Yuanfen
By 7th Librarian and Mei1105
Night 3: Dragons, Castles, Vampires, Oh My!

For the last two months, his practical experience with bounty hunting, combat and tracking had let Andy feel in his element while on Arcadia. It was his natural state, to be the hero, to do the right thing. And Arcadia had no shortage of troubles.

So it was a bit awkward when he, Lyrissa and Merlow parked the jeep and got out to find Vladimir, Kurtis, Maria and Leopold waiting for them - all the Shadow Spawn clad in the plate armor they'd worn during the tournament so long ago and armed with weapons of choice. "I don't suppose you brought a spare set?"

Leopold gave him a smile. "We are the 'tanks' for this engagement, Mister Markova. You're to guard our spellcasters."

Andy felt his pride take a little knock at the idea that he was just going to be a bodyguard, but it was four against one, and after the last two days, he was feeling a little protective over Merlow and Lyrissa. Fighting monsters had made it painfully obvious that he was more suited to being the muscle than they were.

Merlow was frowning at the group. "I see we are short tonight. Are Melissa and Tyson not joining us?"

At this, Vladimir scowled. "Our sister had...other priorities tonight. And Tyson is feeling under the weather."

Leopold snorted derisively. "Oh is that what we're calling a drunk evening out these days?"

Dread was seeping through Andy's skin. They hadn't even started and they were two men down. Lyrissa seemed to be sharing his thoughts, for she too was eyeing the group with the calculating look of a tactician.

"Serenity is more powerful than the average vampire. It would be foolish to try and capture her when we are not at full strength."

Maria scoffed. "We are four of the most powerful beings on this island, and we will be in a location that will enhance our abilities greatly. We are more than capable of handling one vampire."

Lyrissa gave the Shadow Spawn of Water a look - it would have been sardonic to an outsider, but Andy recognised it on a deeper level. It was a special kind of disdain that was unique to siblings - one that quietly said 'Really? Do you wake up this stupid or do you practice in the mirror first?'. He cleared his throat.

"We think that Serenity might be able to tap into Hooktail's skeleton too. She has one of the Shadow Queen's necklaces."

At this, Vladimir looked extremely sceptical. "Highly unlikely - the Palace has been sealed since the Tournament. None of her artefacts could have got out."

Lyrissa rolled her eyes, and Andy pushed on. "I think Lyrius gave it to her. She was with him for a while before she got turned."

It was like a magic word. The mention of the man was enough to make all four of the Shadow Spawn do a double take. "Lyrius is involved in this?" Now Vlad sounded like a growing thunderstorm.

"...sort of," now that he said it, Andy realised he didn't know much of how Lyrius was involved with Serenity. All he had to go on was the few details given to him by an angry, hungover Fran.

"What else have you not told us about this?" Maria demanded, her hands going straight to her hips. "Is he here?"

"No!" He might not know much, but he was sure Jemorille would have warned him if Lyrius had made it to Arcadia. "No, I don't think so. He was working against her kidnappers when I saw them in Vegas."

Leopold cut Vlad off before he could let his frustration out. "What did the necklace look like?"

Andy shook his head helplessly. "I don't know…" Thankfully, Lyrissa stepped in.

"The gold choker with the dragon's eye sapphires…" She smirked. "You know? The one she never took off."

Leopold's face dropped into a frown. Maria hissed, and Vlad began to pace. "Damn, she always had that thing on. Who knows what powers it might have?"

"Maybe we should wait another day or two," Leopold seemed to be running odds in his head, but now it was Vlad's turn to interrupt.

"No - Tyson's a loose cannon anyway, and who knows how long Melissa's going to be on this little crusade of hers. We can't afford to wait."

Leopold looked as though he wanted to question the wisdom of this further, but a polite cough startled them all out of their discussion.

"Forgive me for interrupting," Merlow said, tapping his watch. "But unless we wish to stand our victim up, we should start heading to the castle."

Andy ended up taking point, with the Shadow Spawn following behind, and Lyrissa and Merlow bringing up the rear. The woods were noisy, in a way that he remembered from the Tournament. They hadn't run into many animals back then - perhaps the constant stream of duelists lining up to face them had made too much noise, he mused. He remembered the amount of blood that Lyrissa had come home covered in, and he wondered what roamed in here.

As if thinking of her summoned her, the woman herself marched into step with him. "I don't like this."

It was the first she'd spoken to him since that morning - she had spent the evening with her door locked, and had only come out when he had told her that it was time to get going. Some of the coldness from their fight was still there, and he remembered his conversation with Merlow from that morning. He had to ease the tension between them - aside from anything else, it would only hamper them in a fight.

"Yeah, I'm not nuts about it either. I wonder what this crusade of Melissa's is. Vlad didn't sound happy about it-"

Lyrissa shook her head. "I don't care about their squabbles. I meant the woods. Something is off tonight. There is a…" she paused, clearly trying to think of the word. "...thickness in the air. Something magical is happening."

That startled him - Andy scrambled to mentally map out the island in his head. "...we know there's probably a few more Reaping Trees out here - is that what you're feeling?"

Another shake of her head. "This is different. This feels darker. Like a summoning or…" she froze abruptly, bringing the entire party to a stumbling halt behind her. "Necromancy!"

Andy would later be proud that it only took him a fraction of a second to put the pieces together. But at the moment all he felt was horror. He swore and both of them took off toward the castle door.

Even from a distance it was clear that the wards had already been broken - the doors were wide open. He heard Vlad swear from behind him. "The wards are broken!"

