Ah, dang that hurts, Dacota groaned. Never had his head felt this bad. He got slowly up and shook his head. He very slowly opened his eyes. He was also very sorry he did, for the light blinded him. "Man, how am I going to get around if I can't see?"

Dacota reached out beside him and felt an arm there. Faith. At least she was still here, and from the sounds coming from her direction, Dacota also knew that she was asleep. He didn't know what to do so he started to go over his memories until his head calmed down.

The last thing Dacota remembered was that Faith had fallen overboard with the last blast. He had dived in after her even when Duncaan yelled for him to stay. As he hit the water he looked around for her and quickly saw her sinking down. With a few strong strokes he had caught up with her. Grabbing her belt he looked back up. But before he could start to swim upward, a huge animal came out of the depths. Dacota looked on with horror as a Taulken came up to look at him. A Taulkin was twice the size of a blue whale, but with smaller fins and a large hump on his back. Two tusks came just below the jaw to spear fish then swim them toward his mouth. He tried to swim back up but one tusk had slid into his side. It sliced him open like he didn't have skin and his pale red blood started to clog up the water. He quickly summoned some strength and shoved a wave at the Taulkin, but that only made it angrier. It tried to impale him again, but Dacota swerved around him. Unfortunately it hit Faith and snagged her clothing. Dacota quickly followed the massive hulk a few meters in front of him.

Long he swam and many times the Taulkin surfaced to breathe air so Faith could draw in some. But through his eye lens, Dacota could also see that every so often Faith was banged against a rock or something like that. It seemed like forever before the Taulkin went near a cove.

Now is my time to attack and save Faith, he thought. He grabbed his long knife from his thigh sheath. An old blade from Dacota's first captain after the captain died in a Taulkin attack. Now the same blade would avenge the old sea dog. This is for you Cap'n Hauki. With a great stroke, Dacota came up beside the creature's eye. With a hard, quick jab, Dacota destroyed one of his eyes. Immediately the creature bellowed in pain and turned to see his attacker. But Dacota had already swam over the top of him and drove his knife into the beast's back. Dark green blood started to cloud the water around the massive beast.

Before he could react, the Taulkin pulled back his tail and hit Dacota on the head. Spinning off of him, Dacota lost his grip on his knife. It slowly started to sink into the bottom of the ocean, right beside Faith. When the creature had started to move around quickly the larger remains of Faith's clothing had ripped. She had started to sink to the bottom with her long blonde hair floating in front of her.

Without a second thought Dacota dived after her. With a few quick strokes he grabbed her foot and pulled her up to him. Hugging her close, Dacota concentrated quickly. A quick underwater current came and pushed Dacota and Faith out of the quickly closing Taulkin. Dacota felt a tusk shear into his leg, but he couldn't pay any attention to it or they both would die.

Crying out to the sea, Dacota summoned most of his strength and did two things at once. He shoved himself away from the beast, and he quickly turned the sunken knife around and imbedded it into the gigantic animal. Crying in rage and anger the Taulkin had had enough. He turned around and headed back out to the open sea. The sharks will get him, Dacota thought. Then he headed for the surface.

As Dacota's head broke the surface of the water, night had fallen while they had been underwater. And all the underwater currents of the Great Sea had pushed them toward a small cove in a continent. Dacota grabbed Faith and kicked hard at the water to propel them both toward the shore. He could see that a sandy beach awaited him. What else he could not tell from his position in the water. Though as he looked up at the stars in the sky, it was a very moving sight. Just wish you were awake to enjoy it with me Faith. After a half an hour, Dacota finally dragged himself and Faith ashore.

He was exhausted, but he knew that if he didn't act quick Faith might die. He turned Faith onto her back and tilted her head upward. Then while holding her nose closed, put his mouth on hers, breathed into her and pumped her chest. He did this several times before she started to cough up water. Laughing out of relief he looked down on her.

Faith was just opening her eyes. She slowly sat up, then spit up some more water. When she was done she started to whimper and finally started to weep. Dacota was surprised a little, then reached over and held her. He took of his vest and wrapped it around her frail body in an attempt to give her some protection against the cold. Finding a human presence nearby, she grabbed onto his arm and held on tight.

