Chapter 3 - Song of Angels

Chapter 3

Song of Angels

Deep in the depths of the Wondering Earth a wind from the distant surface world blew sharply between the many dark stones. The wind went from the mouth of the deep chasm and in and out of the spaces between levitating rock. As it traveled downwards it shifted over and around the black stones ominously still and silent. It reached a depth to where the light of the sun or the moons would only be a fragmented haze obstructed by the aimless and lost wondering stones.

Here it found things not native to this deep part of the world. Though they were indeed levastones, they were dressed in unnatural shaped metals and were not silent like the others. As the wind passed these stones it not only took with it the low hum of the foreign stones but also a sweeter vibration of sound that it enjoyed more than the hum. It was a sweet sound, like a smooth white wine sliding across the tongue. Though it was also sad, like the tears of a lost love falling down into the darkness below.

On the bridge of the lead flagship of these dark Zaiboch stones that lye deep in the dark with the lonely stones of wondering stood men clad in gray armor. The sweet sound that the wind on their hull so enjoyed echoed though out the ship. All the men were stead at their posts entranced by the sound for it was both beautiful and dark, joyous and saddening.


Win dain a lotica

En vai tu ri

Ai lo ta

Fin dein a lolucan

En dragu a sei lain

Bafa-ru les shutai am

En riga-lint

Win chent a lotica

En vai turi

Si lo ta

Fin dein a loluca
Si natigura neuver
Floreria for chesti

Se entina


In the center of the bridge filled with darkness and sullen sound stood Veolae Europa, the captain of the Sequior and commander of this Zaiboch armada lying in wait amid the wondering stones. He was tall and strong with an inquisitive and caring face. He stood in complete stillness as he gazed forward expressionless gripping the sword at his side tightly. Though his face gave no allusion, his heart sank with the song. Though a mighty warrior and a strong willed man, the song's melody defeated him and he was prepared to surrender to it and she who sang this song of angels.


La la la la la la la

La la la la la

Fontina Blu Cent

De Cravi esca letisimo

La la la la la la la

La la la la la

De quantian

La Finder eve

Win dain a lotica

En vai tu ri

Ai lo ta

Fin dein a lolucan

Endragu a sei lain

Vi fa-ru les shutai am

En riga-lint


As the sad song ended the cold air seemed as silent as death. Veolae directed his attention to one of his subordinates, Lethathan, who had been standing beside his commander waiting with all others on the ship for the air to fall silent again. Lethathan said to him: "Sir. There is still no word."
Veolae closed his eyes in silent prayer and bowed his head. "Very well. Thank you Lethathan. I give you the bridge." He said with a hand on Lethathan's shoulder.

He left the bridge down a hall and through to the center of the ship. He stepped into a circular room adorn with crimson silk sheets and velvet pillows. The room was bathed in the light trickling down from the hidden sky above through a dome skylight of glass and gold etchings. Still at the door Veolae looked to the center of the room and his weary gaze fell on the girl from whom the song had come. She stood facing him her pail blue eyes seeming to glisten in the dim light. She held out her hand beckoning him to her.

When he was upon her he took her hand in his own and looked on her. Her white skin. Her long wavy hair. Here pointed ears. "My laity, Sora." He said gently.

"Lord Veolae." She said in a voice like silk.

Veolae felt his concentration waver as he peered into Sora's eyes. After a moment he remembered his duties. "Two of our squadrons have reported the Basram troops west of Fanelia are in retreat from the Fanelian forces. However the other three squadrons have failed to report for the second day. One of these squadrons was made up of Oreades units. They could not have been destroyed by the Basrams." He said.

Sora lowered her hands to the sides of her long flowing dress and a slight smile came to her light lavender lips. "We are in the den of the dragon." She said in an admirable tone. Veolae knew of whom she spoke. He had once seen him fight in the last battle for Freid. He had lost many of his men to the white dragon of Fanelia, and now even more it seemed. "Do not fear. The dragon is far from us." Sora said.

Veolae could hide nothing from Sora least his fears and hatred. She could see through him, as she could see through almost all. Sora's gifts both intrigued and frightened Veolae. As did her origins. He knew only that she was from the capitol of Zaiboch and she was a servant of the sorcerers. "I have recalled the remaining troops. What are your wishes my laity?" he said.

