The Fate That Binds Us Together
Note: This is the final chapter! :) I'm sorry it took so long, but I had some Mastery Tests to study for.
Notes2: Ryoko, I made Donnia and Rex a couple. You wanted that, right?
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"...No matter how dark the path may seem, the Tamer's Light will guide you..."
Dawn's first light crept over the horizon of the swamplands, sending rays of warm, comforting sunlight across the lands. Everyone in the small camp had woken up, either willingly or by careful word of his or her elders. The fire still glowed, only it was now nothing more than smoldering embers. Ivy poked at the fire, watching the flames dance at the touch of her stick. Davis was still groggy as he tried futilely to rub the sleep from his eyes. Globox and Rayman were talking light-heartedly about events that were a lot better than the one they were in right now. The two ex-Commanders were out of sight; hunting for brush animals and setting a patrol around the camp. Freya's foot had healed almost completely from its injury thanks to the Elixir of Life. Bane, Illusion, Jano, and Rosemary all wore solemn masks and Ivy couldn't tell exactly what they were thinking.
Rosemary's words still echoed in Ivy's head like a bad headache. She still poked at the fire, sending sparks into the air to take her thoughts off her mother's phonetic message. She didn't notice her breakfast until Rayman shoved it right under her nose. "Ivy, you haven't even looked at your food! A zombie-tamer has to eat also!" Rayman said playfully as he handed her some bread, meat, and dried fruit on a plate. (Hmmm....Must be a morning person...) Ivy snatched the tray away from the limbless creature with a sense of indifference, and started to tear at her meal with her head still full of clouded thoughts. Damnit, why couldn't she live a normal life like all the children in the towns, cities, and suburbs that Ivy kept hearing about?
Why did I have to be so different? The Tamer's Light is only a weapon used to kill demons, not something that will help me live my life! By now, her food had been swallowed without Ivy actually tasting it. Giving her meaningless quest for answers up, Ivy put on her battle gear and went to sit on a heavy branch, waiting for the first sign of war. "Is this whole ordeal of Morphina getting to you?" Ivy turned her head and saw Rayman sitting next to her, looking out into the heavy mist of the swamplands. Ivy nodded. "You've read my mind..." She droned mindlessly as she let her eyesight wander. She felt a solid hand pat her left shoulder. "I know that feeling. I've been in so many cold, long battles that I've long since grown cold in the face of danger. In the times of Mister Dark I was young and inexperienced, but when I faced off against Andre and the black lums I couldn't even flinch when I felt the metallic touch of a hoodlum's gun on my face."
"I wish I could be brave like you. If I were like you, then I would've prevented Donnia, Rex, and Razoff from being handed to Morphina." Rayman raised an eyebrow. "How? Even I didn't notice until it was too late. Even heroes make mistakes sometimes, but believe me when I say that you're hero material." Ivy glared at Rayman's shimmering blue eyes, then tossed a pebble into a sinkhole. "Some hero. I'm trapped in a prison of mud without any idea what to do next! You've heard what Morphina said to me. She said that I wasn't worth her time! I'm going to fail, and what's going to happen then? My family, my friends, and the Cave of Bad Dreams are all going to be torched by demon venom. Rayman wanted to offer more emotional support, but he felt that he already did his part just by being at her side.
"Ivy, I-" Whoosh! A furry shape ran through the underbrush and halted just in front of the smoldering campfire. It was Freya, panting and wet from perspiration. She took a few seconds to pick the leaves out of her hair and catch her breath before she informed them of the news. "You'll never believe this, but the Marshes of Awakening are knee-deep in those clawed demons the Concealment of Evil creates!" Everyone passed a glance to his or her neighbor, and everyone saw the same mask of worry on the other's face. Rayman and Ivy bit their lips in unison. "WHAT!?! You mean she used the Concealment on EVERYONE!?!" Davis shouted. Freya nodded in agreement. "That's what Bad-Rayman said. He's still out there, checking their progress. It won't be long before we're cut off from any escape."
"In other words..." Rayman started but couldn't find the right words to finish. Freya finished for him.
"Morphina has us surrounded."
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"Oh...my...God..."
Freya had to pull Ivy down into the bushes to keep her from being seen. Not that the creatures would've noticed anyways. Where the Marshes of Awakening met with a steep decline into a bayou-filled basin, Morphina's army lay. Ivy knew where they were; the Valley of Mud, an unimportant place that was surrounded by higher swampland in every direction like a bowl. Trees and brush had been torn away in the valley, creating a bare sloping battlefield of mud, mist, and rock. The army was no longer filled with bumbling Commanders, but rather consisted of creatures that came from the depths of nightmares that have plagued mankind. Rayman took the risk of revealing himself by rising to his feet and peering downwards to see if he could pick out Rex, Razoff, or the slimy mistress Morphina. He sighed in defeat when all he could see was a mass of twisted scales, claws, teeth, and wings. "And that's not all of them. The monster posted scouting parties in every direction!" Freya stated.
"I guess the only choice is to go down there and find Morphina ourselves!" Davis suggested. Bane shook his head. He was crouched behind some heavily grown trees, shielding his heavy body from being spotted. "That wouldn't work, even if it worked six years ago. Commanders are stupid and have thoughts of their own. Demons made from the Concealment of Evil are made to destroy. If we go down there, then we might as well take a tombstone with us!" Ivy grumbled a curse under her breath, and patted the Tamer's Sword as if its touch alone would give her the answer. "Hisss...De Dragon be right, ye know. If we be fightin' Morphina, den we need a force as big as hers." Illusion said as he sat perched on Bane's back. There was a moment of collected silence, until...
"The fairies!" Rayman shouted. Everyone turned to him, mixed expressions etched on their faces. "The fairies? Those pixies couldn't even defend themselves against Razorbeard and Mister Dark! What makes you think that they can defeat Morphina?" Bad-Rayman inquired with an edge to his voice. Rayman quickly shot down his rude remark. "The fairies can't defeat Morphina, but they could at least hinder the army. I could signal Ly, and she can build an entire army of fairies for us to use! An army with that much magic could at least give us a chance to defeat Morphina without any interference." The group murmured in agreement. Ivy smiled, but she hid it behind her empty palm. Rayman was a way better leader than she was, and she could see it perfectly.
"Even so, how can you call them here this fast? Sooner or later Morphina is going to send her army in this direction to destroy the Cave of Bad Dreams. By the time reinforcements get here, it'll probably be too late." Freya interjected. Rayman grinned and held his hands up until his fingertips touched the sides of his head. "Watch and keep quiet." Rayman stated, and then closed his eyes. Everyone else watched him with looks of confusion and doubt clouding their faces. Ivy knew what he was doing; Rayman was using his thoughts to communicate. But to whom, she wondered. A long moment of still silence formed, until it was shattered by a very familiar voice
"Hey Ra-a-ayman!" A small green form on fast beating wings materialized out of the gloom and skidded to a stop near Rayman's right side. The little fairy had an amusing colorful outfit of yellows and purples that really made him stand out of the drab environment. Anyone would tell that the small green fairy was none other than Murphy, one of Rayman's most trusted friends. He hovered just inches from Rayman's face, an everlasting huge grin drawn on his face. "So Rayman, why did ya call me here? Need any help, bud?" Rayman took the moment to survey his friends' expressions. He gave them an 'everything's okay' hand signal before continuing. "Actually, yes I do. Listen well, Murphy. I need an army of your most powerful fairies. I need them here as fast as possible, without any delays. Can you do that for me, pal?" Murphy's face expression suddenly changed to a face of concern
"Why would ya need a thing like that? Has Andre returned?" Without speaking, Rayman pointed to the valley behind Murphy. When the green fairy turned around and saw the large army of demonic creatures, he turned back to Rayman with a mask of pure terror. "You're going against Morphina?" Rayman nodded solemnly. "Oh my God, Rayman! Where do ya get these crazy ideas? That venom-spitting creature eats da likes of us for lunch! Ya must be joking if you want the Fairy Council to send their greatest fairies against her. We're pacifists, and we don't fight wars. Zombie-tamers fight Morphina, not fairies. Okay?" Ivy and Davis groaned hopelessly in unison. Another plan just went down the drain in one fell swoop.
Fortunately for them, some people didn't give up that easily. In one solid movement of his right hand, Bad-Rayman snatched Murphy out of the air and convinced him in the best way he could think of. "Listen, you little toad with wings! For the last three days, we have been fighting against Morphina without any success. Look at us; we have three zombie-tamers in our disposal and we still don't have any luck coming our way! I'm not going to stand around and listen to a small fairy with a mouth bigger than his brain tell us that some powerful fairies are not willing to fight!"
Murphy struggled in the ex-Commander's grip. "Hey, bud! Ease up on the grip!" Bad-Rayman complied. The winged imp took a few seconds to stretch out his wings before he shot back at the counterpart. "We've fought in wars before, but always we weren't needed. What about the war with Razorbeard, Mister Dark, and Andre? Of course, you would know that war seeing as you were born from it! They took more time than three days, yes, but they were all ended with the victory of only one person. If Rayman can do it, then so can a human with magic..."
"This is different! Razorbeard and Mister Dark all had brainless creatures that destroyed property, but only enslaved their enemies. These creatures don't want prisoners; they want fresh meat in their mouths! If we go down there in a forceful assault, we'll be torn apart by millions of ripping claws. If we were to have an army to back us up, then we will have a better chance of meeting up with Morphina in one piece. What do you say to that, greenbottle?" Murphy sighed in defeat. "Fine. Fiiine! I'll send for the Fairy Council, but it'll take some time for an accurate decision. For now, go around the perimeter and see if ya can find Morphina. Been nice yelling with ya, Rayman's shadow!"
Murphy dashed off without any remaining trace of his presence. Ivy said the first thought on her mind. "Are all your friends like that?" Rayman nodded. "They may be strange, but they sure come in handy! Let's go find that demon!"
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The team split up into two groups. With Ivy as the leader, two zombie- tamers, Illusion and Rayman set out to the left in search of Morphina. The other team had a force just as formidable; Bane, Donnia, Davis, and the two ex-Commanders lead off in the other direction with Donnia as the leader, each one marching in high hopes of finding Morphina.
