Chapter 34

On the back of Strider, the two fairies had him fly as fast as he could to the entrance of the center of the Pixie Dust Tree. It was a wonder the bird could see, as the smoke from the large forest fire was becoming a very thick black. Suddenly, a net came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the hawk. Being nocked off of him, the two fairies flew to catch him before he hit the ground. It was difficult as he was heavy, but with a sprinkle of pixie dust, they managed to save him.

Cutting the bird loose, the two fairies then looked around to find the perpetrator. They turned in circles, but were unable to see anything. Then, a tall figure emerged out of the smoke, revealing himself to be none other than Black Beard. A couple more pirates showed up, their intent very clear.

"Well boys, it seems like it's our lucky day after all." Black Beard coldly smirked at the Hawk Rider's, revealing rotten teeth.

Seeing no way out of this, Artemis looked over at her teacher and said "Get to the Pixie Dust Tree."

"What?!"

"You are the only one who knows how to keep the barrier in check, which means you're the only one who can stop this. I'll hold these guys off, you go stop Morwen."

"Get them!" Black Beard shouted.

"Go now!" Artemis shoved her teacher towards the direction of the Pixie Dust Tree.

With Alfonse now gone, Artemis climbed back on Strider and the two charged at the pirates. With a loud shriek, Strider flew up at the last second as the pirates tried to reach them. Turning around, Artemis and her hawk glared down at Black Beard, who only stared back mildly annoyed. Raising her needle sized sword, the two charged again.

Some of the pirates ran to grab both fairy and hawk, but their idiocy let Strider send his talons into their faces. The 'smarter' of the bunch had raised some nets and began throwing them at the duo. Then, a bird called out in the distance and was then followed by arrows shot in the pirates direction. Looking for who joined the party, a group of scouting fairies flew into the fray causing even more havoc.

One of the fairies flew up to Artemis, "We saw Alfonse flying towards the Pixie Dust Tree, you should join him."

"What about Black Beard?"

"Don't worry, we've got it all covered." Another wave of arrows flew by, to emphasis her point.

Nodding, Artemis and Strider turned towards the direction Alfonse had taken to the Pixie Dust Tree. Meanwhile, Alfonse had gotten to the tunnel leading into the center of the tree and hurried along inside. With it being narrow, he had to run as fast as he could past the ever growing roots until he reached the secret door. Opening it, he slipped inside and quickly ducked as a dagger flew in his direction. Looking in the direction of where it had come from, his eyes met the red ones of Morwen.

"Well if it isn't the one that got away." Morwen mutters, red eyes staring intently at the fairy.

"Morwen." Alfonse breathed, anger beginning to rise.

The heart of the Pixie Dust Tree glowed behind them, casting their shadows on the dirt walls. "I can see the years have not been kind to you, you look even more pitiful than ever before."

"Stop it."

"I doubt even now you could've changed your mistakes. She says hello by the way."

The taunt was enough to send Alfonse over the edge. With sword raised, he charged at the dark shape shifter. Morwen, of course, blocked his attacks and met them with extreme vigor. The Hawk Rider did not back down though and continued his onslaught.

"Try as much as you want, you're still no match for me!" Morwen continued his taunts, causing the water fairy's frustration to increase.

"I said that's enough you fowl creature!" Alfonse shouted, swinging his sword downward.

Part of his sword scratched his opponents arm, causing black blood to ooze out. However, Morwen looked completely unfazed by it and simply took hold of the weapon, tossing it aside. Head butting the fairy, he watched with mad glee as red blood flowed out of his nose. Grabbing hold of his hair, the crow man kneed him in the stomach and tossed him to the ground.

"As I said, you're no match for me and you never will be." Morwen sunk his talon like nails into the fairy's shoulder, causing him to cry out. "And now, I'll give you a fate worse than death."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Artemis shouted from behind, causing him to whirl around with her teacher in his hands.

Charging at him with her own sword, Artemis was immediately nocked down by Morwen's free hand. Getting back up, she did it again. She jumped backward before he could hit her again and swung her sword down at his arm. A large cut was placed on it, but just as she was about to smile at causing him some pain, the smile faltered as she watched the cut fade and heal.

"I am a creature of darkness, you all should have learned by now that no sword can kill me!" Morwen laughs at the fairies surprise and then, he takes the hilt of Artemis's sword and used his strength to swing it downwards, watching as it cut into the fairies leg.

Using his other hand, Morwen grabbed Artemis by the hair and tossed her away from him. Listening as she cried out in pain. Then, he turned his attention to Alfonse and with his face twisted with hatred of his long time rival, he grabbed the water fairy by the throat. As Artemis tried to get back up, she watched the shape shifter take her teacher's face and force him to look at him. Alfonse's face distorted with pain and fear and he tried everything to get out of the strong grip. However, within the next second, his face with blank and his body went slack.

Letting go of his plaything, Morwen wiped his finger over the blood around his nose and began walking over to the heart of the Pixie Dust Tree. Painfully crawling over to Alfonse, Artemis looked at his face and saw his eyes, which were blue, was now white and were staring up at nothing.

"What did you do?!" Artemis shouted at the one who did this.

"I gave him a fate worse than death." Morwen answered, and he looked at her. "Which won't matter, because death is coming for you." and then he sent his bloody finger into the heart of the Pixie Dust Tree.

Author's Note: Hi ya'll, back with another chapter. My excuse for the delay is reality, seriously it just hits me hard. Anyways I have to say I'm pretty happy with this chapter, as I have been dying to get to an actual fight between Morwen and the fairies. I mean its about freaking time. As for the rush of getting rid of Black Beard, I honestly never wanted him to be the actual main villain, as we all know that the real person Artemis feared was Morwen. But I did want this to be the stepping stone for Artemis to finally act like the Hawk Rider she's supposed to be and with the fight between her and the pirates, I think helped prepare her to get over her fear of Morwen enough to face him. Okay so I got two chapters left and an epilogue (yes I know that counts as three chapters) and then I will be done with this story. I seriously want to thank you all who've been reading it since it started, especially the new person whose been leaving me such great reviews. I'm glad you are enjoying it and I seriously smiled at your idea of sending it off to Disney, I never really thought of this as something that would worthy to send it off to the big guys. This story was intended to be something for my younger sisters to read as I go and write stories meant for older people and I never thought I would get the kind of following I have and so I thank you all! I hope you all liked this chapter and I shall get another one up hopefully soon!