RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Vanguard International [Issue 15] World of Darkness

Justin reared his horse, Gallant, back on its hind legs and brought them down with a deafening crack on the skull of a red archer before him. Another attacked him from the side and he drove his sword into the man's chest.

He noticed Adem duck and roll, disappearing beneath the horse's legs. He reappeared on the other side of the horse, down on his knees, then drove his sword upwards into the stomach of an enemy warrior.

From Adem's left, another red soldier launched an attack. Adem turned to parry it, leaving his right side open to attack from one of the few remaining red soldiers. Justin leaned down and pierced the man's shoulder as Adem handled the other.

While Justin's attention was thus diverted, a red soldier ran at him, sinking his sword into the chest of Justin's mighty horse.

Blood exploded from the wound, and Gallant stumbled to the ground.

Adem parried a sword blow that came from his left, and stepped forward on his right foot.

Justin fell from his perch atop the horse, and scrambled to its side.

Adem delivered a blow to the chest of the man attacking him, whose blade clashed with Adem's own mid-swing.

Justin placed his hand over the wound in his companion's chest, trying with futile effort to stem the bleeding.

Adem pivoted on his left foot and swung his sword in a huge arc, deftly stepping sideways to avoid a counter attack as he did so.

Justin listened hard for the faint breaths of his steed.

Adem drove his sword into the chest of his opponent, sending him collapsing to the ground while Adem withdrew his sword and wiped blood from his face.

Justin cried as his horse died.

"Gallant..." He whispered, mournfully.

Adem placed a comforting hand on Justin's shoulder.

Zarch had propped himself up against the remains of a stone wall, with the aide of Samuel Dawson.

His arms worked as hard as they could, given the massive blood loss from the wound in his leg. He took aim and levelled an arrow at a red soldier who was attacking Danny from behind.

The arrow struck the soldier in the shoulderblade. A satisfying wound, but not a lethal one. Zarch's aim was off.

He watched Danny spin around and clamp a hand around the man's wrist. The man wobbled for a second, then fell to the floor lifelessly. Zarch assumed, from what he knew of Danny's powers, that this was the effect of some sort of poison at work.

A huge shadow suddenly passed over Zarch and Sam, thundering off towards the direction of the battle outside.

"Grimm?" Sam said, startled, as he looked up at his teammate galloping past them upon his undead horse.

Grimm charged towards the battlefield, with one target on his mind.

Godbolt.

Gaovulte appeared in Grimm's field of vision, striding arrogantly through the battlefield. He watched as Godbolt extended a hand and snapped the neck of one of Justin's men, as effortlessly as if he were swatting away a fly.

Grimm suddenly pulled the reigns of his horse, steering the beast to the left to sidestep an oak tree that really shouldn't have been sitting at the entrance of where the castle once stood. He pulled upwards and the horse instinctively jumped, leaping over the corpses of several men who had died on both sides of the conflict.

Grimm's rage took over and he hurled his axe with all his strength towards his target.

Gaovulte suddenly felt something hard strike his back.

He was not used to being struck. At all. Summoning the demon and fighting the giants had left him somewhat drained.

But still, in his opinion, he was powerful enough to combat any and all of the insipid beings on this battlefield.

He turned and found a huge axe lying at his feet, and an undead man on an undead horse galloping towards him. He picked up the axe and hurled it at the horse in an effort to dismount the man, and watched, somewhat impressed, as Grimm turned the horse in mid stride and caught the axe in his outstretched right hand.

Gaovulte raised an arm and whispered to himself.

Grimm seemed unchanged.

Gaovulte was, for the first time in a long time, confused. This being was dead, that much obvious. It was composed of dead flesh, long ago parted with the complications of living tissue.Yet it did not respond to Gaovulte's necromantic command.

Frustrating.

He channeled his will towards the ground beneath his attacker's feet. The dirt and mud trembled, then erupted tumultuously. Grimm's horse stumbled and neighed in frustration, then fell sideways to its right. Grimm rolled off the horse, then jumped to his feet and hurled his axe again.

