A/N: So yeah...haven't updated for how long exactly? I'm not sure if all my readers are dead or anything from the wait, but...here's your next chapter! Lol, I'm actually quite sorry that I haven't placed this update up. I apparently had it finished for a while (though I just realized this today) and never actually got around to putting it up. However, with summer here, I promise I shall start updating more, if not at least consistenly. So to anyone still reading this: Sorry for the long wait and if this chapter may seem slow, it's part I of III that show the entire history and background to lay the ground for the next few battles. Thanks again, and please review!

Chapter 9 - The History Part I - Ray the Prophet

It had been a week.

Nina and Ryu had traveled from the desert town a week ago, leaving the carnage behind. However, the memory of Kaiser’s battle hung heavy in both their minds still.

They silently climbed a barren hill and found they had reached a small, deserted hut.

“Odd,” said Ryu quietly, the first words he had said since the battle. “I do not remember that place…”

Nina look to Ryu slightly. “Have you been here before?” she asked carefully. She still did not know how he would react to anything she said or did, and was overly cautious.

He paused for a moment, then replied, “You can say something like that.” He looked around slowly, taking in nothing but water or mountains. “We could probably rest here for the night, since it seems that we will only waste any energy going anywhere.”

He started making his way to the hut, Nina close behind him.

xxxxXxxxx

“Kill it! Kill it!” one of the miners cried. Ryu turned his head toward him and opened his mouth. The man screamed as he was incinerated by the young dragon’s breath.

‘Annoying,’ he thought. He slowly started making his way around the mine, destroying anything in his way or simply irksome.

He was suddenly upon the beginning of an excavation project; a large skull of a dragon loomed over him.

“You are such a simple minded creature, with so simple needs,” called a taunting voice. Ryu looked around wildly, looking for the source of the irritating noise.

A human man appeared before Ryu from nothing, his long orange hair flowing behind him. He held the appearance of some sort of saint or priest, dressed regally in white with a calm smile on his face.

Ryu began to open his mouth to remove the new source of annoyance, but the man merely held up a finger, waving it back and forth. Ryu suddenly couldn’t release his flame, and let out a cough of smoke.

“I do not see how such a unsophisticated creature holds the destiny of the Brood upon his shoulders. Seemingly such a waste.” He shook his head in slight disappointment. “However, it is my job to bring you back to Dragnier…back to Ladon.”

Suddenly the man was upon Ryu and struck the top of his skull with a thunderous blow. Ryu reeled slightly and collapsed, unconscious.

And the mine was silent once again.

xxxxXxxxx

Ryu opened his eyes slowly, casting a glance around the darkened room that made the contents of his lodging.

Nina was sitting on her bed, seemingly unaware of Ryu’s eyes, her own looking through a window upon the stars.

He quietly got to his feet and walked over to Nina. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump up in surprise.

“Ryu!” she gasped, placing a hand on her chest. “I wasn’t aware you had woken up! What’s wrong?” She threw a worried at him, hoping he would answer her.

“Nothing is wrong, Nina,” he said quietly, a small smile playing his lips. “I apologize for scaring you, and for not acting myself these past couple days. I have a tendency to withdraw slightly when Kaiser does something, but normally I do not have traveling company.”

Nina shook her head, throwing her arms around his neck and embracing him. “You don’t have to apologize! I’m just glad you’re starting to feel better. I’ve been worried.” She nuzzled into his neck slightly, causing his breath to shorten.

As Nina cuddled into him, her breath slowly becoming steady, Ryu looked out the window up at the sky.

…And so blood shall rain from the sky, as the blood of the last dragon is spilt.

xxxxXxxxx

Nina opened her eyes slightly and yawned, stretching her body. She saw Ryu fast asleep beside her, causing her to smile slightly. She gently ran her hands across his toned chest, reveling in the fact that he was hers.

She sat up slightly, looking around the room for something she could use to make herself more presentable to Ryu when he woke up. However, the glint of something metal on the ground distracted her.

She cautiously got out of bed and made her way toward the object; it was a rather small handle that was reflecting the morning light. She gripped it carefully and, with a large amount of effort, managed to pull it open.

A large amount of dust shut up from the hidden door, causing her to violently cough. Ryu stirred and looked over at Nina and saw the trap door.

“What is that?” he asked, getting out of bed to look for him. The trap door revealed steps leading down into a dark room. He distinctly heard something buzzing from the bottom.

“Grab your things Nina,” he said quietly. He slowly began to make his way down the steps into the darkness. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

xxxxXxxxx

Ray stood on the mountaintop overlooking the cabin. His long, orange hair blew past him in the wind, covering his face like a blanket.

