A/N: Sorry this has taken so long….my modem decided to blow up, and I STILL don't have the internet at home. Plus I lost the entire finished chapter. That just goes to show what happens when you plan to update and don't! Your modem blows up. Anyway, here I am re-typing the whole thing because I don't want you guys to wait any longer.
Also, there's a rumor going around that we are no longer able to answer our reviews. I believe this is total crap, but I don't want to take the chance. Please don't let this deter you from leaving a review. Thank you!
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I leaned into my horse, urging it to go faster. All around me soldiers were rushing headlong into a battlefield. I had a weird sense of excitement. Whenever I was about to go into battle with my brothers I was excited, but this…this was different.
When with my brothers, we knew exactly what we were dealing with. Ill trained Foot soldiers, Hun the elephant man, and maybe even Karai. Here, I was against something I had never fought before. Monsters, whose strengths and weaknesses were unknown. Not to mention Coen, who could be harboring powers that I head never heard of.
I heard the dull sound of metal meeting metal, and I was filled with a heady sense of exhilaration. I headed straight into the middle of the fray of monsters – here and there I could see men loyal to the king fighting the monsters loyal to Coen. Looking around quickly, I realized a hairy lobster looking thing was about to behead Henry.
Using my knees to steer the horse under me, I came up behind the lobster thing and brought my nunchucks around in an arc, slamming them both against the thing's head. It dropped to the ground and Henry gave me a smile of thanks before rushing off to fight some more.
Motion to my right grabbed my attention, and I grinned. Gareth and his monsters loyal to the king were spilling out from an underground tunnel and beginning to help the fight. I couldn't help but be filled with a huge sense of accomplishment. The number of evil monsters was beginning to thin out already. My distraction cost me however, as I was knocked off my horse by a tall thin monster with large claws.
I landed hard on my shell. This wasn't good – I had always had more trouble than my brothers getting off of my shell when flipped onto it. I strained my muscles, trying hard to get up. The monster wouldn't have it though, and within seconds had me pinned. I closed my eyes and waited for the blow from one of those huge claws. I couldn't believe I hadn't even figured out how to get home before dying.
The blow never came however. The monster gave a scream of anguish, then fell off of me with a thud. I opened my eyes to see what had saved me. Catherine, atop a gray horse, had run the monster through and saved my life. I couldn't help the huge grin that rose to my face. The woman could use a sword!
I gave Catherine a quick nod to let her know I was alright, then decided it was time to find Coen. The monster may have tried to kill me, but that didn't change the fact that it was a human…a mere child. It couldn't help the fact that a psycho like Coen had gotten his filthy hands on them.
Looking around, I figured the king and his allies could hold their own while I sought out the scumbag. I scanned the battlefield, but Coen was nowhere to be found. I frowned – where was he?
My eyes were drawn to a cliff that rose gently out of the grassy field, a small lake sat below it. But the lake wasn't what interested me. Standing on top of the cliff was Coen, holding that stupid book, his back to me. Without stopping to think, I began to climb the slope. I had made a promise to myself. Even if I did die in this time, I would take Coen with me.
I climbed as silently as I could, and not for the first time I thanked my natural ninja abilities. If Coen had heard me climbing behind him and been alerted early, I would never have had the element of surprise, one of the most important parts of a fight.
I made it to the top and began advancing on Coen. His back was still to me, and he was still clutching the book. I remembered all the kids down there that were dying as monsters, and let out a snarl that would have send Raph packing. Coen whipped around and his eyes widened in shock. Before he had the chance to register what was happening, one of my round-house kicks knocked the book from his hands. I watched in silence as the book plummeted into the water below.
"Fool!" Coen hissed, "You have no idea what you have done!"
"Yes I do." I said calmly, "I'm stopping you from destroying any more people's lives." I began to advance on him. He backed up. "You were plotting to kill Henry…that's bad enough. But no, no, you had to make it worse. Much worse. You took innocent children who wanted to play in the moor – their moor – and turned them into monsters and forced them to do what you wanted them to."
All through my little speech I had been walking closer and closer to Coen, who had been backing up and backing up. Suddenly he ran out of ground. He had gotten to the edge of the cliff. If he took another step, he would fall into the water. I stepped right up to him, and grabbed the front of the long red robe he was wearing.
With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I lifted him off his feet and held him over the water. "Let me make this clear for you," I said happily. (I hadn't raised my voice once, and it was scaring him.) "I hate you."
"We…we can work this out…" Coen said, chuckling nervously and trying not to look down.
"Oh. I see." I said, "So, when I'm in a cage you're not afraid of me." I nodded. "Makes sense. Unfortunately, that just makes me hate you more." I loosened my grip on him, and he began to slip.
"I…I can help you!" Coen burst out. My grip tightened again, and he was steady.
"Help me with what?"
"You…you're not from here! You want to go home, yes? I can help you get there!" I hesitated, then loosened my grip on him again. "You could never help me."
"No…please…" I let go. He screamed until he hit the water.
I stared after him until the ripples from his body had petered out. Then I turned to a nearby bush and vomited. I had never killed anyone in my life. 'He deserved it,' I tried to convince myself. Shaking slightly, I began to make my way back down the cliff.
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Upon my arrival to the battleground, I noticed things were looking good for my side. Henry and Gareth, along with the people and monsters that followed them, had what was left of the evil monsters surrounded.
"Coen's been taken care of." I said quietly to Henry. He gave a grim nod, then motioned to the monsters.
"What of these?" He asked me. For a moment I was awed that someone was asking me what to do.
"They're kids. We can't hurt them." I said firmly. Suddenly I remembered something. "Oh…I have something of yours." I told the king. He looked at me curiously. I plucked the ring from my belt. "Here," I said, handing it to him.
But the ring never made it to his hand. It felt like a giant magnet was pulling it out of my own green one. I let go, and the ring hung suspended in the air. The ruby began to glow so brightly I needed to shield my eyes. Above our heads, clouds uncovered the moon.
As soon as the moon's milky rays hit the ring, there was a dazzling flash, and then nothing. The ring dropped to the ground. Henry bent and picked it up, looking puzzled.
Looking around me, I noticed a major change. There were no monsters. There were a rather large number of kids though. I blinked as a straw haired boy came up to me and took my hand. "Thank you," he said, pumping my arm up and down. My jaw dropped. "Gareth?" he grinned, and realization dawned on me. Without Coen to bind the spell to him, it had been broken, and the monsters were returned to their true forms.
I looked mournfully at what had been the battlefield. At least fifty bodies littered it. Some monsters, some not. "What about the ones who died?" I asked softly.
"They will be properly buried." Gareth assured me gently. "And the others returned to their parents."
"Michelangelo." I turned. Henry stood behind me, holding up the ring. "I thank you for everything you have done, including saving my life. To show my gratitude, I believe you should keep the ring."
"Oh, no…I couldn't…" I started, but he interrupted me. "I insist." He took my hand and closed my fingers around the ring.
Suddenly I felt strange. Everything went black, and I was falling…
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A/N: Next chapter is the epilogue. Review please.
