Chapter 73: Chapter 73

THE UNFORGIVING

The Unforgiving

The Tundra, Arctica

Mappu gasped as she kept running after Ajatar. If only she could get her ring back from the red headed Hunter. She had seen the Hunter use it just a few hours before. However, she couldn't get it without drawing attention to herself. Zakk would be coming any second; she just knew it in her gut.

The rocks beneath her feet were shaking, but she paid them no mind. She had to get to Ajatar; she just had to get to her before any more awful events could happen. She dodged a rather large looking boulder as she kept on going. Ajatar was throwing ever possible thing at her.

Mappu supposed that she could had used magic, but she wanted to save all of her strength for the final showdown. Since she didn't have the ring, everything was going to be that much more difficult.

"You think you can kill me?" Ajatar taunted as she looked back over her shoulder right at Mapu. "Do you really think you have a chance against someone like me?"

Mappu's eyes narrowed as she picked up her pace. She just had to get close enough…She just had to come a little bit closer and she would have her. After all, whenever people starting talking, they tended to let their guard down.

Up and up they went. Mappu thought they had to be getting to the end soon. There surely had to be a place coming up where she could corner Ajatar and end this thing once and for all.

There were now little tiny rocks littering the ground. They were so close together that they just seemed to slide right under her feet. More than once, she had to reach out and grab onto something. She was going to have to break down and use her magic; she could just see that was going to happen. She tried to keep it going, tried to keep herself upright, but Ajatar seemed to be one step ahead of her.

Mappu's eyes narrowed as the gap between herself and Ajatar only seemed to widen. Why did everything have to go wrong? Why couldn't something just go right for her for just this once?

Ajatar looked back over her shoulder with a smirk. "Ah, what's the matter? Can't you keep up?" Her laughter echoed off the walls. "Huh? Did you really think you could pull this off?"

Mappu just narrowed her eyes. "No, I know I can pull it off."

!

Woosh…

Aku looked up as wand sparks raced over his head, barely missing him. A number of people around him had found themselves forced the ground, as Ajatar screamed.

Though the snakes were disappearing, wizards and witches were appearing. Some of them looked just downright terrified. While those who were either brave or stupid enough to remain raced forward, others just turned and ran. The front lines were already clashing in a greater fury than ever. The screams made him want to cover his ears and run for cover.

Tajar looked at him. "Well, this is it."

Aku nodded. "I guess so."

They charged into the masses. Aku ducked as a killing curse was sent toward him, he didn't even bother looking behind him to see if anyone had been hit. Really, he didn't want to know.

"Get back!" Raakel screamed. "We're going into the dome!"

Aleksander threw a dagger toward a group of witches and wizards.. "What?!"

"The dome," Raakel panted. Already she was bleeding several places. "The dome, we're supposed to get inside."

"That doesn't make any sense. Are they trying to get us all killed?" Aku snapped.

Raakel just narrowed her eyes at him.

Aku looked around. The witches and wizards were driving them back, even with their weakened numbers. He took off, running back towards the castle. This didn't make any sense to him. He did a quick scan of the battle, no sign of the newcomer or Elisa. Were they actually dead or was Aku's mind just playing tricks on him? He could have swore that he had seen them running above them.

Inside the dome, people were battling in close quarters. Aku could see several people duelling Konsta at once and, by the looks of it, they were losing. How could one wizard be so powerful?

"You!"

Aku make the stupid mistake of turning to see who was talking to him.

Isabelle had her wand pulled out and was pointing it right at Aku's heart. "I killed you."

Aku stared at her, wondering what in the world she was talking about. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance.

Isabelle snarled at him. "Now, you won't walk away!"

Aku gasped as pain soared through his body. Unable to keep himself upright, he feel to his knees, eyes watering.

"You deserve to die!" Isabelle screamed.

The curse ended, Aku scrambled to his feet, throwing a dagger right at her. Yes, it was going to hit her!

With a quick wave of her wand, the dagger disappeared, leaving her standing, unharmed. Her shrill laughter filled his ears. "Do you really think you can best me?" She started charging toward him, wand still pointed at him. "Do you really think you, little boy? You're nothing more than a child." She waved her wand again as he pulled out another dagger.

Aku watched hopelessly as his dagger soared out of his hand and landed several metres away from him. He backed up, stumbling over one of the limbs lining the walls. If he could get high enough, he could probably jump down and get away from her. He looked at the limbs, there was no way he could, because he would have to put his back to her and there was no way in God's little creation that he was going to do that.

"Stop!"

Isabelle froze as the spell struck her square in the back of the head.

Aku looked over at his saviour. "Thanks."

The witch bent down, picked up his dagger, and walked over to him. "No problem."

Aku took his wand from her, just as Isabelle regained movement. Two more witches rushed over to them. Isabelle and Konsta, who was fighting about fifty yards away, were duelling multiple people and besting them.

Aku watched in horror as Mikael, Zakk, and a wizard who he didn't know where blasted backwards, no longer in control of their own bodies. Konsta turned, his face filled with fury as the last of his loyal friends fell, exploded into nothing more than a pile of dust. He raised his wand, pointing it at all right at Raakel.

"Stop!" someone screamed.

Aku 's dark eyes looked through Raakel's bushy hair, but could see nothing. The charm expanded in the middle of the dome. Konsta's eyes scanned the done, as Sebastiaan stepped out of nowhere. Aku was certain that he hadn't been there seconds ago.

"He's alive," Tarja whispered.

Aku jumped. He hadn't even noticed that she was now standing next to him. Aleksander was actually smiling-something that Aku had almost never seen him do.

"Are you okay? I saw was happened," Tarja whispered again.

Aku nodded. "Yeah, what about you?"

"Never better."

