. Then she looked to
Boris, who let out an anguished howl of pain and fell to the floor, twitching.

“How did
you…?” She asked Driger in awe. He
smiled gently and helped her to her feet.

“You’re
young, yet, little Phoenix. But someday, perhaps, you’ll learn that
Nature abhors those who mess around with Her designs. The Earth formed this chain, and the Earth
can break it.” The wise Tiger replied,
leading her over to her sister and Dragoon.

“Oh,
Dranzer…I’m so sorry! This is all my
fault…” Drisana took one of Dranzer’s hands in her own and held it. “I’m sorry, Dragoon. I am so sorry…”

“Hush,
now, Drisana. We can discuss this
later.” Dragoon looked at Tyson. “Takao, it’s time you show Boris what the
true meaning of the legend of the Dragon Clans is all about. To break the spell, Boris must die.”

Tyson
nodded grimly. “That I can do.” He gently lay Kai on the floor and covered
him with his cloak. “You’ll be okay,
soon, Kai. Hang on…”

Tala
suddenly appeared at his side, having recovered enough to crawl over to them
and sit heavily next to Kai. “Go on,
Kinomiya. I’ll watch over him. It’s up to you now.”

Tyson
gave him a tiny grin. “I know. Don’t you dare die on us, Tala. My cousin is waiting for you, after all, and
she’ll be very upset if you don’t return.”

Tala
smiled back faintly. Tyson stood, slowly
turning to face the sorcerer, who had somehow managed to regain his wits and stand
up once more.

****************************

Chapter 19

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spencer…”

“Yes,
Captain?”

“Get
everyone else in the room out and keep everyone outside. We don’t need any accidents.” Tala watched Tyson as he stood up and turned to
face Boris. He’d seen the Kinomiya
transform, but he’d never seen what Tyson could really do. He’d known that
Tyson and Kai had gone off to train quite often when Tala had been confined to
his bed, but he had no idea just what that training had entailed.

Spencer
looked from the red headed warrior to the young man he only knew as the last of
the Kinomiya line. But he didn’t
question his orders, turning and motioning to his squad of Guards. They began ushering people out, and once the
room was cleared, Spencer closed and barred the throne room doors, choosing to
remain inside to witness whatever was going to happen.

“Well,
Boris, we meet face to face once again.”
Tyson stopped a few feet away from the man. In the distance, he could hear the temple bells
ringing, announcing the dawn’s arrival.
“This time, however, things are going to turn out much, much
differently.”

“Is that
so? I may not have that,” Boris pointed at Drisana and she glared at him hatefully,
still holding her sister’s hand. “…in my
control any longer, but I still have my own magics. And you, boy, are no match for me!”

“We’ll
see. First, Boris, I want to tell you a
story, since I hear you’re quite fond of them.”
Tyson glanced at Kai over his shoulder.
“The prince explained a few things that made no sense to me, you
see. He told me about the supposed
‘prophecy’ you ‘discovered’ and then used to worm your way into Emperor
Voltaire’s good graces – first as an advisor and later his General.”

“Ah,
yes…that book I found was quite useful.”
Boris’ smile told Tyson the evil sorcerer was very pleased with
himself. “It tells of a fascinating
legend about certain powers that would one day bring forth a new ruler-ship of
the Empire. One of those powers was
already right here in the Palace, you see, but as much as I tried to locate it,
I could not.”

“Oh,
poor Boris. How sad.” Tala growled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Boris
ignored Tala, seeming to be too caught up in his tale and his bragging to pay
attention to anyone else but Tyson.
“Still, since it was already here somewhere, I decided to leave it be
for now, and find the other power the book spoke of. When I learned of the sword of the Kinomiya
Clan, I knew immediately that it was what I’d been searching for.” He laughed cruelly. “It didn’t take much to convince that
foolish, greedy old man that called himself an ‘Emperor’ to make war on the
Clans and take that sword for me.”

A low,
hissing growl came from behind Tyson, who was very thankful that Kai was not
awake to hear what Boris had said about Voltaire. “You sadistic bastard. Do you know how many scores of my people you
killed with your selfish, evil desires?
Do you have any concept of the number of lives you have destroyed?” Dragoon hissed in pure fury. Drisana hung her head and tried to curl into
herself again, guilt overwhelming her.

Boris,
who had yet to figure out how much trouble he was truly in, waved the Dragon
God’s anger away dismissively. “I don’t
know who you are – though you are obviously a shape-shifter of some kind.” A disgusted look passed over Boris’
face. “Creatures such as that are
frightfully uncivilized and unnatural. I
made it my personal mission to eradicate the lot of your kind from the
Empire. Soon, I will do the same for the
entire world!”

{Hold
onto your temper, please, my Lord Dragoon.}
Tyson sent a hasty plea to his ancestor before the Dragon God could
explode in fury. {Concentrate on
Dranzer, and leave this asshole to me.}

{He is
severely trying my patience, Takao!}

{I know,
Dragoon. Believe me, I know.} Tyson agreed wholly with Dragoon. He glared hard at Boris, swallowing back his
own rage with difficulty. “And
Drisana? What was the purpose in using
her?” He asked.

“I
needed its power to supplement and enhance my own. I had a perfect spell for just that purpose,
too, until that broke my chain!” Boris pointed a finger at Driger, who
sniffled and just stared back dispassionately.
Draciel, still hanging onto the White Tiger by his hand, crossed her
eyes at Boris and stuck her tongue out like the precocious little Water sprite
that she was. The sorcerer, however,
ignored that, too. “I found that
creature out in the woods, wandering and radiating such anger and hatred. It was quite lovely, really, and I just knew
its powers would be a great addition to my own.
So I captured it and brought it back with me.”

“I
see. How convenient.” Tyson grimaced. “It’s really too bad that all that effort
you’ve expended in seeking those ‘powers’ was a total waste of time.”

Boris
scowled at him. “What are you going on about? I may not have obtained those powers yet, but
they exist and are out there somewhere.
I will find them, and when I
do, they will be mine!”

“Oh,
you’ll find them, alright. In fact,
they’re right here in this very room, Boris.
But I’m afraid that no matter what you do, you can never have them.” Tyson
informed him, a humourless smile crossing his face.

“Here? Where?”
Boris frowned and looked around.
“You lie! I do not sense any such
thing in this room, and I would if
there was.”

“I’m not
lying. Listen, Boris, why don’t I tell
you that story now, and maybe then everything will become clearer.”

“Go on,
then! Tell me this tale. I’m curious to know what a stupid child like
you could possibly know.” Boris crossed
his arms over his chest.

