Elder Clash:
It had been a day since the Venatori's sudden attack on the gang and everyone was still in huge shock over what had happened. It just a day, several well trained duellists had been defeated and were now lost. Crowler, Neria, Leliana and Aristide had been sealed into crystals just like Alistair had been when he had been defeated by Alrik and the new Commander of the Warrior Faction, Ser Thrask, had also been defeated. Everyone was upset and angered but Solona was the worst affected out of all of them. She had lost both her father and her best friend and she kept blaming herself for this. It was her that the Venatori were targeting and it should have been her they came after, not her friends.
The gang had all gathered in the Gallows castle where Ser Cullen was waiting for them along with the leaders of the Spellcaster faction, Fiona and Anders were there as well. Dorian had informed them of what had just happened.
"This cannot be!" Fiona gasped
"Commander Thrask?" Cullen questioned "Is he really gone?"
Zane sighed "I'm afraid so." He replied "I was there; these Venatori defeated him and turned him into a crystal along with several of our friends."
"Who exactly are these Venatori?" Fiona asked
"We don't know everything but basically, they're a dark cult after the spirits of the Old Gods." Cassandra explained "There are seven in total."
"The Seven Old God spirits." Anders gasped "The Gods of the Ancient Dragon Faction. I've heard stories about them. The Fiend and Zombie clans corrupted them, and they were sealed away. The Venatori must be gathering them."
"We've encountered them before." Dorian added "They been chasing Solona here." He looked at Solona who was still crying but covering her face with her hands, she couldn't look at anyone right now "She holds the spirit of Urthemiel while her brother holds the spirit of Razikale. We know the Venatori hold four of the spirits as for the last one; we still don't know where it is."
"They may have already found it although we cannot be certain for sure." Cassandra stated
"So what do we do now?" Kallian asked
Jaden looked at them "I say we take the fight to them!" he hissed "After all, no one messes with our friends."
Alexis looked at him "Jaden, we can't just rush in headfirst." She exclaimed
"There more of us that there are of them." Jaden stated "We can beat them. We've beaten the Shadow Riders and the Sacred Beasts; we can beat these Veni freaks."
Zane looked at him "Jaden, rushing in like that is a good way to get people hurt or worse. Crowler and Aristide are some of the best duellists and they were beaten."
"This isn't fun and games anymore Jaden." Chazz added "You never seem to understand that."
"We can't just let them get away with this!" Jaden shouted back.
The gang all began to shout amongst each other until a loud shriek from Solona made them all stop "ENOUGH!" She yelled "ALL OF YOU, ENOUGH!" She took a few deep breaths "Look, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not going to let them hurt anyone anymore."
Daylen looked at his sister "Sis, what do you mean?" he asked
"All of this, being trapped here in this world, the Venatori attacking us, and the losses of our friends." Solona ranted "And this is all my fault, I'm the one who these guys are after. I'm the one who holds what they want."
"Solona, it's not your fault." Aedan tried to reason "These guys don't care who gets in their way."
"No Aedan!" Solona snapped "It's me they're after. I'm not going to allow anyone else to get hurt because of me. I'm going after them, alone."
Everyone gasped at that "Solona are you mad?" Daylen hissed "That could be just what the Venatori want. They took Aristide and the others to get you to them."
"Daylen's right Solona." Dorian added "Targeted Aristide, Neria, Leliana and Crowler had no strategic value except to get to you. Thrask may have been targeted to destabilize the Warrior Faction."
"I'm not going to let them hurt you guys anymore." Solona replied "I'll face the Elder One one to one. I've made up my mind. You guys can't convince you otherwise."
Aedan and Daylen blocked her before she could leave the room "Solona, there is no way I'm letting you walk out of that door." Aedan hissed
"I forbid you from leaving my sight!" Daylen snarled
Theorn sighed "Guys, maybe I can talk to her back in the barracks." He suggested
"Alright, take her back but do not let her leave." Dorian ordered
"I'll go with them to make sure she doesn't leave." Zane stated
"Same with me." Sereda added
The two of them left along with most of the others, only Cassandra and Dorian remained behind.
"So what do we do now?" Anders asked
"Well with Thrask gone, it means that we're going to have to elect a new leader for the Warriors." Cullen stated
"Could that be a problem?" Fiona asked
"It depends really." Cullen replied "Most of Meredith's top supporters are in no position to try and take over. I will be throwing my name into the vote although since I'm not a native Warrior, it will cause huge opposition."
Fiona looked at Dorian "Your group helped us to defeat Meredith and her mad followers." She informed him "I had hoped for peace but with this attack, we may still be at war. These Venatori sound dangerous."
"They're a threat to everyone." Cullen agreed "If I win the election, I will give you assistance to defeat these Venatori."
"Same with my Spellcasters." Fiona added "I did not stop Meredith's madness just to have my people enslaved by these Fiend and Zombie groups."
Cassandra looked at them "Thank you for your offers." She stated "Your help will be most valuable."
"I guess we'll now have to work out where the Venatori are based." Dorian added
Cullen looked at him "You said that these Venatori mentioned Mount Sundermount?" he asked and Dorian nodded "It's not much but it's a lead. Mount Sundermount is littered with old ruins and cave systems. They may have some kind of base there but locating it will take a while and until this election is done, there is not much I can do."
"Well, hopefully we can get started soon and fast." Dorian stated "Before Solona does something stupid."
...
Theorn along with Daylen, Alexis and Aedan sat Solona down on a bed in the barracks that Thrask had given them to rest in before his defeat. The barracks were standard with wooden beds and a footlocker at the foot of each bed for storage. Zane and Sereda were at the entrance of the door.
"Do you guys mind giving us a few minutes alone?" Theorn asked
The others nodded and left leaving Solona and Theorn alone and Daylen who was the last to leave looked at Solona and then closed the door. The two of them were now alone in the room with only some candles and the sunlight giving them light.
Solona still had tears in her eyes and Theorn wrapped his arms around her and Solona returned the hug. "I know it hurts Solona, but you can't give in."
