The air was tense as we walked with the army. We knew today would be the day we faced our destination. In fact, Jericho told me it was only a mile from here. There was a hush over the large crowd, some muttering quietly to everyone. Something about this fight would be very different. I mean, obviously, but just... it felt like something major was going to happen. More shadow people, more death, and much more time we'd have to fight this guy. Most battles take... long, so we can't possibly end this guy on the spot. Especially with magic on his side.

Amelia and Andrew seemed like they had gotten rather close after last night, and I don't know what had happened with them. Amelia also seemed rather tired, although I knew the reason for that. She had told us during breakfast that late in the night someone with the gov kidnapped her and took her to the lab. Long story short, a random guy on the street and his falcon helped her get away. Which was good. And pretty cool, too.

Andrew led us deeper and deeper, the air growing tense and apprehensive. Nevertheless, Andrew kept his head high, confidence radiating from him. I could feel everyone's fears, making me anxious and wanting to run as far as I could away from the feeling, which was like a tingly sensation on my back. I'm not sure if anyone else feels this when they sense other's emotions. I'm not sure if other's can sense emotions as strongly as I do, either. The army stopped by Andrew's command, standing in front of a large cave mouth.

"Here we are..." Andrew said quietly, staring down into the darkness. The Time Watchers were surrounding him, me being on the right side of him next to Amelia. Everyone was now tying their animals down with their supplies, and the ones that didn't carry much helped with them. When that was done, everyone returned their attention back to Andrew.

There was silence. I paused, then said, "We can do this."

He smiled. "I'm glad you're optimistic." He turned and observed the army, who were all holding their breath. "Usually before a battle, the leader would give a speech."

Everyone waited.

He smiled. "But I'm not good at that, so let's just get in there and murder this wretch."

The army's tension loosened somewhat, some people even chuckling, and Andrew turned back to the cave. Taking a deep breath, he strode forward, and the people followed. Quietly, Andrew whispered to us, "I'm not sure if or when the dragons will come, so please keep your eyes peeled, alright?"

We nodded, already on watch for anything suspicious. I knew that we wouldn't be able to hide the fact that we were the dragons the entire time. I knew he'd find out soon. However, I kept that fact to myself as we trekked inside the black. I swallowed as the air shifted, and I could tell something was watching us in here. The army sensed it, too, and they all drew their weapons. As soon as the last weapon was drawn, a hideous noise echoed throughout the cave. Everyone covered their ears as the sound intensified by the echo, and without warning, lights illuminated the cave, popping into existence. The fire was on the walls, about two or three meters away from each other. However, the flame was a disgusting brown, and it smelled foul.

Soon after the lights, an army twice the size as ours ran at us, the shadows of dark magic swift as they rushed for blood. In the back of their army was some sort of creature. It had long tentacles in its mouth, large scales the color of a dead tree all over its body, six black eyes, a bulbous body, stubby legs that held up its round body, and a small tail that kept it somewhat on balance. On top of its head was War'decla, his staff in his hand.

"Eeew," said Charitie, leaning back with disgust. "What the heck is that supposed to be?"

The armies had already clashed, and the Time Watchers watched for a second, before jumping into action. The massive creature War'decla rode made a deafening scream before running on its stubby legs and barreling into the army, making a few shadows... go into him? Is he made of dark magic, too? I don't know, probably. Whatever he is, I'm naming him Babbles. The Time Watchers did several tricks they learned, Connor spiral kicking into a mass of shadows. Without warning, he burst into flames and grew, massive wings spreading. He roared defiantly and slashed his tail, making several shadows turn to nothing as they poofed out of existence. I ended up getting myself into trouble as a group of the shadows backed me into a corner, one of them throwing my weapons away from me. Which is surprising; if you know me personally, you would know I have a very strong grip.

I looked around, trying to find an escape route. Seeing there was none, I started to pray silently as they got closer and closer. Please let me find a way out of this, God. Send something. Anything!

"Bawk!" A chicken scurried up to me, running around wildly. I blinked, then grinned and grabbed it by the legs, making it screech in surprise. I readied my stance, holding the chicken in front of me, determination filling me to the brim.

"Chicken sword," I said with a meaningful tone, smiling even more.

The shadows advanced, and I swung the chicken at the leader. The beak of the chicken stabbed the shadow, making it poof out of existence. I swung again, kicking another behind me. Doing a small flip, I was able to stab the next one, and the one after that, and so forth. When I was out of the tight pinch, I laughed a bit, smiling at the chicken.

"I thank you, kind friend." I said, gently dropping him. He bawked and ran as fast as he could away. I rushed to my weapons, seeing Madeline using my bow and arrows. "Madie! Hand me my sword!" I exclaimed, seeing it at her feet.