“Very
well.” Tyson smiled widely. He was very much looking forward to wiping
the smirk off the sorcerer’s face. “Like
all stories that are worth telling, it all began with love. You see, there once was a young man who lived
among the Dragon Clans – before their unification. He fell in love with a girl. Together, they produced a child – who became
the first Kinomiya and was my ancestor.”

Boris
snorted, bored and impatient. “What has
this to do with…”

“Shut up
and listen, sorcerer.” Tyson snapped,
continuing. “The young man, however, was
not supposed to…mingle with humans in that way, for he was not human. And as
punishment, his family banished him from his realm to this one, and gave him
the eternal task of guarding the Dragon Clans.
But because he had fathered a child – one who proved to be demi-human in
more ways than one – the descendents of that child from that point on had their
demi-human blood sealed by the young man’s family.”

“You’re
insane, boy! If he was not human, then
what was he?” Boris mocked. “And what nonsense are you spouting about
realms?”

Tyson’s
eyes flashed dangerously. Behind him,
Tala sucked in a breath as he felt a sudden charge of static electricity fill
the air around him.

“I’m not
finished.” The dragon snarled. “That is how my family came to lead the Clans, Boris, but perhaps you’d be
interested in how the Hiwatari family came to rule in the Empire?”

“Why
should I care? I rule the Empire now, boy!”

“Because
within my story are the keys to those ‘powers’ you so desperately covet.”

Boris
sighed dramatically and waved a hand negligently. “Continue.”

“The
Hiwatari family came to rule much as my family did. With a few, minute differences. There once was a young woman, who fell in love
with a young man – a nobleman. Same
thing as with my family – she was not human, either. Their son became the first Emperor Hiwatari,
and from him on down the line, her family had his demi-human blood sealed. In this case, however, she was forced to
abandon her son, and the seal placed on him was meant to slowly wear away all
of his descendents’ demi-human side. The
seal placed on my family was only meant to conceal, not for it to disappear.” Tyson said, going on with his story. “You see, Boris, the young man how began my
family was kin to the dragons, and the young woman who began Kai’s family was
kin to phoenixes. The two powers you
want so bad are of fire and air, are they not?
Well, the two origins of our families possessed those powers. But not in objects or something like that, as
you so adamantly believe.”

“You
make no sense, boy. I know that the
power of your kind was sealed up in that sword.
So explain to me how that could have just disappeared!”

“It
didn’t. And it was never really sealed in that sword, after
all. Boris, haven’t you put it all
together yet? Kai and I are descendants
of the Gods. Our blood is the power you’ve killed thousands for. You can’t take something from someone that is
a part of them – not something like blood.”
Tyson’s voice held a note of triumph and satisfaction, and he had to
smile at the sudden look of disbelief and shock on Boris’ face. “Ah…you’re beginning to understand…”

“No! It’s not possible! That power will be mine!” The sorcerer exclaimed desperately. The air began to move, a silent wind
beginning to flow through the room. The
scent of ozone filled the air, and the wind picked up, ruffling clothes and
hair. He blinked, backing up in horror
as Tyson began to glow – a sharp, electrical blue light enveloping him. “You…you…who are you?! What
are you?!”

A low
rumbling of thunder pounded the walls and ceiling with its strength of sound,
accompanying Tyson’s deepening voice as he finally revealed his true self to
the sorcerer.

“My name
is Kinomiya Takao, leader of the Dragon Clans, and direct descendant of
Dragoon, Guardian Dragon God of the Clans.
And by my family’s blood, I will exact retribution for the suffering you
have caused us all!” Tyson released his
powers, a titanic boom of thunder preceding an explosion from above that sent
large chunks of the ceiling and roof crashing to the floor. Tala had to throw himself over his
unconscious cousin with his own body as pieces of rubble smashed against the
marble floors around them. Not surprisingly,
not one fleck of dust touched any of the deities.

“Hmm…he’s
very impressive, Dragoon.” Driger
mused. “A little untrained, perhaps, but
impressive.”

“You
must be quite proud.” Draciel smiled at
the Dragon.

Dragoon
watched his descendant’s transformation begin, quietly stroking Dranzer’s
hair. “I have always been proud of
him. I knew, when Takao was born, that
he would be the one of my line who could wield the power that’s been lying
dormant for so long.”

Boris
took several shocked steps back, away from the brightly glowing Tyson. There was a flash of lighting that bolted
through the huge hole in the ceiling and struck the floor between the two foes,
temporarily blinding everyone in the room.

When the
spots had cleared fro his vision, Boris blinked and stared, horrified, at the
gleaming white storm dragon that had replaced Tyson’s form. “oh my God…” he gasped.

“Unfortunately
for you, Sorcerer,” Draciel sniffed disdainfully. “None of us will help you, no matter which
God you pray to.”

Tyson
growled threateningly, and Boris cowered, dropping to his knees in growing
fear.

{Well,
Dragoon? What do you want me to do with
him?} The dragon asked, his coils
undulating sinuously as he shifted in place restlessly.

{First
things first, Takao. Do something about
the rain and those damned clouds.}
Dragoon responded.

{Done.}

Tyson
glanced up, focusing his attention on the dark, ominous storm clouds and willed
them to disperse. It seemed like a long
time, but after a few moments there was a break in the clouds and beams of
sunlight from the rising morning sun cut through, illuminating the throne room
and the rest of the world beyond.
Lifting his head to feel the warmth of that first light, Tyson felt
oddly calm, as if nothing in the world could possibly bother him at that
moment.

Letting
that peacefulness wash over him, the dragon closed his midnight blue and silver
eyes, and shifted back into his human form.
When he opened them again, he walked up to Boris and stared regally down
at the snivelling man.

“It
seems that without Drisana’s powers added to your own, you can’t keep up
whatever spells you had cast anymore.
You are reduced to what you truly are, Boris – a shameful, pitiful
excuse for a human being.” He said,
folding his arms over his chest in a Kai-like pose. “As much as I would love to wring your neck with my bare hands – or my coils – for all
the evil you’ve done to my people and to me, my grandfather taught me that
there are worse fates than death.”

Dragoon
had to smile faintly. His descendant
was, in truth, being merciful where Boris never had been. It was just like Tyson to do such a
thing. He looked down as Dranzer stirred
and opened her eyes slowly. “Welcome
back, sweetheart.”

“I feel
very strange. What happened?” She asked, confused. Drisana let out a small cry of relief and
threw herself into her sister’s arms after Dranzer had sat up. “Oh dear…I remember now.”