Sora closed her eyes and slowly raised her chin to the air. Veolae watched in awe and apprehension as he saw her body tremble and then her eyes opened wide. "What we seek approaches from the west, crossing the Shtall Mountains." Her voice was flat and eerie without the her usual sweetness for, as Veolae knew, it was not her but the sorcerers speaking through her with the power of what remained of the Destiny Prognostication Engine which was at their command.

Sora stood tense still looking upward, trembling. After a moment her stare diminished with her eyes closing her into darkness. She fell limp into Veolae's arms and he knelt to the ground. "Sora!" He exclaimed. Though this was the method used often by the sorcerers to send commands to him, it still scared him to death each time.Sora sat kneeling before him supported by his arms. With a fatigued effort she looked up upon him. "We must find her before the dragon." She said softly. She, as the conscious world faded away into darkness fell into Veolae's arms.

Elsewhere in the dark of that night blue flame roared across a field in a valley of the wide Shtall Mountain range. Above and away in the sky the Crusade approached. On the bridge there was confusion and haste as Riden peered through the periscope at the field. "Fire! I see blue fire! Kio adjust course to 184!" Riden shouted. "Pile, go get Gaddes and the da boss!" But there was no need as Allen and Gaddes entered the bridge followed by Malerna and Celina.

"Riden, can you see melef wreckage?" Gaddes asked hastily as he rushed over to Riden.

"Hold on." Riden said as he refocused the lenses and zoomed in. "Wreckage! Geze tons of it! It looks like dare are at least nine or ten melefs! All torn to shreds!" By now most of the crew had gathered in the cockpit and were looking out the windows at the small flicker of the flames in the distance. Malerna held Celina as she cried, as she had done each time they had come upon a sight like this.

Allen looked to Malerna. "Take her below." He said. He returned his focus to Riden. "Who's melefs are they?" He asked.

"Ah, I, I duno. We're still to far. But" Riden said.

"But we can assume two things about this battle: that it was very recent and that it involved Zaiboch." Allen said. "Their guymelefs burn blue. There is no mistaking that at least some of the wreckage is Zaiboch. Gaddes, Katz, Teo, Oruto, get to your melefs. We don't know what is waiting for us down there. I'll will lead you in Scherazade. Riden, approach carefully at quarter speed. Take us in."

The men dispersed throughout the ship to their various stations. Gaddes, Katz, Teo and Oruto boarded the melef carrier through the hatches on the underside of the Crusade's hull where the carrier was anchored and awaited Allen’s orders at its com pipes. It was a low altitude drop carrier; the guymelef would fall from the air through the trap-door floor of the carrier. The melefs themselves were big and bulky, a dark gray like Scherazade; upgraded versions of those in the battle at Allen's castle. They were larger and more capable to stand up to Alseides units for which they were designed and built to fight after the war.

Allen waited at the com pipes in the rear of the Crusade before boarding Scherazade.. Even though Scherazade was one of the official guymelef of the Knights of Kalee, he still retained it as a favor from the princesses.

Through the pipes Riden spoke to Allen. "We're getten close. I can see the wreckage clearly now. But it doesn't make no sense!"

"What is it that you see, Riden?" Allen said through the pipes."There are a total of twelve guymelefs-" Riden paused. "All Zaiboch."

There was a moment and no one spoke. Gaddes, Katz, Teo and Oruto stood at the carrier's com pipes waiting for Allen's commands. After a minuet they came. "Everyone back on the crusade. Riden, get some distance between us and the melefs. We don't want to have a flying fortress on top of us. Best speed." Allen said.

"Wait!" Everyone heard Malerna yell.

"What is it princess?" Kio said glancing at her from the wheel as she starred out the window at the battlefield which they were nearly upon.

"Malerna!" Allen said. "I thought I told you to go below."

"You told me to take Celina below. Not stay there." Malerna said obstinately. "There is something moving down there! I think it's a person!" Malerna continued seeming to speak to anyone but Allen.

“Rieden?” Allen inquired.

“Just a sec...” he said as he scanned the battlefield searching for movement other than the flames whisping through the air. “I got im’! It’s a Zaibach soldier! He’s alone, Captain.”

"Gaddes, Katz, Teo, Oruto, Pyle join me in the drop pad." Allen called into the pipes with some reluctance. "Were going down."