"But everyone I care about is getting hurt." Solona wept as her tears began falling again. "How can I live with myself if the Venatori keep coming after me and you guys all get hurt?"
"We'll follow you to the end Solona." Theorn stated "The Venatori are just monsters. If they get their hands on the remaining Old God cards then it's over. They want you to go to them, why they're targeting you more than Daylen when he's got a card as well, I don't know. None of us know the answer to that question. But whatever the reason, it can't be good. There is something else as well, something that I've been wanting to say to you for a while?"
"What is it?" Solona asked wiping her eyes
Theorn tried to think of how to say it "Solona, we may not have know each other for a long time. I mean we only met last year but his past year; I've grown to care for you. I've never told people this but as a child, I never knew my parents. I was raised by Ashalle, a family friend. My father was killed in a mugging which my mother never recovered from. After giving birth, she just left. Never contacted anyone again. You were one of the first people who came to care about me after Ashalle and I... well..." he began stumbling "What I'm trying to say Solona is. That I've come to develop feelings for you." Before he could stop himself, he placed his lips on Solona's. Solona was shocked at first but couldn't help but relax. "I love you."
Solona gave a weak smile and looked at Theorn "Please, stay with me." She begged "I need to be here with you."
Theorn smiled and nodded. He lay down next to Solona on the bed. The two of them lay like that for a while until they began drifting off to sleep.
...
When Solona woke up, it was now night time. She hadn't gotten much rest due to feeling upset over the loss of her father. Theorn's arms were still wrapped around her and she could see that most of the others were now asleep as well. Carefully, she freed herself from Theorn's grip and carefully gathered a cloak and her duel disk. She didn't care about the danger she was putting herself in. She was not going to let anyone else out. As she crept to the door, she could hear Sereda and Zane talking. They were taking this shift to watch the barracks after Dorian and Cassandra had finished their shift. Solona thought something like that could happen. She would have to find another way out.
She looked around at the windows to see if she could try getting out of them. The front windows were no good; she would be seen by Zane and Sereda. The windows on both side walls were too small and all of the windows on the back wall had beds where people were sleeping in. There was no way she could get out of them. She looked up and saw a window on the ceiling that she could get out of but getting to it quietly would not be easy. She crept slowly along the floor and froze when a floorboard creaked and was worried that she would wake someone up. She saw Daylen groan but then carried on sleeping.
Solona soon made her way to a side wall that had a cupboard she could climb and she was able to climb onto the rafters of the roof. Using the back wall supports of the rafter, she climbed to the middle rafter and carefully made her way to the centre of the rafter and was able to squeeze out of the roof window. After that, she carefully made her way down the roof and dropped to the back alley of the barracks. She used the night sky as cover avoiding the strongly lit areas to sneak through the city. Solona knew that she couldn't get out of the city through the gate and the walls were too high to jump off. If she did that, she would most likely break her leg but she knew another way out of the city. The Battle had created gaps in Kirkwall's walls and some of these remained unguarded and so she quickly found one section of wall that was unguarded and she quickly left the city.
After travelling off road for a while, she made her way back to the path to avoid getting spotted by the guards and then she made her way to her destination. As she travelled further along the back, Kirkwall shrank in the distance and as she made her way over a hill, Solona looked back at the city. She sighed "I'm sorry guys." She said to herself "But I can't bring you guys into this anymore. I have to do this on my own. Good luck to you all."
With that, Solona carried on walking and looked ahead to Mount Sundermount, the peak of that mountain would be her destination.
...
The next morning, everyone woke up and to their horror, Solona was gone. Theorn was the first one to realise this as they had been sharing a bed. At first, he thought that maybe Solona had gone to the toilet or something but when she never came back, he realised that she was gone.
They had soon gathered everyone in the barracks and had had to discuss what had happened.
"Solona was right here when we all came to bed." Alexis stated "I remember seeing her lying in bed next to Theorn."
"We all saw it." Chazz stated
"And when Sereda and I went out to take over guard duty from Dorian and Cassandra, she was still in bed." Zane added
"So how did she get out?" Aedan asked
"She didn't leave by the door." Sereda replied "We would have seen her."
"My best guess is that she went out through one of the back windows or by the roof window." Dorian suggested.
"I've already spoken to the guards." Cassandra added "None of them saw her leave."
Daylen was frustrated "I should have know she would do this!" he hissed "I told her not too but she did it anyways. What was she thinking?"
"In her mind, she wants to protect us." Dorian sighed "She blames herself for what happens and doesn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"Even so, she's our friend." Jaden stated "We have to go after her."
"She already has a head start on us." Alexis stated
"But at least we know where she's gone." Kallian stated "Remember, Livius said to meet them at Mount Sundermount."
"The problem is that there are many ruins and caves on that mountain." Dorian stated "We don't know which one."
"Neither does Solona." Theorn stated
Cassandra shook her head "Remember one other thing about this world." She sighed "Monsters can become physical things here. Solona can easily summon one of her dragons and fly to where she wants. The Venatori have most likely laid a trail for her."
"Then we go after her" Jaden stated "We find some sort of trail and follow it."
"Are we all going?" Chazz asked
Dorian shook his head "It will take longer if we all go." He stated "Cassandra, stay here, I'll take some others to look for Solona."
"I'm going with you." Daylen stated firmly "Solona's my sister, if we find her, I need to be there to convince her to return."
"I'll help with that as well." Theorn stated
"I'll be there as well." Jaden stated
"I'll come to keep an eye on you all." Zane stated
"Same here." Aedan added
Dorian spoke up before anyone else could "Alright that will be enough. No one else will come with us."
"Good luck Professor." Alexis stated
"We're going to need it." Dorian stated "Hopefully we'll find Solona before she does something stupid.
...
Solona had indeed been aware that there was no point in just walking up Mount Sundermount. In this world, there was another option; she could use one of her dragons to fly her up. So she had summoned out her Blackland Fire Dragon since it was small enough for her to climb on and to cling on while flying. The dragon took her up to the summit of the mountain where she climbed off. This was where the Venatori would meet her. She was not scared, she had faced the Elder One once before and she could do it again. If she did this, then she would not drag her friends into this mess anymore.
