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Galgarrath jumped through the broken glass. The Zafaras
moved in slow motion compared to him. When he landed between them, they all threw
their electric whips at him.
With a howl, Galgarrath lashed about his claws
and tail at massive speeds. He was a blur of light as he kicked, clawed and
bit.
Then he stopped. The whips were destroyed. The
Androids smirked as they reached for their blasters. They couldn't. Their arms
were cut off. The Zafaras exploded into a thousand pieces.
Galgarrath sliced through Vex's shocking bonds.
The Mynci was unconscious. Galgarrath put Vex in a safe spot as more aircraft
approached.
"This has gone on long enough!" Galgarrath yelled,
the veins on his neck tightening. He gripped with his claws, his muscles bulging,
and his head's antennae stiffening. His cloak blew with an unfelt breeze. His
face was of pure anger.
"Too much…"
"No…" Vex whispered in terror. Even unconsciously
he knew what was about to become a twisted reality. The flames around them were
intensifying.
"Has happened…"
Galgarrath popped open a dark glass and poured
the dark powder in it down his dark mouth. He had to do this.
"And I…"
Bullets were hitting Galgarrath from the aircraft.
They had no damaging effect on the Neopet. There was a magic force field protecting
him.
"Have had…"
Dark energy spewed out of his hands and into
a giant bright ball. He threw the tiniest bit of energy at one of the aircraft.
It exploded as soon as the energy made impact.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!" he said as he and the energy
became one. His eyes shined darkly. His strength doubled. He jumped, fifty feet
in the air. He punched through the glass of a nearby aircraft. The Zafara pilot
actually had a look of surprise on his face as the dark punch ripped through
his stomach and seat.
BOOM.
The five aircraft around the blast were destroyed.
Galgarrath had jumped away just before it had happened and crashed through another
aircraft window. After brief fighting the ship blew up.
Galgarrath floated in midair. As he spun around,
magic blasts were released like two machine guns. Vex's limp body was tossed
through the air as the explosions rocketed the sky. With all the damage, there
wouldn't be any Citadel soon…
***
Scruff stopped right next to the open boulder. Inside was the last place he
had seen Jeran. Meridell's best hope, a lit match in an unlit bonfire, was somewhere
in those tunnels. Without a word Lisha and Scruff entered.
The place was silent. There was no noise, nothing
to see, and nothing to speak to. Scruff closed the boulder behind them. It made
a giant echo.
SLICE!
"Jeran?" Lisha whispered.
CLANG SLICE KABOOM! An explosion was in the distance.
"Jeran!"
SLICE SLICE SLICE BOOM!
CHOP CHOP BOOM!
"JERAN!" Lisha was yelling. There was no reply.
There was only noise. Something was behind her. She turned around. A giant Zafara
towered over her. He was reaching to grab her…
SLICE SLICE SLICE!!! The Zafara
blew up in a cloud of fire and smoke. Jeran was there. He jumped back into the
darkness.
Lisha took out her Wand of Supernova. She was
keeping alert, with wand pointed. Where was Scruff? Where was everybody?
Something shifted behind her. What was it? She
dared not to look back. It noticed her shaking.
It walked closer… ZAP! The nova hit it
right in the face. It was limp now. She walked closely towards it, and peered
at what it was.
Scot the Pteri. And then darkness.
***
Vex was awake. He would've gotten out of there if he could move his electrocuted
legs. He couldn't leave though, so he had to cling on to the Citadel bricks
for dear life.
Galgarrath was filled with the malevolent energy.
Now Darigan was safe, sort of. Galgarrath was the new problem. Now the Grarrl
had made the total sacrifice, releasing what was within. It had taken intense
training for this to be a reality.
"The Elemental…" Vex remembered. "Only Lord
Darigan could control him." The Mynci was thinking of Galgarrath. From what
you've read in this story, Galgarrath hasn't been that bad. In the past, however,
he had been overconfident and would obliterate anything that got in his way.
Then he had met Jeran.
After his loss, he begged Darigan for power.
So he became the Elemental of Darigan, symbolizing all that the Lord wanted:
power and destruction.
