Yuanfen

by 7th Librarian

Five years after The Thousand-Year Door tournament, Lyrius Stormcloud must return to Arcadia to combat the evils that rush to fill the void left by the defeat of his wife, the Shadow Queen. Aided by the ruler of all vampires, a worn-down retired Eliminator and the same Unicorn Maiden who defeated his Queen, he must fit together broken pieces of his life into a crown once more.

3. Night 1: Party Crashers

Yuanfen
By 7th Librarian and Mei1105

Night 1: Party Crashers

Arcadia had not embraced cars yet - in fact the import tax was so high that only high ranking officials including the Shadow Spawn could afford them. Andy had managed to persuade Leopold to loan him his jeep - the man preferred walking anyway - in case emergency dictated he needed to get somewhere fast. He was grateful for this now as he jumped into the driver's seat. Lyrissa slid quietly into the front seat, staring ahead of them as though she could already see the fight ahead. Andy found it very unnerving as he started the engine and tore off towards the main road.

It was easy enough to find the party - the decorations and banner would have been a big clue if the screaming hadn't tipped them off. The jeep skidded to a halt and he flew out the door. The gate they'd seen in the magic water was already askew and he jumped through, willing the void-like blade of Oblivion into his hand.

Guests were scrambling to get away, but there wasn't anywhere to go inside the garden courtyard. The dessert table was overturned and several people were on the ground, clutching at their limbs. And at the far side was the man in the vision, his tattered clothing stained with blood and his grin deranged. "You can't hide forever, Pennington! You can never hide from me!"

Pennington? Andy could see the man now - finely dressed and clutching his cane, but looking more terrified than he could ever recall. "I don't even know who you are! What do you even want?!"

"You worked for the Shadow Queen, so I want you dead! Just like the other two!" He brandished the key like a knife, the crowd surging back as it panned over them. "And I can feel the rest of you here! The sycophants, the servants, the workers and the slaves! You'll all die!"

Andy had enough of this - he jumped up one of the still standing tables and sprinted over the top. The crowd parted and the man turned at his coming. Andy vaulted forwards and Oblivion's blade flashed, sending hand and key sailing away from the arm. "You're done here, psycho!"

To his surprise, the man's grin didn't even falter. Faster than a human had a right to, he caught the hand out of the air and reattached it to his wrist. "Out of my way, hero! Or I'll kill you, too!"

"Just try it!" Andy braced himself as the man charged, side-stepping the charge and lashing up with his sword. Once again, the blade cut through the man's flesh and bones like nothing - and in the same instant, he could see the damage healing just as fast as it happened. I have a freaking magic lightsaber and I run into the one guy who it doesn't work on!

The man bounced off the table, key flashing for Andy. But despite the viciousness of the attack, it was still an amateur's move and Andy avoided it easily. Another hit from Oblivion took off the arm at the elbow, but the damage healed again and he was forced to land a roundhouse kick to the man's chest to open up some distance.

"That sword of yours is annoying...just get out of my way already!" The man flipped the key from hand to hand, treating it like a dagger, his gaze tilting. "And I can feel you trying to get out that door, Pennington! You can't hide anywhere on this island!"

"Hey, eyes in front!" Andy held up his sword pointedly.

"You don't matter! Nothing matters but my vengeance! She has to pay! She has to die! And because she's not here, they have to die for her! Die for their Queen!" The man shrieked in anger and lunged, swinging wildly. Andy side-stepped and cut again and again, but his sword wasn't doing lasting damage and the man's swings were getting closer - and the crowd still had nowhere to go.

"Revenge? Queen?" Andy cut off the key-holding hand before it could land in his shoulder and as the man moved to catch the limb, smashed the hilt of his weapon into his face. Blood and teeth flew as the man howled in pain and staggered. "Sorry, but she's off in the Abyss! She's as good as dead!"

"No, it's not good enough! Not at all! I have to kill her! This key...this stupid key killed me! Me, Ohio John! Greatest treasure-hunter in the world! Killed by a cursed key? She's laughing at me! But I'll show her! I'll kill her!" Ohio was practically frothing at the mouth now, tackling Andy into another table and sending its contents flying. "And if I keep killing her servants, then one of them will take me to her! They have to!"

He's insane! And so is his grip! Andy grappled with him, trying to keep that key away from him. He'd fought tweaked out druggies and demons before, but the strength in this guy's thrashings were something else.

"If you desire vengeance upon the Shadow Queen, then you would do well to start with me!" Lyrissa's voice rang through the courtyard commandingly and Ohio's head snapped up to find her standing on the high wall. "That key is mine! I am the one who cursed it!"

Ohio stared at her, then with a snarl more like an animal than a man, he hurled Andy into the crowd. Andy felt bodies break his fall, heard screams in his ear and ignored them both, disentangling himself from the pile just in time to see the revenant leap the ten-foot high wall in a single bound.

What the hell is she doing!? Andy charged out of the courtyard, caught a trailing glimpse of Ohio down at the end of the street and sprinted after them. Any second, he expected to hear Lyrissa cry out or scream and Ohio's manic laugh. If that madman got ahold of her, with that strength and speed, he could leave Andy behind so easily in the dark-

None of that was happening when he rounded the corner. Instead, Lyrissa was standing down the alleyway. Ohio was frozen in mid-step towards her in a kind of pose better suited for yoga. Grunts of exertion were coming from him, but his body was immobile as a statue. "Uhhh...what?"

"It is Hold Person, a spell." She pointed at a glyph glowing under Ohio's feet. "I set a trap."

Suddenly her standing on the wall making a spectacle of herself made sense and Andy was glad the dark hid his flush. "I see. Good plan, though some warning would have helped."

"There was no time." Lyrissa said, staring at Ohio. "Please ensure we are not bothered."

"What?" Andy blinked. "Why?"

"I am going to interrogate him. He must have got the key from the Palace - I want to make sure he didn't make off with anything else."

"Interrogate...how?" Andy narrowed his eyes. There was something hard in Lyrissa's voice that he didn't like.

"In whatever way gets me the answer I desire."

"No way!" Andy didn't even have to think, he just pushed with the Penalty Game. "We are not torturing him!"

Lyrissa grit her teeth, her expression one of disdain. "He is a revenant, completely obsessed with killing the Shadow Queen and those related to her. He will never be willing or capable of thinking or doing anything else if it does not relate to his goal. He is not going to give us anything useful by just asking."

"Just use magic - there's a truth spell or something, right?"

"No, there is not. And I do not have the two months it takes to brew a Draft of Truth, Dragon Master. There were things in the Palace more dangerous than the key to my temple, and we must make sure that they are contained!"

"I know that, but -" Andy broke off as a disturbing hissing noise filled the air. He glanced around, trying to find the source and looked down. The glowing glyph was apparently melting, being sucked into Ohio's foot. He's absorbing the magic!?

Ohio sprang back to life like a coiled spring, light suddenly arcing around his fingers in nasty tendrils. He clawed Andy across the chest and Andy staggered, feeling as if he'd been hit by a taser. But Ohio wasn't looking at him, but at Lyrissa and those burning eyes flared with intensity. "Lyrissa-! Move!"

But she didn't seem to hear him, looked to be frozen in place and too late he remembered the paralytic gaze. In desperation, he hurled Oblivion like a spear at the sprinting undead. It sheared through his knee, deep enough it snapped off on the next step and spent him sprawling. That broke the spell on Lyrissa and she leapt back. Ohio crawled after her with a spitting snarl and Andy seized the distraction.

Oblivion flashed repeatedly and suddenly, Ohio wasn't a person. Just pieces of a person - head, torso and each limb in two pieces. And all of them kept inching, clawing and biting their way towards Lyrissa. "You have got to be kidding me!"

The magical blade pierced one of his hands, wide enough to shred it. And before Andy could even yank it out of the ground, the hand was whole again. And sparking. He jerked back, an arc of nasty-sounding magic nearly taking off his bangs.

In desperation, he kicked the remaining pieces as far away from each other as he could and turned back to Lyrissa. "Okay - what is going on?!"

"He's a revenant - he is not going to die until he kills his target! That is the whole point!" Lyrissa snapped at him.

"Fine, he's the magical equivalent of the Terminator! So how did he break your spell? Can revenants do that? Just...absorb magic!?"

"No, they cannot. The ones who pursued my family were not able to do so. I do not know how he did that, but I am not keen in finding out if he can repeat the process." Lyrissa's voice was controlled and he could hear the gears turning in her head again. "I can banish his soul. But I need time to prepare for it."

"How long?"

"Twenty minutes."

"Twenty-? Lyrissa, I can't hurt him and magic is now his go-go juice!" Andy watched as Ohio, now a toros hopping on one leg with a single hand desperately grabbed for the other leg as it twitched for Lyrissa. It would have been a comical dance if it hadn't been performed by an undead madman. "How am I supposed to stall for that long?"

"You are the hero, Dragon Master. Think of something distracting!"

Andy bit back a retort - she was right and they were short on time. He was good, but he didn't fancy trying to outfox the unkillable dead man all night long. But magical Terminator meant he couldn't be distracted at all. He was going to kill things related to the Shadow Queen-

He felt the weight of his sword in his hand and it clicked. Whirling, he held the blade up in front of him. "Hey, Ohio!"

"If you're not going to get out of my way, shut up and let me kill you!" Ohio finished pulling himself together, gripping the key in one hand like he was going to fence Andy with it.

