On the battlefield, the Skeksis had all gone to the Stonewood village to find the Gelflings they were going to fight. They all had their armor on. Even the least dangerous looking of them was ready for a fight. If only they weren't going to be fighting a once trusted ally that they had been living in peace with for nearly a thousand trine. If only it could have been something else instead. Gelflings and Skeksis had made a valuable team once. And it was Gelfling who had made the original armor first, but the Skeksis had learned from the Gelfling how to upgrade their armor and tools too. Especially the Scientist.

When the Skeksis finally found their new enemies, they laughed that there were only a small band of Gelfling facing them, but other Gelfling were sure to show up. Everyone just had to get everything together. All the clans had heard Rian's message by now.

The Emperor had reserved power in a crystal on his scepter. He would use it only as a last resort. But he said that the General could have the honor of facing Rian in battle, one on one. The General gladly accepted that challenge. The Hunter had wanted to face him first, but the Emperor stopped him.

The fight lasted only a few minutes. The Hunter was ready to claim his prize. Rian had managed to bypass the General's armor and he stabbed Var in the stomach.

"Just kill me." Var said.

"I'm no killer!" Rian yelled, then he yanked the Glaive back. Var was bleeding.

Awhile ago, Sil had managed to save the General from a female Gelfling trying to kill him from before. And he was now wounded again, near the same spot.

The General went back to his clan. "You have failed me. Leave." the Emperor ordered. He knew Var wasn't any help in battle now.

"Now, Emperor! The hunt must be finished!" Mal growled.

"Yes, now SkekMal. Claim your prize." So declared.

The Hunter snarled as he charged and his acrobatics grabbed up Rian. He was ready to kill him.

In the mountains, the Archer saw what was happening. "This must end, SkekMal. It is over." Archer said. He got himself into a position over a cliff. This had to be done. Mal was the most vicious of the Skeksis. He always had been, and that was why he couldn't live in the castle with the others, only making minor returns before another hunt would call to him.

Right now, the Skeksis thought that the Hunter was going to be the one to deliver the final blow to the one Gelfling that had started all this trouble. But, he didn't get the chance. His body started falling apart and he dropped Rian.

"Archer! What have… you done?!" were his last words before he was nothing more than dust on the ground, with the armor and clothing he had worn lying on the ground.

The other Skeksis didn't get what was happening, but that was two of the best fighters out of the picture now.

The Archer had let himself fall off a cliff, thus taking his life and his brother's. It had stopped the Hunter's hunt from killing Rian.

"Attack!" the Emperor ordered angrily.

Chamberlain had snuck away from the other Skeksis to see where the General had gone while the other Skeksis began to attack the Gelflings.

"General, there you are." Sil stated.

General turned around. "Dirty Gelfling. They have no honor. Friend, SkekSil. I'm badly wounded. Please, help me." He asked for help.

Sil knew this was his moment. Normally, he would have never done this to another Skeksis, but this one had been too much of a threat. Especially to his position, and to start other wars in the future. It was enough that there was the vicious tyrant, SkekUng to deal with in the future.

"NO!" Sil snarled, and he jammed one of his swords into the General's belly, again.

Var was shocked, but didn't scream. Sil leaned over to whisper in his ear. "You are a threat to everything." Then he twisted the sword more and it made Var really scream in pain. But that did it, and he started turning to dust, just as the Hunter had.

And of course, the General's counterpart died too, in the Valley.

Chamberlain went back to join the battle against the Gelflings. He wasn't having any unpleasant moments at this time. The Gelflings were fighting hard and the few females with them took to the air. They had some of their own bombs to try to take the Skeksis out.

The Historian brought one of the Maudras down. The Maudra of the Stonewood clan. She died shortly after coming down. The Historian was proud of his victory. The Maudra had been defending the new All-Maudra.

In the end, the Emperor tried using the Darkening power in his scepter to try to wipe out the Gelflings, but one of them had been given power to be their savior that day. The fighting would be far from over. Deet threw their own power right back at them.

The reflected power got a hold of the Collector and he ended up being blown up, fluid splashing everywhere.

