This is the final chapter so enjoy. There will be another note at the end of the chapter so if you're interested, please read that.
Thomas was walking coming out of the forest with Mathew, Grace, Zeb, Celia and the three primary school friends when they heard an ear splitting screech echo overhead accompanied by the roar of another dragon he didn't recognise but could quickly identify when he saw lightning shoot out of a small storm cloud.
"What was that?" Elliot asked.
"That my friend, was a skrill," Zeb said still looking at the sky and exchanging a worried look with Mathew for some reason. "And a fury."
"Is Zoe and her skrill-riding companion visiting?" Nick asked.
"No," Zeb shook his head. "Mathew, go saddle up Echo. I'll take Celia back to the house and grab Rocco, meet me there. The rest of you, get everyone into their homes and don't ask questions," he instructed before hurrying off with Celia in one arm.
"Ok, what's going on?" he asked before Mathew could disappear.
"I honestly don't know, but Zeb and I have an idea which could go either way," Mathew said, not making much sense and rushing off to saddle up his singetail.
"Well that was helpful," he muttered. "C'mon, lets do what we're told."
So...every one of their plans had failed...Everything had started just fine; Grimmel had emerged in his weird contraption that his deathgrippers carried through the air and heading in the direction that the 'night furies' had been sighted. They had had to be much more cautious when following Grimmel than they were when they were following his hunters, but nevertheless, they made it to the island where the hunters had seen the two 'night furies'.
She had been able to sneak up on Grimmel and his deathgrippers with an arrow loaded in her bow. She had decided that she would try to free as many of the deathgrippers as she could. There was no point in trying to kill Grimmel here and now as she already knew that any attempts would fail, Grimmel would die with her as her Dream had told her, and nothing anyone did would change that outcome. So instead, she would make Axel and Uri's final battle with the deathgrippers as easy as possible. Taking a deep breath in, she let the first arrow fly as she exhaled. She fired two more in rapid succession, the three arrows all hitting the syringes on one of the deathgrippers.
Now that Grimmel knew she was there, she would need to act quickly. She was able to destroy the syringes on two more of the dragons, leaving Grimmel with five of his initial eight before he leapt onto the nearest deathgripper which took off, the other four deathgrippers following.
Zoe leapt onto Uri's back who took off after Grimmel, Axel, Viggo and Bolt joining the chase. After several minutes of flying, Zeb and Alice's island came into view, it must be their time after all. Glancing down towards the ocean, Zoe's stomach plummeted; it looked like it was going to be a large scale battle as the biggest armada that Zoe had ever seen was sailing below them. Each ship was filled with hunters, the lead ship housing two dragon proof cages, no doubt for the two 'night furies'. "Viggo, I need you to go and get Zeb and any other willing riders to deal with the ships, I'll go after Grimmel," she shouted over the wind.
"Won't they...you know...try and kill me?"
"Zeb knows who you are, but just don't take off your helmet."
"Alright, I'll see you later then," he smiled.
"Viggo?" she quickly said before Bolt flew away.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for everything the last two-ish years. You have no idea how much you've helped me, not just with the hunters, but with everything else too."
"Your time's up?" he asked cautiously.
"How do you-"
"I was a dragon hunter, I made it my business to find out everything about the fury riders. That's why I kept the violence to a minimum; I just did what I had to keep my dragon hunting business going," he shrugged. "But its been a pleasure," he said with a smile.
The past 12 months in particular, Viggo had become almost like an uncle or much older brother, and she was grateful that she had him now. She watched as Bolt peeled off as they passed Zeb and Alice's village, Bolt transferring some of his lightning to Zoe so she'd have some extra energy. Urging Uri and Axel forward, both furies let out their signature screech as Zoe used her air bending to help propel them forward. This was it.
Thomas was walking up from the docks with Finn when a skrill landed right in front of them, an armoured rider on its back. "Can either of you point me in the direction of Zeb?" the rider asked which Thomas knew to be Viggo.