"You know what this sword is? It's the Shadow Queen's. And I got it from her husband."

As he hoped, Ohio's face went lax for a moment as his brain processed that. Then it twisted into rage again. "Then I'll just kill you first!"

"You can't do that. If you do, you'll kill the one person who can lead you to the Shadow Queen." Andy said easily.

"Do not lie to him. Revenants can sense the truth about their targets." Lyrissa whispered from behind him.

Now she tells me! Andy didn't let it show on his face and he knew what he was saying technically true, anyway. He couldn't lead Ohio to the Abyss, no. But he knew Jemorille and Jemorille certainly hadn't said he couldn't just go to the Abyss. And rilmani had access to other dimensions, so it stood to reason it was possible.

It seemed reason enough for Ohio to pause, his gaze suspicious and his burning eyes trying to bore into Andy's soul. "You can do that? You'll help me kill her?"

"No, I can just get you there. But...you have to win it from me." Andy let Oblivion vanish into the either and held up his Duel Disk. "In a duel."

Ohio stared at him, eyes darting back and forth between Andy and Lyrissa, clearly struggling with immediate vengeance or satisfaction of his long-term goal. And the latter won out. He dropped the key and held up his arm, a Duel Disk pulling itself out of the shadows of the alley. "Then we will duel and I will have my revenge!"

(ALP: 8000) (OLP: 8000)

He ripped cards from his deck in a hurry, barely glancing at them before grabbing two. "I activate Trade-In, discarding a level eight monster to draw two cards! Then I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

No monsters? Either he's so crazy, he forgot how to play or this has 'trap' written all over it. Andy drew for his turn. But I just need to stall - so let's back him into a corner! "From my hand, I activate the continuous spell card Fusion Efficiency Zone!"

The card appeared in front of him, depicting the various models of Cyber Dragon and Polymerization, Power Bond, Future Fusion, Cyberload Fusion and Overload Fusion as part of an equation that always equaled Cyber End Dragon. "Then I'll show you what it does by activating Polymerization! I fuse Baby Dragon and King of the Swamp in my hand to summon Thousand Dragon!" (2400/2000)

His new monster filled the alleyway behind him, an orange-scaled dragon whose broad, low-slung body and bear-like horns gave him a grandfatherly quality. As it appeared, the Fusion Efficiency Zone glowed. "And since I just fusion summoned, my spell lets me pick an option and I want the one that gives me back King of the Swamp!"

"Just get on with it!" Ohio breathed, his tight, hunched posture and snarling words suggesting he tempted to just leap across the field and fight Thousand Dragon himself.

"Sure, it's your defeat. I summon Pitch-Dark Dragon in attack mode!" Andy smirked as a small, black-scaled dragon appeared and roared hoarsely. (900/600) "Thousand Dragon, attack directly! Noxious Nostril Gust!"

The big dragon sucked in air and then billowed out a stream of thick, cloying steam from its nose. Andy was smiling as it enveloped Ohio's field, but it faded when it began to clear and he saw a bulky, angular blue-armored form standing in front of Ohio and wielding two glowing swords. "Oh…"

"Since you attacked directly, I can summon Swordsman of Revealing Light from my hand in defense mode!" Ohio barked. (0/2400)

"Could have been worse for me," Andy muttered to himself and glanced down at his hand. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"During your End Phase, I activate my trap card - Exchange of Night and Day!" Ohio's eyes gleamed as the trap lifted, his own lips lifting in a light grin. "I discard a warrior of light or dark from my hand and search my deck for the opposing attribute so long as they're the same level!" He shoved a card into his graveyard and then picked up one, then drew. "My turn!"

He pointed at Exchange of Night and Day and it glowed again. "I discard another warrior, then add a new one to my hand! And it goes great with my new spell card - Advance Force!" The card shimmered into existence in front of him. "This card lets me treat level five or higher monsters as two tributes for anything above seven!"

"That's pretty clever - " Andy's attempt at sincere bravado faded when Swordsman of Revealing Light winked out and was replaced by a towering, round-bodied monster that looked more like a machine than a warrior. Covered in purple and green armor plating, the most distinctive thing about it was the giant, swirling red stormy mass at its center. "That's a Legendary Planet card! I've only seen that in magazines and online! How'd you get it?!" (2500/200)

"I'm Ohio John, greatest treasure hunter in the world, that's how! I activate Grand Jupiter's effect! I discard two monsters and take one of yours! Great Red Spot!" Ohio shoved the two cards into his graveyard, watching as Thousand Dragon was dragged across the field and then sucked into his monster's maelstrom. "Now my monster takes your dragon's attack points and is going to use every single one of them to destroy Pitch-Dark Dragon! Great Red Maelstrom!" (2500-4900)

Andy threw up his arms as the attack launched, a spiraling, ever-expanding mass of red lighting and stormclouds that crushed Pitch-Dark Dragon instantly and sent him skidding back a step. "Lyrissa - how much more stalling-" (ALP: 8000- 4000)

"It's done when it's done!"

"It and me both." Andy grimaced, but squared himself back up as the cloud parted to reveal Ohio. "That all you got, Mister Treasure Hunter?"

"No - first I activate The Warrior Returning Alive to pick up Swordsman of Revealing Light from my graveyard!" Ohio held up the card before adding it to his hand. "Then, during my End Phase, The Grand Jupiter summons your Thousand Dragon under my control!"

"Tch…" Andy watched as the red mist flowed out of Jupiter, heaping upon itself until it was large enough and then fading to reveal Thousand Dragon underneath. "I liked it better when my dragon was on my field - draw!"

He drew and slapped down the card. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" In a flash of light that made Ohio hiss in irritation, a slender, bi-pedal dragon appeared whose translucent body glimmered with the shine of countless jewels. "Then I activate my set card - Fusion Reserve!" (2000/100)

The trap lifted and his graveyard and deck glowed. "I reveal the monster known as Dark Blade The Dragon Paladin from my Extra Deck and then my trap not only gives me Dark Blade himself from my deck, but I can pick up my Polymerization from my graveyard."

Grabbing the two new cards, he held up another one. "Then I use Monster Reincarnation, discarding King of the Swamp to pick-up Pitch-Dark Dragon from the graveyard so I can fuse him with Dark Blade to fusion summon Dark Blade The Dragon Paladin!"

Above him, the sky rent to allow his new fusion to swoop down. It was Pitch-Dark Dragon, but much larger and armored while riding him was a warrior clad in black armor, spiked-shoulder pauldrons and a helm that hid everything of his features from view. (2200/1600)

"Here's how it works - since I fusion summoned him with a dark monster, I can equip him with another union monster from my deck! I pick Magma-Red Dragon!" The fusion monster reared up, wings flaring as sharp red flames replaced the leathery-mass of those wings and leaked from its jaw. (2200/1600-2800/2200)

Andy pointed at his Fusion Efficiency Zone card, which began to glow. "And thanks to this card, I can pick-up Pitch-Dark Dragon from my graveyard! And thanks to my Dragon Paladin, I can equip him straight from the hand!" His fusion roared again, spikes and spines adding themselves all along its body. (2800/2200-3200/2600)

"Attack! Infused Smite!" Dark Blade flew across the field, the monster's twin scimitars gleaming with red and black energy that allowed him to carve up Thousand Dragon with ease. "And don't think I did all this just for laughs - since my monster has Magma-Red equipped and he destroyed a card on your field, your Grand Jupiter bites the big one!" (OLP: 8000 - 7200)

"What!?" Ohio gaped as The Grand Jupiter began to crack, red steam and light spilling out it before the whole monster blew apart with a groan.

"Alexandrite Dragon, attack directly! Shine Breath!" The dragon roared, its jewel body shimmering and coalescing a sphere of light in its jaws.

"Don't count on it!" Ohio growled and slapped down a card. His Swordsman of Revealing Light reappeared in front of him, the attack scattering harmlessly off its chest. "And guess what? This time, since your monster is weaker than mine, he's history!"

Andy shielded his face as Alexandrite Dragon exploded. That's fine with me - I'd rather you use up your defenses as soon as possible. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"Draw!" Ohio did so and then thrust out his hand. "I use the effect of Exchange of Night and Day! I discard this level eight dark warrior to add a level eight light warrior to my hand!" He shoved a card into his graveyard, then caught the one his deck spat out and held it up. "And thanks to Advance Force, I can treat Swordsman of Revealing Light as two tributes for my Photon Caesar!"

Swordsman of Revealing Light exploded in a spray of light and armor, the cloud revealing a new monster underneath. His armor was mostly white to the point it seemed to be shedding its own light and he hefted a blue tower shield in one hand and a heavy broadsword in the other. "And when I tribute summon Photon Caesar, I can summon a copy of it from my deck!" (2000/2800)

"Well - that's not good." Andy watched as an identical copy of the monster appeared alongside in a flash of light. And then in a new flash of a light, a third monster appeared. His armor was, came with wings and he wielded two swords. "Also not good!" (2500/1200)

"I have two light monsters in play, so I can special summon Guardian of Order from my hand!" Ohio slammed another card into his disk. "And then I play Solidarity! All I have in the graveyard are warriors, so all the ones on my field get eight hundred more attack points!" (2000-2800x2) (2500-3300)

"Guardian of Order attacks Dark Blade! Light Slashing!" The warrior drew his two swords, both of them gleaming with radiant light as he took to the and dove toward Andy's fusion.

