Part XVIII -- Darius Dracotaur
Vader was the first one to speak. "This is madness."
"Of course it is," Metria replied, becoming human again. "Anything dealing with demons is crazy."
"Why weren't we told of this?" Luke demanded.
"Would you play a game if you were informed that participating would mean you would be required to save the galaxy?" Chang asked.
"Good point," Luke replied.
"What will you do?" asked Wara.
"For now," Vader replied gravely, "we carry on. We will go up against Darius and plan things from there. There is nothing more we can do than that."
The ground trembled with the approach of a massive creature. A huge wormlike head emerged from the stone floor before them. It looked somewhat like a diggle, but it was covered with a fine coat of fur and had two curved ivory horns growing atop its head.
"Are you the Players?" it asked in a guttural, gravelly voice.
"Yes," Luke answered hesitantly.
"Good," it replied. "Follow me."
"Why should we?" demanded Metria.
The diggle grinned toothily. "Otherwise I eat you."
Vader nodded. "We will go with you. Not because we fear you, but because we wish to see Darius. I suppose you work for him."
The diggle grinned again, a grin that looked more goofy than savage. "Of course I do! I'm a crossbreed, if that wasn't apparent. I'm Yanni Yak-diggle-centaur." He set off, gliding through the stone without leaving a mark. The others followed.
"Odd mix," Chang noted.
"Oh, there's a story behind that," Yanni replied. "My father was a crossbreed of a centaur and a yak -- basically, a hairier-than-normal centaur with horns and a constant urge to say what was on his mind. He joined the crossbreed army and, at Darius' request, got married to a creature of a completely different species -- in this case, a diggle. The mix of an intelligent, talkative creature and a stupid, earth-traveling creature created me, a creature of almost normal intelligence with the yak ability to speak, the diggle ability to phase through stone, and a talent courtesy of my centaur lineage."
"Talent?" repeated Wara.
"At first all I could do was change the color of flowers. Exciting, huh? But Darius changed it into the talent of summoning carnivorous animals." He grinned again. "A very powerful talent."
Luke said nothing as their party trailed Yanni. He was still in a state of semi-shock from the Good Magician's explanation of their quest. The fate of the galaxy hinged on the outcome of their showdown with Darius! It was an overwhelming thought. But how could they not try? He would rather work with Vader to take on Darius than trust another duo to accomplish the matter. And they had come this far. They were so close! They couldn't turn back now!
He saw Vader lean forward to talk to Jenny. "I apologize, Jenny, for accusing you of being False."
"That's all right," she said with an understanding smile. "I can see how you'd think me False for not telling you how to get out of the game."
Luke turned to Metria. "And I'm sorry, too."
"Don't be," Metria replied. "Just kiss me when this is all over and we'll call it rectangle."
"Call it what?"
"Rhombus, quadrilateral, cube, polygon..."
"Square," Yanni offered.
"Whatever."
The passageway began to brighten as blazing torches replaced glowing stones on the walls. They seemed to be entering an underground village, with tunnels branching off from the main path toward store rooms and individual living areas. And crossbreeds were in abundance -- beings with six or more sets of limbs, beings with wings or horns that looked out of place on them, beings that looked insubstantial or glowed or had smoke coming out of their mouths, and all sorts of weird combinations. As Yanni and his prisoners continued on, the onlookers stopped what they were doing and joined in the trek, as if Darius' entire army was going to escort them to him.
A centaur, obviously with some demon blood, appeared at Luke's side and walked alongside him, giving Luke an unsettling grin. He was joined by a sort of reverse-naga man with a serpent's head. The snake-man hissed something, and the two of them gave a nasty laugh. A woman with feathered wings in place of arms and a snake's body and tail in place of legs joined the three of them, and they were soon joking and grinning over what they planned to do with the intruders.
"No," whispered Wara.
"What is it?" asked Luke.
"They're taking us to the audience chamber."
The cavern they entered was as bright as day, large enough to house a blockade runner, and supported with elaborately carved pillars. The crossbreeds gathered along the walls, talking and laughing. Yanni led them to the center of the chamber and waited.
"Darius wants to meet you himself," he told them.
"We've been looking forward to meeting him," Vader replied.
Yanni grinned. "Relax, friends. He doesn't bite. Often."
Two armored soldiers entered the audience chamber from a nearby passageway -- one the goblin-werewolf, one arm in a sling and glaring at their party accusingly; the other a troll with the horns and lower body of a goat. They stood at attention and saluted as Darius emerged.