The six men gathered into the pad and it was lowered to the ground on the edge of the battlefield. The fires had gone down but there was a soft blue light cast from many directions. Allen commanded the group to stay alert in case it was an ambush. They approached the person from the rear and saw that he was in fact as they had predicted, a Zaiboch pilot dressed in blue and black. They proceeded cautiously with a nervous eye in every direction.

The pilot was sitting on the remains of his melef and they could hear him breathing or struggling to breath. One of his hands was in his lap clutching his sword and the other was hanging limp to his side draining blood onto the cold metal of his Alseides unit.

Gaddes was the one to sneak up behind him. He was cautious; as an animal is most dangerous when it is injured and separated from it's pack. Gaddes, silent as a fox was upon the pilot unnoticed. The man's breathing made Gaddes more nervous as he crept closer. In and out, as if the air around him was reluctant to give him breath. But he was also mumbling something that Gaddes couldn't make out. He was very close now and he could now see that the pilot was much smaller than he had thought.

As the group watched and waited from behind an Oreades unit lying on its side, Gaddes acted. He jumped toward the man and twisted his arm around his back and grabbed his neck lifting his seemingly light body off the ground. In the same motion the pilot screeched in pain as he dropped his sword and was thrust down onto the ground next to the melef with his face hitting the sharp bladed grass. With the back of his sword, Gaddes struck the pilot on the back of the head sending him into darkness.

The pilot lay limp facing down into the grass. With his foot Gaddes rolled him over and the group came and looked upon his face. It was a boy. His face was thin and his shoulders narrow. "Geeze." Gaddes said in some regret. "He's just a kid. No older than fourteen."

"Yes." Said Allen. "And all his comrades are dead, and he can tell us who killed them. Lets get him to the Crusade. "

With the new prisoner loaded the Crusade moved away from the field and into a mountain pass into supposed safety. It was the third week of their mission and they had already come across four new battlefields since passage into the Shtall mountains by way of the Asturian town of Marsoon. All of the attacks appeared to be by Zaiboch guymelefs. But the battlefield they were now leaving in the distance was the first where they found any Zaiboch wreckage let alone a survivor be he Zaiboch or Asturian as some they had not up until now found anyone alive.

In a dark room within the Crusade the prisoner sat bound to a chair still in darkness. His head hung limp from his shoulders. The back of a hand came across his cheek with a painful smack. "Wake up!" Allen commanded as he prepared to strike the boy again. Gaddes with Kio stood by the wall watching their boss and his cruelty. Gaddes gave Kio a look and Kio walked over to Allen.

Allen raised his arm across his chest to hit the boy again but was stopped by Kio's large hand. "Come on commander. Leave the kid alone. He's lost a lot of blood and probably won't wake up for a while." Kio said in an uneasy tone.

Allen gave the big man a cold look. "Very well. When he does wake up I want a thorough interrogation. Use any force necessary. I want to know who did this and why the Zaibach are here." Allen said his voice dark like midnight waters. He dropped his eyes from Kio and made for the door.

Once again he was stopped. Gaddes, with his hand on Allen's shoulder said regrettable words. "It's pretty low to hit a defenseless kid. It's something that the Zaiboch would do."

"He is our enemy and he has information I want." Allen said coldly as he left the room.

In the hall outside the room he was met by the gaze of Malerna; cold and critical of Allen. He had not let her examine the boy upon his arrival even though she had insisted. Standing in opposition she wished to speak her mind to him; to tell him of his unbefitting behavior, but it seemed the silence between them that had been typical of them for so long conveyed the same message. She looked away from his face as she walked past him into the dark room and Allen did not hesitate to leave to his cabin.
His thoughts now dwelled only on his sister. Once in his cabin he was dismayed as he had expected to see her but she was not in her bed. Though concerned he knew where she was. He left his cabin wrapping himself in a blue cloak to combat the cold winter air and made for the melef hanger at the rear of the Crusade. He approached the port, aft look-out terrace and as he had expected there his sister was standing. As it had been each time they came across one of the battlefields whether it be one they had already charted or one a new, each time in the after words in this place she would be, crying for the lost lives of the men on those battlefields.