That was bad. But Andy couldn't imagine Serenity breaking in herself - she had no reason to, this was for her benefit as far as she knew. Which meant somehow, her sire had found out. And had wanted the skeleton. So we have to deal with two vampires - we still out number them and everyone but Merlow and I get the power boost-

His hopes for a still-simple resolution to this ground slowly came to a halt as the group charged through the castle's entrance hall and into the broad space that had been Hooktail's lair. Serenity was there, alright, along with a masked man he recognized as Castiel from Las Vegas. They were playing what looked like pocket checkers.
Weevil was there, too, sitting bored on a rock and almost half-asleep.

And atop a pile of debris, arms outstretched over Hooktail's skeleton was a skeleton. The lich Fushioh, chanting in a deep, resonant tone that should have been impossible without vocal cords and filled with magic in every syllable.

"Get the lich!" Vlad shouted instantly, drawing his pole-arm looking weapon. "He's trying to turn Hooktail into a dragon zombie!"

Leopold and Kurtis moved in first, the former gesturing so a pile of stone blocks rose up and hurled them at the lich. The latter took flight as wings unfolded from his back in a spray of feathers, forearm blades unsheathing themselves from his armour.

Black fireballs streaked out, shattering the stone blocks and Andy twisted to see Weevil on his feet, black fire lingering in both of his hands as he cackled. "Hey, look, this dump finally got interesting!"

Kurtis was forced to pull out of his attack run as more fireballs leapt from the small man's throws. They splashed against his armour, leaving it smoking and the Shadow Spawn of Wind hissing in frustration as he hit the ground, wings vanishing before the attacks could burn his feathers anymore.

"I suppose it was too much to ask for a quiet night," Castiel drawled as he stood, eyeing up the new arrivals. Maria was charging him, water flowing in her hands to become a pair of hard spheres that whipped towards him. He sneered and caught one, hurling it back at her easily. "C'mon, kiddies - this is no way to treat your guests!"

"You are no guests." Vladimir said coldly. "Just enemies."

"I have no enemies," Castiel retorted. "Only prey." He flexed his claws and slid into a combat stance as Vlad and Maria moved in for him. "Come and get me!"

They did, Maria's water spheres arcing out wide to either side to loop around to smash into his back. Off-balance, he was wide-up for Vlad's weapon to slash right into his side - and right through him.

Castiel and Serenity winked out and Andy whirled as a scream echoed. He twisted to see Leopold writhing; Castiel having gotten him from behind, pinning his arms in place and fangs sinking into his neck. "LEO!"

"Don't...call me that!" Leopold grunted, his eyes narrowing as the stone under him rumbled. A hunk of it tore itself free of the ground and shot up, Leopold catching in his free arm and smashing it into Castiel's face. The vampire released him, swearing and the Shadow Spawn tore free, hammering blows into Castiel that sent him flying back into the wall.

"Hehehe...you hit like you taste." The vampire licked his lips, his eye narrowing in satisfaction. "Strong like a truck and blunt like a hammer. You lot are going to be a delicious meal…"

"We'll see about that!" Andy was already moving towards him, but Castiel just held up a small teal stone in one hand and then vanished in a mirage. "Shit! He's got Orichalcos! He can make himself invisible!"

"That's not all I can do." Castiel's voice rang out from nowhere in particular as Andy, Merlow, Vlad and Maria backed up together while Kurtis tried to conjure wind enough to send Weevil's fireballs back in his face and Leopold backed up against a wall. "You remember our little bus trip, hero?"

"God dammit…" Andy breathed and raised Oblivion a half-dozen of Castiel shimmered into existence around them.

"They're just illusions." Vlad said firmly. "They can't hurt us."

"It's the Orichalcos - I don't think they're just illusions." Andy replied grimly. "Are you guys close enough to the dragon to get your power boost?"
"Not yet," Maria said with a growl. "One of us needs to get up there and take out that lich before he raises Hooktail as his zombie!"

"Leave this vampire to Andy and I." Merlow said, his hands glowing softly with a sheen of rainbow light. "Get to the dragon and stop the lich - that is our priority."

"I can hear you plotting." Castiel mocked as the copies paced in closer, moving in an ever tightening circle. "It isn't going to work."

"That remains to be seen." Merlow stepped forwards and then vanished. At the same time, the smell of ozone ripped through the air and all six Castiel's twisted in sudden pain, winking out.

Andy found them a second later - the real Castiel had tucked himself up on some rubble. And Merlow was right below him, hands outstretched and pouring lighting at him. The vampire writhed in pain, but the stone in his hand glowed and a barrier sprang in front of him. Now the lightning skittered over the surface, filling the cavern with an odd sea-green light.

There wasn't time to appreciate how Merlow could turn invisible and be invisible himself - Andy sprinted for them. He took two leaps across the uneven piles of rubble to put himself behind Castiel, quick strides carrying him up to slash at the vampire's exposed flank.

But Castiel had seen him come and the vampire jumped away, keeping his barrier behind him and Merlow. Andy chased him and for the next few moments, the three of them were in an awkward dance as Andy tried to cut him, Merlow tried to blast him with lightning and Castiel did his level best to dodge Andy while keeping his shield hand where it needed to be.

Castiel suddenly dropped the shield, snarling in pain as Merlow's lightning hit him full on. But he still held up his glowing Orichalcos and before Andy could attack him, the stone flared like a flashbang. Andy went staggering backwards as the light hammered into his eyes, pain searing into his brain and he heard Merlow cry out. Something slammed into him, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him crashing to the stone, Oblivion flying from his grasp. It was Castiel and he threw up his arms on reflex, felt fangs dig at his jacket -and then clang off metal underneath.

