Art by RandomPerson3457.
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Third person point of view-

The land was dry and barren of life. The dirt had hardened, leaving some stops to become as thick as stone. The sky was filled with clouds that flashed with bolts of bright lightning, the thick gray covering the vast sky above that was not blue, but a grayish yellow. It was warm and the water in patches of drying up pounds was undrinkable, as it was green and so contaminated that it was like drinking poison. The only things there were other than that were dead shrubs, the dead tree trunks, the occasional destroyed house, and a destroyed city to the southern west just beyond imperial territory. And statues of Drake, much like when there were ones of Armen when he was possessed.
This was Herobrine's doing. He had turned this once beautiful place into a wasteland.
Grayson looked up as he rode upon his stallion with pure white fur and a long mane that fell to the right of its head and neck. It was covered in bright silver armor, standing tall with the saddle on it's back. It's hooves scratched at the dried dirt as it ran, occasionally lifting up grains of dry sand and stomping on the dead shrubs. He bounced as it ran across the desert like land, his armor clanging and his dark green cape flapping behind him.
The sun was already beginning to set after their long journey across the wasteland, the orange golden glow barely visible in the distance as the clouds slowly inched over the light until it was completely covered, leaving the land shrouded in faint darkness. The land was once lush, vast with springs that spouted from the hills, the ground covered in dark green grass and shrubs. It was filled with Sacred oak trees planted centuries ago that stood tall in their places as they breached from the fine soil within the ground. The sky was once a beautiful deep blue, but now it turned into a mixture of a sickening yellow and grey. All plant life died out, some leaving behind dead trunks, and the springs had dried up, leaving only the occasion pool of toxic water.
A land once sacred and treasured, reduced to a valley of death and despair.

"So after Drake died... and you came back," Grayson had to yell in order to be heard with the wind rushing into their ears. "The power of your soul went into one of the diamonds and replaced Drake's while the power of his soul is now trapped in his body that's being used as a vessel?"

The new emperor's skin underneath his armor and clothing was covered in sweat and goosebumps, not just because of the burning heat followed by a sudden drastic drop in temperature, but because he was anxious for this moment to finally arrive. They were finally going to kill Herobrine after all these painful years. They were finally going to end the bloodshed and madness and ease their heavy minds and hearts. That was, if they were able to pull this off. Even then, what about Drake? Well, as long as they killed that monster, then it would be better for their fallen comrade rather he came back to them or remained dead. They would save him from the suffering.

Armen gave a nod but remained staring at the ground ahead. "Yeah, basically. Now, if we can do this right, activate the portal, summon Herobrine, trap him and perform the spell correctly with the diamonds, we can free Drake."

"Why is the portal so important? We can just let him fade away and no longer exist in this realm!"

Armen shook his head. "No! If we open the portal, we could get him to go back to the Nether. If we don't, he could stay and possibly easily repossess Drake's body. We have to do this right."

Grayson thought and said them aloud. "But we only have two diamonds! Do we not need a third one since it was destroyed?"

Armen explained in further detail. "Well, like I said before, we are technically the three diamonds. You, Drake, and I. This is going to be very dangerous and has a high risk of getting us killed, but we can use a spell to trap Herobrine, we could probably make physical contact and find a way to reach out to Drake's soul. We'll recite the spell in that book and exorcise Herobrine out of the vessel."

"Right. I got it now. But first we have to activate that portal."

Armen looked at him and nodded before turning back to look ahead. They just had to figure out how to activate it... Grayson looked up at Dracey as he flew a head, beginning to slow down as he grew tired. He had been flying for a few hours but now he was too big to rest on Grayson's shoulders or on the horse. He made occasional noises, trying to stay up in the air for as long as he could despite exhaustion.
The scent of dust that made it difficult to breathe mixed with the pleasant aroma of rain, though it had not rained here for over a year. The thunder rattled the dark sky and the lightning continued to strike fiercely on the land ahead of the charging imperial fleet. The thunder echoed, seeming to get louder the closer they got to their destination, leaving an eerie feeling that something was amiss. It was difficult to hear anything as the loud thunder eventually caused their ears to ring. The lightning flashed and lit up the area up head, the multitude of flashes nearly giving the men photokeratitis, or snow blindness as it could also be called.
The air was cooling down, lowering to the point where the soldiers were nearly shivering on their mounted steeds. They all knew that even with the clouds blocking the heating rays of light from the sun and the strong wind howling around them, the sudden drop of temperature was not right, especially for a place as scorching as the wastelands. It was not natural. It was like a warning, telling them to turn back before it was too late, but turning back was not an option.
After a long journey away from the imperial boundaries and up into previously untouched sacred land, they began to see something peek out from the distance, rising like a new morning sunrise as something breached from over the dried land. There were vast mountains, all desolate of moist soil and plant life, no longer harboring flowing crystal clear waterfalls. It was all dried up like a suffering desert.
Within the mountainside was the ancient temple of Armageddon with lightning striking relentlessly around it. It resembled other elven structures, hence why it was often rumored to have been made by ancient elves who worshipped the creator Notch.
Steps lead up to a tall platform made of stone with detailed columns wrapping around it. It was made mainly of stone, grey bricks, and cobblestone. On the large and wide platform were pillars with the sixteen by eight feet wide obsidian base in the center with a stone arch around it. Beside the base of the portal was a fire pit on each side embedded into the stone, both lit with bright magic purple flames with light smoke rising from the fire.
Grayson let out a faint gasp as everything came into view. They were too late. Hundreds of men along with their horses were gathered around the sacred temple, each prepared for another battle with the imperial fleet. Men mounted their horses, they prepared their weapons and magic and readied their cannons as they saw the opposing army charging towards them. The cult of Herobrine.
Strikes of lightning continued to rain down, making the ground shudder with each bolt that touched down onto the earth. The mountains were collapsing, the strikes breaking apart the foundation and causing the place to crumble. Stone blasted away from the mountain and fell to the ground in pieces, the lightning strikes slowly inching closer to the portal, some bolts even successfully hitting the obsidian base but failed to break it.
Herobrine looked at the deactivated obsidian doorway to the Nether, the dreadful realm that he ruled; the literal h**l that he was banished to. His hands were behind his back, his left eye occasionally twitching as he kept the rest of his body from doing so. The obsidian was covering in markings; ancient runes written in the language of the gods.
His ears perked up as he heard the distant sound of the approaching imperial army. So they figured it out. They were coming to finally put an end to his over a millennium long reign. A crooked grin distorted his expression, the barely visible silver within the white of his glowing eyes constricting with joy and anticipation. This was it. The finale he had been waiting for. A deep chuckle rose from his throat, looking down at his hand as it sparked with white light. They may have had the diamonds and figured out a way to banish him, but the devil still had his tricks.

