16.

Escape from Baron

It was a cold night and the friends, standing at castle gates, shivered in the harsh air. "Hopefully no one has noticed us... I gave the maids off this evening and told the guards about strange noises coming from one of the towers - maybe this will distract them long enough..." Rosa pulled her cloak tightlyaround her shoulders. "So we're forced to leave Baron like fugitives..."

"After what I'm going to do now, we will also get branded as criminals!" Cecil took some keys out of his pocket. "Wait here - it'll only take a moment…"

"What are you planning to do?" Kain asked. The Dragoon looked surprisingly filled with zest for action, although his bandaged shoulder was visibly under his clothes.

"Freeing Golbez," Cecil replied. "We cannot leave him here. Who knows what the people will do to him..."

"But what about the guards? Even if you're their King, they'll surely ask what you're up to near the dungeons at such an hour..." Edge gave to consider.

"I'll take care of them!" Dawn volunteered, grinning. "If my person could confuse the King of Baron back then on Mt. Ordeals, it surely can confuse some guards..." The friends, including Rosa, had to laugh. However, Cecil was glad that no one could see him blushing in the dark of the night.

"Alright... Enough joking," he said. Letting Dawn go first, he carefully followed her to the entrance of the dungeons, trying to hide in the shadows. The stairs down to the cells were guarded by two men.

"Excuse me..." Dawn approached them, her silver hair and sea blue eyes shining mysteriously in the pale light of the stars. The guards turnedtheir attention to the beautiful woman at once. 

"Lady Dawn?" One said respectfully, bowing. "You're a friend of Your Highness, right? What are you doing here at such an hour?"

"I'm so sorry, but just today I heard about the terrible plans this man Golbez had… I'm so glad that he is in the dungeons now and is getting guarded by such able-bodied men as you two…"

The guards beamed at her happily.

"But I was thinking all the time: What if Golbez's henchman would try to set him free? After all they even were able to nearly kill Sir Kain…" Dawn cocked her head and looked at them innocently.

Upon her remark, the guards shuffled with their feet, uneasily. Obviously, they had heard about the battle in the courtyard this morning, as well. "You don't have to worry, Milady! There's no way any foes could enter the castle grounds again…"

Dawn clapped her hands. "You are so brave! I would be afraid with all the dark corners here… Especially at night. Even now I see something moving now and then…"

The guards became even more nervous and eyed the dark corners around them, suspiciously. "Well maybe, just to show you that there's no need to fear, we could check the castle wall…" The man tried to sound as courageous as possible, but it was unmistakably so that he as well was starting to see things. Together with Dawn, they left their post before the stairs, all the while chattering loudly, trying to impress the young woman as well as trying to hide their own nervousness.

Cecil used this moment to creep down the stairs. He carefully unlocked the door leading to the cells and pushed it open, the bolts in the hinges squeaking slightly. The damp cellar behind was only illuminated by a torch and the air was musty, stale and lacked air -- the dungeon was not used very often as, despite its military past, Baron had been a rather peaceful country under Cecil's rule.

"I cannot believe this... I'm actually breaking into the dungeons of my own castle!" The young king frowned - even more so as he suddenly heard footsteps and knew that now he would have to do something even more disturbing... "Seems the guard heard the door... I have to get rid of him..."

"Sergeant? Is this you?" The voice of the soldier who was guarding the prison sounded out of the next corridor.

"It's now or never..." Hopingto catch the man by surprise, Cecil rushed around the corner and tried to deal a blow to him.

The young watchmen gasped, as he saw his King approaching him and looked even more surprised, as the fist of his ruler hit him in the stomach and knockedhim to the floor. Unfortunately for Cecil, the guard did not loose his consciousness -- the Paladin was not that versed in bare-hand fighting as in swordplay.

"Maybe Yang or Edge would have been better suited for this task," he mused, at the same time trying to plan his next move. Although the guard was still trying to catch his breath, he would surely have called for help before he could hit him again. "What am I to do now?" Cecil wondered desperatelyas the guard looked up...and smiled at him.

"Oh... It's you Your Majesty!" The man gasped, holding his stomach. "Please go on through... You're here to free Master Golbez, right?"