Dragoon
nodded. “Yes, my love. It’s finally over. And look!
The young phoenix is waking, also.”

Tala was
helping Kai to sit up. The crimson-eyed
prince frowned and rubbed at his temples.

“Ow! Why do I have the world’s worst
headache?” Kai bemoaned. Then his memory flooded back and he was on
his feet in an instant, looking around at the damage around them and searching
for Tyson when he didn’t spot his beloved dragon immediately, a painful tug on
his heart giving him a moments’ panic.
“Tyson?!”

Tyson
whipped his head around and saw Kai, a relieved and ecstatic grin crossing his
face. “Kai! Kai, you’re okay!”

The
phoenix spotted his lover among the debris and sighed in relief, carefully
making his way over. “I’ll be fine,
Tyson. Did you do all this?” He gestured at the missing roof that occupied
the throne room’s floor.

“Uh…sorry? I got carried away, love.” The bluenette scratched his head sheepishly
and turned to meet Kai.

“Hn.”

“But I
have a present for you!” Tyson smiled
brightly. “How would you like a
sufficiently cowed sorcerer?”

Boris, seeing
that Tyson was distracted, made a rash decision, then, to try one last time to
get rid of the Kinomiya and wipe out the threat of their line once and for
all. He gathered what was left of his
powers, pulled a dagger from his boot where it had been hidden, and threw it at
Tyson, aiming for his heart.

Kai saw
the movement over Tyson’s shoulder and in a split second, time seemed to
stop. The dagger, glowing faintly with
an ugly, dull, pea-green colour because of Boris’ powers, was flying toward
Tyson’s back. In that instant, Kai
didn’t even think, he simply reached out, palm held out, and blasted the dagger
with a fireball over Tyson’s shoulder.

The
bluenette ducked and spun around, eyes flashing, and watched as the fireball
ricocheted off the dagger, knocking it to the ground, and flew toward
Boris. It hit and in a bright flash the
sorcerer found himself consumed suddenly by an inferno of flame.

Tyson
watched, sickened by the screams of agony and fear, and by the stench of
burning flesh as Boris was burned to a crisp in mere moments, the fire had been
that hot. He turned away and sought out
the comforting arms of his lover. Kai
buried his face in Tyson’s hair, arms wrapping firmly around the bluenette as
he buried his face in the curve of Kai’s neck.
They held onto one another, neither looking at the now very much dead
sorcerer.

With
Boris dead, all his evil had been banished, just as Dranzer had predicted. The remaining clouds disappeared and the room
was suddenly filled with pure sunlight.

Kai
looked up at the sky and took in a deep breath, releasing it on a huge
sigh. “That feels really, really
good.” He murmured and Tyson looked up
at him with a smile.

“It’s
over, Kai.” He said softly, running his
fingers through Kai’s darker-toned locks, sweeping them out of Kai’s face. “We did it.”

“Yeah.” Kai smiled down at him. “I guess we’ll get to keep each other after
all, Kinomiya.”

“Damn
right. You couldn’t get rid of me,
now.” Tyson replied.

They
looked over at the five deities, who stood together watching Kai and Tyson
fondly. Dranzer had an arm draped over
Drisana’s shoulders and held her to her side.
The younger phoenix Goddess still hung her head in shame and guilt.

“We
couldn’t have done a thing without all of your help.” Tyson said to them, taking Kai by the hand
and walking over to them. Spencer
approached warily and went to Tala, helping the injured Captain to stand.

“You’ve
done well, Takao, Kai.” Dranzer smiled
at them. “Now it’s time for you to clean
up the mess Boris left behind and to being rebuilding your countries.”

“And
we,” Dragoon gestured at Draciel, Driger, and Dranzer. “…have some things to clean up ourselves.”

“Are you
leaving us, Dragoon?” Tyson asked
sadly. Kai looked at Dranzer, equally
sad at the prospect of losing the one person who had been his constant
companion and protector since birth.

“Not
permanently, Takao!” Dragoon
chuckled. “We’ll always be around in one
way or another. But you won’t even
notice we’re gone because you’ll be very busy for the next little while.”

“Well…”

“Oh, and
before we go, may I suggest that you pay special attention to the next full
moon? Because I think you’ll discover
that there are more of our people still alive than you might have thought.” Dragoon winked at his descendant, who got a
very confused expression on his face.
“I’m very proud of you, Kinomiya Takao.
Be well, and I’ll see you again, soon.”

Tyson
sniffled and nodded. Kai said nothing,
hoping Dranzer understood that he didn’t have it in him to say goodbye to
her. She smiled at him in return, and in
the blink of an eye, the five deities disappeared.

“I don’t
think I’ll ever get used to that.” Tala
shook his head, coming up beside them with a slight limp. “So what now, cousin?”

Kai and
Tyson exchanged glances. “Spencer,
spread the word around the Palace, and out into the city, that Boris is dead,
and I am back. And send Bryan, Max, and
Rei here when you find them, please.”
Kai ordered. Spencer helped Tala
over to the dais steps and sat him down carefully, then gave Kai a short bow
and ran off to do as he was told.

Curious
servants and Royal Guards began to file into the room, and Tyson took a seat
next to Tala to watch his lover issue commands to begin cleaning up the throne
room, disposing of the ugly chair Boris had called a throne, and begin repairs
on the roof.

Tala had
the presence of mind to send his Guards out to saddle horses and ride out to
every garrison and outpost in the Empire to inform the army of the change in
command, and with orders to stamp out any rebellions and establish control once
more on behalf of the soon-to-be Emperor Kai Hiwatari.

When
Bryan, Rei, and Max arrived, with Wolborg padding alongside Bryan,
the white wolf and Bryan
escorted Tala to his old rooms within the Palace and sent for the Royal
physicians to take a look at the red-headed warrior and make sure he wasn’t
suffering anything too serious.

“So
you’re both alright?” Max asked again,
looking Tyson over carefully then studying Kai critically.

“Yes,
Max. Just tired and cranky.” Tyson huffed.
“And hungry.”

Rei
laughed. “Can’t blame you, Tyson.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was
nearly dark outside once more by the time Kai had decided his control over the
Palace and the city had been firmly established. That, and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be
able to keep his eyes open any longer.