Solona leaned next to a tree and waited. It didn't take long for there to be a flash of green and Solona saw a green portal open. Solona narrowed her eyes when she saw who left the portal.
"Well, I guess our plan worked in the end." Livius sneered
"No more games Livius!" Solona snapped "I'm here now. I'm facing the Elder One myself."
Livius laughed "So eager to fight." He cackled "You're a brace one but foolish. No one should be desperate to face my Master."
"I don't care what you say Livius!" Solona snarled "Take me to the Elder One and we'll end this."
"As you wish." Livius smirked "But first, the Elder One set me with a small task." He pulled out a green staff and set it into the ground. Solona watched a green barrier emerge from the staff surrounding the mountain "That should stop your friends from doing the same thing you did before to get here. Now come on." He moved to grab her arm but Solona slapped his arm away.
"I can walk by myself!" Solona hissed "I'm not playing games, take me to the Elder One and don't say anything!"
Livius sneered and entered the portal and Solona followed him to meet the Elder One and hopefully, she could end this once and for all.
…
Back at Kirkwall, Dorian had gathered the team he was taking with him to Mount Sundermount and met with Cullen and Fiona at the gates.
"So she went up to face this Elder One by herself?" Fiona questioned referring to Solona.
"I'm afraid so." Dorian stated "She didn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"But now she's putting herself in grave danger." Daylen stated "We have to stop her."
Then a bang was heard and everyone turned around to see a barrier surrounding Mount Sundermount.
"Looks like we were right, Solona must have used one of her dragons to fly up there." Zane stated
"And I guess the Venatori don't want us interfering with their plans." Dorian added "That barrier looks like it cancel's out our summoning."
"Then how are we going to get up there?" Alexis asked "It will take too long to walk all the way up there."
Then some of Cullen's Warrior faction members came over guiding six horses along with them. "You can use these." He offered "They can get you up the mountain quicker than walking. You might also want this." He handed Dorian a map "This will help you navigate through the tunnels over Mount Sundermount."
Dorian looked at the others "Do you guys know how to ride horses?" he asked
They all shook their heads "But I don't see any other choice." Jaden stated "How hard can it be?"
"Never says things like that Jaden." Aedan warned "Whenever someone says that, it always turns out to be harder than you think."
"I guess we'll just have to take do." Zane stated.
One by one, Dorian and his group climbed onto the horses and then they made their way up Mount Sundermount.
"Just hold on sister." Daylen said to himself, "We'll save you from yourself."
…
Livius lead Solona through the portal and they appeared in some kind of ancient temple. Solona had no idea where she was but right now, all she really cared about was finding the Elder One. Livius eventually led her to a large room where the other members of the Venatori were off to the side.
Gordian was smirking "So our master was right, his plan worked in the end."
"You came to us alone just as our master said you would." Calpernia sneered
Solona just narrowed her eyes "I don't care what your master's plan is!" she hissed "You guys are going to pay for what you did to my friends. I don't care if I have to duel you all right here, even if I fall, at least I can try and take some of you guys down with me!"
Samson laughed "Brave girl." He stated
"But you don't have to duel us." Servis added
"In fact, the Elder One has decided to face you himself." Livius finished "He's taking no chances."
Solona just glared at them "I'm not scared of him."
A loud laugh room through the room "Are you sure about that?" the voice called. Solona looked ahead where there was a large alter that was glowing black. Then black ooze came out from the alter and merged to form a black figure that walked down the steps. When the figure changed to Solona could see, she was shocked at what she saw.
The figure was a tall imposing man but he didn't look human at all, his skin looked wrinkled and dead, his hands looked more like claws and his head was misshaped. Large grey patched poked out from the side of his head backwards. He looked like an experiment gone wrong which had mutated his body. "What are you?" Solona gasped
The figure laughed "I am the one who's been hunting you." He sneered "I am the one who my followers refer to as the Elder One. A name that gives me Godhood. I once had a human name but that name is no longer relevant anymore. Now I go by a new name. A name that gives me power. I am Corypheus, also known as the Conductor of Silence."
"The conductor of Silence?" Solona questioned
The Elder One also known as Corypheus smirked "Yes, I was the High Priest of Dumat, Old God of Silence. Once I served the Ancient Dragon faction of this land but the people began turning away from the Old Gods so I came here, to this very temple where I heard my Master Dumat call to me. I vowed to bring the power of the Old Gods back to the land but the other Magisters disagreed with me. Dumat ordered me to take them out and the great battle made me what I am today. I led the new created armies against the Dragon Faction but their slaves fought back and imprisoned me until I was able to break through the seals that held me here. Now I will finish what I started, when I get all seven of the Old God spirits, I will rule this land as its new God."
Solona narrowed her eyes "I did not come here for a history lesson or to hear your reasons why you're doing this. I'm through playing your games; you wanted me here, well now I'm here."
"And now that you're here, I can defeat you and take your Urthemiel card." Corypheus smirked "And then I shall hunt your brother and find the last remaining Old God and when I do, I shall be a God."
"You still have to defeat me first!" Solona hissed "And why have you gone through all this trouble over me and not my brother when he has an Old God card as well."
"Those questions will be answered once I beat you." Corypheus growled
"If you beat me!" Solona snapped "I've faced you once before and I can do it again."
"I was weak that time." Corypheus sneered "In this land, I'm the one with the power."
"We'll just see how good you really are!" Solona smirked "Now let's stop this and duel."
Corypheus just smirked and pulled on his muted arm to create a duel disk made of flesh while Solona activated hers.
"DUEL!"
Solona: 8000
Corypheus: 8000
"Since I am the challenger, I will go first." Corypheus snarled as he drew his sixth card "And I will start by playing the Countinious spell card Demonic possession, now once per turn, if I control a Demon monster, I can summon an Abomination monster from my deck with the same level. Now I summon out my Rage Demon in attack mode." A red and orange demon appeared on the field with flames covering his body (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defence 1400). "And with Demonic Possession's effect, I can summon out my Sylvan Abomination from my deck." A large walking tree appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 1200). "And finally, I will throw one card facedown and finish with that."
