Here is the 24th full chapter in Book 5, released on time as promised. This is the third of three chapters in the current arc and this will focus on the important airbenders in the final and has a lot more going on during it than the others as it is the climax of the battle. However, that is all I have for here though so I will leave this pre chapter note off here and as there isn't anything to respond to that means that it time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 24th full installment of Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 5: Duty.

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing related to these two great works of fiction.

Chapter 24

When the battle begun Lorcan had leapt out into the canyon and after the Black Airbenders that they had seen. After the reveal of their existence in the first battle and when they discovered the identities of those captured matched known airbender criminals or those expelled from the Air Nation for various reasons, they became a priority for the ANDF in battles. They were the Air Nation's biggest failure as they were airbenders who'd gone bad which meant that it was their responsibility to capture and punish them under Air Nation law. The Black Airbenders responded in kind by going after the ANDF in battle.

That was why Lorcan was not surprised to see many active duty ANDF members already leaping into the canyon to deal with the Black Airbenders there. However, he couldn't focus on them, he had to focus on his own job of protecting the Temple and letting any ANDF soldiers he saw when he returned to fight in it that the Black Airbenders were their top priority.

It was a tough job as he had to glide and avoid hummingbirds while at the same time take down Black Airbenders he came across in the air. Fortunately, Lorcan had two advantages on his side; the first was that he was the son of Prince Ron, the Red Wolf of the Southern Waters and had been raised as a warrior as well as an airbender which meant that he had no hesitation when it came to killing in battle. The other was that he was trained in using throwing knives, which in a battle with airbenders was incredibly useful.

Lorcan always traveled with numerous small, lightweight, blades on him in several sheathes all over his specially designed glider suit. They were designed to allow him to alter their trajectories with airbending if need be but that was rare as he was deadly accurate with them. He showed that off by downing several Black Airbenbers, and a mercenary hummingbird as he glided through the canyon though the latter was only because it had gotten in the way of a knife that hit it right in the wing joint that took out the whole wing and sent it crashing into the canyon wall.

However, Lorcan couldn't stay in the canyon all battle. No that was because he saw that many of the Black Airbenders weren't staying in the canyon. No, they were flying into the Temple and causing havoc. They were officially independent criminals who fought as they saw fit and didn't abide by the laws of war when it came to things like prisoner care or valid battlefield targets.

Ekrizdis had disavowed them early on as not part of his army, though he accepted all airbenders in his nation, and claimed that their actions were their own. This argument had held up and kept the World Leaders from using their crimes to enter the war but after what Ekrizdis had done today there was no way that the World Leaders wouldn't join the war as their enemy had attacked during a ceasefire.

On the Black Airbender front they all knew that it was bullshit but alas there wasn't anything they could do about it. The Black Airbenders who were caught all claimed to not be fighting for Ekrizdis but against Luna and demanded to be transferred to prison where they were wanted for other crimes or the Airbending Supermax Prison for crimes against the Air Nation.

None had divulged their leader so there was no idea who he or she was but according to Lorcan's father suspected that it was someone who had a personal connection to Luna given their mission. Alas that didn't narrow it down much given how many people Luna had interacted with over her long life.

With the numbers that Lorcan was seeing, he was certain that the leader had to be here. There were Black Airbenders that he'd ever seen before, and they were doing their usual thing of going after soft targets or targeting the Temple itself. It was as he was looking at the Temple that he saw it, well after taking down a Black Airbender that spiraled in that direction with a knife in the back of his neck.

It was towards the northern end, near the entrance to command ops in fact, and where a special statue garden was. The garden had been created by Head Abbess Bagnold when she took over after Daw's death. It contained statues of all the past Head Abbots and Abbesses of the Western Air Temple since Harmonic Convergence, only the dead ones had statues, so Luna didn't have one yet. It was a way to honor the new Air Nation and remember those who had helped rebuild this Temple.

At least that was what it once was. Lorcan saw a statue of an airbender he couldn't make out be blasted off the side of the edge of the open area and into the canyon. Only a few Black Airbenders, or an earthbender, could do that and Lorcan was certain that it was the former as they loved to desecrate the Temples whenever they got into them but hadn't managed that since the first attack on the Southern Air Temple at the start of the war.