"Shhh, it will be alright. It's ok, you're safe now,” he told her. He held her long into the night before she finally went to sleep.

Then making a small bed on the sand for her, Dacota went up into the forest at the edge of the beach and found a fresh water stream. Dipping his hands down into it, Dacota drank deeply. After finishing, he realized how hungry he was. "Well, that will have to wait for later," he mused out loud, "For now I have to keep Faith alive at all costs."

He slowly stumbled back to the beach and found Faith still lying there. She was breathing painfully and under the moonlight he saw that she probably had several broken ribs and at least a fractured leg bone.

"I will just have to wait until tomorrow to fix the ribs and leg." With that thought in mind Dacota lay down near Faith and looked up into the stars. He didn't really care if animals found where they were or if PSI found them. His body was too tired and his soul was restless.

As he slept though, his body was refreshed, and under the moonlight with the sea nearby, Dacota's soul found some peace through the night. But his mind was not at ease. For the near-death experience had frightened him and his mind was conjuring up long forgotten memories.

Footsteps pounding in the alley were a lost sound in that city. A young boy was running away.

"C'mon brat, why don't you let us play with you," an older boy said behind him.

Little Dacota screamed back, "Why are you following me? Just leave me alone!" Step after step and never stopping. He turned into another alley and found a dead end. He turned back around in time to see the three older boys enter the alley too.

Frantically looking around for something to fight with, Dacota grabbed a small lead pipe. He held it up and said, "Don't come any closer or I will hurt you." The older boys laughed and pulled out their knives.

Right when they were about to rush at him a voice called out, "Hey, what are you doing?" The boys looked back and saw an older man about forty years old. He was dressed in blue with long blond hair going down a little below his shoulders. He looked like a sailor captain. His eyes were a deep blue that held your attention.

"C'mon boys, I bet he has a lot more money then fish boy here."

The three teens turned around and attacked the older man. The man did not cry out in response and didn't move. But right when the three boys got to him, a small movement and all three were on the ground. One of them had a broken arm and another had a slashed side. Yelling curses at the man they ran off.

The older man went to Dacota and helped him get up. "Are you ok boy?"

Dacota looked up into his eyes and for the first time noticed they were a blue that seemed to shimmer with the light. Many blues were in those eyes and they captivated Dacota, for he had always loved the sea more than anything else.

"Yeah I think so, thanks Mister."

The man looked at him and said, "Cmon, I will take you somewhere safe." He took Dacota's hand and walked out of the alley.

After walking for about an hour they reached a house on the beach. Dacota took a deep breath and smelled many different things. The salty smell of the great ocean, the colorful odor of fish at the fishing port nearby and he smelled a strange smell from the man. It was not unpleasant, but it had an odd, otherworldly snese to it.

Dacota stopped for a minute and went and put his feet into the sea. The man stopped and watched him. Dacota looked out at the sea and stood there for a minute, savoring the sounds, the smells, and the clean fresh air.

"Do you love the sea, boy?"

Dacota nodded and said, "Yes, I always have. My mom used to take me to the sea and watch for my dad's ship to come in..." But at the mention of his parents Dacota choked up.

"Hey it's alright, what is your name?"

Dacota looked up at him and said, "Dacota, my name is Dacota."

The man smiled, and when he did it seemed to Dacota that he got younger. "My name is Vakta Hauki. I am a captain."

Dacota's eyes lit up when he mentioned him being a captain, "That's cool, my dad was a sailor of a ship, and first mate."

Hauki smiled, took his hand and led him up to the house, all the while listening to the young twelve year old talk all about his dad.

"Hey uh, Mrs. Hauki, are you there?" A voice cried out in the small house.

"Yes dear, hold on just a minute will you?" The middle-aged woman came from the kitchen to look at Dacota.

He was fifteen now and was almost ready to go on his first voyage with Captain Hauki. "I wanted to know where Captain Hauki was."

"Why dear he is down at the docks of course. Looking over his newest ship."

"Thanks Mrs. Hauki, I'm going down there now."

