This is it. The ultimate chapter! Hope you enjoy! I'll post up the epilogue afterwards!
Chapter Twelve: VengeanceWill, Taranee, and Hay-lin stepped through the portal leading to Kandrakar, whilst Irma and Cornelia to Meridian. In Meridian, Elyon had managed to pull her armies together very quickly, and they were set for the attack. Archers and swordsmen lined up as far as the eye could see, all intending to serve their Queen and do their world proud.
“Your majesty,” Caleb was all too paranoid about the Queen’s safety, after all, he had been fighting since his early childhood to put her on the throne; he didn’t want her to do something careless, so he once again pleaded, “This escapade is too dangerous. Being the Heart Queen of Meridian, you will be that much of a bigger target. Besides, the Guardians will be able to handle it on their own, Raythor and I will be fighting with the armies. Is there any way I can get you to reconsider?”
“Sorry,” Elyon replied, “There is no way you are keeping me out of this one; I just wish we had more time to prepare.”
“We all do.” Irma agreed, “But this was only dumped on us a couple of days ago. Still, we managed to beat Phobos and super Cedric on only a couple of days warning, so I say: let’s go kick some evil butt!”
“Seriously?” groaned Cornelia, as they led the armies through the first portal. “Even you can think of a better line than that.”
Kandrakar. Will was talking with the Oracle, filling him in on the smaller details that he needed to know about the Knights, as he already knew the main bulk of it himself through his sight, when Meridian’s forces along with the rest of the Guardians came through the portal.
“I sense that the Knight’s coming is drawing nearer. I am impressed at the amount of allies you could gather on such short notice.” declared the Oracle, smiling down at the young Quintessence Guardian.
“Yeah, well, we have a lot of friends.” Cornelia winked and nudged at Elyon, also looking at the array of soldiers flanking them.
“So how’s this going to work doll?” asked Napoleon, indicating this would be the perfect time for some sort of plan.
“Yeah, spill the beans!” urged Irma and the fortress filled with murmurs of the same gesture.
Will hushed them and began to speak, “I confess, I’m a little nervous and I’m not really sure how to command this sort of thing, but I’ll give it a go anyway. Okay, well we have about two main worries here: First, we need a group, probably of some Meridian soldiers, to safeguard the counsel.” Will looked over to them, trying to convince them they needed protecting. “I know you guys will be a big help, but you will be on their radar just as much as the rest of us, especially you Oracle, so please, let us try and protect you.”
The oracle nodded, knowing she spoke true.
Will continued, “Irma, you’re gunna hate me for this, but your leg is still in bad shape, I want you to stand back with the counsel for at least part of this.”
Irma tried to protest, but the Oracle waved her quiet and said, “The quintessence Guardian speaks truth. Your leg will be a huge hinder in this battle. If there is any way to avoid immediate injuries, I will do everything in my power to see to it.”
Irma knew she was defeated, so shrunk back, silently cursing the Knights for breaking her leg in the first place.
Will continued, “Second, and most important of all, is dealing with the Knights themselves. Judging from what Shagon told us, and by simple calculations, even though we do outnumber them, they out power us. We have three Hearts, an entire army, and more players that are magic. They have three Hearts too, but Nerissa’s old power doubled by the emotional power they gained from us, must equal an extra Heart’s worth. That’s our main priority: take out the Knights.”
“Of course staying alive wouldn’t hurt.” Hay-lin quipped, receiving the odd smirk from around the room.
The Oracle turned back to Will, wanting to aid in the strategy he suggested, “I would say divide and conquer is a sound strategy, would it help if our forces are split into three smaller groups to each focus on one of the adversaries? That way it lessens the chance of being caught unaware by a different style attack.”
“Great idea! The furry one… what’s his name?...”
“Kor.” Shagon immediately answered, finding his uses.
“That’s it, Kor!” Will continued, “He’s probably going to be the easiest as he can’t fly. I want all the melee soldiers from Meridians along with Napoleon and Cornelia to focus on overwhelming him. Many hands make light work, and with your wrist Corny, I don’t want you fighting the hardest targets, but if we need you we’ll shout. Same goes for you Irma.”
Everyone in the room generally agreed with that strategy, but there was more to come:
“Meridian archers, take a place upon the top balconies and try to get a shot in whenever you can. I suggest you find your positions now while there is still a bit off time.”
They scurried off to complete their orders.
“Taranee, you and I will take on Tridart, whilst Elyon and Hay-lin take on Ember. Non-combatants stand back, that includes you Matt.”
Matt pointlessly tried to get a word in edgewise, but Will stopped him before he could begin, “It’s too dangerous for you Matt, you know that.” She turned to Shagon and called out his name, catching his attention as he was growing bored of the endless lists of strategies, when knew a battle was, and never could be, that coordinated.
“I want you to stop Matt from doing anything stupid, understood?”
“He’s safe with me.” Shagon replied. He yawned and said, “Enough chit-chat, when can we get this show on the road?”
