12- The Spirit Armor

New Character's arrival

The night began to shift to a crisp and clean morning; Dew landing at the outskirts of a small town, the morning droplets of water having been collecting on his back the entire time. He had no idea where he was, but the bigger thing was what to do now? Dew's father was dead, he had no general idea where he was, and he could still be pursued. Recalling some of the survival training Solomon taught him Dew came to the idea that he first needed to locate a map; from there he could be able to determine where the island was and how to reach it...if it was safe at all, since that vampire found him the first time, but Dew maintained his hope; abandoning it will not solve anything.

Dew managed to sneak into an alley, so far seeing this town was mostly rural, he did find a few dumpsters made of wood, and sticking out of one was an old teal wool jacket, some old stains smeared on it and with a few holes in it. Dew gently grasped it in his hands, and looked over it; it had been discarded because there was a major hole on the back; perfect for Dew. He folded his wings up and slid the jacket on, feeling the spiked fin on his upper back jot out through the hole on the back as he zipped it up; the jacket coming to rest a little past his belt; at a major glance he looked like a lizardman and nothing more; he could blend in well. Another concern was his tail; more or less the iconic tail fins that he had. Finding some bandages, a tad used but he had to improvise, Dew tied down his tail fins; making sure they were hidden well, before he flicked it a few times to conclude the bandage would not come off so easily. 

Stepping out the alley, Dew watched people roam the dirt roads, moving cattle from place to place, making trades at posts and stands, and some conversed in the roads. It overall seemed like a nice town; Dew still needed to figure out two things, where was it located, and if Vertigo’s forces possessed it. And if knowledge assisted him, then the best place to search was the Inn; travelers gathered there and some gave information about the place free of charge. Stepping inside, the stench of age, sweat, a tinge of semen, and above all else blood stung at Dew's sensitive noise; the drake holding it for a moment as his serpentine eyes adjusted to the dim light of the Inn.

All around he saw people sitting at tables or the bar, either conversing, horse playing, or even fighting somewhere in the corner, though those fights were broken up the second the bar tender tossed a bottle over at them. Dew deftly avoided a fist from a drunken brawler, as he took a seat at the far corner of the bar.

"Welcome to the Raging Boar Inn," Dew looked up to see an old, oddly muscular man staring him down; large bushy eyebrows covering his eyes as a large beard framed his face. His skin was pale and coated with wrinkles, but his muscles remained visible under his gray tunic and black pants, brown leather boots as well. "The name's Hank, what can I get ya son?"

"Um...what do you have?" In Dew's defense, this is not only the first time he was far from home, but also his first time in an Inn period. Solomon told him about them...but those thoughts always made him miss his father. Hank read his face, and clamped a massive hand on Dew's dainty shoulder.

"Well son, we got Viper Ale, Lemonade, Sweet Tea, and that's about it you're ol' 'nuff for." Dew was about to order some Lemonade...but sighed.

"Sir, Hank...I actually have no-"

"It's on the house, you seem like an outsider, and unlike a lotta these bums you look like you're honest and raised right." In a flash Hank slid Dew a glass of fresh lemonade, and the drake took a good gulp, his heightened senses making it taste all the sweeter as the teen sighed.

"Also sir, do you know where I am?"

"This here's Breezehole; a kinda small town a few miles outside one of those capitals populated by humans and Monsters; this here is one of the few towns lying on one of the borders between that she-devil Vertigo's people, and those crazy Risen Light fanatics." Dew had never heard about them, when he asked Hank to explain, the old man gave a scoff, but took a seat behind the bar, pouring himself his own glass of lemonade; an indication this could be a long tale.

"The Risen Light are a bunch of bible humping fanatics who damn and judge anything not fully human; to them Elves and Giants are okay, but outside of that you're a freak to 'em; and they usually discriminate against ya; a lot too."

"How bad?"

"Enough to lynch some people for being in their territory; it's why non human folk clear outta those parts when those b******s try and take over; hell a couple try to take this town over but every time they get run out." The door opened a second later and several men walked in, all armored in pristine silver armor and knight helms, and they took seats at the bar, all conversing about something Dew partially ignored. One however walked over to Dew's seat, and shoved his shoulder.

"Get outta this seat, gecko." Hank glared at him, and slowly stood up, reaching an inch or two taller than the man.

"Hey, leave the kid alone-"

"Save it old man, he's a lizardman and nothing more." He tried to shove Dew again, and the drake wrapped his hand around the knight's, slowly standing up as the man tried to wrench his hand from Dew's.