He was surprisingly good-looking, with pleasant features, shoulder-length chestnut hair, and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. His human arms and torso were muscular but not to the point of being bulky, with the leather straps of a shoulder-scabbard crossing his chest. His dragon body and legs glittered a metallic green, with each scale outlined in gold, and yellow-webbed wings lay folded along his spine. As he stopped before the Players to regard them, his spade-tipped tail curled along his left side.
"My comrades," he boomed, "our time for glory is almost upon us, and Xanth is ripe for the taking!"
Cheers echoed through the cavern.
"We have waited many years for this moment. We, who have been persecuted, shunned, banished, ridiculed, and tormented for our birthrights all this time, will take our place in Xanth as its rightful heirs. Those who have seen us as inferior will pay dearly for their deeds."
The crowd roared at the end of every sentence. The fanaticism exhibited here sent a shiver up Luke's spine. He'd met plenty of crazed people in his life, but these beings were some of the worst he'd seen.
"And how seriously does Xanth take our threat?" asked Darius, a ripple of amusement in his voice. "Look at the best they have to send against us!"
The room burst into mocking laughter.
His brilliant green eyes rested on Luke. "A human boy, hardly old enough to be called a man. Doesn't look like much of a fighter."
"Looks can be deceiving, Darius," Luke warned. "Don't underestimate us."
Darius elected to ignore him. "A demoness." His mouth quirked in a grin. "I'm partial to demons, you know. It was a demon who gave me my talent."
"Whoever that demon was, he was an unutterable clod to waste a good talent on you," Metria shot back.
"An elf girl, a mere child," Darius went on. "What is a child doing in the midst of an assassination team?"
"I may be young," Jenny told him, "but I've seen enough of Xanth to know how to protect myself -- and others."
He looked at Vader. "An apparent crossbreed of human and machine. Never saw one before."
"Really," Vader remarked dryly. "I must admit you're the first centaur-dragon-jackass crossbreed I've seen in Xanth."
If the comment irked Darius, he didn't show it. "A centaur. You look somehow familiar. Yes, the former elder of Centaur Isle. How does it feel to be an outcast, Chang?"
"You altered my talent in an attempt to hurt me, Darius," Chang replied. "And the initial blow was painful. But you also gave me something of great value -- the ability to shed my prejudice of magic and find true love."
"And Wara." Darius gave a warm smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You've returned to us. Tell me -- which of these... unusual specimens have you chosen to be your mate?"
"None of your business," Wara said firmly. "I'm not going to be your pawn, Darius. I'm better than that."
Darius slunk forward a step, scales rasping menacingly. "You all talk with an awful lot of confidence for creatures about to be slaughtered."
"We'll see about that," Luke replied.
"We don't tolerate trespassers," Darius went on. "But as you have come on so noble a cause as to attempt to overthrow me, I'll give you a chance." His smile faded, replaced with a cold calculating look. "You against my army. If you can survive against them for fifteen minutes, you may go free provided you never return to Lake Eerie."
Luke glanced at Vader. The Dark Lord nodded once. He looked at Jenny, and she smiled and slid a hand into her bag. Luke grinned, catching on.
"Agreed," Luke told him.
Darius reached over his shoulder, grasped the hilt of his sword, and drew it with a hissing ring. "Draw your weapons."
Luke pulled out his blast-her. There was a snap-hiss as Vader ignited his saber. Chang nocked an arrow while Wara and Metria assumed alternate forms -- Wara her unicorn form, Metria the shape of a heavily armored dragon. Jenny delved into her pack and withdrew...
"A flute?" Darius sneered. "You intend to play us your own funeral march?"
"Watch it, boss!" shouted the harpy-naga. "It might be magic! It could put us all to sleep or..."
Jenny put the flute to her lips and played five clear notes in an ascending scale. Absolute silence reigned as the army waited tensely for something to happen. When Darius' disdainful laughter rang through the chamber, everyone jumped at the shock.
"Pretty playing, elf child, but it appears your spell failed." He raised his voice. "Kill them all!"
The crossbreed army encircled them on all sides, and that circle was slowly constricting around their group. Darius' soldiers readied swords, knives, spears, bows, fangs, and claws for battle.
A familiar crack sounded, and confusion spread through Darius' ranks as they were fired on from behind. The ring broke apart, and the audience cavern was soon filled with the sound of pitched battle.
