Kyuuketsuki Duo: The Movie
Sanguis Draconis Part 22

They met, as always, in a courtyard of Shenlong's estate. The mood was somber, though Quatre took the time to observe aloud that the trees seemed greener than before, the light brighter, the woodwork fresher. It was a sign that Shenlong was as ready as they were. They were going over the details one last time when an impatient roar split the air from outside the walls. Eyebrows were raised at each other in eloquent question before Meiran rolled her eyes at them and headed outside to find out what it was. The others followed.

She stopped short in the portal leading to the courtyard at the entrance of the estate. Wufei cast only a barely inquisitive look at her as he continued, then stopped himself as he found the reason for her pause. From where they stood, they could see out the main gates, and on the other side of those gates waited Haoxian, backed by a crowd of dragons, more dragons than they had even thought existed.

Wufei covered the distance between them and the grinning Haoxian, his gaze continuing to study the collected dragons as he did so. There were more than he could readily count. The variation within the group was stunning. There were dragons from as small as Haoxian to as large as his brothers. Their shape ranged from ungainly to slender, chunky to sinuous, and there was practically enough difference in color and pattern to cover the spread between paisley and plaid, figuratively speaking. "You strongly implied that there were not so many of you left," he said mildly.

"Oh, did I?" Haoxian shrugged carelessly. "Well, here we are. We, uh, 'talked' a bit more during the night, Yazi, Chiwen and I, and between the three of us managed to convince a few of us to join the cause. And so you have it, your army."

Yazi threaded his way through the crowd to arrive before them. "Ha, now we shall have ourselves a real battle." The accompanying smile was really more of a baring of teeth than anything else.

Wufei sketched a hasty bow of the head to him in salute. "Why yes, I do believe so." The others had joined him by then. Duo gave a low, impressed whistle, and Wufei turned to question him. "Will this pose a problem in our travel arrangements?"

Duo threw him a disdainful look. "Hmpf. If Trant can transport an army, then certainly I can, as well."

"Ah." That matter settled, he turned back to Yazi and gestured vaguely at the crowd, somewhat at a loss for what to do with them. He certainly had not anticipated this turn of events, though he was definitely grateful. "Will they require a speech of some sort, perhaps?"

"You seek to rally them? They are ready as is, but it is not altogether a poor idea if you wish to lead them effectively."

"Yes, about that." Following him was fine, but he could not lead them. He had a duel to fight. "In accordance with the plan you assisted me in drafting yesterday, does it not seem reasonable for the dragons to face off against Epyon's legions?"

Yazi's tail swished in thought. Perhaps it was with good reason that the dragons were not crowded very closely together. "Hmm, yes, that seems the best position." There was only the faintest hint of disappointment in his tone. It was possible that he would have liked to take a more direct role in the upcoming conflict if it had been strategically sound.

"Then may I appoint you general of this army? My battle will be with Epyon. I will not have the attention to spare to oversee the movements of your people effectively."

The dragon eyed him judgingly, as if having to decide for himself that it was Wufei's place, and Wufei's alone, to take on the black dragon. Eventually, he conceded with sufficiently humble grace. It was not such a poor thing to be a general. Their part in this battle could be considered mere distraction, but it could also be considered vengeance or, to use a loftier word, justice, and thus a noble part indeed.

Yazi turned to the dragons with a great roar, and not quite as one, but with a thunderous clamor nevertheless, they roared back in answer. The energy of their enthusiasm and anticipation stirred the power inside of Wufei to a lively counterpoint, and it reared up in its own response, his aura flaring and bringing with it a roar not audible, yet somehow tangible. The rest of the dragons only increased their cry in recognition of Shenlong's return. The reason they had gathered had been identified, and they were officially pouring their faith into that dragon's power and his human's promises. The display of strength was a better speech than mere words could have been.

"So I guess now would be a good time to open that portal, while they're all revved up and ready to go, eh?" Duo murmured to no one in particular. His partner heard, of course, and placed a hand on his shoulder, a physical touch to reflect the mental connection he extended.

They were all standing outside of the main gate to Shenlong's estate, so the pair commandeered the archway to overlay a gate of their own. It was large enough to accommodate even the largest of dragons present. The location and layout of Epyon's hideaway was recalled easily from the trove of information they had gleaned directly from Trant's ravaged mind, and within that they zeroed in on where they had all agreed to enter.

Heero felt a nudge from the power in his mind and called his partner to a brief halt as he took heed of its advice. They had not attempted to do any further reconnaissance of Epyon's disposition to update their information lest they leave themselves open to detection, but now Heero was being provided with a way to inspect Epyon's holdings without that risk. He threw the thought to Duo, who absorbed it, agreed to it, and executed it.

They found one of the natural eddies in the ether, one that was coincident with the Dark and Epyon's location, and using that natural phenomenon they slipped a little shadow through to the other side, laced with Trant's signature as a failsafe in case it was noticed and investigated. It wasn't long before it returned unharmed with a more current picture, and they adjusted their target accordingly. It took little effort to connect their chosen physical anchor to the Dark, and from there they prepared the leap directly into Epyon's domain.

Duo caught Wufei's attention. "On your mark. When we open it, someone will notice. We should go through without delay."

Wufei nodded in acknowledgment, and in turn alerted Yazi. Before the dragon could begin leading the assault, Duo informed him of the reprised situation with an efficient minimum of words, but when that was done, word of mouth and a few good roars were all that were needed to bring the dragons to attention.

With tacit agreement that all was in order, the non-dragon elements of the raiding party stepped to the sides of the gate to allow their newfound army to pass through first. It would be their task to draw the demon horde's attention away as they made their way to where Epyon awaited. With no further ado, Duo completed the final links between the Dark and that other place in the hell dimensions. Violet crackles of energy traced the structure of the gate, and the space within wavered darkly for moments before it fluctuated sharply and then settled into the image of a foreign landscape.