Cecil stared at the guard in surprise, but tried to keep his confusion at bay -- right now, there was no time for questions.

"Err...thank you..." he stammered. "I'm going to let him out, then..."

The guard was still smiling at him. "Of course. It's cell three."

Cecil raced towards the mentioned cell. "Golbez? Are you in there?"

"But of course...Why shouldn't I be here? After all it was you who put me in here..." A tall dark figure loosened itself from the shadows of the cell and approached the bars. As itcame into reach of the torchlight, Cecil could see the familiar face of Golbez, his brother's expression as mocking as ever.

"Please...let's not quarrel now: You know that I had to do this..." Cecil nearly pleaded, while he tried to find the right key in the dim light.

"Yes, I know... I had acted in the same way... Even more it surprises me that you would act the same..." Golbez was watching him attentively.

Cecil frowned, though did not reply, and finally managed to unlock the door.

"We have to hurry... We're leaving Baron. The details will have to wait for later."

He motioned Golbez to follow.

On their way out, they passed the guard, who was still smiling. "Hope you'll have a safe journey, Master Golbez," he said friendly, "and you, Your Majesty, as well!"

Cecil decided to forget about the guard and hurried up the stairs - as he peeked outside, he saw that Dawn was still talking with the guards, laughing brightly now and then. Hiding in the shadow of the walls, the two men made their way back to the others, and were soon followed by Dawn, who had noticed the success of the mission and had ended the discussion with the guards under some paltryexcuse.

Without wasting much time, the group hurried to leave the castle grounds. As they were out of sight of the castle and were slowing down, the friends finally dared to speak again.

"Good work back there, Dawn." Rosa praised the young woman.

Dawn smiled. "That was no problem. I wonder, though, how Cecil got rid of the guard down in the cells... There surely was one, right?"

"Well, to tell the truth, he just let me through..." Cecil replied, frowning.

"So some people in Baron still trust us..." Rosa seemed relieved.

As Cecil glanced sideways at Golbez, he saw him smirk and suddenly had a terrible premonition. "He wouldn't--?"

"The caves are just ahead of us..." Kain broke his thoughts, pointing at the dark cave leading to the Mist Valley.

"That is good..." Rosa sighed. "We can rest in there, can't we Cecil? We all are exhausted..."

"Yes...but we cannot stay too long -- if anyone has discovered our escape by now, someone might follow us..."

The Valley of Mist had not changed at all since their last visit nor had the plateaus, which were covered with thick clouds of Mist, lost their eeriness. The group wandered a bit, until they found a place where the mist was not that thick. The group slumped down to the floor and while Rosa took care of Kain's wound, Golbez was informed of the happenings of late.

"So Damycan is taken as well..." The dark wizard raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder if Eblan is in danger..." Edge sounded worried.

"Eblan has been in danger since you assumed the throne..." Kain teased, and caught an angry look from Rydia in return. The caller, though normally not on Edge's side, was obviously moved by the ninja's concern:

"It will be alright... Don't worry, Edge... I can't imagine why Mallack would want to get Eblan under his control... I mean Damycan has the hovercraft, Baron possesses the plans for airships and Tororia has a great army, but Eblan has nothin--oh..." Rydia held a hand before her mouth as she realized what she had just said -- Kain and Dawn were already laughing.

The caller blushed. "I didn't mean it that way... I..."

"It's alright!" Edge gave her a remorseful smile. "I understood what you meant..."

Suddenly the group heard a strange noise.

"Do you think that we are safe here?" Rydia asked in a low voice, looking around her anxiously.

"I cannot believe that the townspeople would follow us into these caves, even if they have discovered about our escape by now..." Cecil consoled her -- the word 'escape' left a bad after-taste in his mouth: After all it was his own people they were escaping from.

His wife seemed to feel the same. "Don't give up, darling..." she told him, while bandaging Kain's wound. "Not all hope is lost, yet... Think of the guard who helped you to free Golbez!"

"Yes -- How did you get him to help you?" Dawn asked. "I heard fighting noises down there. I had some problems with explaining to the guards that they were only their imagination..."

"I tried to knock down the guard, but it didn't work. But instead of shouting out, he behaved rather...helpfully..." The Paladin informed her, while not taking his gaze from Golbez the whole time, curious of his reaction.

