Anxiety flooded every part of Drake's body. The creature that called himself Lord Dy'Ixion had rendered both Alf and Rex inert.

Drake cut his sound warp and pushed his back solidly against the wall he hid behind. He had to think of something, and quick.

In milliseconds, he ran through a thousand different scenarios, but not a single one of them could possibly work. Years of training, strategy, and experience, and there wasn't a single thing he could do! If the blood oath had killed Alf it'd be one thing, but he had knocked him unconscious, and at the same time, secured the Stone of Kay inside the earthen cocoon. Which meant Vackzilian would soon have both of them. He would torture Alf to find out about Drake's existence, and then, using Travers Wake, he'd teleport a whole army at once to surround and capture him. And while Drake could now become completely invisible, he didn't have the energy to remain so forever, which in turn meant there would be no way for him to outmaneuver Vackzilian's limitless resources.

He stared blankly at the destruction around him, despair welling up in him. For the first time in his life, Drake had no viable options.

He closed his eyes; no, that wasn't quite true.

Taking a deep, wavering breath, he slid to his knees. "God, you know I've never believed in you, and to be honest, I'm not sure I do now, but Alf does. Please, if you are real, please help us now!"

"NOO!" a blood curdling scream of animalistic rage rang out, followed seconds later by another unintelligible scream of pure hatred.

Drakovian sprang to his feet and spun around the corner.

There, several-hundred feet in front of him, a multi-layered golden shield surrounded the blood oath, closing him in. Streams of black indigo lightning poured off the blood oath, hissing and popping against the shield as the first layer completely entrapped him. More unintelligible screams erupted from Dy'Ixion, and the lighting tripled in mass. As the dark magic blasted into the barrier, slowly but surely, the shield thinned to the breaking point.

Just as paper-thin cracks began to split the golden surface, a well-built, white-haired man dashed up, slammed his palms against the barrier, and grunted. The second layer of the golden shield slammed shut, securing Dy'Ixion inside; then the glorious sphere flared and solidified, becoming completely opaque.

The older man dropped to his knees, gulping down air as perspiration poured from his brow. Blue streams of energy crackled down his right hand and fed into the shield.

Catching his breath, the man looked around. His head swung from right to left until his eyes latched on to Rex. "Tairexy you better wake up, or heaven so help me, I'm going to fan your hinny!" the white-haired man hollered.

Rex didn't stir.

He hung his head and gulped down air again then shouted, "Gerhard said there were three of you that came out here. I only see two. Is the third one still here?"

Drake released his invisibility spell and stepped out. "Yes, I'm here."

The man's bearded and well-weathered face lit up with surprise. "Drakovy, I haven't seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. Your father told me you were now his spy m-." The man stopped himself and coughed as his eyes flickered to the blood oath now slightly visible through the golden shield. "I never thought I'd see you here," he finished.

Drakovian stopped dead in his tracks. "Do I know you?"

The older gentleman frowned at him. "Of course you do. I'm your mother's brother, God rest her soul." The golden shield flashed as the blood oath inside it delivered a heavy blow, and the man's muscles tightened as he rocked forward. "Alas, we don't have time for reminiscing right now," he said glancing at the ever-thinning shield. "I need you to grab the smelling salts out of my pocket and go wake up my son over there. I would, but I can't take my hands off of this, or this freak here will escape. He's a rather feisty one, he is. I've never had this much trouble closing a reversed shield around someone before."

Memories of a much younger version of the older man standing in front of him flooded Drake's mind. Most of them had been before he had become the spy master. He blinked in disbelief. Had it really been that many years since he had seen his uncle? He knew he had lived a backroom and secretive life, but had he really kept himself in the shadows that long?

"Get that fond look off your face. I wasn't that great of an uncle!" the bearded fellow barked.

A small smile parted Drake's lips. He ran towards the man and a thought shot into his mind. Wait, if it's been that many years, there's no way he should be able to recognize me. Especially with my confusion spell in place. Drake came to a stop and took a second look at his uncle.

The man was no ordinary fellow: an assortment of spells covered him from head-to-toe, and he had at least three, if not four, magic tattoos activated. Most surprising of all, though, was the magic signature of one of his father's Imperial crests, one he didn't recognize.

