Author's Note

(Late) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, dear readers!
This was originally supposed to come before the end of the year, but unfortunately, I came down with a bad case of sick, and my production suffered for a week.
Anyway, Here's to a start of a new year.

Chapter 81: How The Cities Crumble

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

An ear-piercing screech spread across the realm that was only a few moments ago covered by unending rain. Its sudden disappearance was related, as the source was the one exhuming it from the prison the entire time. And now it was free, possessing the one person who was keeping it in check this whole time, it made itself manifest in the form of a gargantuan watery serpent that had now broken through its containment. The sound of its liberation could not only be seen but also heard by everybody within this isolated land in the middle of the desert.

“No… No, Khari, NO!” the half-blind elderly zebra mare cried out in despair, as she immediately knew what had happened, and instinctively tried to run in the direction of the sound.

“Paramis,” the voice close to her uttered, and the giant one-eyed goat monstrosity quickly grasped the mare in his hand, keeping her in place.

“What are you doing?! Let go of me!” she kicked and screamed.

“The question is: What are you doing, matriarch?” the grizzled ram wondered. “Running off when you can barely see your own muzzle in front of your face? That is ill-advised.”

“This is not amusing! My mate and my two girls, my whole family is at the mercy of the darkness incarnate right now!”

“And you were going to do what? Face it off on your own, thinking you can win? Or are you just trying to commit one final sacrifice so that would join you with your family’s inevitable end?”

A few moments passed, and the High Shaman’s wife finally relented, knowing that her visitor was right. She was just so desperate to do something that could make the situation change, burdened by the thought that she would lose what she had.

“Do not despair, matriarch,” Grogar reassured her. “If what you’ve told me earlier is true, then I have this slight suspicion that something is about to give…”

“Errr… Twilight, any ideas how do we stop this thing…?” the rainbow-maned pony asked the alicorn close to her, only to realize she didn’t register her words after seeing what had erupted from the dead baobab tree.

“TWILIGHT!” Rarity yelled, which finally got her attention. “Rainbow Dash asked how do we deal with this!”

“Wha… Why are you asking me?”

“’Scume me?” the workhorse raised an eyebrow at her unusual response. “You always have a plan for something, Twilight!”

“Not for the WORST-CASE SCENARIOS like this, Applejack! I thought that maybe Chrysalis or one of her allies would interfere and snatch Despair before we got to it, but it materializing and freeing itself was not something I could’ve predicted!”

“It’s not free yet,” the elderly zebra corrected.

“Come again, Madame Zeg’us?” she asked.

“The manifestation has been liberated, yes. But it’s still within the warded surroundings of the baobab tree that was preventing it from escaping. Until it finally moves from the spot, it’s still trapped.”

“How long will that take?” Fluttershy wondered.

“Until the tree falls…”

“Emmm, excuse me,” the kirin interjected. “Am I missing something? Can’t you guys just use that rainbow laser beam that I saw some time ago against these very villains? Well, two of them anyway.”

“To make the long story short, Autumn Blaze: We tried on two separate occasions – and it didn’t go as planned,” the animal caretaker explained.

“Doesn’t matter now! It’s only a matter of minutes before things turn to worse! What can we even do in that time?!” Twilight panicked.

A slinky patchwork of appendages suddenly emerged from his protective refuge around the yellow pegasus. “You’re the smarty pants around here, Twilight. Use that giant brain of yours and I’m certain you’ll get an idea.”

“I mean, we only have a little time before that thing gets out, but no pressure, okay?” Pinkie Pie pointed out the obvious.

“Right… no pressure…” the alicorn smiled nervously, and then sat down to try to focus herself by picking up a stick and drawing into the dirt, all the while she could hear the beast’s roaring in the background.

She did not expect to find herself in this predicament. When the kelpie queen Watami returned to her domain, she beheld it surrounded by a flame of blue and red. Even so, it didn’t take her long to find the head invader. On the platform of a city beneath her tower home, there was a distinct red glow radiating. And there was more. There were large shapes levitating around it, enveloped by it – it was her children! The horned, four-legged fiend with blazing hair was standing in the courtyard, his arms raised, keeping the kelpies who failed to stop him up in the air.

“My patience is wearing thin, minnows!” he boasted. “I’ve no time for small fries! Where is she? Where’s the big fish of this pond?”

And just as he said that a pair of giant tentacles formed from the water's surface and lunged at him. They were cut off before they could reach him though, as with great speed, a wall of red and blue flame was erected around him, formed by the mind-controlled leader of nirik, dedicated to protecting her master.