He seized the moment it bought him as Castiel stopped pressing the attack, Oblivion winking back to his hand and he slashed, felt the blade bite through something and heard Castiel grunt in pain before the vampire's weight left him.

Andy blinked, clearing the spots out of his eyes and got to his feet in time to see a gout of flames drive Castiel back before the vampire could leap again. Blood was staining Castiel's clothing from a wound across his chest, but Andy didn't celebrate - his cut had been shallow and he could already see the flesh knitting back together.

Like he needed more advantages. Andy thought darkly as he kept his sword between him and the vampire, Merlow readying another fireball between his hands. He could only hope the others were having better luck

TTTTTT

Vlad was adult enough to admit that his plan had gone completely off the rails and teenage enough not to like it. Stupid, stupid, just to ward the place, they should have set an alert spell, too. And now their simple ambush had lead to them getting ambushed in return.

But they had the advantage in numbers and once he and Maria got on Hooktail, the advantage in power. Hooktail had damaged the castle's floors to make herself a lair and over the centuries, it had crumbled even further to becoming more like a cave than a manmade structure. Which meant there were plenty of piles to hide behind, something he and his siblings had taken advantage of for hours-long games of hide-and-seek.

Which also meant they knew the place like the back of their hands. With Castiel occupied, Weevil trying futilely to hit Kurtis, it was simple enough for he and Maria to make their way towards the lich. Not like Melissa had done five years ago, standing atop Hooktail's body from the front, but where the beast's tail had hidden itself behind a collapsed floor. True to Hooktail's name, the tip of it had five jagged prongs curling away from it in random directions. Easily sharing his height at almost six foot, Vlad could easily imagine how one hit from those would slice a man clean in half.

But his dryvius, his twin-bladed glaive was even sharper and as he stepped between the spines on to tail, he felt it. A rush of strength in him - his armor became lighter, his movements freer and his senses sharper. The tail had looped up and over the second floor before dropping back down and one leap let him grab a protruding vertebrae and then hauled himself up one handed. A clank behind him altered him to Maria doing the same.

Vlad peered around the rubble; the rest of Hooktail's skeleton sprawled below them, the lich's back visible on his ledge as he chanted. Kurtis had taken to the air again and he was dancing in and out of Weevil's reach. The small man was lobbing fireballs, but had terrible aim and yet had presence of mind to conjure weird black flames rimmed in blue around him so Kurtis couldn't just tackle him from his perch. Castiel and Andy were fighting, Merlow doing his best to keep the vampire cornered so Andy could land a meaningful blow.

"Maria, the lich." Vlad whispered, nodding down at the skeleton. "Can you hit him from here?"

Maria glanced at the sphere of water floating above her palm, then at the lich and shook her head. "Outside my range. And aren't lich bones harder than steel? I probably won't even knock him off balance."

"Up close and personal then." Vlad tightened his grip on his dryvius and began to calculate whether or not it was easier to take fast, but noisy leaps at the lich thanks to his boosted power or take the time to be stealthy. All the fights at the moment were stalemated, but that could change in an instant. And Leopold was injured - he could still see his brother nursing his neck wound, lower face bloody. His dao skin was supposed to be as tough as the armor, but Castiel had almost ripped his throat open. The vampire would pay for that, too...

"I'm so sorry!"

It was the only warning he got as Serenity shot out from her hiding place and slammed into him. Her fingers dug into his neck, drawing blood, and her fangs were bared, but to Vladimir's surprise, there were tears in her eyes. He didn't have time to care or ask about it, slamming his knee into her midsection and jostling her loose. The dryvius came into play, flashing in a quick slash, but Serenity just jumped over the sweep and clung to the ceiling. Only for Maria's water spheres to hit her side with sharp thuds that sent her tumbling down the crevice and across Hooktail's spin.

So much for stealth. Vlad leapt down after her. "Maria -get the lich! I'll restrain her!"

Maria leapt down after him, running across the dragon's spine and making a dramatic, inhumane leap over Serenity. Only for the vampire to go from prone to airborne with a single motion, wings sprouting from her back to let her snatch Maria out of the air and slam her onto the skeleton.

Ordered to protect the ritual at all cost, then. Vladimir grimaced as he charged, knowing that Lyrissa had been right - Serenity's orders were going to make it hard to restrain her safely. But they had the advantage on the skeleton and she was clearly struggling not to really hurt them. They just had to press that on that lead -

Serenity saw him coming and kicked Maria down between Hooktail's ribcage, whirling to face him. But Vlad was in no mood to get up close - his dyrvius was a long weapon and he led with a flurry of thrusts. She was quick, weaving around them, but the spine wasn't that wide and she could only move so much. Vlad feinted left and right to get her upper body to lean away, leaving her rooted footing exposed as he suddenly switched his grip, a broom-like sweep of his dryvius' second blade going for her legs.

She flipped backwards, the move clearly unpracticed as she barely remained standing on her splayed stance and limboed back as his front blade drove right for her face. She caught the weapon below the blade in both hands, but didn't have the leverage to do anything with. "I'm sorry about this!"
"We know." Vlad said flatly and allowed himself a little smirk as Maria's water spheres slammed into Serenity's legs, knocking them up from under her and dumping her on her back. He slammed a foot down on her chest, weapon on her neck. "Maria - get her limbs, tie her to the skeleton-"

Serenity's form dissolved into mist and he cursed as that mist whipped around behind him, reforming faster than he could turn. Her one-two punch rocked his body, some part of him registering that her left hand wasn't flesh, but something hard and rough. Then he countered with a sweeping slash that left her jumping back. Right into Maria's grip again as his sister jumped up - a move impossible with her armor without the boost from the skeleton she was grabbing on, yanking Serenity's ankle off the spine and down into the ribcage with her.

