10.

Burning moon

"Do you think that it is really necessary for all of us to enter the headquarters, Kain?" Cecil wondered.

"It's a risk, I know, but we don't know how many of the guards are still in the building... We need all the help we can get for if they should discover us..." Kain whispered back, squatting, like the others, behind a bush near the front entrance of the former training hall in the woods.

"Let's hope that this won't be the case. Too bad that we couldn't take the secret passage in the tavern, but after all the commotion we have caused there,it’s hardly likely that we ever will be able to set a foot into that establishment, again..." Dawn said.

"That's strange... Although the Dark Paladins fear that people might infiltrate the building, there are only two men guarding the entrance. Do they feel so safe that it's not necessary in their eyes to raise their defenses?" Cecil was observing the entrance of the building attentively.

"Whatever. We still need to get rid of these two guys, as well... Right, Dawn?" Kain grinned, obviously the two of them had already agreed on a plan. Before the others could protest, they had disappeared, Dawn making her way swiftly and silently through the woods to the left of the building, while Kain dashed to the right.

In the shadow of the trees they approached the building from both sides and pressing their backs to the wall, crawled silently towards the entrance until they had reached the corner of the building. With a whistle from Kain, both rushed towards the guards, giving the surprised men no time to react; Kain had knocked down one of the men before the guard could even draw his weapon. Dawn had been faster in this respect -- in the moment she had left her hiding place behind the corner, she had unsheathed her rapier and was now pointing it at the throat of the other guard, the silvery blade glittering in the moonlight.

With a quick movement, Kain knocked down the man with the hilt of his spear. "That was nearly too easy..."

He motioned the others to come over and together they tied up the guards and dragged them behind some bushes.

The way being clear now, Cecil opened one of the vast front doors of the building, careful not to make a sound. One by one, they slipped through the opening and entered the entrance hall of the building, which was still lit but empty.

"No guards?" Kain wondered.

"Shh! There..." Rosa whispered as they suddenly heard footsteps. The group moved swiftly to the side of the room, hiding in the shadows of an alcove. A lonely guard in black armour through the hall slowly and disappeared in some corridor.

"Whew..." Rydia exhaled, relieved. "So where is this stone kept? Maybe we will even find the crystal shard!"

"The black knight disappeared behind the door at the end of the main hall as he fetched it," Cecil informed the others.

"Let’s start looking there first." The group carefully made their way to the main hall, watching out for any sign of guards, but there was only an eerie silence in the air.

"I don't need to tell you that this is most certainly a trap, do I?" Golbez remarked.

"Yes, I know. But we don't have a choice..." Cecil replied in a whisper, trying to ignore the feeling of a familiar presence, once again. After all it was only natural that the Black knight was staying somewhere in the building.

"It's locked..." Kain tried to open the door at the side of the stage.

"Leave it to me!" Edge took a little, strangely shaped piece of metal out of his pocket. He started to fumble with it in the lock and after a while the door opened with a click.

"Edge! I didn't know you could break locks..." Rydia looked at the ninja with big eyes.

"Well, after I got locked in Baron's wine cellar by the maid, I felt that it was time to learn it..." the blue-haired man grinned and opened the door, carefully.

Behind it lay a little room constructed totally out of white marble like the rest of the building, the only colourful speck being a huge green Tororian flag, which was fastened to one wall. The only furniture in the room was that of a chair and a little secretary. On the middle of the table, a covered object was lying. Judging by the evil aura that seemed to surround it, it was very likely that this was the same black stone they had been looking for. 

"Great, now we'll just have to destroy it." Kain approached the table and pulled away the cloth, revealing in fact the black lump of stone they had seen earlier this day. The Dragoon reached out to touch it, but suddenly hesitated.

"He's afraid of the dark power. What it might to do him..." Cecil understood what was going through his friend’s mind.

"I'll destroy the stone," he offered, although he was not looking forward to touching the stone, himself--even from a distance, the dark powers of the object seemed to reach out for his very being and he felt an icy cold creeping up in him. Under the anxious but also curious eyes of his friends, the Paladin wrapped part of his white cloak around his hand and took the stone from the table. Still, even through the fabric around his hand, a painful wave of energy flowed through his veins as soon as he had touched the stone, and he swayed for a moment, his vision blackening.

Cecil inhaled deeply, and gathering all his strength hurled the stone to the floor. It landed on the ground with a thump, but otherwise did not even get a crack...

