This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Chapter 11: The Hero Returns, the Darkness Strikes

Day 21

Shadow's start to the new day was to check in on Carmelita. Unlike most days, Karma was the last to get up, and was still in her bed clothes when Shadow was awake, cleaned, and dressed. Knowing that she was going through Hell, Shadow helped out with Marcy and Brian, even though they were mostly able to get themselves ready. When Marcy and Brian went to the mess hall, Shadow checked back one more time; Karma was dressed and ready, but she would have preferred to stay at home and lay in bed.

* * *

After breakfast, Shadow knew that fighting the dragons was going to need work and preparation. The first thing he would need was power; he still had some of the juice from draining the Fyr crystals from Yohan's truck, but he'd need more. He wished that he could go back to Vannannen where he left the trunk of Power Rings, but it'd take almost a week for anyone to go and retrieve it, and Shadow couldn't carry something that big by himself. There were two options, drain a supply of Fyr crystals that the miners had, or collect Power Rings from the mountains. At the time, Shadow didn't want to ask for the crystals, he had failed twice already and didn't feel comfortable asking for them.

Shadow spent the morning trolling the mountains around Lalberdean for Power Rings; by lunch hour, Shadow had collected more than 200 of the golden rings, and that was within a one mile radius of the town. He needed more, but it was a start.

* * *

Day 23

The second thing that Shadow needed was a new weapon, something that he could against the dragons; an attacking weapon wasn't really useful as Shadow was too small to wield anything that could do any real damage, so a specialty weapon was in order.

"Hey Mac, where ya hiding?"

From a back room, the blacksmith came out to the front of his shop. "Aye, laddy; what brings ye to me shop?"

"I came looking for a weapon."

"Do ye now."

"Yeah, can you show me what you've got?"

"This way."

* * *

Mac took Shadow into the barn to where the weapons were stored.

"Now, what were ye lookin' for, a sword, axe? I made all of these; I used to only make tools and mining equipment, until the dragons came."

"They look good; you do good work."

Shadow was poking around the weapons, looking for something that was the right size and weight. Shadow picked up a sword, a bit long for him though, and a bit heavy; putting it back, he took another blade, smaller and the proper length and weight for the hedgehog.

"These are nice, what else is here?"

Shadow took another sword, this one much larger than the first; he was about to put it back because it was obviously not for him, but something caught his eye. The sword had an odd shimmer that the first two blades didn't have.

"Mac, this metal, it doesn't look like normal steel, it glitters."

"Aye, some of the weapons are tempered with Fyr crystals; it happens naturally with the work tools from working in the mines, bashin' the rocks with 'em, they get bits of crystal ground in 'em. We found they do more damage when fightin' dragons, so I started grindin' 'em into the steel. But it takes time, I can't do more than a few a day."

Shadow put the sword back; he thought that the crystals infused in the metal would cause more pain to the dragons, but probably no different than his Chaos Spear, causing pain, but no real damage.

"Here now, here's a sword that's about your size, infused with crystals."

Shadow took the sword, a bit smaller than the smallest he'd seen so far, the length of the blade shined with the crystal glitter.

"It's nice, but it's almost too small."

"Well, here's one that's slightly bigger. Oh wait, this one's not tempered. Hang on a sec, I think I've got one here that's a real beaute."

Shadow looked at the blade, then remembered the red dragon with the hilt sticking out of its chest.

"No, no, no, a sword won't do; anything big enough to do harm to a dragon is too big for me to hold. I need something special, like a grappling weapon; if I can grab hold of one, I can do more damage than any piece of steel. Do you have a chain or hook type of weapon?"

"A chain or a hook? We have chains here, wait a second." Mac looked in a box. "Ye can try one of these."

Mackenzie handed Shadow a pickaxe.

Shadow took one of the mining implements, spinning it in his hands. "Maybe."

"I've got something else here, but it's a little big."

"What?"

Mac pulled a long shaft of wood from behind a stack of boxes; a twisted shaft with a strange curl to it, and at one end, a long curved blade.

"Something Father Time dropped off, I'd say."

"A scythe?"

"Ye know this?"

"Yeah, I know someone who works on a farm and has one."

Shadow put the pickaxe down and took the long farming tool. It was definitely too large, almost twice as long as Shadow was tall.

"You're right, it's too big. Can you imagine me going into battle with a tree branch?"

"Ye would look positively ridiculous."