"Not on your life," he snarled, drawing his sword and receiving a growl from the skrill who started sparking.
"Viggo!" Thomas turned to see Mathew and Zeb running towards them, their two dragons in tow. "What's going on?" Zeb asked, apparently completely unfazed that Viggo, one of the dragon hunter leaders was right in front of him and not dead.
"Zoe sent me to find you and Mathew. Grimmel's got a massive armada heading this way and I can't handle them alone. We'll need any and all willing riders," Viggo explained, completely ignoring Thomas and Finn.
"And Zoe?" Mathew asked, clearly worried.
"She's gone after Grimmel," Viggo said.
"One last stand against the hunters then," Zeb said softly.
"For Zoe," Mathew nodded firmly.
"Ok, we need to change plans. Thomas, Finn, round up all willing riders and benders and gather in the clearing next to mine and Alice's. Mathew and I'll go check out the size of the armada with Viggo and then one of us will let everyone know where to go," Zeb said, all business.
"Ok," Thomas nodded. "But what do you mean by 'last stand'?"
Zeb sighed before answering, "Zoe won't...she won't ma-"
"This is the last of the hunters," Viggo cut in before Zeb could finish, the hunter, Zeb and Mathew appearing to have a silent conversation before coming to an agreement, about what, Thomas didn't know. "So its the last stand against the hunters."
"But you're a hunter," Thomas stated blandly.
"Ex-hunter," Viggo corrected.
"Thomas, drop it. Viggo can be trusted," Zeb said to him. "Now lets not waste anymore time."
-o0O0o-
Once Thomas and Finn had rounded up as many volunteers as they could, they headed for the clearing where Zoe usually came and left from next to Zeb's house. They had gathered a decent number of people, Thomas guessed there were around 250-300 with about 80 per cent having dragons. The remaining volunteers would either ride with someone else and bend from the dragons' back, or they would be dropped off on sea stacks that the few earth benders would create closer to the armada.
Everyone was dressed in thick leather armour, the dragons with a thinner hide also wearing armour along their underbelly. Shortly after everyone had gathered, Zeb, Mathew and Viggo landed in front of the group. "Alright everyone, listen up!" Zeb called across the crowd, everyone quieting down and turning to face Zeb. "As you all know, there's an armada of Grimmel's hunters that we need to take down, about 400 hundred ships, maybe more. We're going to divide you into three groups, each group led by either myself, Mathew or Bolt and his rider-". So Zeb wasn't telling everyone that this rider was Viggo? Honestly, probably a smart move if they didn't want to waste time. "-Each group will have a mixture of earth and water benders, the few of you fire benders will stay in the one group," Zeb explained. "We'll send you out in waves, a group of water benders first to distract and start messing with the hunters; try to push the currents so the ships are as close together as you can get them. Once Bolt starts gathering storm clouds, I want everyone to clear out of the area. Once the clouds have cleared, we'll send the earth benders out to create the sea stacks for non-riders to be dropped off on. Once that's done, the rest of you follow your group leader's instructions. Is that clear? Excellent," Zeb said after receiving a couple hundred nods.
The crowd was then divided so that there was an equal number of earth benders in each group and different levels of experience among the water benders. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to get the groups formed and for the leader's to inform their group of what they'd be doing. It seemed like a pretty simple plan, and honestly, Thomas wasn't convinced that it would work. Each group would take a different side, Zeb would take the left, Mathew, the right, and Viggo the front. They would gradually work their way in until the three groups met where they would then form a line and finish the rest of the ships off.
Thomas was assigned to Zeb's group, likely because Zeb didn't trust Thomas not to try and get at Viggo. Deciding to express his concerns, Thomas took Zeb aside. "It won't work," he said quietly. "There's not enough fire power if the armada is as big as you say it is."
