ROBIN'S POV

Surprise, I'm not dead! …Again. Yeah, I suppose I should be explaining what happened during the past, oh I don't know, six months since I 'died'? Unfortunately, I don't have the time or the will to do so.

Anyway, back to the rather dire situation at hand. Now, I've seen a lot in my days with the Shepherds, but I don't think I've ever been this close to defeat. Except, you know, the times we actually GOT defeated. Goddamn Valmese just had to stain my perfect record.

So, despite the fact I was chained up in a dark room with a rather miffed dragon possessing me, Grima had made sure to show me how vastly outnumbered the Shepherds were. How kind of him, right? I will admit the shock and outrage he felt when my (rather brilliant) son managed to rout the army of Einherjar was quite exhilarating.

Fighting my daughter and then watching her get spiked by aforementioned brilliant son was, needless to say, not so exhilarating. As soon as Grima left my body I sank to my knees. My body was still recuperating, and without Grima's strength I could barely move, let alone fight.

Christian looked to me with a devilish grin. He pulled both of his blades out of Morgan, causing the ground to become spattered in scarlet. "And now to deal with you. I've had quite enough of you ever since you had the audacity to use my own power AGAINST ME!" At the end of the sentence he swung both blades at me, sending me flying like a rag doll.

He started laughing as I hit the floor. A horrific, demonic laugh that could come from nowhere except for the pits of hell itself. "Sacrificing yourself was quite the noble deed, but you have only destroyed a quarter of my power, fool! Now, by destroying you, there will be nothing barring my way to the utter destruction of your world."

That was when an idea struck me. It was a complete and total bluff, but it might save my life, or at least keep Grima occupied until the others could arrive. "Are you so sure you want to do that?" I asked, struggling to rise to my feet. Grima simply laughed again. "Why wouldn't I? You and I both know that if I release you here you will not rest until you have destroyed me."

I clambered to my feet and stood up as straight as possible. "If you destroyed me here, Grima, you wouldn't be walking away unscathed. You and I are two of a kind; if you destroy me you risk destroying yourself. Do you really want to do that again?"

For the briefest of seconds, Christian's face flickered with an expression I recognized: shock. However, he quickly regained composure. "You still don't understand, do you? The only reason you are still alive is because you have not destroyed me! What you killed was a mere scrap of my being. The rest of my power is scattered across the worlds, gaining more strength! I can kill you here and only suffer minor losses; for you will not return."

So much for that bluff. Although it wouldn't stop him from brutally ripping me limb for limb, I had learned important information, and at least my death would hinder him, no matter how little it mattered.

Christian snapped his fingers and a small knife appeared, hovering mere inches away from my neck. "You really are a foolish man," Grima hissed, stepping forwards. "You could have lived as my host, and you would have been spared. But you have thrown that all away."

Now I should make one thing clear; just because my intentions were rather noble, (to put it modestly,) I wasn't about to simply throw my life away. I concentrated and used as much power as I dared to send the knife slamming into the ground. Christian simply sighed.

"How long do you intend to keep this up? I have been inside your mind; you are close to death and your chances of survival are slim. I shall strike you a deal; if you get on your knees and beg I may end your life quickly."

I hate to admit it but he was right. My legs were visibly shaking now; that knife trick had pretty much taken all the power out of me. Even if I was a perfect vessel, hosting the Fell Dragon was a drain on both mind and body. I was running out of time.

I looked up at Grima. "I'm afraid my death will be slow and painful then," I said, clenching my teeth. "Because there's no way in hell I'd kneel to you!" Grima slowly walked over to me. "I see… after all this time the one thing I could not take from you is your baseless confidence. No matter; I still win. Now what shall it be? Maybe I can start by roasting you over a fire? Or possibly I could start slowly dismembering you with a rusty blade? Or maybe-"

Grima never finished his sentence. With my last burst of strength I slammed into him with all my weight. We both hit the ground as his scissor blades fell from his grasp. "YOU FOOL! YOU ARE SIMPLY PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE YOU SIMPLE MORTAL!"

With a furious scream Grima shoved me off of him. The sheer power of the throw amazed me; I soared through the air and slammed into the table I was imprisoned on. Christian smiled and walked slowly towards me, savoring the moment. "Without further ado," he hissed, a snakelike grin plastered on his face, "The execution of the ever-so evasive Robin."

With a snap, both scissor blades appeared in his hands. He raised both of them, a hungry light in his eyes. I couldn't move a muscle; it was safe to say each of them were bruised and battered. I stared into my son's- no, Grima's eyes unflinchingly. "Goodbye then, Christian. Be good."

Grima laughed. "How sweet!" He swung downwards, still laughing, and froze. The blades were mere inches from my chest. "What is this witchcraft?" Grima seethed. The scissor blades rattled feebly as he tried desperately to finish the job.

I smiled. "Nice one." Grima hissed, although his voice was no longer coming from Christian. "Insolence! How dare you disobey me, the Fell Dragon?" Christian's face broke into a genuine grin as he dropped the scissor blades. "It's fairly easy when you let your guard down, Fell Dragon. I suggest you run along before Morgan wakes up. Oh wait, you don't have a host body to run in anymore!"

The room crackled with power as Grima spoke again. "Foolish boy… I will have your head for this! My two hosts refuse to obey, so I will have to select less favorable forms." There was a loud bang, and the presence of Grima seemingly faded from the room.

"Well then," I said meekly, "I'm back."

Jack's Corner

That makes two of us, eh Robin? But many apologies, I couldn't find much time to write recently. But I should be back on track... again. Anyway, enjoy! Make sure to leave reviews pointing out what I did well, what I did poorly, all that jazz.