All right, here are the thank yous I promised (by chapter 25 they are slightly pathetic {sorry}). I am aware this is a day late (based upon the schedule I posted a few days ago). Anyway, I want to see you try to write these for a story you didn't write. Ana will write better ones upon her return.

~Elscy

Chapter 23

ravenmist: I totally agree. Erikk is not allowed to die.

Yume: I'll try to update soon, but if I update you need to review. Please review. L I'm sorry about the cliffies, but all I can really do is update faster.

Eccie87: Have you died yet? Did I update too slowly?

Peachblossom: Thank you for telling me how to spell that. If you want me to beta, email me. The address is in my profile, or you can find someone who regularly reviews your story. What is Sake?

DarkAngel33:  I can't make the chapters longer. All I can do is update faster. I shall leave all other issues up to the author up on her return.

Shayley Rain: I want my cookie. I want my cookie. Give me my cookie. I want my cookie.

White-wolf: I'll help you kill anyone who kills Erikk. I liked the vision idea, but unfortunately, I am not the author. I can still reference the idea for future use.

Shinigami Clara: I shall try to update, but please don't let the romance novels go to your brain. I know people who have had that happen. It is very scary. I think you misunderstood Erikk's death. It was not a vision; it was a very evil and mean alternate ending.

Sarai-IceElf: I will keep updating. Okay?

Sunrunner of Summer: Please stop begging. That sort of behavior doesn't get you very far with me. Anyway, I already posted the next chapter.

FantasyIsMyLife: In actuality, I am a very violent pacifist, so I would hit and kick you even though I would never kill you. My sn for AIM is under my profile, so you can look it up. That is assuming you can find one of my older reviews or something.

superalicea: I'll check the spelling, but I think you are right. Thank you. Anyway, keep reading. You can make it. We're almost done.

Chapter 24

Shayley Rain: Muchas gracias (many thanks) for the praise.

FantasyIsMyLife: I did post these chapters closer together than I was supposed to because I got several chapters behind. I don't care whether or not the characters would know about such things. I think it helps make the story more interesting and humorous than it is normally. I'm going to continue to update regularly after this. That is if you (and some other people continue to review).

Kat W.: Well unfortunately, this fic is almost done, but I will continue to post what is left of it.

                        

DarkAngel33: Please keep reviewing. That's all I can really say. You aren't yelling at me, so I don't care if you keep yelling. Just keep reading and reviewing. Please L.

Chapter 25

White-wolf: The author will get your thanks, and I will keep updating.

Shinigami Clara: The story is done, and I'm not going to muck with it (primarily because I am just the beta). I'll keep updating though so everyone can read it.

DarkAngel33: I'm sorry there is not enough fluff, but I cannot legitimately write fluff for this story.

superalicea: Ditto what I have written for White-wolf and Shinigami Clara.

Shayley Rain: I'll try, and maybe I can write notes saying what I'm doing at the same time as beta reading. Would that make you happy?

Mist Tiger: The author shall receive your thanks. The formatting for that was kind of stupid: what was I thinking? Well, I wasn't.

Sarai-IceElf: I'll update again in a couple of days or so. Also I'll check out that site you discussed.

Chapter 26:

Melodius

Lia walked slowly but surely to the end of the pier. The water roared in her ears as it hit the dock with a thundering crash. She took one look back at their camp on the beach. This was the right place. She quickly stepped of the end of the dock. Falling into the cold water, the cold shocked her body and she tried to surface.

            She was caught by a hundred little hands that were bringing her quickly to the surface and then to the island that earlier had only been a tiny speck. As she drew closer to it, it grew bigger in magnitude.  It was a large, emerald castle in the middle of the sea: A mark of evil in a black sea. A sign of the life she had led. The life lived in preparation of this moment, but if she had prepared all her life then why didn't she feel ready.

            The sun was rising behind her. She could feel its warmth at her back urging her on towards destiny. Her resolve hardened. She would beat this creature, Melodius, and she would destroy her. When Lia was through with her, she would be small pieces lying in what would look like a butcher's floor.

            Melodius was half octopus and half human. She had been crowned queen of the Immortals and darkness. Really, she was just a pawn of Chaos to get rid of Tortall. Chaos wanted the country out of the way, so she could rule the world.  This plan had been thwarted when Chaos had been locked away until the next star was born. She needed her pawns to do the work for her. Lia would put an end to her work.

