YAAAAAAAY! Summer holidays! Time for life/writing! Sorry about the massive delay (exams... urgh... here's hoping I passed *fingerscrossed*) but here's the new chapter!

Disclaimer: Who cares about this?! I'm on holiday!

Across the Worlds

Chapter 53: Deathblow

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"NO!"

Dahlia stopped, swaying, astonished. She stared at her trembling arm, suddenly frozen in mid-air. She struggled but her muscles locked, freezing in place. Her eyes followed the gossamer strings embedded into her flesh, trailing it back to its source.

Sid glared at her.

"I'm going to kill you," he vowed as Dahlia screamed in fury.

"WHY?!" the crystal-clawed woman screamed at him.

"You killed my sister!" Sid screamed back at her, a promise of blood in each word, "YOU PROMISED ME THEN YOU WENT AND BUTCHERED HER!"
Dahlia rolled her eyes.

"Is that what this is all about?" she spat as though it was a laughably easy matter to fix.

"That?!" Sid snarled, "THAT!?"

Dahlia jerked, screeching in pain as more strings stabbed her in the spine. The red-headed ventriloquist pulled back his hand and cursing wildly and fighting each step, the leader of the Kraken's Chosen was forced away from Peter. The Saviour instantly rolled away, crying out in pain as he clutched at his broken ribs. Peter turned, watching with fierce blue eyes as Sid forced Dahlia to stop right in front of him.

He twisted his hands and the crystals on Dahlia cracked, shattering into a diamond-like dust stripping the weapon bare of her armour and weapons.

Dahlia glared at him, an imperious look on her haughty face.

"You killed my sister," Sid spat, face thunderous.

He was shaking, his fingers twitching as Dahlia's body shuddered in response, the redhead's strings controlling her every movement.

"And?" Dahlia said with supreme indifference.

"YOU KILLED HER!" Sid screamed, his control fading.

He slapped her across the face, wanting to break her, wanting to make her cry, wanting her to hurt as much as he did but Dahlia merely glared at him, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.

"I helped you. I done everything you asked of me because of one thing… protection for my sister when the Kraken comes," Sid hissed, tears rolling down his face, baring his heart to the world.

Peter watched him, shocked by this revelation, suddenly feeling an instant connection with the bereaving man. Both of them were willing to fight this monster to the death for one reason, vengeance for a woman who had changed their worlds.

"When the Kraken comes, it will bestow upon us powers you cannot even begin to imagine," Dahlia growled, her voice condescending and patronising as though she was talking to a child, "You think death can separate the two of you then? The Kraken can bring her back."

Sid's jaws dropped, the man gaping at her as Dahlia smiled a predatory grin, the rest of her body still held rigid by the ventriloquist's Gift.

"See? It's all part of the plan," she smirked.

"Don't listen to her," Peter wheezed.

Sid looked past Dahlia, dazed and stared into the High King's face. Peter looked squarely back at him.

"Nobody can bring back the dead," he said.

And he would know. After his very first battle with the White Witch and later after Beruna, Peter had begged Aslan to undo all the senseless deaths, to bring back the brave souls who had perished on the battlefield. Aslan had looked at him gravely and told him in gentle, honest words that turning back death was impossible, that fate only allowed a very select few to achieve such short-lived immortality. For the vast majority of mortals, death was a finality that was swift and inevitable.

Aslan had cried with him, wanting to bring back those who had been lost but even the Great Lion was helpless against the cold seizing grasps of death.

Sid stared at him as Peter watched him, expressionless, letting the man see the honesty in his face and eyes. The ventriloquist suddenly nodded and turned burning eyes back to Dahlia.

The blonde woman hissed in exasperation.

"You die," Sid spat.

He pulled on the strings as a single crystal spur exploded out of Dahlia's left index finger, the woman grunting in pain. Peter watched, willing the man on as Sid manipulated Dahlia's movements, the blonde woman fighting him every step of the way as he made her raise the crystal blade to her own throat.

Sid smiled coldly, Siren's deathly serene face dominating his thoughts. Memories flittered through his head, flashes from happier times. His grin softened as he remembered his little sister from when they were children – her laugh, her open smile, the adoration and trust in her eyes as she gazed upon her older brother, knowing that he would always be there for her, looking out for her, protecting her…

His grin folded. He had failed and now she was dead.

"Any last words?" Sid growled viciously, tears spilling down his face and throat.

Dahlia suddenly smiled at him, sneering despite the razor death resting against her throat.

"You're an idiot," she hissed.

Peter saw it before it happened.

"NO!"

Before the king could react, Dahlia lashed out, the strings connecting her to Sid snapping and vanishing out of existence. Light flashed as Dahlia sliced out and Sid staggered back, clutching at his own throat. The blonde woman screamed in laughter, crystals reforming all over her body as the ventriloquist stared up at her, stunned.

"Ho…" he gurgled, blood seeping between his fingers, "How?"
"I am the Kraken's premier Chosen," Dahlia said haughtily, "I was handpicked by the most ancient of evils to lead his followers. You honestly think I'm susceptible to your puny Gift?"

She cackled and lifted one hand.

"STOP!" Peter yelled desperately, one hand flying forwards.

Lightning flared but a wall of crystal streaked out from Dahlia's foot, blocking the blast as Peter reeled back, his broken ribs screaming in protest.

Sid looked up at Dahlia, eyes wide, pupils dilated as she smiled back coolly, pointing her single claw right at his face.

"SHINK!"

And Siren's brother fell dead to the ground.

"Now," Dahlia flicked the cooling blood from her claws, "Where were we?"

The woman turned and Peter spat at her, hands clenched. Thick, choking hate ran through giving him a madman's strength as the Gifts in his body hummed in response, feeding on his fury.

Peter plunged deep into himself, summoning his powers and opening his mouth. A song spilled from his lips, invisible warmth wrapping around him as he forced bone to knit, reforming and making whole as the pain stabbing his chest faded. Peter stood, completely healed as Dahlia smiled coldly.

"Good," she cracked her neck from side to side, jagged spikes sprouting all over her slender body turning her once more into an armoured, monster, "Once more from the top!"

She stomped the ground and crystal spread from her foot like an oil slick, the whole entire span of the office's floor instantly coated in a thick layer of crystal like ice on a lake. Dahlia snarled, her blue eyes glittering like the crystals that coated her body as giant mineralised spikes exploded from the floor, streaking in a rough line towards Peter.

The High King leapt out of the way, razor edges thrusting up into the air barely missing him as he twisted, skeins of lightning flying from his fingers.

Sparks popped and sizzled, dazzling Dahlia and as a bolt of pure power ripped through her body, the woman shrieking in pain as she convulsed.

Swiftly Peter dropped Kage's power over him, weaving a shifting cloak of shadow and light around him as in a blink of an eye the Saviour disappeared from view. Dahlia straightened, shaking off the sparks that still tingled her body.

"STOP HIDING!" she screamed, voice guttural.

"SHINK! SHINK!"

More spikes exploded out of her body, reacting to her fury as she turned. With a roar she raised her hands, a ball of light gathering between her crystal claws. Senseless with a bloodthirsty need for violence, Dahlia hurled the energy forwards destroying a row of desks to no effect.

"Pathetic," Peter's voice snapped out like a whip.

Dahlia twisted, desperately trying to find her enemy as the frill of crystals around her face, split and multiplied, growing more tangled with each passing second.

Peter silently stepped behind her, keep his eyes on her twisting, undulating form as his mind roved the room, reaching all with his Gift. He smiled as Lauren's powers detected the faintest hint of mechanical life lingering in the room.

Elias's electromagnetic bomb had disabled every single remotely electronic object in the building but still some circuits clung stubbornly on, flickering with the dimmest of verves and it was one of these that Peter concentrated on, invading the machine with startling ease, a plan unfurling in his mind.

"I thought you were the premier Chosen," Peter spat, disgust in his voice.

He kept moving, Dahlia's head snapping from side to side trying to spot him.

"Come on Dahlia impress me," the High King taunted, "The Kraken must've chosen you for something…"

He waited, letting silence sink in for dramatic effect.

"It certainly wasn't because of your looks."

Dahlia howled in fury, bestial as she hurled power and crystals wildly through the air. Peter, unflinching, as one spur shot right past his face, spearing deep into the wall.

Winning a battle wasn't always about might and strategy, there was always an element of the mind. Enemies could be broken and defeated before they even stepped foot onto the field if they stopped believing, the most deadly of fighters could be induced to perform the most lethal and novice of mistakes if someone tinkered with their thoughts and played with their emotions.

The strongest of warriors knew to freeze their emotions and let only logic dictate their movements because the moment you start letting the enemy play you, let them control your emotions like a musician thrumming chords, they controlled the flow of the battle and you were already defeated.