Turning and gliding down, Lorcan landed in the open area, pulling his wing in, and creating a whirlwind to blast back any airbenders there and clear his landing spot so that he could fight. Lorcan landed in a crouch before he rose and drew the sword he kept on his back as he did and holding it angled to the ground as he looked around. Unlike his twin who favored the classic Southern machete, Lorcan had created his own sword when he had the chance to do so.

It was a single edge, lightweight blade meant to be wielded with a single hand so that he was free to airbend as well. The blade itself was for the most part normal but had a few groves near the handle to prevent cutting himself as there was no hilt, and only a simple leather wrapped handle. It was unusual for an airbender to use a sword, but Lorcan was an unusual airbender and had trained with it since an early age with his father and uncle Harry, so he was very skilled with it.

He held it now as he surveyed the area and noted that there were 8 Black Airbenders there. One was likely dead given the odd angle of his or her neck, the suits made gender usually impossible unless they were particularly well endowed in a department or they spoke, and another was out cold. The other 6 were still standing having rolled with the attack.

"Well, what do we have here?" A cold, female voice said gleefully and Lorcan identified it as the one furthest from him, a small looking woman who's movements were slightly stiff indicating that she was older than the others who now formed a wall in front of her as if she was their leader. "Why I do believe that it is the Archabbot's brat, or at least one of the 3 that are remaining, and the one who'd the new deputy of the ANDF. This is good news; we were waiting for her but now we have a plaything first and he's on the terminate list. Subdue him, this kill is mine."

"I take it you're some kind of commander then." Lorcan said as he watched the approaching airbenders, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Clearly you are too cowardly to face me."

"No, I am just letting vengeance happen." The woman said. "Besides, I am waiting for your mother. I have a score to settle with her that began over 65 years ago."

"You're not just a unit commander." Lorcan said realizing who the woman talking was. "You're the overall commander aren't you? Dad always theorized that you and mom had some history."

"Your father was always too clever for his own good." The woman spat reaching up and removing her mask to reveal a woman around his mother's age with a hard, lined face, cold eyes and her white hair cut in a bob with the front slightly shaved to show off her black arrow tattoo. "He's right of course, it was your mother and the rest of Team Avatar that attacked my father and me during the Global Raids, illegally I may add, all those years ago. I was simply defending myself from them, but the Avatar caught us. Dad cut a deal and I served 5 years for various crimes, but I swore I'd kill your mother when I next saw her after I agreed to my part of the deal. I'm here to collect on my promise."

"The Global Raids?" Lorcan asked surprised, he knew about them because he'd studied them and heard his parents talk about then at times but that wasn't what he was expecting. "You're a known Purist?"

"One of the last true Purists who had sworn fealty to Voldemort and one of two leading this attack today." The woman said with a slight bow as she grinned at him. "Course the war was over when I got out, so I turned to a life of crime as I had been expelled from the Air Nation upon my conviction. That was until Ekrizdis found and recruited me, promising me vengeance on my many enemies. How could I turn him down and thanks to me all those airbenders with a problem with the false Air Nation are on his side."

"Well then it will be a pleasure to take you lot down." Lorcan grinned as this would count as a confession from the Black Airbender's leader regarding their connection to Ekrizdis so he couldn't get away with disavowing their crimes anymore. "Taking out their leader will be a real boon to us."

"I don't think so." The woman said shaking her head. "Take him down."

With that the airbenders attacked but Lorcan was ready for them. Black Airbenders had no compunction killing so any fight with them was always a lethal one. All 5 launched a powerful airbending combined attack meant to overwhelm Lorcan. However, he leapt up with his airbending and arched towards them before their attack came, drawing, and throwing a knife as he did.

The knife flew true and took the center airbender in the chest downing him, there was no swell of breasts so Lorcan assumed it was a male and ending the combined attack. Lorcan landed just in front of them, rolling and getting up to bisect one of the other airbenders at the waist. He spun as the two halves fell away and slashed the third across the chest in the same move ending that one's life as well.

By this point the two edge ones had turned and the one to his right blasted a powerful spiral of air at him. Lorcan just backflipped and rolled out of the way so that the air hit the final airbender and sent whoever it was into the wall with a crash that knocked the airbender out cold.