"Great..." Edge remarked. "It does not only look like a stone, but also is solid as one. Maybe we should try magic to melt it...?"

As Cecil bent down in order to pick up the stone, he suddenly felt as if he was beingwatched. "We'll have to take the stone with us..." he told his friends. "We need to leave this place at once!"

"Going so soon?" A familiar voice sneered. Rosa jumped upon hearing the voice. The Tororian flag on the wall fell to the floor; revealing a secret passage from which the Black Knight and Sir Samon, a mocking smile on his thin lips, emerged.

"Oh - it's the chocobo breeders again! How sad that you decided to leave us earlier than planned this morning!" The blond man chuckled. "But I knew that you would come back… Although I did not know that you were after this…" He nodded towards Cecil, who had just reached for the black stone, again, "but I thought you were searching for that…" Grinning, Samon pulled out a sparkling shard and held it up in the air.

"The crystal shard…!" Cecil hissed.

Twing!

With a trenchant noise the shard was knocked out of Samon's hand and landed on the floor next to one of Edge's shurikens.

"Got it!" Cecil had stretched out his arm. Before Samon could react, the Paladin was now in possession of both the crystal shard and the black stone.

"So, still bragging about your achievements? We've looked through your schemes!" Kain shouted, gripping his lance with both hands. "We know that you're manipulating the people into believing in your own ideals, but we will stop you now!" He stormed towards the man, but did not come far, as the Black knight was once more unleashing his terrible "Dark Wave" attack. The magical energy sent the whole group around Cecil backwards, knocking some of them out of the room and into the hall.

"Not again!" Edge scrambled to his feet and backed out of the door as well, in order to have more room to fight. To his shock, he and the others were 'welcomed' by several guards, who must have been hiding somewhere all along, just waiting for this moment.

Samon and the knight entered the hall, slowly, as if there was no need to hurry.

"It was very careless of you to cause that much of a riot earlier this day--especially in the tavern..." he taunted. "Although we already knew of your presence before you even set foot in the town, of course..."

"How could you know?" Cecil asked why quickly letting the crystal slip into a pocket in the inner lining of his cloak. Pulling up Rosa with him, he scrambled to his feet. "You don't want to tell us that you are clairvoyant, do you?"

"You don't seem to know your companions very well, Paladin Cecil..." a dark voice sounded and another man stepped out of the shadows of the hall. He probably was about 35, rather tall and elegantly clothed in the finest black silk; a breastplate of the darkest black was around his torso. Half-long, slightly curly black hair fell before his forehead, veiling one of his eyes, and although his features were intelligent and calm, they were betrayed by his gaze, which was piercing and cruel.

Next to Cecil, Dawn gasped -- she had become pale and was staring at the man in horror, one hand over her mouth in shock.

"Are you Mallack?" Cecil demanded to know.

"Yes, that's what I call myself. Although the charming lady there knows me under another name..." He approached Dawn and reached out for her with a black clad hand.

"Take your hands from her!" Cecil hissed and stepped into his way. He noticed that Golbez, as well, had taken a step forward.

"Now, now..." Mallack smiled. "I'm sure that Dawn wants to greet me; after all, we were lovers for a long time. Now out of my way."

"Lovers..."

"Is that what Kieran wanted to tell before his death?" Cecil's eyes grew wide, but he still stood his ground. "I don't believe your words--stay away from her!"

"It's all right..." Gently, Dawn pushed Cecil to the side and stepped forward. She was still pale and her eyes were glassy, as if she was holding back tears. "I already feared that I might meet you here, Nathaniel... Although I did not want to believe it. And I cannot believe it even now..."

"That sounds just like you. You also never believed in the things I wanted to accomplish. That's why you left me: you didn't believe in me... Isn't it that way?" Mallack came closer. "Have you never missed me? The days we spent together? Or the nights? The way I made you laugh... my kisses, my touch?" He reached out with his hands, touching her face with his fingers.

"Yes, I've missed you." Dawn stared at him and slowly tears were forming in her eyes. "I thought of you day and night, Nathaniel... But you left me no choice, no chance..."

"No, you left me no chance..." Mallack twirled a lock of Dawn's silky hair around his finger, his look blank as if he was deep in thought. "After you had left, I felt I had lost everything... Until I built up this group." He drew her nearer to him with one hand around her slim waist.