"Well Drake, it looks like those stubborn friends of yours are on their way. Aren't you excited?"

The separate, broken spirit inside of his head gave no reply. Herobrine straightened his back and lifted his shoulders as he chuckled. He spun around, his glowing eyes glaring at Grayson's army that approached his own armed followers. He drew his sword from the sheath strapped to his side, the white glow from his eyes and the lightning gleaming against the blood stained diamond blade. He pointed his sword outward, a telepathic screech erupting from his being that commanded his men to attack.
Everyone began to charge, a wave of screams and battle cries bursting out. The new king narrowed his eyes as he drew his sword, listening to the screams of the charging enemy. He lifted his blade up high into the air, sucking in a deep breath of dusty air that scratched at his throat yet relaxed him as oxygen went to his brain. But still his heart raced, the rhythm already loud and pounding within his eardrums. The lightning continued to blind many of them for moments at a time, but Grayson remained staring straight ahead, eyes locked onto the portal but he could not see the demon standing there waiting for the armies to clash.
Grayson gently pulled on the reigns of his steed, slowing down his horse to let the rightful frontline take its place. Usually he and his generals had to stay back and stay visible to the soldiers to inspire them and rally them up when men felt like retreating, but now he could not just stay back and watch. This was the most important battle of their lives. He quickly glanced at Armen who had his wing guard sword in his tight grasp, ready to shed blood. He looked back ahead at the army of cultists, knowing that he could not afford to just watch. He needed to fight. He needed to reach that portal and end the merciless demon once and for all.
He gasped when lightning suddenly began to crash down around them. He saw some of his men get struck, the ground being destroyed in bright white light and burning flames. Many of his men were quick to fall, some simply falling to the ground from barely avoiding the lightning strike while others were not as lucky. Armen snarled and gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the chaos that Herobrine was already bringing about upon them. He needed to keep his focus solely on survival and reaching that portal.
As both armies closed the distance between each other, the ground itself began to quake and break apart, splitting to reveal a fiery pit below. Then massive creatures began to ascend, bursting up from the ground. No one on the side of the imperial military could keep themselves from gasping and becoming awestruck. Never had any of the normal humans laid eyes upon such magnificent yet frightening beasts.
They looked like emaciated creatures, pitch black, skeletal monsters with two extra skeleton heads that breached from it's wide shoulders with the dominant head in the middle. The bodies of the monsters consisted of skeletal spines and rib-cages that looked like they could be prehensile and grab you in it's hold. White light poured out of the eye sockets and maws of each skull, a blue glow in it's chest cavity.

"What...a-are those things?" Xavier's voice trembled as he stared at the monsters but remained moving, not taking the time to stop and take the monsters and chaos in.

Armen remembered these things; brief images from when he was possessed. He remembered Herobrine summoning a few of them straight up from h**l itself, watching them destroy everything in their path. Sweat dripped from his shaking lips, falling onto his tongue and leaving behind a taste of salt as he spoke.

"Withers..."

The monsters attacked the men, the blue light emitting from their skeletal chests rising up and firing out from the glowing white in their open jaws, spewing out from behind their sharp teeth. The blasts struck the ground and troops alike, sending pieces of the ground and bodies flying in a burst of blue flames that left the ground smoldering with blue light once the flames died out. Those who could not ignore the threat attempted to kill the monsters with arrows and magic, which seemed to be working well but the creatures were slick and fast in their movements, making it incredibly difficult and all the more dangerous and fatal.

Grayson snarled, turning his head and ignoring the monsters. "Proceed ahead! Continue to advance!" He commanded, not wanting everyone to lose their focus on the main enemy even if it cost them their own lives.

While some stayed to fight the wicked undead monsters, others did as they were ordered to, the few that trusted Grayson's every word.
The swords struck the shields of each side of the battlefield, weapons from both opposing armies striking one another as the first wave of opposing troops smashed into the front lines. Blood was immediately shed from both imperial soldiers and soldiers from the cult of Herobrine. Grayson held up his shield as arrows flew through the air, plummeting down onto the imperial army. Armen summoned a magic shield while others scampered to avoid getting hit. They heard the arrows clash against their small defenses, hearing screaming from all around as men fell to their deaths from taking violent attacks.
They lowered their shields down, immediately getting ready to attack. Both fleets seemed to melt into each other on the battlefield, each man disappearing in a sea of calamity. Imperial soldiers retaliated, firing shot after shot of poisoned arrows and waves of fatal magic. They had lost horses in the midst of the turmoil, many just desperately trying to obtain another horse as they fought without thinking of much else other than their goals to make it out alive.
Tyler drew his bow and readied a red-feathered arrow on the string and pulled back, firing it into the ocean of fighting men. He could not watch it and see if it hit an ally or foe, if it had hit a target at all. He drew his sword, slashing and hacking at enemies left as right as his mare ran past allies and cultists alike who all screamed and wailed in boiling anger or cries of sever pain. Some calling out simple battle cries or in satisfaction of shedding blood.
The noises coming from all around was deafening. The clashing of steel and iron against steel and iron, the migraine inducing sounds from the explosions blasting around them from both those beasts and manually fired cannons. He could heard bones breaking and flesh ripping as men cried. He shivered at the mayhem and distressful genocide that occurred all around his being, praying that he was not the next to be defeated and sent to the afterlife. At least he was fighting for a good cause... he was, wasn't he?
He snatched up arrows from bodies when he had the chance to, which was few. He shot again and again, the flesh on his fingers blistering and ripping open, leaving behind his blood on the quills of each arrow his sore hands released. His fingers, the parts that were not covered by his leather, nearly fingerless gloves, were red and raw and flaring with pain, but he was strong enough not to weep. He had been through too much war to breakdown for something so small. He just hoped that this was not a waste of lives, that by the end of this, these brave men who fought valiantly on their side would not have died in vain.
...