"My move." Solona hissed as she drew her card "And I'll start by discarding my White stone of legend to the graveyard, this allows me to add a Blue Eyes White dragon to my hand." Solona brought out her favourite card "Next I summon Kaibaman in attack mode." The monster version of Seto Kaiba appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 200 Defence 700). "Now by sacrificing him, I can bring out the blue eyes I just added to my hand." Solona's large white scaled dragon appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defence 2500). "And now, Blue Eyes, attack Rage Demon with Burst Stream of Destruction." Blue Eyes unleashed his typical blast of blue fire which struck Rage Demon and destroyed him.
Solona: 8000
Corypheus: 6600
"That will do it for my turn." Solona finished.
Corypheus growled "You may have dealt first blood, but this is not over yet. Remember by destroying my Rage Demon, I can summon a demon monster with 1500 attack points or less so I summon Wraith Demon to the field." A green ghostly creature appeared (Level 3 Attack 1000 Defence 800). "Next I activate my trap card Sinister Yorishiro, now once per turn, I can normal summon a level 5 or higher fiend type monster without tributing. This allows me to summon Hunger Demon to the field without sacrificing any monsters." A large black creature covered in scales appeared on the field with a head forcing its way out of the body (Level 5 Attack 2100 Defence 1900) "Now I can use his effect, now I can half the attack points of that dragon of yours and add then to my Hunger Demon until the end of this turn."
"Uh oh" Solona gulped as her Blue Eyes weakened (BEWD Attack 3000-1500) (HD Attack 2100-3600).
"Unfortunately for me, on the turn this effect is use, he's the only monster that can attack." Corypheus snarled "But I can still help increase the monsters on my field by using Demonic Possession's effect to summon Abomination Shade in attack mode." A shadowy creature with a similar shape to the Hunger Demon appeared on the field (Level 5 Attack 2000 Defence 1500). "But I have something else in mind, I never told you about this the last time we faced but my Abomination monsters are also tuner monsters."
"Tuner monsters!" Solona gasped "Great!"
Corypheus smirked "Yes, now I tune my level 5 Abomination Shade with my level 3 Wraith Demon." The shade turned into 5 rings which surrounded the Wraith and formed a beam of light "I Synchro summon, Blood Mefist in attack mode." A ghostly magician with green skin and a magician's outfit appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2800 Defence 1300).
"I thought you duelled with demons?" Solona questioned
"I added some new additions to my deck." Corypheus sneered "And this card is going to be trouble as now every time you lay a spell or trap card facedown, you take 300 points of damage. Now Hunger Demon with attack your Blue Eyes." Hunger Demon jumped forward and wrapped around Blue Eyes and bit the dragon on the neck sucking its energy causing the monster to shatter and Solona groaned as she felt her strength be sucked away just like her dragon.
Solona: 5900
Corypheus: 6600
I end my turn with that." With the turn over, Hunger Demon's attack returned to normal (HD Attack 3600-2100).
Solona grimaced, that Blood Mefist was going to be trouble. That would be her top target. She drew her card and was able to come up with a strategy "I play the spell card Foolish Burial, now I can send one card in my deck to the graveyard and I pick my another blue But he won't be in the grave for long because now I play another spell card, the Dark Factory of Mass Production, now I can add two normal monsters from my graveyard to my hand and I pick my two Blue Eyes. And with Polymerization, I can fuse them together." The two Blue Eyes appeared on the field and were sucked into a portal "When two fearsome dragons come together, they form a great and majestic beast, I give you, Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon." The massive two headed blue eyes dragon with sparkling scales appeared on the field (Level 10 Attack 3000 Defence 2500). "And this dragon is called twin burst for a reason, he can attack twice, so go, take out both Blood Mefist and Hunger Demon." Both heads of Blue Eyes unleashed a blast of blue fire that went towards the monsters.
Corypheus smirked "It's a good think I kept this card safe from before." He stated "Activate the trap card Negate Attack which prevents your attack from doing through."
Solona groaned, her plan had failed but she still had one more thing to do "Well, to ensure you can't keep filling up your field, I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon which destroys your Demonic Possession spell." A typhoon quickly blew away Corypheus' Countinious spell card preventing him from special summoning his Abomination monsters. "I will end it with that."
"My turn." Corypheus snarled "And one more thing, Mefist has another special ability, each turn, you take 300 points of damage for every card on your field and with two on your field, that's 600 points of damage." Blood Mefist fired a blast from his staff which struck Solona causing her to groan.
Solona: 5300
Corypheus: 6600
"And since there's not much more I can do, I'll switch my monsters into defence mode and summon lesser Terror Demon in defence mode." A green demonic stick figure like monster appeared on the field (Level 4 attack 1500 Defence 1300). "That will be all."
Solona looked at Corypheus, she was sure he had not laid any traps, she knew the abilities of Blood Mefist and Hunger Demon. She also remembered Lesser Terror Demons effect which would not block her attack. Solona drew her card and knew it was time to go on the offensive "Alright, let's finish what we did last time. Twin Blast, take out Mefist and Hunger." Twin Blast once again blew blasts of blue fire at the monsters and this time, they hit their targets destroying them.
"And with Mefist gone, that make it okay to lay this card facedown." Solona finished.
Corypheus smirked "This duel is not over yet!" he sneered "Thanks to my Sinister Yorishiro, I can summon my most powerful demon without any sacrifice. Say hello to my powerful Pride Demon." A massive scaled demon with horns on its head appeared on the field (Level 9 Attack 3200 Defence 3000). "And he gains 100 attack points for every demon monster in the graveyard, so with my Rage, Wrath and Hunger in my graveyard, my Pride gains 300 attack points." Pride Demon roared as he grained attack points (PD Attack 3200-3500). "And now, attack that two headed dragon." Pride Demon jumped forward and slashed Blue Eyes Twin Burst.