"We're one of a kind, Dawn--you can manipulate, shape people after your own wishes as well. Come with me."

"No." Dawn whispered. "I'm not like you..." Still, she did not prevent Mallack from touching her. Cecil did not like the way things were turning out and he gripped the hilt of his sword -- none of the others had moved during the whole time as everyone's attention was focused on Mallack and Dawn.

The dark-clad man started to trace the slender lines of the female Paladin's neck with his finger.

"Of course you are like me! Your powers have even improved. I have to admit that originally I was planning to kill you--that's why I sent Claudius after you. But now, as you stand before me in all your beauty, aslovely as ever, I don't know how I ever could have had such horrible plans..."

"Stop this... Your words are all lies." The silver-haired woman averted her gaze, her eyes filled with unbearable grief.

Mallack uttered a disdainful laugh. "Call me a liar if you want! But your eyes cannot lie to me. I see love in them. Love for me..." Suddenly he grabbed Dawn at her chin, pulling her face near to his own almost violently.

"Dawn!" Before any of her friends could move, Dawn had slapped the hand of Mallack away, her expression no longer sad, but furious.

"You're mad!" She shouted. "What do you know of love?!" Her voice turned bitter. "There was a time when I looked up to you and now look what has become of you: a power-hungry lunatic! You betrayed everything we believed in!"

"You were the only one betraying our beliefs!" Mallack's features were suddenly twisted with rage and he raised his arm, ready to strike her.

"Don't even try it!" Cecil yelled and quickly stepped between the man and Dawn; twisting Mallack's hand, thus preventing the blow.

"Fool!" Fire seemed to burn in Mallack's eyes. With lightening speed he put a hand flatly on the Paladin's chest and murmured some words; without warning, Cecil was thrown backwards by some kind of unseen force, magical sparkles filling the air.

"Cecil!" Dawn rushed to the Paladin's aid, kneeling down next to his body. "Are you alright?" she asked full of worry.

"Yeah... Don't worry..." Cecil gasped weakly, holding a hand to the place on his chest where Mallack's spell had hit him.

"You are mad!" Dawn looked up and shot a disgusted look to the leader of the Dark Paladins, who was staring down at her and Cecil.

"I... I can't believe that you can look at me with so much hate..." Mallack whispered, his eyes filled with incomprehension. "Dawn, the weak little girl I once knew, chooses the company of such...powerless people over me!" His whole body shivered uncontrollably with rage and it looked as if he wanted to prepare another magical spell.

"Leave them alone!" Rosa could not stand idly by any longer. Pushing a guard to the side, she rushed towards her friends. Before she could reach them, Mallack caught her by the arm savagely. "I don't think I've invited you into our conversation..." he hissed into her ear.

"Leave her alone!" Cecil panted, a painful expression on his face, but he could not muster the strength to stand up yet.

"Don't worry..." Dawn whispered, then glared at Mallack. "I was never weak, Nathaniel!" With all her power she jumped up, unsheathing her silver sword in the process and sliced Mallack's arm, causing him to let go of Rosa.

Samon and some guards wanted to rush to their master's aid, but Mallack held up a hand, motioning them to stay where they were. His expression was marked by disbelief as he looked at the fabric of his sleeve, which was now soaked with blood. He looked at Dawn, who was standing protectively before Cecil, the bloody sword still in her hand.

"You really don't love me anymore..." Mallack murmured. "You would hurt me only to protect them?" His eyes fell on Cecil who was scrambling to his feet now and motioned Rosa to move away from Mallack.

"I wonder if you would also kill me..." Mallack continued, directing his gaze back to Dawn. The female Paladin avoided his gaze. "Interesting... Maybe there's hope after all," He smiled bitterly and suddenly turned his back to the group without fear.

"I've changed our plans!" He told the guards. "I'll leave retrieving the stone and the crystal to you. Kill them if necessary--except for Dawn. I want her alive!" He faced the group again and bowed in a quizzical way. "I wish I could say that it has been a pleasure to meet such selected royal guests, but I fear that you just proved what I already knew... You're a nuisance which has to get eradicated from the face of the planet for the greater good!" He started to walk towards the exit.

"If you think I'll let you go like this..." Cecil wanted to storm after him, but was held back by Dawn

"Cecil! Please!" she plead, "he's too strong--it will be hard enough to get out of here alive without fighting him..."

"She's right," Golbez said darkly.