Armen's point of view-

For the first time in so long, my fingers were bleeding, blood on the hilt of my sword from holding it so tightly. My arms trembled, blisters on my skin and blood visible despite that I was wearing black gloves. My hands were so sore but a part of me truly relished the fact. It remained me that I was still alive, for the most part. That I was not a corrupt spirit slaughtering in cold blood.
I swung my blade left and right, the metal clashing into armor and other blades like my own. It was grueling. With each attack I made, the opposing side made another upon me. Even with my armor that was now covered in scratches, the blades of my opponents almost always seemed to find a weak spot and hit there. Despite the pain, adrenaline coursed through my veins, rushing through my bloodstream as fear clenched my heart. I can not die here. I can not die until Drake is free!
The bodies of horses, and cavalry, and infantry, and archers, and magi, and necromancers covered the battlefield like flowers in a meadow, only with a lot more blood and the sweet fragrance replaced with the stench of sweat, blood, dust, and metal. My mouth was so dry with a distasteful metallic taste against my tongue. My sweat rolled down my face, dripping from my nose, lips, and eyelashes. I panted as my brain felt as if it were on fire. So much was going on at once that I could barely get a grasp on anything occurring around me. I felt like I was going deft and my eyes burned from so many flashes of light from lightning, cannon fire, and wither attacks. The odds are stacked against us. Activating that portal is the only hope for all of us.
Bodies were stacking up vast and high above one another, swords and shields accompanying them. Hooves pounded against the ground and chain mail rattled with the clanging of metal. The mixture of sound and everything that I had to take in at once was overwhelming.
I could feel the stress building up inside of me, the turmoil making my brain feel like mush and burning at the same time. My injuries were sore and stung, and this irrational guilt began to fill my thoughts. How many of these people could I have saved? How many of these martyrs would still be alive if I had just paid attention to them and helped, or if I could use my Nightmare abilities without killing myself? I felt so overwhelmed that I suddenly froze up in the middle of battle.
Then I stared to feel enraged and hyper vigilant, as well guilty as flashbacks kicked in. As I moved and rammed my blade into another person's body, I saw images of when Herobrine was controlling my body, seeing myself stabbing innocent people, grabbing their necks and draining their life forces, burning people alive. I started to feel sick to my stomach, hyperventilating until a sudden spike of pain in my nerves brought me back to the present.
A long, deep gash made it's way into my side, making me bite my lip to hold back a cry. I spun around and extended my arm, firing out a blast of cyan and black colored magic. My Nightmare half was even affecting the color of my magic. It struck the attacker, then I swiftly spun around and took out another with my sword. My heart was beating quickly, but not racing. My breath was staggering but not too fast. I had forgotten what it was like to have it all be normal, being partially dead for so long messing up my mind.

Stay calm, Armen. Stay calm. I kept saying over and over again in my mind.

I lunged forward and slashed into the neck of another attacker, feeling my blade slice through his flesh, my rage being satisfied by his spraying blood. My eyes began darting around, looking out for Herobrine and waiting for him to step in and attack us himself.
I continued on, fighting my way through mislead warriors. It was easy to tell that there was a lot fewer soldiers fighting than there was when our two sides began to physically clash. Less people remained standing and more covered the ground in vast puddles of blood that reflected the bright light of blasting lightning filling the dark sky and let off a vile aroma mixing with the putrid stink of gore.
I jumped to the side when a sudden blast of blue energy struck the ground beside me, blowing up a large chunk of the hard ground and leaving behind a crater that were smoldering with blue flames that lifted into dark blue embers. I snarled, baring my teeth as I looked up to the monstrous Wither floating up above. My arm shot up, aiming a it as light coursed down my arm and engulfed my hand. I released the blast of magic, the blast striking it clean between the eyes. As it let out a loud, unholy screech, I spun around and ran, slaughtering cultists as swiftly as I could, receiving a few injuries along the way.
It was difficult to push through, feeling as I was pushed against soldiers, my back pressing against others and men constantly blocking my path. I was constantly dodging and swinging my weapon until my shoulder popped, but even then I had no choice but to continue fighting.
There was suddenly a gap, a place where no men trampled and bodies circled. I looked up to see three men standing there, a dark aura around each of them and each baring a sense of possessing mana. There wore the cultists war attire, allowing me to assume what they were. Necromancers. A much darker form of a Mage, ones who prefer to dabble in the arts of black magic and forbidden spells.
The man in the center had slicked back black hair with grey sprouting from the roots, and his facial features on his dark skin allowed me to conclude that he was old in age and therefore skilled at magic since it would only be likely that he had studied it for most of his life. The other two appeared younger but their auras of magical presence were strong. They all began to chant, drawing my attention to the ground as I saw movement. The blood from dead bodies was shifting, morphing into a pentagram like shape on the dried up sand. Blood magic. A form of black magic. I gasped as I realized what they were creating, instantly knowing that I had to stop them as I remembered the image from moments before I brought back and just before Drake's death.

"Stop!" I screamed as I extended both arms and prepared a spell, but I was too late.

The blood glowed in white light, then the gateway was opened, allowing hundreds of Nightmares to pour out from the depths of the unknown. I had to shield my eyes from the blinding glow, finally getting myself to look to witness hundreds of black masses rush up into the air. All I was able to hear was inhumane screaming and screeching until it was almost like I had become deaf, only hearing the loud, irritating ringing in my ears. Nightmares, cultists, Withers, Herobrine... we are supposed to be opening the gate to h**l, but in a way it already feels like we have.
...

