I am really sorry this took so long. I got busy with school and then...excuses of course. Mostly I forgot. And then I had this whole huge mess with my other story and I accidently deleted a bunch of stuff and now...here it is. I reworked the last chapter because I didn't like what it left me to work with, so some is the same but I changed some things and the ending is completely different. Hopefully this chapter's ending makes up for the long hiatus. So sorry about that again!


"We all knew this day was coming. The great and terrible wizard, the faceless one, is coming here. He aims to win our base; to take our center of command from us. But we will not fall. He underestimates our collective power, but I don't…" Andam snapped his fingers and the display changed behind him. "We've divided you into smaller teams. Each unit is under the command of one of our senior dragons. You will find the units posted on the screen behind me along with a location. You will meet your groups at said locations immediately." He paused for a moment and said, "and please, please….be careful. My fair children. I pains me greatly to bring you here to fight. If I could, I would have you return home now. But we must protect our island. Our records and artifacts must not fall into their hands. The future of our kind lies on your shoulders. Good luck. "

"No pressure or anything," Megan muttered.

"Don't you worry, kid. You'll do great." Haley ruffled her hair.

She pushed her hand away and peered up at her, eyes wide. "You really think we can beat him?"

Haley gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Of course. Now, head to your post." The kid ran off, and Haley suited up with the rest of her group. She and a handful of other guardian dragons had been assigned to guard the main building, with the armory and records. They worried No Face would access the files and wipe out future dragons and bloodlines. They also wished to keep all their most powerful artifacts out of his hands.

Haley caught up with Rose by the front. "This is it" she said grimly. "We're fighting the man who took Jake."

"We'll get him Haley. Don't you worry."

Haley hugged her friend tight. "Yeah…we will."

Rose pulled away and joined her team, and Haley joined her own. Their commander was already talking strategies. "We'll be taking on the first wave. Our objective is to take out as many as possible before they make it to the inner island. From what our scouts have been able to gather, the first wave will be the grunts – trolls and such. Mostly mindless brute force. We'll be attacking from a distance if we can manage. Go in row by row, giving it all you've got. Burn those idiots to a crisp" he said with a grin.

Sixteen year old Fred Nerk – Australian dragon, was in charge of her unit. Haley was fairly familiar with him. He had long had a friendly rivalry with Jake, and had become something of a family friend. Haley was confident in his abilities. He was quite a fighter.

Fred marched them off to their site, Haley by his side. "Nervous?" he asked.

"You're not?"

Fred grinned. "Me? Nah. We got this. We've trained long and hard for this fight. We're ready."

"But he's had just as much time to train."

"Yeah…but, for him it isn't personal. He's attacked our friends, now he's attacking our home. We'll be fighting harder, because we have more at stake."

Haley let that sink in. There was a lot at stake today. People could die. She could die. Would that be enough motivation? Could they really win?

"Here they come. Get ready."

Haley looked up at the oncoming army. Sure enough, they'd reached the shores.

"Ready?"

"Not really." Haley took a deep breath and pushed off.

"Head straight for that first group. Give it all you've got!"

Fred flew out ahead, the others close behind. Each were to take a row for themselves.

Haley flew low just above the heads of the trolls. Pushing all morals out of her mind, she took a deep breath and let it all out. Heat surged up through her throat, encasing the trolls in a blast of flames. Haley braced herself for the tortured cries and burning skin.

But none came.

She, along with the rest of her unit who'd noticed the same thing, pulled back to figure out what'd happened.

They'd hit their mark, dead on. The sand on the shore had a thin layer of glass over the top, and the surrounding shrubbery was blackened and smoking.

But the trolls?

Untouched.

"Fall back!" Fred shouted. They regrouped several yards back. "So it seems...the army is fireproof. No big deal...right?"

So they tried the next strategy. Three unicorns ended up dead. The army? Unscathed. Once again they regrouped and replanned. Plan after plan failed, each failure leaving them tired and discouraged.

The 2nd wave was heading in now, spreading out across the island.


"Arthur, concentrate. It is a difficult spell."

"Hey, I mean I'll give it a shot." Spud drew his wand from his back pocket. He took a deep breath. He stumbled through latin incantations and raised his wand arm. The apple sitting on the table quivered, paled in color, but then snapped back to red and was still. Spud let out a breath he'd been holding and groaned. "I can't." Melora headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

"We're finished for today" she said curtly.

"Help me!"

The girl stopped at the door. "Only you can do that, Arthur. I chose you for a reason. Figure it out."


"Sir, the enemy is approaching."

"What of the front lines?"

"A few injuries, though most fell back."

"Have we been given the signal?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"And No Face?"

"Heading the fight."

Rose and her little troop inched forward in the trees. "In and out," she whispered. "Hit and run, don't be hit."

"Hit and run, don't be hit" Damian repeated to himself. He was ready. Ready to prove himself. Ready to redeem himself.

Hard and swift, like the ninja he dressed as, he swung down from his branch taking out three goblins and a troll from behind before swinging back into the tree unnoticed. It was just as he remembered, but now for the other side. The idea of fighting for the dragons was slightly unsettling, but he'd realized they'd never given him a good reason for distain. And, he trusted his commander.