Gaovulte extended an arm and grabbed its handle as it flew towards him, stopping it mere centimetres from his face.

He raised it threateningly towards Grimm. Then, unexpectedly (a pattern he was beginning to dislike), he found his ears assaulted by a scream that surely could not from from any natural source.

Brianna poured all she could into the scream she directed at Godbolt. She stepped towards Godbolt, keeping her injured wing clamped close to her side and raising her sword towards her enemy. The noise echoed around her, and those nearby could barely cope.

But it was focused towards Godbolt. He was getting, by far, the worst of Brianna's sonic onslaught.

He fell to his knees for a moment, and clamped his hands to his ears in pain.

She screamed at him until her throat was hoarse and her vocal chords close to bursting. Brianna had given him everything she had. And then, she did it again.

Godbolt buckled beneath her attack. But only for a moment.

He stood and scowled, which frightened her. He raised his hand and her sword flew out of her grasp, hitting the ground fifty metres away. He raised another hand and Brianna felt herself being pushed backwards, careening through the air. She slammed into the ground and tumbled for twenty feet straight, rolling over and over until she came to a complete stop.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was Priest's face above hers as he cradled her injured body in his lap.

Grimm retrieved his axe while Godbolt buckled under Brianna's assault. When he stood and threw her aside, Grimm launched it through the air again.

This time, it struck Gaovulte dead-on in the chest. He was thrown backwards and hit the ground., skidding for several metres. He grabbed the axe with both hands and threw it to the side, watching in frustration as it mysteriously returned to Grimm's grasp.

Grimm dove at him and swung the axe with his powerful right arm, slamming the edge into his opponent's shoulder. Godbolt screamed as it managed to break through his flesh and draw a small amount of blood. This was a thing that had not happened in some years.

Grimm raised the axe above his head with both hands, and swung it downwards.

Godbolt rolled out of the way, finding himself pressed up against a newly relocated tree trunk. He wrapped both arms around the trunk, pulled it out of the ground, and swung it at Grimm like a club.

The tree trunk hit Grimm squarely in the side, and he went flying thirty metres down the battlefield, landing skull-first in the mud.

Gaovulte strode confidently towards his victim, before suddenly finding himself tackled from behind by a small, shiny man.

Ozzy drove all his mass into Godbolt's side, sending the necromancer toppling to the ground. Ozzy stood over the man and drove his foot hard into his groin, eliciting a small pained yelp from the sorcerer.

Ozzy dove down on top of his opponent and pummeled the man with hard right and left fists.

Godbolt just looked up at him, annoyed, and threw Ozzy as hard as he could into the sky.

Ozzy took a moment to pause and reflect on how beautiful the nearby mountain ranges looked from an altitude of two hundred and eighty three metres.

A moment later, he found himself face down in the mud about thirty metres away from Godbolt. Ozzy looked up and watched as Grimm drove his axe into Godbolt's chest, before Godbolt screamed in frustration and drove both fists into Grimm's chest. Grimm was thrown backwards and collided with a nearby tree, snapping the trunk clean in two.

The dragon C'Thar watched the scene playing itself out below from her vantage point above the battle.

A quick glance around her showed her that her companions were still having trouble with the few remaining bats. Psidon screamed in pain as a bat's claws tore through his wing, while Argent was trying to shake two of the rodent who were relentlessly tailing him.

C'Thar made the decision to dive for the ground and aide the battle below. She closed her wings and fell, gaining speed as she went.

When she neared the ground, she extended her wings and lowered her claws, grabbing Godbolt by the shoulders as he was fending off an attack from Priest.

Priest drove his fist hard into Godbolt's ribcage, hearing something that sounded like a satisfying snap. He headbutted the sorcerer in the chest, then kneed the man in the groin.

Enraged, Godbolt shot out an arm and grabbed Priest around the throat.