However, despite what Ivy had said to her, Donnia was not looking for Morphina. Instead, she kept her eye out for her best friend Rex. She kept her sword held in front of her as if to ward off an unseen enemy. Behind her marched the massive form of Bane, his body bent so low to the ground that his stomach brushed against the ground. Davis and the two retired cutthroats walked behind Bane's hulking form. Donnia kept her eyes open as she searched the skies up above the battlefield they were circling. She knew very well that Morphina changed Rex into a flying creature, thanks to the information gathered during her short stay in the army, and he would most likely be hovering above the heads of his peers.
Unfortunately, she didn't know that he was watching her as well. He smirked venomously from his perch in a dead swamp tree. To his side, his demonic companion waited with a loaded gun in his hands. "Poor Nia. She actually thinks she has the drop on us." He motioned to Razoff. "Give them something that will make them think otherwise..." The unseen creature smiled in grim satisfaction as he triggered his gun. He aimed at a spot where he couldn't miss...
Bang! Bane screeched in pain, his sense of concealment forgotten as he fell into a wounded stance. Donnia nearly choked on a sob when she saw the oozing cut form above Bane's left shoulder. Before anyone could react, two shapes leaped from the trees and landed in the space in front of them. Rex stood impressively in front of his prey, his condor wings spread wide to make himself more intimidating. At his side stood Razoff, who was now a goblin-like creature with glowing red eyes, mottled green coloration, and claws about as flexible as human hands. Rex watched everyone's shocked expressions and grinned wider, showing his impressive canines.
"It seems that you're not the only ones keeping a patrol around here. If you had any idea of proper tracking, then we would've been spotted a few hours ago. I know exactly what you're planning, and I can very well tell Morphina about the little sentry waltzing around the perimeter of this deathtrap. But, that would take the fun right out of this opportunity." Donnia stepped forward momentarily, her sword held out in front of her. "What do you mean deathtrap?" Rex chuckled, then threw a rock over where the land slanted downwards into the basin. It wasn't very far away; only about three feet away from Donnia. Freya took the chance to peer over the side. The rock didn't even slow as it descended down the slope, and only then did she realize that the slant was steep enough to be considered vertical. When the rock hit the ground with a dull thump, a group of snarling demons rushed to where the sound was with open jaws. Freya swallowed.
"You see? One wrong step and you'll fall right in Morphina's open arms. I'd better watch my step if I were you." Freya shot Rex a venomous glance as she turned away from the ledge. "So, what are you going to do with us, Mr. Big Shot? I'm sure you expect us to listen to you gloat about your career in Morphina's army. Maybe you'd like to relate to how powerful you and Razoff are." Freya sneered. She also had her sword out and ready to use, and only then did she notice that her sword started to glow unnaturally with a dull hidden light of its own as she felt her battle spirit take form. She also noticed that by now, her best friend had also joined Donnia's side. Rex watched the three slayers with their extended blade tips with great amusement. "I don't expect you to listen..." Rex suddenly began to hover about two inches from the ground. Red flames started to lick his fingertips as he prepared to use dangerous battle magic.
"I expect you to die!" Rex sent a fury of fire towards the two swordsmen. Freya held her sword up to block, and was amazed to see the flames ricochet off the shimmering blade. The demon that was once Rex had to twist in mid- air to dodge his own magic. Donnia turned to Freya with eyes as wide as saucers. "Is that an elemental sword?" She asked as Freya stared at the blade glowing red-hot. The white wolf chimera shrugged.
"Might as well be. We need all the help we can get!" With those words, Freya, Bad-Rayman, and Donnia rushed to battle Rex. The vampire/demon dodged their sword swipes almost flawlessly, but he had to back away a considerable amount away from his original spot. The heroes' plan went perfectly; they were isolating Rex away from his partner to separate their powers. As they did so, that left the path open between the demonic hunter Razoff and his prey; Bane the last of his kind. In one split second, Bane found himself locked in a battle that made experience major deja vu.
Only this time it was Bane that was injured, not Razoff, and now the demon didn't have the nerve or the bloodlust to fight as brutally as he once intended to do. Instead, he was doing a considerable amount of false swiping and biting to make sure he didn't hurt his friend. Bane stroke fruitlessly, his left side sticky with his own darkened blood. When he did hit Razoff, Bane made sure he didn't inject any poison into him, not knowing what would happen if the Concealment of Evil's puppet was injected with demon venom. The presence of Davis nearby with a weapon ready comforted the demon, but not as much as Ivy's presence would of. Why didn't Davis get a Tamer's Sword as well, Bane asked himself.
"I wonder what piece of you I will hang above my fireplace, just above your friends? Would a claw do? Of would you prefer for your skull to hang?" Razoff hissed, as he stood motionless in front of Bane's nose. Bane was bent down in a crouched position like a cowering dog before its master. By now, the creature had learned that Bane wasn't in the fighting spirit and was using it to his advantage. "You don't know what you're saying. Please snap out of it! The Concealment of Evil can't take away every trace of free will!" Bane cried. Davis winced as he stood a good distance away from the two battling demons with a slingshot aimed at Razoff's head. He didn't dare to attack the creature openly, for he feared that Bane would lash out at him if he raised a dagger against Razoff. A solid rock would probably blind one of his eyes at best, but he couldn't bear to cause the hunter to shed blood. Why didn't I ask Ivy for the Tamer's sword and a flask of Elixir in the first place if I was fighting against these goons, Davis wondered.
"Quit toying around, Bane. It's sad to see a demon as powerful as you to break down and cry just before he bites the dust. I'd expect you to have a little more dignity..." Suddenly, an idea sprang up in Bane's mind. He smiled in glee as he put into play an answer to his problem. "I do happen to have dignity, unlike some people I know!" Davis and Razoff both glared at Bane in perfect unison, each one with their own mix of emotions. Just what is he doing? Davis' mind was swarming with thoughts. Bane sneered as he rose up to fair height. "You know whom I'm talking to. You pathetic little puppet; you're nothing more than a child's toy that Morphina will soon go tired of and discard in a trash heap. Some hunter you are if you can't even catch a weak little sea demon like me without the help of a Mistress and her pet cloaking device. You're a fraud!"
"Argh! I'm not a fraud! I've tangled with more ferocious beasts than you!" Razoff hissed as he reached for his gun. Davis gasped in shock when he saw that the reddish glow in the half-demon's eye started to fade into Razoff's normal eye color. The Concealment of Evil was losing its grip on Razoff's will, but how?
He took a tentative step closer, until he saw the barrel of a long shotgun being pointed at his chest. "Come any closer and I'll mount you on my wall, little thief!" Thief? He called me that when we first met! Davis jumped inwardly for joy when he heard the edge of Razoff's voice replace the sinister hiss of the Concealment. Did Jano forget to mention this method of getting rid of the Concealment's hold?
"Go ahead, little puppet; I'll be standing right here. I'm sure even a hot shot like you can hit a stationary demon from this far away!" Bane snarled. He placed a claw to his mouth and yawned, the sign of indifference and boredom, as he stood motionless just a few yards away from the enraged gunman. He didn't even care that the barrel of a gun was being aimed straight at his neck. Razoff was close to pulling the trigger, when he stopped himself.
"What the hell am I doing? I can't shoot Bane! He promised me back...my mansion...Ack!" Razoff started quivering violently. He clutched at his head and screeched painfully as something emerged from his back like another shadow. Davis saw what it was; the Concealment of Evil's byproduct. With one quick leap of his tense body, he slashed at the venomous cloud with a glowing dagger. It severed the shadowy mass, but it only injured it as it made a beeline to its owner. It slipped into the Valley of Mud like a living fog and disappeared out of sight.
"Ugh...My head..." Count Razoff sighed. He collapsed in a tired heap on the ground. When the Concealment of Evil left him, it also took away his demonic look, changing him into just a hunter with torn clothing. Davis shot a look at Razoff then at Bane. "How did you do that?" Davis asked. Bane picked up Razoff carefully in his right claw, careful not to scrap him against his lethal claws. As he caressed his friend carefully, Bane explained.
"Jano told me how to, but he also told me that you'd probably figure out on your own. Anyways, the Concealment of Evil can enslave the free wills of its captives, but it's spellbinding is not a strong as that of Morphina's and the zombie-tamers. I drove the Concealment out by returning Razoff's free will by wearing on his pride as a hunter. That's what caused the Concealment to fail, and Razoff to be free once again."
Then, Bane winked to Davis. "I also coated the back of my hands with Elixir of Life. That was a good act I pulled with Razoff. 'You don't know what you're saying. Please snap out of it!'" The demon started to laugh, but Davis thought that his pleading earlier was real. Bane then produced a flask of Elixir of Life from underneath one of the cuffs that still hung around his wrists. Davis held the flask as if it were treasure. "You don't need the Elixir of Life to unpossess someone. It just saves time, like two hours of talking and reasoning. But remember, don't waste a drop!" At this time, the dragonish demon lowered his head so that his eyes were level with Davis.
Davis met Bane's hardened silvery eyes. The young boy exhaled deeply. "I have to help Donnia and the rest of the gang! They may need my help!" Davis ran off to where the demon/vampire Rex had led his friends. As he disappeared into the mist, Bane ran off in the opposite direction, but not without a parting goodbye.
"May strength follow you, zombie-tamer!"
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When Davis reached the rest of the group, he feared himself already too late.
The scene was gruesome in on itself. Rex the demon/vampire creature flapped above three unmoving creatures. Freya was leaning against a tree trunk, clutching a shoulder wound. The purple runes around her ears sparkled as she tried to heal herself as fast as possible. Bad-Rayman also looked horrible, for he looked like someone had dragged him through five miles of mud-coated thorns. He was using all of his energy just to keep himself from fainting. Donnia was the worst of them all. The blood flowing from a wound in her scalp coated her hair. She lay unmoving just below Rex with her beautiful sword buried tip-first in the ground near her foot. Davis swallowed the rest of his fear and ran up to the group.
"Freya! Donnia! Bad-Rayman! I know how to cure Rex! All you have to do is to free his soul from the Conceal-ahhhh!" Davis had to jump out of the way as Rex sent a fireball hurdling his way. Too late; the group had already heard his message. By now, Freya was fully healed and was trying to go to Donnia's side without getting burnt to a crisp by Rex. Bad-Rayman shot Davis a dirty look. "Is that all? Why don't we make a side order of fries while we're at it!" Bad-Rayman added sarcastically. He fell to his knees, panting and convulsing horribly.
"Insolent youth! Do you really believe that even that will help you against me? Razoff didn't have half the powers that I possess!" Rex shouted. A wave of fire rose to his command, surrounding Donnia and her weapon. Freya leapt into the Ring of Fire by slashing the magic with her elemental sword. By doing so, she deflected enough magic to create a doorway large enough through the fire that she could weave through with Donnia and her sword in tow.