Vlad followed as Serenity just headbutted Maria, an uppercut sending his sister staggering and then Serenity whirled in a roundhouse that knocked the Water Shadow Spawn prone. His sister's water spheres zipped back, one catching Serenity's stomp before it broke Maria's nose further and the other slamming into Serenity's head. But it careened off, Serenity only staggering instead of being floored like the impact should have done.

He body-checked her, dryvius slashing again and tearing open cuts on her side and leg as she scrambled backwards. She dissolved into mist again, but Maria was ready - she ripped open a bottle of water, hurling it out over Serenity. Combined with her water spheres, it became a half-dome that pinned the mist to the floor and began to contract. The mist roiled, but melted back into Serenity as the dome kept contracting. She pressed at it, clawed and kicked, lashing out with all the fury of a caged animal.

"Vlad, hurry up..!" Maria grunted through grit teeth. Even with the boost from Hooktail, the strain of handling this much water and against such ferocity was taxing her.

Vlad nodded and dug through his armor's pouch, pulling out a capture jewel. The multi-faceted gem glowed clear, ready for use and he shoved it through Maria's barrier. The gem slammed into Serenity's chest and the clear began to fog into green as it began to activate -

Pain erupted as her hand clamped down on his fingers and jerked, the jewel dropping from his grip now that one of his fingers was broken. Serenity grabbed it, crushing it with a flex of her claws. Maria's barrier wavered as Vlad yelled in pain and Serenity's foot kicked through the water, knocking him back into his sister.

Vlad caught his broken finger, grit his teeth and wrenched it back into place. The pain was excruciating, but the power boost let him remain conscious even as he saw Maria engage Serenity. Without her water, his sister was a brawler and even in heavy armor, she was launching blows a boxer would have been jealous of.

And Serenity avoided them seemingly without any effort, then caught Maria's fist in her left arm. Bone and metal creaked against one another, even as Serenity caught Maria's right jab. Then the vampire strained and to Vlad's astonishment, picked Maria up and hurled her away down to Hookail's neck. Maria slammed into a rib and hit the floor, groaning in pain.

How had she done that? She shouldn't have been able to overpower Maria, let alone lift her armor and all. Then Vlad caught the teardrop ruby sitting in the hollow of Serenity's throat and grimaced. Of course. His mother's necklace. She must be more attuned to it than they thought and so she got the power boost, too.

"You really...really...need to leave, okay? Before I hurt you bad." Serenity's lips lifted in a slow, feral grin and her eyes glimmered with her power. "And being in this place makes me really, really want to hurt you…"

"Worry about yourself." Vlad drew himself up, drew his power into himself. The air twisted around him, recoiling from the twisted nature of his innate shadow powers. He saw Maria scramble out of the way and unleashed his Aura of Fear just as Serenity began to step towards him.

Five years ago, the power had been most useful in duels to get the target the necessary protracted exposure. But he had practiced and honed his gift and now he could use it to drive even a full-grown man to his knees, sobbing in terror. It was exhausting and limited to just one target at a time, but with the power boost he had, it was the best move. Serenity couldn't keep fighting on her orders if she was too afraid to remember her orders.

The Aura stopped her like a physical impact and Vladimir could see it washing over her, her body tensing briefly as her instinctual 'fight-or-flight' mechanism triggered. And, to his utter bafflement, she smiled.

"That feels nice…" Serenity said, flexing her claws. "Was that supposed to do anything else?"

Vlad swore under his breath, but saw Maria readying herself behind Serenity. They still outnumbered her -

And suddenly they didn't. Shadow stuff pulled itself out of the ether, becoming a pitch-black copy of the vampire. It's smile was a lot more feral and hungry, all fangs and it bristled with eagerness to fight, to hurt.

Vlad twisted his dryvius' handle, separating from a glaive into short bladed swords in each hand. Serenity charged, splitting into mist as his counterswing wafted through her and reforming behind him to slam a punch into the back of his head. Vlad staggered, spun, hit only mist and watched as she reappeared a few feet away tauntingly.

Maria had her hands full brawling with the black version of the vampire, her armored blows just harmlessly impacting on it while the thing clawed at her with a relentless fury.

Vlad decided he was adult enough to admit that things were no longer going his way at all.

TTTTTTT

Weevil sighed and chucked another fireball at the green-armored winged one harassing, boredly watching as it the attack just hit another pile of rubble his opponent darted behind. "Aren't you going to do anything?! I thought you guys were supposed to be top dogs or something!"

"I am doing something!" Kurtis yelled back as he took flight again, weaving to avoid more fireballs.

"And what is it? Being a nuisance?" Weevil mocked and then saw stars as something slammed into his face, knocking him off his feet. His fire barrier vanished and he sat up, only to catch another something with his face. "Agh! Dammit!"

"He's being a very good distraction." Leopold said he tromped up towards Weevil's perch. Pale and limping, he still gestured as a few more bricks rose and launched themselves at Weevil.

"Dammit, dammit!" Weevil rolled out of the way, heard the bricks shatter where he had been - and then something seized the back of his jacket. "Let me go, bird brain!"

"Sure." Kurtis said as he flew them up and up and held Weevil out at arm's length. "Though, you know, it's a long way down."

