PDisclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. If I did, Darkar would have been scary and not pathetic. But, if you read the last chapter, you already knew that. This is why no one in their right mind would put me in charge of a kids show.

So anyways, last chapter was a lot of information and no action, so I'm not going to waste any time here. Let's get going.

Five fairies, each holding the weapons given to them in another world, faced five fallen sorcerer knights, armed with ancient blades and what remained of the powers they once held.

The battle began.

The Dark Ember Blades pointed with their swords in unison. Talons of flame lashed out from their blades, forming fell shapes as they roared down upon the Classix.

"Up!" Dhalia yelled, leaping into the sky. The flames rolled past beneath her and her friends as they took to the air.

"How can we win this?" Artis demanded. "They have the Dragon Flame and thousands of years of experience!"

"We have to fight smart." Dhalia said. "Try to break them up. Reyva, can you-"

Dhalia was cut off as a ball of fire flew into her and exploded. She fell from the sky, smoke trailing from her wings.

"Spread out!" Amelia cried as more fireballs streaked up after them. One exploded over Perdi, who barely got out of the way in time.

"That's it!" Reyva bellowed in anger. "Gravity Slam!" She dove for the ground,swing her hammer with a force few could match. It slammed into the earth and waves of energy rippled out from it. Their foes collapsed under the intense force Reyva's attack placed upon them. Then, Reyva too collapsed, utterly spent.

The five men rose to their feet.

"Surrender, Fairies." The tall one in the middle said. "The likes of you are no threat to us."

"And just who are you?" Amelia demanded.

"I am Ekroin, and I lead these men." The man pointed his sword at the two fairies before him. "Surrender, or you will die."

"I don't think so." Artis said from behind him, throwing one of her knives at his back.

"Childish." The man spun, caught the dagger, and flung it back at Artis hilt first. The wooden handle smashed into her chest, knock the wind out of her.

"Surrender."

"No." Dhalia had struggled back to her feet. "Lightning Edge!" She swung her hand across her body, releasing an arc of electricity. Another member of the Ember Blades charged forward and cut through the arc with his sword. Dhalia fell to her knees, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

"Regroup!" Amelia shouted. Perdi and Artis flew to join her, both looking a bit worse for wear.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" Ekroin asked.

"I've always been stubborn." Amelia narrowed her eyes. "Let's see how you handle this." She pointed at the Ember Blades. "Magic Amplification!"

"What are you doing?!" Artis demanded. "You're making them stronger!"

"That's...the...idea." Amelia panted, the spell sapping her power with appalling speed.

Fire billowed out around each of the Ember Blades. Suddenly Artis understood. Amelia was trying to make them burn each other. The problem was, they didn't seem to care.

"You forgot our powers protect us from fire." Ekroin said. "The last in a long series of mistakes."

He swung his sword at the girls. A thin line of fire shot from the tip. Perdi and Artis moved to dodge, but Amelia was too slow. The fire struck her and she too fell from the air, trailing smoke.

"Perdi, run." Artis quietly intoned, gathering her power. "I'm going to try to buy you some time. Find Nyssa. She's the only one who can help."

"Are you sure?" Perdi's voice trembled slightly.

"Go!" Artis commanded before turning back to their foes. "Temporal Slip!"

Perid fled towards a small pass in the mountains. Lines of fire chased her, but they seemed to be moving through molasses. Nothing touched the girl as she was soon out of range.

"You'll pay for that, girl." Ekroin snarled at Artis.

"Just as you will pay for hurting my friends. Just as your mistress will pay for terrorizing this world. Just as her mother will pay for the death of my parents."

"You have already paid a most heavy price then." One of the other Ember Blades said.

"Be quiet Rengal." Ekroin snapped. "We obey the Lady Sasha. We have no time for such thoughts."

"As you say, Ekroin."

"Why do you work for Sasha in the first place?" Artis asked. "You were once knights of Domino, honorable, heroic, and good. Why serve a monster?"

"Because we have nothing else left to us, we who helped create the Shadow Flame."

"Silence Sedrin." Ekroin turned to the new speaker.

"You could always return to the Magic Dimension."

"And do what, fairy?" A fourth voice was heard. "We would be reviled, shunned, imprisoned, or executed. We wouldn't even have our powers. Merina was indeed cruel when she sentenced us here. This eternal life is a curse."

"Ferrick..." Ekroin's voice held a note of warning.

"If life is so horrible, why not go back? If you do, eventually your lives will end."

"We are knights! We do not take our own lives!" The fifth man cried out. "How dare you even suggest such a thing? Even at the last, we will not do it! Better to serve the Lady Sasha than to take that road!"

"Well said Tellis." Ekroin said. "Enough talk. Your friends are beaten or have fled. Now you shall join them." He raised his sword. Fire gathered at its tip as he pointed it at Artis. Tired and bruised, she tried to raise a shield, but her best attempt only flickered weakly for a moment before it died.

With a roar, Ekroin unleashed his power in a spiraling vortex of fire which reached out to engulf the fairy. When it cleared Artis too had been struck from the sky.

"Gather and bind them." Ekroin ordered. "Lady Sasha will want to deal with them personally."

Perdi flew as fast as she could, chasing her own slowly lengthening shadow east and further into the mountains, leaving behind both friends and foes.

At last she settled in a small hollow in the side of a mountain. Rain was starting to fall as she sat back against the rock wall. So fast! It had all been over in a matter of minutes! They hadn't even had a chance to fight back.