'Why sister' Allen thought 'why must you be so sensitive and caring. I should not have taken you with me. It was selfish.' Allen went to his sister to once again console her but when close, he did not see or hear any sign of her sadness. Instead she looked as if she was holding something in her hands. He unwrapped the cloak from himself and draped it upon the girl's thin shoulders. "Celina," Allen addressed her. She turned to her brother and though she was not crying she had a look of sadness on her face and to Allen's eyes the ever darkening scar of Dilandau was present. Unconsciously Allen's hand met Celina's cheek covering the mark from view. By this some of the sadness left from her face.

As if remembering the materiality in her hands she looked down upon them. "Brother." She said raising her hands to him. Allen's eyes grew wide as he starred at his sister's hands. In them once again was a long white feather that seemed to glow in the dimness of the night. "It came to me on the winds again." She said. "It came to me because it knew I was sad." She cradled it in her hands close to her chest and looked at it with teary eyes. "I think it is trying to tell me something but..." She paused in thought and looked up at Allen. "Is he alright?" Allen did not answer for he feared who it was she was asking about. "The boy. The boy from the blue flames."

Allen stepped back from his sister. Since the war and his experiences with two people he trusted nothing supernatural. His sister's question frightened him as she had no knowledge of the prisoner. Or so he had thought. Before he could ask her how it was she knew there was a breeze and from Celina's hands the feather escaped and blew far from the two. Celina went to Allen and in each other's arms forgetting all their woes they watched the feather until it was just a speak of white in the distant skies of the mountain canyon.

Allen wanted Celina to come with him to take some rest but she wished to stay and look at the stars and the moons a while longer. This he permitted so long as she was not long to it and later got some rest. Somewhat reluctantly he set on back to his cabin to wait for her. Celina laid on her back and wrapped warmly in her brother's care gazed queerly into the night sky wondering when the feather would come to her again and what it would have to tell her. She drew the heavy blue fabric of cloak up over her chest and nestled in it and the thought of her brother's caring arms brought a smile to her face.

Allen walked into his cabin with a mind to sleep and recover his strength from the long days behind him but he would not rest until his sister was with him. He knew that most likely in a short while he would leave to the hanger and carry his sweet sleeping sister back to her bed. When through the doorway he was, quickly he was drawn back into reality by the sight of Malerna sitting in a chair in the dim candle light of the room. Being in a state almost that of levity from being with his sister he would have smiled at the sight of the princess if it were not for her cold hapless stare. With this he suddenly returned to his former mood. "Princess," He said without joy or a smile.

She sat still staring. Again an unsaid message was conveyed between them. After a short while Allen became weary of her gaze and walked to a window at the side of the room. With frustration and some anger Malerna spoke. "How can you be so insensitive?"

Allen made no indication of acknowledgment with his back to Malerna. She continued. "That boy, who is just a child at that, barely survived his ordeal. And then on top of that and aside from Gaddes' brutality you beat him so that he may wake to more torture!" Malerna scolded with anger and disbelief as to Allen's appalling treatment of the boy.

Again speaking to her with his back turned he said in a quiet and menacing tone: "As long as he is alive. As long as he is alive and able to speak."

"How can you be so cold!" Malerna cried jumping up from her seat. She looked at him. It was apparent to all and especially Malerna that Allen had changed. And changed for the worse rather than the better as many things over the past few years had seemed to. Though there was one person whom his treatment of had not changed: his sister, Celina. Upon this thought the shadowy parts of Allen's mind began to come into focus for Malerna even though she in the past had resisted the thoughts. "It's not..." She paused. She knew it was something she had to say whatever the outcome. "It's not about that soldier at all is it? Or about this mission. You just wanted to take your sister and leave. Take her and run away."

"It is not something that you can understand!" Allen shouted as he turned to Malerna. "That boy in there is our enemy and he will pay dearly for his crimes and the crimes of those who came before him!"

Malerna was truly taken aback. She was also afraid, not for herself but for Allen. The dark pieces began to come together and Malerna felt her hand upon her chest and the stare of Allen, appearing before her a dark and distant figure before the window to the moonlit sky. "I see now." She said.

In the dark interrogation room were the shadowy figures of the prisoner, Riden, and Kio. The door opened and light poured in from the hall outside. As it shut and their eyes adjusted the two men greeted their Captain Gaddes solemnly. "How is our prisoner doing?" Gaddes asked.

