Chapter 27: Khaarupt
Kendra opened her eyes, and saw that she was now back outside the pyramid. Her hand still touching the Translocator, Kendra gazed up at the pyramid. The thought of who was now inside filled her heart with dread. They would be coming.
"What do we do now?" asked Seth nervously.
"I... I don't know," said Warren. "It's as though Matthew and Hespera wanted us to take out that crocodile for them."
"Well, the pyramid's restriction on magic seems to have subsided," said Bright. "At least we were able to escape."
"But we're not the only ones who can use magic now," said Clover. "And we weren't able to harm them no matter what we tried."
Just then, Matthew and Hespera suddenly materialized in front of the pyramid, not too far away from where the Knights of the Dawn were standing.
"It's all over for you, Knights!" shouted Matthew, displaying a wicked smirk on his face.
Seth snarled at Matthew, smoke spewing from his nostrils. At this point, he wanted nothing more than to lunge at Matthew and rip him to shreds. But Seth knew better. Matthew and Hespera were likely now protected by magical shields, which would render his attacks entirely useless.
"They don't seem to be interested in us," said Kendra confusedly. "It's like they know that there's nothing we can do."
Dark energy began to emit from Hespera and Matthew's hands. They then directed the energy at the pyramid, encasing the entire structure in an eerie, black glow. Dumbfounded by their enemies, the Knights of the Dawn watched as the entire pyramid began to rise up off of the darkened foundation on which it had sat for presumably thousands of years. Soon the pyramid was seemingly floating in midair; its lowest point no closer than fifty feet above the ground.
"Oh my god," gasped Kendra.
"Don't tell me they're going to flatten us with that thing," said Seth.
"This can't be good," said Clover. "I mean, there must be some way to stop this!"
"I'm open to suggestions," said Warren worriedly.
Without warning, the entire pyramid began to rotate vertically. It proceeded to tip over so that the onyx atop began pointing down towards the ground, almost as though it was a clock hand moving from twelve to six in mere seconds. By now, the entire pyramid had been flipped upside-down.
"That's one way to turn around that room we were in," said Raxtus.
"That's not what they care about, said Warren, pointing out that the pyramid was now moving in a particular direction. Before long, the upside-down pyramid was floating directly above the hole that the group had spotted before they had ventured inside.
"No!" screamed Kendra. Like the others, she had no clue whatsoever as to what placing the onyx in the hole would accomplish, but was confident that it would spell bad news for everyone. If only there were some way of stopping Matthew and Hespera from doing all this.
Regrettably, the knights knew that any attempt to attack Matthew and Hespera would be in vain. They had become seemingly invincible at this point, and anything that the Knights of the Dawn could possibly attempt to thwart them with would be futile.
The pyramid began to lower down towards the ground, until the onyx had sunk down into the hole, fitting like a glove. A pause followed.
"What... happened?" asked Seth.
The group then watched as Matthew and Hespera proceeded to float up into the air, rising towards the top of the inverted pyramid.
"Come on," said Raxtus, grabbing a hold of Kendra and Warren. "They're up to something."
The group all flew up after Matthew and Hespera, and reached the top of the pyramid moments after Matthew and Hespera. Now upside-down, the top of the pyramid was currently a large, flat, square platform.
"Came to see what we're up to?" asked Matthew, facing the group with his hands on his hips.
"What's this all about?" asked Warren.
"You are a curious one," replied Matthew. "And curiosity is about to kill a certain cat."
Warren breathed deeply as Matthew laughed. "Were you expecting me to turn you into a kitty?" he asked. "Now why should I waste my time with that? We know that you don't have any chance of stopping us."
"How'd you do it?" asked Kendra. "Getting through the pyramid and past the giant crocodile. How?"
"Light magic triggers the pyramid's defense," answered Hespera. "Think about that. It's common sense."
"And the crocodile?"