With that Dacota ran out of the door and slammed it shut right at the moment Mrs. Hauki called out, "And don't slam the... door." Shaking her head she went back to her cooking.

Ever since coming to live with Haukis, Dacota had turned into a small sailor, a perfect copy of Cap'n Hauki. He had been sailing around the harbor with the captain, but nowhere else. The captain had told him that he could go sailing when he turned seventeen. Dacota couldn't wait.

As he ran to the small dock nearby, the ocean wind pulled at his clothing. Laughing, Dacota dived into the water at the shore. He started to swim over to the docks. "Hey, Cap’n," Dacota yelled.

The captain was standing on his new ship, the Last Lighthouse, looked out into the waters and then saw Dacota swimming toward him. The captain nodded a small smile came onto his face then he turned away to give an order to his crew. Dacota reached the ship and climbed up a ladder. Some of the men yelled at him, insulted him, and otherwise made him feel welcome.

The Cap’n turned toward him and said, "Yes Dacota? May I help you?"

Dacota looked him almost in the eyes, "Nah, just wanted to come and say goodbye to you one more time before you sail. And to see your ship."

The Cap’n smiled and laughed. "Mark my word Dacota, in a few years you will be sailing with me. Now run along and head back to shore. Look, Mrs. Hauki is already out on the beach."

Dacota looked out and saw her already on the beach.

"Run along son, I will see you in six months."

Dacota gave him a hug and then dived over the side of the ship. As he hit the water he already felt the rumble of the ship. He quickly reached the shore and turned back to wave goodbye to his new father.

Two years after that, Dacota had already learned all about navigation and how to captain a ship. But the Cap’n sailed one normal day without Dacota this time. He needed to stay behind and help with the building of the Hauki's newest ship.

But a few days later when Dacota was walking on the beach, some pieces of wood floated up to the beach. Dacota walked slowly up to it and picked up a piece. On it were written a few words stained by the seawater. But he could make it out, Last Lighthouse. Crying out in anguish Dacota fell to his knees and pounded on the sand. Unexpectedly the waves became more violent and the wind whistled as in mourning for this one person. Little did Dacota know how important or powerful this man was.

For a few years after his death, Dacota lived with Mrs. Hauki and helped her. He didn't go out to sea very much, mostly to the pleading of Mrs. Hauki. She always said to him, "I have already lost three men to the ocean, two brothers and my husband. I don't want to lose a fourth. Stay with me and get a job on land." So he did, but the sea was ever calling to him.

When he turned twenty-four, he built the ship that the captain was building when he died. Dacota named it Seabird's Flight, because the captain had always called Dacota his Seabird, for though he loved the sea, his mind was often soaring above it with the gulls. Dacota had always liked that description of himself.

So even against the pleadings of Mrs. Hauki, Dacota finally bought some cargo and hired a crew. The day he set sail was a tearful one for them both.

"Please Dacota, don't leave me."

"I'm sorry Ma, I have to go. The sea calls to me as it did to both of my fathers. But you were always my mother that I know and love."

She started to cry so Dacota hugged her and gave her a kiss. As he turned to go she cried out, "But what if I never see you again?"

He turned back toward her, "My dear mother, how could a bird forget the nest that he was raised in? I will see you again." With that he jumped into his ship and called out orders to the crew. As they pulled out of the harbor he looked back at the only mother he had ever really known. He blew a kiss to her and waved. Then he turned back toward the sea and the future that awaited him. Little did he know that the sight of his foster mother standing on the beach waving to him was his last one of her.

Ahh yes, Mrs. Hauki. My foster mother, so unlike my real mother, Dacota thought as he returned from his memories and looked out toward the sea. He had woken up a short time ago and let his eyes adjust to the brightness of the ocean.

While he was thinking of his mother and his past he had reset Faith's ribs. Her leg he wanted to wait till she woke up. I should probably wake her, he thought.

Tentatively, he pushed on Faith's arm. "Faith, wake up girl. You need to wake up," he whispered in her ear. Slowly one of her eyes opened and then the other. She screamed in pain.

"Hold on Faith, you have broken your leg and I'm going to set it now." Quickly reaching down and grabbing her leg in a firm hold he pushed and twisted at the same time. A sharp unnatural crack was heard and Faith screamed louder. Then grabbing the wood and cloth that he had found he made a quick splint for her.

