Dragons Change

AN: This is it! The first part of the final battle is here! Now, I'm just going to say that detailed fight scenes are not my forte. I tried the best I could, and I hope I did the story's epic finale justice. Let me know any thoughts about it, and if I see some good points made, I may go back and add some more to it. I just really want the end of this story to be good.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Aurora and the Spirits, Faredir, and Flint belong to me. Cataclysm belongs to her owner BizmuthTheRainwing. Inferno belongs to his owner IceDragon07. Cover art for the story belongs to beyzul on Deviantart.

Chapter 42:

Did anyone else look at something utterly terrifying and think, 'Maybe this might not be so bad with epic music in the background'? Did anyone else use that as a coping mechanism or was that just him? Because here he was, standing atop a sand dune a few miles from the Sandwing Palace—or what was left of it—gazing upon the enemy army assembled to face them in battle. A purple beam of light was shooting up into the sky from the main temple's ruins as clouds—something not often seen in the desert—blocked out the sun and made everything that much darker and more ominous. A figure was flying up near the cloud level and around the purple beam, and Winter knew it was Stratos even from so far away. All of that was happening, yet all he could think of was that he wished there was some music playing in the background to drown the dead silence, though it was occasionally punctuated by the rumble of...something. It wasn't thunder, at least.

Strangely enough, it seemed to work for him because he didn't feel as terrified as he had a few hours ago. "So when exactly will the world end?" he asked Faredir, who was standing next to him.

"Hopefully never," he answered, staring at the beam of light in the distance. "That beam of light means the ritual to free Urfael is underway, but if we remove the gem from its pedestal before sundown, we win."

"Easier said than done," Aurora commented from his other side. "We may outnumber Stratos, but I have a feeling he's more powerful now than you ever were." Faredir nodded solemnly at that. "Urfael needs him to win this battle, so he'd have no doubt given Stratos as much power as he could handle...if not more."

"So he can wipe out our armies as easily as we could wipe out his," Winter muttered. "So we need to prevent him from interfering with the battle, but that also means none of us will be able to help our troops, either."

Faredir nodded, "They can take care of themselves. We outnumber them five tribes to their three—four to three if you count the Nightwings and Rainwings as one tribe."

Be that as it may, Winter was still nervous about their chances, and his friends especially. Many of them would be taking part in this battle, and he didn't just mean Razorclaw, Faredir, and the six Spirits. Peril, Qibli, Horus, Cataclysm, Flint, and Kinkajou would be taking part in this battle, too, and Turtle was on standby in case an emergency animus spell was needed. Of the six of them involved in the fighting directly, Horus and Qibli were acting in a command role of some sort. Qibli had been placed in charge of all Sandwings not affiliated with Vulture by Blaze herself, and with no one present that was more qualified, Ruby placed Horus in command of the entire Skywing legion. Hailstorm had stayed behind at the—former—Changewing encampment, and Tsunami was leading the Seawing forces along the northwest coast of Pyrrhia.

The rest of his friends were back in Jade Mountain. That meant Moon, Sunny, Clay, Starflight, Inferno and all of the Queens except Glory and Blaze, who were going to coordinate and supervise from behind the lines. It's not as if the mountain would protect them if the battle was lost, but it was safer than here...for the moment, at least.

Seeing as how he wasn't completely ready to face an opponent as powerful as Stratos yet, and the whole situation with his ancestor worried them, Aurora and Faredir had actually agreed that Winter stay behind as commander of all of their forces. Essentially, he was the one general that the other field commanders would be getting his orders from. Funny, when he was younger, he always thought he could manage something like this if given the chance because of how easy tactics and strategy came to him, yet he never actually thought he would have to.

That meant Razorclaw would be fighting Stratos with Faredir and the six Spirits. Winter just hoped the eight of them would be able to handle it. Numbers-wise, it should have been obvious who would win that particular fight, but Stratos was the biggest wildcard of the entire battle. No one knew just how powerful he was. Either the Spirits would crush him, they'd be even, or Stratos would wipe the floor with them. In either of the first two cases, Winter probably wouldn't be needed. In the latter case, however...

He really hoped it wouldn't be the latter case because what good would one extra inexperienced combatant do? "We better get to it," Razorclaw pressed. "If we've only got until sundown, that gives us less than three hours to win this battle."

