Pustyn

Shadow looks shocked. I feel shocked.

"Stefan?" I whisper carefully. Another betrayal? I won't be able to bear it!

"He's not Stefan," Shadow growls, staring at Stefan's eyes. I blink. "Stefan is with us. He is."

"I'm Krolovi and I'm here to kill you, your welcome for the explanation," Stefan says. Not Stefan.

I barely have time to think before Stefan- or Krolovi, if he's speaking the truth- throws an orb at Shadow. It explodes into fire and water- somehow mixed.

"Storm, go!" Shadow shouts, and runs at Krolovi, then slashes at his chest with her knife. He dodges swiftly, surprisingly agile for Stefan's plump body.

Storm flies down beside me.

"What's happoning?" she whispers. "Puztyn?" I glance at her quickly.

"Nothing, Storm," I lie. "You should go back and make sure Dracoponian's alright, okay?"

Storm nods and flaps her wings, slowly lifting off. I sigh in relief, wishing I had a dagger to help Shadow. Too bad I dropped it when I found Durpner.

I'm getting Durpner back. I am.

I grab a twig and throw it at Stefan. It's better than nothing. He pauses to shoot an orb of fire-water at me, and I run sideways before it explodes. Shadow's nose is bleeding like his, now, and blood is running down her face from a deep gash on her forehead. Feeling sick, I find a bigger stick and throw it at Krolovi-Stefan's head. He does nothing to me, but grabs it and smashes it down onto Shadow, then stabs her arm and trips her.

I won't let her die!

I turn into a bat and cluth Shadow's dagger, which is on the floor, by my legs. Then I slice Stefan-Krolovi's back. I get away so fast that he doesn't know what hit him. When I do the same thing again, he whips towards me and is about to blast fire. Shadow runs into him and pushes him. He grabs her hair.

Did I not tell her that long hair would get her in trouble? There's a reason I keep my hair up!

She kicks him in the stomach.

"Are you a Svengali, or are you not Stefan at all?" Shadow demands, turning him around, shoving him, and blasting lightning bolts.

Stefan-Krolovi somehow dodges faster than the speed of light.

"I'm a Svegali. Kill me, and you kill your friend, too," he spat. A plan forms in my head.

This must cost a huge amount of energy. If we hurt him badly, he'll let go of Stefan's mind. Then we'll have Stefan back!

Shadow, probably thinking the same thing, throws her hands to the ground. It fizzles, and I have the sense to turn into a bat and fly up.

Stefan-Krolovi can't.

He lets out a scream of pain, shuddering. It breaks my heart to hurt him. There's a reason I'm not the fighter in our little group.

I blink rapidly. Shadow is heaving, and now Stefan-Krolovi is mustering an orb of the fire-water in his hands. My eyes widen in fear for my friend.

"Shadow, move!" I roar. She manages to get to her feet, and I smash myself into her. I hear Dracoponian roar, as if hurt, and instinctively turn into a bat to go to him. Shadow screams, and I hover in the air.

Dracoponian is struggling with the godcrab, bleeding, and the crustacean is barely injured. Tor is there, checking on Athena, while Storm is covering an injured Echo with her wings. Dracoponian is on his own.

But Shadow is sprawled on the ground, and Stefan-Krolovi is advancing, a knife in his hand. I turn to Shadow. Dracoponian is strong. He'll be alright for just a little while longer.

I grab the same stick I had and throw it at Stefan. It catches his arm before falling.

"Move, Shadow, move!" I yell. "Move!" Shadow's lip is cut, and it looks painful as she replies.

"No."

"Then I'm helping you." I run at Stefan-Krolovi again, my fists tight, and he blasts me with fire.

I shriek, feeling the burns spread. Shadow cries out and sends a wave of lightning at Stefan-Krolovi. He roars and falls, and his eyes turn white. When they return to normal, they're kind.

Stefan.

I stumble towards him, a grin on my face.

"You're Stefan?" I rasp. He nods. I guess it's dumb, but I trust him. Shadow grabs his shoulders and looks at him in the eyes.

"How long?" she asked simply, but her face is etched with horror. He winced.

"When I left High Cliff with Echo."

I blink. That long? But he... How... He missed this all, almost everything that's happened!

"I'm sorry," I whisper. Tears form in my eyes. "We should have noticed sooner."

Dracoponian's agonized roar makes us turn.

"We'll talk later," Shadow coughs. "The others... Need help." I;m impressed- she obviously wants to talk to Stefan, but she's thinking about the others before her wants.

Shadow glances at Stefan.

"Stay here. You're hurt- the godcrab could kill you." Stefan nods, wincing as he sits down.

"Be careful."

Shadow nods and turns, flying after the crab, and I transform into a bat to do the same. I feel like she's mad at herself, that she didn't notice Stefan's not-being-Stefan.

She shouldn't be.

I would sigh, but I'm a bat, so instead I just follow her.

Dracoponian is covered in blood, his shining scales now red. I gasp at the sight.

"It's stronger than last time!" he roars, spotting us. Shadow blinks and moves towards the crab. Although Dracoponian is more injured, he's managed to strike some blows across its hard shell.

"Watch out!" I scream as its pincer goes for Shadow's head. She dodges, looking green. It could have chopped her in half.

Dracoponian rears back, opening his mouth, and lets out a bolt of icesilver so big that the huge creature is encased in silvery-blue light. It stumbles over its legs, and Shadow seizes the moment, fire emerging from her hands to hit the crab. It whips around faster than lightning, and Shadow jumps back, but instead of going for her it turns back and slashes Dracoponian's eye. He howls in pain, and I step towards him. Shadow sends me a desperate glance.

"He's fine," I shout, watching as he rears up once again and locks his jaws on the godcrab's head-area. Then, he swings his tail, making it collapse.

"Now!" I demand, thinking fast. Shadow and Dracoponian prepare to attack again when the crab's pincer catches Shadow's cheek. She shrieks, and Dracoponian smacks the crab with his tail. It turns and flings him over, crawling over him to stab him in the heart. Shadow's stumbling up. The crab is letting its pincer fly, and I rush for it, running as fast as I can. Just before it hits Dracoponian, I dive in between, and it hits my leg instead.

I scream as pain floods through me. Something dark shoots out of Shadow's outstretched hands, and I watch dizzily as the godcrab explodes.

The shadows from being a Duskor. I put two and two together, wincing as I try to open my mouth. Everything is getting dark, blurry. And it'll all go away if I just fall asleep...

Durpner, I think tiredly, stifling a groan of pain.

Durpner.

I shift sideways slightly, and see Shadow's face. She's terrified. I can see it in her eyes. Dracoponian places one of his claws gently across my forehead.

"Godcrabs are poisonous to vampires," Echo chokes out from behind me. Stefan has just turned into a bird then back to come here. A tear falls down her face, and Shadow's, and Athena's, and Tor's, and Stefan's, and Layla looks sad, and Chinglar looks somewhat emotional.

Even Storm has huddled up under Dracoponian's wing.

"Pustyn," a voice whispers in my ear. "Pustyn." It sounds like my father. But he's dead.

Suddenly I know everything. Everything. I know if we'll stop the war or not, if any others will die, how the war started, everything. But the sentence that comes out of my mouth doesn't help them at all. It doesn't give them any useful information. But it's what I need to say, now that they're all sobbing goodbyes.

"Tell Durpner that I'm sorry," I whisper. My father calls for me again, and I've said what I needed to say. I let the darkness wrap over me, and the world fade away. I'll be waiting for Durpner. Even if I have to wait a while.

I let my eyes close, let my last breath escape my body, and I let go.