"Come on Dahlia," Peter said, unimpressed as Dahlia raged, walls tumbling as crystals tore through them in deadly barrages, "Smile. It makes you look prettier."

"SHUT. UP!"

Dahlia rammed her clawed fist into the wall, crystals streaking out from her hand and covering the ceiling. Clumps grew like icicles, minerals clustering together to form tiny nodules then lumps then lethal spikes as Dahlia screamed.

Peter looked at the ceiling warily and knew the time had come.

"You know Siren would've been able to heal those scars on your face," Peter hurled at her, "Too bad you murdered her!"

Peter smiled, lightning dancing between his fingers.

"I hope you like your new look," he whispered.

Dahlia screamed at him, her voice echoing loud.

"DIE!"

She punched the ground and the crystals on the ceiling shattered, raining down in a cascade of razor blades. Light reflected off the thousands of falling crystals, Peter staring up into a lethal rain of rainbow hues.

He gritted his teeth and threw his Gift forwards, sparks flying and building, coalescing into deadly bolts that streaked out, a flash of blighted blue that sliced through the crystals like a blade. Crystals smoked and cracked, exploding into harmless dust as Peter staggered back, gasping for breath.

"Got you!"

The High King twisted, lightning exploding from his fingers but was too late to do anything but scream as Dahlia slammed into the ground right in front of him, her long crystal claw impaling him straight through the shoulder.

Mind-numbing agony poured through Peter, stunning him as he managed to gather enough of his wit to hurl lightning straight into Dahlia's face, stunning her. Biting back a scream, Peter wrenched himself backwards, tearing the claw out of his own flesh before staggering back, gasping in pain.

Desperately he tried to sing, tried to heal his own wounds but his voice cracked, breaking, his energy ebbing to a dangerous low.

Dahlia laughed in glee but Peter merely smiled through his pain. Demented with fury, driven to distraction by his taunts, the woman had completely failed to notice he had deliberately lured her to where he wanted her.

Peter instantly reached out with his mind and activated that one last circuit that had somehow survived the magnetic blast that had destroyed everything else.

One of the hundreds of emergency sprinklers dotting the ceiling suddenly gurgled violently, pipes shaking as it tried to draw water. Before Dahlia could react, it came to life, a gushing rain of water dousing her as Peter grinned.

Dahlia stared at him, stunned as water dripped her saturated form. But before Peter could deal the final blow, a powerful light suddenly flared in the centre of the room. They both turned, astonished as something exploded with a soundless roar, flinging both of them hard against the wall.

The building shook as the air at the centre of the blast twisted and squirmed, distorting wildly. Peter slowly climbed to his feet, gasping for breath as something slowly emerged – a small smooth round stone that seemed to pulse with its own life and light.

Dahlia gaped at the stone as Chosen and Saviour looked at each other in astonishment and horror.

The final Lodestone had arrived.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"RUN!" Inara yelped.

Bullets tore up the ground as she and Zaru sprinted down the hall, whipping around the corner and taking to the stairs.

"FREEZE!" the Spook Squad thundered behind her.

They fired wildly, guns blazing as a line of bullets tore along stairs.

"Why the hell are they yelling freeze then shooting anyway?!" Zaru screamed.

"Just keep running!" Inara shouted back.

They made it to the thirty-fifth floor, ducking out of the stairwell and streaking down the hallway, Zaru sniffing out their allies up ahead.

"HELP!" Inara screamed, "HELP!"

The Spook Squad spilled into the corridor, their targets in their line of sight as they raised their guns, visor glinting menacingly.

"GET DOWN!"

Inara lunged forwards, hitting the ground as a invisible hands grabbed the secret police force's guns and yanked them out of their grips, hurling them down the hall. Jason stood, deadly and defiant as Inara and Zaru reached him, getting behind the Seeker as the Spook Squad glared at him.

"Sir," one of them barked, "This is your last chance to surrender."

Several of the squad held out their hands, magical light gathering in their palms as Jason snorted.

"No," he chewed out.

"Last warning."

Jason responded by mowing down the first three men with a burst of white fire. The rest of the squad howled in fury and an all out magical brawl broke out.

"GASPAR!" Zaru roared, darting down the hall, following his nose, "GASPAR!"
Inara gasped as the headmaster whipped around the corner, Elias and the two remaining Magi by his side. A step behind them was Caspian and the possessed Eustace.

Eustace cocked his head to the side seeing the fight before calmly slipping between the crowd of people and straight into the crossfire. Jason grunted with shock as Eustace ran straight through the brilliant bursts of magic, slamming straight into the squad as they cried out in surprise.

"Don't kill them!" Gaspar screamed, throwing spell after spell at their attackers.

Men crumpled, limbs seizing up as the headmaster wielded his magic. Kage and Volkov watched with bleak eyes, helpless as Inara ran to Caspian.

"What's happening?" she demanded.

"Peter went to fight Dahlia… alone."

"ALONE?! Zaru yelped, Inara echoing his sentiment, "What are you crazy?! Why aren't you there with him?"

Caspian gave them a long look.

"It's complicated."

Before Inara could shoot back a cutting remark, the whole tower gave one massive shake. A deep grinding sound made them all freeze as the battered building shuddered violently, steel girders bending under the blow. A muffled explosion filtered down to them, a loud thump that made dust falling from the ceiling.

"What…"

Some of the Spook Squad stared up in amazement, the more sensitive of the men picking up the powerful emanation floating down to them. Jason frowned, feeling it too as Gaspar's jaws dropped.

"THE LODESTONE!"

And at the exact moment the ground beneath them gave a terrible lurch. They all stared down, wide-eyed as cracks began to form, the building breaking apart as magic raged on two floors.

"Oh come on," Inara begged, "Please –"

Zaru's eyes widened.

"RUN!"

But it was too late as the floor caved and they fell with terrified screams in a rain of concrete and twisted metal.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Anton Peterson ran down the street, terror in his face as a long dark shadow fell across the alley ground, jabbing at him like an accusing finger.

"Get away for me!" the boy shrieked as footsteps echoed in the tight confines of the alleyway.

He ran and ran, ducking and backtracking, his breath harsh in his ears as he sprinted in a crazed, mindless run.

"No," a cry left his lips, sharp and desperate as he came to an utter dead-end.

Anton whirled, taking one step forwards but froze as the shadow appeared again, falling across the mouth of the alleyway.

He had no choice.

Anton cursed, closing his eyes as he summoned his Gift to him. He grinned, eyes snapping open as his shadowy pursuer appeared strolling slowly towards him.

"Too late," Anton hissed.

His Gift flared, power lighting up his eyes and he was pulled through time and space, lights and sounds whirring past him in a dizzying race as he fell forwards and backwards and up and down all the same time. Amidst the chaos, Anton's eyes caught a glimpse of a small dot of light and it instantly rushed at him, becoming larger and larger, roaring as it smacked into him, devouring his world. Anton landed with a hard thump before a very familiar sight.

"MOM!" Anton yelled, picking himself up, "MOM!"

He burst through the front doors as his mother looked up from the bench in the kitchen, confused.

"Anton?" she asked, "I thought you were…"

"MOM!" Anton was frantic, "We have to get out of here! There's someone… he knows… MOM WE HAVE TO LEAVE! SOMEONE'S AFTER ME!"
His mother shrugged calmly going back to her vegetables, cutting up celery with fine precision.

"I know," she said softly.

"MOM WE HAVE TO – "Anton froze, eyes bulging as her words sunk in, "WHAT? You…"

"Sorry, Anton," her mother looked up blankly, completely drained of emotions.

"BANG!"

Anton staggered back, clutching at his bleeding gut as his mother lowered the smoking gun, her eyes completely hollow. Anton looked at her in dazed confusion, hitting the wall as blood gushed from his body.

"Sorry Anton," a calm voice said.

Anton looked to the side, eyes wide in a pale face.

"YOU!"

"It didn't have to be this way," Gavin said.

He stepped into the light as Anton's mother fell limply to the ground. The man-child was a monster, his eyes doorways into a vast world where millions of other eyes stared back, blinking lazily in disconcerting random waves.

"I need your Gift," Gavin took another step towards Anton, the injured boy fading fast, "I need it to save the world."

"No…"

Gavin cupped Anton's face and concentrated, the boy screaming as his Gift was wrenched out of his body. Gavin took it all in, drinking deep before tossing Anton aside, the powerless boy already dead before he hit the ground.

Gavin looked around at the kitchen and sighed.

"I thank you for your sacrifice," he said to Anton's body, "It will not be in vain."

