Shining Force: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons

The text of this work-in-progress translation is subject to revision.

See also: Shining Media

Front cover of Shining Force: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons. Illustration by SUEZEN.

Shining Force: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons (シャイニング・フォース 神竜の血脈, Shainingu Fōsu Shinryū no Ketsumyaku) is a novel written by Sami Shinosaki and published by Kadokawa on July 1, 1994. The book expands on the backstory of Shining Force's Divine Dragons with a plot focused on the character Baryu. As a tie-in to Shining Force II, it features illustrations from the game's character designer and key frame animator, SUEZEN.

English Translation

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text

To facilitate the ease of reading such a lengthy text, the English translation on this page is presented without following the wiki's typical format of including the original Japanese after every line or paragraph. Readers who are interested in comparative study may find the original text in this traditional format on a separate page accessed through the links at the start of each section.

Translation notes are provided at the end of this page, and links to relevant sections are embedded within the English text.

Front Matter

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § Front Matter

Author Profile

Sami Shinosaki

Born in Tokyo in 1960, Shinosaki is a typical Cancer with type-B blood. As an aspiring novelist, he was admitted to the art department of a prestigious school. After his graduation, he found his way into computer sales, and after an eight-year-long hibernation, computer communications presented him with the chance to fulfill his dream. Shinosaki is completely immersed in the worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, and Seika Nakayama.

Title Page

Shining Force
Bloodline of the Divine Dragons
Sami Shinosaki

Kadokawa Publication No. 9402

Credits Page

Cover and Body Illustrations
SUEZEN

Map
Teruko Watanabe

Typesetting
Hakumei Kobayashi

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

An Old Tale	7
Chapter One: The White Divine Dragon of Dragonia	19
Chapter Two: Concerning the Manual . . .	64
Chapter Three: A Meadow Spanned by Wind and Light	136
Chapter Four: The Divine Continent	191
Chapter Five: The Source of Radiance	245
Chapter Six: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons	330
Long, Long Ago	338
Afterword	339

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"An Old Tale"

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § "An Old Tale"

Illustration by SUEZEN.

Listen well, child.

The twilight of the gods fell long, long ago. It began with the creation of new gods by their hands.

The Gray Gods distilled the breadth of their knowledge in their effort to create the White Gods. However, that same knowledge became fuel for the creation of the Black Gods.

Before long, war had broken out between the White Gods and the Black Gods. The Gray Gods fought for both sides.

After a long, long war, the Black Gods were sealed by the power of the White Gods within the pillars of the earth, for the White Gods could not destroy them.

The White Gods had expended the last of their power to seal away the Black Gods, those later called the Devil Kings. The cost the White Gods faced for lulling the Black Gods to sleep was paid in their mutual slumber.

And their war had meant the death of nearly every Gray God as well.

The Gray Gods who remained thought of the future of their children who yet lingered in this world, the future of the children of the White Gods, and the future of the children of the Black Gods . . . That is to say, the future of all life in this world.

They believed that in the passing of one thousand years, the White and Black Gods, who then still slept, would regain their power. They knew that when the gods did awake from their long sleep, so too would the flames of a new war flicker to life. And in the coming of that time, they knew that there would be no Gray Gods left.

The Gray Gods decided to place guardians in the land where the White Gods slept, as well as the land where the Black Gods were sealed. The guardians established towns there, and in time they grew into countries.

To pass on their knowledge, the Gray Gods created a select few manuscripts they termed the Manuals. Within their pages of shimmering magic were recorded the secret means to release the Legacy of the Gods, as well as the method of sealing it.

And so, in order to protect the Manuals and impart them unto those who would rightfully seek them, the Gray Gods created new life.

That new life was the lineage of the exalted Divine Dragons. We are that life.

The protection of the manuals was the sole mission given to the Divine Dragons. For one thousand years, this lineage had protected them well. All that we did was for that mission, as our mission was everything to us.

But the dragons faced one problem. Throughout the time of our kindred, there had been no children. It is a very strange thing to reflect on it now, but we did not know what children were. We did not even think about husbands and wives. But this was only natural, for we had been created by the hands of the Gray Gods. Never had we seen or heard of mothers or fathers.

In time, the Divine Dragons dwindled, for our numbers could not increase.

In the Eastern Continent of Rune where lay Dragonia, the country of the Divine Dragons, matters had grown dire. If things continued as they were, the totality of the Divine Dragons would die out. Everyone became frightened as, for the first time, anxiety settled in.

That is when they appeared. The humans of Rudol Village.

They worshiped the lineage of Divine Dragons as the rightful children of the Gods. The people's faith in them was nearly blind. The dragons were bewildered at first, but eventually they came to accept the people. They soon realized that the humans harbored no evil will, and because the lineage had no mission to rule over others, they leveraged no advantage.

The people learned much from the lineage, and the lineage learned much from the people.

And soon, though nearly one thousand years had already passed, our lineage bore the first of its children.

The baby dragon, with his body of pure white, was named Baryu. He was our greatest joy and our final hope.

Within a few years, he had became the last of the Divine Dragons.

Baryu's first adventure would begin exactly one thousand years after the Gray Gods had created the Divine Dragons.

A man named Dark Sol had stolen a Manual with the aim of breaking the seal on the Black Dragon called Dark Dragon. Baryu departed from Dragonia as a member of the Shining Force to fight the demon army. It would become a tale of many feats.

Baryu was among the heroes of the Shining Force who finally defeated Dark Sol and Dark Dragon, who he had resurrected. But in the course of the battle, the Manual became lost, and so it fell from the hands of the lineage.

Baryu parted ways with his companions in the Shining Force and returned to live a quiet life alone in Dragonia.

There he persisted for another ten years.

Until one day . . .

From across the seas, a new adventure beckoned him. A great adventure that would decide the fate our bloodline—the bloodline of the Divine Dragons . . .

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Chapter One: The White Divine Dragon of Dragonia

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § Chapter One

Chapter One, Part 1

In the quiet came the faintness of a distant knock. No—it had only been his imagination. Baryu found either possibility just as agreeable, and so he did not even turn around to look. He listened to the sound of the wind and of his voice within his mind. It was a voice that never escaped from his mouth, for there was no one there to speak with.

Baryu, last survivor of the Divine Dragons, had no family any longer. He had grown all too accustomed to being alone. He had gone searching for peace, and time had given him more than he could have wished for. His was a quiet life spent reading books. In fact, he lived a life so peaceful it was wholly unimaginable to those who knew him for the brave dragon that he was.

For some time now, Baryu had allowed the nib of his pen to hover idly over an open page. For it was as if he were trying to express feelings he could not fashion into words. And weary as he was, Baryu soon returned the nib to its well.

He had maintained a diary, though he took the occasional break. The volumes of it had long numbered in the double digits. But lately there had come to be many days like this one where there was nothing left to write. How long had it been? It must have been quite some time, for it was longer than he could remember.

Baryu stretched his long neck backward in a great arc to release the tension in a back that had been so contorted by perching atop a stool as he did. And suddenly, reflected in his eyes was the inverted figure of a young woman.

“Baryu.”

A voice broke the silence in the shape of the Divine Dragon’s name as a human woman wrapped her graceful arms around the young leader’s neck.

It was all Baryu could do to stop himself from falling clumsily from his seat, and for a moment, he thanked what meager luck he had. He drew the young woman upward with his powerful neck, returned to his previous posture, and spun his body of pure white slowly around in its chair.

“Can it truly be you, Karin? How long have you been here?” The name that Baryu spoke was one familiar to him.

The tall woman’s bright face peered up at Baryu from behind her shoulder. Her hunter’s attire was a natural complement to her lithe and healthy frame. She must have made her way through fields and forests on her journey here. Baryu plucked the dry leaves carefully that had become tangled in her almond hair.

Divine Dragons were large creatures, though they were not enormous.They differed from other more lowly dragons in their upright two-legged stride. A human who stood next to one would reach the height where the dragon’s wings sprouted from its shoulders.

“You should try not to scare me like that. Goodness, you really haven’t reformed your habits.” Baryu’s small protest meant to remind Karin that he would not be a young dragon forever.

“Oh, poor Baryu—how could you not have noticed me entering the room? I can hardly believe that you were in the Shining Force,” the woman pouted softly.

The Shining Force—the army of Light that had rescued the whole of the Runic continents. Though he had once been a member, to Baryu, it was nothing more than a title that he no longer held. Hearing the name sent a kind of nervous shiver to the tip of his nose. He would rather not have Karin call him by that title.

Karin gave Baryu’s neck a stroke, took a step back, and faced the other way. Her bright brown hair, worn high on her head, formed one unbroken bend. A few arrows clattered in the quiver fixed to the back of her leather garb.

“That reminds me! I shot down a mountain bird on my way here. It shall make a lovely stew for your dinner.”

With her hands clasped behind her arched spine, her gentle face came suddenly into profile from beyond her back. And without a word, she scampered off before Baryu could answer.

“Stew? Are you planning to stay here again?”

Thinking about the sheer cost of time and effort made Baryu’s expression turn dumb. Would night not have fallen by the time it was finished?

Karin’s voice rang out, “You wouldn’t ask me to go back to Rudol Village alone in the middle of the night, would you? And anyway, I can’t think of a reason there’d be no room for me to stay in.”

She had not come back in. Alas, Baryu was resigned to raise the flag of surrender in his heart.

Karin came once a month from Rudol Village to the west. The human girl was the very image of cheer, and Baryu could do nothing to resist her. Though his power was reputed to be beyond compare, he had never won a single fight by talking.

When he was young, he had been raised together with Karin and the other children of the village. And Karin above all, daughter of the village leader, had become and remained Baryu’s best and only friend. If any words could be used to describe the relationship between the human girl and the young Divine Dragon, they would be “childhood friends”.

When the demon army had attacked Dragonia, Karin was the only one who followed the Shining Force into town, and she had done it to look after him. She had held Baryu in much higher regard than her own safety. And so, in order to protect her, Baryu had joined the Shining Force.

Even when Baryu returned at the end of the war, the dauntless Karin remained like an older sister to him, both mentally and in actual age. The changes she brought with her were Baryu’s only reminder that time did not stand still. What she had to offer were boisterous moments filled with frantic energy. And Baryu had taken a liking to both of those things.

Baryu let out a deep breath that was neither a laugh nor a sigh, shut the cover of his empty journal and rose quietly to his feet.

After some time, a late dinner had finally become prepared. As had grown to be their custom, the two sat across from each other at the dinner table with the bowl of stew between them.

“Kurin’s coming tomorrow,” Karin said suddenly with her sight fixed on the sitting Baryu.

Baryu’s face towered to quite the height, so it was usual for Karin to have to look up to meet his gaze.

“Is that so? Kurin the know-it-all?” Baryu asked, lifting his head carelessly from his glass of wine with a movement so sharp the wine poured across the table and splattered his chin.

“Look what you’ve done now. No matter how old you get, your manners never do get any better.”

Karin stood from her seat to wipe Baryu’s mouth with a cloth.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m not a kid anymore—it’s embarrassing!”

Though it filled him with shame and displeasure, Baryu remained frozen in place. It had become something of a conditioned response.

“Who’s going to see it? Besides, it’s not any different from how I used to wipe you when you were a baby.”

Karin had brought to mind a chapter from Baryu’s tiny past.

Baryu’s mother had been unable to produce milk, so the people of Rudol Village had offered the newborn dragon milk from their cows and their goats. Back then, as she often recalled, Karin had insisted on breastfeeding the baby dragon. And to this, Baryu would counter that such a thing was impossible, for back then, Karin would have aged no more than three. She must have been mistaken. But then, as was her fashion, Karin would recount details that Baryu could not hope to remember. And in this way, she would get the better of any protestation.

Baryu could not stand it any longer.

“Tell me again,” he said, hoping to salvage the conversation. “You said that Kurin’s going to be coming?”

“Oh, yes! That’s right.”

Karin returned to her seat.

“But I heard she was studying magic in Manarina. Then she’s finally coming back!”

Baryu thought of how Karin’s little sister must have looked now grown up. Karin was a strong woman who crossed fields and mountains with bow in hand, but Kurin was her perfect opposite—a bookworm through and through. Though they were sisters, their personalities were completely distinct on the inside and out.

It was Kurin who had uncovered the proper references to the Manual in her old documents. Her knowledge was such that even Guardiana’s strategist, Nova, gave her his acknowledgement. In fact, it would have been fair to say that she knew more about the Manual than did Baryu. After all, Baryu and the others had not glimpsed the Manual even once before Dark Sol stole it, for it had lain sealed deep within the temple.

“Of course, you’ll go with me to retrieve her, won’t you?” said Karin matter-of-factly. The fingers of both of her hands formed a cradle near her lips.

“That’s right . . .” Baryu hesitated.

He did not object to meeting Kurin. But to do so would mean a trip to Rudol Village.

“Kurin actually requested that you come. I hear there’s something important she wants to say to you directly.”

“What? What could be so important?”

“That’s all I know. She sent a letter by carrier pigeon from Ulan Bator. Whatever it is, she must have found it unfit to convey by mail,” Karin’s voice began to take on a tone of offense. “Goodness, if I didn’t know better I should think the kid doesn’t trust me—her own big sister!”

Baryu laughed as if to console her. “This is Kurin we’re talking about,” he said. “I’m sure she just didn’t want the pigeon’s letter falling into the wrong hands. And if so, then I am certain whatever business it is must be of the highest import. Which all goes to say that I haven’t any choice . . .”

“Haven’t any choice?” repeated Karin with a touch of malice.

“No, no—it shall be my pleasure to accompany you,” Baryu’s reply came in good humor. But only half of it was true.

And so it was that Baryu resolved to leave the land of Dragonia behind for the first time in many years. A new adventure was afoot.

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Chapter One, Part 2

Rudol Village was a small port founded by a people who had been fascinated by the Divine Dragons of Dragonia. Modest as it was, Rudol acted as the northern gateway to the Eastern Continent with a ship that sailed regular routes between the Western Continent’s port, Ulan Bator, and Walalu, the island nation between them.

By the time Baryu and Karin had made their way to Rudol Village, it was slightly after noon. Karin, being the sort to cross fields and mountains in the course of her hunts, seemed hardly affected by the trek from Dragonia.

As the two of them reached the village gate, they were greeted by Maron. The boy who had once been so proud of his strength during the war as he stacked stones high to defend the village had since grown into a strapping young man.

“Madam Karin! And Mister Baryu! Kurin’s ship is just arriving. Here, let me to show you the way.” Maron found someone else to watch the gate and started off toward the port with the two behind him.

“If you please,” answered Karin, pressing a knuckle against her lips to stifle a smirk. She knew that Maron’s offer to guide them had come with some personal motivation.

Karin was honored for her lofty upbringing as the daughter of the village representative. And to those near her in age, her leadership of the children in resistance against the demon army had made her into an absolute hero. It was a reverence she could not escape, and Baryu, having served in the Shining Force himself, found himself no different.

They made their way to the beach, weaving a path through rows of houses bordered by a tremendous wall that served to break the ocean breeze. Wherever they went, the people with whom they shared the road would stop whatever they were doing, and, in the next moment, bend low in the deepest bows. The small children among them made a scene of hiding behind their mothers. And seeing their reception, the young man who walked alongside the Divine Dragon puffed his sturdy chest in a show of pride.

Karin stole a secret look at Baryu. The leader of the Divine Dragons put on an air of serenity while silently grinding his teeth. So did it seem, at least, to Karin’s eyes.

Since so very long ago, the people of Rudol Village had worshiped the Divine Dragons and given them what help they could. In the years that followed the passing of his parents, before he joined the Shining Force, Baryu had owed his survival to the aid of Karin and the folk of Rudol Village. And that was why, to Baryu, though the people of Rudol Village might offer their thanks, they ought not regard him in awe. Unlike the early Divine Dragons who had come before him, Baryu had been an equal to Karin and the other children of Rudol Village. And it was Baryu’s wish to remain as such.

But as time passed and the children who were his companions aged, they became adults who lived in service to the Divine Dragons. Was it they who had changed? Or had it been Baryu himself? In the end, it was only Karin and her sister whose manners had stayed the same. Baryu hurried onward to the port, trying his hardest to shake off the glances of the people who surrounded him.

The scent of the ocean grew sharper, and the pier came into view. There was one ship docked. Its gangplank was lowered, and already passengers had begun to disembark.

At the end of a string of travelers, a single young woman stepped down onto the pier. She lowered a bag that seemed packed heavy with luggage and extended a hand from her shawl, a single sheet of cloth with a hole in the center for her head. With a jerk, she caught the bridge of her round glasses and with one finger pressed them back up the small nose from which they had slipped.

“Kurin!” Karin called out the name of the little sister who she had not seen for so long as she broke into a run.

Kurin stood where she was as her older sister flung her arms around her and combed her fingers through her short and messy chestnut hair.

Baryu spoke. “Oh, it’s been far too long, Kurin the know-it-all.” It was his affectionate name for the eccentric girl.

“It’s been a while, Baryu,” said Kurin, now free from her older sister’s embrace. She spread her arms wide and wrapped them around Baryu’s neck.

Baryu forced a smile. She was truly Karin’s sister.

Not to be forgotten, the young man who had brought them gave her his greeting. “Welcome home, Kurin,” he said.

“I’m home, Maron.”

The young man clicked his tongue and grumbled, “Is that all you have to say to me?”

“What did you expect?” Kurin said, her eyes casting a sidelong glare at Maron from behind her glasses. “Oh, never mind that. Come and help me with this luggage!” Kurin’s order came in an almost commanding tone.

Maron reached out for her luggage while complaining that she’d never change. As he lowered his gaze, he met eyes with a creature that had come following Kurin from behind. Maron’s movement became frozen as if bound.

“It’s okay, my sweet Cerberus. He’s nothing more than a luggage carrier.”

At the sound of Kurin’s voice, the demonic two-headed dog named Cerberus turned its four eyes away from Maron. And with a sharp cry, its tail began to wag as it stepped toward its master.

Maron let out a sigh of spared relief.

“Karin, Maron,” Kurin started. “There’s a lot we need to discuss. And you, too, Baryu.” She paused. “Come on. We should go home.” Kurin grasped the hands of her older sister and Baryu and began leading them away.

Maron and Cerberus came following after. They had nearly left the port when the people around them erupted into some commotion.

Baryu looked back, and reflected in his eyes was the faraway form of a single ship. It approached slowly from offshore, but he could see even from this distance that the bow of the warship was shattered, its mast split down the middle. There was no chance that it could be moving with any volition; rather, it was adrift among the tides.

As though alarmed by some sound, Cerberus began furiously to bay at the damaged ship. A flock of something had come just barely into view in the sky above.

“The sweepers of the shoreline,” said Kurin. “Sea bats. That means there must be something or someone still alive on that ship . . .” Her voice trailed off, and before anyone could notice, Kurin had pulled a thin cylinder from her bag. She held the lens of a telescope to one eye.

Baryu murmured, “I have to find out.” The wings on his back spread.

Karin’s entire vision became filled by wings of pure white. In an instant, Baryu’s silhouette had tripled in size. The sight of Baryu’s unfurled wings struck splendor into the heart of any human who beheld them. The muscles in the Divine Dragon’s shoulders swelled. His white wings sliced through the air, and in one single breath and a matter of wingbeats, Baryu soared aloft, high into the sky. As his wings caught the wind, he shot even higher, where he was carried by a glide toward the damaged ship.

As the flying white dragon approached, the sea bats scattered from the ship like baby spiders from a nest that had been suddenly exposed. Baryu circled the ship gently before landing softly on its deck.

“We should go too,” Karin said. “We’ll take a boat there!”

At her order, Maron climbed into a boat and readied its oars. When the sisters had both hopped in, he began immediately to row with all of his might.

Illustration by SUEZEN.

The three hurried to meet Baryu at the broken ship. When they had finally arrived, the sea bats were nowhere to be seen. It was only natural—a common monster such as a sea bat was no worthy foe to a Divine Dragon. It was wisdom that gave them the instinct to flee.

Baryu, who had thus far been waiting on the ship’s deck, sprung aloft once more to carry the three aboard.

Up close, the damage to the ship looked even more severe. No tempest or battle in history had ever been so dire. It was as though the weight of a gigantic arm had etched scars across the ship as it ripped entire pieces from its hull. A crack plunged through the deck, and the damage was equally disastrous within as it was without. With injuries so deep, it was a wonder the ship could even float at all.

The crew was nowhere to be seen. Had they been cast from its splintered hull into the sea? Had they been dragged into the depths?

“It’s more like a ghost ship than a shipwreck,” stated Kurin.

Baryu nodded in agreement.

Just as they were ready to climb up from below deck, Maron pointed to a crack in the floor and shouted. Through squinted eyes, Baryu and the others glimpsed a faint light shining through a gap in the hull. In the space between the ship’s lowest hold and the bottom of its hull, a single young woman lay collapsed, half sunken in the water.

“Maron, if you please?”

At Kurin’s direction, Maron made the descent.

He placed his hand over the woman’s heart and found it fortunately still beating strong. It must have been by luck that she had tumbled below the hold to a place where she had had some hope of escaping the dangers above. Maron, strong as he was, raised her lightly into his arms. The ocean water splattered on the boards underfoot as it dripped from her long, wet hair.

“Mister Baryu. Take her from me, please.”

As Baryu lifted the girl from Maron’s arms and through the hole in the floor, he could not help but feel a premonition, the vaguest sense of dread. And for a moment, Baryu’s movements became clumsy as Karin looked down at the woman in his arms.

The young black-haired woman had said nothing yet. Her chest only moved weakly up and down with her breath as she lay still in Baryu’s arms.

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Chapter One, Part 3

The sun had long since gone down when at last the young woman woke. They had carried her to Karin’s house in Rudol, and it was late enough now that Baryu had missed his chance to return to Dragonia. And so he had no choice but to stay. But of course, the sisters Kurin and Karin would never have let Baryu off so easily in the first place.

The young woman, now sitting halfway up in her bed, had at first been quite startled by the sight of Baryu. Karin, who found nothing very remarkable about associating with dragons, had introduced herself and Baryu without a second thought.

But it was reasonable to react with some apprehension when coming face to face with a Divine Dragon for the first time. Very few people lived a life so routinely familiar with the Divine Dragons as the people of Rudol Village.

Karin had become perhaps too comfortable around Divine Dragons like Baryu.

“I was found adrift at sea?” The young woman spoke firmly. She had a cool voice that matched her rather handsomely sculpted face. “Then all of you have saved me.” She spoke politely as she offered her name to Baryu and their remaining company. “I am Kamaria, a warrior cleric in service of Volcanon. I have crossed the ocean from the Parmecian continent far to the north to appear before the Divine Dragons here.”

“You mean you’re here for me?” asked Baryu.

Kurin had just come rushing in from the library that stood apart from the rest of the house when Karin called for Maron to come over. She stared up at Baryu in bemusement and began to speak, pausing long between her words. “Parmecia . . . Volcanon . . . Those aren’t names I’ve heard before.” Kurin stopped and adjusted her glasses.

Kamaria reached a hand out toward the clothes stacked upon the nearby stool. “Wait just a moment. I have a letter here from the Temple of Volcanon . . .” Karin and the others had made sure her clothing was properly dried and folded. When Kamaria turned her upper body, her long black hair cascaded across her white back, and her duvet slipped, uncovering her ample breasts.

With no delay, Kurin’s arm shot up, lifting the hem of her shawl and covering Maron’s head completely.

By the time Maron was able to raise his voice in reproach and free himself of the shawl, Kamaria had been handed her clothes by Karin and had already regained her composure.

Karin took a curious peek in Baryu’s direction, but the Divine Dragon was more interested in what Kamaria had to say than in the figure of a young woman of a different species. He waited patiently for her to speak. Karin, to her own confusion, found this somehow a relief.

Kamaria searched through her clothes and breathed a sigh of defeat that hung in the air before finally she spoke. “I regret that the letter may have been lost. For now, you will have to trust in what I have to say.” Kamaria leaned forward, pleading, and looked up at Baryu’s eyes. “Please, I ask that you lend me the Manuscript of Secrets I know you protect. And I ask that you make safe the lineage of the exalted Divine Dragons.”

Baryu was stricken by the sincerity of her words. He spoke, his voice tinged with alarm. “The Manual? Why should you need anything so important as that? And what do you mean to say about rescuing the Divine Dragons? We are a race whose extinction is inevitable. This is clear enough knowing I am the last of my kind. We have come to the point where there is nothing to be done.”

As she listened to his speech, Karin glanced over once more to decipher Baryu’s expression. And sensing how he felt, she lowered her eyes to the floor.

“How strange . . .” Kamaria sat thinking, visibly perplexed. “Who says that you’re the only one? Of course, if things carry on this way, it may well become true.” She looked back at Baryu, and entreated him once more. “Please, you must see that the Divine Dragons of Parmecia are kept safe.”

“You’re telling us there are Divine Dragons other than Baryu living in this place called Parmecia?” Kurin hesitated. “And they’re asking for our help . . . ?”

The foreign woman nodded in response to her question. Baryu, scarcely able to contain his surprise, took an unwitting step forward. Karin placed a hand gently against Baryu as if to support his giant frame. In that moment, an anxiety took root in her heart like nothing she had felt before.

“Is there any more that you can tell me?” Baryu said. “Are you saying that in Parmecia, the Divine Dragons—my kin—yet live?”

Kamaria invited Baryu to take her hand. “Then let me tell you of my vision.” She gripped the Divine Dragon’s outstretched hand firmly, and the red jewel set into the circlet she wore on her forehead began to glimmer.

As Baryu closed his eyes, images of silver dragons took shape within his mind. Countless dragons clad in armor stood expectantly behind him. With eyes blue like translucent gemstones, they stared into him, their faces earnest. And in that instant, his ears were filled with solemn words.

“O kindred of a distant land. I speak as the leader of the Divine Dragons of the Mountain of Fire—the Silver Dragon. At this very moment we do battle with demons. But the fighting has lost us the very Manual we are sworn to protect. And now, the flames of life have begun to die out, and the powers of the earth fall into ever greater disarray. If this cannot be stopped, we shall be doomed to extinction, and the unbridled powers of the earth will unleash another catastrophe. O undefeated brethren, lend us your aid. To preserve all life that persists in this land, lend us the power of your numbers. Lend us the power of the Manual. We shall believe in your arrival. We go on battling the demons even as we await you. O kindred . . .”

As the speech became severed, so too were the images of the Divine Dragons dispelled from Baryu’s mind.

“That was . . .” he began.

Knowing what Baryu had meant to ask, Kamaria began to speak in turn. “At the southern tip of Parmecia is a peninsula called the Fire Dragon’s Tail. There, the lineage of Divine Dragons lives on in hiding. A short time ago, the great god Volcanon imparted to me a divine revelation. Thus, we were entrusted with a secret quest to seek out the Divine Dragons on the continents far to the south. We would borrow the Manuscript of Secrets they held and return to Parmecia to pass it on to the Divine Dragons of the Fire Dragon’s Tail so that they might be saved. But on the way, we were assailed by monsters . . . and in the end, I was the only one spared.”

Others of his bloodline had yet survived. Baryu took delight in these words, for they meant the lineage of the Divine Dragons was not yet extinct. Within Baryu’s heart came a renewed yearning for his family, the restoration of his pride as a Divine Dragon, and a reawakening of his very sense of self.

But his hopes soon gave way to resignation.

“Unfortunately,” Baryu said, “there is no Manual here. In the end, I can do nothing for my kin.”

When Kamaria asked him why. Baryu described to Kamaria the battle against Dark Dragon, the black dragon that was the Legacy of the Gods. When Baryu spoke the name of Dark Sol, Kamaria’s face became taut with surprise.

“Dark Sol,” she said, “is the name of a Devil King who stood even among Zeon and Lucifer. I do not know if the one you met was the same or an impostor. But you say that it was by this man’s deeds that the Manual was lost?”

“It is truly most unfortunate . . .” he replied.

Kamaria lifted a hand to the circlet she wore on her head. A faint light gleamed from the ruby at its center. Seeing this, Kurin knew the jewel to be a magic stone.

Kamaria spoke. “But I am sure the Manual has not been lost. From here . . . yes, the Manuscript of Secrets is to the west. You’re lying to me.”

“Baryu would never lie about this,” Karin retorted before Baryu could speak. “The Manual was lost along with Dark Sol.”

Kamaria was unshaken. The warrior cleric kept her handsome features fixed toward the Divine Dragon, never once withdrawing her piercing gaze.

Kurin interjected, “That jewel has the power to track the Manual’s location.”

Though Kamaria’s eyes narrowed at the words, she gave Kurin a sharp nod.

“It is just as you say,” Kurin continued. “The Manual is not lost.” In the tense climate of the room, hearing those words from Kurin had come as a surprise to all. “The Manual is in Manarina. I came here to tell Baryu.”

To Karin, her little sister’s voice had sounded hollow and forboding.

“Is that true, Kurin?” Baryu pressed. The impact of the words she spoke had naturally fallen hardest on him.

“Dark Sol had contrived that the Manual be hidden in his castle. But in the chaos that followed the Runefaustian war, it was stolen by thieves from the Eastward Continent. But this was not to be the end. At the behest of Her Majesty Anri of Guardiana, Hanzo and Musashi succeeded after many months and years in retrieving it.”

