The crystal walls glowed a deep blue, almost purple as Thunderchild walked towards the door of the room they were in.
"I like the décor." Said Beowolf
Thunderchild just grunted as he opened the door an inch, knelt down and peered out.
"Anyone out there?" asked Nagy from behind him.
"I can't see anyone."
Proeliator scanned every foot of the room looking for hidden weapons or traps.
"I can't see anything suspicious." He concluded
Beowolf touched the crystal wall and ran his hand along it
"It feels…warm…" he said
Deep in Thunderchilds heart shivers of terror ran free as he recognised the surroundings from his vision.
Domino killed me in that vision he thought
Nagy saw the doubt in Thunderchilds eyes and walked over to him.
"What's the matter?"
Thunderchild shook his head and stood up
"It's nothing…nothing at all…I hope."
Walking out from behind the door the four of them emerged onto a platform that seemed to be in the heart of the Crystal Palace. To their right a staircase wound its way down following the circle wall in a corkscrew shape.
Proeliator walked over to the edge of the platform and looked down, the staircase spiralled down into infinity, he couldn't see the bottom, leaning on the handrails he could see other platforms like their own with doors on them.
"Well…Jara doesn't do things by half," he said "We've got a lot of searching to do."
Beowolf turned to Thunderchild.
"That's just it Thunderchild…what are we going to do now? You built this plan on getting here…now what!"
Thunderchild stared down into the blue haze that obscured any further view to the bottom, the palace seemed to be alive around him.
How did Jara make this? He thought
"Thunderchild?" prompted Beowolf
Thunderchild turned back around
"Hmm?"
"What are we going to do now?"
Thunderchild turned back around and put both his hands on the hand rail.
"Well…we'd best head down some levels…we've got to get the Crystal from Jara, if she manages to harness the power of it, she'll be unstoppable…and I've got to find Domino."
Proeliator nodded
"Ok then…lead on Thunderchild."
Thunderchild nodded and began walking down the stairs, after a little while he began to walk faster and then run.
They ran down ten levels before Thunderchild stopped, out of breath.
"How do you know where you're going?" asked Beowolf
"I just know." Came the reply.
"So…where do you think this crystal is?"
Thunderchild pointed down the staircase
"Another…twenty or so levels now…it'll be the brightest part of the palace."
Something was distracting Thunderchild, Nagy could see it clearly on his friends face, he wasn't focusing clearly.
"Come on Thunderchild…we've got to find Domino." He urged
Thunderchild shook his head to collect his thoughts and then started running again, they got another five levels before Thunderchild stopped.
"Something's wrong." He said
"What?" asked Beowolf
"Something to do with Domino…I don't know…I can feel fear from her…apprehension."
Proeliator frowned
"Something's wrong?…is it a trap?"
"Not quite…" came a voice from above them
"Oh no." muttered Nagy as he looked up and saw Jara standing on the platform above them.
"Persistent…aren't you Yissan?" asked Jara as she flicked back some of her dark brown hair.
"Jara…I will hunt you to the ends of the universe if need be…now give me back my wife!" growled Thunderchild
Jara laughed
"You really want her back that much?" she asked, a sinister smile playing across her face.
"Yes!"
Jara placed both her hands on the handrail and gave Thunderchild a cold stare
"Then you will get her back!" she sneered
Thunderchild drew his sword triggering Proeliator, Nagy and Beowolf to draw their respective weapons.
Domino and Zidane appeared standing each side of Jara, both of them carried blank looks, like the genomes they had fought to get here.
"DOMINO!" shouted Thunderchild as his legs gave way beneath him and he fell backwards onto the stairs.
"What did I tell you Yissan? Mithril Yugami here is a tool… a weapon to be used and disposed of. It is in this way I will use her to destroy you."
"My name is not Yissan…it is Thunderchild and her name is Domino and she IS MY WIFE YOU BITCH!"
Domino somersaulted off the platform and landed in front of Thunderchild.
"Fight it Domino…fight it!" he urged her, looking her in the eye.
Domino punched him in the face.
Jara cackled with glee as Thunderchild fell to the floor.
Slowly, he stood up again.
"I'm your husband Domino! I love you."
"Die!" responded Domino punching him in the face again.
Proeliator stepped forward between Domino and Thunderchild but was thrown out of the way by Domino as she advanced towards Thunderchild who was struggling to get back up.