Gavin closed his eyes and reached out through time and space, taking himself to where he wanted to go.

Susan stood over Anton's body, aghast, the queen nothing more than a wraith, the meanest of ghosts and shadows, a mere observer of events long past.

"This…" she closed her eyes as more memories flashed in her head.

Gavin had travelled the world, tracking down those with Gifts and powers he needed, stalking and hunting down each other ruthless. Bodies piled up wherever he went but Gavin was numb to the destruction and the misery he caused, focused solely on the insane goal that now defined his existence.

And finally… finally after taking all that he needed, the man that would one day become the Great Darkness reached out with all his Gifts and pierced the wall between the worlds, leaving this place and moving on, searching for more power, driven beyond the brink of sanity by his thirst and need to feed the beast inside him.

Susan shook as she dimly felt an echo of the corrosive madness that had slowly eaten the man away as he stepped onto new worlds, the vicious cycle of hunting and devouring continuing. Gavin grew stronger with each victim, becoming more than a man and less than a god, a horrifying demon that made the skies weep and the earth shake every world he stepped into. But Gavin pressed on, men, women, animals and creatures falling to him as he prepared himself for the things he still had to do.

"The first step," Susan realised.

All this death… all this madness… it was just the first step in his grand plan – gaining power. He had evolved, gorged upon so much power he had ceased to be mortal, a terrifying abomination of nature.

"Susan?"

Susan jumped, the memory of Anton's house fading into grey mist as a figure appeared beside her.

"Mallory?" she asked, astonished, "What…"

The dark-haired Magi looked at her, both of them as insubstantial as ghosts.

"What is this place?" the psychic demanded, looking around, gold light flaring in her eyes as she summoned her power, trying to probe the nature of the place.

"It's… a dream. Someone's trying to show me something," Susan frowned, "How…"

"I can't wake up. Something's stopping me just as it's stopping you," Mallory said grimly, "But I could feel you were gone… your mind's not in your body anymore, it had been taken elsewhere… to this place, so I followed."

"Viola," Susan cursed, "She's not going to…"

Before Susan could complete her sentence the world around her segued, becoming chaos as everything shifted. Susan and Mallory cried out as an irresistible force grabbed them by their arms and yanked them into the boiling entropy.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"YES!"

Dahlia spat, a fine needle of crystal flying from her mouth and shooting straight for the hovering Lodestone.

"NO!"
Agony stabbed Peter, blood gushing from his mouth as he tumbled to the ground, the needle jutting out from his stomach.

"Foolish boy!" Dahlia laughed.

She rose to her feet, crystal wings reforming on her back.

"The end of the world is here!" she said dramatically, "And I am its executioner!"

She laughed as Peter writhed on the floor, blood leaking rapidly from his body.

"I have seen it. The Kraken will come, armies will rise up against it and will be swept away like a sand bridge before the storm. And I will be the queen of this world, beautiful beyond measure, adored by all!" she screamed the last words at him, laughter bubbling from her lips.

Peter glared at her, gritting his teeth.

"Too bad brains wasn't part of the package," he snapped.

Dahlia blinked at him as Peter reached out touching the puddle of blood around him. The woman let out a cry of shock as water from the sprinkler before continued to drip from her wet form, pooling around him and spreading outwards mingling with the blood from Peter's gut and shoulder.

Millions of volts of lightning leapt from Peter's finger into his blood, streaking across and diving into the pool of water at Dahlia's feet before surging upwards.

Peter and Dahlia's screams filled the air as both of them fried, lightning coursing through their bodies. Crystals cracked and shattered, unable to handle the power as Dahlia staggered back, her drenched form sucking up the electricity like parched land drawing rain. Peter writhed on the ground in painful spasms but his body, changed by Volkov's Gift managed to neutralise the power leaving him only with mild shocks.

Dahlia wasn't as lucky. She was thrown against the wall, her crystal armour literally dissolving into smoke as she screamed again and again.

Slowly the lightning faded except for the odd crackle both combatants lying sprawled on the ground.

"You…" Dahlia looked at him, her hair smoking, "You bastard."

"Pleasure's mine," Peter snapped back, "Oh and by the way…"

Before Dahlia could react, Peter threw a ball of crackling blue shocks straight at her face. It was a weak blow, only a fraction of the power from before but Dahlia screamed as sizzling hot fingers tore her face apart.

"NO! NO!" she clutched at her ruined features, "Not again! Please!"

She looked up, her eyes blue in a wild ghoulish landscape of charred black and raw red. She was weeping, the croaking shuddering cries of a young girl.

"NO!"

Like a glass cracking under pressure, Dahlia's mind snapped. Crystals exploded out of her as she lurched to her feet, screaming mindlessly. Peter struggled to stand as Dahlia roared, spikes exploding out all over her body.

"YOU!"

Peter fought to drop another stealth cloak over himself but his mind, reeling from pain and still battered from the lightning, was sluggish, barely react as Dahlia opened her mouth and vomited out pure hot energy.

A sizzling hole was immediately burnt through the ground as Dahlia staggered forwards, her ruined face a rude contrast to the perfect glimmering crystals that had taken over her body.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Crystals flew at Peter as he stumbled backwards, the needle still protruding from his body as Dahlia continued to spew pure power all over the ground.

The Lodestone continued to pulse with light, floating in the centre of the room as Dahlia stomped towards Peter, completely encased in crystal.

The High King knew what he had to do. He fell back, his muscles weakening with every step as Dahlia roared, stampeding towards him.

Peter's cheek was sliced open by a sliver of mineral as Dahlia thrust her arms to the ground, crystal spikes erupting from her fingers and thrusting down into the floor, puncturing through concrete. The spikes grew, punching down to several floors below before with a cry Dahlia ripped her arm upwards tearing the ground apart.

Peter skittered back as half the floor collapsed, Dahlia stamping forwards screeching with abandon.

Long horns sprouted from her head, stretching up and piercing the ceiling, dragging it down on top of her as she stomped forwards, ignoring the heavy slabs of concrete breaking across the hardened body.

She was now the size of an elephant, a woman wrapped in a living armour that howled for Peter's blood.

"You…" she croaked, pure energy leaking out from between her fangs, "You…"

Peter took another step back and Dahlia threw herself clumsily at him, the High King just managed to dive out of the way. Dahlia crashed to a halt against a column as from above the turned on sprinkler dumped buckets and buckets of water on her, the crazed woman barely noticing her danger.

Peter stared up at her, the Lodestone at his back several metres away as water dripped into all the crevices and cracks formed by the crystals, tumbling down into minute waterfalls, skating down in a hauntingly beautiful cascade of light and spray.

"Die…"

And she threw up a huge glob of power as crystal blades flew at him. Peter gathered every drop of energy he possessed and hurled it forwards in a blast of electricity, his heart almost giving out from the strain.

He screamed, blades finding his left arm and thigh as the lightning slammed into the water-soaked woman.

Huge boulders of smoking crystal was flung away, shattering glass and desks as they were blasted from Dahlia's body as she screamed. Energy flew from her lips, exploding from her like a geyser as Peter was hit with splashes, his flesh blistering as he clung on, pouring more of himself into the attack.

The water drew the thunderbolts deep into the crevasses, the lightning spearing through the tiny flaws like a chisel cracks form all over Dahlia's armour as she screamed.

Wreathed in lightning, Dahlia convulsed on the spot, water falling on her as Peter clutched the needle embedded in his gut and with a cry of pain he yanked it out. He vomited noisily, nausea and agony punching him hard but he slowly managed to straighten, holding the crystal spur aloft.

"This is for Siren," he managed to croak out.

His cursed arms were weak but the crystal was light as he sprung forwards, lightning crackling along the crystal's point. With a powerful boom, the bulk of Dahlia's crystal armour was blown away exposing the woman's slim body as lightning continued to ravage her.

She looked up, screaming, pins of crystal flying from her mouth as Peter leapt through the rain of minerals and lightning sparks and stabbed her straight in the chest.

He smacked into her body, bouncing off the few crystal chunks that remained and flopped to the ground as Dahlia stared in confusion at the crystal sticking out from her flesh.

"No…" she gasped, "Imp… impossible…"

Her crystals dissolved into dust, the energy in her mouth dying away as she fell to the ground, the lightning finally burning itself out. It was with a mundane thump and a wet splash that Dahlia hit the ground, utterly still.

Peter stared at her, bleeding from multiple places, his stomach drenched with blood. Slowly he got to his feet and turned around in victory, looking for the Lodestone.

"No."

The cry was sharp, a small gasp as he caught sight of the precious stone.

A small needle of crystal, thinner than a pencil, glittered from its final resting place – impaled straight through the Lodestone.

