(Edited - 19/5/17)

It was so surreal, seeing her again. Paddy was gaping in surprise, taken back when she dived in to save them from the zombies.

He blinked, hardly believing his eyes. I must be hallucinating...

Frost went into a fighting stance as the zombies charged for them. With a single slash, the front row zombies were sent flying.

An arrow zipped through the air and dove squarely into the gaps of a zombie's iron armour. It let out a pained groan, collapsing.

"Move aside." Paddy yelped as Fern abruptly shoved him away and fired another arrow at a zombie, who was close enough to attack Paddy.

"You are welcome," Fern said, smirking.

The dog felt an urge to growl at her, but he kept his jaws shut. After all, she did save his and Stripes' lives twice.

He took in the sights of the battle carefully. While the zombies were being taken care of, the mysterious figure, Trance, was merely watching them fight.

Paddy gritted his teeth. He was in no shape to fight, or he may open up new wounds and worsen his condition. He was filled with disdain, not just only for Trance and his zombies, but also himself.

I couldn't protect Stripes. I couldn't even protect myself.

"Paddy, you did your best," Stripes meowed, her pelt touching his own bloodied one. "I... thank you."

Those were simple words, yet it brought warmth to his heart, chasing away his anger and frustration he constantly felt.

Paddy smiled.

However, the moment was cut short. Trance whipped out a bow and aimed it at Frost, his eyes blazing with an intense rage.

"Frost! Watch out!" he called, desperately hoping she heard his call.

Frost spun around just as Trance released the arrow. It was so fast that it seemed impossible for anyone to react to it.

Paddy heard the splintering of wood as Frost cut the arrow cleanly into half, looking unfazed, only determined and serious.

"You are better than I thought," Trance said.

Frost gave no reply, only readying her sword for his next attack. By then, most of the zombies were already defeated.

Fern watched the confrontation with interest as she kept an iron sword close to Sergeant's neck to restrain him from moving.

"Trance," Frost finally spoke, "the path you are taking will only bring you more sadness. Stand down now, and there will be hope for redemption."

"You must be delusional," he spat, drawing back his bow.

"I hope you know Flight cares a lot about you," she said.

It was only a brief moment, but Paddy thought he saw Trance faltered slightly.

Isn't Flight the librarian? How is he related to Trance?

"You don't have to take this path," Frost continued. "You believed it was predetermined, but destiny is chosen by you alone."

"Don't talk like you know me!" It angered him further. "It was predetermined for me to go down this path, that's why I was not chosen! The stars saw darkness in my heart, and convinced Swoop to give Flight the title of librarian instead. So this is the path I have chosen. The one of destruction."

Trance let the arrow fly. Instead of hitting Frost, it landed on the wall behind her.

Frost sighed. "You know that I will have to stop you."

"You are dead! You can't kill me," Trance said. "I will lead my forces into the Kingdom and crush the remaining hopes and dreams of its people. Then, this world will be ripe for the dark lord's taking."

His bow was suddenly surrrounded by an ominous purple aura, glowing with an unspoken ancient magic.

"I wouldn't let anybody stop me from achieving my plans!"

When the arrow was released, it changed shape. The aura surrounding it grew bigger and took the form of a widely feared monster; a dragon.

The ground started trembling. Paddy rushed to Stripes' side as he realised what was happening. "The roof is collapsing!" he yowled. "We have to get out of here!"

The aura dragon let out a deep roar as more rocks fell from the roof. The throne room was being destroyed - there were multiple cracks on the floor and wall.

Trance let out a malicious laugh, not caring that the floor was crumbling under his feet.

Terrified, the zombies fled from the scene. Fern let Sergeant go with a huff of annoyance and leaped to Frost's side.

"Shall we?" Frost stuck out her hand.

Fern smirked. "Of course, partner."

Astonished, Paddy saw Fern fadding into dark blue particles that drifted to Frost's hand.

"Paddy, bring Stripes and run to the other side of the fields!" Frost shouted to him as she faced the dark purple dragon as it slowly reduced the castle to a pile of rubble with rapid breaths of purple flames.

Paddy nodded, and turned to Stripes. "Hurry!" he urged.

They ran, escaping what was yet to come.

This was worse than I thought...