“Soon.” Will replied, “All too soon. Alright, Napoleon, you had better change into regent form pronto. I’ll unite the Guardians. Everyone else, battle stances!”
Within a few moments and bright flashes of light, the Guardians each in turn called out their element and were ready for the forthcoming battle, even though they all were, secretly, dreading it.
Silence. Everyone waited with baited breath, clutching at their weapons or summoning a blast of their power, awaiting the arrival of the Knights.
From above, there was a faint rumble. It grew louder and louder until the walls began to shake and chunks of stone rained down from the ceiling.
“Oracle! Counsel! Find cover in one of the end corridors. Irma, take control of one of the battalions and keep them safe!” Will directed, in a last minute attempt to get everyone prepared.
“Count on it!” Exclaimed Irma, as she led the counsel of Kandrakar to safety, along with a small army.
Above them, a giant fold opened overhead, revealing three large figures which were the Knights of Vengeance. Everyone looked up in awe at their empowering and intimidating statures. Each almost matched the size of Cedric, but certainly matched his strength and fierceness by a mile. Towering tall over everyone, the Knights looked down on their pray and Tridart simply said, “If three worlds couldn’t stop us, do you really think you’re small rabble is going to stand a chance?”
Ember looked down at Shagon and chuckled, “My, my, I guess the traitor decided to come to the party after all! And a pity not on the winning team! But I am in no mood for banter, no, I’m hungry! Hungry for power, that is. And I just found the perfect dish… ATTACK!”
The battle commenced all so sudden, and the rumbles of the crumbling walls echoed all through the fortress…
Looking up at the huge size of their new opponents, Will gulped and quipped, “Whoa, someone’s been taking their vitamins.”
Archers were the first to the strike. Their aim was steady and true, and precise enough for almost three quarters to hit their mark. The arrows shot through the sky like a sheet of death, but when they made contact with the Knights it only gave them but a mere pinprick of pain.
One lucky shot hit Tridart right in the side of the head, but barely buried itself half an inch before crumbling to his icy exterior.
The melee attackers ran to Kor the second battle commenced. Though none of the soldiers stood as high as his waistline, they managed to get in a few good hits.
Their tactic was think of him like a tree; half of the men weaken him and batter him with their shields, while the other half hack away at his unprotected legs.
It didn’t damage him as much as it… pestered him. He was growing more and more furious at the annoying, puny as it was, attempt at a decent attack.
It a fit of Hulk-like rage, he flailed his legs in all directions, shaking off the soldiers. It was surprising how quickly one creature could lay waste to almost an entire world’s army. They tumbled to the ground and produced almost a domino effect, knocking the next man down behind them. If it wasn’t all so serious, it would seem almost laughable.
Napoleon was the familiar and protector to Lillian Hale, Cornelia’s little sister. She had been named the Heart of Earth only a few months back, but her power surface ahead of schedule, and understanding she wasn’t ready to be revealed such a life-changing secret about herself, they kept her in the dark.
During a battle with Nerissa and some very confusing fairy-tale telling, Napoleon winded up syphoning Lillian’s power and becoming the temporary Heart of Earth, meaning he almost matched Kor in size and power.
Napoleon bounded through the battlegrounds and leapt up onto the back of Kor. This was more of a purposeful enraging attack, as part of a tag team. Cornelia mustered up the strongest vines she could and used them to bound Kor’s legs together. She slowly condensed them together, and he found the vines too strong to break loose from. Napoleon’s attack was making him wobble and teeter, so eventually his rage got the better of him and as he was trying to shake Napoleon off, he toppled down to the ground, landing face first on the hard fortress floor.
Cornelia then tried to make some more vines to bind his arms together, but even with his small brain, he predicted the attack and managed to defend himself by knocking Cornelia into one of the fortresses walls.
Hay-lin and Elyon were doing well against Ember, but well as in, they were holding their own, nothing more. Elyon, being the Heart of her world, managed to do some considerable damage to Ember, but that same damage she received herself. They were almost on level pegging’s.
Ember would mainly attack with streams of liquid lava, as the accuracy was better; sometimes she formed mounds of molten rock, which the odd time would seriously harm one of the girls.
Will and Taranee faced against Tridart. Nothing really seemed to hurt him unless Taranee could get a rare fire attack in, but he was usually too quick for them and he was usually on the offensive attack.
The girls circled around his head, attempting to disorientate him in order to get a semi-powerful strike in, and to some extent, it worked.
They stuck to the plan of not switching opponents, and their main priority was to watch the others’ back. Ember lunged in and had time to do serious harm to Will, but Hay-lin jumped in to intercept the strike before it made contact.
After the battle had lasted half a dozen minutes, Tridart said to himself, “Where is the counsel? I don’t see them anywhere.” He shook his head in frustration. “As much as I loathe him, the man is no fool. He would know we would search for him, and the coward has probably gone into hiding.” He looked around him, making sure his thoughts weren’t distracting him from the battle ahead. “No matter, I’ll hunt him down. I just have to deal with these pests first…”
Tridart aimed a powerful ice blast at Taranee, but lucky for her, she melted most of it and sidestepped the rest.
