I opened my eyes from the darkness of my mind that Fang had brought, preventing me from seeing anymore of the struggle he faced against the eternal dragon and his servants. I had so many questions, like what had happened to all those Hominidae creatures.

“Larana.” I called as she appeared. I grabbed hold of her, hugging her tightly, the pain she endured when they tore her spirit from her body.

“Master.” She was surprised. “I am sorry, I should have warned you about what the fusion would bring before we became one.”

I slowly released her. “That does not matter, did we save everyone?”

“We did,” she nodded.

“Alex.” Dad’s voice came from the door. I glanced around seeing I was in one of the bedrooms in the biggest house at the heart of Link’s village.

“That’s how you know about Zekon’s past,” I said.

“It shows all the past, including previous masters,” mentioned dad.

“I only saw what happened between her meeting Fang and some fights, then he stopped them somehow.” I wasn’t sure how to describe it myself. “Was he really that powerful?”

“Indeed.” Dad nodded. “He fought against more than we could ever imagine, you’ve read the stories, a world of darkness, ravished of life, too many sacred beasts lost to the eternal dragon’s creation of talismans.”

“Empress Milliana told me about what talismans were. I wasn’t sure if I should even be using their power,” I smirked. “But we fight as one.”

“It is a secret that must be kept, if no one used talismans, they would truly die.” Dad reached his hand to touch Zekon. “I keep hoping my power would be enough to restore Zekon to what he was before his power was abused, but no such luck as of yet.”

“You would need the power of the goddess to restore the spirit within a talisman,” spoke Raziel. “But more importantly we must complete the mission.”

“I thought it was complete.” I sat up. He shook his head and I looked at dad.

“Once the storm was over, the knights guarding the area began to make there move into the borders, obviously at the orders of that Draco,” snarled dad rather annoyed. “Your unit has been taking them out and we have almost made it to the borders, pushing them back, won’t be much longer before we get to go home.”

“Why aren’t you out there?” I questioned.

“Break, I guess, used most of my energy in the last raid, thought I’d come back and check on you. Ibiki took control, one heck of a team you’ve built up.”

“Thanks, took some hard work,” I went to stand up, stretching as I did. “How about we go join them, then let me take you home, mums really missed you.”

“And I her.” Dad held a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Together we headed out into the undergrowth to join the others. I could hear the crying of the enemy as they were attacked, the sight of their power being released, from fire, lightning to earth.

I summoned Larana’s wings upon my back. Dad followed my lead summoning Zekon’s wings.

“I thought you were on a break,” I commented.

“With you now awake, this will only take a moment.” Dad’s body glowed red, Zekon’s armour appeared. “Not having to defend the village every night. I have enough power to maintain this better.”

“All out then,” I grinned. “A bit over kill.” I released Larana’s power as my body glowed, fusing together our power. It felt amazing.

“Remember Alex, this form is only to be used when you need it most,” said dad. “Using it all the time would leave you too weak to carry on with the completion of a mission.”

“What about now?” I wondered as he had powered up without a single thought.

“Class today as training,” he grinned. “You’re not too old for me to still train you, are you?”

“I’ll be honest, I’ve missed your lessons,” I responded.

“Right then, let’s get to work.”

I nodded and we took flight, ascending high above the village. I adjusted my speed to match dad’s as I did not want to be leaving him behind.

Below I could see my unit facing off against the knights, they were certainly outnumbered but had pushed them back, you could see how far from the destruction of the undergrowth, they didn’t even care about the land.

“Now then.” Dad called over to me. “I want you to manipulate the wind in one go, pushing everything that does not belong here out.”

“But the walls are still there,” I said.

“They’ll have to go to,” commented dad. “You know how to use Larana’s power, you should have all the knowledge you need to do this simple task.”

“Alright.” I took in a deep breath, and he was right I knew all Larana’s moves now, all her knowledge was mine, apart from the information Fang had stopped me receiving, was it something bad after that or something I was not yet ready to know about, perhaps not having my awakening also affected what I saw during those visions.

