Chapter Eleven: The Final Stand
"…And now, that army is headed straight for this city, straight for us, you," Mike said. Jenn had long ago become thoughtful as she heard Mike's story. However, she'd asked few questions.
"And, you have to stop them, you and your friends?" Jenn asked.
"Well, yeah," Mike said.
"Why? Why cant you stay here and let the army or something deal with it," she said.
"Jenn, please, they wouldn't do very well without some serious help. Plus, I told you that they cant know this stuff exists. You just knowing this puts you at a higher intelligence level than any government official anywhere in Endiness," Mike said.
This seemed to alarm her. "Why do YOU have to go then?" she asked exasperatedly. Mike looked to the floor, thinking of how it was to be put best.
"Jenn, I swore an oath, I know it's strange, but I did, when I was a teenager to defend something for the rest of my life, as long as I was able. But I didn't swear to a country, and not to a way of life, but to my species, all its countries and ways of life. My seven friends and I hold the weight of the world on our shoulders alone, because no one else is ready to. I'm going tomorrow, to fight for everyone, especially you. And I will burn in Hell before I let one single creature reach this city." He had already returned to his human form, and now sat down next to his wife. She took his hand, and wrapped her other arm around his back.
"But what if you don't come back?" She said, laying her head on his shoulder.
Mike sighed deeply, he had left out the part that Sean would not have, that they probably would all die on the morrow's battle. But something had to be done, Mike had never believed something physical to be unstoppable, only God, nothing else. This faithful thought strengthened him. He gently turned up her tear soaked chin with his finger, to look into her eyes.
"Jenn, I will come back tomorrow, I will continue to fulfill my oath, and I will continue to live with you, and be the happiest I've ever been in my life. He slipped off the couch, still holding her hand, as he took a knee."
"Jennifer Coelly, I love you with all my heart and soul, and I want to be with you up to and beyond the day I die. When I come home, and all this is settled, I want to spend every moment treasuring you, treasuring children, treasuring our shared responsibility. Will you marry me?" He asked through his thick wall of doubt.
She stared in a mysterious shock at him, her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. Her brown hair slipped out from behind her ears and into her face, but she made no move to push it away.
When she did move it away though, happy tears were in her eyes, and her sobbing smile told Mike that he'd chosen his words right. "Oh, yes, yes, yes," she breathed.
Mike smiled and let his own tears well up. She threw herself onto him into a warm embrace that he somehow imagined having every day for the rest of his life, until they were somewhere he couldn't imagine being.
/The Next Day\
Rob opened his eyes, seeing his beloved Marian was still where she'd been when he'd fallen asleep, resting her head on his chest. He grazed her forehead with his lips in a soft kiss not meant to wake her. He climbed slowly out from under her, and set her head down on the pillow. She wouldn't let him leave if she woke up, that or she would have insisted on coming, but Robert didn't even want to think of that.
He left a small note to her, and decided there was no point in hiding anymore, so he transformed and flew to Sean's house. The note brushed off her desk and rubbed her face, waking her. It read:
Marian,
Gone to do what I said I had to last night. You must not follow me, I cant endanger you. If they reach the city, fly to Ulara, and fly fast. I love you, I'll see you soon.
Robert
She covered her mouth, while tears ran down her face. She nodded, and respected her husband's decision. She gathered herself together and decided that it would be best to just pretend like he'd gone to work, and in doing so, she jumped into the shower.
Rob found another note taped to Sean's door. "Your spirits will find us, we've gone to meet them, come quickly."
Rob jumped off and sped away, following the directions that his Dragon gave him. While flying over the city, several people gasped and pointed in awe at the green streak shooting across the morning sky.
Finally Rob reached the place, he dropped from the sky to find everyone standing in a line of Dragoons, looking solemn and unhopeful.
"Well I guess the party's all here," Rob said happily, hoping to lighten the mood a little, but he received barely a chuckle. In the distance there was a faint noise, growing gradually louder. The battlefield was a large valley a few miles outside the city, and there was no stopping some people from seeing what happened.
