Chapter 54: Battle at the Hill!

MIDNIGHT

    She and Lambda has rushed to the scene mentioned. "Beta? I mean, they share the same name, but why did Epsilon attack her?" cried Midnight as they crashed through bushes.

    "I don't know," Lambda briefly answered. "We need to stop him, though. All the monsters outside are bad enough, we don't need this as another trouble."

    Midnight nodded as they reached the foot of a rocky hill. Lambda looked at Midnight, worried. "Do you think you can climb up?"

    "Y-yeah, I'm sure I can," Midnight said, recalling the time she went here with Pi.

    Lambda nodded. "Good."

    Midnight wondered why Lambda didn't turn into a mountain goat to climb with more ease like Pi had. To each their own, she guessed. With a little difficulty she reached the peak, where Lambda was waiting.

    "Why don't you... go on?" Midnight asked as she caught her breath.

     Lambda shook his head instead. "Come, now."

    Midnight was more than puzzled by their leader's behaviour. Nodding, she and Lambda advanced and reached a point where even Midnight could make out the magical aura all around it.

    She started to growl. "Calm down," Lambda kindly said, and she glanced at the black wolf, who has a glowing blue aura around him. Even if it was a spell, Midnight was comforted by the sudden relaxed feeling she had.

    The two's pace started to increase. Lambda then skidded to a stop, followed by Midnight.

    In the center of the ring made by four dragons, a Komodo dragon was baring its fangs, fire dancing around its raised tail. Fire shot upwards towards a hawk.

    "Epsilon! Beta! Stop!" Lambda cried.

    Aside from herself, Lambda and the two fighting figures, Theta, Omega, Alpha and Iota were already on the site. Omega and Theta was casting spells to defend Beta while Alpha was trying to force Epsilon into another form. Iota was standing there, staring at Epsilon.

    "Enough!" cried Lambda as yet another fiery comet shot upwards. Beta flapped her wings, and water extinguished it midair.

    Somehow, memories stirred within Midnight. A hawk... A traitor...

    "Theta!" Lambda called. "What's the reason for this battle?"

    "I assume it's because they share names! After all, Epsilon never got to know this Beta," replied Theta.

    Lambda growled, frustrated.

    "He won't turn into anything else. It's hard to get into his mind," Alpha admitted, sighing. "His mind's defense was easy to break through, but what his mind is filled with was rage and it was impossible to get through that."

    "So... as long as there is bloodlust he won't stop?" inquired Lambda.

    "I'm confident of that," Alpha sighed.

    Midnight was silent. She wanted to raise a question if Epsilon knew she was a traitor, but she was told by Blaze, and who knew if no one else knew, or that she'd be wrong?

    "Have you tried everything?" Lambda said.

    Alpha nodded his head as yet more comets launched upwards.

    "Wave!" cried Beta from above and a blanket of water fell from the skies extinguishing most of the furious attack, and the rest was taken care by Omega.

    "This attack was solely launched towards Beta only," Theta sighed. "We couldn't get him to do anything else."

    Alpha shook his head. "Beta is not the most powerful sorcerer in this woods, but Theta and Omega are rather talented in defending magic... but, then, Lambda..."

    He paused and ran towards Lambda and whispered in his ear something Midnight couldn't hear.

     "I'm afraid of that," said Lambda after Alpha stopped whispering, "but Chi should have done a good work on it. She knows how dangerous it is."

    "I wonder," Alpha sarcastically said and continued to report. "We were unable to put a spell on Epsilon either. We tried trapping him, his magic overpowered it. We tried to force him to submission, or to cast a blackout spell on it, but he resisted. Or that he had placed plenty of spells for his defense."

    Lambda looked furious. "Then, I see no other choice," was his reply after long last. He raised his head and shouted, "Everyone, STAND DOWN! Move back!"

    Alpha was the first to react. "Come on, Midnight!"

    Midnight moved back and watched Theta and Omega retreat, followed by a hesitating Iota.

    "Beta, I want you to move back too soon!" commanded Lambda.

     A shrill cry was in the air, and avoided yet another volley of attacks. Lambda suddenly howled, and, from where Midnight stood with Alpha,  she could see his fur glowing. It was a soft, ethereal glow.

    "Watch him," Alpha urged.

    Midnight's eyes shifted from Lambda to Epsilon, who persisted in his attack, shooting fire, casting spirit-like comets at Beta, who dodged them or used her water to defend and deal damage at Epsilon at the same time.

    Midnight caught a sparkle from the corner of her eye. From the skies, like shooting stars, three wisps plunged into Lambda's body, and the wolf began to glow violently. Light engulfed him, and it expanded. When there was a roar, a majestic white lion stood in place instead of a battle-worn black wolf. To Midnight's surprise, the lion jumped up with agility she did not expect. She glanced at the skies. Beta had moved backwards.

