The roar echoed through the valley, forcing each side to freeze. Come began to smile in victory, while other stared with fear. Daichi stood beside Haku, sensing the spirit's presence. "Dark Fear," he murmured to himself. Just as he spoke, a dark shadow figure appeared through the clouds.
Its red eyes gleamed watching the endless clashes of clans and villages. Few spirits began to notice the flying dragon, nervously backing away. "Do not fear!" Haku insisted.
"That's what the Dark Fear wants!" Fighting his way through, he managed to find a general within the crowd. "Master Haku, thank goodness you're here," the general panted.
"We're outnumbered. Are the spirits of the bathhouse arriving anytime?" he demanded. Frowning, Haku glanced back, trying to sense any army arriving. "Not that I know of," the spirit gritted his teeth. Cursing under his breath, he turned around to an approaching attacker.
With one swift drop of his katana, a few warriors fell. "I'm trying to find their leader," the general explained as they fought passed many spirits. "Follow me." Nodding, Haku summoned a cloud, allowing it to hail down to the enemy. Passing the battlefield, they made it to the small carriage where the leader stood.
Just before Haku could take another step, a large figure slammed into him. Falling back, he managed to land on his feet. Glancing up, a towering spirit glared at him, half of his face covered in darkness. One red eye looked at Haku.
"So you've done experiments on your own warriors, have you?" the general gritted his teeth. The leader stood with shining silver armor, looking down as if those below him were pests. "It is necessary to win the war," he spoke with a booming voice.
Unsheathing his sword, the general quickly charged at the leader. However, a group of spirits blocked his way, pushing him backwards. Even though he attempted to cut his way through, the spirits would not budge.
"Using the Dark Fear's powers, I managed to pass them on to my strongest," the leader explained. Haku, who was still struggling under a spirit's heavy foot thought So his village was not as the rumors spoke of! "You and you're friends will perish here," the leader sneered. Finally unsheathing his sword, he raised it as a signal.
A battle cry roared behind them, footsteps shaking the earth. Bracing himself, Haku dug his fingers into the dirt. The spirits pushed the general into the trampling new warriors. "General!" Haku shouted.
With a chuckle, the leader stepped down from his carriage. "You must be Master Haku. What an honor to meet you. I've heard rumors saying you met Lord Daichi?" The foot on his back squeezed the breath out of him. Coughing, he summoned more hail to the army.
"Let's see that you die an honorable death," the leader suggested. Pointing his shining sword at the Dark Fear, he whistled a short tune. Turning towards his direction, the Dark Fear swiftly flew down. With a thump, the Dark Fear was a few feet away from Haku.
Even so, he could still feel the immense power radiating from it. "You can be one of the first to be eliminated by the dragon," the leader smiled. As the dark spirit approached, Haku tried to struggle beneath the spirit. The breath of the dragon blew into his face, reeking of smoke.
Haku! Get yourself together! Using most of his strength, he lifted himself up from the heavy foot. Glancing down, the warrior noticed his powerful stomp had not weakened the dragon spirit. As it was about to raise its foot again, another roar erupted.
Noticing the leader's frown, Haku looked up at the Dark Fear. It had not moved nor roared. Instead, a flash of red flew towards it, smashing it down into the ground. Another figure flew by, snatching Haku away from the group of enemies.
Releasing Haku, he turned around to find Ryuu. "Took you a while to come," he narrowed his eyes. With a smirk, the wind dragon disappeared in the smoky field. Turning his attention back to the Dark Fear, something was standing over it. "Chihiro," he whispered.
Just before he could fly down, the Dark Fear's eyes suddenly opened. Sitting up, the giant claw raced towards its belly. Chihiro managed to fly up, feeling the force pushing the wind. Reaching Haku, she smiled. "Was I too late?" She wiped her sweating forehead.
"No," he replied, finding the general in the hands of Aogaeru and another warrior. "Who's this?" the leader yelled to them. "It seems like the Dark Fear is familiar with her. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Who's that?"
"The leader of the enemy," Haku answered. The dark dragon slowly got back on its feet, glaring at the girl hungrily. "Whoever she is," he continued. "This dragon wants her. Go, you may play now." Play? Haku thought.
Chihiro immediately teleported forward. Unknowingly to Haku, the shadow dragon had also teleported, startled by the girl's move. With one air scratch, the wind reacted, created a scratch like form towards the dragon.
