*~* Chapter 28-continued *~*

But the shadow creature never touched the braided angel, for just as he passed across the circle of pedals, Duo's eyes snapped open, and he stepped to the side in time to escape even the smallest scratch.

Sending a blast of light at the creature, he turned his glare on Dorothy. "Your days are over, dark one. You shall never see the light of day again! The angel cried, his back arching in pain as a thousand blades were drawn across pale, smooth skin.

A gash across his face, a pattern of cuts on his arms, blood seeping through his clothes, wounds inflicted beneath the material. All weapons were invisible to the mortal eye.

The red liquid trailed down his face as his violet eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only the whites to be seen.

An unforeseen wind burst into the room, encircling the angel, his clothes whipping around him. The tie on the end of his braid snapped, and his chestnut hair flew free of its confinements, blowing around him restlessly as blood continued to leak from his wounds.

With a cry, Duo slumped to his knees, head thrown back as the wind around him became translucent, a dark gray fog that circled around him, hiding the angel from the eyes of his friends.

His cries grew weaker, seemingly further and further away, until they could be heard no more. The darkened wind that had been swirling so violently slowed to a gentle breeze, and then to a smoky covering on the ground. A smoky covering that was heading, slowly but surely, for the dark mage known as Dorothy Catalonia.

The smoke left behind a lifeless body, a body that was lying in a pool of blood and showed no sign of movement.

Dorothy screamed as the smoke curled up her leg, her skin burning at its touch. The violent winds erupted with new force, and the gray smoke darkened, swirling around the evil mage.

It eventually hid her from view, the cries from within diminishing. Outside, thunder cracked against a pale blue sky, and the shadows too began to writhe in pain.

As before, the wind gradually died down as the shadows shrivelled in the sunlight streaming through the window. The wind's dark black descended to a smoky gray, and a fog-like covering could be found on the throne room floor every morning for almost a month afterwards, when the sun hit it in a particular way.

The second round of wind had left no body.

The threat of a dark mage returning to power was finally more fiction than it was truth...for the time being at least...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*Grins sheepishly* ok, so I did it again. Endings keep coming to me after I post the chapter.

Some news on 29.I've been working on it, and I've gotten a couple of opinions. All have been positive so far, so I'm going with the flow, and a total change of scene and time is taking place.but it will all become clear in good time. I've introduced two supplementary characters.and a whole new setting, in a completely different world. We'll see what comes of it..

~ Duo's Only Chick