"I like your idea, Davis. But, it might take Donnia's help to perform it!" Freya then started to work her magic on Donnia. It seemed to work, because Donnia's scalp was mended like a broken cloth under a steady needle and she started to twitch. "What do you mean, Freya?" Davis asked the wolf. Freya lifted her head towards the boy and grinned. "Because, you can't be spending a lot of time with just one person and not develop compassion for them. You learn to stick by them through thick and thin, and you then learn that you would give up your life to make sure they're safe. I see that kind of bondage in Donnia's eyes, and in Rex's. That will be our weapon..."
At this point, Davis wondered why he saw no sign of Rex returning fire, until he saw a flare out of the corner of his eye. While Freya was preoccupied with Donnia and Davis, Bad-Rayman had managed to summon enough strength to snatch Freya's elemental sword and use it like a racket to send the fireballs away from the others. Rex, finding this newfound strength amusing, played a little game of magic ping-pong. Rex would send a large ball-shaped fireball in Freya's direction, and would watch with great interest as Bad-Rayman expended every last shred of energy he possessed to smack away the fireball.
Donnia then sat up with a start when she heard the sound of Rex's laughter in the background. "Drac!" She stood up and grabbed her sword, which was plainer and less magical than Freya's, but it was more than enough for her use. Before she ran to meet her adversary, Davis told her what she needed to do, but it was vague without a quick explanation of the fight between Bane and Razoff earlier. When he was through, Donnia nodded and instead of running to meet Rex she stood by Davis and waited for her opening that Davis told her about. At the same time, Freya rose and dashed off to help her friend.
"Save your strength, Bad-Rayman. You'll need it to see the fireworks show I've put together just for you." Rex stated clearly above the Rayman copy's head. He was down on his knees, covered in new burns and mud. He gave Rex a venomous glare. "Don't...you...ever...shut..." He passed out before he could finish his sentence. Freya's family heirloom clattered to the ground next to him. Rex landed on the ground next to Bad-Rayman, and picked up the beautiful sword. He studied it for a moment, then drove it towards the back of the fallen victim's head.
The blade hit empty ground. He cursed when he saw Freya with Bad-Rayman curled in her arms. "Remember when we met on the opposite sides of the battlefield two years ago? The one where I had the element of speed? We never wanted to hurt you, but by raising your sword against my best friend, you've destroyed my last shred of patience for you!" At the word you, Freya was upon him. Rex was caught totally off-guard, and was knocked so hard onto his back that he could hear his beautiful wings break under the pressure. Freya gave him a hardened smile, then pointed her sword tip at Rex's throat. "It doesn't matter how invincible you are if you're missing your head. Whatever you do, don't move."
Freya turned to Davis. "Davis! Donnia! Now's your chance!" From where they were standing, Davis passed her a nod and she walked towards the pinned demon. She opened the bottle of Elixir and poured enough liquid to coat her fingers. She rubbed them across her lips...
Freya got off in an instant to help Bad-Rayman. Donnia smoothed her lips one final time with her fingers then kissed Rex from where he was sitting. It was a romantic-filled non-obscene kind of kiss, the kind that would make your heart melt if you were there to watch it. As if on an instant, Rex began to shrink and to change back into the well-built human/vampire that he was before Morphina got to him. The Concealment's shroud melted away from his body and disappeared into the atmosphere.
Rex Skyler and Donnia Starhunter embraced. "I'm so sorry, Nia. I'd rather die at the claws of Morphina then hurt you and the rest of my friends..." Freya watched with teary eyes while Bad-Rayman washed his wounds with some of the Elixir's liquids. When the cuts mended themselves, the Rayman counterpart gave his two cents. "Wait a minute, Romeo and Juliet! Isn't there someone we should be helping right at this time?"
The two slayers broke apart at once at this remark. Everyone gathered his or her fallen weapons in a rush.
"After all, Ivy's going to need all the help she can get!"
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"When is the army going to get here, Rayman?"
Ten minutes before Rex's freedom from the Concealment of Evil, Ivy and the people in her party were ducked down low in the underbrush, scanning the enemy lines for a human in a long purple cloak or a scorpion/serpent beast with tan scales. Rayman shrugged hopelessly, despite the fact that he didn't have shoulders, as he watched the demons shift uncomfortably in anxiety for fresh blood. "They'll be coming as soon as Murphy convinces them. Lucky for us, he's very persuasive for his size." I hope you're right, Ivy thought. She knew Rosemary and Rayman were there beside her, but Illusion had disappeared over thirty minutes ago. She was afraid he had fallen into the valley.
"There she is!" Rosemary exclaimed. She pointed a finger towards an opening in the army. Sure enough, Morphina had just emerged from the cloak of demonic soldiers with the Concealment of Evil bobbing near her head like a dark night wisp. Ivy clutched her sword so tightly it bit into her palm. "We have to go down there somehow..." Ivy whispered. Rayman stopped her before she could move another inch towards the basin. "We called the fairies so that we could create a way to get to Morphina without being ripped to shreds. Just be patient. They're closer than you think..."
As if on cue, a dim flash of light materialized in front of the concealed group. When the light faded, Ly the fairy stood in its place. Ivy smiled warmly at the fairy, being polite even in the most dangerous of times. "Rayman, our army has come to your aide. We got the help from almost every Teensie and Sprite in the entire world. We even got help with the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams!" Ivy jumped at the mention of Jano. "You mean Jano is going to fight too? That's exactly what Morphina wants him to do!" Ivy exclaimed. Ly was stunned at the teenager's sudden outburst, but only for a few seconds. "No, but he did give me this..."
Ly held out her right hand, and suddenly the skull staff that Jano usually carried appeared with the help of magic. Everyone looked to his or her partners, as if wondering what the disturbing talisman would do. Ly read their minds. "Jano has decided that if Morphina can't be destroyed, she can be imprisoned. His staff now contains enough magic to seal Morphina within a cell that will be enough to contain her. However, I wouldn't highly depend on it. Jano had to thumb through some dusty novels to get the right spell." She tossed the staff to Rayman, who was the only one present that wasn't gripping a deadly weapon in his hands. "Use it well. I'll signal the fairies to launch the attack."
With another flash of silver light, Ly was gone. As instantly as she had disappeared, a large group of fairies appeared in the valley below them. A rainbow of light sparkled beneath them as fairies struck demons with magic. The demons scrambled to hit their attackers, only to find that the new fighters had the ability to dodge almost every attack the monsters threw at them. The demons fell like flies under the magic, but not after taking a few fairies with them. After about five minutes of one-sided fairy battling, the armies of demons parted like the Red Seas to Mose's command, and every hero standing above the valley could pick out Morphina amid the gloom. She smiled and beckoned them to come. "Well, what do you know? She was planning for this to happen!" Rayman hissed. The two zombie-tamers, Senior and Junior, nodded to each other in agreement.
Without any further thoughts, the three heroes jumped down into the basin- turned-battlefield. The three of them slid down the muddy slope with ease, and landed with barely a scratch on them, although their entire backside was covered in mud. Uneasily, the three-trained heroes started down the path Morphina had made. The demons went on fighting the fairies without even passing a glance at them. A few minutes later, they were staring face- to-face with Morphina. The air was filled with nothing but the sounds of fairy magic behind them, but the intensity of the situation clouded the sounds away from them. Morphina signaled the demons nearest to her to back away, and they did so. Right after they backed away, some fairy's thunder magic finished them. Morphina paid no heed.
"Well, so this is where our last stand will be, Ivy." Morphina broke the eerie silence between her and her enemies. Her voice had a tinge of sadness. "You know, ever since I've goaded you to claim your birthright those six months ago, I've been testing your worth. To tell you the truth Darling, those events six months ago were only a test to see if I was fighting the right zombie-tamer. Davis fell easily under my grip, Rosemary was a joke, Jano couldn't leave his post, but you found the luck to summon up the 'hero of the world'. When we last fought, I went a little easy on you. I pretended that you have killed me, giving me an advantage in this whole scheme of things. However, this time I'll be pulling all stops and won't hold anything back!"
Needless to say, Ivy was really shocked at this kind of news. "If you could easily kill me, then why did you let me live long enough to let me claim the Tamer's Sword?" Morphina instantly replied. As she did so, she shifted out of her human disguise and became the serpent/scorpion monster that she was born as. Tan scales gleamed with poison in the sunlight as Morphina told Ivy her reasons. "Because I wanted to prove the world that Polokus' weapon against me was futile. Use your head, female! If I can break out of the strongest dungeon in the world, stay unknown for countless generations, finish off everybody with the power to stop me in one fell swoop, and have the power to have Polokus himself shaking, then I could seize this world without so much as an objection against me!"
"That's where you're wrong!" Rosemary rose in front of the scorpion creature. Behind Morphina, Rosemary could pick out Davis, Donnia, Rex, and the two ex-Commanders amid the gloom. She kept her face passive to make sure not to give them away. "Ivy is stronger than you think! If she could make friends with a demon you freed, along with both Rayman and his shadow, then she has more power than you could uphold. You're nothing more than a coward that hides behind her own army. If you want a challenge, then face it without laying a bunch of hoops for her to go through!"
"ENOUGH!!!" Morphina spat out a cloud of strong-smelling acid from her mouth. Rosemary didn't even move away from the acid, and before she was hit she wore a mask of grim satisfaction. Everyone in the group, along with the rejoined group led by Donnia, gasped as they watched Rosemary be engulfed in a green blaze. When the acid faded, nothing more than a pile of ash lay. Ivy watched the scene with trembling legs and wet eyes. Rayman patted her shoulder reassuringly, but he couldn't find anything to say. However, Ivy wasn't trembling because she was sad and afraid. Instead, she was trembling from a new rage, a new hatred for the slimy demon.
Morphina disregarded the ash with an animal-like snort. "I've kept her alive for too long. Now Ivy, let me show how I really get rid of annoying vermin, without the use of large pathetic armies or traitorous scum from the seas!" The Concealment of Evil rushed towards her, and caressed her serpentine neck like a pulsating necklace. Then, the shroud surrounded Morphina. Everyone in the basin, including the fairies and the demons, watched the scene with wide eyes.
