"Go, go go!" Men flooded into the crypts in a tight formation. Their pace was matched perfectly, their bodies moving in unison. They divided into multiple groups of 5 with each of them venturing into a different passage. Mounted on top of their weapons were flashlights that illuminated their path in the dark hall, showing the dust they kicked up as they went further. Debris littered the floor, together with scattered bones and cloths of the corpses buried there.

They'd tracked the Valerian queen all the way to the mountain cliffs. Shot at her from afar, too, but with her nimble manoeuvres in the sky they hadn't managed to hit her on the way. It had taken almost 12 ships to keep her within their sights, and they had lost 6 during the pursuit, hit by either a piece of rock she'd broken off the cliffside or one of the fire avalanches she'd sent their way. They'd given up on taking her down whilst in the air.

Needless to say, the clones were both frustrated and afraid as they scanned the musty halls of the underground passage. Not one of them had been part of the group that had entered those crypts with the queen almost a year ago. They didn't know what was waiting on the far end of those corridors, they didn't know what prowled there in the dark. Most of all, they didn't truly know what she was capable of.

"Watch your six." One of them mumbled as they stalked further and passed some of the burial sites. Echoes flickered in the dark, their numerous colours casting eery shadows on the dark walls. They were the last remainders of an entire family, now lost to the shadows that haunted these halls. Shivers ran down one of the clones' spine, a man called Fang, as his eyes closely studied the darkness in the distance.

"She couldn't have gotten far." He muttered but couldn't ignore the fear that blossomed in his stomach. How he would've loved the company of a jedi now, for their lightsabers to vanquish the unnatural shadows that danced over the floor. Accompanied by those thoughts came a massive headache that felt like it was splitting his brain apart. He groaned as his hand went up to his helmet, eyes pressing shut until it faded.

When the pain had subsided Fang glanced behind him, checking to see if his brothers were still behind him. Almost 30 of them fanned out, looking around every corridor for the woman they were sent to kill. The men of his troop passed him and went into their individual passages.

Fang hadn't known the target personally but had seen her venturing through the halls of the cruiser he'd inhabited. She had always had this aura, a power that almost seemed to radiate around her. It had always made him scurry out of her range without a second thought for it always send a shot of anxiety through him.

That didn't even take into account the stories he'd heard of her destroying entire droid armies on her own. He couldn't lie to himself when it came to his fear of her. "Hurry up, men, -" Their captain spoke through their comms. "- I would like to be back for the big fight."

Fang huffed as he turned back to the passage he had to clear. Much to his surprise, he could see less than before. The light of the flashlight could barely penetrate the darkness in front of him. The shadows grew, flowing into each other, expanding over the ground until he could feel their thickness flowing over his feet. There was no doubt about it anymore, this wasn't a natural mist.

"Uh, boys?" Fang muttered as he retreated slowly, his eyes widening as they watched the bulk of darkness before him. Amidst the clouds, two flaring red orbs emerged, focussed entirely and only on him. The clone cursed and flinched backwards only to trip over one of the bones that lay scattered on the floor. He fell with a frightened yell and landed on his back, barely catching himself on his elbows while his grip around his weapon failed and clattered on the ground.

"Target acquired, target acquired!" He shouted as his hands reached for his blaster, fingers trembling and searching in the dark for the familiar grip. Yelling erupted around him, but he could only see the figure materializing amidst the shadows before him.

Her eyes flashed red as they locked onto him, the shadows gliding off the armor she wore while she emerged. The darkness clung to her, flowing from her shoulders and twirling around her fingers and forming into claws. The sight was purely unnatural, almost demonic, and it had the fear in his heart expanding to the point he was basically whimpering while searching for his weapon.

"Come on, come on!" He turned his body around to reach further and finally found his weapon in the midst of the darkness. His fingers closed around the hilt, only to have it ripped out of his grasp by a tendril made out of shadows.

Fang let out another frightened shriek and turned back around, realizing the Valerian now stood right before him. He'd tried to crawl backwards and away from her but something wrapped around his ancles and pulled, throwing him back to the ground. "No, no, no!" He thrashed as those same tendrils wound around his arms and lifted him into the air. He ended up hovering before her as she watched him curiously.

"Fang!" One of his brothers shouted down the hall, only to follow it with another shriek and something that sounded strangely like flesh tearing. Footsteps pounded through the hall behind him and more yells and shots sounded through the passage. At once, the noise stopped and an eery silence followed. The clone cursed under his breath while his fingers tore at the tendrils to no avail.

"Fang, is it?" The queen cocked her head to the side as she studied him. The shadows danced over her shoulders, waving around her fingers. With but a single flick of one of them a tendril wrapped around his neck and tightened.