Baryu cracked a smile as the names of his companions of old fell unexpectedly from Kurin’s mouth.

“However,” she continued, “recovered though it may have been, there was no promise of its safety in Guardiana. Following the recommendation of the strategist Sir Nova and the head wizard, Dame Tao, Her Majesty Anri consulted Administrator Otranto, leader of the Manarinian wizards. After receiving the Manual, Administrator Otranto came to the conclusion that it should be sealed back within the temple in Dragonia by the power of of every wizard in Manarina. It is for the discussion of this matter that Administrator Otranto has invited Baryu to Manarina.”

Kamaria’s interruption came in a tone of defiance, “Sealing it away is a terrible idea.”

“No, the Manual must be sealed.” Kurin’s opposition was direct. “What good and evil the Manual contains are opposing edges of the same blade. Any power drawn from it is subject to self-annihilation. Through the Manual’s power, the wicked can be contained, but they may also be resurrected. By the heart of whomsoever holds it in their hands, it is a book that can save the world or a book that can destroy it.”

“And that is exactly why,” insisted Kamaria, “we must save the Divine Dragons. If the Divine Dragons, appointed protectors of the secrets of the Gods, should die out, then without any guardians left, the wicked will be free to use the undefended powers of the earth.”

“The powers of the earth?” Kurin asked. “What is that?” It was an immediate reaction to unfamiliar words.

“It is impermissible to speak so recklessly of all that it entails,” Kamaria said. And with that, Kamaria’s lips were sealed.

“There is wisdom in that,” Kurin said, changing her approach. “But who can ensure the Manual would be used only to save the Divine Dragons?” The room fell silent.

“Me,” said Kamaria in a show of pride. But her confidence alone was not enough to assuage Kurin.

“A promise with no backing is hardly a guarantee.” Kurin would require more evidence for Kamaria to have a case. In times like these, Kurin’s uncompromising demeanor was on full display.

Their conflict had grown so unbearably aggrieved that Karin and Maron had moved between them, prepared to intercede.

“Can’t we copy down the parts we need?” came Baryu’s smooth intervention. “And then we can seal it away. The Manual need not fall into wicked hands. Right?” He turned to Kurin for her opinion.

“Impossible,” she said. “The Manual is not something we can copy. According to Administrator Otranto, we would be unable even read it.” Kurin paused for effect. “The Manual must be sealed.”

“You would ask that we forsake the Divine Dragons?” Kamaria’s condemnation struck deep.

“Better to abandon one race than let the Manual be used again to resurrect anything so wicked as—” Kurin’s words were stifled by the hand that Karin held against her mouth.

Kurin felt the scathing rebuke behind the unexpected power of her older sister’s hand. The words that she had uttered should have never left her lips. Kurin clenched her eyes shut as though she would cry. When she looked up at Baryu, the Divine Dragon seemed frantically to be trying not to let his true feelings show.

“O White Divine Dragon,” said Kamaria, her speech marked with intensity. “What is it that you think? The Manual was entrusted to the lineage of the Divine Dragons. What is the error in making use of it for the sake of the Divine Dragons? More than anything, it is your duty to protect your lineage. It is the mission bestowed by your birth as a Divine Dragon.”

“Do not decide this for him!” Karin snapped. It was too much to pressure Baryu this way. Karin’s thoughts were plain from the sharpness of her expression.

Baryu delayed any immediate response. No—it was fairer to say that any immediate reply had been wholly unavailable to him. As a Divine Dragon, what proper answer could there truly be?

After a time had passed, Baryu opened his mouth to speak. “Either way, should we not pay a visit to the Honorable Otranto? We cannot make a decision that would threaten all the continents of Rune and Parmecia on our own. And besides, the Manual is in Manarina. We can do nothing more from here. I am sure the wizards there will offer some sound wisdom. Kamaria, once you have recovered, we shall make for Manarina.”

And then Baryu, in resistance of any conclusion, resolved simply to walk away.

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Chapter One, Part 4

Three more days would pass before Baryu and the others could finally board their ship.

It was not that Kamaria’s recovery had been slow. Fortunately for her, her only injuries were some scrapes, and she was able to move as she pleased the very next day. It could only have been due to her rigorous training as a warrior cleric. Her body was of spectacular form—no part was feeble and nothing frail.

Their impediment arose not from themselves, but from their lack of any ship.

It was thought that whatever monster had attacked Kamaria’s ship must still prowl the coastal waters. A number of fishing vessels had unaccountably failed to return to port. The king of the island nation of Walalu had sent a missive cautioning the people of Ulan Bator and Rudol Village of the risk.

It was for this reason that the sailors of Rudol Village would not hazard even one step past the safety of their piers. For in truth, a ship is the precious means of a sailor’s livelihood, and even should they survive an attack, they could not weather the destruction of their ships. And after witnessing a ship set adrift in the wake of some monster, it was by any account reasonable that their courage should be checked.

But sure enough, Kurin’s father, the leader of Rudol Village, had arranged a rescue ship to bail them out. The captain of the vessel that Kurin was to board had begrudgingly accepted on the condition that they make their course southwest through the inner sea to Lindlind. This deviation from the regular route would spare them from deadlier waters.

The ship was to be boarded by Baryu, Kamaria, Kurin, and Karin. Maron had maintained that he would join them, but was in the end forbidden to give up his post as gatekeeper. Up until the day of their departure, he had pled with Cerberus to put everything she had into keeping her master alive and well. And so the ship set sail directly for the safety of Lindlind’s port. All going well, the voyage would take a matter of days.

A small boat rested on the deck of the ship over which a gray cloth had been hung. Sitting on its edge, Karin threw her legs forward, amused by the effort of her precariously swaying balance. Baryu warned that should she tumble and, landing on her head, slip senseless below the cloth, she might lie there undiscovered until landfall. Karin laughed at the thought that she could ever be as clumsy as that.

“This is my first time venturing to the Western Continent,” she said, throwing her head back to take in the sky. “Is it by chance yours as well, Baryu?”

“Yes, this shall be a first for me too. And it has me somewhat nervous.”

“I say this often, Baryu. But someone like you could use their wings to fly clear across the sea at any time they wished.” Karin stared at Baryu’s wings with a look of mild jealousy and breathed a longing sigh. “If only those wings could be mine.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The removal of my wings is not up for debate. And besides, a flight so prolonged takes a terrible toll. I will not deny I could make such a trip, but I’d not force myself if I could help it.”

“Well, those birds are taking it in stride.” Karin beamed. Surely there was nothing a bird could do that a Divine Dragon could not outmatch.

“Those birds are nimble. My body is bigger and heavier. It takes more effort than you think.”

“Oh, really?” Karin attempted. “What in the world are you filled with, I wonder?”

“To start, this morning I had several dried fish.” A smile had appeared on Baryu’s cheeks.

Karin joined him in smiling. Through their smiles, the two crept closer to each other’s hearts.

But Baryu’s mood was colored by regret. It had been necessary for Kurin and Kamaria to go with him. But Karin’s accompaniment had been unforeseen.

It had been natural that he should oppose it. But Rudol’s leader had spoken with Baryu, and Karin’s involvement as a representative of the village had come to him as a mandate. And choiceless as he had been, Baryu had agreed. Of course, it was obvious that beneath the demand lay the will of Karin herself. But whether she had convinced her father by way of argument or threat was entirely unclear.

Baryu asked himself why he had not objected more strongly. This journey was not to be one without danger. Already monsters had attacked the Divine Dragons and Kamaria.

He did not want Karin, who was not a Divine Dragon herself, to become mired in this matter of the Manual. But in spite of that, here Karin sat. And the guilt of it tormented his heart greatly. Baryu was a Divine Dragon. And so, the continued protection of the Manual was his one and only task. He could not allow that mission to fall on any but himself.

On top of this, Baryu had already begun to convince himself that he would cross the ocean to rescue his family. Whether he carried the Manual or not, Baryu could not allow his kindred to die.

But perhaps he had seen it as an escape to seek refuge among his own kind. Would Baryu be able to return once he had walked among his kin? To go from the land where the Divine Dragons yet lived back to the home of Karin and the other humans . . . ?

Karin would not likely forgive Baryu for this. The crossing of the ocean would mean his probable separation from Karin. And that was why he had not wanted her to come. He had hoped not to hear the chastisement from her mouth.

When the time had come to depart, Baryu had planned to slip away without a word. But Karin would never have allowed it.

Standing here now, Baryu saw in his eyes the face of Karin as a child, her frown superimposed on the woman’s smile. What had been a child’s plump face had become lean and mature. What exactly had been changed by time? And how much had stayed the same . . . ?

How much growth had there truly been between the person he had become and the child that he had been, so terrified of the world outside himself?

“Why did you follow me?” The question slipped from Baryu’s mouth.

“Because I can’t just leave you alone,” came Karin’s answer. “I’ve kept a careful eye on you since I was a girl. And if I’ve learned anything in that time, it’s how to tell what you’re thinking. If you tried to run off without me, I most certainly would not forgive you. Things are different now than they were ten years ago. I’ve trained so hard to keep up with you, Baryu. Because I didn’t want to be left behind.”

Baryu did not know what to say. He fumbled, at a loss for words. “It’s nothing like that. I never intended to leave you behind.”

Karin frowned lightly, unsure if she should believe him. “It’s the same as last time. You left Dragonia not knowing whether you were coming back . . .” Karin had become quiet.

Finally, Baryu thought of something to say.  “It’s not as though I don’t have roots.”

“And how long did it take you, Baryu, to return when you fought as a member of the Shining Force? If you go to the continents to the north, it could take just as long. Or many more moons could pass. Don’t think I hadn’t thought of this.”

Baryu’s time with the Shining Force had been motivated by the deeply heartfelt wish to protect Karin. He would fight to bring peace to the world before he would allow any harm to come to her. And that was precisely how he thought of things now.

Back then, he had imagined Karin happy to see him off. Perhaps that had been wishful thinking on Baryu’s part. He could not imagine what thoughts must have swum within the girl’s head as she waited for him to return. As she grew, Karin became a woman who did not like being made to wait. She had changed as she saw fit.

Karin remained silent, as though she had already said enough.

“Sir Baryu.” Kamaria approached, stepping around the rope piled up near the mast. Kamaria’s black hair, held in place by her red-gemmed circlet, had taken on in this light a bluish cast. Her clothing was a deep indigo that flowed freely as she walked. She wore a brilliant purple surcoat embroidered in golden thread with what may have been Volcanon’s crest. Her fingertips emerged from gloves of cinnamon leather, and her feet stood in matching boots. “Am I bothering you?” she asked, looking Karin’s way.

The young woman smiled back to reassure her that she was not. “It looks like you two have something to talk about. Shall I excuse myself?” Karin leapt down from the edge of the rowboat with a bound, her laced leather boots making only the slightest sound as they touched the deck. The loose tarp that covered the boat fluttered in the wind, giving her a glimpse at its empty seats.

“Yes. If you don’t mind, There is something I would like to discuss with the honorable Divine Dragon.” Kamaria brushed Karin politely away.

Since Karin had made the suggestion herself, she could hardly refuse now. And though she felt the pain of being dragged away, she left.

Baryu spoke. “It must be something bad for you to have asked Karin to leave.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Kamaria checked Karin’s absence from the corners of her eyes. “But there is something I do wish to say to the honorable Divine Dragon.”

Baryu wrinkled his brow at the formality of her words. “Just Baryu will suffice,” he said to the woman.

“There is one thing I must make sure of.” She paused. “Honorable Divine Dragon—no—Sir Baryu. I heard that you were borne of your parents quite recently and that you are the youngest of the Divine Dragons. Is that true?”

Baryu spoke to Kamaria as though there were no doubt. “What about it?” came the answer of the white Divine Dragon.

“No, successor of the Divine Dragons—it’s just that—this is my first time seeing a second-generation Divine Dragon. I had heard that the Divine Dragons of Parmecia had had no successors, that they were an immortal race of a single generation. So—how should I say this? I find you to be special. To me, you’re a surprise.”

“My reality seems to differ from the one shown in your story. I am sure that my existence is unusual.” Baryu had spoken what Kamaria was unable herself to say. He gave her a gentle smile.

Kamaria assured him that this was not what she had meant.

“I was born at the end of many long years,” Baryu said. “Perhaps not so much time has passed for the Divine Dragons of Parmecia.”

“Was it time that birthed you, Sir Baryu?” Kamaria asked.

Baryu felt in his chest that it had taken more than time. Why had he been the only one to be born? What manner of people had been the lineage of the Divine Dragons, and what kind of person was he?

Kamaria spoke. “If we are to meet with the leader of the Parmecian Divine Dragons, perhaps the mystery of Sir Baryu’s birth may yet be solved. Or, better still, if we find the answer in the Manual . . . Right now, we have no choice but to wait.” Having asked what it was that she needed to ask, Kamaria walked away.

The woman would need more time to find her answers.

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Chapter One, Part 5

Illustration by SUEZEN.

The eastern wind had carried the ship favorably even into the night.

Kamaria muttered a thoughtful sigh and then began to whisper in a voice so soft that none could hear it. “Hard to believe though it may be, he truly is a second-generation Divine Dragon.” She stood alone on the deck looking out upon the surface of the sea and the stars it reflected. “. . . Of course, he might take the place of the warriors that were lost. But if anyone should be concerned with the balance of their numbers and their power, it would be he.”

Within the starlight glittering between the waves shone two conspicuous bright lights. They sparkled on the surface of the water like eyes—one silver and one red.

“. . . However, I sense in that Divine Dragon something beyond the accounting of the Gods. Perhaps it exceeds even his imagination. But at least it could serve as a check against him.”

The stars began to twinkle once more.

“. . . Yes. By your command, O leader, I shall bring the Divine Dragon to Parmecia. I shall bring him before your eminence . . .” Kamaria bowed her head low.

The image of the stars that glistened on the water’s mirror surface vanished, fading away as though hiding its face.

The woman breathed out a sigh of relief. She pulled back her hair to cool her flushed cheeks. Her hair fluttered, black as lacquer, held away from her neck as the air passed her by. Kamaria leaned back against the rail of the ship, arching her chest, looking up at the stars of the night sky.

The night had yet to come. The journey had yet to begin. Yes, everything would be starting from this point forward. And who could grasp how it would end?

The woman smiled faintly in fathomless anticipation.

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Chapter One, Part 6

As the Vostok Mountains came into view off the starboard side of the vessel, the ship began to slow. The Lindlind harbor was drawing near.

Baryu and the others looked out across the deck at the townscape dyed red by the setting sun. Small houses crowded against the wall that encircled the town, and the smoke of evening fires rose from their chimneys. A scattering of people hurried down the streets to the dinners in their homes.

The pier now approached.

A man sat on the docks with a fishing line lowered, and—perhaps recognizing Baryu—stood suddenly from his seat and waved an arm back and forth. “Mister Baryu!” he called.

“An acquaintance of yours?” Karin asked Baryu, who was standing beside her.

The Divine Dragon tilted his head, unable to commit. The only people he had known in Lindlind were Lyle and Gantz, his former comrades from the war.

Even after Baryu had come down from the gangway and onto the pier, the man had looked no more familiar.

And yet the man, his face peeking out from behind golden-brown hair regarded him with a smile. “Did you forget about me? It’s me, Ventura!”

Hearing the name had made Baryu remember. It was the adventurer he had once met in Prompt. As though shadowing the footsteps of Baryu and the Shining Force, Ventura had traveled across the continents of Rune while writing a series of travel logs, accounts of regional climates and cultures, and records of the war.

Ventura smiled. He rubbed his fingers on his sideburns as he spoke. “Even I’m starting to get on in years. I’m not the young man I used to be back when I was running around all over the continent.”

When Baryu told him they had not yet decided where to lodge, Ventura nearly forced them to stay with him. He was living, at the moment, in a house neighboring the inventor Clock. And as for Clock? He had been the supposed master of Lyle and Gantz. Before he could think, Baryu’s nostalgia had answered the question for him. He decided to give in to Ventura’s kindness.

The night had turned into a party, after a fashion. Lyle came to visit, and the tales of days past flourished in the air. Their one disappointment was the absence of Gantz, who was abroad in Yurt to study their train.

“Our boy Gantz is an independent inventor now.” Lyle grinned in Baryu’s face. “I’m still working as an assistant for Mister Clock.”

Lyle, a centaur with the four legs of a horse and the torso of a man, was the only one among them who reached the height of Baryu. From where they stood, the high ceiling of Ventura’s house seemed built especially for them.

“Is everyone else well?” Baryu asked.

“Yep,” said Lyle. “Anri inherited the throne. She’s working together with everyone in Guardiana to rebuild the country. Zappa’s doing his best to keep Vostok running. And Ernest’s the governor of Ulan Bator now! He’s keeping busy every day with Arthur and the rest of them. How about all our travelers though? You’ve got to wonder what skies they’re sleeping under now. Anyway, I’m sure they’re doing just fine. I bet you’re the only one who’s gone off to retire all on his lonesome!” Lyle tapped his jug of ale against the tip of Baryu’s nose, leaving behind a spot of white foam on the end of his snout. Lyle laughed gleefully at the sight.

Baryu gave an embarrassed smile and, with his very long tongue, licked the foam from his nostrils.

Ventura turned to Baryu. “But what kind of journey are you on with all these charming young ladies?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Lyle. “What is it that dragged you out of your old nest? Something pretty interesting must be going on, right?”

To that, Baryu could say nothing. The matter of the Manual was not yet to be disclosed. But it was only Lyle and the others after all . . . Baryu began to open his mouth.

Kamaria stepped in with an interjection. “We are on our way to Manarina. Since I am from a foreign country, they are offering me their assistance. Kurin is studying magic at Manarina, so she is to be my guide along with her older sister, Madam Karin. And Sir Baryu is to accompany us as our guard.”

Baryu nodded yes to give the confirmation Kamaria sought. Observing the silence of Karin and her sister, Baryu had concluded it was better not to speak.

“Oh, man!” Ventura broke the spell. “You’re from a foreign country? Isn’t that something! Tell us, where are you from?”

Ventura’s heart seemed charmed by Kamaria’s talk of her homeland. Or perhaps he was just being kind. Kamaria had held her drink well, and between Ventura and Baryu, many drinks were poured as she shared the many details of Parmecia.

As the time passed slowly by, the two sisters, who were not as adapted to drinking quite so much, hurried off to bed. Lyle, on account of his upcoming work, had already said his goodbyes.

“These books are amazing,” Kamaria said, her cheeks tinted pink. “Did you write them all yourself?”

The walls of Ventura’s house seemed almost to be made of books. The shelves that stretched to the ceiling from the floor were packed tight with volumes. The adventurer’s home was unusually soothing to Baryu, who had been raised in a similar room. It might have been the alcohol or perhaps the lively conversation between the two people before him, but Baryu had found himself able to bask in a sense of peace.

“Half of it’s reference materials. It was reading all those books that made me want to travel in the first place. I just had to visit all the places in those stories.” Ventura scanned the room, now bathed in the glow of the firelight. “The rest of the books I wrote myself as a result of that journey. They’ve got primers on the lands I traveled to and collections of all the local stories I got to hear. Oh, man. It’s the stuff of dreams!”

“Well then, shall you be writing of us in one of your books as well?”

“If you want. I mean, I’ve heard enough outlandish stories today to cover a bunch of books.”

Kamaria snickered. “You truly are a peculiar gentleman.” She stood abruptly and, having staggered, perhaps on purpose, tumbled across Ventura.

Ventura leaped to support her. Even this woman had finally drunk her fill.

Baryu spoke. “It may be time we called it a night.”

Though Ventura’s words were incoherent, he gave Baryu his agreement.

“Call it a night?” Kamaria said. “But first, I must offer a goodnight kiss to the adventurer who from this moment on shall be watching over the changes unfolding in the world . . .” She wrapped her arms around Ventura’s neck and smothered him with her lips. And with that, her eyelids grew heavy, and Kamaria began to breathe the gentle breaths of sleep.

With a bitter smile, Baryu lifted Kamaria off of Ventura and heaved her large body into his arms. Even in the darkness, one could see the reluctance to part on Ventura’s rose-colored face. With Kamaria slung across both of his arms, Baryu edged his way from the room. As he passed beneath the doorway, he turned back and looked toward Ventura. “I am jealous of you, Mister Ventura. You’re able to live your dreams without becoming consumed by them.”

“That’s because my dreams are my own. Pretty soon it’s going to be time for you to start writing yours.” There was a thoughtful break in Ventura’s speech. “Hey, when that time comes, the first thing you’ve got to do is come show me. All right? Make that a promise.”

Baryu returned a smile as proof of his promise and stepped out from the room where Ventura sat.

But there was still no book he was compelled to write. There was only one book that a Divine Dragon should read, past or future, and that book was the Manual. It was the mission that had been imposed upon him, but it was also the Divine Dragon’s dream.

In private, Baryu prayed that, at the very least, it would not become his nightmare.

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Chapter One, Part 7

“Karin, are you awake?” Baryu whispered gently at the door to the room where the women slept. He had meant to be as quiet as he could for fear of waking Kamaria. “If you are awake, could you please open the door?”

“What is it?” A moment passed, and from a crack in the door peered Karin’s face. She wore nothing more than a thin, translucent nightgown. Her expression softened when she saw the woman limp in Baryu’s arms.

“She’s completely drunk.” Baryu grunted as he shifted the weight of Kamaria’s body. “Could you please let me in so I can put her to bed?”

Karin frowned in mild annoyance. “That’s all right—I can carry her.”

“An impossible task for you.” The corners of Baryu’s mouth curled in a slight smile. As one might expect from not just any cleric, but a self-proclaimed warrior cleric, Kamaria had been built very strong. And humans who could not support themselves were heavier than they looked.

“Baryu, if you can do it, then there’s no reason why I can’t.” Karin’s voice was harsh as she stepped from the room. She reached out her arms toward Baryu. “Come on, hand her over.”

The intensity of Karin’s voice had made Kamaria, still held by Baryu, begin to turn over in her sleep. With her loss of balance, Baryu teetered forward, and it had looked to Karin as though he had meant to hand her over. Karin, unprepared to support Kamaria’s weight, fell backward against the wall.

A dull thud reverberated through the house. A low groan followed.

Karin cradled her head in her arms, her tired eyes wide. Only she could say whether in that moment she had seen stars.

“Are you all right, Karin?” Baryu was distraught by this turn of events. Frustrated by having full hands, he craned his long neck to try to check the back of Karin’s head.

Karin spoke wincingly through gritted teeth. “It’s really not that bad.” Though tears welled in the corners of her eyes, Karin did not allow her pain to show. She pushed Baryu’s head back up and asked him not to worry.

“What was that?” creaked Kurin’s groggy voice. “What are you doing, sis?” She had been awoken by the sound that Karin’s head had made against the wall.

“Nothing at all,” said Karin. “All right, go ahead and carry her in, Baryu.”

As Baryu brought Kamaria into the room, he lamented that Karin had not permitted it sooner.

“Yes, fine.” Karin slipped out of the way. Her tiny rump protruded as she stooped to unfold a mattress on the floor.

Baryu lowered Kamaria, who was entirely lost in drink.

“Goodness.” Baryu breathed a deep sigh of relief as he walked back to the door. “Very well. I’m going to go to sleep. Good night, Karin.”

“Good night, Baryu,” Karin replied as the Divine Dragon drew the door shut.

“Hey,” began Kurin feebly, her voice still thick with sleep. She squinted at her sister through eyes made blurrier by lack of lenses. “Did something happen . . . ?”

“Nothing happened.” Karin placed her hand against Kurin’s forehead and pushed her back onto her mattress. “Come on. You should go back to sleep.” Karin looked over at Kamaria, who lay sleeping on the mattress to her other side.

The woman from the unfamiliar land breathed softly in her sleep, completely unaware.

Kurin gasped. “What are you doing?”

Karin slipped under the sheets next to Kurin and pulled them over her head.

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Chapter Two: Concerning the Manual . . .

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § Chapter Two

Chapter Two, Part 1

On the dawning of the following day, the western gate of Lindlind swung wide at Ventura’s request. Baryu and his companions set out upon their journey to Manarina, the land of wizards.

Though a Divine Dragon and a Cerberus went with them, the guards of Lindlind gate, upon seeing the women among them, advised their caution on the road. Just the day before yesterday, a suspicious-looking group had been sighted passing outside town and off toward the Vostok Mountains.

Kurin ruffled the fur on Cerberus’s heads, and shot her sister a smile. She told Karin not to worry.

The journey ahead of them was quite different from the voyage that had just concluded. For now their journey was to be undertaken not by riding upon the waves but on solid ground with one foot placed before the next.

More pleased by the change of pace than anyone was Kurin’s pet, Cerberus, who acted as their escort as she frolicked through the grove-dappled meadows. She had positively reached the point of catching fire having been trapped so long aboard the confines of the ship. As if to burn off all that energy at once, she had made a habit of sprinting off ahead before coming running back to the group. As the effect of this was to transform Cerberus into a scout, Kurin and the others allowed her to scurry as she pleased.

On the return from one such cycle back and forth, and after all but Kurin had lost count, Cerberus had begun furiously to bark. She jerked her heads in the direction that she wished to lead the group.

Karin grabbed the longbow from her back. “Do you think there’s something there?” With her bow in one hand, she drew an arrow with the other. Ready for danger, she surveyed the way ahead with her sharpened hunter’s eyes.

“Yeah,” said Kurin flatly. “Quite possibly a not-very-good something.” With her gaze fixed to the front, she commanded Cerberus’s temporary silence.

Baryu’s wings rustled. “I’ll have a look at our surroundings.” As he soared into the sky, the pressure of his wingbeats left a surge of wind behind him. He ascended to a height where he could trace the shapes of the surrounding woods and waterways. By a great bridge that spanned the river, Baryu caught sight of a flock of shadows.

They were moving now with considerable speed. Leading the assembly was what appeared to be a human woman. The misty, formless monsters at her heels were the creatures known as dark smoke. Enormous vampire bats followed close behind.

A long-forgotten anger flared in Baryu’s heart. The monsters he beheld below were creatures made of malice. His dragon’s roar thundered from the sky. Wings folded close, the Divine Dragon began to plummet toward the monsters.

Karin spoke. “Baryu has landed. I’m going over there—come with me!”

At Karin’s word, Kurin and the others broke into a run.

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Chapter Two, Part 2

Twiggy had run herself out of breath just before she could reach the bridge. She felt as though her heart would burst. She was moved by the desperate need to cast a healing spell, but with the monsters fast approaching, she would not have the time.

She imagined that, with the hem of her priest gown rolled up high as she ran, she must have made for an immodest sight. But it was not the time or the place for such concerns. Twiggy continued to run, her young, healthy legs plunging from the hem of her robe.

She saw the bridge. And at the same time, the silhouettes of people.

Twiggy had been saved.

But with the thought of her rescue came the compulsion of shame. She loosened her grasp on the hem of her dress. The fabric slipped down, twisting around her legs as she ran, and toppled her in a graceless heap at the foot of the bridge.

The monsters were closing in.

Twiggy spun her body to look around. A dark smoke hung in the air, a horrible grin twisting across its churning face. Twiggy recoiled from its derisive cackle, which dripped with the joy of tormenting its prey.

The dark smoke began to spread as though it would envelop her.

Just as she relinquished her final hope, a great white figure came slicing through the deadly mist. The vapor swirled and dispersed as it lost its fiendish life.

Twiggy looked up to see what it was that had cut the monster down. Still resting upon her rear, she began instinctively to scoot back across the ground. What her eyes beheld was the ferocity of a dragon. Compared to its wrath, the monsters that chased her had may as well been kittens. So much for her rescue, she thought. For she had been cornered now into an even worse dilemma.

The white dragon spoke, its voice surprisingly tranquil. “My companions have nearly arrived,” it said. “You—stay where you are.”

It held its wings wide as it turned to face the monsters and launched into the air. Twiggy raised her arms to protect her face from the wind that blasted down. She heard the voices of women calling from across the bridge.

“Are you all right?” Karin helped the young woman fallen before her back onto her feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Never mind that.” Twiggy thrust a finger toward Baryu. “What is that white dragon?”

“That would be the Divine Dragon Baryu. He was a member of the Shining Force.”

Twiggy’s eyes flashed in anticipation. “A member of the Shining Force . . .”

“I’ll cover Baryu.” Karin left the girl to Kurin and drew an arrow from her quiver. In one fluid motion, she slung her longbow over her head and drew its bowstring taut. The bowstring thumped, and the longbow pivoted in Karin’s hand. The arrow she loosed pierced a vampire bat so deep it was as though it had been sucked in.

Twiggy let out a sigh as she watched in fascination the sequence of Karin’s beautiful, unfaltering movements.

“Next . . .” Arrow in hand, Karin readied a second shot.

“There shall be no need,” came Kamaria’s cool and commanding voice. She gazed up at Baryu, eyes filled with curiosity. “Any mistake will only get in Sir Baryu’s way.”

Karin slowly lowered her bow.

It was as Kamaria had said. The monsters were nothing to Baryu. One swipe of his claws through the living mist scattered the dark smoke into vanishing pieces. With a crackling bellow of lightning, the vampire bats were charred in an instant to cinders.

In that moment, Karin questioned whether the creature that fought before her could with all its tremendous power truly be the Baryu she knew. Gone was the form of the gentle, childlike, book-loving Divine Dragon. The Divine Dragon who she had always looked after was no longer anywhere to be seen.