"She's nuts!" Rayman shouted, but no one else paid attention to his outburst. The shroud-covered beast grew taller and wider. The two groups, one in front of Morphina and one behind, had to step away a great deal in order to keep from being smashed. She grew until she seemed to be size of a redwood. The Concealment faded, and revealed that Morphina had become something ten times as fierce as her old self had. Her main body features didn't change much, only that she now stood higher, her scales jutted out more, and a solid black marking that looked like a rune more than anything formed on her chest. She gave a mighty roar that shook the very ground.
"Don't you see, Ivy? I'm the most powerful creature on the face of the Earth!" Morphina hissed, her voice deeper and warped. She clicked her pincer-like claws together in satisfaction.
"This ends now!"
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Morphina lashed out with one of her pincer-like claws. Ivy jumped away just in time. The Tamer's Light flowed through the sword, just like last time. She knew what she had to do; all she had to do was slash Morphina with the Tamer's Light, and she was done for. Right? With a battle cry, Ivy stabbed Morphina's left foot. Clang! The blade bounced off like it just hit solid steel.
"Ivy! Look out!" Davis called as he rushed across the mud to his sister. He knocked the astonished Ivy out of the way with a well-placed body slam. Ivy tumbled away from the tip of Morphina's tail, but Davis wasn't so lucky. He was tossed aside like dirty garbage, a slash mark running from his waist to his shoulder. Ivy stared at the scene in terror, and was about to see if he was all right when she felt a small earthquake behind her. Before she could move another muscle, Bane picked her up like a baby cat and placed her on his back. He ran out of range of Morphina's attacks all the way until he was inches away from the basin's wall.
"Ivy, we have to attack the heart of the Concealment! It's the only way to finish off Morphina for good!" Bane shouted to her. Ivy shook her head with eyes filling up with tears. "I can't, Bane! It's impossible for me to do it. I'm just a worthless little nobody that believed that Morphina was stoppable!" Ivy wailed. A gentle slap of Bane's tail stopped her from shedding anymore tears. Without a word, Bane motioned his head to the symbol on Morphina's chest. "You have to attack the heart! Believe in yourself, Ivy! Crying will just hold you down. Listen well, I'm going to charge at full speed, and I'm going to launch you at Morphina's chest. Try to pierce her heart that way!"
Ivy couldn't protest, as Bane was already running before she could think of a comeback. He charged without stopping, even as he stepped on the many charred remains of demons. Ivy slid down his neck as he moved so that she could sit on his large serpentine head. When they reached Morphina again, three things happened at once.
First, Morphina hit Bane with a sweeping motion of her twisted tail. At the same time, Bane launched Ivy into the air with a solid motion with his head. Ivy felt herself sailing through the air, and she realized that Morphina was too tall for her to attack her heart from this height. Then, Ivy began to drop. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for a sudden impact.
Whoosh! Ivy was picked up by the waist in mid-air. Before she could ask, she heard a comforting voice joke to her. "Rule number one in flying: Have the right equipment necessary for flight! Good to see you, Ivy!" Lo and behold, Rayman had pulled her out of the sky and was now flying upwards at a steady rate. His voice was muffled because he had Jano's skull staff wedged between his teeth. What had happened was that Ly had once again granted Rayman the power of flight, something that Rayman missed dearly since the battle with one of the Guardians of the four Masks of Polokus. With a steady motion of his arms, Rayman tossed her to the giant rune symbol tattooed on Morphina's chest.
The next moments felt like an eternity for Ivy. She was soaring through the air with her glowing sword pointed towards the monster's chest. Her sword slid easily into the skin like a hot knife through butter, and Ivy's sword was pinned to her. A horrifying roar unlike anything that anyone in the whole world could've heard filled the air, as Morphina twisted and struggled. The Tamer's Sword melted into the wound like an icicle under the hot sun, and Ivy fell. Rayman grabbed her out of the sky and pulled her away from the struggling demon.
In the air, Ivy could see the scene clearly. Morphina landed to the ground with a thud, and was already melting into the smaller size that she was normally. The Concealment of Evil was evaporating away from the wound in her chest like smoke, and Ivy knew that the evil shroud was destroyed and could never be used again for evil. Bane was limping on three legs to his friends, and one of his legs was twisted horribly. Freya and Donnia were both wiping their swords, and Ivy could plainly see that they have been helping with the demon killing as well. Not a single demon was left standing, well, except for Bane anyway. Rayman waited until they were near the group until he brought Ivy down to the earth. From there, she received patting and cheers by her friends, but she saw that not everybody was there to greet her.
"Davis!" Ivy ran to where she saw Davis fall. The small boy was still lying on the ground where Morphina had stung him. The wound was swollen and was glistening purple where the tip of Morphina's tail slashed Davis. His body was strangely limp, and there was no warmth left in the boy's body. Still, Ivy tried to wake him up. "Come on, Davis! We won the fight. Morphina's done for, and you're a hero!" She poured some drops of Elixir in Davis's mouth, but there was still no response. She started shaking him harder. Ivy's voice started to crack. "Davis! We don't have to train anymore! We can explore the world now. We can climb mountains, run across fields, and be normal children again! Just like you wanted!"
Tears started to flow from Ivy's eyes. The boy was still not moving. She splashed a whole cupful of Elixir of Life on Davis's wound, but it didn't do its magic like it did with Freya's foot. At this point, Ivy became hysterical. "Davis? Davis please! Don't leave me here! DAVIS!!!"
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It seemed that Jano's gift did not go unused. Before the sun had set into the West, Polokus himself came to the basin filled with mud and dead demons. Morphina wasn't dead, but rather close to becoming dead. Her mouth was oozing with blood and she could barely stand. Still, she lashed out at any fairy that came near. "Morphina," Polokus began, "you have attacked the innocent for long enough! Your original keeper has provided you a separate prison to contain you..."
The god brought down the staff, and the ground began to crack underneath Morphina. She didn't protest when a swirling portal emerged from the ground underneath her. It was a pitch-black portal that acted more like quicksand than anything else was. Morphina's body parts began to disappear into the portal. First her feet, then her legs, and then her body. When all that was left of her was her head, she glared at the god and shouted something in her own language, one that sounds like a complex arrangement of hisses and growls. When Ivy asked what she said, Ly said calmly, "Morphina's a bragger to the very end. She said 'No prison can contain me'."
Even so, it sent shivers down Ivy's spine.
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Two days later, a funeral was held near Ivy's house. Everyone showed up: Jano, Bane, Razoff, Donnia, Rex, Freya, Bad-Rayman, Rayman, and everybody else who was either a friend of Ivy or a fairy that fought against the demons. It was a simple funeral, with just a casket and Ly to say some prayers to the corpse. No tears were held back during the funeral, and it was both amazing and pitiful to see scary-looking creatures like Bane and Jano shed giant tears. Rayman even laid down Davis's dagger into his coffin, by the cadaver's side. It seemed like it took five hours instead of five minutes for Davis's coffin to lower into a freshly dug hole near the Cave of Bad Dreams' entrance.
"First my mother, then my brother. Why did they have to die at Morphina's hands, Jano?" Ivy asked a few minutes after the funeral was over. She felt a strongly built hand rest on her shoulder. "Such is the fate of zombie- tamers. Each generation of zombie-tamers is often singled out. Rosemary used to have two sisters, but one of them died when a sea demon attacked the boat she was sailing on, and the other one was torn apart by Morphina herself. However, it was not always so with some of them, like me, the only person of my kind to receive the power of the zombie-tamers. If the one- zombie-tamer-per-generation rule was evident, then I'd be dead."
Ivy sighed. "Still, it's going to be a lot quieter without Davis around..." Her teacher said nothing, but the comforting thought that he was still here brought a smile to her face.
Now that Morphina was gone, she had a lot of adventuring to catch up on....
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Epilogue (what happened after the defeat of Morphina)
Ivy Thorn stayed with her father in the swamplands, but she now took trips to different parts of the world every once in a while, along with some in unexplored sectors in the Cave of Bad Dreams. She plans to sail to her mother's homeland, which was across the sea. Who knows what adventures she'll find there..?
Rayman, Globox, and his group of friends are living the life of heroes. They're relaxing now, but in their hearts they know that someday they will be faced with another challenge that will call for their assistance. Of course, Rayman sometimes crosses paths with Ivy occasionally, in which they smile warmly and greet each other with brief talks and visits together.
Freya and Bad-Rayman returned to Bluddwiek, where they were made as big of heroes as Ivy there. Now, instead of working at the inn, they now own a lovely estate at the rich side of town for helping fight against Morphina. Freya now teaches a school that trains students to fight like a warrior, and Bad-Rayman's a general in the Bluddwiek army.
Razoff still lives his life like he used to, but this time he's more careful of taking care of unexpected guests. He also gave Bane the two sea demon skulls his father shot down, which Bane then buried in the sand of the Great Bay coast. It turned out that the two demons Razoff's father shot down were not Bane's friends, but rather his two sons Blade and Tide.
Illusion had disappeared early during the fight against Morphina. They found him after they searched the bodies of the demonic Commanders. He was wearing two grins; one on his face, and one across his throat. His staff was buried deep within the nearest demon, and the fairies suspect he committed suicide.
Bane returned to the sea, but this time he isn't filled with anger like he was before his imprisonment. Now, he directs ships away from reefs and concealed barriers. He also searches the seas for any hidden members of his old pack. However, if he does find anybody of his species, he'll have different intentions this time...
Donnia and Rex still travel the world, but now they like staying at Bluddwiek at the end of each journey. They have been given the status of heroes, but they rejected the riches the fairies gave him. To them, riches are nothing important to the likes of them. One of these days, they plan to settle down, start a family, and live happily ever after.
Jano is still Ivy's teacher, but he's now teaching Ivy the history of her ancestors before her. He suspects that she knows as much as her mother used to know, and that she can live on the information that he had already taught her. Now, they consider themselves more as friends then as student and teacher.
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As for Morphina...No one knows where she was locked up in or what she's thinking, but needless to say, she isn't too thrilled. Also, what prison can contain the very incarnation of evil and poison?
No one knows, but anyone can guess. For this story is one that has no end, and is one with endless possibilities for how it could end.
But for now, it's up to you to decide....
The End.
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What did you think of my story, now that it's finished? :) Remember to leave a review to tell me about my progress, talent, or my lack of it. As for Ryoko, Under the Moonlight has not been forgotten. Expect that soon either in the Rayman section, or the fantasy section in Fictionpress.net (I really can't decide which would work out better. Any ideas?)
I'm sorry it took so long again, but the end of school is always hectic. :)
Leave a review, okay?