Will aimed a charge of electricity, but it didn’t even leave a scratch. Tridart removed his hammer, knowing that his elemental attack just wasn’t doing justice right now.
He swung his hammer high into the sky, aiming for Taranee. His wild aim meant he missed, so he quickly redirected the strike at Will. He missed again. Thinking like a tactician, he decided to feign a strike at Will, then quickly divert to Taranee. It worked to perfection, and Taranee, unaware the strike was coming to her, had no time to defend herself.
After seeing her friend layed out on the ground, Will was a little quicker in dodging the strikes this time. You can’t be lucky all the time, as one hit her square on the chest and sent her hurtling into one of the fortresses pillars, crumbling it on impact.
“Like swatting at flies…” Tridart taunted as he put his hammer behind him and flew away.
Irma, the small army and the counsel gathered in a large room of the fortress. Although they were nowhere near the commotion, they could hear it and worry spread across all of their faces.
“My friends need me.” Irma stated. She geared up to fly off but the Oracle but a hand on her shoulder in order to stop her. He said, “Remember the words of the keeper. She told you that unless she called in an emergency, you were to remain here. I do not want you carelessly wondering into battle with a damaged limb. Keep calm. All will be well.”
Irma relaxed a tad at his confident words, but still shivered at the thought of not being able to aid her friends. It was unfair she had to sit on the sidelines for one of the biggest battles they had faced so far, and longed to fight the ones responsible for her broken leg in a battle for the fate of the universe, as it was clear she was needed. Her wish may have become more realistic then she at first had hoped:
Tridart came down one of the great halls and stopped at the door to the massive room they were gathered in. “Ah, the counsel at last…”
Irma instinctively put herself in a defensive stance. The army did the same.
He did the flying equivalent of waltzing through the doorway, confidence shining from every inch of his body. “If you would prefer, you could offer to us infinity now. Save the bloodshed of Kandrakar’s champions and Meridian’s finest.” He caught the scent of something. Something he had longed for since Varthan: Fear. The counsel all seemed calm and collected, but a stray few, Halinor mainly, was radiating pure fear like a beacon.
It flowed into Tridart and filled him with a strong sense of replenishment. He chuckled, and unleashed an icicle shower attack that rained from the ceiling. Irma tried to create a shield but some still broke through, and the room was empty with nowhere to find cover.
She held the shield as long as she could before she collapsed under the weight of it, and icicles dropped over everyone. The small army covered the counsel with their shields, and a few of the brave ones ran in to attempt to cease the attack, but to no avail.
After a while though, Tridart was bored of his own attack and called it off. Instead, he launched a stream of ice, directly at Irma, who flew away just in time. This left only a thin layer of soldiers covering the counsel and the Oracle.
The Oracle sensed Tridart’s ambitions, and knew that the soldiers that stood protecting him may not withstand the attack. He used a sleep inducing spell that knocked out the ones that stood between him and Tridart, then he telekinetically moved them to either side of the room.
He stepped forward and declared, “You have entered the fortress at the Heart of Infinity without our consolation. I wish you to leave our world and never return.”
Tridart hovered to the ground and couldn’t help himself from laughing. His laugh turned into a mocking cackle, and he said, “No one will stand in the way of my destiny. Not even a weak old wise man such as yourself!” He unleashed a giant bowling ball of ice power, and sent it hurtling towards the cowering group. The Oracle simply waved his hand in the air, making the ball vanish instantly, and didn’t even break a sweat doing so.
That size attack could easily wipe the floor with a couple of the Guardians, even if at full strength, but it seemed a casual walk in the park for the Oracle.
He formally taunted, “Oh, but I am not just a weak old wise man. No. The title of Oracle comes with great power. A power I have studied for many years. A power greater than you could ever imagine.”
Tridart cackled, “That’s what I’m here for…”
Irma, not wanting the Oracle to risk himself anymore, flew down behind Tridart and sent a gushing wave at his back. He stumbled, but nothing too severe. He turned around and hit her to the ground with the end of his super-sized hammer.
Irma landed in a bad way in her leg and winced at the agony, determined not to show she was weak. Knowing she couldn’t do this alone: “Somebody. Anybody! I need some help right about now!”
Will was the first to recover from Tridart’s powerful strike. She looked all around her and noticed Tridart was nowhere to be found. Will determined that Tridart must have flown off to target Irma and the counsel, and cursed him for using their own ‘divide and conquer’ tactic. She replied, “Hang on, I’m coming!”
Surging down the hallways and peering into every room she went by, she really wished Irma could start being more specific. The fortress was massive! How Tridart found Irma in the first place she’ll never know.
After stopping for a brief moment in the midst of what she now dubbed ‘a maze’, she heard sounds of a distant commotion. With sound being her current best friend, she followed it until she came to a large room with the doors swung right open. Inside, Irma was flying around in all directions, struggling to hold her own until Will had arrived, but thankfully, the Oracle was assisting her.