War cries rang out as the dragons charged through, Yazi at their forefront. Haoxian stayed behind for a minute, watching his brethren in their return to glory before preparing himself to join them. He stepped off to the side, and within a few seconds, he had grown from the small dragon that fit on Wufei's shoulder to a dragon that matched his brothers in size.

The others stared at him in surprise. He grinned toothily at them in return. "What, did you think I was really that small?" Laughter came forth in the form of a gentle rumble. "Now, you kids have fun. I'm off."

He took off into the fray, and the others looked at each other in his absence. "We should head through, too," Quatre suggested, eyeing the dragons remaining. If they entered the gate in the middle of the flood, it was less likely they would be noticed. A few solemn nods met his words, plus one feral grin, and together they strode through the gate and into Epyon's lands.

Battle had been joined. Epyon's forces were a dark breed, clearly meant for destruction. Some of the dragons had taken to the air, to dance out of the reach of their opponents' sharp claws and ravage them from above. Unlike the dragons of Western lore, they did not breathe fire, but that did not mean they had no command over the elements. They were not all creatures of claw and tooth alone. Lightnings flashed and air hurled itself at their enemies.

Some of their foes met them in the air and engaged them, but most of the combat was waged on the ground. Many of the dragons had the advantage of size, and in some cases maneuverability, but Epyon's army often made up for it in pure berserker fury. Their numbers were not too uneven to begin with, and it would functionally remain that way. With the opposing demons willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of inflicting heavy damage, they could handicap as many dragons as demons they lost. Fresh dragons were still coming through the opening, but only time would tell who would be the victor.

::Hey, we're going to have to close the gate, too, aren't we?:: Duo asked his partner as an afterthought. In response, Heero rigged it to shut down when the last dragon was through, and they continued on their course.

Ignoring as best they could the sounds of war, the main strike force, led by Wufei, headed for where they could see Epyon overseeing the actions of his army. He stood tall and proud and evil atop a slight hill, a few lieutenants at his back, holding the armored bipedal form that he had since he had escaped from his prison. It was the form in which Wufei had first battled him. They plotted their path of approach to come up to him from the side.

Not all of Epyon's forces were engaged in the battle. A few stragglers lagged behind, those that had been farthest away, or simply had not yet found room to join their comrades, or maybe even were too cowardly to join the fight, and now that left them obstacles in the path to their commander.

Wufei drew his sword, Quatre gathered his aura. As they had planned, Trowa stood in the middle of their small group, extending his nullifying influence over them to the best of his ability. It was not enough to hide their presence entirely from the demons, but it was enough to disorient them at least a little.

"Wufei," Quatre said, drawing their leader back a few steps. "Maybe you should let us deal with these guys. You just need to concentrate on Epyon."

Wufei pursed his lips, but nodded. He did not like to be out of the action, but he did need to conserve his strength, so he slowed enough to let some of the others pass him. Already he had pulled Shenlong's energy in close to him in order to avoid alerting Epyon of their presence for as long as possible. Meiran squeezed his arm and gave him a smile as she went by, keeping pace with Trowa and Quatre. They had about half a kilometer to cover, and they set off at a steady, but sustainable stride.

Hilde was tugging on Duo's sleeve and speaking in low tones to him. Duo nodded a few times, then pulled a pair of blades from the shadows and presented them to her. She squealed quietly in delight and took a hold of them by the handles set perpendicular to the curved blades so that the sharp edges faced outwards along the length of her forearm. After a few experimental swishes, she bounced happily again and gave Duo a peck on the cheek. As expected, Heero shot her a warning glare. Since he had taken the mask off to prove his point to Trant, he had not yet put it back on.

"Hey, since when do you fight?" Meiran asked the succubus.

Hilde shrugged. "A girl's gotta know how to protect herself, now doesn't she? Hey, Duo, how about a knife or two for our friend, here?"

Amethyst eyes sized her up carefully before she was presented with a dark, gleaming knife of her own. She took it uncertainly, but when she had it in hand, any doubts were erased. The grip fit her hand so comfortably, it was as if she had owned the knife for years. Its weight was almost negligible, but it retained a reassuring solidity that whispered of danger. Unable to resist, her lips curved up in a faint echo of Hilde's excitement and she offered her thanks to Duo.

The guardian nodded in return. When a beast howled at them, signaling the end to their undisturbed foray into enemy territory, he bowed ever so slightly at the waist. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have blood to spill."

He and Heero took the lead now, being the most offensively inclined of the party, minus Wufei. That first creature that had noticed them came their way and lost its head to a glowing disc of dark sapphire energy. Its death throes went unnoticed by its comrades, obscured as it was by the larger mass of chaos coming from the main battle. The next demon that managed to catch wind of them found the shadows at his feet suddenly surging forth from the ground to wrap themselves tightly around its neck and body. It was choked to death before anything more than a faint gurgle of warning could escape its throat. That sound, too, was lost amidst the rumbles of war.

Quatre launched the next strike preemptively. There was no point in waiting for the demons to notice them before picking them off. He chose a likely target, one close to them but off to the side, where once again, it would be unlikely that anyone would notice its death. With a few murmured words to focus his will, he sent forth a fiery weave of power to ensnare a third demon, stilling the air around it to muffle the sound as it tangled with the net long enough to have the power's true effect take place. With his grasp on the air, Quatre waited for the creature to breathe in enough of the power-laden air before triggering it to combustion, and the demon was consumed from the inside out.

::Hmm, I'm impressed,:: Duo observed idly to his partner, glancing over to the usually mild-mannered spiritualist. The blonde's face was all business now.