She loosed an arrow and turned to look at me, then to my utter horror, got stabbed in the neck. I screamed, tears bursting from my eyes, and quickly jumped back to save her. This time, I was a bit closer, but instead of calling her name, I ran to her feet and slid under her, snatching my sword and jumping back up quickly. Back to back, Madie and I fought together. I could see Raz and Charitie had gone to Babbles, firing and electrifying the beasts thick hide. Andrew sat on Charitie's blue shoulders, using a bow and arrow to attack War'decla. However, every attack Andrew threw at him, War'decla was able to dodge it. Babbles himself was using the tentacles in his mouth to pick people up and throwing them randomly, some dying when they hit a wall or fell into the brown fire.

Connor was dive bombing, leaving a trail of flame as he rolled on impact. He was taking many out by doing so, but he was also prone to landing on a spear or sword. Amelia was close to us, stabbing several shadows much better than she did yesterday. She seemed to learn fast. That was good. She was with a group of the army as well, so I didn't think about helping her out. As I fought with my sister, I watched as Babbles slammed into a wall, making a few rocks fall. One landed in his eye, and Babbles squealed, stumbling and shaking its body. I gasped in realization, figuring out how we could defeat it. Quickly, I beckoned for Madeline to join me, and we turned into our dragons and flew into the air.

"Aim for the eyes!" I roared, flying for the monster.

Amelia stared up at us, and Lorita began to glow as if she were talking. Amelia glanced down, then nodded and did the thing we did to use our power, flying beside us. It seemed Andrew had figured out we were the dragons, and he acknowledged us as we drew near. Steering Charitie by using her horns as handles, he made her fly above one of the monster's eyes and fired an arrow into it.

The creature squealed again, black ooze flying out of its eye like a fountain. Skillfully, Cherry avoided it, electrocuting War'decla, who--of course--blocked the incoming attack. Connor flew over to us, but got caught by a tentacle and thrown at the cave ceiling. He made a noise an alligator would make, falling to the ground and landing on about twenty or so shadows. All of which were crushed by his weight, obviously. Amelia flew to his side, landing next to his massive left wing and telling him to get up and fight. He rose his head a bit and shook it, then looked up and stumbled to his paws. Angered, his fire grew higher on his body, and I could feel heat waves from where I was. The flames closest to his body were green, then blue, and the the natural colors of fire. That's how flipping hot it was.

Roaring with pure rage, Connor leapt into the air and flung himself at the beast, setting fire to its tentacles. Babbles stomped in anger and blind confusion, slamming his elephant looking feet into many shadows and some of our own men and woman. Blood was now on the cave floor, splattered like paint. I found an opening for me to get to Babbles's left eye, and I took the opportunity and fired ice into his face. Babbles screamed his horrid, terrible scream as ice protruded from his black eye, ooze spewing out of that one as well.

Amelia circled, then flew straight at War'decla, landing on Babbles and roaring before slashing at him. Using his staff, War'decla protected himself, then used some sort of spell to fling glass or metal at Amelia. Madeline zapped in front of her and let a jet of flame loose, redirecting the metal-glass and setting fire to War'decla's cloak. As soon as it was caught on fire, however, it went out, and the sorcerer didn't seem phased at all. Using the distraction, Andrew fired an arrow at the backstabber, and it landed successfully into War'decla's shoulder. The sorcerer cried out in pain, turning and slamming a force into Andrew and Charitie. They screamed in surprise as the sudden power pulled them back, crushing them into a wall.

Madie and Amelia slashed at War'decla, and Raz shrank and landed on his shoulder. She bit the sorcerer's face and tore a chunk out of it, but he knocked her off, flinging her into Babbles's jaws. Connor zapped and caught her before the weight of the tentacles crushed her, and they flew towards one of Babbles's eyes. Raz screamed and jumped out of Connor's talons, landing spot on to one of the eyes and stabbing it with her claws. More black spewed out of the beast's face, and it continued stomping in pain and confusion.

Only three more to go, I thought, zipping in the shadows and diving at Babbles. I slammed onto his head, smashing a bit of his skull and hearing a crack as I landed. Black began to pool into the new dent I made, some scales shattered as well. War'decla looked at me, trying to hold Andrew and Charitie at the same time as he was fighting Madie and Amelia. He sighed and rolled his eyes, seeming annoyed.

"Yeah, hi there! Remember me?" I asked, running at him with all my might.