Shadow was balancing the long staff in his hands. "But I do like this, it's evil looking. I'll take this if you don't mind, but if you could make something smaller, perhaps two of them, a left and a right."

"Two?"

"Yeah, a short handle with a smaller blade, maybe a bit thicker." Shadow gripped the larger weapon near the blade to show how he would hold the thing like a hook. "Like this, so if I go one-on-one with one of these lizards, I can dig in with these; with a notch here on the blade so I can hold it here without cutting my fingers off. When I was fighting that red dragon, I was having trouble holding onto him, and he tried to toss me."

"Well, if ye give me a bit of time, I can see what I can do, probably take a week or so."

"How long would it take to reforge this with Fyr crystals?"

"If ye mean temperin', a day or two."

With a stash of Power Rings collected and a new weapon, there was only one thing that Shadow needed: the dragons.

* * *

Day 28

The last week was rough on everybody. Karma was starting to get back to her normal routine, but she always seemed slower and less cheerful. Marcy and Brian were equally saddened, but they tried to act grown-up, if only for their grieving mother's sake. Kirkigard was also distraught over losing his father, but for the sake of the people of Lalberdean, he tried to show a strong face. Even though Yohan wasn't really the leader of the town, everyone treated him as such, and now they were passing the role to Kirkigard.

By now, Shadow had collected a stock of Power Rings that was even larger as the one he came with, scattered in small stocks around the perimeter of Lalberdean; and he was becoming semi-proficient with the long scythe. He was now waiting, waiting for the dragons to come. It didn't matter how many, a couple or a couple dozen, but he wanted them to come soon.

* * *

It was shortly before lunch hour that Shadow got his wish. While everyone was minding their own business, the alarm bells ran through the town. While the rest of the town was in an uproar, Shadow was very calm, and with deliberate steps walked through the streets that were otherwise embroiled in chaos.

Stopping in the road, Shadow looked to the sky, the dragons weren't visible yet, but he could feel them; the Fyr crystals in their scales were calling to him, like a scent of a delicious supper wafting through the air.

* * *

Elsewhere, Kirkigard was directing the flow of traffic as the villagers moved into position, flailing around a large hammer with an oddly shaped head, looking like a giant steel tooth that was impaled on the side with a stick. With people heading in every direction, calling and screaming that blended into an erratic mess of noise, the young bear did what he could to keep order as best as possible. Kirkigard looked up, high in sky was a huge swarm of the beasts, more than he had ever seen at once.

"Everybody to your places!" Kirkigard continued to hand out directions to everyone that passed; in the confusion he noticed one person missing. "Where's Shadow?"

* * *

Up on the mountainside, Shadow was in place; he was there with a stash of Power Rings and the long weapon. Shadow was looking up at the oncoming invasion; it looked just like the group that assailed Nosadire, with one obvious omission. Shadow stood firm, waiting until the beasts were in range. As they approached, he stepped out to the middle of the pile of Rings, then called on the Chaos Control.

The dragons had not seen Shadow on their approach to Lalberdean, and simply flew straight at the town, following the valley, passing right in front of the trap.

"Chaos Blossom!"

A shower of lightning bolts fired right into the flock, striking down several of the winged lizards. Before they could respond, or the casualties could recover, Shadow fired again.

"Chaos Blossom!"

Another barrage of bolts flew through the air. This time the dragons knew it was coming and tried to avoid, but another bunch still fell victim.

"Chaos Blossom!"

"Chaos Blossom!"

"Chaos Blossom!"

Shadow wasn't showing any mercy, or restraint; he was firing his cluster attack repeatedly without break, without care of his Ring supply. Each time, a few more dragons fell to the attack; no where was safe from Shadow's madness. Some of the dragons tried to make a break for Lalberdean, but they were picked off; some tried to attack Shadow directly, but they were picked off; some tried so surround Shadow, but they were picked off. Shadow had no idea how long his supply would last, but he figured it would be gone soon; he didn't care, his whole plan was to cause as much harm in as short a time as possible before taking the fight right to the dragons.

Some of the dragons were taking it hard, crashing into the rock face of the mountains and getting real injuries, unlike the temporary pain that Shadow's hits themselves were doing; those that took the worst of it, had little option but to retreat. Shadow could see that the dragon army was being whittled down, but not by much. As he continued his chain attack, Shadow was opening holes, allowing certain dragons to get closer. Those that were being overly stubborn to not flee while they could, were about to get a real thrashing.