"You're not the only who can power up his monsters! I activate my trap card, Power Lift! Dark Blade's defense is added to his attack points!" Andy grinned as his monster flew up and met Guardian of Order head on. They flashed past each other and then after a second, Guardian of Order split down the middle before exploding into pixels. "Guardian of Order is destroyed!" (3200-5800) (OLP: 4700)

He pointed at Advance Force. "And since Dark Blade destroyed a monster in battle - pop!" The spell card shattered apart.

"Lucky brat-! Lucky!" Ohio ground out as he shielded his face from the debris of his monster. "I set one card face-down! End turn!"

"Dark Blade would be destroyed thanks to Power Lift, but Magma-Red is a union monster and will take the hit instead." Andy watched as the flames on his monster winked out. "My draw!" (5800-5200)

He did so and then flipped the card around. "Dragon's Mirror! I banish King of the Swamp and Thousand Dragon to summon out Millennium Dragon!" The new fusion took everything Thousand Dragon did and did it more so - the dragon's scales were thick and overlapping, horns and spines growing out of its face and joins and wings scarred and barely looking capable of flight. (3200/2600)

"Then Fusion Efficiency Zone activates, letting me draw a card." Andy did so and then snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah - Millennium Dragon can reduce the stats of all your monsters by five hundred!"

"What?!" Ohio's eyes widened as the dragon just breathed out casually, saturating his field a thick, toxic-looking mist that made both of his monsters rust and weaken. (2800-2300)

"Dark Blade attacks! Infused Smite!" Andy watched as his fusion flashed past the glowing warrior, carving him to pieces easily. "Millenium Dragon attacks! Thousand-Toxin Breath!" (OLP:4700-1800)

The dragon bleached out a sphere of mist and steam and who knows what else that crashed into the other Photon Caesar, his weapons clattering to the ground as the attack melted him away down to his waist before he shattered. (OLP:1800-900)

"No- this won't happen - I won't be denied my revenge!" Ohio's voice was tight and hoarse in desperation as he tore a card free. "I play another Trade-In and discard a level eight monster to draw two cards!"

He did so and then pointed at his set one. "Go, Call of the Haunted! Revive Twilight Ninja Getsuga the Shogun!" Like his others, this monster wore armor, but had two flags strapped to his back and wielded a katana and a wakizashi in either hand. (2000-2800/3000)

What? He had that set and he didn't go for The Grand Jupiter? Andy frowned. If Ohio was skipping such an obvious choice, then whatever else he wanted to do was going to be trouble.

"I activate Getsuga's effect - I switch him to defense mode and summon two more Ninjas from my graveyard! Like two more copies of him!" The ninja sheathed his blades and knelt, flashes of light on either side of him heralding the arrival of identical copies. (2800x2)

Ohio held up a spell card and a ribbon inscribed with odd-looking runes and glowing with light wrapped itself around the center Getsuga. "I equip Getsuga with Sacrificial Ribbon and then tribute all three of my monsters to summon Gilford the Lightning!"

The monsters all vanished, a gigantic thunderbolt crashing down in front of Ohio to resolve into a mountain of a bare-chested man. He ripped a impossibly long and wide broadsword from his back in one hand, energy already gathering around it. "And when this monster is summoned by three tributes, all monsters you have are destroyed! Rageki Blade!" (2800-3600)

"I chain with Millenium Dragon's effect!" Andy watched the mist swallow up Gilford, but it wasn't enough to stop him as he slashed the blade and lightning arched from the swing towards his monsters. "I send Pitch-Dark Dragon to the graveyard to take the hit for Dark Blade!" His fusion writhed in pain, the spikes on it exploding but it remained standing despite the onslaught. (3600-3100) (4800)

Millennium Dragon wasn't so lucky, the lighting perforating its wings and body several times before it shattered apart. "And when Millenium Dragon is destroyed, I can summon out Thousand Dragon from any location!" In a flash of light, the smaller, younger fusion reappeared. It took one look at Gilford and curled up in a defense position ball.

"The effect of Sacrificial Ribbon activates - I summon the monster I equipped it to, but it can't attack! Not that it matters!" Ohio grinned as Getsuga reappeared and immediately went to defense mode himself. Once again, light flashed and his duplicates were back in play. "And then I equip one of the new ones with Magnum Shield! Now his defense points are added to his attack!" (2800) (2800-5800)

"Oh crap-!" Andy didn't have time for anything more as a thick, square-bodied shield appeared on the ninja's field and then he winked out of sight. A second later, he dropped down out of the sky, shield-first and squashed Dark Blade and his dragon mount into paste. "Dark Blade!" (ALP: 3000)

"The second Getsuga attacks!" The ninja vanished like his brother and reappeared, sheathing both blades. The moment they clicked in, Thousand Dragon blew apart. "Gilford attacks you directly! Thunderbolt Cut!"

"Reverse card open - Emergency Provisions! I send Fusion Efficiency Zone to the graveyard to gain one thousand life points!" Andy watched his card shatter and flow into him as energy, only for Gilford's blade to land across his chest and send him stagger. (ALP: 3000- 4000- 900)

"Yes, yes!" Ohio clenched his fist in celebration. "I'm going to beat you and you're going to tell me everything I need to know about where that bitch queen is! And then I'm going to kill you!"

"Fat chance!" Andy grit his teeth through the pain and snapped up his draw, eyes widening briefly. Yes! Got it! "I normal summon Galaxy-Eyes Hack Dragon!"

His new monster was unique compared to the more traditional appeal his others had had. It was moderately small, about the size of a horse and its body was comprised entirely of green-black light. Gold and red armor had been fitted on it, though acting more like a containment than protection. And its wings were nothing but radiat, shimmering light that had vague resemblance to the galaxy when viewed from far away. (1000/1000)

"What...is that thing?" Ohio asked warily.

"It's what's going to beat you - first, I activate the continuous spell card Cipher Coding!" Andy watched the card appear and then pointed at Gilford. "And thanks to my spell and the fact I have a monster that mentions 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' in its text in play, your monster becomes Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"

Gilford clutched as his throat, rips and tears opening on his body that spilled out soft, blue light. Then he vanished in a torrent of that light, replaced by a massive, blue light-bodied dragon with radiant, circular wings and covered in armor like Galaxy-Eyes Hack Dragon's. Ohio stared in confusion. "What was the point of that, kid? You didn't change his attack points!"

"I didn't want to - Galaxy-Eyes Hack Dragon, live up to your name and attack that Cipher Dragon!" Andy watched as Hack Dragon spread its wings, the swirling lights suddenly shining and Ohio's Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon gaining matching lights in his own eyes. "When this monster battles a Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, it gains that monster's attack points! Hacked Triumph!" (1000-4100)

His little monster spewed out a torrent of flaming energy that doubled, then tripled in size as it approached Ohio's monsters and the stunned, protestant angry face of the man himself. The attack engulfed everything Ohio had and Andy heard not only his monsters shattering, but the distinctive ding of life points hitting zero. (OLP:0)

The light faded, returning them to the darkened alleyway that was filled with nothing but quiet and stillness. As if the duel they'd just had, had been a mirage.

But Ohio's reaction to it wasn't anything of the sort.

"No! No! No! No! No!" Ohio spat, ripping the Duel Disk off his arm and hurling it at Andy. He twitched aside and it shattered against the wall. "I will not be denied! I will not wait anymore! If I can't kill her, I'll kill everyone who works for her! Starting with you!"

He charged again and Andy pulled Oblivion to him, wondering this time if cutting Ohio to ribbons would be enough to give them time to think of a new plan.

And that's when he heard the singing.

Ohio did, too and his charge slowed with each step. He glanced around, almost panicked as if he were a deer in a headlights. Then his gaze snapped around to Lyrissa. The blonde was standing in a circle she'd sketched out in chalk and singing with her eyes closed.

It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but for some reason, Andy didn't feel the urge to point this out. Or even seize the moment to carve Ohio up. He felt soothed, all of a sudden, as if the melody was carefully filing away all the rough edges of worry and anxiety away.

Ohio lumbered towards Lyrissa, each step looking as if he was struggling against massive chains weighing him down. His face was a snarl and hands were outstretched claws, but Lyrissa sang on. The dark alley warmed with moonlight, the shadows making themselves small and unobtrusive.

There were words in the song, but Andy didn't know what language it was. Though he seemed to grasp the content, anyway. It was a song of moonlight and serenity and timelessness and the quiet. The lulling of a soft breeze through the leaves, the gentle touch of warm night air and a sense of welcome embrace as darkness hid the pains of the day away.

Ohio lurched, strained and heaved himself against the melody. But he faltered with each one, the rage slowly draining out of his face and the burning inferno of his eyes cooling into struggling embers. By the time he was in arm's reach of Lyrissa, all the strength drained out of him and he collapsed to his knees, swaying awkwardly.

Lyrissa finished singing, but the song did not stop and she opened in her eyes. The black in them was not the hard pearls Andy had seen over the last two months, but were fluid velvet that reflected the same warmth in the moonlight surrounding them. She reached out and put a hand on Ohio's head and the revenant sagged at her touch, suddenly burdened by some kind of impossible weight.

"I have to…" Ohio forced the words out, clearly trying to work himself up when there was nothing to work himself up with. "I have to… kill…"

"I know you do." Lyrissa told him softly. "And now I grant you rest eternal. Let the Dark Lady's light dim the flames of your hatred and carry you to the far shore beyond the pale. Pain and hatred will not follow you there. Go. Go in peace."