Priest chuckled (with difficulty) as C'Thar lowered her huge claws and grabbed Godbolt's shoulders.

She tore through his flesh and threw him towards a tree, watching with glee as he slammed into the hard wood of the trunk. He collapsed to the ground, then stood, shaking slightly on his feet. C'Thar dove at him and snapped at him with her jaws, while he ducked and drove his fist into the bottom of her head.

Priest ran at him and tackled him around the midsection, pinning him against the tree trunk. He pummeled at Priest's back while C'Thar tore at the flesh of his shoulder with her huge teeth, her adversary being conveniently held in place against the tree.

Godbolt grabbed the back of Priest's head and threw him back to the ground, stepping forward and driving his foot down onto Priest's chest. Priest felt a rib or two snap, but wasn't inclined to be amused by the irony.

Priest looked up at his enemy to see Ozzy grabbing Godbolt by the shoulder and spinning him around, then landing a right hook against the man's face. Godbolt was clearly not amused, and drove his fist into Ozzy's nose.

Ozzy was unfazed by this, but also a little irritated by his inability to cause any damage to Gaovulte. He drove his fists into his opponent's stomach to little effect.

C'Thar craned her neck down again and snapped at Godbolt's shoulder, before whipping her huge tail around and sweeping him off his feet.

Godbolt stood back up and grabbed the huge tail in two hands, yanking backwards and pulling the dragon closer to himself. Ozzy grabbed the man's legs and took him down to the ground, before Godbolt rolled them over and took his position atop Ozzy's chest.

Godbolt roared in anger, then placed a hand down onto Ozzy's chest.

Ozzy laughed off the attack, before he felt his heart being stopped by Gaovulte's very force of will.

Baxter scrambled to get the man off him as his vision started to blur.

Priest stumbled to his feet, and lunged forwards to push Godbolt off Ozzy. Godbolt rolled along the ground and found himself beneath the feet of C'Thar, who dug her claws once more into his increasingly soft flesh.

Priest shook Ozzy roughly, trying to get some response out of him. But it was no use. Ozzy had fallen once more into a comatose state.

Godbolt yelled and threw C'Thar's huge feet off him, stepping sideways and yanking a thick branch from the tree she had recently thrown him into.

C'Thar dove at him again, and was stunned to find Godbolt wielding the tree branch like a spear. He drove it forward into her chest, and a river of purple blood erupted from the wound.

She staggered sideways, and Godbolt drove the branch further.

Priest extended a leg and tripped Godbolt, causing him to lose his grip on the branch. He turned and scowled at Priest, but was satisfied to see that the dragon had fallen to the ground, dead.

Danny sunk his claws into a red soldier's neck, still battling the red soldiers who remained in the ruins of the castle. Blood ran down Danny's arm as he withdrew his claws, then turned around to take stock of the scene around him.

Sam and Zarch were crouched against a wall, while Adem stood directly behind Danny. It seemed that they'd run out of people to kill.

"That was just getting fun..." Danny said. Adem seemed puzzled by the remark.

Danny was suddenly stunned by the sight of Justin sprinting past him, sword raised, letting nothing stop him from reaching the battle outside.

Mason Templar drove Caliburn's huge blade through the tough skull of a thirty foot long crocodile. He'd arrived to find only a few of them left, and one began snapping at Erasmus.

So he killed it.

A second turned and lunged at him. He sidestepped the huge jaws, then thrust Caliburn into the gaping mouth. He pierced the flesh inside, then withdrew his blade. The beast writhed in pain. He jumped onto its leg, using the limb as a step to reach its back. He drove Caliburn down into the spot at the base of its skull, hoping that the blow would finally kill the creature.

It writhed and thrashed beneath him, and he rolled off the beast and drove Caliburn through its soft eye.

It finally seemed to die.

Brakk and Godbolt's demon fought in a newly created ravine, tumbling over each other as gravity pulled them down a mountainside. Each punch caused a minor earthquake, and each time they struck the ground a new crater or crack in the earth was formed.