Will entered and sent a wave of electricity, zooming through Tridart’s body at the speed of light. He gave a groan of pain, but it didn’t harm him for long. He decided first to take a swing at the unguarded counsel, and with all his might, his hammer charged through the air - but suddenly stopped.
The Oracle was using a shield of pure telekinetic energy to ward off the attack and protect the others around him and himself. The Guardians, and even Tridart, stopped to watch in awe for a moment, before Tridart released the hammer and took a swing for the Guardians instead. The first one they dodged out of the way for, but the second came all too quickly and knocked them both into one of the far walls.
Will opened her eyes and looked to were Irma sat, who was not being able to resist clutching at her leg in a desperate attempt to sooth the pain.
Will pled to Irma, “You need to recover. It’s sheer suicide to fight with your leg in that condition; Tridart is just too powerful. Please, go!”
Irma looked up, adrenalin somehow relinquishing the sharp, dagger-like agony. She stared at Tridart straight in the eyes. “And leave you here with him?” Irma quietly growled. Her voice rose, and turned into more of a jeer, “No. The only way I’m not fighting is if this leg falls off!”
Irma burst off the ground and like watery fists coming from all directions she battered at Tridart like a boxer. He made a few slim attacks but missed them all. Irma was fuelled on fury more than anything else, and it was working, so nobody attempted to stop her!
Will then joined in yelling, “Irma, double team!”
They flew next to one another and grasped each other’s hands, creating a sphere of electrified liquid. They knew this was the most damaging attack they had ever tried on Tridart, so it was worth a shot.
When they launched it, he roared in convulsing pain. As soon as they shot the first one, they summoned up another and another, hoping to overwhelm Tridart.
However, all they needed to miss was one, and it put him right back on the attack. He strapped his hammer behind his back and tightly grabbed both of the girls in each hand. He could have squeezed them to death there and then, but he found more pleasure in watching them struggle.
“You know, I never thought I’d find this much pleasure squashing bugs!” He taunted.
The Oracle couldn’t bear to watch, therefor to aid the desperate Guardians he sent a pure wave of power, throwing Tridart and the girls back into the wall. They all got hurt from the attack, but it did make Tridart lose grip on the two girls. The Oracle sent another wave, this one a tad more powerful and one that only harmed Tridart.
As Will and Irma picked themselves up off of the floor, they looked at the Oracle’s amazing feat of power, and Irma asked Will, “Okay, if the Oracle can do THAT,” she pointed at him sending another surge of pure magic at Tridart. “Then why isn’t he outside fighting alongside the rest of us?”
Will asked herself the same thing, even though she knew the answer, “Because, if they get ahold of him for one second and managed to drain his power, we are looking at a no contest. It would be like Super Cedric times Mega Nerissa times Ultimate Phobos times INFINITY bad!”
Tridart now understood who he was fighting against, and knew an opponent change would be the smart move. “If I’m gunna stand a chance, I gotta take out the Oracle; the old man’s starting to get on my nerves…”
A couple of minutes later, Luba came running into the room, blinding calling for the Oracle.
The Oracle was back standing with the rest of the counsel as the two Guardians were still on the attack. The Oracle asked where Luba had been and what the matter, to which she replied, “I had locked myself away inside the chambers where the aura meres are kept. I know you swore they would be safe under your cast of spells but I was skeptical. Please forgive me.”
The Oracle replied, “I do Luba, for you are the one entrusted with guarding the aura meres; I can’t expect you to have all your faith in our magic, but you should have informed us first. I trust your judgment; however, I am not certain that is all that is troubling you?”
“Yes. I have been meditating on a way to rid our fortress of these intruders, for I knew it was not possible for you too in this time of battle. I believe I have found a solution.”
The counsel looked to her and hinted for her to continue. “The veil. If we could create a small veil, designed to remove those opposing Kandrakar, it may safeguard the fortress.”
The Oracle smiled and said, “A veil, yes! It would require considerable power, but I believe it is possible! Congratulations, Luba.”
The Oracle, Alfor, Tibor and Halinor stood themselves in a square, and let the magic pour out of their bodies into a sphere that was forming in the center. The Oracle looked over to Luba and said, “We will need your help to create a veil. I sense that your power has developed to a level that could aid us in this feat. Please, link your magic to ours.”
Tibor stood back so Luba could join them.
Once Luba joined, in a more sinister and cackling like voice, she said, “I thought you’d never ask…”
Dark magic poured out of her and flowed into the Oracle and the others, choking them and sending a piercing pain into their stomachs.
The Oracle looked to her, coughed and said, “It’s… it’s one of you! This Luba has been an imposter!”
Luba transformed into a Knights form.
“Ember…” the Oracle hissed.
When the Oracle declared it, the soldiers surrounding them attempted to attack at Ember, but nobody could penetrate the link without an invitation, so were thrown back before they made contact.