“Ah. There she is.” He grinned when the flame died down, and saw a large scaley body raised itself with giant hand-like fins over the edge of the city.

“Flame Feind! You will release my children, posthaste!” she commanded.

“Oh, is that so, queen fish? Where should I do it? Into the hot scorching desert where the first two went?”

Another tentacle rose from the water's surface and made its way in the direction of the centaur, but once again, it didn’t reach the target, as the possessed servant erected a magical flame barrier that negated the impact.

“Pathetic,” he boasted. “You can’t even get past my lowly servant, and you think you can face me?”

Just as he said that water arose over the edge of the elevated platform again, but not in a manifested fashion – it was like a puddle that kept expanding all over the floor; in fact, the water level in general seemed to be rising. The nirik’s magical flame did little at this point as Rain Shine tried to avoid the water, only for it to rise over her head and completely envelop her, drowning her in the process.

“Oh… I see…” was all that Tirek could say from the realization, just before the water enveloped him as well.

Too concerned with survival, his magic that was levitating multiple other kelpies faded and they all landed in the water.

The elevated body of water allowed the queen to easily come to the platform. “You have the nerve, outsider, to come into my domain and think yourself my better. The domain of water is mine to command, and you will feel its wrath firsthand.”

As the kelpie ruler approached them, the other smaller ones swam to her side. “Mother, what do we do?”

“Retreat into the tower where the rest are. I’ve already given the order for others to retreat before he got here. You’ll be safe… in there…”

She gazed at the two prisoners who were on their way to a watery grave. The dark, equine-like creature struggled to breathe, meanwhile its master… Something was odd about him. He didn’t seem to be struggling in his current position. He was actually giving her an intentive look, anger visible on his face. He was suddenly enveloped in a red glow and then… his surroundings began to bubble. It didn’t take long for Watami to feel it. There was an intense heat that was radiating from the invader, and the water surrounding them just kept getting hotter. He was trying to turn the tables on her! Immediately the water level receded, leaving the queen and her daughters beached on solid ground, but at least they were all free from the threat.

But so too were the prisoners. “Clever fish, you picked up quickly. A little longer and I’d have you cooked for lunch. But hey. Here’s an idea.” Tirek clenched his fist and the intense head surrounding it turned it brightly red color. “How about I level the playing field and make it happen for the whole lake?”

He raised his hand and brought it down on the paved platform. Upon contact, fire and tremors erupted across the whole platform. The kelpie queen felt the floor disappearing right from under her and she landed in the water again. She couldn’t seem much apart from rubble scattering across the lake. When the smoke cleared though, beside the fountain-like tower, what was left of the city was just a stub beneath the water surface, upon which the centaur was now knee deep, while his servant was desperately trying to crawl on top of a wooden wreckage that was floating nearby.

“Girls, go! Quick! Get to the shore!” the queen commanded.

“We’ll get into the tower, mother-”

“There’s no time! Get to the shore! QUICK!”

There was an urgent tone in her voice. They all listened and swam away. With them gone, Watami focused on Tirek, who had just dipped his hands into the water he was standing in. Soon enough, his body was enveloped in a red aura and it began to bubble. The queen didn’t wait, and raised herself on a body of water, high above its surface, just as the boiling radius was about to reach her.

After a few moments, the Pillar of Anger finally noticed what had happened. “What the… You can do that?!”

“Outsider, if you think even for a second that you will do me in this easily, you’re gravely mistaken. Even if you separate me from the source, it doesn’t mean I can’t use it. And all you’ve done is reduce the distance where you can act yourself.”

“Oh, you think your distance is better off than mine, huh? Let me show you how wrong you are about my reach.” A red orb suddenly formed between Tirek’s horns, and a moment later, a beam went out in the kelpie’s direction. The body of water she was levitating on above the boiling surface moved, and she nearly dodged it. When the centaur realized his missed, he roared in anger, before sending out another one. I didn’t help. Despite seemingly being out of her element, the kelpie queen managed to easily evade his attacks by moving her suspension at high speed across the hot lake. It quickly became apparent to her that the opponent was in a state of a single-minded fury. Seemingly distracted, she commanded water to leap at him, drenching him in boiling hot water.

She stopped moving once she noticed he ceased. “How does it feel to be on the receiving end, outsider? To feel the burn that you wanted to force upon another?”

He began laughing. “You think this hurt at all, fish queen? I can’t feel the burn any longer. All you did was splash some water at me!”

