The Dragon's Bounty III:Dying Light

Chapter 13

          The Grand Alliance Army looked upon the chest as swirling darkness began spurting from it, demons taking shape and beginning to form a circular line.
          "Charge!" Dagger shouted, pointing his sword at the demons. The warriors let out a mighty battle cry and rushed forward. Ethan raced up and ran a few demons through with a shimmering golden spike, Christopher and Alexander by his side, slicing through demons left and right. The demons began losing their footing as small holes popped up in the landscape. Jack spun his spear around and took out several of the demons effortlessly, firing blue energy from his fist. The outlaws spread out and fired their guns around the battlefield, carrying plenty of bullets in a satchel at each of their hips. Micah blasted up into the air and began rapid-firing down upon the demons. Kai and Lance flew up into the air, searching frantically for the Demon King, but he was nowhere to be seen. They flew down together and began focusing on the demons surrounding them. Dagger spun around and used his dark energy to fuel his sword past its limit, increasing its dark hue against the blade. Huey moved the water around him into a battle axe and sliced through the demons with ease. Duros used his meteor hammer to fight around and behind him, fighting in front of him with his sword. Aro spun his bowstaff around, clobbering any demons who got close to him. Andrew stood beside him, using his dual swords which were clearly too small for his large form. Khan struck the battlefield with lightning, sending his shield out to fight battles he couldn't quite reach, using his sword to fight the close battles.
Suddenly, the sky darkened even more, the grass going from grey to fully withered. The demons smiled and backed away, back toward the chest. The dwarves poked their heads out of their holes to look and see what was going on. The remainder of the chest exploded into splinters, the maniacal laughter from before returning now with a sense of realness to it. The Dragon's Bounty stepped forward, ready for the arrival of the Demon King. Dark power surged from the sky, what seemed to be a river spiraling down around it.
           "Styx." Kai said with a scowl. "He's using Styx." A large dark form dropped from the sky.
           "He's here." Khan said.
           The figure looked up with a smile. "Not quite." He said. He dashed forward and reared his fist back, slamming it into Khan's shield, Khan losing a few inches of ground. The others all began attacking him at once, the other demons surging forward once more toward the rest of the army. The large demon jumped back, seeming completely unharmed by any of the attacks. He laughed. "My name is Cerberus, and I'm normally the guardian of the shadow realm, but now, I have new orders!" He began growing, his eyes turning red and his head shifting into a snout, two more protruding from his neck. Once he had finished transforming into his massive three headed dog form, he howled up at the sun, which now looked similar to the moon. Cerberus grinned and looked down at The Dragon's Bounty, who all grimaced and jumped into the air.
           "We've taken down worse than a demon mutt!" Aro said, slamming his bowstaff into Cerberus' neck.
           Andrew planted his fist right beside it. "You say that, but have we?" He asked.
           Aro shrugged. "Just trying to sound intimidating."
           "Not working!" Lance shouted, blocking them from getting barraged by dark energy. Aro and Andrew jumped off of Cerberus' neck.
           "How do we hurt this guy?!" Kai shouted, blasting flames at Cerberus, who didn't seem to care.
           Khan stood on his shield beside Kai. "I'm not sure. But it's gotta be big." Kai nodded. Duros sent a thread up and coiled it around Khan's shield, tying himself upside down to it.
           "What if we use my binding thread?"
           Khan shrugged. "That's probably a good start." He said.
           "Everybody! Thread!" Kai shouted, igniting two flames in his hands and rearing back his arms. Dagger launched himself into the air and charged up a ball of dark energy, releasing it toward Cerberus' side. Huey sent a large wave filled to the brim with magic energy. Lance released a massive beam from his sword. Aro launched as many arrows as he could as fast as he could. Kai released the flames in his hands toward Cerberus, while Khan snapped his fingers as fast as he could. Duros swung up and shot out the glowing blue thread.
