The seven friends walked down the path in the woods they had taken so many times before. The only difference was that this time they didn't feel a sense of impending doom. They were sick of Darien and determined to do away with him, once and for all, if this was him. And they all believed it was. As they approached the entrance of the cave, they steeled themselves for what might happen when they entered. Taking a quick glance at each other for support, they entered the familiar rocky chamber.

They made their way through the cave's dark passages as quietly as possible. Soon they saw the wavering glow ahead that indicated a candle or torch-lit chamber. Carefully, they crept to the entrance and peeked in. It was empty.

Perhaps it was their determination to get this over with or maybe it was just foolishness that made them step into the light so soon. Either way, the seven found themselves surrounded by a solid wall of magic, watching Darien step out from the shadows. There was no laughter this time, as there had been on other occasions; just a cold stare that could have turned your bones to ice. He carefully regarded each person, all of them seemingly frozen in place, petrified by his glare. (A/N: isn't that a delightful little play on words? Petrified as in scared and as in frozen. I'm brilliant! *Joe starts laughing hysterically in background*). However, one of them was not. Tris was far past being scared by this man anymore. She wasn't stupid either, though. She'd already made one mistake in coming into the room too soon, she wasn't about to make another by alerting Darien to the fact that he had no effect on her. Instead she pretended to be scared as well while, at the same time, she sent a desperate message to Sandry. Sandry! We're caught. It is Darien and we walked straight into his trap. We need you magic- Tris's message was cut off. Damn magic wall, she cursed.

"Hope you like things hot." Darien said. He twisted his wrist as if he were turning a doorknob, paused, and left.

Evvy, Briar, Elizabeth, Dan, Daja, Tris, and Adam started to feel slightly warm. Tris's mouth was set in a grim line. "A heat spell." She informed them. "This magic…thing is going to keep getting hotter and hotter until our bodies can't handle it. We'll end up bursting into flame. If we're lucky we'll just explode. If we're not, we'll burn to death. It's an illegal spell." True to his nature, Dan began to panic. He ran at the wall in a desperate attempt to get out, but Tris grabbed him just in time. "No! Hit that thing, and it'll seer your skin right off!" Dan looked horrified. Tris let him go and sat down on the ground to think. She'd be damned if she was going to end this way, and at Darien's hands. She put her head in her hands and looked down at the ground. Her eye caught something hanging from her neck. It was the necklace she had made as a prototype for the ones she made her friends for Sunborn. The necklace was supposed to amplify her power. Everyone here had the same necklace on. She looked up.

"I have a plan." She said. Everyone looked at her, a slight gleam of hope in their eyes now. She pulled out her necklace to show them all. "Maybe if we use these, we can break a hole in this wall. We won't be able to break the spell entirely, but we can put a tear in it. I sent a message to Sandry before Darien cut off our connection to her, but I doubt she can break through this spell. It's too tightly woven. If we put a rip in it, though, she might be able to unravel it." The others took a moment to absorb this and quickly conceded.

They picked a spot for them all to concentrate on. Joining hands, they linked their magic-amplified by their pendants-to that of everyone else until it became one large blur of power. All together they lunged at the appointed spot, continuing to drive at it and press against it until they had burned a hole in it. They continued to burn a hole until they were too drained to make a difference anymore. The spell was strong and needed a lot of magic to make just a small difference.

Tris checked to see if they had torn a big enough hole that she could talk to Sandry again. She couldn't. She just hoped it was big enough for Sandry to do something with. And that Sandry hadn't already tried and failed and, if she had, she would try again anyway.

Sandry slammed her fist down on the table. She'd gotten a frantic message from Tris a little while ago. Apparently they'd fallen into a trap and Darien had them. Unfortunately, even with their string Sandry couldn't get through his layer of spells that held her friends captive. She cursed them a thousand times over for not being careful when they knew the danger that might await them. She cursed herself for staying home. And then she realized what little help cursing anyone was and thought about how to save them instead.

Clearing her mind, Sandry entered a meditation. She let her mind open up, the way she had been taught to do when she didn't have the time to think of a solution to a magical problem. A light formed before her eyes. At first she thought it was star, but she saw that a chain bound it. Slowly, the light dimmed and Sandry could see the outline of a rock. It took her a minute to figure out what it was. She hadn't worn Tris's necklace since the night of her uncle's ball. She was uncomfortable with how powerful it made her feel. Now she remembered it and knew she needed it.

Necklace on and string in hand, Sandry tried again. She felt like a goddess herself, like she held an unending well of power. She spread herself over the dome of spells, looking for the openings where she could unlock them. Needless to say she was quite surprised when she fell through a hole that went straight through all of them. Using this, Sandry pulled her power in as tight as she could and then let it out in a sharp blast that, if she had done it correctly, burned the spell dome away. I hope that did it. Sandry thought, making the slow trip back to her body.