Brakk drove his fist into the creature's face, and it howled in pain as part of its skull gave way. It returned in kind with a knee to Brakk's huge groin, which enraged the giant further.

They'd crossed many miles, and were still only faintly visible from the original battlefield. Neither of them cared anymore.

Brakk stood and aimed his shoulder at the creature, diving forwards and pushing all his mass into where he guessed its ribs would be. It rolled him over and sat on his chest, striking him in the face with it's huge paw. It lowered its head for the headbutt, echoing the way it had killed Earl.

Brakk grunted and lifted his knees, throwing the creature off him and sending it tumbling over his head and further down the land. A crater appeared below it and become a lake of blood from where the ground had scratched the demon's hide.

Brakk kicked it hard in the side, and it rolled over. He drove his boot into its back. It spun around and grabbed Brakk's leg, flinging him sideways.

The two found themselves at the bottom of the huge hill, and in the ocean.

Brakk grabbed the creature by the shoulders and drove it down into the water, then stepped on its neck. He pushed all his weight downwards, keeping the demon underwater with all the might he possessed.

Grimm flung his axe once more at Godbolt as the sorcer flung Priest into the hard trunk of a huge nearby tree. Priest skull slammed against it, and he lost consciousness.

Grimm's axe sunk into Godbolt's back, and he sunk to his knees. Grimm ran at the man and retrieved his axe, driving once more into Godbolt's skull.

Godbolt was taking longer to react to each blow. He was getting slow. Grimm raised the axe once more and brought it down hard, slamming it into Gaovulte's shoulder. Gaovulte was pushed to the ground, where he squirmed out from under the axe and grabbed Grimm's leg. He pulled the Avatar of Death to the ground, and grabbed him firmly around the neck.

"You... frustrate me," Gaovulte said through gritted teeth.

Grimm broke free of his grasp and stepped back as twenty-one zombies swarmed over Godbolt, attacking him with all the force left in their dead little bodies.

Godbolt screamed. He lashed out with his all waning strength, ripping the head off whatever came near him. He reached down and grabbed a zombie who was gnawing at his leg, tearing off its head as if it were the top of a potato chip bag. Another grabbed at his arm, and he shot a fist through its skull, crushing its head.

He reached behind him and pulled one off his back bringing it down in front of himself and tearing off its head.

He screamed and lashed out to his left, grabbing the head of one zombie and using it as a club to knock the head off another to his right.

Grimm watched, and managed a chuckle as Godbolt fought through the wall of the undead.

Grimm drove the blade of his axe into Godbolt's chest when he broke free, sending him back down to the ground. Godbolt reached up and grabbed the handle of Grimm's axe, trying to tear it free of his grasp.

Grimm yanked it back.

Gaovulte stood.

Grimm swung the axe, hitting the side of Godbolt's head with the flat side of the blade. Godbolt tumbled across the ground, coming to a stop some fifteen metres away from Grimm.

He lifted a finger. "You..."

He was interrupted by the sudden and painful impact of sword piercing his back and protruding through his chest.

"Now, there is justice," Said Sir Justin, as he withdrew his blade from the torse of Gaovulte, who fell to the ground dead.

Justin stood above the body of Gaovulte, and raised his gaze to Grimm.

"Thank you," Justin said. Grimm stared coldly at him in reply.

At the stone arch that marked what was once the entrance of the castle, Adem and Sam helped Zarch to his feet. The made their was slowly out to the battlefield.

The Red Soldiers stopped suddenly. There were about fifty of them left, and all had their attention fixed on the dead body of their former master. They dropped their swords to the ground and offered their surrender to the twenty-four remaining Knights of Sir Justin.

Priest lay unconscious, near the body of Gaovulte. Ozzy lay not too far from him, his body having completely shut down.

C'Thar was dead, near them.

Phil was unconscious, being watched over by Drake, who also had his eye on the conscious but badly injured Brianna.

