Chapter Four: The Seven Tragedies
Mike jumped up quickly and pointed to the sky with his axe. "Meteor Strike!" The sky turned orange, and several meteors began falling down with incredible speed. None of the Dragoons were in any danger, yet Darteth was forced to dodge each and every flaming ball of rock until the barrage stopped.
When the sky returned to its night black, he smiled down, but Melissa was right before him, and he barely thwarted the stab she threw at him. Ben threw a fireball, and tried to dash at him, but Darteth deflected it and it flew back towards Brittany, who dodged it.
Brad planted a violent punch that threw Darteth back for a moment, but as Brittany readied to smash his head and send him plummeting to the earth, he flipped behind himself and kicked her in the face.
Sean fired a small barrage of the Divine Dragon Ball attack, giving the team time to head in for a close combat fight. He then dashed at Darteth too.
Darteth deflected a rapier, hopped over a spear, parried a katana, dodged two punches and blocked a kick to the ribs, faked out a Claymore, ducked under a large mallet and flipped around an axe swing. Yet as her turned a white arrow caught his arm.
"AAAAHHGH!" he bellowed, the flesh around the wound began smoldering as the light element seared it. He ripped it out, enraged. He lunged forward as Christie's bow twanged and he caught it. The next thing she knew, he was right before her.
"That wont happen again. Hm…interesting armor, makes my job all the easier," he said. His right hand suddenly disappeared, and he plunged the empty space into Christie's stomach. The battlefield suddenly froze, at the sound of Christie's agonized scream. No one dared move as Christie clawed weakly at Darteth's gauntlet, trying to pull free. Suddenly her face went blank, and Darteth pulled his arm out of her stomach. His hand reappeared, holding a fiery sphere, with a white glow to it. He placed it into the jeweled pouch at his side.
Christie, in the mean time, lost her armor and began falling towards the ground. "CHRISTIE!" Ben bellowed. He dove down and caught her a mere foot or two from hitting the ground. "Christie?" He spoke weakly. Here gaze and face were blank, and her eyes were incredibly dilated, the pupils were gone. Ben settled to the ground, and knelt to set Christie down. He looked to the spirit. "Help her," he coughed, trying not to cry. "Help her!"
She's trying, Ben, but it isn't doing anything, there's nothing to help, just the body, he took her soul. The Red Eyed Dragon said, remorseful.
Ben let go and fell back, in disbelief. He put his hand over his mouth, and gasps came as he still attempted not to cry.
Finally, the tears overwhelmed him and he cried out in sorrow. The rest of the Dragoons snapped back to reality, and glared at the satisfied Darteth. "One down," he said, and laughed.
"You!" Robert said, and without a word, fired a wing blaster at him, but the windy bird had little affect. Darteth's laughter was still heard over the gales, loud and clear. They all began attacking him again.
Ben had picked up his wife, ignoring the peril of his friends. Why should it matter? His love, Christie was gone. He held her head against his chin, and spoke a quiet prayer. Yet as the seconds past, something began replacing the sorrow, something fiery. He kissed his wife's head, and set her down gently, and walked several yards away from her.
"That monster will pay, and I'll get you back, Christie," He said. "Get out of the way!" He roared. He gripped his sword tightly in both hands, and from the bottom of his boots, a fire rushed up and twisted around him, engulfing him in one giant flame. The battlefield was now lit up with firelight. The Dragoons all retreated to the side, but Darteth stayed in place.
The fire grew, sporadically, it doubled in size, again and again, and then, when Ben's anger had peaked, and his adrenaline was pumping its hardest, he pushed off the ground with all his strength, leaving a smoldering crater on his wake. With unthinkable speed, he launched himself at Darteth. "FINAL BURST!" He bellowed, and stuck his sword out in front of him, the fire around him took the shape of the Red Eyed Dragon, and Darteth's smile faded away. He put up his sword to block the oncoming attack, and did so just in time, as Ben's sword struck his, and Darteth was pushed back. Ben pushed harder, tears streaming from his face, and evaporating in the heat.
He didn't care, what was the point of conserving energy? He could just die with this attack, and join his wife, right? He pushed harder, and harder, and Darteth's effort had to increase as his blade began to weaken under the strain of the Final Burst.
Ben finally decided to end it, they were far from his friends. He let the energy leave him, in one, massive explosion. He relaxed, suddenly more fatigued than he'd ever felt in his entire life. All he saw in the swirling blaze around him, however, was a hand, coming at him.