“Then how about another?”

“Another water bolt shot out of the surface behind him, but this time, it came in with such force that it nearly knocked him off his feet, which occurred when another one came from the side. It didn’t stop. More and more water bolts began shooting at him at rapid speed, making him unable to react. They were so numerous and forceful that they lifted him off the broken support pillar, juggling him in the air higher and higher. Watami raised her hand-like fins, and soon enough, the bolts of water were replaced by pillars and they rose high in the sky, surrounding the centaur until he was trapped deep within a giant watery orb.

“Do you see now the extent of my powers, outsider? You were a fool to think you could fight me at the base of my power and beat me. Now… Suffer the consequences of your actions.”

The giant watery orb levitated high above the ground, and a single red dot could be seen at the heart of it. But suddenly, it turned radiant, and the water that surrounded it began to, not just boil, the heat was so extreme that it was outright evaporating. The kelpie tried to remedy to situation by adding more water to it, but at the rate it was going, it pretty much evaporated in a matter of seconds, leaving the red dot to once again land on the broken pillar that was just beneath the surface.

The centaur was once again on solid ground, and the look on his face could only be described as fury. “You think I’ll be beat by a stupid fish throwing bubbles at me?! You can’t do anything to harm me! I’m gonna break you!”

She humphed. “Threatening words, and that’s all they are. As far as I see, I may not be able to do much against you, but neither can you do the same.”

“Oh, big fish, you are so wrong there. I’m going to bend you to my will.”

“And how will you do that?”

The wrathful teeth grind on his face suddenly turned upside-down, into an angry smile. He turned, and gazed upon the only structure that was still standing – the giant tower. He turned, and as the red orb between his horns lit up again, he raised his arms, and the debris and wreckage from the destroyed platform levitated to his side, forming a bridge to the tower which he then traversed.

“Wait, where are you going?” Watami asked in confusion.

Tirek stopped at the base of the tower and embedded his claws into the large brick wall that constituted the structure. The kelpie queen was perplexed. What was he trying to do? Lift the tower? The building was huge, there was no way he could think even for a second that… And then she heard it – the cracking sound, clearly coming from his direction. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the centaur ripping the tower off its foundations.

He slowly turned it to the side so he could see the expression on her face. “Did you think I wasn’t listening to what you said?” He grinned. “I know what’s inside. And there’s other ways to break somebody.” He turned his head upwards, towards the top, and then the red orb between his horns began to glow brightly.

She was confused. What did he mean by “what she said”? What could she have said that could possibly be related to the tower… And then it hit her. Her children! She told Wadi to tell everybody to retreat into the safety of the tower to avoid the fight. They were all inside! And now she noticed that the orb that the Pillar of Anger had summoned didn’t just glow brighter, it grew several times!

“NO!” she yelled in a terrified realization of what was about to happen.

Tirek roared, and the giant orb that was now so big that it was levitating outside of his horns unleashed a laser beam that traveled upwards the tower he was holding, destroying the rock in its path, until it finally hit the enlarged top, and making it explode. The red hue from the blast covered the surroundings of what used to be a city and it took a moment for the scene to become visible.

The centaur dropped what was left of the bottom part of the structure into the lake and then turned to face his opponent. “How does it feel, big fish? How does it feel, knowing that part of your bloodline has just been eradicated? That I’ve just… fried your children?” He let out a laugh.

But his laughter ended when he realized that the sky had turned dark and was beginning to rain. What curtain of dust was still left in the air was washed away, revealing the silhouette of the kelpie queen, who raised her hand-like fins. Four giant tentacles emerged from the water's surface and they all simultaneously stretched at the invader, crushing him from all four sides. But he wouldn’t just wait. Extreme heat began to radiate from him once again, and the water surrounding him quickly evaporated. Several multitudes of the same watery formation erupted and attacked him, but the Anger’s Chosen remained defiant.

“You’re still throwing splashes at me? Come on! Make that burning feeling inside your flow! Get close and personal! GET REAL ANGRY!”

