Revenge of the Magic of Carealot

Disclaimer: I do not own: Slayers or anything else that ends up on this story!

Insert: The Rise of the Dragon Knights…

Mokuba watched equal parts frustrated and amazed as Laura dispatched the beast threatening Orange Grove. He wanted to help his friends. He wanted to protect his big brother. He needed power…He needed to be a dragon!

"Val I need to do this!" he hissed desperate. He had been trying for since Filia dropped them off to break his binds but had no success.

"Just calm down! The more frustrated you get the harder it'll be!" Val scolded annoyed stomping his foot childishly.

"Seto-papa believes in us! Now if Laura can do that!" Val pointed angrily to the devastation Laura's fireball had caused "you can turn back into a dragon!" Val yelled at him just as frustrated.

"That's different she's…" he began to complain then realized what it was he had been doing wrong. He didn't believe! He was still thinking like a human and thus sabotaging himself with his disbelief. He closed his eyes and with a deep breath began to think of all the things that as a dragon he would be able to do. Slowly he stepped away from Mokuba the human and began trying to remember Mokuba the Ancient dragon.

He fell into a sort of trance and delved deeper into his psyche. There he found a large ball of power that seemed to be imprisoned in dark chains. He reached to tug at the chains but he could not budge them. His human hands were not strong enough. He stared at them angrily. The ball of power seemed to surge and he found himself suddenly on the other side of the chains struggling to break free. For a moment he despaired he hadn't been able to break them before from the outside then how could he possibly do it from within?

"A human could not but I…AM A DRAGON!" he roared as power exploded within him and the chains of the spell broke as easily as if they had been made of string. When he opened his eyes Val had already changed into his dragon form but Mokuba found himself looking down towards Val. He realized he was at least 40 percent bigger than Val. It made sense after all Mokuba was supposed to be close to an adolescent while Val was barely older than a hatchling.

"You did it!" Val cheered.

"Let's go help Seto!" Mokuba enthused. As they lifted into the air a cheer rose from Orange Grove as two more dragons – the mighty guardians of the sky – rose in Saillune's defense.

"Hold on big brother! Hold on everyone! We're coming!" Mokuba prayed softly as they flew at top speed back to Saillune. As they neared Saillune city's air space they were intercepted by some flying creatures. Mokuba quickly learned to use his claws and breath weapon as he and Val reclaimed the sky from the enemy. High above an immense silver-white dragon battled an equally large dark beast.

"Is that …big brother?" Mokuba asked hesitantly. The color of this majestic dragon was a color he'd never heard of dragons being before. He and Val were dark metallic gray in color. He confirmed however as he and Val maneuvered closer that his big brother's soul was inside the beast.

"I knew you could do it Mokuba! Stay back! This one is mine!" he roared towards them. They cheered joyously and moved away to contend with the smaller prey littering the sky and earth leaving their beloved Seto to fight his battle. They watched and cheered him on with pride. They knew there was no way Seto could lose…

Seto danced around Bahamut his mind so focused on getting his revenge on the beast he noticed nothing that was happening down below. He was distracted for a moment as he sensed the approach of his little brother and Val. He turned quickly to see two ancient dragons flying into Saillune demolishing flying enemies easily with their dragon weapons.

'Yes!' he cheered to himself. 'Mokuba figured it out!' his spirit rejoiced and pushed him to greater achievements. The two smaller dragons began maneuvering closer to him but Seto warned them back. He heard them cheer for him and moved away to continue to help the troops closer to the ground. The two of them were more than a match for what was down there!

The creature tried to take advantage of Seto's momentary distraction to get in a hit but Seto was ready for him. He deftly dodged Bahamut's dive bomb swiping his claws at his enemy's momentarily exposed underside. It shrieked in pain and anger and surged back towards Seto firing its blue fire breath weapon. Seto responded with his white lightning and both blasts met half way. Bahamut poured all of his strength into his fire and slowly it seemed to begin to overpower Seto's lightning.

