Lightning flashed in the Blood Mountains and thunder crackled as deep beneath them, in an underground lair, a cloaked figure raised his hand over a glass orb and began chanting, "Vola bid tu ana binaye contora innextre koxus."
The dark figure then took his hand away from the orb, and a swirling red vortex emerged from the orb. As it grew upward, it also grew in size until it began to shrink and become narrower. It became smaller and smaller until it shrank back into the orb, and once it did, jolts of red electricity began to spark within the orb. The sorcerer placed his hand on the orb and felt the energy surge through him. He then chuckled darkly, "It's about time that I was given the Power to Destroy. The one power I was never taught…but I'm not going to use it just yet."
"Why not, master?" asked a voice. The cloaked man turned to see his servant, "Now is the perfect time for you to take control of the kingdom!"
"I know, but these things shouldn't be rushed," the man responded, "Remember what happened to my mentor and his two cohorts?"
"Former cohorts, master," the servant corrected, earning himself a glare from his master, "Forgive me, master!"
His master simply rolled his eyes and turned back to the orb, "Anyways, they rushed into it without that much planning," he began, "If I'm gonna take over the kingdom, and eventually the world, I'll need a strategy. And after the incident with my mentor, I've learned the valuable lesson that patience is indeed a virtue."
"A strategy, my lord?" the servant asked.
"Yes," the master said with a nod, "Because if I die, the Forbidden Arts die with me, so I have to prevent myself from dying until I can find an apprentice to carry on my legacy."
The servant looked at his master in confusion, "How?"
"Easy," the master responded, "Who are the two people who have had more success trying to destroy the Forbidden Arts than anyone else?"
"Prince Derek and Princess Odette," the servant answered.
"Exactly," the master confirmed, "Take them out of the picture, and no one will be able to stop me. But first, did you find it?"
The dark figure's servant nodded and took out what appeared to be a fossilized animal talon, "Yes, master."
"Excellent," the master chuckled as he took the talon and absorbed its energy, "You've been a good servant to me, but I'm afraid your services are no longer required."
The servant looked at his master in confusion, "Master?" But before his servant could do anything else, the dark figure unleased the energy within him from his palms and created a flash of blinding light. As it faded, the servant looked to see something that truly terrified him, but before he could react, he screamed in terror as he heard a loud roar and was incinerated in a blast of fire.
Odette hummed happily as she strolled along the lake. A cool breeze fluttered across her face, and she closed her eyes as she savored it. A pair of hands covered her closed eyes from behind, causing her to gasp, but a gentle voice calmed her.
"Guess who?" Odette giggled, and a cheeky smile crossed her face.
"Mmm, Bromley?" She heard the person behind her chuckle.
"Nope, try again." She giggled and smiled.
"Rogers, is that you?" She continued to tease him. She heard him grumble.
"No." She decided to give one last jab. She gasped in fake surprise.
"Jean-Bob! You really are a prince!" The hands flew off her face and there stood her husband, looking affronted.
"Ok, Rogers is still fine, but I draw the line at being mistaken for a frog." Derek said, a pout on his face and his arms crossed. Odette laughed and gave him an apologetic kiss on the cheek. Derek rolled his eyes and gave her a hug.
"And I would be most gracious if you never mistake me for this buffoon again." The couple pulled apart to look down at the frog and turtle that had appeared at their side. Odette giggled at the frog's pout.
"Now, Jean-Bob, I was only teasing." Odette said gently. Jean-Bob crossed his … and continued to pout. Speed rolled his eyes at the frog's antics. Odette and Derek chuckled at their friends. A shadow flew overhead, and the four looked up as Puffin came into land.
"You wished to see us, Odette?" Puffin asked, bowing slightly. Derek turned to his wife. She suddenly seemed very nervous.