Solona: 4800
Corypheus: 6600
Solona groaned briefly but smirked when the dust cleared revealing her Twin Burst was still on the field "Sorry, but my Twin Burst can't be destroyed in battle."
"You won't be able to last forever." Corypheus mocked "You don't have much longer left."
Solona narrowed her eyes and carried on staring at the Elder One.
...
Back on Mount Sundermount, Dorian and the others had arrived at one of the caves at the base of the mountain "Looks like we'll have to carry on foot from here." He said
"So how do we get to the peak from here?" Daylen asked
Dorian looked at the map "We'll have to go through this cave, it seems to be an old abandoned mine. There's a ladder that will get us up to the next path. Then we'll have to go through another cave in order to reach the main path up to the peak itself. But we'll need to be careful, the next path leads through an old graveyard where some spirits rest. We'll have to be quick in order not to disturb them."
"Then let's go now." Jaden said
"Indeed." Theorn agreed "We need to hurry, Solona may already be duelling."
The group then entered the old abandoned mine to find their way up to the next path up the mountain.
...
Solona drew her next card and smirked at what she drew, now she had a way to turn this duel around "First of all, I activate my facedown card Diffusion so now my Twin Burst changes back into the two Blue Eyes that were used to summon it." The Twin burst vanished and was replaced by her two Blue Eyes White Dragons. "But they won't be around for long, now I will use both my dragons to build the overlay network." The two blue eyes vanished into a black portal "Dragon with shiny scales, come out and show your beauty. I XYZ summon, Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon." A large dragon similar to Blue Eyes White dragon only with shinier scales appeared on the field (Rank 8 Attack 3000 Defence 3000).
Gordian had a bad feeling "Uh oh, is she about to summon what I think she is?"
"What do you mean?" Calpernia questioned
"She's brought this monster out before and it could spell trouble." Gordian replied.
Solona smirked "Your pawn is right, you are in trouble, because now I play the spell card Rank up Blazing Blue, now I take my Sparkling dragon and summon an XYZ monster one rank higher." Sparkling dragon was also sucked into a portal "Behold as a dragon with blazing eyes comes out to destroy you, go rank up XYZ revolution. I summon Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon." A darker shade blue scaled dragon appeared on the field (Rank 9 Attack 3500 Defence 3000).
"Oh no!" Livius gasped actually scared for once.
"Your pawns have seen this dragon before." Solona smirked "So they know what I'm about to do. By using one overlay unit, Blazing Dragon can destroy every card on the field except for him."
"Oh no!" Calpernia yelled "Master!"
Blazing glowed bright blue which made everyone cover their eyes and there was a massive explosion and when everything cleared, the only thing left on the field was the Blazing dragon. "And now that your monsters are gone, you're wide open." Solona smirked "Now attack blazing dragon, attack him with Blue Blaze Blast!" Blazing dragon unleashed a stream of dark blue fire which struck Corypheus and managed to blow him back a few feet.
Solona: 4800
Corypheus: 3100
"Master!" Samson yelled
"How dare she strike our master!" Livius snarled
Gordian for once looked concerned "And as long as the dragon of hers as those overlay units, she can just use it again on her next turn and take out our master!" he realised
"Don't count master out yet!" Livius snapped
Corypheus didn't look concerned "You may have damaged me there but I'm not done yet."
"Remember I just destroyed your spells and traps as well." Solona smirked "If you don't do something this turn then this duel's over next turn. I would actually like that as I will get my friends and father back!"
Corypheus snarled and drew his card, he smirked at what it was but it would have to wait "I'll set one monster as well as set one card facedown. That will do it for me."
"That wasn't much." Servis stated "But he doesn't look concerned so he must have a plan."
"The master always has a plan." Livius stated
Solona narrowed her eyes as she drew her next card but then the Elder One interrupted her "And if you think you can use your Blazing Dragon's ability again then forget it. Because I activate my facedown card, Fiendish chain." Chains burst from the ground and wrapped around the Blazing dragon causing the dragon to roar and thrash around "Now you can't use your monster's ability this turn and it also cannot attack."
Solona narrowed her eyes as she looked at her card "I guess I'll just have to summon out my Luster Dragon instead. "A large dark blue dragon appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1900 Defence 1600) "Now attack that facedown monster." Luster Dragon blasted the facedown monster which turned out to be another Rage Demon.
"Since you destroyed Rage Demon, I'll summon out another Lesser Terror Demon from my deck." Corypheus smirked as another Lesser Terror appeared on the field.
Solona didn't say anything "I end my turn." She finished
Corypheus drew his card "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. When he looked at them, he smirked "It's now time to put my plan into motion. I play spell card Monster reborn which allows me to summon back my other lesser Terror demon in the graveyard. Then with Terror Bite, I can discard a card from my hand and summon the third Terror from my deck." Two more Lesser Terror Demons appeared on the field.
Solona looked at them for a few seconds, why would he bring all three Lesser Terrors out. Then Solona realised that Corypheus hadn't normal summoned yet and realised why he had brought three monsters out "Uh oh."
Corypheus smirked "I guess you've figured it out. I sacrifice my three lesser terrors to summon my great monster!" The three Terror demons vanished into gold dust and a dark cloud appeared over the field "When the world sees this creature, they fall silent just like he demands. He never speaks to anyone unless he's chosen you. I summon Dumat Old God of Silence." A massive dark red scaled dragon appeared on the field and let out a massive roar "And you remember from the last time, since he's the only monster on my field, he can attack directly." Dumat unleashed a purple blast of fire which struck Solona causing her to scream and she was thrown onto her back.
Solona: 800
Corypheus: 3100
Corypheus laughed as Solona struggled to push herself up "Now you can see the full power I wield." He mocked "You may as well just give up now; you'll never be able to stand up to Dumat!"
Solona managed to push herself up "Don't be so sure." She hissed "I beat you once before when you had that beast and I can do it again."
Corypheus laughed "I don't think so. I'm stronger than before."