“What a bore,” said Kurin. “It looks like we won’t be needed on stage.” She flexed a hand open as shut as though to express the frustrated desire to incant a magical blaze.

“. . . It’s a lonely feeling, isn’t it?” Karin felt bitterly the differences wrought by time.

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Chapter Two, Part 3

Baryu cried out in flustered disbelief. “You’re Gong’s disciple?” As Twiggy introduced herself, Baryu found peculiar the contrast between the dainty young woman he saw and the imposing figure of the master monk with whom he had fought in the Shining Force.

“I don’t see how that’s really so surprising . . .” Twiggy’s cheeks were painted red by the light of the campfire as she pouted slightly at Baryu’s remark. Her silvery hair, with its chalk-pink tint, was tied high, gleaming almost orange against the backdrop of the night. “Anyway, I’m not strictly-speaking a disciple just yet. That’s why I’m searching for Master Gong now—to earn the paragon’s honored approval.” Twiggy threw her grass-colored scarf across her shoulder and drew her white priest gown, embroidered with golden thread, to cover her knees.

“He seems a difficult man to find,” said Baryu. “Gong has never been one to remain in place.” Baryu smiled wistfully as he recalled the image of Gong: face locked in an eternal frown, ever silent as he walked. He was an idiosyncratic man who preferred the open road beneath the stars to any place that had a roof.

“Yeah,” Twiggy said. “Only after this harrowing stretch of road did I realize I’d come to Manarina. Even so . . . I’d heard that the wizards of Manarina protected their country by controlling monsters, but until now, I could never have imagined how cruel they really were.”

Kurin’s voice boomed from across the fire. “You’ve got it wrong.”

Cerberus’s ears pricked up at her master’s outburst. She lifted one of her heads from the ground where she lay and regarded Kurin with concern.

Kurin continued. “We’re still an entire day’s distance from Manarina. Think of how many monsters it would take to patrol such a wide perimeter. They would never do anything so futile. And they don’t attack people indiscriminately like these monsters did. And to start, there would have to be some reason for them to block off the town and defend it that way . . .” Though she had had more to say, Kurin cut herself short.

“Suppose there is a reason,” said Karin. “Suppose that right now . . .” Karin trailed off, but her words implied the same thing her little sister had already been thinking.

“But I’ve never seen anything like a mist monster in Manarina,” Kurin countered. “And I certainly don’t know of any magic that would summon one.”

Kamaria, who had until now been silent, spoke. “I suppose you may well be right. The creatures we saw were of a sinister ilk. They are what is known as dark smoke.”

Kurin and the others had not known the monster’s name.

Baryu said, “Since it’s something that you recognized—is it a type of monster that lives in Parmecia?”

The woman nodded in response. Kamaria squinted thoughtfully through eyes of emerald green. “Then there can be no further doubt. Something is coming to the continents of Rune.”

“I hope nothing bad has happened in Manarina.” Baryu allowed the words to sink in. “Let’s continue on tomorrow as early as we possibly can.”

At Baryu’s reckoning, everyone agreed that it was time to sleep.

Apart from Baryu and Karin, who stood by in watch, everyone lay bundled in their traveling cloaks. It was a warm night, and with their thick cloaks and the campfire staving off the cool night air, at least the women would not freeze.

Cerberus’s ears twitched at the intermittent crackle of twigs in fire. But apart from that, the time passed quietly by.

“Karin . . .” Baryu whispered.

Karin stood across the campfire, her back turned to Baryu. To maintain their watch over the darkness that surrounded them, the two continued to look out in opposite directions. Close by, the quiet murmur of Kurin and the others in sleep remained.

“Karin . . .” Baryu whispered again, awaiting an answer. There was nothing. “What is it that you’re mad about?”

This time, eventually, an answer came. “I’m not mad about anything,” she said, her back still turned. “If I’ve given you that impression, it’s probably me being sleepy. When the moon’s risen a bit more, I’ll ask Kamaria to take my place.” She turned suddenly to Baryu as though a thought had struck. “Never mind that. What about you, Baryu? Shouldn’t you get any sleep?”

Baryu laughed at Karin from the other side of the fire. “I’m not like everyone else, you know. It’s really not a problem.”

“Yes . . . I suppose you’re right. You are different from us, Baryu. You’re a Divine Dragon, aren’t you?” Karin stopped herself. “I’m sorry, I really am tired. I’ll have Kamaria cover for me.”

So as to not afford Baryu the chance to speak, Karin rushed to Kamaria and shook her awake. Kamaria forced open her tired eyes and, saying nothing, began to stretch. With Karin wrapped up in her cloak beside him, Baryu was unable to say anything more.

The flames reflected in Baryu’s eyes swayed, dancing in the wind.

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Chapter Two, Part 4

The next morning had come. With Twiggy added to their ranks, they wasted no time in pressing onward to Manarina.

Twiggy had remarked that, with the protection of a Divine Dragon, the road to Manarina was sure to be safe. And so Baryu had allowed her to join them. But as far as he had then been concerned, they would take her no farther than Manarina.

Baryu’s body sailed through the sky to check the way ahead. With his wings unfurled and his neck and tail held perfectly straight, Baryu formed a beautifully proportioned cross.

As the group passed through the desert that separated them from Manarina, Kurin thought smartly to make a mount of Cerberus’s back. But with Twiggy’s legs becoming stuck often in the sand, their progress slowed to a literal crawl.

Karin and Kurin were to be challenged as well, this being their first time in any desert, though not as severely as Twiggy.

Before long, the outer walls of Manarina had appeared within their reach. Set into the entire surface of the magnificent wall were geometric reliefs. Magical symbols and magical stones were laid into every critical point to ensure the generation of barrier with the strength to protect the town.

There would be no rest upon their arrival in the town of Manarina. The party made for Otranto’s estate.

Within the walls of Manarina, houses of all manners of shape were pressed together in a clump as if in competition. And at the center of all the assembled architecture lay the residence of Otranto.

The wizard who came out to greet them had meant to permit entry to Kurin and the Divine Dragon alone, but Baryu refused.

He spoke with all the dignity a Divine Dragon possessed. “The women here have information they must convey to the Honorable Otranto directly.”

With a measure of reluctance, the wizard with the dull green beard relented and allowed them all inside.

When Kamaria, Karin, and the others had gone striding boldly in, their right of entry beyond rebuke, Twiggy came following after. And as she passed the threshold, she cast a mischievous smile of victory at the stern, bearded wizard.

The wizard, wearing a face of defeat, pulled the door shut behind them without uttering a sound.

An aggregation of wizards surrounded in silence Manarina’s highest-ranking magician, who lay confined within a bed.

The first words to leave Otranto’s lips were an apology. “Sorry, Sir Baryu.”

“And what exactly has occurred?” Baryu asked. “I had heard nothing of the Honorable Otranto falling ill.”

“No, it isn’t that I’m sick. I was in a fight involving some monsters the other day, and—now this is a bit embarrassing—but I went through a shameful defeat. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me for sleeping in. That was rude of me. Oh, but never mind that. What I should really be asking you to forgive me for is letting those monsters steal the Manual.”

Kamaria was shocked. She pressed the great magician for an explanation. “What was that just now . . . ?” The thought that someone had beaten her to it made her beautiful eyebrows bristle.

“Piper?” Otranto addressed the stern wizard from before, having finally noticed the cluster of women behind Baryu. “I’m sure I told you not to allow anyone in who wasn’t involved . . .”

The wizard called Piper stood ashamed.

Baryu was quick to intervene. Though perhaps by now too late, he offered the introductions of Kamaria and the others.

Otranto began again to speak. “Are you trying to tell me you came all the way to Rune from some far-off continent because you wanted to find the Manual?”

Kamaria nodded at Otranto.

Otranto continued. “But in the wrong hands, the Manual has the potential to be extremely dangerous. With Baryu’s cooperation, we had been planning to seal it away forever.”

“Of course,” began Kamaria, “We mustn’t allow the the Manual to be used to resurrect the Devil King Dark Sol or Dark Dragon, who contains his soul. We must avoid that. Nevertheless, there are people on the continent to the north who need that Manual. Namely, the Divine Dragons who protect the power of the earth. If they should go extinct, then the power of the earth will have no one left to control it. And if it is to be unleashed, it shall render meaningless destruction.”

“There’s no such thing anywhere on earth as meaningful destruction . . . But more to the point—what do you mean by ‘the power of the earth’? Could you explain that to me?”

“It is the power contained by the very earth itself. It is said that, used properly, such power could bestow great blessings upon the people. Or, used wickedly, it could rend the earth, consuming everything. And there can be no doubt that wicked people who seek this power will travel to these continents. The ship on which I traveled came under attack. And on our way to this town, a group monsters Parmecian monsters attacked. Someone is trying to stop us.”

“I don’t know if the monsters that attacked you, Madam Kamaria and Sir Baryu, were the same ones who stole the Manual or if they might’ve been associated with them. Imagine that. Monsters from a far-off foreign land . . .” Otranto’s face had become increasingly clouded with dread.

Among the wizards who sat in a row by Otranto’s side, Piper raised his voice. “So you do not believe this to be the work of those who would seek to resurrect Dark Dragon?”

The other wizards chided him for speaking out of turn.

Otranto began to speak. “If they were trying to revive Dark Dragon, then I’m sure they would’ve just gone straight for the Ancient Castle to the south. And yet, the monsters ended up going from Lindlind up toward Shade. That’s the completely wrong direction. Unless—if they were on their way to a continent to the north, then they would have to take a ship. Our power reaches as far as Lindlind to the east and the gulf to the west. And having gone north, that only leaves them with so many places to catch a ship.”

“Either Ulan Bator or Walalu,” said Kurin. “That’s where the monsters who stole the Manual will be headed.”

Otranto gave a word of agreement.

“Kamaria,” said Baryu. “Aren’t you able to determine the actual location of the Manual?” He recalled what had happened in Rudol Village.

“No, it isn’t possible here.” Kamaria pressed a finger against the jewel framed within her circlet as though perturbed. “This town’s barrier may prevent it. I shall have to step outside to check . . .”

Baryu spoke as if to himself. “That makes it somewhat difficult to pursue . . .”

Karin quickly took exception to his remark. “Do you really want to go chasing after it? It’s an impossible task. There’s no way we’d reach them in time.”

“On the other hand, will we not achieve nothing so long as we stand idly by?”

“But the monsters will be well past Shade by now. At this point, we wouldn’t have a hope of catching up to them.”

“Were I to fly through the air, there is no question that I could have them before they reach the Yurt Plains. Either way, I could not possibly take all of you on such a dangerous errand. I shall be going alone.” Baryu spoke as if to an reasonless child. But perhaps it was he who lacked reason as he forged excuses for himself.

Karin began to raise her voice. “There’s no sense in going alone. What do you think will happen if you’re there on your own?”

Detecting trouble, Kurin and Twiggy prepared to step in.

“Sir Baryu,” Kamaria said, speaking plainly. “Madam Karin has the right of it. The Manual is not yours alone.”

Baryu was at a loss for words. He looked speechlessly between Karin and Kamaria

It was none other than Otranto who would bail Baryu unexpectedly out. “The Manual has long been held within the purview of the Divine Dragons. The right and the duty to secure the Manual rests with the Divine Dragons—and that applies to Sir Baryu, of course. Sir Baryu, like our great hero and the Machine God Adam, was predetermined by his role to be a member of the Shining Force. The Divine Dragons are charged with the mission of protecting the Manual, and we are not to interfere with that right.”

Karin was blunt in her rebuttal. “Very well, but neither do we have the right to force him to do as we please. Nor do we have the freedom to look the other way.” She pushed Kurin aside before she could silence her and took another step toward Otranto.

Kurin was stuck in a terrible bind, apprehensive of her older sister’s competitive nature.

“Fine, then,” Piper interjected. “As long as the pursuit of the Manual is neither unreasonable, unthinkable, nor unwise.”

What Piper had said was something that nobody in the room had expected to hear. His display had come off as impertinent, and the other wizards grimaced in unison. Otranto calmed the scholars to give Piper the chance to explain.

Piper continued. “A dwarf I know is familiar with a byway through the mountains north of here. Take that path, and you may reach the Yurt Plains before the monsters. Hire mercenaries from the Yurt Train, and you will be able to stage an ambush. How does that sound? I think it’s a safe enough plan to assure your success.”

Otranto spoke in interest of Piper’s plan. “That’s not a bad idea. Based on the time of year, the Yurt Train should be on the west side of the plain. If all goes well, a unit could be dispatched ahead of the monsters, and maybe soldiers from Vostok could assist from behind. But does the road you mentioned really exist? Is there a way to scale the mountains quickly?

“They wouldn’t be climbing any mountains. They’d be using a dwarf tunnel to go straight through. But at any rate, they won’t be getting any military aid from Manarina. And it’s already too late to field reinforcements from Shade or Vostok. At this point, it would be wise, I think, to lean on the strength of the people of Yurt.”

“You do have a point. Does that sound acceptable, Sir Baryu, and Karin of Rudol Village?”

Baryu had no objections as long as they were to leave right away. They would have their choice of proceeding to the Yurt Plain or doubling back to Vostok once they had seen what adversity they faced.

Karin, who had been addressed by name, accepted Piper’s proposal. She had no reason but stubbornness to refuse. At the very least, it would stop Baryu from barreling ahead, enthralled by his duty to the Manual. Karin wrapped her fingers around the tips of Baryu’s wings as if to tie them.

Baryu resisted denying the certainty that Karin had expressed in joining him. He did not shake off the woman’s hands. Instead, he parted his wings to allow her closer.

Again Otranto spoke. “In that case, Piper, I will trust you to take Sir Baryu. I will provide you with the mark of an envoy to present to Yurt’s queen, Koron, and equipment for the journey. You will go with Sir Baryu as my representative until you are able to determine the location of the Manual.”

Piper bowed low in respect to Otranto.

“Baryu, I am allowing Piper to join you. Are you all right with that?”

Pressed for his agreement, Baryu gave a shallow nod. It was too late for any qualms.

“Should you succeed in confronting the monsters, your priority will become regaining the manual over defeating them. What happens to the Manual afterward is for Sir Baryu to decide. Whether he chooses to make use of our power and seal it in Dragonia or destroy it on the spot, Sir Baryu is free to do as he sees fit.”

Baryu was stunned. “What did you just say . . .  ?” He spoke in faltering bursts. “Destroy it . . .  ?” Baryu looked in horror at the great magician who now lay in bed.

The others, too, turned their collective gaze toward Otranto. Kamaria did not dare to speak a word.

Otranto spoke emphatically to Baryu. “From here on out, if the Manual is to be used for wicked motives, then sealing it will no longer be an option. It will have to be destroyed. And I believe that you, Sir Baryu, are is the only one who can do that. Will that be all right? If things ever get to that point, you must make sure you do not hesitate.” Otranto took a deep and weary breath. It seemed as though simply speaking had become a considerable drain on Otranto’s stamina and willpower. But the magician had been able to manage nearly all that there was to say.

All that was left now was to do what needed to be done. At the urging of the wizards, Baryu and his companions left Otranto’s room behind.

“Well, then. Shall we?” Piper gave his body a light stretch as he stepped out with the group. Evidently, in spite of how he had presented himself, Piper had found it strenuous standing straight before Otranto.

And there was one other, a woman who had restrained herself from speech. “I’m finally free,” said Twiggy. “I really don’t do well in such formal environments.” She took an exaggerated breath and turned suddenly to Piper. “Sir? Excuse me, Sir?”

“Hey now—who are you calling ‘sir’? Do I look like an old man to you? I’m still young. I don’t want you treating me like I’m old. By my reckoning, you look to have elf blood in you. But even you have quite a few years head of you, don’t you?” Piper frowned as he asked the question.

Even if Piper were telling the truth, to the eyes of Karin, who had reached the age of twenty some years ago, he could not have been, judging by his looks, anything other than a dapper old man.

Twiggy answered his question. “Well . . . actually, I’m turning seventeen soon.”

Hearing this had left Piper speechless. From the perspective of a long-lived elf, Twiggy had may as well never been born.

At the depth of Piper’s sigh, Karin and her sister burst out laughing in good humor. Baryu and Kamaria contained their amusement, though their mouths did begin to crack.

Paying no mind to the psychic damage that Piper had incurred, Twiggy finally cut straight to the chase. “Well, you see, I had been hoping to ask if you knew a monk named Gong.”

“A monk?” Piper dug into the depths of his mind to dig up a distant memory. “I think that I may have done.”

Twiggy’s face lit up brightly at his response, her voice giddy with anticipation. “Oh! Where? Where? Come on, you have to tell me!” She seemed on the verge of grabbing hold of him.

Piper hopped swiftly back from the energetic young woman. “It’s where I’m taking us right now.”

Kurin used both hands to push back against the wizard who had leaped into her. “Where are you leading us, anyway?”

“A place that I think you’ll be very familiar with. Now let’s try to hurry, shall we?” With a wink, Piper picked back up his brisk pace.

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Chapter Two, Part 5

“No dice,” Grandmama blurted bluntly.

Kurin clasped her hands together and begged. “Oh, I don’t believe it, Professor. Please don’t be this way. I’d only be borrowing Mister Dongo for a moment.”

The old woman was known to the wizards of Manarina as the Science Matron, and she was Kurin’s mentor there. Piper’s dwarf friend, Dongo, was now in her employ. Even among the more eccentric wizards, her reputation for oddity was renowned.

As Dongo’s employer, Grandmama was adamant that she had had no intention of parting with him. No matter how favorable one’s view of the wizard, she had by any estimation taken delight in becoming a nuisance to Piper and the others.

Kurin and Piper were baffled by their elder’s nefarious assault.

The other four waited outside Grandmama’s laboratory. As the conversation leaked out through the half-open doorway, they eyed one another other anxiously.

“I get to decide what’s a no-go around here,” Grandmama said. “Don’t you see? With Mister Dongo gone, all of your Grandmama’s marvelous research will screech to a halt.”

Piper assumed his most authoritative tone. “O most venerable Grandmother. With respect, this is demanded by Otranto’s decree.”

So much for Piper’s efforts. On Grandmama, his appeal had been entirely wasted.

“You know, when Otranto was still just a youngin, I was the one who had to punish the little brat. You should’ve seen the spankings that troublemaker used to earn from me! Otranto’s a hundred years too late to be bossing this Grandmama around.” Grandmama cackled triumphantly as the sweat accumulated on Piper’s desperate face.

Karin whispered to Baryu as softly as she could. “You think Otranto really used to study here as a kid?”

Baryu scratched the tip of his nose. “So it would seem.”

Grandmama’s sharp ears bristled. Her brow furrowed. Her focus shifted to the hall outside the room. “Who said that? Is there somebody out there?” It seemed Grandmama’s hearing remained healthy despite her age.

With a twinge of remorse for their heedless banter, Baryu and the others stepped into the room.

Grandmama crowed with delectation. “That’s a Divine Dragon! Isn’t it?” Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, now this is good. This is good! Yes, if you can all just help me with my experiment, I’ll hand over the dwarf.”

Dongo erected an eyebrow in offense to her words. “Hey, hey, hey! I’m not just some kind of object, you know. I’m not something you can just hand around. First of all, if I help you with this experiment, Grandmama, are you going to be turning this dragon into something else? Or is it going to be more like turning someone else into a dragon . . . ?” Dongo looked across the room from Baryuu at the imposing apparatus installed in the corner. Standing ostentatiously was a transmogrification machine with a chamber like a huge inverted glass cup.

The other wizards called Grandmama the Science Matron because she used this device to transfigure people into a variety of other animals. Her habit had become so notorious that notices were posted in Manarina’s halls that read, “Beware the Matron of Science.”

Grandmama boomed with laughter. “Oh, no matter how many times I’ve tried, I’ve never succeeded in turning anyone into a Divine Dragon before. That’s what all my research is for! It’s rare to get my hands on a test subject as exotic as this one.”

Karin shouted, her voice amplified by rage. “Baryu is not some kind of a lab animal.”

“If you ask me, all organisms—and that includes me—are subject to experimentation.” Grandmama circled the room pointing a finger at each occupant in turn. “I’m talking about you, and you, and you, and you . . .”

Baryu gazed down at Grandmama. “This machine is reminiscent of the device we encountered the top of Prompt’s Ancient Tower.” He reflected. “Are you asking me to climb inside it?”

Kamaria began to speak.

But Grandmama spoke louder. “The machine on top of the Ancient Tower had just one purpose, and that was to breathe life into artificial organisms like the Black Dragon—that is, Dark Dragon. It was engineered to extract the life force from whatever organism it housed and distribute it to something else. The machine we have here is very different. It was excavated from under the quarry in Vostok a very long time ago. And Grandmama—that’s yours truly—fixed it up so we could make use of it.” Grandmama scolded Kurin. She remarked that, if she were a real pupil, Kurin would have taken the cue to applaud her excellence.

Poor Kurin took the chance to dole out her praise, but she had already missed the perfect opportunity to ingratiate herself.

Grandmama continued to describe her device. “This machine can take one life form and completely transmute it into another. Take, for instance, a big old earthworm. We could turn it into a sweet little chicken—or even a cow!” Grandmama made a face of rapture, intoxicated by her own pitch. She crooned, “Oh, it’s a revolution!”

Shocked by the prospect, Karin murmured, “But I don’t think I’d generally like to drink milk or eat stew made from a cow that used to be a great big earthworm . . .”

Twiggy’s lips stiffened as she nodded her agreement.

“Oh, to think!” cried Grandmama. “Here you are, completely incapable of grasping the magnificence of my research. Such stupid little girls.”

Twiggy’s cheeks puffed up in outrage at Grandmama’s insult. But then, remembering what she had come for, she swiftly set aside her anger. “Excuse me, Grandmother? Would you happen to be familiar with a gentleman named Gong?”

“Gong? Let’s see . . .” Grandmama tilted her head as she dredged her scattered memories. Suddenly, she exclaimed. “Ah! That huge master monk? He was right here helping me just a couple days ago.”

Twiggy’s face brightened. “That sounds like him. So, where is he now?”

“Well, he’s not here anymore.”

“Huh?” Twiggy, who had jumped with joy just moments before, reeled at the unceremonious twist.

“He just up and left the other day. How should I know where he went?”

Piper leaned toward Twiggy and whispered that Gong must have run away. Those who had been able to make out Piper’s words found the assessment likely.

And as one might expect, Baryu began to consider following in Gong’s footsteps. By any measure, Baryu simply did not have the time for this. “We can’t afford to take this any slower.” He placed his palms on the glass of the machine. “If we agree to go in there, then you must let us borrow Dongo.”

Karin, who had been eyeing Baryu, hurried over to stop him. “Don’t do it, Baryu. This is clearly a waste of time.”

“Now you wait just a second!” Grandmama admonished. “Who told you to climb in there? It’s your cells I’m after. It wouldn’t be very interesting if I took a Divine Dragon and turned it into a frog or snake or something, now would it?” As Grandmama rummaged through a box, she continued to scold the Divine Dragon for jumping to conclusions. Before long, she held up a strange instrument with a needle at the end of it. “Here it is! Oh, come on—it’s just going to be a little pinch.” Grandmama’s face contorted in blithe ecstasy as she waved what looked like a gigantic hypodermic needle.

Dongo took a step back from Grandmama. “Whoa! You’re not really thinking of sticking us with that needle, are you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said. “I still need to sample some more dwarf cells.”

At the urging of Baryu and Piper, who had grown altogether fed up with the ordeal, everyone gave Grandmama their skeptical assistance. Even Dongo and Cerberus succumbed in the end to Grandmama’s venomous fang. Kamaria resisted most of all. It might have been out of religious concern or an artifact of her foreign culture, but to Grandmama, it made no difference. Finally, though it had taken everybody’s hands to restrain her, the needle pierced Kamaria’s flesh.

Grandmama sorted through a box full of crystal plates that shone like rainbows. “That’s one Divine Dragon. One dwarf. One elf. One half-elf. Three humans. One Cerberus . . .” She chortled as she began to compare her samples. “Now, now. Which crystal corresponds to which . . . ?” It was as though she had already forgotten entirely the existence of Baryu and the others. At last, she looked up. “Oh, come on! You’re getting in the way of my research. Get out of here.” Grandmama’s demeanor shifted to violence as she chased them from her laboratory.

In the depths of her heart, Kamaria hoped earnestly that the old wizard who had taken their cells would never, even in an eternity, complete her research.

“Well, then,” Piper said to his old friend, the dwarf. “Do lead on.” He uttered several expressions of dismay as he worked the tension from his shoulders and his back.

“Now, you wait just a second.” Dongo grabbed the tail end of Piper’s autumn-colored robe in his fist, stopping the hasty wizard in his tracks. “Why would I want to go and do a thing like that?”

“You’re asking why? Weren’t you paying attention at all earlier? And anyway, Grandmama said it was fine.”

“Hey, Grandmama is Grandmama. I’m my own dwarf. I don’t remember asking for a parent at my age. I get to decide what I want to do for myself.”

“Very well.” Piper tried again. “Then I shall ask you. Would you be willing to cooperate with my request?”

The dwarf grew obstinate. “I refuse. I can’t take anyone who isn’t a dwarf through the underground pass. It’s a secret. And besides, whatever people want to do with that Manual is none of my business. I’m not getting so much as a penny for this. Why am I going to want to stick my neck out for it?”

“Miser,” came a whisper.

“What was that?” Dongo spun around to find Twiggy, cheeks puffed up in anger.

“I said you’re a miser. Because you’re a miser!” Twiggy returned to her priestly roots as she preached to the stubborn dwarf. “The proper road that one must take when others are in need is the extension of one’s helping hand.”

“The proper road is the one I take at my own convenience.”

Twiggy’s cheeks swelled. “Miser.” It had been wholly unreasonable for such a young woman to attempt preaching to anyone so many times her age. And to make matters worse, Twiggy was not the sort to remain respectful when so pressed.

“Hey, hey! That’s no way for a young lady to speak. And aren’t you supposed to be a priest?”

“Well, dwarfs may think it’s just fine to say anything they want. But I don’t think that God is so forgiving.”

“Oh, come on. That’s too far!”

“You’re the one who’s taking this too far.” Tears of anger welled in Twiggy’s eyes.

When Karin rushed to calm her, the young woman clung tightly to her and pressed her face against her chest.

Dongo stared in minor horror at the sight. He had never meant to make her cry. He hung his head in shame. When finally Dongo had looked back up, a white Divine Dragon met his eyes.

“Sir Dongo, the dwarf.” Baryu’s serpentlike neck made a great bend as he lowered his long snout nearly to the ground. He bowed low before the dwarf, who was himself of no great stature. “I shall ask you this once more. I pray that you lend to us your strength.”

“That’s enough, Baryu,” Karin said, “You’ve done everything you could.” She had hoped to convince the Divine Dragon to stand. There was no reason a Divine Dragon with the pride of a former hero should prostrate himself before a simple dwarf.

But Baryu would not raise his head.

Karin walked to Baryu’s side. “If a Divine Dragon should be made to bow, then let me join him.” Not to be defeated by the dwarf, Karin pled with Dongo as she lowered herself in a deep bow before him.

Kurin could not bear to see this of her older sister. She stood by Karin and bowed her head.

Though somewhat late, Kamaria, too, joined Baryu and the others. “Sir Dwarf, please. I ask that you do this for me.” Rather than lower herself, pleading like the rest, Kamaria dipped her back gracefully in a shallow bend.

This time, Piper spoke. “Now, what shall you do, my dear friend? I will ask you once again.” Piper lowered his head. “So that we might retrieve the stolen Manual, I ask of you the support of the dwarfs . . .”

Twiggy stood next to Karin on the verge of tears. She quickly lowered her head.

“All right, all right! I get it. Raise your heads already, won’t you? If everyone wants it so bad, then just let me do the right thing. I’ll be your guide.”

Dongo had finally given in.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Two, Part 6

Baryu and Karin stood now beside the moonlit figure of a sand loader—a self-propelled artillery vehicle built for desert use. Their quarrel had reached an impasse. Kurin and Twiggy were gathered close by Karin’s side.

Baryu was the first to speak. “What is the meaning of this? Do you girls still seek to go with me?”

Karin replied, “It would be awfully selfish for you to leave us behind at this point. I won’t let you do that, Baryu.” Before she had known it, Karin had gained a second girl who was like a younger sister to her. And with it had come a greater boldness.

“That’s not at all how I see it.” Baryu had, as a matter of course, planned to leave Karin, her sister, and Twiggy behind in Manarina. But perhaps this had been naive of him to imagine. If he had thought on it for even a moment, he should have found it easy to predict that the sisters would never have allowed themselves to be discarded like an unwanted burden.

Twiggy, on the other hand, felt as though she had no choice but to go with him. From her perspective, learning that Gong had already left Manarina meant that she no longer had any reason to stay there.

Baryu redirected his attention. “Most of all, Twiggy—why must you insist on becoming involved?”

“’Cause I’m out of leads on my quest for the paragon. I could search all I wanted and still not find him. So I’ve decided to be patient. If I stick with you, Master Baryu, there’s a chance I’ll run into the paragon since he was a member of the Shining Force.”

Astonished, Baryu began to raise his voice. “Do you really find the matter to be so simple?”

“And anyway, sticking with my big sister Karin will give me the chance to work on my fitness while I wait to meet the paragon.” Twiggy flexed an arm to accentuate her point. “It’ll set me up with the foundation I need to become a monk.”

