Tatiana paced Breed's Hill, smelling the earth. Even after all these years, it still smelt freshly charred. She wondered if that smell would ever go away.

Years ago, Breed's Hill had been another part of the woods of Midwich, lush and green, but her battle with Umbrus had left the land a blasted ruin, an ugly gray scab on an otherwise perfect landscape. The town fathers, in their infinite wisdom, had tried several times to bring life back to Breed's Hill by planting new trees, but every tree they planted, withered and died. It didn't seem like life would ever come back to this land.

The sky had turned deep blue and Venus was out. Soon the moon would be out as well and then, assuming Deborah didn't lie to her, they would finally be able to settle this once and for all.

Her hands shook. Strange how after so many fights, her hands still shook before every fight. She hoped she would have the strength to hold her katanas.

Deborah appeared, stepping gingerly over the hill. Life had not been kind to her in the years following the war and it showed. Her once lovely face was now puffy and blotchy; she had apparently applied her makeup with a trowel in an attempt to hide her misery. "Hey." She waved half-heartedly to Tatiana but Tatiana didn't wave back. She was too busy sizing up her opponent.

"So what is it you want to tell me?" she said. Deborah leaned in close until her mouth practically touched Tatiana's ear. "Umbrus lives..." she whispered.

"Excuse me?"

Deborah leapt around gleefully. "Umbrus lives, Umbrus lives!" she shouted. Then she laughed, not a "someone told a joke" laugh but a crazed hyena laugh. As she laughed, she changed: her skin turned pale and her hair turned purple.

Tatiana rolled her eyes. "And I'm supposed to be impressed?" Theta hissed and eyed the sky warily.

Suddenly the sky darkened. Tatiana looked up. There were crows, thousands and thousands of crows, flapping and cawing at once. Her heart sank. Oh no...Please God no... Then she saw a sight she never wanted to see again.

Death had not been kind to Lord Umbrus...Last time she saw him, he barely looked human any more; now he looked even less. He looks like a rotting corpse... He looked like the only thing holding him together was the black shroud wrapped around him. "Ill met by moonlight, proud Tatiana," he said. "I had rather hoped the years would have taught you something. But alas, that was too much to hope for." He waved his hand. A horde of foot-soldiers called Zezami appeared, grey men held together by swathes of fabric.

She stared at the horde of Zezami surrounding her. A lesser man or woman would have been afraid, but not Tatiana. After what she had been through nineteen years ago, she didn't think she could ever be afraid again. She shifted into a fighting stance. "Bring it on."

It rather frightened her how much she delighted in battle. The way her fists and limbs ached, the sweat pouring the down her face and back, it was an experience like few on earth. She hadn't felt so alive in a long time.

She hadn't lain idle those nineteen years; she had spent them training to become even faster and stronger than before. In fact she was probably in better shape now than she had been at the final battle all those years ago. Back then she had been as skinny as a plucked crow; now she was all muscle.

She kicked and punched her way through the horde. It frightened her, a little, that her best skill was in inflicting pain, but she didn't care. In a fight it was kill or be killed; there was no time to think, only to act and react.

The more she knocked down, the more arose to take their place, forcing her to morph. She drew her katanas. "All right, who wants to be next?" She spun in a circle, slashing and stabbing, and smiled with grim satisfaction, as the last Zezami returned to the earth from where it came.

Umbrus clapped slowly. "Bravo. Nice to see you haven't lost anything with age."

"I've only gotten stronger," Tatiana snapped.

"So have I." He turned to Theta. "Let's dance."

Tatiana steeled herself and charged. Her heart was still pumping hard from the last fight and she had no doubt she'd be able to go a few rounds with Umbrus and Deborah. After all, she'd done this dance before.

Theta was swift, almost feral, as she screeched and attacked with her claw-like nails. But her ranger gear protected her from Theta's blows even if Theta could get closer to her.

It was Umbrus she was worried the most about. Here was a man who felt no pain. He traded blows as calmly as one might discuss the weather, never making a grunt or grimace as they fought. She drove her blade into his side. But the blow didn't faze him.

Tatiana barely managed to remove her blade in time to parry another blow from Theta. The excitement she had felt earlier was starting to wear off, now that she was in the thick of things. But she could defeat Umbrus; she knew she could.

She summoned her wings and flew around the battlefield, slashing and stabbing at her foes. "Phoenix Fire!" White flames encircled her blades. She drew her blades together and unleashed the flames upon Theta and Umbrus.

Theta shrank back in fear, the animal side her frightened by the flames. But Umbrus stood calmly as the flames burned at his shroud. "Theta," he said, "I think we can take the gloves off."

Theta cackled and fired stream after stream of purple energy. Tatiana cried out. Her blades were ripped from her hands. She did not see where they landed. The adrenaline was wearing off. She was getting tired. She breathed hard and clenched her fists. She had to do this. She had to keep fighting. Hold together, hold together. But before she could attack either Theta or Umbrus, her world turned black.