It was expected that their luck would not hold out. They had taken a path that would not lead them through the middle of the pack of demons, but they were close enough, and finally three of them turned towards them as one. Hounds of hell they were, like the legendary three-headed watchdog of Hades split apart into three separate beings. To make up for the loss that distinction brought to them, each head sported its own triple set of sharp, gleaming teeth, revealed by mouths drawn back in a snarl with spittle dripping in strands to the ground, where it hissed and burnt the land. The first two ran at them, and the third set up a piercing war cry that alerted the rest of them before following its brothers.

There was no more time for grace or subtlety. Flames and claws flew with equal ferocity. Obsidian blades danced with lethal grace, carving a bloody path through the demon ranks. With the guardian's terrible glee, the power matrix boosting Heero's performance to unbelievable heights, Quatre's defensive shielding and long-distance attacks, and Trowa's faintly muddling aura, they made steady forward progress towards their goal.

::You were right, babe,:: Duo tossed to his partner during a brief pause in the battle. ::This is wonderfully therapeutic.::

In due time, they were spotted by the watchers on the hill. Epyon did not deign to turn his gaze in their direction, but one more familiar did. Lei Fang's eyes flared darkly in recognition, and with a sneer curving her blood red lips, she came down from the mound, gesturing off to the side with one of her hands. At her sign, a pack of demons separated itself from the larger battle and made its way towards their commander.

The other creatures already involved in the fight against the raiding party slowly backed off and made way for their superior. Wufei's party paused when they were a comfortable distance away from the smirking demoness.

"Chang," she greeted with mock delight. "How wonderful that you should join us today. And it seems you've brought your own little army with you as well. Too frightened to confront your enemies on your own?"

Wufei refused to give her the pleasure of a scowl as he made his way to the forefront of the group. "Not at all, Lei Fang. Simply, my battle is not with you. My battle lies with Epyon." He unleashed the restrictions he had placed upon Shenlong's power, and it blazed forth eagerly now that it was finally confronting its age-old enemy. Shenlong's mark, which typically lay quiescent, now made itself known like incandescent armor across his shoulders. His sword gleamed more brightly than the most polished length of steel, and the emerald gem set in its pommel glowed a more vibrant green than ever Wufei had seen pulse forth from its depths.

The combined effect was painful to Duo's othersenses, and he had to turn away to give them time to adjust to the suddenness. ::Well,:: he mindsent to his hovering guardian. Heero would have covered him in the fight had their attackers not been given pause as well. ::He's sure happy to see someone.::

Epyon finally took heed of them. The black dragon howled at the sight and feel of the ancient nemesis that had dared to seek him out in the middle of his domain and challenge him. So great was his anger that he lashed out reflexively in its presence, the thick, scaled whip that dangled from his arm finding a target in the hapless lieutenant standing a little too close to his master.

Wufei leveled his sword at the demon. "Epyon! Your time has come!"

The black dragon conjured a blade to his free hand. It glowed with the same fluorescence that lit the bright green flames that floated in the darkness where he should have had eyes. Where the emerald of Shenlong blazed with the color of life, Epyon carried with him an unhealthy ectoplasmic color one could not help but associate only with unnatural occurrences. He raised the evil sword above his head like a beacon, and the legion of demons unoccupied in the battle with the rest of the dragons growled out their recognition as they focused all their hostile attention upon Shenlong's host.

Wufei did not flinch, only held his sword steady as he turned a mocking look at his opponent. "Too frightened to confront your enemies on your own? Need you an army to fight your battle for you? Your battle is with me -- with us." Shenlong's power pulsed in eager agreement. "Let us settle this between ourselves."

A long, tense moment hung in the air between them before Epyon roared his agreement, his limbs taking on an aggressive posture. The creatures between them heeded their master's tacit commands and parted to form a clear path. Wufei took up the invitation and began his approach.

The others moved to follow, but Lei Fang barred their path. "Where do you think you're going?" she said. "Weren't you listening? This battle is between them."

"Oh, yeah, right," Meiran sneered in response. "What are the chances that you're all going to fight fair and leave it that way, hmm?"

Lei Fang smiled back at her. "That is irrelevant. You don't have a choice." The demons that had removed themselves from Wufei's path now closed ranks again, cutting the man off from his comrades. Wufei continued resolutely, giving no sign that he had noticed. His attention was on Epyon, who still waited for him atop his mound.

Duo raised a sardonic eyebrow at her. Since he had been otherwise occupied the last time their party had encountered her, he had not had the fine opportunity to meet her. Now that he had, he could join his opinion with that of the others. "You mean, -you- don't have a choice. This is personal. Epyon would probably get pretty pissed at you if you got in the way of his vengeance, don't you think? Even if you are one of his lieutenants. Check out the poor guy that got knocked over just now, after all. You are nothing to him."

Her obsidian eyes narrowed. "What would you know, Shinma?"

"Shinma this, Shinma that. You know, if we could all learn to overlook our little surface differences, I'm sure we'd all get along just so much better."

It was Quatre's first impulse to hiss 'Not helping!' at him, but when the displeasure showed on Lei Fang's face, he swept that little voice back underneath the rug. He'd forgotten how poorly the demoness reacted to the disdain of others. Duo was the perfect person to nettle her into an accidental display of weakness. When it came, though, it would likely be lethal in force, so he began preparing himself accordingly.

Unfortunately, she had not the patience to wait out the end of their confrontation, nor did she have a personal vendetta that stopped her from calling upon the aid of the gathered forces. The henchdemons started creeping forward menacingly again, and then the foremost ranks leapt into action. Once again, Heero and Duo provided most of the offensive might against the onslaught, with Quatre supporting them with both shields and a few attacks of his own.

That left Hilde, Meiran, and Trowa to keep an eye on Lei Fang, who still stood calmly watching the proceedings. Arrogance shined forth from her expression, but there was also something of annoyance in there that they had not fallen immediately. "Ah, you again," she said.