Baryu gasped in frustration. “What are you talking about? For goodness’ sake, what are you thinking?”

Karin whispered to Kurin under her breath, aghast at the notion of being regarded as some type of musclebound monster woman. “I can’t imagine she’s thinking much at all . . .”

Twiggy, recognizing her provocation, groaned in embarrassment. She leaped to issue a correction. “Don’t get me wrong! It’s just like, since my big sister Karin is stronger than the great Divine Dragon Baryu.” But her correction fell flat.

Karin shrugged. “I suppose you could say I have what they call a competitive spirit.”

Baryu nodded in agreement, though his arms remained crossed.

“All right, then,” said Karin, hoping to return to more pressing matters. “Please just let us go with you, Baryu!”

As time continued to slip uselessly by, everybody had become increasingly agitated.

And finally, the final thread of Dongo’s patience had been cut. “So what are we doing? I can’t take much more of this. I don’t try to make a habit out of standing around like this in the middle of the night. Why don’t we just the three of us go and leave these clowns?”

The four belligerents were momentarily unified in their conviction that this would not do.

“Then hurry up and figure it out,” said Dongo. “Hey, Piper, how about leaving it up to you who gets to go? You got me into this mess. You figure it out!”

Piper was mortified by Dongo’s sudden nomination. In that moment, he felt the crushing weight of everyone’s eyes fixed upon him at once. “Do you really expect . . .” Piper could hardly speak but in one flustered burst. “You’re going to make me settle this?”

“That’s what I said!” Dongo declared.

Piper’s bewilderment deepened. “Well, at any rate, it won’t do us any good to waste our time talking here . . .” He looked in the direction of the sand loaders. “Why don’t we get in the cargo carriers first? We can talk it over while moving.”

Baryu rushed to confront Piper. “This is nothing to take in such stride!”

But he had been too late. The girls had already taken their chance to climb shrewdly aboard the two cargo carriers that were hitched to the backs of the sand loaders.

In that moment, Baryu resented Piper from the bottom of his heart. For he knew that once they had left Manarina, it would become impossible to tell anyone to return.

Dongo leaned from the back of a carrier. “Come on! Let’s get moving already!”

The sand loader linked to Dongo’s carrier roared to life. Though it gave him no pleasure, Baryu climbed aboard the remaining transport.

And so, the sand loaders set off into the moonlight. The veteran soldiers who drove them steered the group toward their goal—the mountains to the north.

Kurin gave Twiggy a nudge. “I bet you could get used to this, huh?”

Twiggy nodded her approval.

Baryu and Karin rode together in the carrier that trailed the caravan. They had continued to argue from the moment the sand loaders had embarked. Piper and Dongo, having swiftly boarded the first vehicle after Kurin and Twiggy, were spared the commotion. But Kamaria and the soldier who drove the second sand loader were subjected to the brunt of it. Twiggy offered a silent prayer that they might finally find their peace.

Despite the other women’s concerns, Kamaria seemed to find enjoyment in the state of things. She rested an arm on the cargo carrier’s edge and leaned an ear toward Baryu and Karin, taking in their whole debate.

In the end, the two were only worried for each other. Their only point of contention was in whether it was safer for them to be together or apart.

If one considered only their raw strength in combat, Baryu had been correct. But how would that hold if tested? As far as Kamaria had been concerned, were she to fight to her fullest, she was confident that defeating Baryu might not be so insurmountable a task. For whatever that was worth . . . Despite herself, Kamaria felt a glimmer of astonishment at the keenness with which she had begun to weigh each of their strengths, which so loudly they extolled.

Kamaria regarded herself in private contempt. It had been her plan to observe Baryu alone, but she now caught herself for the first time perceiving the two as a pair. She had begun to feel as though merely keeping watch over Baryu and Karin and those around them had begun to compel some subtle change in her. Despite the confusion that came with it, Kamaria felt no qualms about staying the course of her journey, transformed though its meaning may have been.

When Karin’s voice had reached the point of growing hoarse, Kamaria at last swooped in to forestall any further exchange. “Sir Baryu, it is time to admit defeat. Madam Karin, why not enjoy a small repose?”

While in Manarina, Kamaria had thought to buy some fruit. A staple of arid regions, they were known as aquince. Their hard shells housed flesh filled with moisture enough to sate one’s thirst. Kamaria tossed one fruit between Karin and Baryu.

Karin accepted the gift meekly. But unable to crack the fruit’s thick shell, Karin could not reach the pulp inside. Baryu could not stand to watch, and so he offered to split the shell in two. But Baryu’s large claws had not the precision to hollow out its rind. He handed it to Karin, who pulled out its flesh, plucked the seeds from its pulp, and gave half of it to Baryu.

But the sweet flesh of the fruit tasted somehow bitter on Baryu’s tongue. He peered over Karin’s head in the direction of Kamaria, and as he beheld her prying eyes, he met her with a furrowed brow.

The shade of the Divine Dragon’s blue eyes darkened as they were imbued by the stillness of the night. “Goodness me,” he exclaimed. “Next time, I shall depend on you to back me up.”

And with that, Baryu came to rest in the cargo carrier with a slam. The impact of his weight set the carrier and the sand loader aloft in a small hop. The soldier who drove the vehicle cried out in admonishment and requested that Baryu move with more grace. As Baryu’s frown deepened, the girls looked at one another and giggled.

Kamaria leaned closer to Karin. She whispered, “Madam Karin, is Baryu always this way?”

“What do you mean?” Karin asked back.

“It’s nothing. I just wondered if he was always so gentle.”

Baryu had overheard them. “I am not always so gentle as this.”

Karin let slip a quiet laugh. “Well, there you have it from Baryu himself.”

“No,” Kamaria began. “I would observe that the dragonkind I know is fiercer still than he. Since antiquity, dragonkind has been considered the pinnacle of the guardian beasts. And yet, Sir Baryu—how should I put this?” She stopped to consider her words. “He has a kind of uncommonly human quality about him . . .”

“By any reckoning, I am an odd one.” Baryu had become increasingly displeased.

Karin spoke up. “It’s certainly possible that Baryu is different. Maybe it’s because he was raised all along by us humans. But Baryu’s the only Divine Dragon I know. Anything I have to say about Divine Dragons is based on my experience with Baryu. So that’s really all I can say.”

Kamaria seemed loath to agree, though she permitted the conversation to end at that. She would not raise the issue again.

Through the darkness of the night, the sand loaders kept on running.

As they pressed on, they began to pass trees with growing frequency. And before long, the thickness of the woods had rendered the sand loaders unable to proceed.

Dongo climbed down from his carrier and looked between the members of the group. “From here on out, there’s no going back.” The look he showed Twiggy and Kurin was grimmest of all.

“It is as he has said,” said Baryu. “There may be combat ahead of us. I must say this to you in particular, Twiggy. It would be better for you to return while you still can.”

Twiggy’s expression became outwardly dauntless in the face of Baryu’s words. “Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I’m not as soft as you all seem to think. You might not believe this, but I fought off a thief once—together with my travel companions. Monks are always searching for their next ordeal. And that’s especially true for those in training like me. We have to be willing to jump headfirst into danger. And more importantly, I am forbidden to run while others are in danger. Telling me to turn back like that is as bad as telling me to give up being a monk. It’s a serious insult. Kamaria would understand.”

When Twiggy looked her way, Kamaria offered a faint nod.

Piper spoke. “And yet it is knowing the extent and the limit of one’s abilities that is the emblem of true wit.”

Twiggy’s thick eyebrows flared. “As long as I hold the belief in others firmly in my heart, then no matter what happens, I’ll come out just fine. And even if I do die, as an act of faith, my death will be held up as a holy sacrifice.”

Dongo gestured for the drivers to return to Manarina. He stepped to the front of the group as he spoke. “I’m not really interested in religious dogma, but I do have strong feelings about wasting time. I also know that it’s pointless to try to argue with someone who’s already made up their mind. Now, come on. We’ll have to walk from here.”

Baryu and the others soon found that it was arduous to follow a dwarf so intimately familiar with the road that he need not even watch his feet. Baryu in particular, with his ungainly frame, was made to remain ever cognizant of the injury threatened by overhanging branches to his wings. Karin, finding this difficult to watch, wrapped Baryu’s wings in her coat to protect them.

After they had gone some distance, the forest’s terrain began to rise and fall in slopes. Dongo chose the lowest route, weaving through the hills before coming to a stop.

Before their eyes was a mound of earth embedded within a mass of spidery roots.

Dongo swept aside a clump of tree roots that fell like curtains obscuring a door. “This is the way in. Follow me.”

They had passed into something like a cave.

Kurin raised a lantern. The light that it cast brought resolution to a short passage with a stair at the end that led down to the dark. “How ingenious,” she said. “Even though Piper told us this was here, I’d never have recognized this as an entrance.” The tunnel’s depth had conquered her lantern’s narrow beam. Kurin became resentful of the very notion of the stair. Come to face with the inscrutable unknown, her anger simmered to a boil.

“This is my first time bringing Piper here,” said Dongo. The dwarf did not look to see Piper nod as he descended briskly down the stairway.

After the climb down, the path ahead opened into a flat hall. Though the many years since its construction had yielded a dirt floor covered in moss, the tunnel was clearly artificial.

Karin’s eyes strained against the dark. “You might call this a shortcut, but I really don’t like the idea of being in such a dark place for so long.” With Twiggy clinging to her back, Karin thought again of her newfound little sister. It was growing into an attachment that was all too familiar.

“Don’t worry.” Dongo pointed to a door that had come abruptly into view as they neared it. “You’ll be happy to know there’s a vehicle in there.” As he pressed both his hands against the door, it gave way to another room. He tilted his head to signal the rest of the group to follow.

As they stepped through the doorway, they winced at the brightness of the room’s glaring light. They bemoaned the affront to eyes heretofore so accustomed to the dark.

When finally their eyes had regained the capacity for sight, all of them but Dongo cried out in amazement at what they embraced.

Here was a room the width of a spacious royal hall. Radiating from its center was a series of black strips, each tracing a path across the floor through separate arched tunnels that led into the depths.

Kurin wiped the fog from her clouded glasses. “What the hell is this place?”

Dongo’s reply was curt. “All we know is that this is a place the barge stops.”

Baryu’s face gave way to a nostalgic mix of astonishment and dread as he walked the edge of one of the room’s sweeping walls. “Then the Ancient Castle was not the only thing of its kind.”

Here and there along the walls were mounted pure black paintings held within frames. The Divine Dragon blew the dust off an area where one was attached and, pressing his hands against the wall, brought his face closer for a look. As he did so, what he had imagined to be a glossy black painting began to shine with a powerful glow. Baryu withdrew his body in sudden surprise.

“Hey!” Dongo raced to his side. “What are you fouling up over here?”

A mysterious pattern appeared on the surface of the painting that radiated light. And at the same time, the high and airy voice of a woman echoed through the hall. The words, with their strange intonation, were ones that Baryu and his companions had never heard before.

Kurin leaned in to inspect the wall, her eyes wide as saucers. “It’s a repeating pattern. These are letters.”

Piper spoke. “Vexingly, I am unable to read them.”

Kurin nodded in sympathy.

Eventually, the letters came to an end, and a map took their place on the surface.

“This looks like a map showing where we are,” said Kamaria. “This appears to be a notice board.”

Dongo gave her a puzzled look. “I don’t get this at all.”

Kamaria continued. “There was something similar to this in the land of the Divine Dragons in Parmecia.”

“What?” said Dongo. “You’re telling me there’s something like this back wherever you’re from? But no matter how much my ancestors tried to figure this place out, we never saw anything like this until now.”

“I wonder if it’s because Sir Baryu has been recognized as an administrator. Do you think this place might have once fallen under the administration of the Divine Dragons long ago? If so, the equipment here would not hesitate to operate at a Divine Dragon’s command.”

Dongo pressed Kamaria. Within his eyes was a light of not quite either curiosity nor aspiration. “So you’re saying that this Divine Dragon might be free to go wherever he wants down here? That’d mean he might even be able to open the tunnels that have been closed till now.”

Baryu, taken aback as he was, made it a point to reject their suppositions. “I have given no such commands. I merely touched it, and it began to function on its own. And if I have done anything to cause its operation, I certainly don’t know what it was.”

Karin stepped toward Dongo to speak in Baryu’s defense. “I’m confident that Baryu’s parents wouldn’t have had the time to teach him about any of this.”

“All right, then,” said Dongo. “Then maybe the Divine Dragons living in this Parmecia place know how to use the stuff here.”

Kamaria nodded. “Yeah, that may well be true.”

“Then I’m going to go to Parmecia, too,” Dongo replied. “I’ll go there and I’ll ask them to teach me about all this place’s secrets. And if I can get them to do that, then maybe we’ll be able to use the tunnels that are sealed off down here. It could mean reaching new veins of ore. We may have hit the motherlode with this one. Anyway, let’s hurry up and get on one of these barges, why don’t we? As far as I know, if we get in one, it’ll take us to the other side of the mountain by the time we wake up in the morning.” Dongo ushered everybody into one of the vehicles on the line.

What Dongo had called an barge was shaped like a large upside-down boat. It had no wheels. Karin doubted secretly whether such a thing could really move.

The party opened a door at the back of the barge and began to board. Its interior was devoid of anything at all. In fact, it resembled a vessel’s cargo hold.

When Dongo activated the control panel on the wall in front of him, the barge that they stood in began to float gently into the air. And then it began quickly to glide, as though swept by some current, along the black strip on the floor.

“This is so awesome!” Twiggy stared out at the series of lights that flashed by in a stream as they soared through the tunnel. “It’s making me dizzy.” She turned to Dongo. “Did your ancestors really build all this?”

“No, we didn’t make any of this stuff,” Dongo replied. “Our ancestors just found it down here. It’s the Legacy of the Ancient Gods. Even I haven’t been to every part of this place. Some of the caves that I’ve explored just lead to exits on the other side of the mountain, but some’ll take you to quarries filled with precious metals and crystals.”

“Crystals?” Karin asked.

Dongo held up a thin, gleaming crystal to illustrate.

Kurin made a face of recognition. “Grandmama uses keys like that to operate her device,” she explained. “The transmutation machine takes one of those crystals to run. There seem to be a number of different types of crystal, and they all do something different. But few are perfectly formed, and many of them are damaged, so they mostly end up as little more than pretty rocks.”

“Oh, it doesn’t make that big of a difference,” said Dongo. “Grandmama still pays good money for a little stone like that. You’ll make a lot more money selling them to her than you will whittling them away into some kind of arts and crafts.” Dongo roared with laughter and put the crystal back in his pocket. “Seriously though, if you can find a good vein full of gold, silver, or gemstones, you can make a living without resorting to digging up any of that weird stuff. And if you happen to find mithril, you can wind up filthy rich just like that. It’d be enough to bring back all the folks who gave up on these ruins after they lost interest in its trinkets. Can you imagine building a dwarf town down here? It’d be a dream come true. I’m telling you, I’ve really got the urge to cross that ocean all of a sudden.”

Karin and Baryu exchanged looks as they listened to Dongo speak.

“Hey, now,” Piper called out to his old friend in his most reproachful voice. “Aren’t you getting a little selfish there?”

“At any rate,” said Baryu, “the Divine Dragons of Parmecia are in the midst of a battle against monsters.” He hoped that Dongo would reconsider the journey to Parmecia. Twiggy alone was burden enough. Why had everyone had to act as though they meant to follow him there?

“That’s funny. I’m not trying to hold you back. And I’m not thinking I’ll get the secrets to this place for free—I’m not that stupid. Tell you what, we dwarfs are the best warriors there are. What do you think about that, Sir Divine Dragon? What do you say you hire me as a guard?”

Baryu and the others blinked in surprise at Dongo’s proposal. It was incredibly presumptuous for Dongo to cast himself as a Divine Dragon’s guard.

“I don’t think Sir Baryu will find that necessary,” came Piper’s reprimand. “A glance is all it takes to tell which of you is stronger.”

“In fact,” said Baryu, “I shall.”

As the Divine Dragon spoke, everyone but Dongo turned to look in surprise. It seemed the Divine Dragon had had a sudden change of heart.

Baryu knew that he could not always be at Karin’s side. He still had no intention of allowing her to follow him all the way to Parmecia, but it was hard to know if letting her go even as far as Yurt would be safe. If worse came to worst, the women might need more than just Piper with them to survive.

Dongo gave Piper his heartiest slap on the back. “Sounds like I’d better go.”

The wizard couldn’t help but cough.

“All right, then,” said Dongo. “This barge will take us to where we want to go whether or not we watch it the whole time. So we should all get some rest while we can. This girl over here has the right idea.” Dongo pointed with his chin to Twiggy.

She was already huddled up on the floor wrapped in the warmth of her mantle. It was evident that she truly had been made somehow nauseous not long after departing on this unfamiliar vehicle.

Dongo laughed at the thought that the restfulness of their night would be served by her momentary placidity. He rolled onto the floor with a thud.

Without a single vibration from its track, the barge pierced quietly through the tunnel as streaks of light passed it by on either side. Apart from Twiggy, who was given sickness by the speed, each passenger chose the spot they preferred and whiled their time as they awaited their destination.

Karin sat with Baryu and Kamaria, far from Piper and Kurin, who had discovered endless fascination in monitoring the barge’s control panel.

Baryu spoke to the foreign woman. “Do all the Divine Dragons of Parmecia live in a place such as this?”

“Is that weighing on your mind?” Kamaria asked in order to gauge the Divine Dragon’s reaction.

“I would be lying to suggest that it weren’t. Don’t you find it strange? That the Gods were able to construct such monuments as this. The lineage of the Divine Dragons is believed to have been chosen by them. So why must we walk the road to destruction? The Divine Dragons of the Runic continents and the Divine Dragons of Parmecia both . . .”

“But you are here, Baryu,” said Karin. “Aren’t you? And the Divine Dragons in Parmecia have not succumbed yet. The ones who vanished first were the Gods.”

“That’s right,” said Baryu dejectly. “Even the Gods have perished. So it’s no mystery that the Divine Dragons should follow.”

Karin had meant to give consolation to Baryu, but she realized that she had done quite the opposite.

“The question is, why?” the Divine Dragon added.

Kamaria chose her words with care. “It is probably because the Manual has been kept out of reach. There is an unseverable fate that binds the Divine Dragons to the Manual.”

“Fate? I don’t think it’s fate,” Karin countered.

“And yet it is true. The Parmecian Divine Dragons received the flame of life from the power of the earth.”

The words were unfamiliar to Baryu. “The flame of life?” he asked.

Kamaria nodded. “They were given the power to live by the secret methods in the Manual. It was decided by the Gods in ancient times. As told by the Gods, as long is the dragons’ bodies should continue to bask in the power of the earth, they are to remain immortal. And that is exactly why they—no, you—are known as the Divine Dragons.” Kamaria looked pensively at Baryu. “Did you not know this?”

Baryu asked himself why he should have been so ignorant of such things. What kind of person exactly was he? And just what manner of being were the Divine Dragons? The answers to these questions were not yet clear. For Baryu, discovering these answers was his trial to overcome.

But upon closer examination, the more he inspected the differences that separated the Divine Dragons and humans, the more the differences between Karin and himself became clear. The more he learned of their physical differences, especially, the more difficult it became for him to resolve.

Karin attempted to speak to the contemplative Baryu. She, being from Rudol Village, as deeply connected to the Divine Dragons as it was, had little distance between her knowledge and his. But she did not acknowledge the differences that lay between Baryu and herself, and felt instead something other than sadness as she saw what common ground they shared.

Kamaria continued, “After we reclaim the Manual from the monsters, perhaps if we meet the Divine Dragons of Parmecia, the mystery will be solved. I’m sure there must be other knowledge there on the mountain of the Parmecian Divine Dragons that you were never given occasion to know.” Kamaria’s green eyes captivated Baryu as she thought. “What I really want to know, Baryu, is why you and no one else are the last Divine Dragon in Rune . . .”

The Divine Dragon began to slightly choke up. He felt as though the soul within his body were melting away.

It would be Karin who broke the binding spell. “You should try to get some rest already.” Her intervention hoped to make Baryu lie down and sleep.

“Yes, that’s right, Madam Karin,” said Kamaria. “We should get some rest ourselves.” With a smile on her face, Kamaria untied her sash and lifted off her surcoat. She peeled off her long gloves and her boots in an effort to bare as much skin as she could. When in a safe place, she preferred to sleep this way as it helped her to fully relax. As she lay atop her cloak on the floor with her long legs outstretched, Kamaria wrapped herself in its fabric.

“We shan’t have long before tomorrow’s march,” said Baryu. “Let us try and sleep as we can.”

He lay with his chin resting upon the floor. Karin nuzzled close as she joined his side. Baryu wound his long tail around his body to act as a pillow for her head. And then, to make for her bedding, he unfolded his wings and drew them across her like it were a natural habit.

Kamaria turned to face the two who lay nestled and laid her head on folded hands. In the time before she fell asleep, she continued to stare at the two with deep interest.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Two, Part 7

By morning, the company had passed safely through the mountains. After stepping back onto the surface, they were quick to continue their journey onward to the Yurt Plains.

By Kurin and Piper’s estimation, they were likely a day’s travel ahead of the monsters. If they employed mercenaries in Yurt and returned quickly to the mountains, they could lay a trap in the pass that opened into the Yurt Plains. If they could cut off the enemy on that narrow mountain road, the monsters would have nowhere to retreat.

Once they had reached the forest, Karin took from Dongo the role of leader. While Piper stood by to give directions, Karin judged the lay of the wilderness ahead to plan out the ideal course. Baryu was amazed by her powers of observation as she combed through every detail of the landscape.

Within the forest’s denser thickets, Baryu proved their greatest encumbrance. He did not have the power to cure the exhaustion of others, as did Kamaria and Twiggy. And before he knew it, his frustration had almost gotten the better of him. He was sure that if he could just reach some clearing or the open road ahead, he could finally spread his wings. But until that time, Baryu would strive for self-control.

And soon enough, as the sun began to set, they broke free from the forest and into reach of the highway that connected the Yurt Plains to Vostok.

It was then that something happened that they did not expect.

They had stumbled directly into the path of the procession of monsters who had stolen the Manual. It was at this moment that their prospects took a veritable dive.

Kurin stared down the congregation of some twenty monsters that had materialized before them. She began to complain, taken aback. “Running into them like this was definitely not part of the plan. How are they already here . . . ?”

The monsters were equally as surprised as was Baryu and his companions. The collection of harpies and armed lizardmen were fixated on Baryu. Though their eyes grew wide, their vacant gaze beheld no splendor. “This is ridiculous!” said one. “What is a Divine Dragon doing here?” As their eyes shifted to Kamaria, not far from where the Divine Dragon stood, the monsters seemed suddenly to understand.

One of the lizardmen spoke. Horns sprung from his forehead like the antennae of a moth. “Still alive, are you? I see now. So you’re the sorry git who led them here! It is ever the same with you . . .” The monster’s lips curled as he bared his fangs. “Fine. If you must insist on getting in Zidur’s way, then we’ll just have to take care of you like we did those wizards we were after.” The monster threw back his horns in a frightening display. He rustled the deep crimson mane that flowed from his nape down his back.

The other lizardmen answered in turn with the raising of their slimy triangular heads and the spitting of forked tongues from their mouths. The harpies called out with earsplitting shrieks.

Zidur held high an ornate box made of ebony. The container was covered with intricate inlays of a foreign motif. “If you want it, then by your strength may you take it.”

“Sir Baryu!” Piper cried. “There is no mistaking it—the Manual is in that box!” His voice became the catalyst.

Baryu began to shout. “Dongo, Piper, Karin—all of you! Please!” He lunged for Zidur as though drawn in by the Manual.

As Cerberus bounded after him, Kamaria readied her pursuit.

“Wait!” Dongo jumped in to stop her. “Don’t go running in there like that! It’s going to hurt our chances if we split up.”

Karin cupped her hands to her mouth. “Baryu, come back! Baryu!”

But her voice did not reach him. Baryu swooped at the harpies as they took to the sky.

All of his simmering pressures were released in one instant. As he fought, Baryu’s pride swelled in once again taking the lead into battle. He was confident that, with the opposition of so few, he could make straight for their commander, and with the defeat of their leader rout those who remained. Shortening the battle was all that could reduce the danger that fighting posed to Karin and the rest. And what was more, Baryu knew that if he could prove himself self-sufficient in combat, he could show Karin and the others the truth of his power. And with that, they might remain timidly and agreeably behind.

However, Baryu’s reckless charge would turn out far different than he had predicted.

With the force of superior speed and numbers, the harpies cornered Baryu in an unrelenting onslaught. He had meant to close in on Zidur in a single rush, but it had come at the cost of being isolated from his companions.

On the other side of the skirmish, Dongo and Kamaria acted as shields for their allies, engaging the lizardmen who now approached.

Kurin sought to render aid from afar. “Baryu, I’m going to light them up! Get back!”

But Karin interrupted her before she could incant the blaze. If Kurin were to use sweeping fire magic, a widespread area would go up in flames, and Baryu might be pushed even farther away.

“Not now, Kurin!” she ordered. With one perfect arrow, Karin toppled a harpy that had broken off from its grapple with Baryu. “Target them one at a time!” Karin’s expression was bitter, soured by Baryu’s rash offensive.

Zidur withdrew a tiny jewel of deep crimson and clenched it tightly in his left hand. “I do not forgive those who stand in my way. You shall become companion to the resentment of this land’s sleeping dead.” Harsh rays of light sprang from the gaps in his fingers as though squeezed from the heart of the gemstone.

Kamaria turned to her companions and shouted. “Watch that light!”

Zidur slammed his fist to the earth. In the blink of an eye, thin crimson lightning splintered out through the ground.

“What exactly did he do?” Twiggy wondered.

The ground before her eyes began suddenly to bulge. Something had begun to burst loose.

Twiggy squeaked out a stifled squeal as she came face-to-face with the skeleton that had sprouted free from the surface.

Kamaria’s voice split the silence behind her. “Duck!”

Twiggy cradled her head as she dropped to her feet. The jagged end of a flail screamed overhead, and with a clap, the skeleton’s skull took off flying like a ball in play. With the flail’s recursive stroke, Kamaria smashed its torso to pieces.

Twiggy was afforded a brief moment to sigh in relief before, one after the next, more skeletons leaped from the ground. Each skeletal warrior bore a different weapon. They might have been the remnants of past monsters who fell here or travelers who, long since slain, had been transformed.

Dongo flexed his grip on his battle axe. “Are we surrounded already?”

The ranks of the skeletons and lizardmen had grown to a crowd. If they swept in at once, everybody including Dongo would be rendered utterly helpless to repel them.

Twiggy shouted for everyone to group more closely together. “O Honored One whose love touches all, I pray that you answer my call. May you focus the righteous light within our hearts. May it spill forth in a holy shield of radiant light!”

Upon her incantation of support, a faint protective halo struck out from her body and encircled her company. The monsters not of flesh and blood were blown back by the light and shrunk away.

Dongo and Kamaria did not miss their chance to strike. Standing between them, Piper froze one reeling attacker into a solid shield of ice. Kurin backed the two up with a magical blaze. Though they were better defended now, their outlook remained bleak.

A skeleton swung its flail down on Kamaria, entangling both their chains. The momentum tore the hafts from both their hands. In the very next moment, the skeleton drew a dagger out from behind its shield and closed on the disarmed Kamaria. A large knife whizzed through the air toward the monster, but out of reflex, the skeleton batted it away with its shield. Kamaria dove at the spot that it landed. She grasped the knife and cut through the skeleton’s legs. The monster, built only from bone, lost its balance and clattered to the ground. Kamaria threw the full weight of her body atop its shield and crushed the skeleton to shards.

“Thank you, Sir Dongo.” Kamaria lifted her flail from the ground and stood back-to-back with him. She reached a hand back to return the knife to the dwarf who had saved her from her plight.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dongo said. He swung his axe at another monster. “Keep it, all right? If you don’t hang on to a spare weapon, you never know when something like this might happen again.”

All the while, Baryu was locked in a bind of his own. Twice as many foes as before now surrounded him.

The Divine Dragon’s hide was tough, and his attacks were vicious, but by no means was he invincible. While his hardened scales were not easily pierced by any blade, with sufficient attempts, his skin would crack and bleed. The toll of having slaughtered more harpies than he could handle had come at the expense of his wings. Though his injuries were not severe, they made any more airborne attacks on the harpies impossible. Baryu fell to the earth as the monsters bore down with concerted blows.

Despite the small injuries that patterned his body, Baryu had piled his enemies’ corpses high. But as one should expect, Baryu had looked exhausted. A lizardman readied his shield and heaved himself forth in a tackle. Baryu collapsed with a violent cough, braced by a hand holding back the earth, as he was battered hard in the chest.

As if things were not bad enough, the lizardman brandished a large axe. In Baryu’s current state, he could neither dodge nor produce any thunder.

The monsters began exchanging shouts.

Baryu had just come to terms with the likelihood of a fatal injury when a silver-gray figure crossed the corner of his sight. A spray of flesh blue blood blasted out. The flank of the lizardman was deeply gouged, and as it turned to look around, a sharpened claw tore through its chest like a paper doll.

Illustration by SUEZEN.

