La de da! I'm back after that terrible cliff hanger!

Now cry my dear readers CRY!

Time seemed to slow down. For a while I could only stare at Basta in shock. He had been shot. He was bleeding. That just didn't seem to be real. Basta couldn't have been shot. He was… he was too fast. He couldn't have been.

I heard pained laughter from across the clearing and I looked up to see Cockerel lowering his gun. He was standing, his arm around his middle. I could see that he was bleeding too. But his wound wasn't immediately fatal. It was through his stomach. "Basta never was as good with a gun." He staggered forward, closer to me. I was rooted on the spot. If I ran I could get away from him but I couldn't will myself to leave Basta.

I felt Basta's hand brush mine and I looked down to see two knives there. He was looking at me though he said nothing. I knew what I had to do. I could read the message in his eyes. Slowly I picked up the first knife and looked at Cockerel.

He laughed. "What are you planning to do with that princess? You've never used a knife a day in your life. You gonna throw that? You'll miss."

"I know." I murmured. Then I hurled the knife at him.

It didn't hit him at all. It went way past his shoulder. But I hadn't meant for it to hit him. He turned to watch it fly past him all the same. "Nice try sweetheart but not even-"

He didn't see me as I rushed towards him with speed I didn't know I possessed. He didn't see the gleam of the second knife in my hand. Not until he turned back around. But by then my knife was raised and I had brought the blade across his throat in a clean slash. His words were choked off by blood.

Cockerel stared at me for a moment in absolute shock. He coughed a sick, gurgling cough and then the light left his eyes. He toppled backwards into the shadows.

Kat inhaled and exhaled many times after she ended Capricorn's life. She did not feel a stab of guilt when she did. Only relief. Sweet relief. She looked back at William who smiled at her despite the fact that he was still trying to restrain Drake.

"Damn it! Let me go!" Drake snarled. Gone was his smug smile. Now he looked more like a raging animal.

"Should we kill him too?" Kat asked.

William looked down at his brother, indecision crossing his face. "I… yes but I don't think..."

"What, can't kill your own blood?" Drake cackled. "I should expect that. You're weak."

"I'll do it." Kat looked over to see Dustfinger approaching. He cocked a gun. "You don't have to William. I can take care of it."

William nodded slowly and pushed Drake away from him. He joined Kat on the platform and looked away from the scene. Kat put a hand on his shoulder.

There was a pause as Dustfinger aimed. Then he fired. Drake fell, his blood joining Capricorn's on the ground. Then he exhaled and tossed the gun away from him.

It was only now that Kat realized just how quiet it was. The fighting in the square had stopped. The remaining black jackets looked at them with a mix of both fear and admiration

Their leader was dead. Many of them weren't sure what to do now.

"Go on!" Kat called. "You can go now! He's dead for good this time. Get out of here."

And many of them obeyed her. They looked between each other and then walked away from the field. None of them seemed to want to risk their life anymore when there was no one to risk it for.

"Brother?" A soft voice came from across the field. Kat turned to see a girl coming out of the red building, her eyes wide. William went pale at the sight of her.

"Brother what are you…?" She stopped when she caught William's eyes. "You're… not him."

William swallowed hard. "I am your brother. Just… a different brother."

"Where's my other brother?" the girl asked. Her eyes were narrowed. "Where is he?"

"He's dead." Dustfinger was finally the one to say it. It would only be a matter of time before the girl saw the body anyway. "He was shot during the fighting."

The girl stared at him for a long time, trying to take in his words. Kat saw tears start to leak into her eyes. "You're lying." She hissed. "You're lying. My brother can't die. He would never die. You're lying!" Her eyes went to the body on the ground just in front of William and Kat.

"Drake?"

The girl's teeth clenched and tears streamed down her face. She whipped around to look at William. "Did you kill him?"

"I..." William seemed to have trouble speaking. Kat knew this must be his sister.

"It's your fault." She hissed. From her pocket she pulled a crumpled piece of paper. "I will kill you for him." Then she slammed the paper against the ground and started to write.

"Wait." William said. "Holly! You don't want to do that!"

The girl didn't pay him any mind. She kept writing.

"Holly stop!" William said. "If you write death you'll only-"

But at that moment the pen fell from Holly's hand. Her eyes went wide and blank and she fell forwards. Her attempt at writing had sucked all the life from her body and left her as cold and pale as her brother.

The knife slipped from my hands and buried itself in the dirt. My hands were shaking like leaves in the wind. I had never killed someone before. But somehow, it didn't feel wrong.

I heard a sound that might have been a laugh from behind me. But it was weak.

"I stand corrected."

I turned to see Basta pushing himself up against a tree as if trying to use it to get up. I hurried over.

"N-No don't move. You'll just make it worse." I said, dropping down beside him.

"Either way that's not going to matter now." He muttered, but he stopped moving anyway.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Y-you're going to be fine."

Basta sighed and shook his head. "No, sweetheart. I'm not."

"Y-yes you are. I'll go get help! I'll go get someone." I tried to stand but Basta caught my hand and pulled me back down.

"Don't… princess." He gritted his teeth in pain. "Just don't. It's alright."

"No it's not. I can't just… let you…" I could feel tears pressing at my eyes. Tears. Was I crying for Basta?

"Yes, you can. Honestly I should have died a long time ago." His hand tightened around mine. "Even if I did live, I have nowhere to go when all this is done."

I bit my lip so hard it bled. "Why is it… that after all the times I've wished you would die you never did? And yet now when you are dying… I really don't want you too?"

Basta almost smiled and looked up at the sky. "Bad luck I guess." He glanced at me. "Don't cry sweetheart. Not for me."

"I can't help it." I muttered. The tears were starting to slip down my cheeks. "Y-you pushed me out of the way and he shot you. He was going to shoot me. You saved my life. And n-now-"

"Callypso. It's alright."

I stopped and stared at him. My name still sounded weird coming from his mouth.

"I had to push you out of the way." He smirked. "Your friend would have killed me if I let you die."

True, she probably would. But I didn't care.

Basta's breath was getting fainter. I could see that he was slipping.

"Don't die," I said desperately.

"Can't do much about it now."

"Please."

He must have seen my desperation because he exhaled and held out one arm. "Come here princess."

My head fell against his shoulder as my tears continued. He wrapped on arm around me in a weak hug.

"You are a strange one sweetheart." He murmured. "You shouldn't have ever forgiven me."

"I don't care." I hissed. "You've made up for what you've done. You have."

"…Thank you." He said. His voice was barely more than a whisper. He pushed me away from him and smiled. "I think I'm glad I knew you…Callypso."

Then his eyes slid closed and his hand went limp in mine. I slowly lowered his arm on his chest and looked up at the sky with wet eyes. The sky was growing pink and morning was fast approaching.

It was going to be a beautiful sunrise.

Only one more chapter and the epilogue. I think I'll upload them at the same time though just to end it.

But I will still love this series forever with great passion. Oh yeah, and if you cried at this little scene, trust me. Roten's death is going to be even more sad. Like tragic. My friend says she probably won't talk to me for a week after she reads his death. Pretty adament. I've made a lot of scene adjustment lately and I added new characters. Like Callypso's father is alive now... sort of. It's debateable. He's not fully there and he will only remain as long as Kronehelm is alive but he's there. He also has a new batch of creations that are bad ass shape shifters including Rae, Sarah and Jeremy. There's also a musician named Holly who can create emotions within people with music. Lots of interesting tension going on there!

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! Thanks for sticking with me this long and REVIEW!