"Us again," Meiran repeated calmly, quite willing to engage in a rematch of their last encounter. They had been doing rather well until the demoness had summoned a few attendants to take her place and then fled the scene. She would not get away so easily this time around.

*****

His passage was undisturbed as he made his way to the waiting demon. The short hill on which Epyon waited covered more ground than he had initially estimated. The land was level on the top, and matched up to Duo's descriptions of the place where the demon typically held court. Today, the plane would host a duel.

His first thought was that Epyon was taller than he remembered. The demon stood a good three meters in height, and could no doubt have been larger had he so desired it. His dark plate armor gleamed with deep blood-wine highlights, tinted a slightly sickly color by the glow of his sword. More powerful than he had been when he had first been released from the wards that had bound him for so long, it was only natural that he wield no less an intimidating aura than he had all those years ago, and yet it was somehow no more intimidating as well. Wufei had been an inexperienced youth then, suddenly confronted with something even beyond what his worst nightmares could have imagined for him. Of course the power that Epyon gave off had been overwhelming. But now, although Epyon had more power to his name, Wufei had power of his own to counter it. He had confidence in his skills, a ready acceptance of his fate, and Shenlong's backing. He would not cower tonight.

No more words needed to be exchanged between them. There were no insults to be bandied about, no deals to be made. No, now there was only the settling of an ancient score, and so they began.

Epyon made the first move. For something of his bulk, he moved with remarkable speed, but Wufei supposed he ought not to be surprised that a demon would not follow the predictions of physics. The black dragon lunged at him, and it seemed he simply lifted his feet off the ground and flew at Wufei, skimming over the land as if he were beyond gravity. The flaming green sword swung at him in a curving horizontal arc, but he dived and rolled beneath its sweep, making a half-hearted attempt to cut at the back of the demon's knees as he regained his position. As expected, the demon dodged, changing direction as easily as if his feet found purchase in the air. His miss did not matter. These early exchanges would be more about gauging each other's level than inflicting any damage. He already knew that he would never win against Epyon in a contest of brute strength. Their battle would be about him using his size and maneuverability to his best advantage, trying to stay away from Epyon's mighty blows while ducking in for swift attacks.

They separated, regained their ready positions, and circled each other warily once more. Shenlong's power tingled over him like a second skin, letting him know that he was under its protection. It filled more than just his body, but his mind as well, focusing in on the reason it had been revived with an almost single-minded intensity. Wufei knew that his friends had been left behind to face Lei Fang and her team, he knew that the dragons were engaged in occupying the rest of Epyon's forces, but none of it mattered right now. He was aware of it only so far as noting their activities and dismissing them as irrelevant. The only thing that was allowed to matter was Epyon himself.

*****

When faced with one of the large winged demons attacking from the air, Duo reached out with one hand, links of shadow encased in violet lightnings flying forth to snatch the demon out of the sky. With a sharp jerk of his hand, it slammed harshly to the ground and into the midst of its comrades, sending that portion of the attacking line into momentary disarray and allowing Quatre the time to look over his shoulder to see how the others were faring.

Lei Fang had disdained the use of her troops against the ones standing immediately before her. It was a pity that the blonde was occupied by her forces, but she would have time to deal with him personally later. Right now, the succubus was of no consequence, but the Chinese girl and that strange not-quite-there boy were her opponents, and there was payback to be extracted from them. The last time they had met, the girl had mocked her, and the boy had had the gall to actually draw blood from her with the knife he was holding now. She would tear them apart and feed them to her pets.

She was attacking with more force than she had the first time they had met in combat. Meiran was holding her own against her, but not without a bit of pain and a lot of wincing. She was unaccustomed to fighting with a knife, but she chose to concentrate more on fighting as she normally would, and simply flicking the knife out when the opportunity arose.

When she stumbled back, Hilde stepped in to support her. The succubus was not as inconsequential as she had seemed. Armed with the blades that Duo had lent her, she wielded them with unexpected skill garnered from playing with the guardian on and off over the years. Heero had not approved of them simply lazing about and had 'encouraged' them to activity, once upon a time. She was no expert, but she kept Lei Fang occupied while Meiran recovered.

Trowa also assisted in the battle, standing from afar and lobbing stones that he had found on the ground at her with pinpoint accuracy and total placidity, often distracting her enough at key moments for her to leave her guard open to attack. The indignity, of course, only served to exacerbate her annoyance. It was infuriating enough already that she could not sense where he was at any given moment, and thus could not predict his strikes.

Trusting Duo and Heero to take care of things on their front, Quatre moved closer to where the others were drifting. Their fight was not kind enough to remain stationary, and the two Shinma had chosen their stand and were sticking with it. They moved in efficient harmony, watching each other's backs as they coordinated their targets and dealt with them simply and effectively, never straying too far from their positions. Instead, they waited patiently for the demons to come to them on their terms. Duo even seemed to be enjoying himself.

Since they obviously required no assistance, Quatre turned his attention to protecting the others from demons that might wish to leap upon them while they were occupied with Lei Fang. On the side, a small pack of demons was attempting to sneak up on their flank. As they began their charge, he slammed a shield up in their path that curved them away from the others and towards the front Duo and Heero were guarding. A part of him thought it wasn't nice to give them more work, but there was a very large and very reasonable part of him that pointed out just how very well they were doing their job.

He also had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Wufei every once in a while. There was not much he could say about that battle. Neither of the combatants seemed to be hindered by any wounds yet, so the advantage was unclear. At most, he could see them part, measure each other, and then come together again in a short, brilliant clash that would obscure their movements.

Another demon came leaping at him, and he noticed it with enough time for him to repel it with a handful of force right between the eyes just before its claws could get him, and when it was down he nailed it to the ground with a bolt of sizzling white energy. That was a little closer than he liked it, and he took his mind off the others and concentrated instead on the demons in front of him.

