Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Chapter 10: To the Rescue! Part 1
"That was also definitely not a hallucination. Men, let's move," commanded Randren. As response to his order, the other six still left around the campfire quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed to the place where they heard the scream. Juoro tried to join them, but Randren quickly grabbed his arm.
"Hurry, Scout! Go back and tell the king and queen that the plan might not work. The spies have started to cross the border as well."
"But Randren sir…"
"Do as I say!" Juoro nodded, quickly took his belongings, and left in the opposite direction. Randren muttered curses under his breath as he took a branch and lit it on fire. Then, he ran after his men.
On the other side of the trees, Cy, Hufanse, Aundren, Svrion, and Celton had backed up against a tree as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon roared and approached them. Behind it, a single Lord of Dragons stood waiting with a flute to control his Dragon.
"White Lightning!" the Lord shouted, blowing several notes into the flute. Immediately, the Dragon charged up and gathered sparks of energy.
"Now!" Cy cried, and just as the blast of power bellowed towards them, the five split up in either side. The burst stream of white energy hit the tree instead, and in a bright light, caught it aflame. The Lord of Dragons blew a few more notes and the Dragon turned to face Hufanse and Aundren. On the other side, Celton, Svrion, and Cy made a quick plan.
"Destroy the man's flute!" Celton said, turning to Cy. "Svrion and I will distract him by saving the other two!" Cy nodded swiftly in agreement as they split.
"Traitors!" said the Lord of Dragons, removing the flute from his mouth. "Hufanse and Aundren, the pitiful brothers of our greatest leaders. You should be ashamed of yourselves for ever thinking that you could conspire against the Dark!"
"It is you who should be ashamed," Aundren said. "That you dare to threaten us when we are working to protect this world from you and your horrible scheme. Only ill fortune shall follow Randren where he hopes to go."
"You," Hufanse continued, "have known us since we were little buddies at school, and yet now you hope to kill us?" The Lord of Dragons, enraged at the remarks, took up his flute to blow when suddenly Svrion and Celton launched a surprise attack from the back. It hit him like a tsunami wave, and he was swept right into a tree. For a split second after the attack faded, everything grew still and quiet. The darkness of the forest settled in once again, and one little cricket chirped.
Suddenly, the glow of the flute appeared again as Cy, crawlingaround to find it, bumped into it by accident. She picked it up.
"I got it!" she cried. The Dragon turned towards her. "Oops…maybe I shouldn't have made that a grand announcement."
"Dark Magic Attack!" Celton shouted. A bright ball of purple energy formed at his fingertips. It grew larger and larger as it gathered energy, finally speeding toward the Dragon and knocking it down. With a large, angry snarl, it crashed to the ground in a cloud of dirt and dust.
Cy took one end of the flute and swung with all her might. She crashed the wide end of the flute right into a nearby tree. It shattered in a blaze of silver sparks. Once again, the forest was silent and dark.
The rest of the campfire crew appeared by the injured Lord's side and helped him up. Cy backed up so she stood with her four friends. Finally, Randren appeared in the middle, standing next to the fallen Dragon and stroking its scales. His torch was the only light in the whole clearing, and it was barely enough to illuminate the faces of the opposing sides. Only Randren's face was visible, and it displayed a malicious grin.
"It's been a while, little bro. How nice it is to see you."
"My day has not been made any better, Randren, by your presence. Funny to see that my appearance has lit your face up ten shades more than that blaze of fire ever could." Aundren's statement had its effect. Randren sported a scowl now.
"If you think this a pleasant family reunion, you are wrong. I'm here to wipe out the meager resistance you offer now so we may proceedwith our plan. Already, you have injured one of my Lords and put his Dragon out of play. And you've destroyed that flute, but it does not matter. First of all, the bond we share with our Dragons is what really controls them. Second, the Master Flute still lives, radiating its power throughout the land. Also, fear not, we still have seven Dragons and six more strong men where that came from."
"Meager resistance?" Hufanse repeated. "Excuse me, but I think we're one heck of fine warriors here." At his statement, Randren turned to the other five men. They all laughed and the sound of their cackling filled the clearing. Cy and the others only grimaced deeper.
"I'll let us decide that for ourselves," Randren said, hiding a chuckle behind the shadows. "Five on five should be fair for you. Prove to me that this is not 'meager resistance' then. As my younger brother, you should do quite well in this battle."
"I don't know about you, Randren sir," Harsh said from the side. "But I am looking forward to squeezing the brains out of my little sibling over there." Hufanse growled.
"You were a handful to start with," he retorted. "We'll see who gets their brains conked out."
"You're on. We're one-to-one!" Randren sighed.
"So, we're choosing our partners, eh?"
"In that case, I get the girl," said one of the Knights. "I'll go easy on her." Cy narrowed her eyes.