Earl lay dead on the west side of the battlefield. Blue sat over the young giant's body, howling mournfully at the sky.

Sir Justin's men collected the weapons of the surrendering red soldiers. The battle was over, their opponents had surrendered. There was no honour in killing now.

Mason stood over the bodies of several dead crocodiles, beginning to drag them all into a pile. Erasmus watched him curiously, head cocked.

Danny tended to Priest and Ozzy.

The dragons descended from the sky, the bats all having been disposed of. They gathered themselves around the body of C'Thar, and retrieved their other fallen comrades. Nobody disturbed them.

Justin sheathed his sword, without bothering to wipe the blood off it. It was a futile exercise today, where just about anything and everyone was coloured red.

He walked through the divide that had formed between his men and the disarmed red soldiers.

"We have here materials for building. For construction," Justin said, addressing his men. He pointed at the remains of Gaovulte's castle. "Stone, iron, and wood. In plentiful supply. Our first task is to build," He said.

"Build... what?" One of his men, a teenager by the name of Matthew, asked.

Justin turned and looked at the red soldiers behind him.

"A prison," He said, turning back.

Danny and Sam watched with curiosity as Mason Templar dragged animal carcasses into one huge pile.

Crocodiles, boars and bats... the battleground was littered with them. He didn't touch the humans.

Slowly but surely, he gathered them all together. The pile was beginning to be huge, at least as big as a house. When it became too tall for him to throw things on top of it, he merely extended it outwards.

"What's he doing?" Sam asked.

"Hell if I know," Danny replied.

"It's... weird."

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Should we offer to help?"

"It's much funnier this way."

"Excellent point."

They continued to watch with curiosity until their attention was jolted by the ground shaking beneath them.

Brakk appeared on the horizon.

"Tiny man!" Brakk said, addressing Mason. His voice echoed for several kilometres in all directions.

"Brakk," Mason said back by way of greeting, as the giant lifted him up to head height.

"I believe you owe me a meal," Brakk said, gesturing towards Erasmus with his free hand.

"I implore you, show some mercy to a man's companion," Mason said.

Brakk's immense brow furrowed. "You would deny me my meal? I defeated your demon."

"Yes, you did. Which, I might add, I am very impressed by," Mason said.

Brakk shrugged. It was a gesture that caused a shift in wind direction. "It did not take long. Three hours of holding it underwater by the neck, and it drowned. But still..."

"Take these, instead," Mason said, pointing downwards at his pile of animal carcasses.

Brakk looked down at Mason's offering. The pile was huge, well stocked with meat. "That is quite a feast," Brakk said, considering the offer.

"Very well," Brakk said. "You argue for your bird with the same intensity with which you fight for these people. Your honour is far beyond your miniscule size," Brakk said. The sentence took quite some time to say, but Mason remained relieved throughout it's entirety.

"Thank you," Mason said, and bowed. Brakk lowered him once again to the ground.

Epilogue 1:

Call me Eurostar.

I have been known by other names... Edulcore Cicciotto, the Raptor, the Eternal Champion... but Eurostar is the only one of whom I am fond.

it's the name I was known by in simpler times... when there was the fun and the joy to live.

Now I am tired... tired of the battles, of the endless fights, of blood and cries, of tears and sorrow.

But that doesn't matter... there is another battle to fight, another war to win. ladnikia, the damned sword, whose curse over me seems never to end, gleams in my hand.

The wizard, Ghaleon, has sent me in the Land of the dead, to call back the souls so that they could claim control over Godbolt's zombie.

Problem is, there are no souls around.

In fact, there is nothing.

Just a grey mist.

I hear the flaps of wings.

It's just Nip, my raven, that land over my right shoulder.

"What have you done!" he exclaims. And then the raven hops from my shoulder down over the ground. And there, he begins to change. Growing, morphing. At first I believe he is changing back into the leprechaun, but he keeps growing.

In front of me, shaking his head, stands a being that I have seen so many times in my dreams, the one I call the “dark dwarf”.