"We may have taken a hit or two," said Matthew. "But who cares? Once you took care of him for us, we just revived ourselves with potions. See, we knew you'd be coming, so we decided to let you take care of the big guy for us."
"Then what was all this about?" asked Bright. "Turning this whole pyramid upside-down just to stick some crystal in a hole?"
"It's about this," said Matthew, as he walked towards the center of the platform with Hespera. Once they reached the exact middle, a pedestal rose out of the floor. Hespera waved her hands over the pedestal, causing what appeared to be a pharaoh's headdress to materialize on it.
"Uh, what is that?" asked Seth nervously.
Matthew picked up the headdress, revealing that the front of it resembled the face of a fearsome black jackal. "This is Khaarupt."
"Khaarupt?" asked Kendra.
"Never heard of it," said Warren, as Matthew held Khaarupt up to his face.
"Don't wear it," said Hespera, "or you're good as dead. Find another we can use instead."
"What does that thing do?" asked Kendra.
"It overwhelms the wearer with darkness," replied Matthew. "Destroying their heart and filling them with nothing but pure evil and darkest magic. It might work on anyone. Even... you!"
As he yelled, Matthew faced Kendra and allowed Khaarupt to fly directly at her head.
Kendra held her hands in front of her face and shrieked as Khaarupt flew up to her. However, before it could make contact, she could feel energy flowing out from her body and knocking Khaarupt back.
"It didn't work," muttered Matthew, who was now holding Khaarupt in his hands again.
"Of course it failed," said Hespera. "On her it won't work. She's shielded by fairies, you stupid jerk!"
"Then I'll just have to try it on... him!"
Khaarupt then went flying out of Matthew's hands again, and began homing in on Seth.
"No!" screamed Seth, as he started to run away from Khaarupt.
Bright aimed a rainbow at Khaarupt, but it fizzled out as soon as it got close. "It's too powerful. I can't stop it!"
Having gained some distance between himself and Khaarupt, Seth unleashed his fire breath at the approaching head ornament, but didn't so much as phase it.
"That thing's unstoppable!" said Warren, watching as Khaarupt continued to chase Seth around the pyramid.
"And if it that thing lands upon his head..." said Kendra.
"Well, being a shadow charmer already, it won't look good for Seth," said Warren.
"What are we supposed to do?" asked Kendra.
Warren grunted, then ran over to Khaarupt, drawing his sword in the process. "Stupid thing!" he yelled. "You leave him alone!"
Khaarupt turned its attention away from Seth and glared at Warren, its eyes glowing a solid red. Warren readied his sword, preparing to slash at Khaarupt the moment it pounced him. Khaarupt then flew towards Warren at a rather casual speed. Warren swung his sword directly at Khaarupt, only for it to pass through the headdress as though it were a ghost. Warren lowered his sword and attempted to run away, but it was too late. Khaarupt had already settled itself upon Warren's head, his face replacing the jackal that was initially there.
Kendra, Seth, the fairies and the dragons all stared at Warren, jaws dropped in shock. A mysterious dark aura formed around his body, and when he turned to face his allies, his eyeballs appeared to be entirely black in color. He smiled upon seeing the others.
"Warren?" asked Seth.
Without responding, Warren held out his palms and prepared to blast the group with some form of energy. Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all combined their power and conjured up a force field around the entire group. It came just in time, as the dark energy that Warren had shot from his hands thrashed against the force field a second later.
Matthew and Hespera could be heard laughing from outside the colorful, dome-like force field, as blast after blast of dark energy came from Warren's direction.
"What's happening?" asked Kendra fearfully.
"I don't know" replied Bright. "But, I'm really scared."
"We need to get out of here!" exclaimed Geminus.
"I hope you can fly fast," said Seth. "Warren has the Translocator on him."
Kendra then noticed that the force field was starting to crack around the area where Warren was currently blasting it. For each shot that hit it every few seconds, the fracture grew larger.
"What do we do?" squealed Raxtus.
"Well, we tried light magic on Khaarupt before, but nothing happened," replied Clover. "I don't know what can stop it."