"Agreed," Faredir nodded sharply.

"That just leaves us with one question. Where shall we position our forces?" Everyone turned to look at Winter once Shade spoke. Normally, this would be Arena's job, but since he would be busy fighting Stratos as soon as the battle commenced, Winter was now the one in charge.

Surveying the upcoming battlefield took him a few minutes. The Sandwing city was in the center of the excavated ruins of the ancient fortress of Bastion. Only half of the ancient ruins were revealed, yet the sheer size of it dwarfed the modern city by three times already. The whole place was a complex labyrinth of partially dilapidated or buried structures and streets covered in debris that would make any kind of close quarters fighting into an absolute nightmare for any attacking force. That's not to mention all of the possible traps set within. They would have to avoid being drawn into that deathtrap if at all possible, but drawing out the enemy force to engage on the open field would be a challenge. They won't surrender their fortifications easily, yet they might just change their minds after a few bombing runs. A dragonflame cactus was exponentially deadlier in an enclosed space, something he knew from personal experience.

He'd prefer to have the high ground during the ground engagement, and there were an abundance of dunes around that would give them that advantage. However, he didn't want their forces too high as that would leave them an easier target if they had any kind of long-range weaponry—he was eyeing the old cannons on the fortress with suspicion at that. He had no idea if those things were still operational, but he'd rather not take the chance and find out the hard way.

A particular series of dunes caught his eye near northeast corner of the city. The dunes weren't as high as some of the other dunes nearby, and they appeared mostly in the guns' blind spots. It was also where the walls were both at the highest and thickest, so if they could engage there and push back the enemy forces, they'd be trapped against those walls with the Skywings above, allowing no retreat and giving no quarter. "How capable do you think their leadership is?" he asked, wondering if the enemy troops would even fall for such an obvious trap.

"Stratos isn't the smartest battlefield commander," Aurora revealed. "In fact, he's quite straightforward. Just throw troops at the problem until you win." Winter scoffed at that, and Aurora nodded. "Well...he was a crime boss before he became a Spirit. Subtle manipulation and small-scale skirmishes are more his thing than open conflicts of this scale."

"And what about the Changewing or Sandwing leaders?" Winter asked Faredir.

The ancient dragon merely shrugged. "I doubt they're anything to worry about. The Sandwings are mostly rebels held together through mutual hatred for anyone that isn't them, and most Changewings are followers. Other than me, there was only one other battalion commander in our ranks, and he was killed earlier."

"That...seems like an oversight," Razorclaw pointed out.

"When Urfael is your master, any ambition to rise in the ranks is ruthlessly crushed if he doesn't want you to," Faredir shot back. "He's paranoid despite his power. Doesn't want anyone else challenging his authority."

"Just tell us where you want the troops, Winter," Aurora pressed. "We are on a tight schedule."

With that added pressure on his shoulders, he pointed to the dunes he saw. "Set up our main force over there on those dunes and keep our reserves back here for now. The enemy will no doubt try to bunker down in the city, so we'll send the Skywings on some bombing runs with the dragonflamer cactuses Vulture provided us with. Hopefully, that'll convince them that staying put is a worse idea than sallying out. Bring the Rainwings and Nightwings in from the southern edge of the city. They can sneak through the ruins to come up on the enemy's rear flanks. Our best bet is to encircle and trap the enemy near the walls on three sides on the ground and from the air. With the walls at their backs, the Skywings above, and our troops on their right and forward sides, they'll only have one way out."

"Why not just surround them completely?" Faredir asked, but Winter could tell he knew the reason and was merely testing him. Down the line, Winter could even see Arena looking to him with begrudging respect.

"Give an enemy no way to escape, and they'll fight all the harder to survive. Give them one way out, and you can control where they leave from. And try to run, they will, once they realize their situation." He looked the see the nods from the others, and then Winter nodded at Shade. "Bring them in."

The Nightwing nodded and closed his eyes. Seconds later, legions of dragons from almost all tribes appeared from the dunes' shadows. In the center came the brown, hulking forms of the Mudwings. From the right came the colorful Rainwings armed with poison-tipped darts and blowpipes and the heavily armed and armored Nightwings. To the left, the Skywing legions took to the skies with the thunderous booms of tens of thousands of wingbeats. And then, behind the dune Winter stood on were the scattered Sandwings and about a quarter of the Skywings that would remain in reserve until needed.