"You hit him and he still was friendly? Man, Cecil, you must stand in very good honour in the eyes of your people... It's a wonder that Mallack was able to manipulate some of Baron's townsfolk..." Edge murmured approvingly.

Upon the word "manipulate", Golbez raised his eyebrow and Dawn, as well as Cecil, stirred unintentionally.

"What did the guard say? 'Master Golbez'...?" To Cecil's horror, the terrible suspicion got stronger and stronger.

Kain had noticed the uneasiness of his friends. "Is there something we should know?"

"If I don't tell them now, mistrust might arise... We're all together in this and should not keep any secrets..." Cecil mused. "Besides, I need to know as well what happened in the dungeon..."

"Is there something you wish to ask of me, Cecil?" Golbez addressed him suddenly, smiling coolly.

"Yes... I was just wondering why the guard in the dungeon called you 'Master'..."

"He called Golbez master?" Kain hissed.

"Yes..." The dark-haired man answered calmly. "He did call me master, as..." His gaze caught with Cecil's and Dawn's who both were watching him, nervously. Golbez's smile turned bitter: "He called me Master, as that it was, for I was his masterin that moment..."

"You...you manipulated him?" Rydia stammered.

"You still can manipulate people?" Kain snapped and was quite roused all of a sudden.

Cecil shook his head. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Golbez shrugged unconcernedly. "Why so surprised, Cecil? You saw what I did to the wyvern back then..."

"The wyvern was your work as well? And you did know of it, Cecil?" Kain stared at his friend in surprise.

The Paladin shrugged with his shoulders, sheepishly. "I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want to upset you..."

"I knew about Golbez's powers as well, although I did not know that they were still so strong..." Dawn said, in order to help Cecil out. "Don't forget that he has not used his powers for evil goals, but to help us."

"Really?" Edge folded his arms. "All this manipulation stuff sounds scary to me... Does the spell work with everyone?"

Golbez's mouth turned to a false smile. "Well, what do you think, ninja?"

"Golbez... Would you please be so kind as to answer Edge's question!" Cecil said, rather pressed -- he feared that any more secrets would endanger the team spirit.

The smile left his brothers face. "The answer is no. In fact my telepathy wouldn't work on most people... It did only work on this guard because of his 'former' experience with my powers..."

Kain went pale and he was short of jumping to his feet and would have drawnhis weapon if his wounded shoulder would just allow it. "Does this mean that..."

For the first time, Rosa joined into the conversation. "Kain, please calm yourself. Golbez surely wouldn't try using his powers on you…"

"But I could, indeed..." Golbez interrupted her. "I thought that it was time to tell the truth. You deserve to know with whom you travel."

"And I did trust you…" Kain murmured.

"Did you?" Golbez chuckled.

"Could...could Golbez's powers be the reason for Mallack to want him alive?" Rydia suddenly uttered. She had been lost in thought for a while now -- Golbez's powers obviously did not frighten her as much as they did the others.

"Yeah, that's right! He said that you were "One of his kind". And Morrison called you the "chosen", didn't he?" Kain's voice had a dangerous, angry undertone to it.

"Kain. Now don't get any wrong ideas..." Cecil tried to mediate, but was stopped by a serious glare from his friend.

"Cecil, I can understand that you want to help your brother, but weren't you the one who told me that we cannot have any secrets from each other right now? In addition, you possibly can't expect from us...especially from me, to just ignore what Golbez has just told us!"

Sorrow welled up in the paladin, though he knew that Kain was right. "Yes, of course... However, there's no need to mistrust Golbez all of a sudden -- he has hindered our mission by no means until now..." Rosa, Dawn and Rydia nodded, while Edge and Kain were not that easily persuaded.

"But he has not done much to help us, either..." Kain murmured. "He let Morrison go - if he can blow a door to pieces and is able to control a wyvern, I wonder why he couldn't stop him..."

"That's because Morrison was too strong..." Rosa told him starting an argument between the friends, which Golbez watched rather amused.

"It seems to please him that he is the reason for the quarrel -- maybe he hopes that this way, he will become even more isolated... After all he told me that he just wanted to be left alone..."