"The Sands of Sanctity?" asked Seth. "Warren's been affected in a negative way, so maybe it'll restore him?"
"It's a long shot," said Bright. "But a dim hope is better than no hope at all. The moment the force field breaks, I'll shoot a rainbow at Warren. Kendra, you pour the Sands of Sanctity on the rainbow, and hopefully it'll carry its power over to Warren."
Within seconds, the crack in the force field grew large enough that the whole thing shattered, the broken magical pieces vanishing in less than a second. Bright quickly shot a rainbow out of her hands and over towards Warren. However, the rainbow died out once it got near Warren. Kendra then poured a bit of sand out of the Sands of Sanctity onto the rainbow, and watched as the sparkling contents flew across the rainbow and onto Warren.
The sand seemingly vanished out of sight once it had dusted Warren. Warren then placed his hand on the rainbow. The colors faded to monochrome, and a second later, the black and white rainbow shattered.
"Give it up," said Matthew. "Your glittery fairy magic is useless against Khaarupt. Khaarupt, finish these fools-"
"NO!" screamed Kendra. "We're not going down without a fight! Fairies, make another force field. Now!"
The fairies and fairy dragons conjured up a second force field, just before Warren continued to assault the group with dark magic.
"You can't keep this up forever," said Matthew. "Khaarupt, as soon as you break that force field, blast them!"
"Okay, genius," said Seth. "What's your plan?"
"Fairyprime," said Kendra. "I have to go Fairyprime. It's our only hope."
"Last time you went Fairyprime," said Seth, "you weren't at your full potential. It wasn't enough."
"Yeah, but Geminus and I were the only magical beings there at the time," said Raxtus. "You, Warren, Lance and David were there for support."
"Two Fairy Angels, two fairy dragons and a good Shadow Charmer?" asked Kendra. "Aside from Geminus, I had more when I went up against Tritanoss. But right now, I'll take my chances."
The group of five stood around Kendra in a circle, holding hands. Using their magic, the fairies transformed themselves and Seth into balls of light, which Kendra's body proceeded to absorb. Her power growing stronger, Kendra closed her eyes as she could feel the excessive light energy flowing through her veins.
At that point, wings spurted out from Kendra's shoulder blades, and her hair color shifted to rainbow streaks. She then rose up into the air, bursting through the force field as though it had been a cocoon.
Immediately after Kendra had emerged, she had been blasted by one of Warren's energy shots However, it felt no worse than a slight tingle upon impact. Now that she had become Fairyprime, Kendra felt unstoppable.
"What's she doing?" asked Hespera. "She looks like a fairy. Is this a joke, or something scary?"
Kendra turned to face Matthew and Hespera. Just as soon as she raised her hands in the air, Warren blasted her with more dark energy. Unlike before, the energy wave was not brief, but rather continuous.
As long as the energy was touching her, Kendra felt petrified. She was unable to move.
A feeling of fear and hurt overwhelmed Kendra, prompting her to close her eyes and fall to the floor. As she staggered to get up, Kendra felt weak. She could sense that her wings were gone, and that her power was gone. On top of that, Seth, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus were all lying on the ground next to her.
"What... happened?" asked Seth, shaking his head wearily.
"He's too strong," gasped Kendra. "Even for my Fairyprime form."
"But how?" asked Clover.
Matthew laughed. "Fairyprime. Shmairyprime. You're nothing more than a hand-picked human ambassador of the Fairy Queen. Compared to you, Khaarupt is a god. He has already consumed Warren, and he will inevitably consume you."
"Warren!" screamed Kendra. "I don't know if you can hear me, but please! Fight back against Khaarupt!"
"Save your breath," said Matthew. "Warren is long gone. That man over there is now a different soul, using Warren entirely for his body."
"YOU MONSTER!" roared Bright, as she aimed a rainbow at Matthew and Hespera. However, before it could make contact, a barrier caused it to vanish.
