VG Rumble

**Sorry for the delay! I was having too much fun this weekend! **

Ilum rushed forward, his enormous sword in hand. Karana maintained the fire walls as she watched her beloved swing powerfully, shattering the skeleton with his sword. Even when it collapsed, it still twitched.

Izuki cringed. "What are they?! That's so gross!"

Raven and Warren also moved in and attacked the guards. When it seemed they were succeeding, Karana released the walls and drew her own sword, moving in beside her friends.

They attacked together and managed to take out three skeletons. The plan was a success, but it was short-lived as the bones of the fallen skeletons re-attached and rose to fight again. It was obvious that traditional methods of fighting would not work on these creatures.

"How are we going to defeat them?" Karana asked. "They just keep getting back up!"

Luke knew that slay creatures of the dead would be extremely difficult. But then he remembered their battle with the zombies. He had told Raven to use her healing magic on the enemies to take them from their undead state and bring them back to the point of true death.

Luke wanted to test the theory first before telling Raven to try it. His healing magic wasn't as potent as hers, so at least if he was wrong he wouldn't end up healing the enemies by too much. He called upon his magic and used it on the nearest skeleton. The creature began to jerk and spasm. He pushed more magic into it until its bones began to change color and flake. The creature suddenly fell apart, its bones turning to dust when they hit the ground.

Raven

"What did you do?" Warren demanded, looking at Luke with his eyes wide, a glitch of hope glimmering in their darkness.

"He healed them," Raven gasped, recognising the effects. Luke nodded. Memories swam to the surface and Raven felt her eyes sting as she thought of the five zombies who had met their final deaths at her hands. As she thought of their all too human faces. But then the image was replaced by that of Luke's face and his gentle words echoed in her mind.

She gathered her power, trying to scrape every fragment of it from her very being, pulling the healing essence from within her and perverting it into a weapon to kill. Raven was no longer uncomfortable about the act because she now knew what she was truly doing and just how necessary it was. She breathed deeply.

Vaguely aware of the others fighting around her, Raven began to release the vapour of magic into the air. It hung around her at first, reluctant to move on and then found its target in the skeletons. It approached the first too, one leaning so close to Izuki it looked about to swallow her. They began to shake, pieces of bone peeling away from their skeletons and disintegrating gradually.

Raven gasped with the effort of it but pressed on to the next huddle of skeletons, wondering if she could take them all before her strength gave out.

Raven's legs gave out as her magic was suddenly cut off from exhaustion. She fell to her knees, panting heavily. Luke went to her side. "Raven, what's wrong?"

"It... was too... much... I'm... exhausted..."

Luke turned back to the battle to see three skeletons left standing. He quickly debated whether or not he should stay by Raven's side and protect her, or finish off the last three skeletons with his own magic. He knew that he had to look out for thee group as a whole, and not just one individual. "Warren, Izuki, I need you two to protect Raven!"

They both nodded and went to Raven's side as Luke faced off against the last three skeletons with Karana and Ilum. He began to cast his own healing magic to finish them off.

Raven

"Help... him," Raven gasped, trying to hold her head up to watch the battle but black stars danced before her eyes, blocking out Luke and the skeletons.

"They can handle it," Izuki said positively and her voice was so bright and so strong that Raven might have believed her if it weren't for the gloomy silence of Warren.

Bone shattering sounds split the air and Raven felt her heart leap.

"He's killed one!" Izuki exclaimed happily. Raven blinked, the black spots dispersing as her breathing calmed. She almost wished her vision hadn't cleared as a skeleton lunged forward, towards Luke while Karana and Ilum were held back by the other. Luke targeted the skeleton but even as the white was stripped away like little flakes of dandruff, the Skeleton got closer and closer.

Warren launched one of his swords and it knocked the skeleton back a step, allowing Luke the space and time to destroy it but sweat was pouring from his face and his breathing came in harsh grunts. Warren's sword clattered to the ground.

"Thank you," Raven told him, her eyes filled with tears as she watched fretfully while Luke, Karana and Ilum faced off against the last adversary.

One left. There was the last one. Karana and Ilum glanced worriedly at Luke. He wasn't as strong as Raven yet, and it was obvious. He was pale, sweaty, and having difficulty breathing...

