Well, 36 chapters now and the final battle is about to kick off. It looks good in my mind, so I really hope I can do it justice here.
Thanks to: my luvverly reviewers, Meg, Spongey, Starlit Phantomess and Kakure.
Random Quote: Well, the thing about a black hole - it's main distinguishing feature - is it's black. And the thing about space, the colour of space, your basic space colour... is black. So how are you supposed to see them? (Holly, from Red Dwarf)
"Taranee?" Will said weakly, barely able to open her eyes as she watched the blurred image of her friend racing excitedly towards her... but those hazel eyes of hers were soon wide open as she spied an ominous winged form looming over her. "Taranee... watch it."
"At last - we've got you!" said Taranee.
"No my dear, I think you'll find it's I who has you!" a voice boomed above her head just before she was struck from behind, sending her skidding across the floor and into the wall.
She groggily picked herself up to see what appeared to be a giant falcon landing in front of her, staring evilly at them with glowing red eyes as it morphed into its more familiar humanoid form. The Fire Guardian quailed at this sight as he strode purposefully towards her, his trademark sneer taking pride of place upon his hideously cruel features.
"Well well well, my little Taranee - I'm so glad you managed to make it here in one piece. You're just in time to see your friend become my servant... or perhaps you would prefer me to dispose of you quickly to spare you the torment. You never did tell m..."
His gloating was mercifully cut short as a large fireball thudded into his spiked back, causing him to stumble forward.
"Darkar! You stay the hell away from them!" Bloom yelled, jabbing a finger at him. Darkar turned around to face her, and immediately started to laugh as he looked upon her and her remaining companions.
"Oh my - aren't you a sorry bunch?" he sneered as he inspected the tired and battered troops fanning out around him before turning back to the keeper of the Dragonfire. "Don't tell me Bloom - you've come here in the mistaken belief you can actually defeat me."
"You bet we'll beat you. Haven't you heard? The good guys always win!"
"Not in this fairytale!" the Dark Lord roared as he gathered his awesome powers before unleashing a torrent of dark energy at Bloom. At first she fended it off quite easily, but as she poured more of her own power into fighting it, she quickly began to weaken. The Shadowhaunt effect was still affecting her, and Darkar's face almost lit up with glee as he sensed this... until he was broadsided by a volley of fireballs from Charlotte, followed by a double Bass Blast from Musa and Nini.
As Darkar turned his attention to the others, Taranee smiled - this battle was just the distraction she needed. With no direct threat to her, she attended to Will, who once again was feeling the full strain of keeping Darkar's magic at bay.
"Oh man, how am I gonna do this?" Taranee pondered. "I guess brute force would be a good place to start. Fire!" she shouted as she poured everything she had into blasting the field which surrounded her friend, but despite her best efforts it just remained there, stubbornly intact. She stood there panting hard, before launching once more into a full-on attack.
Once again, no effect. Just the heartbreaking sight of Will giving her all into fighting against this long drawn-out onslaught.
This was too much to bear. With a loud cry, Taranee thrust her hand into the field in a final effort to yank her friend out... but instead she hit a solid barrier which grabbed hold of her instead. She screamed as a tidal wave of pain hit her in a blinding and colourful light show. Desperately, she tried to pull herself out but her hand was held fast and the pain was getting more and more intense until finally, thankfully, mercifully... the force which held her spat her out.
Taranee landed in a heap on the floor, right where Will could see her. Such a terrible sight it was too, the sight of her best friend weakly trying to pick herself up before collasping. Will then looked up to see the battle... or what was left of it. Her friends and the the fairies were faring badly. Darkar was on his home turf, and he was making it count in a big way. With that and his increased power, he was finding it rather easy to brush aside their attacks and one by one they were dropping, either through Darkar's responses or simply through sheer exhaustion.
When he heard Taranee's screams, Darkar turned around and smiled as this sweet sight.
"You foolish little girl! Did you honestly think you could snatch your friend from under my nose?" he gloated as he raised a hand. "Now you will p..."