"Oh, I nearly forgot about you..." Mallack stopped. "Try to catch the black wizard alive as well. He's one of us and might prove more than useful... Oh and a last word of advice to our 'guests': if you should survive this day, which is quite unlikely, you should keep an eye on Dawn. She might betray you as she betrayed me... Don't look at me that way, Paladin Cecil... You cannot escape the truth..." With a bitter laugh he left the room.

"So... Seems that the time fortalking is now over. Mallack does not need you any longer for his plans. What a pity..." Samon shot them a false look of sympathy, while reaching for his weapons. 

"You heard our orders!" he shouted and charged forward together with the other guards and the black knight.

"QUAKE!"

Rydia had secretly planned to cast this in case of an attack and had prepared the spell during the last minutes, now aiming it to the floor some yards away from her, so that she herself would not get hurt. With a loud sound the ground broke open, cracking the marble tiles in the process, and causing several guards to loose their footing.

"Great move, Rydia!" Edge smiled and stormed towards the helpless guards, unsheathing his two swords.

The caller smiled as well. Although she could not cast Summoning magic anymore since the entrance to the Underworld had collapsed, she was proud to still having some aces up her sleeve.

"You're fighting with a dagger? That's the weapon of a murderers and thieves!" Kain gave Samon a disparaging look while charging towards him. "Jump!" He jumped into the air, but before descending upon Samon, his lance was blocked by something and nearly got knocked out of his hand.

"A dagger is a very effective weapon when used together with a sword!" Samon laughed, having unsheathed a short sword quickly, wielding it with ease.

"How many of them are there?" Dawn hit a guard with her sword at the shoulder, having aimed at the vulnerable point where the breastplate was fastened to his body. The man crumbled down to the floor, but another guard was already charging at her from behind. Before he could reach her, though, an arrow buried itself into his back, and the man went to the floor. As Dawn turned around, surprised, she saw Rosa winking at her, her bow in one hand.

"Yah!" Cecil knocked the sword out of the hands of his attacker, then hit him in the stomach with the hilt of his own weapon. Out of the corner of his eye the Paladin spotted Golbez, who was just getting attacked by several enemies: the wizard was holding his stand like a rock amidst the surf, a powerful, but also uncanny sight to behold.

With a wave of his hand, Golbez let soaring fireballs rain down upon the attackers, bringing them down to their knees within seconds. One person had avoided the burning drops, though -- it was the Black Knight. Noticeable, he as well as Samon were still on their feet. The Knight especially seemed to be virtually immune against most attacks, and was now approaching Edge.

"It was a mistake of mine to spare your lives the last time we met, but orders were orders... As they are now..." The knight laughed cruelly, raising his sword and bringing it down onthe ninja, who could dodge the blow only barely.

"I'm coming to your aid as fast as I can!" Kain shouted towards his friend. "Just need to teach this braggart here a lesson!" With a war cry he prepared for another jump attack, which Samon could dodge, this time with more effort though.

"You're too slow, Dragoon!" Samon smiled, though as he looked up, the blond man was nowhere to be seen. "What the hell--?"

"I think that I'm too fast for you!" The Dragoon grinned triumphantly as he came down behind Samon, digging his spear into the shoulder of the man.

"ARG!" With an amazing amount of strength and will, Samon pulled out the lance and flung it to Kain's feet with a cry of rage. "I cannot afford to die here! Lets retreat!" He shouted to the guards who were still standing.

"What about the stone?" One man protested.

"Forget the stone!” Samon replied. "Morrison will take care of it..." He nodded towards the Black Knight.

"Morrison..." Cecil was sure that he had heard this name before...

"Cecil, shall we follow them?" Kain shouted. Samon and most of the other men were already on their way outside.

"No..." The Paladin ordered, although he would have liked to teach Samon a lesson. "We have enough problems with our friend here!" Cecil stormed forward, dealing the Black Knight a blow from behind -- as he had feared, his blade did not even scratch the armour.

"All your efforts are fruitless!" The knight turned around, laughing.

"We'll never win against him if we can't crack the armour open." Dawn panted.

"There might be a way..." Rosa frowned. "I once heard that magical energies can weaken the fabric of certain materials. While he's distracted like this, I could---" Right now the Black knight was just about to cast Dark Wave again, trying to get rid of Cecil.

