At the base of the mountains, near a mountain pass, lies a small castle. It is considered small mostly due to comparisons with the Castle of Asa and Ren. This castle has been abandoned by any leader for the last hundred years, and is only the wonderful condition it is in because the local villagers from the local town like to keep up the repairs. However, unlike Ren or Asa, these people of the north have no leader, until recently. A man they have come to know as Lord Frost (and to his most closest followers he is Rayku Shinje), has taken up residence in the small castle, and now a Black and Silver flag flutters from the flag pole, the design the great Eagle of Rome. Word had spread throughout the villages, and the people are curious.

The city gates were massive, something that always impressed her. She left the City through a small side door, then walked on. When she was out of site of the wall guards, but still well within site of the gates, she stopped. She was using all her skill to keep silent and hidden (still in her dinner dress).

Garion flew fast past the gate guards that were fireing arrows at Estrella who was giggling and dodging them. He sent a wave of dark fire at her startling the starlight destroier. "No fun you are Prince." She said with a pout as she dodged it.

"No he isn't." Dievas said sending a wave of light shadows while Nemesis sent dark shadows at him.

Garion vanished as both shadows would have hit him. A wave of fire was sent at Nemesis while a wave of dark stars were sent to Dievas. The two growled as they were hit. They glared at Garion when he appered sending more powers at them.

He had tried to keep Sabriel and Atela from knowing about the random apperances of the two. He didn't want Atela to know because she would fight them and he was afraid that Sabriel would be in danger with Dievas. He formed his bladed staff and flew right at the pair.

Without finding anything Sabriel headed back to the Gates. ~he mentioned the Gates I know it!~ she thought, when suddenly she saw the gates, and there was combat going on. She drew her wakazashi and headed to the Fray.
~THEM!~ she thought with panic. But no...she wss going to get him this time. Yes, she had too...she had too....She solidified her will and charged.
"Ill Kill you!" she screamed, in the air and bearing down on Devias.

Garion was thrown off guard when he heard Sabriel's voice. He heard Dievas's laugh as the light shadow headed right for the princess his chain whip ready to strike out at her. "Damn." Garion growled as Nemesis's weapon bit his shoulder. He had to return his focus on to only her this time. He had to put his sister and her fight out of mind for the moment though he was worried now. He and Nemesis clashed dark fire with dark ice.

Sabriel had her sword at her prefered position, held back but pointing to the enemy. She was running as fast as she could at devias.

Dievas cracked his whip at Sabriel the point of it slashing towards her legs while he formed a ball of black fire sending it at her chest.

Nemesis kept charging Garion with black ice and her sword only to feel the bite of his staff several times in her arms. She glared at him darkly. The Prince did not look like much of a challenge but he was stronger than he appered. The only ones that ever saw him train were Atela, Amon and Vivi. Viento's death had a big effect on him but no one knew what excatly happened. No one but Garion and he refused to talk about it even after seven years.

The black fire was all Devias needed. Sabriel skidded to a halt, her eyes wide with horror. She threw herself to the ground as the ball whizzed by. The heat...the black heat...that evil heat.....the fire...the darkness...the fire darkness.....she screamed and screamed, even though the ball was well gone.

Devias's laugh echoed as he aimed his whip for Sabriel's back. Garion heard the scream and sent a wave of silver star energy at Nemesis. The energy caught Nemesis in her chest throwing her to the ground. "SABBIE!" Garion called out as he tried to get to Devias before the whip hit. He sent a wave of star energy at him as well.

Devias was hit by the energy but the whip's course was not to be stopped. The light shadow laughter died Garion warped inbetween Sabriel and the whip. The blades of the whip bit into the prince's back and wings. Devias growled and raised the whip and continued to strike out, Garion not moving at all. "Sabbie, get out of here..." Garion got out between cringes as he felt Nemesis start towards them. The garnets started to glow slightly. Sabriel's protecting her from the elemental attacks, Garions tring to keep his strength up from the whip's bite.

Estrella watched with giggles. "So much fun causing chaos. But no Mimic for us." She pouted. "He is with her now. Damn Atela. We will get her soon enough though." She said almost happily. The starlight had become quite insane acting like a child one moment, turning into a cold blooded murderer the next.

