Taelos was running over a vast field. His grey cloak trailed behind him. As he ran, he dared a backward glance. What he saw scared him very badly. Chasing him were three of Vanarya's new black knights. Each with two large six shooters on gun belts, the belts crisscrossed low on their hips. Gunslingers. But their mounts, oh god, their mounts. How could such horrible things have been bred in the once wholesome Venarya, the kingdom he once would have given his life for in service. These were black chocobos. Black chocobos with red eyes and razor sharp beaks.

Taelos had been the highest ranking paladin in the Venaryan army in it's more wholesome days. Oh Venarya, most holy of realms, how could such corruption have defiled thee?

In Taelos's third year of service after being promoted from knight to paladin, the king had died. The court doctors and magicians stated he had died of old age, but the king had been in the prime of his life, barely fifty. Taelos suspected murder. After the king's death, the wicked and vile prince, whom Taelos had seen practice strange dark arts, such as summoning actual demons (Taelos knew the difference between actual summoned monsters, for combat, and summoning demons. The prince had been summoning demons), ascended to the throne. The prince had abolished the position of paladin, and had set up these dark knights. These Gunslingers. The prince ordered that the paladins turn to these dark ways. Taelos had been the only paladin to hold true to his creed. Now these Gunslingers were hunting him. His own friends...

Taelos was a tall man, reaching a height of six feet and four inches. In the battles he had fought in, the enemies usually attempted to steer clear of him, thinking him to be some giant come from legend. His eyes were a cold, heartless, steel-grey. His hair was a dark brown, whish he preferred to where long. He had been running for five days now, and had begun to grow a beard. He was 20. He was well-built, and had a keen look in his eyes, which made him look wise. He had been called handsome by many ladies in the King's court.

He stopped running. This was as good a time and place as any to end this game. He turned to face his pursuers, and loosed his blade in its scabbard.

"I tire of this game," Taelos called out to the trio of Gunslingers in a rich, kingly voice befitting of his lineage. His stalkers stopped as well, after coming within ten feet of Taelos. The leader edged his vile mount closer to the refugee.

"Taelos, do you then surrender to us?" inquired the Gunslinger.

"Nay, Zignar. I thought you knew me somewhat better than that, friend." Taelos looked down to see the eyes of his former friend.

"Yes, I should have known, but I didn't want to have to kill you. We can still fight side by side, if you surrender."

"I don't want to have to kill you either Zignar. But I can't conform my beliefs. Tell me, why did you become one of these vile Gunslingers?"

"Because, friend, times are changing. You paladins no longer have a place in this world.The world has moved on, but your kind have not moved along with it. I changed, because I feared losing my place in this world."

"So you would conform all of thine morals and beliefs simply to maintain a place in the sun? I see, thou art not as strong as I considered thee to be. I believe this makes us enemies. I believe I have no choice but to kill you now, though I shan't enjoy it." At this Zignar let out a loud laugh.

"Ha! That is indeed funny. How could you, a single lone paladin, armed with nothing but a sword, defeat us three Gunslingers?"

"Oh, but I can. I forgot to tell you back when we were last in the castle," Taelos grinned widely, "I have mastered karune."

"WHAT!" Zignar's jaw dropped and his eyes clouded with fear. "How could you have discovered the lost secrets of the paladins of old? Impossible! I shall squash you before these ideas go to your head. CHARGE!"

The chocobos rushed forward to run Taelos down. The tall man leapt nimbly over them, and landed on the ground on the other side. He rose and drew Calamegil, his mythril long sword, the only thing he had ever received from his father. Taelos turned to face the chocobos.

"Watch this," Taelos said.

He closed his eyes. A white pillar of energy rose from the ground and surrounded him. His white hauberk and grey cloak disappeared. He lurched forward and cried in pain as two long white finger-like things shot out of his shoulder blades. They spread length-wise, and were immediately covered in white feathers. The chocobos began to back away as as the ground rumbled and shook. rocks flew up and orbited around his body. There was a brilliant flash as the rocks disappeared, and he was suddenly wearing a mythril hauberk, with wide ailets. Water spurted forth from the ground. It spiraled around his legs, and seemed to melt together and became mythril greaves and boots.

