OoO( 24 )OoO

The battle had begun in the ruined city as the heroes attacked the beast ferociously. However, his scales were as hard as steel, and his breath burned like acid. The dragon flew over the city, chasing each of the attacking heroes like it was a game of cat and mouse.

He looked and spotted Thunder dash off into an alley and he swooped down after the dark knight. Lyle hid beside the building in waiting as he heard the flapping from Jack's wings. Hoping his timing was right, he hurled himself out with force magic, slamming into the dragons head. Stunned, the demon flew at a slanted angle and smashed head first into an empty building, bringing it down on top of him.

The large dragon pulled himself out of the rubble and roared angrily. He shot a cone of fire in the heroes direction, devouring the building Lyle was hiding on and causing the hero to jump from one to another. While he was distracted with Lyle, Thunder snuck up on the dragon and jumped on his back, slicing through the leathery folds of his left wing.

Jack's tail immediately flew up and smashed against the dark knight, sending him crashing through the weakened wall of a building. Lyle and Ark both glared, then jumped to attack with their large blades. Lyle jumped from a nearby building as Ark flew from ground level and slashed at the tempered scales.

Jack smirked and reached around with his neck, grabbing Ark and smashing him into a building. Lyle landed on the ground and turned, watching as Jack crushed Ark. "Damn it...will nothing affect him?" he asked himself.

Turning to the hero, Jack opened his mouth. "I've waited a long time for this boy." he said as he reared his head back. Fire began to smoulder inside his throat, when suddenly, a massive lightning bolt flew and scored in the reptiles mouth, electricuting it from the inside. The dragon roared loudly as it felt the energy coursing through its scaled body.

Lyle looked up and noticed Van, alive with energy, firing the massive spell towards the beast. Taking his chance, the hero ran under the dragons legs and managed to pull Ark from the rubble of the building. The dark warrior shook the stars from his head as he stood again. "Damn..." he said as his grip on his blade tightened again.

OoOoO

Alex and Cara watched as the heroes fought bravely against the giant dragon. Cara's fists were clenched tightly as she watched from a distance. "We have to help them..." she said frustrated. She already knew what the answer was going to be.

"We can't, we told them we would stay here." said Alex, her bow at her side. "If we help them, and we end up dying, they will never forgive themselves."

"I'll never forgive myself if they die..." said the younger girl, feeling helpless.

"I know...but we must wait." said Alex as she looked on.

OoOoO

Jack laughed evilly at the heroes as the all attacked him simultaneously from different locations. "Fools, how unkind to attack one with so many. Maybe I should even the odds!" he shouted, then flew up into the air. All the heroes looked up at the demon as it roared loudly. Suddenly, they noticed a loud screeching coming from the cave.

Turning to the entrance, Ark's eyes widened as he and the rest saw a massive amount of shadow minions dashing from the cave. "Lyle...we have a problem." said the dark warrior.

The hero gritted his teeth together. "I know...dammit." he said. Suddenly, someone stepped in front of him.

"You boys take care of Jack." said Scarlett as she walked towards the dark army. "You leave them to us." she said as Theresa, Toran, and the others from the reinforcements joined her.

"But...mother..." he said.

"No buts, now do as your mother says!" she yelled as her large axe began to spin rapidly in her hand, creating a whirlwind of death. She charged into the army of darkness, clearing a path through them with her whirling axe as Theresa moved like the wind, slashing her foes with one strike each. The others clashed against the large army along with Thunder.

"Looks like we get the big one." said Lyle as he looked at the giant dragon floating in the air.

"Seems that way." sighed Ark.

"Don't leave me out of this." said Van as he smirked. "So, whats the first order of business?" he asked.

"I guess getting him out of the air." said Ark. "But, how to do that?"

"I'll take care of it." said Van with a smile. "Just stand there and watch." he said.

OoOoO

Jack flapped his wings rapidly to keep himself in the air as he watched the battle below. He smirked to himself as he watched the clash of the two armies. "Foolish heroes. My dark army keeps coming back when you destroy them." he said, then he looked down at the three standing still. His eyes widened when he saw a massive fireball appear above one of the three.

The fire shot strait up into the air and vanished briefly before flying down and colliding with him. He flew to the ground engulfed in fire, before impacting with a collosal explosion.

