Chapter Thirteen: Love and War

Zachwell's armies were torn, frightened and running, despite his demands for them to fight to the death, the fear that could overtake a human soul was too strong for a weak being to resist. "Oh, back to the Inferno, with ALL of you!" He said, he raised a hand and threw it down, and suddenly, as if nothing had been holding them previously, the filth of Mayfil fell to the earth and the souls soared in the direction of the Death City.

Zachwell's beast dissolved as well, taking the form of his sickle again, and he followed close behind. "Come to my home if any dare challenge me," he said.

Sean gripped his sword tightly. "I dare, you disgusting creature. Colonel, stay here and see that nothing is left, he probably wont have eliminated all his forces, some may be lying low waiting for the guard to go down. Don't give them the chance," Sean said. "The Dragoons are going to Mayfil."

He took off without another word. Everyone said quick goodbyes and took off behind him, struggling to keep up.

Sean was filled with some of the most contradictive feelings he'd ever experienced. Part of him desperately struggled to turn around away from the course. The other part held strong and kept Sean steady in flight.

Soon enough, the gradual decrease in the amount of light breaking through the ominous clouds was notable. The city was near. Within a few hours, they'd arrived. Sean landed heavily on both feet, breaking the dirt and throwing dust.

Zachwell was somewhere, but where? He heard the torn air getting louder as his comrades soared in behind him. He waved behind him, signaling to be careful in their descent. They heeded his warning, but what was about to happen, no amount of caution could prevent.

As soon as they touched down on the earth, there was a flash of red. Sean spun around, expecting some attack on him from behind, but he beheld a horror that tore his heart more painfully than the most hopeless moment of the fight with Melbu Frahma.

Seven black bubbles surrounded his friends. At first everything was silent, and then-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Roared every single one of them. Red lightning flashed within the spheres, revealing each of his friends. Their faces were contorted, and twisted with the utmost look of fear and pain. Sean fell back onto the dirt in horror. Then they began calling out his name, each and every one of them, calling on him to help them.

"Do you see how they all call for you when the fear and pain becomes so much?" Came Zachwell's voice from behind. Sean spun around and beheld him standing not five feet away, arms crossed. "It's pitiful, but I suppose all humans need someone to look for when hopelessness surrounds them like these bubbles. You'd better help them," he said with a cackle. Sean glared at him, but his friends cries of fear and agony were too powerful, and engulfed his hatred. Sean ran forward and kicked the spheres, sliced at them, pounded them with all his might, but nothing worked.

"I think you need a little motivation," Zachwell said. "The spheres will now shrink until each and every one of them is compressed to as dense as my power can make them. They should all fit in my hand quite easily…all seven of them."

Sean glared fiercely, and turned around, noticing that the spheres were indeed shrinking. Frantically he peered into each one, whispering to them. He continued this until he saw the dark shape and long hair writhing inside. He pressed his face and hands onto the ball.

Tears mixed with blood ran down and all over Melissa's face. "Sean, please help me…." She pleaded desperately, crying out. She placed her hand to match Sean's, but a lance of magic shocked it and she cried out again. Sean banged on it, grunting like an animal with the effort he put into pounding the sphere. Finally, with heaving lungs, he leaned against the ball and peered in.

"Melissa…." He said helplessly. "I cant break it, I cant," he said. His tears ran onto the black ball and ran down to drip to the dust on the bottom. Inside, after a moment, he saw her head nod.

"It's okay…" she said.

"No, no no no no…." Sean said shaking his head and pounding the ball again. He barely heard Zachwell's cackling behind him. By now Melissa was in the fetal position, and most of the men were becoming frantically compressed, they too cried out, unable to see Sean apparently.

"Sean?" Melissa whispered faintly.

"Yes?" he said, pressing up against the ball.

"…I love you, with all my heart and soul," she said. The flow of tears increased twofold, and Sean closed his eyes. Would this be the last time he'd hear that? If so he would not waste it.

"I love you to, Melissa, since the day we met I've loved you, and until the end of time I am going to keep loving you," Sean said.

She began to sob, cringing together tightly. Now the screams were deafening. Sean couldn't take it, he slid his finger over his lips. "Ssshhhhhhh, everything will be okay…just a little longer.."