The Dragoons stood at the peak of one side of the bowl, while the oncoming Dead Army was nearing the opposite side. Screams were heard, but none of the Dragoons could make out what they were saying. They just waited, one more moment until the front lines of the enemy were visible.
And there they were, black, like the soil of Mayfil, from whence they came were the decrepit forms of unlife forced upon tortured souls. Finally, now that their voices were not muffled by the hill side, the Dragoons could hear their battle cry. It haunted everyone and chilled them to the core, for the cry was not one of defiance, but a request. Every single warrior in that army was screaming the same two words, no doubt the only free will Zachwell's sick mind let them have. The words they screamed were "Kill us."
"Oh my God," Brittany said. She took Brad's arm and leaned on him in horror. Brad took her hand and looked gravely at the forces before him. The cries of the hoard remained the same, yet they began their charge instantly, down the hill at incredible speed at the first obstacle in their way: Eight lone humans.
Sean was tense and ready, and totally unsuspecting when Melissa slipped her hand into his. He jumped, but smiled anyway. Melissa had somehow given him hope that the day was not lost. He would keep an eye on her at all times, she would not be hurt. He clasped her hand tightly
"Let's give these poor souls what they want, a quick release," he said. He leapt into the air and the other seven followed right behind him. He first fired a volley to lower the numbers of the mass. "Divine Dragon Ball!"
The field became alive with the spotted fires as great numbers fell in the flames, and the tortured souls within were released.
"Explosion!"
"Star Children!"
"Freezing Ring!"
"Thunder Kid!"
"Wing Blaster!"
"Meteor Strike!"
"Death Dimension!"
The calls of the elemental Dragoons rang out and flashes of fire, light, ice, lightning, rock, blackness, and deadly winds tore through another great number of the enemy forces.
"Let's finish this!" Sean said, electrified.
The warriors dove down with death-defying speed into the mass, slashing, stabbing, smacking, pounding, slicing, punching, and kicking their way through the forces.
Long hours flew by, and the Dragoons were awed at how much longer they were holding out. They fought their way through the stinking soldiers of the evil city, and began seeing their fellow Dragoons more and more, until the last soldier fell to Brittany's mallet.
"That…took…forever!" Brad panted, sitting down on the black soil covering the green plant life below them.
"No…kidding!" Melissa said.
"No one….saw Zachwell I'm assuming?" Sean asked, receiving seven nos. "Then…it isn't over."
"Are you kidding me?" Ben yelped. He looked as though he was ready to contradict Sean, but the roar from behind the hill drowned him out tirelessly.
"What was that?" Christie asked.
The Dragoons took wing and flew to the top of the hill, and beheld a sight that shocked and horrified them all yet again.
"This….sucks," Mike said. Thoughts of his Jennifer swarmed his head, filling him with the sorrow that he was going to be forced to break his promise.
"Don't all of you DARE to give up now," Sean yelled suddenly. He stood tall again. "We've come this far, and for a decade we've defended human kind from uncounted enemies. I will NOT give up now," he said forcefully. Melissa looked into his eyes, gleaming with self-developed hatred; hatred for the even more massive army before them, hatred for Zachwell, hatred for himself not a month ago, due to being so weak.
Then his eyes looked into Melissa's. Their hard glare softened, and he diminished to half power. He took Melissa's hands, and clasped them tightly.
"Melissa, I've never stopped loving you, and I don't suspect that I ever will, until and beyond my death I am going to love you, and hopefully be with you, and that is all I could ever ask for. If the day of our deaths should be today, I'll hold no regrets, but until I die, I wont let you, or any of our friends fall, I swear on it," Sean said, smiling.
"Oh," she said and hugged him. "I love you so much."
Ben and Christie shared a kiss and a hug and a whispered moment together, as did Brad and Brittany. Mike and Rob both looked defeated, they feared to never stare into their own lover's eyes ever again, but the hatred of the possibility swelled up inside them, giving them strength and morale.
A war cry tore from the crumbled lips of the Mayfil soldiers, shaking everyone. The behemoth force took a step forward, then another, and proceeded this process until they were in a full charge.
Sean transformed back to full power, and took Melissa's hand one more time. "Stay by me, we can do this," he said deeply. She nodded and kissed him.