*****

His lieutenants had left the hilltop for the main battle, leaving Wufei a little more reassured that no one would interfere in their duel. Out of the corner of his eye, he would occasionally catch glimpses of his own aura, or more accurately, Shenlong's. It overlaid his form as if the spirit of Shenlong himself had emerged from its shell to do battle with his nemesis personally. It felt more alive with every exchange of blows.

When Epyon struck at him with the flail that had once wrapped itself around his father's neck, Wufei did not pause to think, pushing the attack aside with his charged sword and retaliating with a punch with his free hand. His strike did not come to a halt with his fist, but extended beyond it with a burst of energy that blazed forth in the shape of a dragon. Its long serpentine form dove towards the enemy, provoking a similar defensive parry from the demon. Epyon jumped back, but the dragon-fist followed, twisting gracefully through successive attacks and attempts to behead it in its quest for its target. It was just taking a bite out of Epyon's shoulder when the demon lashed out with his own whip again, interrupting Wufei's attack by forcing him to recall the energy as he spun to the side to avoid the strike.

They drew apart again, Epyon howling his anger at seeing the manifestation of his enemy once more. Wufei took advantage of his outrage to take stock of his condition. All things considered, he was not doing badly. He had picked up a score of cuts and bruises, mostly from rolling around on the rocky ground or coming in contact with the sharp armor that Epyon sported. So far he had avoided the wicked bite of the demon sword with a good measure of success. When he could not avoid it altogether, he met it with his own sword, but that was not without its consequences. His muscles were starting to feel the ache and burn from the effort. It was hard to say whether Epyon was in a similar condition. Wufei had scored a few good hits against the demon, but it didn't seem to be slowing him down any.

The respite did not last long. The demon rushed forth, beginning to swing his sword in a wide arc that could split Wufei in two right across his chest. The man ducked, as he had before but it seemed Epyon had wised up to his tricks. Halfway through the attack, the sword angled downward, and only luck that he had had his weight balanced in the right direction allowed him to escape as he threw himself opposite the direction of the swing.

He had scarcely regained his feet when Epyon, using the momentum of the last swing to turn him around, came at Wufei again with a similar stroke. Wary of what the demon might try next, Wufei did not respond with the same defense. Instead of moving into the attack, he crouched down and rolled towards Epyon, charging his blade with power as he took advantage of his position to push the sword between two of the demon's armored scales. Epyon's own inertia did half the damage as he turned, driving the sword more deeply within himself with a growl of pain.

When the sword caught upon the edge of one of the scales and could no longer slide through flesh, Wufei nearly lost his grasp on it. Retaining his hold on the hilt meant being flung around with the sword, and he was fortunate to be close enough to Epyon's person that the demon could inflict no real damage to him for the moment. Eventually the sword dislodged itself, and the two of them went flying. He was facedown on the ground when he felt Epyon's approach as a rumble through the earth, and he rolled to the side in time to avoid the huge foot crashing down into the spot he had just occupied.

With a low hiss, Epyon swung his sword around again, a little more slowly this time, and flat side first to cover the most area, Wufei supposed. It still had the potential to swat him around like a noisome fly. His sword was lifted vertically before him, and he took the blow on its flat side, with one hand braced against the blade. It was hardly what one could call a parry. It only kept the massive piece of metal from smashing into him as the force sent him flying through the air again. Somewhere in the recovery, before he managed to stop and pull himself to his feet, his right knee hit the ground hard and let him know it with a few shooting pains up his leg. His left forearm stung with a burn from where it had made contact with Epyon's flaming sword, and his left elbow and shoulder twinged sharply from absorbing the jarring blow. The rest of his body simply protested with a general ache.

Grimly, he took note of it, and that was all he could do, besides thank the powers that be that he had covered enough distance in his flight to prompt another short pause in the battle. As he re-evaluated his condition, he felt his left palm was wet and sticky, and wondering if he had done something so stupid as cut himself on his own blade, he flicked his eye to the sword, still held up in its ready position. There was blood on that blade, though dusted with a bit of the earth, dark wine-red blood smeared from the tip to halfway down its length.

He smiled, and made sure Epyon was watching as he wiped his bloodied hand against the leg of his pants. Even as the demon let out another bellow of rage, the sword flared up more brightly, rejoicing in the blood of its enemy. As if it had been a sacrificial offering, Shenlong's spirit surged to greater life, and Wufei was once again impressed with the notion that he was not in command of Shenlong's power. It chose to cooperate with him, but he was only a host, a tool, a vessel, an anchor for it to exist in this world and fight against its sworn enemy.

He remembered how the sword had carried his father through his own battle against the black dragon. Once he had it back in hand, his father had stood rejuvenated, unmindful of his injuries, but they had not healed. The will within the sword drove him forth without regard for the health of its wielder, and his father died for it. Even knowing that, Wufei would proudly do the same if he could bring the demon down with him. It was his purpose only slightly less than it was the purpose of Shenlong. He had promised it to his father, to his family, and to himself.

Under the sweeping intensity of that purpose, he could barely remember that he had promised an after to Meiran as well, but there would be no after while Epyon was free. Taking him out was the first and foremost priority. At this point, his oath to Meiran was only a promise that he would not give up after his duty had been discharged.

The two dragons snarled at each other, and the battle commenced once more.

*****

The bantering insults had long since ceased. They had taunted each other at first, but had to quit before they started repeating themselves. Now there were only grunts of pain, and the occasional shriek of anger.

Meiran's knife had tasted blood, as had Hilde's crescent blades, but so had Lei Fang's fingernails, lengthened now to act as claws. Meiran tried to convince herself that the fight had not lasted as long as it had. In truth, she wasn't quite too sure of the passage of time, but in an effort to keep herself as fresh as possible, she told herself it only seemed like it was a long time. She repeated it quite firmly to herself as Lei Fang managed to score another glancing scratch across her collarbone.