They'd fought monsters, they'd squared off with witches, they'd even faced down themselves, but the only time they'd ever been this outclassed was when they fought Eclipses. It felt like they'd wandered into a realm of legends and gods.

Perdi put her head in her hands and began to cry. It wasn't fair. They'd worked so hard, lost so much, and fought so many battles to get to this point. They'd brought Eclipsis here, but they'd never counted on how much harder this part of their mission would be.

This next part is better if you hum the theme song from Mission Impossible while reading it. Enjoy.

The first stars were twinkling in the sky when Perdi rose to her feet. She had no idea how to find Nyssa, but she had to help her friends. She also had an idea about how to do it. She took to the air, flying towards the last glow of sunlight. By the time she returned to the valley where the battle had occurred, it was night. She saw a small fire with two figures sitting by it, while another paced in a circle, keeping watch. The last two must be in the tent nearby. Perdi spotted her friends, bound hand and foot, leaning against a tree.

She landed beyond the ring of light cast by the fire. The night air swallowed the sound of her wings as she settled to the ground. She stepped forward, her mouth opening to cast the spell. Suddenly a hand came from behind and clamped over her mouth.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Perdi's voice was all but lost in the hand that covered her face.

"Hush!" Nyssa hissed. "Do you want to get caught too?"

"Nyssa!"

"Yes, you idiot. Be quiet!"

"But..."

"Save it. I should have dealt with these fools long ago."

With that, Nyssa crept forward, raising her hand. Her palm shone a faint black, barely visible in the darkness of night.

"Dark Needle!" She whispered. A small sliver of shadow flew from her palm to strike the sentry. He collapsed, snoring. Nyssa quickly fired two more attacks, knocking out the two who were sitting around the fire. She crept into the tent and fired two more needles at the already sleeping men within.

Perdi stared in awe as Nyssa swiftly and bloodlessly took out the five men who'd completely crushed the Classix in combat. Suddenly, a flash of steel caught her eye.

Nyssa was emerging from the tent, clearly confident in her victory. Suddenly, a sword was pressed across her throat and a hand grabbed her arm.

"You've caused us quite a bit of trouble over the years." Ekroin said. "Lady Sasha will be most pleased when I present you to her."

"Good luck with that." Nyssa spat.

"Mind Sight!" Perdi hissed, expanding her telepathic abilities to cover a radius of several miles. Even for an experienced telepath like herself, the amount of information was almost overwhelming. "Thought Projection!" Perdi cried, pointing at Ekroin.

"Huh?" His head snapped around to face Perdi. For an instant, he recognized her. Then her spell took hold. What had almost overwhelmed Perdi, who was used to dealing with other people's thoughts as well as her own, crashed into Ekroin's mind. So many thoughts flooded through him, so many images, so many ideas, that he simply stood there, completely transfixed, unable to even move.

Nyssa pulled herself out of the paralyzed knight's grip, turned, and fired one final needle into his chest. He too collapsed, snoring.

"Free your friends." Nyssa said as she began to rifle through the man's possessions. By the time Perdi had cut her friends free, Nyssa had searched all five men.

"Here." She tossed Perdi five objects that looked like red marbles. "Hold onto these."

"What are they?"

"Crystallized Dragon Flame."

A/N: Yep. Marbles of Dragon Flame. There'll be an explanation for them next chapter.

Anyways, about these knights. They're not evil. Even when they created the Shadow Flame, which was a complete accident, they were still trying to do what they thought was best for Domino. The civil war Sasha mentioned was a war of succession, fought between Darkar and his twin brother Hano. The reasons for this are a bit convoluted, so bear with me. About thirty years prior to the Domino civil war, Domino entered a very militaristic phase, and invaded Linphea. At first Domino won victory after victory. However, Linphea pleaded for help, and Andros came to their aid. The combined forces of Linphea and Andros first brought the war to a stalemate, then began to push Domino back. This continued until Domino had not only left Linphea, but also been forced to surrender its other conquests, including the planet that would one day become Eraklyon. Then, the King died. Darkar, who was the stronger of the two brothers, wanted to continue the war. He felt that the Ember Blades had not performed to their full potential and that with the proper leadership the war could still be won. Hano favored a diplomatic resolution. The nobility of Domino, especially the Ember Blades, sided with Hano, resulting in his coronation. Darkar believed this was the result of a Linphean/Androsian plot, and thus the war began. Outnumbered and out matched, Darkar's followers had to resort to extreme tactics, eventually resulting in the creation of the Shadow Flame. The survivors were sentenced to Altivix, where they've spent the last nine and a half thousand years dealing with their guilt.

One final note. I've decided to establish official heights for the Classix. Lets see what we've got.
Dhalia is the shortest, standing at a diminutive four feet ten inches (147 cm). Most people expect her to grow a few more inches somewhere along the line, but she's repeatedly said she doesn't really mind it.
Artis is the next shortest, standing at five feet four inches (162.5 cm). She's still somewhat short, but she doesn't seem to notice.
Amelia is the middle member, standing a slightly taller than average five feet seven inches (170 cm). Not much else to say about it.
Reyva is next in the line up, standing five feet ten inches tall (178 cm). She's also very muscular, so she looks very, very big. Kind of like if a brick wall were to get up and walk around.
Finally, Perdi, who stands at an Amazonian six feet two inches tall (188 cm), but looks even taller because of how skinny she is. She's constantly smacking her head on door frames.

So, lots of action this chapter. See everyone next time.