            The little hands deposited her at what looked like an entrance. There were three stairs leading up to the door. Lia turned around to thank the hands that had guided her.

            "I would like to thank you for guiding me here. May I ask what you are?" She asked the water, feeling quite foolish. A head popped out of the surface of the water and she jumped back.

            "We are Selkies, water people." It said.

            "I thank you." Lia said before turning and opening the door. She stepped into the emerald halls. She turned down endless halls. She took a left, a right, another left. Her heart pulled her towards the center of the building where Melodius would be. The necklace Erikk had given her pulsed with her heartbeat covering up any sign of her presence magically. Lia was noticing some of the walls showed pictures moving in it.

            The pictures showed palaces, farms, people, and animals. Lia guessed they where how Melodius communicated with her minions. Lia's soft footsteps were barely audible on the emerald floors. She entered a big anti chamber. Melodius was curled in the center of the building.

Long scaly octopus like tentacles twined about each other, as if they had a mind of their own. Her torso grew out of her scaly bottom and was left uncovered. Her hair was a mass of tiny hissing snakes, and her would be beautiful face was contorted with evil.  The entire affect was disgusting.

            She wasn't as big as Lia had thought she would be; her torso and face the same size as Lia. Still she would have the advantage in this fight with her many legs, but she would have to untangle them first.

            When Melodius saw Lia, her face was in shock but quickly smoothed over to an amused expression. She smiled sweetly at her.

            "Yazlia, honey, what a surprise. What can I do for you?" She said, Lia laughed sickly.

            "You can die." She said before drawing her sword and attacking. She had surprised Melodius and hacked the ends of quite a few tentacles off before Melodius started throwing spells. She now had to dodge spells and attack at the same time. She jumped above a spell and thrust her sword into a larger tentacle. Melodius yelled in rage.

            "You can't beat me! I am immortal, a god to my kind. I control them! At this moment, they are attacking everywhere. You can do nothing!" Lia was shocked that the immortals were attacking and slowed her rapid movement for a second. That was all the time Melodius needed. One of her tentacles slashed into Lia's skin and she screamed. It felt like millions of tiny needles had pierced her back and side.

            Lia once again sprang into action. She was covered in dark red blood; she wasn't sure if it was her own of Melodius' still she didn't care. All she wanted was Melodius dead. Spells and appendages where flying about Lia in the circular room. Lia didn't know how long she had been fighting but her body wasn't tiring. Stories had been told to her of war demons, people who during a war became possessed with fighting. They would fight until they died, never tiring.  Tentacles littered the circular room they were fighting in. Mostly smaller ones but a few larger ones were there also.

            Another one of her spells hit Lia, knocking the wind out of her and making her feel heavier. Lia gritted her teeth and kept going; death wasn't an option. It was a release, but not an option.

            Lia's arm had been cut to the bone and was bleeding profusely. She ignored it. Her back had many small tentacle pricks from Melodius picking her up and throwing her against the wall. The wall now had a deep crack in it and Lia thought a bunch of her ribs were broken for it hurt to breathe.

            Melodius had been throwing insults at her the entire time. She was tired of it.

She was just tired, her entire body ached, her head was throbbing, and she had left without saying goodbye to anyone.  Gritting her teeth, she attacked with new fury.

            Her blades were glittering with deadly intent. Lia didn't care if she died in the process; she wanted this thing dead. It was evil; it was killing innocent people for its own power, just for the power. She wanted to take over; she had shown that intent. She had forced immortals who were living peacefully to fight for her; once she was gone, they would revert to the peaceful ways they had been living. She had forced humans to fight for her and killed them when she was through with them, and Lia was going to kill her.

            Lia blocked an octopus leg flying at her; she knew the swords the goddess had given her had something to do with the blades ability to slice through the immortals scaly skin. Her other blade caught of the immortals head. It rolled to the floor, the snakes hissing all the way. Its eyes locked on Lia's, and she felt cold pierce her heart. She had never killed something and then watched as it died. It felt like some perverted spectator's sport. Lia reached for the necklace Erikk had given her all those years ago and collapsed in a pool of sticky blood.

~~:Erikk:~~

            He woke up and rolled over to find Lia's sleeping bag empty. Sitting up he realized she wasn't there. She wasn't there. He swore; she had gone after Melodius herself, all alone, no Erikk to help. She was so stupid sometimes; she knew she wouldn't survive if he wasn't with her. Pulling a shirt over his head, he grabbed his weapons and healer's kit and ran to the side of the beach. He saw little blue things bobbing in the water, and they tuned their almond shaped heads to look at him.