"No…" Peter lurched forwards, splashing noisily through the water, skirting around smoking crystal boulders and spikes as he grabbed at the stone.

It fell into his fingers, warming his skin as he stared in horror at the damaged stone. A few crack ran through the centre of the mystical artefact radiating out from the crystal spike in its centre, the flaw hadn't reached the edges of the stone but Peter knew once it did and it would…

The stone would break and the Kraken would be free.

Peter slumped.

He had failed.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Elias groaned, pushing himself off the pile of debris as dust fell on him like grey snowflakes.

"Inara? Zaru? Jason?' he barked.

"Hiya Doc..."

He whipped around as debris moved, Inara staggered to her feet, bloodied and dazed.

"I hate this world!"

He saw gold fur as Zaru crawled out from the wreckage. The leopard sniffed the air and jabbed at the air with one paw, Elias and Inara instantly understanding. They shovelled through the debris with bare hands, skin scraping raw before they finally uncovered a familiar face.

"COWBOY!"

Jason's eyes were closed.

"JASON!"

But the Seeker was still. Elias felt the blood drain from his face.

"No..."

Zaru rolled his eyes and unsheathed a single claw.

"Kitty... what – "

"OW!"

Jason shot up, glaring at Zaru as the leopard smirked, pulling his paw away.

"You. Are. Going. To. Die!" the Seeker spat.

"Susan loves me. You don't want to hurt her do you?" Zaru shot back lazily.

Jason growled, white fire burning in his eyes.

"The others?" he barked.

Zaru shook his head.

"No idea."

"THERE THEY ARE!"

Their heads snapped up as the Spook Squad stared at them through the whole in the ceiling.

"DAMN IT!"

Jason thrust his hand upwards, his power exploding out as Inara looked at the ceiling, fear in her eyes.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"What is this place?" Mallory was looking at a blighted land, a place where light and joy were a feverish delusion.

The ground was grey and covered with soot, not a single blade of grass or a patch of moss able to grow amongst such misery and devastation. Houses stood abandoned, broken windows soulless eyes into darkness, farmlands ravaged by disease and fire.

"I think… this is another world," Susan said slowly.

Mallory looked at her startled but as if to prove her point, a giant six-winged creature, a monster of feather and leather swooped at them, five gem-like eyes glittering. Mallory cried out, lashing out with her Gift as Susan stood unafraid. The monster swept through them like wind through smoke, passing through their ghostly bodies as Susan turned watching it leave.

"What…" Mallory staggered to her feet.

But Susan wasn't listening, her blue eyes focused on a faraway castle, a lean black tower that dominated the land.

"I think we should go there," Susan nodded, "I…"

All it took was a thought and Susan and Mallory suddenly found themselves standing inside a dark, oppressive throne room. Both women stumbled, shocked by the sudden change in scenery as a thin scrawny man, draped in fur and arrogance glared at them from his seat on a dark metal throne.

"Why have you come here?" he demanded.

"I…" Susan froze as someone stepped through them.

It was a man, dirtied and broken, hair falling out in bloody clumps. He fell to the ground as guards shoved him down, the filthy sneering soldiers kicking him as the man grovelled helplessly before his king.

"We need help sire!" the man wailed, "Everyone in our village… they're… they're dying."

The king sneered before nodding to someone at his side. A pale rat-like man scurried forwards, scrolls clutched to his chest.

"Has his village paid their taxes?" the king demanded.

The pale man instantly shook his head as the villager wailed.

"No sire, they're exactly seven silvers short."

"Seven silvers?" the king laughed, "You dare come asking me for help when you fail to pay what you owe me? I am your KING! You owe your lives to me!"

"But please your majesty!" the villager screamed, "We couldn't… we couldn't pay you… the livestock… the harvest it's all failing."

"Excuses, excuses," the cruel king sneered, "I sicken of your whining voice. Kill him and string up him as an example."

"No your majesty! NO!" the villager screamed as the guards stepped froward, "CLEMENCY! CLEMENCY!"

The king laughed as his own subject was beheaded, the other members of the court recoiling as the guards howled with glee, their piggish faces alit with delight.

"Does anyone else have a request?" the king smirked.

Some of the milder members of his court fell, fainting dead away as the king laughed again, his voice rich with pure joy at the fear he invoked.

"I do."

The king froze as tall figure stepped out from the crowd. Gavin, his body swathed in a dark cloak stared at the ruler, hood thrown back to reveal his pale face.

"You dare?" the king spat, "You dare to taunt me?! KILL HIM?!"

Gavin raised his hands as the guards rushed at him and with a single twitch of his fingers, the men dropped dead to the ground. Hush fell over the crowd, fearful whispers flittering between the people as Gavin marched up to the king.

The tyrant stared down at him, wan pale, his confidence falling like this men.

"I don't understand you," Gavin whispered, "You are a ruler. You can better the world… yet you choose to indulge in childishness and petty wants to the disaster of all. You've poisoned this world..."

"Who are you?!" the king screamed, fear in his voice, "WHO ARE YOU?!"

"I am your saviour," Gavin said softly, his thousand eyes blinking.

He pointed at the king and the man was instantly devoured in liquid fire, his throne burning with him as the court screamed.

"All of you are wrong," Gavin addressed them all, uncaring of the life he had just taken, "You stand idly by whilst a madman rules and you let him destroy everything this is good. You must all be cleansed."

A stampede broke out instantly, men and women fleeing, trampling over each other as Gavin pointed. For all their screams and pleas and attempts to flee, it was hopeless, every one of them devoured by hungry flames.

Susan and Mallory stood amongst the inferno, unharmed as they watched with fearful eyes as Gavin swept his hands around.

The castle burned, the flames spreading.

The land, the kingdom burned.

Everywhere there was fire. Everywhere there was madness and death and Gavin did not stop until every last living creature on the face of the earth had been incinerated.

The world had been cleansed.

When it was all finished, when there was nothing but ashes Gavin killed the fire, staggering back as he did so. He fell to his knees face pale, vomiting out blood and bile as his body rebelled violently.

"What?" he looked up, face very grey, "What?"

He stared at his shaking hands.

"Of course," he whispered, "Of course."

Gavin looked up, summoned his powers to him and vanished from this vanquished world. He had learnt a very important lesson.

Mallory looked to Susan, stricken.

"What…"

"I think he realised something here," Susan said slowly, "Gavin wants to use his powers to save the worlds… by wiping out everything in them first. By staring anew. But he learnt… he can't. No without almost killing himself first."

Susan looked at Mallory, pieces of the puzzle falling into place, sliding smoothly together.

"That's why he created the darkness in the each world," Susan gasped, "That's why. Because he can't destroy the worlds himself. He sows the seeds of destruction in each world, allows them to bloom and lets the world tear itself apart."

It all fitted. Shift, the Yin, the vampires… every monster Susan had faced. They were all part of the plan, ways for Gavin, the Great Darkness, to fulfil his grand scheme. Left in time to fester and grow, the darkness he shaped would help destroy the world without Gavin needing to intervene. He could keep his health and his powers by letting his minions, his children cleanse the worlds for him.

Susan remembered the Djinn, remembered the destruction of the Torans and the Ursines and their worlds and realised she had seen his ploy succeed once. She shuddered realising this was the fate of all worlds if Gavin succeeded.

"The second step," Susan whispered, "This is the second step of his plan."

"SUSAN!" Mallory suddenly yelped.

Susan looked up as a swirling maelstrom of colour and sounds descended from the sky. The queen merely blinked allowing it to swallow her up as it took her to the next dream and next part of the puzzle.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Caspian peered around the corner and a feral smile curled his lips as he saw the High King alone, kneeling in the wreckage. He raised his sword, light glinting along its lethal edge.

'STOP!' the real Caspian screamed silently inside his own head, 'STOP!'

He had been there when the demon in him had stolen away from the Academy. He had been there when the demon had pierced the protection around Dahlia's mansion and entered the bowels of its basement. Had been there when the demon had presented itself to the Kraken itself and struck a bargain.

'STOP!'

"You think Eustace is going to let me live?" the demon in him snarled, "You think my master wants us to live? The Great Darkness wants nothing but to purify this world and guess what I am?! I'm impure! I'm going to die!"

'I'll stop. I'll stop you!' Caspian raged, focusing, trying to move a single muscle in his own body but nothing happened, his body completely disconnected from him, 'STOP YOU BASTARD!'

"You need me," the demon sneered, "I'm protecting you remember?"

'I'd rather die.'

The demon snorted.

"The Kraken is a more generous master and all I have to do..."

He could sense Peter's weakness, could tell the High King was faltering.

"... is this.'

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

And the demon lunged forwards, silent as an owl as the terrible blade swept down.