"There you go Faith. Now you need to calm down or you will break one of your ribs again." Finally Faith started to calm down and just sniffled and groaned.

"What do you mean? Broken ribs? What happened and where are we Dacota?"

"Well when I finally pulled us onto shore, a rib was broken and one was bruised. Your right leg, that I just set, was also broken."

"How did this happen?" she asked.

"You were hit against some rocks in the current." Faith looked around dazed and finally succumbed back to sleep. Dacota got up and felt her head. It was burning up. She has a fever. I need to build a hut quickly.

He headed back into the forest, looking for materials to build a small cabin for protection. Let's just hope I can get finished in time.

A few days later their small hut was completed and Dacota had moved Faith into it. While Faith recovered from her injuries, Dacota had tried to figure out where he was, but landmarks were no help at all. He had walked around the coast a little bit but had seen nothing.

Ever since landing on this beach, Dacota had gone out every morning to swim and think about how to find help for Faith. So this morning Dacota walked outside the hut and stretched his arms. That feels good. The morning is bright today. His leg was feeling good today; the slice that the Taulkin gave him had almost healed though he would have a scar there.

He looked out over the ocean. It was sparkling in the morning sun, with waves splashing against the water. A light breeze blew over it. The morning was a little cool, but that didn't worry Dacota as he ran down the beach and into the water. Dacota plunged into the cool ocean water and disappeared below the waters. How I love the sea! I hope I never have to leave it.

With powerful and experienced strokes Dacota was quickly a mile from the beach. As he came back up for air his skin started to turn a slight blue that resembled the water. Why this happened he didn't know, but it had been great embarrassment to him when he tried to swim with the other kids in school. Cap’n Hauki had told him not to worry about it, that he was a child of the sea and nothing would change that. So Dacota started to swim by himself and actually it helped him think and cleared his head. The water also had some kind of healing power to Dacota too.

Diving once more into the water his eye noticed something down in the depths of the coral reef off the beach. Quickly deciding to investigate, he dived deeper. Soon he found what he was looking for. His knife was the thing that had caught his eye. Smiling to himself he swam back to the surface.

As his head broke the water he heard Faith yelling over the water, "DACOTA COME QUICKLY!" It sounded like she was screaming. Oh God, if anything happened to her now I could never forgive myself.

He headed toward the shore like a madman. Reaching the shore in a few minutes, Dacota quickly saw why Faith was screaming. A gothlin was attacking her.

A gothlin was a large snake-like creature that stood upright at about seven feet. It had two small arms near the middle with sharp claws. Its head was like that of a snake with a large crest coming up from its head. These creatures were very dangerous for they could fire poisonous spines from their tails.

Quickly grabbing his knife he ran up to Faith. Faith must have been walking a little on the beach because she was very far from the hut, too far to get there quickly.

Dacota leaped at the monster using his size and speed to his advantage. He plunged the knife into the mid-tail of the creature and leaped back quickly. A split second later, a spine came hurtling at where he had been. It turned to face Dacota full on where it could fling the spines easily. The gothlin lunged out at him with one of its claws, but it missed. Dacota had already rolled out of the way. But as he came up the tail knocked him head over heels toward the sea. Thinking that the man was dead it turned toward the girl again. But Dacota had only been stunned and as he got up it seemed everything slowed down. Faith was yelling at the creature and Dacota, she was holding a sharpened stick pointing it at the creature. The gothlin wasn't scared and fired one of its spines at Faith. The spine imbedded itself into her leg and she screamed even louder. Dacota quickly ran up to the gothlin and jumped on its back. He quickly plunged the knife into the only weak spot on the gigantic snake. The neck area right behind the crest that was supposed to be protecting it. The creature yelled in pain and surprise. Plunging again and again, Dacota struck with his big bowie knife. Finally the creature fell to the ground and didn't move.

Breathing hard, Dacota sat on the animal for a minute before he noticed a small river of red blood going down to the ocean. He quickly jumped off the creature and ran up the small hill to Faith. Faith was crying out in pain. The spine had gone all the way through her thigh and the poison had already entered her body. He examined the spine and saw that there were no hooks on it to keep it in the skin.

