Kings and Crystals

Chapter Twelve

"Frostbourne. Time to end this."

The thunderous voice was loud in the previous silence. Where Enderheart and Naeus should've stood were two massive dragons, one resembling the Ender Dragon and the other a massive skeletal dragon with fiery orange and yellow horns. Enderheart and the Skeleton General.

"Surprised, General? Did you think I wouldn't use the power granted to me?" Naeus stared down at the group that had come to face him.

Abigail stepped forward. "General Naeus. I'll give you one opportunity to stand down and leave with your life."

"Queen Crysteffor. I thought you'd be proud of all I've done. I've kept your kingdom alive."

"You allowed me to be mortally wounded and usurped my throne. You do nothing but disappoint me, General."

"I succeeded where you failed, dear Queen. You bested me, but fell to a kid with a sword."

"I fell because despite your corruption, I still loved him. I still do. And I will die if it means protecting him and his friends."

Rain seemed slightly surprised, casting a glance over at the Nether Queen. Stella reached over, squeezing his hand before stepping forward to Abigail's side. "General Naeus, your tyranny ends here. I will not let you continue this reign of terror."

General Patrick drew his naginatas once more, their blades tipped with the dragon swords recovered from Enderheart. "We fight to the last man if it means you fall with us."

Naeus made a hissing sound, lowering his head to gaze at them. "You are all fools."

Azrael deployed her scythe and Gabriel's wings formed a shield. "There is no fool here but you, General."

Enderheart growled, and Naeus laughed. "Enough talk."

There was silence for a moment as steam began rising from Naeus's skeletal body, and Azura's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Patrick!"

Her warning was too late. A blazing inferno burst forth from Naeus's maw and engulfed Patrick. The battle had started. Nero and his comrades ran to keep Enderheart occupied as the rest of the Frostbourne moved to fight Naeus. Azura was by Patrick's side as soon as the inferno ceased and Naeus launched himself back to get some distance. The Grandmaster-General was still very much alive, but also critically wounded.

Stella looked at the Scholar. "Get him out of here. We've got this."

Azura nodded, picking up the injured Grandmaster and flying away. The rest of the group formed a line in front of Naeus. The dragon unleashed another blast of fire, but Azrael manipulated Gabriel's wings to shield the group, the blaze dying out against the resistant metal. Naeus, seeing the same approach wouldn't work twice, broke into a charge. Stella and Rain looked at each other, and the latter swiped at Naeus as he got near. The Skeleton General, however, simply took flight. With a laugh, he began raining fireballs down on the unfortunate party.

"We have to ground him!" Rain shouted to his teammates.

Azrael knew what to do. She summoned Gabriel's wings back to her and took flight. As she did, his wings merged with her own, morphing into a formation similar to a bird's wings. She propelled herself at ungodly speeds towards the Skeleton General, embers trailing from her eyes almost like tears. She swung her scythe out to the side, the blade cutting deep into one of Naeus's skeletal wings. She gave one final push as Naeus let out a roar of pain, severing the large bone from Naeus's body. She circled around, ready to strike again when Naeus fired another fireball at her as he tumbled down to the ground. It narrowly missed her, but it prevented her from striking again.

That didn't matter as soon as Naeus collided with the crystal tile of the floor, as Rain was waiting with the End Greatsword in hand. He swung the heavy blade down, severing Naeus's other wing before backing off. Stella began charging another blast of arcane energy, but Naeus wasn't going down easily. He let another burst of fire loose, forcing Stella to break concentration to dodge.

Then Abigail saw it: General Patrick's naginatas, with the dragon swords still attacked. "Azrael!"

The Angel of Death reacted instantly, diving for the polearm and gripping it tight. With an abandon to Naeus's fire, she activated her helmet and flew directly at the Dragon General. Despite being indulged in flames and lightning, she plunged the blade deep into Naeus's chest. As her armor heated up, she fell to the ground, and Naeus began to morph.

Soon, The Skeleton General stood in his King's armor and crown of horns, his sword in hand. "Part two, my friends. Let's go again."

He held his sword towards Stella, who was once again trying to form a powerful arcane beam. This time, she didn't have time to react as electricity surged from the weapon and into her body.

"Stella!" Rain shouted as he broke into a sprint, interrupting the flow of lightning with his greatsword. The Enchantress dropped to the ground, and he knelt by her.

Abigail was getting increasingly angry as time went on, and now it was just down to her. She clutched Ruby Thorn tight, and her eyes began to glow. They grew more and more intense until they were pure right, bloody red tears running down her face.

"Come get me, Naeus!" She shouted, and charged at him.

Naeus released burst after burst of electricity, but Abigail dove aside of each one, rolling and landing back on her feet, still running. When she got close enough, she swung Ruby Thorn at the General. He blocked with his sword, and it became a battle of strength.

Or so he thought. However, as Abigail began to lose strength, he saw the tip of Ruby Thorn glowing. Before he could react, the ruby blade released a pulse of red energy that threw him backwards. He attempted to get up, but Abigail was faster. She speared him through the chest with Ruby Thorn, and stabbed the blade into the wall.

Naeus looked her in the eye. "All... all I wanted... was for our kind to... to live on."

Abigail shook her head. "You wanted power. You wanted to conquer. So many more of our kind died in your wars than ever would have otherwise."

"I only ever... wanted what was best... for them."

Abigail picked up his sword. "No, you didn't. But your reign ends here. Goodbye, General."

With that, and one quick swipe of her sword, the General's skull fell to the floor, the red light dying out from his eyes. As Abigail reached to retrieve Ruby Thorn, she heard someone running up behind her, and Nero's voice. "No!"

She turned to see two blades coming down at her. Enderheart's blades. However, a light blue energy blade blocked them. To the side stood Ceris, her hood and bandanna down, and her eyes practically glowing.

She gave another push and sent Enderheart flying backwards. "You and I have some unfinished business."

Enderheart said nothing, only prepared her weapons once again for the fight.

Ceris did the same. "This is for Vordus, for Daryll... this is for Gabriel, for the sacrifice he made to protect his teammates from you. You won't leave here today."

Ceris swung one of her armblades down in a feigned attack, and Enderheart took the bait. Taking advantage of Enderheart's disorientation at the fake swing, she planted one of her armblades deep in the Dragon Queen's shoulder. It was torn free of her grip, but that didn't matter. Her opponent was now disabled. Ceris caught Enderheart's other sword in her armblade, and jerked it free before letting off several punches into Enderheart's head and neck. As the Dragon Queen staggered back, Ceris leapt into the air, coming down and landing on the armblade that was still buried in Enderheart's shoulder, forcing it down through her chest. The blade ripped apart her heart, and Ceris pulled it free as Enderheart died in a pool of blood on the crystal floor.

Rain helped Stella up, and with his help, the two made their way out to a balcony overlooking the city. Outside, most of the Zizo warriors had surrendered, held at blade or gunpoint by the Resistance fighters and the Frostbourne army.

He raised Naeus's skull high into the air. "It's over! We are victorious!"

At his proclamation came a cheer like no other from the crowd. At long last, their war with the Nether was over. Naeus was dead, the Zizo leaders were dead, and it was finally time to begin recovering.