'PETER!' he could feel the demon's excitement, felt its triumph.

"Be gone."

And Peter whirled just in time to see a burst of colour and light as Caspian, hidden and obscured, was thrust through time and reality to another place, the demon in him raging as the true king howled with laughter.

"Eustace."

The possessed corpse looked down at him, his features betraying nothing. He had just saved the High King's life and Peter didn't even know it.

"Come."

Peter stared numbed as Eustace looked back at him, one hand outstretched.

"What?"

The pale face of his deceased cousin was terrible in the gloom, a ghoulish mien deserving of the most terrifying of nightmares.

"Time runs short," Eustace said without preamble, "If you wish to destroy the Kraken. You have to come with me now."

Peter stared at Eustace's hand, the damaged Lodestone clutched to his bloodied chest.

"We must hurry. If you want to complete your destiny as the Saviour…"

Peter swallowed heavily and stood up, blood-drenched and badly injured but willing. He cleared his throat and reached out.

"Okay."

He put his bloody, charred, cursed hands into Eustace's death-cold fingers.

"PETER!?"

The last thing Peter saw was Gaspar's astonished, terrified face as he was pulled away in a rush of light and sound, disappearing from the Imperial Towers.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"PETER?!" Gaspar sprinted over to the spot where he'd been, looking around frantically, "PETER!"

"He's gone," Kage noted grimly, "Teleported away."

"I know," Gaspar said tersely.

He had managed to save himself and the two Magi from falling with the others, hurling magic and light to daze the Spook Squad before fleeing. The powerful mage had sensed the Blood-binding Circle breaking, broken once one of its combatants had fallen. Even though he had hoped and prayed Peter would win, a part of him had feared the very worst until he had seen the blonde-haired boy mere seconds before he was snatched away by that monster Eustace.

"Do you know where?!" he demanded.

Kage shrugged helplessly, the policeman's face grey, still trying to recover from Peter's draining of his powers. Kage shuddered feeling once more the gaping void that now existed within him as Volkov's eyes swept the room.

"Dahlia," he smirked, "I'll be damned. That boy managed to pull it off."

He sneered.

"With my help of course."

"More like mine."

The three men whirled as white fire blazed in the doorway, Jason stomping towards them, his companions staggering behind him.

"Spook Squad!" Elias said frantically, "Coming!"

Thanks to Jason they had managed to fight them off, Zaru leading them to their allies. He could tell Jason was exhausted but the Seeker stubbornly refused to admit defeat, fury and fear pushing his power to dangerous levels.

"Dahlia and Sid," Zaru grunted, spotting the red-head's body amidst the wreckage.

"Well, that completes the set don't it?" Volkov snarled.

"Set?" Zaru blinked.

"Marduk's dead. Phoebe took a tumble according to you…"

Inara winced as she remembered the crazed woman's final fall.

"And Lauren's powerless. Peter took them," Volkov said flatly.

"She's alive?" Zaru said incredulously.

Volkov shrugged as Inara suddenly brightened, a grin on her lips.

"Good," she turned back around, "At least we have someone."
"Someone?" Kage echoed.

Inara turned back to them, a dark unholy look in her grim eyes.

"Someone I can hit for information."

"Or we can just make her bleed," Zaru said helpfully, his unsheathed claws clacking on the floor.

"That works," Inara said offhandedly.

Kage and Volkov stared at each other, surprised as Zaru and Inara swept out of the room, harsh purpose on their faces.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Caspian blinked, snarling in fury as he found himself standing right before a troop of surprised Spook Squad members.

"DAMN IT!" he roared, furious and terrified as the real Caspian laughed inside his head, jeering at him, "SHUT UP!"

'Guess you're going to die now!' Caspian mocked, 'Poor you. Betrayed by your own ally!'

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The Spook Squad immediately unleashed their powers, Caspian allowing the darkness to flood his eyes, taking a spell straight to the chest. The possessed king shook it off, grabbing the shocked policeman by the neck and smashing his head into the wall, breaking his neck instantly.

Sneering, Caspian dropped the body, skin tingling as more curses slammed into him.

"SHAGGY!"

Caspian's head snapped up and he found himself staring at Zaru. He instantly let the black in his eyes bleed away.

"Come on!" Zaru yelped as magic streaked over his head Gaspar sending a solider flying, "We need to go now!"

The whole tower suddenly shook, a deep source-less crunching sound cutting through the battle as all the combatants looked around, terrified.

"The building's going to go!" one of the Spook Squad screamed.

The squad leader instantly grabbed his walkie-talkie, talking frantically to his superiors as the police hung back, unsure, eyeing their opponents warily.

The building quaked, girders popping their joints as the floor shuddered, suddenly tilting as they all stumbled.

"We need to grab Lauren," Inara hissed, talking quickly to Jason, "Can you…"

"Where is she?" the Seeker demanded, swaying on the spot but still game.

"Several floors down," Gaspar said quickly, "West face."

"Zaru?" Jason shot at the leopard.

"I've got her," Zaru reported, sniffing the air.

Jason nodded briskly, raising his hands as white fire shimmered.

"Get close!" he roared.

White fire stabbed down into the ground, slicing deep as the Spook Squad cried out in shock. The Seeker grunted as his power carved through concrete and steel, the ground creaking before –

"BOOM!"

A circular section of the floor gave way, dropping down onto the hallway below, Jason and the others riding the falling concrete down. It hit the ground with a jolt, all of them stumbling aside from Zaru.

"GO!" Jason screamed.

They dashed down the hall, hurling themselves down the stairs as on the floor above the Spook Squad members stood, gaping at the hole.

"GET THEM!" the leader screamed, snapping out of his shock.

The police whirled, sprinting to the stairs as their quarry got further and further away. Zaru led to the fifth floor, the Spook Squad snapping at their heels. Gaspar threw another spell at the stairwell, tottering as his magic shot out of him, a wall of power sealing the hallway off.

The Spook Squad slammed into the barrier, their own magic flaring as the group thundered down the hallway, leaping over the mangled remains of defeated androids.

Lauren looked up wearily as they burst into the room.

"What do you want?" she asked in a small broken voice, "You've taken everything…"

"Where's the Kraken?" Inara spat.

"I…"

Zaru hissed, snapping at her as Lauren recoiled, trembling.

"It doesn't matter," she wept, "You can't beat it anyway. It's over… it's all over…"

"Where is the Kraken?" Jason snarled, daggers appearing in his hands.

Lauren looked up at them and gave a weary, defeated laugh.

"At the mansion," she mumbled looking away, "Dahlia's mansion. It's built right over the master."

"Where?" Zaru scowled.

Lauren gave them the address, naming it in the most expensive quarter of the city

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked in a voice that said she didn't really care at all.

"What else?" Gaspar said coldly, "Leave you to the authorities."

The magician pointed at the window and it promptly shattered as Lauren looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Please…" she begged, "Don't."

It was Volkov who answered, his voice cold and shaking with hot fury.

"Tell someone who cares," he spat.

Gaspar raised his hands, a cloud of shimmering air forming just outside the window. Calmly the magician stepped out onto the platform of distorted air, the others following with obvious nerve and reluctance. Lauren watched them numbly as Gaspar gestured, the solidified air lowering them gently to the ground.

The Spook Squad finally broke down the magical barricade, storming down the hall as their group reached the streets below, melting into the crowds as Lauren was quickly found and promptly arrested.

Ten minutes later, the Spook Squad exited the building to a media frenzy, Lauren led away in handcuffs as she wept brokenly on national television.

Twenty minutes later, Imperial Towers collapsed, the spectacular implosion broadcasted all over the world as all traces of the titanical struggle that had just taken place was erased forever.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Susan flew through time and space, vision after vision flooding her head like moths butting the glass panes of a lantern, the images flickering and dimly realised.

She saw Gavin enter more worlds, expanding his powers, preying upon more and more powerful beings.

Magicians, spirits, dryads, dragons, angels and demons were all captured, their powers consumed, their very mind, soul and being absorbed into the vast hungry hole that Gavin's soul had become but still he needed, wanted, thirsted for more.

Susan screamed as images of bloody battlefields entered her head, Gavin destroying gods and goddesses, achieving immortality and ascending to higher, more exulted planes as he emerged victorious with blood on his lips and hands.

She saw Viola standing in a world on fire, screaming as her brethren, her brother and sister gods torn apart by Gavin's cronies, the man stepping forwards and stealing all that they had, sucking it up like a vampire.

Gavin grew, his mortal flesh rotting, melting away as he became a ghost, a spirit, a hungry demon, a deity… the Great Darkness had truly been born.

He hunted gods because they alone held the one power he needed – the power to create and shape worlds to his will.