"That was nowhere near nice sir," Dew's eyes narrowed slowly, crushing the man's hand as he could clearly see him reaching for his sword. "I'd like an apology please." The knight lashed out with his sword...and was on the ground, arm broken, and sword in two; Dew's hand in an Open palmed strike.

"Now, please apologize to me and Hank for your rudeness, sir." The other knights slowly stood up, and Dew flicked his hands, eyes narrowing slowly. The knights were soon to start a fight, but they could see many non humans already standing up, a few reaching for their weapons. Not wanting to risk dying, the knights all filled out, Dew shaking his head as he crossed his arms.

"The Risen Light really seem like a******s."

"I'm not gonna bring up your tongue boy, cause you're right; they think they're entitled to do everything despite the fact humans didn't colonize these parts." Dew didn't need to know more, he already developed another foe in this odd little odyssey; he then asked if Hank had a map somewhere, and of course the old man did; leaving Dew with a bit of advice he might not listen to after handing him the aged yellow parchement.

"Best to keep your head out of affairs not yours to mess with."

 

 

Once he was certain he was away from the town Dew removed the jacket, and tied it around his waist, doing the same for the bandage in case he needed them again; taking flight in the forest and scampering to the top of a large tree, looking about before his gaze fell to the map. According to it, Dew's home island wasn't even on the map...instead of giving up he chased away those thoughts and went with the better idea; maybe this map was outdated and he needed to find another one.

"Huh, that's weird," He muttered to no one in particular. "There appears to be some kind of temple nearby...something could be inside it that I can use." Stuffing the map into his pocket Dew flew northwest, towards what he saw soon to be the ruins of a small temple; Dew landing on the steps and just in case putting his guise back on in order to prevent from being discovered. Walking inside Dew was greeted with the sight of a blank, grey, stone room; he guessed everything else inside had been looted...save for something profound, slumped against the wall.

It was a set of armor, oddly. The armor was a deep obsidian hue, appearing as dark as the night, with silver trimmings, and the helmet being domelike with two broken horns atop it. It appeared to possess armored pants, and the boots were large and blocky. Its gauntlets were detected from the armor, as were the boots, and overall the armor seemed intimidating, but the biggest factor was the sword. It was a large one, the blade wide and the hilt covered in leather, but the tip of the sword was curved, as if someone put a crescent moon downwards on the blade; so in a sense the tip was an ax head pointed outwards; runic designs traced along the sword. Overall, Dew had no idea who the armor's owner was, but the set looked near ancient.

The drake took a few steps forward, and noticed the blade had been rammed through the stomach area of the armor; the armor slumped against the wall as a human being would be following death. Curious about it, Dew gently wrapped his hand around the hilt...and a cold metal hand suddenly grabbed his arm! Dew stifled a scream as he watched in horror as the helmet lifted up, and a pair of glowing red eyes glared at him, cyan spectral energy forming a person inside the armor!

"You!" A distorted, disembodied ghostly voice shouted to Dew. "How did you do it?!"

"Do what? What are you talking about?!" Dew tried to get the hand off, but all it did was clamp down harder; the armor slowly standing up to its height of 6'7.

"What the hell is your name boy?" It finally let go, allowing Dew to jump back, holding his arm.

"Dew sir...w-w-what are you?" The armor walked up to Dew, its red eyes staring into his own.

"I'm a Spirit Armor; the name's Dante kid."

"Dante? Well, what are you doing here?" He went silent, before letting out a spectral sighing noise, reaching down to the wall to pull the blade out and set it on his back.

"Risen Light knights; attacked me outside of this temple and drove me inside; used my own sword to impale me."

"But...you're not...physical...how can you-"

"I'm 40% Spirit Energy, I take enough damage to my armor and sword I'll need some to recover, which means this," He held his blade to Dew's eye level, the drake seeing those runic seals. He no doubt was meaning that each time he struck someone with his sword he drained some of their Spirit Energy, more each time he struck them.

"Problem is just by touching this sword you gave me enough Spirit Energy to last a whole god damned month; question is why." He looked over Dew for a few moments, before placing the sword where it belonged.

"You're a drake I can see."

"How the-"

"Kid I can see through that disguise really easily; it's not hard when I can literally see your energy." He pat Dew's shoulder, those bloody red eyes staring directly at him.

 "As far as I see it you're something real special and so far you've given me a good reason to trust you and not desert you." A crash emanated from outside; both of them looking to see several hooded men fighting several Risen Light knights; Dew had an idea those men belonged to Vertigo; the drake beginning to grow worried as he watched them battle it out, but a firm metal hand clamped down on his shoulder; Dante's eyes narrowed as he watched the fight.

