After awaking from her injuries, Thalia rushed to the nearest old Huntsclan base.

"Damn it!" Thalia screamed, "Tropelet!"

Thalia disappeared in a burst of light and landed in ruins.

"What happened...?" But she could see it for herself. Fires had burned down in size, having destroyed everything it could find. She sank to her knees... her base was destroyed. How could she have let this happen? The Light Warriors...

"They're gone. I've looked in all the old places."

Thalia turned and saw a veteran Light guardian, Susan Long.

"I didn't know you still came around."

"Not since Jake was born." She admitted, "I hoped that he would never become part of this world. But... he was born part dragon. As soon as he started disappearing at random times for random things... I knew he had to have found his way here."

Thalia nodded, "I'm sorry... I brought him here. I killed... everyone." She muttered, grabbing a fistful of dust and letting it go in the wind.

"Death is natural." Jake's mom said to Thalia.

The tears in her eyes were not comforted any more than her heart was. She felt personally responsible for the destruction of the Light Warrior clan. Without the guardians of the Light... it was likely that the Night Warriors would achieve their ends... with no one to stop them.

"I...failed Mrs Long." Thalia sobbed.

She cried into Jake's mom's chest.

"We're still here... that means the Light goes on. We have to find Jake... and Haley, and anyone else who would be willing to fight. We have to take the fight to them."

Thalia nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. There was work to be done if the world was gonna make it through this one.

...

Jake woke up.

He struggled against his restraints.

"Don't bother. They're reinforced with platinum bonds, triple dipped in titanium, with drops of unicorn blood infused inside it." The guard told him.

The thought of the blood of a unicorn made him throw up into the pit of fire.

Unicorn blood wasn't what you saw in Harry Potter. It was red, but it did carry magical properties... or rather, anti-magical properties. They acted as a powerful inhibitor to magical abilities, as well as for keeping a dragon in human form.

"Weak scum."

"Who are you...?"

"You don't recognize me?"

Jake took a closer look, trying to ignore the blood in the chains.

"Blu?" It seemed impossible, but he was certain that this was the same girl that flirted with him on and off at the Light Academy. "How...?"

She shrugged, "Darkness spared me... you should know... our friends are gone. The Academy has been destroyed."

"You bitch..."

She clicked her tongue, "Such foul language in the presence of a lady."

"You're no lady."

"Perhaps you should be kinder... I hold the candle after all." She gestured behind her and Jake could see that there was a blue wax candle burning. It only had a couple inches left. "You had such a capacity for greatness Hercules... I suppose it just wasn't enough."

"Let me down here and I'll show you how great I am." Jake challenged.

"In time, you will definitely be let down." Blu promised, looking at the pit of fire beneath him. "A pity, such potential wasted. But a physical sacrifice is required... and such must be a sacrifice of good."

"You mean you can only do it to a good guy."

"Exactly. The second sacrifice is not so complicated... as this candle burns, your grandfather's life force will be slowly depleted. Once it dies, he will. And the sacrifice to Darkness will be complete, allowing her full form to solidify at the bottom of the pit. She is already partially above-world..."

"If you let her, she will ruin everything good that there is... any progress. She'll kill everyone..."

"That's the goal. Start over... Imagine, a cleansed world where man has not infected mother nature. It'll be a sight to see, I'm sorry you won't be able to watch it."

"I'll find a way to stop you..."

"Unlikely." She said leaving the room.

"Jake..." A weak voice said.

"Gramps." Jake twisted and saw that his grandfather was on the ground, shackled to the walls of the cavern. "I'm gonna get you outta here..."

"It is too late... for me, young dragon."

"I won't leave you." Jake said sternly, trying to conjure up a breath of fire.

"You must... stop the darkness. Your mother may be able to help..."

"Mom?"

"Before you were born... she sought to make difference. She became a guardian of Light to protect the innocent the way you do now... she chose family over the power and responsibility."

"Sounds like greatness isn't all that great." Jake muttered, trying to figure out a way out of the chains.

"Be not afraid of greatness, dragon. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them." Gramps said.

"I'm not afraid... I'm just..."

"I will miss you Jake." Gramps said to his grandson.

"Don't count us out yet." Jake said, trying to think of a way out.

Think.

The Light Warriors taught a class on escapes. Chains were tricky without outside help, especially dangling chains suspended in midair. But, with outside aid.

Jake tried to relax his mind as best he could... he had to find Rose. The dream charm was his only chance to contact her...

He awoke in the dreamscape.

He couldn't find her anywhere, but there was something else. It was like... bad quality. The reception was poor... had... had the unicorn blood tainted the dream charm? Was that even possible?

That made him more determined to find Rose... fast.

He reached the door to Rose's mind and wasn't surprised that it was locked.

He heard laughing...

"Did you really think it would be so simple?"

Jake turned around and saw the Huntsman, fully revived standing behind him.

"I beat you before, I can do it again."

"Confident... but in vain." He extended his left hand and gestured to a girl...

"Rose... what are you doing what happened?"

"Kill him. Kill him now."

And Rose attacked.

Jake ducked out of the way and sprinted towards his own dreamland.

Random energy blasts ricocheted around the hall as he darted into his home court.

"You are foolish, dragon. By coming here, you save us the trouble of finding you in the real world. You ever hear that those who die in their dreams, never wake up?" The Huntsman asked, closing the door behind him.

"True." Jake called back, sitting Indian style fifty meters from the door.

"Now, Huntsgirl."

"Stop." Jake told her.

She ran anyway.

"I said... STOP!"

He said it with such force that everything froze.

"You forget... you're in my world now. And I say, you're the one who's never going to wake up." Jake decided, keeping Rose frozen while simultaneously invading her mind. The Huntsman tried for the door in vain...

The door became surrounded in locks and traps.

"Bummer... you see here's the difference between us. You've been planning to to take revenge... And I've been working out, my mind, my powers, my body... I'm not the same guy you fought back in the day... I'm a whole new dragon."