"I know, that's why Zoe is going to take out the brunt of it and then we'll finish off what's left," Zeb said quietly.
"Where's Zoe now?"
"Waiting for us. She's hovering over the armada to make sure Grimmel stays on the ships."
"I thought Viggo said she'd gone after Grimmel on dragon back?" Thomas asked, confused.
"She had, but she managed to herd him back to the ships so she's able to help us. She's going to use her lightning and whatever Bolt can summon for her which will destroy a significant number of the ships but also draw Grimmel back out," Zeb explained.
"Ok," he nodded. "That makes more sense. And are you sure Viggo can be trusted?"
"On my life," Zeb said firmly. "Now let's get to it, don't want to keep Zoe waiting," he smiled sadly.
Uri and Axel were hovering over the ocean between Grimmel's armada and the village, Zoe waiting for Viggo to get back. She was lost in thought, this was it, her last hours. By the time the sun set, she would be with Hayden again. It was a bitter sweet thought. On one hand, she was leaving everyone behind, but she would also see Hayden for the first time in almost two years if there was something after death. If not, then so be it, but she doubted there was nothing else as she, Uri and Axel would join the stars. Only a greater force could make that possible. And poor Sharpshot would be left alone, she'd have to make sure that someone would take care of the terror.
She was pulled back to the present when she heard Bolt approach her, the skrill followed by Mathew with his singetail and Zeb with his nightmare. "All set?" she asked them.
"We sent a few to gather volunteers but even if the whole village steps up, we still won't be able to finish off the armada. It's just too big," Viggo sighed.
"I can help with that but I'll need Bolt to gather a storm."
"Zoe, you can't use up all of your energy so soon, you'll need it later," Viggo protested.
"It'll be fine, that much I'm sure of. The more lightning Bolt can summon, the less of my own I'll have to use, but it needs to be done. We're finishing this today," she said firmly.
"You sure?"
"Positive," she nodded with a small smile.
"So, what's the plan?" Mathew asked.
"Get the water benders to push the ships as close together as they can. Bolt will gather the lightning so when the benders see the clouds start to form, they need to get out of there as quickly as possible. I'll strike as many ships as I can with the lightning and once that's cleared out, send out the earth benders to make sea stacks for anyone without a dragon to bend from. Then the three of you each lead a group, one on each side and one at the front. Sink as many as you can, you shouldn't need to worry about any large weaponry as it'll have metal and will likely be destroyed by the lightning, but still keep an eye out. I'll deal with Grimmel," she explained quickly.
"Is this the last time we'll see you?" Zeb asked after they'd cleared up any confusion or questions regarding the plan.
"I'd say its the last time you'll get to speak with me," she tried to sound nonchalant.
"So this is goodbye?" Mathew asked softly.
"Until we meet in the next world," she smiled sadly. "Good luck all of you, and say goodbye to everyone for me once it's all over."
"We will, and you too," Zeb nodded.
"Oh, and make sure Viggo gets his name cleared," she joked.
"That may be a little harder," Viggo chuckled.
"I'm sure we'll find a way," Mathew smiled. After the brief moment of joking around, the four riders became more sombre.
"You three should get back, I'll see you out there," she said taking a deep breath.
-o0O0o-
Surprisingly, everything was going to plan. She had managed to take out nearly three quarters of the ships before she saw Grimmel flee. Giving Zeb a nod as she shot after the five deathgrippers, Axel flying right next to Uri, Sharpshot wrapped around her shoulders not wanting to miss the last battle with his human.
As they got closer to Grimmel and his odd flying contraption, Zoe got to her knees in the saddle. Uri got as close as she could to the deathgrippers before Zoe leapt from the saddle, drawing her swords in the process. She fell through the air towards the ropes that tied the deathgrippers to the contraption, slicing two of the ropes and making Grimmel's air transport tip dangerously. As she fell through the air, she put her swords back in their sheaths, Axel plucking her from the sky shortly after and flying just above the the two free deathgrippers. Waiting until she had a clear shot, she sent six barbs of ice towards the two dragons, each barb piercing a syringe.