Two dragons had come down on top of him, within fire-blasting range, and within range of Shadow's next assault. Shadow flipped his foot, raising the long twisted wood of the scythe to his hands. The dragons breathed in and regurgitated a wave of heat and light. With his Chaos Control at the ready, Shadow leapt up at the beast in front of him, cutting through the flame like a bullet through air, and coming out right in the dragon's face.

The hedgehog planted one foot right between the dragon's eyes as he ran past, swinging the scythe in a wide arc, sending a jolt of energy into the Fyr crystals in the blade, cutting off the dragon's left horn.

Now that the cutting power of the blade was tested, it was time to go blitzkrieg. Shadow ran down the neck of the monster, swinging the scythe over his head; when he reached the back, he swung it down and cut a slash across the scaly flesh.

RRRRROOOOOAAARRRR!!!

Shadow paid no attention to the pain the dragon felt with the first strike, he was too busy spinning the electrified blade in front of him, tearing more cuts into his opponent with each cycle, blasting sparks all around. When Shadow had reached the tail, the dragon had a row of charred diagonal bloody slices right down its back.

The hedgehog jumped from the dragon towards another one. With one swipe of the blade, Shadow tore a huge hole in the left wing, inciting a painful cry from his second target. From the back of this dragon, Shadow leapt to another dragon that tried to fly away from the oncoming terror, but Shadow swung the scythe around and dug the hook into the underside. Swinging from the lodged blade, Shadow worked his way onto this dragon's back by swinging himself up, then pulling out the weapon and planting it somewhere further up, leaving a painful trail of holes and gouges.

With his Chaos Control and the electrified weapon, the small wraith with its one huge claw danced an aerial ballet of destruction, showing little mercy for its enormous opponents. Each one he touched winced in pain with every slash from the blender. Within minutes of the tormentor's rage, many of the dragons were rendered so badly they could barely stay in the air from the mind-numbing pain. Half of the dragons fled out of pain and anguish, the other half were scared to death and followed suit.

With the attacking force retreating Shadow also withdrew, then turned his attention to Lalberdean. Five of the dragons ignored Shadow and managed to get to Lalberdean during his hands-on onslaught, but now they looked back and saw their backup fleeing the scene; they didn't know exactly what Shadow did to drive off their comrades, but they didn't want to find out. One by one, they realized that they were alone and left the battle.

The villagers didn't see the onslaught either, they were just glad that the dragons were leaving; but they did see that it was Shadow who intercepted the army, and they were glad that the whole force of the dragon fleet didn't land right on top of them. For the second time, they owed Shadow their lives, and the two other failures were all but forgotten.

But Shadow wasn't quite done yet; as the last five dragons were leaving, he wasn't about to let them all go. Looking up, Shadow selected one of the dragons, a straggler with golden yellow scales, coasting in the back of the pack and rather close to the slope. Shadow raced up the mountainside, following the giant serpent, hefting the long weapon behind him across his back. The winged beast didn't even see him, nor did it know just what skill the hedgehog had. When the black specter had finally caught up, Shadow leapt off the rock, aiming for the dragon. Swinging the long fanged weapon, Shadow dropped right into the center of the dragon's back, planting the massive blade into the scaly flesh.

RRROOOOOOAAARRRR!!!!

The dragon lynched in pain as Shadow held himself on top of the creature using the scythe as an anchor. Jittering about, the flying creature tried to shake Shadow off. One quick drop managed to dislodge the hook and Shadow slipped back, but a quick spin reinserted the weapon into the lower back.

RROOAARR!!

"You're not ditching me!"

Shadow climbed up the long handle of the scythe, pushing the blade deeper in, getting a brief whine from the dragon for each inch. As he made his way towards the head, Shadow could feel the Fyr crystals embedded in the scales. Placing his left hand directly on the dragon's back, he summoned the power from them; small sparks leapt from the scales to his palm.

RRROAAARR!

The dragon bucked up and down to throw the annoyance, but Shadow held fast.

"Didn't like that, did ya?"

Shadow threw all his power at the beast and caused havoc with the energy flowing over the scales, sapping it from it's owner.

RRRRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRRRR!!!!

Losing control, the dragon flew erratic in the sky, barely able to stay aloft; as the pain continued, so did the decent. Just as the dragon was about to hit the rock, Shadow relinquished his grip, giving the dragon just enough power to reach out and skip off the surface instead of crashing right into it.

