Abbigail and Denny slid down the hill and returned to the group camped at its feet. Luna yawned and stretched her paws forward. Slowly, she lifted Thunderdome's wing and stood up. Grek came out of his tent, a full size larger than anyone else's that had been hastily put together, with a cheery "Good morning."
"We must leave for Northwind pass immediately." Abbigail announced. "The storm looks like it's gonna pick up again! Where's Ria and Senn?"
"They are in Senn's tent." Replied Achillean. "It seems Senn has caught a mild cold from straining himself too hard yesterday."
A dust cloud emerged from the land. Hubris took out his telescope to get a better look. Horror rose to his face as he discerned what it was.
"We are under attack!" He shouted.
"How many?" Shouted Abbigail. She and Denny unloaded everything from the dragons and prepared for battle.
"I count two Withers! And maybe a squadron of Wither skeletons. And…" He squinted harder. "The Deathsinger's with them!"
"Ingressus!" Snarled the Tidesinger. "He must be here for the Prime Song!"
"We'll take care of the Withers." Abbigail and Denny mounted their dragons. "You guys hold back the ground forces."
"I thought the dragons couldn't navigate during the storm?" Hubris said.
"We don't need to navigate." Denny replied. "We just need to escape. We'll meet back at the rally point." They took off.
"Where is the rally point?" Grek scratched his head. He readied his sword, Soulseeker, which seemed much more his size now that he's grown.
"It's where you first met Senn." Hubris answered. "Pay attention during meetings."
Hubris burst into the tent. "Ria, the Nether is attacking." He paused. Ria was holding her hand over Senn's forehead as he coughed.
"Will he be alright?" Hubris asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Senn struggled up, leaning on Ria for support. "The Nether is here?" He picked up his sword. "Let's take the…cough cough."
"Alright, just don't overdo yourself." Ria was very concerned. "I heard your observations. We only need to hold back the ground forces until the Withers are gone. Then…"
"We'll make a run for it." Concluded Hubris. They stepped out into the camp. Grek was doing stretches. He pulled his left arm over his head and leaned right. Then he reversed and leaned left. "Been wanting to get a feel for the new me." He said, twirling Soulseeker. "Let's do this."
The storm came back, obscuring the view. The Nether army disappeared inside it. The Knights of Ardonia looked blankly at the wall of mist, now billowing towards them.
"They won't be able to see us either, right?" Grek shouted over the howling winds. Despite his size, the Jaggarthan seemed unsteady on his feet, as if the currents could carry even him away.
"Wither skeletons don't see!" The Tidesinger shouted back. "They smell!"
"With no nose?" Grek shouted, "But the storm will mess that up as well, right?"
"Let us hope so." Achillean replied. "Give us the call, Ria."
"Knights of Ardonia!" Ria raised her spear, "ATTACK!"
They charged down the hill towards the thick blanket of the storm. Thunder clapped and a lightening bolt struck dead center of the Nether army.
"Oh, great." Yelled Grek. "We have that to deal with as well?"
"That wasn't the storm." The Tidesinger said quietly. Above the clouds, a black figure appeared. It descended from the sky, and as it went, the storm parted to make way, revealing the Nether Army, now scattered across the plain. The Withers found themselves across from each other, too far away to cooperate in a fight.
"It is Him!" Shouted the Tidesinger jubilantly. "This battle is won!"
"Why does He get all the good entrances…" Grek mumbled.
The forces clashed. Senn, Ria, Grek, and Grim chopped dead and split skulls left, right, and center. Abbigail and Denny met each other's gaze and nodded. Together, they both went for the Wither on the left. Its three heads swiveled like turrets, shooting black skulls at both dragons at once.
"Thunderdome, grab it!" Denny jumped onto his dragon's head. "I'll take care of the skulls!" He pulled out his sword and knocked a skull off its path, sending it crashing below. Grek dodged it, having to give up a kill on a skeleton.
"Hey, you people watch it up there!" He yelled.
Luna swept in from the other side and when all of the Wither's three heads were focused on battering Thunderdome, she grabbed the right most head in her mouth. Roaring, she incinerated it with purple flames. The Wither turned its remaining heads and fired at Abbigail, but Thunderdome grabbed its head on the other side. The center head looked helplessly as his brothers were engulfed and their body was torn apart.
"Ah!" A Wither skeleton fired an arrow into the air and it hit Denny between his helmet and his chest plate. He fell off Thunderdome and onto the ground.
"Denny!" Tears streaked from under Abbigail's helmet as she saw her only knight fall, dead. She wiped her helmet clean and patted Luna's back. "Come on, we have another Wither to kill." She said half to herself. They finished the second Wither more easily, it being less experienced than the first. As soon as the Wither was dead, Thunderdome dove into the snow. When he emerged, Denny was in his paws, his hands hanging lifeless.