Shrieking, the Dark Fear jumped back. Determined that Chihiro could handle it on her own, he began to fly away before the spirit who had held him punched him down. Hitting the ground, the river spirit ducked before another punch dug itself a few feet into the ground.
Jumping over the spirit, he ran away. With the Dark Fear's power, he quickly caught up to him, pushing him to the leader's feet. Pinned down by the spirits, he could only watch as the sharp point raced towards his chest.
Realizing he must transform, scales covered his entire body, confusing the spirits. He finally transformed into the silver blue dragon, racing back down to the warriors. Defeating three with an easy blow of water, he flew towards the leader.
Snarling, his teeth were bared at the fearless spirit. With a sigh, the leader removed his cape. "You've become annoying, Master Haku. However, this needs to get out of the way for the war to be in my favor." Taking his large sword, he flung it at Haku.
Although he dodged it, a splash of red still appeared. What? he winced. Like a boomerang, the sword retreated back in the leader's hand. "Do not underestimate me, Haku," he slyly grinned. Proceeding their battle, they clashed in the center of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the Dark Fear and Chihiro struggled against each other's power, injuring each other occasionally. Annoyed, the Dark Fear opened its mouth. A dark orb formed, collected the dark energy as much as it could. Unleashing it against the girl, she swallowed slowly.
Lifting her hand towards the beam, she attempted to block it. Like a mirror reflecting light, the attack hit the valley, exploding it into bits. The spirits on her side cheered, continuing their battle with a more positive attitude.
Although, they never knew of her actual state. She was too exhausted from defending herself from such an immense blow. Deciding to try it for herself, dark shadow formed around her, tainting her clothes. That's right, she thought to herself. I still have the power of the Dark Fear. Cupping her hands, a shining light appeared. With the shadowy flames surrounding her, they were sucked into the orb.
Like baseball, Chihiro told herself as she flung it at the Dark Fear. No matter how the dragon could defend itself, the blast hit its right side. Howling in pain, it collapsed to its side, falling to the ground.
Feeling confident, she decided to relax. Forgetting she was still airborn, she fell towards the ground, where the rubble was sharply pointed. Luckily, Haku was on his way to catch her. "Chihiro!" he shouted, opening his arms up.
She opened her eyes to see the human-form of Haku racing towards her. "Haku…" she murmured, giving a weak smile. Something behind the spirit was shiny. Something silver. Something sharp. Realizing what it was, her eyes opened wide.
"Haku!" she screamed, motioning to his back. "Behind you!" Haku did not have time to react. Feeling a strong presence behind him, he decided to change the motion of his arms. Instead of catching the girl, he pushed her out of the way. Feeling a sudden sharp pain through his side, he froze.
Chihiro immediately looked up after falling on her side. Feeling her twisted ankle burn like fire, she only ignored it. "H-Haku?" she stammered. The river spirit covered his side, only red drops falling to his feet. The weak smile she had given him earlier was now on his face.
Weak, he finally dropped his hand. A shark blade had run through him. In shock, Chihiro used her arms to pull herself towards him. Behind the wounded spirit stood the leader, his red eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
Hatred boiled inside of the new spirit. Her once cursed arm burned, the tiger-like stripes closing. Turning her hand fully black, she stood up with no trouble. Strangely, she howled like a wild dragon. Alarmed, the leader backed away. As soon as he pulled the sword back, Haku fell to the ground.
Haku… You… You hurt him… Chihiro covered her face, as if hiding her tears. Screaming, a circle of black flames formed around her. She began to transform, her hair growing long and her body changing into dark silver scales.
"Who… Who is this girl?" the leader back away, prepared to defend himself. "Dark Fear! Get up, now!" Beyond the destroyed valley stood Yubaba. Her wounds were carefully bandaged, one eye glancing at the battlefield. "Don't you feel something strange, Lin?" she asked with her croaking voice. "It's not the Dark Fear," Lin thought.
"No," Yubaba walked to her balcony to get a closer look. "It's more like… darkness. Darkness is coming." As she had said, the clouds grew dark as black, thunder rumbling through the valley. The earth shook more than before, alarming the warriors. The leader could only stare and watch as Chihiro transformed.
"What are you?" he repeated with a fearful voice. Teeth gleamed through the dark flickering shadows. "Nightmare," Daichi whispered, his eyes wide with shock. "She cannot take any other path. Nightmare has finally arrived."