Sabriel couldnt quit screaming. She just kept it up. She could feel those flames, could hear its burning sound. She didnt hear garion talking, nor did she hear the knights roaring down upon the battle from the Gates. The roman knights, their swords gleaming as they charged down upon nemisis and Devias.

Deivas and Nemesis wouldn't have stopped if Estrella didn't send out her dark star energy towards the knights. "No fun." she pouted a little. "Another time, Garion." She said with a laugh. She and the two shadows dissappered once more.

"Sabbie." Garion said falling to his knees placing his hands on her shoulders. "Please, snap out of it. The flames are gone. They are not here." He said trying to get through to her, tears falling lightly. "Sabbie." ~This...this is why I didn't say anything. This is why I've been fighting them myself. I didn't want you to be harmed anymore than what he did to you.~ he sent through his link hopping he could reach her some way.

Sabriel hiccuped through her tears then began to twitch.
"Burn burn Im gonna burn" she mumbled as her body began its attack.

Garion raised a slight barrier to keep the knights from seeing his sister's condition. He was not in the mood to deal with them anyway. His tears still fell as he staied right beside her, his hands on his knees as he tried not to go hunt the demons down. He decided against calling for his mother. He knew she was already worring about them. She had her duties as Empress though.

Sabriel passed out. In her mind the constant flickering of Black Flames kept playing over and over again. She knew no more. The knights were ordered back into the city.

Garion picked up his sister and held her close to him. His tears didn't seem to want to quit falling. He took flight and headed back to their rooms blaming himself once more.

Sabriel snuck out to the gates, where she spotted Gelo and Ketashi waiting for her. Ketashi had on a pack as well, though he claimed that its contents were for Sabriel, not himself.
"Are we ready?" she asked with a small smile. They were finally going on the road, leaving behind this place, and the pain that went with it.
Ketashi nodded, looking as annoyed as ever.

Gelo nodded though she was still worried. She was scared about what lie ahead for them. "Ready, Master." She replied softly.

Then lets go" she said brightly, then turned up the road and began to walk, the others in tow.

Gelo took one last look at the castle before focusing her attention on where they were headed.

The attack came suddenly near nightfall. A wave of large rocks followed by a strong quake in the earth. Both aimed at the gates of the city.

Estrella, Nemesis and another watched as their units all sent various attacks at the walls. Some clashing with others making a loud crashing sound. Others making a great quaking in the earth.

"Remember your goal." Estrella told the red hooded figure with them. "I want this finished quickly."

"Of course, Lady Estrella." came the reply in a sultry voice. The woman looked at Ella and Nemesis with forest green eyes. The same color Atela's was before her dragon blood took control. "And this should be fun." She slipped into the attacking units blending in with them.

"Now then. To advenge Dievas." Nemesis growled as she rasied her hands signaling the archers to fire. Arrows laced with posions, flames, and other enchantments flew at the guards at the wall.

Teh Guards on the wall were surprised, though one of the legionnaires was smart enough to raise the alarm. The barracks on far side of the city sent out messangers to the nearest legions. The barracks in the City empties of soldiers hurriedly putting on their gear and rushing to the defense lines. The legion of the North barracks left the City through the North gate, forming into their ranks and began to march around the city to meet the enemy on the fields. Archers ran to the walls as the citizens panicked. Anyone who had and could pick u p a sword did and rushed to see what they could do. Some people set about putting out the fires. A messengar was sent to Garion to bring news of the attack. The City was up and armed in a second. Garion had taken Sabriels vision to heart....

Vivi, Ifrit, Amon, Set, Zidain, Aramant, Freya, Garnet, Eiko, Steiner, Levitan and many of the other guardians were ready to fight. Those that could fly took to the skies as the other's took up various weapons of their own accord.

Ella smirked to herself. ~This will be fun.~ There were no orders being passed as the units kept up their attacks. Flame arrows flying rapidly at the gates.

The hooded figure slipped into the shadows and into the city. ~Shadow walking is too cheap of a trick but it's a fun one.~ She thought heading not towards the temple but to the castle itself taking care to stay close to the shadows and out of sight.

