Chapter Ten: The End, Pre-Mortem
With a flash of light the Dragoons were sent with speed to the outskirts of Mayfil. They hit the ground fast and watched from their out of sight position a dark bubble appear around the city.
"What the heck is that supposed to be?" Brad demanded.
"A shield," Sean said.
"What's gonna launch an attack on this city?" Ben asked.
Suddenly, as if the black dome over the center of the city were merely a curtain, the blackness fell from the top to the ground. Before it dropped the landscape had been dismally, deathly quiet. But the dome, the curtain, the lie collapsed, and the roars of the very undead within exploded out in a boom that shook the chest of anyone for several miles.
Everyone perked to their elbows to look around, and then ran into a nearby, dreary building for cover. There they looked out, unseen, upon a city literally packed with rank, ugly humanoid monstrosities.
"Oh, that smells so bad," Melissa said.
Someone was saying something to agree, but before they got a word out another voice, a frighteningly familiar one, spoke out at a volume that spanned the entire city.
"The Humans have provided well! Go my undead warriors! Wreak havoc on their cities as payment, give me more soldiers! Spare no man, woman, or child!"
Zachwell's wings beat and his monstrous new form was lifted above his hoard of soldiers, composed of revived souls surrounded by the dead soil of Mayfil. They cried out, but could not physically object. The battalions formed lines and began marching out of the city, and Zachwell watched and laughed heartily.
"Yes, my revenge is coming, almost ready indeed," he said. And then, unexpectedly, he turned and peered back at the Dragoons through the very window they watched through. "You ought not to leave your cities unguarded, they shall not last long without your help!"
With that he threw an enormous stream of black, devastating magic at them. The Dragoons all tried to transform, but it was clear they'd be too late. A blast like that would kill them all.
They covered themselves as best they could in the short second, all but one. And suddenly a white blast of equal size buffered and canceled Zachwell's. Everyone looked to see Sean standing in the window, fully transformed. His face frightened them. The glare of pure murderous hatred gleamed openly, and his mouth was a straight line, for his lips were white with what could only be an inner fear. For seconds that seemed like hours they stared at each other, each directly into his opponent's eyes.
"Sean, we need to go," Ben said. He put a hand on Sean's pauldron and Sean snapped out of it and nodded. They all transformed and sped away from Mayfil, looking back to see a black river of soldiers headed in what would probably be their hometown's direction.
After noticing that they were not being pursued they settled in a small woodland to rest and talk. They settled in a comfortable spot, though comfort couldn't quite be granted to them. Sean sat brooding on a rock in silence for a moment, but silence is made to be broken.
"Okay, Sean," Rob said "was that who I think it was?"
"Yes."
"Did we not prevent him from coming here ever again?"
"We thought so."
"And he's back?"
"Yes."
"Well what are we going to do about it?"
"I don't know."
Everyone blinked, had they heard him say that about an opponent?
"How can you not know what to do?" Christie asked.
"Because I don't."
"There must be some way to send him back."
"How?"
"You're asking me?"
"Well I don't know Wingly magic, you're the supreme master of light."
There is no way, it was a Wingly spell that almost no one knows, that sent him to the light world, and even fewer will have the strength to perform it. The White-Silver Dragon said.
"Well, we cant send him anywhere, so we'll have to kill him." Melissa said. At this Sean laughed bitterly.
"Why do you think Anna killed herself to send him there? He controls Death, he cant die, if Anna tried it would have ended up all the same save his banishment, meaning I'd be dead, and maybe even every other human that lives now, or will ever live."
"Well we don't need to be pessimistic," Brittany said. Sean stood and looked her straight in the eye.
"Yeah, your right Brittany, I should look at the bright side of the unstoppable being that is responsible for the death of the only mother I ever had returning. I should keep my chin up at the fact that we let an army of undead march out of where they should be laying and into who knows where? I'm…so…stupid."
He sat back down. Everyone let him be silent, none of them hated Zachwell like he did, and none of them hated the fact that he couldn't be killed so much as he did.
Sean stood up, "We need to get back, prepare, and meet the army to stop it, and then, I don't know what to do about Zachwell, but maybe we'll figure something out, I don't know."
They all nodded, and transformed, but the flight home was a slow one.
Sean stood before his sink, leaning over it, staring intently at the half-depleted six-pack of beer on his counter, the crickets outside chirped in the cloak of night.
It could get his mind off it, could make him forget the almost certain upcoming death for him and all his friends, for Melissa. But what would emerge from that inebriation?
Sean stared hard, and picked up one can, he pulled the tab and smelled the fumes of the alcoholic liquid inside steam out as the pressure was released. It was indeed very enticing.
"But I don't think I'll ever let myself be that weak again," Sean said, he turned the can over and watched the golden, bubbly beer pour down the drain. He repeated the other process again, and then again.
Just as he shook out the last can and threw it in the trash, his doorbell rang.
"Heh, what kind of messenger comes at this time of night?" He said, the doorbell rang again twice.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Sean said. He strolled leisurely to his front door, but situations can change very quick when one mystery is revealed, and such was this case. Sean did not expect Melissa on his front porch.
He stared at her for a moment in utter shock, looking shy and…something else, but what, he didn't know.
"Hi," she said.
"…Hey," Sean said. "Come on in."
She came in and he took her coat and hung it up. He followed her into the lobby, and once again that awkward stare engulfed them. Something was up, that was obvious to both of them.