"Bright!" exclaimed Geminus. "Save your strength!"
"What strength?" asked Matthew.
Bright scowled fiercely, and by some miracle, penetrated the magical barrier that was protecting Matthew and Hespera. The rainbow slammed into Matthew and Hespera, knocking them onto their backs.
"Lay off," said Hespera. "And heed my advice. Don't think that your magic can make us act nice."
"Destroy them, Khaarupt" said Matthew, as the rainbow flowed through him, "before I change my mind!"
Khaarupt unleashed more dark energy upon Kendra, Seth and Co. This wave felt stronger than ever. Even worse was the fact that when Kendra looked down, she could tell that her shoes and feet had begun turning into onyx. Her feet were too heavy to walk with, and she could see that the same thing was happening to all of her allies.
"Do something!" cried Seth.
"What?" asked Clover. "I've tried using my magic, but this stupid crystal cancels it out! Believe me!"
The onyx transformation that Kendra was experiencing began to rise, going up from her ankles towards her knees within seconds. She could feel that as her body turned to onyx, it got denser, heavier, and was essentially immobile.
"It's over," said Matthew. "This time, we win."
The oynx continued to rise, past everyone's wastes, then their shoulders, until it finally made its way around their heads. The moment their eyes were covered, everything turned to black. It was over. The power of Khaarupt and the onyx was just too strong.
Just before Kendra could think of anything, she could feel her body returning to normal, as though it had never been altered. She looked around and saw that Seth and the fairies were back to normal as well, although Seth was still a dragon.
"What happened?" asked Hespera. "How can this be? They were defeated. Didn't you see?"
"Good question," muttered Seth. "Maybe Warren gained some sense..."
"It was me," said a familiar voice, causing everyone to gaze around in awe.
"Who said that?" asked Matthew.
At that moment, the Fairy Queen magically appeared before everyone in a flash of brilliant light.
"Who are you?" asked Matthew.
"I have many names," said the Fairy Queen. "But to you, I am the Fairy Queen."
"The Fairy Queen?" asked Matthew, displaying a scowl on his face. "NO! You can't do this! It's not fair!"
"You two," said the Fairy Queen, pointing her finger at Matthew and Hespera, "you will both pay for what you have done."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" asked Matthew.
"I came once I sensed that Kendra had become Fairyprime. And as for the rest of you, if you were in this much trouble, you should've come to me for help."
"Believe me, we've been trying," said Seth. "Not all of us can travel between worlds at will."
"We need your help," said Kendra. "Please. Khaarupt has taken over Warren. Please stop Khaarupt."
The Fairy Queen unleashed a blast of powerful rainbow-colored energy at Warren, which engulfed his entire body When it faded, Warren was still standing, seemingly unchanged.
"Oh no," said the Fairy Queen. "My power didn't do anything."
"That's right," said Matthew. "And you'll never..."
"ENOUGH!" roared the Fairy Queen, as she blasted both Matthew and Hespera with magic. Once the magic faded, Kendra could see that the two of them had been transformed into frogs.
"Well, that was easy," said Seth. "Now, since those two are out of the way, you can defeat Khaarupt and save Warren, right?"
"I don't know," said the Fairy Queen, who looked at Warren along with the others. "I already tried my magic on him, but as you saw it was ineffective."
"What if I try it again?" asked Kendra. "Now that the Fairy Queen is here, what if I combine my Fairyprime power with hers? You think that might be enough to stop Khaarupt?"
"It's our only hope," said the Fairy Queen. "As it stands now, the only reason Khaarupt isn't attacking us right now is due to my presence. But it may not work properly."
"What do you mean?" asked Raxtus.
"What I'm saying is that if Khaarupt is an entity of pure darkness, and it has consumed Warren... then if we were to destroy Khaarupt, Warren might be destroyed as well."
"But, I don't want to destroy Warren!" exclaimed Kendra.
"At this point," said the Fairy Queen, "I don't know what other choice we have."