Lorcan didn't let the attacker get another shot off as he threw two knives while still in the air. The first hit the airbender in the hand causing a feminine scream to come from the airbender. She was silenced a second later as the second knife took her in the throat and killed her before she hit the ground.

"Not bad but you missed the biggest threat." The woman in command said. "Me."

Lorcan had landed and turned just as a dart struck him in the right shoulder. Instantly his arm went numb, and the sword fell from his limp hand and crashed to the floor.

"What, what ha…" Lorcan slurred as he fell back, his entire body numb and unable to move for some reason.

"Shirshu venom." The woman said as she approached Lorcan ignoring her downed compatriots, along with the blood and gore that covered the ground, with cold indifference. "Nasty little toxin that paralyzes you if it gets into your bloodstream and can last for a few hours. Hard to come by these days as the animals are endangered and rare but I have a contact that can get me some for an exorbitant price. I only use the darts on worthy opponents who I need to beat so be honored you got one."

Lorcan couldn't speak even as he tried to do so to tell her that this wasn't an honor at all. The woman just laughed at his plight as she straddled him and sat down on his paralyzed body, deliberately grinding into his crotch as she did.

"Shhh my dear Lorcan, don't strain yourself." The woman said a sadistic grin on her face as she pulled out a sharp scalpel from a holder that seemed to be on her lower back. "Don't fight it because you can't. You are now at my mercy and I'm going to have so much fun with you now before I kill you. Then it is onto your mother. I think I'll start by clipping those wings of yours, just to be safe you know."

The woman kept smiling as she expertly pressed the knife to Lorcan's face and against his nose right below his left eye. She then slowly and expertly drew it down the side of his nose, over his lips and mouth, and down his chin, the surgically sharp blade cutting his skin like butter as she went.

Lorcan wanted to scream in pain because while he was paralyzed he could feel the blade as the blood welled up from the wound and flowed freely down his face. It was easily deep enough to scar but not deep enough to be life threatening, this woman knew how to handle a blade.

She continued to show that as she traced it under his chin and used only the tip, all the while never once removing it from his skin, and along his neck at the same deepness so as not to kill him by hitting any major arteries there. She then kept it up across his shoulder and through his skin tight suit, slashing into the wing as she traced it under his armpit and then down his side until she reached his waist and stopped as the blade reached her leg, finally taking the bloody scalpel away.

"One down, one to got." The woman said happily as her sadistic grin grew and pleasure sparkled in her eyes. "I think I'll start at the bottom this time though."

She did just that starting at his waist as she was still straddling his groan, and going directly up his abdomen and chest, barely avoiding his right nipple, as she cut him deep enough to scar but not deep enough to kill and slicing thought the other wing as she did. Again, she continued up leaning down as she did and dragged the knife along the side of neck and up the side of his face right next to his ear before the blade finished his work at the top of his head as she reached his hairline.

"You know if I was a few decades younger I'd be orgasming so hard right now rather than just building one up right now." The woman whispered into his ear as she pressed her body into his before she licked the cut she'd made along the side of his face with glee. "Mhm, I do enjoy marking my territory like this and your blood is sweet and pure, just the way I like it."

She sat up and grinned down at him and Lorcan was horrified to see his own blood dribbling down her chin. This woman was fucking insane, and she was going to kill him here as the battle raged all around them.

"Oh, I know that look and yes, I am going to end you." The woman said still grinning, his blood now staining her yellow teeth and idly making cuts on his abdomen as she did, all the same depth as the ones before. "I do hate spilling all this pure blood, but it is ecstasy at the same time. Ever since I got out of prison the second time I can't get off without drawing blood with my scalpels and oh do I love doing so to my many victims. Take a good look at me, this is what surviving over 50 years in prisons looks like, this was the only way I could get off with a woman as I'm no dyke, but I only had women most of the time. I was in and out my whole life, spent longer inside than even that former mudblood cunt Hermione, and it really fucked me up. Not that I mind though, this is so much fun."

