"Ezio!" Katana relaxed slightly, as the purple dragon stared down the Marshall. Several dragons turned and took off, running as fast as they could. Others took cover. A small spherical orb formed around the lance, expanding slowly. It passed over Katana and the others harmlessly, but when it hit the field Marshall, it forced him backwards, ever so slowly, finally stopping too encompass all of the allies. At last, there was a massive shockwave, spreading out from the staff, it knocked the entire legion back, and punched out most of the windows, knocking most of the enemies unconscious.

"Come on guys, lets get out of here." The Marshall was clawing at the shield, but too no avail. The bunch turned and walked peacefully out of the compound, never once being challenged.

"We might actually stand a chance with this thing complete." Katana said, picking up the completed piece, "How'd you get the haft from Cynder?"

"You'll see."

"You two gave us a scare when you didn't show up." Hestia said, drawing abreast of the pair, "I thought our greatest chances of winning were suddenly gone."

"Even if they were, stone-brain and hot-head here wouldn't have stopped fighting." Frost said, punching Brooklyn, and then nuzzling up under Blaze's chin, "And Ion probably would have annoyed Malefor with his incessant tongue so much that Malefor would have ordered him killed anyways."

"Oh hush Frost. You flaunt your grandfathers arrogance a bit more than you should." The lightning guardian shot back.

"Enough, both of you." Blaze shot them both down as Frost opened her mouth too retort. Ezio shot him an odd glance, but shrugged, and continued out of the ancient city, taking off once they were outside.

When the group took too the air, Katana saw more shadow forces, although no one paid them any attention. She had the sneaking suspicion that Ezio was holding a cloak around them.

Ezio lead them past the outskirts, past their previous sleeping spot, all the way too the great wall of china. Here there was nothing but slums, gangs roamed the rows of tents and hovels. Stray dogs ran the streets, trying too beg meat off the inhabitants, there was a stench in the air. And it wasn't just humans ether. A pack of cheetah cubs, their fur matted and stained ran past, the lead trying too keep a ball away from the others. A group of old moles argued over who would get the largest portion of a rat they had captured. Some young drakes soared overhead, fighting with each other, as a group along the wall cheered them on.

"Come on, we don't want too stay in one place for forever. This is gang territory."

"Is this what the war has wrought?" Frost asked, her jaw slightly open.

"This is what we have wrought. Or at least what I have. Where did you think the families went after Tokyo was destroyed? They have no money, no place too call home, and China almost laughs in their face, especially after Malefor took control. You don't think a communist-socialist society would care about the poor, do you?" Ezio rep[lied from the head of the pack. There was no longer a forcefield, so he was eying a pack of teenage dragons whom were hiding in the shadows, leering back. One of them, a large earth dragon, smiled at Frost.

"Come on cold-skin, leave that hot-head, and I'll show you a much better time." Blaze went too retort, but Frost stopped him. She approached the dragon, hips swaying slightly, and rubbed her chest against the stone-head.

"You know big boy, I've ripped a shadow lieutenants manhood off for saying less than that too me." So intent was he on her eyes, that he didn't notice her paw grab his wing. In the next few seconds, he found himself pinned on the ground, and his wing folded at an extreme angle.

"AAAAAAHH. GET OFF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH!"

"Don't make me bend it further. A bit more pressure and it'll break. Now you've just been rude too a lady, what do you say?"

"GET OFF, YOUR GOING TOO BREAK IT!"

"I just might! What do you say!"

"I'M SORRY DAMNIT!" There was a loud pop, as the wing came out of the socket.

"Damn right you are!" Frost hit the ball of the wing gently, and it popped back in. She got off the dragon, whom immediately rolled to his feet.

"Lets show this bitch what for! Dé léi kè prepare your powers!" Frost just stood there, staring at them. As one, the three raised their paws, and their powers charged, earth, electricity, and ice brought too bear. Frost just smiled at them, and then looked over her shoulder.

"Blaze? Ever seen a game of human golf? What would you say the par is?" Blaze grinned at her.

"I'd say three hits." He motioned back at the dragons, "But I'll bet your going too do them in in two."

"I'd bet on one."

"Three holes in one hit?"

"Aye, three asses in the hole." She turned and in one fluid motion, lunged, her wing jutted forwards, an struck all three under the chin, "Lesson number one of combat gents, never group together unless needed. Surround your opponent, they'll likely not see where your coming from."

The lead earth dragon got up, rubbing his jaw. He motioned too the other two, and they spread out, one on Frost's right side, while the other traveled left, and towards her back.