"We'll see about that." Solona hissed back.
...
Back on Mount Sundermount, Dorian and the others had managed to climb up through the old mine and cleared an ancient graveyard. Now they were nearing the end of the second cave and will soon make it to the peak of Mount Sundermount.
"We're nearly there now." Theorn stated
"I just hope we're not too late." Jaden stated
"My sister is strong but she's putting herself in so much danger." Daylen added
Dorian sighed "If she is duelling the Elder One or any member of the Venatori, then we will not be able to stop her." He stated "We'll just have to hope for the best."
"Solona is a strong duelist." Aedan stated "If anyone can defeat the Elder One, it's her."
"But we know how powerful those Old God monsters are." Daylen stated "I've seen the one this Elder One uses before."
"I know." Jaden added remembering the time he had seen Solona duel the Elder One after he had duelled the Spirit of Jinzo during the Winter Break. "The ability of the monster was something I'd never seen before. A monster of that strength able to attack an opponent directly, that's not something you can defeat."
"Maybe he won't be able to summon it?" Aedan suggested
"Maybe." Daylen replied "But I doubt Solona will be lucky."
"Regardless, we need to get moving, we should nearly be to the peak. Hopefully Solona will be there." Dorian stated then they made their way through the cave.
...
Solona's situation looked bleak. It was the total opposite of the position she was in two turns ago when she had her Blazing Dragon ready. If Solona didn't do something this turn then Dumat would attack her and end the duel on Corypheus' next turn. Solona couldn't use her Blazing Dragon's effect due to Fiendish chain so the only way she could win this would be to destroy Dumat. 'There are a few monsters I have that can take out that Dumat by battle but none of them are available right now.' Solona thought 'I can't get my Ultimate Blue eyes out because two of my Blue Eyes are overlays for Blazing. I don't have the cards to summon Five Headed Dragon and it's the same story with Urthemiel. I need to try and delay this until I can get the cards I need to summon one of them out' Solona drew her next card and sighed "I throw one card facedown and end my turn."
Livius laughed "I guess it's over then." He sneered "Our master has won."
"My draw." Corypheus smirked
"And your pawn is wrong; this duel is not over yet." Solona hissed "I activate my facedown Threatening Roar so you can't declare an attack this turn."
Corypheus snorted "No mater, you can't delay this forever I throw one card facedown and end my turn." He hissed 'And I can get the cards I need for my backup plan. This time, even if she destroys Dumat, I still have another trick to play.
"My turn." Solona said and she drew her card "I play Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two more cards." She drew two cards and smiled "Well, it seems it's your luck that won't last forever. Your Dumat may be strong but it can't survive my Blazing Dragon's ability."
Corypheus snorted "You can't activate that ability while your dragon is encased in Fiendish Chain!" he hissed
Solona smirked "Well, that can be sorted out with this spell. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon which destroys your Fiendish chain." A tornado blew the chains encasing Blazing Dragon weakening them and allowing Blazing dragon to break free. "And with those chains gone, I can activate Blazing Dragon's ability again." Solona removed one overlay unit and Blazing dragon roared and fired a blast. However, the blast was absorbed by a shield.
"Nice try but I had a backup plan in case you did that." Corypheus smirked "Fade Barrier allows me to protect my Dumat from your effect for this turn."
Solona groaned, her plan had failed and now she had lost her Luster Dragon. But she was not done yet "Then I guess I'll just have to finish by throwing one card facedown."
Corypheus drew his next card "Well, I guess my Dumat will attack you again." Dumat sent a blast towards Solona.
But once again, Solona was ready "I play Drainage Shield so now I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points and Dumat's attack is negated."
Solona: 4800
Corypheus: 3100
"So you've bought yourself some time." Corypheus mocked "Well, we'll see how long that will last."
"Don't forget, I can use my Blazing Dragon's ability." Solona smirked "One weakness of your Dumat is that you're desperate to use it to attack me directly so you're not summoning any other monsters. Leaving my monsters free to use their abilities. So I'll try again." Blazing Dragon's last Overlay unit was absorbed and once again, Blazing unleashed a blast. Solona was hopeful this time as Corypheus didn't have any facedown.
But Solona was not aware of one thing and Corypheus smirked "It's a good thing my Fade Barrier has another effect. I can remove it from play from my graveyard to save Dumat once again."
Solona sighed "Then I guess I'll just summon Blackland Fire Dragon in defence mode." Solona's green scaled dragon appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 800).
Corypheus laughed "Well, I guess you know what happens next." He sneered "Dumat, attack her directly!" Dumat unleashed a blast that struck Solona and sent her flying backwards screaming.
Solona: 800
Corypheus: 3100
Solona was on her back struggling to get up. "You might as well stay down girl!" Corypheus mocked "You're out of tricks now; you can't stop the inevitable now." Then he noticed the green portal was glowing and started flashing.
...
Dorian and the others had made it to the Peak of Mount Sundermount and they saw a sticky green portal had been opened. "That must be it. The Venatori must have taken Solona through it, it reeks of the same magic that brought us here."
"Solona must already be duelling." Daylen said in a worried tone.
"We'll just have to hope that she's okay." Aedan stated
They quickly walked up to the portal and an odd feeling ran through them as they travelled through the portal.
When they could see clearly, they found themselves in a large temple like room "What is this place?" Theorn asked
"It's my sanctuary." A voice called "Welcome to my home."
They all turned to see the Elder One smiling at them with his arms wide open. They were all grossed out at the Elder One's look "So you're what the Elder One looks like." Dorian said
"I prefer you call me by the name Corypheus." He replied "I am the Conductor of this world."
Daylen glared at him "Where's my sister?" he demanded
Corypheus laughed "Why don't you look in front of you."
Theorn gasped when he saw Solona on the ground "Solona!" he yelled and ran forward only to be thrown back by a green barrier "What did you do to her!"
Corypheus laughed "She's feeling the full power of Dumat, Old God of Silence. She's tried so hard but it won't be enough. She's already tried several times to take him down but failed." He then sneered at Solona "You may as well stay down girl, it's over!"