'I will not LOSE!' he declared with a vengeance determined not to be undone by this evil minion. His lightning pushed back and began to overpower Bahamut. Light rained down upon Saillune blinding for a moment all the fighters on both sides as Seto finally gained the upper hand. An enormous blast of light finally defeated Bahamut disintegrating him completely.

'I won…' he thought tiredly feeling at peace finally. As the ground suddenly exploded with cheers he felt something inside him crack. He realized now why grandmother had cautioned him against using this form. This form was too powerful for his human body to sustain for long. He felt his hold on the magic slip away and he plummeted freely towards the ground as he transformed back into a human.

He knew he was going to die but it no longer mattered. He found the power to protect those he loved and somehow he knew that with his victory Saillune would prevail. Filia, Val and Mokuba would be safe now he knew that for a fact. He felt a strong large body slip underneath him and slow his descent. He guessed it was either Mokuba or Val who had caught him and now carried him down safely towards the ground. The wind rushed past him but he couldn't see anything except the clouds above him.

"Jou! Honda! Grab him from that side!" Seto heard Yugi's voice though it sounded deeper and more assertive than Yugi ever sounded. He closed his eyes trying to control the pain he was feeling as he was lowered to the ground and something soft that smelled lightly of Filia's soft flowery scent was placed under his head. Seto suspected it was her cape. Slowly he opened his eyes again. Several faces looked down at him with concern.

"Kaiba! You're supposed to keep the wings on until after you land you big dummy!" Jou yelled at him but Seto could tell Jou wasn't angry he was just worried and trying to lighten the mood a little. Despite the pain he laughed.

"Oh so now you laugh? Remind me to get you beat up a little the next time I wanna tell you a joke! Bruises seem to improve your sense of humor!" he teased and again Seto laughed.

"It also seems to improve your comedy skills Katsuya!" he bantered back and was rewarded with a few chuckles from Katsuya and the others with him.

"Yugi, Honda, Jou…" he began turning solemn once more "return to your duties! Guard the Queen and see to it that this battle is won!" he commanded gravely. He felt a surge of pride as he heard the simultaneous "Yes sir" from the three and saw the determined looks on their faces. They hurried away after Filia promised to look after him. Once they were gone he turned then to Lisa who was still trying hard to repair the internal damage the dragon spell had done him.

"Stop Lisa…return to the battle…there's nothing you can do for me…" he ordered though the pain was making it difficult for him to speak. She sobbed once and squeezed his hand then hurried away to follow one last command. Val and Mokuba back in their human forms moved closer taking each one of his hands.

"I'm sorry Mokuba…Val…I can't delay the call of the forest today…" he began. They raised his hands to their chests squeezing them tightly and began to cry softly begging him not to leave them.

"Don't be mad Val…I need you to be strong…both of you," Seto added but the pain now was making it difficult to stay conscious. He had one more task to accomplish though and Seto hated leaving work undone!

"Ms. Filia may I burden you with a request?" he asked formal with her even now in his last moments because in Seto's world she was the queen.

"Of course captain! Anything at all! Name it please!" she replied eagerly her soft hand brushing away the hair blocking his vision and even though she smiled the tear traveling down her cheek pained him more than his ruptured organs.

"Would you care for Mokuba? He will need your guidance…" he began solemnly.

"Absolutely captain! You needn't even ask! Mokuba will be well cared for I promise!" she sobbed and it broke Seto's heart to see her cry. His duties were all completed now and there was nothing more that needed to be said. He smiled at the three dragons feeling content in the knowledge that his people had not failed in their duty to protect the future of the great dragon races.

"What's that?" he asked as a bright ball of light hovered above Saillune. He heard Lord Greyword's voice coming from it calling out to him. He smiled and called back. The pain disappeared as he was surrounded by light…

You know I feel these dragons have really started to upstage the main characters in this story…How did that happen?

Oh well… Slowly it seems we will soon come upon the end of this epic train wreck! The next posting shall be my last for this story! Thank you all for your patience!