    The white lion roared as it plunged towards Epsilon. The Komodo dragon hissed, upset at the interruption, and sent fiery arrows at Lambda's face.

    "Lambda!" cried Midnight. The distance between them was so close, and judging by Lambda's posture, it would be impossible to dodge but receive damage.

    "No need to worry," Alpha simply said, but Midnight was beyond comprehension to his words.

    However, the fire simply floated towards the lion's left, and as more fire attacks followed, the fire ball accumulated.

    The deep voice of Lambda seemed to be different, yet it was still recognisable. "Give it up, Epsilon!"

    Before the reptile could reply, the lion reached down to the earth, two of it's paws pinning Epsilon down. The fire around the lizard's tail accumulated to Lambda's collection as the lion spoke, "It doesn't have to be like this..."

    Again, Midnight was surprised by how soft the voice was, yet loud enough to reach them.

    The lizard responded with a hiss.

     "Sorry, Epsilon!" Lambda's deep voice spoke again. "It's for your own good."

    The lion's body trembled violently as there was a glow, like the three colours of the wisps earlier. "Is Lambda's body alright?" Midnight questioned.

    "He's borrowing the strength of the dragons," said Alpha calmly. "With hiss magic and the dragons' it'll be fine. They can definitely change Epsilon into another form and quickly weave a fabricated story."

    Beta landed beside them. "Darn... he's dangerous," she said to Alpha.

    "He has always been the one to lash out in battles," admitted Alpha.

    What? Really? The way he was so regal and proper in his deer form made the information hard to digest.

    There was a cry in the air.

    A Komodo dragon has it's jaws connected with the lion's forepaw.

    Lambda looked frozen, helpless as Epsilon removed his jaws. He patted the part where he had placed a bite and looked at the lion's frozen face.

    "Oh," he said in a mocking voice. "Did you forget I was given the power to command dragons?"

Author's Note: Did you guys forget about the hawk-traitor? Hurhurhur.

Whoa, this story took a twist I did not intend it to! The battle was fun to write, but I was focusing more on the magic than that, but whoa, I did not expect this battle to continue after this chapter, but perhaps it seems like Epsilon has changed my mind. Dum dum dum...

Chapter 53: The Last Unicorn

DUSK

    "Alright, that'd do!"

    When Dusk came to, she was no longer in Chi's hut. "You should have been more cautious, Chi!" the voice said again. "It could have been worse! You were lucky. She was lucky. You know magic well, and now..."

    "Stop whining about all these little details," huffed Chi.

    The other voice sighed. "You care too little for mortal lives. You should consider more."

    "Chh, not like they cared about us either," Chi said.

    "Oh? She's awake," said the other voice. Dusk wasn't sure how she knew despite her closed eyes, so she opened them instead, blinking, the dim light showing her a pale grey wolf, peering at her with large grey eyes.

    Dusk moved her legs around, lifting her head. "Where am I?" she questioned.

    "Magic has sapped a lot of energy from you," said Chi coolly. "Welcome back, Dusk."

    The other wolf who had inspected Dusk whipped her head towards the unicorn and cried, "Spirits! Don't lie to her at once that she has now finally gained consciousness!"

    They were arguing among themselves now. "It's true, though!" insisted Chi.

    The grey wolf sighed. "Chi, I know, but you know what was the main cause! Dragon ingredients causes those without magic in their blood to feel too weak. Yet you asked her to aid you in making the potion! As weak as you were, you should be able to withstand just one dragon ingredient! It doesn't sap a lot of energy, but consciousness and magic..."

    "Magic?" inquired Dusk softy.

    The wolf nodded. "Even if one doesn't have magic in their blood, it's taken from their lifetime, memories, which is why consciousness is needed. Miracles are a form of magic, indescribable dreams are one too. You need to have either strong magic in your veins or a powerful grip on your consciousness, or death might fall upon you."

    "Zeta, don't scare the poor girl," Chi said, and it didn't please Dusk to hear that her voice had warmth in it.

    "I'm not scaring her, I'm just telling her that she should stay cautious next time when someone tells her to help out," the wolf said, throwing a murderous look at Chi.

    Sighing, Chi said, "Alright, alright."

    "Also, about your feathers..." Zeta said softly.

    "Ah?" Dusk moaned, forgetting about them already.

    "On your left side," Zeta reminded.

    Dusk turned her body around and lifted her head, and saw that the feathers were longer than last time. "Any pain yet?" inquired Zeta.

    "Oh... Not yet," was Dusk's reply.

    Zeta nodded. "If anything, you should come and see me."

    "Have I been gone for long?" inquired Dusk.

    Chi shook her head. "Not really. Around an hour?"

    Dusk pretended not to hear her.

    "If you feel better, you should try walking off now, and tell me if anything is wrong with you," Zeta said in a kind voice. "It would be careless to notice oddities too late When it could have been sooner."