"Yes… I went to the physician, yesterday." The three animals and one man glanced between each other. Odette had been feeling ill for the past few weeks. She had been experiencing nausea for the past few mornings, and she seemed to tire easily. Derek stepped closer to her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, trying to keep the trickle of panic from overflowing. They had been through so much already. Rothbart, Clavius and Zelda. And now this? What if she became ill?
"Oh, I'm fine. It's just… well…" She seemed to struggle with the words. Speed stepped forward, worry in his features.
"What is it, Odette?" He asked gently. Odette took a deep breath and faced her husband and friends.
"Well… I'm pregnant." Their eyes widened in shock and Jean-Bob fell flat on his back. Derek gazed at his wife.
"Are… are you serious?" He asked in shock and surprise. Odette smiled nervously and nodded.
Derek couldn't believe it. They were going to have a baby. They were going to be parents!
"Derek?" Odette was becoming nervous. They hadn't really talked about having children yet… what if didn't want…
All doubts flew out the window as Derek suddenly hugged her laughing as he spun her in a circle. Odette laughed with him as she placed her hands on his shoulders for added support. When he placed her on back on the ground, he sweeped her into a heartwarming kiss.
"Ha ha! Congratulations Odette!" Puffin said, flying a loop-di-loop over their heads.
"You guys are gonna be great parents." Speed said, smiling. Jean-Bob sat up holding his head.
"While I am not really pleased with this announcement… I congratulate you." Odette and Derek rolled their eyes at the frog, before Derek excitedly turned to his wife.
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" He asked, a smile on his face. Odette giggled.
"Derek, I only just found out. I don't think we'll know for a while yet." She said smiling.
"Hmph, you'd think a man would be smart enough to know that." Jean-Bob mumbled. Once again, everyone rolled their eyes at the pessimistic frog.
Suddenly, an ominous boom went off in the distance. Speed retracted his head into his shell, Jean-Bob fell over again, screaming. Puffin froze midflight and fell a few feet, while Odette and Derek both gasped.
"What was that?" Derek wondered aloud, looking around. Puffin flew high into the air to investigate. The huge smoke column coming from the village made him gasp and speed back to earth.
"The… the village… it looks like a fire." He quickly explained. Derek turned to his wife.
"Odette, stay here." He ordered gently, causing Odette's eyes to widen in shock.
"What? Derek, I…" He didn't let her finish. He reached up and cupped her cheeks.
"Please Odette, I can't risk putting you or the baby in danger." He said gently, but Odette shook her head.
"I'm going with you, and you can't stop me." With that, she stomped past her husband. He floundered a little before shrugging. He turned to his fellows.
"Let's go, gentlemen." He said to them, before taking off after Odette. Speed and Puffin followed no questions asked, Jean-Bob lingered a little. Finally, he threw his hands in the air and hopped after them.
A few minutes of horseback riding later, they reached the village square, where the blaze was originating from. They couldn't see the source of the blaze, but thankfully, it seemed that no one had been hurt. Derek dismounted and helped Odette off of her mount, before he spotted Rogers guiding a few of the villagers out of the square. They quickly rushed over to him.
"Rogers, what happened?" Rogers spun to them.
"I don't know. The villagers were saying something about an explosion. Luckily, it seems no one was hurt."
Suddenly, a low growling sound started coming from the fire. Derek, Odette, and Rogers turned to see the flames take the shape of a large dragon. The dragon pointed its head to the sky and let out a loud roar. Suddenly, the flames began to recede and die down and the dragon seemed to shrink with it. Moments later, as the dragon and the flames completely disappeared, a man stood in the center of the square where the fire had been. He was a man in his mid-thirties, clad in black leather armor that was jagged at knees, elbows and shoulders, and wore a black dragon-like helmet that covered all but his face. His face was well groomed and he had a small patch of black hair on his chin and blood red eyes. The very appearance of this man would have struck fear into the hearts of lesser men, but Derek looked on him with anger. This person had somehow caused a fire and almost injured his people. Derek was not going to take this lightly.