Grayson's point of view-

Minutes past that felt like hours, blood spraying and spilling left and right. I was already tired, my body sore and armor weighing me down. My body was wet with sweat and crimson blood from my enemies and from my own stinging, bleeding injuries. My heart was racing and my limbs ached, yet I felt calmness setting in, a sweet bliss hidden in the midst of battle. My nerves faded, lifting up my shield to let the point of a javelin rush forward and brake and flip upon impact, spinning over my head before falling.
I had already been separated from Armen, and Xavier, but I could see Tyler with his silver hair underneath his brimmed hat and ghostly pale skin not too far away. I looked to the portal, only getting a brief glimpse of it before my attention was brought back to the war. We were so close yet so painfully far. My horse galloped past waves of fighting soldiers, myself taking out any cultist that I had the opportunity to slay.
The pupils in my emerald green eyes have to of constricted as my brows raised high in sudden panic. A ball of red and orange magic energy came barreling towards me in my fast stride. I forcefully tugged at the reins, trying to get my horse to turn in order for the both of us to avoid getting struck, but the horse instead became spooked and thrashed and kicked around wildly. The blast then struck me in the chest, pushing in the metal of my chest plate and making a large dent that pushed and dug into my chest and made it difficult to breathe. The energy surrounded my body in heat, filling me with pain and burning sensations on my face and arms.
I was hurled back, detaching from the saddle and collapsing to the dried up dirt ground that felt like stone beneath my body. My crown somehow remained tight on my head, staying in place as it pushed down my soft yet greasy blonde hair. Yet my head smashed into the ground with force, making my ears ring, vision darken, and skull feel like it was shaking as it was struck with a wave of pain.
The wind was momentarily knocked out of my aching lungs, causing me to gasp before oxygen finally returned to my airways. My form was nearly crushed by the hooves of my own steed, smelling the stench of the animal's sweat and my own blood that now seeped from my left nostril. My eyes snapped open again, trying to recover as quick as time would allow before the circling enemies were upon me in my vulnerability.
As the ringing in my ears became less intense, I could hear the screams and cursing and metal clanging against wood and metal and crunching of bone. I saw the feet of enemies dashing towards me as I laid on the ground, hearing feet against the dried up ground and the whooshing of arrows with the sparking of magic.
I got back up to my feet, swaying on my legs for a moment. The echoes of clashing blades, screaming, and explosions were muffled through the ringing in my ears, sounding distant. The pressure in my head slowly faded as my vision and hearing cleared, allowing me to immediately swing my sword at an enemy just before he could strike me. I swirled around on the balls of my feet to take on another attacker, my legs shaking underneath me from the explosions going off all around.
I held up my shield strapped to my arm, letting my first attacker smash his blade against the emerald and gold. The impact sent a burst of pain down my arm, but it quickly disappeared as I lunged my blade and stabbed into the cultist's left side, feeling the tip of the blade ripped into his flesh and sliced into his bones. As I pulled back, he fell limp and lifeless to my feet.
I stepped over the body with haste and quickly attacked the next man trying to lunge his sword into my flesh. I stabbed over the top of his black and red shield, my blade piercing into his throat and digging it deep until it breached out from the opposite side. His face went pale as his blood gushed out with his eyes wide. As I pulled it out, his blood sprayed out as a warm mist of red. He choked and gurgled on his own fluid and reached up to grab his neck, eyes rolling into the back of his head and collapsing before he could do so.
Immediately after, I found myself in another one on one brawl. The vibrations and pain ran up my arm as a mace slammed into my shield, small orange sparks momentarily flaring around. I punctured my blade into his abdomen through the slim opening were his chestplate ended. It felt it rip his muscles, twisting the blade and sawing through his insides. He screamed as his blade ran down my blade, then I kicked his legs and ripped my sword away, allowing him to collapse and bleed out on the bloody ground.
Purple fire burst in front of me as I prepared myself and lifted up my sword to take on another enemy. My eyes looked up, seeing Dracey dodge arrows and magic orbs that flew through the sky. At least he was still alive. He came down and fired waves of magic energy at the enemies that surrounded us, resting his wings that were sure to be aching.

"Grayson!" A voice called out from the chaos and roaring of the battling crowd. I was only able to hear it since it was so close, but I had a feeling that I missed his call a few times before I finally heard it.

I spun around on my feet, killing another person before I saw Xavier riding up fast in front of me. His body was covered in blood and gashes with small splatters of red covering his face, and since he still wore the cultists armor, I assumed that he was being attacked by both sides of this fight. I honestly can not understand how he has remained alive for so long, but I do have a habit of underestimating and being over protective of my close comrades. He and Armen are very skilled, and I tend to forget that at times.
He reached out to me, waiting for me to take his hand that was sure to be blistered beneath his gloves. My horse laid dead on the ground, so riding with him would be one of the better options of getting to that portal frame sooner than later with a decreased risk of dying before I got there. I took his hand and he helped pulled me up, my feet scraping against the leather of his saddle until I got over and sat behind him.

"Get as close to the portal as you can! Go!" I ordered, and he complied.

He ushered his mare to run, directing us north to the temple. Dracey once again took off into the sky, roaring as he followed close behind and took out foes with his breath of fire. I watched the lightning continued to flicker within the sky and crash down onto the mountain. I felt like my ears were bleeding from all of the noise that they were taking in at once. I looked around, feeling this tugging feeling at my chest that even with the chaos and death that surrounded us, something was wrong.
I then heard the familiar animalistic screaming that drove past the otherwise deafness of my ears and made me get a headache and even caused my eyes to well up with tears of pain. Black masses of speeding streaks of smoke flew through the sky, and as they stopped to attack my troops, I recognized the beings as being none other than corrupted spirits; the Nightmares.
Xavier slashed into enemies as we past by, occasionally nearly hitting our own men but it was difficult not to. There was noticeably beginning to be fewer living people and horses and more corpses scattered across the ground like a sea of bodies and blood. They stacked upon one another on the ground, making hills and hills of deceased bodies. I had lead good people to their deaths who were ready to die... May their deaths not be in vain.
As a path began to clear for us to get to the temple, a black transparent figure suddenly appeared and blocked our way when we were so close. It was difficult to see with the repetitive flashes of white, bright lightning before us that made my vision blur and occasionally see after images that made my headache worse and difficult to focus. Though we were able to see the temple and mountains despite the bolts of lightning striking almost directly behind it. It was a Nightmare, but it's form began to morph into a more humanoid figure.
It's body curved, resembling the structure of a female. Her long chestnut hair was a mess but matted down as if she was soaking wet. Her colors began to become more clear as the black aura continued to surround her slender being. Her skin was ghostly pale and green dress tightly fit around her body but flowing at her ankles, a golden ring glimmering on her finger. Black slime oozed from her eyes, nose, and mouth as she stared us down with blank white eyes. Blood covered her abdomen as if she had been stabbed and bled to death.

"S-Sylvia?" Xavier gasped.

In his sudden moment of distraction, he accidentally put too much pressure against the reigns and brought distress to his steed. In the horses stride, it's hooves stomped on bodies until it tripped on the corpse of one of it's own kind. The horse fell forward, launching the both of us off of its back and causing us to fall onto the blood soaked ground, rolling over corpses of both enemies and allies. We were both screaming when the horse flipped over, rolling on top of Xavier's entire body and crushing my legs. I screamed out in pain until it got up and ran off into the crowd of soldiers, it's hooves kicking my legs and digging deep into them.
Once my tumbling finally stopped, I laid there gasping for breath. I opened my eyes, my vision slowly clearing up to see a Nightmare form floating above where the mauled Sylvia once stood. Instead of attacking me, it turned back into a thick black fog and flew elsewhere. I coughed as pushed myself to my knees, groaning in pain as my legs still felt as if they were being crushed. At least they miraculously were not broken.
I looked up when I saw feet charging towards me, seeing a cultist charge with his blade soaked in blood raised above his head. I quickly put up my shield, gritting my teeth together as the blade smashed into the gold and emerald, sending pain and a rattling sensation down my arm. I screamed as I drove my sword into his leg, hearing him scream as I twisted, snapping his bones and ripping his tendons and muscles, watching his blood spray out. He collapsed as I pulled the blade out, holding it straight back up to drive the tip into the bottom of his chin and watching the tip pierce through his bottom jaw and lodge itself into his top jaw. As I thrusted and pushed it further in, I felt it crack his skull and ultimately drive into his brain. Once he stopped choking and fell limp, I pulled out my sword at let the body drop.

"Xavier!" My voice called out to my friend.

