"No..." I gasped.

The necklace.

It was...gone.

Just like that.

I stared at the pile of ashes at my feet.

Our only hope.

Our only option.

Our only chance.

It was incinerated, in a pile of ashes. We had nothing now. Nothing at all. We were hopeless without it. This was it. The end.

We were going to die. This was where we were going to meet our end. In a dark palace full of people evil and rotten to the core. My mind flooded with images.

The Dark Leader had taken over all of the realms. He had made his own personal realm for the prisoners. Millions of people were either dead or kidnapped. I shook my head, overcome with rage and emotion.

The Dark Leader stood for a moment, both taken aback and triumphant. My eyes widened as his mouth slowly curved into a smile  that grew wider and wider, until he just threw his head back and laughed loudly, a sound like nails on a chalkboard.

Eric glanced over at me, clearly terrified. I took a small breath, more like a gasp, as the Dark Leader turned to us. Eric was taking deep breaths next to me, lifting his chin up and down slowly.

My chest tightened as I thought of the way the Dark Leader had mercilessly killed my mother, without even stopping to think about the consequences or problems he would cause. But then again, that was how the evil, awful Dark Leader did everything.

The Light Leader was standing defiantly, refusing to look or act threatened.

"See? You are no match for me and my extraordinary power. Give up now, and I might spare your tiny, insignificant, miserable lives," the Dark Leader boasted, putting unnecessary emphasis on the miserable part. I lifted my chin up a bit, trying not to show any fear.

I stood myself up much straighter and willed myself to look directly into the Dark Leader's monstrous eyes.

"We will never back down. You can try all you want, but you will never break us. We may have been broken by you too many times, but you cannot keep breaking something that's already broken. You will never win," the Light Leader said, clenching her teeth in protest, slightly squinting and glaring in the process.

The Dark Leader's amused expression turned into a glare. If looks could kill, each one of the three of us standing here would have been absolutely slaughtered by the way the Dark Leader was shooting daggers at us through his eyes.

I could feel the intensity of his gaze, and I mean that I could literally feel his eyes burning into each one of us. Eric breathed in beside me, then swallowed and let it out. A group of eight Dark Soldiers burst into the room, obviously trying to tell their evil Leader something.

"The Valkyries! They've come! They're attacking the castle!" One of the soldiers wheezed breathlessly, tired from the run. The other soldiers looked around nervously, terrified of what the Dark Leader was going to do to them. The Dark Leader roared and screamed with absolute rage on his voice and in his eyes.

He slashed his hand left. The soldier that had just spoken crumpled to the ground, and slowly vanished into oblivion. Black smoke poured into the already murky air.

He flicked his hand right, and two more disappeared. Then he raised both of his hands, and the remaining soldiers tried to bolt. As if in slow motion, the Dark Leader brought his hand down.

The soldiers were dissipated where they stood. I wrinkled my nose in horror and disgust. Then the Dark Leader turned back to the rest of us, his face distorted with anger.

"So that's what you've been doing, then? Sending your little army to get rid of mine?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet and calm. I nailed my mouth shut, taking in a sharp breath through my dilated nostrils. My eyes widened with fear as he took a step towards me.

"You're not going to beat me. Not now, not ever," he murmured, his face muscles barely moving. The Dark Leader took steps back, not taking his eyes off of me.

"I've tried to kill each one of you multiple times," he said, tilting his head. "Yet you keep coming back."

The Light Leader's eyes widened, but I could tell that she was clenching her teeth, and closing her fists as tight as she could.

"But this time is the final time you come back to my palace," the Dark Leader continued,   looking into each one of our eyes, one by one. First the Light Leader, then Eric, and finally me.

"Because you're going to die tonight." Eric's hand flew threw the space between us, and it grabbed mine. I squeezed.

"And I'm going to be the one to kill you," the Dark Leader finished, narrowing his eyes.

"You'll never stop us. We will never stop fighting for our people. You won't win," I shot at the Leader. He looked at me, slightly tilting his head to the left, almost amused, with his mouth slightly curved into a chilling smile.

"And who's going to stop me?" He asked, looking like he was waiting for the punch line of a great big hilarious joke. I looked dead into the Dark Leader's eyes. I straightened myself up, and braced myself to answer his question without trembling in terror.

"We are." I spat out the words, then before the Dark Leader could react or attempt to defend himself, I raised my hand, and my bent arm reached out and straightened.

A burst of pure light shot out of my arm and hit the Dark Leader in the chest. He limped back, surprised.

"That was for Iris," I orated, my eyes narrowing with anger and satisfaction. Another burst of light hit the Dark Leader.

"That was for Faun."

I shot yet another burst of light at the Dark Leader.

"That was for every person you've hurt or killed."

I hurled a final blast at him, this one bigger than ever. It hit the Dark Leader in the chest, and he stumbled back.

"And that was for me." The Dark Leader closed his eyes, and then he stood up. His face was a sheet of pure anger reflecting off of all the black, shiny surfaces in the Dark throne room.

"Enough is enough. Stop playing games. It's time to finish you, once and for all," the Dark Leader drawled, overemphasizing every word he spoke, his face furious, shining through my eyes. I looked into the eyes of the Dark Leader, almost red in the faint torchlight of the room.

"Get ready to die," the Dark Leader almost whispered, squinting at us. "Any last words before I kill you and obliterate all of the realms? Or are you going to be killed cowering in fear?" I looked to Eric. He was standing defiantly.

The Light Leader sadly looked to us.

"I'm afraid we cannot win this battle," she sighed, slowly blinking and keeping her eyes closed for a long time. I turned my head and held Eric's hand. I kept his gaze, thinking about what could have been. This was the end.

Not only for Eric and I, but for a powerful leader who could have saved us. I could have saved us. But I didn't. I was too weak. A small tear fell down my face, traveling down my cheekbones and reaching my chin. The Dark Leader faced me.

"Goodbye," the Dark Leader said, with his deep, raspy voice and his evil smile. He raised his hands up again, grinning an awful smile. I braced myself for the impact, and Eric squeezed my hand.

The Dark Leader brought his hand down. A blast of darkness shot out of his hands, barreling towards us, and as if I was living in slow motion, I jumped in front of the Light Leader and Eric, holding my arms out.

A force field of light built itself in front of me. The blast of darkness collided with the Light barrier. A flash momentarily blinded me, so I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, the Dark Leader was staggering back.

He uprighted himself and looked down at his hands.

"Impossible," he muttered, then froze. He began to scream as his body turned to stone.

It slowly crumbled away, until the Dark Leader, the one who had brought such misery and darkness upon the realms, was finally gone.