I glanced at dad who waited patiently for me to do something. I could sense the wind, almost see it as it swirled around me, like it was dancing. I lifted my hand, changing the direction of the wind, then began to condense it within my hand, giving it a more physical appearance

“Nice control,” nodded dad.

“Now let’s blow them away.” I moved the condensed wind between my hands, before forcing it down towards the ground.

The moment the wind came into contact with the ground it erupted in a powerful gale, swirling out like looking upon the top of a hurricane. It rustled the trees, blew the fur of the Animalia who fought beside us, but those who aligned themselves with the darkness struggled to even stay standing as the wind blew them back away from my unit.

Each one hit against the walls they had erected to stop the discovering of the dark crystals and to keep in the Animalia who inhabited.

I heard their cries for help as the wood began to buckle from the pressure. I watched as the wood splintered, breaking apart like the waters from a flood breaking through a dam.

I smiled as I saw it all coming down, including the watch towers. The village was now free from the walls the darkness had created. I felt this emotion almost overwhelmed me, my dad was finally going to come home.

I looked at my hands, realising just how much power I really possessed, then I felt the strain on my body, glancing at dad, I wondered if it would always be like this in this form.

“Impressive,” nodded dad as his armour faded away. Had he used it simply for demonstration. “But you put too much power into that.” He glanced at me. “In this form, you do not need to put so much of your own energy into executing the moves as at this moment you and Larana are one in the same, just like before but much stronger.”

“Got it,” I nodded. “I still have much to learn.”

“Yes, but you’ve seemed to have done, pretty well for yourself.”

-

My unit finished clearing the area of those inflicted with the darkness, gathering them up and bringing them to dad, so he could purify them. I just watched, his touch was all it took for the dark mists to disappear, now I understood what Milliana meant when she said if either one of us disappeared this world would be in serious trouble.

“Fang.” Link came up from behind me. I glanced at him as he got down on one knee.

“What’s up Link?” I asked.

“For freeing my home, please allow me to return to Cathopia with you.” He quickly lowered his head.

I thought about it for a moment, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, someone as powerful as him, would be the ideal guard for Tigra for when I went away for extended periods like this, but would he say yes to my request, plus I didn’t really want Tigra to know I had someone watching her, not sure the queen would go for it either.

“Alright,” I nodded. “On one condition.”

“Anything.” He gazed at me with unyielding determination.

“You are to guard the Princess of Cathopia, Tigra for me,” I said. “You must not let anyone know you are, if you believe she is in danger, then step in.”

“The princess.”

“You see Link,” I glanced around. “She is very important to me, my best friend, do you understand my terms.”

“Yes,” he nodded. “I will protect her as long as you so wish.”

“Good. I’ll give you more details later.”

“Fang we’re heading out.” Finn came running, joined by Kiba. “Yamato has finished packing up and saying goodbye to the villagers.”

“About time,” I sighed, I couldn’t wait to return home to Cathopia and see the look on mum’s face when she saw dad.

“I have a question,” started Kiba. “I know I’ve already had time off with Lin, but could I ask for a little more.”

“Well, I was thinking we all deserve a break when we get home, so no need to ask,” I smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Again, what this time?” asked Finn.

“This.” He pulled out a little box. “I am going to give Lin my betrothal gift. I’ve already got permission from her dad and mine, even the chief has given me his blessing.”

“Why your dad and the chief?” wondered Finn.

“Our clan is an ancient one, the chief guides the others and of course marriages those within the clan,” answered Kiba getting all excited.

“A congratulations in advanced.” I walked towards him, patting him on the shoulder.

“Remember what I said Fang.” He was referring to him telling me to tell Tigra how I felt about her.

“Alright, I remember.” I nodded, not sure when I was going to tell her, maybe after I found out Lin’s answer, but that was already obvious, she loved Kiba with all her heart, the connection between the two was a strong one. “Now, let’s head home.”