The Dragon's Bounty

Chapter 26

          Emma opened her eyes and sat up, wincing in pain. She looked around at the ten men on the ground and her eyes widened. Around her was destruction, a figure in the sky, holding a strange glowing black object.
         "Aro!" She shouted, shaking him violently. "Khan?" She shook him a little. She looked around. "Where's Kai?" She wondered. She looked over to the drawbridge. In the ground in front of it was a transparent sword, seeming to be made of pink energy. "This is new." She said. She walked over and grabbed the sword, feeling a strange power flow through her. She began pulling, but nothing happened. She pulled harder, straining to obtain the sword. Finally, the sword was pulled from the ground and she looked at it in awe. It was indeed made of a glowing pink energy. She was filled with strength and her brow narrowed. "Hey! Demon!" She shouted.
           Probos turned and looked down at her. "Oh, you're still alive." He said irritatedly. "I guess I'll have to make time to deal with you." Emma spun the sword in her hand before launching into the air with a shout. She brought the sword down on him, but a floating sword blocked her. "You cannot hope to defeat me, especially not alone."
          "I can try." She said. She hit him from different angles, which were all blocked by the floating sword as Probos simply continued the ritual. A small hole opened in the sky, a glowing red eye peeking through it.
          "The time is near, my lord." Probos said.
           The demon inside let out a low laugh. "You have done well, my child. You have proven you are worthy of my power. Perhaps you will be permitted to keep it."
           Probos grinned. "Oh, yes. I have plans for that."
          The demon laughed. "Now, who is that behind you?"
          Probos chuckled. "The one and only left to oppose me. Once I've solidified the gateway, I'll take care of her."
           The demon in the rift smiled. "Excellent." Probos turned around and floated down to where Emma was holding the demon blade back. She looked up at him with a strained look on her face.
           Probos chuckled. "You're already losing and I haven't even started fighting yet. Pathetic." Emma clenched her teeth together as Probos pushed the sword harder. Emma let out a pained shout as she pushed as hard as she could. The magic energy output between the two swords was so large it was visible. Emma's sword now had a small orange light coated the sword in an extra layer.

         Khan took in a breath and looked around at all the magic power in the air around him.
         "Wow." He said. He looked up at Emma, who was bending to Probos. "Not good." Khan said. He sent an electric shock to everyone else, kickstarting their magic energy. "Everyone, send her your power!" He shouted, pointing his sword at Emma. A stream of lightning shot from his sword and connected to Emma's back, stopping her from being pushed back. Probos was zapped, switching for a moment back to James.
           Dagger scowled. "He's the one who did this to us! He influenced the king and got us all our bounties! Let him have it!" The cyan lightning was added to Emma's blade. Lance was next, adding his red hue to the sword as well. Duros' blue and Aro's nearly identical color glowed in the sword as well. Now Emma was beginning to win.
          "Impossible!" Probos shouted. Elliot sent his light energy up, followed by Ethan's shimmering gold. Andrew sent up a tune, which turned green and joined the arsenal. Dagger's dark purple added a large contrast to the other colors. Alexander fired a stream of white energy. Huey let out a water stream and sent it up as well.
          "Everyone, together!" Huey shouted. Everyone shouted in determination. Emma bent into Probos with all she had and more now, giving him a look of pure horror.
           The demon watched from the portal. "Do not fail me, Probos." He said. Probos winced. Emma flew backward and raised her now extravagantly glowing sword. In a dash, she ran Probos through with it, completely obliterating him. Everyone disconnected their energies and fell to the ground in exhaustion. Emma sliced the totem in half, the portal beginning to close. "This is not over, mortals! I shall enter your realm, and conquer it!" And with that, the portal closed completely. Emma floated back to the ground and returned to normal, the sword simply dissolving into the air.
          "You did it!" Dagger turned around and was embraced by the princess, his face rubbed by Ripsaw. Dagger smiled and returned the gesture to both of them.
           Huey turned to Lance. "He used his final attack, didn't he?"
          Lance nodded. "He was going to die anyway. But he wanted me to have the chance of getting Destiny back." Lance said as he hung his head.
          Khan put his hand on Lance's shoulder. "Hey, we won. If Kai hadn't sacrificed himself, I'm not sure we would have." Lance nodded.
         "Well, my mind is cleared." The king said from behind the group. "James was indeed controlling my mind, but every time I figured it out, he'd make me forget. Thank you for vanquishing this evil."
          Khan nodded. "It was our duty. Given to use from The god of War himself."
          The king smiled and nodded. "Well, then, as a reward for your years of hardship and service, I appoint The Dragon's Bounty as the official demon slayers of Tritanus!" The team smiled.
          "You mean it?" Duros asked. The king nodded.
          "This is all happening so quick." Lance said. His smile soon faded when he remembered the fallen. "But, in the battle, we lost one of our own."
           The king looked around. "I see. We will honor him with a grand feast."
          Khan nodded. "He would have loved that."
         "Come inside." The king said. "We will begin repairs in the morning." The king told one of his knights to broadcast the news of a grand feast in honor of The Phoenix. The knight nodded and went off into the town. Everyone in town ate and drank their fill and had a great time, while The Dragon's Bounty wasn't able to enjoy themselves. Khan was propped on the wall with a half empty bottle, taking a swig every so often.
          "Can't believe he's really gone." Huey said, taking a swig from his own bottle. Duros was standing next to them, unable to move much due to his stone structure.
          Khan looked over to him. "That smile is so creepy." He said.
          Duros looked over to him with the sliding stone sound. "I needed to smile at my opponent. It was the right thing to do."
          "No, yeah, but it's like a creepy smile, though." Khan said.
          "Can't you like, un-smile?" Huey asked.
          "I cannot." Duros said, looking back forward.
          "Where's Dagger?" Aro asked, walking up. Khan rolled his eyes and pointed to the castle. "Oh." Aro said, shaking his head. "I see." He leaned against the wall beside them.
         "It's gonna take some getting used to." Huey said. Everyone nodded.
         "We'll make it." Khan said with a smile. "See ya around, old friend."
A Week Later.......
         "It's time to get your tattoos!" Huey shouted. Aro, Elliot, and Andrew nodded. "Now, the easiest place would be on your shoulder. It has the least pain. But if you'd like somewhere else, just say so." He held up the totem of the god of war.
         "Chest!" Aro shouted. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see the dragon printed neatly on his chest. He smiled. "I love it."
          Andrew shrugged. "I'll take chest as well." He said. He felt the pain and inspected his tattoo.
          Elliot thought for a moment. "To leave room for other things, I'll take neck." He felt a light pain in his neck and strained to look at the dragon tattoo that was now displayed there.
         "When do we get our spirit swords?" Aro asked with excitement.
         Huey chucked. "How do I put this? You don't."
         Aro frowned and slumped over. "No spirit swords?" He asked.
         Elliot pulled out his sword from his new leather sheath as he had resigned from being a knight and no longer wore armor. "I have a cool sword." He said.
         Aro sighed. "I need a cool sword."
         Andrew nodded. "I'd like one too." He said.
         Huey shrugged. "Maybe you'll get one one day. But there's little to no chance you'll receive a spirit sword." The three new members sighed and looked at one another. "Well, welcome to the team!" Huey shouted. The three cheered and all high-fived. "Now begins your training. I know when your powers are active you're strong, but you need to be strong without them as well. As a half-god, Elliot is already pretty strong, but he needs to unlock his god powers, which might take a while, but when the time comes we'll be here." Elliot nodded. "The two of you need intense training. We will begin today." Aro and Andrew nodded.