"You don't know how sorry it makes me to do this…" he said as he pushed himself forward and knocked Domino down the stairs, she fell a short way and then stood up again and drew her sword.
"Ok you guys," said Thunderchild "This is between me and Domino…get the crystal and get out of here!" He handed Nagy his particle pistol and drew his own sword.
"You can't stop her Yissan," called Jara from above "You've seen her in action, seen her power…you're nothing compared to her."
As Proeliator and Beowolf ran past Domino and down the stairs, Nagy turned and hesitated, unwilling to leave his friend to possible death.
"Go Nagy!" urged Thunderchild as he backed away from Domino, who advanced with a murderous look in her eyes.
"Try to remember our love Domino…" he pleaded with her as she swung her sword over her head, Thunderchild blocked it with Draconus and pushed her backwards.
Domino swung again and again and each time it was blocked by Draconus, she then kicked Thunderchild in the knee, caught unprepared by this change in tactics Thunderchild nearly fell over again but quickly recovered his balance and blocked the incoming blade.
"Use your powers Yugami!" shouted Jara
An unseen force slammed into the side of Thunderchild pinning him to the wall, he responded by sending out his own force wave which repelled Dominos and knocked her backwards slightly.
Domino jumped forward and over Thunderchild landing on the platform which made the halfway mark between levels. Thunderchild walked forward to follow her but another force wave threw him backwards down the stairs, he rolled head over heels and crashed into the platform of the next storey.
With a determined force he ignored the pain coursing through his body and pushed himself up again to see that Domino had gone into trance, her standard black hair with purple highlights and black tail had now been replaced by fiery red hair and a tail to match.
Inside of Domino her mind raged against the actions of her body as she pinned Thunderchild to the wall with another force wave, she began to feel his resistance weakening as his force wave counteracted hers and he summoned a fireball.
She dodged to the left as the fireball flew past her and impacted on the wall behind, she created a firaga wave which she directed at Thunderchild who was too weak to block it and suffered the full force of the attack being thrown backwards in the flames.
But he stood up again and limped up the stairs towards her, part of his face covered in blood from where the gash across his eye had started bleeding again and his left hand was held at a crooked angle.
He reached her platform and stopped, leaning on his sword for support.
"Don't make this hard on yourself," Said Jara "Just give up and let Mithril Yugami finish the job."
Thunderchild shook his head and grunted something that Domino didn't catch
Jara was laughed and commanded Domino to finish the job.
Domino swung her sword at Thunderchild who barely blocked the blow with Draconus, the swords connected with a flash of red light and for a moment Thunderchild and Domino found themselves looking eye to eye.
"I love you…" Thunderchild croaked as blood flowed out of his mouth.
Domino pushed him back and pushed him high into the air with a force wave, Thunderchild was too weak to offer any resistance as he was trapped in an unseen force several feet above the ground.
"End it Domino," commanded Jara
Proeliator lead the way down deep inside the Crystal Palace, the walls, sure enough, were getting brighter.
"We must be getting near the crystal!" he shouted
Nagy nodded but said nothing, he was worried about what they had left Thunderchild to, Domino seemed to be no ordinary genome according to Thunderchild…and Zidane was quite tough too.
The light got brighter and brighter until at one platform it was painful to look at the walls.
"This must be the level!" said Beowolf as he looked at the floor.
Nagy pushed forward and opened the door, inside the room on a raised platform with several genomes around it, on the platform was the most beautiful crystal Nagy had ever seen…it was from this crystal that the light emanated.
"That's the crystal…it must be!" said Proeliator as they ran towards it.
Amazing the genomes around the crystal seemed to ignore them, if anything they seemed confused.
Beowolf ran over to one.
"Who are you?" the genome asked
"I'm Beowolf…and these are my friends…what's happening?"
"Connection with the master has been lost…" wailed the genome "We are without direction!"
"Then follow us…help us get this crystal out of here!"
The genome hesitated but then turned and followed Beowolf as he ran back to Nagy and Proeliator.
Just as they were about to reach the crystal the doors behind them slammed shut.
"NOT SO FAST!" shouted a voice.
Nagy and Proeliator turned to see Zidane holding a twin-bladed staff-sword in both hands behind them.
"You have come to take the crystal, this I cannot and will not allow…prepare to die!" he exclaimed
Nagy, Proeliator and Beowolf as one drew their swords and prepared for battle.