"Rydia! Cast 'Ice' on his helmet!" Rosa shouted. Although Rosa's request surprised the caller, Rydia obeyed her wish.

"Ice!" She aimed the spell at the helmet of the man as precisely as she could; white magical energies emerged from her fingertips and hit the helmet of the knight, covering it with a faint screen of frost.

In just that moment, Rosa fired her bow. The arrow hit the helmet just in the middle - with a grinding noise, the headwear suddenly showed a large crack.

"Now you're done for!" Cecil panted and attacked the knight with a full body check, which knocked the man off his feet. As he hit the floor, his visor cracked in two, revealing the face of a man around 50, his hair grey and some of his features strangely familiar to Cecil.

"It couldn't be...”

"What..." Rosa's bow clattered to the floor as she caught sight of the man's face and her eyes were suddenly wide with shock.

"Rosa--what's the matter?" Edge, who was not standing far from her, asked.

In the meantime, the knight tried to scramble to his feet again, mumbling something. Cecil rushed towards him, his sword raised, though stopped halfway as he caught sight of his wife.

"Cecil! What the matter?" Kain demanded angrily. "Finish him off! Now is your chance!"

"But don't you remember? Morrison..." Rosa whispered slowly, not able to draw her eyes away from the man on the floor. "That... that was the name of my... father..."

"Your father..." Cecil repeated, his voice only a mere whisper.

"Rosa, your father is dead!" Kain shouted. "Finish him off, Cecil! There might be a thousand people named Morrison and this one will kill us once he gets to his feet again!"

"No! This is my father... I knew it the moment I saw him..." Rosa shook her head, her voice faltering.

"Cecil, tell her that she's wrong!" Edge shouted.

The Paladin, looking at the man on the floor, suddenly lowered his sword. "I... I cannot..." He knew that Rosa was right. He had known it since the moment he had heard the name and seen the face of the other.

"That's why he seemed so familiar to me all this time..."

Although Cecil had been a child when he had last met Rosa's father, he still could remember him very well. Though what had made Morrison's presence so familiar to him was some kind of aura he partly knew was from another person--from his wife and Morrison's daughter, Rosa.

The Black knight was on his knees now and reached for his weapon; his eyes were hard and deprived of emotion.

"No... He's regaining his strength..." Cecil gasped. "Quickly! Out of here, while we still have time!"

"But--" Rosa took a few steps towards the Knight, but was caught by Cecil, who whirled her away from the man in an unusually rough way.

"Rosa!" He begged, holding both her arms and shaking her slightly -- it was obvious that she was in a state of shock. "Rosa! He's alive and that's all that counts! But he will not recognize you--he will attack you! He's not the man you once knew..." he told her in a rather hard voice. He hated to talk to her in such a way, but he had to make her listen to him.

"No..." His wife’s golden locks fell into her face as she shook her head and struggled to get out of his grasp. "He's my father..."

"Rosa! Cecil! Hurry up!" Kain shouted, already at the exit.

"Yes, and as your father he would want us to get you out of here alive!" Cecil said, this time softer, but seeing as his wife’s only concern now was forthe man on the floor, he gripped her around her slender waist and heaved her up. "I'm sorry, darling," he said as he hauled her upper body over his shoulder, ignoring Rosa's protest and her demands to let her down again.

Holding her even tighter, though she started hammeringon his back with her fists, he carried her outside as fast as he could, following the others into a relatively safer part ofthe woods.

"Lets head towards the airship!" He could hear Kain's voice from afar and tried to follow his friend through the darkness of the night as best as he could.

Although he tried to soothe Rosa with words, her kicks and screams made it hard for him to walk. Her attacks hurt him not only physically, but alsopsychologically: he had never wanted to treat his beloved wife in such a way and it pained him to see her in such a desperate state of mind.

As Rosa's resistance did not lessen in the least, he knew that he could not bear her furious attacks for much longer.

"Rosa, please stop! You're hurting me!" Cecil's tone was a mixture out of anger and despair. To his surprise, his wife stopped attacking him, either because of exhaustion or because she was slowly coming to her senses.

"Cecil... How can this be...my father..." she sobbed--obviously she was calming herself.

"I don't know. But he's alive... Nothing is lost, yet..." Her husband half-lied, not wanting to upset her again by mentioning the state her father was in. "Shall I let you down again?" he asked carefully and reduced the grip around her waist.