It felt good to get back into the swing of things. The thrill of the hunt. The adrenaline rush of a kill. The side of him who had grown up a soccor player was perturbed by this refound love of killing, but the other side was almost relieved. It had been a long time. He had missed it.

He sliced through the neck of another goblin, smirking at the confusion of those around him. He was too fast from them. They had no idea what was happening. Around him, his teammates did the same. They spread out across the perimeter, like monkeys through the trees.

Rose however held back. Her eyes were on the prize. No Face. Take down the leader, everything falls to pieces.

The man was in her sight. He was far more frightening in person. An aura of death and fear seemed to seep from his every pore, shaking her to her core. It was paralyzing. This was the man they were training against? Perhaps coming here was a mistake…she looked to her team. She'd brought them here, away from the comforts of their homes, their old lives, to be killed in battle by the embodiment of evil itself. Maybe she should send them home…

No. They were needed here.

She was needed here.

She could not be afraid. She had to be brave. One deep breath, and she attacked.

Flipping down from the branch, she kicked him right in the side of the head, flipped off, and landed safely on the ground behind him. He turned slowly, readjusting, cracking his neck. Though his face was covered, she could feel his gaze weighing down on her.

[more fighting, his cover gets torn a bit-she sees his eyes. "she met his eyes and felt the temperature drop from the cold stare" maybe I should fall back…no. she would do this]

Wand at the ready, No Face slammed her with a blast of light knocking her to the ground. She jumped to her feet and ran back in, plasma disks hitting him square in the chest. She flipped up, legs wrapping around the back of his neck, and stabbed her dagger into his back with all her strength.

He…wasn't even shaken. A fist closed around her neck. Rose began to panic. The blade had gone in several inches…may not have been lethal but should have slowed him down. He held her by the neck against the tree, kicking and squirming. He was too strong. She couldn't get out of his grasp. That had never happened to her before. How was he this strong? It wasn't possible.

No Face reached back with his other hand and pulled out the knife.

He brought the bloodied blade to her face, savoring the fear in her eyes. She squirmed, hands stretching up the tree trying to reach something-anything to help her.

A searing pain erupted in her stomach, metal tearing through flesh, and she stopped struggling. Everything hurt too much and she couldn't breathe. The pain rocketed again and she saw him bringing the knife to his nose, inhaling deeply the aroma of blood. He shrugged and brought the knife back to her chest. I'm dead.

Before he could finish the deed, purple flashed across the scene taking the wizard with it. Haley. Rose pushed her wounded body into an upright position, keeping pressure on the wound. Haley was putting up a good fight, but, like Rose, her attacks seemed to have no effect. He wasn't reacting to her firepower, and she was throwing everything she had at him.

Everything around her was getting hazy, black creeping through the edges of her vision. No. Not now. Haley needs help. I need to get help.

The wizard stumbled back, and red was spreading across his chest. Something she did worked. He pushed her off, staggering, staring at the blood on his hands. He was shaking violently as he pulled his wand out, summoning a portal, and stepped through.

And as Rose blacked out, she saw a small figure in a red jacket slip through behind him.


No Face stumbled through the portal into a dark alley way, and Haley lurked behind him in the shadows. She followed him through the alley to a large black door. He pounded on it and was met by an old shriveled goblin. They slipped inside, Haley right behind.

Haley hid inside an empty crate and peered out through the gaps in the planks. They were in the storage room of a shop, with shelves upon shelves lined with small glass vials. A few shelves held food rations, but most held those vials, some deep red, others silver, a few milky white.

No Face poured the entire contents of a red bottle and a silver one down his throat. He tossed the empty bottles aside with a satisfied sigh. "Cutting it close there, big guy." The goblin smirked and held out his hand.

No Face begrudgingly handed over a few gold coins. "The hunter jumped me. Got me in the back, and the stuff was already wearing off when this kid got me."

"These are a bunch of kids we're talking about."

"Some of them are craftier than others," he mumbled, walking towards the box Haley hid in. She held her breath, her heart pounding like a six year old on Whack-A-Mole. "But not crafty enough." He pulled her out by the throat. His knife was drawn, and he brought it to the head of his squirming captive. She bit her lip, not willing to let him hear her scream, as he cut along her temple drawing blood. He brought the crimson blade to his mouth and ran his tongue along the blade, sighing in satisfaction. "I love a fresh catch."

Thinking fast, Haley took advantage of the momentary lack of grip. She bit down into his hand as hard as she possibly could. His grip slacked in his shock, and she ran. Wings growing on the way. The big black door was locked, so she headed down the hallway to the left. There had to be another exit. Wings flapping furiously, she took turn after turn going deeper into the maze of hallways.

Right.

Left.

Forward.


"Rose? What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

The waves hurricained around him, crashing down on the sides sweeping up stray pool equipment. Everything was in his control. His to command.


Don't stop now. Keep going. Can't stop. He'll find you.


"Spud I need your help."

Lightning struck through the open window, flowing through the water. It fried everything in sight, but he was untouched.


Trolls. They caught up.

She couldn't keep going.

One raised a club. She braced herself for the blow, but when it came, it wasn't Haley that hit the floor.

Someone else had taken the blow.

She scrambled to her feed and rolled over the figure to see the face of her savior.


He was in power. He was unstoppable.

He had to be.

He had to help.

"Haley."


"Jake?"