She saw him on a desolate plain, walking, a look of fierce concentration on his face as trees sprung up from loamy soil in his wake, the dark sky clearing as a fat yellow sun rose in the sky like a sunflower. Plants, trees and animals grew and flourished wherever the Great Darkness walked, rivers and lakes springing to life and winding its way through the dirt as his power flowed before him. Finally he stopped beside an apple tree and held out his hands, finishing his creation.

The ground shook and humans grew from the earth like plants, blinking blearily as they emerged into the sun. Gavin, the Great Darkness because they were now one and the same, watched them with narrowed eyes before vanishing, leaving this world for the men and women he had just created. He had shaped their minds, warping them, erasing all that was innately dark and leaving them pure, as innocent as children.

Susan screamed as hot hate and thwarted frustration flow through her, the Great Darkness's fury shaking the worlds as the humans he had created descended into debauchery and violence, some killing with no qualms, others apathetic and standing by. Incensed, demonic with rage, the Great Darkness crushed the world forever, turning it into a lump of frozen coal before turning once more to the worlds, seeking a path to his desired end.

He descended onto more destroyed worlds, forming new civilisations, tweaking the humans within leaving them to multiply and progress as they will. He watched them, manipulating them, treating entire worlds of people as more experiments to play with and destroy at his whim.

But all that changed when he heard of a Lion, a single being that alone out of the gods in the all the worlds had the power to create a world. Not change worlds as he had done, not based on his creation on flawed beginnings but the power to sing a world completely out of the void and to shape it as his will

Hope grew in the Great Darkness, if he could gain this Lion, this god's gift and use it…

He would be able to save the worlds. He would have the power to both destroy completely and to create completely.

Susan watched, dazed as the Great Darkness flooded Narnia, flooded her kingdom, her world and began the war to seize Aslan for himself.

She understood it all now. Could see it all now. Realised why she was fighting. Why the Great Darkness was fighting, the cause of everything.

She turned looking for Mallory but saw someone else.

"You."

Viola smiled at her sadly. Somehow it didn't surprise the queen to find the goddess floating in the darkness before her, her purple silken dress arranged artfully around her slim form.

"I know why you gave me those dreams now," Susan whispered.

Viola jutted her chin out in a silent challenge.

"You showed me the beginning. Genesis… the birth of the darkness. Gavin… he's the Great Darkness,' the queen shuddered remembering the thousands of blinking eyes that had opened on the young man's body, something she had only seen once as Persephone fell and the Great Darkness had revealed itself to her for the first time.

"You showed me why he's destroying worlds," Susan whispered, "He wants to build a utopia."

"By eliminating the diseased race, the flawed ones, the murderers" Viola said grimly, "By killing everyone. And when everything is laid to waste, he will step in and rebuild."

Viola sighed.

"But know this. This is the world he cares about the most. The one he really wants to change. All the others… they're just experiments, ways for him to perfect his craft before he returns here and complete his original vow…" the goddess was grim, "To heal this world."

She felt exhausted, drained. How could she defeat such a being? How could she destroy someone who had taken so much, who had killed gods and seized their powers for himself? What could she do?

"And he wants Aslan," Susan whispered, "He wants his power to sing worlds into existence. To create everything... from nothing."

"No other god holds that power. We just shape the worlds that are already there like artists on a blank canvas..." Viola had a dreamy look on her face, "But Aslan... he can do what we can't."

The goddess paused.

"Aslan is strong, He derives his strength from Narnia and its people. Gavin hopes by destroying Narnia, it would weaken the Lion and he could seize His powers."

Viola looked at Susan, her slanted amethyst eyes sad.

"Gavin, the Great Darkness, is dangerous. He truly believes in what he is doing. He truly believes he is saving this world. Genocide means nothing to him because he does not believe it is wrong" the goddess turned and looked out the window, "That what makes him so dangerous, so unstoppable."

Susan tried to swallow around the lump in her throat.

"How? How do I beat him? How can I? If Aslan can't…"

"I showed you Gavin's past so you know one thing," Viola looked at her gravely, "Underneath it all, Gavin is still human. He is still a boy. You've seen his origins. You've seen where he's come form. He isn't a true god or even a true demon, he's just a misguided grieving human being."

Susan snorted. She couldn't help it.

"Can't you just point me to the some magical artefact that could mystically wipe him off the face the planet?" she demanded.

Viola chuckled standing in one graceful elegant move.

"Sorry, dearie. It doesn't work like that," Viola turned to her, "Remember Susan. You've see the birth of the darkness and he's not as scary as you think. He's just a boy."

"Now," she beckoned and Mallory emerged from the darkness, ashen-faced, "The Kraken has awoken in this world and is now free."

"WHAT?!" Susan yelped.

Mallory cursed wildly, golden eyes flashing but Viola ignored her.

"And your brother is right in its path. He can't destroy it… not alone," Viola smiled at them, "But you're going to help him."

"With what?" Mallory demanded.

"By giving him a boost," Viola smile widened, "I'm going to open up a connection between the two rings and you mortals are going to do the rest."

And Susan and Mallory looked at her completely confused as Viola began explaining her plan.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The mansion was sprawling, opulent to excess, every hedge and bush pruned and trimmed to perfection, the perfect backdrop to the monstrosity of white and gilded gold that was the house proper.

"What is this place?" Peter croaked.

He was still bleeding, running on empty fumes of adrenaline, barely able to stand. Eustace's blank black eyes were staring through the bars of the towering ornate metal gate, ignoring the king next to him.

"There's magic here," the possessed body announced suddenly.

Peter frowned, fighting through the layers and layers of exhaustion pressing down on him and reached out with his mind, still sightly unused to the way his Gift and powers worked. He flinched as he felt the burning wall of invisible fire that wrapped itself around the mansion, protecting it from harm.

"Break it," Eustace said.

Peter opened his mouth, ready to snap and say he didn't know how to but the section of him that housed Gaspar's stolen knowledge suddenly lit up, coming to life as the metaphysical book that had formed the moment he had used his Gift against Gaspar flicked open, whispered words and complex theories flittering into his head.

Peter looked at the invisible spells around the house and suddenly just knew how to break it.

Slowly he paced around the edges of the shield, probing it gently as he walked, Eustace following him carefully. For several minutes Peter strolled around the edge of the mansion, looking until he suddenly stopped.

"Here," he announced weakly, "Dig there."

Eustace instantly fell to his knees as Peter hung back, clutching at his still bleeding gut as his cousin's hands scrounged in the packed dirt. Finally Eustace crouched back, unearthing a small wooden idol from the ground. It was terrifying little statue, a hybrid of man and beast, waves of malice rolling off the rude wooden carving.

"Snap it," Peter whispered.

Eustace gripped the figurine and twisted, the thing breaking with a snap. A scream boomed around them as the air seemed to suddenly lighten. Eustace tossed the two smoking halves of the figure aside as the shield collapsed, falling in on itself with surprising ease, winking out of existence.

Peter's face didn't change as they trekked back to the front gates. Eustace calmly kicked the gate, wrought metal swinging open with a bang as they walked to the front of the mansion.

Peter instantly froze, his skin crawling as he felt something very, very wrong inside the mansion.

"It's here," he whispered, awed despite himself, "It's actually here."
"Of course," Eustace said, "You think I'm tricking you?"

"We'll just have to wait and see," Peter snapped.

Eustace kicked the door open again, wood splintering under the powerful blow as Peter physically recoiled. Pure undiluted evil rolled out of the mansion like a frozen breeze, chilling Peter to the core. Shuddering he stepped into the mansion, blue eyes roving the marble interior, every piece of furniture and art arrayed in a tasteful display of overwhelming wealth. But beneath the perfect façade, Peter could feel wrongness and malice, ancient and fermenting and a deep sense of waiting. The house was quiet as though holding its breath for the war to come.

Like magnet to iron, Peter was drawn to the source of the evil stepping unerringly deeper into the house as Eustace trailed him.

The final Lodestone was clutched in Peter's hand, the fine crack in its centre spreading slowly, the stone practically vibrating in his hand as it fought to keep together, the ancient spell it helped anchor unravelling slowly as the stone began to fall apart.

Peter stopped in front of a blank wall reaching out with Lauren's power. He blinked as the false wall slid away revealing a set of metal doors. All it took was a touch of his mind and that too opened, Peter stepping inside the elevator.

Eustace joined him as the door closed, the elevator sliding smoothly down its shaft, both men inside quiet.

The elevator slowed to a halt before sliding open, Peter walking out, his shoulders squared as his blue eyes surveyed the catacombs all around him.

"This way," Peter said softly, darkness reaching out for him with cooing voices and razor hands.