Note: This is the final chapter! :) I'm sorry it took so long, but I had some Mastery Tests to study for.
Notes2: Ryoko, I made Donnia and Rex a couple. You wanted that, right?
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"...No matter how dark the path may seem, the Tamer's Light will guide you..."
Dawn's first light crept over the horizon of the swamplands, sending rays of warm, comforting sunlight across the lands. Everyone in the small camp had woken up, either willingly or by careful word of his or her elders. The fire still glowed, only it was now nothing more than smoldering embers. Ivy poked at the fire, watching the flames dance at the touch of her stick. Davis was still groggy as he tried futilely to rub the sleep from his eyes. Globox and Rayman were talking light-heartedly about events that were a lot better than the one they were in right now. The two ex-Commanders were out of sight; hunting for brush animals and setting a patrol around the camp. Freya's foot had healed almost completely from its injury thanks to the Elixir of Life. Bane, Illusion, Jano, and Rosemary all wore solemn masks and Ivy couldn't tell exactly what they were thinking.
Rosemary's words still echoed in Ivy's head like a bad headache. She still poked at the fire, sending sparks into the air to take her thoughts off her mother's phonetic message. She didn't notice her breakfast until Rayman shoved it right under her nose. "Ivy, you haven't even looked at your food! A zombie-tamer has to eat also!" Rayman said playfully as he handed her some bread, meat, and dried fruit on a plate. (Hmmm....Must be a morning person...) Ivy snatched the tray away from the limbless creature with a sense of indifference, and started to tear at her meal with her head still full of clouded thoughts. Damnit, why couldn't she live a normal life like all the children in the towns, cities, and suburbs that Ivy kept hearing about?
Why did I have to be so different? The Tamer's Light is only a weapon used to kill demons, not something that will help me live my life! By now, her food had been swallowed without Ivy actually tasting it. Giving her meaningless quest for answers up, Ivy put on her battle gear and went to sit on a heavy branch, waiting for the first sign of war. "Is this whole ordeal of Morphina getting to you?" Ivy turned her head and saw Rayman sitting next to her, looking out into the heavy mist of the swamplands. Ivy nodded. "You've read my mind..." She droned mindlessly as she let her eyesight wander. She felt a solid hand pat her left shoulder. "I know that feeling. I've been in so many cold, long battles that I've long since grown cold in the face of danger. In the times of Mister Dark I was young and inexperienced, but when I faced off against Andre and the black lums I couldn't even flinch when I felt the metallic touch of a hoodlum's gun on my face."
"I wish I could be brave like you. If I were like you, then I would've prevented Donnia, Rex, and Razoff from being handed to Morphina." Rayman raised an eyebrow. "How? Even I didn't notice until it was too late. Even heroes make mistakes sometimes, but believe me when I say that you're hero material." Ivy glared at Rayman's shimmering blue eyes, then tossed a pebble into a sinkhole. "Some hero. I'm trapped in a prison of mud without any idea what to do next! You've heard what Morphina said to me. She said that I wasn't worth her time! I'm going to fail, and what's going to happen then? My family, my friends, and the Cave of Bad Dreams are all going to be torched by demon venom. Rayman wanted to offer more emotional support, but he felt that he already did his part just by being at her side.
"Ivy, I-" Whoosh! A furry shape ran through the underbrush and halted just in front of the smoldering campfire. It was Freya, panting and wet from perspiration. She took a few seconds to pick the leaves out of her hair and catch her breath before she informed them of the news. "You'll never believe this, but the Marshes of Awakening are knee-deep in those clawed demons the Concealment of Evil creates!" Everyone passed a glance to his or her neighbor, and everyone saw the same mask of worry on the other's face. Rayman and Ivy bit their lips in unison. "WHAT!?! You mean she used the Concealment on EVERYONE!?!" Davis shouted. Freya nodded in agreement. "That's what Bad-Rayman said. He's still out there, checking their progress. It won't be long before we're cut off from any escape."
"In other words..." Rayman started but couldn't find the right words to finish. Freya finished for him.
"Morphina has us surrounded."
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"Oh...my...God..."
Freya had to pull Ivy down into the bushes to keep her from being seen. Not that the creatures would've noticed anyways. Where the Marshes of Awakening met with a steep decline into a bayou-filled basin, Morphina's army lay. Ivy knew where they were; the Valley of Mud, an unimportant place that was surrounded by higher swampland in every direction like a bowl. Trees and brush had been torn away in the valley, creating a bare sloping battlefield of mud, mist, and rock. The army was no longer filled with bumbling Commanders, but rather consisted of creatures that came from the depths of nightmares that have plagued mankind. Rayman took the risk of revealing himself by rising to his feet and peering downwards to see if he could pick out Rex, Razoff, or the slimy mistress Morphina. He sighed in defeat when all he could see was a mass of twisted scales, claws, teeth, and wings. "And that's not all of them. The monster posted scouting parties in every direction!" Freya stated.
"I guess the only choice is to go down there and find Morphina ourselves!" Davis suggested. Bane shook his head. He was crouched behind some heavily grown trees, shielding his heavy body from being spotted. "That wouldn't work, even if it worked six years ago. Commanders are stupid and have thoughts of their own. Demons made from the Concealment of Evil are made to destroy. If we go down there, then we might as well take a tombstone with us!" Ivy grumbled a curse under her breath, and patted the Tamer's Sword as if its touch alone would give her the answer. "Hisss...De Dragon be right, ye know. If we be fightin' Morphina, den we need a force as big as hers." Illusion said as he sat perched on Bane's back. There was a moment of collected silence, until...
"The fairies!" Rayman shouted. Everyone turned to him, mixed expressions etched on their faces. "The fairies? Those pixies couldn't even defend themselves against Razorbeard and Mister Dark! What makes you think that they can defeat Morphina?" Bad-Rayman inquired with an edge to his voice. Rayman quickly shot down his rude remark. "The fairies can't defeat Morphina, but they could at least hinder the army. I could signal Ly, and she can build an entire army of fairies for us to use! An army with that much magic could at least give us a chance to defeat Morphina without any interference." The group murmured in agreement. Ivy smiled, but she hid it behind her empty palm. Rayman was a way better leader than she was, and she could see it perfectly.
"Even so, how can you call them here this fast? Sooner or later Morphina is going to send her army in this direction to destroy the Cave of Bad Dreams. By the time reinforcements get here, it'll probably be too late." Freya interjected. Rayman grinned and held his hands up until his fingertips touched the sides of his head. "Watch and keep quiet." Rayman stated, and then closed his eyes. Everyone else watched him with looks of confusion and doubt clouding their faces. Ivy knew what he was doing; Rayman was using his thoughts to communicate. But to whom, she wondered. A long moment of still silence formed, until it was shattered by a very familiar voice
"Hey Ra-a-ayman!" A small green form on fast beating wings materialized out of the gloom and skidded to a stop near Rayman's right side. The little fairy had an amusing colorful outfit of yellows and purples that really made him stand out of the drab environment. Anyone would tell that the small green fairy was none other than Murphy, one of Rayman's most trusted friends. He hovered just inches from Rayman's face, an everlasting huge grin drawn on his face. "So Rayman, why did ya call me here? Need any help, bud?" Rayman took the moment to survey his friends' expressions. He gave them an 'everything's okay' hand signal before continuing. "Actually, yes I do. Listen well, Murphy. I need an army of your most powerful fairies. I need them here as fast as possible, without any delays. Can you do that for me, pal?" Murphy's face expression suddenly changed to a face of concern
"Why would ya need a thing like that? Has Andre returned?" Without speaking, Rayman pointed to the valley behind Murphy. When the green fairy turned around and saw the large army of demonic creatures, he turned back to Rayman with a mask of pure terror. "You're going against Morphina?" Rayman nodded solemnly. "Oh my God, Rayman! Where do ya get these crazy ideas? That venom-spitting creature eats da likes of us for lunch! Ya must be joking if you want the Fairy Council to send their greatest fairies against her. We're pacifists, and we don't fight wars. Zombie-tamers fight Morphina, not fairies. Okay?" Ivy and Davis groaned hopelessly in unison. Another plan just went down the drain in one fell swoop.
Fortunately for them, some people didn't give up that easily. In one solid movement of his right hand, Bad-Rayman snatched Murphy out of the air and convinced him in the best way he could think of. "Listen, you little toad with wings! For the last three days, we have been fighting against Morphina without any success. Look at us; we have three zombie-tamers in our disposal and we still don't have any luck coming our way! I'm not going to stand around and listen to a small fairy with a mouth bigger than his brain tell us that some powerful fairies are not willing to fight!"
Murphy struggled in the ex-Commander's grip. "Hey, bud! Ease up on the grip!" Bad-Rayman complied. The winged imp took a few seconds to stretch out his wings before he shot back at the counterpart. "We've fought in wars before, but always we weren't needed. What about the war with Razorbeard, Mister Dark, and Andre? Of course, you would know that war seeing as you were born from it! They took more time than three days, yes, but they were all ended with the victory of only one person. If Rayman can do it, then so can a human with magic..."
"This is different! Razorbeard and Mister Dark all had brainless creatures that destroyed property, but only enslaved their enemies. These creatures don't want prisoners; they want fresh meat in their mouths! If we go down there in a forceful assault, we'll be torn apart by millions of ripping claws. If we were to have an army to back us up, then we will have a better chance of meeting up with Morphina in one piece. What do you say to that, greenbottle?" Murphy sighed in defeat. "Fine. Fiiine! I'll send for the Fairy Council, but it'll take some time for an accurate decision. For now, go around the perimeter and see if ya can find Morphina. Been nice yelling with ya, Rayman's shadow!"
Murphy dashed off without any remaining trace of his presence. Ivy said the first thought on her mind. "Are all your friends like that?" Rayman nodded. "They may be strange, but they sure come in handy! Let's go find that demon!"
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The team split up into two groups. With Ivy as the leader, two zombie- tamers, Illusion and Rayman set out to the left in search of Morphina. The other team had a force just as formidable; Bane, Donnia, Davis, and the two ex-Commanders lead off in the other direction with Donnia as the leader, each one marching in high hopes of finding Morphina.
However, despite what Ivy had said to her, Donnia was not looking for Morphina. Instead, she kept her eye out for her best friend Rex. She kept her sword held in front of her as if to ward off an unseen enemy. Behind her marched the massive form of Bane, his body bent so low to the ground that his stomach brushed against the ground. Davis and the two retired cutthroats walked behind Bane's hulking form. Donnia kept her eyes open as she searched the skies up above the battlefield they were circling. She knew very well that Morphina changed Rex into a flying creature, thanks to the information gathered during her short stay in the army, and he would most likely be hovering above the heads of his peers.
