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The Last Battle

The air was full of smoke. The castle was on fire, and palace staff and disoriented royals were running every which way. Their plan was working, the empire was falling. Rhyzanthus was going down, and Seanna was getting dragged down with him. At least that's what our heroes thought.
Amber, Captain of her pride and joy, The Compass Rose, our for revenge on the ones who killed her family.
Jack, once a mere baker in a small village, now a pirate, in league with Amber in more ways than one.
Calypso, clumsy princess, her romance forbidden with the son of the king, her heart both her strength and her weakness.
Caius, the heir to the throne, son of Rhyzanthus the wicked himself, heart melted by Cal's kindness.
Saphira, rebel and thief, once a princess herself, cast out for the curse she endured every full moon.
Landon, healer and elf, freed at last from his everlasting prison by the call of true love.
Collin, a griffin shapeshifter from a long lost tribe, no longer enslaved to the evil circus ringmaster.
Alex, a farmer boy who helped many, heart captured by a wondrous winged creature, in his eyes an angel.
Killick, Amber's first mate, ruthless killer and loving father, friend to many and still somehow sober.
Mattie, kind of heart, the youngest of all, also a member of Amber's crew, adopted by the man who had first helped capture him.
Jaiden, brother of a ruthless villain, but striving to prove he is not like his sister, pulled towards the kindness of a gardener boy.
Together, with the rest of Amber's crew and a rebelling part of Seanna's, they must bring down the king and everyone who stands by his side. Fate brought them together, and they won't let it drive them apart.

Guards and pirates clashed swords, the crack of gunfire rang through the air. Chaos had overtaken the normally quiet kingdom. The king was nowhere in sight, hidden for the time being.
The feared pirate captain, Seanna Evans, was his second in command, going into the fray under his name, locked in battle with her rival, Amber Vance.
Jack's sword clashed with the weapon of the Guard Captain, an equal match for the blond.
Calypso sat in a  tree, arrows piercing the hearts of guards as she shot her bow from her perch.
Caius struck down guard after guard, radiating power and fury wherever he went. His father had ruined his life, and he wasn't going to get away with anymore harm.
The others are strewn about the battle field, fighting fiercely, making up for their lack of numbers with combined strength and team effort.

Sparks flew as the two elegant swords sliced and jabbed, their owners dodging and thrusting. Amber and Seanna, locked in an epic battle. Neither spoke, they only glowered, faces full of hatred, swords blurring in the air. On and on, weaving through the different pairs of fighters, never ceasing. Their brows were creased with sweat, and they seemed to be evenly matched. Amber had improved immensely over the years. They were backing towards a grove of trees that hadn't caught fire yet. One slip-up can cost you your life.
Amber stepped back, made a move to step forward again, back some more. The ground was uneven. The roots of a great elm stuck out at odd angles as the two Captains fought to gain the upper hand. And soon one of them did.
Amber's foot struck a root, sensing her off balance and flying backwards, ankle twisting painfully. She let out a sharp cry, managing to hold onto her sword, but Seanna was quick. She let out a deranged cackle and stepped down on Amber's sword arm with one booted foot, forcing her fingers to relinquish their hold on the sword. Seanna's own sword was pointed at Amber's neck, tip almost touching the soft skin.
The girl on the ground moved her other arm to bring out a pistol, only to have the sword pressed closer under her chin, causing her to freeze. "So...this is how it ends? Me...standing triumphantly over you...you weak, vulnerable, here before me?" Seanna taunted with a smirk.
"You tell me. You could easily let me up and we can finish this the right way." Amber suggested wryly, eyes flickering with concealed rage.
Seanna shook her head. "Nice try, Captain." She said. She would have liked to take Amber back to her ship, make her death slow and painful, but there didn't seem to be time for that now. She pulled her sword back and placed it over Amber's chest, prepared to thrust it into her heart.
The proud captain of the Compass Rose looked up at her fiercely with each passing second. She had a plan, but someone else had an equally productive idea.
As Amber started rolling sideways, and the sword came down towards her, a flash of red could be seen, no more than a blur. A clang sounded, Metal on Metal, as another sword intercepted Seanna's silver blade. A growl resounded from the pirate's throat as she turned to face her new opponent.
Amber had been cornered by a group of pirates, fighting three at once, Calypso soon joining her. They were getting driven away from Seanna and her foe.
The man who faced Seanna now was none other than Killick Cliff, with a grim look on his weather-lined face. "Ye didn' really think ye would've gotten away with that, did ye?" He asked menacingly as they circled each other.
Seanna scoffed. "I will. Amber Vance will die today no matter how it happens. Mark my words."
"Someone will die, surely, but not her. Not today. Not for a very long time if I can help it." Killick replied.
Seanna used the time he was talking to thrust forward with her sword.
Killick thankfully caught the movement and moved his arm so that his sword clashed against hers once more.
The two of them fought, Killick's size making up for his sometimes sloppy techniques. But Seanna was quick. She got through his defenses a couple of times, slashing shallow cuts along one of his arms, but he got her back with a slice that tore her pants.
Killick had used all of his ammunition in the fights he had been in before Seanna, and figured she had too, since she didn't have her other weapons drawn now.
Seanna seemed to be growing tired, already exerted from her heated fight with Amber.
Before Killick could move to stop her, her hand had slipped into her jacket and pulled out a glistening revolver.
BANG!
A shot echoed and for a moment Killick thought nothing had happened. Then he spotted the splatter of red across his own stomach. He had been shot...he was numb for a moment, his instincts taking over to keep his enemy away. The pain started soon after, horrible throbbing pain. He covered the heavily bleeding wound with one hand, trying to staunch the blood flow somewhat, soon soaking his hand in the red liquid. He hoped that was her last shot. The man advanced on her, pushing her back towards the line of trees once more.
Seanna's eyes gleamed triumphantly.
BANG!
A second shot rang out, and Killick stumbled back from the impact of the bullet. It had hit him in the chest.
He coughed up blood, wiping it away with his sleeve quickly. He couldn't lose this. He could hear Amber calling his name, fighting her way towards him, but he ignored her. He had to kill Seanna, after everything she had done to Amber. Or he would subdue her, let Amber finish her off. He had to do this.
Killick let out a determined yell and raced towards Seanna again, but the pirate simply stood there, aimed, and fired at his leg, which immediately buckled when the bullet struck. He grunted as his knee hit the ground. Blood was everywhere, his vision was swimming. He couldn't bring himself to stand up again.
Amber was running towards him now, shoving people aside as if her life depended on it.
Seanna stood before him with a smirk, As he struggled to lift his sword, but she knocked it aside with a lazy flick of her wrist. This ended here. The firelight reflected off the slim surface of her gilded sword, before plunging full force into Killick's middle, coming out the other side and dragging him forward. A startled cry escaped his lips when she did this. The girl was close to him for a moment, enjoying this, looking behind her at amber, before she slid the sword cleanly back out again and kicked him down.
Killick collapsed onto his back. The world rung. Two sets of screams, calling his name. His little boy. Mattie. No...he had to stay hidden...And Amber...he had watched her grow up...taken care of her when her father had been killed...she had Jack...but he had to get up...tell them it was alright...but it was too late for that.
Killick took one last shuddering breath as the life leeched out of him. He had done his job well. A white light was filling his vision, blocking out everything else. Then it consumed everything.
Killick Cliff lay there on his back as the battle raged around him, blood pooling around him. His sea blue eyes were glassy, staring unseeingly at the sky. He was dead.