Ohio struggled, arms lifting, hands clutching. And then the ember of his eyes were coal, a tired smile spreading over his lips. Cracks spread over his body and it became ash that began to waft off into the breeze. "Yes...peace…"

And he was gone.

Lyrissa collapsed to her knees with a low moan of exhaustion and Andy snapped out of his trance as darkness fell over the alley again.

"What...kind of spell was that?" he shivered as the evening's chill finally descended again. He had never felt a spell like that, and he felt himself gripping Oblivion for reassurance. She could have done anything - stabbed me with my own sword and escaped - and I wouldn't have been able to resist...

"It was a spell meant to calm restless souls and move them away from this world, into My Lady's embrace." Lyrissa sounded exhausted, not even lifting her head as she spoke. "It has been...so long since I've needed to perform this duty…"

Duty? The word sounded strange in Andy's ears, as did her quiet satisfaction. This was not what he expected from Iris' daughter when she said she could banish his soul. More of fire and brimstone and evil cackling or even ringing, commanding tones of power as she bent reality to her will. And yet, she had left herself defenseless, spoken Ohio so gently.

"Help me stand, Dragon Master." She held out her hand expectantly. "I have not the strength, not without My Lady's voice so far from me…"

He did so and was about to question her more on what happened when he heard footsteps at the other end of the alley. And clapping.

"That was astounding, Andy, just astounding." Pennington was approaching them, something akin to respectful amazement on his face. "I can't begin to thank you for saving us all - and you young lady for letting that poor soul move on! Thank goodness you were both here!"

"Thanks, Dr. Pennington." Andy said, blinking as Pennington grabbed his arm and began to pull him towards the exit. "Um-"

"You have to meet all the people you saved - both of you! And I'm sure you must be famished after such an exhilarating night! There's enough 'thank yous' for you both!" Pennington assured him as he pulled Lyrissa along with them. "We'll be practically here till morning with how many people there are, I'm sure!"

Andy let himself be pulled along, the idea of praise - and food - suddenly making his aches and pains a bit less so. It had been a crazy night and hobnobbing was about to make it crazier, but Pennington was right. They'd stopped Ohio and ended the threat he posed and even saved his soul. It was the work of a hero and everything about the last two months fell into place. It felt worth it.

Well, not everything. He flicked his gaze over to Lyrissa. She was walking, strong despite exhaustion she had just been in. Her gaze was unreadable, but the rest of her was soft with movement, and his eyes darted down to see her fingers turning over each other, the long, tarnished key in her grip. The crescent shaped teeth dragged sharply across her skin, but she held it tightly like a long lost treasure, and something seemed to loosen in her whole body, comforted by the familiar shape and the relief of having it once again.

Andy knew he should take it - letting her hold onto a cursed key that could paralyze someone was probably not a smart idea - but they had stepped back through the gate, and into the thick press of bodies, thanking him, patting him on the shoulder, and weeping in relief. It would have to wait.

Still, Andy resolved to decipher the mystery she presented. She had proven helpful tonight, more than helpful, even. And it was a waste, he decided, to keep her in the house all the time.

After all, the Three Heroes had told him years ago in that final duel that not even the Shadow Queen was beyond redemption, that even she deserved salvation. And if he couldn't start with Iris herself, he could at least start with Lyrissa.

Fresh with this new resolve, Andy felt himself smile. This was where he was meant to be.

OOO

Arcadia really was a beautiful place. Lyrius' stories hadn't done it justice. Even the Fahr Outpost, trapped in perpetual winter, was astounding in its own way. The frozen ground, listless dead trees and rocks gave the impression the entire place had been carved out of a single block of ice, so cold and dead that even the firepits scattered around were just soft orange dollops of light and the figures shuffling around them just tricks of the light.

It's an Impressionist painting. Serenity decided. Perched in one of the tall trees that sat on the edge of the Fahr Outpost, leafy and green in defiance of the few inches of snow on the ground below, she leaned on the trunk, arms folded. The whole place is soft and blurry on the edges and everything is almost warm and fuzzy.

Except it wasn't. The dead trees were dead because demonic magic had been worked on them and they were visibly growing together to weave themselves into a wall. The rocks were piles of weapons and supplies covered in tarpaulins, the firepits blazing forges and the clanking armor and glowing red eyes of the milling figures showed they were no tricks of the light.

The Company of Malice, in full swing for conquest. In the center of the longhouses that made up the Outpost's logging village, she could see the flare of ugly garish light that heralded another completed summoning ritual. Even at this distance, she could hear the bellowing of the orders that started before light had even faded. Then it all went quiet again, the ever-falling snow trying once more to smother the activity.

Except in six hours, it would happen again. That knowledge soured the little enjoyment the scene had been given her and she stepped off the branch, unable to look at it any longer.

Once, the fall from more than two stories would have risked breaking her bones and metal limbs. But now it was just another thing she could casually do. Vampiric strength, reflexes and resilience meant that she landed on the snowy ground soundlessly, the impact barely registering. And all of that meant she could run, too. Run for hours at a time, run far away from all this and find Lyrius and be safe again.

But even as she thought through her potential escape, the idea was forcefully pushed out of her mind. The will for it faded and she grit her fangs. Her step-brother had been clear with his orders more than two months ago after her 'rebirth' and try as she might, any effort to escape or harm him or stop their plans resulted in the same abrupt severing from her thought process. My life flashes before my eyes...and I'm not even in it!

"We're walking in the air, we're floating in the moonlit sky…"

The singer was trying very hard to croon out the melody, but came out dry and scratchy like old parchment. Lacking anything else to do and curious as to what had Fushioh in such a positive mood, Serenity made her way through the trees to the border.

"...the people far below are sleeping as we fly…"

Fushioh, wearing a Santa hat and a daringly rogue orange-and-teal scarf folded around his neck was making a snowman. Four or five snowmen were already present, though they were well over six feet tall and wielded armored helms and pikes instead of stovepipe hats and pitchforks. The lich was still singing to himself as he fitted his latest creation with one such helm, adjusting how it sat and trying to balance the nosepiece on a carrot. Beneath Fushioh's feet was a medium sized undead dog, who's bones rendered him nearly invisible in the snow. A large plank of wood was strapped to his back, allowing Fushioh to use him as a step stool.

"What are you doing?" Serenity couldn't help herself asking as she came up behind him. The dog-turned-footstool let out a startled bark at her voice and bolted, sending the lich tumbling pelvis over head into his creation. His skull bounced off the helm, and rolled away.

"Rattle, you foolish dog! No, come back! Come back, I say!"

He sighed in resignation as the oddly dressed bone dog just vanished into the woods, yipping its little head off. "I suppose what they say is true - you can raise all the undead animals you want, but they're still just animals."

"I'd be more worried about him burying a part of you, to be honest." Serenity watched as his body found his head, twisting and righting itself around like a marionette and plunking his skull back into place.

"Oh, that would be nothing new. Joka once tried to snort up a ground up finger. Literally had a few wires crossed there." Fushioh readjusted his scarf, cocking his head in what Serenity had learned was his way of grinning. A lack of flesh and muscle did make it hard for a skeleton to emote. "Good evening Doctor Wheeler. How are the new limbs holding up?"

Folding her arms, Serenity looked away. "I'd rather have my old ones back." And she meant it. Shadowkind bone was not metal and she hated wondering what the lich and Castiel had killed to get them every time she saw them. Not to mention Rattle eyed her new arm like he dearly wanted to go bury it in the snow every time she entered a room.

"Ah...yes. A shame about that. To be honest, I think your brother was more concerned about being punched again, than making sure you were 'fit for purpose'." Fushioh made air quotes, his finger-bones creaking as he did. "But what can you do?"

He patted the nearest snowman fondly. "To answer your question, I'm creating snow golems to serve as sentries around the camp. Far more efficient than demons in many ways - less likely to be tricked. The song, I'm afraid, got stuck in my head this afternoon - youtube saw I was researching snowmen and recommended the 1982 animated movie to me."

Serenity glanced at the golems. None were animate yet, but she still had to give Fushioh credit for his accuracy. All of them were muscled and had limbs instead of traditional sticks. The finished ones had a sheen on them and she puzzled at it before it clicked. "You soaked them in water to freeze them."

"Ice can be just as effective as any armor, yes." The lich nodded in approval.

"And you're using ice and snow because they can repair themselves just by grabbing it off the ground. Or dunking themselves in water." She walked over to one, studying it closer and held out her bone hand. Frost limed her fingers, fading as she pulled them away. "And you used ice crystals as the hearts - which generates an aura of cold around them so they can leave the Fahr Outpost and resist heat and flame."

She pointed at the bag of small stones hanging off a finished snow golem. "And I'm betting those are more ice crystals - just fragments because of how expensive the whole ones are. So these things can keep making more of themselves if need be or replace lost members when regrouping. They won't be as big or powerful, but numbers are a strength all their own."

"If you've ever read Attack of the Mutant Killer Snow Goons, I got the idea from there. Very good, Doctor. I'll have to inform Weevil that you actually learned something from those books instead of using them to ignore him." The lich clapped his hands, clearly impressed. "You figured all that out with just a few good looks. Your analytical skills are growing."