“Who are you?” I ask. “I have been given different explanation by many, always different and always stranger. Who are you?”

I expect the being to talk backwards, like he always do. This time not.

“I am just a product of your mind. The part of your mind… wiser… smarter. The one that form the current events is able to foreshadow the events to come. The one that needed to be freed from chains. Instead, you… you that were freed by your friends… you have chosen the chains again!”

He points at Ladnikia.

“You have given credit to an evil warlock, without any though… without asking for advice to your leader, at your friend… The lust for power… the lust for blood has damned you!”

“I… have to free the souls!” I yell, looking around desperate.

“There are no souls here. Not the souls you are looking for, Eurostar. Just one. Yours!”

And with that words, the man changed back into the raven, and fled away.

I start to run, and to scream. Finally I give up, and begin to cry, kneeling over the featureless ground.

And then a laugh began, loud and wicked.

It’s the sword.

It’s Ladnikia.

“Welcome in Hell, Eternal Failure!”

The very same day, on Earth, from the Vanguard Complex, Edulcore Cicciotto’s son disappeared. Nobody did search for him, as the memories of him and Edulcore Cicciotto were completely erased from the minds of everybody.

The giant known as Brakk made a sound that could only have been weeping as he regarded the corpse of Earl, the neighbours' young boy. Throwing the makeshift pack of dead animal carcasses made from his shirt over his shoulder, Brakk knelt down and picked up the boy's body. Silently he rose with it and began to walk north. He would have to tell Earl's parents -- his next-door neighbours -- the bad news.

"Earl..." Brianna cried, uncontrollably weeping over the loss of her newfound friend.

"There, there, lass," Mason Templar said as soothingly as possible as he hugged her. "There are always casualties of war."

"It's my fault," Bree said between racking sobs as she cried into Mason's broad chest. "He was just a young boy, a giant, aye, but so young. I should never have brought him here."

"Don't blame yourself, lass," Mason said tenderly. "The lad helped to end the reign of a tyrant. That's something to be proud of."

***

Epilogue: The Giants

Brakk went north over the continent, which had slowly begun to separate into several smaller continents, to Jotunheim, and he delivered Earl's body back to his parents. He found that he could say very little to them in the end.

To the rest of the giants, however, he urged them to help restore peace to the world. At first none of them were willing to listen until they heard about the young giant Earl's ruthless killing. When they were told of the countless numbers of trolls still rampaging across the world, the giants rallied themselves for the first -- and very possibly last -- time in history to put a stop to them. It took several days, but the trolls were finally subdued. Some of them were destroyed, but most of them, cowards that they were, retreated to the mountains once they realized they had no chance with Lord Godbolt now gone.

The giants soon returned to their home in Jotunheim, but they returned with a determination never to let the dark men take control of so much ever again. While they would generally keep to their own affairs, they would now intervene in order to ensure that another "Lord Godbolt" type never arose again to threaten their way of life.

Glug-Rump never returned from his trip to the South Pole. Some say he wandered into the sea and drowned. Others say that he discovered a new land and decided to stay there. In any case, the "World-Strider" was a thing of the past. No other giant would ever match his size again. Indeed, the stature of the giants would begin to become less and less as the centuries wore on, until they were virtually indistinguishable to men. All this was supposed by some to be a result of the climate change caused by the separation of the continent. Others supposed that it had something to do with Godbolt's destruction, and with that the destruction of all the magicks that he had taken into himself. No one could tell for sure, but the world seemed to have changed after Godbolt's death. Whether it was a change for the good or for the bad, or neither, no one could tell as yet. But things had changed, ever so imperceptibly.

The World of Darkness had passed away with the dark wizard. A new world, not yet named, was being born...

Rebirth

"What're you doing there, lad?" Mason asked as he came over to where Phil was.

Phil sat cross-legged on the ground, staring intently at a sapling poking through the ground. "They're gone, but they're not forgotten."