The legions from the north barracks came around the side of the City, and marched towards the enemy lines, in their standard Phalanx formation.
The soldiers on the walls fired off as many arrows as they recieved, while the ground soldiers did their best to baracade the doors and walls.

The dragons sent waves of their various flames at Ella's units. ~This isn't working.~ Amon realized as the fighters kept attacking with out care of those that fell around them.

Vivi kept watch for the moment. He didn't like the looks of this. One: Dievas was no where to be found (no one knew of Dievas's death yet). Two: Diablo hadn't shown himself if he was there.

Ella's units kept their attacks up. Some were now trying to break through any weak points they could find in the wall and some were crazy enough to try and climb the walls.

Garion, Yue and Kimir were racing from the Temple to find out excatly what was going on. Kimir was the one that caught the scent of the odd woman from Ella's unit. "Yue, watch him." Kimir said as he took off through the shadows.

The legions were working on keeping the enemy at he walls. The north barracks legion charged, slamming into the Enemy flank. The entire City defenses were at the zone of battle, but it was clear they were outnumbered. Some looked to the west, where they knew even now that the nearest Legion was marching double time to get there.

"Yue, get to the castle and protect Catlina." Garion said in a hushed voice.

"Garion, Kimir would kill me if I did that." Yue protested then noticed something in Garion's eyes that made him stop. "Fine...." He said not defeated but understanding.

Kimir kept on the trail of the woman slipping through the shadows. He sent a set of daggers at her, pinning her cloak to a barrel.

Garion headed towards the fight, calling his staff to him. ~I'll be damned if they get in here.~ he thought not sure excatly what to do but his mind was working to form some sort of plan.

"This isn't looking good...." Eiko said as she and Ifrit continued to put out flames.

"Not good at all..." Ifrit agreed as he felt Shiva's ice on several of the fires.

Nemesis laughed to herself as she took to the skies with Estrella. Both started to send attacks at the dragons. ~This is more fun than dealing with the princess.~ Ella thought happily as she fired some dark energies at the walls. "Break the walls!" She ordered loud. "Make them fall!"

There was little hope now. The walls were falling. The legions not on the walls were now fighting to keep the attackers outside the city. The legion from the North Barracks were trying to hold their line.
Suddenly, a horn from the south sounded. In the darkness a thousand torches could be seen moving switfly towards the city. Further back, what seemed to be a small outbreak of sun on the horizon soon turned out to be the torchlight of thousands more people. Reinforcements for rome had arrived, and the thousand torches that grew nearer and nearer with every second only proved that the Calvary was leading the way

Garion felt some hope as he heard the horn from the south. He was still concerned about how to keep Estrella and Nemesis out of the city though. They were the ones that worried him greatly.

Nemesis, her unit and Ella's unit kept attacking the unit from the Northern Barracks while Ella turned her attention to the one's approaching the city from the south. Her eyes seemed to shine as she raised her hand to call up a wall of black flames in an attempt to keep the reinforcements from helping the city.

Kimir was caught off guard as the woman's cloak fell from her. She looked almost identical to Atela. The only diffrence was her eyes and wings. The wings were torn and shredded. "Who the fuck are you?" Kimir growled as he charged her.

"No one to be messed with, serpent." she said smirking as she raised her hand, stopping Kimir in his movements.

~I can't move....what the fuck?~ He growled mentaly as he tried to get loose.

"Now..." the woman said taking out a dagger, cutting Kimir deeply along his arms and shoulders. "I must be on my way." She released the hold on Kimir as she picked up her cloak, slipping into the shadows again.

"What the hell is going on?" Kimir said aloud as he felt the pain deep in his arms.

A palace guard stumbled into the castle where garion was.
"Sir...the streets....strangers....probably the enemy....Jonus...jonus said hed hold them off....too old, you know how he is...." he panted. He was unable to speak further.

Jonus had a sword and faced the lady that attacked kimir.
"Dont know what your in the City for, probably should go away" he told her.