          Khan opened a hidden trapdoor in the tavern store room, a rectangular box hidden beneath it.
         "Now that I know you're of Original Royal blood, there's something I need you to see."
         Emma nodded. "What is it?"
         "You'll see." Khan said. He patted the trunk in front of her. "Ready?" He asked. Emma nodded excitedly. Khan opened the chest to reveal a glittering pink color.
         "Oooooh." Emma said.

         Lance sat on a hill, Kai's last words running through his head over and over again. It didn't even work. He thought. He pulled out the ring he had kept for years and looked it over, sighing.
        "Lance?" He slowly sat up. No way. He turned around in slow motion to see Destiny standing there, the only difference being she had wooden antlers on her head in the shape of two twigs. His jaw dropped open. He dashed over to her and embraced her. After hugging for a few minutes, he knelt down on one knee and pulled out the ring.
         "I know it's sort of sudden, but, Destiny, will you make me the happiest pixie on earth, and be my wife?" He asked with tears flowing from his eyes.
          Destiny smiled and nodded. "Of course." She put the ring on her finger and embraced him again.

          Dagger looked down at the ring on his hand, then over to his wanted poster, which had the same design in the bottom corner. 
         "Will I be good enough?" He asked.
         Kathrine draped her arms over him. "You'll do great. Now come on." Dagger smiled and nodded, walking off into the next room and closing the door.

         A large, cloaked, mysterious figure looked down at the city from up on a hill, his cloak flowing gently in the wind.

         Duros sat in the empty tavern, looking around as he simply took a moment to think. Suddenly, the door burst open, two knights walking in.
         "Hey, Duros." Alexander said. Ethan smiled and waved. Duros waved back, slowly, but it was still a wave. The two grabbed a bottle each and sat down.
          "Can't drink, huh?" Ethan asked.
          Duros shook his head slowly. "I cannot."
          "How long before you're normal?" Alexander asked.
          Duros shrugged to the best of his ability. "Never had to do this before." Alexander nodded. The three sat in silence for a moment.
          "I do have one question." He said, placing his bottle on the table.
          Duros looked at Alexander. "Which is?"
          "You're completely rock, right? Which means you can't change position on your body parts very well, so-"
         Duros cut him off. "I have no genitalia." He said.
         "Ah." Alexander said. Silence once again.
         Ethan opened his mouth. "So how-"
         "Through the earth." Duros answered.
         Ethan nodded. "Ok, just wondering."
         "Yeah, I get it." He said. The three once again sat in silence for a moment. "Can't believe Kai's really......" He stopped and his voice trailed off. Ethan and Alexander nodded.
         "I'm what?" The three turned around to see Kai standing there, his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised.
         "Kai?!" They shouted. Kai smiled and waved.
The End......?