Cecil bit his lip upon reflecting. In fact Golbez's behaviour became more and more strange, but still the Paladin could not believe that his brother was in league with the enemy. As he looked up, he caught Dawn's gaze. The silver-haired woman smiled at him, encouragingly. Then she held up her hand:

"Maybe we should stop now with these silly presumptions. Though it is likely that Mallack may have plans not only for me but for Golbez as well, there's no need to believe that he would betray any of us. He could have done so already, long ago, but he didn't. He is not more or less suspicious than I am. After all, my powers have a manipulative character as well. In the shrine Mallack even maintained that I would betray you..." Her gaze dropped down.

"We know that you would never betray us, Dawn." Rosa smiled at her friend.

Dawn stared at her, then at Cecil with big eyes and for a moment, she seemed nearly sad. "Your trust honours me... I promise that I will not disappoint you…"

"So we have handled this affair, right?" Rydia tried to change the subject -- it made her feel uneasy, as she herself had slight prejudices against the female Paladin in the beginning. "Let's try to make a fire now... I am freezing!"

As no one contradicted her, Cecil sighed, relieved, and helped Edge to start a fire. He was glad that the subject "Golbez" had been laid to rest for now, as well. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that his brother wandered over to Dawn and asked her some things; leaving her after a while, an earnest look on his face. "I wonder what he wanted..."

He would have loved to ask her right away about this, but right now Rydia caught his attention. The caller was sitting, arms around her legs, hunched up against a rock, her green eyes wide open and nervously staring into the mist clouds in the air.

"She looks afraid of something..." Due to his own problems, he had nearly forgotten the young caller and how the latest happenings must have felt for her. The fact that Mallack's followers only tried to use the innermost feelings of their 'victims' for their own cause, threw a completely different light on Rydia's experience with Kieran.

"That she trusted him so easily must have meant that she has been feeling alone and misunderstood or mistreated by us for some time..." And there was still another thing nagging him about the girl...

"Do the Mist caves make you feel uneasy?" Cecil went over to the caller.

The green-haired girl looked up and seemed grateful for Cecil's concern. "Yes, somehow... somehow it feels so strange here..."

Cecil closed his eyes for a moment and, trying to push away the problems he had on his mind, concentrated on his surroundings -- indeed there was something in the air... Something magical, powerful, seldom to feel these days.

"It feels like a strong magical force... Something I haven't felt for a long time..." At the same time the happenings had started on Mt. Ordeals, especially White magic had become weaker and weaker, although nearly imperceptible.

The caller nodded. "Yes...but this is not everything... When I look into the mist...I..."

suddenly she laughed nervously and started to fumble with the clasp of her green satin cloak. "I guess I'm just seeing things..."

"No, please tell me…" Cecil knelt down next to her

"It's...it's like something is calling me...some shadow...and it scares me. I feel so lonely here..." Rydia averted her gaze.

"You're thinking of your mother, aren't you?" Cecil's voice was soft. The caller looked at him, surprised. Lately, it had become seldom that they talked about this subject.

"Yes… And I do miss her... But I have you and everyone else, after all... It was so stupid of me to believe Kieran back then, Cecil... Mallack nearly would have succeeded in using me for his own plans... And now, as we are probably about to face him, I'm afraid that my judgment might lead me astray, again..."

"Don't be afraid..." Cecil laid his hands on her shoulders carefully, looking her friendly in the eyes. "Trust your own judgment. It was also the thing that helped you against Kieran in the end... Still, if we had taken better care of you, Kieran's plan would not have worked," He sighed, "and also, it was only natural to mistrust us at one point or the other, after what we… What I did to you…"

Rydia stared at him with big eyes. "But..."

Cecil held up his hand. "No. Please listen… There's something I need to ask you. I've been longing to do it since I met a boy who'd have a similar fate to your one… Rydia, why did you trust me after I had brought you to Kaipo?"

The girl bowed her head slightly. "You know, Cecil, that at the beginning I often asked this thing myself..."

