ALEXANDER

Though they now had a Spirit Bond, it was hard for Alex and Marshtomp to bond as individuals, talking was kept to a minimum, though the fifty Sondim prisoners broke that rule more often than not. They were often greeted with harsh words and lashes from their Odaran captives. The prisoners were a gift from Brandon Brightflame to the leader of the Draconids, to assist them in the coming war- what war Alex had no idea of still, but what Alex did know was that these men were vicious. Rapers and thieves and murderers they were- and all of them starved and bloodthirsty.

The hundred-man party moved at night and in separate groups to avoid the glaring eyes of the Empress's spies, and even then, they needed to move quietly and away from the main roads to stay hidden. Though they never ran into the Empress's forces, the Draconids found them all the same.

At first the Draconids were hostile until they saw Marshtomp, Alex's new Spirit Pokemon, and then they were confused. Alex then gave the Draconids the letter Burningtree had given him, and off they went, hardly any time for a break other than to sleep during the daylight hours in some cave or crevice.

On the second day, the rocky bluffs of the jagged pass gave way to a blistering desert. During the day, the Draconids led them to a network of tunnels buried under the sand where it was cool, but at night there was nearly a never-ending spring towards the east. Marshtomp would tire easily, as the air was dry and it would slow down. Alex took it upon himself to carry the blue Pokemon on his back as they finally began to see a dark line of trees in the distance.

"Almost there, boy," Alex panted to Marshtomp who grunted in response.

"HALT," came a voice as they were twenty yards away from the line of the jungle that broke the desert. The moonlight was already broken and streaming through cloudy sky and the that cast mysterious patterns that waved back and forth on the sand in front of them. In those shadows Alex knew were more Draconids, ready to pounce on an enemy if need be, using the darkness to hide their numbers. "Who goes there?" The voice was familiar to Alex.

"Someone you'd very much like to see," said one of the Draconid escorts. "And a hundred more men to aid in the assault."

"More men have been hard to come by," said the voice and recognizing his man, the Draconid leader stepped out of the shadows. It's him! Alex recognized the tanned face, almond shaped eyes, and tight bun on top of his head. It was the man who spoke to Alex in the grove and showed up at his aunt's execution. "Pray tell where you've found a hundred more." Alex watched the man's eyes survey the party as more began to arrive behind them.

Nearly half were the Sondim prisoners who had their hands bound together and ran in rags. Many of them were skinny and malnourished and seemed to have more than one kind of hunger in their eyes. A third of them were armored in a sort of leather and more well off, the Odaran infantry that was a gift to the Draconids, and the rest were Odaran commanders and captains armored more ornately with sharp steel at their sides.

"You!" was all Alex could say as he interrupted the Draconids. "You're... a Draconid?" There were so many questions he needed to ask the man. How did you know my aunt? Did you know my mother? These were the sort of questions Alex wanted to ask him, but what came out was "You're one of Burningtree's men?"

That made the man smile sadly. "Burningtree is one of my men... or was before he abandoned us in a rather untimely fashion. Oh gods! We'll have time for questions and answers later, Alexander, but for now..." The man rushed forward and embraced Alex who was still sore and tired from the night's journey. With a thump, Marshtomp fell off of his back and landed in the sand. "What... how?" The man looked at Marshtomp and then back at Alex. "So its true... Come, then, Alex, follow me there's much I must ask you."

"Hold it," came another voice, one of the Odaran guards who helped to escort the Sondim prisoners. "Anywhere he goes, we go too. Our fight is your fight- we've come to present an alliance, and we didn't march over mountain and desert in this god forsaken land to be left by a family reunion."

Alex and Marshtomp looked at each other unsuredly. Family reunion? Everyone else seemed to know much and more about Alex than he himself did.

"Then come," said the man. "Open space is not our friend."

Alex and Marshtomp followed the Draconid leader into a familiar wooden shack in a small clearing, the desert still visible behind them as the Sondim prisoners and their Odaran guards slithered their way into the trees. The man gave a knock at the door and said something to his guard inside, and the door opened and the prisoners and the guards all seemingly made it inside the shack, one by one. Alex marveled at how such a small building could hold so many people.

It was then the man pulled Alex aside as more and more men went into the building.

"Who are you?" Alex finally asked.

The man simply looked deep into Alex's eyes. "I see it now," he said. "You look like both of them- a tragedy it was, to lose both of them so soon, but in my heart I know that they're together at last, and my sister is happy." The man looked at Marshtomp. The Pokemon had grown less timid during its time with Alex- the boy could feel a fear inside the Pokemon's soul, but what was it fear of? But Alex also detected a fear of... itself.

Alex was incredulous at the man. He wanted answers now and he had waited for too long. Questions, too many questions in his mind, being asked by too many people. It was his turn to ask the questions. Yet, he didn't want to interrupt the man. There was a longing in his eyes as the man crouched down and reached out a hand to touch Marshtomp on the birthmarked side of its face.