The older gentleman noticed the change in his eyes and promptly said. "Yes, I work closely with your father, and I'd like to know what in the Dragon's fire is going on! But first, you need to wake up my son." He stood to his feet, being careful to keep both his hands on the shield. "I believe the smelling salts are in my right cargo pocket."

Drake pushed aside the questions which normally took prevalence in his mind and dashed over to him. Using his dragon eye to locate the smelling salts, he quickly retrieved them from his uncle's left cargo pocket and headed for Alf.

"Don't bother. That one is down for the count and will be out for quite some time. My son over there, on the other hand, from the looks of it, should wake up with just a little coaxing," Rex's father called after him.

One glance at Alf with Ra'avah and Drake knew he was right; blood seeped from Alf's head and energy swirled like a cyclone inside his brain as it desperately tried to heal the sudden damage to his neural passageways. Drake tore his eyes away and sprinted past him, around the crater, and over to Rex. Breaking the smelling salts, he swooshed it back and forth underneath the nose holes in Rex's damaged mask.

The vice champion shot up like a rocket and pulled away, coughing and gagging. "Ah man, I hate those things!" he gasped, rubbing his hand under his nose. Then he remembered where he was and frantically looked around till his eyes fell on Alf. "Oh, that can't be good."

"It's not!" Rex's father yelled. The sound of distant marching footsteps echoed up the street and all color drained from Mr. Havanger's face. "And things just got far worse."

"Dad?" Rex turned to see his father. "When'd you get home?"

"About fifteen minutes ago, and what do I find? Freaks wearing strange uniforms barring my way back into my own hometown, that's what! Worse yet, after I disposed of them, I find out that my arena has been attacked while I was gone and it's missing one of its walls to boot."

Some of the tension in Rex's shoulders faded away. "I'm glad you're home dad."

"I am too son, but I need you to listen to me and not argue with me about what I'm about to tell you to do, for the first time in your life."

Rex's father's tone caused his son to freeze in his tracks.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Rex asked in trepidation.

"I need you to pick up little Drakovy, and your friend there in the cocoon, then run for your life."

"No! No way! I'm not leaving you here alone with that freak!"

"You don't have a choice," Mr. Havanger said, his voice stony and hard. "Any minute now, two-hundred enemy soldiers, men who have had their energy opened by dark magic, are going to come around that corner. Normally, I would let this thing go and both of us together would've kicked his butt, but there's just not enough time for that, and from what I've seen of this freak, there's no way you could escape carrying all three of us."

"I can!" Rex interjected excitedly. "They have this amazing transportation skill that will let both of you follow me at the same speed. I can run without anyone slowing me down."

Drake shook his head. "No, we don't." He pointed. "It's in the cocoon with Alf."

Without hesitation, Rex snatched up his sword and dashed past Drake. "I'll get it out then," he said rolling Alf over. Spotting the lump where the sword lay, he stood up and sliced at it with all his might.

With a dull thud, his sword bounced off the hardened surface.

Faint, maniacal laughter drifted through the golden shield. "You fool," the blood oath spat. "No one can break through my magic, and when I break free," he said, smiling from ear to ear through the now transparent shield, "the old man is mine! And oh, I will so enjoy ripping him limb from limb." Fire erupted from Dy'Ixion's hands towards Mr. Havanger and cascaded around the spherical cage.

Mr. Havanger's eyes lit with disdain, and he grunted as the shield thinned.

Rex's shoulder's tensed, and he grabbed his sword with both hands. Yelling, he charged and hacked at the earthen encasement over and over again. But to no avail. Sparks flew, and his sword glinted in the night, but still the earthen cocoon remained undamaged.

Drake watched on the sidelines while trying to calculate their best course of action. Even if he had a hundred men instantly at his disposal, the dark soldiers would still overwhelm them, and Dy'Ixion would still break free. If Drake stayed, he could do nothing, and if he left...

The sound of marching footsteps increased in volume, and Rex's father anxiously glanced down the street. "Enough! Grab the boy and the cocoon and run!"

Rex gazed at the ground as he stood over Alf's impenetrable cocoon, his shoulders curved inwards, heaving, and his head hanging low. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the hilt of his sword; then suddenly, he turned to his father. "Maybe I can defeat the soldiers," he said, a strong tinge of desperation in his voice.