"I'm a doctor. I have to process everything I can in a glance." Serenity said over her shoulder. "But these golems aren't unbeatable. They'll hit hard and take a beating, but they're going to be slow and half-melting them means the ice crystals will refreeze them as just immobile lumps."

"An accurate summation of their weaknesses, yes." Fushioh agreed, patting some more snow onto his latest creation. "That is why I am only making a few. Once the Company finishes growing the fortifications, they won't be necessary. But it wouldn't do to have our enemies outflank our weak position."

Serenity tried not to shiver at that little reminder that their 'enemies' were currently the innocent inhabitants of Arcadia and she was playing on the wrong team. "Why snow goons, though? Standard undead would do the job, wouldn't they?"

"They might, but I always am trying to indulge in new experiments and try new things." The lich returned. "Speaking of which, have you made any experiments of your own?"

Feeling distinctly aware of her new fangs again, Serenity folded her arms once more and shrugged. "Just jumping down from trees and running across camp." She really didn't want to talk about the way her eyes seemed to zero in on everyone's jugular veins now, or the terrible cramping that her stomach did when confronted with the smell of blood.

"Oh I don't mean with your powers, my dear - although your wings are very impressive for a fledgling," Fushioh began to scoop up another ball of snow and pat it casually into shape. "I meant with that delightful addition your brother made to your necklace."

She could feel that addition throb - the ugly lump of Orichacalcos fused to her necklace, bleeding ugly and chunky light into the silken darkness of her own power. "What can I do? It's stuck there. And I've already established that I can't take this stupid thing off." Never had she wanted to punch Iris so badly for being so paranoid.

"True." The lich nodded thoughtfully, leaning down with a creak of bone and rolling the ball of snow around to collect more. "Have you thought of a way around it?"

"There isn't a way around it. I can...feel it, inside me." And goodness didn't that sound creepy when she said it aloud. "He's got total control."

"Oh pish! There's no such thing as total control, my dear." Fushioh straightened up, kicking his ball of snow around the clearing and watching it clear a path around him. "If there were, everyone would be doing it. There is always a way to break an influence. One just has to do the right research. Apply the right techniques."

Serenity was no stranger to reading between the lines - too often it was necessary when patients insisted that they 'just slipped and fell'. And Fushioh's suggestive - borderline insistent - encouragement was raising all sorts of red flags. "...what are you getting at, Fushioh?"

Deep in the lich's empty eye sockets, she swore she saw a twinkle. "As I said, Doctor - what can you do? That is the question you should be asking yourself."

She regarded him with wary suspicion and opened her mouth to ask if the lich was willing to help her or just trying to turn her into an experiment when she felt Castiel approach. His presence fell over her own like a shadow and even the irritated flash of hatred she had for him was pushed aside by the subservience.

"It's nightfall on the rest of the island." He said without preamble, shaking some snow off his cape. "It's time for us to hunt and find something to eat."

"Fushioh, please tell Castiel that I'm not hungry." Serenity said, deciding that studying this snow golem's abs was more interesting than looking at her sire.

"Castiel, Serenity says that-"

"I know what she said, Fushioh! I'm standing right here!" Castiel huffed and folded his arms. "Just how long are you going to keep playing these games? You know how this is going to end."

"Fushioh, please tell Castiel that I'm not playing games, I'm not talking to him and unless he's willing to let me go, I'm not going to stop."

"Castiel, Serenity-"

"Stop encouraging her! Just because you don't have a face doesn't mean I can't hear the amusement in your voice, lich!" Castiel said with a warning look at the other undead. "Serenity, vampires still have to eat and only blood works the best for us. I will not have you starve yourself to skin and bones just to spite me. I am your family, your only family left. We are going hunting and you will eat your fill."

When she didn't look back at him or acknowledge him at all, he fists tightened and he let out a reluctant sigh. "I didn't want to do this, but fine. Have it your way. Serenity."

There it was. A slight change in the pitch of his voice, a little reverb in the words that traveled into her ears and rattled her soul. Without her willing it or wishing it, her head turned to look at him.

"Come with me. We're going hunting in Rogueport. It's on the far side of the island, so they won't have their guard up and they're having one of their fund raising celebrations there." Castiel's teal eye gleamed. "When we get there, you will single out your target, stalk them and drink from them. I'll be nice and say you don't have to kill them, but I expect you to have at least a three-course meal. Am I understood?"

Her lips curled in a hard frown, but she wasn't able to stop them from moving. "Yes, Castiel."

"Good." He sighed again, staring at her with resignation. "Why do you do this, Serenity? Are you trying to hit me with a guilt hammer for giving my little sister orders? 'Cause it's working."

"You're not feeling guilty for kidnapping me, for turning me or for making me attack innocent people!" She snapped coldly. "You're feeling guilty because I'm not embracing being a murderous, walking parasite like you did!"

"You are a vampire! That means something! Stop thinking like a human and buying into all those stupid fictions about how being a vampire is a terrible burden and so angst-ridden and everything! None of it is true! None!" He snapped back, then stopped himself before putting a hand to his good temple. "Look, I'm not having this argument again, okay? It is what it is. Let's just go hunting before we run out of darkness."

He turned with a sad flourish of his cape and started towards the woods. About halfway there, he said, with reluctance and with the same commanding reverb as before. "Serenity, come."

Her body obeyed, breaking into a run as he sprinted off, both of them leaping from tree to tree as blurs.

The rest of Serenity resisted. But as a fresh round of hunger pangs settled into her stomach, she wondered for how long she would be able to.

OOO

Fran wasn't sure what was more surprising. That within half an hour of the barbecue's end, she was kissing her mom, hugging Taylor, grabbing her travel bag and some barbecue-to-go, mounting Resonae and appearing...somewhere...in Africa in the dead of night. Or that Lyrius had friends that weren't frighteningly scary or powerful.

Vuyo was a petite figure, somewhere in her late teens, with bright clothes, and long hair pulled back in a leopard print scarf, who flung herself at Lyrius as soon as they had appeared and hugged him tightly. "Hey, you're not naked!"

"Only to spare the world the ultimate distraction that is my body." Lyrius returned with a smile, squeezing her back. "I am happy to see you, Vuyo."

"Good to be seen." She patted him on the back and stroked Resonae's muzzle as the Nightmare came up to nose her. "And you too, you handsome old girl."

Resonae snorted. (I'll old you in a moment, Incantifer.)

"Immortal darling. Age does not touch me, although in my circumstances it does beg the question of why I'm not still a newborn." Giving her one last pat on the nose, she turned to Fran with a hand outstretched. "Vuyo Zwelithini - sangoma and Incantifer, at your service."

"Um...Francesca Benedict. I'm…" Fran shook the other woman's hand with a little laugh. "I'm along for the ride, I guess."

"Aren't we all, dear?" Pulling on a string of beads around her neck, Vuyo turned to Lyrius. "You're the first to arrive, except for a couple of leopards - I've put spells down now so they shouldn't bother us, but we're not far from a watering hole, so we might have some more visitors."

"We will not be staying long, so we are more visitors than they would be." Lyrius said, scanning the savannah outside Vuyo's campfire. For what, Fran wasn't sure. "The ruins are still intact?"

"Yep. Between the fey circles around it and the desert, I don't think anything noteworthy has bothered it in hundreds of years. Even the Nama haven't disturbed it - they usually range further inland."

"Good. Please keep an eye on Francesca. Resonae and I will go make sure it is functional. If it is not, we will have to come up with an alternate plan." He slid himself back onto his Nightmare and with a squeeze of his heels, both rider and mount took off into the darkness.

Fran watched them go, marveling at how despite Resonae's flaming appearance, they just melted away into the shadows once they exited the firelight's little ring of safety. Seating herself on a safe-looking rock (and careful to keep her legs folded up just in case something small and bitey wanted human flesh for dinner), she watched Vuyo add another bit of fuel to the fire.

"So where exactly are we?" she surveyed the landscape and was struck by how barren it was. The bare ground was rugged, and there was no greenery for miles - all the trees were bleached and twisted from intense heat, their leaves spiky and dangerous-looking. In the distance she saw the jagged edge of what she realised was a canyon, carved through the dry ground like a huge knife wound.

"Richtersveld," Vuyo replied, watching the sparks fly from the fire and nudging them to encourage more air flow. "In South Africa. Mostly desert. Very few humans. Even less water." She smiled. "Perfect place for a magical quest."

Something about travelling half way around the globe in so short a time made Fran's head reel, and she felt her heart sink into her stomach as it hit her just how far away from home she was. No turning back...literally.

She lifted her head, looking off in a direction she imagined was the shoreline many miles away. And across hundreds of miles of ocean, was Arcadia. Last time she'd been there, everything had wound up trying to kill her. And now she was going back. I lost something when I was there last time. Maybe...I can find it this time.

Unable to bear the terrible silence that seemed to fill the desert, she cleared her throat. "So. How do you know him?"

"Hmm? Lyrius?" the Incantifer asked, and Fran was surprised to see that the string of beads around her neck were attached to a pipe. "Oh he once followed me around naked for three days before I called the police."

Fran's jaw dropped. "Seriously?"

Vuyo laughed. "Well, by that I mean, I found him being chased around a nature reserve by poachers. I got rid of them, and then walked him out of the reserve, before calling the Shadowchasers. He was naked though. Made quite an impression on fifteen-year-old me."

"Seems like an odd basis for a friendship."