He was
sitting on the now empty dais on a cushion, the ugly chair having been chopped
into pieces and used for firewood.
Beside him, on another over-sized cushion, was Tyson. The bluenette had managed to stay awake until
only an hour ago, and was now curled beside his lover on the cushion, his head
pillowed on Kai’s lap, asleep. Kai waved
away another servant and yawned, looking down at his dragon with an envious
smile and pulled the hair tie from his hair, tossing it to the side. As yet another person came to him seeking
orders, Kai sighed and ran his fingers through Tyson’s blue-black locks,
combing it out. Even in his sleep, the
dragon began to purr.

“Your Highness…”
The servant inquired tentatively when Kai didn’t answer him. He looked at Tyson dubiously.

“Yes, I
heard you.” Kai stifled another
yawn. “Don’t bring these petty squabbles
to me. The kitchens are the domain of
the cooks and their helpers. If they can
not solve their own problems, then the lot of them can find new jobs
elsewhere.” He glanced over to the side
of the room and called, “Max! Come here
a moment, would you?”

The
blonde came over, looking about as weary as Kai felt. “What do you need, Your Highness?”

“Quit
being so damned formal, Max. You, Rei,
and Tyson don’t need to be. I’m too
tired to put up with it right now.” The
crimson-eyed prince scowled.

“Sorry,
Kai. I’m not used to…all this.” Max apologized. “What’s up?”

“Where’s
Rei?”

“Last
time I saw him, he was headed for the kitchens to get all of us something to
eat.” Max tilted his head at Kai
questioningly. “Why?”

“When he
gets back, ask him to please talk to this person,” Kai nodded at the servant,
who was still staring at Tyson. “And
sort that problem out. Then you and Rei
can go to bed, Max. We’re all
exhausted.”

“Sure. Thanks, Kai.
Uh…are you and Tyson going to?”

“That’s
my plan.” Kai rubbed at his eyes and
called out to the room in general, “Attention, everyone! That is all I am taking care of today. Everything else can wait until tomorrow, and
now, I’m going to bed.” He snapped his
fingers and the Guards in the room proceeded to shoo everyone else out to
mutters and groans. Kai waved Spencer
over. “Spencer, see to it Max and Rei
are given the apartments in the south wing, and that they are cleaned up for
them in one hour.”

“Yes,
Your Highness.” Spencer bowed.

“And
now, I’m going. I am not to be
disturbed, Spencer, unless it’s life or death, understood?” Kai scooped up Tyson and stood.

“Of
course, my Prince. I can have two Guards
posted outside your apartments as a precaution, if you like?” Spencer offered.

“Hn.” Kai descended the steps and made his way
through the room. People parted, making
a path, and bowed as he passed. He also
ignored the curious staring and hushed whispers that he had no doubt were about
the slumbering Kinomiya in his arms.
Things were changing in the Empire, and Kai silently told everyone he
passed to get used to it, because the dragon and phoenix were united at last.

And no
one would part them.

****************************

Chapter 20

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The
doors closed behind Kai as he stepped fully into his private chambers for the
first time since he’d left his home and returned. Surprisingly, it seemed that nothing had
moved or been touched and Kai was oddly grateful for that. It gave him a sense of comfort to have something
familiar once again.

In his
arms, Tyson stirred and opened his eyes, looking confused for a moment then
smiling up at his lover.

“Hi!” He purred.
“Where are we?”

“My
rooms.” Kai replied, carrying him to the
bed and setting him down on it. “Our rooms. At least until I have my grandfather’s
apartments cleaned out and possibly redecorated.” He heaved a huge sigh and ran his hands
through his hair restlessly, dropping down onto the bed beside the dragon. “There’s just so much to be done!”

“Oh, Kai…you’re
exhausted, love.” Tyson gave him a
sympathetic and concerned look, getting off the bed and kneeling in front of
Kai to begin unlacing his boots. “Let’s
get these off you and then you can crawl into that rather comfortable looking
bed and drop off like a stone for the night.”

“Sounds
like a plan to me. But only if you’re in
it with me.” Kai groaned as his feet
were freed of his bots. “Gods! That’s better already.”

Tyson
chuckled and helped Kai remove his clothes, then quickly shed his own before
slipping into bed with the phoenix. Kai
sighed lightly and mustered enough of his abilities to snap his fingers and
cause all the lamps and candles in the room to go out. He left the fire in the fireplace going,
however, to ward off the night’s chill.

“Sleep,
my phoenix. You’ve earned it.” Tyson crooned, stroking Kai’s cheek slowly
and watching him as his eyes closed and his lips parted on a weary exhalation
of breath.

“Don’t
go anywhere, Tyson?” Kai asked,
half-asleep already. He barely heard the
response as he fell all the way under.

“Never,
Kai. I love you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud
trilling of bird song woke Kai up the next morning. In his state of semi-consciousness, Kai did
what he usually did when h e got woken up that way – he grabbed a pillow and
flung it in the general direction of the source of the noise.

“Ugh.” He grunted and rolled over onto his side,
snuggling up to Tyson’s warm, sprawled self and mumbling a, “Go ‘way, Dranzer.”
into the bluenette’s shoulder blade.

His reply
was a shrill screech.

He sat
up abruptly and glared blearily at his ancestor, who was perched on the
footboard of the bed. Beside her, on the
end of the mattress, was a curled up dragon – Dragoon.

“You’re
back.” Kai stated flatly. It wasn’t that he was unhappy to see them,
just that he didn’t want to be awake and resented the wake up call.

“Who’s
back?” The bluenette’s sleepy voice
purred from beside him. Kai looked down.

“our
ancestors.”

“Tell
them to go away.” Tyson moaned and
turned over to grab Kai and pull him back down to the mattress, yanking the
covers up over them both. He let out a
deep sigh of contentment and nuzzled his face into Kai’s hair.

Dragoon
mewled loudly and Dranzer cooed in a distinctly amused way.

“I tried
that. They want our attention,
Tyson.” Kai shut his eyes and burrowed
under the covers farther, trying to hide from the morning. “I think they want us to get up.”

“Don’t
wanna.” The bluenette whined, scowling
cutely

“Me
either, but they’ll keep bugging us until we do.”

Tyson
pried open his eyes and sat up, forcing Kai to do so as well. They propped themselves up with pillows
against the massive headboard and glared down the length of the bed at the two
deities, who had changed back to their human forms.

“We’re
sorry to rouse you, Takao, but there’s still too much to be done for you two to
be lazing away half the day.” Dragoon
gave them a sympathetic smile.

“Tala
and Bryan
should be here any time, also.” Dranzer
added, smoothing out the material of her dress.
“Now that Tala’s feeling better, he’s going to want something to do.”

“The
healers fixed him up, then?” Kai asked.