Lorcan couldn't move so all he could do was look in horror at the woman on top of him. If she was speaking the truth, and the insanity he saw in her eyes, along with the bloody scalpel in her hand, convinced him that she was, then she'd spent almost all her life in prison. The Global Raids were 67 years ago, and Hermione spent 51 years locked up meaning this woman had spent at least 52 years inside. It was no wonder she was so fucked up.

"Do you want me to tell you how you will die?" She asked him sweetly as she leant back and drew the knife with the same amount of pressure across his left thigh. "Course you do. I'm going to bleed you, real slow like, until you die from blood loss. Death by a thousand cuts they call it. This has it always been my preferred method as it prolongs the pleasure oh so much. Thankfully the murder I spent 32 years inside for right before I joined Ekrizdis was for defenestration and not this or else they would have never let me out and that would have been a shame. You have no idea how pleasurable this is for me, more so because it is so personal. We're going to have so much fun Lorcan."

The woman had moved to his right thigh as she talked but now she pressed her blade to his chest right below his throat at the center and began to slowly carve something. It wasn't until she started to twist it close that Lorcan realized it was the Air Nation symbol that she was going to carve into his chest. However, she never got a chance to finish it as a blast of air hit the woman in the back and sent her flying forward and off Lorcan, the knife being blasted out of her hand and over the edge as she hit the ground and rolled with the impact.

"Get off my son you fucking cunt."

Luna had just finished making a global broadcast of the attack on the Western Air Temple and how it had been done in violation of the ceasefire when she stumbled upon it. She had been briefed that the airships that had attacked them were fleeing which meant that so long as they held the attackers off they would be fine and could turn the tide of the war thanks to the illegal attack. As such, rather than stay put as Bexley had suggested, Luna had charged out of the command center to help the defenders. This was her home Temple, her nation, her ground, and she was going to personally defend it.

It was as she was running to defend it that she heard it. She had to pass the old Heads' statue garden to get to the action and as she did she caught the tail end of something that made her blood run cold.

"We're going to have so much fun Lorcan."

The speaker was a woman with a cold, cruel voice filled with sadistic, orgasmic, pleasure that sounded oddly familiar to Luna. Luna hurried around the corner and to the statue garden and was greeted by a strange seen. There were 7 bodies of Black Airbenders strewn in the area with some clearly dead, a few probably out cold and a lot of blood and guts on the ground. Several of the statues were missing as well but that was to be expected with the so many Black Airbenders around.

However, the strangest thing was in the center of the garden. A small woman with white hair cut in a bob was straddling a body on the floor that had blood pooling around it but not enough to be fatal. As the blood pool was still growing it showed that the body was still alive. Add in that the person on the ground was in the ANDF glider suit and the woman had called it Lorcan, Luna knew who was being tortured.

"Get off my son you fucking cunt." Luna roared as she sent a blast of air into the attackers back.

The woman was thrown forward and off Lorcan to crash into the ground and roll a few paces but stopping several feet from the edge. The bloody knife, a scalpel now that Luna could see it, that she was using did go over the edge though which was good.

"Lorcan, are you ok." Luna said concern in her voice as she ran to her son and almost recoiled at the sight.

He was on his back unnaturally still and covered in blood. It was coming from two long but not too deep cuts that ran from at least his eyes, which were keen and alert, down to his waist. In addition, there was a cuts on his thighs, abdomen, and one on the center of his chest. They weren't deep enough to kill though if Lorcan took much more he would be at risk.

"He'll live thanks to your involvement bitch." The other woman said and turning to Luna causing her to gasp when she saw her hard, ugly, face and cold eyes that greeter and even after all these years Luna knew who she was looking at. "But you are the one I wanted anyway so that is good, I'll return to finish your son when I'm done with you."

"Pansy, I'm surprised you're still alive." Luna said stepping forward and putting herself between her son as Pansy got to her feet. "I thought you died years ago but then again no one bothered to keep an eye on you after you were expelled from the Air Nation and your prison sentence ended. After all, who gives a shit about a low-level Purist who wasn't a threat to anyone."

"No, I was just sent to prison over and over again." Pansy said simply. "Spent 56 years inside since you last saw me and ensured I was expelled from the Air Nation for false charges."