As Hilde pressed her advantage with a few good spin kicks, Meiran stopped to consider time once more, wishing she dared take her eyes off Lei Fang long enough for her to turn around and catch sight of Wufei and how he fared. She didn't know how long that battle would last, but she thought -- hoped -- her own battle would end soon. Lei Fang was the only thing barring their path to their lone companion on the hill.

She had not walked through Shenlong's front gate expecting to engage the demoness in hand to hand combat, but she thought they were doing pretty well. She was glad that her predictions of being fairly useless in this battle were incorrect. Lei Fang could probably have taken out one of them easily enough, but against the two of them -- no, wait, there were three of them. She'd forgotten about Trowa again. As she used her knife to divert a strike aimed at Hilde, she spared a thought for their unobtrusive friend. There had been no rocks from his quadrant for some time now, so she had nothing by which to track his location. With his strange properties, she couldn't quite notice him any other way.

Had that been a part of Trowa's plan? After sufficient time had passed for Lei Fang to have forgotten about him altogether, he suddenly appeared behind her and delivered a deep slash across the back of her shoulder with the same knife that was used the first time he scored a hit on her, cutting through enough muscle and tendon to weaken her arm severely.

She screamed in pain and spun on him automatically, but he had already dropped into a low crouch, his knife flashing out again to cut her across a thigh, dangerously close to hamstringing her.

"Yeah, well, we softened her up for him," Hilde panted out while catching her breath. "Why the hell did he wait so long?"

Lei Fang clawed at him with her good hand, but he easily sidestepped, his odd non-aura making it hard for her to focus on him properly. Even so, he was not trained in combat, and when she dropped into a low sweep kick that must have hurt with her injury, he was ill-prepared to avoid it. He fell back, with Meiran re-entering the fray the moment she saw it begin.

With the demoness distracted by her vengeance on the boy that had the audacity to make her bleed three times now, Meiran ran forth as unnoticed as Trowa had been before he forcibly brought himself to their attention, and using all the momentum at her disposal, she rammed her knife deep into Lei Fang's lower back, one hand braced against the pommel for added strength.

The demoness let forth an unholy sound, her good arm going back to try and get to the knife as she stumbled forward, with Trowa scrambling out of her way. At the same time, she turned to meet the threat, but Meiran turned with her, and reaching out to take a hold of the hilt once more, she deftly avoided the pale hand and jerked the knife upwards in a final feel-good act of vindication, curving it away from the demoness' ribs before it got stuck there and bringing it out again through her side.

That was as much as Lei Fang could take. She first fell to her knees, blood staining her lips a true blood-red, before she finally dropped to the earth, glaring hatefully at them the whole way down, with perhaps a touch of incredulity that two humans and a succubus had managed to defeat her.

Meiran could summon no sympathy for her. "Sharp knife," she observed, studying the shadow-born weapon Duo had gifted her. Blood coated it, but as she watched, she saw it being absorbed slowly into the obsidian blade, and decided she really didn't want to know.

"Now why the hell didn't we do -that- earlier?" Hilde complained, taking the liberty of dusting off Trowa's backside after he had risen from the ground. He eyed her with a bit of silent surprise, but that was all. She pouted, hoping to have gotten a little more fun out of it. "And you, what finally made you get off your lazy bum and into the action?"

He shrugged slightly. "Ran out of rocks?" That having been said, he turned towards where Quatre stood and made his way there. In truth, he had been dealing with a demon or two that had slipped past the spiritualist's guard on the other side of the fight, but he didn't feel it necessary to point that out.

Quatre himself was just finishing up with a demon of his own, sending out one final golden lance of power to spear it through its chest. He would have liked to have helped them, but his hands had been rather full keeping the other demons away. Granted, most of them had decided to go after Duo and Heero, deeming them to be the greater threat, especially when the fight with Lei Fang had carried them a little further away from the main group, but there had been more than enough left over for a single spiritualist. With Lei Fang's death, a few of the remaining demons decided to break away, but there were still a few left, circling them like vultures.

"You guys done?" he called over his shoulder, unwilling to take his eyes off his last opponents. His voice was a bit breathless, showing the signs of strain that one might expect after using his power so much. He had not sustained physical injury, but the battle was definitely taking its toll on him.

Trowa stepped up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. To Quatre's credit, he did not jump at his friend's approach, although he did make a rather startled sound when he felt a bit of energy transfer itself to him through the physical connection. He didn't bother questioning it. Trowa had always been a man of mysteries. It wasn't a flood, but it was enough to help him put together a rough shield and slap it over the demons. They threw themselves against it, but it held, and it would hold at least long enough for them to get out of there. Hopefully, by the time it came down, they would be far enough away that they might decide to attack someone else.

Finally, he could turn and evaluate everyone's condition. He was pleased to note that they all seemed to be doing fairly alright, although 'tired' was a fairly good adjective to describe the lot of them. His eyes flickered over to Duo and Heero, grim amusement showing in his expression when he realized that he could trace their slow migration down the field by the trail of dead bodies that they left in their passing. The numbers standing against them had been whittled down significantly. The two of them had managed to maintain enough distance from the others that their separate fights would not interfere with each other, but close enough that there would not be too much room for the demons to circle around them and get to the others.

Since Duo still looked like he was enjoying himself, Quatre turned his attention to the hill where Wufei was engaged in battle with Epyon, noting the status of the rest of the dragons as he turned. Although the battle still waged quite actively, it seemed the dragons had gained an advantage. There was an order to the chaos now, with many of them gathered in small bunches to attack their enemies. Apparently Yazi was doing his job well.

"Come on," Meiran said anxiously, breaking away from them to stride towards the hill. It was difficult to tell the specifics of what was happening at this distance, but Wufei was still standing, so it couldn't have been going all that badly. The path between them was fairly clear now. The others followed after her, with Quatre pausing for a moment to see for himself what had happened to Lei Fang.