"Hehe, hey Blaze, little do they know I have them right where I want them! Surrounded from the inside!" She shouted back, not turning away from the earth dragon in front of her.

"Good, that means you can fire in all directions!" Blaze said, grinning even wider. The lead dragon lunged and, Frost spun, her tail blade hitting all three in quick success.

"Rule number two, don't hesitate, keep up the attack and wear down your opponent, focus fire when you can, shoot when you can't, and avoid as many incoming strikes ass possible." The other dragons took her advice, and began attacking in quick succession. Frost dodged the first too, and drove the ball of her wrist into the jaw. She kicked one of the attackers coming in from the rear in the groin, and he keeled over, trying too contain his pain. The last one was taken down by her shoulder spikes, which were driven into the enemies thick chest plating. After a grand total of a minute, she had reduced the trio of them too moaning idiots, lying in the dust. She nudged the earth dragons jaw gently. He looked up, and tried drawing away, but Frost just gently grabbed his wing in her jaws, and pulled him upright. She then proceeded too help the others too their feet.

"Come on." The earth dragon sneered at her, but the other two followed her, and he rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed.

"Your names?"

"Argus." Mumbled the earth dragon.

"Blitz. Where'd you learn those moves? ThosewereAWESOME!" He nearly shouted the last word. Frost only chucked.

"Shut up Blitz. Name is Noble, ma'am." The Ice dragon said in as dignified of a voice he could muster through a broken nose.

"This is my Squadron, Blaze, my mate, Brooklyn, Earth Guardian, Ion, Storm Guardian, and I'm Frost, Ice Guardian. Katana, Time Dragoness and Alpha Squadron leader, Ezio, purple dragon, Kali, a very close friend of mine, and Hestia." Frost replied. Ezio jerked his head down the street, indicating they should keep moving.

"YOU'RE Mad'am hestia?" Blitz asked, his jaw dropping.

"At your service." Hestia said, smiling and nodding, "Frost after your done with them, I'd like too talk too them."

Frost continued too talk too them. None of them had any families, all of them having been killed as part of gang plots. She discovered that all three were part of a local dragon gang known as the Dé léi kè, which meant the drakes in the Chinese language. They were all refugees from Japan, and that this stretch and the surrounding lands and buildings were their territory. They were currently at war with a rival gang too the south. And she discovered Argus was the leader.

"Seriously? Come on now, your the leader, and you fight like that? I guess I can expect no less from a gang. Especially your gang." She said, as they rounded a corner.

"What do you mean?" Argus said, bristling. He was still bleeding from a busted lip, and one of his eyes were swelling fast, "I don't mind you whooping my ass, but don't rag on my gang."

"Yes, it is the number one rule of the arrangement we have with our gangs. Do not insult each other. Or at least not too each others face."

"Ah, but I'm not part of a gang, now am I? So I am immune too the rules. And if you 'Didn't mind' then you wouldn't be talking too me through a busted jaw."

"That still doesn't give you an excuse."

"Yeah, who do you think you are?" Frost grabbed Argus by the throat, stopping his accusation cold. He clutched at her paw helplessly, and whimpered in pain.

"I am Frost, of the Arctic Storm! I have gone up against legions of shadow lieutenants, faced Malefor himself, and killed many males. And loved but one person, with a passion a drakling like you couldn't even begin too comprehend! That's who I think I am." She jerked the dragon around roughly, Shaking him, and he snarled in his misery. The Ice dragoness tilted his head too the side, too get a better look at him.

"Your going too bleed out if we don't patch you up. Come on, you blithering idiot." And she released him, throwing him back too the dirt.

"In here guys. Frost, try not too damage him permanently." Ezio said, jerking his head towards a hovel built into the wall. The hole for the entrance was larger than most.

"Hello? We're home! I got them!"

"Ezio! You took longer than I thought you would, I was worried!" The voice almost slammed into the group, almost everyone knew it.

"Hello?" Katana asked timidly into the next room, "Is that who I think it is?"

There was a crash as the purple-black dragoness pelted around the corner, and slammed into Katana.

"Katana! Guys, it's so good too see you!"

"Cynder! What on earth!" Katana tried too get up, but Cynder had her legs pinned too her side.

"Hehe, you could say we collided halfway here. From what the demon told me, she didn't have any issues, no one too fight. But apparently, there was a different spirit inside the ruins, and it gave Cynder an ultimatum. So she took it. Feeling better now Cynder?"

"Much better, Ez. When can we get moving?"