“Do you think perhaps he has found the device?” growled a large creature beside him. It was a monstrous beast, a large serpent-like creature with the wings of a hawk and the head of a lion.

“Ryu is very observant,” Ray stated simply. “He will have found it by now, and if he takes his time to understand it, will be on the other continent by now. Staying here is useless.” With that, he turned about and started walking toward a large, dark city.

The creature slid down in step with him. “Exactly where are you going, then?” it hissed.

“I am going to enlist the service of another hunter, who will be able to wreck havoc in Dragnier and will take the attention away from our Goddess momentarily.” Ray smiled a ghost of a smile. “The Woren and Dragons have been natural rivals for some time, now.”

“You plan to enlist the help of a Woren?” asked the serpent in surprise. “And how do you know for sure that he will travel to Dragnier?”

Ray’s smile grew more pronounced.

xxxxXxxxx

“Is this the child?” asked the Elder, taking the unconscious boy into his arms.

“Yes,” Ray replied indifferently. He looked down upon the nude child he had been sent to retrieve. Nothing seemed special about him, just simply another childish dragon that destroyed anything he found annoying.

“Very well,” said the Elder somberly, nodding his head. “We shall place this child before Ladon tonight then.” Without waiting for Ray, he spun about and walked into town, the looks of the villagers peering from their homes unto the face of the Destined Child filled with fear and anxiety.

Ray stood still for a moment before he felt someone behind him. He turned his head and saw before him a warrior with deep, purple hair.

‘A dragon,’ thought Ray, noting the strange hair color. ‘But I have never seen him before.’ The stranger smiled slightly, a devastating smile that was both benevolent and wicked.

“I am Teepo, Guardian of the Goddess,” he said calmly, his voice suave and powerful. “You must be the dragon priest Ray.”

Ray stood quiet for a moment before he turned himself fully to face Teepo. From the corner of his eye he saw the reality around him shift, as if everything was slowing down and stopping.

Teepo smiled. “I have come to asked you for something, Ray,” he explained quietly. “I am asking you to fulfill your destiny.”

“Speak nothing to me of my destiny!” cried out Ray. He dug his feet into the ground and kicked off, sailing at Teepo with tremendous speed. His large fist swung at Teepo, only to glance harmlessly off a barrier.

Teepo merely smiled as Ray spun about and regained his balance. “Really, Ray,” he called, “there is no need for this primitive brutality. You cannot defeat me nor the powers by my side.”

“Really?” asked Ray through gritted teeth. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he clenched his hands into tight fists. He could already feel the tearing of his skin. “Then we’ll see how your so-called ‘powers’ match against that of the Great Dragon of Ray the Prophet!” He screamed as the wings burst from his back and as his human shell slowly slid from the enormous beast. He yellow fangs and purple scales shone magnificently in the dim light of Dragnier. In a ear-piercing screech, Ray shot a series of blue flames at Teepo, engulfing him completely.

“Impressive,” came Teepo’s voice from the flames. He slowly stepped from the inferno, his barrier holding the intensity of the attack. He was unharmed, but his smile was gone. “Now I can see why I was sent to retrieve you.”

Ray was speechless. “Who…are you?” he called. “How can you stand the flames of Ladon?” Teepo merely smiled as he reached for his sword.

“Let me show you the real strike of a dragon,” he said. He swung his blade with such power that it slashed through Ray’s stomach, causing him to gasp in blood. He fell to his knees in human form, holding his wound to stop the profuse bleeding.

Teepo walked to Ray, standing over him. “You are not strong because Ladon has not chosen you. He has chosen that puerile whelp to carry in him the true dragon-spirit. To him, you are merely one more of his expendable pawns.” He placed his blade on Ray and closed his eyes. “Now let me show you true power and faith.” Suddenly his blade shone with a brilliant light, and Ray’s wound closed.

“Now that you have seen the difference between us, will you do what I have asked of you, to accept this new fate and your ultimate destiny?” Teepo asked, sheathing his blade.

Ray sat their silent for a moment before answering. “I have been raised in nothing but teachings that Ladon was supreme, and that I was his messenger. But, if that were true, then Ladon is merely a weak creation of your Goddess. And if not, then Ladon truly does not care for my being now that he has Ryu…” He stood up slowly, and when he lifted his head to meet Teepo’s eyes, it was a cold, rigid look of understanding. “I will follow you, then. If my true purpose is not here, then I will seek my destiny where it calls me. This has been my purpose in life, and I shall seek it until the very end.”

Teepo smiled. “Very well, then. Come with me, Ray the Prophet.”

And suddenly life was restored back in motion, and no one realized the disappearance of the young priest, whom they had once called a hero and a prophet from their god.