The clone cursed loudly and kicked at the air. "I have some questions for you, Fang, and I would like you to answer them honestly." She stalked closer towards him, her gaze unwavering. "If you do not, I'm afraid you'll have to find out what those beautiful shadows can do to a person."

Fang glared down at her and swallowed, trying to hide the fear that was overtaking him. "Chancellor Palpatine, is he, -" She started calmly only to be interrupted.

"Emperor." Fang hissed and pulled against his restraints.

The queen let out a single chuckle as the corner of her mouth lifted. "The emperor, is he the one called Darth Sidious?"

"Yes."

"Is he here now, on this planet?"

"No." He snarled down at her. "He's got more important business to take care of than some faraway planet or a rogue queen."

Lyanna bit on her lip, eyes studying him closely. "You are loyal to him, you all were." She concluded and started into a pace, stalking around his hanging figure. "Were you ever loyal to the jedi? Or did you know what would happen from the beginning?"

"The jedi are traitors." Fang spat but felt his head answer with a pound. "They got what they deserved." He continued with a sneer, trying to ignore the pain.

"Hmm." The queen stopped behind him, and it started another surge of panic to go through him. Many of the clones knew of her close relationship to the two famous jedi, and he wouldn't like to find out what she would do to the ones who'd hurt him. He felt the warmth of her body coming closer and then the whisper of warm air on his neck. "Did you kill your general, Fang?"

The clone's breath halted in his throat as he stopped his protests, freezing, fearing that any movement might set off the fury he heard in her voice. He swallowed audibly as he waited for her to make another move. He could almost feel her heavy gaze on the side of his neck as she contemplated.

"No matter." The queen drawled. She took his silence as an answer and drew back, continuing in her pursuit. "How many jedi escaped?"

"You think I would tell you, -" Fang halted midsentence when one of the shadows inched closer to his face, playing over his lips as if taunting him to speak. It was only when he felt something prodding against his mind that he realized he would, no matter if he wanted to. "A few." He answered with a shiver.

She ended right before him again and turned her full attention towards his eyes. With her hands clasped behind her back, her bright red hair hanging in waves over her shoulders and those lively green orbs watching him, she almost looked like the saviour most had made her out to be. The shadows playing around her told a whole other story.

Fang looked into her eyes, trying to decipher what he was seeing there. There was anger and contempt, maybe even hatred, but there was fear and sorrow too. The queen noticed his stare and lifted her chin, looking down at him. "What about general Skywalker?"

The clone grinned and chuckled curtly. "He didn't." When he noticed the sadness that clouded her eyes afterwards, his fear ebbed away and a surge of confidence arose. If she was afraid, she was but a human and thus beatable. He tore at his restraints in one powerful move and slipped out of them, landing on the floor. His hand swiftly reached for the knife in his boot and pulled it out, directing it upwards with one move to impale her head upon it.

But the queen had seen the move coming. Her hand had ignited with flames and ripped through his armour, punching her fist into his chest. Fang gaped as the pain tore through him, eyes locking onto the green ones before him. He could feel her fingers, that burning fire, inside his chest, wrapping around his beating heart.

His life flashed before his eyes, the moments on the battlefields, the endless nights, the dreary lessons on Kamino, his brothers around the campfires. But the green in her eyes quickly morphed into the ones of his general, the jedi he had followed through it all.

The jedi that he'd loved.

The pounding in his head disappeared as his heart slowed. A fog seemed to clear in his head, one he hadn't even realized had been there this entire time. "It... wasn't me." Fang muttered, watching the white around the green growing. "It were... the voices." For a moment his vision cleared to reveal her shocked expression. The grip in his chest lessened, making the drag on his entire body even worse. His sight fogged over as all of it slowly moulded together. "They- they're finally gone."

His body fell limp in her grasp. Lyanna gasped as she pulled her hand back, watching as his body fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. Blood dripped down from her fingers, the sound echoing through the halls while each one of them made her flinch. Her breath was short and raspy, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked down at it.

Deep, red blood dripping from her fingers, flowing down, covering her entire hand all the way to her elbow. It was the exact image she'd seen countless times. It flowed down incessantly, just like in her dreams. "No, no, no." Lyanna mumbled in a panic, her heart speeding up to the point she could hear it beating. Her dreams had been visions of the future. This proved that. And if that was true, than that meant...

"No, please." She pleaded as she backed away from the corpse. Valeria would fall. Someone would die in the throne room and ashes would cover the streets of Eagle's Fall. Everything would be torn down and blown apart and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The queen lifted her clean hand in front of her mouth as she felt the sudden urge to throw up, eyes tearing up as she doubled over.

"Check those passages!" The yelling was in the distance, but their footsteps ventured closer to her position. Their target stood motionless for a while, taking in deep breaths to try and suppress the nausea that had gripped her. Lyanna's fogged eyes narrowed at the dark halls where they'd soon emerge before she finally convinced herself to go further, to set aside those fears and fight. She had no other choice but to.