Baryu raised his voice in welcome surprise. “Zappa!”

A werewolf stood behind the crumpled lizardman. “It’s been a long time, Baryu.” Zappa’s eyes, which concealed the brilliance of a beast, narrowed in nostalgia.

In the stillness of the moment, a harpy came plunging from the sky.

Baryu yelled in panic. “From above!”

But faster than Baryu could shout, Zappa had bounded in a giant leap. His somersault carved through the harpy like a spinning cogwheel. As he touched the ground, the harpy crashed at his feet. Blood gushed from its severed neck. painting its fallen corpse red.

Zappa spoke. “Before you worry about other people, first try worrying about yourself. God, such pitiful technique! Has it been long enough that you’ve forgotten your senses? I’ll teach you the proper way to fight as a group. Watch closely. Take this lesson to heart.” Zappa unleashed a booming howl.

The harpies and lizardmen recoiled in fear at the echoing song of the beast at hunt. Next came the thudding of a downpour of rain—a rain of merciless arrows . . .

By the time the volley had finished piercing its targets, Zappa had already vanished. He moved at such speed that Baryu for a moment lost sight of him as he rushed between their disordered enemies. Zappa ripped through every monster that he passed. One by one, they hit the ground.

After he broke through the enemies that circled them, Zappa came quickly to the side of Karin and the rest of their group.

Kurin held out an arm to calm Kamaria and the other new faces. “That’s Zappa. He’s the king of Vostok.”

Zappa had a way of speaking that made cooperation feel natural. It was not domineering. His words came as unwavering confidence given form. “We shall rejoin Baryu,” he said. “Follow closely, and do not fall behind.” His command needed no reply. The king of Vostok turned his back and bellowed a signal. “Diane!”

Heeding his call, a company of archers led by an elfin woman stepped out from the shadows of the forest. Their bowstrings rang as they all loosed their arrows in unison.

Diane’s company concentrated their attacks on one grouping of skeletons. Ropes fastened to their arrows anchored the monsters to the earth in spectacular fashion. Each skeleton was wrenched tumbling to the ground as the arrows struck. The archers seemed to Kurin so well prepared that they must have completely known their enemy. She was left with a mixture of awe and reservation.

“Let us move!” Zappa broke into a sprint. He cut a path straight for Baryu, who had regained his posture but still struggled on his own.

Karin and the others ran after Zappa as swiftly as they could.

After Zappa and Dongo had routed the enemies that threatened Baryu, Karin turned her attention to him. “Twiggy, Kamaria—quickly—heal Baryu before anything else.”

With the company of Vostok archers providing them cover, Kamaria healed all the injured with advanced recovery spells.

Baryu spoke, eager to share his gratitude. “Thank you, Kamaria, and you too, Karin . . .”

“It is not yet time to be at ease,” said Zappa. He addressed Baryu and the others with encouragement. “The way things are going now, we shall take the manual Manual presently.”

With the wolf king at their forefront, Baryu and rest of them left their confused enemies scattered. The small pockets of enemies they picked apart had no time to collect themselves. They were soon brought down by Diane and her company’s bows.

“Now!” Piper shouted. “Sir Baryu, seize the Manual!”

Baryu stretched out his freshly healed wings. In an instant, he climbed above the skeletons. Beating wings like a white mantle, Baryu flattened the monsters with pounding bursts of wind.

Zidur raised the ruby in his hand. His body became shrouded in the red of its light.

“Does he mean to teleport?” Baryu’s claws lashed at Zidur as he leaped away.

His claws sank into flesh. The monster’s arm danced through the air. Carried by the weight of the ebony box, the severed arm trailed in an arc.

Baryu’s focus turned toward the Manual in the span of a blink. Zidur used the opening to invoke a magical blaze. An explosive burst flared in Baryu’s face. He withdrew behind crossed arms to shield himself from the flames.

“Baryu!” Karin cried out as she witnessed the blaze. She and Kamaria left what monsters remained to Zappa and ran to the Divine Dragon’s side.

The Divine Dragon gazed in regret at the spot where Zidur had once stood. The lizardman had teleported away. Swaying heat that rose from lingering flames told the story of a monster who had only just been present.

As Kamaria watched Baryu pick up the ebony box that contained the Manual, she noticed the blood flowing from his upper arm.

“Are you hurt?” Kamaria asked as she approached.

“It’s nothing bad. Not more than a scratch.”

“You should never neglect even the smallest of scrapes.” Kamaria gently kissed the wound.

“That won’t be necessary.” Baryu pulled his arm back from her uncomfortable stare.

“Please,” Kamaria insisted. “Hold still.”

Kamaria’s warm lips hovered over Baryu’s skin. Her hot tongue traced the opening of his wound as she licked his flowing blood. Kamaria’s throat sounded as she drank. Her lips trembled as they moved to the words of an indecipherable chant that sprang over his wound with her breath.

By the time that Kamaria was finished, there was no more trace of Baryu’s wound.

“Baryu,” said Karin. “The king of Vostok is calling for you.” After she spoke, Karin turned her back and ran away.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Two, Part 8

Twigs snapped in the heat of the campfire.

The sun had slipped beneath the sky, and the falling dark of night now embraced them.

The Divine Dragon and his companions were made safe from the shroud of darkness by the soldiers of Vostok.

Baryu lifted the lid of the ebony box. “Is this the Manual . . . ?” Within the protection of its felt lining lay a stack of translucent rectangular slates. Baryu grimaced slightly as he felt the sheer awe that exuded from the Manual. He seemed the only one among them able to sense the crystals’ dreadful aura.

Before even the Divine Dragon’s outstretched finger could brush against the Manual, he felt suddenly as though his very soul were being squeezed. He wrenched his finger back in shock. Baryu felt in that moment that having touched the Manual would have crushed his soul. The sensation gripped him with a shudder.

Baryu was intimately aware that there existed some objects that never should be touched. But compared to those, this holy artifact gave a somewhat different sense.

“What’s wrong?” Karin asked, having the completely wrong impression of the Divine Dragon’s demeanor. “If you’re having trouble with it, I can help you get it out of there.”

“Yes, if you please.” Baryu passed the ebony box over to Karin.

As their hands touched, Karin read by instinct the Divine Dragon’s fear. She eyed the Manual with suspicion. The beautifully radiant crystal slates seemed to Karin like nothing more than what she saw, and she had no difficulty removing the objects from the box. Karin brought them closer to the light of the glowing fire.

Zappa’s head tilted in confusion as he examined them in Karin’s hands. “Which part exactly makes this a book?”

It would be more fitting to call what she held a series of stone slabs than a book. The three crystalline tablets refracted glittering light through faces that shone like enigmatic rainbows. Was it due to some variability in their composition, or were there patterns not visible to the eye? The true reason, nobody knew. But this was nothing that fit the general description of a book. That much was clear enough to the eyes of all those who were present.

Dongo retrieved a piece of crystal that he carried in his pocket and compared it to the objects that Karin held. “They look like crystals, but their size and shape are like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

The slabs that the Manual comprised were each larger than the spread of Karin’s two hands. Attempting to compare them to even Dongo’s largest shards of crystal was absurd.

Kurin lowered her face to inspect the Manual. “I wonder if those crystals are fragments of the same material as the Manual. Even if it turns out they aren’t, I still think the Ancient Gods must have made them through similar methods.” Though she made deep observation of surface of the tablets, she could find no symbols or inscriptions upon them.

Piper pushed Kurin aside for a closer look, his nose nearly brushing the Manual. “If so, then perhaps the Manual is also some kind of key?” He hummed thoughtfully. “There is the distinct possibility. A very distinct chance.”

Dongo caught on to Karin’s obvious frustration. “Come on, Piper. You don’t have to get so close to it. You too, Kurin—cut it out.” He grabbed the overzealous researchers one in each hand and pried them away from Karin.

“A key,” Diane murmured. Sitting next to her was her younger sister, a wizard named Wendy. Diane thought of her time fighting alongside Baryu and Zappa long ago. “Of course, the Manual was one of the keys required for the resurrection of Dark Dragon. Which makes me wonder—do these three slabs all do the same thing? Or could each of them be different?”

For a moment, no one spoke.

It would be Kamaria’s answer that broke the silence. “I think that they probably do something else. Dark Dragon was never in Parmecia. In order to stop the power of the earth from boiling over, the Divine Dragons need only make use of the Manual to quell it.”

Zappa pondered aloud. “The key that is used to lock a door may in turn be the one to open it. Wouldn’t you say, Kurin of Rudol Village?”

“Yes, you’re right about that, king of Vostok.” Kurin replied. She recalled an account of the Manual she had discovered in an old chronicle. “As I’ve said before, the Manual is a double-edged sword. It has the magical power to either bind or break free.”

Piper spoke. “If the Manual is so dangerous, then we wizards of Manarina must reseal it in the temple of Dragonia as soon as we can.”

Kamaria turned to Piper with a sharp look. “And if we do so, then what will become of the Divine Dragons of Parmecia? Do I not have any say? I have crossed an ocean for this mission.”

“Either way,” said Piper, “we cannot take anything so fundamental to the Runic continents off to another land.”

Kamaria was speechless at first. “How narrow-minded. Could a wizard truly be so bereft of a principle as basic as the Golden Rule that he would call for anything so self-serving?”

Piper frowned, his ego wounded. “I was hoping you’d call me wise.”

Kamaria did not back down. “What meaning is there in wisdom in a world occupied only by yourself?”

Dongo turned to Karin, whom he sat next to, and made a disbelieving face.

Twiggy’s expression had turned uncharacteristically solemn. “I agree with Miss Kamaria,” she interjected. “It’s wrong to abandon those in need.” Regardless of what anyone might say of her, Twiggy’s commitment to her role as a priest was beyond question.

Piper looked over at Kurin and Wendy, hoping to earn their agreement. “Try as they might, priests never can be too devout in their teachings. But as for us wizards, we must remain objective in our assessments.”

“You’re right,” Kurin said. “So let’s be objective. Baryu should be the one to decide. At this point, what do you think we should do with the Manual?”

What Kurin had proposed had not been at all what Piper had expected.

Everyone’s eyes were now fixed upon the Divine Dragon, his mouth silent and his expression sober, and the Manual in Karin’s hands.

Diane cast Baryu her sympathy. She spoke what comforting words she could. “It is a tragedy that that the burden of this decision should be forced on Baryu.”

“You are mistaken, Diane,” Zappa rebuffed. “We are not forcing this upon him. Baryu has already been appointed for this. As a Divine Dragon, the Manual is his inheritance.”

Baryu looked up to meet Zappa’s gaze.

. . . What course must I take?

He spoke with his eyes, for the words became lodged in his throat.

But Baryu had had no need to speak at all. Zappa could read the balance of his heart. “You alone may decide this. It is your duty. Nobody may compel this of you.”

Baryu was in agony. But no matter how deeply he tore at his heart, he could never reach the answer buried at the seat of the abyss.

As a Divine Dragon, was it right to abide by his oath to keep the Manual safely sealed away? Would it be right to go so far as to brave the dangers and cross the ocean to Parmecia that he might become the salvation of his lineage? Or was the proper course to destroy the Manual here and now?

But before any of that, what manner of beings truly were the Divine Dragons? Even that much was not evident to Baryu. What was it that qualified the Divine Dragons to make such important judgments? Was it right to stand above all other peoples in the making of these decisions?

The resolve that he had once felt to cross over to Parmecia had now begun to crumble.

If monsters were to steal the Manual, the world would be led to destruction. But to eradicate that danger, he would have to abandon his own kind.

In truth, there was no way to both save the Divine Dragons and ensure that the Manual would be sealed in the end. To achieve both ends hinged on one condition. And that condition was his defense of the Manual from evil hands for the whole duration of his quest . . .

Baryu did not have the confidence to commit to that.

It had not proven easy for Baryu to protect Karin without the aid of his companions. And so he lacked the confidence that he could protect the Manual until the end.

“Baryu . . .” Karin’s chest tightened as she imagined the depth of his pain. “You should make this decision as yourself, Baryu, and not as anything else. Because more than Divine Dragon, you are Baryu first and foremost. I believe in you.”

Zappa nodded deeply at Karin’s words.

Diane gave her agreement. “It is due to my trust in Baryu that I leave this judgment to him. We must rely on our companions now more than ever. The hero who sealed Dark Dragon had many companions of his own. He could have done nothing without them. Having so many companions is how our power shines the brightest. It is likely because of this that we were called the Shining Force.”

Baryu remembered fondly how he had fought alongside the two of them long ago. In those days, there had been Goth and Aleph as well, and many others like them. And still today, he was surrounded by many of his companions. He remembered the blue eyes of the Silver Dragon on the other shore of the ocean. He had yet more companions who now tirelessly awaited him.

“That’s right,” said Kurin. “You must be able to trust in other people in order to accept their help. Baryu, you should allow people help you—us most of all.”

The impact that Kurin’s words had on Baryu was decisive. It was true. Being unwilling to accept the help of others was the same as not believing in them.

“Let us proceed to Ulan Bator . . .” Baryu had made his judgment. “Let us confront what monsters prowl the coastal waters and make our way to Parmecia.”

Nobody objected. Some breathed out sighs of relief, some nodded in silence, and yet others gave only sober looks. Though each held different thoughts, their path had been determined.

Piper alone had some minor misgivings, but Zappa’s suggestion that he send an envoy to communicate with Otranto seemed enough to give him peace of mind.

“We will return to Vostok tomorrow,” said Zappa. “It seems that our pursuit of our monster invaders has carried us too far from our country. We cannot leave our country safely unattended as we may have been able to long ago. And we must return to Manarina those with injuries who we rescued.”

Kurin clapped her hands together as she came to a realization. “The monsters were being chased by your company from Vostok. That’s why we ran into them earlier than we’d expected. They were in a hurry to get away.”

“In the end, it seems to have worked out for the better,” continued Zappa. “But we cannot let our guards down yet. Though the hunt will be difficult, we must make sure the entire area is rid of monsters before we can return. I will send Wendy’s company along to escort you to the Yurt Plains.”

Wendy was cheerful as she gave Baryu and his party her regards. And the elfin woman shared with them a proposal. “Let us place a simple seal upon the Manual to protect it on the road ahead.”

Following Wendy’s suggestion, the three wizards decided they would apply a seal to the ebony box that contained the Manual.

They would cast the Seal of Kwal van Koel.

As seals went, this one fell into the category of the simple seals. Its simplicity meant that its strength was dependent on its catalyst, the strongest of which would be dragon’s blood. The invocation they used was therefore known in particular as a seal of crystallized dragon’s blood.

Kamaria and the others watched as the sealing ritual was performed.

Wendy was given several drops of blood by Baryu to seal the ebony box. Using the Divine Dragon’s blood as a medium, Wendy, Kurin, and Piper bound the box in layered chains of magic. The blood coalesced into three stains that glistened like tiny garnets.

Wendy lifted the box and presented it to Baryu. “With this enchantment, the box containing the Manual will not open unless your blood is offered again to break the seal. The destruction of the box itself may also remove the seal, but unless this is done with the utmost care, the Manual inside will be shattered.”

With more twigs added to the fire, those who sought to travel to the Yurt Plains fell asleep around its warmth.

Zappa had taken first watch. When it became time for Diane to replace him, she spoke to the werewolf. “Are you certain it’s good enough to send them alone? I can’t shake the thought of that monster that the priest mentioned named Zidur.”

“I don’t think he’ll attack again so soon with the injury that he suffered in that battle. Just the same, I’m sending Wendy with them, so there’s no need to be concerned. Or is it that you wish to join them yourself?” Zappa displayed a meaningful smile.

Diane kept a measured expression. “Well, what about you?”

“It does not sit right to leave Vostok wholly in the charge of Staedtler and Kokichi and the others still there. And besides, I would not seek to interfere unless I were asked for my help. Baryu and his company have made their decision, and I know they shall resolve this. This is Baryu’s quest, not ours. Though it is unfortunate, we do not now have any reason to to join this new Shining Force. And there is much left for you to do, Diane, back in Vostok.”

“Please, Lord Zappa, there is no need to be so harsh.” Diane turned graciously away and walked onward to her post.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Two, Part 9

Baryu awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. He looked around at his companions sleeping in his midst.

Each was motivated by something else, but all of them believed in Baryu and gave him their accompaniment. He thought of how he must protect them.

This must be what Kamaria had meant the other day. The Divine Dragons were the best of the guardian beasts.

What then was the scope of his protection? Until now, his lineage had kept the Manual safe, but certainly the Manual was not the only thing he should protect.

Nevertheless, the Manual was once more in play.

Baryu stole a quiet glance at Karin as she slept with peaceful breaths beneath his wings.

It was his duty as Baryu to protect her. But what if he came to a point where he must weigh the decision between Karin and the Manual . . . ?

If it came to a choice between himself as a Divine Dragon and himself as Baryu, which exactly would he choose?

Baryu grew ever more anxious of the ebony box, whose blackness, now in Karin’s arms, echoed the darkness of the night.

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Chapter Three: A Meadow Spanned by Wind and Light

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § Chapter Three

Chapter Three, Part 1

The Yurt Plains were a grassy expanse that spread across the northern region of the Western Continent of Rune.

In this land lived a scattering of nomadic tribes. They lived not in stationary residences, but in tent-like mobile structures known as yurts that resembled inverted spinning tops. The distribution of their yurts changed with the seasons much like the bisque-colored flowers that blossomed throughout the grassy plains.

However, the largest tribe to roam the Yurt Plains was markedly different from the few other tribes they neighbored.

They traveled regularly between the east and west sides of the Yurt Plains inside of a gigantic vehicle they called the Transcontinental Heavyweight Train. This stupendously large vehicle, excavated from an ancient ruin, formed a caravan that cut long, deep ruts through the earth as it sailed across the sea of grass. It was a scene that could be possible nowhere else but on these vast grassy plains.

Baryu and his companions were now coming upon the Yurt Train. The train was making a stop on the western end of the grassland, and lined up around it were innumerable stalls selling ornaments and food carried from the lands to the east. The novel sights of the sprawling foreign bazaar were candy for their eyes as they picked their way through rows of yurts and toward the carriage at the front of the train that served as the queen’s domain.

Armed soldiers stood guard before the entrance to the carriage. Baryu and Wendy presented them with official letters of introduction made out to the Yurt Train’s queen. The letters bore the signatures of Otranto of Manarina and Zappa of Vostok.

After a fair bit of waiting, the queen’s attendant stepped outside to receive Baryu and his companions. The Vostok soldiers who accompanied Wendy would remain outside. But among those members of Baryu’s party, not a single one chose to hang quietly back. And so, as a matter of course, they entered the Yurt Train together.

The stylings of the train’s interior greatly resembled those of the secret dwarfish tunnel. Lights that shone without the heat of fire poured their illumination from the ceiling onto metallic walls and floors. Two aisles of dissimilar widths ran the left- and right-hand sides of the carriage. They converged at its end just before the point where the next carriage was coupled.

Baryu’s company proceeded in a line down the wider of the aisles. Lining the aisle in regular intervals were the doors to private compartments that varied in size. Ushered by the attendant, they came to stand before the room where Queen Koron awaited them.

The attendant spoke. “I have with me the members of the Shining Force.”

As though in response to a command, the doors to the room parted on their own, sliding away to both sides.

Though Baryu’s presence had lent them the title of Shining Force, Karin and the others were each made uneasy by it.

With two mysterious shining pillars at her back, Yurt’s Queen Koron sat quietly upon her throne. Her youthful face was distinguished by dignity and composure, and her inquiring voice rang clear with a rich and resonant intonation.

After she had asked her questions of the contents of the letters, she kindly granted permission for Baryu and the other travelers to stay. “What reason could compel me to refuse a request of the members of the Shining Force? We will depart tomorrow so that we may ferry you to Ulan Bator.”

Baryu expressed to Koron his gratitude for her proposal.

But upon seeing his face, the queen appeared suddenly confused. “Is there something that troubles you, Sir Baryu?”

A brief moment passed before Baryu found the words to answer. “No. There is something else.” He trailed off.

“Whatever it is that concerns you, I would offer you my humble aid.”

“Baryu,” Kurin began, “as well as being a queen, Her Majesty Koron is also a prophet. It may not be such a bad idea to agree to her help.”

Koron smiled humbly. “I know not the extent that my words might help you, but there is no need for reservation. My prophecies do not determine the future, but they may serve to guide you down a favored path.”

Baryu’s tension melted in the warmth of Koron’s smile.

Koron lowered her head in a slow nod. The fabric of her thin dress, which fell across the width of her throne, was swept up like a receding wave as she rose to her feet. She drew her folded arms back across her body and held them out at her sides. The light passed through her pale lavender dress like a screen, casting silhouettes of her slender limbs.

Her sleeves slipped down her white arms as she raised them both above her head. Her scarlet hair licked like flames across her shoulders, back, and chest. When she lowered her arms, she cupped her hands together as though she had retrieved some object and pressed them gently against her bosom.

Her eyes still serenely lidded, Koron spun the air into words with her tongue. “O young Divine Dragon . . .” The room was stilled by the lull in her speech. “If your heart would tempt you east, cast your eyes upon the north. Sever not the bonds that tie. The strength that shuts your eyes and opens your heart shall be as the strength of sweet friendship. Only then will you come to know the true character of that which binds your heart. The old will be lost, and the day will come that you find the written truth. And thus will a new bloodline flow.”

Koron, her eyes still shut, turned toward Karin next. “O noble-hearted woman, the decision you shall make will save many, just as it will save one.”

Koron turned slowly to face the others in the room. “O companions to the Divine Dragon’s journey. There will come a time of fire, and in that time you will all be saved by the flame that does not go out. Only within the flames will you find the writings you must burn. The peace unbroken will call forth the Shining Dragon.”

When she had finished talking, at last Koron lifted her lids. And for a moment, she squinted as though her eyes were met by something bright. Her gaze came suddenly to rest upon Kamaria. When Kamaria asked what offended her eyes, Koron did not speak.

Baryu supposed that Koron must be tired. “I give you my utmost thanks, Your Majesty Koron,” he said. “I will take your words to heart.” He decided it best to leave for now. The prophecy’s meaning would be nothing simple to unravel, but Baryu would be served to pick apart its threads in time.

When Baryu and the others announced that they would take their leave, the queen asked her attendant to lead them to the guest rooms where they would stay aboard the Yurt Train. Everyone bowed in turn. But as they left, Kamaria felt Koron’s gaze following with her.

Kamaria stopped. She turned and asked if there had been anything else, but Koron did not at first reply.

Karin offered to go on ahead with the others and closed the door as she left.

Kamaria asked once more politely. “Is there anything that you need, Your Majesty?”

Koron solemnly intoned, “O lady of a foreign land, there is one thing that I would ask you.”

Kamaria’s eyes narrowed as the luminous tubes behind Koron glowed brighter.

Koron’s speech reverberated in the air. “O young woman, so full of pride. For whom do you feel such pride?”

Kamaria spoke her answer with unwavering assurance. “My pride is my own. And it belongs as well to the ones to whom I give my respect and admiration.”

“If it is as you say, then for your own pride, you must not comply with anything you do not believe is just.”

For one quiet moment, Kamaria wondered with suspicion how deep the prophet’s vision bored. “. . . I swear it.”

“You are indispensable among them. And I pray that they will in turn become indispensable to you. Until the day that you regain your true form, learn what it is that you will, O daughter of a distant world.”

“Is that all?” Kamaria replied.

In that room, as silent seconds passed them by, a story was told by their two gazes alone.

Kamaria asked again. “Will that be all, then?”

Koron gave a gentle nod. She spoke to Kamaria one last time, an honest question for the woman her eyes beheld. “How is it that you respond to trust?”

Kamaria had no choice but to acknowledge all that was held in those words, as well as all that had been left out. Her eyes looked back up to Koron’s. She realized then that Koron used the eyes of others to glimpse into their hearts.

“. . . With trust,” she answered at last. Kamaria gave Koron her deepest bow. “Please excuse me, Koron, Your Majesty.”

As soon as she had risen, Kamaria took her leave.

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Chapter Three, Part 2

At the dawn of the following day, all of the yurts that had once stood assembled in the area were packed away for the Yurt Train’s departure.

The soldiers of Vostok were at this time to return to their country. Wendy was alone among them in her desire to join Baryu’s expedition. But as Zappa would not be so lenient as to allow her this indulgence, she set out with reluctance onto the road back home.

But along with that farewell had come, too, an encounter.

As Lyle had mentioned back in Lindlind, Gantz, another former member of the Shining Force, was already riding aboard the Yurt Train. For quite some time by then, Gantz had been permitted to inhabit the colossal vehicle as a researcher.

Although Baryu’s joy at their reunion had been heartfelt, he could barely understand a word that Gantz had to say about the train’s machinery. Instead, it had been Kurin who sprang to her feet at the chance to discuss its technology. She had spent nearly every one of her waking hours aboard the Yurt Train exploring its driver’s compartment and power unit.

Piper had proclaimed that he was not to be separated from Baryu or the Manual for as long as his orders remained in effect. Baryu did not know whether Piper was the right overseer for the job, but as the assignment had come from no less than Otranto, it would be no simple matter to send him away.

Dongo had used his contract with Baryu as a shield as he carried stubbornly on. He swore never to leave Baryu’s side until the day they met with the Divine Dragons of Parmecia. Baryu had come to regret his hasty promise to Dongo, but it had already been far too late.

And Twiggy, too, seemed determined to travel with Baryu until she could discover the whereabouts of Gong. More than that, she had become impassioned by her self-assigned mission to give the Divine Dragons her aid.

Each of their company had motivations that were their own, but they were joined by a curious solidarity that flourished the longer they journeyed as one. Though their end goals may have differed, perhaps the reason for their travels was shared. For all of it centered on Baryu.

Karin most of all had made a distinctive show of her resolve to remain by Baryu’s side.

The Yurt Train rolled smoothly on. On these plains, there was little worry of obstruction. But of course, there was nothing really that could stop the gigantic vehicle’s advance. It was an obvious fact that were anything so clumsy as to stand in the train’s way, it would be pulverized by the immensity of the vehicle’s weight.

But in practice, there were almost no animals ever struck by the vehicle. Like wind sweeping over the grassy plains, the Yurt Train that carried Queen Koron was truly in its element.

And even come night, the wind did not stop blowing.

The regular noise of the engine mixed with the air rushing past its windows sent vibrations through the walls. But neither sound could overwhelm the peaceful plucking of harp strings that flowed from out of the lounge.

It was after their evening meal, and Baryu’s small group was passing the time in tranquility.

Illustration by SUEZEN.

Twiggy sat on a small box in the middle of a circle made of her companions. She held in her hands a harp with a body and neck carved in the image of a swan at rest on the water’s surface. She sang serenely as her fingers struck across its sixteen strings, her high, childlike voice sometimes lively, sometimes sweet or even mournful.

It was a song that spoke of people, beasts, and all living things at play in nature. Birds upon the wind and fish within the water formed at once a perfect circle. All became as harmony as time itself spun from its turning. The spinning of the wheel spooled words into verses woven by voice into song. As the people were raised to harmony, their harmony birthed lives anew . . .

Twiggy brought her voice to rest.

By the conclusion of the verses, Piper was intoxicated. “I wonder, Twiggy—is that a song from your hometown?”

“Not exactly,” Twiggy said. “The people I come from are wanderers. I don’t really have a single hometown. You could say that all of Rune is mine.”

“Not yours, as such,” Piper was quick to point out, “but rather, your hometown.”

Twiggy stuck out her tongue. “I realized at some point that my wandering had turned into a journey. And that’s when I happened to meet Gong, the paragon. That last song was one the paragon taught me.”

As though by reflex, Baryu and Gantz both spat much the same words in amazement. “You’re telling us Gong sang that . . . ?” The two exchanged glances. They could never have imagined the taciturn Gong to ever open his mouth in song. With some effort, one could resolve only the faintest image of the monk, face bright red as he strove haltingly to carry an off-key tune. But to judge from Twiggy’s dewy-eyed recollection, the truth had looked very different. The two whispered to each other in agreement that the song had been unexpectedly good.

Twiggy continued. “The devout paragon once said to me, ‘If I have shown you any kindness, then repay that kindness to many others. If you are grateful for what I have done, then likewise endeavor every day to to give others cause to be thankful for you.’ And that’s why we have to stick together, Baryu. If I can’t give you something to be grateful for, then how am I supposed to face the paragon?” Twiggy clutched the white ring that shone warmly on her finger. Set within the bevel of its platinum band was an aquamarine crystal imbued with the power to heal. It had been Gong’s long ago. “Anyway, there’s still a chance the paragon might come to see you if he ever decides to check on his old friends from the Shining Force.”

“I would not count on Gong’s seeking me out anytime soon,” said Baryu. “And besides, I am thankful enough for you as it stands. I think that what Gong may have meant for you to take away from his teachings was that you should pay forward the kindness of others. You’re looking at this the wrong way, Twiggy.”

Twiggy gasped. “Are you saying you don’t want me here? Am I really making things worse for you?” Tears began to well.

Baryu’s eyes escaped by instinct to the ceiling. “That is not at all what I was trying to say . . .”

“The way I see it,” said Twiggy, “the company’s going to need a healer if anyone’s ever injured on this quest. There’s no way around that. But I’m not going to get in your way. I’ll shadow my big sister Karin until I’m as strong as she is.”