Even from miles away, the war horns from the city could be heard in the distance as the enemy readied for the attack. Purple lightning flashed through the clouds as Stratos' roar of challenge echoed across the desert for miles. "Well...they know we're here," Razorclaw remarked dryly.

"Is this everyone?" Winter asked Shade once it seemed like there were no more dragons coming.

The Nightwing just stared at him incredulously. "You wanted more?"

"There's nearly a hundred and fifty thousand dragons down there—more than we expected," Oceania commented. "Hopefully, that's enough."

"Well, it is the largest single army ever assembled in Pyrrhian history," Winter muttered, and then he noticed the pointed looks from the others. "Okay, in recent history," he amended. It may have been unwise to consolidate all of their forces into one attack like this given any other situation. But this was it. There was nothing else after this one battle. Everything was riding on this, so committing everything and everyone was the only thing they could do right now.

As Winter looked out over the veritable sea of dragons, he knew it fell upon him to say something. "Everyone!" he called. It took a few minutes before all the talking died down and every eye turned to him. He briefly thanked the stars that he didn't get stage fright when speaking to large groups. "Mudwings..." he began, "Sandwings...Seawings and Skywings...Icewings, Rainwings, and Nightwings...It doesn't matter what tribe you are, it doesn't matter where you come from, how wealthy you are. None of it does!" He shook his head. "Not today!

"Because this is it! The end of the world! The end of all we know and love! Our families! Our homes! All of it! It'll all be gone!" He could see the doubt and fear start to take hold, but Winter knew what he was doing. He had to make them understand the stakes first, but now it was time to give them hope. "But that's if we do nothing!" he continued, the passion within his voice telling the gathered armies that even in the face of such risks, he still had hope. "Here we stand, together, for the first time in history! Every dragon, from every tribe, and every walk of life is here today, united against the one who threatens Pyrrhia! Yet Pyrrhia will fight back! We will fight back!" Roars of agreement and approval came in answer, but still Winter wasn't finished. "So stand strong! Stand together! STAND, DRAGONS OF PYRRHIA!"

The next few minutes consisted of him giving the battalion commanders their orders as Faredir, Razorclaw, and the Spirits took off to intercept Stratos, who had apparently run out of patience. And then they were off to initiate the battle. "Bombers, grab your payloads!" Horus shouted nearby. "Escorts, make sure they get above the city safely!" And then came the appeal to their courage that any good commander would give their soldiers. "This entire plan rests upon us Skywings, so I guess our commanders aren't as braindead as I thought! Let's show these ragtag militias what a real soldier is capable of!"

Another round of shouts and approval preceded the initial wave of Skywings launching on their first bombing run as the rest of their forces moved, flying at a lower altitude to get into position faster. The Nightwings and Rainwings, however, stayed on the ground behind the dunes so as to remain out of sight as they slowly started heading around towards their assigned positions.

Every now and then, dragons—himself included—would look up at the titanic clash between the godlike beings above their heads. The flashes of energy and furious roars were punctuated by the booming thunder and cracks of purple lighting. Winter noticed the entire sky was rotating like a vortex around the central beam of light spearing into the heavens from the center of the city.

He took to a higher elevation to observe the city and the aerial attack and enemy counter-attack. Even from here, he could see the purple shield protecting the central temple that Vulture's reports indicated was there. None of their bombs would be able to penetrate it, and the Spirits doubted anyone would be able to simply walk through it. It's why the Rainwings and Nightwings were flanking to join the attack rather than trying to take the ritual circle. The whole thing was pointless until Stratos was dealt with as everyone believed he was source of it. Once he was killed, they believed the shield would fall.

Sandwing and Changewing defenders had attempted to thwart the run, but the bombs dropped, regardless. There seemed to be casualties on both sides, but the Skywings' aerial superiority was working in their favor. The explosions were beautiful from this distance, but Winter knew they would be much less so at ground zero. The first wave of bombers broke off as Horus launched the second wave to hit another part of the city. Each wave had a hundred bombers, so they only had enough bombs for a clawful of bombing runs. He just hoped that was enough to convince the enemy to leave the city.

It's ironic, he heard his ancestor's voice say. Last time I was here, I was defending the city, not attacking it. But time really took a toll on this place, didn't it? Winter nodded but didn't verbally answer.