"Red as blood," he murmured. "This Pokemon was marked for great things to fulfill the prophecy and bring us hope. It's been marked by the blood of a loved one, someone important to you, Alex. The blood of family. Where did you find this Pokemon?" the man asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I got it from an Old woman," Alex whispered. "She came with the Odarans and with Brandon Brightflame. When I touched it the first time, we connected, somehow- I saw things that it had seen since it was an egg." Tears began to well in his eyes. "I saw the little girl die," he whispered.

"Lily Marsh," the man answered. "Alex, when I met you last I mentioned that I had watched you grow up. At first you resembled your mother, my sister Susan... and then you began to take on other qualities."

All the Odaran men and the prisoners were inside the shack now, and only the man and Alex were left alone outside to listen to the rustling of the leaves and each other.

"I recognized those qualities from someone else before. Your quick wit, your determination to fight for the ones you love, and your loyalty to your family." His eyes looked back at the Marshtomp. "And this Spirit Pokemon proves it."

"I'm a Marsh," Alex said, still unsure. "The voice of the giant... The giant said so." Alex began to ramble, "And my mother, I can hear her sometimes, she says I must remember who I am and... My father? Are you saying you knew my father."

Solomon stood up at the mention of a giant. "I did. Chris Marsh was your true father it is obvious now, and I should have known back then... My sister loved him from the moment she set eyes on him.

"Letting him go was my first mistake. I thought he was the Marsh that I was looking for, to defeat the darkness, but still I let him go and when he died I thought that I had failed the world, but still I pressed on, determined to fight it. I wanted to teach him, to find his inner strength, but he died before I could help him... and my sister died because of her love for him."

Alex felt a stab of guilt, it was all his fault. Wait... "Sister?" he asked. "That makes you..."

"Solomon Forrest," the man said with sad eyes. "Your uncle. I'm here for you, Alex, but the time has come for you to grow up. I never knew it was you, I had no hope left that it was, but this Marshtomp you've bonded with has shown me our time is come. It's time for the three heroes to step out of the darkness and reclaim the light for the world."

Alex didn't know what to say. Three heroes? Wasn't that an old wives tale, a legend? Chris had read the tale in his youth in one of the forbidden books in his father's library. He had never gotten to finish the story when he was caught by his stepmother.

"You're one of us, Alex," his uncle Solomon said.

"One of you? A Draconid?" he felt finally as if he belonged.

"No," Solomon said with a smile. "Something much more." Solomon whistled and down from the trees fell a tall lizard like Pokemon with glowing yellow eyes. It stood up on its hind legs and reached out its hand in the moonlight, it was flecked crimson with blood, like a birthmark, and it touched Marshtomp's mark- the match was undeniable.

"Time is running out," Solomon said finally. "Invaders from another land, these Odarans will move the Empress's hand swiftly, and I fear devastation for all is on the horizon if I don't teach you, as I taught Carson, long ago." Solomon looked at his own Spirit Pokemon and knew that Burningtree was not around.

"He stayed with his brother," Alex said.

"I can't blame him for his decision," Solomon replied. "I would do the same if my family had come back to me from the dead. But here you are, so while he makes his move and chooses his path, we must find ours- it's time to make our first move."

"So you are planning something?" Alex asked, Marshtomp perked up, curious as to what the Draconids were planning.

"We need the high ground to avoid the floods of the Empress when her wrath is woke- we need Mt. Pyre."

"You plan to take the whole mountain?" Alex asked incredulously?

"Within the fortnight," Solomon smiled back at him as he entered the shack. One of the Draconid guards whispered in his ear. "No, that won't be necessary," he said. "Keep them in chains. We don't associate with criminals. We fight for justice and freedom, not to satisfy our lust."

One of the Odaran captains must have caught his meaning and perched up. "These scum will fight and die so my boys don't have to."

Solomon looked long and hard at the Odaran and said softly, "Then you should ask yourself why it is you're even fighting in the first place. Your prisoners are criminals who fight to satisfy their own lust for blood and power- they are the same thing I've been fighting against for seventeen years. Leader of nations or common thief and murderer, their actions make them the same. I will not become that which I have fought against. The prisoners will remain prisoners, and you can tell Brandon Brightflame that although I accept his support and well wishes, I will not become that which I fight against."

Alex was shocked, surely the Draconids would need every man they could get if they were to launch an assault on Mt. Pyre. Alex had grown up there, of course, and he figured the mission was already near suicidal. "Sir... uncle," Alex raised his voice, "we could use the extra men, though, couldn't we?"

Solomon smiled. "I have trust that we will have more men, I've set Elli to the task and I have faith that she'll deliver. She's seen the light, I believe, and someday, you will too. There will be time for reminiscing and questions, but come now, you must help my commanders prepare for the siege."

More and more questions... but there were no time for answers now. Alex knew that within the fortnight, as Solomon said, war was in his future. He needed to prepare and remember his training. He looked at his new Spirit Pokemon, a timid look in its eyes. Marshtomp wasn't ready, Alex could feel it, and there wasn't much time for to prepare.