Jaden stepped forward "Don't listen to him Solona!" he yelled "Get up, this duel is not over, a duel is never over until the last card is played."
Solona heard the voices and pushed herself up and she looked weak as she looked at her friends "Why?" she asked "Why did you guys come here?"
"Did you think we would let you come here alone?" Theorn yelled "Why Solona? Why did you come here? You promised you wouldn't come."
"I'm sorry." She whimpered "I just couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of me. Neria, Leliana, Thrask, Crowler and my dad are gone because of me."
"It's not your fault Solona!" Aedan yelled "These guys lured you here. We'll stand by you and protect you! They want that Old God card of yours and now they're in reach of it."
Livius laughed "Well, it seems your friend is right about something." He mocked
Aedan spat on the ground "You shut up, we'll deal with you later!"
Daylen looked at his sister "Sol, you were a fool to come here. But you have to face the facts, dad and the others would not have wanted you to do this. It's too late now but you can face him and beat him. If you don't, you know what will happen."
"They'll be one step closer to world domination." Dorian finished "Don't be responsible for allowing that."
Solona looked down. They were right; she never should have come here. She had fallen into the Venatori's trap. She thought that she was protecting her friends but she put them and the whole world in even more danger. But she couldn't turn back now. She would finish this duel and hopefully put an end to all of this. "Maybe my friends are right." She said as she turned around to face the Elder One "I was a fool to come here but there's no point feeling bad about the past. I still have a duel to win."
Corypheus laughed "And how can you beat me?" he asked "Your Blazing Dragon has no more overlay units and you don't have the cards to beat Dumat."
Solona smirked "Actually I do. You see on my last turn, I drew this." She stated and showed a card in her hand which was her Urthemiel.
Corypheus laughed "So you have your own Elder One in your hand?" he sneered "What are you going to do, you need three sacrifices to summon him, and you only have one."
Solona smirked "As Jaden said, I duel is never over until the last card is played." She smiled "And I'll start by playing Graceful Charity, now I can draw three cards and discard two of them." Solona drew three cards and tossed two of them to her graveyard "And one of them was the White Stone of Legend, I can add my third Blue Eyes to my hand from my deck. And with the spell card Ancient Rules, I can special summon him. Plus with the spell card Return of the Dragon Lords, I can bring back my other Blue Eyes in my grave." Two Blue Eyes White dragons appeared on the field. "Now I have enough monsters so I sacrifice all three of them." Solona's two White dragons and blazing dragon turned to golden particles and vanished "With its great beauty, she's a sight to behold but she's more than just a beautiful creature, she had great power as well. I summon Urthemiel, Old God of Beauty." Solona's massive purple dragon appeared on the field (Level 12 Attack 5000 Defence 5000).
"All right." Theorn cheered
"And you remember his ability, now I can remove one Blue Eyes from the graveyard and he gains half its attack points." Solona smirked as the Spirit of Blue Eyes appeared and was absorbed by Urthemiel (UOGOB Attack 5000-6500) "Now attack. Urthemiel, take out Dumat." Both Old God dragons let out massive roars that made everyone cover their ears. The two Old Gods battled each other but Urthemiel came out on top.
Solona: 800
Corypheus: 600
"How does it feel now?" Solona smirked "You've lost your Old God. The tables have turned against you now."
But the Elder One was actually laughing "You know, you had me worried there." He laughed "You really did. But like your friend said, a duel's not over until the last card's played and I still have life points. So it seems your friend's words worked against you. Besides, did you really think I wasn't ready for this?"
Aedan looked concerned "I have a bad feeling about this." He admitted
Corypheus laughed "You should." He sneered "Did you really think that Dumat was the only Old God card I held. Remember, there are seven in total and four of them are held by me and my followers."
"Just what is it with these Old God cards?" Dorian questioned
Corypheus laughed "I told the girl this story but I might as well explain in completely since you should know the story before I defeat you. I was the High priest of Dumat as well as 6 others. We were known as the Magisters Sidereal. When Dumat spoke to me, he gave me a ritual that come grant us power to bring us more power and rebuild the world in my image. But I couldn't do it alone so I approached the others. Only the Madman of Zazikel and the Appraiser of Andoral sided with me. The Architect of Urthemiel, the Watchman of Lusacan, the Augur of Razikale and the Forgewright of Toth didn't trust me. The three of us did a ritual and I did what Dumat told me and took the power of Zazikel and Andoral. Then I hunted down the Forgewright of Toth and corrupted him. Made him believe that we were going to purge to world and rebuild a new one from the ashes. The other three were able to put up more of a fight and were able to imprison me and scatter the Old God spirits. When I finally broke free of my prison, I was able to find Dumat and Zazikel quickly. Toth and Andoral were recovered shortly after. I even had Razikale for a while until the fool Alexius lost her. And soon, I will have Urthemiel and once I do, I just need to recover Razikale and find Lusacan."
"That will never happen!" Zane shouted "We'll stop you!"
Corypheus laughed "You won't be able to stop me. It is inevitable that your friend here will lose." He drew his card "And now it's time for the end. I activate the spell card Curse of Obedience, now by discarding two cards from my hand, I can request any card you have in your deck."
"Any card?" Jaden questioned
"What is he doing?" Theorn questioned
"Getting what I need to summon my other monster." Corypheus answered "The card I request is the spell card Dragon's Mirror."
"My Dragon's Mirror?" Solona gasped and she watched as her deck glowed and her Dragon's Mirror spell card flew from the deck and into Corypheus' hand.
"Just what is he doing?" Daylen questioned "Why would he request that. Dragon's Mirror can only summon a dragon fusion monster."
Dorian suddenly gasped "And that's what he's doing!" he gasped "He's summoning another Old God monster, only this one is a fusion."
