Chapter 11

Rayman ran after Dark. Dark turned around and threw a fire ball at him, then kept running. He ducked and kept running.

Rayman wound up his fist and shot it at Dark. The blow knocked the villain to the ground. Rayman approached him and prepared another blow. He forgot that Dark now had the Snake Cross Amulet.

Dark rolled over and held out a hand. An invisible force lifted Rayman off the ground. The hand squeezed, cutting off Rayman's air.

"You are just like your father." Dark said. "Diving head first into situations without even knowing what you're getting yourself into. You can get killed that way. Though, I'm not quite ready for you to die yet."

The invisible force let go and Rayman dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Dark came closer and Rayman punched him, sending him back. He stood up.

"You destroyed my planet, you monster!" Rayman said. "And you're gonna pay for that and for killing my father." He wound up his fist and punched at Dark again. Dark disappeared, using teleportation.

He reappeared behind Rayman and punched him back. "Your father was a fool to think he could beat me."

Rayman took another swing. "It worked, didn't it?" A miss. He took another. "He defeated you before I was born. He told me the stories as a child."

Dark ducked. "After you and the rest of your family ran off like cowards, I was able to capture him. And then when he thought you were all killed in your pod crash, I killed him with his own sword." He shot a fire ball at Rayman, which he easily dodged. "he could not defeat me without the help of his wind witch wife."

The words cut through Rayman like knives. He once again felt that rage that he had felt when he got his memories back. It was just enough of a distraction for Dark to push him back with his invisible magic.

In the corner of his eye, Rayman saw the hooded woman from before. Only this time, her hood was down and he saw her face.

Her skin was almost pure white, with golden hair that blazed like the sun. Golden eyes gleamed like torches in the darkness. And altogether, a bright light came from her, hidden under the cloak when she wore the hood.

The woman pulled off the cloak and let it wall to the ground. Her dress was even whiter than her skin and gave off an even stronger light. And Rayman knew that she was an Ancient, one of the few still living.

Until the Ancient's time to shine…the words of the prophesy repeated themselves in Rayman's head.

Dark's eyes got wide when he saw the Ancient. He created a fire ball in his hand and threw it at her.

"No!" Rayman got to his feet and ran at the fire ball to try to stop it. It went past him and continued to the Ancient.

The woman merely held up a hand and the fire ball stopped a few feet from her. The flame burned out and left not even a trace of smoke.

"It is about time for you to gain a new power." The Ancient told Rayman. "They say that if you go against a prophesy, bad things happen to you."

The light extended from the Ancient to Rayman and he felt the new power come to him. He had felt the sensation many times before in his previous adventures, but this time it was different. This was a whole new breed of power altogether to him.

His ring glowed as the new power was accepted and the light returned to the Ancient. She picked up the cloak and put it back on, dimming the light. And the light was completely gone when the hood was replaced on her head. Then she disappeared.

Dark used the amulet to make rocks rise from the ground and they all shot at Rayman. Rayman turned around. At the sight of Dark, the rage returned. It was time to try out his new power…shall come forth and make a sound.

He took a deep breath and screamed. The sound was almost impossible to hear. He felt it more than he heard it. But the vibration was impossible to miss. It shattered the rocks flying at him and knocked Dark off his feet.

Then out of nowhere, Neshae emerged from the shadows and leapt at Dark. He wielded a sword with a blade made of fire. Rayman recognized it was his father's sword. He had found it.

Dark just managed to turn around and see Neshae before the fire sword was buried deep in his chest. The end stuck out through his back and Dark fell to his knees.

Neshae pulled the sword out of Dark's chest. "That's for my parents." He said before Dark fell over dead.

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Alaesia was thrown at the wall a few times after Neshae left. There wasn't a lot she could do at this point. She had lost the concentration she needed to use her soul power, she had to keep Dark Rayman distracted, and she couldn't kill him or he would just come back even stronger and kill her.

Only she had let him throw her a few too many times. Now she hurt too bad to even get back up. Dark Rayman wound up his fist to take the final blow.

As the fist shot at Alaesia, it disintegrated inches away from her face and turned to dust. Panic was visible on Dark Rayman's face as the rest of him began to fall apart, becoming the dirt that Dark had used to create him. That meant Dark was dead. Rayman and Neshae had won.

The two emerged from the hallway. Rayman looked a little beat up, but otherwise okay. In his hand was the amulet. And Neshae wielded his father's fire sword. The prophesy had been fulfilled.

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The four friends of Alaesia were forced into a tight fighting circle, surrounded by hundreds of the demons. A violent red sunset made everything glow like fire. All hope seemed to be lost when every one of them was sucked back into the ground where they had come from. Dark had been defeated. The three limbless people had won.