Dranzer
nodded. “He just had a few bruises and a
dislocated shoulder. Oh, and a few
bruised ribs. But he’ll be fine.”

“He
should stay in bed for a couple of days to heal, but that boy is so
stubborn!” Dragoon huffed, shaking his
head.

Kai
snorted, drawing his legs up to his chest and hugging them. “I think the only person capable of making my
cousin stay in bed is Hilary.”

Tyson
shot him a look. “I hate to admit it,
but I have to agree with you on that. By
the way, love, do you think it’s safe for us to send for Hilary and Kenny?”

“I think
so. We can send Bryan to escort them here. And at least this time they won’t have to
avoid towns or anything.”

“Yeah.”

There
was a polite knock at the door to the bed chamber, and Kai got up to pull on a
pair of silk sleep-pants and answer it.

Tala and
Bryan stood on
the other side waiting patiently for entry.

Kai
crawled back onto the bed next to Tyson as the two warriors strode in, with
Wolborg loping along at his master’s side.

“Good
morning, Your Highness, Kinomiya.” The
red-headed captain greeted them, raising an eyebrow at Dragoon and
Dranzer. “Lord and Lady…welcome back.”

“Feeling
better?” Tyson inquired, studying
Tala. “You’re limping a bit.”

“I’m
fine. Just a little sore in places,
that’s all.”

“What’s
going on this morning, cousin?” Kai
asked, pushing the covers aside and sliding out of bed once more. “I assume you’re here to give me a
report.” He went toward his wardrobe and
opened the doors.

“Hmm…well,
to begin with, Bryan
was out to all the garrisons within the city this morning – early this morning.” Tala snickered. “I’m surprised the howls and wails of anguish
didn’t wake you up.”

“Huh?” Tyson looked confused.

“I woke
them all up, made them clean their barracks until everyone of them was
spotless, and ran them through drills.” Bryan grinned. “And all before breakfast.”

“Hn. Good.”
Kai pulled out some clean clothes for himself, then began digging for
something that might fit Tyson. “The
city troops have been getting fat and lazy for years now.”

“If I
can make a suggestion, cousin, I highly recommend an inspection tour sometime
soon.” Tala smiled wickedly. “And perhaps make it a random, but frequent
event, so that they’ll have no choice but to shape up, or else.”

“Oh, I
plan on it.” Kai nodded, taking the two
bundles of clothes over to the bed and sitting down next to Tyson again. “Continue.”

“Aren’t
you going to get dressed?” Tala asked.

“After
we have a bath, which we’ll do when you’re done your report. So…”

“Ah, the
problem in the kitchens was solved last night by Rei, who apparently threatened
to prove his claws are sharper than any of the cooks knives if they didn’t grow
up.” Bryan snickered. “They’ve all been meek as mice down there
since.”

Tyson
laughed and Kai rolled his eyes.

“As far
as security goes, the city’s still on guard and the walls are being patrolled
with extra soldiers, as are the streets.
However, I think that your people are very much happy to have you back
on the throne, Kai, because ever since yesterday afternoon people have been stopping
by to deliver letters, gifts, flowers, etc.”
Tala continued.

“Word on
the street is that they’re calling you the ‘Sun Emperor’ for bringing back the
sun after months of gloom, rain, and darkness.”
Bryan
informed the crimson-eyed Prince.

“Oh for Heaven’s
sake.” Kai threw his hands in the air in
embarrassed exasperation. “That wasn’t
even me! It was Tyson!”

“They
don’t know that.” Tyson reasoned,
wrapping his arms around Kai from behind and resting his chin on Kai’s
shoulder. “And they don’t need to. Let them believe it was you, Kai. You need the people’s support and if they
think you’re some sort of saviour, then…”

“He’s
right, cousin.” Tala had to agree.

“Fine. But how are they going to accept another Emperor?” Kai laid an arm over Tyson’s around his
waist. “Because they’re going to have to
get used to being ruled by both of us.”

Tala’s
eyes went wide. “You’re talking about
co-rulership! A dual-throne?”

“Yes.” Kai’s crimson eyes met Tala’s ice-blue ones
solidly, daring him to protest.

“Well,
then…we’ll just have to see to it they have every reason to love Tyson as much
as they do you, won’t we?” The redhead
decided after a moment.

Kai
offered him a small, grateful smile.
“Thank you, Tala.”

“Meh.” He waved that off. “I’ve seen that the Kinomiya is intelligent,
strong willed, and powerful – and at the same time he is fair, just, and
compassionate. He’ll make a good
Emperor.”

Tyson’s
mouth gaped open like a fish’s.

“Very
true. Now, you can tell me all the other
little details later, cousin. For now, Bryan, I hate to ask you
to leave so soon after coming home, but will you return to Marchantria and
escort Hilary and Kenny back?” Kai
looked over at the bulky warrior.

“Of
course, Your Highness.” Bryan gave a short bow.

“And
Tabitha. I think Max and Rei would love
the surprise of having their daughter with them. She’ll be safe with Hilary for the
journey.” Tyson added after a moment’s
thought.

“Wolborg,
you’ll go with Bryan.” Tala crouched down and rubbed the white wolf’s
ears fondly. “That way Hilary will know
I’m alright, because you wouldn’t leave me otherwise.”

Wolborg
flicked his tongue out, catching Tala on the chin.

“Tala,
go with Bryan
as far as that inn we left the horses and our belongings at, and bring them
back to the Palace, if you would.” Kai
instructed, getting up once more and shooing the two from the room. “Now get lost. I want my bath sooner rather than
later.” He closed the door and locked it
before either could get out another word.

“We’ll
just wait for you in the throne room, Takao.”
Dragoon smiled and took Dranzer’s hand.
“Don’t be too long!”

In the
blink of an eye, they disappeared.

“Where
do we go to bathe, Kai? Is there a bath
house someplace?” Tyson inquired,
slipping out of bed. Kai smiled and
shook his head.

“Nope. The perks of being royalty and living in the
Palace means…” Kai led Tyson to the far corner of his room and opened a set of
double doors, revealing a luxurious washroom.
“Indoor plumbing. It’s not
perfect, since the plumbing leaks frequently, but it has its benefits over
common bathhouses.”

“Wow.” Tyson examined the room curiously, impressed
by the marble and tiles of the room. “I
could get used to this, I think.”

Kai bent
and gave him a kiss on the cheek before going over to the large marble tub and
turning on the facets. “You’ll like it,
my dragon. It’s wonderful
for…privacy.” He winked at the bluenette
and held out his hand to him. Tyson
sauntered over and climbed onto Kai’s lap, straddling his legs.