"Fuju!" Grek shouted as a wither skeleton stabbed his thigh. Blood oozed out, turning the snow beneath him red. He went down on one knee and ripped the skeleton's skull apart.
"Grek!" Shouted Ria. But she was surrounded by wither Skeletons and could not go to his aid.
"I'll go… AH!" Hubris motioned and a wither skeleton cut him on the arm.
"Boom!" Thunder clapped again as He reappeared in the sky. Waving his sword, he brought down the lightening and zapped all the wither skeletons. They dropped to the ground, lifeless.
"Achillean!" The Deathsinger stepped forth with what looked like all of the Voltaris. "Our paths cross once again!"
"And still," The Tidesinger panted from fending off the wither skeletons. "I stand between you and the Prime Songs." He raised his staff before him.
"Last time we met I showed you mercy." The Deathsinger shouted. "When I faced Aegus Nestoris, I showed him mercy." He took out his staff. "I will not make the same mistake a third time." He raised his sword and awakened the enchants on it. Scarlet as himself, the weapon blazed against the white snow. "Give me the Prime Songs, and we can end this war right here… right now."
"I do not have it." The Tidesinger said. The two were circling each other now. "And even if I did, I would not hand it to you."
"Then you must know who has it." Unknown to himself, the Tidesinger's eyes briefly flitted towards Ria, and the Deathsinger picked up the weak signal.
"So, it is the young Sendaris princess." The Deathsinger cooed. He marched towards her.
"You know I would never harm you, Ingressus!" The Tidesinger leapt between Ria and him. "But I will gladly kill the Deathsinger."
The Deathsinger cackled. "So it must be." He charged forward, thrusting his sword in a long stab.
"We are clear now!" Abbigail shouted, tear marks fresh on her neck. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Ria yelled, "Senn's still fighting! And the Tidesinger too!"
A young Voltaris, about the same age as Senn, also with three notches on his antlers, had leapt out from the ranks and slammed down his axes. Senn blocked with his sword.
"Then get on Thunderdome and leave!" Abbigail said. "Get the Song out of here!"
"I'm not leaving!" Ria instisted.
"Alright." Abbigail conceded. "Grek, Hubris, you come with me. Ria, give me the Songs." Ria obliged. She threw the red and blue cubes upwards and Abbigail caught it. With the other two, they mounted Luna, took Denny's body from Thunderdome, and flew off.
"You, why are your markings white?" The Voltaris battling with Senn roared.
"Because," Senn returned with a forceful swing from his right, "I am a clanless warrior who pledged his life to destroy demons like you!" The Voltaris blocked him and attacked back. Hooking his axes to Senn's sword, he leapt into the air, doing a sommersault and striking at Senn's head. Senn defended and the Voltaris landed behind him. Senn whirled around, to find…
"Your markings." The Voltaris's weapons dropped to the ground. "They are almost identical to mine. No, could it be you, brother?"
"Impossible!" Senn shouted. He resumed attacking. "Both my parents were killed by you!" He stabbed, but the Voltaris ducked.
"Our parents were not killed by the Voltaris." The other explained. "They were banished into Mt. Velgrin. They violated our law. No one can marry an Ardoni of another clan."
The Tidesinger turned to see the commotion. The Deathsinger smiled. Taking his opportunity, he sliced his ankle, cutting apart the tendon.
"Ah!" Achillean shouted as Ingressus drove his sword into his stomach.
The golden warrior was stunned. "Ingressus, why?"
The Deathsinger blinked. "I'm sorry, Achilean." He caught his friend in his arms. "
"After all we…" Achillean choked,
"I'm sorry, I only wanted what's best for my clan." Ingressus said.
"Yes, your…clan…"
Gently, Ingressus closed Achillean's eyes. His markings darkened and his staff fell from his hands. Four Songs materialized beside his body. Ingressus picked them up, one by one.
"What is it, Deltheus?" Ingressus turned to see what was going on. His jaw dropped when he saw Deltheus and Senn's identical markings.
"It can't be…" He murmured.
"Senn, we have to go!" Ria ran towards him. "Senn? Oh, my…" She gasped as she saw their identical markings and slid to a halt in the snow. Then, after the shock was over, she reached for Senn's hand again.
"Senn, we have to…OOF!" She slammed into his blue shield and fell backwards in the snow.
A fireball flew out from the crowd of Voltaris and nearly missed Ria. It flew towards Him, who summoned a lightning bolt and vanished into the air. Thunderdome swooped in and picked up Ria in his paws. Hubris mounted, and they sped away towards Ataraxia.
Back on the ground, Senn was immediately surrounded by the red Voltaris. Ingressus approached him and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"After all this time… I thought you were lost during the War." He murmured. Turning to his clan, he announced, "Senn comes with us."