Time for some much needed action! Malum's forces have arrived!


For a few moments, nobody spoke. Adere's announcement echoed off the training room walls as its true meaning sunk in the room's occupants.

Celer snarled and darted out of the room, headed for the entrance to Tutus. Kim and Shego moved to follow.

"Wait." Adere called. "We have more than enough fighters at the entrance. I want you two to guard the nursery. It's unlikely it'll be found, but it's unguarded, and I don't want to risk the lives of everyone in there."

They ran through a network of tunnels going deeper into Tutus until they reached an average sized cave with only one entrance. A cluster of different coloured eggs lay at the very back of the room, along with tiny dragons huddled together, still too young to understand what was happening, but feeling the atmosphere of tension. Surrounding them were very old looking dragons with thinned-out features, who were sleeping soundly. They in turn were surrounded by what seemed to be adolescent dragons, slightly bigger than ponies and busy looking after the little ones. None of them would be much help.

"Keep your eyes on the tunnel and do not let them past you. I'll go join the others, good luck." With those words, Adere left.

Now what? Shego asked, sitting down.

We wait. Kim slumped against Shego to help her anxiety. The knowledge that she might be attacked was almost worse than being attacked; even Shego's presence couldn't calm her down. She just hoped she wouldn't get knocked unconscious this time…


Not even five minutes passed before Shego heard the faint sound of multiple feet running in their direction. She stood up immediately, startling Kim into doing the same. Kim didn't need to ask what was wrong; Shego's stony expression and tensed muscles said all she needed to know.

Suddenly the cave started shaking. Shego's eyes widened. Damn.

Please tell me that was just from the fighting…

Afraid not. The Tenebrae are attacking the walls. I can't use earth to fight them now, the cave's too fragile, and it might collapse.

At least you've got your other elements, right?

I guess… I just can't help but think they're doing this for a reason.

Good point, they wouldn't risk caving themselves in without another purpose.

They soon caught sight of the Tenebrae in the tunnel in front of them. Shego instinctively sent an enormous jet of fire in their direction. Ha! No escaping that.

Unfortunately, when the flames cleared, the Tenebrae were still there. The regular Tenebrae were hiding behind a big one, about twice their size, that glowed and burned from within. Before Kim and Shego even had the chance to look surprised it responded with a fire stream of its own, which Shego only just stopped with an earth wall. Thankfully, the cave stayed standing.

It would have been nice if they'd told us that there were huge Tenebrae made of fire.

Would have saved us some confusion, for sure. Shouldn't they have covered that in your training?

Another tremor in the ground.

Copycat. That thing's grabbed a boulder to hide behind. Shego risked a glance over her earth barrier in time to stop a thrown fireball with a blast of water. It was like trench warfare without the trenches.

What's the plan, then? Kim tried to sound optimistic.

I don't know. My options are seriously limited here.

How so?

I can't walk out there without being bombarded. Using earth is out of the question, it was risky enough making this barrier. Fire will only make that thing stronger. Air is useless if I can't get a clear shot. Same with ice, unless we just want a snowball fight. As for electricity, it can't be controlled, so I can't get it over there.

Hmm… What if you could contain the electricity somehow?

Good idea, but I don't see how… Wait. I'm getting an idea... Kimmie, you are brilliant!

Kim blushed faintly. I am?

Yes! All I need to do is combine some elements.

Kim watched as Shego created a ball of ice in her paws. She then used a bit of fire to make a small hole in the top and hollow it out. Finally she covered the hole with her mouth and filled the ball with highly concentrated electricity before quickly sealing the hole with more ice. She repeated the process several times.

Behold my new invention: the electricity bomb!

You know, that kinda sounded like Drakken. Shego just growled at Kim's smirk.

Yet another fireball exploded into the earth wall in front of them, causing Shego to grin maliciously. Let's see how they like it!

She lobbed the first bomb over the wall and was rewarded with the sound of the thin ice breaking and the pained roars of the enemy. A second bomb followed the first, and another, until she felt the earth's vibrations tell her that the Tenebrae had hit the ground. Let's get them!

Kim jumped onto Shego's back, sword at the ready, and Shego jumped over the barrier. Still stunned from their electrocution, the Tenebrae stood no chance. A blast of ice soon immobilised the fire-Tenebrae, leaving the regular ones with no more protection. It was nothing like last time; Kim and Shego were ready for them with two week's training under their belts.

Kim moved like water, her motions were fluid and graceful, yet still fast enough to catch the Tenebrae off guard. She was as perfectly balanced as her sword, which may as well have been an extra long pointy arm the way she wielded it. She sliced into any available gap in the enemy's armour; feeling slightly disconcerted about how easily the blade travelled through them, as if they weren't entirely solid. She never even nicked Shego as she was so used to fighting on her.

Shego's moves were not as smooth as Kim's, but they were equally as effective. Her style was more erratic, biting the heads off some Tenebrae at one moment and lashing out with her tail the next moment. Her lack of smoothness was understandable; she had more body parts to control. However, all her moves were planned and powerful. Combined with the occasional elemental attack, she was untouchable.

At some point, Kim and Shego had assumed that the fire-Tenebrae was dead. They were sadly mistaken. A burst of flame temporarily blinded Shego with its light, forcing her to stop fighting. The next thing she knew, she had been tackled to the ground with a sword in her left side and Kim was no longer on her back. She couldn't contain the roar of pain at the blade that had found a gap in her armour.

SHEGO! Are you ok?

I-I'll be fine… Shego kicked the huge Tenebrae off. You ok?

Kim began slashing at the suddenly taller foes barring her way to Shego, wincing at the dull pain in the shoulder she landed on. I'm alright, hang in there, I'll be there soon!

Shego reached down and yanked the sword out of her with her teeth, growling loudly to cover up the potential whimper. She wasted no time in delivering a furious head-butt to the fire-Tenebrae which drove it away from her. As it staggered, Shego summoned up the last of her energy and bombarded it with a volley of icicles, not ceasing fire until its internal flame guttered and died and it faded away.

Kim dispatched the last Tenebrae in time to see Shego sway and fall onto her right side. "Shego!" She bolted over to the downed dragon and pressed her hands over the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood. It didn't work.

Shego…

Kimmie… I'm tired…

No! You are NOT dying now! You can't! Tears began rolling down Kim's face and her hands fell carelessly to the ground. Shego saw this and feebly shifted a paw to cover them, a tear leaking from her own eye at seeing her Kim so desperate. She was overwhelmed by how much the girl truly cared for her… and how the feeling was completely mutual.

Suddenly, the scale hung around Kim's neck (which she had not taken off since receiving) began to emit a soft glow. Kim didn't notice this until her own hands began doing the same thing. Her instincts took over, she didn't know what was happening, but she somehow knew that she had to put her hands on Shego's wound again. So she did.

The light intensified and both Kim and Shego felt energy draining from them, although the latter felt a gentle coolness on her side where there had previously been pain. Kim watched astounded as the wound began healing before her eyes, leaving nothing but a scar behind. That was the last thing she saw before she collapsed against the dragon's side and the exhausted pair fell asleep.


A review from Avenging Raven mentioned Kim possibly having some powers of her own, which was a very good idea. The magic may come from dragons but there's no reason why Kim can't wield some of it. So I've used her close connection to Shego (in more ways than one) as an excuse to give her some power.

Next chapter: an update on the sitch at Tutus and a new plan for dealing with Malum.