“Now, wait a second,” Karin interjected. “I’ve said this before, but I am nothing like Gong. If you’re going to shadow anyone, it should be Kamaria.”

Twiggy affected a sophisticated air. “I shall do no such thing. I’ll have you know, there is no tutor more ideal than the gallant older sister.”

Karin turned to Baryu in distress. “Come on, Baryu. Say something.”

Kamaria sat next to the Divine Dragon with her shoulder against him, amused.

It had become more than Karin’s temper could stand. She reached across Baryu and pulled him away from Kamaria, ducking behind him to shield herself from Twiggy.

Dongo, who had watched as the scene developed, exploded into a hearty laugh that brought the room to a chorus.

Twiggy collected her composure and began again to strum her harp.

Her song washed across the room. Birds upon the wind, fish beneath the water, plants within the light, beasts across the earth, and people among all living things . . .

To give thanks is to take nourishment. To give thanks is to show compassion. To give thanks is to offer prayer . . .

Twiggy’s song was one of love and reverence for all living things and for all the land, sky, and water that sustained them.

When the hymn had reached its end, Kamaria murmured, “It’s certainly something else.”

“What’s the deal with these songs?” asked Dongo. “The truth is, things aren’t all equal. The strong eat the weak, and there’s always a bigger fish. That’s the world God gave us.”

Twiggy answered, “In that case, the strong should be grateful for the weak. The devout Gong always said that every life depends on another. Those who rule owe their lives to those whom they rule. Those who protect are protected by those they protect. We must not forget to pray for the flowers that bloom in the field and for even the smallest of insects.”

“Pretty cute sermon for a kid.” Dongo laughed. “But I can’t pray too much or it makes my neck hurt.”

Twiggy frowned. “That’s not the effect I was going for.”

Karin, who sat next to Twiggy, attempted to calm the frustrated girl. “Though we may live by the hunting of birds and beasts, we would never kill them without cause.”

Twiggy had begun to sulk, burrowing her head into Karin’s side like a spoiled child. Karin wrapped a gentle arm around her and pulled her close. If Kurin had been there that night and not off studying the train, the two would have had to compete for which was more Karin’s little sister.

Piper had thought to mediate. “There, there,” he said. “Let’s not all turn on each other, now. Better than that, I think I’d like to hear another of your songs if you don’t mind, Twiggy.”

Twiggy agreed, her spirits lifted, and began once again to play her harp.

Thus did Twiggy’s singing resume.

Baryu had been inclined to agree with Dongo’s critique. If each living thing depended on another to persist, how fleeting and fragile was life? If the Divine Dragons were given life solely to protect the Manual, what more was theirs than a passing dream?

But Baryu would not voice his thoughts that night, and neither Karin nor Twiggy would offer him their corrections.

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Chapter Three, Part 3

At the back of the Yurt Train's power car was a small open platform for the boarding and unloading of passengers, as well as the linkage where the trailing carriages were hitched.

It was on this deck that Kamaria now stood alone in the dead of night as the others all quietly slept.

She enjoyed the wind as it streamed past both sides of the power car and through her hair and the passing scenery of the mountains that ringed the Yurt Plains. The mountains and the stars that speckled the night sky had the look of slowly shifting oil on canvas. Even the contour of this eternal landscape was given to inevitable change.

Kamaria scoffed. I haven’t come this far to see the sights.

She thought of Karin and Twiggy, and of Baryu too. It was outside of her plans to meet anyone like those three here. Should she never have come at all? The thought shook her heart. But her heart was at the same time certain that she had been brought together by this land with exactly those whom she had been meant to meet. In any case, she supposed that it was only a matter of time until she found out which sentiment would be proven right, whether she liked it or not. But when that time would finally come, Kamaria did not now know . . .

It is all too easy to be dragged below the water by one’s own thoughts. And all the more, to be drowned.

There was the clink of a metallic catch, and a door swung open behind her. In the light of the doorway stood somebody’s silhouette.

At last, it spoke with Karin’s voice. “There you are.” She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

Kamaria asked politely, “Is there something that you need . . . ?” A gentle smile spread across her face, her teeth bright in the moonlight.

But Karin could not bring herself to answer.

“It’s gotten quite late,” said Kamaria hypocritically.

A long time passed with not more than the sound of the engine and the wind.

Finally, Karin opened her mouth. “I have a request . . .” She paused. And then her words spilled like water from a broken dam. “I have a request—please don’t take Baryu with you.

Kamaria winced slightly at Karin’s unmasked emotions, but her tone remained kind. “Why?” she asked.

“He’s invested in the idea of going to with you to Parmecia. But if you took the Manual yourself, you wouldn’t need Baryu to be there. If he gave you the Manual, you could finish this on your own.”

“Do you think?” Kamaria veiled her voice in an air of ignorance. “Are you sure it’s wise for Baryu to hand over something as precious as the Manual? And what of the seal of crystallized dragon’s blood? He also has the whole of his surviving lineage awaiting him in Parmecia. I’m sure there’s any number of reasons for him to go. And I’m just as sure that the only thing that could hold him back would be a selfish fear of the Manual. But more than anything, Baryu has said himself that he wants to go. And I don’t think there’s anyone who can stop him.”

“He musn’t go!” Karin shouted.

Kamaria’s reply was barbed. “And why not?”

“I won’t let you take him!”

“What a strange thing to say. When have I ever tried to take Baryu from anyone? There is no doubt that he—” Kamaria stopped herself. “—that Divine Dragons are curious beings. Yes, Divine Dragons, as living things go, are without peer. Creatures of perfect beauty. Mere humans are as nothing in their shadow. That is why I wish to stay with him for just a bit longer. I want to stand by his side so I can come to know what he feels, how he thinks. And that is the truth of my motive."

“I don’t want to leave Baryu either. I’ll keep him with me for as long as I can.”

“Like a dog? Or possibly a cat? A Divine Dragon is not an animal to be looked after like a pet.”

“I don’t see him like a pet! You don’t really think that, do you?”

“No, I think I’m right about this. A Divine Dragon is neither here for your amusement nor at your convenience.”

Karin began to choke on Kamaria’s bitter critique. “Baryu does not belong to you.”

“Then he belongs to you, does he?” Kamaria knew that she was being cruel. She held it in at first, but she could not help but ask. “What does that make you then? His guardian? His mother? Older sister? Or perhaps his lover . . . ?”

Time passed as Karin tried and failed to put her feelings into words. “A friend,” she said finally. “Yes, a very dear friend.” Did the timidity of humans truly make them so irresolute?

“I’m glad you know where you stand. Romantic love has no place between beings of different races. I care not for his outward form, nor for yours. And above all, I do not care for being human.” Kamaria recoiled at the harshness of her own words. Could she not imagine the existence of forces stronger than romance? Were there not more mysterious bonds at play in this world? . . . For who but she until moments ago had been asking questions such as these to the stars and the wind? Kamaria was struck by another thought. Might she herself have been host to the blood of the Divine Dragons? The memory of healing Baryu’s wound came starkly into focus in her mind. “One’s protection may come at the cost of their freedom. What you are doing, Karin, is driving him away.”

“I don’t think so. Baryu has become possessed by the Manual. And you were the one who did that to him.”

“Hardly. Do you really imagine me to be so powerful?” Kamaria paused to think. “But if Baryu truly has become possessed by the Manual, I should like to witness what it may lead him to become.” Kamaria walked closer to Karin, who stood with her head hung low. As Kamaria stepped briskly past her, she leaned toward Karin's ear and whispered. “Try to become more independent, won’t you?” Kamaria pushed open the door and stepped back inside the carriage.

The door swung shut, obscuring Karin, who would go on standing masked by the darkness of the night.

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Chapter Three, Part 4

The weather had turned sour.

Carried aloft in the darkened sky were black clouds that looked as though they might at any moment spill their tears.

The Yurt Train had come to the eastern reach of the plains, where people now worked to assemble the yurts of the bazaar. Their skeletal frames stood in upright cylinders, their walls wrapped in thick textiles. Their conical canopies were finished with more layers of fabric. In less than an hour, sprouted all around the train was a full bloom of yurts of every color.

Luckily or not, the rain began soon after the final yurt had been raised. For these grassy plains, the rain had been a blessing. But for Baryu and his company, it came as no more than an obstacle to their departure.

After they had concluded that the rain looked unlikely to at any point end, Baryu’s company went before the queen to offer her their time.

As though she had foreseen the hour of their coming, Koron waited in the audience chamber among an assembly of her principal attendants. “Sir Baryu,” she said, “let us proceed down the path to Ulan Bator as soon as we possibly can. This rain is ripe with sinister omen.”

The words of the prophet Koron had the sound to Baryu of a haunting prediction.

Before any fears could be assuaged, a panicking guard sprinted before them. “I come with a report. At this moment, a group of monsters runs rampant in the bazaar. They number in the tens. And one among their number is a horrifically giant squid.”

“A kraken,” Kamaria muttered. “It seems that Zidur has not entirely resigned himself of the Manual.”

The queen rose. “Are they from among the monsters who crossed the ocean to steal the Manual? If so, then we will make them regret challenging us to a fight.” Koron reached a hand across her body and rolled the edge of her thin saxe blue shawl around a finger. She flung out her arm, and the shawl followed with it, revealing a sleeveless green dress ornamented with gold embroidery and foil. The queen’s fingertip pointed to her attendants. “Deploy the soldiers and eradicate this threat. Once the civilians are sheltered, the Yurt Train is to retreat beyond the war zone.”

With the receipt of their orders, the queen’s attendants were quick to take their leave.

Koron turned back to the soldier. “Can you confirm the enemy from the power car?”

“I can.” The royal soldier’s answer came resolute.

“Very well. Then follow me. As for you and the others, Sir Baryu—please do not leave the train.”

“No,” said Baryu, “we should join the fight.”

“You must not. You will leave this to us.”

“No, we would be wasted here. Those who are able to fight must not remain idle.” Baryu called out to his companions. “Karin, I would ask that your group please keep the Manual safe. Piper, Dongo, Gantz, Kamaria—come with me.” He began to leave the room.

“Wait.” Karin stopped him. “I’m going too.” She rebuked Baryu in her heart. Why should it have been acceptable for Kamaria to go when Karin could not?

“You will keep the Manual safe.” Without another word, Baryu took Kamaria and the others with him and left.

Koron called out for Gantz to stop. “There is something I must ask of you, Sir Gantz. Please, come this way.” She was joined by Gantz as she made her way toward the power car at the front of the train.

Karin, her sister, and Twiggy had been left behind. Though nobody had asked, they followed after the queen.

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Chapter Three, Part 5

Its ten suction-cupped limbs violently writhing, the titanic squid crushed each yurt after the next as it dragged itself across the ground.

As a monster that dwelled in the ocean and made a home of its abyssal depths, its presence here was irrational. Land was not this creature’s realm, and a proof of this was its struggle to support its enormous mass as it crawled.

This should be impossible, thought Zidur. He looked down at the summoning circle he had drawn on the ground in his own blood.

Attacking them at sea would have had its advantages. But with that approach would have come the risk of losing the Manual to the brine. If the pieces of the Manual were to become scattered beneath the waves, recovering the translucent slates would prove an arduous labor.

If Zidur were to be unable to return with the Manual, he was sure his Lord would annihilate him. Of that much, he was certain.

Zidur, under the pressure of panic, had chosen to accelerate his plans.

He could at least take some solace in knowing that the summoning circle that he had used to call forth the kraken and the other monsters was now being blotted and erased by the rain the Devil’s Jewel had conjured.

“Go,” ordered Zidur. He raised his left arm, the only one still attached. “Take back the Manual. Kill the Divine Dragon and all the rest.”

Among the monsters he commanded were Innsmanths, purple worms, and gargoyles, and at their center was the kraken. Their advance toward the Yurt Train had begun.

The Yurt Train’s soldiers maneuvered deftly to forestall the procession.

They ducked and weaved as the purple worms lashed with mouths wreathed like sea anemones with tentacles and ran them through with their lances. They cleaved with their battle axes the armor-hard scales of the Innsmanths.

The gargoyles posed a greater problem. Baryu flew among them in the sky, striking at them where he could, but their numbers were simply too great. The monsters that Baryu and the soldiers could not kill now chased the Yurt Train as it withdrew. Baryu was set to pursue them when the kraken confronted him, threshing the soldiers in its path.

With its many limbs wildly rippling like the surging waves of a tempest, the kraken whipped toward Baryu as he cut through the air. If he were to be snatched and entangled in those suction cups, he would have no time to escape before being slammed against the ground. Baryu leveraged his airborne mobility to circle the kraken and rip forth a web of lightning, but it made astonishingly little impact on the kraken’s colossal body.

As Piper watched from the ground, he called out to the troops he led. “Take aim for the monster while Sir Baryu distracts it.”

The soldiers shouldered rocket launchers loaded with buster shots.

Timing his approach with the movements of Baryu and the soldiers, Piper unleashed upon the kraken a magical freeze. The rain that still poured from the sky now turned to hail as it fell, and the frigid squall pummeled the kraken with ice. Part of the monster’s soft mantle froze white where it was battered. The soldiers let fly their explosive rounds. These weapons of Prompt were the Legacy of the Gods, and by their phenomenal power the frozen skin of the kraken shattered like glass.

The body of the monster, blue blood spraying from its wound, turned in its rage a murky black. Its aquatic breath came as a torrent of venomous ink directed at Piper and his comrades.

Piper hit the ground. One soldier who had no time to move fell dead when utterly drenched.

“Piper!” Dongo belted. “Did it get you?” The dwarf heaved his axe both ways through a purple worm, carving circular slices out of its flesh. He ran to the fallen Piper and dragged him by the arm to shelter.

“Could you try to be any gentler?” Piper yelled back, his body covered in mud. Rain sheeted off his beard like a waterfall.

Baryu touched down next to them, a look of worry on his face. “Are the two of you all right?” He scanned the area to check for the others and came up short. “Where’s Kamaria?”

Dongo pointed to the fleeing Yurt Train. Raindrops poured pitilessly into his open mouth as he spoke. “She was running after a gargoyle and chased it clear to the Yurt Train. We can leave the train to her and the other women. But forget about that.” He jerked his thumb back toward the kraken. “We’ve got to figure out a way to deal with that monster.”

The tremendous figure of the train had become a haze in the downpour. The poor visibility exaggerated its distance and affected Baryu with a subtle unease. The feeling of knowing Karin was just out of reach stirred an indescribable anxiety within him.

Dongo sensed Baryu’s concern. The rain was pitching down so thickly that it had become impossible to carry a conversation without shouting. “There’s nothing to worry about. Queen Koron and Kamaria have it under control. They’ll take care of the women and the Manual. It’s like the king of Vostok said, remember? One person can’t fight a battle on their own. We can only do so much. And right now, we’ve got to get rid of this monster before we do anything else.”

“Very well,” said Baryu. “Let’s follow Piper’s lead and attack it one more time. Dongo, you take whatever knights we have left and continue tearing at that wound. I’ll look for a way to keep it still and put a stop to that venom.”

Having given his brisk directive, Baryu launched himself once more into the sky.

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Chapter Three, Part 6

“No more than a hindrance!” Kamaria’s flail crushed the gargoyle that swooped to intercept her.

Gargoyles were facsimiles of living creatures fashioned by animating carved stone with the power of magic. They were sturdy, but a strong enough blow would splinter one back to the stones that built it.

Countless such wreckage of gargoyles littered the path to the Yurt Train’s driver’s compartment.

Kamaria blistered forward, driven by her worry, when she nearly drew the fire of Karin. It was lucky that Kurin stayed the tip of her arrow, or Kamaria would have suffered an onslaught armed with Gantz’s custom lightning rounds.

Twiggy tended to Yurt’s wounded in the rearmost carriage, leaving Karin, Kurin, and Ceberus to take up the train’s defense. Gantz, together with the queen, delicately controlled its machinery.

Koron turned to Kamaria as she entered the lead car. “I plan to strike that monster with the Yurt Train,” she announced.

The rainwater that soaked Kamaria’s hair nearly dripped from her bangs into her eyes as they widened. “That’s a reckless idea if I’ve ever heard one. Of course, perhaps this monstrous vehicle would flatten the kraken. But if it avoids us, then everything we’ve done will be wasted. And besides, what would happen if the queen in charge of the Yurt Train went so far as to destroy it?”

Koron’s answer was a proud one. “My role is to protect the people, not the train. What good is a queen who cannot keep her people safe?” She asked Gantz if he was ready.

“The only thing left is to detach the trailing cars,” said Gantz. “It’ll make the power car much lighter, so we shouldn’t have a problem steering it into the monster. The bazaar’s yurts are slowing it down right now, but once that monster breaks out of there, things are going to get much, much worse.”

“Then there is no time to lose,” said Koron. “Everyone, please go and separate the cars. All of the monsters that sought to board the train have been swept clean. I have nothing to fear.”

Karin was becoming rapidly concerned. “With respect, what exactly do you have in mind, Queen?”

“Once the cars have been safely detached, I’ll set the train’s course and then make my escape. With a steady acceleration, we will have the time we need. Everyone, please move to the rear cars before you detach them, and stay there to protect them from the monsters. Very well. Time is short, so I pray that you act quickly.”

By the queen’s command, Karin and the others hurried to the coupler that joined the cars.

“Karin—the Manual?” asked Kamaria.

Karin patted her backpack lightly to make sure that it was there. The Manual remained secure inside her satchel. Its position on her back relegated her quiver to her hips, and with every step she took, her arrows rattled emptily.

The four of them pushed open the door at the back of the power car and jumped out onto the deck above the coupler. As their feet touched the platform, the hollow barrage of rain on the body of the Yurt Train gave way to the pain of shrill screams. Gargoyles, their presence hidden by the violent drumming of the rain, seized their chance for an ambush.

The monsters, having found no means to breach the train, had circled the skies above in wait of the opening of any door.

As Karin fought a gargoyle that had dropped suddenly from the sky, Kamaria and Cerberus battled one that clung to the deck. Gantz and Kurin split between the left and right sides of the deck to break free the two chains that linked the cars parallel to the central coupler.

Gantz had already deftly unhooked his chain and was preparing to cross the gangway to unpin the coupler from the trailing carriage when the train lurched abruptly in a burst of speed.

“What’s going on?” Kurin shouted. “We were supposed to have more time.” She struggled to free her side’s giant chain. Not only was it heavy, but her hands kept slipping in the slickness of the rain. She braced her feet wide against the deck and lifted up with all her strength, but the linchpin securing the chain would not budge.

“It’s got to be that monster,” Gantz called back, swaying as he just barely caught the railing with his hand. It was all he could do to keep his massive body from tumbling off the platform. “It probably started moving faster, and Queen Koron figured she wasn’t going to make it without picking up the pace.”

The contradiction Kamaria found between their present reality and the plans laid by Koron boiled within her to an ineffable rage. “But the passenger cars are still attached. Is she going to ram them into the monster too?”

“Not a chance!” Gantz shouted. “The queen trusts us. She’s counting on us to disconnect these cars.” As the rain poured over his fingers and the deck of the speeding carriage jostled beneath him, Gantz reached a frantic arm toward the lever that would release the coupler. His vision blurred as the unrelenting deluge streamed down across his eyes.

His left hand caught the lever.

And then came a rush of more gargoyles.

Gantz had no hands left to fight them off. He had pulled the lever only halfway through its travel when one of the monsters came crashing into him, ripping his drenched fingers loose from the slick railing that anchored him. Gantz and the gargoyle cartwheeled through the air and down toward the ground.

Kamaria’s cry cut through the din. “Sir Gantz!” She whipped her flail at the gargoyle she faced, and the monster’s head erupted into debris. There was a dull thump as the gargoyle’s body fell between the cars and was crushed beneath the train’s enormous wheels. Kamaria did not know whether Gantz had been spared the same treatment. “We must hurry. If we take much longer, the trailing cars may not stop in time even if we manage to separate them.”

Kurin still struggled to lift up her chain. Kamaria quickened to her side, her weapon arm keeping another gargoyle at bay while her left hand grabbed hold of the chain. With the addition of her strength, the two were able to pop loose the pin that Kurin alone could not break free.

“There we go,” said Kamaria, “It’s free!” She raised her arm to throw the linchpin from the gangway that bridged the cars when a gargoyle dove past one of Karin’s arrows and toward the platform.

As the chain, still in Kurin’s hands, slipped from the deck and dropped below the carriage, its weight tore her tiny body from the ledge.

“Kurin!” Karin started toward her sister, but the gargoyle fluttered between them.

With a yelp, Kurin swung like a pendulum, and she crashed along with the chain against the frame of the trailing car.

Her arm twisted up in the chain, battered and streaming blood, Kurin dangled by a tenuous grip. And as the rain continued to pummel her, Kurin’s hand began to slide.

A slender arm reached down to catch her hand.

Twiggy intoned a spell as she pulled Kurin back up. A piercing column of light spilled from the trailing carriage’s open doorway onto the figure of a gargoyle stark against the stormy backdrop.

The gargoyle that harried Kamaria and Karin hung aloft in the gap between the cars. Countless thin beams of light weaved toward it, tracing paths that scattered the raindrops in an unnatural vortex. Cracks spidered across every surface of its body. Cerberus, reaching the height of her anger, tackled the gargoyle as it began to fall. Its stone body made brittle by the hell blast, the gargoyle shattered to pieces.

With the last of the monsters slain and Kurin back above the platform, Cerberus began to anxiously lick her master’s wounds

Twiggy placed a hand on Cerberus’s snout to nudge her away. “I’ll take care of her injuries. It’s all right. Please, stay back.” She recited the words to a healing spell.

At Karin’s urging, Kamaria lowered herself from the gangway to reach the coupler between the carriages. As she did so, the train jolted with a hop into the air. With a clang, the beam that she clung to broke loose, and Kamaria plunged beneath the train. The linkage that Gantz had begun to release bounced free, and the trailing carriages began to drift away from the front.

As Kamaria lay facedown on the earth, death seemed to her an inevitability. The undercarriage of the Yurt Train scraped by overhead at an abominable speed. Her body was shaken by the pressure of a roar fit to shatter her eardrums. Splintered fragments of the gangway and pebbles kicked up in the wake of the train pierced her body in an merciless flurry. The longer she survived, the more her terror mounted. Her mind had gone completely blank by the time the train came to a sudden halt. Twiggy or Kurin must have found the controls that could stop it.

Kamaria crawled out from under the train as she finally caught her breath. The sigh that left her lungs was white from cold, but the vapor was scattered at once by the rain.

As she looked about herself, she saw the stocky shape of Gantz running toward her from the back of the train. It seemed that he too had narrowly avoided a ruinous fate.

When Kamaria returned to the first of the detached cars, she found Kurin and Twiggy distraught.

Her voice lifted in alarm. “Are you telling me Karin’s been left on the front car?”

Kamaria ran after the leading carriage as it became hazy in the rain.

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Chapter Three, Part 7

Karin watched in a daze as the distant image of the trailing cars dissolved into the turbulent fog.

She wondered with regret why she had not jumped back across to the leading car when she had still had the chance. It was not for want of nimbleness. But at the moment that Kamaria had fallen, something else was on Karin’s mind. And that something had given rise to a single moment’s hesitation. Just what was it that had gripped her? The answer to that eluded her, and the vehicle that carried her continued all the same to barrel forth.

Hesitation was no longer a luxury Karin possessed. Karin steeled herself to make the leap from the deck on which she stood to the ground that raced below. As she stood poised in judgment of the best timing of her jump, the car made another jolt. The force of its sway wracked her body, and the rain-blurred landscape drifted to the side in a twist.

Karin realized then what fear had held her back. There was someone at that very second who still steered the Yurt Train’s course. And there was only one person that could be.

Karin hurried to the driver’s compartment. And just as she had imagined, it was there that Koron yet remained.

“What are you still doing here?” Strangely, the same words spilled from both of their mouths.

Koron was the first to answer. “If no one stays behind to steer the car until the very end, it will be impossible to ensure a perfect collision with that monster. Do you not see that it is so? I am sure you understand, Karin. Oh, I pray that you do.”

“Have you been planning to sacrifice yourself this entire time?” Karin spoke with reproach. “Will the queen truly treat herself with such scorn? You must know what will come of this.”

“I do not plan to die. The Yurt Train is sturdier than its look belies. It shall not buckle to come against a creature so soft.”

“This is ridiculous. Even if the car does stand up to the crash, there’s little promise that anyone left inside will be so lucky. Come with me and let’s both get out.”

“I’m afraid that I cannot.” Koron’s eyes narrowed in resolution. “The monster is already making its way out of the bazaar. To ensure that we can stop it, someone must remain until the end.”

“Queen Koron!” Karin had been made frantic by her efforts to persuade her.

It was around that same time that a messenger carrying word from Koron had reached Baryu and the others. “By the order of Her Majesty Queen Koron, you must stop the monster from escaping the bazaar. As soon as the Yurt Train comes into view, you are to leave the area at once.”

Piper and his detachment did not at once grasp the meaning behind the order, but to the soldiers of Yurt, the queen’s command was absolute.

Baryu continued to draw the kraken’s attention by way of his claws and thunder. Each time Baryu hastened his flight through the air, raindrops hailed across his body like the parting of a curtain of stones. It was no surprise that Baryu had begun to show signs of his exhaustion. But the kraken, too, had become weakened by the continual assault.

During one of Baryu’s dives, the kraken whipped at his plunging figure with the count of every limb. The end of a flicking tentacle curled itself around one of Baryu’s ankles as he broke from his descent.

Before Baryu could even think on the prospect of his end, the kraken had hoisted him overhead. As it held Baryu aloft, the kraken meant to shatter him against the ground in one decisive swing.

In his struggle, Baryu brought his neck around in a curve, and with all the strength he could summon, pealed from his mouth a tremendous clap of thunder. The lightning erupted across the end of the kraken’s tentacle, and as the monster swung it downward toward the earth, the sintered flesh gave way and snapped loose. Baryu was flung aside, and as he glanced past the grass in a tailspin, he pulled away from the ground. As the gust of his wingbeats rattled the earth, the water that pooled there was shaken into a misty spray. Once Baryu had achieved a level glide, he used the lift of his momentum to soar into a climb.

As Baryu fought to catch his breath, a resounding shrillness pierced the air. When he turned to see its source, his eyes met the Yurt Train in its swift approach.

“Was this the queen’s plan all along?” Baryu remembered the messenger’s words as what Koron had meant by them became clear.

Suddenly, his face froze with shock.

Through the Yurt Train’s front window glass, he saw both the queen and Karin, and it looked as if they were arguing.

“Those idiots! What are those two doing in there?”

The kraken was already within their sight. And at the rate they were going, there would be no time for the two to safely escape.

Baryu sped toward the Yurt Train.

The words between Karin and Koron were cut short as the Yurt Train’s front window exploded in a flash of light. They raised their arms to shield their eyes as glass shards peppered the interior. A gigantic figure landed by them, and in the same instant a roaring stream of raindrops came blowing violently in. The furious booming of a voice made both of them turn their heads.

“What do you two imagine you’re still doing here?”

It was Baryu who Karin and Koron saw standing beside them. The Divine Dragon, drenched by a combination of the rain and his own blood, did not conceal the fury on his face.

Baryu did not listen to what Karin said next. He snatched the two up in his arms, whether either of them had allowed it or not.

Beyond the broken window, the kraken’s silhouette drew near, its appendages stretching forward in as wide a berth as possible in an attempt cushion itself from the oncoming train car.

Baryu launched through the window frame.

The stupendous speed with which Baryu screamed through the air seemed to mock the titanic squid. In the next moment, the Yurt Train plowed into the kraken with the force of all its overwhelming mass.

The limbs that the monster had wrapped around the train snapped loose from its body as the vehicle’s enormous wheels bored into the space between its eyes. Its eyeballs bulged from the pressure, and one sprung from its socket and went rolling into the wreckage of the flattened yurts. The train was dyed a glossy black by the venomous ink that gushed from its crushed and shredded trunk. The monster’s innards, now wrapped around the car’s still spinning front wheels, made an eerie sound as they slung in circles through the air. Finally, they came to rest. From beneath the toppled train, the kraken no longer resembled anything of its original form.

Baryu, mindful of the two people he held in his arms, allowed himself to slow as he rose higher to get a better view of their surroundings.

Karin buried her face in Baryu’s chest as he clasped her so tightly that it hurt. The intensity of the rushing wind had stifled her breath, and only now could she continue breathing.

“Well, for goodness’ sake,” said Baryu. “Then it is finally settled. What an act of utter recklessness . . . !”

Before Baryu could let out a sigh of relief, he was sent reeling by the impact of some violent force. Flames spread across his back from the heat of a fireball that had struck him.

It had been Zidur. At last he had stepped from behind his cover. “Did you truly believe you could escape with the Manual without any care of reprisal? Did you not consider that I would come back to retrieve it?”

Baryu held fast onto Karin and Koron as he went plummeting to the earth. He turned his back to the ground to cushion their fall as they all came crashing down. But he could not hope to absorb all the force of their collision. His body bounced wildly as it struck the ground, and Karin and Koron were hurled through the air.

Karin gazed skyward, groaning from the pain that flooded her body. Perhaps from the rain or from the roughness of her landing, Karin’s vision began to blur. “Baryu? Your Majesty Queen Koron?” Karin felt about for the two and found them crumpled beside her, collapsed and unconscious. When she saw the horrific burns on Baryu’s back, she mustered all the strength she had left to stand. “Those are some serious injuries. Wait right here. I’ll get Twiggy or Kamaria.”