"Imps!" cried Darius unbelievingly, whirling to face this new threat.
"That's right!" Jenny replied. "Your friend was right -- the flute was magic! I used it to summon the army of Imp Ire!"
The petite troopers swarmed into the cavern, some on foot, others on hoverbikes, still others mounted on miniature dewbacks, though the creatures' slippery backs made riding difficult. Most of the crossbreeds towered over the soldiers, but the imps had the advantage of greater numbers and superior military training. Plus, their small size made them trickier targets.
Darius had been quite surprised by the appearance of the imp army, but he recovered quickly. He turned to flee but found the way blocked by a snarling Metria.
Vader grabbed a winged elf man as he ran by, ripped his sword from his hands, flung him aside, and offered the weapon to Luke. "We'll take Darius together," he explained.
"Never thought I'd be fighting a battle alongside you rather than against you," Luke noted, taking the sword.
"Frankly, it surprises me as well," Vader replied.
Darius turned to face them, sword raised. Vader struck first, his lightsaber humming through the air. It struck Darius' blade, but it didn't cut through the metal as expected. Instead, both blades locked against each other.
"Surprised?" the dracotaur asked. "You should be. This blade's enchanted. It's unbreakable." He thrust upward and lunged for Vader's midsection.
Luke swung at Darius' flank, and he was forced to break off his attack to block the blow. Vader pressed his advantage, slicing a shallow but painful channel down Darius' right side.
Darius was an excellent swordsman, but he was no match for a Jedi and a Sith. They soon had him backed into a corner, and with a solid conjoined blow they struck his weapon from his hands.
"Your reign of tyranny ends, Darius," Vader said menacingly.
Darius said nothing, but a slight smirk betrayed him.
Luke sensed danger just behind them, and he whirled to fend off Yanni's lunge. The diggle hissed in pain from the wound in his muzzle, then bared his teeth and struck again. This time Luke plunged the weapon through his lower jaw and into his brain. Yanni rasped a death scream and crashed to the cavern floor.
Vader, meanwhile, was fending off the demon-centaur, who seemed to have inherited his demon parent's shape-shifting ability. He was now a griffon, hovering just over Vader and slashing at him with talons and beak. Luke rammed the beast with the Force, knocking him out of the air, and he squawked dismay as he landed in a tangle.
An imp wearing the shoulder pauldron of sergeant slowed his dewback to a halt before the two of them. "Sergeant Imp Ressive at your command," he informed them. "We received your signal and brought a legion of our finest troopers via wormhole to help you out."
"Very good," Vader replied. "Spread through the caverns and capture as many of the crossbreeds as possible. But leave the dracotaur for us."
"Yes sir," said Ressive, and he set off to give the orders to his men.
Metria charged by at that moment, flames flickering from her mouth as she pursued the harpy-naga. Wara was carrying Jenny and biting and kicking any who approached her, while Chang loosed arrows into the fray with deadly precision. The audience chamber was chaos, but Darius was nowhere to be seen.
The goblin-werewolf spotted Luke and pulled out a dagger, throwing it his way. He batted it aside with the Force and retaliated with a blast-her shot. It grazed her left side.
Suddenly Luke was struck with dizziness. He staggered. The goblin-werewolf took advantage of his moment of weakness to throw another dagger, which whistled through the air like a silver comet. Reflexively he tried to draw on the Force to block it.
Nothing happened.
It was only by sheer luck that he evaded the blade, and even then it sliced open his arm. He ducked behind a pillar and tried to figure out what had just happened.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" called the goblin-werewolf tauntingly.
Luke attempted a mind trick -- not as part of a plan, but simply to ascertain what he feared. It failed, confirming it. He had somehow lost control of the Force.
Another dagger struck the pillar, and chips of stone stung his face. That gave him an idea...
"Shall we play hide-and-seek then?" teased his opponent. "Well, ready or not, here I come!"
He drew his blast-her and fired -- but not at her. The bolt exploded against the ceiling, at the base of a stalactite. The stone spike hurtled down and struck the goblin-werewolf. Her armor saved her from being impaled, but the blow stunned her and knocked her to the floor. Five imps immediately swarmed over the dazed woman and took her prisoner.
The reverse-naga fired an arrow at him, and in the process of dodging it Luke caught a flash of green-gold in a doorway. Darius watched the proceedings with a grim expression from his relatively safe position. When he met Luke's gaze, however, a triumphant smirk broke through.