"What's that?" Templar wondered aloud.

"My trees," Phil replied. "Seven hundred and forty-three of them. Either flattened by Godbolt's giants, burned by his zombies and Archers, or hacked down by his trolls." He looked around, indicating the fallen trunks around the two Vanguardians. Many were charred and blackened, and many more bore axe wounds that were still fresh and oozing sap. "They won't be coming back, I don't believe." He smiled as he gestured to the sapling. "But it's not the end of the story. Nature is amazingly resilient, after all."

The swordsman shook his head. "I only hope you don't stay like this when we get back to the real world, lad."

Phil stood up slowly. "Not gonna happen," he said as he turned around.

"You can see again," Templar observed.

The telepath nodded. "My abilities seem to have returned to normal." He looked down. "Which is sort of unfortunate."

Mason raised an eyebrow. "Why might that be?"

Phil shook his head. "I can't hear them anymore. All the voices out there." He indicated the sapling on the ground in front of him. "Before, I could help this little guy grow right up in a hurry. And now... nothing." He sat down on a nearby rock. "Before, when I couldn't see or move, I had no choice but to learn to think, to use my mind, rather than just charge in, guns blazing. Now what's to stop me from going back to the way I used to do things?"

"You are, of course," Ghaelon said as he materialized from behind a nearby oak, one of the few still standing in this little clearing. "They have left you because the task for which they needed you is complete. But that does not mean your journey is complete."

Templar shook his head. "Too many loony mystics around here for my taste." He turned to leave - and was tripped up by a nearby tree root. "Mmmmphhh!" He tumbled headfirst to the ground. "The hell?" he murmured as he got up slowly, dusting himself off.

"That was for insulting the 'tree suit'," Ghaelon explained with a stern expression.

Templar looked bewildered. "What? I never-"

"No, but your writer did," the sorcerer replied.

"My what?"

There was a long, awkward pause.

"Can we just forget what just happened?" Phil asked.

"Why?" Mason asked. "What happened?"

"Thank you," Phil said, turning to Ghaelon, who nodded.

"As I was saying," Ghaelon continued as a very confused Mason walked off, "your time here can still be very helpful to you when you return home. It does not matter what abilities you have gained or lost, so long as you remember what you have learned here. You must be patient, and you must learn to listen to everything around you. You must become one with your surroundings, and learn to use what is already there to your advantage." He looked at the telepath. "Do you understand?"

"I think so," Phil admitted.

Ghaelon smiled. "Excellent." He turned. "You will not see me again. Farewell, master Smith."

Phil held up a hand. "But what about-"

Ghaelon was gone.

Phil shook his head. He still had so much to learn. He turned to where the sapling was and noticed it had grown at least three inches.

He smiled.

He'd get there someday.

Psidon walked over to Drake. "How are you feeling, Dragonmaster Drake?"

Drake looked up at the enormous blue dragon, "Ready to click my heels and get back to Kansas."

"I don't think I understand." The confusion in Psidon's voice seemed so familiar to Drake that it almost hurt to hear it.

"I don't think you do either." There was a short pause as Drake searched for the right words. "Hey, thanks. I don't think the others would have listened to me if it wasn't for you and Argent."

Psidon gave the dragon version of a smile, a rather menacing thing that required revealing many sharp teeth, "It was an honor to serve a Dragonmaster once more."

Drake was tired, he couldn't hold it back anymore, "Look, I should tell you; I'm not really a Dragonmaster. It was an accident really. I just made a desperate move to stop a madman."

"Even if you didn't deserve that mark in your own world, you earned it here. You called the dragons into action when they were needed."

"Well, good luck finding a new Dragonmaster, I'm takin' the next portkey out of here. Do you know what'll happen when I get back?"

"The link to Drax will remain broken. I'm not sure if that's for good or for ill. The link was always flawed. It shows great force of will on your part that it lasted as long as it did. He isn't gone though. Not for good."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a dragon." Psidon answered, as if this said everything. "There is one thing more."

