Don't own anything you recognize.

The words 'the final battle had begun' might sound all dramatic and stuff, but it really wasn't. Do you know what happened? Someone threw a pie, a flock of birds flew overhead (and dropped quite a bit of dung, unfortunately… rather smelly dung, might I add.) and it started to rain.

Pretty soon, though, the battle had begun in earnest. Magic flew in all directions like multicolored bolts of lightning. The clash of swords was punctuated with cries and shouts from both armies, and the occasional roar of the rider's dragon.

I was fighting just beneath the cliff, and had been basically scratched up and knocked about pretty badly. In a momentary lull in the battle, I saw the yellow dragon and its rider land on the top of the cliff, which was empty except for them. The rider was limping, and a thick line of blood ran down from a large slash in her armor.

The rider was clearly in pain, and her dragon didn't seem to be feeling that well, and her dragon didn't seem to be doing that well, either.

It would take her but a minute to heal herself and her dragon, and then the two of them would be able to return to the battle.

But if I could get up there before she could finish the healing…

A pecan pie fell just short of me, splattering assorted pie stuff over my feet. God, I hate those pies!

Summoning the magic, I said (A/N: Don't know which ancient language word to use here! Just know she got to the top of the cliff) and within moments was atop the cliff. But I was moments too late. The rider had healed herself and her dragon. She had assumed a ready position, sword held in a ready position, several differently flavored pies hovering in the air just behind her, supported by magic.

Dismay swept over me. I knew I couldn't fight a trained swordsman. Her sword was magnificently made, and mine was a 'mass produced' sword, half red with rust, and only half as big as hers.

Up close, it was also easy to tell that she was unavoidably… taller? Older? Than the last time I'd seen her.

I didn't have time to figure out what was up with her, though, because at that moment, she leaped towards me. I managed to parry her first blow, but I'd never fought with a sword before, or anything else, for that matter, and on her second blow, she knocked my weapon right out of my hand.

I saw my life flash before my eyes. I fully expected a sword to come down on my head at any moment. But it didn't. Instead, the rider said, "Good. Now we can talk."

HUH!

The voice seemed somewhat familiar. A nagging suspicion began to form in the back of my mind.

The rider took of her helm, revealing her face. Which I recognized at once, though the last time I'd seen it had been several years ago.

Just then, the loose rubble at the bottom of the cliff shook, and ERIKA burst forth. Astride her dragon, another 'mass produced' sword held in her hand (Which she couldn't use any better than I could use mine, by the way).

Her dragon flew high, and then swooped down towards the other rider, her intent deadly clear.

"STOP!" I cried. "That's my sister!"

Cries The next chapter is the last one! I can't beleive it! I've been planning this story since last Winter! Well, that's all for now! Happy 4th to everyone in the U. S. by the way.