She was in some strange world. She could hear Umbrus all around her and feel her scars aching. "What the Hell..." She couldn't move; she was tied to a post. All around her shadow-men marched, moving perfectly in time with the beating of her heart the sound of which filled her ears. Then she noticed their blades and that's when she truly despaired.

"Oh no," she prayed. "Oh no, oh no, oh no..." But there was nothing but watch as the shadow-men stabbed her. She screamed.

At first she felt the pain of each blow, but after awhile it stopped. She'd feel the blades go in, but it was like they were stabbing a piece of meat, like she was already dead. The shadows lifted and she fell to the ground, breathing hard.

"It's a lie, it's a lie," she repeated, trying to regain her strength. But the trouble was while her mind knew it was a lie, her body didn't. Her body still felt the blows. Umbrus walked up to her. "Tsk...Tsk...I thought you would have lasted longer than that."

She winced and tried to crawl to her feet. But Umbrus stood on her back. "Any last words before I let my lovely consort finish you off?"

Before she could say or do anything, a flurry of blasts flew through the air. Umbrus fell to the ground. Tatiana turned her head, but she already knew who it was. "Those kids...those lousy kids..."

Sure enough, there they were, standing atop the hill, brandishing their weapons. Umbrus collected himself and started to perform another incantation, but before he could, he collapsed. Theta rushed to his side. She wrapped her arms around him and together they disappeared.

The kids rushed to her side, but Tatiana shoved them away. "Leave me alone, I'm fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" Julian asked.

She swore under her breath as she climbed to her feet. She dusted herself off and stared down the other rangers. "I could have beaten them," she said. "If I had your crystals, I could have finished him off and we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Hey, I think a thank you is in order," said Hayden. "Something along the lines of 'Thank you for saving me from Tall, Dark, and Icky, it was really nice of you.' And we'd say 'No big deal, just doing our jobs, ma'am.'"

Tatiana clenched her teeth. "You are a bunch of kids who have gotten lucky. But eventually your luck will run out and where will you be. I have tried to be nice about this but I think maybe I've been too nice to you." She stretched out her arm. "Give me the crystals, so I can make an end to all this."

"What?!" Curses flew fast and furious through Hayden's mind. But before he could say anything, Marcus stepped forward. "Look, I know you defeated the Big Bad alone, but you don't have to do that anymore. You've got us now. We can help you."

"Great just what I need: help from a bunch of snot-nosed brats, too young to vote or drink."

Julian had remained calm during this conversation—it wasn't like he hadn't experienced people rejecting him before—but he could no longer. "You know you could help us. Give us some of your knowledge instead of lording it above us."

What does a half-demon know about anything...? That thought slipped through without Tatiana intending to, but Julian remained calm. "I do know that in order to get our crystals you either have to get us to surrender them willingly or win them from us in a fight. The Grimoire told me this."

So they have the Grimoire, Tatiana thought. She wasn't too threatened by this. Old parchment wasn't as helpful as cold steel in battle, besides she couldn't trust those spirits anymore.

Julian cleared his throat and continued. "So I thought I'd make a little wager with you. How about we fight, one on one, you and me? Let's see just how good your experience is. If I win, you have to reveal your identity to us."

"And if I win?"

"If you win, then we'll admit you were right and give you everything: the crystals, the zords, the Grimoire, you name it."

Hayden and Marcus blanched. Are you sure about this?

But Julian was not afraid. Trust me, I'm ready.

"I think we should establish some ground rules first," said Tatiana. "How about this? This test will be one of physical skill, so you may only use enough magic to keep you morphed and nothing more." And none of your half-demon tricks.

"Agreed." Julian bowed and drew his blade. Tatiana drew her katana. Then they began.

Tatiana knew she wasn't at her best. She was tired and worn out from fighting Umbrus and Theta, but she'd be damned before she'd back down from this challenge, not when the crystals are at stake. But she knew she had to be practical: no fancy tricks, just the basics. Focus on holding her ground and let Julian come to her. That was how she was going to play this.

Julian made his blows fast and furious, pounding at her hard. She gritted her teeth and tried to hold her ground, but he was gaining on her, slowly but surely. Hold together...

He disarmed her. Tatiana could only watch helplessly as her blades flew through the air and landed in the dirt. Julian pointed his blade at her throat. "Game, set, and match. Now you have to reveal who you really are."

Tatiana turned her back to him and demorphed. She turned around slowly, feeling as helpless as a newborn babe. She stared at Julian, trembling all the while.

Julian smiled. "Well, what do you know?" It wasn't too much of a surprise that Tatiana was the White Phoenix. There had been rumours for quite some time that the heir to the Wyrek estate was the fourth ranger. But still it shocked them to see her in the flesh.

She was tall, nearly six feet in height, but on the whole she was built more like an Amazon than a supermodel. She glared at them through grey eyes. Anger seemed to radiate from her very core, shooting off the top of her like sparks, but what struck Julian was the deep sadness reflected in her eyes.

"There," she said. "Now you know—happy now?" And she stormed off without saying another word.