A sting went through the Paladin's soul. "I see…"

"Please wait and listen to me..." Rydia had noticed his uneasiness. "I was a little girl back then -- I had lost everything, had nowhere to go... And you protected me... So what choice did I have?" She looked at him earnestly. "It was painful for me at first. I hated you, and maybe I was just waiting for the right moment to make a run. That's at least what I think now about my state of mind back then -- as I was still a little child, I might have felt more simply… Just alone, maybe afraid…and angry…"

Suddenly she smiled slightly. "But during our travels, I slowly had to realize that the man traveling with me was not the man I believed him to be. I tried to find faults and cruelty in your behaviour, but there were none… You could have easily abandoned me or let me stay behind somewhere in a town, you know?"

Cecil looked at her, horrified. "I'd never…"

Rydia giggled, the laugh bringing some colour to her pale face again. "I know! You didn't even think of it… That's just you… Don't you understand, Cecil? All your behaviour was so filled with regret, so directed on helping to right the wrongs Baron had committed. Even as I came back from the Monster world and saved you from Golbez, you did not really seem happy about your rescue, but instead wondered why I would help you…"

The Paladin's heart suddenly felt heavy, as if the load of truth of her words had sunken directly to his core.

"When I was with you, I felt protected… But I did not want to feel this way - I did not want to feel safe around the man who had taken my mother, and thus, my safety from me. We callers lived an isolated life and all the people I loved were either family, or others of my kind. But in the land of the Summoned monsters, where I was a human stranger, but still was treated like a friend, I learned that blood and reason are not the only things which can bring living beings together… Sometimes, it's just the heart - against any common sense… And so I followed just that. I felt that I had lost so much already, that I could not stand to loose also you and Rosa… You can call it weak, but I'm glad that I was so weak back then…" She smiled shyly.

As it happened so often to him lately, Cecil did not really know what to say -- Kain had been right: In fact, it seemed as if at least some things in his life were turning out good. Rydia's 'confession' had not made his heart feel lighter, but the load was no longer one of guilt and regret, but of sympathy and the silent promise ofalways being there for her. He embraced her gently. "Thank you…"

The caller seemed to relax in his embrace, nearly like a child in the arms of its parents. This seldom moment of tranquility was destroyed by two grey-blue, sparkling eyes, peeking over Rydia' shoulder.

"And here's already the next embrace waiting for you, Caller Rydia!" Edge opened his arms.

"WAHH! You blithering idiot! You frightened me even more than these Mist clouds!" Rydia jumped to her feet, knocking Edge down, as he wanted to get up as well.

"Ahh... Rydia, isn't it enough that I'm laying my heart on the floor before you? Must it be my whole body?" The normally athletic ninja gasped, although he had gotten used to Rydia's violent outbursts long ago.

Ignoring his remark, Rydia turned around to Cecil: "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't. Edge here just wanted to show you that he was worried about you… Have fun, you two…" He winked.

Rydia made a face, but as she did help up Edge, she did not twist his arm as painfully as usually.

Leaving his friends alone in their quarrelling, Cecil stood up, noticing for the first time that Rosa had not been standing far away from them. Although his wife looked tired, there was a smile on her face and it seemed as if she had been eavesdropping.

"So you finally found the strength to ask her directly..." she said quietly.

Cecil nodded. "Yes, it was time for that… I've been longing to talk with her about it for quite some time now - even if we should worry about other things, as the whole world seems to be against us…"

"The world is not enough to stand against us!" Edge proclaimed, rubbing his hurting wrist. "Especially if Rydia is furious…"

The young girl shot him an angry look, but had to giggle as well, and for moment this cold and dark night seemed less fearful than before.

~*~

The walk through the rest of the valley went rather swift -- hardly any creatures crossed their way, and the few thatwere quickly dispatched by the group. As the sun was about to rise, they reached the exit.

"Ah… No more mist!" Dawn inhaled the cool mountain air.

"Look - there's the airship!" Rydia pointed towards a red speck amongst the green of the valley in the distance.

As they approached the ship, Cid started to babble at once. "Cecil! Rosa! Am I glad that you all made it safely here! I thought I was dreaming as I saw the townspeople starting off towards my dear ship…" He shook his head. "We really need to put a stop to Mallack's doings! The good people of Baron..." Suddenly his gaze fell on Kain. "Oh...you are here too Dragoon, although you're wounded… You're thick-headed with a tendency for stupidity as always, I see… I just hope that you did not worry Diane with your behaviour!"