Through the shadows he strolled, ignoring the whimpering cries of those chained helpless to the walls before he came to a long flight of stone stairs. Eustace was silent, watching him as Peter limped down the steps, a red light ahead beckoning him to his destiny.

Finally Peter Pevensie, the Saviour, stopped as a giant furious eye glared down at him from behind a thick crystal wall.

'YOU CAME,' the Kraken screeched, its voice tearing through Peter like fire through tinder.

Peter should've felt afraid standing before such monstrosity, pinned under its hateful gaze but the king felt nothing but utter calmness as the Kraken's tentacles writhed, suckers latching onto the wall.

The moment had finally come.

The Lodestone shuddered in his hand, the crack finally hitting its edge. With the sound of thunder, it split in two as the Kraken roared in triumph.

'I'M FREE!'

The crystal wall cracked, shattering as huge mottled tentacles exploded outwards, suckering onto the cavern walls as the monster dragged itself forwards.

Finally after centuries and centuries, after countless Great Games, the Magi had failed, the stones were shattered and the beast was free.

All around the world everything went berserk, volcanoes spewing their tops in fiery explosion as hurricanes and tsunamis battered coastlines, changing the lay of the land with each terrifying blow.

Blizzards howled as crops sizzled under harsh sunlight.

Mountains tumbled, avalanches and mudslides burying towns as earthquakes tores cities apart with devastating force.

In the blink of an eye, thousands… millions of lives were lost as the world itself rebelled against the darkness that had just been unleashed.

The Kraken shrieked, its cruel beaked mouth slicing the air as the monster lurched forwards, hooded, red-black eyes glittering.

Thick tentacles tore the cavern down, exploding out from the cave, through solid rock and into the mansion above. The Kraken screamed, muscles bulging as it tore an opening in the cave ripping the mansion apart as sunlight hit its flesh for the first time in eons.

'I'M FREE!" the monster howled, 'I'M FREE!'

The sun was instantly swallowed by an eclipse as the monster cackled with glee, tentacles burying deep into earth as it struggled to lever itself out of the sinkhole it had been imprisoned in.

One fat tentacle rose into the dark sky, its suckers opening and closing like thousands of hungry horned mouths as the monster laughed.

The Kraken had finally escaped.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"EVERYONE!"

The students and teachers all jumped, looking around frantically as the voice boomed all around them, disembodied and impossible to ignore.

"Mallory?" Tyrone, one of the students, said slowly, utterly confused.

"YES, IT IS ME," Mallory said, her voice cool and hard, "WE NEED YOUR HELP."

"How?" the students demanded.

Some of the younger children were crying, distressed by the invisible voice but the teachers and older students were ready, leaping up from their seats, nodding their assent.

Mallory's voice was in all of their heads, broadcasting to the whole school, the Magi trying to fight back fear and panic as her mind reached from her limp body, her will unbroken.

"GET TO THE SICK BAY," Mallory commanded, her voice entering their heads with painful clarity "AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE."

Teachers sprinted to the infirmary, pale-faced, as Mallory directed them. They crashed into the room, blinking in astonishment to see Mallory's body still pale and limp in her bed even as her voice rumbled in their minds.

"GET THE POUCH FROM SUSAN'S NECK," the Magi ordered, her psychic voice booming, "OPEN IT!"

With trembling hands one teacher unlooped the leather pouch and opened it, tipping the pale-yellow ring onto the queen's lap. One of the teachers winced, rubbing at her temples.

"Mallory we can hear you," she begged, "Lower your voice."

"Sorry," the psychic said chagrined.

When she spoke again, it was in a quiet voice but hushed and laden with grimness.

"Now," Mallory instructed, whispering in all of their heads, even of them flinching as they felt soft lips flutter against their cheeks, "Focus all your powers. All your magic and Gifts and send it into the ring. Throw everything you have into the ring. We need your help to destroy the Kraken."

The teachers and students blinked at her words, before turning to stare at the innocent-looking ring in complete bewilderment.

"What?!"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Lightning flared, thunder boomed and the Kraken howled in fury as electricity lashed its side, searing flesh.

'YOU!'

It swivelled, angry eyes glaring at its attacker as Peter lowered his hand, a second wind upon the battered king.

"Me," he grinned, "The Saviour."

The Kraken roared and its tentacles crashing back down to earth, trying to crush Peter beneath its weight. Peter leapt aside, the writhing tentacles ripping through the round as he wove light and air around him, vanishing from sight.

'YOU THINK SUCH PETTY POWERS WOULD WORK… AGAINST ME?!' the Kraken howled.

It lashed out and Peter was sent crashing into the wall. A tentacle flew at him, hungry suckers gnashing the air as Peter slid to the ground, stunned.

A blur slammed into Peter knocking him aside as the tentacle mashed Eustace against the wall, suckers tearing at him. The possessed body threw the writhing appendage aside with a powerful shove, completely unaffected by the giant raw wound in his chest.

"How the hell do I kill that thing?!" Peter screamed at him.

"You are the Saviour," Eustace said cryptically as the Kraken roared, "You will know how."

"NOT. HELPING!" Peter yelled back.

The Kraken lunged at him, beaked jaws snapping the air as Peter hurriedly back-pedalled, narrowly missing the demon's hungry maws.

Tentacles continued to climb out of the cavern, finding purchase on the ground as the Kraken began to rise from the ground, pushing up as Peter continued to dodge the tentacles that flew at him.

'I WALK. YOU DIE!' the Kraken snarled.

With a final burst of effort, the monster rose out of the hole. A halo of black light gathered around its monstrous form, gripping the Kraken as its tentacles relinquished its hold on the earth. Peter and Eustace stared up at the monster as it hovered in the air, levitating as its tentacles raged around its snapping mouth.

Peter felt despair flood through him, all the powers and Gifts he had taken… they all paled in the face of such terrible might.

The Kraken's cruel eyes pierced Peter as three tentacles undulated, rising in the air.

'YOU ARE THE SAVIOUR?!' the monster howled, 'STOP THIS!'

Dark power flared, bouncing between the three tentacles, building in tensity as Peter shaded his eyes, unable to stare into the glaring glow lest it sear his vision into nothing.

With a howl, the Kraken's tentacles snapped forwards, the energy shooting up into the sky. It lanced upwards before arcing down, falling to earth thousands of kilometres away from the monster that had produced it.

On a busy city street, a little girl tugged at her mother's skirt, looking up into the sky with awe.

"Mama, mama! Look! Fireworks!"

The mother looked up, half-distracted and screamed as a meteor of blazing black fire streaked down towards them.

"BOOM!"

Devastating shockwaves blasted the outer fringes of the city, towers and buildings collapsing as superheated winds swept the debris away with tornado force. A mushroom of smoke rose high up into the air as molten earth pulsed with heat, the city centre reduced to a crater bowl of fire and slag.

Peter could literally fell the thousands of useless deaths, falling to his knees as despair crushed him, tears on his face. The Kraken laughed above, beaked mouth opening as wisps of ghostly smoke flittered through the air, disappearing into its gullet as its body swelled, growing as it fed on the destruction and death it had just wrought.

'NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!' the Kraken roared, 'I AM UNSTOPPABLE!'

"EUSTACE! HELP ME!" Peter screamed desperately.

But his possessed cousin merely stood watching the beast floating above as it summoned another wave of energy, concentrating it between four tentacles

"NO!"

The attack was unleashed, a beam of dark power raking the nearby houses as one by one they exploded, incinerating into nothing but ashes as all within perished. The destruction went on and on, the Kraken almost wiping out every house in the vicinity as Peter screamed helplessly up at the demon.

Its eyes mocked him, daring him to attack, daring him to try and stop its relentless rampage.

'WATCH SAVIOUR,' it spat the last word, 'WATCH AS I DESTROY THIS PRECIOUS WORLD!'

Peter was helpless, completely useless as the Kraken roared, tentacles flying more bursts of power exploding from its body. Death rained down on towns and cities, thousands perishing in a split second of utter insanity.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"What the hell?!" Volkov barked.

Up ahead, fire trucks and police car blitzed down the road all of them heading towards the giant monster hanging in the air.

The Kraken was awful, a monstrous abomination, dark power encasing its behemoth form. The stolen van was silent, everyone's eyes locked onto the creature that had just emerged from its prison.

"BOOM!"

A huge column of black energy fell from the sky, sliding down the road as everything it touched exploded, burning in flames that were blue-hot. Houses, trucks, people… they were all destroyed as the beam slid towards them, Volkov pale with shock.

"MOVE!" Kage leapt across his seat, grabbing the wheel and spinning them off the road.

