Chapter 24

To The Death

Kandrakar

At approximately 8:26 am, Heatherfield time, the beings known as Life and Death arrived at the fortress of Kandrakar. They did not come alone. Both creatures were followed by their respective armies, the controlled citizens of the countless worlds they had visited since their revival. Together, they numbered in the trillions.

Kandrakar, for their part, had laid out the proverbial carpet in preparation for the visit. Deciding that the fortress would not survive whatever battle was looming, the elders had hastily constructed a large, open space upon which Life and Death now landed. Their armies followed them, until a large section of the space was occupied by a monochromatic mass. Standing trillions strong, and lead by the two most powerful beings in the universe, it was an impressive sight to say the least.

On the other side of the area, best described as a field, far enough away that no individual faces could be made out by either Life or Death, stood one man, and six women. Matt, the tallest and the lone male, stood in the back with his outspread wings setting a background for the rest. The Guardians stood tall and proud, defiantly facing down their distant opponent. Gabriella stood beside them, shaking.

"Scared?" Irma asked, turning to the Heart of the Universe.

"Yeah." Gabriella replied.

"Good." Irma said with a smile. "Will? Call them in!"

Will raised the Heart of Kandrakar, a signal that was received by Kandrakar. At once, a beam fired from Kandrakar's highest spire shone down upon Will, and hundreds of portals opened up behind her. Out of each one stepped an army, courtesy of every world that Will and Matt had visited and had agreed to assist. From the Zabu's of Aaborn, to the Wraith Knights of Zyra, they were the collected armies of the universe, and they were ready to fight.

"Are you done with your posturing?" Death asked.

Despite the great distance between the two, Will felt as if Death's voice had come from right beside her.

"At least this one knows how to lose in style." Life added. "Remember how boring the old one was?"

Will ignored Life and Death and turned to the millions of soldiers behind her.

"I know none of you know who I am." She began. "And few of you probably understand why you were ordered to be here. Well don't worry, it's very simple. The people on the other end of this field are not here by their own will. That army has been manipulated and controlled by the two rather imposing creatures in front of them. They would like to do the same thing to you. And to your family. And to your world. Until they control the entire universe like puppets on a string. And if we do not defeat that army, they will succeed."

Will didn't have to turn around to hear the thundering sound of a million feet rushing towards her. Life and Death had begun their approach. With a whoosh of air, Gabriella took to the skies to intercept the creatures as only she could. Will could also tell that the army in front of her was ready to fight, and she was almost ready to let them.

"They have come for our homes!" She shouted. "They have come for our people! They have come to take away everything we have ever worked for! And now, in sacred Kandrakar, they have come for Heaven!"

Will turned and fired a single blast that eradicated a line of the approaching army.

"I say we give them Hell!"

From here, the battle split in two. Gabriella was now well above the battlefield, and was face to face with both Life and Death. Energies the likes of which the cosmos had not seen in millennia shattered the sky and shook the combatants to their cores. Even though all three cosmic beings were now several miles above ground, the shockwaves of the blows being dealt were felt by those below. Anyone who carelessly looked up at the battle for a prolonged period of time would be blinded by the radiating glow.

Far below, a more conventional, if no less unusual battle took place. The armies of the free universe found themselves up against those controlled by the powers of Life and Death. There were some who had been recruited by Will that thought at first that this great battle had been somewhat overestimated. After all, they were the greatest warriors in the universe, and their foes were simply average citizens, armed with nothing but their fists. However, it soon became clear this was not the case.

Firstly, the controlled masses outnumbered their foes 10:1. Life and Death did not have armies, they had populations. These were entire planets worth of people, and with every one that fell, two more took their place. Secondly, these were no ordinary citizens. Their touch carried the powers of those inside of them, and prolonged exposure to this touch was enough to be taken over by that force. Any of the warriors could defeat one of Life or Death's minions, but when attacked by ten, it was only a matter of time before the number advantage came into effect. And if a warrior went down, they would soon get back up for the other side.

The Guardians did their best to bridge the gap between these two battles. Their hearts, especially Cornelia and Irma who spent most of their time trying to locate Caleb and Walli, were in the battle below. But they all knew that the real battle was miles above. If Gabriella could not defeat Life and Death, it wouldn't matter how hard they fought below, the end would be the same. They also knew, however, that they themselves wouldn't last five seconds in the conflict waging above.

"Well we have to do something!" Hay Lin said, watching the chaos unfold below.

"We will. But Gabriella is our top priority." Will said.

"Although we're little more then glorified cheerleaders on that front." Taranee noted bitterly.

"Yeah, kind of makes you mad, doesn't it?" Irma said. "Why don't we release some of that anger?"

Irma, followed quickly by the rest of the Guardians, swooped down into the fray raging on below. They hated to admit it, but there was something very relaxing about the fight. There were no intricate moves, no complex strategies for Will to think about. Their targets were obvious, they were vulnerable, and they were plentiful. The girls could just lean back and fire at will.

The bliss that accompanied mowing down enemies quickly disappeared as a troublesome sight caught Will's attention. Near the rear of Life and Death's army, people were beginning to rise into the air. The girls didn't have to look twice to know where they were headed. Life and Death were obviously ready and willing to use their disciples as weapons in their fight against Gabriella.