He soon realized that the kelpie wasn’t where she was a moment ago. A sudden force suddenly shot him up from below. It wasn’t a water attack, otherwise it would’ve been negated. As he stopped spinning in the air, he had a moment of a second to see her launch out of the water beneath him and rammed him with the tip of her face, launching him even higher, before her weight pulled her back to the water. This one hurt… But she was going get back a hundred-fold. As Tirek finally stopped in mid-air, he took notice of Watami waiting for him far below among the ruins. She was waiting for him to come down. The centaur grinned, clenched his fist, put it forward, and then the fall propelled him towards his target. As he traveled, the power in his arm intensified. And beneath, he could tell that his opponent was preparing to strike at him. The size of her compared to him would surely leave a mark if she had managed to strike him again. But he knew better. Just as he was nearly there, he opened a doorway in space – he disappeared through it and came out the other end, facing the giant kelpie’s abdomen. With her gaze turned away, a moment of confusion from his sudden disappearance was enough. His fist connected, carried by the momentum of his fall. Her body bent and she was sent flying, while he halted on the spot where the contact happened. After bouncing off the water surface several times she finally stopped, clutching onto her stomach from the pain she was inflicted. As she writhed in agony, she couldn’t hear the centaur approach, as he infused his hooves with magic to walk on the lake’s surface, over to his wounded opponent.

He looked down upon the beaten queen. “What’s the matter, big fish? Is that your best?”

Even though she was in pain, the wrath returned. The lake in their proximity launched crashing waves at him, momentarily staggering the centaur, giving the kelpie enough time to quickly recover, as her attacks amounted to nothing since the heat radiating from him made them all evaporate. But she wouldn’t be deterred. What this monster did to her children, she would make him suffer. Water suddenly wrapped around her hand-like fins and she made a strike at him.

Tirek managed to easily take the brunt of her attacks, and he knew that if she tried to make physical contact with him, she would get burned for it. Much to his surprise though, she didn’t stop striking him. It was almost as if her anger had made her immune to feeling pain.

“Good. Good, big fish.” He grinned. “You’re good and angry.” He grabbed the small bag on a rope that he was carrying around his neck with one hand and opened it.

Suddenly, a powerful aura erupted from it. Watamai was frozen by it for a moment, but then the heat washed over her. A strange red haze began to creep into her consciousness, her senses being overcome. She just wanted to hurt him, nothing else mattered. The sense of fire washing over her though… it felt familiar, yet different. For a moment, her memory flashed back into a distant past. She stood on the borderlands of her kingdom and the Kuhama desert. Or rather, she was staring at the desert that was being swallowed by an endless tidal wave. And she felt it. Even though she was an aquatic being, she could feel a sense of drowning washing over her - a sense of despair. She could tell that others beside her felt it too. After all, they were at the site where this phenomenon had awakened, and they were powerless to stop it; what chance did they have? But among the group, a single zebra stepped before everybody, as did the abada. They were her equals of other kingdoms – their rulers. What could they do? He kneeled. He kneeled in front of everybody and gave a prayer, as did his companion, as did she. That was the only thing they could do: Pray and hope that somebody would hear their pleas. She remembered what followed after that. Despair had been beaten with the newfound powers that the land itself had gifted them. But there would be no salvation this time around. Her consciousness was fading, being overtaken by anger that she couldn’t fight on her own. Nobody would save her this time.

“That’s it, big fish! BE CONSUMED BY THE FIERY DARKNESS!” Tirek boisterously announced his victory.

BOOM!

“Huh? What was that noise?” He turned his head back, to where the sound came from.

Never has the lush area under Mount Chinjaio been hot. The fertile grounds that the volcanic soil had provided created one of the most blooming lands in all of Farasi. So, if the winds coming from the icy peaks didn’t satisfy, then the lush growth certainly would. That was no longer the case. Since the day before, the abada’s homeland had been invaded by foreign shapeshifting creatures. That alone was already enough, but then the giant, fiery, four-legged, two-armed abomination emerged out of nowhere and started a fire, which quickly spread across their whole village and to the rest of the jungle. Two threats were impossible to handle for the locals, as the former was constantly interfering in the resolution of the latter. The whole night long, they were trying to put out the ever-spreading fire, and the changelings would constantly disrupt their efforts. Even though the ruler and his bodyguards have been running the alien-looking equines ragged, their acts also contributed to fanning the flames. By now, the whole village was already burned to the ground, but the destruction continued to the rest of the forest.

The Wingardians flew through the overgrowth, intercepting the changelings that were attacking the residents, but one of them lagged, so the other three had to stop. “Hey, you okay?” one of them asked.

“Yes, it’s just,” he paused and rubbed his eyes as he traipsed to an unburned shrub, “I haven’t slept since yesterday…”

“How do you think we feel? We’re in the same as you, but we can’t stop. Amun’s still going about and he hasn’t been complaining.”