Weevil glared at him. "You'll break my fall!" He grabbed Kurtis' arm, black fire flaring from his grip. It didn't get through his armor, but it crawled up the arm hungrily. Krutis swore and shook Weevil, but Weevil hung on and then leveraged his grip on Kurtis' arm to kick him in the face. They dipped in the air and Weevil lunged at him, stinges erupting from his forearms. One missed, but the other sheered off a hunk of feathers. They instantly began to plummet and Weevil hung on, twisting to ensure the armored brat would take the brunt of the fall -

They crashed into a pile of floating earth halfway, the impact rattling them both and then Weevil was rolling away as Kurtis' own forearm blades sliced into his jacket before a kick sending the smaller man skittering off the platform.

The fall wasn't as long as Weevil expected, but that didn't mean the sudden stop at the end didn't hurt as much. He had the air driven out of him and felt pain explode in his body and his glasses bounced free. His stinger snared the earpiece, but then sliced through and he watched helplessly as it completed its fall, a distinctive shattering noise following. "Those were custom glasses!"

"That is the least of your worries!" Leopold called and Weevil caught another brick to the face.

"Frig!" Weevil scrabbled backwards and realized he was on the dragon's skull. He ducked behind one of the bony ridges, more earth impacting into his little barrier. "Hey! Bones! Little help here!"

Fushioh didn't stop chanting or even move at all. Deciding he wasn't going to get any help there, Weevil looked around. Little Red Riding Hood was busy dusting it up with the Prince of Darkness and the Little Mermaid while Vampire of the Opera was playing keep away with that sword-wielding punk and the wizard.

"Oh, it'll be fun, Weevil! We'll get a dragon, Weevil! You're not doing anything tonight, Weevil!" The bug duelist muttered to himself. "I knew I should have stayed in for a movie night with Crumbs!"

It was just so infuriating. He had these stingers, could do magic flames and was tough enough to win that arm-wrestling contest the other week! And then these two brats get the power to throw earth around and fly! What was it with the universe and it just moving the goddam goalposts everytime he got somewhere!

Weevil seethed, ducking out from his perch to hurl a few fireballs at his attackers. The earth one was keeping a steady stream of hits coming and the green one was making his way towards Weevil himself. At least he couldn't fly with that wing, but the space was so open that if Weevil tried to engage him, he'd be wide open to a full-course earth dinner.

All this, for a dragon that Fushioh had spent hours trying to revive! But there wasn't even a sinew on these old bones and if he hadn't done it now, Weevil didn't feel keeping safe for the next ten minutes was going to make a difference.

That was when the dragon began to move. It was a low grinding noise and Weevil clutched to the ridge as the head began to vibrate. He twisted, peering over to see one of the dragon's forelimbs lifting itself free of the stone entrapping it. Kurtis was knocked from his perch, ducking as it took a ponderous swipe at him.

"Way to go, Bones!" Weevil cheered as the dragon's head lifted slowly, but his joy faded when he realized that was all that was moving. Just the slow claw and the head, jaw creaking open. Like a theme park attraction, scary-looking but harmless.

Well, he could fix that. Without really thinking about it, he slapped both hands down the skull. He felt the tattoos seared into his skin light up with power, parallel lines visible even through his clothes. He grinned as he felt the power surge sharply in him and then pour into the dragon's bones.

The two Spawn were staring at him, then were scrambling for cover as they saw the dragon's eyes light up with dark flames, shadows gathering in the open jaws. But they weren't fast enough as the attack erupted, a carpet of flames washing out across the stonework. It caught them both, knocking them over and Weevil cackled as it cleared. Both of them were sprawled out, smoldering and unconscious.

"King of the Underworld, you had some great stuff!" Weevil stared at his fingers, embers floating off them. "Hey, Bones, you think I could raise some dead?!"

His response was an explosion of pain between his ribs. Weevil screamed as the pain exploded the second time and flames exploded around him and he heard someone leap away. His hand fumbled, found a knife lodged in his side. "Who-!?"

A second knife hissed past his head, shaving off a lock of hair. The blonde woman was standing on Hooktail's neck, already pulling another knife from her brace of them. Where the hell had she come from? Weevil snapped out his hand, a dark fireball leaping from the palm.

To his consternation, she backhanded it away, leaving her hand smoking while she whipped the knife at him. He stumbled back, tripping over his ride and that saved him from a knife to the face. But that didn't save him from falling. He hit the ground hard, pain exploding up his body as he narrowly missed landing on the knife in his ribs. The world went hazy, though not to the point where he couldn't see that blonde head peer over the dragon's mouth - and then a scream erupted out of him as a knife hissed down and pierced his arm.

Hooktail's skeleton rumbled, straining to move but whatever had made it move before wasn't there anymore. The little it did was enough to make the little miss knife stagger and keep her balance. Weevil seized the moment, rolling to clamber onto his feet and then lifting his good arm to spew a continuous gout of flame at the first hint of blonde he saw. No knives followed up, but he kept backing away, refusing to stop the flames and dragging them after a flicker of motion he saw. "Bones! Castiel! I think we're freaking losing!"

His legs bucked out from under him as earth hit his knees and then an armored foot slammed down hard on his chest, the stern face of one of those Shadow Spawn brats and his brother glaring down at him. "What do you mean, 'think', little bug?"

Weevil snarled, drawing his power, but it wasn't there this time. Not beyond the pain he was in. He could feel the knife in his side move when he breathed and sticky blood coating that side. "B-Bite me…!"