After the third wave of bombers dropped their payload, Winter spied what he had been waiting for. "Hold the next waves!" he ordered Horus. "The enemy is leaving the walls!"

Horus nodded sharply. "Bombers, hold fast! Cohorts one through twenty, move up and take position above our forces, escort them the rest of the way!" Winter watched as those troops took off upon hearing Horus' orders. Each cohort was one hundred strong, which meant their ground troops would have two thousand friendlies above their heads. Speaking of which, they had about twenty-five thousand Mudwing troops down below with Flint among them. The enemy force was thought to be around seventy thousand strong, so while the Mudwings would be outnumbered, the total allied troop count outnumbered the enemy just over two to one. Plus, Mudwings didn't die easily. The Sandwings were a concern because of their venom, but the Changewings would stand little chance against a Mudwing one-on-one.

A plume of sand off in the distance caught his attention, and he spied Sediment stumbling out of a small crater before collapsing. Winter looked up just in time to see Arena be blasted towards the ground right after his Mudwing comrade. Razorclaw and I could take him, his ancestor thought.

"All eight of them together can't take Stratos," he muttered, as indeed Stratos seemed to be gaining the upper claw. "What makes you think you could? Are you arrogant or just that over-confident in yourself?"

Neither, he shot back, insulted. I can see the fight through your eyes. Stratos is just overwhelming them through sheer strength alone. But power itself doesn't matter if you can out-think your opponent. So far, in the last minute, I've seen half-a-dozen openings I could've taken advantage of had it been me up there.

"Then why couldn't you fight Urfael?" Winter shot back, his fear and annoyance getting the better of him momentarily. "If power doesn't matter—"

I said power alone doesn't matter! His ancestor snapped. Urfael isn't just some common enemy you can outsmart! He may be the most powerful dragon to ever exist, but that's not what makes him terrifying. It's because he knows how to use that power to frightening effect that makes him so feared.

Winter shook his head, attempting to ignore his ancestor for the moment, and flew down to help the two downed Spirits—make that three as Oceania had just been taken out. He landed next to Arena, who seemed to be on the verge of coming to. "Hey!" he called, infusing his claws with just enough magic to allow him to actually make contact with the Sandwing Spirit's ethereal form. Arena sputtered awake, stumbling to his feet only to fall backwards. "Come on, I'll help you!" Arena's vision seemed to focus then, and he stared at Winter suspiciously. Winter just growled. "Look, you don't like me, and I sure as hell don't like you, but if we don't work together, we've already lost."

Arena huffed but took Winter's offered claw. Amazonia slammed down nearby. "We can't hold him off," Arena growled, looking up at the battle raging above. "He's just too damned powerful!"

Of the four friendlies still up there, both Faredir and Razorclaw seemed to be faring the best. Aurora and Shade were both still holding on, but it was clear they weren't going to last much longer without help. That's the thing about the Spirits, his ancestor commented quietly. They were the most powerful beings on the planet for so long, they forgot how to fight smart. They just try to match power with power, something that doesn't work when you enemy is much stronger than you are.

Winter sighed, knowing what he had to allow. You really think you can do this? He asked the spirit of his ancestor.

I do, was the immediate reply. There was no hesitation. No doubt. Only utterly assured belief in his own abilities.

"Help these guys up," he told Arena.

"And what do you think you're going to do!?" the Sandwing Spirit demanded.

Winter looked around him at the nightmarish scene and the clash of titans above. His descendant had done a good job in formulating the battle plans, but now he was needed to finish Stratos off once and for all. Looking off to the horizon, he tried to spy the sun to no avail. The clouds were blocking it off. He had no idea how much time he had left to finish this, but he knew this battle wouldn't be quick. He could beat Stratos. He knew he could. But it would still take him a while to do. "What I do best," he finally answered the Sandwing Spirit, who relaxed slightly at hearing his voice.

"Go get that traitorous bastard, Winter," Oceania called from where she landed earlier. She was obviously in pain, but she had a weak smile on her face.