"Please, save it for the ballroom floor. You'll get no lady-like manners here. There's no point in trying your gentleman flair."
"And him," said another one of the Knights, pointing at Svrion. "Sage Morlen's descendent. It would be an honor to crush him."
"Likewise, it would be an honor to defeat you," replied Svrion.
"I'll take your brother, Randren sir, if you do not mind," said one of the Lords. Randren nodded in approval, sending a smirk over to Aundren.
"If you do not find it worth your time to fight me, you are making a grave mistake." Randren chuckled at his younger brother's comment.
"I guess it is me against you," said the last Lord, looking at Celton. "How lucky am I to get the only formidable looking Dark Magician."
"Attempts to flatter me, I guess? Well, it's not working."
"Okay then!" Randren threw his torch to the side, clapping his hands. Immediately, a ring of fire sprung up around the boundary of the clearing, creating a small rectangular field. The dancing columns of bright fire rose up so they were as tall as the trees. The center of the ring grew hot and bright. On one side, five Dark Kingdom warriors stood tall, waiting for the order to begin. On the other, our group of heroes stood standing equally as high, not necessarily in height, but in determination. Between the two, Randren stood with one arm on the recovering Dragon and the otherarm supporting the fallen Lord of Dragons.
"There is no need to establish a time limit as we are going for the kill here." Randren stressed the words and sent them over to the Dark warriors as if to especially penetrate their skulls on the seriousness of the battle. "Don't hold back, either side. I want to see what the 'good people' are capable of." The Dark warriors chuckled and got into their attack stance. The Knights took out their swords and started up a flaming energy that ran through the blades. The Lords held out two hands, getting ready with glowing balls of energy that grew larger. The five bent their knees and put on faces of battle glee to hide any fear they kept inside.
Celton brought his staff out and poured magic into it, its aura getting brighter by every passing second. Aundren brought out his own sword and put it in front of him in battle position. Hufanse readied his ownglobes of energy. Cy and Svrion looked at each other clueless. They didn't really have a staff or the ability to hold energy in their hands.
"Magic Globe!" Celton hissed towards them. "Magic Globe!" Cy shrugged. He was on the opposite side, and she couldn't really hear what he said.
"Magic…Flow…" she whispered. Between her hands, white strings of energy gathered like a pool of lightning. She looked over at her brother, who slapped his forehead.
"Are we ready?" Randren asked, though it was more like a statement. His trained warriors bowed their heads in unison and said in sync,
"Yes, sir. Ready, sir!"
"Um…sure…yeah!" The Light Kingdom five replied all at different times, sounding like confused muttering. Randren found this even more amusing.
"Then, individual battles, start at convenience!" Randren stepped back a pace, and immediately the preliminary shots were fired across the battlefield. Hufanse, Aundren, and Celton all launched attacks that were met right in the center, vanishing because of equal strength. Svrion merely conjured up a shield and his opponent's attack frizzled out. Cy had to duck because she hadn't figured out how to fire her strings of energy.
Let's try something, she decided. Shout out random words again, and hopefully one will work.
"Launch!" she shouted. The strings of energy between her hands merely flickered, but did nothing. "Magic Launch?" This time, it worked. A large bolt of lightening shot out of the pool between her hands. It sliced through the shield her partner conjured up and hit his shoulder, knocking him back.
"Cool!" Svrion said, creating his own pool of lightening. "Magic Flow. Magic Launch!" His bolt of energy barely missed its mark as his opponent rolled out of the way.
"Watch it!" Celton warned. "That's third level material. A simple spell, but quick to drain energy!" Svrion nodded. He looked over at Cy.
"I heard that!" Cy said. "I've got other plans too! Magic Stop! Magic Halt! Magic Disappear! Magic Disintegrate! Magic Melt! Magic Cool… hey, who would have thought that would work!" Cy hurried out of the way as her opponent, growing impatient, hurled a ball of fire at her. Now that the lightning strings were out of her hands, she searched her mind for any other sort of spell.
"Magic Globe!" Celton said, quickly turning back to counter-spin his staff.
"Magic Sword!" Cy cried, hoping that's what her brother had swiftly shouted. Besides her, she could hear some sort of a yell before a spell suddenly lit up her vision. In a quick moment of confusion, she saw a bright white light coming towards her, drowning out the vision of flames so all she saw was a bright field of white. Suddenly, something collided with her left shoulder and she was forced to the ground, sprawling over to the edge of the battlefield. If it weren't for the sudden scorching touch of the boundary flames, she would have slipped into unconsciousness. Instead, she yelped and crawled back, turning to see what the commotion had been.
The loss of the white light caused her vision to have difficultly adapting to the rush of darkness. As the light flowing from the fire adjusted, she saw Svrion lying where she had stood, bleeding from the corner of his mouth. Celton had created a magic shield that he used to shield both Svrion and himself as he tried to revive the fallen teenager.