"A little longer? You're giving up?" Zachwell said. "How quick! I love it!"

"…No, I'm not giving up."

Sean spun around and fired a quick blast at Zachwell. It was an act more out of anger than strategy, but when Zachwell dodged around it and charged, he felt lucky as he threw out his blade's tip to meet his stomach.

There was a flesh cutting sound, and Zachwell's eyes widened with pain. His jaw clenched and he looked down at his stomach, and the sword cutting into it. He spat out, and coughed, slowly sinking to a knee.

Sean watched the bubbles vanish, and his friends-bloody and beaten, yet alive-fall to the ground in heaps. They lost their armor as consciousness slipped away, and the spirits fell to the earth.

"…eh heh heh heh heh heh," came the voice of the impaled demon.

Sean looked down at the creature dangling from the end of his blade, and their eyes met again. There was no more fear or pain in his eyes.

Zachwell stood up, and grabbed Sean's blade, and pulled himself closer, until his face was inches from Sean's. "Immortality, such benefits to being unable to die."

With a wave of his hand the spirits were ripped from their owners' necks. They floated together over his hand, and placed themselves in it. He watched them. "Would not one of these dragons desire a joining of power with the already unstoppable?"

Not even a glitter shone from any spirit, Zachwell appeared neither disappointed nor surprised. "Pity, it is not often one has the opportunity to stretch perfection's limits." They fell to the ground, and Zachwell drew Sean's blade from his stomach.

"This belongs to you," he said, offering the sword. Sean took it slowly, but there was no trick, Zachwell's sickle merely appeared in his dominant hand, and he readied.

"Why are you doing this?" Sean asked, hoping to buy time and find a strategy.

"Why? Why shouldn't I?" Zachwell asked.

"Because besides the Dragoons, humans have never done anything to you," Sean said. Zachwell scoffed and laughed.

"Fool, you see only the surface of my hate, think harder, what do I truly abhor?" Zachwell asked, then threw down the sickle's blade, aimed at Sean's neck. Sean parried and attempted a counter swipe with his sword. Zachwell spun the shaft, catching the blade and thrusting it downward. He smacked Sean in the face with the blunt end and kicked him away.

"What is the greatest source of all my anguish and pain?" He demanded. He kicked Sean again, then grabbed his arm and flung him upwards. On his ascent, Sean fired down, but it was dodged easily. Zachwell soon joined Sean in the air, right behind him. He smacked the back of Sean's head, and then several more blows riddled his torso and face. He then wrapped his arms around Sean and beat his enormous wings, sending them downward. Sean's wings flapped, but he was dazed, and the Divine Dragoon's wings were pinned to his back.

"Remember that day?" Zachwell whispered.

Sean's eyes widened. Anna had thrown him into the world of light! That was what he detested so violently. Zachwell threw Sean in a heap, and the ground vibrated as Sean struck dirt.

"Yes, I see the realization in your eyes. Anna, the accursed Wingly. She threw me into that torturous world of light. That place was created by the Winglies, and Wingly magic maintains it. Humans mean nothing to me, they are undeserving of my favor or foul feelings. They, in all their ignorance and stupidity, merely make the perfect soldiers, the perfect conduit to my destination."

"Which is?"

"A world without light, where darkness dominates all things, as the ruling element, where my kind may roam freely and never know fear of pain," Zachwell said. He smiled.

"Enjoying my monologueing? By now I'm sure you realize there is no escape. You have followed every path as I have predicted, you have made every decision I knew you would. If there is one human I hate, if there is one human I give more than one look and consideration to, it is, and always has been, you."

"Me?"

"You. Always you slip just by a hair from my clutches. Always you fall back on friends or family and with a miracle my plans are foiled, until now. I know you now, Sean Mcmann. And now you are not of the slightest concern to me. You are merely a human I like less than other humans, and when I don't like someone, I rid myself of them, slowly. But for you, I suppose you can keep your soul, and your voice, but I will have your body serve me for eternity, hearing your despair with pleasure in my black, black heart," Zachwell said with a smile, he punched Sean, then kicked him again and again, and Sean fell back each time, unable to find the speed to block successfully.