Rosa just shook her curly-haired head, sliding down a bit from his upper body in order to put her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Just hold me for a moment," she said, her voice hoarse, but sounding normal again. Cecil smiled, holding her in his arms as tight as possible. Suddenly he noticed that Dawn had waited for them some feet away, her face lit by the moon, her eyes large and sad.

"Cecil... I'm so sorry..." she said, her whole expression crestfallen.

Cecil shook his head. "It's alright." He said. "We'll talk later about it, but don't worry..." Dawn's face lightened up a bit and she walked away, obviously not wanting to disturb the couple any longer.

Rosa demanded to get let down again and Cecil set her carefully upon the ground once more. Visibly ashamed, his wife wiped some tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry... I did not want to act so unreasonable... Did...did I hurt you?"

Cecil's back was indeed aching, but he really did not care at the moment. "Don't worry about it. You were in shock and most people would probably react that way in such a situation..." He assured her.

Rosa laughed between her tears. "You're lying, but I appreciate that... But you were right about one thing: my father is alive and although there's nothing we can do right now, that's all that's important."

Cecil smiled at her. "Right, and we are alive as well. But lets talk later about this. We have to get away from here!" Rosa nodded and both broke into a run.

They caught up with their friends in a little clearing. The others were surprised to find Rosa, though pale faced, in a composed state again.

"Once more, she turned out to be stronger than I thought..." For a moment the Paladin wondered if her behaviour was only a facade, but as he looked into her face, which was illuminated slightly by the pale light of the moon, there was no doubt that she had indeed calmed down. He remembered the night in which her trust had made him believe that everything was possible as long as the two of them were together. Was she thinking of it as well? Perhaps she was convinced that together they would be able to bring Morrison back to his senses, for they had overcome so many obstacles before...

Cecil was pulled out of his thoughts, as he noticed that Golbez was motioning him to come over. The expression of his brother was hard to distinguish, as his gloomy figure nearly seemed to form a unity with the darkness surrounding them. Cecil left Rosa in the company of Kain and the others and hurried over to his brother.

"Is something the matter?"

"The airship is stationed in thatdirection, isn't it?" Golbez pointed towards some trees. "Listen carefully..."

Cecil tried to calm down his breathing and listened. In the direction Golbez had pointed to, shouts and cheering were audible. "What--"

Suddenly a loud bang destroyed the silence of the night and a grey ball of smoke was outlined against the dark sky. 

"What the hell!?" Kain could not believe what he had just witnessed.

"I hate to say it, but it smells like fire..." Edge noticed.

The friends looked at each other. "The airship!”

The group hurried as fast as they could towards the landing place, the screaming getting louder and the smell of burnt wood getting stronger and stronger as they came nearer. Their greatest fear had become reality: even from afar they could see that the airship was ablaze. Several people, most of them obviously citizens of Tororia, were watching the spectacle, waving torches in their hand and cursing the suffering airships had brought to the Blue Planet.

Staying in the protection of some trees, Cecil watched the celebrating people, shocked--for a moment he was also sure that he had spotted Samon among the crowd.

"They've destroyed the airship..." Rydia's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Yes... Cid will kill us..." Edge remarked dryly.

"Forget Cid for a minute!" Kain whispered angrily. "What are we to do now? Shall we confront them?"

"And do what? Kill them?" Cecil shook his head. Although the citizens posed a threat to them right now, they still were under the influence of Mallack and his men and thus probably did not know what they were doing.

"For now we have to get away from here before we get discovered by them. Dawn, do you know a safe place to rest?"

For a moment Dawn seemed surprised that Cecil, despite the happenings of late, would still ask her for advice, but as she noticed the expecting looks on everyone's face, her doubts were scattered.

"Yes... At least I hope that it'll be safe. There's a little cave not far away from here. It's at the western edge of the forest. Follow me!"

Before Cecil followed the others into the woods, he turned around one more time, watching the people celebrating the burning airship. He had fought against so many things in his life--man and monster--but the sight of these once peaceful people, who now were cheering loudly, their wild, nearly insane features gleaming in the light of their torches, instilled fear in his heart he had not known before. "How could this ever happen? We’re no longer fighting against a small group of madmen, but against our own people, our own citizens... Were we so wrong?”

Just now the great propeller of the once proud Falcon was crashing down, burning, the flames filling the air with millions of sparks, bathing the nightly sky in a terrible red.

"As if the moon was burning as well..."