"Corypheus cackled "Indeed, I use Dragon's Mirror to fuse Dumat, Pride and Hunger." The spirits of Corypheus' three monsters appeared and sucked into a portal "When order falls, chaos endures and one beast helps sow the seeds of chaos which grants power to those who desire it. I fusion summon, Zazikel Old God of Chaos!" Everyone gasped as another massive purple dragon appeared on the field (Level 12 Attack 0000 Defence 0000)
"No attack points?" Zane questioned "Don't tell me that it's attack points are made up of the three monsters used to summon it."
"That's exactly what happens." Corypheus laughed "Zazikel's attack points are equal to the combined attack points of all monsters used to summon him."
"Oh no!" Dorian yelled "That means..."
"That your friend is finished!" Corypheus yelled "She has no traps, no spells and her monster will never survive this. There is nothing she can do. It's over!" Zazikel glowed as he gained his attack points (ZOGOC Attack 0-9000).
"9000 ATTACK POINTS!" Jaden yelled in horror.
Solona couldn't say anything, she just looked at the monster with wide eyes.
Zane looked on "There's nothing she can do, she has nothing on her field that can stop this attack."
"Like I said, she was only delaying her defeat." Corypheus yelled "Now Zazikel, destroy Urthemiel and the rest of her life points." Zazikel began charging his blast while Solona looked on not saying anything "That's right girl, it is over. You are responsible for the end of the world by coming here. You have let everyone down."
"Not yet!" Solona yelled "This is not over, I may be done for but my friends are still here and as long as they're here. We haven't lost yet."
"Solona..." Theorn stated
Solona turned around and looked at them "I'm sorry you guys. You were right, I should have listened to you. But don't let my mistake cost you all. Carry on, and ensure that the Venatori do not win."
"Sister!" Daylen "Solona no!"
Corypheus laughed "Touching but pointless." He sneered "Now Zazikel, end this!"
Zazikel unleashed his blast that engulfed both Urthemiel and Solona causing her to scream the loudest that she had ever screamed before.
Solona: 0000
Corypheus: 600 (Winner)
When the dust cleared, Solona was barely standing but her legs soon gave way and she fell to her knees and then fell face first to the ground.
"SOLONA!" Dorian yelled in horror
"NOOOO!" Daylen yelled right after "SISTER!"
Everyone could only look on with wide eyes and mouths open. When Corypheus began approaching the fallen Solona, Jaden then yelled out "Hey, stay away from her!"
Daylen ran forward to try and reach his sister only to be blocked by the barrier. He hammered his fist several times against the barrier. "Solona! Get up. Get up. Please sister, get up!"
Solona was still conscious but could barely move and couldn't even push herself up at all. Corypheus smirked "You toy with forces beyond your control. No more." He reached Solona and knelt down as he picked up her Urthemiel card from her deck "You won't need this anymore."
Solona whimpered "Get it over with then you bastard!" she weakly spat.
Corypheus laughed and grabbed Solona by her arm and pulled her up off the floor. Solona was too weak to struggle "You think I'm going to crystallize you like my followers did with your friends?" he questioned
"NO LEAVE HER ALONE!" Theorn yelled joining Daylen banging against the Barrier.
Corypheus turned to them "You mortals are not worth my time. You shall all kneel before me soon enough. You will bow before your new god and be spared. But that day has not come." He turned back to Solona "As for you, I'm not planning on turning you into a crystal. That was never my plan. You wondered why I had such an interest in you. You shall see soon enough." He waved his other hand near Solona's neck casting some kind of sleeping spell because Solona's eyes felt heavy and she lost conscious and the Elder One began to carry her away.
"COME BACK HERE!" Jaden yelled "Bring her back here."
Corypheus didn't even look at them as he spoke to Livius "Take care of them." He ordered
"With pleasure Master." Livius smirked and then the barrier blocking Solona's friends came down. Dorian had to stop Jaden from running.
"We have to go now." He stated
"But what of Solona?" Jaden asked
"We can't just leave her?" Theorn begged
"She's my sister." Daylen added
"We have no choice!" Aedan yelled "We can't take these guys on now."
"Aedan's right!" Zane added "We have to get back to Kirkwall and form a new plan."
Daylen had tears in his eyes as he and the others slowly backed away from Livius and the other Venatori and they quickly ran back through the portal.
"Let them go." Corypheus ordered "We have what we need." He looked at Solona "I have big plans for you girl."
...
Dorian and the others were thrown out of the portal and were back at the peak of Mount Sundermount. Everyone was in shock at what they just witnessed. Solona Amell, one of the strongest duellist they had known had been defeated.
"I... I can't believe it." Theorn stuttered
"Solona" Jaden added "She's really gone."
Daylen couldn't say anything as he fell to his knees with tears filling his eyes "Why sister!" he shouted "Why didn't you listen to me. You never should have come here."
Zane sighed "There's no point feeling bad now." He stated "We can't change the past. Solona is gone and now the Venatori have another Old God spirit." He didn't want to say it was Solona's own fault as he knew that would only start an argument and a fight.
Dorian sighed "I guess we have only one option." He stated "We have to head back to Kirkwall and inform the others. We'll need to make a plan. Our time in this world is not over, it is only just beginning."
Jaden stepped up and narrowed his eyes at the sky "Alright. Now it's time for us all to get our game on. The Venatori have targeted our friends and I for one am not going to allow them to get away with this."
Daylen wiped his eyes and stood up "I'm with you Jaden. The Venatori may have won this round but the fight is not over."
"Indeed." Theorn agreed
Jaden nodded "Now it's time for us all to get our game on. Watch out Venatori, we're coming for you!"
Chapter End:
Notes: Merry Christmas, this is my Christmas gift to my readers even though I know this is not my most popular story but I really wanted to get this chapter done. This is a big milestone in the story and Solona's defeat here was something I had planned before I even started writing this story. I planned for this to happen back when I was writing the first Dragon X story. I sometimes like to have a villain that does not wait until near the end to duel as it allows me to draw their deck out more in duels. This will be my last story of 2021 and while I won't be restarting University until January 24th, I still have some coursework between now and then to do so I can't say when I will have time to write a new chapter which will be on Rise of the Divines. Until then, enjoy this chapter.