"Sith!" he hissed, turning the stone at his feet black. Darius had altered his talent! He was no longer able to use the Force!
Vader was a veritable cyclone of destruction to Luke's left, his lightsaber spinning in a deadly dance. Darius' gaze went to the Sith, and he smiled wickedly.
"Watch out!" Luke shouted.
The reverse-naga chose then to loose an arrow in Vader's direction. He turned and extended a hand in a blocking gesture to deflect the arrow, having misinterpreted Luke's cry of warning.
Darius flicked a hand as if brushing away a speck of dust.
The arrow landed squarely in Vader's chest.
"NO!"
Even through the mask, Vader's expression of shock was evident. His entire body went lax, and his lightsaber slipped from his hand and clattered away. It seemed to take an age for him to fall, as if he were some ancient tree.
"FATHER!"
He fell to his knees beside the cyborg's body, oblivious to the chaos around him. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! They were so close! And now he'd just lost his ally... and his father.
Darius' mocking laughter reached his ears. "Not so cocky when you lose a member of your group, eh?"
Luke didn't stop to think. He snatched Vader's lightsaber and locked the blade on. With a scream of rage he flung the weapon at the dracotaur. Even without the Force to guide him, his aim was dead-on, and the blade hissed toward Darius' heart.
But Chang, who had witnessed the entire episode, intervened. He fired an arrow at the flying weapon, striking its handle and knocking it off course. The blade bit deep into Darius' shoulder, and in the process of falling to the ground it sliced into his wing as well. His mouth locked open in a soundless scream of agony.
"Finish him off, Chang!" Luke shouted.
"No, Luke!" the centaur replied. "Remember what the Good Magician told us! You very nearly handed victory to E(A/R)TH!"
"He killed my father!"
"Your father lives! He breathes! Look!"
Luke stared at Vader, trembling with anger. His chest still rose and fell -- barely. His breath came out in high-pitched wheezes. He was alive, but only just.
"Help me carry him out of here, Chang!" Luke shouted, struggling to lift him. Stars, he seemed to weigh a ton!
"Let me," Metria cut in. She bent down and picked him up in her mouth like a hatchling, carrying him into a nearby tunnel.
As they retreated, Darius' shout followed them out.
"Don't think you can hide from me!"
Vader was the first one to speak. "This is madness."
"Of course it is," Metria replied, becoming human again. "Anything dealing with demons is crazy."
"Why weren't we told of this?" Luke demanded.
"Would you play a game if you were informed that participating would mean you would be required to save the galaxy?" Chang asked.
"Good point," Luke replied.
"What will you do?" asked Wara.
"For now," Vader replied gravely, "we carry on. We will go up against Darius and plan things from there. There is nothing more we can do than that."
The ground trembled with the approach of a massive creature. A huge wormlike head emerged from the stone floor before them. It looked somewhat like a diggle, but it was covered with a fine coat of fur and had two curved ivory horns growing atop its head.
"Are you the Players?" it asked in a guttural, gravelly voice.
"Yes," Luke answered hesitantly.
"Good," it replied. "Follow me."
"Why should we?" demanded Metria.
The diggle grinned toothily. "Otherwise I eat you."
Vader nodded. "We will go with you. Not because we fear you, but because we wish to see Darius. I suppose you work for him."
The diggle grinned again, a grin that looked more goofy than savage. "Of course I do! I'm a crossbreed, if that wasn't apparent. I'm Yanni Yak-diggle-centaur." He set off, gliding through the stone without leaving a mark. The others followed.
"Odd mix," Chang noted.
"Oh, there's a story behind that," Yanni replied. "My father was a crossbreed of a centaur and a yak -- basically, a hairier-than-normal centaur with horns and a constant urge to say what was on his mind. He joined the crossbreed army and, at Darius' request, got married to a creature of a completely different species -- in this case, a diggle. The mix of an intelligent, talkative creature and a stupid, earth-traveling creature created me, a creature of almost normal intelligence with the yak ability to speak, the diggle ability to phase through stone, and a talent courtesy of my centaur lineage."
"Talent?" repeated Wara.
"At first all I could do was change the color of flowers. Exciting, huh? But Darius changed it into the talent of summoning carnivorous animals." He grinned again. "A very powerful talent."
Luke said nothing as their party trailed Yanni. He was still in a state of semi-shock from the Good Magician's explanation of their quest. The fate of the galaxy hinged on the outcome of their showdown with Darius! It was an overwhelming thought. But how could they not try? He would rather work with Vader to take on Darius than trust another duo to accomplish the matter. And they had come this far. They were so close! They couldn't turn back now!