He took off with a mighty beat of his wings, shooting up into the sky like a bolt of lightning. With Stratos distracted by the other four, Winter took the opportunity to infuse as much power as he could into his claws, raking them across the Skywing's neck without slowing his momentum. Stratos roared in surprised agony, his altitude dropping significantly before catching himself. The Skywing brought his claws up to check his wound with a clearly pained wince before narrowing his eyes with a ferocious growl. "You're going to pay for that, whelp!"

"Winter, what are you doing!?" Aurora yelled, and he snapped a glare to her.

"What I was trained to do!" She nodded, not arguing with him, and came closer as Razorclaw and Faredir distracted Stratos long enough for them to hopefully come up with a plan. "Now go! Get out of here! This is what I live for, and you'd only get in the way!"

It was clear she didn't like it, but she knew what he was capable of. She knew he could handle himself. "Shade! Disengage!" The Nightwing took a swing at Stratos on his last pass before doing just that. Aurora looked pointedly towards the Icewing. "You know where we are if you need help." With that, she was gone, heading down to help the other Spirits recover.

You have my back right, brother? The Nicewing's confirmation came through their bond, and Winter dived right into the fight. He'd have to play this smart. Going head-to-head against Stratos was a good way to get killed. Remember when we went against Faredir and his entire elite squadron?

You want me to take the lead? The Nicewing asked, and Winter confirmed his assumption. A few signals to Faredir later, and they had their plan. While he may hate the former Changewing Lord with a passion, he was an ally in this fight, and they could definitely use another set of claws.

Razorclaw and Faredir would take turns distracting Stratos. Once the Skywing was aggroed onto one of them, Winter would come in with a powerful attack that would take Stratos off guard, giving them an opening for a few more attacks before their enemy recovered. This hit and run tactic would take a while to whittle down Stratos' reserves, and that assumed he wouldn't eventually catch on to their tactic. It also assumed he wouldn't simply run away once he was nearly spent to recover. But, if they were lucky, Stratos was as stupidly overconfident in his new abilities as he seemed.

He noticed something in his peripheral and raised a shield just in time for a lightning bolt to strike it dead on. Watch out for the lightning! This is no natural storm! Almost in response, another rumble of thunder sounded, but this time it sounded different, like...like a very draconic growl. Another shield blocked yet another bolt of lightning, and then the following thunder...

Chills ran down his spine when he heard what sounded like horribly distorted laughter. Keep it together, brother, Razorclaw mentally shouted at him. Urfael may be influencing this storm, but he's still trapped for now! It's for the best that we keep it that way, so focus on Stratos and keep and eye out for stray lightning!

A sudden course correction had another bolt of lightning flying straight by him. He shook his head and focused on the current fight, sending a light ball straight into Stratos' face just as he turned his way. The small victory was short-lived as he had to block the return fire with yet another shield. He dropped it just in time to see Stratos coming right for him, so he used his magic to bend the light around him, temporarily becoming invisible and slipping away from the angry Skywing. That brief respite was once again for naught as Stratos went straight for Winter once he was visible again, ignoring Faredir and Razorclaw to instead take out his most dangerous—and annoying—opponent.

Faredir used that opportunity to come up under the Skywing, blasting into the other dragon's stomach and knocking the wind out of him. Then, he raked his back claws down the Skywing's soft underbelly and breaking one of his wings while he was winded. The Skywing fell like a stone, but Winter knew he was finished yet. Razorclaw went down after the Skywing for another attack of opportunity that connected, and Stratos ended up slamming into the ground with a great plume of sand.

Another dragon was flying next to him in the next second, and he did a double take when he was looking into his own face, though with golden eyes. "That is horribly unnerving," he commented, shivering when the other him smirked.

"Yeah, well, if he's after you, this ought to confuse him," Faredir spoke. Despite the creepiness of talking to a dragon wearing your face, Winter couldn't help but smirk, too. "You go in first. We'll take turns after that."

A furious roar told them their time was up, and the two dived as if playing chicken with the rapidly approaching Skywing. They split up right before they would impact, Razorclaw coming up and tackling Stratos from behind since his back was turned, and then Winter pulled a tight flip and slammed Stratos back down into the ground with a powerful hit, the shockwave powerful enough to make a clearly audible CLAP sound. "THAT'S IT!" the Skywing roared in utter hatred. "I've been holding back, but NO MORE!"