"You were a Purist who assaulted the Avatar." Luna said recalling her experience with Pansy. "And in league with Voldemort, you were a traitor to the Air Nation and a criminal. You earned that conviction fair and square."

"I was defending my father from an illegal arrest and only Voldemort was valid back then, well until he lost his bending and thus lost all authority he might have had." Pansy shot back. "But then again a blood traitor like you would never understand it. You ensured I missed the rest of the Purity War though, at least I survived it. For that I am thank you."

"To do what, become a killer?" Luna asked.

"Pretty much." Pansy said with a shrug. "Dad was dead by the time I got out after the war and the Air Nation had expelled me, so I had nowhere else to go but to the Triads in Republic City as that was where I was to serve my probation. They took me in, nurtured my talents, gave me these tattoos and I served them as an enforcer, dealer, thief, assassin, basically anything they wanted short of sex. Got arrested a bunch of times in that process but only one murder conviction though I have over 100 confirmed kills under my belt. Now I am loyal to Ekrizdis after he recruited me a few years back when I got out after doing 32 years for that murder."

"That doesn't surprise me." Luna said. "You have a hatred for me and the Air Nation because you can't accept responsibility for your crimes and can recruit those like you due to your hate. You're the Black Airbender leader, don't deny it."

"In the flesh." Pansy said with a mock bow. "And I was sent here to kill you and ensure that we won, which we will. I was having a little fun with your son, he was just about to give me my best orgasm in years in fact, when you interrupted me. Shame I didn't get to kill him, but I think I'll go find your only daughter and end her. Catch me if you can cunt."

Pansy turned and ran to the edge of the open space. Luna knew that she wouldn't find Rose, not in this chaos, and that Lorcan was going to be alright as there should be a patrol following her that had a healer in it which would take care of him. That meant that this was her best chance to catch Pansy and bring her to justice for her many crimes. With a final glance at Lorcan to make sure that he was alright, Luna followed Pansy and leapt into the canyon though unlike Pansy she used a little airbending as she leapt to gain height on her enemy.

This was because Luna knew how the wind currents of the Western Air Temple worked and how they were stronger the higher you went as you were nearer the surface there. She had grown up here and been gliding in the canyon for years. Pansy hadn't and Luna used that to her advantage.

Instantly she saw Pansy below and in front of her and followed her, flying at a downward angle to get as close as she could. The canyon was basically deserted now as the battle was coming to a close it seemed. They had held the Temple which meant that the enemy wouldn't take it, Luna knew it and now she was going to do her part and capture Pansy.

It was clear that over half a century in prison had stunted Pansy's skills when it came to gliding as you couldn't glide in prison. Luna had always been superior and right now she showed it as she neared Pansy and pulled the two long stiletto blades she kept in ankle sheathes. They were the only blades that Luna ever carried, the only weapons in fact, and she hadn't carried them since they defeated Hermione though they were as sharp as they had been back then. However, the Airbending Civil War directly affected her, so Luna had begun carrying them again.

That said, she still hadn't killed since the Battle of the Elemental Academy and didn't intend to do so again if she could help it. Instead, she planned on using them to ground Pansy and as soon as she saw her chance Luna took it.

She had the angle and the ability, so she threw the stiletto in her right hand at Pansy. The blade flew true, Ron had taught her a few things over the years that she'd further honed during the war, and pierced Pansy's right wing before falling away and into the canyon below them.

Instantly Pansy began to lose altitude as the integrity of her suit was destroyed. She also slowed down and veered to the left and towards the Temple. Luna took this as her chance and dove at Pansy, airbending with her feet to gain speed until she slammed into Pansy's back at full speed. As soon as she hit Pansy, Luna slashed her left wing with the stiletto in her left hand creating a large gash in it rendering it useless as she wrapped her arms around the other woman in a midair tackle.

The women careened to the side and into the Temple, cocooning themselves in air to protect themselves as best as possible. They landed hard on the floor of the Great Hall, that part hadn't been planned by Luna, and bounced as Pansy airbended to force them apart before they hit the ground again and rolled on impact. In the process Luna's stiletto flew from her hand and skidded across the ground until it hit Pansy in the side and came to a stop there.