He saw Vader lean forward to talk to Jenny. "I apologize, Jenny, for accusing you of being False."
"That's all right," she said with an understanding smile. "I can see how you'd think me False for not telling you how to get out of the game."
Luke turned to Metria. "And I'm sorry, too."
"Don't be," Metria replied. "Just kiss me when this is all over and we'll call it rectangle."
"Call it what?"
"Rhombus, quadrilateral, cube, polygon..."
"Square," Yanni offered.
"Whatever."
The passageway began to brighten as blazing torches replaced glowing stones on the walls. They seemed to be entering an underground village, with tunnels branching off from the main path toward store rooms and individual living areas. And crossbreeds were in abundance -- beings with six or more sets of limbs, beings with wings or horns that looked out of place on them, beings that looked insubstantial or glowed or had smoke coming out of their mouths, and all sorts of weird combinations. As Yanni and his prisoners continued on, the onlookers stopped what they were doing and joined in the trek, as if Darius' entire army was going to escort them to him.
A centaur, obviously with some demon blood, appeared at Luke's side and walked alongside him, giving Luke an unsettling grin. He was joined by a sort of reverse-naga man with a serpent's head. The snake-man hissed something, and the two of them gave a nasty laugh. A woman with feathered wings in place of arms and a snake's body and tail in place of legs joined the three of them, and they were soon joking and grinning over what they planned to do with the intruders.
"No," whispered Wara.
"What is it?" asked Luke.
"They're taking us to the audience chamber."
The cavern they entered was as bright as day, large enough to house a blockade runner, and supported with elaborately carved pillars. The crossbreeds gathered along the walls, talking and laughing. Yanni led them to the center of the chamber and waited.
"Darius wants to meet you himself," he told them.
"We've been looking forward to meeting him," Vader replied.
Yanni grinned. "Relax, friends. He doesn't bite. Often."
Two armored soldiers entered the audience chamber from a nearby passageway -- one the goblin-werewolf, one arm in a sling and glaring at their party accusingly; the other a troll with the horns and lower body of a goat. They stood at attention and saluted as Darius emerged.
He was surprisingly good-looking, with pleasant features, shoulder-length chestnut hair, and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. His human arms and torso were muscular but not to the point of being bulky, with the leather straps of a shoulder-scabbard crossing his chest. His dragon body and legs glittered a metallic green, with each scale outlined in gold, and yellow-webbed wings lay folded along his spine. As he stopped before the Players to regard them, his spade-tipped tail curled along his left side.
"My comrades," he boomed, "our time for glory is almost upon us, and Xanth is ripe for the taking!"
Cheers echoed through the cavern.
"We have waited many years for this moment. We, who have been persecuted, shunned, banished, ridiculed, and tormented for our birthrights all this time, will take our place in Xanth as its rightful heirs. Those who have seen us as inferior will pay dearly for their deeds."
The crowd roared at the end of every sentence. The fanaticism exhibited here sent a shiver up Luke's spine. He'd met plenty of crazed people in his life, but these beings were some of the worst he'd seen.
"And how seriously does Xanth take our threat?" asked Darius, a ripple of amusement in his voice. "Look at the best they have to send against us!"
The room burst into mocking laughter.
His brilliant green eyes rested on Luke. "A human boy, hardly old enough to be called a man. Doesn't look like much of a fighter."
"Looks can be deceiving, Darius," Luke warned. "Don't underestimate us."
Darius elected to ignore him. "A demoness." His mouth quirked in a grin. "I'm partial to demons, you know. It was a demon who gave me my talent."
"Whoever that demon was, he was an unutterable clod to waste a good talent on you," Metria shot back.
"An elf girl, a mere child," Darius went on. "What is a child doing in the midst of an assassination team?"
"I may be young," Jenny told him, "but I've seen enough of Xanth to know how to protect myself -- and others."
He looked at Vader. "An apparent crossbreed of human and machine. Never saw one before."
"Really," Vader remarked dryly. "I must admit you're the first centaur-dragon-jackass crossbreed I've seen in Xanth."
If the comment irked Darius, he didn't show it. "A centaur. You look somehow familiar. Yes, the former elder of Centaur Isle. How does it feel to be an outcast, Chang?"
