Author’s Note: I will be on a two week trip from July 1 to July 14 and I will not have any internet access. That means I won’t be posting any new chapters for the next two weeks. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I’ll think of the last parts of this series and I promise it will be good.
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Chapter 25: The Last Stand: Part 1

Past the point of no return –
No backward glances:
Our games of make believe
Are at an end . . .

Past all thought of “if” or “when” –
No use resisting:
Abandon thought,
And let the dream descend . . .
~The Phantom of the Opera

Mark’s mouth gaped open at the sight of the new comers. Reptina and Vanya had just burst through the giant oak doors with the two Rangers by their side. Pieces of burning wood littered the floor of the chamber as they poured in, drawing their weapons of war.

He saw Serena give a final kick to Aaru’s stomach and whip around towards the Rangers and shouted something at them indiscernibly. To his surprise, in response to Serena’s calling, the Rangers both raised their bows and fired at her. Mark watched incredulously as Serena agilely flipped to the side to avoid the incoming missiles. Her movements were mere blurs in his eyes.
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Aaru felt another kick in the ribs just as a storm collided with her ears. She grunted up to her knees and looked in the direction of the main doors. Only instead of the wooden doors, she saw four figures stand in its place.

Her view was suddenly blocked by Serena who had just stepped in front of her. She saw her foot move in a swift motion and felt a sharp pain as it crushed into her abdomen. Clutching her stomach in agony, she stumbled backwards, spitting up blood. Aaru looked at Mark who was dashing towards her. His voice stood out the most in the jumble of voices inside of Aaru’s head. Keep holding on Aaru, keep holding on
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Serena looked down at Aaru. She laughed mercilessly at her pitiful crumpled body. She strode forwards casually and gave Aaru a brief kick in the stomach. Aaru fell backwards, blood pooling in her mouth.

Suddenly, the doors burst open in a fireball. Serena whipped around to see Allen and Fenrir behind Reptina and Vanya.

“Come back to your master, slaves!” Serena shrieked at the two Rangers. However the Rangers both looked up at the same time straight into Serena’s eyes. At once, she knew something was wrong and tensed up. The Rangers raised their Hinkels and fired two arrows straight at Serena’s throat. She dived to the side, feeling the arrows brush by her side and legs, barely missing her. Serena landed and skid across the floor, stopping when she hit the wall with the back of her head.

Dazed, Serena looked up to see the Rangers helping Reptina and Vanya forward to be reunited with their friends. She looked to the other side of the chamber to see Mark holding Aaru tightly, protecting her.
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Aaru saw Reptina sprint in her direction. She opened her arms and the two were instantly overcome in a battle of emotions. Tears slid down their faces as the two best friends were reunited at last.

“Aaru, Aaru I’m so scared!” Reptina sobbed in Aaru’s arms.
“Me too Tina, but trust me, we’ll make it out of here,” Aaru patted Reptina softly on the back.
“And where’s Latia?” Reptina asked tearfully.

Aaru’s eyes dilated; her world screeched to a halt. Her purple eyes stung with tears at the sound of her name. Latia was dead. She knew she was dead. But Reptina did not. How was she to tell her the person they had known all of their life was gone from this world? How was she supposed to tell her that Latia no longer lived?

Aaru hugged Reptina close to her and put her lips to her ears. “She didn’t make it.”

Reptina looked up into Aaru’s purple eyes. Aaru could see Reptina’s grief in her eyes. She saw all of their happy memories in Reptina’s tears as they slid down her face, dropping to the floor. Aaru saw everything the three of them did together, from when they were first introduced in elementary school up to the day when they planned to relax in Mushroom Park. She saw Latia’s face smile one last time in Reptina’s eyes. Reptina buried her face into Aaru’s shoulder, sobbing quietly.
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Mark let Aaru go. He stood up and brandished his Omega Spear. There was still the final fight to finish. As Mark strode across the room to Serena who was just getting up again, He was joined by Vanya, grasping his Kage, the two Rangers, and Raeken who had just gotten up again.

Mark stopped in the middle of the room. The others behind him followed suit, preparing their weapons for the final push. Without taking his eyes off of Serena, Mark buckled up the last of his breath.

“This is it. This is our test. Every path you have trod through wilderness through war has led to this road. Let your journeys not be in vain. Set right the wrongs you have done. We are past the point of no return. History will judge you by what we do now.” Mark looked behind him, at Vanya, at Raeken, and at the two Rangers. He could see in their eyes, the very same look he had. The same look of determination and spirit. The same look of strength and courage. The same look of life and the will to live.

The chamber suddenly shook as if an earthquake had hit. The combined war cries of all five men rattled the bowels of Serena’s lair. Mark charged forwards, yelling as he went, positioning his spear in front of him for a head on collision with Serena’s body. He felt two arrows speed by his face, brushing his hair as he ran, towards Serena’s head.

Serena dodged out of the way, bending her body in ways unlike any other human Mark had ever seen. Vanya and Raeken teleported after Serena, slashing out with their staffs like mad. The Rangers shot arrow after arrow at Serena while standing in place, rotating on the spot like a turret.