“Hmm…works
for me, love.” Tyson purred, dipping his
head to press his lips to Kai’s firmly.

All in
all, it was a promising way to begin the rebuilding of the Empire and their
lives – together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- A week later -
Marchantria

“Grams! Where Hil?!”

The
voice of the Lady’s only grandchild rang out in demand as the chibi toddled
into the room, chased by a ragged-looking Kenny.

Lady
Judy looked up and smiled, setting aside her teacup and rising from her chair
to walk over and pick up her granddaughter.
The other ladies in the room smiled and observed as Lady Judy handed
Tabitha to Kenny.

“I’m
very sorry, my Lady. Tabi woke up from
her nap and demanded Hilary. I apologize
for interrupting your tea.” Kenny bowed
as best he could with Tabitha in his arms, who squirmed for all she was worth,
wanting to be put down.

“No, no,
Kenny. It’s perfectly all right.” Judy stroked a hand fondly over Tabitha’s
hair. “What’s wrong, chibi?”

“Want
Hil.” Tabi pouted, sticking her thumb in
her mouth. Kenny sighed.

“I know,
Tabi, but I told you Hilary had to run into town for things for the ball
tomorrow.” Kenny reminded her gently.

“Want
Hil!”

Kenny
sighed.

“Is this
your granddaughter that we’ve heard so much about, Judy?” One of the ladies inquired. Tabi looked at the voice with wide, watery
eyes and turned to curl into Kenny shyly.

“Oh
yes. This is Tabitha, daughter of my son
Max and his lifemate, Rei.” Judy
introduced the chibi. “And this is
Kenny. He’s a good friend of my son’s.”

“She’s
adorable, Judy.” Another lady
commented. “How old is she?”

Kenny
did some quick calculating in his head.
“Tabitha will be 6 months old in about a week and a half, or so, my
Lady.”

“Goodness!” Several pairs of eyes went wide, looking to
Judy for an explanation. “You must be
mistaken, young man. It’s highly
unlikely that such a young babe, nearly new-born, could be walking and talking
already!” The first woman who’d spoken
exclaimed.

Judy
frowned. It seemed that some of these
ladies she’d begun to call ‘friends’ had conveniently forgotten her son-in-law
was a neko-jin. But before either Judy
or Kenny could reply to that statement, the parlour door opened and Hilary
walked in with Emily right behind her.

“Lady
Whitmore, Tabitha is part neko-jin and because of this she will develop
somewhat faster than most human children would.” Hilary informed the ladies, a careful smile
plastered on her face. She gave a
genuine smile at the chibi and Kenny, and took Tabitha into her arms when she
wiggled and clapped her hands happily.
“Hello, Kitten. Are you giving
Kenny a hard time?”

“No!” Tabitha exclaimed coyly, bouncing and
nuzzling Hilary with a kittenish purr of contentment. “Hil come back!”

“Of
course I did! Now,” Hilary kissed her on
the cheek and turned back to look at the group of ladies and Judy, who didn’t
seem to know what to say. “Lady Judy,
we’ve brought back all that you requested.
Everything is set for the ball tomorrow.
Was there anything else I could do to help you?”

“No,
thank you, Hilary.” Judy shook her head
and smiled apologetically. “I will be
busy for some time here, but perhaps you would like to take Tabitha to the
bookstore to find a new bedtime story for her.
There’s no point in you three being cooped up in the house for the rest
of such a lovely day.”

“Book-‘tore!” Tabitha squealed in delight.

“Alright. Come along, Chief. Let’s leave the ladies to their tea.” Hilary tugged Kenny out the door.

“Those
ignorant women make me so mad!” Hilary
scowled, setting Tabi down and watching her toddle down the hallway in front of
her and Kenny when they’d left the room behind.
“I just know that Lady Whitmore was going to make some sort of nasty
comment.”

“And
poor Lady Judy must put up with it. That
is, if she expects to be accepted here by the higher society.” Kenny sighed.
“I saw it often at home, Hilary.
There were many at court who despised those who were even a little bit
different. And unfortunately, because of
Boris, Emperor Voltaire only encouraged those sorts of people.”

“How
awful.” Hilary shook her head.

“Yes. Truly.
Don’t worry, though. His Highness
will put an end to that quite quickly, I’d imagine.” Kenny’s smile was smug and proud. “Especially since any such comments could be
construed as treason now, with Kai being a demi-human himself.”

“Very
true.” Hilary sighed. “Wait, Tabi!
Sweetie, we have to put our cloaks and shoes on before we can go
outside.” She called as they reached the
foyer.

The
chibi stopped and waited, allowing Hilary to put on her cloak and shoes first
hen dress Tabitha.

Emily
appeared suddenly and stopped them before they could leave. “Wait!
Here…” she held out a small purse to Kenny, who blushed and accepted it. “Lady Judy asked me to give you that to
purchase the book. And to apologize for
Lady Whitmore.” Emily winked at
them. “I believe that woman’s invitation
to the ball will mysteriously disappear before it can be delivered.”

Hilary
laughed. “Thank Judy for us, Emily.”

“I
will.”

This
time it was a loud knocking on the doors that prevented their departure. The Mizuhara’s butler, Henry, came out of
nowhere and went to answer it.

On the
doorstep stood Bryan,
looking a bit weary from travelling, but otherwise hale and healthy. At his side was the white wolf, Wolborg.

“Let
them in, Henry!” Hilary said, an anxious
smile taking over her expression. “Bryan! Wolborg!”

The
white wolf whimpered and dashed forward, letting out a yip of greeting. Hilary dropped to her knees and hugged the
canine. “Oh! If you’re here, both of you, then…”

“Yes. It’s over, Lady. And everyone was fine last I saw them.” Bryan
walked in, his armour clanking a bit.
“His Highness asked me to come fetch you, Kenny, and the chibi.” He smiled slightly. “And Tala sent Wolborg so you’d know he was
okay.”

Kenny
picked up Tabitha with a relieved smile of his own. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in years, my
Lord.” Tabitha looked back and forth
between the adults curiously. “Did you
hear that, chibi? Bryan’s come to take us to see your Daddy and
Papa.”

The
excited, happy squeal and sudden glomping hug from the chibi nearly knocked
Kenny over. But he laughed and hugged
her back.

“I will
go fetch Lady and Lord Mizuhara.” Emily
slipped away, knowing Max’s parents would want to have this news immediately.

“You
have to tell us everything, Bryan.” Hilary declared, rising to her feet and
giving Wolborg a final, fond pat on the head.