Dominos Ultima attack smashed Thunderchild backwards, he flew through the air and hit the wall but didn't stop there, the force of the attack smashed the wall behind him and he flew backwards out of the Crystal Palace dropping like a stone into the fifty storey drop to oblivion.
Dominos mind cried out in sorrow and a tear ran down her face as she saw her husband fall out of sight.
Mizrah helped clear a way as the battering ram was brought forward, the wizards of the Unseen University were weakening the main doors with constant fireballs and it was hoped the battering ram would manage to knock them down completely.
Suddenly above her there was the sound of breaking glass and as she looked up she saw far above her the side of the Crystal Palace smash outward and a figure fall down towards her.
"Look out!" she warned everyone standing around her as the figure plummeted closer.
There was suddenly a flash of dark red light from the figure and when Mizrah looked back up what she saw shocked her to the heart.
Jara looked at the gaping hole in the wall where Thunderchild had been smashed out of the Palace, it was regrettable that he had had to meet his end this way but he had left her with no choice.
"Good work Mithril…a bit overkill perhaps but good work." She commended Domino
Another tear joined the first from Domino as she began to walk back up the stairs to Jara, this was it…Thunderchild had failed and she was doomed to spend the rest of her life was a soulless drone doing the will of the evil Jara Gedyen.
As she walked up the stairs she saw Jaras expression change from satisfaction to horror and as she turned around to see what had caused this reaction, all the colour drained from her face.
Zidanes staff weapon connected with Beowolfs sword in an impressive display of sparks, Proeliator tried to sweep around the back of Zidane and attack him from the rear but Zidanes staff smacked into the side of him and knocked him flying.
"Zidane! You're supposed to be one of the good guys!" said Nagy
Zidane just growled back at Nagy and slashed at him with his staff, an attack which Nagy was able to block easily with his Holy Blade.
Zidane kicked out at Beowolf and connected with his knee, knocking him down Zidane lunged forward for the kill but Proeliator leapt onto his back and knocked him over.
"Got you!" he exclaimed
Zidane tried to stand up but Proeliator kicked him back down again.
"Get the Crystal Beowolf!" shouted Nagy as he joined Zidanes side.
"Please…I surrender…" said Zidane
"You what?" asked Nagy
"I surrender…Jara has released control of me…she is concentrating on Domino. The battle upstairs continues to rage…something has occurred though and Jara needs all of her power focused on Domino."
Proeliator helped Zidane to his feet but confiscated his weapon.
"Well…in that case you won't mind if I take this and make sure you walk in front of me with your hands in the air."
Zidane nodded
"I understand."
Nagy turned to Beowolf who was now holding the crystal.
"Ok…let's get the hell out of here before Jara realises what's happening."
They ran out of the door Proeliator the last to leave as he kept his crossbow pointed at Zidanes back.
Above them there was a dull thud which shook the Palace.
Nagy looked up above them and saw shards of crystal falling down but couldn't see anything else.
"I hope you're ok Thunderchild." He muttered as they began the long run down to ground level.
Thunderchild hovered just outside of the hole in the wall he had created with his departure. He had undergone a dramatic transformation, his eyes had turned orange with slit like pupils, just like a lizard, his hands and feet had turned into white talons and a tail extended from the lower half of his back but what was the most shocking to Jara was the appearance of white feathery wings from his back which now flapped steadily keeping him in position.
"Oh my god what have I done?" she muttered in horror
Domino was equally shocked, Thunderchild had never told her about any of this, he had never meantioned anything to do with him partially transforming into something that looked remarkably like a Silver Dragon.
Looking into his eyes Domino saw only rage and hatred and she saw to her abject horror that the rage and hatred was directed at her.
Thunderchild roared, opening his mouth fully and roaring at the heavens, then he flew in through the hole and sent a large fireball smashing into the other side of the Crystal Palace wall which smashed it into pieces. Then he stopped and hovered just above Domino.
Raising his hands he collected a fireball in each of them, the fireball got larger and larger and brighter and brighter before he threw it at Domino who, despite dodging most of it, was thrown across the platform into the wall.
Thunderchild roared again and created a wave of fiery energy which surged off him and destroyed the platform where she had been.
Domino felt herself uncontrollably go into Trance x2, the phoenix wings emerging from her back as her clothing adjusted itself to suit her new form. Just as she emerged into Trance x2 another fireball from Thunderchild blasted her into the stairs where she landed heavily.