I spun around on my heels and bolted over to Xavier as he picked himself up, coughing up small specks of red. He gasped and regained his breath, breathing heavily as his body now shook with pain. Dracey was protecting us as he took down cultists and held Nightmares at bay with his magic that had developed quite well, making him very powerful. Xavier nearly collapsed again until I grabbed his shoulder and held him up on his knees once again. Blood ran down from his lip and bruised forehead, bringing back memories from a year ago. He looked up to me, eyes filled with pain as he took his chakram and exchanged his iconic somewhat unsettling smile with his sharp white teeth covered with tiny splotches of crimson.
His trembling free hand moved down, going into his satchel and pulling out one of the sacred diamonds. He gave out a little chuckle as he pulled out the second and handed it to me. I stared down at the two gems that I held in my hand, watching the bright white glowing of our souls illuminate within the center of the diamonds.
He spoke, but with all of the sounds and the ringing in my ears, I could not hear a single word coming out of his mouth. All I could tell was that he was gasping and stuttering, but I was able to read his lips as best I could.

"I-I'm fine. Just go! I will be alright!"

I was reluctant to leave my friend, but I knew that he could hold his own, even when injured. I nodded and got up to my feet, running as I held the diamonds against my chest. With my hands full, all I could do was dodge attacks that were raining down on me as I swiftly dashed to the temple that appeared desolate for the most part. Dracey followed close behind, his wings getting tired and now running beside me. My body ached at my joints and wounds as I moved, sweat dripping into my eyes and blurring my sight. I was able to push through, stumbling on corpses but maintained my stride.
I ran up to the temple, leaving a trail of blood from my wounds on the already blood soaked path behind me. I was shaking so much that the diamonds nearly slipped from my clammy palms but my nearly blistered fingers remained tight on the two sacred minerals. I stopped at the many steps, looking up at the structure as lightning continued to strike the mountain and the temple itself, beginning to obliterate this holy building. We did not have much time, and I could not go up there by myself, not without Armen.
I quickly slipped the diamonds into a large pouch, sort of like a satchel by my side where I also kept the book. I need to give it to Armen since he will probably be able to recite that spell better than I will be able to. Besides, Herobrine could be up there, and I do not stand a chance going up against that monster alone.

Then as if on cue, I heard a light voice screaming out my name, my ears barely able to pick it up. "Grayson! Hold on!"

I turned my head, only seeing fighting soldiers, seeing some of my men holding off cultists as they tried to get to me. With all of the chaos, I could not see the boy through the crowd and the dark shadows of Nightmares dive bombing the brawling fleets. Suddenly, there was a bright cyan light mixed with an odd texture of black like shadows, unmistakably the one that had howled out my name. Armen burst through the crowd, running up to me as he gasped and panted, his body covered in blood, wounds, and sweat.

"Grayson.." he panted. "Do you have the book and the diamonds?"

I nodded, my lips quivering and mouth dry. I had to raise my voice in order to make sure that he could hear me. "Yeah, I have everything... Are you ready?"

He did not reply, instead he turned and began to ascend up the steps. Already my head was pounding and my eyes stung from the bright lights, my body growing weaker and filling with more pain the closer we seemed to get to the top. The plain grey stone platform was covered in small stone boulders and the floor was cracked here and there with craters from the impact of striking lightning. A few yards away, were the fire pits with flickering magic purple flames, and the large rectangular obsidian frame with a hollow inside that would be the doorway to their redemption.
For a moment, the possibility of Herobrine trying to stop us slipped from my mind. I was suddenly filled with so much joy and hope, genuinely smiling for the first time in...I do not know how long. Well, other than when we found that spell to extract Herobrine out of Drake's body.

"Come on!" I yelled as I began to run straight ahead to get to the portal as fast as my aching feet could carry me. I needed to know how to make the d*m thing reactivate.

Armen called out behind me, his voice becoming more distant the further away I got. "Grayson, wait!"

I did not stop, my eyes and focus locked entirely onto that portal. I huffed and panted as I ran, a pressure rising in my temples and beginning to feel dizzy from exhaustion. We were so close. We were so f**king close to getting to the end of this god forsaken nightmare! So close to saving Drake and freeing this world from Herobrine's constant oppression. Just a bit further...
Suddenly, multiple bolts of lightning struck the ground directly before me, breaking the stone and setting it on fire. I screamed in surprise, my heart nearly skipping a beat as my feet skidded to a stop and I fell back and hit the stone ground painfully on my back and rear end. I groaned and looked up, squinting until the lightning stopped crashing down. For a few moments, I could see nothing but white and hearing nothing but ringing. My vision finally cleared, my eyes enlarging as they came to rest on the body of my old Enderman hybrid friend. Goosebumps run up my arms, my spine shivering as the devil stared down at me, a grin spreading from cheek to cheek that allowed white from the back of his throat to slip past the tiny gaps between sharp teeth that had yellowed with specks of brown from old blood stains. His wide eyes were glowing in pure white illumination, reflecting Herobrine's insane mind.

He twirled his sword in one hand, the diamond blade stained in blood. A deep chuckled breached from past his chapped lips. "I have to say, I'm impressed that you've made it this far. I had doubts that you ever find the answer."

I snarled, baring my teeth as my hot breath rushed through the slim cracks and past my lips. The steak of blood from my nose rolled over my upper lip and slipped on and between my teeth, leaving the taste of blood against the tastebuds on the tip of my tongue. He stopped twirling the blade, locking his fist tightly around the handle.

"You all think you're so clever, but your arrogant. You all think that you're on the right side, but none of us are! ... None of us... all I wanted was some respect... to not feel like a monster, but you all forced me to be the monster I did not intend to be!" I was then struck by a wave of surprise when tears began to slip out from the eyelids holding his dead eyes. He could not have been crying... heartless demons are incapable of it.

His smile that had fallen lifted back up as he laughed. "Fear and hate is all I am capable of bringing and feeling other than pleasure in pain, all because of you mortals... To think that I used to love humanity before you all became nothing but sinners, begging for us gods to fix your own ignorant mistakes. I was tired of being disrespected and feared...so I gave you all a reason to fear me."

I growled as I held up my sword. He can not expect me to fall for his sap story. Not after everything that he has done to me and the people I love. He's a mass murderer and a vile demon made of pure evil with nothing more to it. He is just a monster. An abomination to existence. An abomination that killed my best friend. My eyes glared daggers at him, steaming with seething hatred.
I screamed and lunged at him, taking a swing at his being with my manyullyn sword. I swiftly stepped to the side, then again and again, repeating the process until I gave up, my shoulders already aching and sore. He laughed, saying that we were all just hypocrites, including himself, before his arm shot up and he sent a wave of powerful energy my way.
I held up my sword, the magic within it activating and casting a magic shield up, but I knew that it would not work. I ran as the blast came, quickly getting out of the way only to let the wave of light speed towards Armen. Armen put up a magic shield and jumped out of the way, Herobrine's attack slamming into the shield and instantly shattered it like glass. As Armen got out of the way and wind howled around us, I saw the black aura bellow around his body, his eyes giving off a frightening purple glow. Just like he appeared whenever he lost his temper.
I knew that usually we could survive this together. As long as we were not alone, we could push past his attacks and defeat him. Just like at Iron mere and just like at the Magic library. Only this time, we were smarter than ever before and the diamonds were finally with us. The playing field was leveled, now all we had to do was light that portal, cast a few spells and survive. Of course, it was all easier said than done.