Unknown to them, the unburned shrub that they were near was actually a mimicry perpetuated by their enemy. All of a sudden, about a dozen changelings dropped the illusion, and tackled the king’s guards, who were taken completely off guard and buried under their mass, unable to respond. And just then, a strong wind kicked up through the burned land and brushed the changelings off, sending them flying.

All they saw was a green blur, but the Wingardians knew who it was. “Your Majesty!” one of them called out.

King Amun dashed like the wind across his domain, striking at the enemy at every opportunity. He had to, he couldn’t allow himself to stop. The moment he did, he knew his biggest fear would kick in – paranoia. All night he’s been dashing about, tackling the changeling queen all by himself, hoping that he would give his followers some reprieve. But by dawn, he quickly learned that he couldn’t trust anyone; every friendly face was likely a monster in disguise, waiting for the right moment to abuse the trust and strike when one would least expect. He couldn’t trust anybody, even his own Wingardians could have been compromised. All he could do was keep attacking the enemy until they had finally exhausted themselves. And that presented a major problem he had been facing: While the swarmlings were beginning to show signs of exhaustion, the same could not be said for their queen. He’s been butting heads with her all night long, and she’s shown no exhaustion whatsoever. In fact, it seemed she’s only been getting stronger, as he recalled that she has had hard time keeping up with him, but now she was beginning to catch up. It certainly wasn’t from his own over-exertion that this was happening.

Let’s see who lasts longer, shall we? Your chilly winds, or my ice-cold hatred?

That’s what he remembered her saying. At this point, he was beginning to think that maybe it wasn’t all just bluster.

AIEEEEEEEEE!

A cry for help, one belonging to a youngling. She was carried away by a pair of changelings who were tossing her back and forth in the air. He rushed between them a snatched her when she was in mid-air, all the whole knocking them out of it. Finally, he decided to stop - a mistake that would cost him dearly. As he placed the abada filly on the ground, it began to rumble. From beneath, the swarm emerged in countless numbers and surrounded them both, to the point that everything around them went dark, leaving only flickering light to make things visible. And then he heard her.

“Oh, brave king, saving a helpless innocent youth. How noble,” the changeling queen's voice echoed all around, making it impossible to tell where she was. “I hope that act of compassion was worth because now you’ll pay dearly for it.”

She was trying to intimidate him, but the abada ruler remained steadfast. He nudged the filly in the middle of the enclosure and then he began to run in circles around her, picking up speed to the point that it created a powerful gust that almost instantly dispersed the swarm that surrounded them.

“My hero!” the little abada behind him thanked when he finally stopped.

But before he even had a chance to turn and tell her to go hide, from the corner of his eye he saw a green glow, before a powerful blast hit him and threw him a short distance. He reeled from pain; that was no physical attack, it felt like he was just burnt by a magical blast. But where did it come from? He dispersed all the attackers. And as he finally turned, he realized where it came from. The little abada filly that he had just saved, was slowly approaching him with a grin, and her horn was emitting a sickly green glow.

“You…” he uttered.

She began to laugh maniacally, and in a flash of green, she disappeared, and her form was replaced by a towering creature that resembled the swarmlings – their queen, radiant like nature, yet corrupt.

“Oh darling, that was just too easy.” Queen Chrysalis traipsed over to his side. “Even when you have to deal with a threat you know could be disguised as ANYBODY, you would immediately go and save a potential threat. That’s why your types are so easily beaten.”

Amun tried to get back on his feet, but before he had a chance, the green glow enveloped him and he ended up getting tossed about against the ground several times before finally being lifted and brought close to the changeling queen.

Several of the swarm joined her side, making screeching noises in anticipation. “It’s over, Your Majesty. Look around.” She slowly spun the incapacitated ruler of abadas in full circle. “Your kingdom lies in ruins. Your people were beaten. And now you have no power to resist me any longer. For all the boasting that changeling magic can’t negate your own, it did you very little in the end.” She reached out to his ear to whisper. “I outlasted you. And now, I’ll…”

She didn’t finish. Or rather, she didn’t know what to say, as if something was lacking in the back of her head as if something was missing that she knew all too well, some sort of natural instinct.

BOOM!

She snapped out of her state, roused by the sudden sound she had just heard. The rest of the swarm was stirred by it as well.

“What was that?” she wondered.