Ark and Lyle looked on wide eyed as the fireball suckerpunched the dragon out of the air. "How did..." mumbled Lyle as he watched on in shock.

"Remember your little ground punch trick? Well, I learned one quite the opposite." he said. "It came from an old hero named Rockjon." he said. "Now, lets take care of him quickly." he said as his body lit up with magic.

Lyle and Ark nodded and prepared as well. All three of them charged at the beast as it climbed out of the debris growling angrily. It's amber eyes focused on the three before they split up. Van shot another blast of lightning across the monsters face, causing it to flinch before shooting fire again. The mage barely dodged the attack, rolling out of the way and behind one of the buildings.

Lyle jumped from a structure he had just climbed and aimed his blade straight down. Using all his weight, he sank the blade halfway into the demons chest. Immediately the dragon roared and reached around with its serpentine neck, grabbing the hero with its teeth and flinging him through a nearby window. Lyle smashed through a wall and landed face down with blood dripping from his mouth. He gritted his teeth and stood again.

Ark dove forward and grabbed the handle of the blade that lay buried in the dragons body, then shot magic forward through the weapon. The demon focused on him and snapped at him with its razor sharp fangs, causing him to let go of the weapon. The beast went to attack the hero, but was stunned momentarily as a lightning bolt hit the weapon again. Van forced his magic into the blade, giving Ark enough time to get out of stomping range. But Van wasn't able to dodge the next attack.

The dragon lurched forward and shot fire from his mouth again, hitting the mage directly. Van yelled loudly in pain before collapsing on the ground. Ark ran to him and pulled him away from the battle as Lyle took his turn and hit the dragon in the face with a fireball.

The mage coughed loudly, his breathing heavily labored. "Help...him.." he said.

Ark growled, grabbing his blade and forcing himself to leave the hero where he lay. Lyle landed next to Ark as he jumped down from a ledge. "Is he alright?" he asked as he watched the dragon shake the blindness caused by the fireball from his eyes.

"He shielded himself in time to keep it from killing him, but he's out. If we don't get him help soon he could die." said the dark warrior. Lyle nodded, then ran forward again. But, the dragon caught him with a blind swipe of its tail, smashing him into the wall of the building in front of it. Ark took his chance and dashed at the beast. Jumping into the air, he used the buried sword as a booster and launched himself at the demons head. When he was close enough he threw all of his weight into a slash that cut deep into its eye.

Jack roared in pain as its right eye was completely destroyed by the attack. "You will die maggot!" shouted the demon. Ark landed on the building to the left and turned to defend himself, but the dragons entire head smashed him through the roof and onto the floor below. Ark screamed as his leg became trapped underneath the debris.

The dragon flew into the air and smirked. "Now, you die!" he shouted as he unleashed a hellish blast of fire. Ark held his hands in front of him as the fire engulfed the entire building, causing it to explode horrendously. Lyle stood again, more blood spilling from his mouth as he coughed.

"Damn it..." he said, his hands now shaking. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over at the area where Van lay hidden. Cara stood wide eyed, staring at the building she just saw destroyed with Ark inside it. Tears ran down her pale beautiful face as she looked at the ground.

"My teacher...and now...my love..." she said.

"Cara! What the hell are you doing! Get out of here!" he shouted as the dragon took notice of her.

"What's this?" asked Jack looking down at the young girl. "Another foolish hero?" he asked smirking.

The girls tears flowed rapidly as she looked back up at the dragon. Chills went through his spine as Lyle saw her eyes were completely black. "What the hell?" he asked. The girl raised both arms into the air and began chanting to herself loudly. The hero looked up into the air where a large black orb began to form.

"What is this?" asked Jack as he noticed it as well. It grew in size until it was easily bigger than he was. Lyle walked towards the girl, who was seemingly possessed by her rage, before looking up again at the massive spell she created. He felt the wind change as the spell stopped growing. It all began to flow towards the sphere of dark energy.

The dragon suddenly panicked as it felt itself being pulled towards the black hole. It turned and began to fly away from it, but couldn't. Slowly, but surely, he was drawn backwards into the pit. "What the hell is this!" shouted Jack as the void swallowed him whole. The girl closed her fists, causing the dark magic to collapse in on itself, creating a massive dark matter explosion that sent the beast soaring and crashing into a nearby building.