It seemed that this battle was too long. Karana, Ilum, and Warren tried to keep the last skeleton entertained - attacking it, slamming it backwards, holding it in place - as Luke focused a final round of Healing magic. Moments drug on and on; the bones seemed to disintigrate and disappear. But it still struggled against them, trying to somehow injure them, until it collapsed. The skeleton became a pile of ash.

Finally, it was done.

Warren and Ilum steadied Luke as he finally gave in to exhaustion; they helped him into a sitting position on the ground when his knees buckled. Karana joined Izuki next to Raven, checking on the woman.

"Are you okay?" Ilum and Karana seemed to ask at the same time.

"I'm alright," Raven said. "What about Luke?"

"I am fine," Luke said with a breathy voice.

Raven looked at the man she loved. He had done so much to protect them, to protect her. She admired his resolve to keep everyone safe, and that was one of the things that she loved him for. She tried to get to her feet, but Karana tried to hold her down. "Hold still, you need catch your breath."

"Please, help me move to where Luke is."

Karana looked at her for a second, nodded, and helped her to her feet. She sat down beside Luke and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him, and said, "Thank you, Luke."

"For what?"

"For trying so hard to keep us all safe."

"The most important thing to me is the well-being of my companions, and so are you, my love."

Raven

Raven smiled tenderly at Luke and wriggled closer so she could wrap her arms around her and feebly he returned the embrace.

"I wonder what's down there," Izuki whispered. Raven moved her head to see that the child was peering over the edge of the hole.

"We'll find out soon enough," Warren said.

"You don't mean-" Izuki's eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open in what would have been a comical o if she did not look so distraught. "We're going down there?" Warren nodded firmly and silence expanded between them as he sat himself down, legs dangling over the edge, a pensive expression on his face.

"How though?" Karana wondered.

"We'll worry about that later," Ilum said in a crisp, authoritative tone. "First we're going to need to rest but we don't have long. He must already know of our presence by now, right?" Ilum swallowed Warren with a questioning gaze but from the other man there was no response. Raven watched him worriedly. His skin was pale and clammy, as if a disease were starting to eat away at him.

"There's not time for resting," Luke said worriedly.

"Then I'll go on ahead. Alone," Warren said. They gaped at him, amazed and Ilum had to place a firm hand on Warren's shoulder to prevent him dropping over the side, a current of wind already gathering.

"Are you mad?" Ilum demanded. "We'll go together or not at all."

Ilum meant it. He kept a firm grip on his friend's shoulder, even when Warren glared at him.

"You can't do this alone," Ilum hissed firmly, pulling Warren away from the edge.

"You don't know anything about my past!" Warren roared back, getting to his feet and shoving Ilum's hand away.

"That may be so, but you're still our friend! You're my best friend, Warren! I'm not letting you go alone!"

Izuki darted to the side when the argument continued, tempers rising to a point of almost aggression. Was this really Warren? Was this man really one of their friends, the one who was always cracking jokes and being a show off? It couldn't be...

They continued to shout, only making matters worse. Karana couldn't bear it; she hated seeing them like this. She finally added her own voice. "Stop it! Please! There's no need to fight about it!"

Izuki wiped away tears as they began to come, but she didn't hide. She approached Warren timidly, for reasons only she knew. Everyone fell silent when she reached his side.

"Warren," she began, voice breaking. "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here, with us. Please."



**This is my own personal opinion, but I think Izuki and Warren would be a cute couple.**

(Maybe, if the two of them weren't almost a decade apart in age. I may have a bad memory in most things, but when it's about something I enjoy, like our storybooks, I have a picture-like memory. If you check Warren's profile you'll see he's 22, and Izuki's profile on page 14 states that she's in her early teens. But that doesn't mean she can't still like him. Sometimes kids can admire older people to a point where they think it's love. That's how it can be with her until she's old enough to know the difference.)

Warren looked down at the child. She was asking him, begging him to stay. The look in her eyes was so innocent, despite all they have seen in the past few weeks. She looked at him with admiration, friendship, and maybe something more. He looked around at his companions, they all held similar expressions. None of them wanted him to go.