"How's that for an entrance?!" the dark figure said as if this was all a game to him.
"Who are you?!" Derek demanded as he moved Odette behind him so she and the baby would be safe.
"The name's Draco," the man introduced as he looked over at Derek. "And I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, Derek." Draco then look past Derek's shoulder and at Odette. "You and your lovely wife Odette."
"You know who we are?" Odette asked worriedly.
"How could I not?" Draco asked amusingly. "I was Rothbart's apprentice."
"What?!" Odette responded in shock, "You were Rothbart's apprentice?" Draco nodded.
"Indeed I was, at least until he betrayed me before turning you into a swan and made me lose everything, just like how he betrayed Clavius and Zelda. He seems to have trouble keeping promises and allies, bad luck really."
Odette shook a little, not just at the thought of when Rothbart turned her into a swan, but also at the fact that he had an apprentice. Derek, sensing the situation becoming more intense, took his sword out to prepare for an imminent fight.
"If you're looking for the Forbidden Arts, you're too late!" Derek shouted, "I've already destroyed them, they are no longer on the face of this earth and they can't hurt anyone ever again!"
"Oh, I know you did," Draco said, "But given how I was Rothbart's apprentice, you don't think he never taught them to me before he died, do you?"
"So…you already know most of them?" Odette asked as she began to shake.
"Correct," Draco said before shrugging, "Well, it wasn't until recently that I acquired the Power to Destroy, but you get the idea."
Derek glared at Draco, "What do you want?!"
"I'm glad you asked, Derek," Draco responded, "I'm here to kill you and Odette so the Forbidden Arts can live on and I can change the world."
"Over my dead body!" Derek exclaimed as he pointed his sword at Draco.
"I just said I was here to kill you! Don't you ever listen?!" Draco said in annoyance before rolling his eyes, "I honestly don't know why Odette wanted to marry you in the first place."
"Listen Draco!" Derek shouted angrily. "Do whatever you want to me, but you leave Odette alone!" Derek was infuriated by the situation. It was only an hour ago that he had found out that he and Odette were having a baby, and now someone wanted to take his family away from him again, but he was not going to allow it.
Draco looked up for a moment, pretending to think it over, "Sorry, not in the cards. I'm here for both of you, so just one of you isn't gonna cut it."
"I won't lose her again!" Derek shouted.
"In that case, why don't I kill you first?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"No!" Odette cried out as she tried to get past her husband to face Draco, but before she could, Derek stopped her.
"Odette, stay back!" Derek instructed, "If he's really after both of us, then I can't let you go near him!"
"Then what are we going to do?!" Odette asked.
"You know what?" Draco said annoyingly, "I'm getting impatient so I'm just gonna finish this."
Draco then held out his hand and created a ball of red energy, but before he could attack, Puffin swooped down from out of nowhere and attacked him, "No one hurts the prince or princess! Not while Puffin's around!"
"Get away from me!" Draco shouted as Puffin pecked at him, before blasting him with the Forbidden Arts, knocking the bird out.
"Puffin!" Odette screamed as her animal friend fell to the ground unconscious. Suddenly, a turtle shell came shooting past them, with a frog on its back.
"Be gone, you foul villain!" The frog shouted bravely as he and Speed flew towards him, but Draco made no move, he merely yawned and flicked his wrist. A magical light popped up in front of the shell, causing the frog and turtle to shoot back. Odette caught them in her arms just as she picked Puffin up.
"Now where were we?" Draco asked, but suddenly, Derek, who was charging at him during Puffin's attack, slashed him across the left eye with his sword and then punched him to the ground. As Draco fell onto the ground, blue bolts of electricity shot from his fingertips, but it wasn't his doing.
"What have you done?!" Draco demanded as a ball of light formed in his hand that grew in size and engulfed him, Derek, Odette and her friends. When the light finally faded, all six of them were gone without a trace.