TTTTTTT

Andy heard Weevil's shout, but he didn't buy into it. He was getting tired and Merlow was looking exhausted, Castiel having kept up enough distance to avoid directly tangling from either one of them. The vampire seemed reluctant to directly engage, despite being capable of just manhandling an old wizard. Andy spared enough though to wonder if it meant the vampire was more hurt than he was let on or just not strong enough.

Not that seemed to matter - Oblivion drove for Castiel's arm, trying to take it off at the elbow. But the Orichalcos shield sprang into place at the last second, green sparks flying as the two magical objects collided and then the force sent them both staggering. Andy nearly lost his balance from his perch and Castiel caught a jet of flames. He snarled, keeping the shield between Andy and himself while using his fangs to rip off his burning sleeve.

We aren't getting anywhere at this rate. We need to change things up. Andy took a moment to breathe, sparing a glance. He'd seen Hooktail move, Weevil channeling power through it somehow, but now the skeleton was inert.

No, no it wasn't. When he squinted, he swore the bones were almost glimmering dully. Worry knotted in his gut. Was it that close to becoming a dragon zombie already? If it was, they'd have zero chance of escaping alive, letting alone saving Serenity.

Then he saw something move on Hooktail's jaw. It was fleshy and twitching, like it was alive. But as it grew and stretched, Andy realized it wasn't alive in a sense. It was moving like a muscle.

"Merlow!" Andy pointed at the dragon. "Is he trying to resurrect it!?"

The wizard had managed pin Castiel in place with a swirling tornado of air. The Orichalcos barrier kept it from enveloping him, but trapped between the magic and a rock, he couldn't escape. Merlow followed Andy's gaze and his eyes widened in panic. "That should be impossible! He's not a divine caster!"

"Tell him that!" Andy watched in trepidation as the muscles and sinew and flesh spilled out of the bone to take its proper places, slowly building from Hooktail's muzzle across her skull like a mask. "What do we do?"

"I don't know!" Merlow told him and then whirled back as a flare of Orichalcos magic dissolved the tornado and he was back to slinging spells.

Well, that was helpful. Andy gripped Oblivion tightly, torn. He could leap back and deal with Castiel, but that dance didn't seem to have an end. But what else could he do? He could try and go after the lich, but now he could see Hooktail's claws were gleaming back to sharpness, one wing lifting like a tattered sail as flesh oozed back into place. By the time he got there, he might be facing down enough of a dragon that Hooktail would eat him.

His mind spun - he couldn't do magic. He didn't even know how the spells worked. He hadn't even known resurrection was possible. In DnD, sure, he'd seen it there, but in there, you just needed to worship a god, have a high enough level and a whole corpse -

Andy froze on that last thought, then sprinted for Hooktail's jaw. It was stupid, stupid gamble but he had nothing else -

Up a pile of debris, a jump and roll and then another powerful leap, Oblivion coming down as that half-flesh-covered skull began to slowly rise from the floor, a bony claw mottled with scales tugging free of the stone to give her leverage to move-

The blade sank into everything like a hot knife through butter. Scales, flesh, bone - Andy just carved through it and using the blade like a wedge, he popped the foot-size hunk free. Then he kept at it, ignoring how disgusting it was to feel flesh try and regrow over his shoe, how those glittering scales were being ripped out like falling leaves with each slash.

"You...you're destroying it?" a barrage of magic from Merlow was hammering into Castiel like an assault rifle, the wizard's brow wrinkling and smoothing in astonishment as he put the pieces together. "Oh, now I-"

Whatever admiration he might have had was cut off, as a wall of projectiles exploded outward from Castiel with the force of a race car. Andy could see shards of what looked like razor thing metal flying through the air. No not metal...cards! He's throwing trading cards! The force washed over Merlow, staggering him, and the wizard brought one arm up to shield his face, one foot staggering back away from the assault.

It was a step in the wrong direction.

A tiny sliver of rock, fallen during the brutalization of the castle walls, now beneath his foot, sent his balance skidding. In the second it took Andy to breathe, Merlow crashed to the floor, his head cracking hard against the stone.

Andy swore. Pieces of Hooktail were dissolving around him, flesh slipping and sliding off bones in sheets. The bone hunks he had sliced apart were lifting, wobbling, trying to reattach, but were so ponderously slow. Fine - he'd bought more time. Good enough. He clawed his way through the mess, but he was too far away as Castiel darted toward the fallen body fangs ready in a triumphant strike. Too far to help…

There was a screech of metal on plastic and Castiel screamed, reeling as he was smacked aside into the wall by the sharp edge of a longsword. His mask split beneath the assault, the sight digging deep into the horrified part of Andy's mind. There was no flesh under there - just charred black bone and teeth like someone had held a blow torch there and watched all the flesh melt away.

Standing protectively over Merlow, Lyrissa squared off and charged the vampire again. She had traded her knives for a longsword somewhere along the way and now she hammered at him with a fury that until now he had only seen directed at him. Kicking the last of Hooktail's remains away from him, Andy charged in bringing Oblivion down to cut Castiel in two. He dodged, but barely. Against one of them he could hold his own, but the two of them were overwhelming, and they began to drive him back into the wall.

"..ugh! Bones!" Weevil was on his feet again. Without Lyrissa there to help, and Leopold still nursing his neck wound, the bug-duelist was rallying, his shrill voice filling the room. "Your dragon is turning to mush!"