"You altered my talent in an attempt to hurt me, Darius," Chang replied. "And the initial blow was painful. But you also gave me something of great value -- the ability to shed my prejudice of magic and find true love."
"And Wara." Darius gave a warm smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You've returned to us. Tell me -- which of these... unusual specimens have you chosen to be your mate?"
"None of your business," Wara said firmly. "I'm not going to be your pawn, Darius. I'm better than that."
Darius slunk forward a step, scales rasping menacingly. "You all talk with an awful lot of confidence for creatures about to be slaughtered."
"We'll see about that," Luke replied.
"We don't tolerate trespassers," Darius went on. "But as you have come on so noble a cause as to attempt to overthrow me, I'll give you a chance." His smile faded, replaced with a cold calculating look. "You against my army. If you can survive against them for fifteen minutes, you may go free provided you never return to Lake Eerie."
Luke glanced at Vader. The Dark Lord nodded once. He looked at Jenny, and she smiled and slid a hand into her bag. Luke grinned, catching on.
"Agreed," Luke told him.
Darius reached over his shoulder, grasped the hilt of his sword, and drew it with a hissing ring. "Draw your weapons."
Luke pulled out his blast-her. There was a snap-hiss as Vader ignited his saber. Chang nocked an arrow while Wara and Metria assumed alternate forms -- Wara her unicorn form, Metria the shape of a heavily armored dragon. Jenny delved into her pack and withdrew...
"A flute?" Darius sneered. "You intend to play us your own funeral march?"
"Watch it, boss!" shouted the harpy-naga. "It might be magic! It could put us all to sleep or..."
Jenny put the flute to her lips and played five clear notes in an ascending scale. Absolute silence reigned as the army waited tensely for something to happen. When Darius' disdainful laughter rang through the chamber, everyone jumped at the shock.
"Pretty playing, elf child, but it appears your spell failed." He raised his voice. "Kill them all!"
The crossbreed army encircled them on all sides, and that circle was slowly constricting around their group. Darius' soldiers readied swords, knives, spears, bows, fangs, and claws for battle.
A familiar crack sounded, and confusion spread through Darius' ranks as they were fired on from behind. The ring broke apart, and the audience cavern was soon filled with the sound of pitched battle.
"Imps!" cried Darius unbelievingly, whirling to face this new threat.
"That's right!" Jenny replied. "Your friend was right -- the flute was magic! I used it to summon the army of Imp Ire!"
The petite troopers swarmed into the cavern, some on foot, others on hoverbikes, still others mounted on miniature dewbacks, though the creatures' slippery backs made riding difficult. Most of the crossbreeds towered over the soldiers, but the imps had the advantage of greater numbers and superior military training. Plus, their small size made them trickier targets.
Darius had been quite surprised by the appearance of the imp army, but he recovered quickly. He turned to flee but found the way blocked by a snarling Metria.
Vader grabbed a winged elf man as he ran by, ripped his sword from his hands, flung him aside, and offered the weapon to Luke. "We'll take Darius together," he explained.
"Never thought I'd be fighting a battle alongside you rather than against you," Luke noted, taking the sword.
"Frankly, it surprises me as well," Vader replied.
Darius turned to face them, sword raised. Vader struck first, his lightsaber humming through the air. It struck Darius' blade, but it didn't cut through the metal as expected. Instead, both blades locked against each other.
"Surprised?" the dracotaur asked. "You should be. This blade's enchanted. It's unbreakable." He thrust upward and lunged for Vader's midsection.
Luke swung at Darius' flank, and he was forced to break off his attack to block the blow. Vader pressed his advantage, slicing a shallow but painful channel down Darius' right side.
Darius was an excellent swordsman, but he was no match for a Jedi and a Sith. They soon had him backed into a corner, and with a solid conjoined blow they struck his weapon from his hands.
"Your reign of tyranny ends, Darius," Vader said menacingly.
Darius said nothing, but a slight smirk betrayed him.
Luke sensed danger just behind them, and he whirled to fend off Yanni's lunge. The diggle hissed in pain from the wound in his muzzle, then bared his teeth and struck again. This time Luke plunged the weapon through his lower jaw and into his brain. Yanni rasped a death scream and crashed to the cavern floor.
Vader, meanwhile, was fending off the demon-centaur, who seemed to have inherited his demon parent's shape-shifting ability. He was now a griffon, hovering just over Vader and slashing at him with talons and beak. Luke rammed the beast with the Force, knocking him out of the air, and he squawked dismay as he landed in a tangle.