Third person point of view-

Grayson and Armen both suddenly felt spikes of pain flare up within their heads, their skulls pounding. They screamed and clung to their heads, fingers digging painfully into their scalps. The pressure in their heads made their brains feel as if they were swelling up and becoming compressed by their own skulls. They screamed out, eyes watering in agony. Before their shuddering knees gave out underneath them, they found themselves beginning to levitate up in the air, the headaches becoming less intense but remained.
Both men were then flung to the other side of the temple, their bodies crashing against the wall inside of the obsidian portal frame. The impact sent pain down their nerves, bruising their back even with their armor in the way. Pain rattled up their nerves in their spines, heads lashing back and slamming against the wall. They felt paralyzed as they collapsed back onto the ground, their vision swarming with spots and slowly darkening as they both were left on the edge of consciousness. They groaned and whimpered, laying their in pain as their minds became hazy and could not think with their heads vibrating and bleeding, blood trickling down the back of their necks. They felt nauseous, their vision fading in and out.
They pushed themselves up to their knees, moaning and hissing as they nearly collapsed again. Armen looked up, his head spinning and trying not to pass out as gritted his teeth. The world was spinning, slowly resting to ease and going back to normal as Herobrine slowly walked over to them, dragging the tip of his blade behind himself, making it screech as the diamond scraped the stone. His eyes looked down, feeling his blood run down his neck and watched as it dripped to the floor, his other injuries causing dark red blood to slowly pool around him.
His ears were ringing and felt like they were bleeding with the sounds from the battle getting more distant, tears slipping from the sides of his eyelids. His shaking arms elevated him up, keeping him on his sore knees, his elbows nearly buckling to let him fall back down. He slowly stood back up, trying not to collapse once again.
He looked over, seeing Grayson shaking on his knees and bleeding. He stared screaming, putting his head on the stone as he pulled at his blonde hair and screamed as his headache began to become unbearable.

Armen gasped when he stared coughing up blood. "Grayson!"

He looked up as Herobrine approached, beginning to speak with his deep, echoing voice. "Mana corruption was not the only thing causing Drake to vomit blood. I enjoyed making him suffer. I can kill little Grayson at any moment. Bleed and suffocate him to his death."

Armen looked back at Grayson, watching as he gasped then proceeded to cough. Crimson drops flew from his mouth, splattering onto the stone. His pale, sweaty face turning red as he struggled to take in a breath of oxygen. He stood up once he finally got a breath, only to hunch over and resume coughing. His head was swimming, vision blurring with pain. Armen held his sword tight, turning back to the demon in his brother's vessel.

"No. You can't kill us! If you have not by now, then you never will. You need us for your diamonds, don't you? That's why you never just killed us all when you had the chance."

Grayson stopped, slowly looking back up as he straightened his back, gasping and huffing as he glared at Herobrine with blood on his lips and chin. Herobrine shifted his head to the side in a tilt, giving a light chuckle.

"Oh really? Fine. You want me to show you what I can do, I will show you."

He lifted up Armen with levitation, and forced Armen against the wall. His scream was cut short when he suddenly could not breath. It felt like hands wrapped around my neck, making him claw away only to scratch deep into the skin of his own neck. He struggled to breathe, trying desperately to suck in oxygen as he became lightheaded. Black and blue spots swarmed his vision, saliva running from the his mouth and consciousness once again wavering.
His shaking arm slowly lifted up, sparking with cyan light. As he was growing weaker, he willed up the strength to fire out a magic blast. Spikes of magic cyan and black energy came up from the ground but did not rupture the stone ground. As the spikes reacted the demon, he teleported away, vanishing from sight. Armen's body fell back to the ground, letting him get to his knees, coughing and gasping until his brain was once again receiving enough oxygen to continue functioning.
He looked back over to Grayson, who was now breathing properly. His emerald orbs enlarged and pupils constricted in fear.

"Behind you!"

He spun around and saw Herobrine staring at him, a crooked grin on going from cheek to cheek and letting out an unsettling chuckle. His hand shot out in a blur of white light. Armen quickly got out of the way, but Grayson was not as lucky. The blast struck his right leg, not even giving him enough time to scream before his entire leg two inches below the knee was blown away.
Armen was filled with so much shock and horror that all he could do was scream his comrades name so loud that his throat became sore. Memories flashed through his head, remembering when Grayson was impaled by that spear back when he was a Nightmare and when a massive chunk of his flesh was blown away from his side back at the hatchery. He watched as Grayson fell back, rapidly sucking in air and clawing at the ground before he finally let out a scream of excruciating agony. Armen just stared in horror as his own blood pooled around him, his chest rapidly lifting up and going down.
The Nightmare hybrid was frozen in place, not knowing what to do or how to react. He hyperventilated, tears beginning to well up and fill his eyes until they slipped down his cheeks.
He attention snapped back to his friend's stolen possessed body as it gave out a loud, high pitched laugh of joy and satisfaction.

"It can become a bit boring, killing everyone. And with the land dying and you humans and other abominations dying out, you guys chasing me down is really one of the few things I look forward to now! You know," He tapped on his head. "Other than torturing little Drakey up here."

Armen clenched the hilt of his sword so tightly that the blisters on his hands seemed to scream and his arms quivered before him. He sucked in a deep breath, tears streaming from his cyan eyes that were brimmed with a light purple glow of fury. He looked over his friend, watching his blood pool around him as his breath came out fast and staggered. His eyes were wide and filled with tears, agony written all over his face as he clawed at the stone.

"Do you want to know why I never gave it my all? Why I never just killed you all with a snap of my fingers? It's not because of the diamonds. It's because I know things that you do not. The outcome of every fight, each move that you will make. I know that in the end, even when you "defeat" me, you will never have truly won. Sure, once I'm gone, there will be peace and hope and all will rejoice, but it's all fake!"

He tilted his head as he often did, followed by a twitch in his spine that caused his body to twist in unsettling way. He laughed until his body straightened out, then he stood there tall as could be, staring down at the Nightmare hybrid with contentment. Armen took a step back as Herobrine's feet lifted slightly off of the ground, rising only two inches off of the stone. He leaned his head in closer to the boy, letting him nearly be able to see Drake's screaming image in the glowing reflection in the fallen god's eyes.