"Your friends will die, and join my army," He said, locking up with Sean, looking him dead in the eye.

"Your army is defeated," Sean said, pushing Zachwell away. He cackled.

"Once again, not following the full story. It is my army of the dead. You cannot take life from an individual that does not have possession of it. I am, however in possession of the souls of every evil human that dies every day, and has died for millennia. The Inferno is mine to command," he said.

"Yes, think of it, an army that cannot be broken down, only made larger with every battle. My plan is perfect, and thanks be to a little luck, I may finally execute my ultimate revenge on Winglies," Zachwell said, "Light will be a thing of the past."

"Never," Sean said. Zachwell merely laughed in his face and shoved him back. Sean fell near the pile of spirits, and the light one glinted.

Use the White Silver Dragon, Sean! The Divine Dragon said.

Sean threw out his hand and as soon as contact was made, the mixed armor swarmed around Sean's Divine Dragoon armor, and the hybrid Dragoon pointed his cannon at Zachwell, and fired.

Zachwell created a black shield for the beam of magic to collide with. With little effort, the beam was cancelled out. "What luck that a boy named Frank Darteth helped me escape without me using all the strength and energy I've built up in the light realm," Zachwell said. "I am more powerful than ever before."

He threw Sean down to the ground. "Give up, it wont be as painful if you surrender to me now," said Zachwell.

Sean laid his head down and looked to the side, his sword became loose in his hand, and his muscles began to relax. This fight was over before it began, and he was only causing himself more pain by keeping it going. What could he do to an immortal?

You show me one history book stating as a fact that Zachwell cannot be killed, The Divine Dragon said. The other Dragons and I have a plan, but it will demand all of your strength, you may even die.

"Well let me hear it," Sean whispered.

The Dragons will allow you to use their powers, until Zachwell is proven immortal, or dead. Think of it, the combined power of the true ruler of every element, Zachwell shouldn't stand a chance.

Sean looked to the pile of spirits, and they glowed intensly. He felt each one's anxiousness to be used, to save the world. His fingers wrapped around his sword hilt again and he reached out to them.

He placed his hands over all of them, and then let go of the two he already had. The eight glowing spheres glowed their intense colors, and floated over Sean. Suddenly he was lifted onto his feet, and the Spirits began flying around him, zipping this way and that, increasingly faster. Finally, the largest one struck Sean in the chest, and the other seven preceded in throwing themselves over that. A different power filled Sean's body with each impact. His limbs involuntarily threw themselves out with the force.

Flashes of light illuminated Mayfil, contrasting to the dreary landscape. Suddenly, the power was too great, and Sean let out a bellow that rattled windows and shook the air. Armor sprung from the now merged spirits, spreading over the chest, flashing every color until it was dark black, and several inches thick. Sean's legs were stretched, but not in the way of the Divine Dragon's. Rather, both halves of the leg lengthened slightly, and a heavy metal boot shaped as a large, clawed, animal's foot surrounded it.

Eight wings tore from Sean's back, gigantic wings, one of every elemental color, larger than any other Dragoon. The pauldrons each had four spikes jutting outwards, and the cannon disappeared altogether. Or rather, it was divided in half and spread among both arms. The gauntlets of this Dragoon each had four prongs that clipped into place as the transformation continued. The tips vibrated with a power that could be felt by Sean. However, the greatest change was occurring not on Sean's body, but on his head.

He closed his eyes, but when he opened them, the vision was insanely more acute, and in a wider range. Eight dragon-slitted eyes blinked when he blinked, and a helmet with eight horns wrapped completely around his head. His outcry was muffled by a muzzle that covered his mouth, with slits that made breathing easy.

The light slowly died down, the bangs ceased, and in the center of a small crater stood Sean, with his body stretched to nearly nine feet tall. The wings shook off magical sparks, and the man's outcry was more reptilian than human.

Zachwell's eyes widened with horror, this…he had never expected…

Authors' Note: Sorry again for the wait, we're having problems where we come from that have demanded a dealing-with. So, what is this new Dragoon? Can Sean maintain this new power? Find out next chapter! Please review!