“Certainly. As much as I can, Lady Hilary.” He bowed slightly.

“Just
‘Hilary’ will do, Bryan.” She smiled and walked up to him, raising
herself up on tip-toe to enfold the tall, lavender-haired warrior in a
hug. “Thank you.”

Bryan blinked and patted
her on the back lightly, feeling a bit awkward.
“What for? I haven’t done anything.”

“Just
thank you. The people I love are safe –
all of you – and you’ve brought me the happiest news I have had in such a long
time.” She told him meaningfully. Feeling proud and pleased for some reason, Bryan drew himself up to
stand straighter.

“Then
you’re welcome, Hilary. Believe me, I’m
just as glad for all this as you are.”

“I
know.”

Two days
later, Bryan and Wolborg led Hilary, Kenny, and Tabitha down the long drive
from the Mizuhara’s manor house. Emily
rode with them, having been sent along with letters for Max from his
parents. Or at least, that’s the excuse
Judy and Hilary gave when Bryan
asked why she was coming. The two Ladies
had a matchmaking gleam in their eyes when they looked at the red-haired girl
and Kenny, though Bryan
didn’t notice it.

Max’s
parents waved goodbye to the travellers until they’d disappeared from view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Meanwhile… - Bay City

While
the throne room was being repaired and cleaned up, Kai held court in the Grand
Ballroom of the Palace – a room which hadn’t been used in years under
Voltaire’s rule. It worked well, since
there was a raised dais at one end, where Kai had a long, couch-like piece of
furniture set up as a “throne” for himself and Tyson until the throne he’d had
Max commission for them could be built.

The
first week of Kai’s return was spent going through the Palace staff and culling
out the people who were known to be followers of Boris. Those people were promptly fired from their
previous positions and turned out of the castle. Kai wasn’t totally heartless, however. He kicked them out, certainly, but he let
them take their belongings and gave them severance pay – under the condition
that they find employment and keep out of trouble.

After
the staff had been taken care of, Rei was asked to fill the now open positions
among the staff, and when that was done, Kai had a few ideas that involved his
new friends. Moving on, Kai took on the
task of creating his Council of Advisors.
Some of the Ministers got their positions and titles revoked, and some
had their lands confiscated also. And
yet others were imprisoned – those who had been firm supporters of Boris over
the years.

The
second week stared out slowly, and now it was the Empire’s aristocracy whose
turn it was to face the new soon-to-be-Emperor.
One by one the nobles made appearances before Kai and Tyson. And one by one the phoenix introduced the
Kinomiya to the members of the court that Tyson would be ruling over at Kai’s
side.

It was
on a day late in the week that Kai finally got around to revising many of the
Empire’s laws.

He sat
at the head of a long table that had been set up in front of the dais in the
ballroom. Its surface was piled with
scrolls and manuscripts, and a couple of scribes stood nearby, prepared to help
the Prince whenever he needed it.

Tyson,
curled up on the chaise throne, yawned and gave his lover a bored pout.

“You’re
working too hard, love. Why don’t you
take a small break?” The bluenette
implored. “We could go for a walk or
something?”

Kai
grunted and put aside one scroll to pick up another. “I just want to get this done, Tyson. Then there’ll be plenty of time to relax and
stuff.” He glanced up briefly. “Bryan
should be back any day now with Hilary and Kenny. Then you and Hilary can keep each other
company and wander around the gardens to your heart’s content.”

Tyson
glowered at him as he returned to the scroll in front of him. “Kai-ii.
You’ve been buried under all those musty books and dusty old wads of
paper for days now. It can’t be
healthy.”

“You
don’t have to stay glued to my side all day, every day, Kinomiya.” Kai pointed out absently, frowning at the
scroll in his hands. “You have complete
freedom to go wherever you wish, remember?”

“I
remember.” The dragon sat up and stood,
feeling just a little hurt by Kai’s preoccupation with his current project and
seeming indifference to Tyson’s presence.
“Excuse me for bothering you and trying to spend time with you. I’ll go see Max. At least he
enjoys my company.” Tyson sniffed and
stalked off peevishly.

Kai
looked up, startled at the tone of his voice and inwardly groaned. The door to the ballroom snapped shut wit ha
resounding ‘click,’ emphasizing Tyson’s temper, and the crimson-eyed prince
rubbed his face wearily, sighing and wondering just how he was going to fix this…

A light
trilling echoed in the room and Dranzer flew in from the wide-open balcony
doors, winging her way over to the table and landing on a stack of books.

“Hello,
Beautiful. I suppose you heard
that?” Kai looked at the workload he’d
assembled for himself with a scowl, suddenly finding it all very offensive.

{Indeed. Takao understands that what you’re doing is
important, Kai, and he doesn’t mind that you’re working so diligently on it,
but he does have a point.} Dranzer
angled her head at him, giving him a look that was mildly admonishing. {You do need to pace yourself, young phoenix. You can’t do everything all at once.}

Kai
shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “Maybe.
But I was sure going to try.”
Then he motioned to the scribes and attendants to clear the room. Once he and Dranzer were alone, Kai stood and
began to pace.

“I’m
just trying to fix some of the problems that Boris created using my grandfather
– the problems that are immediately fixable.
Tyson knows that. I don’t see why
he’s getting all bent out of shape over it.”

Dranzer
rolled her eyes and flashed into her human form, taking a seat in the chair Kai
had just vacated and settling her skirts in a lady-like manner. “Because, chibi, he’s feeling ignored. You may have been too busy to notice, lately,
but you and Tyson have hardly had a moment of privacy together and you’re
hardly spoken to one another for over a week.”

Kai
stopped pacing and blinked at her, a guilty expression crossing his face. “Have I really been so distant, Dranzer? I don’t mean to be…”

“He
knows that, too. It doesn’t stop him
from feeling lonely, though.” Dranzer
pointed at a trolley set with a teapot and tea cups nearby. “Be a dear, and pour me a cup of tea, please,
Kai.”

Kai
obediently did so and brought it to her.
“So what should I do?”

Sipping
her tea, the fiery little Goddess thought for a moment. “Well, I’d suggest making it up to him
somehow. And make time for him in your
future timetable.”

Kai
nodded, and was about to inquire as to just how he should go about making it up
to his lover, when the ballroom doors opened again and Tyson came breezing back
in, followed by a dishevelled, dirty Max.

“Kai! The repairs are done in the throne room! Come and see!” Tyson grabbed Kai’s hand and pulled him
eagerly to the door, tossing a “Hi, Dranzer!” over his shoulder in greeting to
the Phoenix. She just smiled and got up to follow them
sedately out of the room and through the halls.