Unfortunately, she didn't know that he was watching her as well. He smirked venomously from his perch in a dead swamp tree. To his side, his demonic companion waited with a loaded gun in his hands. "Poor Nia. She actually thinks she has the drop on us." He motioned to Razoff. "Give them something that will make them think otherwise..." The unseen creature smiled in grim satisfaction as he triggered his gun. He aimed at a spot where he couldn't miss...
Bang! Bane screeched in pain, his sense of concealment forgotten as he fell into a wounded stance. Donnia nearly choked on a sob when she saw the oozing cut form above Bane's left shoulder. Before anyone could react, two shapes leaped from the trees and landed in the space in front of them. Rex stood impressively in front of his prey, his condor wings spread wide to make himself more intimidating. At his side stood Razoff, who was now a goblin-like creature with glowing red eyes, mottled green coloration, and claws about as flexible as human hands. Rex watched everyone's shocked expressions and grinned wider, showing his impressive canines.
"It seems that you're not the only ones keeping a patrol around here. If you had any idea of proper tracking, then we would've been spotted a few hours ago. I know exactly what you're planning, and I can very well tell Morphina about the little sentry waltzing around the perimeter of this deathtrap. But, that would take the fun right out of this opportunity." Donnia stepped forward momentarily, her sword held out in front of her. "What do you mean deathtrap?" Rex chuckled, then threw a rock over where the land slanted downwards into the basin. It wasn't very far away; only about three feet away from Donnia. Freya took the chance to peer over the side. The rock didn't even slow as it descended down the slope, and only then did she realize that the slant was steep enough to be considered vertical. When the rock hit the ground with a dull thump, a group of snarling demons rushed to where the sound was with open jaws. Freya swallowed.
"You see? One wrong step and you'll fall right in Morphina's open arms. I'd better watch my step if I were you." Freya shot Rex a venomous glance as she turned away from the ledge. "So, what are you going to do with us, Mr. Big Shot? I'm sure you expect us to listen to you gloat about your career in Morphina's army. Maybe you'd like to relate to how powerful you and Razoff are." Freya sneered. She also had her sword out and ready to use, and only then did she notice that her sword started to glow unnaturally with a dull hidden light of its own as she felt her battle spirit take form. She also noticed that by now, her best friend had also joined Donnia's side. Rex watched the three slayers with their extended blade tips with great amusement. "I don't expect you to listen..." Rex suddenly began to hover about two inches from the ground. Red flames started to lick his fingertips as he prepared to use dangerous battle magic.
"I expect you to die!" Rex sent a fury of fire towards the two swordsmen. Freya held her sword up to block, and was amazed to see the flames ricochet off the shimmering blade. The demon that was once Rex had to twist in mid- air to dodge his own magic. Donnia turned to Freya with eyes as wide as saucers. "Is that an elemental sword?" She asked as Freya stared at the blade glowing red-hot. The white wolf chimera shrugged.
"Might as well be. We need all the help we can get!" With those words, Freya, Bad-Rayman, and Donnia rushed to battle Rex. The vampire/demon dodged their sword swipes almost flawlessly, but he had to back away a considerable amount away from his original spot. The heroes' plan went perfectly; they were isolating Rex away from his partner to separate their powers. As they did so, that left the path open between the demonic hunter Razoff and his prey; Bane the last of his kind. In one split second, Bane found himself locked in a battle that made experience major deja vu.
Only this time it was Bane that was injured, not Razoff, and now the demon didn't have the nerve or the bloodlust to fight as brutally as he once intended to do. Instead, he was doing a considerable amount of false swiping and biting to make sure he didn't hurt his friend. Bane stroke fruitlessly, his left side sticky with his own darkened blood. When he did hit Razoff, Bane made sure he didn't inject any poison into him, not knowing what would happen if the Concealment of Evil's puppet was injected with demon venom. The presence of Davis nearby with a weapon ready comforted the demon, but not as much as Ivy's presence would of. Why didn't Davis get a Tamer's Sword as well, Bane asked himself.
"I wonder what piece of you I will hang above my fireplace, just above your friends? Would a claw do? Of would you prefer for your skull to hang?" Razoff hissed, as he stood motionless in front of Bane's nose. Bane was bent down in a crouched position like a cowering dog before its master. By now, the creature had learned that Bane wasn't in the fighting spirit and was using it to his advantage. "You don't know what you're saying. Please snap out of it! The Concealment of Evil can't take away every trace of free will!" Bane cried. Davis winced as he stood a good distance away from the two battling demons with a slingshot aimed at Razoff's head. He didn't dare to attack the creature openly, for he feared that Bane would lash out at him if he raised a dagger against Razoff. A solid rock would probably blind one of his eyes at best, but he couldn't bear to cause the hunter to shed blood. Why didn't I ask Ivy for the Tamer's sword and a flask of Elixir in the first place if I was fighting against these goons, Davis wondered.
"Quit toying around, Bane. It's sad to see a demon as powerful as you to break down and cry just before he bites the dust. I'd expect you to have a little more dignity..." Suddenly, an idea sprang up in Bane's mind. He smiled in glee as he put into play an answer to his problem. "I do happen to have dignity, unlike some people I know!" Davis and Razoff both glared at Bane in perfect unison, each one with their own mix of emotions. Just what is he doing? Davis' mind was swarming with thoughts. Bane sneered as he rose up to fair height. "You know whom I'm talking to. You pathetic little puppet; you're nothing more than a child's toy that Morphina will soon go tired of and discard in a trash heap. Some hunter you are if you can't even catch a weak little sea demon like me without the help of a Mistress and her pet cloaking device. You're a fraud!"
"Argh! I'm not a fraud! I've tangled with more ferocious beasts than you!" Razoff hissed as he reached for his gun. Davis gasped in shock when he saw that the reddish glow in the half-demon's eye started to fade into Razoff's normal eye color. The Concealment of Evil was losing its grip on Razoff's will, but how?
He took a tentative step closer, until he saw the barrel of a long shotgun being pointed at his chest. "Come any closer and I'll mount you on my wall, little thief!" Thief? He called me that when we first met! Davis jumped inwardly for joy when he heard the edge of Razoff's voice replace the sinister hiss of the Concealment. Did Jano forget to mention this method of getting rid of the Concealment's hold?
"Go ahead, little puppet; I'll be standing right here. I'm sure even a hot shot like you can hit a stationary demon from this far away!" Bane snarled. He placed a claw to his mouth and yawned, the sign of indifference and boredom, as he stood motionless just a few yards away from the enraged gunman. He didn't even care that the barrel of a gun was being aimed straight at his neck. Razoff was close to pulling the trigger, when he stopped himself.
"What the hell am I doing? I can't shoot Bane! He promised me back...my mansion...Ack!" Razoff started quivering violently. He clutched at his head and screeched painfully as something emerged from his back like another shadow. Davis saw what it was; the Concealment of Evil's byproduct. With one quick leap of his tense body, he slashed at the venomous cloud with a glowing dagger. It severed the shadowy mass, but it only injured it as it made a beeline to its owner. It slipped into the Valley of Mud like a living fog and disappeared out of sight.
"Ugh...My head..." Count Razoff sighed. He collapsed in a tired heap on the ground. When the Concealment of Evil left him, it also took away his demonic look, changing him into just a hunter with torn clothing. Davis shot a look at Razoff then at Bane. "How did you do that?" Davis asked. Bane picked up Razoff carefully in his right claw, careful not to scrap him against his lethal claws. As he caressed his friend carefully, Bane explained.
"Jano told me how to, but he also told me that you'd probably figure out on your own. Anyways, the Concealment of Evil can enslave the free wills of its captives, but it's spellbinding is not a strong as that of Morphina's and the zombie-tamers. I drove the Concealment out by returning Razoff's free will by wearing on his pride as a hunter. That's what caused the Concealment to fail, and Razoff to be free once again."
Then, Bane winked to Davis. "I also coated the back of my hands with Elixir of Life. That was a good act I pulled with Razoff. 'You don't know what you're saying. Please snap out of it!'" The demon started to laugh, but Davis thought that his pleading earlier was real. Bane then produced a flask of Elixir of Life from underneath one of the cuffs that still hung around his wrists. Davis held the flask as if it were treasure. "You don't need the Elixir of Life to unpossess someone. It just saves time, like two hours of talking and reasoning. But remember, don't waste a drop!" At this time, the dragonish demon lowered his head so that his eyes were level with Davis.
Davis met Bane's hardened silvery eyes. The young boy exhaled deeply. "I have to help Donnia and the rest of the gang! They may need my help!" Davis ran off to where the demon/vampire Rex had led his friends. As he disappeared into the mist, Bane ran off in the opposite direction, but not without a parting goodbye.
"May strength follow you, zombie-tamer!"
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When Davis reached the rest of the group, he feared himself already too late.
The scene was gruesome in on itself. Rex the demon/vampire creature flapped above three unmoving creatures. Freya was leaning against a tree trunk, clutching a shoulder wound. The purple runes around her ears sparkled as she tried to heal herself as fast as possible. Bad-Rayman also looked horrible, for he looked like someone had dragged him through five miles of mud-coated thorns. He was using all of his energy just to keep himself from fainting. Donnia was the worst of them all. The blood flowing from a wound in her scalp coated her hair. She lay unmoving just below Rex with her beautiful sword buried tip-first in the ground near her foot. Davis swallowed the rest of his fear and ran up to the group.
"Freya! Donnia! Bad-Rayman! I know how to cure Rex! All you have to do is to free his soul from the Conceal-ahhhh!" Davis had to jump out of the way as Rex sent a fireball hurdling his way. Too late; the group had already heard his message. By now, Freya was fully healed and was trying to go to Donnia's side without getting burnt to a crisp by Rex. Bad-Rayman shot Davis a dirty look. "Is that all? Why don't we make a side order of fries while we're at it!" Bad-Rayman added sarcastically. He fell to his knees, panting and convulsing horribly.
"Insolent youth! Do you really believe that even that will help you against me? Razoff didn't have half the powers that I possess!" Rex shouted. A wave of fire rose to his command, surrounding Donnia and her weapon. Freya leapt into the Ring of Fire by slashing the magic with her elemental sword. By doing so, she deflected enough magic to create a doorway large enough through the fire that she could weave through with Donnia and her sword in tow.