Warren had never known what having a true family was like. Other than his mother, he was loved by no one. But right now, looking at his companions, for the first time in his life he felt like he had a real family. No one had ever shown him the kind of friendship and love that they were offering him now. His throat was suddenly tight as tears began to well up in his eyes. "You guys..."

"We will finish this fight together, Warren," Luke told him. "We will defeat the dark knight together as companions, as friends, as family."

**Why hasn't anyone else posted? Damn.**

The group settled in for a few minutes, recovering their strength and comforting Warren. Never before had he cried, and it shocked them all. Such a brave, careless heart had finally broken under the stress of the journey.

Karana sat with Ilum and Warren, while Luke fell under Raven and Izuki's care. They didn't have long, they knew. The Dark Knight probably knew they were there and would be expecting soon...


**Just trying to move the plot on.**

(I think it's because the plot has been taking so long to get to the end, and now that we're finally getting close to finishing this people are just finding it hard to stay interested. I know it's getting to be a bit of a chore for me to get motivated to post in this storybook. Sometimes, even if it's about something you like, a person's attention span can only be stretched so far before the task becomes tedious.)

They rested for ten minutes, then it was finally time to go down the hole, to come face-to-face with Ethric Vanhiel, the Dark Knight himself. They proceeded one-by-one down the hole, using the rough surface of the walls to support them. After what seemed like hours of climbing down in the dark, they reached a particularly large hole in the wall.

Luke was the first to go through, then Warren, then Ilum, and so on. They found themselves standing in a giant, dome-shaped, underground cavern. In the center was what looked like a funnel formed from a large rock. What could only be described as visible wind bellowed up through the funnel in a straight stream, all the way up to a hole in the ceiling that most likely connected to the outside. Inscriptions riddled the surface of the object. The floor of the cavern had a rippling pattern that was centered around the funnel.

Everyone was awe-struck as they stared at the funnel. They all knew what it was, but Izuki was the first one to say, "...Is that what I think it is?"

Luke nodded. "Yes...It is the Soul Forge..."

A voice echoed through the cavern. "So, you've finally arrived." A man stepped out from behind the Soul Forge. The instant they saw his black armour they knew who he was. Ethric Vanhiel. "I was expecting you to get here a little sooner."

Warren

"We have come to destroy you," Warren said calmly in a low, steely voice that echoed about the cavern. Ethric grinned and began to laugh with a thick, rich voice. The laughter was not scornful but rather that of genuine amusement and when he looked at them again, the group could see more clearly that beyond his black helmet, his face was creased with wrinkles and his eyes were a lively green.

"Okay, I'll play your game," he said. "And after that, I'll show you how to really fight, son. Perhaps I'll even give you a little piece of this world to rule over." Ethric's eyes sparkled and then he pulled his visor down, turning them to slits. Cats eyes, Warren thought, recalling the time his mother had said that. Back when he was just a boy. Back when he had wanted to know why his father hid behind metal plates.

"This is no game," Warren said steadily. "And I will kill you myself." Warren drew both of his blades and rushed forwards, preparing to plunge them through his father's neck, where the helmet and body armour left just a slit of flesh revealed.

"Warren!" Ilum shouted in alarm but his friend couldn't hear. He advanced closer and closer and in a deft move that he had planned all along, he froze time. Ilum with one foot forward and his hands out-stretched froze. Raven with her eyes wide open and her mace just drawn, froze. Karana with one arrow slotted neatly in her taut bow and Luke with is face grim, both froze. Izuki with fresh tears slipping down her cheeks, froze.

The Dark Knight and Warren did not. Warren faltered in surprise but ploughed on, unable to halt even if he wanted to and his father, looking bewildered but only half shaken deftly dodged the arc of the blades.

"What a useful trick. Looks like you inherited some of my power afterall. Now feel mine," Ethric said and he clenched his empty left hand into a fist and Warren began to choke, clutching at an invisible hand about his throat.

Time resumed in a wave of disorientation and Karana's eyes went first to Ethric, then to Warren who had fallen to his knees and at last, back to Ethric again, her hand letting go and releasing the arrow.

--FINAL BATTLE!!!--

The Dark Knight, Ethric Vanhiel

Battle Length: 12 posts


(I can't think of anything to post at the moment. Sorry.)

**Neither can I. I'm having troubles with life right now... (Just read the note I left on my Facebook profile, you'll see.)