Ember jeered, “The same. And you have just invited me to your mystic link!” More dark power oozed out of her, making the counsel and the Oracle weaker and weaker by every passing second.
The Oracle coughed and sputtered, “How was I so blind to it… unless… you must have tampered with my sight! How dare you! I don’t know how, I don’t know when… but I should have known. If Nerissa had the power, then there is no doubt one of you could have as well. But do us the pleasure of relieving us of this worry: what have you done with the real Luba?”
“She is unharmed, but will not recover for hours.” Ember answered. “By that time, Kandrakar will be firmly in our control, and there will be nothing you can do to stop us!”
The giant ball grew larger and larger, and the council could not stand it’s overwhelming power, drawing them inside. They fought back all they could, but they seemed at their weakest moment, and the ball claimed their fate.
However, they were not dead. No, this is an impenetrable bubble, almost like a force field, impossible to escape from the inside. Nerissa had used it once before on the council, by hiding in their midst’s just as Ember had today. They both had the power to tamper with the Oracle’s sight.
Will and Irma witnessed what Ember was doing to the council, and rushed over there to stop her. Instead of elemental powers, they unleashed full blasts of magic onto the orb, but it reflected it like a shield.
Ember chuckled and said, “Fool me once, shame on you - Fool me twice, shame on me. The gullible fool has miraculously fallen for the same trick twice!” She shot her head round to the girls. “Making our conquest that much easier!”
Without the council to worry about anymore, as they were safe inside that bubble, Will and Irma reluctantly rejoined the battle outside. After informing the others of what had happened, they decided they couldn’t risk dwelling on it until the battle was over, when they had time to try and free the council.
All strategies out the window now - This was war. Everyone would fight everyone and everyone fought to their breaking point.
Nobody was ahead in this battle. The Knights and the Guardians seemed evenly matched, and the battle was ongoing now for twenty minutes with no signs of a conclusion on the near future. Tridart would make a swing for Will, but Taranee would intercept it.
With Taranee’s back turned, she made an easy target for Ember, but Irma would dowse the fire before it did any harm. Then Hay-lin and Irma would join together to double team Ember, which worked for a brief moment, until Tridart caught them unaware, and froze their hands together.
He launched an array of icicles at the two, but luckily, Elyon dived in to shield them. With their hands bound together, they were defenseless. Taranee was busy dueling with Ember, throwing fireball after fireball when Irma screamed her: “Hey, I could use some meltage over here!” To which Taranee laughed and flew over to free them.
“The Knights have served their purpose… perhaps it is time…”
All of a sudden, the fortress and the sky above it plunged into total darkness. Nobody could see a hand in front of their face, not even a glinting of a sword or shield.
Irma looked all around her, bewildered. “Alright, who forgot to pay the electric bill?”
Nobody could see a thing. The Knights, the Guardians and all of the soldiers looked around them, confused. It was too dark to continue fighting, so everybody simultaneously stopped in an attempt to try to find the cause of the sudden darkness.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, the Knights were lifted high into the air by some strange force. All that could be heard other than confused murmurs of everyone on the ground, were the shrieks and screams of terror in those three.
The only way anybody knew anything of what could be happening, was through the lightning that repetitively struck in random patterns. When they looked up, they could see through the strikes of lightning all the Knights hovering in the sky.
The Knights tried to resist the force pulling them upwards, but it was impossible. They now began to form a triangle in the air, and before they could ask what was happening, they began to whirl around extremely fast in a perfect circle until they only seemed like a floating halo.
Dark power began pouring out of their bodies to form the vague shape of a person above them. The outline began to look sharper and more defined, morphing into a figure looking like a woman in her late twenties.
Colour began appear now. Her long black hair flowed down to her ankles, wider than the woman herself. Her piercing black eyes caught the glint of the lightning and shone like daggers. They wore an outfit, similar to the Guardians when transformed.
She wore striped green and blue stockings and a long one-piece dress, with wide sleeves that stopped just below her elbows; all were in a radiating pink.
The light returned but an inner darkness remained. A black abyss that lingered in everyone’s soul. A shiver of fear that tingled down their spines…
Many months ago, inside the fortress of Kandrakar. Just after the sorceress that was troubling Meridian and captured Elyon had been identified as Nerissa.
Irma looked around her confused. “Okay, so I didn’t bring my ‘Who’s who of Kandrakar’. So Nerissa is…?
The Oracle looked to them with the deepest look of concern. “As you know, you were not the first Guardians. Decades ago, there were five others: Cassidy, Halinor, Yan-lin, Kadma… and Nerissa….”
“They were C.H.Y.K.N?” laughed Hay-lin, “Whoa, I am so glad we’re W.I.T.C.H!”
The Oracle continued, “Nerissa lead the Guardians as Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, as you do Will. But I sensed the power of the Heart was corrupting Nerissa. To save her soul, I took the Heart away, and gave it to Cassidy. Nerissa became obsessed with her lost power. After begging and pleading, she took Cassidy to the top of Mt. Brecon, and demanded she returned the Heart. Cassidy... refused.”
