Hi everyone! First things first, today (the 30th August) is Spongey's birthday, so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to her! It also happens to be Charlotte's birthday too.
Many thanks to Meg for reviewing the last chapter - you STILL rule!
And a big shout out to the twins Sam and Amanda from Big Brother - tomorrow is the last episode, and hopefully they'll win. I'm rooting for ya! w00t!
Random Quote: I'm miles from where you are, I lay down on the cold gound. I pray that something picks me up And sets me down in your warm arms ('Set Fire to the Third Bar', by Snow Patrol and Martha Wainright)
Over in the throne chamber, there was a distinct feeling of 'this just ain't our day'.
Despite pouring everything they had into one final attack, it seemed as though Lord Darkar was still standing. His snide, sneering laugh rang out, and an unmistakable silhouette started to form in the thick, choking haze of dust that quietly sank through the air. Although their vision was blurred, it seemed as though Darkar had lost the horns, spikes and other additions to his already grotesque body. So far so good... but as Darkar's form became clearer, a feeling of horror and revulsion swept over the group.
"That's impossible!" Bloom blurted out. "We got you straight through the heart!"
Darkar chuckled as he patted the still-smoking hole in his chest. "Sorry dear, I don't have a heart," he gloated. "You know, embracing evil has done me a whole world of good. It's too bad you'll never get to try it for yourself."
He strode forward purposefully, a murderous glint twinkling in his blood red eyes. His plans had been thwarted, his scheme to invade Kandrakar and claim its power for himself had been dashed, and all that extra power he had gained had been relinquished.
There was only one thing on his dark and twisted mind now - these pixies were going to pay, and pay dearly.
His wicked clawed hands crackled with dark energy as he prepared to exterminate this vermin once and for all. After all the problems they had given him before, they were now weak and helpless, slumped on the floor in front of him, totally exhausted by their all-or-nothing efforts.
This was going to be easy... but then his train of thought was disturbed by a rush a firey hot air coming from his right-hand side. He looked around to see the Ifrit swooping towards him, his mighty fist drawn back ready to delivery a sickeningly powerful punch which sent the dark lord crashing into the wall at the far side of the room. Bewildered and enraged, Darkar picked himself up and glared at him.
"I will not suffer this insubordination! How dare you do this to your master!" he blustered.
"Master? Hah! You are no longer my master!"
"No longer your master? You lie!"
"You are inferior to me, and I shall destroy you for daring to enslave me!"
Darkar sniggered. "Really? Well, good luck with that. As the keeper of the Shadowfire, I can never be destroyed!"
"Oh great - now he tells us!" Cornelia muttered under her breath. As the dark pair squared off, our young heroes and heroines looked on, dismayed that their plan hadn't worked, but mightily relieved that they had been given a stay of execution.
"So what do we do now?" Bloom asked as she tried unsuccessfully to stand up before her weary body told her that idea was a no-go.
"Why don't we get out of here?" Layla asked, before realising there was no chance of that happening right now - that last cave-in had blocked off their only exit.
As Darkar and the Ifrit grappled together in front of them, Tegryn opened his eyes and sat himself up with a pained grunt, trying his best to ignore the intense throbbing that was coming from his battered leg.
"This is the chance I've been waiting for." he whispered as he raised his hands together. "Dis-spell!"
At his command, a pitch-black ball of crackling energy flew from his hands and hit the two evil-doers, engulfing them as it nullified their combined magical powers, although they were so caught up in their own private battle they barely noticed - instead of using magical blasts on each other, they simply opted for a good old-fashioned fist-fight. Tegryn smiled a little as he briefly swooned. As Musa caught him and sat him up striaght again, he quickly recomposed himself and focused once again on his targets.
"Now to finish this. Now to get rid of Darkar once and for all."
"How?" Musa asked as she moved herself to support him, embracing him from behind as he sat back into her arms. "He said he can't be destroyed."
"I'll do the next best thing - send him to Limbo, and his friend too."
"What!?" Musa protested. "But Teggy, you can't do that. It'll take too much power. You don't have it in you!"
"I... I can do it!" he replied breathlessly, his body shaking as he struggled to keep his wits about him. "I know I can. I'm stronger down here. This place gives me power. I'll have to draw on every last bit I have, but I can do it!"
"No! You're too weak! You're too hurt! You won't make it! You'll kill yourself!" Musa cried, blinded by the veil of tears that ran down her face. "Please Teggy. Let's just get out of here. You weakened them enough, we'll have time. We'll be safe."
Tegryn shook his head. "No we won't. The effects of my spell won't last long, not on Darkar, not down here. He gains power from this place just as I do, probably more. I have to do this now!"
Musa buried her head into his shoulder and wept uncontrollably. After everything they had been through, after all the hurt they'd endured, the last thing she wanted was for her dear fiancé to sacrifice himself, even if it meant that the entire universe would be safe once again. What was the point of living if it wasn't with him?
Tegryn closed his eyes and placed his hand on hers.
"Trust me Musie, I ain't going nowhere without you. Just you wait and see - by the end of the day, I'll be hugging the living daylights out of you, safe and sound back in Alfea."
Musa drew her arms just that little bit tighter around him and sighed as she lay her cheek against his. Despite the immense warmth of his heart and soul, his skin felt so cold and clammy against hers. He had lost so much blood it was a wonder he was still conscious, let alone alive. It was obvious to her that he was literally running on fumes here, the last dregs of magical energy carrying his poor battered body over the finish line of this most deadly of marathons.
"Okay..." she whispered gently into his ear. "You made me a promise. I expect plenty of hugs from you tonight!"