The Gunslingers stared at the sky as it began to darken with swirling storm clouds. The pillar of energy grew and his arms were struck with lightning. The lightning ran up and down his arms, and there was a flash. His arms were now girt with rerebraces on his upper arms, vambraces with long elbow wings on his fore-arms, and gauntlets for his hands, all made of mythril. Wind swirled through his feathers, and the next second, his wings were armored with folding mythril plates. A fire appeared over his head, and it transformed into a full helm, with a steel face plate, with emerald eyepieces. The helm slid over his head. The helm had a strange white gem, radiating with its own light; with two horn like things similar to those on a samurai's helm, sprouting out from around the gem, along with three small spikes in between; set upon his brow. A similar gem, without the spikes and such, adorned the center of the hauberk. Another adorned the base of his dragon-hilted long sword, Calamegil. The three gems flashed in unison, and the pillar of white energy dispersed.

Taelos raised his bowed head and spread his armored wings. The Gunslingers, out of shear fear, opened up a volley of gunshots upon him. The bullets made it within six inches of Taelos' chest, and bounced back as if they had hit an invisible wall. Taelos waited until the men had to reload. He didn't have long. The men had twelve shots each, and got all of the shots off in four seconds.

Taelos rushed forward, and thrust his sword through the neck of the chocobo upon which the man to Zignar's left was seated, and through the rider's stomach. Taelos jerked his sword upward, slicing the head of the chocobo, and the entire rider in two. Blood, entrails, and brains flew in the air.

Taelos thrust toward the man on Zignar's left with the wing of his right vambrace. The wing went straight through the man's head. Taelos jerked the wing out, and grey brain matter spewed from both the entrance and exit wounds. All this happened in the space of three seconds. Taelos now ran toward Zignar.

"My friend, I give you one last chance to turn from your vile ways," Taelos said.

"NEVER!" Zignar cried defiantly as he thumbed back the hammer of his reloaded revolver. Zignar raised the pistol to be level with Taelos' head. Somewhere in that space of time something had happened, because on second Taelos' sword had been level with the chest of Zignar's mount; and the next, it was pointing toward the heavens from beside his head. Zignar's index finger fell off, as did a major portion of his six shooter, from midway up the chamber.

"AHHH!" Zignar screamed.

"I guess you leave me no coice, then," Taelos sighed, "I shall have to kill you."

Taelos leapt high into the air and held his sword above his head. His blade radiated with a blue light. The three gems shone brightly in their places.

"DRACOSLASH!" Taelos screamed as he swung his sword down to point at Zignar. A shapeless blob of blue energy burst forth from his sword, then took the shape of a dragon. The energy dragon dived straight for the ground, and when it almost collided with the earth, it leveled off and flew straight to and through Zignar, and then faded.

A spurt of blood threw the chocobo's head off its neck. The same held true for Zignar's upper and lower torso, with the addition of intestines. The other chocobo ran back toward Venarya.

Taelos descended slowly to the ground. The armor disappeared, and was replaced by his steel hauberk, denim pants, white shirt beneath the hauberk, worn cowboy boots, and his grey cloak. He sheathed Calamegil.

He walked forward and picked up the three packs carried by the Gunslingers. One held three bags of bullets, a knife, and five-hundred gil. Taelos took the knife and gil, and put them in his own bag. The munition he left. In the next there was a crossbow, fifty crossbow bolts, five-hundred gil, and three bags of munition. He took the gil and put it in his wallet with the other 500. Taelos now picked up Zignar's pack. Inside as three-thousand gil, eight bags of food, ten bags of munition, some odd sticks with sulphur heads, and a glass vial containing gunpowder with a small string protruding from the top. Taelos took only the gil and food. As he walked off, leaving the bodies to rot, he pondered things. For instance, Zignar had never done anything in combat unless ordered to do so. So how come the new king of Venarya had given him an explosive, and why had he anticipated such a long chase as to bring along so much food?