The Oracle took a deep breath, and the rest of the counsel hung their heads and closed their eye’s, knowing they were about to remember the thing they most wanted to forget. The Oracle continued, “In a fit of madness or rage, Nerissa struck Cassidy with all the might of her power. The force pushed Cassidy off the crumbling cliff edge she was stood on, and down to the ground below. Devastated, Nerissa fled. But I imprisoned her atop Mt. Thanos, hoping she would redeem herself by facing her guilt. I fear I may have erred.”
Halinor added, “When Phobos’ reign over Meridian forced us to raise the veil, we could no longer watch over her.”
Yan-lin added, “She must have escaped, and gone into hiding.”
‘The mage’ looked to the girls and said, “On Meridian. Perhaps a portal opened on Mt. Thanos, allowing her escape.”
“Nerissa is a greater threat now, than she was then” The Oracle stated. “Every world has a source of mystic energy, like the Heart of Kandrakar. Elyon was the Heart of Meridian. With her power, Nerissa’s might equals the five of yours… combined.”
Everyone glanced around worried. Irma gave a fearful chuckle and said, “Right! ‘Cause otherwise, way too easy!...”
Back in the present, the entire population of the fortress was cowering in awe at the return of Nerissa.
Nerissa looked down upon the tiny ants beneath her. She noticed straight away the Guardians, that stupid fur-ball Napoleon, and someone whom she did expect to see but it came as a surprise anyhow. “My son, at the least could you see fit to kneel before your mother?”
Caleb stared at her back, but remained silent.
“After so long you would think I would have a speech prepared, but the only words that can describe it are: free at last, and how joyous it feels!” Nerissa said whilst stretching her arms out.
She looked to the lifeless bodies of her former thralls. “Useless piles of junk.” She thought to herself. “Although, I guess they did do their orders. No, all I asked of the incompetent things was to ‘quietly destroy the Guardians’ but nooo. Couldn’t handle that, could they.” She noticed one was missing…
It struck her. “Where is my dear angel of malice, or did he not survive long enough to see my glorious return, conquest and triumph?”
“I’m right here.” Shagon stepped forward.
Nerissa noticed something was different; the fact he wasn’t alongside the rest of his Knights was a start. Then when the soldiers, Guardians and their old prisoner Matt stepped alongside him, she pieced it together. “You traitor!” she yelled, her monstrous voice echoing round the fortress walls and causing them to shake and groan. “How dare you betray me?! After all that I’ve done for you!”
Shagon glanced round at his former friends and dryly quipped, “I know, I’d love to be in the pile of bodies over there. I am sooo jealous. Why, oh why, would I ever deceive them?”
“You won’t be laughing much longer, fool.” Nerissa countered, “You will have your chance to join them, but I’m not wasting your execution for treason now… I have bigger goals…”
Snapping round to face Will and the Guardians she said, “Give me the Heart of Kandrakar now, and I promise to make your deaths quicker and less painful than what you have coming to you.”
Irma laughed and said, “Lady, the only thing painful here is having to look at that horrible birds nest on top of your head!”
Knowing it could and would cost then their lives, all the soldiers forced themselves to hold back a smirk.
Will stepped forward and said, “Look, Rissy, we beat you once, and we’ll do it again. By taking out the Knights you just made our job a whole lot easier! So if you want the Heart…” she made it appear in her hands and dangled it by the string. “…come and get it!”
“Ohohoho! Hostile little child isn’t she!” Nerissa cackled. “No, I’m after more than that… I seem to recall what happened around seven months ago… what happened just outside the infinite city prison… …All I wanted to do was to make the universe a better place… and I could have succeeded, if it wasn’t for you, little Guardian girl. In the blink of an eye, you snatched away my dreams, my ambitions… and my vision.” She clenched her fist tightly.
Will put the Heart back around her neck and it vanished inside of her. “You did have a vision, sure - just no conscious. You stole Hearts and started wars! How is that a good vision?”
“Imbecile! With but a few battles, I would have united worlds! I would have ended war for all time! That… is… vision. Vision is something you lack, little child. You do not have the experience to bear the Heart of Kandrakar in your name. It should be where it rightfully belongs: Back in the palm of my hands…”
“The Heart belongs to those who use it for good, for justice. Not for a petty tyrannical dream of some old woman who can’t let go of the past. If you can’t see that, then you are the imbecile, not I.”
“Don’t you dare address me that way! Or-“
“Or what?” Will interrupted. “Or you’ll destroy me? Like you destroyed Cassidy? Does her memory really mean that little to you?”
“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE MEANT TO ME!”
Anger driving Nerissa’s actions once more, as a powerful beam of quintessence energy, more powerful than any Will had ever created, or any that Nerissa had ever created for that matter, surged through the air directly at Will. It came so sudden, so unexpected, and so fast…
The force delivered created a burning bright light, as light as the sun, which completely encased the fortress. When the dust cleared, Will removed her arms that were shielding her face from potentially being blinded, to find Shagon only a few feet from her, on his back with the light faded from his eyes.