Mr. Havanger gazed into the distance and slowly shook his head. "You and I both know that two hundred is more than you can handle."

"But maybe-"

"No!" The older man swung his arm towards the marching army. "Those men have achieved Patuah through dark magic. Against normal soldiers you might have a chance, but if one of them accidentally inverses his magic flow, the resulting explosion will kill you."

"I don't care." Rex straightened his back and stared defiantly into his father's eyes. "I'm not going to leave you here to die!"

"Yes, you are! If you stay, we both die and so will Drakovy and your friend."

Rex's father's expression softened, and he looked through the mask into his son's eyes. "Please go son. I will hold this monster here as long as I can."

"No! I know what's right and what's wrong and leaving you here to die is wrong. It's something I'd regret the rest of my life, and I will not have any regrets in this life. Cover your ears!"

Rex took his mask off, tossed it to the ground, aimed his mouth towards the cocoon, and drew a deep breath. "Wait!" Drake shouted. "Alf can't cover his ears, neither can your father."

"Oh, yeah... Well, stuff them with something."

"Like what?" His father asked dubiously.

Rex glanced around. His eyes landed on the stuff that had spewed out of the medallion. "Like the clothes that appeared out of nowhere and almost cost me my life."

"Ah," Drake said as he rushed over and grabbed one of Alf's now shredded shirts. Jogging back, he pulled off two wads and handed them to Rex. The young man jammed them into his father's ears as Drake padded Alf's and his own with shreds of clothing. Having done this, Rex kneeled down and once again aimed his mouth at the cocoon.

As he opened his lips, the bewitching sound of polyphonic overtone singing cascaded over the demolished battleground. Bouncing off the walls and echoing across the basin, it made the night seem haunted and eerie, as if a lonely animal sung of love and happiness long lost.

Quickly, his voice disappeared into ultrasonic range, resonating off of the cocoon with a spine chilling hum.

Drake's skin crawled and he stepped away. The clothing wasn't enough. At this rate, Alf's earthen confines wouldn't be the only thing damaged. Quickly moving beside Mr. Havanger's side, he channeled a shield around them.

Seconds later, his puny barrier shattered.

"Rex!" he shouted. "My skin feels like it's peeling off."

Rex cupped his hands around his mouth and leaned closer to the cocoon.

As he shifted closer, the earthen cocoon cracked, but so did Rex's hands, and streams of blood began to drip from his fingers as tears of pain flowed down his face.

"Stop! before you kill yourself," his father pleaded.

Rex paid no attention to his father's cry and kept singing. Two seconds later, a giant gash appeared in his left arm, and spurts of blood spewed forth, bubbling and boiling as it oozed to the ground.

As his voice ate at the magic around him, a crack appeared in the golden, reverse shield, and the blood oath laughed. "Soon revenge, oh sweet, sweet revenge will be mine," he crooned behind his barrier, his eyes fixated on the old man.

"Son," Mr. Havanger whispered, "Please, go."

Tears streamed from Rex's eyes. He shook his head, and his face hardened in determination. Another gash appeared on his right arm as his singing became even louder.

Drake looked back and forth. The shield containing Dy'Ixion continued to weaken while Rex looked no closer to breaking Alf free. Time was running out. Enough is enough, Drake thought. He's going to get us all killed. Forming a small wind sphere, he was about to blast the vice champion off his feet when something in Rex's voice changed. Drake focused his attention through his dragon eye. There, inside Rex's body, blue lines of energy flared to life as the electricity broke free and started to flow unhindered throughout his system, and as the vice champion's magic pool flooded for the first time, without even realizing it, Rex formed a wind spell and channeled it into his voice.

The effect was instantly noticeable: Drake's skin didn't crawl as much; the damage to the golden shield ceased, and the ear-piercing sound visibly collided with the cocoon.

Tairex Julian Havanger had achieved Patuah!

With the sound akin to a cracking clay pot, the impenetrable cocoon shattered into thousands of pieces. Rex's voice caught in his throat as Alf came into view, and the crumbling earth rolled off his unconscious form. Four giant gashes, like the ones on Rex's arms, lay carved into Alf's skin, and blood covered him from head-to-toe.