"I like your idea, Davis. But, it might take Donnia's help to perform it!" Freya then started to work her magic on Donnia. It seemed to work, because Donnia's scalp was mended like a broken cloth under a steady needle and she started to twitch. "What do you mean, Freya?" Davis asked the wolf. Freya lifted her head towards the boy and grinned. "Because, you can't be spending a lot of time with just one person and not develop compassion for them. You learn to stick by them through thick and thin, and you then learn that you would give up your life to make sure they're safe. I see that kind of bondage in Donnia's eyes, and in Rex's. That will be our weapon..."
At this point, Davis wondered why he saw no sign of Rex returning fire, until he saw a flare out of the corner of his eye. While Freya was preoccupied with Donnia and Davis, Bad-Rayman had managed to summon enough strength to snatch Freya's elemental sword and use it like a racket to send the fireballs away from the others. Rex, finding this newfound strength amusing, played a little game of magic ping-pong. Rex would send a large ball-shaped fireball in Freya's direction, and would watch with great interest as Bad-Rayman expended every last shred of energy he possessed to smack away the fireball.
Donnia then sat up with a start when she heard the sound of Rex's laughter in the background. "Drac!" She stood up and grabbed her sword, which was plainer and less magical than Freya's, but it was more than enough for her use. Before she ran to meet her adversary, Davis told her what she needed to do, but it was vague without a quick explanation of the fight between Bane and Razoff earlier. When he was through, Donnia nodded and instead of running to meet Rex she stood by Davis and waited for her opening that Davis told her about. At the same time, Freya rose and dashed off to help her friend.
"Save your strength, Bad-Rayman. You'll need it to see the fireworks show I've put together just for you." Rex stated clearly above the Rayman copy's head. He was down on his knees, covered in new burns and mud. He gave Rex a venomous glare. "Don't...you...ever...shut..." He passed out before he could finish his sentence. Freya's family heirloom clattered to the ground next to him. Rex landed on the ground next to Bad-Rayman, and picked up the beautiful sword. He studied it for a moment, then drove it towards the back of the fallen victim's head.
The blade hit empty ground. He cursed when he saw Freya with Bad-Rayman curled in her arms. "Remember when we met on the opposite sides of the battlefield two years ago? The one where I had the element of speed? We never wanted to hurt you, but by raising your sword against my best friend, you've destroyed my last shred of patience for you!" At the word you, Freya was upon him. Rex was caught totally off-guard, and was knocked so hard onto his back that he could hear his beautiful wings break under the pressure. Freya gave him a hardened smile, then pointed her sword tip at Rex's throat. "It doesn't matter how invincible you are if you're missing your head. Whatever you do, don't move."
Freya turned to Davis. "Davis! Donnia! Now's your chance!" From where they were standing, Davis passed her a nod and she walked towards the pinned demon. She opened the bottle of Elixir and poured enough liquid to coat her fingers. She rubbed them across her lips...
Freya got off in an instant to help Bad-Rayman. Donnia smoothed her lips one final time with her fingers then kissed Rex from where he was sitting. It was a romantic-filled non-obscene kind of kiss, the kind that would make your heart melt if you were there to watch it. As if on an instant, Rex began to shrink and to change back into the well-built human/vampire that he was before Morphina got to him. The Concealment's shroud melted away from his body and disappeared into the atmosphere.
Rex Skyler and Donnia Starhunter embraced. "I'm so sorry, Nia. I'd rather die at the claws of Morphina then hurt you and the rest of my friends..." Freya watched with teary eyes while Bad-Rayman washed his wounds with some of the Elixir's liquids. When the cuts mended themselves, the Rayman counterpart gave his two cents. "Wait a minute, Romeo and Juliet! Isn't there someone we should be helping right at this time?"
The two slayers broke apart at once at this remark. Everyone gathered his or her fallen weapons in a rush.
"After all, Ivy's going to need all the help she can get!"
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"When is the army going to get here, Rayman?"
Ten minutes before Rex's freedom from the Concealment of Evil, Ivy and the people in her party were ducked down low in the underbrush, scanning the enemy lines for a human in a long purple cloak or a scorpion/serpent beast with tan scales. Rayman shrugged hopelessly, despite the fact that he didn't have shoulders, as he watched the demons shift uncomfortably in anxiety for fresh blood. "They'll be coming as soon as Murphy convinces them. Lucky for us, he's very persuasive for his size." I hope you're right, Ivy thought. She knew Rosemary and Rayman were there beside her, but Illusion had disappeared over thirty minutes ago. She was afraid he had fallen into the valley.
"There she is!" Rosemary exclaimed. She pointed a finger towards an opening in the army. Sure enough, Morphina had just emerged from the cloak of demonic soldiers with the Concealment of Evil bobbing near her head like a dark night wisp. Ivy clutched her sword so tightly it bit into her palm. "We have to go down there somehow..." Ivy whispered. Rayman stopped her before she could move another inch towards the basin. "We called the fairies so that we could create a way to get to Morphina without being ripped to shreds. Just be patient. They're closer than you think..."
As if on cue, a dim flash of light materialized in front of the concealed group. When the light faded, Ly the fairy stood in its place. Ivy smiled warmly at the fairy, being polite even in the most dangerous of times. "Rayman, our army has come to your aide. We got the help from almost every Teensie and Sprite in the entire world. We even got help with the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams!" Ivy jumped at the mention of Jano. "You mean Jano is going to fight too? That's exactly what Morphina wants him to do!" Ivy exclaimed. Ly was stunned at the teenager's sudden outburst, but only for a few seconds. "No, but he did give me this..."
Ly held out her right hand, and suddenly the skull staff that Jano usually carried appeared with the help of magic. Everyone looked to his or her partners, as if wondering what the disturbing talisman would do. Ly read their minds. "Jano has decided that if Morphina can't be destroyed, she can be imprisoned. His staff now contains enough magic to seal Morphina within a cell that will be enough to contain her. However, I wouldn't highly depend on it. Jano had to thumb through some dusty novels to get the right spell." She tossed the staff to Rayman, who was the only one present that wasn't gripping a deadly weapon in his hands. "Use it well. I'll signal the fairies to launch the attack."
With another flash of silver light, Ly was gone. As instantly as she had disappeared, a large group of fairies appeared in the valley below them. A rainbow of light sparkled beneath them as fairies struck demons with magic. The demons scrambled to hit their attackers, only to find that the new fighters had the ability to dodge almost every attack the monsters threw at them. The demons fell like flies under the magic, but not after taking a few fairies with them. After about five minutes of one-sided fairy battling, the armies of demons parted like the Red Seas to Mose's command, and every hero standing above the valley could pick out Morphina amid the gloom. She smiled and beckoned them to come. "Well, what do you know? She was planning for this to happen!" Rayman hissed. The two zombie-tamers, Senior and Junior, nodded to each other in agreement.
Without any further thoughts, the three heroes jumped down into the basin- turned-battlefield. The three of them slid down the muddy slope with ease, and landed with barely a scratch on them, although their entire backside was covered in mud. Uneasily, the three-trained heroes started down the path Morphina had made. The demons went on fighting the fairies without even passing a glance at them. A few minutes later, they were staring face- to-face with Morphina. The air was filled with nothing but the sounds of fairy magic behind them, but the intensity of the situation clouded the sounds away from them. Morphina signaled the demons nearest to her to back away, and they did so. Right after they backed away, some fairy's thunder magic finished them. Morphina paid no heed.
"Well, so this is where our last stand will be, Ivy." Morphina broke the eerie silence between her and her enemies. Her voice had a tinge of sadness. "You know, ever since I've goaded you to claim your birthright those six months ago, I've been testing your worth. To tell you the truth Darling, those events six months ago were only a test to see if I was fighting the right zombie-tamer. Davis fell easily under my grip, Rosemary was a joke, Jano couldn't leave his post, but you found the luck to summon up the 'hero of the world'. When we last fought, I went a little easy on you. I pretended that you have killed me, giving me an advantage in this whole scheme of things. However, this time I'll be pulling all stops and won't hold anything back!"
Needless to say, Ivy was really shocked at this kind of news. "If you could easily kill me, then why did you let me live long enough to let me claim the Tamer's Sword?" Morphina instantly replied. As she did so, she shifted out of her human disguise and became the serpent/scorpion monster that she was born as. Tan scales gleamed with poison in the sunlight as Morphina told Ivy her reasons. "Because I wanted to prove the world that Polokus' weapon against me was futile. Use your head, female! If I can break out of the strongest dungeon in the world, stay unknown for countless generations, finish off everybody with the power to stop me in one fell swoop, and have the power to have Polokus himself shaking, then I could seize this world without so much as an objection against me!"
"That's where you're wrong!" Rosemary rose in front of the scorpion creature. Behind Morphina, Rosemary could pick out Davis, Donnia, Rex, and the two ex-Commanders amid the gloom. She kept her face passive to make sure not to give them away. "Ivy is stronger than you think! If she could make friends with a demon you freed, along with both Rayman and his shadow, then she has more power than you could uphold. You're nothing more than a coward that hides behind her own army. If you want a challenge, then face it without laying a bunch of hoops for her to go through!"
"ENOUGH!!!" Morphina spat out a cloud of strong-smelling acid from her mouth. Rosemary didn't even move away from the acid, and before she was hit she wore a mask of grim satisfaction. Everyone in the group, along with the rejoined group led by Donnia, gasped as they watched Rosemary be engulfed in a green blaze. When the acid faded, nothing more than a pile of ash lay. Ivy watched the scene with trembling legs and wet eyes. Rayman patted her shoulder reassuringly, but he couldn't find anything to say. However, Ivy wasn't trembling because she was sad and afraid. Instead, she was trembling from a new rage, a new hatred for the slimy demon.
Morphina disregarded the ash with an animal-like snort. "I've kept her alive for too long. Now Ivy, let me show how I really get rid of annoying vermin, without the use of large pathetic armies or traitorous scum from the seas!" The Concealment of Evil rushed towards her, and caressed her serpentine neck like a pulsating necklace. Then, the shroud surrounded Morphina. Everyone in the basin, including the fairies and the demons, watched the scene with wide eyes.