"What's that?"

"Drax always needed you, more than you ever needed him. He's still young, He hasn't even lost his fur yet."

"Oh, so that's the reason why he looks so different."

"It's not so much a reason as a cop out."

"I don't think I understand."

"I don't think you do either."

"So, you were saying?"

"Oh, yes. He'll need you one more time, and then you'll both be free for the rest of your lives."

"Well, that's good." Drake waited for an answer. "Right?"

"It won't be easy."

"It never is." Strangely, Drake smiled as he said this. "Well, you'd better get back to the dragons and I'd better get back to my team. We need to find a way home."

"Farewell, Dragonmaster."

Grimm surveyed the battlefield. He looked at his teammates, some were recovering from injuries, others trying to aid the natives in various duties. All were covered in blood. Blood and the dead littered the area for miles. Like a scrapyard for bodies. He knew it would only take one mental command, and they rise up, starting it all again. . .

With great force of will, he slammed his axe into the ground, handle first. "I won't. . ."

"You feel the call. Even now it stirs around you, yearning for someone to start the cycle anew. . .Godbolt yearns to rise again." Viluria's voice was a whisper in his ears.

"Ex-wife. You have much to atone for." The mage, Ghaleon, appeared from nowhere, crafting arcane gestures with his hands as mystic symbols appeared in the air, spelling out Viluria's punishment. The woman, taken by surprise, was overcome by his spells, imprisoned within a small, violet emerald. "I think I shall hold onto you a while, this time." Ghaleon smiled, pocketing the emerald.

Ghaleon gathered the Vanguardians around him. "My friends, your work here is done. It is time for you to depart."

"How can we get home? We didn't see a return spell." Danny asked, wiping blood from his face with a strip torn from his shirt.

"I have it covered." The Vanguardians turned as one as Grimm pulled off the gauntlet from his left arm. There was a small gash of about five inches on his forearm. He pulled off his right gauntlet and began to peel back the skin, opening the wound. Digging into his own arm, he fished out a small, circular mirror.

"I'd say that's disgusting, but after this mission, it's kind of irrelevant." Phil smirked.

"Alice. Can you hear me?" After a few moments, the reply came.

"Always, Brother Grimm. Your absence was noted. Do you require assistance?"

Looking around at the carnage Grimm took a moment to reply. "No, just send someone to pick us up."

Ten minutes later, the familiar blueish-white portals of Nida Zbinden, avatar of space, appeared.

*********************

Later, after farewells were made. . .

The Vanguardians entered the portal one by one, Danny the last. He turned and looked back at Sam Dawson. "You coming?"

"Sam! Wait for me!" Megan came rushing over the hillside and jumped into Sam's arms, knocking him to the grond. He looked up at Danny with a smile. "I am now."

*****************

The halls of the temple of Haven.

The Vanguardians walked through the massive stone hallways of Haven's main temple, the toll of nonstop fighting and the rigors of the otherdimensional darkworld taking it's effect. Adrenaline wore off as Vanguardians slumped down against the walls and sat on the floors.

"You lot look like 'ell." Nida Zbinden muttered at the ragged, dirty, bloodstained crew. The Vanguardians were quiet. The bloodshed, the wars, they reflected on their actions, trying not to think too much on them, but failing.

"Can we. . .can we just get cleaned up and rest a bit?" Danny asked, looking over at Z. "Sure. I'll. . .I'll get Turk." Nida walked off, looking with apprehension back over her shoulder at Hearn, as if noticing something unsettling in his face.

"I'm not going back home with you, Danny." Grimm said, off to his right. "I can't. Not after. . .all that."

Hearn said nothing.

"I need time to get my head straight. This is. . .too much. I have to deal with things. I'm staying here."

Hearn still said nothing.

"We're agreed then." Grimm looked down at the axe in his hands and read the inscription. He wondered if he would ever know the full meaning of the words written on it's base, and if he ever wanted to.