"Doesn't mean it's not a good one. He's helped me keep nature where it belongs and has some amazing knowledge about African history and magic." Vuyo said with a half-smile.

Fran couldn't bring herself to smile, as she connected the dots. The Shadow Queen had had an Empire of Shadow. You couldn't have an Empire without land and the closest land to Arcadia was Africa. Was that what Lyrius had been staring at when they arrived? Seeing this place as it was a thousand years ago? Relieving old battles and conquests? Or maybe he was lamenting what had been lost?

"I can see you've been friends with him long enough to pick up on his favorite expression." Vuyo laughed again as Fran blinked at her. "That little frown of concentration. Like his forehead is trying to squeeze some extra juice into his brain."

"You can call it resting bitch face, I'm a big girl." Fran said, eyeing up the desert around them awkwardly. "And I haven't been around long. I don't even know if I'm a friend." She buttoned her lip before she could say what she really felt. I don't know if I really belong here.

"Really? You're helping him break into a country where everyone would hate him if they knew he was married to their tyrannical overlord and attack a vampire and a lich to rescue an old lady." Vuyo's eyes were questioning. "If that's not friendship, what is?"

"I...well…" Fran shifted, feeling suddenly defensive and unsure. "What about you? You've known him longer - why aren't you coming?"

"Honestly?" Vuyo looked a little sheepish. "My brother's getting married next week and my mother will kill me if I miss it." She shrugged. "Might not seem like a big reason, but Lyrius insisted it was."

Fran nodded. "No, I get it. Lyrius thinks your family is more important than risking your life for his problem."

"I've done what I can for him, though. I found this little ruin he thought might still be around. Once I knew what to look for, it was just a matter of keeping it safe. And I spoke to the ancestors." Seeing Fran's confused look, she continued. "A sangoma is what you in the West would call a 'witch doctor'. I can speak to the spirits of the ancestors to learn about the past, seek guidance in the present and learn a little about the future. It takes forever to set up, though. So no demonstrations."

"Well, that kind of blows," Fran said with a laugh. "I could use some information on the future. What did they-"

She broke off as Vuyo held up a hand, her face suddenly focused, and a second later Fran felt the faint tremor through the ground of hooves stampeding in the distance.

"It's okay. They're moving away…" Vuyo had rested a hand to the ground. "Mountain zebra."

"How do you know?" Fran was surprised.

"Small group. About nine, maybe? Mountain zebra don't have big herds." Picking herself off the floor, Vuyo slid flip flops onto her feet. "I'd better go check what spooked them - make sure it doesn't like the taste of human." She added with a wry grin before striding out of the protective circle of fires. "Just stay put - everything out here is more scared of the fire than you are of it."

"Small comfort!" Fran managed a laugh, thinking that when this was over she'd love to get to know Vuyo better. Her ability to read the landscape reminded her of the farmers in her family who could tell whether it was going to rain just by sniffing the air.

But the good mood was quickly swallowed up by the silence that the desert seemed to be emanating. Even the fire was subdued. Every noise Fran made as she shifted and adjusted seemed loud enough to draw an entire pride of lions to herself and as the flames wilted some, the darkness drew equally close around her and her thoughts.

She was worried about Serenity. And Andy. Lyrius hadn't said if they'd found anything about him or this new 'Shadow Queen' who'd taken him. But that was part of the reason she'd wanted to help rescue Serenity. No one claiming that title would ignore the fact you have to have Arcadia to give it credence, so odds were good that they'd find the Shadow Queen and Andy there, too. Or at least some clues.

I want to save him...but do I have the skills? Last time, it'd take a literal miracle and the help of Stan to beat the Shadow Queen. There was no telling what this new one had up her sleeves and worse still, she could easily force Andy to attack her. I've never been able to beat him in a duel. And I bet anything she's given his deck upgrades or something.

The thought was hard to swallow and she glanced around again, looking for something to distract. But nothing was there but a tiny ring of light, endless expanse of desert and darkness.

She was alone.

And then, suddenly, she wasn't.

There was nothing nearby - no rocks, no trees, no ragged cliff face to cast any shadows. And yet from the darkness around her, she had the unsettling feeling that something was watching her. She shivered, and tried to hunch closer to the fire, but as she moved, she saw it buried deep in the night.

Two yellow eyes, watching her like tiny torches.

It was impossible to tell how far away they were, or how big they really were. Fran shot to her feet, trembling. Hadn't Vuyo put down spells? But that question had an answer right away - Vuyo had put down spells for big cats. And this thing was not a big cat.

The eyes slinked around the ring of campfires, fading in and out of view between the flames. The growling rose and fell as it moved. Fran knew it was an intimidation tactic and it was working. She scooted to the center of the circle, staring back at it. But her one good eye felt sorely outmatched by the ruthlessness in the two out there.

Then there was a scrabbling sound - claws on the hard ground and stones. Fran jumped as the eyes briefly leapt above the height of the flames and then back down again. Oh shit, it's trying to learn if it can jump over the flames!

Another jump and then a lurch forwards, accompanied by a low snarl. Fran jerked, felt her feet catch and flailed to stop her fall. And failed, only avoiding crushing Vuyo's stuff with a lucky push with her arm. But that arm hit something - a bowl's edge and flipped it and its contents into the air. Powder trailed into the flames and when it hit, exploded into smoke. Thick, sweet-swelling smoke that billowed out like some kind of monster looking for a hug. Fran got her to feet, but not before inhaling a few mouthfuls. And then just to spite her, the wind shifted and it blanketed over her.

She got another few mouthfuls and then clamped her mouth shut. She resisted the urge to move - she couldn't see through her stinging eye and she needed re-orient herself before she stepped into one of the fires

And then the smoke was gone, wafting away like evaporating morning mists. Fran blinked, her eyes no longer stinging and started as she realised that she was no longer around the blazing flames of Vuyo's campfire. Instead she stood casually next to a low-burning pile of thick logs, over which stood a robed figure, sprinkling powders into the embers and watching as tongues of flame leaped up to collect in his outstretched hand.

Fran felt words come out of her mouth, unbidden, and yet oddly familiar. "You will take your eyebrows off, one day, Sorcerer."

Her companion turned, and Fran was shocked to see a face beneath the hooded robe - it wasn't the same, with strange eyes, a different mouth and far too much hair, and yet the cast of the features were unmistakably Stan. "And the ladies will still find me attractive."

Holy crap! That's Stan's ancestor! One of the three heroes! Fran wanted to scream, yell in surprise, but she felt weirdly trapped in her own head, and instead could only roll her eyes at him.

He examined a few more pouches before choosing a new powder. Fran felt a familiar nicker reach her ears from far away, and she turned her head instinctively. There were unicorns nearby. Her unicorns. Probably getting up to mischief from the noises they were making. She was not worried. If there were any problems, she would know...but at the same time, she didn't know how she would know.

She sat down and wiped her forehead. This country was hot and dry - nothing like what she was used to. Everything - the landscape, the plantlife, the people, the animals - was so strange. But they had a job to do. They'd trained for so long. Falgar had said that this would be the beginning. They would start small, gaining trust in the outermost reaches of the Empire. Then, when their enemy was used to their presence, convinced that they posed no threat, they could move closer and closer to the heart of darkness.

Of course, the Dragon Master had wanted to fly straight to the Shadow Queen's Palace and just put a sword through her. He was reckless and foolish like that, and he had sulked terribly when Falgar had explained to him why that plan was stupid.

Said Dragon Master was crunching stone and stomping through shrubs as he made his way back to camp. He'd left his two dragons to roam nearby. She could tell that he was disappointed not to have more already - he clearly envisioned himself with an army of the winged beasts, ripping out evil doers root and stem. But they were still being trained - Falgar was very clear about that - and two dragons already was impressive in such a span of time, even if one of them was still a hatchling.

She heard her own beasts whinny playfully nearby and smiled - her growing herd was nothing to dismiss either, though she could not escape the feeling that her two companions were not as impressed as they pretended to be with her. However long they trained together, she was still a woman, and they seemed to only ever be listening to her with one ear instead of their full attention. It grinded against her like rough stone on bare skin.

By the fire, another plume of flames shot up and the Sorcerer laughed as he scooped more of the flickering mass up in his bare hand. "I think I've finally mastered it!"

"Oh good - at the next town maybe you can juggle with it." Fran found herself looking up at the sky instead of him. "Impress another of these mythical ladies that you speak of."

The Sorcerer only smirked. "Don't be jealous. If you want a personal demonstration of my dexterity, I'll happily give it."

"Do not speak to her that way - she's a maiden!" the Dragon Master heralded his own return with a deep scowl and a hunk of roasted meat over one shoulder, courtesy of his dragon. "It's uncouth. And you shouldn't go flaunting your sorcery to any pretty duckie. Anywhere else in the world you'd be burned as a witch."

The Sorcerer snapped his hand closed and the flames winked out. The idea of being burned when he had just been handling raw fire seemed to amuse him. "Yes, and anywhere else in the world they would be hunting you down, and keeping your beasts as pets - what is your point?"

Part of Fran wanted to tell them both to just drop their hose and have done with it. But the last time she'd tried to say something like that she'd endured a long lecture from the Dragon Master about how unladylike it was for her to speak of such things, so she sighed and kicked a nearby rock. It wasn't worth the fight.

"No sign of any bandits?" she couldn't imagine bandits living in this dry countryside, but she didn't underestimate human desperation - criminals were a fact of life, no matter where in the world you were.