There wasn't anything she could do to stop the clones aside from murdering them all. Yet, somewhere deep down, she knew it would be wrong. They were still her friends and she would be damned if she let Palpatine turn her against them. She wiped the blood off her hands and forced the fear back in a cage in the deepest part of her heart.

Lyanna sprinted through the halls and away from the men hunting her down. She retraced her steps from the last time, finding the bodies Arthas had reanimated to hold her back scattered on the floor. With a swing of her hand those same corpses came to life, forming a terrifying army that would hopefully hold the clones back a few minutes more. They rose around her as she sped by, their eyes that haunting red.

On the ground, she could even see hers and Obi Wan's footsteps showing her the way. Not that she needed it. The tree of life, Yggdrasil, and the one locked up there called out to her in the distance. She arrived in the great chamber with the entrance to the hide-out and started fumbling in her pockets, trying to find the amulet that unlocked those doors.

Her fingers soon closed around the artifact, the small pendant her father had given her with the inscription of a green dragon and those simple words that changed everything. From the ashes, we shall rise.

Her hands quickly searched for the indent in the stone wall beneath the carved out tree, soon finding the hole. "Out here!" She glanced over her shoulders as the entrance slid open, seeing the lights of their flashlights illuminating the halls in the distance. "There she is!" The lights started bouncing up and down as they no doubt started into a sprint to catch up.

Lyanna cursed and wobbled on her feet, darting through the slit and into the closed off chambers. There, she pulled on the doors to shut them behind her. Before she knew it blaster shots grazed the walls beside her, pounding against the ancient stone and creating a thick cloud of dust. She yelled through the noise, pulling as hard as her muscles would allow. She looked up and was just in time to see an entire battalion arrive into the chamber before the two doors shut before them.

"Bloody hell." She sighed and leaned her forehead against the cold stone, exhaling deeply as she closed her eyes. Pounding followed; their yells muffled by the thick stone separating them. Her eyes filled with water the moment she thought about how they'd been her friends days ago. Now, they were hunting her down with a vigour she had rarely seen in them. Luckily, there was no way they could tear through those layers, not before she had help.

The queen gathered all her courage and turned around, her gaze falling on the tree amidst the great chamber. Its petals formed and fell, the blossoms waving through the air before they withered. They darted around, landing on top of the green prison that held one of the most powerful beings alive. The crystal was covered with a layer of blossoms, their innocence contrasting to the malice that was held within.

"Arthas." Lyanna mumbled, standing still for a moment.

With her heart pounding loudly, she slowly made her way to him, over the bridge where she'd left Obi Wan before, past the corpses that covered the floor. The tree blossomed and then fell out as time sped through it, the magic almost palpable, but she didn't have any attention for its beauty. No, she could only look at those crimson eyes frozen in time, his hand reaching out for her exactly like the moment she'd captured him.

It was weird to think how a powerful being such as him could look so utterly defenceless. How that crystal kept him locked there, unable to do anything but wait. Arthas had proven time and time again that no one could beat him. The only thing able to stop him, apparently, was time itself.

Lyanna laid her hand on top of the crystal, breathing in deeply. "It's time to wake up, Arthas." Sparks ignited from her fingers and crazed the prison. Almost instantly she felt the substance withering beneath her grip. She hesitated, her eyes flickering back to his and studying those shades of crimson. They'd almost massacred the city she held dear. At the same time, those were the eyes that had watched her the entire year. The eyes that had guided her through the toughest times when no one else did.

With another wilful collecting of wits, Lyanna conjured the deepest fire she held within her and let them all go. They coloured a bright red and blue, the colours mingling. They fanned out from her hand and encompassed the entire crystal in front of her, melting away the prison that had held him in place.

Smoke arose and clouded the chamber. The timeless substance slid over the floor and evaporated, lost to the flames that had vanquished them. When there was nothing left but clouds Lyanna stepped back, waiting for his figure to emerge from the flames with bated breath. The fire died down slowly, replaced with only the dark grey smoke.

There came that feeling, that suffocating pressure of his power filling the room. A rumble tore through the mountain, roaring and announcing the arrival of this ancient being. The first thing she saw were two great black wings unwrapping. Lyanna stepped further back as her eyes widened, taking in his wings that were much grander than hers. In fear she'd unwrapped her own, but the fire encompassing them was but meagre.

With one great swing he brought his wings forward and almost instantly darkness fell down like a veil. Lyanna gasped and flinched, her hands clenching into fists as she waited. She could his footsteps but could not see his figure in the darkness. With bated breath she closed her eyes and dove into the well of darkness, trying to find him there.

A chuckle rumbled through the chamber. Deep, malicious, cunning. The very air seemed to tense at the sound.