Kain bit his lip and looked down to the ground, darkly. "Diane is well and staying for some time with an aunt..."

"What? She didn't tell me of this… But I'm pleased about her decision: I feared that she would run after you…" Cid mumbled.

"You shouldn't worry about that…" Kain hissed under his breath. Cid's constant teasing was robbing him of the last of his nerves. He stared the older man directly in the face:

"It might make you happy to hear that we have decided to split up for some time…"

"What?" A mumble went through the friends.

Rosa stared at him with big eyes. "But Kain…"

"It's okay," Cecil whispered into her ear. "Lets talk about it later…" As his eyes fell on Dawn, he noticed that the girl nodded to herself, sadly, as if she had suspected for some time now, that something like this would happen.

"That...that..." Cid was speechless and was looking surprisingly shocked.

"I… I just hope that it was her decision as well, and that you didn't make her too unhappy!" He finally snapped, turned his back to the group and approached the airship.

"What are you standing there? We should get a move on! Where to?" He asked gruffly.

"Mysidia..." Cecil replied frowning. He had not expected that Kain's and Diane's separation would disturb Cid that much.

As soon as everyone had boarded the ship, they took off into the grey autumn sky. The group was very silent and hardly anyone was speaking as Kain's confession had not helped to lighten up the mood. After some time, the ship reached the ocean and Cid steered the Enterprise southeast towards Mysidia.

"I wonder what will await us..." Yang wondered, watching the blue-green sea beneath them. Even the Karate Master and King of Fabul, who normally was so full of confidence and energy, looked weary and tired.

"Hopefully only Mallack…" Cecil looked at Rosa, who gave a weak smile in return, obviously thinking of her father.

"Do you hear that?" Golbez suddenly rushed to the railing and began studying the horizon with narrowed eyes. Indeed there was another noise next to the one of their own airship - it was the sound of propellers, which came nearer and nearer.

"Seems we have company!" Cid shouted from his place at the steer, pointing in the distance. 

The speck at the horizon became bigger and bigger as did the roaring noise, until the point began to take on shape and a massive airship constructed out of dark brown wood came into view. It's course was headed directly for…the Enterprise.

"Another airship?" Cecil gasped -- at the steer of the other ship a blond man was now clearly visible: It was Sir Samon.

Rosa had seen him as well. "How did they find us?" She whispered.

"These fiends!" Kain snarled and raced towards the railing, as well, clutching his shoulder which still hurt. "They're telling the townspeople about the dangers of airships, but posses one their selves. What hypocrites!"

The enemies airship drewnearer and nearer with full speed.

"We have to get the ship away from here, fast!" Dawn shouted, eyes fixed on the enemy vehicle.

"I don't know if we can make it!" Cid shouted, pulling the steer around. "They're too fast!"

Cecil joined his friend at the steer in case he needed help. "Where did they get an airship from?"

"Okay, hold on!" Cid tried to outmaneuver the other ship at full speed. However, the airship of the Dark Paladins seemed to put on speed as well, following the Enterprise closely.

"We're too slow…" Golbez murmured. As Cecil turned around he realized to his horror, that his brother was right - the stern of the airship was now only inches away from the bow of the enemy ship. Just now, it tried to overtake the Enterprise from the side.

"They're trying to ram us!" If the railing had not been out of steel, Yang would have dug his nails in it.

 "I won't let my dear Enterprise get a scratch!" Cid's face was red of anger and strain. "I hope you're all in for another desperate attempt to outmaneuver them!"

"Anything is better than crashing into the sea!" Kain shouted.

Cid's grin made his blood freeze. "Then you won't like what I'm going to do next..." The Engineer smiled and steered the Enterprise in a nose-dive towards the ocean beneath them.

"What is he doing?" Rydia screamed; like the others, she desperately clung to anything she could get hold of.

Rosa closed her eyes as the deep blue of the ocean came nearer and nearer with a breakneck speed. "Cid! We'll plunge into the water!"