Just as he was about to pull it out Faith finally was able to talk to him, "Dacota, how bad is it?"

He looked up. "Pretty bad, it went through the leg and I think the poison has already gotten into your blood. But you're gonna be alright."

She choked, "Dacota, in case I don't make it...."

"HEY, don't say that. Don't you dare say that. You're going to be fine. No good-byes."

She looked at him, "No, this is important to me. If I don't make it tell my mom and dad what happened to me. And if you can find Duncaan tell him too."

Duncaan. It had never entered Dacota's mind what had happened to the others. Wherever they are, I'll be praying for their safety.

Shaking it off he turned back toward Faith. Dacota grabbed Faith's belt which he had coiled up and laid aside earlier. He sliced a chunk off, gave it to her and said, "Bite on this, it will help." She grabbed it and put it in her mouth.

"Now listen to me, Faith," he told her, "This is going to hurt worse than anything you've ever felt so if you have to scream go ahead. I will count to three and then pull alright?"

She nodded and braced herself. "One, Two THREE." He grabbed the spine and yanked backward quickly and hard. The small piece of wood fell out of her mouth and she let out a huge scream that echoed all through the woods behind them and over the ocean.

Somewhere in a laboratory Duncaan was strapped down to a chair. He was almost unconscious when very faintly somehow he heard Faith in his mind and in his ear. Then he recognized the scream of pain. Anger shot through him like never before. And fear. He quickly summoned the last of his strength and began to chant. Great bolts of lightning started to shoot out everywhere and proceeded to destroy the equipment. The Doctor was yelling and then hit by a bolt. His assistant died of electrical shock and slumped down to the floor. Slowly Duncaan stopped shooting out bolts and slumped down in his straps. Oh Faith. Dear God, please keep her safe.

Dacota breathed easily and slumped down onto the ground. He threw the spine at the dead gothlin and it imbedded itself into the animal. After he had pulled the spine out Faith passed out. He rested a moment, but he knew he had to make a stretcher for Faith and find a hospital. If he didn't she would never survive, so he picked himself up and started toward the woods.

By the time the stretcher was done the sun had gone down. Slowly he lifted Faith onto the stretcher and picked up the handles. He looked into the forest and knew that he could be leading them to their death. That forest was probably infested with gothlins and they loved to live in forests and drop from trees. His knife was in his hand and as he went he could make himself a spear.

"Well Faith," he said, "I guess we better head out. The question is which direction." He stared into the forest trying to figure out where to go.

"Oh well, I'll let the waters guide me." So he headed out into the direction of the spring and was soon lost in the forest.

After two days travel in the forest Faith finally woke up and started to act a little more normal. So Dacota quickly found a campsite and stopped for the night. A fire was soon crackling and leaping in the woods driving the shadows back. Dacota had gone out and hunted for a little bit and soon had caught a small deer like creature. He came back and roasted it above the fire.

While it was cooking he started on his third spear when Faith woke up and said, "Dacota, where are we?"

Dacota looked up with surprise. "Um, let's see. Two days after you were hit with that spine and some where in the forest. Hungry?"

"Yeah, could you hand me a piece of that animal?"

Dacota reached over and cut off a chunk of meat from the animal. As he handed it to her he looked at her. She was very pale and her eyes had lost some of their life. He could tell the poison was slowly killing her. He didn't know how much longer she had to live so he had to hurry.

Faith quickly ate that piece and asked for another one. Even as she ate though she sometimes jerked and made small noises. Dacota had turned back toward his spear. "Dacota am I going to live?"

Dacota looked up at her again. She was staring into the fire and seemed healthy again though her skin betrayed that. She also had a tear in her eye.

It was just then that Dacota realized she was very afraid. He stood up and went and sat beside her. "I don't know Faith. I'm not a doctor, though I know some basic first aid. I don't know how long it takes for the poison to finish so...." he trailed off.

She slowly nodded. "It's just that I thought I'd have this great life ahead of me. I would marry someone really special and have a lot of kids. Everything would be just perfect. Now I don't know if I will live to see tomorrow's dawn."