Garion bit back a groan. ~Sometimes...I think Grandpa Jonus is where Sabriel gets her stuborness from...~ He sighed mentaly. "How many are there?" He asked as he finished placing on his boots. He had forgoten the fact that he didn't have any armor on until an arrow almost piereced his arm. He teleported to his room then to a small room outside the throne room to dress. "And how close are the reinforcements?"

The lady smiled benieth her hood. "Oh trust me, I should go away...but not without some friends." She said studing Jonus. "Aren't you a little old to be playing the hero?"

Catlina had gathered up the children that were in the castle...well those she could find. Helen and Aura were always too hard to find when she needed to. "Tolen, everything will be ok." Catlina said softly rocking the sniffling dragon born as she and some of the other healers hid in the hospital wing of the castle. Others had headed out to see if they could be of any use on the frontline. She had wanted to go but Yue made it clear she was staying put.

"eh? a hero. Theres a hero here?" Jonus said, looking around. When his head came back to face the lady, he squinted at her.
"Hey! dont know what you in the city for, but you should probably go away" he said, as though he had never seen her before.

The lady became quite amused by Jonus's actions. "I was just here to deliver a message to Emperor Garion from the desert troops." She said curious as to if she could fool Jonus or not. "Do you know where I can find him, good sir?"

Emperor garion? no such thing. Hes too young!" Jonus said.
"desert troops? no no that was long done...yes we dont need them....Garion? hes only a little boy. Your a spy is what you is!" he said, brandishing his sword

The lady sighed. "I seem to have run into the fool of the castle." She said under her breath brushing the hood of her cloak back. She was a shapeshifter and for this mission, had taken the form of Atela. "Then where is Lord Frost?" she asked keeping herself in check.

Kimir had to take his snake form to even be able to return to the castle. He took his human form as Thomas and Hidama saw him. "What the hell?" Thomas asked seeing the wounds.

"Someone is impersonating the Empress." Kimir hissed. "I don't know what they are here for but we have to stop her."

"I see through that ruse you! the empress is still asleep, and Lord Frost is going to Asa for some diplomatic talks, thats what he did! Now get out!" he hollered, taking a step forward.

The shapeshifter raised her hand sending a wave of lighting at Jonus. "You live in the past, old man. That was 12 years ago that he fell into the trap set for him. As for the Empress, her tomb will never be found again." Her eyes sparkled.

Kimir, Thomas and Hidama heard the crackle of lighting and headed towards the sound. "Wonderful...." Kimir said as he tried to keep up with the two.

Garion felt the energy of the lighting and raced out of the room his staff in hand.

Diablo stood before the building that lead to Atela's tomb. "I may not be able to enter the cathedral to where you lay, Kauket." He said raising his hands forming a large ball of energy. "Yet your lover will never be able to find you either. No...I won't let you finish the task the last of the true gods of our time set upon you." The building began to shake as the energy gathered became too much for it to bear. Time had destroied the resistance it had to even minor attacks. The walls started to crumble. "Now let's see how big of a dent I can make in your fair city, Atela."

Jonus looked down at the handle of the sword. Cloth..good. He brought the sword up, putting it between him and the lightning.

Garion rounded the corner just in time to see his grandfather's sword be struck by lighting. "What the hell?" he said glaring at the woman that looked like his mother. "Grandpa Jonus. Are you ok?"

Diablo watched as his energy destroied the building. Destroing the only known entrance to the ruins that held Atela's body. "Now you can't kill me but in time, I'll be able to come and get you. It may take another 2000 years but I will..." He smirked disappering as Garnet and Aramant rounded the corner.

"No...Atela..." Garnet huffed out looking at the rubble.

Jonus had been thrown back (using a metal object to block lightning was not smart) and he was resting up against the side of a house.
"Oh....Im alright....Take care....of that lady...and find namir....." he breathed.

Garion had to let out a small chuckle. "I'm sure Namir will show up in a little. He always does." He said as he watched the lady closely. He kept his blades in the staff as he charged her as the shapeshifter raised her hand to send another attack towards Jonus. He brought the end of the staff up, hitting the woman's arm.

"Dragons are nothing more than pests." the woman hissed at Garion as her attack missed Jonus compleatly.

Namir squeeked as he snuck around the shadows looking for any little nick nacks people would drop.