Taelos set up camp three hours later. He didn't have much of an appetite. Killing his best friend had seen to that. So he just laid back on the grass and stared at the stars. He must have dozed off, because the two moons were suddenly very high in the sky. Also, some stranger had approached his camp.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Taelos demanded.

"I have no name that you may understand, mortal. I am an angel, and I am here to help start you on your quest."

"So you're not a bum?"

"No. Now, listen. You are to go in search of the raven. Do you understand? You must find the raven and aid him."

Taelos dropped the daisy chain he had been working on since the angel confirmed that it wasn't a bum. "Why the hell do you want me to give a raven AIDS? Sorry, but I think I'll pass. No offense or anything, but firstly, I don't have AIDS to begin with. Secondly, I am not, I repeat, AM NOT GOING TO RAPE A BIRD!!!"

"I said you are to aid him, not rape him. And the raven is a guy."

"I'M NOT GAY, EITHER!"

"HELP HIM, NOT RAPE HIM!"

"Oh..."

The angel disappeared, and Taelos was asleep in ten minutes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taelos awoke the next morning, later than usual. He buried the remains of his fire, and slung his pack over his shoulder. He headed off and continued his northward trek.

After about a mile, he realized that he hadn't shaven in days, and had a good deal of stubble on his face. He pulled out the knife he had found on one of the dead Gunslingers, and drew his sword. He used Calamegil as a mirror, and began shaving with the knife. He got the hang of it after about two or three knicks. Soon, he was clean-shaven once again and heading on his way.

He continued on and made a brief stop for lunch. He then continued on his trek, undisturbed until late in the afternoon. From somewhere to his left and forward, he heard a bird screech. He ran toward the noise to find out what it was.

Lying on the ground was a beautiful full-grown red-tailed hawk. Its reason for being on the ground was painfully obvious. The birds wing was broken, and had a twig stuck in it.

"Looks like you've got yourself into quite a mess, huh?" Taelos inquired of the bird. It screeched at him, as if to say "You gonna' help me, or just stand there?"

"Alright, I'll help you."

Taelos looked at the wing, and set it. The bird screeched loudly.

"Calm down, or you'll never get well."

Taelos then proceed to make a splint for the birds wing using some bandages from his bag, and a couple of sticks on the ground. He then turned to see the twig in the wing.

"Hmmm... You'll have to stay still, or this will hurt even worse." He grabbed the stick, and pulled it out of the wing. Fortunately, it was only in about a centimeter, so it came out with ease. "Well, you're in luck. But I recomend that you don't try to fly for a while. Why don't I just take you along with me until you get better? What do you think?"

The bird seemed to agree with this, because it folded up its wings, and got to its feet. Taelos removed his hauberk, and threw it to the ground. He was wearing a long-sleeved, slightly tight white shirt beneath it. He let the hawk perch on his shoulder.

Going was a little bit slower after that, but Taelos enjoyed having some company. He set up camp a short while later, and cooked some of the venison he had found in the dead soldiers bag. He fed some to the bird, and made himself a plate. After he'd eaten, he lay back and looked at the stars.

Before he fell asleep he told the bird to screech if it saw something coming, and then fell asleep.

Taelos awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. He got up, and the bird convinced him to let it perch on his shoulder. He turned slowly and faced the direction he had been heading. He saw nothing. He then turned toward the West, and saw a forest. It seemed to be no more than 2 kilometers away.

He spotted six people moving in the forest, headed his way. Two of the people were unarmed. Two more carried swords. Another carried a mage staff. The sixth held Taelos' attention. He had what seemed to be a cloven sword with a revolver for a hilt. The gun's barrel was in between the peices of the cloven blade. When Taelos saw this man, he kept thinking Raven.

Taelos shouldered his pack, let the bird adjust its position, and headed off to meet these people.