"So, you need something?" Sean offered.
"Oh, not really, or, well," she trailed off and broke their gaze, suddenly looking to the floor. She looked doubtful about something.
"Something's wrong, I can tell, what's up?" Sean said.
"Well, um…Oh, geez…..Last night, you came up to me, asking for something that I thought would hurt us both if I gave it. And I turned you away, so harshly. Now, you must hate me, or be horribly mad at me, and I don't blame you one bit,-"
Sean put up a hand to stop her, "Melissa, I don't hate you, I could never hate you, whoever could is not worthy of knowing you personally. I consider myself the luckiest man alive to have once had you. I screwed that up all by myself, and I'll have to live with the repercussions of my failure if you don't want me back, I understand."
"No, no Sean that isn't what I came here for. I came to apologize, not because of my harshness, but for my blindness. Sean, I cant live without you either, I believe that you have changed, but I thought that you were weaker than you are and that I would be hurt again when I walked away. But when I was walking it hurt more to get farther from you with every step than it's ever hurt before," Melissa said, tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the terrible pain in her broken heart. "Now I want to fix things."
"What?" Sean said, he knew exactly what she was saying, but joyous denial was overcoming him, though he wouldn't let him show it to her yet.
"I love you, more than I love anything in all this world, Sean, and I want to ask you for your forgiveness now," she said. At the emphasis she'd put in her words, backing them up with all her pouring heart, Sean was frozen.
"I love you too," The words left his mouth, and he didn't even think about it, because it was the plain and simple truth. She smiled, but her upper lip curled and she sobbed. She laid her head on his chest as she'd used to long ago, bringing back all the incredible feelings that over came them in days past, and now days to be present.
Sean wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. "Don't cry, don't cry,"
"Oh, they're happy tears," she said, sniffing. Tears also blurred Sean's vision, but he was too happy to let them run down his face. He squeezed her tight, in an embrace that lasted forever, yet only a few seconds.
When they separated she pulled back and looked him in the eyes, each was smiling small, weak smiles, but they were full of the greatest amount of happiness that they'd ever felt. Sean took his right hand and wiped one final tear sliding down her face, oh, how long he'd been longing to do that. He stroked her face.
The gap between their waiting lips lessened slowly, tenderly, savoring every moment of coming to meet the lips of the one they so loved. Finally, they met in a long, passionate kiss. Both held each other and held the kiss for so long that their jaws began hurting. Finally they separated, and leaned on each other's foreheads, leaving their eyes closed.
A warmth was flowing through Sean that he could not describe, it was hesitant, like suddenly dropping a few feet, and yet it was composed of every happiness that came with his love. Melissa smiled, as she felt the same way.
Finally they let go of each other, and held hands as they walked back into his living room. "Um, you wanna beer?" Sean asked.
"Eh, why not?"
"Too bad, I quit drinking," Sean said with a wink.
She laughed and hugged him again, then, they sat down on the couch, with her leaning heavily on his shoulder, just watching the television. During commercials, however, they had several more moments that will be left to privacy…
Mike was twisting his Spirit's chain around his finger nervously; Jenn would be home any minute. It was a horrible thing, really. He was being forced to reveal to Jenn who the other him was, on the night before he could die. Not favorable odds for her happiness at all.
The door latch clicked and it swung open, and Jenn walked in, carrying a paper bag full of groceries. "Oh, hi honey, home early from work?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Mike said, he took the bag for her and stopped her.
"Jenn, we have to talk, I'll toss these in the kitchen, have a seat," Mike said.
"Oh no, what's wrong?"
"You'll see."
She sat down and mike dropped the bag on the island counter and walked into the room. "You're going to want to sit down," he said.
Jenn looked worried. "What's this about?" She asked.
"Jenn, I've lied to you about a few things, but first, I really want to tell you what is true. First and foremost, I will never be lying when I say I love you with all my heart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and be happy. What you don't know, is a part of me. I'm a part of something you could never imagine, and tonight, for reasons I'll explain later, I am going to reveal the other me to you," Mike said solemnly.
Are you sure this is a good idea? The Golden Dragon asked.
Mike shook his head. The spirit glowed in golden light that illuminated the room. Mike's body expanded, the armor of the element earth surrounded his body, and wings sprouted from his back. When the transformation was finished, Mike was his Dragoon self in front of Jenn. Strangely, this, he felt, was the most significant transformation of his life, and it wasn't even in battle.
"Oh my GOD!" Jenn said, covering her mouth and jumping up onto the sofa's back in alarm. Mike put up a hand.
"Please calm down, it's still me! I promise,…Jenn?" He said.
His girlfriend was still staring at him in horror, but the shock seemed to ebb away when she saw that she wasn't in danger.
"This is my Dragoon self, the armor comes from the spirit of a dead Dragon, and this one is master of the earth element," he said.
"What are you talking about?" She demanded. Mike sighed, he was going to have to start from the beginning.
"Jenn I'm going to tell you a story, please hear me out, and please don't be scared and leave, it would tear me apart, please hear me out?" He implored.
"…..O…Okay," she said, breathing deep and sitting on the couch right.
Mike sighed again in relief. "Okay, this all began about 11,800 years ago,…"
Authors' Note: Sorry for the wait, we've been a little busy, but here it is and we hope you all liked it. Please keep up the reviewing and we'll have the next chapter up soon. Ciao!