The dragon was starting to gain altitude again, but Shadow punished that act with another shock, sapping the dragon of its strength, trying to force the beast down. It fell again, and Shadow cut the torture, but this time it wasn't enough. The dragon careened into the rock, slamming into it and bouncing away, only to hit it again; then grinding down the slope, tearing apart any small pieces in its way. Shadow covered his head as small bits of debris bounced over him.

After a moment of a very bumpy ride, the pair came to a stop, covered in dirt and rubble. Shadow got up, examining the damage he did to the dragon before removing the scythe from its back. He walked over and jumped down near the head.

The dragon seemed like it was unconscious, but a shallow wail from its mouth indicated it was still awake, just badly injured. Shadow placed his right hand on the neck of the beast; making sure the creature would not have the energy to pull any stunt, but also to see how bad its injuries were.

* * *

When the action had died down, Kirkigard had found his way to Shadow and the monster he downed. Looking at the ground, he saw Shadow's scythe, with the blade covered in blood.

"That's pretty good, to take one down with your bare hands. Feels more rewarding than throwing those lightning bolts of yours at them, doesn't it?"

Shadow didn't pay him any mind, he was too interested in the dragon, and more importantly, its injuries. It was now that Kirkigard realized that the beast wasn't dead.

"What, you haven't killed it?"

"No, its in pain. It needs help."

"Help? Help a dragon? These foul demons are trying to destroy us!"

"It won't attack, it can't"

"What are you, daft?"

"I'm suppressing its powers, it can't move."

The downed creature was starting to shift, a sign that its attention was returning to the real world. This was followed by a moan of pain.

"Calm down." Shadow patted the creature, trying to comfort it. "Do you have a name?"

The beast didn't respond.

"Why are you wasting your time with this? Kill it and be done with it."

Shadow didn't turn his head from the dragon. "Back off Jr."

"I can see the pain you're in, if you cooperate, I can give you some of your strength back."

The dragon snapped at him. "No!"

Shadow was a bit dismayed and backed away a step.

"No, please. My name is 'Dulcy', but do not relinquish your grip on me."

Shadow tilted his head, wondering why she wanted no charity; at least the voice sounded feminine, so he could call her 'she' instead of 'it'.

"It's up to something."

"Shut up, Kirkigard!"

The dragon shifted her head to get into a slightly more comfortable position, but she was in too much pain to move far.

"The crystals that have formed our scales are the source of our power, but we are also its slaves."

Shadow sat on a rock, though Kirkigard stayed standing, clutching his hammer tightly in his right hand, not letting his guard down.

"What do you mean, 'slaves'?"

"From living in these mountains, our scales have grown crusted with the energy crystals in them; they give us power, but we have grown too reliant on them. Someone has figured out that they are our weakness."

"And they have the ability to cut your power, like I am doing now."

"More than that, they can use the crystals to inflict pain. As long as you are using your power to block the crystals' energy, I am beyond his reach. I can feel it, the eyes in the distance that have always been on me are now closed."

"'His'? Whose?"

"The only name I know of him is 'Renquiest'."

Kirkigard leapt to towards the dragon. "Renquiest? Preposterous! You monsters destroyed his village and everyone in it. He's dead."

Shadow quickly focused on his companion. "You know this guy?"

"I've met him; we weren't really friends, but we got long well enough. His father was the chief of Polbal, until these demons destroyed it."

"We destroyed it on his order."

"Sounds like trickery."

Shadow ran in between the two. "Quiet, both of you. Dulcy, you say he ordered it."

"Yes, he ordered his followers to leave minutes before we attacked, then we destroyed it. No one survived."

"Joshua did, he told of…"

"If anyone survived then it was one of Renquiest's men who came to you. He has allies in some of your villages, including the other two towns we destroyed. He's been watching you, trying to wear you down a piece at a time; and he's also been watching you."

Shadow smirked. "Me, well aren't I special."

"Renquiest wasn't sure if you'd be a threat, so he sent a few dragons to Lalberdean to test you, then when you traveled to Nosadire, he thought it best to eliminate you."

"But he failed."

"Correct, but at least he had managed to scare you off."

"Until that red dragon came after me."

"Tomak wasn't through with you, it was his anger for his humiliation in Lalberdean; Renquiest let him loose on you, just to make sure you were gone."

"Not a wise move, since I'm back."

"When he found out that you returned, Renquiest sent us back."

"To destroy Lalberdean." Kirkigard didn't trust the dragon, but he was tired of sitting out of the conversation.

"Dulcy, he attacked Nosadire the day after I arrived, how'd he know I was there so fast?"