They hadn't made it far before the dynamics of the hilltop battle changed. They couldn't tell what triggered it, but a tremendous roar came out of that place, and Epyon's body became encased in the same flames as his sword. The fire swirled and danced, expanding outwards from his body, and when they cleared a few long moments later, in his place was truly a black dragon, as large as any of his brothers, and looking very maleficent in his deep black and purple hues.

"That can't be good," Quatre murmured worriedly.

Meiran was a little less mild. "Shit," she breathed, forcing herself to move a little more quickly towards the battle site. What she thought she could do, she had no idea, but she couldn't just stand by so far away and watch things happen.

She had taken only a few more steps before Wufei's figure, looking so tiny when compared to the huge demon now facing him, changed as well. His aura flared up, expanding with every pulse until it seemed a dragon had crawled out of his skin, or perhaps off of it, for it reflected the image that had marked Wufei when the sword had recognized him as its guardian. It was every bit as magnificent as its opponent, its transparency tinged with hints of greens and scarlets and golds. It was Shenlong, his spirit brought to life even without a body to contain it.

The two dragons rose to the sky and clashed, Shenlong's intangibility apparently not a problem as they tangled and struck at each other, their cries renting the air. It was enough that even all the rest of the demons and dragons slowed in their combat to watch their leaders as they fought.

"Where is he?" Meiran asked, panic edging her voice as she clutched at Quatre's sleeve. "Where's Wufei?"

Trowa was the first to spot him. "There," he pointed. "Exactly where he was, but on his knees. You can see the sword. He's leaning on it."

That was little relief to her. Yes, he had not been caught up in Shenlong's appearance, his body somehow transformed to fit the dragon, but his head was deeply bowed as he knelt on the ground, and his posture indicated that he was not merely leaning on the sword, but that it was the only thing holding him up.

The combatants raged on, the battle straying from the airspace above the hill at times, but always returning as if it were bound to stay close that spot. They lashed out at each other, parted, then returned for more, the duel looking all the more fierce for their whipping tails and curving bodies. Sparks flew when they met, green flames and shards of shimmering iridescence that dissipated before hitting the ground. They grappled, struggling with each other high and low before surging up wildly into the dark sky until they seemed little more than a blob of twists and coils. Meiran would have run to Wufei then, only they started their descent, and she knew with a certain dread that she would not be able to make it in time.

The knot of dragon bodies plunged out of the sky to crash into the side of the mound with a horrific finality, sending up a tremendous cloud of dust. It obscured everyone's view, but it seemed further movement came only when the black dragon's body seemed to collapse into itself, and when the dust had cleared sufficiently, they could see Shenlong's spirit completing a slow fade to nothingness. From the way the rest of the dragon clan raised a roar that seemed a cheer before renewing their attacks with increased fervor, and from the way the remaining demons seemed to cower in response, they could only guess that Shenlong had done what he had set out to do.

That was enough for them. They ran as quickly as their tired limbs would allow them towards the huge dust cloud, Meiran in the lead, detailing under her breath how many ways she would hurt Wufei if he were dead, in between desperate prayers to the gods that he still be alive. When they reached the edge of the dust cloud, they paused and searched the murkiness, trying to orient themselves to where they had seen Wufei last. Once again, it was Trowa that pointed him out.

With a swirl of dust, a small figure struggled to its feet using the sword as a crutch. It swayed unsteadily for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground once more. Meiran cried out his name as she rushed forward, the dust seeming to part for her as she made her way through it. When finally she stumbled across his still form, she fell to her knees beside him, eyes searching frantically for injuries as she felt for a pulse. She would have gathered him up into her arms if she could have been sure she would not be making things worse.

Quatre pulled up across from her and started his own search, not needing to wait for Meiran to ask it of him. He found no terrible wounds on his body, but a deeper look with his othersenses told him more. He placed a hand over hers. "Meiran, he's fine. I think." His brow furrowed before he shook his head sharply. "He's going to be fine. His energy reserves are severely depleted, but that's all. Shenlong must have borrowed some of his energy to pull that... whatever it was off. Physically, he's okay. He'll wake up with a little rest. I'm sure of it." He did a quick search for internal injuries before motioning to Trowa to help him. "Come on. Let's get him out of this dust."

By the time they maneuvered him out of the cloud, the battle on the outside was pretty much over. The dragons had emerged victorious over the bodies of their fallen enemies. There were not a few dragons lying in their midst as well, but not so many they could not say they had not won the day.

Duo met up with them, Heero trotting along by his side. The two of them looked a bit dusty, but otherwise seemed no more worse for wear. The guardian looked downright bushy-tailed, in fact. "So, he made it, I see."

"Gee, don't sound so surprised," Meiran retorted irritably, her hand tightening around the sword she carried for her unconscious friend. She wanted to get out of here and make sure Wufei was going to be alright.

He shrugged. "I'm not surprised. As a matter of fact, I'd be downright disappointed in him if he had failed."

Yazi found them shortly thereafter. He appeared more tired and beat up than the guardian, but no less cheerful. He'd finally gotten a good fight. His demeanor was dampened only by the awe and respect he was displaying in Wufei's direction. "How does he fare?"

"As well as can be expected," Quatre answered. "He'll recover with a little time. The dragons?"

Yazi grinned toothily at him. "Better than expected, actually. I admit, I did not have so much faith in my people. It was a grand thing to see them so impassioned once more. Let us hope things stay that way for some time to come."

"You'd best keep that passion to yourselves for a while, lest anyone else start thinking you ought to be in the game."

"Bah, we've more pride than that, I should hope."

"Hey, are we done here?" Meiran interjected. They could talk demon politics later. "I'd like to get Wufei out of here, if we are."

They were, and so Duo slipped them through the Dark back to Shenlong's estate. The dragons could get themselves home on their own.