           "Binding thread!" He shouted, whipping the magic attacks together. He spun around and prepared to release the energy as Andrew strummed a tune to boost his magic. Duros let out a shout as he whipped the thread toward Cerberus, releasing the biggest glowing blue energy spike anyone had ever seen. Everyone did their attacks again just for extra measure, all of it slamming into Cerberus' side. Cerberus howled out in pain. He turned and looked at his side, which now had exposed bone and was dripping with black blood.
           "You shouldn't have done that." He said with a growl. The Dragon's Bounty stood together, staring Cerberus down. Cerberus howled, shaking the ground around him. The Dragon's Bounty held their ground. Cerberus looked down at them with his three heads. "You'll pay dearly for that." He barked, sending out a wave of dark energy. Dagger jumped forward and absorbed as much it as he could, Khan blocking some with his shield. Huey spun water around in front of him in an attempt to redirect the energy, but some got through and knocked him back. Kai blasted up into the air and raised his leg up. He slammed it into Cerberus' back, doing little damage. Cerberus laughed before he was blasted in the faces by a beam of red energy. Lance zoomed toward him and punched him right in the left jaw. Kai nodded to Lance, who returned the gesture. Kai stood on Cerberus' back and lit his hands on fire. He pointed them down into Cerberus' wound and released the flames. Cerberus cried out in pain as his innards began to light ablaze.
           Khan jumped up and pointed his sword at the wound. "Divine Smite!" He shouted. A massive lightning bolt came down and struck Cerberus' wound. Duros reached out his hand toward Huey, who took it. They both pointed their hands forward, launching a barrage of chiseled stone and water spikes. Dagger launched himself forward and absorbed the dark energy protecting Cerberus, allowing the demon to take more pain than he'd ever experienced before.
           "But how?! How could I lose?!" He shouted.
           Aro jumped up and raised his staff. "We're the Dragon's Bounty, baby!" He extended his staff and struck all three of Cerberus' heads, knocking him to the side. Cerberus toppled over and collapsed on the ground. The Dragon's Bounty stood near his corpse as it faded away, breathing heavily.
           "I have a feeling we've only just begun." Andrew said, walking up. Everyone nodded. Another purple beam came down from the sky, surrounded once more by the river Styx. Another figure dropped down, this one in a dark overcoat and a matching fedora. He looked over to the Bounty after looking around at the chaos around him.
           "How uncouth." He said. "Cerberus was supposed to hold you off longer than that. I guess each task requires the right overseer, and he was not the one." He dodged a bolt of lightning, seemingly blurring to the left. "I am Etel. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He held out his hand, which surged with dark energy. When no one shook it, he shrugged. "Impolite are we?" He asked with a frown. He adjusted his hat and disappeared. Suddenly, Aro went flying across the battlefield. Everyone turned around to see Etel standing in his place. "Guess I'll have to whip you into shape." At sonic speeds, he knocked each of them to the ground. Dagger sent out a wave of dark energy, but Etel seemed to phase right through it. Kai and Lance blasted into the air. Etel zoomed upward and grabbed Kai's ankle, slamming him into the ground. Khan jumped on his shield, Duros tying himself to it upside down once again. Kai stood up and watched Etel zip around the battlefield, tossing Aro and Huey into the air. Etel spotted him and zoomed over, leaving a flaming wound on Kai's chest.
            Kai chuckled. "Nice try, but you can't hit what you can't touch."