"Well." Riden said. "The princess came in and patched him up a bit bout an hour ago. A few minuets later he woke up! Sort of. We haven't even been able to get a name outa him but he's been mumbling bout something for the last hour! I think there might be sompten wrong wit his head."

"It was the battle" Kio said.
"Yah," continued Gaddes. "A kid that young can't deal with that kind of carnage. He's probably traumatized." Gaddes walked cautiously to the prisoner. He was going to try and get something out of the boy however unlikely because Allen had ordered it. He stood in front of the boy and leaned in on him. The boy's head was still hanging down though his face was now cleaned and cared for by Malerna but still bruised from Allen's malice.

"What is your name, soldier?" Gaddes commanded. The boy didn't move except for his unceasing trembling. Gaddes took hold of the boy's jaw and drew his head up so that they were looking at one another. "Who did this?" He simply said. The boy opened his mouth but was still silent as if afraid to speak. "Out with it!" Gaddes snapped.

"A shadow... dark. white..." the boy babbled. His eyes were wide seeming to stare past Gaddes into nothingness. "screaming, from everywhere... it was so dark, I couldn't... couldn't see it... couldn't see it anywhere."

Riden and Kio exchanged nervous glances. "I remember people in Marsoon saying something about a shadow in the west. But I figured they was talking about the Zaiboch." Riden said to Kio with apprehension. "Shhhhh!" Kio hissed.

Gaddes concentrated on the prisoner. "What? You couldn't see what?" He asked gruffly.

"The dragon." The boy said.

Once again silence filled the room as memories echoed and candles flickered. Gaddes continued the interrogative questions. "Why are you here? What is the objective of your mission?"

The boy seemed more wakeful now and somewhat cooperative though still in somewhat of a trance. "To... to find something."

"Would that something be the Guymelef which was able to take out two Alseides and one Oreades squadron alone?" Gaddes asked.

"No. Something else." The boy said.

"What than?" Gaddes continued.

"The..." He said as Gaddes leaned in to listen. "The airship, Crusade."

Still wrapped in Allen's cloak Celina gazed blissfully out into the sky. There was a slight breeze and it chilled her white face. On the wind was a strange sound. It seemed far away like a echo to Celina but it began to grow and become softer and lighter. It was the sound of a sweet melody and it became clear and beautiful. Suddenly she realized that the wind was no longer blowing and the sound had stopped. Everything seemed eerily still and silent.

Celina sat up and looked around as she had a feeling of being watched quite suddenly after the wind and the music had stopped. She looked at the area behind the ship and saw a most peculiar thing: the air seemed to be rippling like water just disturbed by a thrown stone.

Riden ran down the corridor of the crusade seemingly in a panic.

Malerna stood staring at Allen. "What do you see princess?" Allen asked her. The door of the cabin burst open as Riden bounded in.

"Captain!" Riden yelled.

Allen looked at the little man. "What is it Riden?"

"The Zaiboch swine! They're here for us!" Riden exclaimed.

"What!?" Allen said.

"We just found out! The Zaiboch carriers were sent here to find the Crusade! That's what the kid said!" Riden explained.

Suddenly Gaddes' voice came across the pipes. "Zaiboch Guymelefs approaching from aft!"

"Man your station!" Allen shouted into the com pipes in his cabin before making for the hanger. As he ran he herd Gaddes' voice once again.

"Incoming!" He said as the whole ship shook from a rain of fire projectiles. "Damn! Their aiming straight for our levastones! I'll try and shake them!"

Balance was almost lost as the Crusade with Gaddes at the helm tilted and pitched as it swerved to avoid fire. Allen reached the hanger now followed by Kio as well as Riden. They could see the melefs pursuing them at a distance. This confuse them however as they should have already have overtaken them as both Alseides and Oreades units were much faster than the carrier laden Crusade.

Upon the hanger deck before the great Scherazade Allen looked for his sister. "Celina!" He shouted. Then he saw her, standing where he had left her starring out at their pursuers still wrapped in Allen's cloak. In response to his call, Celina turned her head towards him. And behind her the air blurred and the form of a great guymelef appeared. Allen felt his heart stop as its stealth cloak was thrown back revealing a monstrous Oreades unit.

With a great gust of air the guymelef was gone. Celina no longer was in sight. Morning light was just forming and light grew in the sky. Kio and Riden were saddened as they held Allen back as his yells for his sister echoed across the canyon and then everything was silent.

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