"Looks like we got a mission girls!" Will shouted over the fighting. "Gabriella's top priority. We don't let them get to her, understand?"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Irma replied with a mock salute before soaring even higher into the sky.

The girls intercepted the trajectory of those flying, and began picking them off wave at a time.

"Looks like all those times playing video games finally paid off!" Irma said. "This is just a clone of any zombie game you can think of!"

"With the stakes maybe a little bit higher." Cornelia added.

"These people don't seem to have any control where they're going." Taranee said, utilizing a wall of fire to cut down any who approached. "Doesn't look like Life or Death are able to spare any energy to guide these guys."

"That's a good thing, right?" Hay Lin asked.

"It means that whatever is going on up there is pretty intense." Will replied.

"Man, I hope Gabriella's alright. We never should've sent her up there alone." Cornelia said. "She's not a fighter, she's a mom!"

"We didn't have any choice. No sense worrying about it now." Will said. "Besides, haven't you learned? Mom's are pretty tough!"

Just as abruptly as it had started, the waves of ascending people ceased.

"Well, either they couldn't spare the energy to maintain the flight of all those people…" Hay Lin said.

"Or they don't need them anymore." Taranee finished.

"I sure hope it's the good news, because we could use some." Will said, pointing down.

The line separating the warriors of the universe from Life and Death's thralls was slowly but surely being pushed towards the Guardians allies. With every passing second, another warrior fell and the line moved that much further. Meanwhile, the mass of humanity on the other side still stretched as far as the eye could see.

As they watched on, momentarily stunned by the scene, Cornelia spotted a familiar glint of steel, held by a man in a torn brown jacket.

"Caleb!"

"Cornelia, wait!" Taranee shouted as the Earth Guardian dove quickly towards the Honor Guard captain. "We have to help them all! We can't…"

Taranee was silenced by a hand on her shoulder, courtesy of Will.

"Let her have this." Will said calmly.

"But…"

"Trust me." Will said. "It's Caleb and Cornelia. How else could it end?"

Cornelia swooped down just in time to erect a wall between Caleb and a charging wave of Death's minions.

"Don't worry honey, I've got your back." She said, landing silently.

"I could've taken them." Caleb replied, fighting of some of Life's people. "But thanks."

"Uh, should I feel bad about killing all these people?" Raythor asked, separating another head from its shoulders. "I don't, but should I?"

"Nah." Hay Lin replied. "They're already pretty much dead already. Besides, it won't matter in the long run."

"Not even going to ask what that means." Raythor replied.

"How does it look from up there?" Caleb asked. "How many more are there?"

"Don't worry about it, just keep swinging." Cornelia replied, but Caleb could sense the deception in her voice.

"We're not going to win, are we?" He asked. "We were never going to win. The second we got here we were doomed to die. And you knew it, didn't you?"

Cornelia had never wanted to lie more in her life, but looking into the eyes of the man she loved, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Caleb, I'm so sorry…" She began, but Caleb put a finger to her lips.

"Cornelia, before I met you, I lived in hell." He said. "I went to bed every night for 15 years wondering if I was even going to wake up in the morning. Since I met you, I've been happier then I ever thought possible. You have no reason to apologize."

"So it is true?" Walli said, scavenging some arrows from the ground. "This is an unwinnable battle?"

"It wasn't supposed to be this way." Irma said. "There were so many things I wanted to say Walli. I…"

"I may not have a way with words like Caleb." Walli interrupted. "But I know I am grateful for what we did have a chance to say. I am very glad I met you Irma Lair."

"Right back at ya." Irma said with a smile.

Hovering above the battle, Will and Matt stood side by side and rained down energy on their foes.

"You good Matt?" Will asked. "You know that you…"

"Hey." Matt said, and Will could feel his smile even if she couldn't see it. "I trust you."

It was all that needed to be said.

Raythor was the first to fall.

Vathek, put on the front line due to his naturally tougher skin, was nearly overwhelmed by Death's minions. Raythor bought him some time at the cost of his own life.

Drake and Tynar were next, fighting back-to-back, and refusing to join the others in retreat. They were swallowed up by the forces of Life, disappearing into a sea of white light.

A few minutes later, Raythor's sacrifice proved to be in vain as Vathek fell before the endless waves of dark fighters.

"How much more…" Hay Lin said, fighting and retreating at the same time. It was clear there would soon be nowhere left to retreat to.

"None of this matters, correct?" Julian said, trying not to think about the losses sustained. "In the grand scheme of things?"

"Right." Will replied. "All that matters is the battle above. If Gabriella can…"

Will was interrupted by the sound of whistling from above. Will knew instantly what the sound was and what it represented. It was the sound of something, or someone, falling from a very great height. Sure enough, as the Guardians and the remaining members of the Honor Guard watched on in dismay, the object landed on the ground with an impact that sent anyone nearby flying backwards. When the Guardians regained their senses, they found Gabriella lying in a small crater. Bruised, battered, and defeated.

Will could barely force herself to look up as white and black points of light began to descend from above. She clenched her fists on instinct alone. She knew the fighting was over. And, for the first time since she had first donned the wings all those years ago, the end was very much in sight.