"None - anyone stupid enough to be in this area will have seen the dragons by now and fled." It really was uncanny how much Andy and his ancestor sounded alike. Now that he'd moved closer to the fire, and had started to shave meat off the huge joint, Fran could see that he resembled him faintly in looks too, but it was the voice and the mannerisms that sold her the most.

"Unless they're drunk and thought them to be songbirds," she teased. The Dragon Master just gave her a patronising look.

"We're miles from the nearest village - no one is going to bother us. You have nothing to fear tonight."

Cross, Fran was about to object that the only thing she was afraid of was the Sorcerer setting himself on fire, when a polite voice appeared from the darkness.

"Excuse me?"

All three of them whirled, Fran peering wildly into the darkness. She could feel her heart racing in her chest.

"Who goes there?!" the Dragon Master was brandishing his sword, his face flushed at the prospect of danger. The Sorcerer, meanwhile, sidled up beside her, stance non-confrontational, but she knew under the robes he was ready to jump into action at a moment's notice.

But the figure that emerged from the darkness held his hands up to show that he was unarmed. He was accompanied by two women. All of them wore dark clothing, but she recognised an Arcadian crest on the man's cloak.

Inside Fran gasped. The man was Lyrius. He didn't even look younger, and she wondered if he had always been frozen at this age. And as his companions drew closer, she wanted to cry out with feeling as she recognised the one on the left. Vivian!

"At ease, sir," Lyrius didn't seem bothered that he had a sword now being directed at him. "We mean no harm."

"Who are you?!" the Dragon Master did not lower his weapon. He seemed to be taking their appearance and apparent circumvention of his safe and secure camp as a personal insult.

"Travellers in this wilderness, the same as you," Lyrius was still calm. "My unicorn disappeared, and we believe he may have wandered into your camp."

Now Fran's interest was piqued, and she pushed the Dragon Master aside. "You're travelling with unicorns too?"

Vivian beamed. "Of course - they're the smoothest and most comfortable mounts in the world."

Fran felt her lips stretch into a smile at that. "Mine are over there," she nodded in the direction that she knew her herd to be. "Let's go see if they're making friends."

"One of us should go with you," the Dragon Master said immediately, drawing himself up tall. Now Fran's smile disappeared, and she turned to face him squarely.

"No thanks - I don't need an escort to walk to the next clearing." Seeing him open his mouth to argue, she cut him off. "And if you don't believe my unicorns are capable of watching over me, Thespeade will be happy to show you the pointy end of her horn again." She gave a pointed glance south of his waist. "Not that there was much there to aim for the last time."

She turned smartly on her heel and indicated that the trio should follow her. She could feel both of her companions watching her go, the Dragon Master red and spluttering. Let them watch, she thought. Watch how ridiculous they're being…

She stopped short of the bushes that marked the next clearing. Her unicorn - the herd matron - usually came running as soon as she knew she was approaching. But even from behind the scrubby bushes, she could see that her mount was otherwise occupied, cuddled up to an unfamiliar white stallion with a blue mane, both of them nuzzling each other in a way that made her blush.

She backed quickly away, clearing her throat. "Yeah, he's there. Let's just...leave them to it."

Lyrius arched both eyebrows, before understanding seemed to dawn. "Ah...I see. My apologies - he is not my usual mount, and has a mind of his own."

The woman who's name Fran didn't know huffed. "Did I, or did I not say before we left, take one of the mares? But noooo. You wanted to take your frisky stallion and 'stretch his legs'..."

The situation was starting to feel ridiculous, and Fran grinned as she realised that she was with strangers who appreciated her herd in the way that she did. "Yeah I don't think that's a leg he's stretching over there..."

The three newcomers laughed, and she found herself enjoying how the evening was progressing. "Since they're busy, would you like to share our camp? Safer in numbers."

"What about your friends?" the woman asked, and Fran felt determination fill her.

"I'll smack their heads together if they're rude." She paused thoughtfully. "But if the wizard starts to juggle fire for you, you're on your own."

Lyrius smiled. "That is very kind of you." He bowed to her. "My name is Lyrius Stormcloud. My companions are Vivian and Jaller."

Fran smiled, and returned the bow. "Nice to meet you, Lyrius Stormcloud…"

The bow seemed to turn into a sudden sense of vertigo and Fran found herself slamming into the ground. The sudden darkness stole away more than sight - the smell of the shrubs, the dry heat and even her ancestor's amusement were all cut off as if switches had been flipped. And then Fran was scrambling back as something sharp and bitter screwed its way into her nose. "Agh! What the hell!"

"Homemade smelling salt. Just a little bit to snap you out of the trance." Vuyo's face appeared in her vision, the sangoma looking at her curious. "You alright? Everything still attached? Didn't learn any secrets man wasn't meant to know?"

"No - no - I'm…" Fran wasn't sure how she was, beyond confused and thrown by what she had witnessed. "There was this thing around the fires and it startled me and then your powder went into the flames -"

"I gathered that much. You looked like you were stoned out of your mind when I found you. Don't know what could have gotten those close - not many animals can tolerate both magic and fire…" Vuyo knelt and inspected her things. "Oooh, that was tolegrain. It's meant to be a meditation aid for visions. And a whole bowlful. Yeah, that'll do it."

"I saw…" Fran raked a hand through her hair, the act of touching herself seeming to pull the rest of her together. "I saw my ancestor - she was talking to Lyrius and the others -"

Vuyo looked up at her, curious. "Your ancestor? That's not the kind of vision…" She peered at Fran with more professional interest. "Are you a reincarnation of a past life?"

"I guess so. My ancestor was the Unicorn Maiden, this heroine and stuff. But I don't even know her name or what she looked like and then I was her. I knew her thoughts and emotions and heard her, saw everything -"

"Easy, easy. Your mind just went on a bender - let it crawl back into your body like a drunk without house keys and it'll sort itself out in a few minutes." Vuyo coaxed her into sitting back down on her stone. "Don't try and talk it out, you'll just keep dredging up more things from the vision. Breath and let yourself process. You're you, Francesca. This is your body, your time. This is real."

"You're right." Fran rubbed at her face, smacked her cheeks a couple of times. "But the vision felt so real-"

"It was real. Your ancestor lived that memory and it actually happened." Vuyo explained gently. "With that much tolegrain and you being a reincarnation, you have a strong connection to her. Closer than to your mother, in some ways. So it's not surprising you saw something."

"But why that memory? I mean, it had Lyrius. And they were around a fire, but it felt too...too coincidental." Fran said, half to herself.

"I doubt it was." Vuyo puffed on her pipe. "The ancestors can show us what we want to know...or what they want us to know. Perhaps your ancestor felt that memory was important for you to know. Or she was screwing with you."

"Either way, I don't think I learned anything." Fran's surprise was being replaced by frustration. "All I have is questions! I didn't know she knew Lyrius, for one!" She brooded at the desert before looking up at Vuyo. "Is it possible to get more tolegrain? I want to see where that went."

"I won't give you anymore." Vuyo's beads clattered as she shook her head. "For one thing, I could lose my license. For another, it's not good for you psychologically. Too many people get too curious about the visions and waste away trying to learn from them. Or they overdose. And the visions aren't in your control without a sangoma guiding you. You may get the vision over and over again or never get anything near it again without that."

Fran's growl of annoyance must have amused her because Vuyo just smiled around her pipe. "Besides, you don't need a vision when you have a direct line to a living source."

Her frustration simmered down. She's right...I can just ask Lyrius. If he remembers the encounter, I'll know it was real and not a weird drug trip, and I can ask him for more information. The plan gave her something to focus on. She still didn't know what she would do with this information, she only knew that she wanted to know more.

A cloud of red mist exploded into existence just outside of range of the firelight. Fran yelped, scrambling back before realising that Vuyo was not alarmed - only tapping out the ash from the end of her pipe, and watching as the mist coalesced into two solid figures.

"Ah, startling the poor mortals never gets old," a refined voice oozed from the closest figure, gleaming red eyes and fangs glittering in the firelight. "Almost as fulfilling as a glass of wine."

"Freaking hell, Dracula!" Fran exclaimed, heart racing, but relaxing at the sight of the vampire. "Give us some warning next time!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Dracula brushed her greatcoat off, her whole body radiating satisfaction. "Two months off must have dulled your perception to be so easily startled."

"We're in a desert, in the middle of Africa, with animals that want to eat us. Of course I'm easily startled!" Pulling herself back onto the rock, Fran sternly told herself to calm down as Dracula stepped into full view.

"Don't worry - the leopards are more interested in the zebra that went past just now," Vuyo was tucking her pipe into the neck of her dress, having finished putting her belongings back in order after Fran's accident. "Persistent kitties - they won't bother with us."

Fran found the idea of referring to a one hundred fifty pound predator as a 'kitty' terribly unsettling. "Vuyo, this is Dracula. Dracula-"

"I know who she is. My songbird speaks highly of her." Dracula said, peering at the smaller woman over her half-moon glasses intently. What she said next was unintelligible to Fran except as a stream of syllables punctuated with clicks. But it made Vuyo smile and relax a little, before responding in the same way.

Nodding as if the exchange settled some matter, Dracula gestured to the second figure outside the campfire. "The desert will not get any warmer while you wait there. Come and sit, warm yourself."

"I'm fine here." The returning voie was flat, tired in a cold way. "Lyrius will be back soon and then we can go."

