Unedited.

Ruined. The once beautiful city was ruined. Black smoke billowed from a half melted jeweled building. The dark elves must have started a fire of some sort.

A crevice split the city in half, dividing homes. Standing on a far hill just outside of the city, Sophie and Sandor where back to their original forms. Sophie had placed her circlet on her head. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it as someone who was fighting for the people she loved, for the city that she loved. She would do this with the strength the elves had given her, she would do this as councilor, as the Moonlark and as Sophie Foster.

Sophie tightened the bag around her. Dex had made a hard vest for her, the knives couldn't go through. Only the sides were open, Sophie felt cold. Her legs felt shaky and weak. She might die today, the thought made her scared, reminding her she wasn't fearless. She was afraid and scared, she didn't want to die, but the fact that loved ones were behind her, waiting for her return made her stay standing. It fought the desperation away.

"The soldier does not fight because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." Sandor said softly. Sophie felt her lips tug up. She had missed the squeaky voice of her bodyguard. "What do you love?" Sophie asked tilting her head to look up at Sandor. "I love my home." He said looking down at Sophie. "I love the family I have made, and been adopted in to. I love what is behind me." He said. Sophie turned back to looking over the ruined city. "Sandor, do you think we'll make it?" Sophie asked. Sandor didn't answer for a moment. "The chances are small." He said. "How small?" Sophie asked. Sandor looked down at her, "Very unlikely." He said. Sophie knew that, but hearing it out loud, made her even more determined to make those chances, and go striding back to Eternalia, having saved the day, like all the other times.

But this wasn't then, this was now. It was dangerous and just because she had been lucky over the brushes of death, she wasn't guaranteed life, the thought of her actually dying, it made her heart skip a beat. With her fear of what was ahead of her came courage from what was behind her, with the hate of the Neverseen came the love she had for the elves. From the pain she had felt and been given made her stronger it gave her power.

Sophie realized every part of her was going to be put to the ultimate test. The pain she had received from the Neverseen, she'd get more in this most likely one trip, the emotional pain she had received from everyone would test her sanity of what she was about to do, it was make or break, and right at that moment Sophie wasn't planning on breaking.

She knew she was going to bend, she knew she was going to crack, but, She. Would. Not. Break.

Sophie knew unimaginable pain was coming, she knew death was coming, but she decided she'd defy death if she had to, she'd face that pain, and she'd destroy what was threatening her family. Taking Sandor's hand, Sophie turned away from the city. "Forward?" She asked looking up at him. He nodded, "Forward." He said, together they stepped towards death's door, planning to knock it down, and defy death in the face.

~

The fog was starting to creep in on the edges of Fitz's emotions. Sophie was gone again, and now he was having second thoughts about letting her go.

As he sat staring at his hands clenched together, he took deep breaths to fight back the fog. "Fitz, you did the right thing letting her go." Alden said. "She's gone." Fitz whispered. "She'll come back." Della said placing her hand on her son's shoulder. "Yeah, sometimes you have to let the ones you love go, if they really love you they'll come back." Biana said. "Sophie loves all of us." She said. "You don't leave the ones you love, even if they are letting go." Fitz said.

"Sometimes people have no choice but to leave." Alden said. "Sometimes fate happens and they have no choice. Sometimes they leave because they know in the end it's for the greater good." Alden said. "Sophie will come back to us." He said. Fitz shook his head, "It doesn't feel like that Dad. She's not expecting to come back from this. Whatever it is, she doesn't believe she can make it back." Fitz said, his voice cracking. Della pulled Fitz closer, "Don't say that." She scolded lightly, her own voice cracking. "She'll be okay." She said. "Yeah, she's Sophie. If anyone can survive the impossible, it's her." Biana said, sitting beside her dad.

Alden wrapped his arms around his family. Fitz was struggling to fight off the fog. "We should go with her." He said. "I'm going with her." He said, as he stood up. "Oh good, I thought the group and I would be going without you." Biana said standing up she pulled two bags from under the beds, along with a hard vest. "Let's go, before we lose her." Biana smiled, as she slipped the vest over her head and clasped the sides closed. Fitz smiled at his sister, "I knew you were good for something." He said as he put the vest over his head.