One moment of hesitation followed that kiss, where the Dragoons were at piece, standing there waiting for what could be their doom in the guise of an army. The crumbling soil, with a soul shimmering through every once in a while was actually very captivating. Their sharp weapons gleamed in the mid day sunlight, and one by one, every Dragoon took a breath.
"All or nothing, here we-" But Ben's voice was drowned out by another war cry, though it wasn't that of the oncoming army. It was coming from behind. Sean spun around to fire his cannon at the force behind them, but it was no enemy.
Three helicopters tore over the hill's peak, and with a powerful machine gun, tore three lines through the forces. Then, the Dragoons heard the battle cry of the Endiness United Armed Forces.
"Up the hill ladies! We got a continent to protect! LET'S GOOOO!" came a demanding, militant voice.
"Life and Death for Endiness!" Roared the army of the humans as they marched in legions up the hill. The leader reached the top first and spotted the Dragoons.
His eyes widened behind his sunglasses and he whipped out a pistol and pointed it at them. "And what in all the fiery depths of Hell are you supposed to be?"
The Dragoons were awestruck at this sudden uprising. One thing was for certain though, their secret wouldn't be a secret for long.
"We're the janitors, we clean up the filth for you guys," Sean said, not ready to be nice, because he knew they wouldn't be believed at first.
"And if I don't buy that?" He yelled.
"Then I'll have to disarm you until you do," Sean said.
"Try it!"
Sean suddenly was in this man's face. He grabbed the gun, held it in front of the military official's face, and crushed it with his hand. One second later, however, another one was in his face. He reached for it, but the man grabbed his wrist and turned it clockwise. To an average human, it would be painful, but Sean could fly, his feet left the ground and he spun with the man, and placed his sword on the man's throat.
"I dare you," he said, puffing smoke from an exaggeratedly large cigar in Sean's face. Sean didn't blink.
"If you were my enemy, I would have. Now, one final demonstration," Sean said.
He stomped his feet into the ground, and his cannon swelled up. "DIVINE DRAGON CANNON!"
The white bolt released itself with a pounding recoil, and a five foot wide beam ripped through anything in its way, all the way to the back of the forces, a half mile away.
"I could also do that, to you and your comrades. My friends and I have been on your side, MUCH longer than you know, my name is Sean Mcmann," Sean said. He transformed to half power, and put forth a hand.
The army official dropped his cigar on the ground and stomped it. "Colonel Jeff Sanders, Head of the 1st unit of the Defense of Endiness Armed Forces. What are you eight, exactly?" He asked, taking Sean's hand.
"Warriors granted the power of the 8 most powerful Dragons that ever existed. The one's put down for the Dragon Campaign, but myself. My Dragon belonged to Dart Feld some eight hundred years ago," Sean said.
"No kidding?" Col. Jeff said.
"Nope," Sean said.
"Wow, thought the Dragoons were a legend, myself, but loved the stories as a kid, nice to meet you, sir," Col. Jeff said.
"Likewise, now what're you all doing here?" Sean said.
"Well if a group this size comes from a place like Mayfil to a civilian city, we're gonna know about it, and when we guessed there was some fighting going on, we figured we'd better see what's going on. We noticed it was an army two hours ago on a recon. Mission. So we gathered the forces together, and here we are," Jeff said.
"I see, well I'll tell you what, the helicopters are fine, but bullets from your forces wont do much," Sean said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, that's why we have these," Sean said, indicating he sword. "Do your men know any close-hand combat? Do they have close combat training?"
"Yea, sure. TROOPS! DISGARD FIREARMS AND DRAW YOUR SWORDS!"
The hills sang as an uncountable number of shimmering blades slid out of their sheaths.
"ALRIGHT MEN, LET'S KICK THIS SHIN-DIG OFF THE RIGHT WAY!" The Colonel ordered.
The Endiness Defense Forces rushed forward, screaming. The Dragoons took to the skies, where Sean figured it would be worthwhile to give them Healing Fogs. This battle, was not at all near over…
Authors' Note: Thank you again for the reviews, everyone. It seems the action has finally arrived in full, we hope you enjoy the war for Endiness. Please Review!