A massive bolt of purple lightning struck Stratos as he roared in challenge, launching into the air in the blink of an eye. His entire body was wreathed in purple flame, and he held two purple whips that shot out lightning on every swing. Razorclaw, fall back! The Nicewing did so, creating distance between himself and the enraged Skywing. Winter and Faredir kept moving, dividing Stratos' attention between the two of them. The unspoken plan was to wear him down before moving back in because there was no way Stratos could maintain this level of power for long.

Though, as five minutes of dodging and close calls went by with no signs of Stratos slowing down, he knew it was time to change things up. Even if the Skywing could last forever, they couldn't. And this body wasn't exactly as fit as his old one. "You know I'd be a lot more impressed if you could actually hit us with that power!" he taunted, making the Skywing roar in fury and focus solely on him. "How predictable," he drawled.

He braced himself and allowed one of the whips to wrap around his right forearm. Even with his magic shielding his scales, he still felt the burning agony caused by the powerful dark magic. Pushing the pain aside, he grabbed onto the whip and used it to slingshot himself towards the Skywing. "WHAT!?"

That was all the Skywing had time to utter before Winter slammed into him, tearing into the other dragon with magically enhanced claws. "Not so effective at close range, are they!" he taunted once more. In a desperate bid to fight back, Stratos attempted to bite the Icewing, but Winter was able to catch the looming maw and hold it back, albeit barely. The orange glow in the back of the Skywing's throat was the only warning he had before imminent death, so the Icewing released his grip on the Skywing's face, the sudden lack of resistance causing Stratos head to lurch forward. Winter used that opening to put the Skywing's neck in a death grip, so Stratos would be unable to breathe fire now that his airways were cut off.

Then, they were falling.

Stratos had stopped flapping his wings, and Winter couldn't hold them both up alone. He tried to escape, but Stratos simply reversed the hold, and they ended up slamming into the ground again with Winter on the bottom.

...

...

"—ke up."

"Wake up!"

"WAKE UP!"

He snapped awake, the sounds of fighting barely making it past the horrible ringing in his ears. "Oh, thank goodness!" He blinked a few times to clear his vision and looked up to see Razorclaw standing above him. "I thought the objective was to knock him out," he teased.

Winter just groaned and tried to stand, though Razorclaw had to assist since he was still a bit out of it. "It was," he hissed, clutching his side in pain. "I'm still not used to this body." Had he been in his old body, he would have easily been able to get out of Stratos' hold. He was smaller and weaker than he was used to, and it was holding him back more than he would like to admit. And while the anchor was doing its job of keeping his strength up, he was beginning to feel the ache in his wings. "My descendant isn't exactly a career soldier."

Rather than continue this banter, Razorclaw looked up. Winter followed his gaze to see Faredir engaged with Stratos alone, and the Changewing seemed to be holding his own remarkably well. With his instantaneous transitions between forms, Faredir was taking advantage of all of his strengths. His Skywing form allowed him to fly faster and maneuver quicker, and then a quick transition into his Mudwing form turned his already powerful attacks even stronger with the additional velocity. Every now and then, Faredir would turn into a Rainwing and camouflage if things got too intense, giving him a momentary breather. His Sandwing form was enough to make Stratos fall back as he attempted to dodge the deadly tail barb. And, of course, there was the Icewing's useful frostbeath, too. Even his Seawing form had a use when he got close enough to flash his scales right in Stratos' face, stunning the Skywing for a few precious seconds.

"Wow..." he breathed. "I think he's been holding out on us." Faredir had been a strong opponent in the past, but he'd never fought quite like this before. Usually, he just stuck with one or two forms in a fight.

"Well, it has been fifteen thousand years. He's probably picked up a few tricks since then," Razorclaw pointed out, and Winter had to concede that point to him. "But I think the more likely explanation is that he's pissed." He looked at the Nicewing in confusion. "It doesn't matter that you're the one in control right now. The other Winter is his son, and he just watched Stratos slam him into the ground."

That was one relationship that he still didn't really understand, but if this was Faredir's reaction to seeing Winter getting hurt, that parental love had to be real. Winter shrugged Razorclaw off now that he could stand on his own again. His ribs hurt from the impact, but the chest plate seemed to absorb most of the damage. He'd definitely received some pretty bad bruises, but miraculously, he hadn't broken anything.