"No matter what, we end up here. The battles, the pain. The whole cycle continues endlessly like a clock restating at the strike of midnight each day. And it is all this puppets fault." He pulled at his shirt and gestured to the broken soul in the vessel. "Drake has doomed you all, and soon you will know exactly what I mean."

White light returned to Herobrine's fists as he prepared another attack. What would happen if he did just finally kill them? He could injure them first and then finally get them out of his hair. He could find more souls or manipulate the timeline to get them back. Or perhaps he could keep their souls from fading away from within the diamonds once they were dead. He lifted up his arm, smiling as Armen just stared at him, his eyes wide but his will and strength fading. They had failed.
Before he could fire the blast, a different magic blast of purple energy struck him with a hit powerful to knock him back. He snarled, turning his head only to hear a roar before the dragon that Grayson had cared for flew at him launched at him and attacked him with his powerful spells. If that dragon died, then as would the existence of magic along with it.
Armen only watched for a moment as the two fought before his head turned as he looked back at Grayson. He once again called out his name as he sprinted towards his friend's injured body. He fell to his aching knees beside him, looking down at his leg as he mumbled "why does this always happen to you?" The agony reflected in his dim green eyes, his violently shaking arm moving down and slipping into his satchel.

"S-sp-spell... T-trap..." He stopped, shutting his eyes tight as he gritted his teeth from the agony.

He looked up, seeing that Dracey was still holding Herobrine off. Armen reached into the pack on his side, pulling out a roll of bandages, cursing under his breath as he realized that he had nothing else that could potentially help his friend. He pulled at the end, making a long strand and twirling the dressing to make it thicker and stronger. Once he thought it was enough, he tore it with his teeth and wrapped it above Grayson's right knee to act as a tourniquet.

"Y-you'll be okay. Y-you'll be fine." Armen assured him, choking with his face completely wet with burning tears. "I'll take care of everything. But s-stay awake. I-I still need you."

Grayson gave a weak nod then slowly reached over, slipping his sword over to the raven haired. Armen looked down at it, knowing what to do. Armen dropped his own sword and abandoned it next to Grayson's head. He took the hilt in his grasp, squeezing it tightly even with his hand already swarming with pain from open blisters oozing blood. Up above, the dragon and the demon fought, the reptile proving to be a lot stronger than he was the day he hatched from that black shell.
Dracey flapped his wings, violet light engulfing his being and glowing brighter as he charged the blast up. He opened up his mouth wide to show a bright purple light that glowed in the back of it's throat, getting brighter. He let out a blast of fire, mixing it with a powerful ray of magic energy that shot at the demon like lightning.
Herobrine teleported away before he was struck, reappearing down at the ground, his back facing to two mortal men. Herobrine's soulless blank eyes grew as the blast the dragon unleashed struck the obsidian... and the portal to h**l was ignited.
In a burst of purple light, the hollow opening within the obsidian lit up with a thin wall of purple light that vaguely resembled rippling water. The light swirled as the bridge between the two worlds was once again active, ear popping sounds like screams emitting from the foreign land on the other side of the divine doorway. The runes began to glow in a bright violet light one by one, beginning to weaken him and restrict his power. He could not teleport away.
A loud scream began to sound from behind Herobrine growled as the wind shifted and began to pull towards the portal that would take him back to his dull previous domaine.
His ears perked as he heard a distant shout that was closer to him than the others that were still on the battlefield. He spun around as he heard a loud cry of rage getting louder and closer. His white glowing eyes grew wide as Armen charged at him, screaming out a spell as he held the hilt of his blade with both hands. With the portal trying to suck him back into the Nether realm, he could not think or react fast enough. A burst of pain sprung throughout his body as the manyullyn and gold blade enchanted with witches blood pierced into his body between his chest and stomach.
Armen growled, hate filling his eyes with farrowed brows, baring his teeth and pressing them together until his gums hurt. He watched as the wound flowed with a blinding white light while the glow in his eyes slowly dimmed. The boy unconsciously twisted the blade, breaking the body's bones and slashing up it's insides. He did not see the body of his brother that he cherished, only the white eyes of the monster that took him away.
Armen finished reciting the spell, immobilizing Herobrine and trapping him against the air that pushed against his body on all sides. Tears were streaming from Armen's cyan eyes like a waterfall, his breath burning hot and fast.

"No...No! You can't perform that spell without the right runes!" Herobrine screamed and he attempted to thrash around and break from the trap spell.

He would have lifted up his sleeve to show him, but had no time to remove his wrist guard and reveal what he had done.

"I carved the runes into my arm a few weeks ago. Just for this moment, you selfish p***k."

Grayson reached out to the discarded sword resting beside his injured body. His fingers slowly wrapped around it, his body weak from the overwhelming pain and loss of blood. He cringed and hissed, breathing fast and heavily with tears blurring his vision. He could feel the warm pool of blood against his leg that remained completely intact and on what was left of his right leg.
He sat up, digging the point of the sword into the ground to act as a cane for him to move around. He took out the book with his free hand, putting it on his lap and flipping it to the last few pages. Once he was at the right spot, he held the pages against his chest and struggled with getting himself to stand.
The fallen god could feel his strength fading from his being. He tried to lunge out, to separate from his vessel but the portal kept pulling his true form back with force, making it nearly impossible to move forward to take a new body.
But it was just like what he had said. He always knew the outcome. This was still far from over.
Blood poured from his mouth that would have choked him if he were actually breathing. His head fell forward as he screamed, then became silent. His head then slowly lifted back up, the greasy black and brown hair covered in old stains of blood falling over his face. A tear rolled down from his eyes, causing Armen to gasp and flinch when he saw his eyes. They still glowed white, but just a bit of purple and blue returned to their dull hues.

A weak smile lifted on his cheeks, his dry lips now bloody and quivering. "Armen... Thank you."

Armen once again flinched as the color in his eyes became nothing but a pure white. Herobrine screamed out in rage as he thrashed around violently. Armen could feel the spell he had cast on him beginning to weaken. They had to do this now because now was their one and only shot at ever defeating this monster.
He looked over as he felt Grayson get closer, his life force not as strong as before he lost his leg, but it remained strong. Grayson dropped his sword,allowing himself to fall forward and grab onto Armen's metal shoulder pad to keep him up. Armen looked over at him, listening to his heavy yet shallow breaths, almost able to hear his quickened heartbeat. Grayson dropped the book onto the ground, already reciting the first line of the spell as best he could as he forcefully grabbed both Armen's hand and the hand that once belonged to his best friend. Herobrine screamed and struggled, but the sword still lodged in his chest was continuing to drain his strength. Grayson looked into Armen's cyan eyes accompanied with a slight glow of purple, waiting for him to join. Armen took in a deep breath and prepared himself, looking down at the book resting on the floor in the center of the circle that the three made. He used his magic to make it levitate upwards, stopping to allow to two mortals to read the powerful spell that would expel this monster from their comrades body.
For a moment, the excitement mixed with fear seemed to make him drift away from the rest of the world. The screaming stopped, both Armen and Grayson no longer smelt the blood and sweat or felt fear or rage. The adrenaline and excitement that rushed through their bloodstreams made their hearts almost painfully clench within their chests. This was it. This was it!
As they chanted the spell in union, Herobrine screamed. Yet Armen could feel that Drake was not trying. He had stopped caring.