Luna groaned from the landing, she was way too old for this shit, and she was certain she was badly bruised from the impact with the ground. She also felt a pain in her chest but as she got up, standing right at the edge of the open space with the canyon to her side, Luna felt her ribs and determined that they weren't broken but they may be cracked.

As she determined that she was fine other than the bruises which Ginny could easily heal, Luna walked forward and along the edge until she was by Pansy who was a few feet deeper into the Temple then she was and still on the ground meaning she was likely injured from the landing which would make this easier. The sounds of fighting were weak now and Luna knew that it was almost over.

"Surrender Pansy." Luna said as she looked up and saw both Ron and Harry run into the Great Hall from different ends with Ginny not far behind the later likely to help find people in need of healing and knew that the fighting was basically over at this point. "It's over, you've lost. We've held and now Ekrizdis has violated the ceasefire and I made sure that the world knows. The World Leaders will enter the war now so just give up peacefully."

"You may have held; I'll give you that." Pansy said from the floor, defiance still in her voice. "But this attack was fully legal. The Festival was over when we attacked and that is when the ceasefire ends, not midnight."

"It wasn't." Luna said. "And our allies will agree. It's only a matter of time before the war is official over after they add their forces to mine. Face it, you've lost Pansy, again."

"If that is the case then I will still finish my mission and make this victory hurt as much as fucking possible." Pansy said. "And make sure you don't survive this war."

Before Luna could react, Pansy leapt up off the ground with a little airbender, grabbing Luna's dropped stiletto as she did, and drove it up and into Luna's gut in a single smooth move showing that she was only faking being injured to lull Luna into letting her guard down. Luna gasped in shock at the impact and felt the sudden pain of the wound as she looked down to see that it had been an upward angled stab and her left side. Her own blade had gone through her left lung, and she knew the tip was in her heart.

"We may have failed but I succeeded and that will count for something." Pansy hissed in Luna's face; a sadistic grin plastered on her face. "I told you back in that interrogation room all those years ago that I'd kill you when we met again cunt and now I have. I know where this knife is, you won't survive this."

"I, I may not." Luna said as she coughed blood into Pansy's face that only made the other woman's grin grow at the splattering of Luna's blood on her face. "But I am taking you with me then."

With the last of her strength, Luna raised her arms and put them around a surprised Pansy's neck. She then gripped her wrists and looked over Pansy's shoulder to see Harry, Ron, and Ginny all standing still looks of shock and horror on their faces. Good her love and her team were here at the very end.

"Harry, it was an honor to be part of Team Avatar." Luna called out as she pulled Pansy closer and the knife deeper into her so that the woman couldn't break free as she struggled to do so. "We did a lot of good for this world, my only regret is that I won't see the end of this mission. Ginny, you were the best friend I could have asked for. Ron, I love you with all my heart and I am glad we had a long, happy, life together. I will see you when you join me in the next life my love. Goodbye."

With that and before anyone could react Luna fell backwards and off the edge of the ledge, plunging into the canyon below the Western Air Temple. Pansy didn't have a chance to do more than yell as she was dragged over the edge and into the abyss with her.

Ron had hurried to find Luna, but she wasn't in the command center when he reached it as she'd left it to help defend the Temple despite objections from Bexley, so he backtracked to fine her. He did find a healer dealing with Lorcan while a few ANDF soldiers guarded him which was not good, but the healer quickly told him that Lorcan would live so Ron rushed back to the Great Hall to get his bearings and hope that Luna was headed there as well.

As he reached it he saw Harry arriving from the other side and over Harry's shoulder Ginny was making her way no doubt coming to help as well after Harry had likely tried and failed to fine Ekrizdis and thus gone to check on Ginny. Good they could group up here and find Luna.

Fortune was on their side it seemed as Luna was in the Great Hall at the edge in from of a downed and unmasked Black Airbender at her feet. It seemed that it was the leader of them giving that Luna was dealing with her personally.

"Surrender Pansy." Luna said as she looked up at them arriving and confirming who the woman was and it wasn't someone that Ron had expected though she was someone with a personal tie, and hatred for, Luna so it did make sense in a way. "It's over, you've lost. We've held and now Ekrizdis has violated the ceasefire and I made sure that the world knows. The World Leaders will enter the war now so just give up peacefully."