He couldn't be gone. That was impossible. Amber let out a guttural scream and charged Seanna, who was laughing. Laughing and laughing, head thrown back. But her laughs soon turned to screams. Amber had a dagger in her hand, and was slashing at every inch of Seanna she could reach, pinning the girl down. Her unruly hair, matted with sweat, framed her face, making her look insane along with the glint in her kaleidoscopic eyes.
Seanna was bleeding beneath her, screaming and squirming, trying to get away. A second blade joined the first, wielded by a fifteen year old. Mattie. He stabbed her legs, her arms, everywhere he could reach. The helpless girl's screams soon turned to small whimpers and pleas to just kill her. Her face was unrecognizable, looking as if it had been mauled by an Eagle. Her clothes were in tatters, and she was bleeding from a million wounds.
Amber's blade sunk into Seanna's stomach, and she twisted it back and forth, earning her strange gurgling noises from the mouth of her victim, blood bubbling up, costing everything.
Then, together, without speaking, as if it were some sort of mutual understanding, grabbed the hilt of the same blade together Mattie and Amber plunged it into Seanna's heart, twisting and widening the wound until the sounds of the girl had died Away. She was only a bloody corpse now, and silence seemed to press in around them. The fight was almost over. They had won. But not really. Not everyone.
Amber stumbled away from Seanna, wiping her hands on her pants. She was so covered in blood, she could have passed for one of the lifeless bodies dotting the palace courtyard if she had lay down.
Mattie looked equally bedraggled, tears streaming down his face, despite not being able to see the body. It was almost better that way, but at the same time worse.
The pirate captain's knees buckled and her legs hit the dirt, not even feeling the pain as she stared at Killick's lifeless body. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Come on....come on, Killick...get up...get up, Cliff! B-back to your duty! I said get up! GET UP! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Her voice had risen to a scream. She was shaking with sobs, her arms now cradling the large man, tears leaking onto the red-head's face, mixing with the blood.
Mattie just hugged onto Killick's body, sobbing into his chest, whimpering and trying to tell him to come back. "D-dad...p-please...don't leave..." his voice was a soft croak, begging him to wake up.
"Amber. Amber." Jack had come up. His own face was streaked with tears, and he bent to put a hand on Amber's shoulder, but she threw it off. "We have to go...the king has reinforcements...we have to go..." Jack begged her, trying to her to take his hand.
The captain just screamed at him, holding her first mate's body protectively.
A battalion of soldiers were marching over the crest of a distant hill. They had to go or they would be overwhelmed.
Mattie was sobbing his eyes out.
A man called Garrick, former member of Seanna's crew, picked the squirming boy up in his arms. His eyes were hollow and empty, staring down at Killick as he restrained Mattie.
Jack wrapped his arms around Amber and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
The pirate yelled at him, ordered him to put her back down or else. She called him a generous amount of swear words and insulted him severely, but he didn't take it personally. The blond boy carried his grief-stricken girlfriend away from the gruesome scene as she kicked and squirmed in his arms the whole time. None of them were going to get over this anytime soon. They were running now. The remaining members of Amber's crew, hurrying to keep up, the soldiers thundering behind them.
The Compass Rose loomed in the distance, but it wouldn't be a ship of promises anymore. It would be a ghost ship, filled with past memories of happier times. Never again would the Killer hold Mattie in his arms, laughing and ruffling the little boy's hair. Never again would he peer down from the crow's nest, a bottle of rum clutched in his hand, shouting at Amber that it was time for some fun.
But his memory would remain always among the crew, who stepped into the deck, or in some cases were dragged or carried, onto the creaking decks. Amber had to be locked in her own brig for the moment, still screaming and mildly unhinged. But jack stayed with her. He just sat there with her, quiet while she raged, as if trying to radiate waves of comfort off his body to her.
The crew steered them out of the harbor, leaving the soldiers on land. And leaving the bodies of so many friends, most missed Killick Cliff, First Mate on the Compass Rose, proud adoptive father and dear friend.