*****

When he woke, he found himself lying upon a soft surface and staring at a blank ceiling. The sensation was familiar. He hoped this would be the last time such a thing would happen to him. However, whereas the last time he woke with a power tingling across his skin, now he woke feeling drained. Resigned, he twitched the fingers on his left hand, hoping he might experience a repeat of the previous time's events, but alas, there was no one's head resting nearby for them to run into. He sighed.

"Wufei?" Meiran's voice sounded from the window. She immediately rushed to his side, a relieved smile on her face when she saw he was awake. "Well, it's about time. Three days," she answered before he could ask, bustling away for a moment to retrieve a glass of water from the table in the middle of the room. She offered it to him. "How are you feeling?"

He raised a hand to take the glass with some effort and paused halfway there, watching his hand tremble despite his orders to the contrary. "Tired," he rasped, letting it fall. Denial was an option, but he was a little past the point of feasible deniability. Besides, considering what he had just gone through, he thought he was entitled to a little exhaustion.

"Well, if that's all, we should be glad, I guess," Meiran said with a decent amount of good cheer, helping him up so she could give him some water.

It helped to ease some of his croak. "What's happened?"

"The dragons are in high spirits. They defeated Epyon's force with 'acceptable losses' as they say. We've managed to convince a few of the more spirited ones to leave well enough alone. Can you believe, some of them actually wanted to go after the rest of Epyon's armies? Maybe they're a little too lively now. But the place is looking better. Not as many spatial anomalies to get on Quatre's nerves. And we're actually seeing some of the other dragons out and about. So I'd say they've regained a bit of their dignity and glory. And... what about you? What happened there at the end?"

He closed his eyes, the memory washing through him with a slight shudder. "Shenlong... the fight against Epyon solidified his connection to this world. Enough so that, when he could, he came forth to take Epyon on himself. The same as before, he chose to lay down his life to bring Epyon down."

"But if he could do that, then why didn't he do that the first time? Wasn't he supposed to be weaker this time around?"

He hadn't thought about it at the time. It had simply happened. Now, staring at the uninformative ceiling, he took the time to sort things through and figure them out. "They were in the West, last time. Both of them were away from their power sources."

"And this time we were on Epyon's turf."

He shook his head tiredly. "Not quite. Not yet. That wasn't his established base, remember?"

"But Shenlong...?

"Me. I was his base, his power source."

"Which would probably explain why he drained you," she mused, shortly thereafter recalling that Wufei was indeed drained. "Augh, what am I doing, demanding explanations from you? You need to rest."

"I've been resting," he muttered irritably, his words completely failing to be convincing as his eyelids drooped shut again.

"Well, rest some more." She sat by his side until she was certain he had fallen asleep again before getting up to let the others know that he had finally woken. Halfway to the door, she stopped, turned around, and returned to his side to bend down and tentatively press her lips to his forehead. She smiled. Now that it was officially 'after', she wouldn't be going so easy on him anymore.

OWARI

phew. finally over. i could do more wrap up, but you know, it'd just be pointless fluff.
hey, oh faithful dragon of my acquaintance: i managed to work in a reference to you, small and vague and incidental though it may have been. told ya i'd get it in there somehow.
kd fun fact: i don't think anyone's taken a bath since this trip started.
in case anyone is interested in their weaponry or the fights, it was largely inspired by soul calibur 2. (you can tell what i've been playing lately. it's actually a good way to help visualize these things.) hilde's weapons are based on talim's. i picture epyon's sword and attacks to work roughly like nightmare's. duo did a little attack with pulling that winged demon out of the sky with a concept similar to an ivy attack. epyon doing his growling/posturing thing is like necrid or someone in those little poses before/after the fights.

~*~

kdsd post mortem
aka author's notes

i was displeased with the way i represented duo during his separation from heero. he just wasn't really faced with the sorts of situations that might allow him to carry on in the manner in which i first envisioned it. however, i was very pleased with how they managed to tear trant apart from the inside out. =)
i was displeased with hilde's addition to the story. she sort of served a purpose, but not really enough of one, in my opinion, to warrant her inclusion in the tale. on the other hand, i was more satisfied with meiran's involvement than i thought i would be. and dorothy served her purpose as more of a cameo appearance than really a mover and shaker of the world, but that's what she normally does, so i'll let that pass. one could hardly expect her to dirty her hands in an actual battle. i wish something more could have been done with quatre and trowa, but this wasn't their story, so oh well.
i liked the state of wufei and meiran's relationship, but i wasn't always too happy with the way it was expressed. they both say so very little of what they mean. of course, with heero and duo's relationship, we had a bit of fun, and it was quite a job sometimes to remember that this wasn't their story, either. it was technically wufei's story, but honestly, i don't know if he really got developed and delved into sufficiently to truly say that without doubt. duo's difficulties were supposed to be an interesting sub-plot, not something to carry me through the places where the plot wore thin.
i'm not particularly fond of the way the action unfolded. 'action', such as it was. it came in spurts, with long stretches of mere talking while walking, or thinking while lying still, or more talking while sitting around. but i suppose that's a disadvantage of trying to write something that stayed away from a few of the major clichés. once you decide to ditch all the rampant sparkly mysterious mumbo-jumbo, all you're left with is just plain mundanity. for all their supernaturalness, they've all always been rather down to earth. ah, and of course, no random and multiple sex scenes to fill the time, either. i hate it when i get to the end of these things. they always seem so inconclusive because i haven't ended with some glorious orgy and gratuitous declarations of love....for some reason, i'm sort of reminded of the end of escaflowne. for being orgy-less, that is.
lessons i learned: next time i write something like this, i might just go back to my Really Damn Long One-Shot format. it seems to work better for me. well, for those vignette-oriented things i tend to write, anyway. i need a little work when it comes to this whole plot thing.

 

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