Dracula's lips peeled a bit - not quite a smile, not quite a threatening reveal of fangs. "I was not suggesting or asking. We have traveled quite a ways and any rest we can get is worth it. Now come and sit."

There was silence for a moment, then the speaker entered the camp. The firelight played over wrinkled and scarred skin, graying blonde hair and faded purple eyes as she carefully sat herself down on the edge of Fran's rock. Fran once again had to resist flinching a bit - it was hard to see a woman she'd looked up to and respected as a model example of a female professional duelist look like this. Seventy years of exhausting and dangerous life were etched into Mai Valentine's body and it looked like one good tap would shatter her into a million pieces.

But the look on her face was something else - all the pains of Mai's years had worn her down and exposed the steel-hard core of her being. A bedrock of determination. It was at once inspiring and worrying, she had seen that look before. On too many bounties who thought they had nothing left to lose.

"Where were you?" Fran asked carefully.

"Chance has a smuggling pipeline through Cape Town. We were shutting it down." Mai didn't look at Fran as she spoke. "If he and Serenity are on Arcadia, then I want to be sure he stays there. He has nowhere else to hide."

The dark certainty in her tone made Fran scooch closer to the firelight - or that might have been Dracula's presence. The ruler of all vampires seemed to be sucking the very warmth out of the air and it was a wonder the fire itself didn't freeze. "Then it's shut?"

"More like 'dead and buried'." Dracula hmmmed to herself in satisfaction. "And we left a little tip for the South African Shadowchasers. When Chance's next ship arrives to unload, they'll be waiting."

"Good." Vuyo pulled out her pipe again and began to tap it against her hand, her expression dark. "The Glory he's been pumping into Africa is ruining a lot of lives. And the effects of it on the animals that eat it…" She shook her head.

"Glory?" the word was familiar and utterly unwelcome to Fran's ears after years of bounty hunting. "The drug?"

She opened her mouth to clarify - magical narcotic similar to heroin in effect, but fewer side effects and twice as addictive - before she saw Mai visibly flinch, and she reeled her mouth shut.

"One and the same," Vuyo nodded sadly. "I'm ashamed to say nearly all of the global supply of it is smuggled through my homeland, it being the closest mainland location to Arcadia."

"Glory comes from Arcadia?" Fran was surprised. She and Andy had busted a few magical drug rings in their time, several of them peddling large slabs of the fluffy pale golden powder.

"Of course - it took its name from the island's currency." Dracula pointed out. "Iris's iron-clad grip on all aspects of Arcadia, meant it was often safer for criminals to carry around the drug as payment instead of cash - hence the adoption of the name."

"Glory comes from milkcress - it's a type of grass that grows exclusively on Arcadia," Vuyo helpfully answered Fran's question. "The trouble with magical islands populated with magical creatures is that eventually the plants evolve magical defenses...like chemicals that taste bad to animals, and cause euphoria, pain relief and crippling addiction in humans…"

"It is a common theme in history, to exploit the weakness of others for profit." Dracula said to no one in particular. "Truly, humanity has not changed since the Stone Age…"

"And you have changed even less, harlot." Behind Vuyo, Resonae was seeping out of the darkness. Despite the potential harshness of Lyrius' words, they were soft and playful and made the vampire smile. "As your preoccupation with startling people has never seemed to diminish."

Everyone looked up, Fran once again unable to suppress a little surge of 'so cool' in her at the sight of Resonae, who's magnificence was only magnified now that she was flanked by a trio of normal white unicorns. They seemed so small and slender compared to her powerfully packed muscles. Someone once told me unicorns were nature's caretakers and Nightmares were its swords...easy to see why they got that impression.

Lyrius was still speaking and she shifted her attention back to him. "The teleportation ring is working. Please mount your unicorn."

Mai was already getting to her feet, accepting Dracula's helping hand in swinging herself onto her unicorn's back. At the same time, Vuyo was mounting the other unicorn and giving it a stroke along the neck in appreciation.

Dracula just smiled when Fran looked at her. "I'm afraid being the ruler of all vampires and riding a being embodying all nature are two things that do not intersect well. And I can keep up on my own." She gave Resonae a sidelong look. "And the Nightmare keeps trying to eat me when I get near her Master."

Resonae gave the vampire the most withering look imaginable, before turning to Fran. (Remember blonde human, we do not like smug show-offs in this herd.)

Fran wondered what on earth Dracula had done to put Resonae's hackles up, but no story would be forthcoming now, so she seized her unicorn's side and pulled herself up instead.

"Typical herd matron." Vuyo said, rolling her eyes. "No one is good enough for her Master."

(That is not true. The metal human is a fine mate for Master. He just needs to forgo the silly human courtship rituals, and simply take what she is keen to offer)

"Okay, I don't want to know what Serenity is offering!" Fran put up a hand to stem the flow of hedonism from Lyrius's mount. I wonder when was the last time she got laid…

Resonae just grinned with fangs, whickering a laugh at Fran's reaction and wheeled about. In a flurry of hooves, she was off and Fran had to hang tight to her own unicorn's neck as he bolted after her.

TTTTTT

A/N: Lookie everyone! Another chapter! A bit late - that's 7th Librarian's doing, but not his fault. Duels take a lot of time, and they take even more time when a small error unravels the whole damn thing. I may have just spoiled those of you playing the game of 'who wrote this bit' in this story. Top tip - if its big, flashy or involves card games, it's 7th Librarian. If it's deep, meaningful and involves a lot of talking to people, I probably did it. Husband is style, I am substance.

Bit of housekeeping. Vuyo Zwelithini is my character, first introduced in Shadowchasers: Something Borrowed. Yes this is a shameless attempt to fish for reviews - I don't care what you all think of me now.

Speaking of shameless fishing, 7th Librarian's sequel to Heirs of Fate already has two chapters up for your reading pleasure. Leave him reviews - they make him happy.

Walking in the Air is a song from the 1982 animated Christmas movie The Snowman. It is not, as I kept having to explain to 7th Librarian, related in any way to Frosty the Snowman, or the 2017 thriller movie of the same name. It's on youtube if you want to go watch it...actually go watch it. Right now. It's only half an hour long and it's an icon of British culture. You can review later, we will wait. Although if you're not crying when you come back I'll be disappointed, because the ending is heart wrenching.

That being said, please do review. We get adorably excited when the notifications drop into our inbox.

See you in two weeks, hens!

Mei

CREATED CARDS

Fusion Efficiency Zone
Continuous Spell Card
Effect: When you Fusion Summon a monster, apply one of the following effects:
-Add one of the Fusion Material monsters used to summon that monster from your graveyard to your hand.
-Add one Fusion Material Monster listed on that Fusion Summoned monster from your Graveyard or Deck to your Hand.
-Draw 1 card. If the Fusion Monster summoned required three or more materials, draw two cards.

Galaxy-Eyes Hack Dragon
LIGHT
4 stars
Dragon/Effect
1000/1000
Effect: Once per turn, you can target one face-up 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' on the field. This card gains the ATK and DEF of the selected 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' until your opponent's next End Phase. During the turn this effect is activated, this card cannot attack directly and all damage this card inflicts becomes 1000. If this card destroys a 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' as a result of battle, you can add one card that refers to 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.

Cipher Coding
Continuous Spell Card
Effect: Once per turn, if you control a 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' or a monster that names it in its card text, you can select one face-up monster on the field; the selected monster's name becomes 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon'. Once per turn, you can select one 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon' on the field and one Dragon-type you control; the level of the second target becomes equal to the level of the selected 'Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon'.

Dark Blade The Dragon Paladin
DARK
6 stars
Dragon/Fusion/Effect
2200/1600
Effect: Dark Blade + 1 Dragon-type monster.
This card's name is treated as 'Dark Blade' while it is face-up on the field. You can equip Level 3 or lower Dragon-type Union monsters from your Hand to this card as if they were equipped by their own effects.
Depending on the Attribute of the Dragon-type used to fusion summon this card, apply the appropriate effect:
WIND: This card can attack a second time during each Battle Phase.
WATER: Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed as a result of battle or card effect.
FIRE: When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent's life points.
EARTH: When this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell, Trap or Monster effects.
LIGHT: When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, special summon one level 4 or lower Dragon-type monster from your Hand or Graveyard.
DARK: When this card is Fusion Summoned, select one Union monster that can be equipped to 'Dark Blade' from your Hand, Deck or Graveyard and equip it to this card.

Millennium Dragon
WIND
9 stars
Dragon/Fusion/Effect
3000/2600
Effect: Thousand Dragon + Time Wizard
Quick Effect: You can reduce the ATK and DEF of all monsters your opponent controls by 500. If this card is destroyed as a result of battle or by an opponent's card effect, Special Summon one 'Thousand Dragon' that is in your Graveyard or is banished.

Magma-Red Dragon
FIRE
3 stars
Dragon/Union/Effect
900/600
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can equip this card to a face-up 'Dark Blade' you control. OR unquip this card and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster, increase the equipped monster's ATK and DEF by 600. Once per turn, if the equipped monster destroys a monster as a result of battle or card effect, you can destroy a card on the field. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.

Sacrificial Ribbon
Equip Spell Card
Effect: If this card was sent to the graveyard because the monster equipped with this card was Tributed to Tribute Summon a monster of the same Type, you can Special Summon the monster equipped with this card. It cannot attack this turn.