    Dusk raised her head and stretched. Looking into Zeta's eyes, she said, "Thanks for healing me."

    "Mhmm," Zeta said. "You're welcome."

    Chi was to go with her. They were a little outside of Zeta's hut, stopping because Chi insisted whenever she saw an exotic plant and collected them.

    "Why are you a unicorn?" Dusk inquired suddenly, the conversation between Chi and Zeta replaying in her head. "Unicorns symbolise purity, clarity, but you... you're sly and selfish. Why are you a unicorn?"

    "You're generalising unicorns," Chi huffed. "Many others did too, like Beta and Rho, so and so, but that's because Crystal was everywhere on earth, she just... she just had to be goody-two-shoes! Now everyone thinks unicorns are born with a pure heart, with a horn on their head, they don't!"

    Dusk was surprised. "Unicorns weren't born with horns?" she cried.

    Chi sighed. "You have to earn them. It's like a medal," she explained, though not so kindly. "For every deed that's honourable to the unicorn race, it grows. Slowly, slowly, it expands. However, this is going to be how my horn looks forever."

    "Why not?" Dusk inquired, puzzled.

    "The unicorn race is lost," Chi said, her voice has a new-found triumphant tone to it. "I am the last unicorn, who studied magic, escaped the era where humans and unicorns fought, and now standing here. My horn would grow if I did something to the race, but without the race, there is no honour to give the void."

    "That's not true!" Dusk exclaimed. "The race still exists, because you're a unicorn, are you not? You're part of the race, Chi..."

    "So if I honour myself, it'll grow? Hurhur," Chi scoffed. "I've tried, it didn't work."

    Dusk wanted to expand more, but the mood told her to drop it, so she opened up a new topic, "Who was this Crystal you spoke of?"

    "Crystal..." Chi murmured. "She was a unicorn back in the days. She had the shortest horn of the age level, and she never opposed the dragons, nor did she ever bad-mouthed them. She never joined duels. Hmph, being the goody-two-shoes who doesn't want to get a single scratch on her."

    "So how did we all get to know unicorns as this Crystal is? Doesn't sound like much," Dusk confessed.

    Chi strode forwards, and Dusk followed to keep up. "Oh, I know," she said, laughing, but it died away. "I never thought she'd be someone so... special either. Imagine this, Dusk. When we were travelling, we came upon rivers that were dirty, muddy and filled with horrible things that no one would or even survive after drinking from it. It's always been in the unicorn rules that we should never interfere with anything that isn't magic. So we went, but that Crystal! She should have her horn sawn off! She interfered with the natural cycle of who-knows-what and cleansed the river! Instead, her horn grew! It wasn't until years later until we saw a pure-white unicorn, with her mane and tail braided with flowers, her horn magnificent and long, curving forwards. She was singing, singing songs of heroic acts.

    "Imagine! Is it honour that you bring when you sing of yourself? Is it honour to disgrace the unicorns by breaking our law and creating an unbalanced world without magic with magic? Crystal helped humans, healed the dying with her horn, stopped various incidents with spells and incarnations every knew, but it's not fair, now! She has created the world in favour of the non-magics, and yet, she's being praised by us the magical creatures, who knew she defied our law, but..."

    Chi sighed. "Humans began to tell tales of Crystal, how magnificent she was. Blah, blah, blah. However, due to the lack of balance between magic and non-magic, our side started to go down. Those events she stopped should have helped in our favour, but that unicorn wouldn't allow it. Sooner than we knew it, humans were after us. Even after making pacts with the dragons, humans were more unreasonable. Those they hunted cut off the horns of the unicorns, taking our fur as well. I was furious, alright? I called out Crystal, our new leader for the longest horn, but she used her position as our leader to blind them. They were oblivious to the reality she bended. It was hopeless. Over the course of years, I have studied magic with Omicron, and he has lead me to the Silver Woods before, and so, here I am now."

    "So, that was the last you saw of them?" Dusk questioned.

    Chi shook her head. "No, I saw Crystal for the one last final time in this woods."

    "H-here!" cried Dusk.

    Chi was silent. She opened her mouth, but closed it again hesitantly. She stopped, so did Dusk, who nearly crashed into the unicorn. "It was when nearly all was lost. Crystal and her mate came here, seeking for more magic and power to overcome the humans. However, Lambda could not allow that. That would certainly disrupt the balance. The white lion, Lambda, had to stop the white unicorn, Crystal, and so, the great battle of magics occurred in this very woods. The unicorn leader fell, she was heavily wounded by Lambda's magic. Thus, the unicorn race has ended, after Lambda removed the mate who sought revenge.

    "I'm the last unicorn. My name is Chira."

Author's Note: Woah! We're pacing along quickly! A little about Chi and her race-