"We need rest before we continue. I think we all know whats coming." There was a solemn silence throughout the room as their thoughts turned inwards, "We need rest and meditation, so we'll take some personal time for twenty-four hours, and then proceed."

And with that, he launched himself past the door and into the sky.

"Come on gents, lets get you cleaned up. Would you like too stay for dinner?" Argus seemed surprised at the question.

"Uuuum..."

"Don't tell me you've got someplace too be, I know you have no families. Cynder, what do we have for food?"

"I managed too catch a large boar outside the walls while you guys were gone. So unless you hate pork, then were having bacon!" She replied, returning too the kitchen. Frost noticed that her sharp tail spade was covered in blood.

"Cynder, where were you during the fight? We coulda used you." Blaze asked from what must have been the living room.

"Recovering. I only started feeling a bit better about an hour ago. It felt like the largest hangover I've ever had." Frost had her medkit out by now, and was patching up Argus, whom was squirming at the female grabbing his lip, and pressing gauze and clogging agent against it.

"Oh stop squirming you big baby."

"I want too go home now!"

"You can't go home, not in this condition, now hold still!" Cynder chuckled.

"You have the weirdest way of making friends Frost."

"Heh, you should see how I make my enemies."

The rest of the afternoon went quietly. It felt almost too quietly after the rush of that morning, but Frost knew for their lives, that was normal. And so she decided too dedicate herself too setting these young dragons straight. When she had finally finished working on their injuries, she had them gather around her, and listen carefully.

"My grandfather was a guardian like myself. He was arrogant and yet smart, and yet I did not listen. I was once like you three, young naive, full of myself. My life was a wreck. And then one day, I nearly lost my life because of it. Instead, I got lucky, I got a second chance. I was imprisoned and tortured. Do yourselves a favor. Listen too his wisdom. He had a life story he had once told me, a poem of sorts, or a proverb. It goes as such:

Like a tree without its branches, like a fire without a light,
You're a battle weary soldier who is running from the fight,
Like a ship without an anchor, you're a boat without a crew,
You hide the light inside you as you're whoring out the truth,
On the outside you're pretty, on the inside you're drenched,
In the blood of the anointed in the wound of the oppressed,
Fill your cup full of sorrows as you soil the master's clothes,
You were faithful at the wedding feast, but now wasted in the road,
Like a city on a hill with a blackout in effect
You defy your maker, is there one you respect?
Like a city on a hill you are tattered and torn,
You defy your Maker in your return to the scorn,
Put life to your footsteps, put spine to your feet,
Will you make your decision are you chaff or are you wheat?
Will you rise or will you fall, will you stand or will you crawl?
Will you be the ones He's called you to be or turn away and run?"

Argus snickered, "Pretty, what does it mean though?"

"It means you have a choice in your life. Stand with courage, honor, and loyalty, or don't stand at all. Do things for others, help improve your neighbors life. Do right by your mate, and by your creator. Do this, think about others every so often, and you'll do well in life." The trio was quiet for a bit.

"What about the other gangs though? Or what about ours? Most of them would kill us where we stood if we had just said what you just did too them."

"Then kick their ass. But don't kill them. I've given you enough knowledge that if you three follow it, you shouldn't have any issues against much larger groups."

She sent them on their way with a large chunk of cooked pork. They all thanked her for the combat lesson, and the bandages. Noble even thanked her for the severe butt-whooping.

"Oh, and Argus, before you go? Next time a pretty girl walks in front of you, don't ask for sex, ask for friendship. Much better romance will come in time. I know from experience." Blaze gave her an odd look from where he was laying, his eyes halfway shut.

"Whats his issue Frost?" Cynder asked, motioning towards Blaze.

"I think it's the conflict. Almost losing me basically gave him a life shock. He still likes too joke, but anymore, he gives thought too every situation, instead of opening his mouth and blustering out anything." She replied, glancing at the fire guardian, "He's changed a lot."

"Are you complaining?" The purple dragoness shot a sly look at her.

"NOT a complaint, just an observation."

"So what now?"

"We don't have enough firepower?"

"We have the lance! How much more firepower do you need?"

"Enough!" Ezio said quietly. They all fell silent and turned too him. He hates that kind of crap, "It needs too be a strike team kind of plan, not an army. And there's one other thing. Malefor, up until this point, has been able too determine our every move. But he's just one person. We need too act unpredictable. And we need too kill him. This will be our final fight. We need too give everything we've got. Any ideas? Kali?"

"If I were Malefor, and I'm not, but if I were, I'd know my capital has weaknesses, you can't have an area that large and not have any. And IF I were Malefor, I wouldn't plug up those weaknesses, it takes too much resources. I'd rather watch them, lure my enemies into a false sense of security, and then kill them."