Swinging her forwards, Axel released Zoe so she flew through the air towards the third deathgripper and landed on its back. It immediately tried to sting her with its tail but she was able to dodge each stab. Pulling a dagger from her forearm, she carefully sliced the leather collar holding the syringes in place, the device responsible for drugging the dragon falling towards the ocean. Jumping from the dragon's back, she landed back in the saddle on Uri's back. Three down, two to go.
They flew for another few minutes as Zoe assessed the next best course of action. She watched as Grimmel got himself onto the back of one of the deathgrippers, the remaining one beginning to plummet to the ground as it couldn't lift the large contraption alone. "Axel, Sharpshot, help that dragon! Make sure you destroy the syringes," she told two of her dragons. Uri flew above Axel so Sharpshot could get a lift on Axel who could fly much faster. "I'll see you in the stars," she smiled sadly to the male white fury and terrible terror.
Uri sped after Grimmel. This was it. These next minutes would be her last.
Glancing back, she saw Axel and Sharpshot keeping the other deathgripper from attacking her and Uri. They'd clearly been able to release it but not destroy the syringes yet. Focussing back on Grimmel, she activated her bow and drew an arrow from her quiver, she aimed for the vibrant purple syringe that was drugging the deathgripper that Grimmel was riding. She knew she wouldn't miss, she'd seen herself succeed in her Dream. Taking a deep breath, she released the arrow and watched as it whizzed through the air and hit its mark, shattering the syringe and purple venom leaking everywhere. She heard a faint shout of anger come from Grimmel as she collapsed her bow and reattached it to her belt, a small smirk pulling at her lips.
She was starting to feel slightly delirious from using so much of her lightning beforehand, but she still urged Uri forward. She was not going to let Grimmel get out of this alive, neither of them would. She glanced down at Uri, the one being who had been through everything with her, asking the silent question: 'are you ready?', Uri nodding in acceptance. Uri put on a burst of speed so they were flying slightly above and to the left of the deathgripper. Zoe got to her feet, balancing herself before launching herself off of her dragon's back and towards Grimmel who turned his head just in time to see her diving towards him, her hands outstretched.
She knocked him off the dragon, her hands gripping each of his shoulders as they plummeted towards the ocean below. She knew it would either kill her or she'd drown, but she summoned the last of her energy and let the electricity flow from her hands, effectively electrocuting the hunter who went limp after a shout of pain. Just before they hit the water, she took one last deep breath as she let go of Grimmel and angled her body so she could see the sky and Uri turning to deal with the deathgripper that had gotten past Axel and Sharpshot. The three dragons would be able to release the deathgripper from its own venom before they died with her, she was sure of that.
Hey body slammed into the icy water, slowly sinking as thousands of tiny air bubbles rose around her. Turning her head to the side, she saw Grimmel either dead or unconscious and sinking through the darkness. Either way, he wouldn't make it. Just like her. She slowly sank into the ocean's depths, not enough energy to bend to save herself, but she didn't struggle. An odd sense of peace washed over her as she sank. Everything was over. She'd done it. She'd finished the hunters just like her and Hayden had set out to do. And she would see Hayden in only a matter of seconds now, because she couldn't go much longer without oxygen. Her vision began to fade, from the darkness of the water or from lack of oxygen, she didn't know. It was probably both. She would be seeing Hayden soon, and her parents and her brother. She would see Lily soon and all of her other friends that had died in the fire. She let a smile work its way onto her face. 'She was ready to go' was her final thought before her vision went black and she felt no more.
So, not a happy ending but oh well. If anyone wants me to write an extra chapter to give you a happy ending then I have a few ideas, just let me know if you'd like me to write it up.
Anyway, thanks for reading my first story and please send feedback so I can improve my writing :)