I could see Connor out of the corner of my eye, watching him dive into another eye. The eye caught on fire rather easily, and black was soon exploding out of it like a geyser. I headbutted War'decla, sending him several strides back. This was enough of a distraction for Charitie and Andrew to free themselves, and they came back with a fury. Andrew yelled and jumped off Charitie once she tipped Babbles's head, and she flew off to attack the creature's eye. He and the sorcerer clashed into a duel, Andrew yelling each time he threw his sword. Amelia stayed with him and helped him, while Madie and I took to the air. We dodged flying tentacles and people, catching a few of the army and bringing them back to the ground.

Babbles screamed again when Amelia popped one of his eyes, causing the hole in his face to erupt. One more eye and he'll be down! I thought with glee, watching him sway and scream. Looking to the cave mouth, I saw another army approaching. This one was elegant and graceful, and they wore silky looking tunics and some wore shiny armour. They were led by someone riding a massive deer, with large antlers that resembled a tree. They soon clashed with the shadows, making them explode twice as fast as our group could. Madeline squinted at them, then gasped.

"Ev! They're elves!" She exclaimed with excitement.

"What?!" I looked closely at them, then felt my heart beat faster with glee. "They are!"

"I know!" Madie dove under one of Babbles's massive feet, catching a woman before she got crushed.

The elves fought hard, and archers from the elves aimed at Babbles, making him look like a porcupine as beautifully crafted arrows rained upon him. The massive deer rammed into shadows, making them explode. If they survived, the elf mounted on the deer would finish them off.

"Die!" Roared Charitie, sending sparks into Babbles's last eye. As soon as black flew out of his eye, he let out a final shriek, before he began to fall. Andrew quickly jumped onto Amelia, and she flew off of Babbles, letting him fall to the ground and crush the majority of what was left of the shadows. The remainder of the army soon died at the hands of the combined force of the elves and humans, the last one getting impaled by the elf's deer. 

Andrew led Amelia to where War'decla was now, and we all gathered around him, circling him. The king slid off of Amelia's back, Amelia watching him with concern as he stepped closer to War'decla. The sorcerer reached for his staff, which was just a few inches from his fingers. Andrew kicked it away, and one of the elves picked it up and snapped it in half, as if it were just a twig. Black, brown, green, and purple smoke rose out of it, and when it was all gone, the staff turned to ash. Immediately, War'decla looked drained.

The armies began to shout hatfully, wanting the end of the sorcerer that instent. The rider of the deer--a woman--slid off her steed and stood next to Andrew, who was tightening his grip on his sword. They both looked at each other, and the elf nodded, holding his grip with him. He nodded back, and they raised the sword together, before dropping it down on the sorcerer's head. A wave of cheers erupted from the armies, swords and shields clashing together. The large deer roared, and so did the Time Watchers. Amelia looked away from War'decla, but roared with triumph as well.

* * *

The elves had graciously let us borrow some of the luctus--or the massive deer--to get home. The Time Watchers flew above, which was much faster, and the deer ran at surprisingly fast speeds. The deer were able to carry loads, too, so several animals--even órös--were strapped to their backs to ride with us. Faster than I thought we could, we got back to Florlie. As soon as we got all the cargo off the luctus, they ran back into the woods, heading straight home. We only talked a bit to the elves before they ran away, replaced by the luctus to help us. The town cheered at our arrival, and everyone and everything seemed so much happier to see us back. Andrew had a grand feast in the castle, inviting all the town to come in and dine with him. There was plenty of music, and food, and many people joking with their friends. Some were sad because their family or friends didn't return, but they still rejoiced.

At the end of the feast, we knew we had to go. We told Andrew, and he led us to the gates of the village. When we got there, he said, "I thank you for helping us. If not for you, I wouldn't have known about this bastard."

"No problem," Madie said, nodding to him.

"I still can't believe you all were the dragons this entire time."

I laughed. "We were trained to be very secretive."

"So I've noticed." He looked up at the moon, smiling. "Well, I suppose this is where we part. Perhaps we will see each other again someday?"

"Maybe?" Razz shrugged, smiling.

Andrew looked at each of us, then bowed. "I can't thank you enough."

"You don't need to." Connor said, waving a hand.

The king straightened and smiled brilliantly. He stared at Amelia for a second, then grabbed her hand and lightly kissed it. "Until we meet again."

We bowed, before we turned and went into the woods. I knew that in our present, we would have been gone for two days. But, thankfully, the watches somehow took care of that. No one ever asked when we came back from a long mission. Once we were out of sight from Florie, we typed out Friday's house, then, simultaneously, slammed our hands against the watches. We travelled in the same wormhole because we were so close, and we let out breaths of relief.

But when we zapped into Friday's hallways, we were greeted by guns, all aimed at us.

Haha! You thought it was gonna be over! 😜