Ron didn't hear the next part of the exchange as Ginny reached them and they all made their way to help Luna. However, before they could get more than a few paces Pansy leapt up with airbending and Ron's eyes went wide as he saw a flash of metal in her right hand indicating a knife that Pansy proceeded to drive deep into Luna's gut.

Luna gasped and they all came to a stop a look of horror and shock on their faces. Ginny was one of the best healers in the world, but Ron knew wounds and if the blade was long enough then there was no way that Luna could survive that.

Ron just watched as Luna coughed blood into Pansy's face and said something to her. Luna then raised her arms and locked them around Pansy's neck and Ron knew what was coming as Luna looked past her at them with a smile on her blood-stained lips.

"Harry, it was an honor to be part of Team Avatar." Luna said and Ron knew that she was using the last of her strength to speak and pull Pansy closer to her. "We did a lot of good for this world, my only regret is that I won't see the end of this mission. Ginny, you were the best friend I could have asked for. Ron, I love you with all my heart and I am glad we had a long, happy, life together. I will see you when you join me in the next life my love. Goodbye."

Ron watched in horror as Luna fell backwards and over the edge of the canyon. That broke Ron's horror as he dropped his hammer and ran forward, grabbing a Kyoshi spear that was next to a dead warrior from the initial attack here and running to the edge. Pansy was an airbender and might be able to survive the fall, he wasn't going to let Luna's sacrifice be in vain.

As he reached the edge Ron looked down and saw Pansy spread her arms, tossing something away in the process that had to be the knife she'd used to stab Luna. Ron acted on instinct and threw the spear down at Pansy's back with all his strength just as they disappeared into the mists below the Temple.

Ron knew his aim was true as he fell to his knees at the edge, tears falling down his face as Harry and Ginny reached him. Ginny pulled him close as his sister and best friend hugged him, all crying at what they had just lost.

Luna just smiled as she fell. Pansy yelled though the wind took the sound away before it reached Luna's ears as she yanked the knife out of Luna's gut causing blood to fill Luna's chest cavity and flow out as they fell. Pansy then blasted Luna in the chest with some air to speed her fall and get some distance as she tossed the knife to the side and opened her arms. Her wings were useless, but she was still and airbender and Luna knew she was trying to save herself at the end of the fall.

However, Luna kept smiling knowing that nothing would save Pansy. She was proven right a second later when Pansy's eyes went wide as her back arched backwards and a Kyoshi spear exploded from the center of her chest. Luna knew that Ron had thrown it and Pansy was dead as she fell away and was lost in the mists they were now in.

It was over, the battle was won, and the Temple had held. The war was theirs now. Luna, however, knew that she wouldn't see the end of it, so she closed her eyes as she fell. She made peace with her long and good life and commanded her soul to the Spirit World and the next life where she'd see her son again, and Neville and Albus, and where her other loved ones would one day join her.

Luna exhaled one last time as she made her peace with the physical world. She was dead before she hit the canyon floor.

There was no other way to end this chapter and the Battle of the West then like this. For the second time in his life, one of Harry's companions has paid the ultimate price in the conflict and died, this time it was Luna who was the casualty and the main one in this battle and the war in general. I was always going to kill off Scorpius and Luna during this battle making them the 5th and 6th significant characters to die in the series after Pyrites, Neville, Albus, and James. The Unholy Triumvirate doesn't really count as they were only the focus of Book 3 with only one of them even appearing in a prior book and then briefly, same with Pansy in fact though she had a few more chapters back in Book 1. Likewise, Hermione and Voldemort don't count as they died in prison or just after being released, I consider significant deaths as those in battle. I was going to kill off Lorcan as well but changed it to scarring him badly to show how insane and twisted Pansy was and because of how many others have died so far so I spared Lorcan. Anyway, there isn't much else to discuss here, and the next few chapters will deal with the aftermath of everything that happened in the last 3 chapters so stay tuned for those. As always any questions in PMs or reviews will be answered before the start of the next chapter (as well as replied to if possible). Please follow, favorite and review, all are greatly appreciated. Until next week.

Stringdog