"Sire, we have no choice. We must retreat." Sil told the Emperor.

"No! We will fight these Gelfling until they are gone!" So snarled.

Then other Gelfling clans showed up, ready for battle. There was no way the Skeksis could fight a number of this magnitude. The others retreated back to their carriages first, with Sil finally getting So to come along, if reluctantly.

The Gelflings were pleased that they had won this battle. They could live their lives again, if hoping peacefully. But they had made enemies of the Skeksis. And the Skeksis would still be wanting Gelfling for their essence no doubt to prolong their lives.

The Gelfling would keep fighting no matter how long it took, but they were hoping they could hold out until the next Great Conjunction. The Crystal shard had been found. It was the answer to ending Skeksis power.

Even Aughra came to see them later and congratulated them on a job well done. But she knew there was still trouble ahead and the Gelfling couldn't let their guard down.

….

When they got back to the castle, the Skeksis were exhausted. They couldn't believe they had lost the fight against the Gelflings.

"Where is the General?" the Emperor asked, only just noticing he wasn't with them.

"General perished at Stone-in-Wood. I was with General in final moments. Sad. So sad." Sil declared. He wasn't about to tell them what really happened.

The others knew at that statement that even the General was now gone. Three of them had died in the battle. And it had shown the Gelflings that the Skeksis were not immortal. But the Skeksis were determined to find a way to keep on living, and were sure they could live past the Great Conjunction, but it was still a long way off yet.

"Three of us are now dead!" Ok declared. "Poor SkekLach. He never harmed anyone who didn't deserve it."

"Any one of us could be next!" Ekt exclaimed.

"Enough! We will find a way to harvest more Gelfling." the Emperor said.

The Scientist made his way into the chamber where the clan was. "Everyone, let me put your minds at ease. For I have created something that is so mechanically minded and it is soulless, and has no mind of its own. It is a mix of Arathim and Gruenack. I call it, Garthim!" Tek shouted and a new creature of destruction stepped forth onto a balcony above them all.

The Skeksis were all fascinated by it. This would be their new weapon to bring Gelfling back to the castle and collect their essence. For now, Tek still had to make more of these creatures of destruction. There would be more battles later on.

….

The Skeksis all disbanded for awhile to go take their armor off and weapons in their bed chambers.

Chamberlain went to fetch the Illustrator.

"We're back, SkekLa." he greeted her.

She got up and went over to hug him. "I'm glad you are back safe. How did the battle go?" she asked.

"Not good. Gelfling won, we lost three Skeksis. General, Collector, and the Hunter are dead." Sil explained.

This was alarming to hear. But this had all started with them wanting essence so badly. Now they wouldn't have Gelfling allies anymore. They were all considered enemies at this point.

"Did you see the Scientist's new creature to take on Gelfling?" Sil asked.

"No. I was in here getting things done." La replied. "I suppose it looks deadly?"

"Yes. Looks big and strong to take on Gelfling in future." he replied. "Lunchtime is upon us."

"Coming." she said. She was ready for a food break anyway.

When they went to the table in the dining hall, there were a couple of empty seats. SkekVar and SkekLach's seats were empty. Chamberlain now had his seat back at the Emperor's side. Inside, he felt proud of himself, but he wasn't about to reveal what he had done. It had been against the rules to kill another Skeksis, no matter how much they hated each other. But Sil had had his own personal reasons.

Var was just too violent to be left alive. He had taken Sil's spot and he wasn't going to allow that. And he had originally hurt Sil's hand too. He had wanted revenge for that. And there was a sixth sense in him right now that it had been the right thing to do. Now he was glad to be rid of him for good. No more problems from Var. Var would have also led them into more serious confrontations with the Gelfling in the future too.

The Skeksis were still worried about their future against the Gelflings, but for now, they were going to be without guards. They still had Podling servants, but now, with Gelflings gone for good out of the castle, the Skeksis would all have to make sure they pulled their own weight and did more jobs around the castle that needed them. That even meant for some of them carting their own scrolls around.

That night, Sil and La spent the night together again. They were just glad they had each other to make things seem a lot better than they really were.