As for the continuing fight, seeing Stratos on the back foot made him think they could actually win this. Even still, the Skywing was still holding on throughout the onslaught. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"A few minutes," Razorclaw answered. "Ready to get back in there?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But we need a new plan. Stratos isn't going to go down easily, especially through conventional means."

Understanding lit Razorclaw's eyes. "We pulling a Tarask?"

"I think it's our only option," he nodded. Razorclaw looked up after a moment before gazing at him skeptically. "It's not going to be easy, I realize that. Stratos is a lot more powerful than Tarask was, but still. It worked."

Tarask was another Changewing Lord that they killed during the war. The Changewing had been almost as powerful as Faredir himself, and he was equally skilled in the use of dark magic. However, a single, desperate action had ended up with Winter surviving by a scale's breadth and Tarask dying in agony. "Alright then...how do you want to do this?"

"Preferably without me almost dying again," he replied. "Finding the opening will be the hardest part, but once I take it, he'll be dead in seconds." He looked around after gauging the battle above. Faredir was still holding on, so they had a little bit more time to figure out a plan. "Aurora!" he called, seeing the Icewing Spirit running over to them. She skidded to a halt beside them. Before she had a chance to ask if he was okay, he interrupted her. "We're going to pull a Tarask."

She grimaced at that. "Yes, I'm sure that would do it. Our army is wiping up the last of the enemy troops, by the way. The Rainwing and Nightwings successfully flanked them, and they all but collapsed immediately afterward."

"Good," he nodded, pleased to hear that. "That's one less thing for us to worry about, then. Tell them to start moving into the city. And see if you can get that shield down in case we run out of time."

"Yes, about that..." she began with a frown. "We've already gone through half of our time." Both of them frowned at that. This was going to be tight.

But there was nothing for it. Both he and Razorclaw launched themselves back into the sky, ready to fight once more. With Stratos distracted by Faredir, they both got in some pretty good hits before having to fall back when the Skywing literally exploded in rage, a purple shockwave of dark magic dissipating after a few hundred feet. "Took you long enough!" Faredir snapped, breathing heavily. "I can't do this by myself!"

"Take a breather," Razorclaw told him just as Winter intercepted Stratos before he could strike the distracted Nicewing down.

And then it was more of the same stuff, dodging some attacks, blocking others, keeping their distance before counterattacking during an opening. The lightning was an even bigger problem this time, too, as Urfael grew more impatient and outraged from their continued existence. All four of them took hits and fell from the sky more times than could be counted. But still, no matter what they tried, Stratos always got back up. Just like Stratos was never able to keep any of them down. It was a stalemate that seemed to last an eternity, and it took nearly an hour of attack and counterattack before they saw their opening.

Stratos was angry enough to attempt using his fire as Winter closed in for yet another strike. A camouflaged Faredir uncloaked nearby, transitioned to a Seawing, and flashed his scales right next to the Skywing's face, causing Stratos to yell in surprise. Winter latched on to the Skywing, using his claws to hold Stratos' mouth open. Ignoring the claws digging into his sides and belly, he breathed frostbreath down the Skywing's throat as they once again fell from the sky. This time, however, Stratos was dead before he even hit the ground, frozen almost solid on the inside. He shattered into a million, sticky pieces upon impact with the stone walls of the city, and Winter caught the air just in time to prevent himself from crashing, too.

He exhaled heavily in relief now that the fight was finished. "Walk away from that, you son of a bitch," he spat. The two hours of constant fighting had taken a toll on this body, and his limbs were shaking from the exertion.

Razorclaw and Faredir landed nearby, both equally as exhausted. "Well...that's a lot messier than the first time," the Nicewing commented, and Winter just shrugged. Tarask had already been on the ground when he died.

"Well, he's dead, at least," was Faredir's response. The Changewing gazed up where the beam was still piercing the clouds. "But this isn't over quite yet."

Almost in mockery of Faredir's words, a larger pulse of energy followed the beam into the clouds before the beam itself disappeared. "Uh..." Razorclaw looked around in confusion. "There's no way that's it."

Oceania appeared right next to them, equally confused. "That wasn't you, was it?" Winter asked. Maybe the Spirits had already grabbed the gem now that Stratos was dead and the shield was gone.

"No, the shield's still there," she replied just as Shade appeared through one of his gates.

"He is dead, right?" the Nightwing asked pointedly.