            Etel stopped in front of Kai. "You seem to be more annoying than the others." In a matter of moments, Kai's chest was filled with flaming scratch marks that quickly healed themselves. "Curious." Etel said. "I'll have to conduct further research later." He slammed his palm into Kai's forehead. Kai's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed limp on the ground. He turned back to Aro and Huey, who were now ready for an attack. "Well that was fun. Anywho, I haven't finished with you yet." But before he could take off, he was struck in the back by a bolt of lightning. Khan and Duros landed on the ground, creating a small crater and sending rubble into the air. Etel popped his back and turned to them. "You ought not have done that." He said. He dashed over to them, but collided with a wave of dark energy as Dagger stepped out from behind Duros and Khan. Etel flew back a few feet, slamming into Aro and Huey's waiting arms. Aro punched him with his glowing blue fist, Huey pummeling him with a few water hammers sprouting out of the hilt of his sword. Etel sent out his own wave of dark energy, surging off toward the rest of the group. Dagger thrusted Ferallity forward, open to the sealing page. Etel grabbed the book and closed it, tossing it behind him. "Those tricks don't work on me." He said with a grin. He slashed a glowing hand at Khan, who jumped backward, barely able to dodge it. Lance slammed down behind Etel and punched him in the back of the head with his red fist, planting his face into the ground. Etel turned around his head with a frown. He shot upward and spun his neck around in midair, planting his palm onto Lance's forehead, knocking him out as well. Khan punched Etel in the face with his shield, knocking some blood out of Etel's mouth. Dagger slammed his fist into Etel's chin, sending him a few feet into the air. Duros jumped up and solidified his fists, bringing them down right into Etel's chest, sending him into the ground. "Enough!" Etel shouted once he'd gotten up. He sent out a wave of dark energy, each one shaped like a hand. Dagger, Khan, and Duros all collapsed onto the ground. Etel turned to Huey and Aro, who was in the process of swinging his staff at Etel's head. Etel grabbed the staff and flipped Aro over his head, slamming him into the ground. Huey slid in and used his sword to slash at Etel's heel, causing him to fall over.
            "Have fun running around on that!" Huey shouted with a smile. Etel grinned. He suddenly sprouted another leg, the damaged one simply falling off.
            He popped his neck. "This oughta be fun." He said, wriggling his fingers. Aro dashed forward, staff first. He began jabbing as fast as he could, but Etel dodged every attack.
           "Keep him busy!" Huey shouted. He placed his hands together, drawing small droplets of water out of the withered grass around him.
           "Easy for you to say!" Aro shouted, getting punched in the chest by a high speed fist. He placed both hands on the staff. "ENHANCE!" His shout echoed across the landscape, covering the rest of his arms in blue energy. He jumped forward and spun the staff around, switching it to bow form. With one hand, he loaded an arrow. With the other, he enhanced his legs with a shout. He launched himself into the air and pulled back the arrow he'd notched. "You can't hit me if I'm all the way up here!" He shouted.
           Etel laughed. "These legs are stronger than they look." He said, launching up into the air. Aro released the arrow, sinking it into Etel's chest while he could not dodge. Etel swiped at him, but Aro was able to move out of the way. "Clever boy." Etel said. Suddenly, a water whip coiled around Etel, pulling him down to the ground. "What the?" He turned to Huey, who shouted
           "Andrew, now!" Andrew leapt out of the crowd of warriors, seeming to go in slow motion. He reached for his swords, but they were not there. He took his guitar off his back and pulled it back. Alexander turned and looked at Andrew, who was preparing to hit a high level demon with his guitar. He pried the stone out of his chest plate and hurled it at him.
           "Andrew!" He shouted. Andrew turned and looked at the small green gem shooting toward him. He swung the guitar. The gem collided with the front of his guitar, a bright green glow coming from it. The glow blocked everyone's vision, but when it came back, Etel was headless and had begun to fade away.
           "You talk too much." Andrew said.
           Etel's head sat on the ground. "You have bested me. I will relinquish my spell over your friends." He closed his eyes and smiled. "At least I went down fighting." And with that, he faded away. Andrew looked down at the green colored metal battle axe in his hand, enlarged to fit his current size. He noticed that both sides still had a decal that resembled strings and a hole like his guitar had. He smiled and raised the axe into the air.
           "I have a divine weapon!" He shouted. Huey and Aro helped the others up.
           "Get ready. Another one's coming." Khan said, pointing to the purple beam surrounded by the river. "Hold your ground everybody. We're not through yet." Everyone nodded and prepared themselves.