Rex froze in horror at the sight in front of him.

"Noo!" the blood oath screamed. "You will not escape me. I will not let you!" Dy'Ixion bellowed as black mist swirled around his fist. He punched the reversed shield with all of his might and golden sparks hissed as the two magics collided.

"It's fine!" Drake shouted rushing to the vice champion's side. "It's only surface damage, nothing a healer can't handle! Grab Alf and the sword, and let's get out of here!"

Rex snapped out of it. Grabbing Alf, he grunted as he threw him over his shoulder, then picked up the sword. He glanced towards his father. "Think, follow me."

"Huh?" the older man asked keeping both his eyes on the enraged psychopath.

"When he runs, choose in your mind to follow him," Drake clarified.

"O...kay?"

"Are you doing it?" Rex asked.

"I ah... think so."

"Don't think you have won," Dy'Ixion screamed, frothing at the mouth. "I will hunt you down to the edges of the earth, and then I will tear you from limb to limb. All of you. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!"

"Not today you won't," Rex said, and turning away from the screaming, yelling lunatic, Rex set his eyes on the destroyed road and took off running as fast as the wind.

Just as the sound of marching men reached a crescendo, Mr. Havanger, Drake, and Rex, carrying Alf, vanished into the night.

***

The golden shield shattered and two giant strands of violet electricity exploded from Lord Dy'Ixion's hands, burning giant gauges into the building opposite of where his prey had disappeared, as he screamed in blind rage. He had been trapped, just like he had been all those years ago, and once again, just like before, he had been helpless—he, Lord Dy'Ixion, helpless!

The building burst into flames, and the hardened earth melted like chocolate pudding and still he poured his hate into his spell until, with a mighty groan, the dome domicile collapsed into a pile of rubble.

He raised his hands above his head and started to form a massive, invisible wall to completely crush every last piece of the demolished structure when a cold chill ran down his spine.

Dy'Ixion froze and slowly turned to see a hologram of Vackzilian shifting in the starlit night. "I trust you're quite done," the Emperor of all of Alfireá said in an icy tone.

Every part of Dy'Ixion's skin crawled with terror as his mind desperately scrambled to formulate an excuse for his utter failure.

Vackzilian's eyes narrowed, "You look like you're about out of energy."

It was not a question. It was a thinly veiled threat. Lord Dy'Ixion fell to his knees and blurted his half formed excuse, "I'm sorry my Lord. I never expected such an old man would be capable of trapping me, and I wasted too much energy playing with my prey to destroy his barrier."

An unnerving smile played at the corners of Vackzilian's face. "Yes, it seems all you blood oath like playing with your prey, a fault I may have to correct, the hard way."

Dy'Ixion's heart skipped a beat, and he pushed his head all the way to the ground. "Please, have mercy," he groveled.

"Get up you sniveling fool!" Vackzilian commanded, disdain permeating his every word.

Lord Dy'Ixion scrambled to his feet, his heartbeat thumping in his ears.

"I'll give you one last chance to prove yourself."

"Thank you sire," relief flooded over him. "What must I do?"

"I want the grand champion, both of the men you fought, and the boy." He paused and his eyes bore holes into Dy'Ixion, "Unharmed and unspoiled."

Dy'Ixion's mind did a double take. Wanting the champion and the men made sense but the boy, as well?

"The boy?" he cautiously asked.

"Yes, the child. The way he holds himself is most interesting, and I have reason to believe he was the one helping them intercept your attacks."

Now that he thought about it, Vackzilian was right. There had been something very curious about the child. "I understand. I will retrieve him along with the others."

"See that you do." Vackzilian's hologram turned away and started to fade, then abruptly reformed. "You have my permission to use any technique you want. I no longer care about this city, just bring me those four."

The two hundred soldiers finally crested the corner and turned to start marching towards them. Unstable magic lights swayed back and forth, lighting the procession's way. Their formation was a mess, their postures sloppy, and upon seeing Dy'Ixion conversing with Vackzilian, they came to a clumsy halt.

Dy'Ixion's eyes slowly and meaningfully drifted to them as a murderous smile spread across his face. "Any technique my Lord?"