“Shagon!” Will exclaimed, diving over to his side and attempting to recover him. “Shagon! Please! Can you hear me! Shagon, if you can hear me open your eyes”
Miraculously hearing her cries, Shagon shifted on the ground and slowly eased his eyes open. “Will?” he winced with the pain, and did not attempt to sit upwards as he knew it was useless.
“Shagon, what were you thinking? Can you move?” Will sobbed, clutching his arm.
Even though he was in agony with the pain, under his mask he managed a faint smile and said, “I feel better than ever.” Will clutched on tighter. He continued, but with a considerably weaker voice, “I feel… I feel finally freed from this burden and guilt… free from Nerissa’s curse… and that’s all I ever wanted…”
“Oh Shagon…” Will sobbed.
Shagon mustered up all his strength to hold on to her hands in his. “…Wow! I never thought kindness would be my undoing… but it was worth it…” He pulled Will a little closer to him. “Listen Will, I have something I need to confess… I never mentioned anything before, because I knew you could never feel the same way… …but I love you Will… I’ve loved you ever since the first day I layed eyes upon you… I even loved it when you hated my guts… I just wanted you to know before I left… …because the time all of us spent together, was the best part of my life… I’m just sad it has to end so abruptly…” He sighed a heavy sigh, a tear shed from his eye as he looked to Will one last time. “… Goodbye Will… I’ll never forget you…”
With his last words, Shagon breathed his last breath. His soul slipped away as he shuffled off this mortal coil into the next world.
“No, no Shagon you can’t go!” Will cried out, tears not holding themselves back as she hugged his lifeless body, hoping that he had at least one strand of life left in him, but he was gone. “… You can’t go…” she mumbled.
After a few moments, she rose to her feet. She turned her body to face Nerissa, but did not bother to raise her head; instead, she stood there staring at the piles of rubble at her feet and in a low voice, similar to a growl but more emotionless and empty, she said, “Vengeance is a powerful trait held dearly by those who clutch at the straws of hope and peace... but when they push for that desire all that is left is despair and loneliness with the shard remains of what they once had... and the lucid-clear vision of what they have lost....”
Now she raised her head and gave the most cold and threatening stare right into the eyes of Nerissa, almost as if she was peering into her soul. “I claim your vengeance as you have no right to even utter the word. I vow to avenge Shagon’s demise, even if it’s the last thing I do….”
Nerissa yawned, taking no apparent notice of Will’s threat, and said, “Another time child…” She waved her hand and swept it through the air, making all around fall to the ground.
Irma and Taranee flew towards her and unleashed a wave of their power, but it was hopeless as Nerissa shot them down within seconds; and they were back on the ground convulsing from the shock. Even though it was three Hearts to three, Nerissa’s power was concentrated to just her, whereas the others were scattered around.
Hay-lin flew towards her whilst spinning around in a funnel shape to create a mega-powered tornado. Now inside the tornado, she charged at Nerissa but ricocheted off without even leaving a scratch. Nerissa created a Quintessence shield that Hay-lin just could not break through.
“You’re no match for my powers by now!” Nerissa cackled. Her echoing voice was the voice of pure dark power, which seemed an attack in itself.
The Guardians cowered under the force pushing them towards the ground as Nerissa persisted with another Quintessence attack, this one was more like a crushing weight. Elyon flew in from behind and shot a beam of light, making Nerissa fall forwards a few feet. Nerissa countered but Elyon dodged out of the way and kept sending pinpricks of light, which felt like punches to Nerissa.
Eventually, Nerissa managed to knock Elyon to the ground with a bolt of electricity, but by this time, the Guardians were back on the attack.
They flew in unison, until cut off by Nerissa holding them in a power draining attack. They tried to wriggle free but it was no good. Luckily, a team of Meridianites led by Vathic charged at the sorceress with their swords drawn high, but didn’t even make it half way across the battle plains before Nerissa changed opponents and froze them solid in a glass mixture.
The Guardians dropped to the ground, barely able to move.
Everyone around was about to run head long in a dire attempt to at least give the girls time to recover, but Nerissa was one step ahead. She waved her arm once more in the direction of the Meridianites and the others, only this one was more powerful so it weakened them considerably and seized their movement.
Nerissa turned back to the helpless Guardians. “You have something I need!” she cackled, whilst reaching out her power to grab the Heart, which had appeared around Will’s neck.
“Nooo!” Will wailed, outstretching her arm. She tried desperately to summon up all her power to bring the Heart back to her, but Nerissa’s mystic pull was becoming too much to handle. The girls flickered between their normal and Guardians clothes, a sign the Heart was moving further and further from Will’s grasp. However, Will would not give up.
Everything she tried though wasn’t enough, and even with a new limit being broken the Heart still crept away from her towards Nerissa’s open palm.