The girls arms fell to her side as her silent tears fell from her face. Suddenly, she collapsed into the snow. Lyle grabbed her and began running as fast as he could manage. Grabbing Van as well, he carried them both to safety before turning back. Unfortunately, the dragon wasn't dead yet. He roared furiously as he charged at Lyle with pure rage filling his veins.

"I will destroy you all!" he shouted as he unleashed a fire ball the tore through all in its path. The hero was about the dodge, then looked down at his allies. If he moved, they would die.

He glared at the dragon and used his own magic to create an attack similar to the demons. "Damn you Jack!" he shouted and fire the attack, causing the two to collide. The resulting explosion caused a row of buildings on either side to collapse. The force of the attack threw Lyle backwards, landing him straight on his back.

The dragon landed right in front of the hero, laughing insanely, its one eye glaring at the hero. "What's the matter hero? No special attacks saved for me? No last resort?" asked the wicked serpent.

"Go to hell..." said Lyle as he tried to get to his feet. The dragon lifted its leg and stomped on the hero, causing him to go flat once again. Lyle screamed aloud as pain coursed through his body.

"Yes...scream again boy." said the demon as it began to grind the hero beneath its massive claws. "Scream some more! Your agony soothes me!" he shouted. Suddenly, pain erupted in the dragons jaw as a large arrow sank deep into it. After a loud shriek of pain, the dragon looked forward and noticed Alex standing their holding her shining bow. The beast took its foot off of the hero and glared. "And who are you?" he asked.

Lyle turned on his stomach and yelled loudly. "Alex! Get out of here!" he shouted. "Please...!"

Jack looked down at the hero, then back at the girl. A wicked grin covered his features. "I see now. You are his woman." said the demon. Alex looked up at the beast with a sad defiance in her eyes.

"Alex! Go! Now!" he shouted, tears beginning to pour from his eyes.

"I'm sorry Lyle...I waited as long as I could." she said. She knew she wasn't fast enough to escape the dragons attack. The area she was in was a long alley with high walls, and wouldn't be able to escape the narrow pathway in time to avoid the dragons fire. She didn't turn however, she merely stood staring at the beast as it moved towards her.

"Let's see how the hero feels as he watches his love die." said Jack as it reared its head back. Alex pulled her bowstring back and fired one last time as the dragon unleased its fire. The arrow flew and struck the dragon in the throat, causing it to rear its head back, smashing it through a building.

"ALEX! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted the warrior as he got to his feet and used every ounce of energy he could muster to run to her. When the fire cleared, there was nothing in the alley. Everything was charred and burned black. Lyle ran to the spot where Alex had been standing and fell to his knees, seeing the weapon handle of the archers sacred weapon. Taking the object in his hand, his tears released everything he had held back. All of the emotions he kept inside.

OoOoO

Scarlett took Cara in her arms as other of the heroes helped carry Van. The mage had regained consciousness, while the apprentice was still wiped out from her overuse of magic. Scarlett looked at the one who rescued them with curiosity.

"Wasn't she supposed to be on the signal tower?" she asked.

The warrior nodded. "Yes, she was." said Ark.

"She came when she saw us getting tossed around." said Van in a strained voice. "By the time she got there, I was charred and unconscious, and Ark was inside the building Jack had just decimated. She lost it." he said.

Ark nodded. "I didn't realize I meant that much to her." he said brushing the hair from her gorgeous pale face. "I'll have to thank her when we destroy that monster." said the warrior as he drew his glave from his back. "I know you are busy with the army and all, but can you get someone to take care of them while I'm away?" he asked. Scarlett nodded.

"They will be cared for." she said as the man in black armor turned and ran back towards the battlefield, his cloak billowing in the wind. Scarlett smiled as she watched him go. "He will be a great leader someday." she said.

Ark ran towards the previous war grounds when he heard Lyle yelling over the sounds of battle. "Alex?" he said to himself. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh no..." With that, he ran faster. The scene he arrived to was one of shock and horror. Lyle was on his knees, cradeling the weapon handle of Alex's bow in his hands. "Avo help us..." he said as he saw the look on the heroes face.

Lyle looked up at the dark warrior as he clutched the hilt in his hand.

OoOoO

Everyone on the battlefield, whether fighting the war against the dark minions, or watching from a post further off, stopped in their place. Even the shadow army of Jack stopped in their tracks. The ground underneath them began to shake violently as everybody heard one thing carry over the wind.

"!"