I'm am SO sorry for not updating, peeps. I've been… busy. Sure. (Not really, just a bit of writer's block.) So, yeah. Happy New Year! (Unless you celebrate the Chinese New Year. Then happy Early New Year.)

MyDimension- BWAHAHAHA no. I don't think I can possibly top Uncle Rick when it comes to those, but yeah. I had no intention of a cliff-hanger, but I got really tired and… yeah.

There's a minor Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon reference in here. Tell me what it is, and you get a free virtual blue cookie!

ON WITH DA STORY!

Reyanna Pov

I actually managed to hit my mark. Not that that meant that my landing was graceful.

I slammed into the dragon's back and drove my Enderbane into the chink between scales, trying to stay on. The Queen bellowed and spun, but she couldn't get me.

I gripped her back with my knees as I freed my sword from the wound. Purple blood flowed out like crazy, coating the dragon's side and back. The sudden slipperiness almost made me fall, but I managed not to. The Enderdragon's blood soaked my jeans, and it took all my willpower to not throw up when I realized that I couldn't tell where my own blood started and ended against the exact same shade of purple from the Queen.

It wasn't that I had a weak stomach. No, it was the fact that my own blood matched this monster's exactly that made me sick.

"Reyanna!" A voice cut through my disgust. I turned, and then looked down. My brother stood on a ledge good twenty feet below me, and I realized just how far I was from the Netherack. And my Swiftwolf's Rending Gale wouldn't stop me from falling in the Nether.

"Distract her! She's already weak!" Rythian yelled, his voice almost lost among the chaos of battle below. "Try and attack her wings!"

The wings. Got it.

I turned, swinging my weapon. My blade connected with the base of her left wing, nearly severing it. And the dragon fell, and I was still on her back.

My ears popped as pressure changed from our fall, dropping as rapidly as our descent. Somewhere, I thought I heard my brother yelling, but I was a bit too busy trying not to panic to pay attention.

No use anyway, it turned out. As the Queen hit, I was thrown aside, my wind knocked out of me as I slammed into the hard ground.

Spots swam in front of my vision, and it took me a few tries before I could stand. I took deep breaths, trying to restore my non-starry vision from before. I turned and gaped.

The Ender Dragon was also just getting up, in the bottom of a crater that went way, way down. Smoke clouded the air, even more than usual for the Nether.

"Rythian?" I called. I'd lost sight of my brother the mage, and it worried me. In the crater, the Queen slowly got to her feet. Her injured wing hung limply, and her side was coated in blood. My leg throbbed in empathy.

"I'm here!" A faint call. I looked around, finally spotting him through the hazy air.

"Can you distract her once more? I just need one chance to get to her throat-that's where she's weakest!" He yelled.

"I should be able to do that! Where are Zoeya and the others?" I called back. My throat stung from smoke, dry air and shouting.

"I sent them back through the portal! Zoeya hit her head."

"Good call, then." I said, sliding down the crater carefully. A patch of now glassy soulsand provided a safe and slow way down. Finally, I reached the dragon.

Rythian circled around from the other side. I charged.

Just a distraction. That's all we need.

I brought Enderbane down on the dragon's foot and sliced off a talon.

The Queen, most likely still disoriented, made a strange creaking-or was it a crack?-as it looked down at me. She seemed more confused than angry, like why did you just cut off my toe?

Then the Ender Dragon opened her mouth, baring countless razor-sharp teeth, and paused, like now that she finally had me caught, she couldn't decide how she wanted to kill me. One second, two, and three…

Move!

My instincts took over as the Queen snapped at me, and I rolled backwards out of reach. I slashed again, cutting a shallow wound into her side. She snapped at me again, and I dropped flat into a smaller dip, and she couldn't get me, if only for a moment.

From my low vantage point, I saw a flash of brown, black and purple as Rythian attacked the now exposed neck. His Enderbane hissed, and the Queen started to thrash.

But for all her struggles, it only made the blade pierce deeper. Finally, she fell limp, dissolving into nothing but dust and blood smears with a screech that rang in my ears. I knew I would never forget it-and not in a good, -Yay we killed the evil dragon queen-way.

Rythian picked up his sword, which I hadn't noticed he'd dropped. He wasn't in any better shape than I was.

He had a nasty slice on one arm-thankfully, not his sword arm- and a burn down his leg and on his hands. His cape was burnt, and his face was full of worry and tiredness.

I stood, suddenly realizing that my hands shook. In fact, I shook everywhere. I wasn't sure if it was fear, adrenaline or weariness, but I sheathed my sword. My hand burned badly enough as it was. Maybe I should get some gloves like Rythian had.

"Are you okay?" Rythian asked, and my mind took a moment to respond.

"I'll live, at least. You?" I replied, far too tired to try and make light of the situation.

"I've gone through worse. Physical wounds heal." He said, sheathing his sword. "At least all the Endermen fled, those that could. No sign of the egg."

The egg? Oh, right.

"Which way is the portal?" I asked.

"That way, just over the ridge and you'll see it." Rythian said, pointing back past me, to a tall ridge. And we were still at the bottom of a crater, to boot.

"This is when magic rings are awesome." I said, touching my Void ring. Rythian cracked a grin.

"Let's go." He said. I couldn't have agreed more.

Time skip

Forty minutes, a late lunch, several buckets of water, many bandages and lots of worrying and explaining later, I finally got to lie down and rest.

Zoeya would be fine, Minty said, but she might sleep for a while and have a headache for a while. Rythian's various wounds and burns were treated, as were mine. Why, then, did I still feel uneasy?

It didn't take me long to remember.

With a shiver, I remembered the Queen of the End's final scream, a sound that had pierced me to the very bone.

I knew it would be repeated over and over in my nightmares tonight.