The streets of Musa were quaking from the tremors of hooves. The defense led by Captain Adil fought street after street against the invaders who had suddenly emerged from the portals after the night’s break. The civilians that were trapped within the city surrounded by an electric shield required constant watch; the danger was just too great to leave them alone with the attackers appearing out of nowhere and a giant sentient thundering cloud raining bolts of lightning on them. The golden electrified chained tridents were flying about, some trying to incapacitate them, others trying to inflict damage. But regardless of which, the satyrs were able to keep up with their magic-resistant armor. Despite the difficulties, the locals had to deal persevere, but not everybody was enthusiastic, though not at their own fault.

“Sahir!” Adil yelled as one of the guards who had just snoozed off for a moment.

“I’m sorry, captain,” he yawned. “But last night…”

“Was sleepless, I know. I’ve seen others dealing with it as well. But we don’t have an option of slipping at this moment. We need to regroup with another squad so we can mount a counteroffensive. Follow me!”

With the order, the guards went with the captain, protecting the civilians as they rushed into a narrow alley – his intention was the cut the path and avoid the larger groups of invaders, after all, they did not know the city’s set up, unlike them. They went on, and in the back, the sound of battle faded away for a moment, offering a brief reprieve to their senses… something that would work against them. As the loud noise faded, the captain’s vision suddenly became blurry and he began to swing slightly left and right with each step he made, his concentration faltering. And then, just as they were about the leave the alley, a group of armed satyrs jumped from their covers as the unsuspected escort leader, realizing too late to call for an order.

THUNNN!

The sound of bent steel echoed, as a force moved in with lightning speed, intercepting the satyr ambushers, and sending them flying into the nearby building.

King Abraxas drew himself to full height. “You’re slipping, Captain Adil.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty!” he apologized.

“Save your apologies. There are more civilians on the northwestern end. You need to go there-”

KRAKOOOM!

The king’s head immediately turned when that clash of thunder echoed. He got distracted for too long, and now others will have to pay the price for it.

“Captain, get a move on! NOW!” he commanded.

“At once, Your Maj-!” before he could even finish the sentence, he was gone.

He dashed as fast as possible to meet the main opposition head-on, as it loomed over the city on the other end of the electric barrier and rained bolts of lightning down on the unsuspected civilians, intercepting the last attack. Although he did not show it like his guards did, the zebra king was beginning to feel the burden of constant battle. The adrenalin was what had been keeping him acting throughout the night. But he had to keep going, because the moment he stopped, the moment takes even a momentary breather, he would exploit it…

And Storm King was aware of it all too well. Though their powers were comparable, he was still a living creature of flesh and blood, bound by limitations; ones that have been stripped off him. He had been patiently waiting, doing everything in his power to keep exhausting the zebra king. Now he was just waiting for the right moment to strike. And it finally presented itself. He saw an elderly zebra couple trying to quickly pace through the street and avoid the fighting while carrying a little colt in their saddlebags. The giant head-shaped cloud spat a quick bolt in their direction but not aiming directly at them. The bolt hit the ground beneath them and the earth heaved, tossing them about. The couple was fine, but the child landed on the other side of the street, several hooves away. The satyr king smiled and this time breathed out a lighting laser in their direction. They huddled together and screamed in panic, only for King Abraxas to suddenly appear at their side to intercept the attack… just as the Pillar of Fear anticipated. As the zebra rulers came in to intercept the lightning attack, he suddenly realized something was off about it: The attack wasn’t coming straight for the two civilians. At first, he thought it was going to miss, but then he realized it was beginning to curve, going completely around them. It was only then that he realized where it was actually going – it was aiming for the little colt! With but a fraction of a second, Abraxas made a quick U-turn, and unable to intercept the attack directly he could only save the youth in the last moment, sliding into the alleyway and coming out on the other end… And that’s where he was waiting. The Storm King shot himself out of his cloud-head, launching at the exit point where he knew his opponent would come out completely unprepared. His lightning-forged guitar turned into an axe and was gathering the momentum to swing it.

“YOU BLINKED! I WIN!!!” he loudly declared, as he swung his weapon, determined to finish off his enemy.

BOOM!

In a moment of excitement, he didn’t have a chance to realize that wasn’t the sound of his booming thunderstorm. And just before the strike connected, something went past between the two combatants; he couldn’t see anything but a multitude of colors, as it went straight through his weapon and discharged it.

“Eh…?”

That was the only sound the satyr could make in confusion before King Abraxas made a swift counterattack With his enemy now exposed and in a vulnerable position, a single lightning kick connected to the obsidian construct and sent him flying into one of the four spires that were erecting the lightning dome.

The zebra king finally took a moment to breathe, still holding the colt in his embrace. But what was that? Who or what had just intervened in their fight?