"Svrion!" Cy gasped, rushing over to her friend just as her opponent realized she had come back, firing multiple shots of white bullets. She recognized them as the same bright light that had nearly hit her face. Cy ducked behind the shield.
If it weren't for Svrion…
"He's in bad condition!" Celton explained. "I don't have energy to spend on healing him."
Cy mouthed "no" before she knelt by Svrion, looking up pleadingly into her elder brother's eyes. He sadly shook his head. It was obvious. In a battle of such high stakes, he needed every bit of his energy. Cy's vision focused out in the background, where Hufanse and Aundren were forced to take on all five of the bored opponents.
"Celton! Go back and help the others! I'll protect Svrion and fight!" Celton nodded, though not very confidently, before finishing off his shield seal and joining the battle. Cy took one of Svrion's hands into her own. The crackle of the flames, the battle cries, and the explosions of the exchanging blasts faded down to a mere hum as tears sprung into Cy's eyes. Svrion moaned lightly and shifted, lifting Cy's hopes lightly.
"Svrion?" she whispered, leaning closely over his face so that the shadow of her hair protected him from the harsh firelight. "Are you okay?" Another moan responded and Svrion opened his eyes cautiously.
"Cy? Are you okay? I didn't think you saw that coming-,"
"Why did you do such a thing!" she scolded, a tear finally escaping the protection of her lashes. "You could have just shouted a warning, you know!" Svrion laughed silently.
"You know that I always like to be the big hero!" Cy didn't know whether to cry, laugh, or shout at him. She doubted she had ever been this near to him, so alone in the large forest where even the closest people seemed so distant.
"I'm so sorry!" Cy said, stroking Svrion's cheek. "So sorry for everything! This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me. I was the one who told all about Hufanse and Aundren. I was the one who was too weak in battle. I was the one who caused everything." Svrion shook his head.
"I was the one who risked everyone, including Hufanse and Aundren, by bringing them to this Kingdom. I should have thought of something better, but we all make mistakes."
"But mine were far greater!" Cy protested in a whiny voice. "They wouldn't have been caught if it wasn't for me! They wouldn't have been found at all. You did such a good job of protecting them and I came and ruined it all." Svrion rolled his eyes at her. Groaning, he tried to raise his head a little higher so he could see her better. However, she pressed her hands down on his shoulders.
"No, don't move!" Svrion didn't have the energy to fight back. Instead, he sighed and let himself be pushed back down. In the little silence that followed, he began to notice the warmth of Cy's face so close to his, to feel the soft hands that pressed lightly against his shoulders, to realize that she was so close to him.
So close to him, and yet he didn't say a word. He did, right now, realize that he was lying in the middle of the battlefield while the fighting still continued outside the protective shield. Hopefully he did, or else he really got a good concussion there when he was thrown to the ground. It was not that he was ignorant, so it had to have been that he was enjoying the moment. And funny, Cy didn't suspect a thing.
Well, someone's got to make a move.
"You know, Cy…" Svrion started, aiming once again to get up, but Cy firmly kept her hands down on his shoulders.
"Look, I've done enough damage! I can't let you go out there!"
"You haven't done anything half as bad-,"
"I haven't done anything? Well, I tell you, if I hadn't done anything then I wouldn't be here. I would be in some female school learning how to be a Magician of Faith or a Mystical Elf but no! I argued with my parents to go to Dark Magic Academy. I persuaded you to let me in on your secret. I let it all out to my parents about Hufanse and Aundren. I got you sent to jail for it. I nearly got us all killed in that Labyrinth for suggesting to rescue you. Now, I'm nearly getting us all killed for getting out… and that's not all, but now we're in the middle of some scheme that's got both Kingdoms involved, something that…" Svrion rolled his eyes again as she droned on. Cy was getting a little too possessive of her errors.
It wasn't helping that with every word, she was pressing harder on Svrion's shoulders. He could feel her fingers even through his Dark Magician attire. That was scary. And she was starting to get more mad rather than upset. It wasn't any worse though. Svrion found it really attractive on her when she had that scowl playing with her lips, or that anger displayed in her angled eyebrows, or that scolding glint in her eyes, or the way her blonde hair formed a curtain of shadows that only enhanced every single feature.
Or even, as Svrion realized he had the time to notice now, the glow her skin had when the fire danced upon it. In conclusion, she looked very pretty even though she was scolding him out of relief or anger. And she was worried sick over him, however she showed it. And had always been a cool girl, someone different. Svrion's own Dark Magician Girl.
"Cy-," Svrion tried to interrupt, but Cy quickly shook her head and proceeded to go on about how she had been so ignorant of society and blah, blah, blah! Okay, fine. Svrion had to shut her up, a way in which she was sure to be left speechless.