She could not leave Baryu alone and expect him to defend himself in this state. Though she too had been wounded, Karin pressed herself to keep going.

She took a step forward, teeth clenched from the pain. Karin had not abandoned hope just yet. And through the falling sheets of rain, she saw a person now approaching. She opened her mouth to ask for help, but her voice stayed frozen in her throat.

She picked up her longbow that had fallen nearby and began to draw its bowstring. The sound of footfalls grew louder as puddles splashed from their weight. Karin loosed an arrow, and it sliced through the rain toward the monster.

Zidur raised up the jewel shard he held, and the arrow stopped in the air before him. The arrowhead’s lightning round detonated with a flash, but the blast was deflected entirely back toward Karin.

Karin was thrown backward in a somersault and landed in the grass next to Baryu. She spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll be damned if I’m going out like this. After everything Baryu’s done for me, the least I can do is protect him now.” Karin reached for the quiver at her side and was startled as her fingers closed on nothing. Not a single arrow was left.

“How trite.” Zidur let out a chuckle. His laughter mounted into a roar. “By the time I take the Manual back, the grudge I hold against the Divine Dragon for the severing of my arm will be fulfilled.” Zidur relished the thought of his cruel delight as he stepped closer to Baryu.

Karin faced Baryu, covering his body with her own. As her hair fell to the side, heavy from being soaked, her backpack, which contained the Manual, came fully into view.

As the monster eyed the satchel ravenously, he began to recite a spell. Zidur meant to freeze them in a prison of ice and steal the Manual back.

It was all that Karin could do to use her body as a shield to protect Baryu.

As Zidur turned the falling rain to beads of ice, a blast of frigid air swept toward them.

Karin used every bit of her remaining strength to tighten her arms around Baryu.

But the cold air was dispelled before it reached them. From within the scattered diamond dust, the shadow of a person stepped forth.

Zidur groaned. “You again . . . ? That is so typical of you. As ever, you would stand in my way?”

Karin lifted her weary head and looked up at the monster. Reflected in Zidur’s eyes was the shape of a slender woman. Karin realized that it was Kamaria. But the woman who stood against the monster so gallantly appeared to have an enchanting reddish-purple hue. Karin wondered if it was a trick of the light as her vision blurred. The final straining thread of her consciousness snapped, and she collapsed senseless on top of Baryu.

Kamaria spoke with a sharpened tongue. “You forget your place to appear before me twice.”

Zidur stepped slowly back, overcome by the terror of her threat. But as Kamaria approached him with menacing surety, the gap between them began to close.

“If it weren’t for the interference of you lot,” groaned Zidur, “I’d have been made Lord Lucifer’s chief commander . . .”

Kamaria ignored Zidur’s murmur completely.

“You had better stay back,” he continued. “I shan’t suffer the likes of you to stand in my way. Go on and leave this place while you can.”

As Kamaria drew closer to Zidur, she held her red-jeweled circlet high.

Zidur let out a stilted scream as he held out his jewel shard to ward against her.

“You just don’t know when to quit,” she said. “You should know that even that fragment is wasted on a brute like you.”

The gem in the circlet Kamaria held began to shine a radiant red. As the light engulfed the jewel in Zidur’s hand, it was wrenched from his fingers and suspended in the air. In the next moment, as though consumed by the brilliance of the light, the shard was absorbed into the circlet’s gem.

Zidur cried out as he turned to run. In the line of his retreat, a deep red pillar of light rose up from the ground to stop him. As he turned to glance at Kamaria in surprise, another beam shot up before his eyes. One by one, six columns of light surrounded him.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Kamaria said. “Of course, you hardly deserve death. You shall remain alive, embraced for eternity by the darkness of the deepest reaches of the earth.” Kamaria drew a sigil in the air.

A hexagram connecting the points of the pillars appeared on the ground beneath Zidur’s feet. Within the holy symbol of the seal drawn in light, the earth where the monster stood simply ceased to be. As if sinking into a boundless swamp, Zidur’s figure dissolved into the darkness of the abyss below. “Spare me!”

Kamaria kept her eyes fixed mercilessly on Zidur, unshaken as he pleaded for his life.

“Spare me . . . Spare me . . .” Zidur’s voice faded into nothing as he was swallowed by the earth.

The hexagram faded quietly away. The ground remained intact as though nothing had ever happened.

Like a memory come to the fore, the fervent clamor of the rain filled Kamaria’s ears. But it, too, was soon to abate.

Kamaria placed the circlet back atop her head and rushed to tend to Baryu and the others.

She breathed a subtle sigh of relief and began to recite a prayer to invoke their blessing.

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Chapter Three, Part 8

Though destruction swept the plains, with the defeat of Zidur, the invasion that threatened the Runic continents had for the moment been quelled. Spirits were lifted in relief, if only just a little.

As Gantz inspected the damage the Yurt Train had suffered, he spoke with an enthusiasm unfit for the gravity of the battle’s wake. “Hey, this thing is beat up pretty bad.” His grin was wide with an unaccountable joy. Though perhaps it should not have been surprising, for the necessity of the Yurt Train’s repairs would mean that Gantz was free to tinker with machinery that had before been off limits to studied disassembly. He turned to address the queen. “But I’ll see if I can fix it. Tell you what—I bet I’ll have this thing back up and running in the next three months.”

“Will it truly take so long?” Koron let out a private sigh and measured her voice with humility. “Then we will have to make do. I am grateful to hear that it can be repaired at all.

It was a small mercy that the residential quarters aboard the trailing cars remained unscathed. They would be unable for the time being to trade as a merchant caravan, but at least they could go on living.

“No—make that two months,” Kurin offered abruptly. “That is, if you let me help out.”

“Sounds good to me!” answered Gantz, eager to follow suit. “While we’re at it, we ought to get Master Clock and Lyle out here too.”

“Then the repairs shall rest in your hands,” said Koron, though she felt a slight unease.

Kurin turned to her sister and spoke with nonchalance. “It’s settled then. I’ll be staying here.” Kurin’s inclination to commit to a course the moment she thought of it had not lessened with age.

Karin smiled grimly at her sister’s disregard. “Do as you see fit. You can't help but be yourself.”

Together with Gantz, Kurin, satisfied with her sister’s blessing, gathered up all of Gantz’s technical drawings. As she grappled with the bundles of papers in her arms, Kurin had already become closed to the outside world. Cerberus lay down on the ground nearby, watching idly as her master darted back and forth

“So be it,” said Baryu. “Then the rest of us will continue onward to Ulan Bator.” It was the second time that Baryu had stood before Koron to issue his regards preceding their planned departure.

With Kurin and Cerberus staying behind, it would be a party of six that made for Ulan Bator.

“I trust that you will be cautious in your travels, Sir Baryu.” Koron paused as if to reflect. “Madam Karin, I will be taking very good care of your younger sister. And to all our honored guests who now depart, I wish for the benevolence of whatever awaits you. May you be blessed by the Light.”

With those words of farewell from Koron, queen of the meadow, the company would leave the Yurt Plains behind.

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Chapter Three, Part 9

The centaurs who had once joined Baryu in combat had since settled down in Ulan Bator. With the support of Queen Koron, they were in the process of establishing a new community development project centered on maritime shipping.

“It sounds like you’ve had one tough journey,” said the knight Ernest, now governor general of Ulan Bator. He smiled brightly behind a desk messy with paperwork. It was a mound of documents only made taller by a missive from Queen Koron, the delivery of which had been entrusted to Baryu and his comrades. Penned therein was a request for aid in the restoration of the Yurt Train, for they would need raw materials and the living necessities to sustain them in the interim. The letter also came with a request for the arrangement of a ship worthy enough to carry Baryu’s company across the ocean. “You should take the chance to rest and relax while we ready your ship and its crew.”

“At any rate,” Arthur began, “I can’t believe the sea monster got past us just to meet its end in the plains of all places.”

“You almost sound disappointed,” goaded Vangarde.

Peil scoffed. He made no effort to hide his feelings. “Well, it did take out half our warships. It makes sense we’d want to repay the favor.”

When the kraken had begun its spate of surprise attacks, the port that was their lifeblood became cut off from the sea. Ulan Bator had dispatched their warships at once to hunt the creature down. But what they discovered was a lone ship at sea that was crewed by monsters. Deducing that the monsters controlled the kraken, they resolved to scuttle the ship. Though they managed to sink it, most of the monsters survived and made it to shore.

Their assault on the kraken, however, had been nothing short of a failure. As its limbs lashed out from beneath the waves, they were afforded little hope of fighting back. With half of their fleet pulled under, the remainder cut a desperate retreat.

And in the end, the kraken slipped back into the depths, denying any shot at revenge.

Peil looked to Baryu. As he spoke, his fighting spirit flared. “If you’re really going to make this journey, why not take us with you?” Peil had once been a wandering mercenary, and the promise of embarking on a quest to an unknown land was too much to ignore.

Ernest was quick to keep Peil in check. “I think each of us knows more than anyone why you cannot.”

“Ernest—” Peil cut himself off. “Sorry, I mean Governor General—you’re the only one here who’s really busy. Well, so Arthur has his hands full putting the navy back together. But there’s nothing holding us old-timers back. Me and Vangarde may as well go. How does that sound to you, Baryu?”

Baryu was paralyzed by Peil’s plea for agreement. He looked to Ernest, whose expression made it clear that he was not to enable him. “As we aren’t exactly staging an invasion . . .” Baryu paused. “My gratitude for your commitment will have to suffice. You have my thanks, Peil.”

Peil clicked his tongue in indignation. Vangarde, who had until then been content to observe from the sidelines, broke into a cheerful laugh.

“Peil and Vangarde,” Ernest began, “you are to go to Her Majesty Queen Koron as envoys of Ulan Bator. You will oversee the transportation of the resources she has requested and will defend the Yurt Train while they repair it. And if any bandits are unlucky enough to come along, you’re free to kick ass to your heart’s content—” He stopped. “Oh, I shouldn’t talk like that in front of the ladies, huh?”

As Ernest laughed in spite of himself, Arthur regarded him with a deadpan stare. “You can say that again.”

The governor general stiffened in offense that gave way to a grin. He let out a snort at his friend’s fearless quip before returning to his previous laughter.

“Now that that’s done with,” said Kamaria, “how long will it take to ready a ship?”

Arthur surmised that it would take three days.

“Then I shall talk it over with Arthur,” Baryu said. “And while our ship is being prepared, why not take advantage of the hospitality we’ve been granted? The town is yours to enjoy.” Baryu came close to forcing Karin and the others away as he and Arthur vanished into another room.

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Chapter Three, Part 10

By the time three days had passed, the ship that Arthur and his personnel had been working on floated ready in the harbor as Baryu, Twiggy, and Karin stood eagerly by to embark.

“It’s awfully small for a trip between continents,” Karin murmured as she studied the craft docked before them.

“It is the ship that Arthur and his staff have selected. Make no mistake,” insisted Baryu. He spoke hurriedly after a pause. “Very well, then. I am to see the governor general once more before we depart. You and Twiggy can go ahead and board. I believe that Piper and the rest will be here shortly. You may as well pick the good rooms while you can.” And with that, Baryu took his leave.

Karin sensed something peculiar behind his demeanor. But what exactly that strangeness meant, Karin could not yet say. “Let’s get on, Twiggy,” she suggested as she stepped toward the ship they were given.

“Yes, ma’am!” Twiggy chirped as she boarded the ship behind her adoptive sister. The young woman had, in the end, hardened her resolve to sail with Baryu’s company to Parmecia. Perhaps the priority of her search for Gong and her quest to be ordained had fallen second to her fear of separation from Karin and her colleagues.

And so, with the two safely aboard, the ship set out to sea.

It was not until the sun had gone down that Kamaria came growling to Baryu. Her realization that the two had vanished had come with the announcement that their departure would be postponed until the following day.

“How could you stoop to such deception?” she said severely. Kamaria looked between Baryu and Piper, who sat in the room beside him. “Or was it Piper who inspired this?”

“It was the only choice I had,” asserted Baryu. “I knew that those two would never happily remain in Rune. And I can’t have them going with us to Parmecia.”

Though Kamaria was able to appreciate Baryu’s reasoning, she could not bring herself to accept his course. “Both of you underestimate Karin and Twiggy. Do you think that they will let this stand?”

“It will be just fine,” said Piper with a tactician’s confidence. “Even if they do turn back from Walalu, by the time they get here we will be well on our way to Parmecia.”

Kamaria’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t strike you as naive?” She looked at Baryu. “Tell me,” she pressed, “what is it that makes you willing to take Piper and Dongo?”

Sensing Baryu’s lack of any satisfactory response, Piper began to speak. “My involvement is by Administrator Otranto’s command. And Dongo’s accompaniment is of his own volition. We are men. We seek adventure, you see. It’s a compulsion that only men can understand. And more than that, I must say that it is our duty as men to keep vulnerable women out of harm’s way.”

“What an arrogant excuse.” Kamaria rose from her seat to leave. She spoke with words doused by resignation. “Such a self-serving approach hardly equates to the protection of others.”

Baryu knew full well that their methods had not been commendable. He had accepted Piper’s proposal with the expectation of being scrutinized. But what was the worth of indulging his own sense of honor when weighed next to Karin’s safety?

Kamaria left Baryu to his own contempt that night to wander the port by herself. For if she had stayed there with him, she could not stand to imagine how it would have embittered her. Or perhaps Kamaria had just longed to feel the wind against her cheeks . . .

That must have been just what she needed, for Kamaria managed to make time that night for a pleasant private reunion on the docks.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Three, Part 11

The following day, the ship that carried Baryu and his company set sail from Ulan Bator.

Apart from the sailors assigned by Ernest and Arthur, the only others he had with him were Piper, Dongo, and Kamaria. By then, Piper and Dongo were as well so figuratively far out to sea that they could no longer fathom an exit. And so did it seem that the two were determined to let that ship to take them where it might.

The loss of the cheer that Baryu had come to expect from the boisterous girls now absent left a pit unable to be filled even by the sailors’ lofty spirits. Baryu could not help but wonder whether it was fair to call what he felt loneliness.

Kamaria spoke to him when she saw how dispirited he had become. “You know, if you’re feeling lonesome, you can always come and say hello.”

“I would just as well not,” he said. “I have brought this on myself.”

“Yes, you have. Since you’ve made this your choice alone, Karin and the other girl wouldn’t know anything about it, would they?”

When Baryu asked her what she meant, Kamaria simply circled around it before walking away.

It was not until quite some time had passed since their departure from Ulan Bator that Baryu would learn the meaning of her words.

Baryu was given to disbelief when who should come abruptly into view but Karin and Twiggy themselves. Piper and Dongo’s mouths were rendered similarly agape. Kamaria was alone in her knowing smile.

“Stowaways,” explained the captain of the ship. “We found them hiding in one of ship’s boats up on deck.”

“But that means that you . . . all three of you . . .” Baryu’s shoulders quaked. He turned to the woman with the cool expression and began to shout. “Kamaria, you must have had a hand in this!”

Kamaria was unabashed in her scorn. “How could I reject their plea? These women braved the perils of escaping from a ship in the midst of its voyage just to go all the way back to shore. I met with them in secret, and I told them what they needed to do.”

Baryu stared at Kamaria, who was altogether unmoved by the severity of his gaze. He began to mutter. “Then all we have left to do is return to the port whence we came . . .”

Each voice rose in protest of the notion.

Baryu turned to Dongo and Piper with a look of incredulity. “Is every one of you a part of this?”

“I am prepared to surrender to the fact that this would only happen again,” said Piper. “Damn it, Sir Baryu, I am certain you can see better than any of us that we have a pattern on our hands.”

Baryu could think of no counter to Piper’s reproach. Any answer would have been an admission. He faltered when he spoke. “Having said that, at the very least, Twiggy should—”

“Hey, why do you have to single me out?” The young woman shot the Divine Dragon an uncharacteristic glower. “I’m sure I’ve said this plenty of times by now, but a priest’s capacity to help those in need is a reflection of our merit. If I were you abandon you at this point, Sir Baryu, it would count as a disgrace to my virtue.”

“What do you seek to achieve here?” asked Baryu. “You said you were searching for Gong.”

Twiggy’s reply was one of heartfelt conviction. “By the time we’re done with our journey, stories of the priest who walked alongside a Divine Dragon—and I’m talking about me, of course—will have spread far and wide. Inevitably, the paragon will hear about me. And when he does, there’s a chance that he’ll come see me. At the very least, everyone will be talking about what a diligent student I am.”

“So what are we doing?” The ship’s captain had become increasingly bewildered. “Are we heading back or not?”

Baryu had to say something. He addressed the captain through straining breaths. “We shall continue our voyage. Our course remains north. Our destination is Parmecia.”

There was an eruption of cheer from the women. But loud enough to quiet their voices was the rumbling of a stomach. Twiggy’s complexion turned a deep red. As a matter of fact, it had been her growls of hunger that had given up their hiding place.

“Dear God!” exclaimed Piper. “Well, if you’re happy with hardtack, then what say we all eat?”

Keen to take up the offer, Twiggy followed Piper on his way with the others trailing behind.

Until, finally, Baryu and Karin were both left by themselves in the cabin.

Karin was the first to speak. “I’m sorry.”

The terse sincerity of her apology left Baryu stumbling off balance. The interception had cooled his demeanor. When he spoke, it was with a pleading gentleness. “My goodness, Karin. You really have gone too far. You are always bringing me grief. I had told you not to come after me.”

Karin broke the silence before Baryu could say any more. “Are you angry with me?” she asked.

“It would be a lie to say anything else.”

Karin hung her head at the bluntness of Baryu’s answer. “Why don’t you want me here? You talk about me like I’m a burden.”

“You aren’t a burden. That’s not what I mean to say. I worry for you, Karin. I do not wish to risk your life or your happiness.”

“Do you think that I would be happy with you so far away? Do you think I can bear the feeling of being powerless to help you when I know that your life is in danger?”

“I’m not sure I’m worthy to keep you safe.” Before he could give himself pause, Baryu had let his true feelings slip.

“Then it’s just as I thought. I am a burden.”

“That isn’t what I said.”

“Then protect me if you can. But don’t do it for your pride. Do it for me. I am certain that you can. Otherwise, you’ll forever be that same baby dragon who used to cry in my arms.” Karin gave him time to think. “So what’s it going to be? Do you want my help or not?”

Baryu could hardly speak. “I don’t mean that you’re a hindrance,” he said at last. “But the baby dragon who once relied on you is gone. As a child, I may have been the only one of a race of children, as it were. But today I am the Divine Dragon Baryu . . . Now, let’s join back together with everyone else. As it stands, I’ll not turn you away. I’d feel better if you were as unaffected by this as Twiggy.”

Baryu closed his hand around Karin’s, and the two left the cabin united.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Chapter Four: The Divine Continent

See also: English Translation with Japanese Text § Chapter Four

Chapter Four, Part 1

The ocean they sailed was vast.

Countless days stretched by with no other sights than the shifting green-blue hues of the water’s crests. But no sooner had they begun to think that their voyage might never end than the skies were filled with flocks of migrating birds and the waters gleamed with the silver scales of schooling fish. From the ocean’s blue, islands began to emerge in droves. And with every stop they made to resupply their food and water, they watched as they sailed away those selfsame islands slip from sight as though submerged beneath the sky. Light danced silver and gold across the waves as Baryu and his company observed an uncanny scene—a celadon current that ran like a river through lapis lazuli depths.

Free from any threat of danger, their ship beared north on full sails lifted by favorable winds.

The only complaints to speak of were uttered by men grown tired of so many meals of fish and women who lacked the precious water to care for their skin and their hair.

With the waxing and the waning of the moon came the arrival of another landmass. As their ship drew closer, the measureless horizon of water gave way to to a stretch of land. The breadth of its coast reached farther than any island.

This was a continent.

At long last, Baryu and his companions had arrived on Parmecian shores.

“Hey, that’s Parmecia, right?” The first words to spring from Twiggy’s mouth were aimed at no one in particular. Twiggy’s second proclamation was an expression of her eagerness the bathe, and her third came as a concession that even the chance to pour water across her skin would come as a relief.

With the encouragement of Twiggy’s urging, the ship’s crew looked out for a spot to land as they came nearer to the shore.

“That looks like the mouth of a waterway, don’t you think?” Piper scrawled meticulous notes as he inspected the surrounding terrain. “There’s a forested area there on the left, and are those sand dunes to the right? Or a desert perhaps?”

“Where are the Divine Dragons to be found?” As Baryu questioned Kamaria, he was taken by an emotion akin to yearning.

“Judging from the landscape, we’re in the region called Hassan,” she answered. “Though the soil near the river’s mouth is rich, the population here is low. The Divine Dragons live in the center of a mountainous region far to the west known as the Fire Dragon’s Tail. It is the land where, as told by divine revelation, the god Volcanon sealed the power of the earth from which he drew to grant the Divine Dragons their vitality.”

“Tell me, just what sort of god is Volcanon?”

“He is a fearsome god with geat wings of silver gray. He bides his time at present on the summit of Mount Volcanon.”

Baryu was uncertain what she meant. When he asked Kamaria to explain, she reiterated that Volcanon was sleeping.

Kamaria described the two principal gods of the Parmecian continent. Volcanon was a masculine deity, the god of destruction and the quelling of demons. Mithra was the feminine god of creation and protection. Both lay dormant for the time being. But their divine aspects stirred despite the stillness of their flesh, and by revelation they conveyed to the people their will.

Baryu muttered to himself. “I would pay them a visit, should time permit.” He took in the scent of a wind unlike anything in Rune.

Volcanon’s temple was nestled among the mountains that rose far to the north. The temple of Mithra stood further north still. To seek out those sites would see the passage of no less than one more cycling of the moon. And Baryu had no intention of delaying his reunion with his kin as long as Kamaria assured him that an audience with Volcanon would not be required.

With the ship’s anchor firm in the sands below, Karin and the the others filled its boats, which they rowed to shore. Baryu’s wings carried him to solid ground a step ahead of the rest.

Karin and Twiggy, unable to make the trip anything as quickly, decried the advantage of Baryu’s flight.

Baryu answered with his wings spread, describing their capacity as a Divine Dragon’s privilege. Piper would spend the next half of the day trying to calm Twiggy down.

Everyone who made landfall dispersed into the surrounding forests and rivers to secure what food and water they could.

Baryu spoke in reflection as he plucked the fruit from the tops of the trees they passed. “It seems a wonder that a land so fertile should be so lacking in any inhabitants.”

Kamaria searched her memory as she made a hammock of her surcoat to catch the fruit that Baryu threw down. “If I’m not mistaken,” she said, “this area was once home to hydras.”

“Hydras?” Karin stopped gathering fruit in her basket to scan their surroundings for any monsters that might lurk between the trees. “Wouldn’t that make this place pretty dangerous?”

“No, it’s quite safe. A traveler destroyed them long ago with the help of a steel servant. Or so I hear.” Kamaria looked at Karin and laughed. “I didn’t think you’d let hydras scare you away. Anyway, though the hydras may now be slain, those who fled when they first appeared might not have found it so simple to return.” She let her words hang in the air. “Baryu, you seem to have frozen up. Is anything the matter?”

Baryu was quick to assure Kamaria that he was perfectly fine. He went back to picking fruit as though nothing had occurred.

As the light began to falter, dinner preparations by the riverbank were already well underway.

Dongo looked up with an eyebrow cocked. “What the hell happened to you?”

Baryu had left camp earlier to gather up the remainder of their scattered comrades only to come back soaked completely to the bone. Dongo found it difficult to imagine that a Divine Dragon like Baryu would be clumsy enough to pitch into a river or the surf.

Piper and Dongo both broke into guffaws as they heard the explanation the Divine Dragon had to offer.

“This is no laughing matter.” Baryu grumbled as he dried his body by the fire. “Why must I suffer this retribution over such a triviality as glimpsing humans without their clothes?”

He had gone calling after Twiggy where he knew her to be gathering water. She had evidently seized the opportunity to enjoy a sneaky bath while there was no one left around. Baryu had no kind of interest in the skin of a woman not of his species. He remained calm on their encounter, but Twiggy’s response was not the same. She sent water splashing toward him as she shrieked, and in an instant, Baryu had reached his present state.

And now, of course, not a single ear was sympathetic.

Though Baryu insisted that their objections were misplaced, the women’s heckling carried on into the night.

Return to: English Translation Directory

Translation Notes

Character Names

Baryu (バリュウ, Baryū, EN: Bleu)

Key art for Baryu from Shining Force: Legacy of the Gods found in Tokuma Shoten's Shining Force Game Guide Book. Illustration by Yoshitaka Tamaki.

The name Baryū (バリュウ) contains the Japanese word for "dragon" (竜, ryū) spelled out in katakana (リュウ). This naming convention is repeated in Shining Force Neo with Doryū (ドリュウ), who is identified as a Divine Dragon and has a backstory that parallels Baryu's. Shining Force EXA likewise features a dragon ally named Garyū (ガリュウ). It is not known what specific sense, if any, is to be found in the different prefixes of these names.

Baryu is renamed Bleu in the English releases of Shining Force: Legacy and Resurrection, obfuscating the "dragon" reference found in the -ryū ending and making the similarity to the names of future dragons opaque. The name "Bleu" adapts the sounds of the Japanese name to the French bleu ("blue") based on the coloration of the dragon's wing membranes in his artwork for Legacy. However, the ba- prefix in Baryū is unlikely to have been based on a Japanese transliteration of the English "blue", which would more closely approximate burū (ブルー). The dragon loses his blue coloration when promoted in Shining Force, becoming a silver white with feathered wings, and in the version of the character drawn by original artist Yoshitaka Tamaki for Resurrection, his wings are never blue at all, instead being colored a bright pink in game and purple in his key art. In Shinosaki's book, Baryu is described as being a dragon of pure white.

Modern readers are presumed to be familiar with the Japanese meaning of ryū ("dragon"), so Baryu's name has not been further adapted for this English translation. Other interpretations will require more deliberation.

Karin (カリン, Karin) and Kurin (クリン, Kurin, EN: Krin)

A reflection of the relationship between the two sisters from Rudol Village is found in their very similar names, Karin and Kurin, which differ only in their initial syllable. A similar naming convention is used in Shining Force between the family of mermaids in Walalu, Shieru (シエル), Shiera (シエラ), Shierura (シエルラ), and Shimoru (シモル).

In the English localization of Legacy, Kurin's name is given as "Krin". The change makes phonological sense—Japanese does not feature consonant clusters, so the syllabic ku (ク) can represent an initial /k/ in constructions like "Krusty the Clown", where "Krusty" becomes Kurasuti (クラスティ) and "Clown" is Kuraun (クラウン). But this seems unsatisfying in the case of Kurin, as the spelling "Krin" no longer parallels the name of her sister Karin, instead becoming a reduction.

As there is no parsimonious way of reflecting the pattern of Karin and Kurin in more English-sounding names (Karen and Sharon? Colin and Cullen?), and the original names seem not to have been based on any English names in particular, this translation has chosen to leave the originals intact.

The name Karin may be in reference to the Japanese fruit, karin (カリン), known in English as Chinese quince. There is a fruit that appears in Shinosaki's book that he calls an akuwinsu (アクウィンス), which, with the addition of an initial /a/, matches the Japanese transliteration of the English "quince" (クウィンス, kuwinsu). However, Japanese people would not necessarily be familiar with the English name for the fruit, and there are many other fruit commonly known as quince in English that are not known in Japanese as karin.

Maron (マロン, Maron)

The boy from Rudol Village is not named in Legacy. Shinosaki's name for him could feasibly be a rendition of something like Mallon, Marron, or some other variant. The Japanese word maron (マロン) derives from the French marron, meaning "chestnut". The character's name may or may not share this etymology.

Kamaria (カマリア, Kamaria)

The name Kamaria as used by English speakers is a derivation of the Arabic qamar (قَمَر), meaning "moon". Whether Shinosaki was aware of this sense or saw it as an invented name based on some other construction (perhaps names like Aria or Maria) is not known. Due to the ambiguities of Japanese phonology, other possible interpretations of the name could include such spellings as Kamalia, Camalia, or Camaria. The flower known as the camellia in English has a similar spelling, which transliterated into Japanese would be kameria (カメリア), though the Japanese word for the flower is tsubaki (ツバキ).

Otranto (オトラント, Otoranto, EN: Otrant)

Full article: Otranto Eyesman

See also: Doom Blade Translation Notes § Otranto

First appearing in Shining Force, Otranto is the administrator of Manarina. The character's name is a probable reference to the Italian city of Otranto, which is recognized as the setting of The Castle of Otranto, an eighteenth-century Gothic horror novel. The city is also home to the Otranto Cathedral, an eleventh-century structure featuring mosaics with imagery from Christian tradition.