From out of nowhere, Darkar was struck by a powerful beam of white energy, sending him crashing into the opposite wall with a satisfying crunch. Angrily, he stood up only to be floored once again by another shot, followed by another, then another. Eventually, the barrage stopped and he was able to see who his attacker was.
"Tegryn! Where have you been hiding?"
Tegryn smiled. Musa had insisted he stay on the sidelines because of his leg, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that.
"You're finished Darkar! Let Will go now!"
Darkar chuckled. "I'd never have guessed my former protegИ would grow so impudent."
"ProtegИ? Pffft! I only hung out with your witches for a couple of days... and that was only because I was hypnotised!" (1)
"Yes. It's too bad you won't follow me of your own free will. With our combined power, no-one would dare to oppose us. What do you say Teggy? Any chance of you joining me and Will as we bring order to the universe?"
"Yes" Tegryn answered after a short pause, drawing gasps of shock from around the room, not least of all from Darkar himself. He would never have guessed this young man would be turned so easily.
"Yes, there is a chance of me turning my back on my fiancИe and dearest friends to join you," Tegryn repeated, trying hard not to grin too broadly. "Well actually there's three chances - fat, slim and none whatsoever!"
Darkar's grin suddenly turned into a fierce scowl. "How dare you?! I'll make you pay for that!"
"Yeah? Bring it on, bony!" Tegryn said cracking his knuckles.
"Watch yourself Tegryn," Discorda whispered into his ear as she struggled to keep a foothold on his shoulders. "Don't get too cocky."
"I know, I know," he replied, ducking to avoid a blast from Darkar's outstretched right hand before responding with a Rage Blast of his own. "I know what I'm doing."
Just as he said that, he was struck in the stomach by a blast which had snuck through his defences. He wobbled and clutched at his stomach, winded yet still able to curse under his breath before taking off once again under Discorda's guidance.
"You haven't got what it takes to stop me Tegryn. None of you do. I'm too powerful!" Darkar roared triumphantly.
"Yeah? Well I'll just have to use your power against you."
Darkar looked on rather perplexed as Tegryn held out a hand and seemingly did absolutely nothing. What he didn't know is that Tegryn had opened a portal behind him, correctly guessing that Darkar's rather painful portal-blocking spell was still in effect. With the Dark Lord positioned neatly between him and the portal, the resulting blast had no option but to cannon straight into Darkar's back. Tegryn smiled with satisfaction before opening a portal directly underneath Darkar as he lay sprawled out on the floor. Once again his plan worked, leaving a Darkar-shaped indent in the vast ceiling.
Tegryn gathered his own energies while Darkar picked himself up. The plan was simple - put everything he had into one final blast and send Darkar into kingdom come.
But Darkar had other ideas.
Before Tegryn could fire a shot, Darkar suddenly disappeared from view, before reappearing right in front of him and blasting him straight in the chest at point-blank range. Thankfully, Tegryn was able to erect a shield just in time, but the massive impact of the shot still threw him backwards, and before he could re-compose himself, Darkar sent one shot in his direction... one that would swing the pendulum well and truly in his favour, because it wasn't aimed at Tegryn at all, but at Discorda.
With a tiny yelp, the elder pixie was sent bouncing uncerimoniously across the floor. Meanwhile Tegryn, without her assistance, was quickly grounded, and he winced as he landed heavily on his injured leg. That wince quickly became a scream of pain as the malicious Lord Darkar took a careful aim at Tegryn's new weak spot, and fired.
Darkar's shot was right on target, striking his leg full-on, shattering the cast that protected it and reopening the wound with sadistic ease. Tegryn fell to the floor, whimpering in pain as his leg once again started to seep prescious blood onto the floor.
Darkar smiled. It pleased him greatly to see this cocky young upstart floored in such delightful fashion.
"Time to have a little fun," he said as with one final cruel motion, he picked Tegryn up by his neck and hurled him straight at Musa. He then raised his arms and used his powers to pick his remaining enemies up off the ground and throwing them into the centre of the room together.
"And now, I have you all right where I want you..."
1. You remember that bit in my second fanfic 'Back to the Old School' where the witches make Tegryn believe that Musa cheated on him before giving him a suggestion potion and briefly turning him over to their side, right?