He wasn't sure where he had gotten the energy to move his arm, but somehow it had found its way up behind her neck and had gotten the strength to pull her forward until Svrion had captured her lips with his own. It was a soft, passionate kiss that totally turned the world upside down. Everything flew away from Cy's mind, all her problems, all her mistakes, all her worries, until all she thought about was Svrion being so close to her. In the end, she was the one that pulled away.
"Why?" she asked, bluntly. Svrion shrugged, realizing that her hands had snaked their way down to his waist.
"I like you." Cy didn't know what to do. She felt something she hadn't felt before. A surge of energy that seemed to pulse, like an indication of the bond she had formed between Svrion. She considered kissing him again, but suddenly the shield in front of her burst into blue sparks that shattered her present fantasy.
"I think we were getting a little too comfortable back there," Randren said, faint redness in his cheeks showing that he had watched that little scene. Or it was the heat, but he had watched Cy and Svrion get…further acquainted. Cy scowled.
"Cy!" Hufanse shouted, quickly dodging an attack to try to get toward her. However, another warrior shot out a blast that streaked directly in front of him. He stopped in his tracks.
"Stay back!" Cy cried, turning back to Randren. That's when she noticed one of two things. First, she realized he had drawn his sword and was coming towards her. Second, she felt the pulse within her grow stronger, bringing up a point that she had forgotten for a while.
Magic Sword. I never saw if it worked. Randren raised his sword, its aura shining a bright blue. He brought it up over his head just as it started to glow red.
"He's using his most powerful attack!" Aundren warned, trying to get past the battle to her.
"No! Cy!" Hufanse shouted. The two rushed away from their battle and started sprinting towards Cy. They weren't going to make it. Randren brought down the sword and struck it across the earth, creating a column of purple light that rushed towards Cy, destroying the earth underneath it. If Cy hadn't felt that sudden pulse grow stronger within her, she would have screamed and allowed herself to be wiped away. But instead, she held out her hand.
"Magic…Sword…Counter Shield!" In a split second, everything around her turned blue and faint as the only thing she felt was the rush of the column wind and the deafening roar of death all around her. Suddenly, she felt the cool metal hilt against her palm, and the pulse urged her to swing with all her might. Everything grew black and quiet.
Unexpectedly, a giant blast of air followed by a streak of orange sliced through the blackness. The surroundings became visible again. When Cy came to her senses, she was holding a sword. The column of light had vanished and Randren was left panting on the opposite side of the clearing, his sword lying broken to the side. Hufanse and Aundren reached Cy just in time to catch her as she crumpled to the ground.
"What was that?" Hufanse asked, helping Cy back on her feet. She dropped the sword and Aundren tried to pick it up. With a hiss, he recoiled as it burned him.
"I don't recognize this spell. I have had some practice battles with Svrion, but I suppose he was not quite strong enough to issue such an attack. I cannot place where Cy got so much power."
"I don't know either," Cy admitted, getting up and brushing off her outfit. She turned to look at Hufanse and Aundren. "It just…happened…I didn't even mean to say Counter Shield. Something just took over my body and said it for me…" The three of them looked at each other, wondering what had just happened. This silent pondering was soon interrupted by a shriek.
"Celton!" Cy screamed, spinning around as she realized what had happened. In Hufanse and Aundren's absence, the five Dark warriors had surrounded Celton and spelled a magic net of black energy over him. It drained him of energy until Harsh stepped in and blasted him with a final blow. With no strength, Celton had crumpled to the ground.
Cy, Hufanse, and Aundren tried to rush over to his rescue but it was too late. Harsh and the other Lords took out flutes and blew the lowest note. The harsh sound resonated throughout the clearing. It made the three sink to their knees and attempt to block out the sea of echoes that resonated through the forest, intensified by the trees.
A blast of wind soon followed as seven pairs of wings entered the clearing, along with them the ferocious might of seven Blue-Eyes White Dragons.
"Oh no! Celton no!" Cy shielded her eyes as leaves were snatched from their branches, turning into harmful blades as the wind caused them to slice through the air. Hufanse, Aundren, and Cy struggled to see what was going on, but the leaves and wind made it near impossible to uncover their eyes. Thinking quickly, Hufanse conjured up another shield. From behind its magic window, the three of them watched in horror as the warriors mounted six Dragons.
"So long!" Randren called in triumph as he loaded the unconscious Celton onto the back of his mount. Harsh took up the hurt warrior. The lone dragon picked up the injured one and in a moment, they vanished in a flurry of diamond sparks.
"Celton! No!" Though the coast was still not clear, Cy burst out from behind the shield just as the wind rose up in one final assault. It wasn't clear if she had screamed or not, but as the blast died down, Cy crumpled to the ground unconscious.