"Kid, stay back, lemme handle this." In a flash he was off the stairs, plunging down at both parties, and slashing with his blade; Dew watching with each strike the spiritual form of Dante grow more and more firm until he looked as if he were really physical, his form made up of deep teal smoky mist; the Knights and Cultists soon falling dead moments later...and both of them turned to see something large there as well.

It was a sleek yellow/silver metal hue, with large metal legs, backwards facing. The thing was about 15 feet in height, with two missile boxes on the sides of the cockpit, and one more atop it. The Knight inside was mostly covered; the only thing exposed being his head in the clear glass of the cockpit.

"Ah s**t it's a f*****g Owens Mech!" Dante shouted, the thing suddenly taking aim at him before open firing with twin machine guns on it. Dew heard something about Mechs; robotic machines designed for warfare with many different types...problem was due to him being raised on an island off the coast he knew little the types outside of them all being a dangerous threat to him. Dante rolled behind a rock as the machine gun fire died down, the Owens stepping forward rather quickly and firing two missiles at the rock; obliterating it and sending Dante onto his back, his sword sliding away from him. The Mech aimed its guns at Dante again...and stumbled right from an abrupt blow to the side. Dew stood there, on all fours, jacket and bandage discarded, as green energy seeped from his maw. The Owens fired a missile at him and Dew took flight, deftly avoiding all the shots before landing on the cockpit of the Mech, shooting a sphere of Earthen energy at it, denting it inwards; Dew continuing to shoot before he watched blood seep around the cockpit, and the Mech slump down, sputtering before shutting down.

"Damn," Dante watched Dew land, the drake shaking himself off. "Didn't think you would've killed him."

"Nowadays you do what you must." Dew did his best to put it out of mind as he sighed; climbing atop the Mech and pulling the map back out, studying it. Dante asked where he was trying to go, and when Dew described the island Dante actually started laughing.

"Crescent Moon Island; I know where that's located: it's off the coast of Uldah."

"How long will it take to get there from here?"

"A few months or a year counting rests and such; hell if we get to Cob's Port 3 miles from here we can sail down to another port, and then a straight shot there." Dew was beyond exuberant; there really was hope for him to go home! He didn't care if it was safe or not but it was the best place he knew; where he could be out of Vertigo's reach! Before he flew off Dante stopped him by stepping into his path, which meant he had to stand atop the Mech as well; holding the jacket to Dew. His next words, Dew partially expected.

"Let me help you out on this kid; it'd be easier for us both."

"And what do you get from this Dante?"

"Well for one thing this is Iria here and it’s not exactly a fun safe place; this continent is crawling with battles and fights and personally I'm sick and tired of this s**t." Concluding Dante had quite the potty mouth, Dew decided that yes the Cursed Armor could come with him; it'd be smart since he obviously knew how to use that sword, meaning if and when Vertigo came after him, it'd be a helluva lot harder to take him back. Dew finally had a feeling he hadn't felt since he escaped, a feeling that he thought he wouldn't feel for a long time.

Hope, the hope of going home; to return to where he belonged...and maybe...just maybe he could find a way to bring his dad back...to be a family again.

 

Dew had no idea just what was waiting for him...but he had someone in this strange, new, and scary world, something that could be his greatest asset.

A friend.

 

 

"Ma'am, the cultists have failed." Soulstorm told Vertigo, the pair currently moving towards a darkened room. In the halls next to them, they could hear the throes of pleasure, men being driven to climax again and again to harvest Spirit Energy for the many Monster Women that lived with them. It was how many of the Construct Monster Women were fueled; Spirit Energy could be harvested from both the blood or the semen and often direct contact...but the sick Echidna took special pleasure from hearing a man forced to arrive time and time again without end.

"I understand they failed," Vertigo sighed, slithering away from the room Noxia was working in. "But why have you brought me down here; what have you made?" Soulstorm led Vertigo inside the room, and revealed something to her...something in a cell, as it paced around, something that made her cover her mouth in both shock and awe.

"How...what?" Soulstorm nodded to Vertigo's fear, as she crossed her arms.

"My mages and I used the Negative Spirit Energy and some Chrono magic to do some interesting work on a drake egg; we have something nice and special to go after our little drake and bring him back, alive hopefully." Vertigo approached the darkened cell, and a pair of violet eyes stared at her, full of darkness, full of shadows, full of deceit, that only made her smile.

"Welcome to life, Mist."

"Yes...Mistress..."

To Be Continued...