Galgarrath had completely transformed himself
into the Elemental. Archers from all sides were firing arrows at him, slowing
him down. It looked tired and covered its head from the shots.
Vex had to get up. They could kill him and he
had to try and change him back. His legs were limp. He couldn't move them. Vex
looked around the area.
"Nothing… Nothing… Aha!" he shouted, finding
what he wanted. A metal pole was protruding from the ground (from the explosions)
not very far away. Vex stretched his arms out as wide as they could possibly
go. He couldn't reach far enough.
The Elemental was fighting back now. He morphed
his back into a dozen giant whip-like weapons. They thrashed about, crushing
the bricks and stones around him. Another tower crashed to the ground, crushing
anything beneath.
Arrows continued burying into the monster. The
Elemental couldn't take it. It crashed to the ground. Only the whips still lashed
out.
Vex grabbed hold of the pole. He hoisted himself
up and slowly hobbled towards the Elemental. He could change it back to Galgarrath
if it was completely subdued.
Warriors of Darigan charged at the whips protruding
from the Elemental. The whips were cut apart in a short time.
All was quiet on the battlefield. Everyone looked
around at the damage. The shrapnel parts from the helicopters were scattered
across the Citadel. Three towers, two tunnels, and much glass were broken. Scattered
arrows were lying on the ground. The fire had stopped because all the hay had
disintegrated. And in the middle of the whole mess was Galgarrath, Elemental
of Darkness, was unconscious on the floor. Death reeked in Darigan Citadel.
Vex limped towards Galgarrath. "Make way, Neopets,"
he mumbled, pushing the pets aside.
Vex sat down by the Elemental and began meditating.
A glyph symbol appeared in front of him. He pushed it towards Galgarrath. It
imprinted itself on the forehead of the Elemental. Slowly, the Elemental began
to change back. The purple color disappeared. It morphed in size until he was
turned back into a Grarrl.
Vex got up, dusted himself off, and spoke, "Brothers,
it may seem we are beat, but this is not the case. We can rebuild what is destroyed,
fix what is undone. The enemy from the sky will come back, but do not worry,
for we shall be ready. They failed a surprise attack with hundreds of their
soldiers, and the next time, we will be ready.
"We can sink back into our tunnels, forcing
them to split up, allowing us to use guerilla warfare. Or they can attack in
great force, enabling traps and prisoners. Anything they try shall fail.
"This is a wake up call for us warriors. We
have become braggarts and slacked off more after are victory at Meridell. We
must remember our duty, to keep this Citadel standing! We fight the menace with
honor and pride!"
This speech received much applause and shouts.
"This is the new law: Who are we?"
"Darigan Warriors!"
"What do we protect?"
"Our Citadel!"
"What do we do to protect our Citadel!?"
"KILL THE MENACE!!!"
Vex carried Galgarrath back inside. The warriors
and citizens followed. The mechanics and Pterii went about putting metal plates
on the roof, and building defensive trenches around the Citadel.
***
"Wake up! Come on, wake up!"
"Ugghhh…"
"Scot! She's getting conscious!"
"Argghh…"
"Hey there, lassie, you better rest your head,
you took a big bruise there."
Lisha opened her eyes to see Scot and Scruff
peering down at her. The room had a torch lit, so she could see everything.
Metal from obliterated androids littered the ground.
"Where's Jeran?" Lisha asked. He was nowhere
in sight.
"Glad you asked that first," Scot said with
his accent blaring. "Jeran was sad that he couldn't be there until you woke
up, but he had to go."
"What was going on?" Lisha asked.
"Basically, right when you and I got in the
room, those Zafaras had gotten in here," Scruff said. "Jeran and Scot were fighting
them and the lights were accidentally quenched, so it was dark in these tunnels.
You had accidentally knocked out Scot, so Jeran took you as an enemy in the
dark and gave you a backhand blow. The Zafaras have run of with the scroll parts,
and Jeran is following."
"Scruff, take Lisha back into the castle," Scot
murmured. "As for me, I have some private business to attend to…" He stared
at the dark tunnels, and flew off.
To be continued…
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