"God, that sounds like something Malefor would do. You know him well."

"I should, he trained me."

"So what would you suggest? I'd say, avoid the weaknesses, and try too find one of our own. The only thing is, Malefor might have thought of that weakness as well. How are they supplied? How do they communicate?" Ezio asked carefully, looking at the plans Kali and him were able too draw up from memory.

"Communication and supply is carried out via redundant encampments all over the surface, and then transported via portal. You could try taking out the portals, but that'd take a large toll on your strength, and I doubt we could keep it up for long enough. We don't have the numbers or strength for a siege."

"So we go in without disturbing anything. Can we sneak over the walls?" Ezio asked carefully.

"Me and Kali could, but the rest of you guys would glow like a setting sun, especially Blaze and Ion." Cynder said, looking the map over.

"Perhaps there is an easier way." Brooklyn said, tracing his claw along a border, "I could easily dig under a wall, perhaps even through the city.

"How long would that take?"

"A week perhaps?"

"That's too long. We need to be at the throne room in a couple hours." Ezio said, pouring over the curtain they had doodled on, "perhaps with a distraction. Blaze, Brooklyn, Ion, how much chaos could you create?"

"A lot, Ion could use his EMP too disrupt as much electronics as possible, Me and Brooklyn together could hit very hard with flaming melting balls of falling rock. How much is flammable?" Blaze asked, peering at the entrance.

"Alot. The entire city is made of wood and clay. If it's not flammable, just blow it up." Kali said, shrugging.

"I dunno, seems risky, and we could only launch one fire ball at a time into the city. They could probably snipe them out of the air."

"Whats the planet like?" Ezio asked, looking at the very edges, with the terrain all around the area.

"It was once a moon, covered with methane gases, which were frozen, a thick atmosphere, and made half of rock, half of water, with a frozen core. Now that it's terraformed, it's a bit like earth. 60% nitrogen, 40% oxygen and other gases. Smaller atmosphere, but thicker too make up for it. Lens flare of the atmosphere too counter for the distance of the sun. Normal weather, that was there before, even seasons. The core is different from earths, it had too be. Couldn't haul in a planets worth of iron and nickel for a core." Kali said, looking at the ceiling and thinking.

"You said there was a core of ice at one time?" Frost said passively from the corner.

"Yeah, it's how the whole thing works. There's a lot of pressure and heat at the center, but so much so that it's made simply of steam, and continuously circulates." Kali said, "Why?"

"I could freeze it."

There was a silence through the room.

"Do you think you could actually do the entire thing?"

"If I sat there long enough, easily, specially how thermo-dynamics works. Just freeze part of it, and keep it frozen, let it cool down the rest of it. Do you think the pressure at the core would fight me?" She asked, looking at Brooklyn.

"Probably, but it's far enough out from the sun that it wouldn't fight you nearly as hard as anything closer. The water WAS once frozen methane before terra-forming. It might work, but to what purpose?" Brooklyn asked.

"Easy. Ever seen what happens when a rotating object is unbalanced? It goes all over the place. Have a frozen core on a single side of the planet and it would probably rip the planet out of it's orbit, although it could rip the planet apart."

"Your nuts." Ezio said, smiling, "That's probably a good thing though. I think I see where your going. Malefor isn't going too let his army be ripped to shreds in one go, he's going to evac the place, himself first. If we can get him to leave his army behind, and meet us on even ground, we might have a chance."

"There are some issues with that, whats to stop him coming back?"

"I'll collapse the wormhole, like I did the last one. It's run by gravity you know, shouldn't be tough." Ezio replied too Ion's question.

"Do you know where he'll go?"

"I think he'll travel too a spot he can command from a safe distance. I know just the place he might even run too." Ezio countered Blazes argument.

"So after we freeze the core, we wait till he's gone, than melt the core, which I could do in about five minutes, follow him too his 'Happy Place' kill him, and then live happily ever after? Somehow I don't think it's going to work like that." Blaze growled.

"Says who? Malefor has created a monster of an army. But if there's one thing I learned about fighting larger opponents, it's that a tap in the right spot will send them toppling and crumbling too nothing." Frost said, smiling wider now.

"Can you do it Frost?" she gave the question pause, while she thought about it, but then just turned back too Hestia and nodded.

"Then I have nothing further to add." She said, turning too Ezio.

"Then get some rest guys. Tomorrow is homecoming, and we're going to throw the biggest party of them all."