Jara watched the events taking place with something close to morbid fascination, she didn't know about the special abilities of Thunderchild and Domino…she had hated the news that the genome had taken her boyfriend away from her and now to see the two of them fighting to the death had some satisfaction to it.
She ducked as a stray energy bolt from Domino smashed into the wall behind her and decided to retreat from the platform and into her throne room until the battle had finished.
As she turned to leave, Thunderchild picked up Domino in one of his talons and smashed her across the side of the face with his other talons making blood fly from her nose and mouth. He hit her again and again until he felt her start to go limp and then he dropped her to the floor and jumped backward, hovering expectantly.
Domino stood up, her face partially covered in blood, and used Ultima Flare which flashed into existence around Thunderchild and pummelled energy bolt after energy bolt into him, it made his wings fold up and for a moment he fell from the air but then his wings unfolded and began beating again, defiant he attacked Domino with a stream of fire which leapt from his talons and struck her causing her to arc her back in pain and fall forward but she didn't fall to the ground, an unseen force stopped her and forced her to stand up again.
Thunderchild beat his wings faster and created Firaga Storm, a boiled whirlwind of fire which roared up the stairs and struck Domino full on, as the pain hit her she screamed and covered her face with her hands, her wings were savaged by the flames despite their protection against fire as these were not normal flames…they were the flames of hell fire itself.
When the storm abated Thunderchild continued to hover expectantly, feeling a rage build up inside of her Domino released her own Firaga spell at Thunderchild but he closed his wings around him and reflected the spell back at her causing a small whirlwind of flames to spring into existence around her and create even more damage to her.
Domino was in very bad shape now, her face was almost a mass of blood and her wings were badly shredded, her clothing was in tatters and underneath the torn clothing you could see bleeding or bloodied skin…Thunderchild on the other hand, despite his torn or damaged clothing and armour and bleeding, was in good shape as he unleashed his most powerful attack…Dragon Storm.
Around the Palace various types of Dragon sprung into existence, Silver Dragon, Red Dragon, Nova Dragon even a Grand Dragon circled the Crystal Palace and pummelled it with fire and energy attacks.
Inside the palace the ceiling collapsed, smashing down the stairs and creating gaps in the staircase as the crystal palace began to fall apart.
Domino was hit on the back of the head by a piece of falling masonry and the last thing she remembered seeing before everything faded to black was the floor beneath her collapsing.
As Domino plummeted down to her doom, something inside of Thunderchild made him spring into action, he folded his wings in and plummeted after her…for some reason he couldn't let this genome die…something deep inside of his dragon rage wouldn't allow it to happen, couldn't allow it to happen and so he fell with her.
He came alongside her as her red hair whipped up around her in the rush of air of her falling and he grabbed her with his lower talons and smashing the wall with a firaga wave he flew out of the Crystal Palace and towards the remains of the top of the Tower of Art.
Behind him in an impressive display of explosions the Crystal Palace began to topple in on itself, the top half crashing down onto the lower half and exploding all the way.
As Thunderchild flew onto the top of the Tower of Art he dropped Domino and stood up looking around him as the remains of the Crystal Palace came crashing down to the ground creating a dust cloud which swept across the southern half of Ankh-Morpork. Thunderchild didn't know what had happened to anyone around the base of the palace and right now, he didn't care…there was a more pressing issue to see to.
Beside him, Domino was dying…her injuries caused by the battle with him were too severe and there was heavy internal bleeding, as he watched her life was slipping away.
This was unacceptable.
Kneeling beside of her he placed his talons on her heaving chest and focused his energy into her, he felt his consciousness enter her body and felt the damage and pain caused, he stiffened as he allowed the pain to affect him as well…to draw away the pain from Domino and allow his consciousness to repair the damage.
It took him ten long minutes of concentration before he managed to repair the damage to a point where he was sure that Domino would live, then he took his hands off her chest and for some unknown reason to him, kissed her gently on her lips and then stood up and walked to the other side of the Tower of Art.
Suddenly fatigue overwhelmed him as he began to slip out of Dragon Trance, his talons returned to hands, his tail disappeared into his back as did his wings and his eyes returned to normal.
Overwhelmed by pain and fatigue, Thunderchild collapsed backwards next to Domino.
As the dawn light began to rise over Ankh-Morpork, it shone on a liberated city, it's citizens cheering at their victory, and it shone on the unconscious forms of Domino and Thunderchild as they recovered from their ordeal.
The battle for Ankh-Morpork had been won…