"Now, now, little dragon." There was that voice. That voice that was as deep as the earth, as ancient as the mountains they were in. The voice that had haunted her dreams for years and had her jumping awake in the middle of the night.

It was also the voice that had saved her from her darkest moments. She opened her eyes slowly as she willed her heart to slow.

Arthas stepped out of the smoke that had gathered. His cheekbones were as sharp and defined as she remembered; his skin devoid of any tint of warmth. The deep black locks grazed them and fell in soft waves, obscuring part of his sight. His eyes watched her like a prey, unwavering and unyielding. His irises, which had been a deep blazing kind of red, were now the warm brown she had only seen in her visions. His armour was as dented and dirtied as it had been the moment he was captured, but his skin was clear of the injuries.

Those lips pulled into a smile as he stopped a few feet in front of her, towering over her small figure as he raised his wings into the sky. The shadows around him thickened and surrounded them, as if welcoming her into an embrace of darkness. It was clear to her then that he was trying to intimidate her.

Lyanna stared back, unrelenting. She conjured her flames, letting them rage against the darkness. Instantly two fronts were created as they fought. The perfect opposites; fire raging against shadows, light against darkness. Both unyielding in their power. The two battled against each other but not one inch was gained in either direction even as the shadows pushed at the boundaries. The queen narrowed her eyes, refusing to bend.

Arthas chuckled, inclining his head towards her. It had almost seemed like he'd wanted to nod at her in respect but refrained himself at the last second. "Took you long enough." He drawled smoothly.

Lyanna's gaze switched between his eyes continuously. His features were so familiar to her now. That voice as if he was more of a close friend than her nemesis. Even that warm look in his eyes she had grown accustomed to. The one thing that remained, was the doubt if it had really been him all this time and not just a figment of her imagination.

"Was any of it real?" She asked softly.

Arthas cocked one eyebrow, his head bending to the side slightly, awaiting further explanation. A single lock of his dark hair fell before his eyes. "Was it really you all this time?" Lyanna spoke and surprised herself that she was anxious for the answer.

Arthas grinned and looked down to the shadows he now saw twirling around her fingers. She'd made his power hers and did so perfectly. His own hand reached for her jaw, his smile widening when she flinched at the first touch. Without any further hesitation his finger glided over her throat until his thumb rested underneath hew jaw and his fingers rested on the back of her neck.

With a simple push with his thumb, he directed her face upwards to meet his eyes. With that simple gesture, that hold turned into a possessive one. The shadows around them enraged. "You owe me a debt, Fireheart." His voice had lowered to a threatening growl.

Lyanna straightened her back as she breathed in deeply, igniting her entire body with flames to battle his darkness. But she didn't pull back, no, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "It seems I must ask something of you, first." She willed her voice into a stern command.

The smile fell off Arthas's lips as his eyebrows drew together. "And what will the good queen ask of me?" He tightened his grip he had on her and watched curiously.

"We are under attack by the Republic." She cringed, knowing he had warned her from the beginning that it would happen. Judging from the way the corner of his mouth lifted, he thought about the same thing. "Valeria needs your help, Blackwing."

The Valerian straightened, dropped his hand and folded his wings behind his back. His eyes searched hers, waiting for an imperfection in her facade. Something he could use against her. "Your queen needs your help." Lyanna continued when he remained that way.

Arthas scoffed, diverting his eyes to the last remainders of the prison behind him. He took a few deep breaths as he contemplated. There was no doubt on Lyanna's mind that he was trying to figure out what would be the past path for him, and him alone. The one where he would end up on top.

She watched him closely. The stubble on his jaw twitched as he clenched his jaw. His eyes seemed distant as they flickered over the place he'd been imprisoned, the embers that lay on the ground. He scoffed and grinned, eyes flickering to the ground before his feet.

"I wouldn't dare disobey my queen." Arthas Blackwing smirked as he turned back to face her. He folded his hands behind his back and nodded at her. Surprisingly, there was a hint of respect there in his eyes as he regarded her.

"Very well, little dragon. Show me whom you'll have me kill."

He's back, bitches!

Part 1 of the ending because otherwise this chapter would've ended up being like 10 000 words long. Plus, you would've had to wait much longer ;) But that does mean that next one will be the epic battle you've all been waiting for! Which also means that there might be only 2-3 chapters left before this story is concluded.

But don't fret, because I've had an idea. Multiple ideas, actually, but they are not comprehensive enough to form a story on itself. So, I've been thinking... I might make a third book, but it would not be like these two. It would become a collection of short stories taking place before, during or after this one! Which means more fluff, maybe (I'm thinking A LOT of) spice and of course more classic Valkyrie moments.
Let me know if you would like it! Because I'm not yet sure.

See you guys on the next one! :)