They skidded off the road, crashing into a bush as the terrible column of power shot past. They screamed as light flared, winds battering the side of the vehicle as the energy simply destroyed everything in its path, tortured screams lost in explosions of gas and metal.

"Everyone okay?" Gaspar yelled into the silence that followed.

"Volkov, Kage…"

"What?!" both Magi looked around in astonishment, looking for a voice that was impossibly there, "Mallory?"

"It's us," Susan's voice said into the quiet of the van.

Behind them the road sizzled, now a smoking furrow of molten earth.

"You have to get to Peter," Susan's voice said quickly as Zaru growled, unnerved by his queen's disembodied voice, "Hurry. Inara. Put the green ring on his finger."

"What?!" Inara blinked.

"Just do it," Susan ordered, her voice cold and sharp.

"You have to hurry," Mallory snapped, "The world is depending on you. GO! NOW!"

The occupants of the van looked at each other for a few stunned seconds before scrambling out of the van and sprinting for the beast in the sky.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"It's hopeless," Peter fell to his knees, "I can't…"

Useless tears dripped from his cheeks, splattering on the ground as the Kraken roared in victory, tentacles writhing in the air as it sucked in more and more souls, growing larger with each second.

"How can I fight that?!" Peter screamed to the world, "HOW?!"

"Peter."

The High King froze, frightened he had lost his sanity.

"Peter," a different voice, stern.

"Mallory? Su?" he looked around frantically at the ruined cave, "What? Where are you?!"
"It doesn't matter," Mallory said quickly, her voice inside his head, "Peter…"

"Get up!" Susan's voice cut in, "You are not allowed to just give up!"

Peter shook his head as the Kraken roared, more streaks of power flying from its bloated body.

"How do I fight that? I can't destroy that thing… I…"

"You can't," Susan said rudely, "Not alone."

"What?" Peter blinked.

"Listen. The others are going to get there soon. Get the green ring put it on," he could literally hear the smile in her voice, "We'll do the rest."

"Su… what…"
"Just do it."

Their voices fade as Peter slowly staggered to his feet, the Kraken completely ignoring him as it continued to rampage, shooting more and more energy up into the sky. All the activity below was ignored, like ants to a human the Kraken gave them no mind at all.

"Peter!"

Peter's head snapped up as Inara appeared at the lip of the hole above, Gaspar and Jason by her side.

"Get him," she commanded.

Gaspar reached forwards, his power cradling Peter and drawing him back up to the surface as the Kraken continued to suck in more souls, fresh tentacles exploding messily from its body.

Peter landed clumsily, still bleeding from all his wounds as Inara pulled the green ring from her finger.

"Here," she pushed it towards him.

"Inara… what's happening?" he demanded.

"We don't know," Zaru said quickly, "Her majesty's brewing up something."

Peter slipped the ring on, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly he shuddered as the ring burned with light, everyone jumping back in shock.

"What?" Elias began.

Peter gasped, his mind piercing distance as though it was illusion as in his mind's eyes a vision of Balthazar Academy rose hazily. Students and teachers crowded around Susan's pale form, the pouch around her neck open, the pale yellow ring lying on Susan's chest.

Slowly one by one they stretched out their hands, pointing at that small insignificant-looking ring. Magic and Gifts flared, every student from the most senior and experienced down to the youngest, crying as they worked their will.

Power flowed into the yellow ring as it sucked it all up, burning with light as more and more strength was poured into it, every student and teacher giving everything they had. Some fell to their knees, faces grey as the very last drop and dreg of their strength leapt into the ring. But everywhere, all over the school people stood together, supporting each other as they forced their power into the yellow ring.

They gave everything they had, sacrificed everything they held for the one feverish hope that it would be enough.

Peter could sense a connection between the yellow and the green ring, some strange echoing resonance that forged a path between the two. It through this mystical passage that the combined might and powers of hundreds of students flowed.

"PETER!"

The High King staggered back, almost falling back into the cavern as Jason grabbed him. The Seeker cried out as his hands blistered, the king's skin impossibly hot to touch.

Gaspar gasped as he felt Peter's power skyrocket. The High King stood, paralysed as pure energy exploded out from the green ring, both ends of the passage now burst open, the power pouring into his veins with the agony of liquid fire.

His body shuddered, lacerations opening up all over him as his skin threatened to burst unable to handle the hurricane of Gifts and magic battering his soul. His very cells shook wildly, on the very edge of self-destruction as Peter held up his cursed hands, power leaking from his eyes and mouth.

He had almost been overwhelmed at Starlight Day when his Gift had first emerged, he had almost died when he had pulled Volkov, Kage and Gaspar's powers into him but compared to the battering storm that threatened to rip him apart those experiences were a mere breath. His Gift, his original Gift of taking and possessing powers was the one thing that kept him alive, managing to control the stream of power, keeping it from burning him alive. But still he screamed in pain, his body trembling as it threatened to rip apart from the deluge of Gifts.

The Kraken roared, finally noticing the new threat below him, swivelling through the air as its tentacles lashed out.

Gaspar and Jason hurled their power forwards, deflecting the writhing arms as Peter stood, trying to drink it all in.

His mind tried to grip the energy, tried to shape it but it fought him like a freshly caught fish, wanting nothing more than to devour him alive as Peter struggled, fatigue building fast.

A hand gripped his shoulder.

Inara hissed as her hand burned but still she clung on, giving him an anchor to hold onto.

"Do it," she whispered, "I know you can."

Peter gritted his teeth and moulded the energy to his will.

The Kraken shrieked, a massive beam of dark energy flying towards them shearing through Gaspar and Jason's measly shields as with a earth-shaking scream Peter gathered all the power flowing through the ring and hurled it forwards.

Pure light met pure darkness and the two warred as the students at the Academy continued to give everything they had, throwing every last dreg of energy into the yellow ring. Many fell to the ground, crumpling as they pushed past their limits, their skin greying with exhaustion but still they clung on, refusing to give up until it was done.

Their courage gave Peter hope and it was with the wild fire that it lit the High King planted his feet into the ground and thrust his power forwards.

His Gift, his original Gift was his saving grace, its ability to take and absorb power the one thing that allowed him to use the thousands of different clashing powers flowing into him. It shaped the energy to his will, suborning the powers' own innate urge and forcing it to attack the Kraken.

The two beams clashed, night warring with day. The Kraken howled, the black energy spearing down at them intensifying, driving Peter's attack back. The High King grunted, more and more cuts opening up as his blood flew in the wild winds that swept the battlefield splattering Inara who stood behind him, supporting him.

"DO IT!" Zaru yelled.

"COME ON PETER!" Elias shouted.

"FOR ASLAN!" Caspian boomed.

"DON'T LET THAT STUPID SQUID WIN!" Jason snarled.

Inara merely squeezed his shoulder as Peter struggled to maintain the flow of power, the energy coming from the rings depleting with terrifying speed.

"DO IT FOR SIREN!" Volkov barked.

"DO IT FOR THE WORLD!" Gaspar encouraged.

"DO IT FOR US!" Kage screamed.

Peter pushed, shoving the black energy back as the Kraken screamed, pouring more and more effort into the attack.

The High King jumped, the wave of light surging from his body wobbling dangerously as Eustace appeared at his side.

"My master wishes to help you," he merely said.

Eustace touched Peter's arm and the High King screamed as power, more terrifying and more devastating than anything he had ever experienced ripped through him like blades. Desperation fuelling him, Peter grabbed this strange new strength, twining it with the ones from the ring and threw it forwards with one giant yell.

The Kraken's beam was instantly split in two, the monster screaming in fury.

Peter's bolt of energy took it straight in its open mouth, spearing deep into its body. Bone burned, blood boiled, flesh melting into nothing.

The Kraken gave one final choked shriek, its body ballooning out almost comically as pure power filled its belly.

Gaspar looked up as the monster continued to scream, awe in his eyes.

"From the mouth of the Guardian and into this world. Crowned in gold and with the skies in his eyes, the King shall lead the loyal and drive a deathblow into the belly of the Kraken," the headmaster intoned, a smile curling his lips, excitement in his eyes, "It's ending."

Peter bellowed, giving one last thrust as more power tore into the Kraken. It was the deathblow and the monster exploded, its body blown apart, chunks of smoking flesh flying everywhere.

The white power faded as burning flesh rained to the ground, the High King dropping with it, his body smoking slightly, his life leaving him in droves of wet red.

"I…"

Inara dropped beside him frantically.

"PETER!"
He smiled dazedly at her.

"I did it."

And he slipped into utter darkness.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

How was that? I think my writing is a little bit rusty but no worries almost 2 months to fix that! Again sorry about the massive delays! Hope you enjoyed this!