Winter looked over at the dragon-sized stain on the wall before answering. "Very much so."

"Then...is that it?" Razorclaw asked, clearly skeptical. None of them had an answer. Even Shade seemed genuinely confused. Almost five minutes passed by in confusion as they merely stood there, waiting for something to happen. But nothing ever did.

"I guess so?" Winter eventually responded, though he wasn't too confident.

"No...we're missing something," Faredir argued, his voice quiet and gaze thoughtful. "I know my father. This isn't over."

"The calm before the storm?" Shade asked as cheers echoed in the distance. Evidently, the rest of the army thought this was over.

Suddenly, a look of horror crossed the Changewing's face. "Pull everyone back now!" he shouted, taking to the air in a rush. Winter and the others followed after him immediately after. "How could I be so stupid!?" he scolded himself as they all landed near the rest of their forces. They were already relaxed, patting each other on the backs and talking and celebrating.

"Slow down!" Winter demanded. "What's going on!? What do you know!?"

"The soul gem!" Faredir shouted. "It can only be unlocked with the power of a Spirit! When Urfael gave Stratos his power, it became infused with the Skywing's very soul, which means that—"

"Which means now that Stratos is dead, that power will return to its master, and his soul will become a part of Urfael, as well," Shade finished, his horrified expression mirroring Faredir's. Winter almost collapsed upon hearing that. "That means killing Stratos was all according to plan—Urfael's plan! He never wanted Stratos to win!"

"He used the Skywing as a distraction to bide time until sunset, which is in...less than ten minutes." They all shared equally horrified expressions, knowing that wasn't enough time...for anything. They wouldn't be able to break through that shield soon enough to stop it, and their forces couldn't pull back far enough away to stand any kind of chance. "This was a trap!"

"EVERYONE OUT NOW!" Shade all but screamed, taking flight to spread the message to everyone else.

Most of the dragons just watched Shade fly past in confusion until Razorclaw and Winter started screaming the exact same thing. "Everyone out! Go! Get out of the city! It's a trap!"

The panic that ensued only escalated exponentially when the beam of light returned, the thunder sounding suspiciously like laughter once again. "What's going on?" a familiar voice asked.

"We've been tricked," he told the Mudwing. "Urfael wanted us to kill Stratos! We just gave him his key to escape!" Flint cursed, splitting off to spread the message to the rest of their allies.

Instead of falling back with them, and the retreat was in full swing now, Winter paused, looking back towards the city. They had mere minutes left now, but...maybe they still had a chance. "Where are you going!?" Faredir yelled after him as the Icewing flew towards the shield protecting the ritual sight.

Desperation and fear were driving him at this point, and he ignored all the good sense screaming at him to leave and fly as far away as he could as fast as he could. He slammed into the top of the dome, piercing the protective energy with the tips of his claws and attempted to pry it open with all of his might. Both Faredir and Razorclaw landed next to him, and, upon seeing his idea, joined into the effort. They made good headway, but he was mentally ticking down the seconds they had left.

Thirty-two...

Thirty-one...

Thirty...

Aurora and the rest of the Spirits landed just then and joined the effort. Eventually, there was a hole big enough for him to squeeze through.

Fifteen...

Fourteen...

Thirteen...

The hole was still smaller than he would have liked, but he was able to fall through, and he landed on the ground in a heap.

Six...

He got to his feet as fast as possible and sprinted to the center of the ritual circle, but he knew he couldn't make it despite how desperately he tried.

Three...

Two...

One...

He was merely ten feet away when the gem shattered, an explosion of energy sent everyone flying back like leaves in hurricane. The explosion was powerful enough to turn the entire temple into one massive crater, and the ruins of the city surrounding them collapsed the rest of the way.

He bounced across the charred ground like a stone before skidding to a halt several hundred feet away from the blast's epicenter. He coughed, sitting up and staring towards the center of the massive crater. Laughter filled the air. And this time, it was crisp and clear rather than distorted through dimensions. This was it...

Urfael was here...

AN: If the ending seems a bit rushed, it's kind of meant to feel that way. The characters are all in a panic and racing against time to stop Urfael's revival, and the scene is meant to convey that through words and pacing. Let me know thoughts regarding that, as well.

I'm both excited for and dreading the final fight. Excited because it's the end of the story, yet terrified because I really wonder if I can do it properly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22