~

"What's she thinking? That she can do this alone?" Keefe fumed as they followed Harley through the dark tunnels. "She doesn't want you in danger." Harley replied. "I know....I know she didn't want me to tell you all, but I don't want to see her hurt any more than you do." He said, as he frowned at a tunnel, that voices were coming from.

"Who goes there?!" He shouted, blowing on his balefire crystal, "Run!" Wylie shouted as the council burst around the corner. "Run! They got inside, make a defence line and get everyone to safety!" Noland shouted. The sound of roaring, made the friends freeze. "I...." Harley backed up. "I can't face those things....n-not a-again. M-my uncle." He said the cool façade gone, he was a pale shaky boy. Fitz rested a hand on his shoulder. "We got this. Go warn the others." Fitz said pulling the knife from his belt. Alvar had been killed by the knife, and Fitz would get revenge for his brother. Zarina turned and threw a bolt of lightening at something behind them, as the other councilors hurried into sight.

"Defence line!" Wylie shouted skidding to a stop next to Dex, he raised his hands. The councilors all took their places filling up the wide tunnel, the first demon tumbled around the corner, nails digging into the stones, and everyone prepared to fight. They were willing to be tainted to protect the innocents behind them, to defend the lives that had survived the first attack. They would fight for what they loved.

Legends were created and warriors were made...

~

Sophie carefully pulled the large, gold square out of her bag. Branches were melded into it, with stone and the other technology of the other species. Mixing all of them so carelessly was dangerous, making it have a ticking timer was even more dangerous, but most dangerous of all, was setting it.

In Elvin terms, it was an atomic bomb, and setting it would be like knocking on the door of death, and poking the ghostly skeleton saying 'Tag you're it. Catch me if you can' and running away, it was that or trying to play ding dong ditch without being caught.

Sophie set it.

She could hear the sounds of the smaller squares going off sparking, and distracting the demons. Sandor stood watch beside her, As Sophie turned the twig timer, back and back before snapping off the ends. It was started, and couldn't be stopped.

Around her, a door continued to open and close, with new demons falling out on top of each other, and crawling across the floor, towards their kin. Sophie could see another stall like white room. She could see dark coils of tubes hung down and draped over the walls and into it, Sophie knew with every cell in her body, that she did not want to see what was behind that door. Sandor pulled Sophie close and ducked down. The stone hideout that seemed to have risen right out of the ground, shook like thunder, as the squares exploded.  Sophie watched as the groups that had formed fall dead.

The sound of silence rang through the room, Sophie frowned. She thought it was going to be much harder than that. No sooner had she thought that, did the door stop halfway, closed, the light inside blinked, before shutting off. Sophie froze as the light switched on in the second stall, showing the coils reaching down to something round, that was as tall as Sophie. A heavy and deep sigh was released, like a snake hissing, it echoed around the room. Sophie watched in horror, as the dark ghostly shadow moved, hands went up and yanked coils off the head, and tossed them aside. Only then did Sophie realize long arched horns were connected to the head.

Sophie clutched on to Sandor, her heart fluttering and pounding in fear, as the head dipped slowly, before the shadow started growing. Up, and up, and...up...

Sophie felt tears of absolute fear sting her eyes, as her breathing started coming in panicked pants. Arms stretched up, fists clenched looked like mallets, arms looked to be carved from marble, Even behind the white screen, Sophie could see the sharp ridges of muscle forming an impossibly tall body. A grunt sounded with the popping of bones, before a loud blissful "Aaaaaahhhh......" Sophie shook, as unchecked and irrational fear coursed through her body.

The door opened and light poured out into the room, the dark silhouette slowly stepped out.
One bare foot, a thick marble like leg with a breech cloth. Another foot, and a thick waist, the legs were dark but the torso that had been chiseled from a mountain of muscle was solid, misty white. The shoulders were broad and  long, thick, dark, arms.  A thick neck had veins bulging from muscle, it swirled with white and black, a sharp pointed chin, and pointed blood stained teeth smiled, thin lips that pulled up in a sneer, glowing red eyes and long horns protruded from the head, curving upward in an arch.

The eyes weren't dull and full of blood lust as the other demons, instead the red eyes were intelligent, calculating and very cold and hard, and Sophie knew, before her stood a real, live dark elf. The elf that was supposed to kill her.

"You must be Sophie."

And it just spoke...

(Mwahahahahaha!)