Konsta and Sebastiaan were staring at each other, appearing as if they were daring one another to move. Then, they began to circle each other, in a match to the death.

Aku looked up. Right above them, the newcomer and Ajatar were locked in their own final battle. Their movements were almost a mirror of Konsta's and Sebastiaan's. He kept flickering back between the two battles, wondering which one was the most important to watch.

The cries echoed off the sides of the dome, making it sound as if there was really more fighting going on than there actually was. He took a small step back, which made Raakel look over her shoulder at him.

Above him, there were a million different colours starting to descend. It wasn't really an orderly affect, but rather chaotic looking. It almost remained him of fireworks. He could still see the two of them moving around, so it wasn't from one of them dying.

Tarja gave him a look. "What are you doing?"

He pointed to the colours. "Look."

Tarja looked up with a frown and wide eyes. Then, she looked back down at him. She didn't say anything, which he didn't know if that was a good sign or not. He was thinking the latter.

Aleksander kept backing further and further up against them. The battle in the centre of the dome was starting to get bigger and bigger. Both Konsta and Sebastiaan were throwing everything that they had at each other. At some point, Raakel had entered the battle. Her never ending spells were making up for what Sebastiaan was lacking, who was growing weaker with each passing second.

Aku looked at Aleksander, who actually looked like he was going to be sick. Without Raakel's help, Sebastiaan would had been killed; Aku could see that much very clearly. What was it like to watch, knowing that could happen to someone you care very much about?

Above them, the colours still danced. He couldn't see the newcomer or Elisa. He could only suppose that the colours were from them and that they hadn't killed each other yet. At least, he hoped they were still fighting. He really didn't expect Elisa to have a normal death.

On and on Konsta, Sebastiaan, and Raakel circled each other. Either one of them said a word as they kept sending spells and curses at each other. Some of them left rather large holes in the ground, while others that went high created craters in the ceiling above them. Though the green mist quickly reformed to cover any holes, it did not make Aku feel any better. How much longer could the weakened structure stand?

"Move," Aleksander hissed at Aku.

Aku gave him a look as he elbowed him in the ribs.

"Move," Aleksander hissed again.

Sighing, Aku took a small step to the side, just as a fireball hit the wall behind where he had been standing just moments before. Aku looked at the rather large hole, then back at Aleksander, whose was watching the battle with a frown.

"How?" Aku gulped. "How did you know that was going to happen?"

Aleksander's eyes narrowed as he looked down at Aku. "I just know these things. Besides, if you were watching closely, you would had seen that coming."

Aku just nodded, still not seeing how Aleksander had seen that fireball coming at him. The spells were flying way too quickly for him to keep up, even with his wolf vision.

Raakel's arm was on fire, which she quickly put on, then went right back to fighting. Sebastiaan stood beside her, pale. Aku wondered how much longer Sebastiaan could hold out. Konsta didn't seem to be giving up any time soon.

"Let's finish them," Isabelle whispered as she stepped into the centre, next to Konsta. Though her voice was soft, it just seemed to echo off of everything. "Let's end this now." She smiled sweetly at them. "Stop playing with them and let's find a way to make it all end now."

Konsta didn't say anything. In fact, he was acting like she wasn't even there, which didn't seem to sit well with her.

Isabelle sent a round of sparks toward Raakel. They just barely missed her. Isabelle turned back to Konsta. "You're letting them play you."

While her back was turned, she didn't see Sebastiaan moving along the edge of the dome, coming right at her. Aku frowned. What in the world was he trying to do? The only thing he was going to succeed at was getting himself killed.

Sebastiaan kept moving. Isabelle was giving Konsta a pointed look, but no one longer saying anything. Neither one of them noticed Sebastiaan, who was so close now. A rainbow of sparks was coming out of the tip of his wand. Aku hadn't even seen the wand until now.

Closer and closer Sebastiaan came. Aku wished he would just do something already. He was plenty close to do the damage.

Aku looked on frozen. His head felt heavy, almost as if he was underwater and unable to breath. He slide his hand into Tarja 's, he was surprised that she held onto it instead of shoving him away. There was still time to pull this off. Even though it looked like it was over, there was still time for one final ride of the day.

Tarja 's blue eyes locked onto his. "This is it."

Aku nodded.

The pair in the centre of the dome were circling each other with greater intensity, still jeering at each other. A part of Aku wished that they would hurry up and get this over with, while another part didn't want to see how it ended.

He tuned out their bantering. He didn't want to listen to them go on about destroying each other.

A red glow burst suddenly over Aku 's head. He looked up at the enchanted ceiling, but saw nothing. Turning his attention elsewhere, he saw something that he had been longing. There it was! The edge of the early morning sun appeared over the sill of a widow. The light struck Isabelle, Konsta and someone above them, causing them both to appear as a flaming blur.

Aku winced at the shriek of two very, very different spells.

The boom of the cannon blast sent Aku 's ears ringing. Golden flames erupted from the pair, ending in the dead centre of their death circle. Aku stared at the green light, saw something, maybe a wand, go flying through the air toward Sebastiaan, who reached out and caught the wand. Isabelle and Konsta fell backward, their arms splayed as if they were giving themselves up to the heavens, the eyes nothing more than rolling slits.

Then, something came soaring down from above. It was Elisa and she looked like nothing more than a rag doll as she flew toward them. She hit the ground, feeble and shrunken, with his hands empty and soul long gone.

Aku and Tarja looked at each other stunned. Was Ajatar really gone? Did what they just saw actually happen?

"SHE'S DEAD!" a wizard screamed to the right of Aku , his voice filled with joy. "SHE'S DEAD! WE'VE WON!"

The Rogue stepped out into the light, looking like it was going to attack. However, Aku figured he was the only who noticed the strawberry blond coaxing it back into a better form, back into the shape of Mikko.