Tegryn smiled as he heard these words. He looked at the others, who stared back at him solemnly sharing a single thought - they hated with every ounce of their being that their struggle had to come to this ultra-risky manouvre, but reluctantly they knew just as Tegryn did that there was no other option. It was time to get to work.
"Right. First of all I need those two held in place, together. I'll only have one shot at this, and as soon as they see what I've got planned, I don't think they'll want to stay still and take what's coming to them. Corny... will you do the honours?"
"With pleasure!" Cornelia said with a flick of her long golden hair. "Earth!"
There was a low rumble, and a mass of thick vines shot up out of the ground and hungrily wrapped themselves around the unsuspecting pair, squeezing them tight as they held them fast. Knowing that they were still without their magical powers, Darkar and the Ifrit both tried to muscle their way out, using their immense size and physical strength in an attempt to free themselves, but it was no use - Cornelia's vines were too strong.
"Excellent," Tegryn said as he shakily tried to stand himself up on his one good leg. Just like the others though, his body had been sapped and he crashed to the floor. Musa rushed over to pick him up, but he held out his hand to stop her.
"No babe. You have to stay behind me. You all have too. If any of you get caught by this, you'll be stuck in Limbo for ever along with those creeps."
"But Teggy, you can't even stand."
"I'll.. try.." he said, attempting it once again, and failing once again. "Damn it!" he screamed, thumping the floor in disgust - he was so close to ending this battle, and yet so far.
"It's okay Teggy, I've got you!" Hay Lin piped up. From out of nowhere, a spiralling cushion of air caught Tegryn and hoisted him upright, holding him gently a few inches off the ground. "I've got your back now - you just concentrate on nailing Ugly and Uglier over there."
"Here goes nothing!"
Tegryn held his palms flat so that faced each other as though he was gripping an invisible ball, and closed his eyes. Breathing deeply, he drew on the remnants of Shadowhaunt's dark magic as it flowed through him, concentrating as he tried to pool it all together.
At first nothing happened, but after a few agonising seconds a single spark of dark energy jumped from one hand to the other.
Then another.
Then some more.
Soon, a handful of sparks were dancing at his command, growing more numerous and ever darker as he poured more energy into this desperation move. The sparks started to merge in the centre, forming a vague ball in his hands. Slowly, the ball started to take a more definite shape, and it started to grow - ever so slightly at first, but soon inflating itself.
As it ballooned in size, intense black shadows danced around his body, filling the room with an unnatural darkness which ebbed and flowed almost hypnotically along the walls in pulsating waves. And in all this time, as her darling Tegryn poured everything he had into this attack, Musa clenched her hands together, weeping, praying, hoping against all hope for this to work and for Tegryn to be alright.
At that point, she heard Tegryn let out a scream as, with one mighty effort, the ball suddenly increased in size until it had become wider than his body. He held it aloft, and the gang were finally able to see the true terror of what Tegryn had in store for their enemies. The ball pulsed, filling each and every one of them with fear, and as they looked into it, frightening shapes could be seen swirling around inside it. Contorted faces, unearthly agonised wailing - it was the souls of everyone who had perished at the hands of Lord Darkar. In his evil spite, each and every one of them had been trapped within the walls of Shadowhaunt so that he could feed off their dispair, and now they were willingly giving themselves through Tegryn so that they could finally dispose of their tormenter and rest in peace at last.
Tegryn let out a huge roar. Even though his whole body was screaming in agony, even though every last spark of strength in his body was being used up, he had gathered all the power he needed and now, finally, he was able to unleash it. It bore down on their targets, hungry for revenge as it screamed towards them. Darkar yelled as the ball engulfed him and the Ifrit, sucking them gradually into the oblivion of nothingness that would be their new home for the rest of eternity. His howls of dread and rage got louder as the dark ball got larger and larger, giving off plumes of smoke that swirled around them, filling the room with hushed whispers as they disppeared through the walls and into the night. As the plumes grew thicker and thicker, a tiny and almost inperceptible spark of dark energy shot out from the centre of the room as Darkar finally succumbed to his everlasting fate, striking Tegryn in the stomach completely unnoticed.
Finally, the howls and wails gave way to an empty silence. Black scorch marks stained the floor where Darkar and the Ifrit had once stood.
They were gone.
Thank the heavens. Thank the Dragon. Thank everything that could be thanked.
Lord Darkar and the Ifrit, the two most powerful and terrifying forces that had ever threatened the universe, had gone, left to fight out a neverending battle in a dark and lonely void.
"You did it!" Musa was finally able to whisper as she rushed forward to where he was standing. "Teggy, you did it!"
Tegryn didn't reply. Musa looked at his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth gaped slightly open as his head slumped forwards and his arms hung limply by his sides.
"Teggy?" she whimpered anxiously. "Teggy?!"
The others joined her. Hay Lin slowly released her hold, and Musa carefully caught his limp body, lovingly kneeling him on the ground as she clasped him to her.
"Teggy! Please..." she cried, completely unable to hold her emotions back any more. Despite their victory, Musa's world was crashing down around her. "Teggy, please! You just have to wake up! Please! Don't leave me!"
But it was no use - Tegryn was simply unable to respond to her pleadings. Brave to the core, he had put everything on the line just so she and her friends could live, even though he had already been critically injured. He meant so much to everyone in attendance, but to Musa he was so much more.
He was her friend.
Her soul-mate.
Her lover.
Her husband-to-be.
He had selflessly given himself for her. They had won... but at what cost?
Ooh, the mother of all cliffhangers! So what's happened? Find out in the last chapter, coming soon (I hope).