Tris was fanning herself, trying to ignore the heat surrounding her, when she was pushed flat on the ground by some sort of force. It was magical, by the feel of it, and Tris immediately recognized it as Sandry's. When she could breathe again, Tris got up and walked hesitantly over to the spell barrier. It was gone. She whirled to face her friends. "We're free." She told them, hardly believing it herself. Dan immediately began to cry and kiss the ground, all the time whispering "free, we're free". Elizabeth lifted him up.

"We've still got to deal with Darien." She said gently, expecting Dan to break down again. Instead his face went hard as steel and he tensed up with his fists clenched.

"Then let's go. It's about time he got what's coming to him." He said, his voice cold and cruel. Elizabeth almost shrank from that voice, but nodded instead. It was about time he got what was coming to him.

"And this time," Said Briar, "we'll be ready for him."

Together they walked down the stone halls, sending their magic out in subtle waves ahead of them to detect any presence. They turned where they felt drawn to turn and gradually found themselves walking deeper and deeper into the cave's rocky depths.

*clink* (A/N: That's not supposed to be capitalized. It's a soft sound)

The group froze. Sending their magic out again, they pulled it back when they began to feel the presence in the next room. They wove a protective spell around themselves. One that would protect them from a number of assaults as well as keep them invisible.

Cautiously they peered into the room. Darien was there, scribbling in a book and taking an occasional sip of wine. They backed out of the doorway and talked telepathically to each other, not daring to use their voices lest Darien should hear. (A/N: Yes, that was the actual phrase that came to mind when I went to write that. I'm probably the only person in the world who thinks of "lest" before "unless" or "just in case".)

Now what? Elizabeth asked. There was a pause.

We need to take his magic again. For good this time. From Tris.

Trisana Chandler if you think for one minute that I'm going to let you- Tris cut off Briar's angry reply with one of her own.

Hush thief-boy, I learn from my mistakes. And don't call me Trisana. Anyway, as I was going to say, I'm not going to keep it this time. And neither are any of you. We're going to release it into the earth. In time the earth will purify it so it's usable again. But we can't let him go on having it and I won't kill him. He deserves much worse than death and I'm going to take every cent of what he owes. Believe me when I say he'd rather be dead than magic-less.

Another pause.

Well, how do we do it? Briar asked. Tris gave an inward sigh of relief. So Briar would do it after all. She explained the spell to them and they helped her to set it up. When it was ready, they set up a binding spell around Darien. When it was done, they activated it.

Darien's eyes flew wide open. He couldn't move and he looked genuinely pissed off about it. The four waited a few minutes anyway. If he had any way to get out of the spell, he would do it soon. He didn't. After checking the room with their magic for any spells to be used against them and finding none, they lowered their shield and stepped into the light.

No traps this time. Nothing. He hadn't expected them to make it past his heat spell and hadn't bothered to protect this room. Darien glared daggers at them but they ignored it. Joining hands again, the seven began the incantation that would take Darien's magic from him once and for all.

When it was over, Darien looked ready to let them all suffer a slow, agonizing death. To be safe, they kept the binding spell on him and carried him back to Winding Circle.

"So, we dropped him off at the Water Temple." Tris finished the story of their final encounter with Darien. "They've got him locked up and guarded. He went mad…again."

Briar snorted. "Like he ever got his sanity back in the first place?"

"Good point." Dan said with an almost sad smile.

"Anyway, I'm just glad it's all over." Tris said with a contented sigh.

Elizabeth shook her head. "It's never over. This is just a vacation." She said.

"Here here!" Dan said raising his glass in a toast.

"May it never end!" Briar added. Everyone looked at him. "Hey, a guy can dream." He defended himself.

Author's Note: The end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally! Man was that story dragging or what? Oh well, it's done now. Hope you liked it and sorry I didn't update in SOOOOO long. I got lazy and then I got overwhelmed with school stuff *mutters about stupid teachers making her go to school the day before Christmas Eve* Anyway, here's your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Rammadan etc… present. THE END OF THIS BLOODY THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! btw, sorry for any spelling errors. Every time I started to re-read it to check it, I got interrupted and couldn't get to finishing the writing part. So I quit the re-reading. Again, hope you liked the story. Joe's throwing a "Thank Goodness This Thing Finally Ended May She Never Write Again" party if you want to come.

Joe: *Dancing and singing in celebration*

Me: I'll put another story up some time, hopefully soon. It'll be original but I re-use Dan and Elizabeth. They're actually have totally different personalities and different appearances though. (Dan is totally different but the only difference in Elizabeth is that she has green eyes)