"He was using these boxes, they were made of metal and could carry a person's voice over a distance."

"Radio?"

Kirkigard wasn't convinced. "No one around here uses radio, the signals bounce off the mountains, there's no range."

Shadow looked up. "They could if they flew over the mountains. How many spies does he have, is there one in Lalberdean?"

"No."

"Then how'd he know I was there to begin with?"

"One of his men traveled to another town and passed on a message."

Kirkigard thought back, but no one left Lalberdean in the days following Shadow's arrival, except one. "You mean the merchant?"

"Yes."

"A perfect chance to study a potential threat. He hears Yohan was heading down to get help from Mobotropolis, so he stages the attack on Milon's truck, then the little prick hitches a ride with us and plays spy. Brilliant."

"You think that's bad, he's been charging us an arm and a leg in trade."

"The dragons destroy the competition, and with the threat of attack, he tacks on a huge insurance levy. Dulcy, where's Renquiest now?"

"He's holed up in our roost, in a series of small tunnels that we can't get to."

"Kirkigard, we need to get Dulcy out of here, and back to the village."

Kirkigard was still not convinced of Dulcy's story, even though it sounded pretty convincing. "We can't bring a dragon into the village."

"She won't last long while I'm neutralizing her powers, so she needs our help."

"I don't know, that'd scare a lot of people."

"Your father came to get me to help solve your problem, which is what I'm doing. Now go down there and get a rescue party, I'll stay here and keep her crystals at bay."

"Keep her from crushing all of us out of oblivion, you mean."

"Great! You tell them that, the village will buy that. Now get going. And one other thing, I need a box of Fyr crystals while you're at it."

"What for?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Four hours later, the wounded dragon was moved into the barn. Resting on piles of hay and large white sheets, Dulcy was being tended to by some of the villagers who covered her with large towels heated in a steam bath. Shadow was sitting down with her, and while talking with her, had a box of mined crystals that he was taking in handfuls and sapping of their power.

Shadow picked up a fresh handful. "So tell me more about Renquiest, and how he's controlling you."

"Up until five months ago, his was a normal mining town, like any other. There were occasions of skirmishes between the miners and the dragons, but rarely did it escalate beyond that. One day, a very odd gemstone came into the possession of one of the miners, Renquiest; it glowed a bright red, one might even think it was beautiful, but it soon revealed the power it held. When a dragon came close, it would sap our energy, leaving us helpless; and later, it was found that it could inflict great pain on us."

The hedgehog paused his activity. "A red gem? Have you seen it? How big is it?"

"Yes." Dulcy struggled a bit under the pain. "Renquiest keeps it on him, on a long staff, it is about the size of your fist."

"That sounds familiar."

"You know of this gem."

"Yeah, it sounds like a Chaos Emerald, my power comes from the Green Chaos Emerald, and the Master Emerald."

"What is this 'Master Emerald'? Is it more powerful than the 'Chaos Emerald' that Renquiest has?"

"It would be…" Shadow picked up another hand of crystals. "But I used up its energy a long time ago to save my home. I still possess their powers, but they need energy. If it is a Chaos Emerald doing this, it would explain why I can neutralize and absorb these crystals."

Shadow tilted his hand to let the charred remains of the crystals pour out onto the floor, onto the pile of deceased rock he had already drained. Shadow looked at Dulcy, and noticed that she was looking up at the wing bones taken from the dragon that Lalberdean killed and feasted on.

"The people here meant no harm, but they had little choice."

"His name was Edion, we grew up together. He was a good friend and had a strong sense of duty; he shouldn't be a trophy, it's not right."

"When this is over, you tell us what you want done with him."

"I'm sorry that we cannot return the favor, we have eaten many of the villagers whole."

"There are many villagers who hate you for that, but we all have to put that behind us; I learned a long time ago that you cannot hold a grudge, doing so eats away at you from the inside. We have a common enemy, we have to focus our attention on that."

"Yes, that monster who enslaved us. He will pay for what he has done to us, for our torture, and our queen."

"Your queen, what did he do to her?"

"Queen Tiamat, he is holding her captive, sealed in a cave. She is the mightiest of our kind, and she is the mother or grandmother to most of us. In all honesty, I do not know if she still lives."

Shadow patted Dulcy on the back of the neck, trying to comfort her; just like Karma before, Dulcy was too large to hold and comfort, so this was all he could do. "Dulcy, get some rest, we'll find out soon enough."

To be continued