An imp wearing the shoulder pauldron of sergeant slowed his dewback to a halt before the two of them. "Sergeant Imp Ressive at your command," he informed them. "We received your signal and brought a legion of our finest troopers via wormhole to help you out."
"Very good," Vader replied. "Spread through the caverns and capture as many of the crossbreeds as possible. But leave the dracotaur for us."
"Yes sir," said Ressive, and he set off to give the orders to his men.
Metria charged by at that moment, flames flickering from her mouth as she pursued the harpy-naga. Wara was carrying Jenny and biting and kicking any who approached her, while Chang loosed arrows into the fray with deadly precision. The audience chamber was chaos, but Darius was nowhere to be seen.
The goblin-werewolf spotted Luke and pulled out a dagger, throwing it his way. He batted it aside with the Force and retaliated with a blast-her shot. It grazed her left side.
Suddenly Luke was struck with dizziness. He staggered. The goblin-werewolf took advantage of his moment of weakness to throw another dagger, which whistled through the air like a silver comet. Reflexively he tried to draw on the Force to block it.
Nothing happened.
It was only by sheer luck that he evaded the blade, and even then it sliced open his arm. He ducked behind a pillar and tried to figure out what had just happened.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" called the goblin-werewolf tauntingly.
Luke attempted a mind trick -- not as part of a plan, but simply to ascertain what he feared. It failed, confirming it. He had somehow lost control of the Force.
Another dagger struck the pillar, and chips of stone stung his face. That gave him an idea...
"Shall we play hide-and-seek then?" teased his opponent. "Well, ready or not, here I come!"
He drew his blast-her and fired -- but not at her. The bolt exploded against the ceiling, at the base of a stalactite. The stone spike hurtled down and struck the goblin-werewolf. Her armor saved her from being impaled, but the blow stunned her and knocked her to the floor. Five imps immediately swarmed over the dazed woman and took her prisoner.
The reverse-naga fired an arrow at him, and in the process of dodging it Luke caught a flash of green-gold in a doorway. Darius watched the proceedings with a grim expression from his relatively safe position. When he met Luke's gaze, however, a triumphant smirk broke through.
"Sith!" he hissed, turning the stone at his feet black. Darius had altered his talent! He was no longer able to use the Force!
Vader was a veritable cyclone of destruction to Luke's left, his lightsaber spinning in a deadly dance. Darius' gaze went to the Sith, and he smiled wickedly.
"Watch out!" Luke shouted.
The reverse-naga chose then to loose an arrow in Vader's direction. He turned and extended a hand in a blocking gesture to deflect the arrow, having misinterpreted Luke's cry of warning.
Darius flicked a hand as if brushing away a speck of dust.
The arrow landed squarely in Vader's chest.
"NO!"
Even through the mask, Vader's expression of shock was evident. His entire body went lax, and his lightsaber slipped from his hand and clattered away. It seemed to take an age for him to fall, as if he were some ancient tree.
"FATHER!"
He fell to his knees beside the cyborg's body, oblivious to the chaos around him. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! They were so close! And now he'd just lost his ally... and his father.
Darius' mocking laughter reached his ears. "Not so cocky when you lose a member of your group, eh?"
Luke didn't stop to think. He snatched Vader's lightsaber and locked the blade on. With a scream of rage he flung the weapon at the dracotaur. Even without the Force to guide him, his aim was dead-on, and the blade hissed toward Darius' heart.
But Chang, who had witnessed the entire episode, intervened. He fired an arrow at the flying weapon, striking its handle and knocking it off course. The blade bit deep into Darius' shoulder, and in the process of falling to the ground it sliced into his wing as well. His mouth locked open in a soundless scream of agony.
"Finish him off, Chang!" Luke shouted.
"No, Luke!" the centaur replied. "Remember what the Good Magician told us! You very nearly handed victory to E(A/R)TH!"
"He killed my father!"
"Your father lives! He breathes! Look!"
Luke stared at Vader, trembling with anger. His chest still rose and fell -- barely. His breath came out in high-pitched wheezes. He was alive, but only just.
"Help me carry him out of here, Chang!" Luke shouted, struggling to lift him. Stars, he seemed to weigh a ton!
"Let me," Metria cut in. She bent down and picked him up in her mouth like a hatchling, carrying him into a nearby tunnel.
As they retreated, Darius' shout followed them out.
"Don't think you can hide from me!"