Continuing in the tradition of Legacy, Doom Blade: Shining and the Darkness Gaiden, and other published materials related to Shining Force, Shinosaki seems to have avoided using any specifically gendered language in reference to Otranto. As the Japanese honorifics typical of the setting (e.g., -san, -sama, -dono) are not in themselves gendered and as Japanese is less reliant on gendered pronouns than English, this is not on its face that exceptional. However, with how many other characters are referred to by gendered language in the original text, Otranto remains something of a standout, and combined with the character's androgynous appearance, the effort comes across as a deliberate one. To maintain the ambiguity of the character's gender found in the original Japanese of Shinosaki's work, this English translation has been written around Otranto's pronouns and has given Otranto unique nongendered titles, e.g., Administrator Otranto instead of Sir or Madam Otrant, etc. This wiki treats the occupation of wizard as accessible to any gender, but as this translation's editors recognize that the term has a stronger masculine association in English, the word "magician" is used for Otranto.

Shinosaki's version of Grandmama recalls having punished Otranto as a child and calls Otranto "a hundred years too late" to give her orders. If taken either literally or as an exaggeration, this gives some sense as to Otranto's age. Masaki Wachi writes in the Shining Force Strategy Guide that Otranto is the thirty-fourth administrator of a long line of Otrantos and that the original Otranto founded Manarina three thousand years before the events of Shining Force. If the Otranto present in Shining Soul and Doom Blade is understood to be the same character as the one in Shining Force, this cannot be true, as the individual's life is shown to span thousands of years, making Otranto potentially immortal.

Ventura the Adventurer (冒険家のボーケン, Bōkenka no Bōken, EN: Boken)

The recurring character introduced in Shining Force as Bōken (ボーケン) greets Max in Lindlind with the following dialogue.

Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Bōken the adventurer!

はじめて　おめにかかります　わたくし　ぼうけんかのボーケンと　もうします!

This original name is preserved as Boken in the English versions of Legacy, Resurrection, Shining Soul, and Shining Soul II.

However, the name is a joke in Japanese that is lost on a general English-speaking audience. The Japanese word bōken (冒険) means "adventure", so when the character introduces himself as "Boken the adventurer", the sound of the words in Japanese is bōkenka no Bōken (冒険家のボーケン). A more direct English equivalent would be "Adventure the adventurer", but this is difficult to stomach.

The name Ventura familiar to English speakers has a similar sound to "adventure" and is used in this translation to preserve something of the original joke.

Twiggy (ツィッギー, Tsiggii, EN: Karna)

The character's name appears to be the English word "twiggy" transliterated into katakana (ツィッギー, tsiggii). Twiggy may be named in homage to the prominent English model. Her name may also be a reference to her slight stature, her elfin association with trees, or something else completely.

For some reason no reason, the character is named Karna in the English release of Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal.

Piper (パイパー, Paipā, EN: Tyrin)

Piper may be named for the pipes smoked by archetypal wizards like Tolkien's Gandalf. Any association the character may have with wind instruments is unknown.

The English localizers of Shining Force II changed his name to Tyrin, possibly because they found the name Piper too strongly associated with feminine characters.

Koron (コロン, Koron)

The queen of Yurt who is described in Legacy as a conduit for the train's psychic livestock is also depicted here as a prophet (though the game's prognosticating sheep go unmentioned).

Though other spellings (e.g., Collon, Colone, Kolon, or, God forbid, Colon) are possible, they are not much more compelling than the more conservative Koron.

Grandmama (オババ様, Obaba-sama, EN: Old Gert)

The form of address obaba (おばば) is a familiar way of referring in Japanese to old women in general, and is similar in effect to the English "auntie" or "granny". As she is also given the honorific -sama (様) and obaba itself begins with the honorific o- (お), this English translation uses the somewhat more respectful, though still familiar, "Grandmama" for the character.

The character's title is given in Japanese as Jikken Bā-san (実験バーさん), a combination of the words for "experiment" (実験, jikken) and another form of address for an old woman (ばあさん, bā-san). This English translation has chosen the title "Science Matron" to convey this sense as opposed to more ambiguous and unwieldy alternatives, e.g., "Old Experiment Lady", "Experimenter Grandma", etc.

The character appears in Shining Force, where she turns Max into a chicken. In the English localization, she is named Old Gert.

A sign on the wall in Manarina where Max first meets Anri has the following text.

“Beware the Science Matron! Run before you’re turned into a chicken!”

「じっけんバーサンにちゅうい!　ニワトリにされるまえに　にげろ!

There is also a sign outside the library with an advertisement for a lab assistant job.

“Recruiting assistant for experiments! Chicken lovers especially welcome! —Science Matron"

「じっけんのアシスタントぼしゅう!　ニワトリのすきな方　大かんげい!　。。。じっけんバーサン

Dongo (ドンゴ, Dongo, EN: Randolf)

Presumably named in a similar style to Tolkien's Hobbits (Drogo, Bungo, etc.), Dongo is a dwarf who first appears in Shining Force II.

In the English version of the game, the character is renamed Randolf, probably because the localizers could not stop snickering at the word "dong" in his original name.

Zidur (ズィドゥール, Zidūru)

This lizardman is original to Shinosaki's book. Any specific reference that the author may have had in mind is not known, but it has been observed that in at least one Japanese translation of the Necronomicon, a spell known in the English book as zidur, which is used to summon one of the aspects of Marduk, is transliterated into Japanese as ziduru (ズィドゥル).

The Romanian zidul, meaning "wall", would also be transliterated into ziduru.

The name may be influenced by the Sindarin word dûr, meaning "dark".

Alternative spellings of the lizardman's name include such variations as Zidoor, Zidool, Ziduur, and Ziduul, which fans of Ghostbusters may prefer.

Zappa (ザッパ, Zappa, EN: Zylo)

The werewolf king of Vostok is known in the Japanese version of Legacy as Zappa (ザッパ). He is assumed to be named in reference to the controversial musician Frank Zappa. The English localizers of Shining Force changed his name to Zylo because nobody stopped them.

The character is identified in the instruction manual for Shining Force and in other publications as a wolfling (ウルフリング, Urufuringu), and this is the name used for the race by Tamaki in Doom Blade. Within the game, Zappa is only ever referred to by other characters as a werewolf (ワーウルフ, wāurufu), and Shinosaki retains this feature in his book. Characters in the English version of Legacy call him a warwolf instead. Zappa's starting class in Shining Force is werewolf, and he promotes to a wolf baron (ウルフバロン, urufubaron).

Zappa is not identified specifically as the king of Vostok in game, but the characters who live there refer to him using the title -sama (様) and show great reverence toward him. His home also features a conspicuous throne room. In the ASCII guide, Masaki Wachi does term Zappa the king. Despite his promoted class being labeled a wolf baron, Zappa is not in any media referred to specifically as a lord or baron.

Wendy (ウェンヂイ, Wendii)

Full article: Wendy

Wendy's first appearance is in Shining Force Gaiden, where she is identified as the younger sister of Tao and Diane.

Her name may be inspired by the 1950s comic book character Wendy the Good Little Witch.

Goth (ゴート, Gōto, EN: Gort)

An 1890 woodcut of unknown authorship showing a typical modern depiction of the Goths of Germanic antiquity. From left to right, the dwarfs Goth, Rag, and Dongo and the werewolf Zappa in human form receive a blessing from Rabbi Loew.

The name Gōto (ゴート) given for the dwarf that Max first meets at the pub in Guardiana is probably a transliteration into Japanese phonology of the English "Goth" or its German equivalent, Gote. The namesake suits the character's image of a Germanic axe-wielding warrior with a plumed or horned helmet and a round shield.

Variants of names based on the etymology of "Goth" (i.e., Proto-Germanic *geutaną), such as Goti, Gaut, or Gaute, may also be appropriate. The name Gaute was originally used in this wiki's English translation of Shining Force: Legacy of the Gods. Although English speakers are anticipated to read Gaute as rhyming with "goat" or "got", an Old Norse pronunciation would more likely approximate /'gau.tɪ/, though the Old Norse form itself would have been Gauti. The modern Icelandic pronunciation of this would be /ˈkøyːtɪ/. A Norwegian pronunciation of Gaute might today approach /'gæʉ̯.tə/. If treated as a German name, it would resemble /'gaʊ.tə/.

The localizers of the English version of Legacy seem to have been unsure what to do with this character's name. Earlier versions of the game used the name Gord before settling on Gort.

Aleph (アレフ, Arefu, EN: Alef)

Arefu (ゴート) is named for the first letter common to Semitic writing systems, including Phoenician and Hebrew. The English spelling "Aleph" is influenced by the Greek álpha (ἄλφα).

According to Jewish tradition, the word emét (אמת, "truth") is carved into the head of the golem to instill it with life. When its first letter, alef (א), is erased, the remaining letters spell mét (מת, "dead"), and the golem is killed. This usage occurs in Chapters 11 and 12 of Doom Blade.

Shining and the Darkness also features characters named after letters. The cantaurs known in the game's English release as Dai, Dyan, and Edward were originally named Eta (エータ), Xi (クシー), and Theta (セータ) after the Greek letters.

Staedtler (ステトラ, Sutetora, EN: Alchemist)

The apothecary of the mountain country of Vostok who formulates the cure for Zappa's poison in Shining Force is named Sutetora (ステトラ) in the Japanese version of Legacy. The character is not named in the game's English release, where he is referred to only as "the alchemist".

Though the intent behind the character's original Japanese name is not known, our editors have chosen the spelling "Staedtler" based on the German name with a similar pronunciation. The stationery company Staedtler is a popular manufacturer of art supplies in Japan, and Yoshitaka Tamaki is known to have used their products.

Ernest (アーネスト, Ānesuto, EN: Earnest)

The knight who seeks revenge against Barbazak for the death of his family in Shining Force appears here as the governor general of Ulan Bator.

The Japanese Ānesuto (アーネスト) could equally qualify as a transliteration of Ernest, Arnest, Ernesto, Arnesto, or Earnest, among other names. Though our editors have settled on Ernest due to its status as the most common English name of this selection, it is with much vacillation.

Arthur (アーサー, Āsā)

The knight who Max first encounters hanging laundry in Manarina has become Ulan Bator's naval commander.

The character's name is a reference to Arthurian legend. His standby dialogue in Legacy mentions his desire to hunt down the holy grail.

Characters also named Arthur who share similar appearances feature in Shining Force III and Shining Tears.

Vangarde (バンガード, Bangādo, EN: Vankar)

The alcoholic guard who accompanies Max's Shining Force under orders from Queen Koron makes a brief appearance here as a knight of Ulan Bator.

The Japanese Bangādo (バンガード) is a transliteration of the English "vanguard". This wiki's translation uses the spelling Vangarde to suggest the word's French derivation and offer a less distracting alternative to Vanguard, which does not pass as a name in English.

The character's name in the English localization of Shining Force seems to have been chosen in desperation. Earlier versions of the script call the character Vann.

Peil (ペイル, Peiru, EN: Pelle)

The name of the knight who once served as a mercenary for Runefaust has long vexed the editors of this translation. Peil has been chosen as the most conservative rendition of the Japanese Peiru (ペイル) in English that still looks plausibly like a name.

There is a chance that the name is related to the Dutch pijl, which has the same pronunciation. The Dutch word has the sense of "arrow" from the Latin pīlum, i.e., "spear".

A less palatable spelling of the name is Pale, in possible reference to the Pale Horse of the Apocalypse. The term "pale" also occurs in heraldry, which has a tangential association with knights.

Of interest is the trivia that the name appears variably as Peil, Payle, and Pale in Legacy's encyclopedia, setting book, and key art gallery. The spelling Peil occurs in Resurrection's guide book.

Mithra (ミトゥラ, Mitura, EN: Mitula)

The blue-haired goddess who advises Bowie's company in Shining Force II is mentioned briefly in Chapter Four of Shinosaki's book as a Parmecian deity of "creation and protection", a curious designation in contrast to the game's description of Volcanon as the world's creator deity.

The Japanese spelling of the god's name, Mitura (ミトゥラ), is unusual in its usage of the foreign sound /tu/, represented by the katakana to (ト) followed by a small u (ゥ). In typical transcriptions of foreign words into Japanese, a syllable ending in /t/ or a consonant cluster beginning in /t/, e.g., in a name like "Mitra" (/ˈmi.trə/), as in the Hindu god, is normally represented by the sound to (ト) rather than tu (トゥ).

The choice of whomever named the character to use this exact spelling is something of a mystery when Mitra, more commonly given as Mitora (ミトラ) in Japanese, presents itself as such an obvious reference. However, the spelling tu is sometimes used in Japanese instead of su when transcribing "th" (/θ/) sounds found in languages like English and Greek. The name Mithra used by the related Persian deity emerges therefore as a compelling option, and this usage is attested to in scholarly materials.

Alternative to this are the spellings "Mitula" (used in the English release of Shining Force II), "Mitura" (used in Shining Force EXA), or even just "Mitra", since this may still be what was actually meant, and references to this spelling are found in Japanese literature. Shining Force III features a powerful holy weapon called the Ankh of Mitra, where "Mitra" is given as Mitora (ミトラ) in the Japanese version of the game.

Place Names

Shinosaki's book is set on the continents of Rune and Parmecia and makes references to many of the locations of Shining Force and Shining Force II. The preferred spelling of many of these place names are subject to review.

Rune (ルーン大陸, Rūn Tairiku)

Rune consists of two continents—the Eastern Continent (東大陸, Higashi Tairiku), at the southern end of which is Runefaust, and the Western Continent (西大陸, Nishi Tairiku), which is home to Guardiana. The English spelling "Lune" is given in the Shining Force Encyclopedia and the Shining Force Setting Compendium, both published by Shogakukan. There is some debate over whether to take these spellings seriously.

Parmecia (パルメキア大陸, Parumekia Tairiku)

Parmecia is a continent that shares the waters north of Rune with Grans Island. The name "Parmecia" (パルメキア, Parumekia) has the flavor of Latin names in the style of Phoenicia (フェニキア, Fenikia), itself derived from the Greek Phoiníkē (Φοινίκη). Japanese spellings of words from Greek retain the Greek and Latin /k/ sound that has become an /s/ in English. For example, the centaurs of the Shining series are known as kentaurosu (ケンタウロス) in Japanese, based on the Greek kéntauros (κένταυρος), and cerberuses are termed keruberosu (ケルベロス) from the Greek Kérberos (Κέρβερος).

If the name Parumekia is meant to have a Greek or Latin sound, the expected anglicization would be Parmecia.

Other conceivable spellings to be considered are Parmekia, Palmekia, or Palmecia

Eastward Continent (東方大陸, Tōhō Tairiku)

Map depicting Rune and the Eastward Continent in Shining Force: Descent of the Gods.

Unfortunately for English speakers, the very similarly worded "Eastern Continent" (東大陸, Higashi Tairiku) is already used in reference to the Eastern Continent of Rune. The Eastward Continent (東方大陸, Tōhō Tairiku), on the other hand, is a location that first appears in Yuuichirou Tanuma's manga, Shining Force: Descent of the Gods. The Eastward Continent is east of Rune's Eastern Continent and features locations and characters that follow an East Asian theme.

Rudol Village (ルドル村, Rudoru Mura, EN: Rudo)

The name Rudoru may be influenced by German names like Rudolf, but a clear reference has not been established.

Alternative ways of spelling the village's name include Rudor, Ludor, Rudle, Ludle, and other variants. Shogakukan uses the spelling "Ludol" in the Shining Force Encyclopedia.

Ulan Bator (ウランバートル, Uranbātoru, EN: Uranbatol)

The name Uranbātoru comes from Ulan Bator, a historical spelling of the capital of Mongolia now known in English as Ulaanbaatar (Улаанбаатар).

Walalu (ワーラル, Wāraru, EN: Waral)

The name of the tropical islands of Walalu (ワーラル, Wāraru) evokes Hawaiian phonology.

The name for the country used in the English version of Legacy is Waral, which in American English rhymes with coral, i.e., /ˈwɔɚɹəl/. But the use of a long /aː/ in the first syllable suggests a separation between the syllables, as in /waː.ra.ru/. The Shining Force Setting Compendium echoes this separation with its spelling "Warlal", where the "ar" conveys a long /aː/.

If Wāraru is treated as a three-syllable construction broken as /waː.ra.ru/, then the only remaining ambiguity is what sound should correspond to /r/. In Hawaiian phonology, /r/ is an allophone of /l/, where the letter "l" is used to spell Hawaiian words and the letter "r" is not. This line of reasoning produces the spelling "Walalu".

Lindlind (リンドリンド, Rindorindo, EN: Rindo)

The country's Japanese name, Rindorindo (リンドリンド), is reduced to Rindo in the English localization of Legacy. The spelling "Lindlind" used in this translation is based on the Germanic lind, but there is no strong evidence for any given interpretation. The spelling Lind-Lind is used in Shogakukan's Shining Force Encyclopedia and Setting Compendium.

Vostok (バストーク, Basutōku, EN: Bustoke)

The mountain nation of Basutōku (バストーク) ruled by the wolf baron Zappa has a name that is almost certainly derived from the Russian vostók (восто́к), meaning "east". The Russian pronunciation of vostók reduces the initial /o/ to an /ɐ/, i.e., /vɐˈstok/, which phonologically matches the Japanese Basutōku.

Werewolves have a strong connection to Eastern European folklore, and the country in Shining Force neighbors the Yurt Plains, which are themselves a reference to Mongolia, a former Soviet satellite state. The fictional port of Ulan Bator in the same region takes its name from the Mongolian capital.

This translation previously used the spelling "Bastork" because it is the spelling used by Shogakukan, it is fun to say, and our editors found the reference to storks amusing.

Yurt (パオ, Pao, EN: Pao)

Full article: Yurt

Divine Dragons

The creatures named Divine Dragons are called in the original Japanese of both Shining Force and Shinosaki's book Shinryū (神竜). Shinryū is a compound word built from the element shin (神), read in isolation as kami ("god"), and ryū (竜, "dragon").

The English version of Legacy renames the creatures "Sacred Dragons". This is in line with the localizers' decision to purge all references to the Gods, who ironically are as the story unfolds revealed to not actually be gods anyway. The effect of this revelation and the implications it has on the nature of the world and the way its inhabitants understand it is lost in the English script.

Divinity is a characteristic of gods, and the word "Divine" suggests a stronger connection to the Gods than does "Sacred", which has the weaker sense of something holy or revered but not a god in itself. As the Divine Dragons are according to Shinosaki viewed by the people of Rune as "the rightful children of the Gods", the word "Divine" more closely matches this sentiment, as well as the original Japanese.

Bloodlines and Lineages

The title of Shinosaki's book uses the word ketsumyaku (血脈), a Japanese word for blood vessels constructed from the compound ketsu (血, "blood"), read on its own as chi and myaku (脈, "vein"). It has the figurative sense of familial relations. An English word that retains both of these feelings is found in "bloodline".

Elsewhere in the text, Shinosaki uses the word ichizoku (一族, "a group sharing ancestry"), a word constructed from the kanji for "one" (一) and "family or race" (族), to refer to the lineage of the Divine Dragons.

The Pillars of the Earth

Illustration of ancient cosmology featuring the pillars of the earth.

On the first page of "An Old Tale", Shinosaki writes the Black Gods to have been sealed within the "pillars of the earth" (世界の柱, sekai no hashira). This language is found in some English translations of the Bible, as in the King James Version of 1 Samuel 2:8.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.

The idea of the sky as a firmament, i.e., a solid dome spanning the flat plane of the earth, both held aloft by supporting pillars, is a concept common to many ancient cosmologies, including those of the Greeks, Hebrews, and Egyptians. In this context, the pillars are not a figurative notion, but rather a prescientific way of understanding the actual structure of the world. Shinosaki's reference to the pillars of the earth roots his narrative's cosmology within this tradition.

For compatibility with modern scientific understanding, other versions of the Bible, such as the New International Version, replace the phrase "pillars of the earth" with the less evocative "foundations of the earth". The word "pillars" used in the Bible is translated from the Hebrew matsuq (מָצוּק, "pillar").

The phrase's usage in Bloodline of the Divine Dragons uses the Japanese hashira (柱, "pillar"), and the expression is taken to mean that the Black Gods were sealed underground. This matches the description of Dark Dragon's sealing from the Japanese introduction of Shining Force.

After a fierce battle with the Gods, Dark Dragon was captured, and by the hands of the Gods sealed beneath the earth.

神々とのそうぜつな戦いのすえ　ダークドラゴンはとらえられた　そして　神々のてにより　ちのそこに　ふういんされた

The English version of Shining Force rewrites this as Dark Dragon being "cast into another dimension".

The Manuscript of Secrets

The Ancient document that describes the containment procedure for Dark Dragon is identified in the Japanese version of Legacy as the Manuscript of Secrets (ひでんのしょ, 秘伝の書, Hiden no Sho). The more typical word for "book" is hon (本), with the word sho (書) carrying the connotation of a handwritten document, i.e., a manuscript. The Japanese construction indicates a document containing secrets (a manuscript of secrets) rather than a document that is secret (a secret manuscript).

In the Japanese script of Legacy, a scholar in Prompt gives another name for the manuscript—the English word "Manual" spelled out in katakana (マヌアル, Manuaru).

The Manuscript of Secrets is called "the Manual". Inscribed within it is the method of the Black Dragon's awakening, as well as the means to bring to life the mechanical robots the Ancients created.

ひでんのしょは　マヌアルとよばれ　黒き竜の　めざめがしるされているが　古代人がつくった　キカイロボトを　よみがえらせることも　できるらしい

In Divine Dragons, Shinosaki writes out "Manuscript of Secrets" in kanji with the reading "Manual" notated above (秘伝の書マヌアル). This usage of furigana conveys not pronunciation, but an alternative reading, or gikun.

The English version of Legacy calls this document the Manual of the Seal, echoing the construction of "Key to the Seal". It is also interchangeably referred to as just "the manual". English releases of Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon call it the Book of Secrets.

Black and White Dragons and Gods

References in Shining Force

Chapter 6 of Legacy is titled "Descendant of the White Dragons" (白きドラゴンのまつえい, Shiroki Doragon no Matsuei). The word for "white" used here is shiroki (白き), an adjective that in modern Japanese is written shiroi (白い). Using -ki (き) endings on -i (い) adjectives is characteristic of archaic or poetic Japanese. This form is also found in Dark Dragon's descriptor, "the Black Dragon" (黒き竜, Kuroki Ryū).

In the Japanese version of Legacy, the name of Dark Dragon is spelled out in katakana (ダークドラゴン, Dākudoragon) in the game's introduction. However, for most of the story, the dragon is known to most characters not by name, but only by the descriptor of "the Black Dragon". In fact, the name "Dark Dragon" does not appear in the script until the Spirit of the Spring of Memory reveals it in the following dialogue from Chapter 7.

The Key to the Seal has been stolen. But you have the Chaos Breaker . . . Use the sword against the Black Dragon . . . Use it to defeat Dark Dragon.

ふういんのカギは　うばわれましたが　あなたには　カオスブレイカーが　あります・・・　その剣をつかい　黒き竜を・・・　ダークドラゴンをたおすのです

The second character to say the name "Dark Dragon" is Dark Sol in Chapter 8.

My Black Dragon . . . It has gone on to sleep for one thousand years at the bottom of the sea. The legendary Dark Dragon's awakening is within my grasp! HA HA HA HA HA . . .

我が黒き竜・・・うみのそこで　1000ねん　ねむりつづけた　でんせつのダークドラゴンが　我がてによってめざめる!　ワハハハハハ・・・

From this point on in the story, Dark Sol continues to use the name Dark Dragon. Nova uses the name once after the final battle.

Hmm! Can it be immortal? Upon its defeat, it is immediately resurrected!? . . . But Dark Dragon was once sealed by the Ancients . . . And that which seals the chaos of evil . . . would be  . . . the Chaos Breaker!

むむぅ　ヤツはふじみか!　たおしても　またすぐに　ふっかつしてくるというのか!?　・・・　しかしヤツは　かつて　古代人にふういんされている　ダークドラゴン・・・　悪のカオスを　ふういんするもの・・・　それは　・・・　カオスブレイカー!

Other than these occurrences, every character in the game knows exclusively says "the Black Dragon". The name "Dark Dragon" does not occur until late in the game where it is spoken by characters with firsthand knowledge of the monster. This distinction is deliberate and should be retained in any English translation of the game that wishes to preserve the effect and the impact of the name's first appearance in dialogue.

The Japanese title of the Shining Force remake is Resurrection of the Black Dragon (黒き竜の復活, Kuroki Ryū no Fukkatsu).

The English versions of Legacy and Resurrection do not maintain this distinction, instead using the name "Dark Dragon" throughout.

In Resurrection, Baryu tells Max the story of the White Dragon. The following text comes from the European English version of the game. Unlike in the English version, the Japanese script of Resurrection has Baryu refer to Dark Dragon instead as "the Black Dragon", providing a more direct contrast to the White Dragon.

Okay then, here's an old tale that my grandma told me ages ago. Long long ago, the gods created a dragon that would preserve peace on earth. This dragon was the ancestor of our dragon god, right?

Why was the first dragon god born...? Well, he was born so that he could fight Dark Dragon. Dark Dragon was really strong, and many soldiers had died trying to fight him. We need another dragon just as strong if we're to have any hope of defeating him... That's what the gods thought.

So the gods created the White Dragon to confront Dark Dragon. Yep, and he's our ancestor. But... The White Dragon wasn't as strong as the gods thought. This is because the White Dragon had a heart. The reason Dark Dragon is so strong is because he has no heart. Or does that go without saying?

Dark Dragon has no heart, so he will destroy or kill anything without a care. The gods tried to avoid this with the White Dragon by giving him a heart. But having a heart made the White Dragon a gentle thing. And because he was gentle, he couldn't be really strong. In spite of this, the White Dragon fought a fierce battle with Dark Dragon.

The White Dragon fought a terrible battle with Dark Dragon... He did it because he had a heart. If I do not fight, many lives will be lost... The White Dragon realised this. He felt it in his heart. But the White Dragon wasn't as strong as Dark Dragon. It looked like the powerful Dark Dragon would succeed in killing him.

But then there was a miracle. The sight of the dying White Dragon, risking his life to defeat Dark Dragon... This moved the gods, who had always been afraid to pick up their weapons and fight. The White Dragon and the gods fought together and finally sealed away Dark Dragon. So the fight ended well... But the White Dragon had been so badly injured he would never be able to fight again.

The gods created the realm of Dragonia as a pasture for the White Dragon. He had no strength left to fight, but in Dragonia be bore many children. And they became dragon gods. The gods entrusted the protection of the world to these dragon gods.

So, you see, it is our destiny to fight Dark Dragon. ...Soon we'll be confronting Dark Dragon, right? I'm a bit scared... But I'll do my best.

An interpretation of the White Dragon fights in a battle against Dark Dragon depicted in the Shining Force Neo graphic novel authored by Shining Force writer Masaki Wachi.

The Japanese words used for concepts of "Darkness" and "the Light" are the nouns yami (闇) and hikari (光). When used as adjectives, these words take the particle no (の), e.g., hikari no tsurugi for "Light Sword" or "Sword of Light".

Bloodline of the Divine Dragons

Shinosaki uses the same archaic forms of the Japanese words for "Black" (黒き, kuroki) and "White" (白き, shiroi) as those found in the text of Shining Force to refer to the Black and White Gods.

The title of Chapter 1 of the book is "The White Divine Dragon of Dragonia" (ドラゴニアの白き神竜, Doragonia no Shiroki Shinryū), and in the text of the prologue, "An Old Tale", Baryu is described as having a body of pure white (仔竜は全身が真っ白で, koryū wa zenshin ga masshiro de, "the baby dragon had a body of pure white").

References in Shining Force III

Shining Force III continues to develop the notion of Divine Dragons with the character Thousan, who is described as a member of a dying race. In Shining Force III, White Dragons are worshiped as Divine Dragons by the people of Foothill Village. The Shining Force III Setting Compendium states the following on White Dragons.

White Dragons (ホワイトドラゴン)

Highly intelligent dragons known as Divine Dragons. Uniquely, should they die unexpectedly in battle, they reincarnate into new larvae. They live long and their capabilities are great. If they receive the Blessing of Light, they grow into true Divine Dragons and become able to breathe thunder.

神竜と呼ばれる知能が高いドラゴン。他の者と違い、戦いの中で不慮の死を迎えてしまっても新たな幼生となって転生する。長い年を生きており、能力も高い。光の祝福を受ければ真の神竜となり、サンダーブレスも吐ける。

The ability to breathe lightning is also something that Baryu gains following his vocation change in Shining Force: Legacy, though his attack in Resurrection more closely resembles the Supernova energy beams used by Max, reflecting Baryu's status as a weapon of the Ancients.

The Seal of Kwal van Koel (クゥアル・ヴァン・クゥールの封印, Kuaru van Kūru no Fūin)

The word "van" (ヴァン, van) gives the name of this seal a Dutch flavor, which may give a hint as to the other words. Dutch words that fit the pronunciation of kuaru (クゥアル) and kūru (クゥール) are kwal and koel. Taken as a phrase, the Dutch kwal van koel would mean in English "jellyfish of cold". As unlikely as this seems, it may be taken as a humorous reference to Domingo, the flying jellyfish from Shining Force who specializes in ice magic. Shinosaki wrote on his website that a scene was written in which Domingo appeared but that it was cut in the end because the manuscript was becoming too long to print. Perhaps Domingo would have once helped place this seal on the Manual.

On the other hand, as always, our editors may be barking up entirely the wrong tree.

Illustrations

Shining Force: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons features illustrations from Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal artist and animator SUEZEN. The maps of the Runic and Parmecian continents are drawn by Teruko Watanabe.

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Resources

• [Multiple Formats on Internet Archive]