The Dragoons waited for the explosion to stop, for a full minute it continued on, nearly blinding anyone who watched. However, they all were shocked to see, when the light finally died, a smoldering Darteth, holding Ben's face, tightly. His claws dug into the skin on Ben's face, and Ben was making no move to stop him. His grip weakened to the point where he just let go of his sword, and let it drop the hundreds of feet to stick into the ground, hilt up. Darteth gave a yank, and pulled out another fiery ball, with a red glow, and placed it in the pouch. He grabbed Ben's body, and tossed it down to the Dragoons.
"He was strong, but not strong enough," Darteth, yet he was bluffing somewhat. He hadn't expended too much energy, but his blade was weak, another attack like that, would shatter it. He had to be quick about the rest of them. "Let us finish this," he said.
He rushed down and slashed at Brad, who protected himself with his gauntlets, but a kick to the stomach forced him to hunch over. Darteth pushed back, grabbed Brittany's mallet, and pulled her close and beat Brad in the face with it. He grabbed both of their necks, and concentrated hard as he squeezed. They beat on his elbows, trying to weaken his hold, but he merely squeezed tighter, in seconds of dodging Sean, Melissa, Rob, and Mike, they finally passed out, and with that, he pulled their blue and violet souls from their bodies and put them in the pouch. Sean and Mike caught their falling bodies, and rushed them to the ground, then fired magic up at Darteth, forcing him to leave Melissa and Rob alone until they returned.
The next few minutes were a flurry of blades, every slash, stab, or swipe contacting only metal, not flesh. Rob stabbed again and again and again, not worrying about his slowly increasing exhaustion. Mike swung again and again, but feared that if Darteth would give one magic attack, that he'd be the next one to perish. Melissa stabbed and swiped, cutting the air, but not piercing Darteth's vile defenses. Sean used every trick he knew, but nothing worked on Darteth's speedy reflexes.
Darteth was not tiring in the least, he could go on fighting for days, he smiled the whole time while he noticed his opponents' attacks slowing and weakening.
Suddenly, the Dragoons flew back and Sean fired a cannon blast, shocking Darteth, he tried to beat his wings, and the plan of the Dragoons was revealed. Melissa sliced a long cut into every joint of Darteth's right wing, and Rob repeated the same tactic on his left wing. He began falling, and used dark magic to guard his face from the cannon beam. The momentum sent him spinning, towards the earth, where Mike was waiting.
Darteth finally decided what to do, and stopped attempting to halt spinning. Finally something tricky. He thought. He pulled his blade secretly, and just as Mike was about to strike him, Darteth stuck the blade out and the momentum knocked Mike onto his back, dazed.
Darteth stood up, and stepped on Mike's neck. He reached down and put the hand into Mike's head. He ripped out violently, and Mike's body jerked. Darteth looked to the golden fireball, and licked his lips as he placed it in his pouch.
Darteth couldn't fly anymore, but there were only two Dragoons left to steal from, then he merely had to knock out Sean and deliver him to Zachwell, and he would feast for an entire weak on seven of the strongest souls in the world.
He smiled as they flew down to him, Rob arrived first, panting visibly. He stabbed, and Darteth grabbed the spear, pulled it to wrench Rob off balance, and spun around behind him, pulling the spear with him to choke Rob. Rob's wheezes were entertaining, but Darteth was growing weary of this battle, he stuck his hand into Rob's ear, for sport and pulled the jade soul out of its vessel, and put it in the pouch before dropping the body to the ground.
"No!" Sean bellowed. He launched at Darteth, and slashed, which Darteth parried, and beat Sean aside. Sean flew into a rock formation nearby, and several boulders fell around him, pinning him to the ground.
Darteth turned to Melissa, "So, Darkness Dragoon, you're the only one left, feeling alone?" He chuckled.
Melissa glared at him, rapier at the ready. "You wont get away with this," she said through gritted teeth. She was trying to be strong, but the fear of what had happened to her friends, and her brother was shaking her inside.
"I've gotten away with it, oh," he began, then pointed to Ben, and to Christie, and so on, saying "one, two, three, four, five, and six times, already." He laughed. They were silent for a tense moment, until he spoke up again. "And here comes seven!"
He rushed at her, and swung down on her block, strong enough to knock the blade away from Melissa's hands. She fell back and cried out, holding her trembling hand. Darteth grabbed her hair and picked her up by it. Melissa abandoned her strength, and her fear showed very clearly in her eyes as Darteth raised his hand. She found herself thinking one though as Darteth reached into her body and closed his invisible hands over her previously intangible soul. Sean will save me.