"Yes, thank you Weevil - I can see that!" came the tetchy response - the lich had finally given up, observing his efforts with a frustrated air as they disintegrated around him. There was a manly shriek from the back of Hooktail's body, and Andy realised that Vladimir had fallen through the dissolving flesh and was now struggling to free himself from the gloopy, almost gelatinous mess. Maria tumbled to the ground some feet away, wrestling with what looked like a woman made of black shadow.

Castiel roared and the ceiling seemed to quake with his frustration. Chunks of stone tore their way out of the wall and tumbled down into the room. Andy yelped as he felt Lyrissa slam into him, shoving him into the side of the room and out of the way of a chunk of rock the size of a large car. He could hear yells and the scramble of others diving for cover as dust filled the room, and he shielded his face as shards of rock flicked against them both.

But he never felt them.

He felt Lyrissa hiss in realisation. "Illusions!"

There was another howl, this time of rage - Castiel had charged through the room, the rocks no threat to him, seizing Maria and ripping her away from the black shadow by her throat, before hurling her into the nearest wall. She slammed into it like a wet dishcloth before sliding down to the floor with a heart-stopping crack of bone.

"Maria!" Leopold was raspy, then he gave a cry as Kurtis crumpled beside him breathing heavily, one of his wings sagging with a clean break through one of the bones. Weevil, bloodied, but shrieking in delight, bore down on both of them, hacking and slashing, not caring if he did any damage, but enjoying seeing them recoiling.

Andy felt Lyrissa shove away from his chest, charging at Castiel as the vampire rounded on Vladimir, pulling himself free of Hooktail's liquifying carcass. He made to follow, before he realised something. Castiel was recoiling, hands warding them away and an uncharacteristic look of startlement on his face. "Wait - that's not him-!"

Pain erupted in his side, then his neck as the real Castiel attacked from behind. The world swam and then spun as the vampire tossed him away. Lyrissa and Vladmir were turning, now realizing they were about to attack Merlow, only for Weevil to slam into the blonde and the two went down in a tumble of striking limbs.

Vlad's twin blades flashed high and low as he reached Castiel, but the vampire was faster, blocking one and headbutting the king before the second could connect. They traded blows, vampire skin and strength letting Castiel bare-handed parry the blades while Vlad's armor held up against striking claws.

A black shadow slammed into Vlad's side - Serenity's doppelganger. The real one was right behind, but Kurtis' met her mid-jump and sent her crashing to the ground. He pinned her, but Serenity twisted into mist and reappeared behind him, attacking the damaged wing. Kurtis screamed through grit teeth, but yanked her ankle out from under her with his foot and slammed an elbow into her face as they hit. It was her turn to yell in pain then.

Earth erupted up between Vlad and Serenity's doppelganger, Leo pointing at Castiel as he kept his gaze on the familiar thing. The earth became a small twister of pebbles and fragments, shredding at the shadow stuff. Andy managed to grin as he realized what the Shadow Spawn's plan was - by tearing that thing to little pieces kept in constant motion by the debris tornado, it couldn't reform or attack them. He is the genius for a reason.

And Vlad was proving why he was king. He was pressing the advantage two weapons gave him, alongside his armor taking Castiel's hits. Lines of red were opening through Castiel's clothing, his face and a hunk of his mask had gone flying off. Vlad was taking as good as he gave, though, but his mouth was a thin line of determination as he slowly, steadily, drove Castiel into a corner.

Castiel began to dissolve into mist, but Vlad barked a word that kicked up dust and cracked stone. Whatever it was hit Castiel so hard he became solid again in time to slam into the wall like a car had hit him. And then Vlad's weapon went through his leg.

Merlow appeared in Andy's blurry vision, hands coming to his wounds. But Andy didn't want to take his gaze off the fight. Castiel was refusing to go down - he'd yanked Vlad's weapon out of his hand with that leg and then ripped it out to fight with, but Vlad was in control now and the vampire was still being pressed into that corner. A little farther and he wouldn't have room to block, let alone attack.

Lyrissa was overpowering Weevil, the small man bleeding from numerous wounds now as she forced his arms at unnatural angles to bind him. Serenity was being contained, Kurtis and Maria taking cues from Leo and twisting water and wind around a pile of mist - if Serenity tried to move, they'd catch her in the whirlpool. And if she changed back to human shape, the whirlpool would damage her.

Hope suddenly made Andy's body hurt less and let strength flow into him. They were going to pull this off. Despite all the setbacks, they were going to end this.

Yet Castiel refused to accept the inevitable. He was impaled on one of Vlad's weapons, but had a deathgrip on it and was pulling himself along it inch-by-inch, clearly trying to get close enough to bite the king.

Vlad didn't even twitch, but Andy felt it, like all the warmth being sucked away to be replaced by the cold chill of fear and paranoia. He'd felt it before and that had nearly cost him a duel. And he'd been twenty feet away from a much-weaker Vlad. Now Castiel was going to get a full blast of fear aura from the king who'd defended Arcadia from threats bigger and meaner than Castiel for the last five years.

Castiel crumpled like Vlad had hit him in the stomach, dropping to his knees and hands falling limply to his sides. His mouth was half-open, eye wide with shock and panic and even a few tears.

Andy would have snorted in disbelief if doing so wouldn't have probably made his headache explode his skull. Just what the hell did Castiel have left to cry tears over? He was a monster, pure and simple. Not even human.

The King seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he pulled his dryvius out of Castiel's body. The vampire didn't seem to notice, even as Vlad drew it back. "How's it feel, vampire, being on this side of it? All that magic, all that power and ability...and you're still a scared human under it all."