"Not yet!" Cid shouted as he pulled up his ship, flying now only barely over the water's surface; the waves nearly crashing into the hull of the Enterprise. "These Dark Paladin guys shall follow if they dare…"

Cecil looked up - the ship of the enemy was high in the air over them, although it had not given up pursuing them yet.

"Never thought I'd say this, but good work, Cid!" Kain yelled, though frowned as he looked ahead of them. "Err… But I think that we better pick up some height… Unless we want to end up inpieces on a cliff…"

The mainland was in visible sight now as well as a great stony wall directly before them.

"No problem… I'll just…" Suddenly Cid stared upwards. "What are these bastards doing? They're coming in!" The other ship started a nose-dive, obviously not caring about the cliff ahead.

"They want to block our way and don't seem to care if they die in the attempt, as well…" Desperately, Cid tried to think of a way out, but the situation seemed hopeless. Samon turned out to be an excellent driver, and no matter how much the engineer tried to pull out to the left or the right, the enemy ship was always directly above them.

"No one fools me!" Cid gritted his teeth and put on even more speed, now holding directly towards the cliff. By now his friends were even too shocked to scream and awaited what was coming with wide open eyes.

"Yay!" Cid howled as the rough cliff was away only as wide as a finger; the sound of the two airships and the breaking waves beneath them nearly drowning his yell. In the last moment, he pulled the ship upwards, barely scraping over the stony surface of the wall, the whole ship rocking.

Rydia sighed relieved. " I thought we were done for good…" With a loud crash something went down next to her.

"Oh no… The hull of the other ship hit the propeller as we got up!" Kain stared upwards and suddenly was yanked aside by Golbez -- just in time before the next metal blade went deep into the wooden planks of the ship. The propeller above them had lost already some blades, but the remaining ones were turning even faster and smoke was coming out the rotation device.

"I'm having problems steering the ship! Due to the impact, the propeller is out of control!" Cid shouted, trying desperately to hold the Enterprise on course. Out of the corner of his eye, Cecil could spot the faint outline of Mysidia in the distance.

The ship was still flying at full speed barely across the ground -- helplessly the friends had to watch, asthey left their destination Mysidia behind them.

"I cannot land at such a speed… I'm trying to reduce it, but our only chance is to hope that the rotor stops working…" Cid hissed, his hands clinging to the steer.

"What about the other ship?" As Cecil turned around he saw that the ship of the Dark Paladins had stopped some way back and was floating in the air. "Why aren't they following us? Maybe their ship got damaged too..."

"I don't care - one less problem... It will be hard enough to bring this baby in for alanding..." Cid said breathlessly and concentrated again on landing the ship.

They raced along the Mysidian coast, leaving woods and hills behind until, after what seemed an eternity, Cid finally was able to bring the Enterprise down, the last parts of the propeller falling to the deck.

"I cannot believe that we survived this..." Dawn coughed and brushed the dust from her clothes.

"Ah...solid earth…" Edge pushed out the plank and stumbled from the ship.

Cid had tears in his eyes. "My poor Enterprise…" The ship had big holes in the wooden plank and most parts of the propeller were gone, or stuck in the deck.

"Nothing we couldn't repair!" Cecil tried to sound as encouraging as possible. However, despite his experiences with airships, he was grateful to stand on solid ground again. "You did a great job Cid… Still, I fear that we're a good deal away from Mysidia..."

"I know that we all want to reach the town as soon as possible, but wouldn't it be better to rest here until tomorrow under these circumstances?" Yang proposed. "I don't think that we'll make it to town until the sun sets…"

"But won't Mallack's men search for us?" Rosa asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"They could have done so already, but it seems that they only wanted to keep us away from Mysidia…" Golbez's dark voice suggested.

"I still wonder how they could know of our plans..." Kain murmured, glaring at the Black wizard suspiciously.

"We can brood later on that. I think we should follow Yang's advice and rest here until tomorrow... There should be some tents loaded on the Falcon, right Cid? So we can use them... We will need all our strength tomorrow... Even more now, as Mallack and his men know of us and can prepare…" Cecil said. "What if they've already invaded Mysidia? There's probably no town on the Blue Planet where people dislike me more than there…" He shuddered upon imaging how the Dark Paladins could use the emotions of the people...

"Of people hating me as much as Jonas…"