Mark suddenly caught Serena’s legs with his spear. He quickly brought the spear up in an upwards arc and lifted Serena off of her feet. She landed with a thud on her back, her Dragon ShineBow clattering to the floor a few feet away. But before Mark could strike again, he felt a sharp jab in the ribs as Serena kicked out with amazing speed. Mark felt himself fly across the room, amazed at the power of her one kick. He collided with a painting of Dances with the Balrogs hanging on the wall at the opposite side of the chamber. Chunks of stone and strips of canvass fell to the floor with his body.

Raeken, with renewed hope and a rekindled passion for revenge, cried out in fury as he watched Mark impact the wall. He lashed out with his Dark Ritual, focusing all of his energy. A bolt of lightning shot out of the tip of his staff, straight at Serena. The electricity slammed into Serena’s body with full force. She was lifted up into the air for a few seconds and then landed on the ground, twitching in her smoldering clothes. Her white fur coat had turned black and charred.

Vanya healed himself once more and teleported through Raeken’s body. He reappeared directly above Serena’s body and stabbed downwards with his staff. However, Serena recovered from the blast from Raeken’s Thunderspear so quickly that when Vanya brought his staff down, it hit only the white marble floor, splitting it in two.

Allen and Fenrir dashed forwards, preparing to knock Serena back with their Hinkels. However, their former mistress was still too quick for them, and before they knew it, Serena had hurled past them, and they were sent flying into the wall.

Serena’s voice suddenly boomed out, magnified in magnitude by the chamber’s acoustics. “HOW DARE YOU TURN ON YOUR MISTRESS! A FRIENDSHIP WITH SERENA IS NOT LIGHTLY THROWN ASIDE!” Before her voice was even done echoing throughout the room, Allen and Fenrir saw four arrows careen through the air straight towards their heads. They looked from the oncoming arrows to each other, then rolled away the split second before the arrows would have imbedded themselves into their skulls.

Vanya flinched as Serena shriek demonically as she missed her former servants. Her voice was so piercing that he felt goosebumps all over his arms. Ignoring the shrill ringing in his ears, Vanya rushed forwards again, releasing a Holy Arrow in Serena’s direction. However, he was stopped short in mid-stride by a sharp jab in his stomach. He looked forwards and saw Serena’s maniacal grin. She had brought her Dragon ShineBow up just in time and had caught Vanya in the gut. She laughed menacingly as Vanya’s eyes widened in horror.

He felt himself being thrust up into the air by Serena’s bow. His back hit a golden chandelier which exploded in a shower of sparks. Vanya heard his ribs crack as he landed on the ground with a sickening thud. The broken and twisted chandelier crashed down beside him, throwing glass everywhere. Vanya did not move.

Raeken rushed forwards and teleported over Vanya’s body. He prepared another Thunderspear, wanting more than anything to end Serena’s existence in this world. Knowing that Serena would try to dodge, Raeken aimed his attack a little to Serena’s left, hoping she would side step that way.

The Thunderspear exploded from the Dark Ritual. It charged down towards its target with precision and speed, not stopping for anything. However, instead of dodging to the left, Serena dashed to the right; the bolt of lightening collided with a picture of Dark Lord, imploding it in a cloud of black smoke as the once vivid colors flash-boiled in the intense heat.

Suddenly, Serena shrieked in agony and fell to the floor. Raeken whipped around to see Serena on the ground in a small pool of her own blood with two arrows in her right shoulder. He looked up and in the far distance on the other side of the chamber, Allen and Fenrir had their bows raised, preparing another volley of arrows.

The arrows soared through the air with deadly accuracy. Raeken could hear the distinct whistle as the shafts sliced through the chamber towards Serena. Finally, their flight ended with Serena’s body. The cold hard steel dug deep into Serena’s stomach. The ground before her was suddenly smeared with warm red blood. Serena fell.

Allen and Fenrir strode forward towards Serena’s fallen body. Her hands were caked in blood as she held her wounds.

“Allen,” she murmured, “Fenrir, my old students.” She smiled warmly at the two Rangers. Taken aback by the sudden change of heart, Allen and Fenrir stopped dead in their tracks, unsure of what to do. But right when they stopped, Raeken knew it was all wrong.

There was a flurry of whooshing sounds, and in the next moment, Raeken’s mouth dropped to the ground in shock.

Allen and Fenrir’s eyes dilated in surprise as well. They slowly looked down and realized they had suddenly been shot full of arrows. No! Slowly in front of Raeken’s stunned eyes and Serena’s devilish grin, the two Rangers collapsed to the ground. This time, they had no more chances of survival. It was over. They drew their last breaths together, and then joined their fallen comrade.

Raeken rushed forwards to finish Serena once and for all, but was suddenly impeded by a blinding white light. He lifted his hands to cover his eyes, but could feel the light go straight through him. The next thing he knew, he was on his stomach across the chamber from Serena. There was a hole in the wall behind him where he had impacted. Fragments of glass and marble were strewn all around his body.

He looked up and saw a strange specter floating around in the air above Serena’s body. It formed a humanoid face and screamed a ghoulish shriek at him. Then, it soared straight through the air towards Mark.

Directly before Raeken’s horrified eyes, the ghost-like figure dived straight into Mark’s body. As if watching a horror movie, Raeken watched Mark slowly get up, his eyes clouded with the specter’s spirit.

“Oh god.”

Mark looked at Raeken and a sly grin spread across his face. He bent down and grabbed his Omega Spear, and then rushed forward towards Raeken with incredible speed. Raeken saw another blinding white flash of light, and saw nothing more.