            "She went; she is fighting." They chorused and turned there attention back to the tiny green speck in the distance.

            "How did she get there?" He asked them.

            "We brought her." They said without looking at him.

            "Can you take me?" He asked.

            "No." They chorused again.

            "Great!" He yelled. "Lia's off getting herself killed and I'm stuck with little blue blobs."

            "Patience," They said. "And we are Selkies. Not blue blobs."

Erikk sighed and watched the sunrise. An hour later, he was still searching for some sign. The emerald spark grew brighter and brighter, and then, a wash of cold pierced his body. Gasping he watched it wildly. Suddenly a green shimmer of air rippled in front of him. Lia appeared stretched out on a piece of grass not far from him. He gasped as he saw her. She was completely covered in blood. Not a speck of her normally pale skin showed; it was all dark red. He pulled out the flasks of clean water they had stored up and started cleaning the most bloodied up areas. He looked frantically for more clean water and realized the Selkies were filling up pots and pans he had brought and where shifting the salt out of them.

            "Gods bless." He whispered before cleaning the rest of her muttering curses on Melodius as he did so. He wasn't sure if she would live. Her pulse was shallow and erratic, and it was undoubtedly she had lost too much blood. He desperately willed her to live. He wasn't sure what he would do with out her. She had affected his life so drastically when she'd entered it. He didn't want it to go back to the way it had been before. He needed her.

            He couldn't think about that now. He soaked one of his shirts in a pool of fresh water the Selkies had made. He slowly scrubbed her torso and legs. He himself hurt because he knew she would be in pain. Hours later, he finished. Her hair was still tangled and bloody but she would have to finish that herself, if she lived. He used what little healing power he had in him to put her into the least amount of pain she could be in and collapsed.

            That night he awoke. Lia still lay perfectly still; her chest movements were barely noticeable. Erikk sat next to her all night, in a silent vigil watching for any sign that her spirit was alive in her barely alive body, searching for a sign of real life. The stars shone brightly above them, watching as destiny unfolded around them.  The night passed into day, and Erikk once again collapsed into sleep.

            The Selkies watched in horror as their deliverer did not awake. She had defeated Melodius. She deserved to live a happy, long life. Their small transparent heads followed her gentle breathing: Up and down, up, down.

            Another day passed, and Erikk was now panicking. He knew it would take awhile for her to wake up, days even, more than likely weeks.  The waiting was killing him. He needed her to wake up. It was killing him to see her laying there, looking so lifeless.

            He had been pacing back and forth on the pier. He swore he could almost see a mark. The sun passed over his head and set on the far side of the sea. The stars came out to watch Destiny's child slowly heal.

~~:Stars:~~

            The odd thing about stars is that they are always there, always watching. They see everything, every movement, every action. The stars are always the same. Wherever you are you look at the same stars as every one else. Now all the stars were focused on this one remarkable girl, woman.

            They watched this man Erikk. Watched him heal the woman Yazlia in short bursts. The stars felt sorrow; they knew that without help the woman would not survive. Unfortunately, since the goddess had helped her to live once, she could not do so again.

            Erikk watched in horror as Lia's body stilled. Nothing in the forest moved as she died, but then every living thing screamed their sorrow when her slow breathing stopped. Wolves howled, birds screeched their highest notes, lizards hissed, and horses whinnied. Erikk fell to his knees and placed his head on the ground. Silent tears streamed down his cheeks and his body shook in sorrow.

            He had lost her. He should have done something, said something. He hadn't told her.

It began to rain. Sheets of water tumbled out of the sky as it thundered its protest. It seemed even the ground shook in rage. The stars spoke amongst each other deciding what action would be taken next. What the gods would do. This was not the first champion that had died after completing a task. The gods had always returned them to life.

Oh, dark angel your death is so painful. That even the stars protest your departure. The gods weep in sorrow and Destiny wails her displeasure. Why have you gone? Your fight is not over. Far away, an old man sighs at you departure and his soul is heavy with sorrow.

Please review; all of you should know to do so by now. Still, I am choosing to reiterate this point. The next chapter should be up in a couple of days or so. Five left. That's really sad.

~Elsceetaria