Come on, Drake. We can't do this without you. Even if you've lost hope, please...try one more time. For us.

Herobrine started to twitch violently, but it was not like his usual twitching. His lips moved as if speaking underneath his breath but all they could really hear was when Herobrine yelled and screamed. Yet Armen felt something strange. It was spirit energy seeping from the hybrid vessel. Drake.
A bright white glow began to shine from within Grayson's satchel. They tried to pay no attention to it as the diamonds levitated out and floated above Armen and Grayson's heads. It was baffling, but the two men had to stay focused. They continued to recite the spell, shouting over the booming sounds of lightning going off all around them. The diamonds above their heads glowed to the point where their light was blinding.

"No! No! No! No! No!"

His screams got louder and louder until they finally finished the spell and then...the screaming was replaced with the loud sound of chaotic laughter followed by a nearly defending noise resembling an explosion or thunder.
In a blast of white light that fired out from Drake's being, they were all thrown back. Grayson and Armen were sent flying back in two opposite directions, both of their bodies slamming into wide stone pillars. Armen moaned in pain as his eyes fluttered open, once again feeling nauseous and sick from hitting his head and from the heat of the blast. But it was different. It was not one of Herobrine's attacks this time around. It could not have been.
As they hit the stone, their bones vibrated, feeling as if many of them had broken. He gagged as he opened his eyes slowly, the world spinning once his eyes adjusted and the pure white mostly faded from his vision. His ears were once again ringing, bringing him an intense headache as he was always struck with nausea and gagged as if he would vomit. His body shook and became even more weak, barely able to lift himself back up to his sore feet.
Grayson opened his eyes, his vision white and blurry. He blinked, letting them adjust as he moaned in sore pain. His ears were ringing and head still pounding, agony pulsating throughout his body. The world was spinning and for a brief moment he felt dizzy and nauseous with a pressure in his chest and a feeling of bile rising up in his esophagus. He swallowed and pushed himself up to his sore knees that felt bruised beneath his iron armor, gasping for breathe.
His eyes looked up, his emerald gaze growing as they rested upon Drake's body lying motionless up against the base to the portal. The hybrid was completely limp, his chest not moving nor did he make a single twitch or fidget. His eyes were closed and mouth hung slightly open as if he were just asleep. Blood poured from the stab wound in his torso, his clothing magically mending themselves and covering up the wound as blood continued to flow.
He looked up into the dark atmosphere above, only to gasp when he looked up to see a massive black mist that hung in the air like ashy smoke. Within the smoke were two spine chilling white orbs that felt as if they could rip out a mortal's soul with just one glance upon their being. He froze up, hearing the deep disembodied whispering coming from the mist of darkness, getting these needs to just die then and there. Herobrine's true form... it's sheer presence without the mask of a vessel to cover it was revolting and vulgar despite not even having a true face to gaze upon. It had a heavy pressure that it emitted to the ones around, making it hard to lift his chest up in order to breathe. This feeling...he hated it. The voices were so threatening yet he could barely understand anything. He was just struck by paralyzing fear and horror that he could not explain.
They did it. He was out of Drake's body.
Grayson's heart was pounding with a beat that filled his whole body and caused it to shake. It felt like a wave of excitement until he felt like his stomach was twisting and his lungs began struggling to take in air. His hands were clammy and his forehead was sweating from his overwhelming nerves. He inhaled to relax himself, knowing that he needed to stay calm.
He looked over to Armen as he pushed himself up to his knees, coughing and groaning in pain from the impact of the blast and his body hitting the stone ground with force. The raven haired hissed and shut his eyes tight, holding onto his now sprained arm as it flared with pain. He looked over to Grayson, seeing him with his emerald orbs wide and mouth agape.
Then, the sounds coming from the portal grew louder, like a thousand screeches erupting from the other side. The runes on the black obsidian began to glow brighter. The black mist began to go towards the portal, but instead of just heading back into the Nether, he plummeted back towards Drake's body. He tried to repossess the vessel in a last-ditch effort to save himself. He was barely clinging onto his very being residing in the realm, barely able to hand such a magnitude of magic that was only possible under these unbelievably specific and dreadful circumstances. He had no other desperate choice left to resort to.
Before Herobrine could completely regain control over the Enderman hybrid's being, Dracey puffed up his chest and readied a powerful spell. The dragon opened its maw, the back of it's throat lighting up with purple light that rose and grew brighter. He fired a blast of his powerful magic, a long ray shooting towards the vulnerable fallen god. The blast struck the smoke of the devil's true form, blasting him back finally forcing him back into the Nether. The bridge between the two realms shattered like glass, the purple raining down and fading into the thick air. The connection between the realms was broken. Herobrine's reign of over a millennium was finally no more.
The two sacred diamonds fell to the ground, the bright lights of Grayson and Armen's souls fading, returning to their rightful holders.

"Drake!" Armen cried out, sprinting as fast as he could to his unresponsive brother, falling to his knees directly beside him.

Armen held Drake's body close to himself, trying to find any sign of life within the now seemingly empty vessel. Tears were already dripping from his eyes as he let out a tiny gasp. He stared down at Drake's ghostly pale face that still somehow had faint stains of blood from the day that he died. His hair was matted and filled with grease, his body so skinny that he felt his bones when he touched him. It was like holding onto a dead body, and for all he knew at that moment, he was.
He shook the hybrid and grabbed his chin, shaking his head as if it would wake him up, but his dearest brother remained limp in his arms. His skin was almost as cold as ice, and not a single breath seemed to breach from his airways. He felt no life force. He could feel the blood still dripping and soaking inside the fabric of the back of his shirt and cape. In desperation, Armen placed his ear against Drake's chest and prayed to hear at least one little drum. One little beat that would prove that his brother was still in there. Yet all he heard was the desolate, void sound of silence.
He should have known that saving his brother was too good to be true. He should have known. He held Drake's body close and sobbed into his chest, begging for forgiveness for not being able to bring him back. For not being able to save him.