Suddenly, Matt ran from out of the blue with a sword drawn high, charging fearlessly towards Nerissa in an attempt to shatter the beam holding the Heart. It was short lived, as Nerissa struck him down with ease and he tumbled to the floor.
Rage fuelling adrenaline, with even more might Will tried to power out of Nerissa’s magical threshold encasing the five. Thankfully, Elyon had managed to recover to her feet and was using her power to bring the Heart away from Nerissa too. Moments later, Napoleon joined.
Nerissa sensed she wouldn’t win that particular duel, so stepped back to regain herself.
The Guardians managed to get to their feet and Will had time to place the Heart back in her possession.
Nerissa now felt a tad threatened. Desperately, she turned herself into four massive dragons, all roaring and grumbling with fierceness. However, Hay-lin quickly found a flaw in Nerissa’s new plan and she exclaimed with defiance, “It won’t work Nerissa! The ancient emperor’s four dragons were good!”
Hay-lin proved correct, as when Nerissa attempted to make the dragons attack, they unwillingly cowered backwards, unable to harm the Guardians.
The Guardians fired beams of their pure elemental abilities, making the dragons roar in frustration. When Nerissa couldn’t take anymore, she reverted back to her normal self, panting at the effort of keeping up that particular persona. She knew Hay-lin was right, and she could have saved herself the energy if she had quit sooner, but overconfidence is always a hinder.
The Guardians, Elyon and Napoleon floated in the air. They each summoned up a pure elemental or a pure Heart’s power shield that they threw towards Nerissa. The shields circled around Nerissa, gaining speed as they went until they formed a perfect entrapping halo around her.
The halo multiplied into many, until they all shrunk tightly to bind themselves around her. It squeezed her tightly, until eventually, out came three magic orbs: The Hearts of Zambala, Auridia and Varthan.
“Noooo!” Nerissa wailed, “This can’t be how it ends…”
With the halos wrapped tightly around her like cords, Nerissa found the struggle for freedom next to impossible.
“Stealing Hearts, invading worlds, attacking Kandrakar…” Will coldly began, “Your lust and fight for vengeance has left you with nothing. You lost a dear friend, a fellow Guardian at that. You also lost a husband and a son. Your vision was nothing but another dream of a petty tyrant. Why, you were no better than Phobos. Your short temper also lost me a friend - one who did not deserve death. So goodbye Nerissa, I hope you finally found the happiness you were searching for…”
With one malicious sweep of the arm, all of Will’s power and energy sent a wave of Quintessence at Nerissa. Nerissa disintegrated upon impact.
Everyone rose from the ground, confused and disorientated. The soldiers picked up their friends and everybody dusted each other off. The girls looked around at the mass of devastation as far as the eye could see. Walls crumbled and rubble lay everywhere on the floor; ornaments were smashed; some areas were still on fire and others were flooded with a thin layer of water. Bodies were all around, full of the injured and wounded, or in the Knights cases - lifeless.
After scanning the destruction, all Hay-lin managed to say was the faint whisper, “Wow.”
Irma scanned it too and added, “It looks like my room.”
Minutes later, everyone was surprised to see the Oracle and the council return from their glowing prison. “The cage vanished when Nerissa did.” The Oracle explained. “I want to congratulate all of you for protecting Kandrakar at its time of need,” he glanced over to Shagon’s body “I just wish the price wasn’t so high, but these things have a way of correcting themselves. A good deed shall not go unrewarded. Remember that.”
Everybody was too groggy to ask exactly what he meant, but it was not like he would tell them anyway. The Oracle had been dubbed ‘The King of cliff hangers’ for he would never answer his own riddles, much to the annoyance of the Guardians.
They council and Guardians talked for a long while, before the chatters were hushed and a council member spoke up. “At this present time, you should all return to your homes and families.” Alfor said, “You have done well, but we should begin the rebuilding stage by first awakening Luba.”
“One question:” Elyon inquired, “What do we do with those?” she pointed to the three glowing objects, hiding on one of the corners.
The Oracle smiled and said, “They shall return to their kingdoms as soon as we permit it. I wish only that their Heart’s had taken by willing and not force. I do not want to bear on my conscious that we brought our battle to other worlds and caused them turmoil.”
“Agreed.” chorused the council…
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. I just finished watching it before I read this, love it, anyways your story is great you should post more stories in the future, hell I haven't seen anybody, but you and someone named 'Soliar.x', on in the last three days, and I been on here like 10 hours a day on and off, while I look for a job 
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. It was the best series I have ever seen! I never get tired of watching it I have it on my computer and I watch it over and over again 
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! Anyways... The way you did this story was great so I encourage you to either do a full-length season 3 as you stated cheeses or not I love that kind of stuff in stories anyway 
. Sooo yea... anyway if you would send me the link to the site you are referring to I would be more than happy to see what they have, again your a great writer you should keep doing what you do and who knows you might be the one who comes up with the next big idea in writer like W.I.T.C.H. it started out as a comic than then turned into a T.V. series so so keep it up!!!