“Tyson,
love, you can quit dragging me.” Kai
stumbled a bit when the bluenette let go of his hand and gave him a mild scowl.

“Sorry.”

“Tyson…”
Kai sighed and caught his hand, linking their fingers tightly and squeezing,
determined to show his dragon he was sorry for before. “I didn’t mean let go of me. I meant stop dragging me. It’s very undignified to be led around like a
puppy, you know.” He said it with an
apologetic smile, his eyes asking Tyson to forgive him. The bluenette closed his eyes for a moment
then squeezed back, giving Kai a slightly crooked smile.

“I
suppose you’re right. Can’t have that,
can we?” Tyson winked at him and Kai
smiled in relief, raising their joined hands to kiss the dragon’s knuckles.

“Did I
miss something?” Max’s voice cut through
their moment, reminding them of his presence.
Dranzer came up behind the royal pair and shook her head.

“Just a
misunderstanding.” Kai took in the
blonde’s appearance with a raised eyebrow.
“What in the world happened to you?”

Flashing
one of his infamous grins, Max gestured theatrically at the ornate doors that
opened into the throne room. “I know you
put me in charge of overseeing the repairs, Kai, but I do better when I can
actually contribute to the work. So I’ve
been lending a hand, here and there…”

“Wait
until you see it, Kai!” Tyson grinned
widely, a gleam sparkling in his silvery-blue eyes. “It’s beautiful!”

Max
flung open the doors with a flourish and let Kai and Tyson step past him into
the huge room.

Kai had
stop and stare. He didn’t recognize the
room anymore. The ceiling had been
repaired and re-decorated completely, painted to resemble the night sky. The floors were repaired also, new marble
tiles replacing the ones that had been damaged by the collapsing hunks of roof,
and gleaming whiteish-grey from a good polishing.

It was
the light in the room from several new windows that made all the
difference. Sunlight poured in from all
sides just under the ceiling where it met the walls. Kai walked into the centre of the room and
closed his eyes with a peaceful smile, feeling the warmth and energy of the sun
fill him and envelope him.

Tyson
came up behind him and slipped an arm around his waist with a soft smile. “What do you think, love?”

“You’re
right. It is beautiful.” Kai hugged Tyson to his side, draping an arm
around his shoulders. “It’s more than I
could have expected, Max. Excellent
work.”

“Heh. You’re welcome. But there’s one last thing you have to
see.” Max walked over to where the empty
dais was and grasped a rope that Kai hadn’t noticed hanging there before. “The throne’s nearly done and will be
installed by tomorrow, but the Merchants’ Guild put forward some funds with
which the Craftsmans’ Guild worked together to create a special gift to you and
Tyson. I made a few new friends on these
projects, and I was asked to tell you that you have the support of the Guilds –
both of you.”

Curious,
Kai nodded in acknowledgement and glanced down at Tyson, who looked
surprised. “Do you know what it is?”

“No.” Tyson shook his head. “What is it, Max?”

The
blonde tugged on the rope and a large tarp fell from above, revealing a huge,
stained-glass rose window set high above the dais. The room was suddenly thrown into a riot of
colours.

Kai was
sure his jaw dropped in awe. He’d never
seen anything so magnificent…except the dragon at his side, of course. “Wow.”
He managed to say.

Tyson
felt a stinging in his eyes, as tears welled up. “It’s…I have no words, Max. A dragon and a phoenix…”

Max just
grinned and bent to roll up the tarp, picking it up and walking toward the
doors. “I’ll be sure to give the Guilds
and the merchant’s your gratitude for their gift, and to tell them you admire
their work greatly.” He said as he
walked out. “Take some time and enjoy
everything, you two! I’m off to get
cleaned up.”

Kai tore
his eyes from the window and turned to Tyson, brushing a few stray strands of
hair from the bluenette’s face. “Do you
think you can handle ruling from this room when we’re here, Tyson?”

Tyson
looked up at him, a soft purr rumbling from him in response. He nuzzled Kai’s hand with his cheek. “I can lead my people from anywhere, Kai. As long as I’m with you.” He grinned suddenly. “This room, however, is a definite perk I’m
pretty sure I can live with.”

The
phoenix let out a laugh and bent to press his lips to the dragon’s firmly, arms
winding around one another as they kissed.
Neither noticed the fond smile on Dranzer’s face nor when she
disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tala
stared out over the growing crowd of people from the wall of the Palace,
ice-blue eyes keeping a watchful, alert eye on the mob.

“Wonderful. Why can’t these things ever go the way
they’re supposed to?” He ran a hand
through his hair in aggravation and turned to Spencer. “Keep them under control, and for Heaven’s
sake don’t let anyone past the gates. In
fact, I want the Palace locked up tight – quietly. Don’t let on that we’re going so, though.”

“Yes,
sir.” Spencer saluted and Tala stalked
off, hurrying down the steps and making his way indoors to go looking for his
cousin and the Kinomiya. Last he’d seen
them, they’d been in the ballroom, Tyson looking bored out his tree and Kai
buried under a pile of scrolls and manuscripts.

He ran
into Max and Rei as they were walking through the halls together from the
direction of the throne room.

Rei
nodded and pointed down the hall.
“Enjoying their new throne room.”

“It’s
finally done.” Max grinned, proud of his
work. The smile faded when he saw how
agitated Tala seemed to be. “What’s up?”

“Go out
to the main gates and take a look for yourselves. I have to get my cousin.” The red-haired warrior hurried past them,
leaving them to exchange concerned, curious glances before heading outside to
see what was going on.

Tala
reached the throne room and walked in through the open doors. Though he was in a hurry, he had to stop and
gawk at the rose window for a moment, before he noticed Kai and Tyson locked in
a kiss that seemed to make the air around them shimmer with heat.

With a
wide smirk at a sudden moan that sounded like Kai, Tala cleared his throat
loudly and waited as the two started and broke apart.

Seeing
that it was Tala, Tyson gave him a dark scowl.
“Do you mind? I just finally got
Kai all to myself, Tala. Go away.” He wrapped possessive arms around Kai.

Kai
sweatdropped and patted Tyson’s arm in sympathetic agreement.

“I
apologize, Kinomiya, but I wouldn’t dream
of interrupting you unless I had a good reason.” Tala replied.
His face went serious and the smirk died. “You’d both better come out to the front
gates.”

Kai
frowned. “Why?”

“We have
a problem.”

****************************