The blade flashed through the castle's gloom, the entire place as silent as the grave it was and Andy let that lull the pain away again. The Shadow Spawn looked triumphant, Merlow calm, Lyrissa's brow furrowed in concentration. Serenity was equal parts disbelieving and hopeful, Weevil was dumbstruck and the lich was still and observant. All the fighting had faded, coalescing into this one moment that would finally put an end to it all.

Vlad looked grimly satisfied as the blade completed its arc, a thin trail of red splashing across the rocks from the tip.

Then the King looked surprised.

And Castiel...Castiel looked beyond furious.

Serenity hit the floor between them, covered in blood and dirt and water - and a single gaping slash wound that had ripped open her belly.

Castiel's roar of fury was like a rock shattering a windowpane as everyone present tried to react, brains sluggish and thrown by the sudden noise. Vlad went down, sunglasses falling in pieces to the floor as claw marks split his face. Then Castiel was a blur, crashing into a charging Maria and using her to club Kurtis. His rage-filled howl was louder than the sound of armor crashing into armor as he beat them with each other.

A pile of flying stones pelted him like a machine-gun, forcing him to drop Maria. But he didn't fall even as they drove him back and back and back - only for Castiel to drop into mist that zipped around and reformed in the air. He vanished like a mirage as he fell, Leopold too slow on the draw to change his attack direction.

"We need to go - now!" Lyrissa seized Andy and hauled him upright, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "We've lost!"

"No - have to fight - " Andy willed Oblivion back into his hand, but the sword nearly dropped from weak fingers and his leg folded up when he tried to push away from Lyrissa. He could see Weevil somehow free from his bindings, stingers extended as he clashed with Leopold. Leopold swatted him away like the fly he was. Only for Castiel to reappear in front of him and claw at the distracted man's face. It was the first time Andy could recall hearing the half-dao scream in pain. "LEO!"

"We can't fight them - we were barely winning before!" Lyrissa snapped and dragged him towards the entrance. "I will come back for them, so stop fighting me!"

Andy ignored her, trying to focus, to pull out the flames out of the void in his sword. Only faint flickers responded. This wasn't right - they were winning, they were the good guys - they had to stop them. But Fushioh was fighting now, hurling spells at a barely-recovered Vladimir, Maria and Kurtis were dizzy, struggling, the fight gone out of them. Leo was struggling against two-on-on.

No, this wasn't right - he had to do something. He couldn't just leave - he couldn't fail. Not here, not on Arcadia. Not again.

He tore free of Lyrissa's grasp, half-stumbling, half-running towards Serenity. She looked like a wreck, clothes nearly gone, blood everywhere and he about retched when he saw the gash on her stomach knitting itself back together. But her eyes were open, clear and she was cautiously trying to move.

"Serenity!" He thrust out his hand as her head snapped around. "We have to go! It's dangerous! C'mon!"

She stared at him, expression uncomprehending...and then she reached back for him.

"Stay away from my sister!" Castiel slammed Andy bodily into rock, sword clattering away. Pain exploded everywhere as Andy felt him land slashes everywhere, His face, his chest, arms -

A knife slammed into Castiel's body before lightning skittered across the air and twisted towards the knife like a lightning rod. The vampire went flying from the hit, body twitching uncontrollably as the knife allowed all the volts to drive into his body from the inside.

Lyrissa appeared in Andy's blurry vision again, the world's sights and sounds fading in and out. A badly edited video. "That won't stop him for long - need to go-!"

"-greed. Take-" Merlow appeared in the space between blinks, tired and exhausted and his voice tinny and far away. "The Spawn have retreat - their armor -then use - Dimension Door- "

He felt Lyrissa take him again, feeling suddenly weightless and frail in her arms, his view going from floor to ceiling as she carried him. Andy struggled, but it was like everything was in a fog and his limbs were made of clouds. Nothing was working or moving the way he wanted it to and words rattled in his head, unable to connect to his mouth. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, feel the jolt of Lyrissa's footsteps thudding through his body. She pivoted around debris, and his head lolled over in her arms-

-just in time to see Castiel, reaching through magic and falling rubble, to seize Merlow, and drive his fangs deep into the old man's neck.

Horror surged through him, pushing him up in Lyrissa's arms. Her grip was tight, and his sluggish brain didn't know how to fight her. Instead it screamed, leaving him reaching out as though he could yank Merlow out of harm. But the wizard was slack against the vampire, his skin turning a ghostly white, his entire frame shrinking in on itself as though Castiel were sucking out his very essence along with blood.

It wasn't until Castiel tossed the empty body to the floor, that Andy realised he had.

He heard Lyrissa's scream but it felt far away. Serenity, still bleeding and in pain was yelling too, but he couldn't figure out what. And through it all, Castiel just smiled, satisfied, victorious, the last traces of blood still on his lips.

Merlow's blood.

The world grew darker, as if Merlow's presence was a light that been snuffed out. Maybe he had been. Andy couldn't see anything else. Not the Shadow Spawn. Not Weevil. Not the lich or Hooktail or even the castle.

The only thing in his view was the sight of the wizard - his friend - Merlow - dying. Dying because Andy had asked him to help, dying before Merlow could give him more wisdom, another of those kindly smiles that reminded him so much of his Grandpa. Dying before he could see Arcadia finally free of the evil infesting. Dying before anyone could thank him properly for all he'd done.

And as the darkness claimed even the image of his friend, he could hear something that had only haunted his nightmares. Dark, regal and mocking laughter. The same laughter the Shadow Queen had given him when she'd defeated him in that duel five years ago.

And now, just like then, Andy could feel it in his bones.

He had failed.

OOO