"You know," Dacota started, "My mother, not my real mother, always told me a old sailors saying, 'Look to the stars, for they will keep you safe and guide you to the next dawn.' So ever since then I don't worry about tomorrow, I just look at the new dawn and see my future there."

Faith slowly said, "Yeah, my mom says kinda the same thing. But for me the stars hold my future. I love the ocean yes, but my heart is to the stars. I look at them and I feel safe. I mean when I was a small girl I used to sit up in my window and look out at the stars. Of course on Los Juegos you couldn't see many stars for all the tall buildings, but my window faced the east and I could always see the stars at night. They made me feel safe. Wish I could see them now." Faith couldn't hold it any longer and started to cry.

Dacota not really knowing what to do asked her, "What do you want me to do?"

She answered, "Just hold me, hold me."

So he wrapped his arms around her and held her as she wept out her fears. Then an idea came upon him. Summoning his powers up once again he called on the rain. And it fell. It brushed back the leaves of the forest and the stars shown through. Soon he heard soft breathing and realized she had fallen asleep. Since the poison was winning she didn't have a lot of strength left. He slowly laid Faith back down on her bed.

After changing her bandage with a strip of his shirt he whispered to her, "Now rest in the stars, Child. For they will not fail you, they never have failed me." He kissed her forehead then went back to working on his spear.

Dacota had been working on his new spear for just a bit before he heard a growl. Immediately he grabbed up his spears and slowly moved to Faith's side. He shook her gently but she wouldn't wake up.

Before he could do anything, seven or so gothlins fell from the trees. Before they had even landed he had flung one of his spears into the head of the nearest one. It fell back dead and right beside it fell another of its brothers with another spear in its head. But the others kept coming closer. Dacota grabbed his last spear and flung it at another gothlin. The gothlin jumped out of the way before it got close.

Now all Dacota had was his bowie knife. He quickly pulled it out and activated its sonic waves. This kind of knife, like many on Mystica, had a small sonic generator in the handle so when activated the knife would project fast moving sonic waves and cut through things easier.

Just when the gothlins were about to attack, one of the beasts was flung into the air and hit against a tree. Without warning two more creatures fell dead at Dacota's feet. The others quickly realizing that they could not fight this thing ran off into the night. Dacota anxiously waited whatever had killed those animals.

It wasn't long before a man stepped into their campsite with a large type of sniper rifle pointed at Dacota. He was not as tall as Dacota, though a little broader. Long sandy-blonde hair fell out of his bandana tied around his forehead. He was dressed in night camo clothing with another rifle on his back. He also had a small sidearm on his left leg and a bowie knife, bigger then Dacota's, was on his right calf.

"Are ya all right?' he said in a strange accent.

Dacota nodded. "Yeah I think so, I'm not injured thanks to you." The man looked at Faith and his eyes betrayed concern. "What happened to her?"

Dacota said, "We were in a shipwreck and were injured. Then she was poisoned by a gothlin so I needed to start out for a hospital. I camped here for the night and that pack found me. So did you."

The man nodded, "Yeah. Hey, hold on for a minute and I will go get my truck." He ran off and a few minutes later an off-road truck pulled up in a clearing ten yards away. The man quickly came running with a needle in his hand and administered it to her in a few minutes. Faith sighed and started to sleep more peacefully. Then with Dacota's help they carried her to his truck.

As he put her in the truck Dacota noticed all the weapons in the back of the truck on racks. Several advanced types of crossbows and long bows sat there with at least 6 quivers of arrows. The two rifles were also on the rack and he noticed a type of crossbow that Dacota had never seen before. But there was no time to ask about it so they lifted her up and put her in a blanket the man had with him.

Dacota volunteered to stay in the back of the truck with Faith and the man agreed. Before he jumped into the truck Dacota yelled out, "What's your name?"

The man looked back and said, "Codi, Codi Areol at your service mate." He then jumped into the truck and turned it on.

As they traveled down a small dirt path, Dacota knew every minute was vital to Faith. He reached down and held her hand. "Just hold on Faith, just hold on