Chapter 25

His skin seemed paler than before. His black clothes were ripped at the edges and he wore chains with dark rings around them.

"I have come to take what is rightfully mine." Mr. Okizari continued. The dragons roared.

"Whatever you're looking for, it's not here, see you out." Ryoko snarled.

"Well, if you want it the hard way. Be. My. Guest." Mr.Okizari chuckled with an insane look in his eyes.

The three dragons started charging toward me with their jaws wide open. I stood my ground.

"Everyone stay back! I'll hold them off." I yelled while firing at the two dragons that were trying to attack.

One of the dragons was immediately hit and was pushed back. It let out an ear-piercing scream. Kaida had the dragon under her control, she had it paralyzed laying on the ground.

Then one of the other dragons swooped over me and grabbed my leg. Its claws dug into my leg. My knee buckled and I lost balance. It lifted me up into the air "HELP!" I screamed as the dragon flew higher.

Ryoko hands were glowed as he touched Wyverns's neck. Ryoko transformed and flew at lightning speed, knocking the other dragon with immense power. The dragon released me as it started feeling out of the sky. Ryoko attacked it at every chance he got. I was falling down out of the sky, I concentrated on the wind currents passing me as I fell. Faster and faster. It all happened too fast.

Suddenly everything went still. I was floating on the wind.

"Looks like someone was able to control the air element, huh?" Talila's voice chuckled.

"And look who came back," I restored.

"I was on vacation!" Talila stated.

I questioned, "In the time of need?"

"Well, I was stressed," She remarked.

"That's something you don't hear every day, A necklace being stressed." I chuckled in dismay.

"Am-u-let," Talila stressed each letter in the word amulet to Ayla.

"Whatever, Mr. Okizari is back and he's demanding I hand you and myself over to him." I explained.

"Okay, I am sorry to say this but I think I have to take over for this one I don't think we can avoid him any longer," She responded

"What do you mean take over," I questioned.

"Control of your body." She replied.

"No way! I can do this on my own. I've trained well enough for this, he's not even a god. So what can he do?" I said in shock.

"I am saying–'' Talila rambled.

"You're saying that I am not strong enough to deal with this!?" I interjected.

"Calm down! We both know that's not true, you are powerful and so there is no guarantee he will leave us alone once we're done here, leaving him with a scratch. We have to avoid him for the longest time until that day." Talila reassured me.

"Fine. What happens till then?" I asked.

"Forget what happens then for now, I think the team needs your help." Talila insisted.

She was right, I flew down to see a bloody mess of scales and blood on the ground. I landed on the ground looking for the rest of the group. Nothing.

ground seeing a monster. This was it. The God of destruction.

"How'd he get here!?" I yelled.

"There was a flash, Okizari disappeared and a giant black humanoid creature was in his place." Ryoko responded. Ryoko was behind me, blood running down his face, scratches and deep wounds, but the more noticeable one was a huge gash on his left leg that caused him to limp. Everyone was not far behind, hiding in the closest wild bushes they could find.

He was the God of destruction this whole time. The signs were there, Zaya's death, the illusion in the sky place, the turning of the sky city against us in the police station.

The thing is I still don't know how he found us, almost every single time.

This was it, the end.

"No, it's not the end, we have to fight him," Talila told me.

"How will we do that, huh?" I asked.

"Ayla, if you want everyone to get out of here alive, you have to take control." Talila responded.

"Okay," I sighed.

"Listen to my instructions," Talila.

"You will place me on your chest, right on your heart," She instructed.

I felt the warmest sensation inside my body, as though someone had started a fire in me.

My heart beat fast and hard, pulsing with energy.

"Now focus all of your magic into your hands. When you feel ready, I will release my grip and you will try and direct it through your hands. Can you do that?" Talila asked.

I nodded. "Of course!" I answered excitedly.

My heart stopped beating and a gasp escaped my lips.

"Good job Ayla. Now concentrate on controlling your magic and keep directing it through your hands. Keep concentrating Ayla." She instructed.

Slowly, my breathing returned to normal and my hands stopped shaking and glowing from my emotions. I looked down and realized my body was completely transparent. My skin was pale and thin, my hair white, but my eyes sparkled yellow. I was glowing slightly from the energy I absorbed. Everyone staring at me in awe.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"Just keep doing that," Talila replied.

With newfound courage, I directed my energy towards my right arm, my left arm.

The energy traveled across the surface of my skin, leaving a faint glow, like a spark from a fire.

It traveled across my forearm, down to the tip of my finger.

I felt a tingle run across it as I concentrated. It traveled up my arm, and then across the rest of my body. It was getting stronger, I noticed the hairs starting to rise at the base of my spine. It was a very strange sensation. I didn't remember ever having such a reaction to my magic.

The energy continued its path, flowing into my fingertips and my arms and shoulders. The light spread throughout my body and I felt empowered.

I didn't realize it, but I began giggling uncontrollably.

"Are you alright?" Talila inquired worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah," I giggled once more.

Then it went across my elbow, up my shoulder, across my neck and down my chest to the tips of my toes.

My breath began to quicken.

Was that it? Was I finally going to do it?

My heartbeat began to become erratic and loud. The sound bounced off every rock and tree around me.

I looked up, I was standing face to face with Tanwen, the ruler of destruction.

He was standing with his wings folded over his back. His horns were sharp, his teeth were sharp, the spikes on his tail were sharp. He looked terrifying. Then suddenly it hit me.

I was surrounded by hundreds of dead fire soldiers and civilians. Living zombies.

His eyes were narrowed in anger and he was glaring at me, with rage written across his features. He opened his mouth and I prepared to say goodbye to my body.

Suddenly a black orb appeared in front of me blocking me from the view of Tanwen.

"AYLA LOOK OUT!" Talila shouted.

His eyes were a dark crimson color, a deep shade of purple. His eyes narrowed into slits as he stared intensely at me.

"TALILA RELEASE HER NOW." He commanded

"You really are going crazy huh?!" Talila exclaimed.

Without thinking, my hands formed into fists and I punched Tanwen. His head snapped to the side as the hit hurt his eye. I jumped backwards as a purple orb appeared before me.

"Not good," I muttered.

I quickly pulled my fist back and threw one last punch.

He grabbed my fist and threw me away into some trees. The trunk shattered beneath me from impact.

"Ayla, NO!" Talila exclaimed.

"You're gonna pay for that," He growled, walking towards me.

He swung his long clawed hand forward aiming it straight at me

My fist slammed against his face and his jaw snapped backward as he stumbled back a few steps. With everything that happened in the past week, I couldn't believe how easy it was to throw a punch with everything that was going on around me.

Tanwen charged forward, his eyes locked onto me. I moved aside dodging him. A bright red blast of flames erupted from my palm hitting Tanwen square in the chest, sending him flying back. I heard the impact echo throughout the cave as he hit the wall and fell unconscious to the ground.

It hit his stomach, causing a gust of wind to blow through the area causing flames to appear around him. He growled, looking at me, his gaze full of hatred, anger, and pure rage.

I looked at my friends, all of whom were injured, bleeding, and unconscious. And I had no choice but to watch. They all were going to die. If they didn't already.

Tanwen's voice boomed through the trees "So you really don't think you will live long enough to reach the portal, hmm? Let's try again shall we~" He laughed wickedly.

The air began vibrating violently. The noise and wind increased in force until there was nothing but static. Talila started glowing brighter and brighter, then followed by a loud explosion. Everything shook from the shockwave. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the sound of screaming.