"She's nuts!" Rayman shouted, but no one else paid attention to his outburst. The shroud-covered beast grew taller and wider. The two groups, one in front of Morphina and one behind, had to step away a great deal in order to keep from being smashed. She grew until she seemed to be size of a redwood. The Concealment faded, and revealed that Morphina had become something ten times as fierce as her old self had. Her main body features didn't change much, only that she now stood higher, her scales jutted out more, and a solid black marking that looked like a rune more than anything formed on her chest. She gave a mighty roar that shook the very ground.
"Don't you see, Ivy? I'm the most powerful creature on the face of the Earth!" Morphina hissed, her voice deeper and warped. She clicked her pincer-like claws together in satisfaction.
"This ends now!"
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Morphina lashed out with one of her pincer-like claws. Ivy jumped away just in time. The Tamer's Light flowed through the sword, just like last time. She knew what she had to do; all she had to do was slash Morphina with the Tamer's Light, and she was done for. Right? With a battle cry, Ivy stabbed Morphina's left foot. Clang! The blade bounced off like it just hit solid steel.
"Ivy! Look out!" Davis called as he rushed across the mud to his sister. He knocked the astonished Ivy out of the way with a well-placed body slam. Ivy tumbled away from the tip of Morphina's tail, but Davis wasn't so lucky. He was tossed aside like dirty garbage, a slash mark running from his waist to his shoulder. Ivy stared at the scene in terror, and was about to see if he was all right when she felt a small earthquake behind her. Before she could move another muscle, Bane picked her up like a baby cat and placed her on his back. He ran out of range of Morphina's attacks all the way until he was inches away from the basin's wall.
"Ivy, we have to attack the heart of the Concealment! It's the only way to finish off Morphina for good!" Bane shouted to her. Ivy shook her head with eyes filling up with tears. "I can't, Bane! It's impossible for me to do it. I'm just a worthless little nobody that believed that Morphina was stoppable!" Ivy wailed. A gentle slap of Bane's tail stopped her from shedding anymore tears. Without a word, Bane motioned his head to the symbol on Morphina's chest. "You have to attack the heart! Believe in yourself, Ivy! Crying will just hold you down. Listen well, I'm going to charge at full speed, and I'm going to launch you at Morphina's chest. Try to pierce her heart that way!"
Ivy couldn't protest, as Bane was already running before she could think of a comeback. He charged without stopping, even as he stepped on the many charred remains of demons. Ivy slid down his neck as he moved so that she could sit on his large serpentine head. When they reached Morphina again, three things happened at once.
First, Morphina hit Bane with a sweeping motion of her twisted tail. At the same time, Bane launched Ivy into the air with a solid motion with his head. Ivy felt herself sailing through the air, and she realized that Morphina was too tall for her to attack her heart from this height. Then, Ivy began to drop. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for a sudden impact.
Whoosh! Ivy was picked up by the waist in mid-air. Before she could ask, she heard a comforting voice joke to her. "Rule number one in flying: Have the right equipment necessary for flight! Good to see you, Ivy!" Lo and behold, Rayman had pulled her out of the sky and was now flying upwards at a steady rate. His voice was muffled because he had Jano's skull staff wedged between his teeth. What had happened was that Ly had once again granted Rayman the power of flight, something that Rayman missed dearly since the battle with one of the Guardians of the four Masks of Polokus. With a steady motion of his arms, Rayman tossed her to the giant rune symbol tattooed on Morphina's chest.
The next moments felt like an eternity for Ivy. She was soaring through the air with her glowing sword pointed towards the monster's chest. Her sword slid easily into the skin like a hot knife through butter, and Ivy's sword was pinned to her. A horrifying roar unlike anything that anyone in the whole world could've heard filled the air, as Morphina twisted and struggled. The Tamer's Sword melted into the wound like an icicle under the hot sun, and Ivy fell. Rayman grabbed her out of the sky and pulled her away from the struggling demon.
In the air, Ivy could see the scene clearly. Morphina landed to the ground with a thud, and was already melting into the smaller size that she was normally. The Concealment of Evil was evaporating away from the wound in her chest like smoke, and Ivy knew that the evil shroud was destroyed and could never be used again for evil. Bane was limping on three legs to his friends, and one of his legs was twisted horribly. Freya and Donnia were both wiping their swords, and Ivy could plainly see that they have been helping with the demon killing as well. Not a single demon was left standing, well, except for Bane anyway. Rayman waited until they were near the group until he brought Ivy down to the earth. From there, she received patting and cheers by her friends, but she saw that not everybody was there to greet her.
"Davis!" Ivy ran to where she saw Davis fall. The small boy was still lying on the ground where Morphina had stung him. The wound was swollen and was glistening purple where the tip of Morphina's tail slashed Davis. His body was strangely limp, and there was no warmth left in the boy's body. Still, Ivy tried to wake him up. "Come on, Davis! We won the fight. Morphina's done for, and you're a hero!" She poured some drops of Elixir in Davis's mouth, but there was still no response. She started shaking him harder. Ivy's voice started to crack. "Davis! We don't have to train anymore! We can explore the world now. We can climb mountains, run across fields, and be normal children again! Just like you wanted!"
Tears started to flow from Ivy's eyes. The boy was still not moving. She splashed a whole cupful of Elixir of Life on Davis's wound, but it didn't do its magic like it did with Freya's foot. At this point, Ivy became hysterical. "Davis? Davis please! Don't leave me here! DAVIS!!!"
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It seemed that Jano's gift did not go unused. Before the sun had set into the West, Polokus himself came to the basin filled with mud and dead demons. Morphina wasn't dead, but rather close to becoming dead. Her mouth was oozing with blood and she could barely stand. Still, she lashed out at any fairy that came near. "Morphina," Polokus began, "you have attacked the innocent for long enough! Your original keeper has provided you a separate prison to contain you..."
The god brought down the staff, and the ground began to crack underneath Morphina. She didn't protest when a swirling portal emerged from the ground underneath her. It was a pitch-black portal that acted more like quicksand than anything else was. Morphina's body parts began to disappear into the portal. First her feet, then her legs, and then her body. When all that was left of her was her head, she glared at the god and shouted something in her own language, one that sounds like a complex arrangement of hisses and growls. When Ivy asked what she said, Ly said calmly, "Morphina's a bragger to the very end. She said 'No prison can contain me'."
Even so, it sent shivers down Ivy's spine.
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Two days later, a funeral was held near Ivy's house. Everyone showed up: Jano, Bane, Razoff, Donnia, Rex, Freya, Bad-Rayman, Rayman, and everybody else who was either a friend of Ivy or a fairy that fought against the demons. It was a simple funeral, with just a casket and Ly to say some prayers to the corpse. No tears were held back during the funeral, and it was both amazing and pitiful to see scary-looking creatures like Bane and Jano shed giant tears. Rayman even laid down Davis's dagger into his coffin, by the cadaver's side. It seemed like it took five hours instead of five minutes for Davis's coffin to lower into a freshly dug hole near the Cave of Bad Dreams' entrance.
"First my mother, then my brother. Why did they have to die at Morphina's hands, Jano?" Ivy asked a few minutes after the funeral was over. She felt a strongly built hand rest on her shoulder. "Such is the fate of zombie- tamers. Each generation of zombie-tamers is often singled out. Rosemary used to have two sisters, but one of them died when a sea demon attacked the boat she was sailing on, and the other one was torn apart by Morphina herself. However, it was not always so with some of them, like me, the only person of my kind to receive the power of the zombie-tamers. If the one- zombie-tamer-per-generation rule was evident, then I'd be dead."
Ivy sighed. "Still, it's going to be a lot quieter without Davis around..." Her teacher said nothing, but the comforting thought that he was still here brought a smile to her face.
Now that Morphina was gone, she had a lot of adventuring to catch up on....
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Epilogue (what happened after the defeat of Morphina)
Ivy Thorn stayed with her father in the swamplands, but she now took trips to different parts of the world every once in a while, along with some in unexplored sectors in the Cave of Bad Dreams. She plans to sail to her mother's homeland, which was across the sea. Who knows what adventures she'll find there..?
Rayman, Globox, and his group of friends are living the life of heroes. They're relaxing now, but in their hearts they know that someday they will be faced with another challenge that will call for their assistance. Of course, Rayman sometimes crosses paths with Ivy occasionally, in which they smile warmly and greet each other with brief talks and visits together.
Freya and Bad-Rayman returned to Bluddwiek, where they were made as big of heroes as Ivy there. Now, instead of working at the inn, they now own a lovely estate at the rich side of town for helping fight against Morphina. Freya now teaches a school that trains students to fight like a warrior, and Bad-Rayman's a general in the Bluddwiek army.
Razoff still lives his life like he used to, but this time he's more careful of taking care of unexpected guests. He also gave Bane the two sea demon skulls his father shot down, which Bane then buried in the sand of the Great Bay coast. It turned out that the two demons Razoff's father shot down were not Bane's friends, but rather his two sons Blade and Tide.
Illusion had disappeared early during the fight against Morphina. They found him after they searched the bodies of the demonic Commanders. He was wearing two grins; one on his face, and one across his throat. His staff was buried deep within the nearest demon, and the fairies suspect he committed suicide.
Bane returned to the sea, but this time he isn't filled with anger like he was before his imprisonment. Now, he directs ships away from reefs and concealed barriers. He also searches the seas for any hidden members of his old pack. However, if he does find anybody of his species, he'll have different intentions this time...
Donnia and Rex still travel the world, but now they like staying at Bluddwiek at the end of each journey. They have been given the status of heroes, but they rejected the riches the fairies gave him. To them, riches are nothing important to the likes of them. One of these days, they plan to settle down, start a family, and live happily ever after.
Jano is still Ivy's teacher, but he's now teaching Ivy the history of her ancestors before her. He suspects that she knows as much as her mother used to know, and that she can live on the information that he had already taught her. Now, they consider themselves more as friends then as student and teacher.
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As for Morphina...No one knows where she was locked up in or what she's thinking, but needless to say, she isn't too thrilled. Also, what prison can contain the very incarnation of evil and poison?
No one knows, but anyone can guess. For this story is one that has no end, and is one with endless possibilities for how it could end.
But for now, it's up to you to decide....
The End.
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What did you think of my story, now that it's finished? :) Remember to leave a review to tell me about my progress, talent, or my lack of it. As for Ryoko, Under the Moonlight has not been forgotten. Expect that soon either in the Rayman section, or the fantasy section in Fictionpress.net (I really can't decide which would work out better. Any ideas?)
I'm sorry it took so long again, but the end of school is always hectic. :)
Leave a review, okay?