Sean burst up from the boulders, roaring. He looked to Darteth, and forgot his anger instantly. He had Melissa! Sean was dumbstruck, what would he do? Had he gotten her? Oh, no, no, no, no…
He pulled the soul from her body, and she cried out, but it was cut off. Sean's eyes widened, he felt nothing, not a single though went through his head. He was in total and utter shock.
Sean! Do something! The Divine Dragon roared.
She was gone, Melissa was gone, Sean watched, jaw dropped as Darteth put the indigo soul into his pouch. "Seven down, now I only have to take you to my master," he said.
Sean! SEAN! Kill him! The Divine Dragon roared.
Gone, gone, gone…
Darteth threw her lifeless body to Sean's feet. "What?" He asked. "Did this one mean something special to you?"
Sean knelt down and propped her head on his cannon, and touched her face, gently, as though she would shatter and fall away from him. Memories flew through his head. The dance, the night they spent in the sky after Melbu Frahma's defeat, fighting for her, her moving in, it was all gone, gone with her. Now, sure to never return.
"Yes, feel the pain," Darteth said. "Your friends' souls are mine, and I will devour them slowly, savoring every last bit of them."
Tear drops fell onto Melissa's face, but Sean wasn't sobbing, the tears just fell from his eye. How could he have let this happen to her? Her of all people? He'd redeem it, he'd avenge her, he WOULD.
Sean stood up, with tears still running from his face. "You, sick, sadistic, thing." He breathed. "You'll pay, oh, you'll pay."
"What's that?" Darteth said, smiling. "I'll pay?"
Sean's cannon swelled to a greater size than ever before, white electric discharge spiked all around his body, but gathered in greatest amount around the mouth of his cannon, and his shoulder. He had a plan, but he would only have one chance.
"Divine Dragon Cannon!" Sean bellowed, he turned his arm sideways, and pointed to the left, and let the recoil push the beam from left to right, giving Darteth no room to dodge, only jump. He did leap, up high, and Sean initiated the second part of his final plan. "Divine Dragon Ball!" The panel flew open and unleashed hundreds of fireballs into the sky.
Darteth's wings were unable to keep him flying. He couldn't even dodge the barrage coming at him, he'd made an incredible mistake. One fireball struck him, and it burned like a thousand fires. Then another hit him, and another, one to the chest, another to the leg, two to each arm, and one to the face. Darteth cried out. The pain was so intense, and it kept coming. When it finally stopped, he fell to the ground, and saw Sean flying at him, with a trail of dust flying in his wake, unsettled by the force of his speed. He picked up his sword, and Darteth drew his, Sean swung down on it with a force that matched Ben's Final Burst.
The blade bent, cracked, and shattered, and Darteth's eyes widened, and viewed the blade coming down on him, right between his eyes.
Darteth's body turned to smoke that settled into the ground, and Sean stood, watching it until only the armor remained. And the pouch. Sean's eyes began rolling into the back of his head. He fell to his knees, and onto his chest, coughing at the dust that was entering his nostrils as he tried to breathe. Yet something did awaken a strength in him, he saw the shimmering jewels of the pouch that Darteth had placed the Dragoons' souls in. He crawled over to them, and opened the pouch, hopefully the souls would find their way to their owners.
Sean was disappointed yet again. The souls floated around aimlessly, stupid, it would seem, or blind, and unaware of where they were. He closed the pouch around them, and latched it shut. He rolled onto his back. Well…what now? Sean wondered.
Ulara is near here, can you make it? The Divine Dragon asked.
I don't really have a choice, do I? If I fall asleep, something's bound to eat us all. Sean thought.
He forced himself up, and lengthened his arm to it's full extent, somewhere around twelve feet in length. He gently scooped up all his friends, making sure to grab their weapons and Spirits, and beat his weakened wings.
Fly northwest, it will only be a few minutes, The Divine Dragon said.
That few minutes felt like hours. Sean fought as hard as he could to stay conscious and in his Dragoon form. When he did reach Ulara, the shield dropped, saving him some trouble, and when he arrived and the shield went back up, he dropped his friends, changed to his human form, and collapsed on top of them.
Author's Note: And thus is our first action chapter in the story, sorry if it wasn't any good, but we hope you all liked it. Please Review, and we'll see you all soon!