THE WARLOCK'S LAST BREATH (is a very long one)

26 FEBRUARY, FRIDAY, WARLOCK TIME

"Quick boy, return my heart to me. I am already on my last breath." The old warlock seemed determined that River handed over the stone personally.

"So you can't take the stone from him by force can you?" I realized aloud.

I mean with all that power shining and flashing and shooting and slicing, why would the Old Warlock be repeatedly asking for the stone?

"You know very well my heart cannot be taken," The old warlock retorted snappily, "Only given."

Which would have been romantic in a completely different setting.

"Ah, I get it now." Ben smirked, "How futile."

Ki... wait where was Ki?

"Get what?" River asked.

Yeah, get what? (Please note: It wasn't that I was the same level of stupid as River, but I was just ah, slow, and didn't have time to work it out myself. I mean, I definitely at least a little smarter than River!) AND WHERE WAS KI?

Behind me, I heard a very, very, quiet click - like someone uncapping a pen secretly, or unsheathing his sword.

{Get your head in the game!} Boo chuffed haughtily, {You already look bad enough as it is.}

Eh? What?

{You haven't even made a move, and you're already three blades shorter.}

Eh? Well that was true... but considering the speed that light attacked, I would think a few shortened blades wasn't a big deal. I had a lot of hair, and it'll grow out... probably. Anyway, this was River's fight... right? Would it look bad on River if I butt in?

"Don't give him the stone." Ben had no such qualms, "This old geezer is already one foot in the grave."

"That's mine!" The old warlock screeched extending both bony hands towards River, "Give it! Give it!"

And then I felt Ki's glowing just behind me. He had just changed places with Wilhelm.

"Can't we talk about this?" River could be stubborn in his own way.

"Heh, there's no point talking!" Ben was quick enough to retort before the warlock turned to my direction, "Old geezer's gone senile."

"Why you..." The old warlock grunted, the light around him shifted. Another attack?

As much as I could appreciate Ben's tactical diversion, we weren't going to last if the warlock kept this up!

"Without the stone, you can't renew your life force can you?" Ben challenged, "Let's keep going and we'd see who survives."

Wait, what? And that was the moment I understood why Ki was sent to my side. Ben was ensuring that I would be the one who survived! Stupid Ben, I hadn't even made my move yet. Why did everyone around me like to take things in their own hands? Did they think I was a helpless princess? I know I was slow, maybe I wasn't as smart as they were. And physically, I was just a girl, BUT I was the alpha! And I was going to protect everyone!

{About time.} Boo grumbled as I released her.

"Oh f*** Sam, don't!" Ben groaned and face palmed.

"Of all the wolves who run with me, you should know what I am capable of." And even as these words left my lips, I realized that Ben did know.

Ah! I hate being the stupid one.

Wilhelm suddenly side-stepped multiple times towards the warlock. This was the opportunity he was looking for.

"You dare?" The warlock released the light around him like another spray of mini lighting bolts, "Puny human!"

For a split second, I thought I would die, but then I noticed that the attacked was sent out horizontal to the ground all around. I leaped above it, landing neatly atop the stone wall of the newly decapitated tower.

I heard Ki's boots land gently behind me.

On Ben's side, Wilhelm had jumped too, but instead of getting onto higher ground, he went straight at the warlock for the attack.

Ben on the other hand didn't jump at all, instead he punched down at the ground, breaking the floor straight across to where the warlock was standing so that he yelled at the split that ran straight between his legs.

"Ben!" I yelled because he was surely going to be cut up.

"Wilhelm, no!" River yelled, "Stop it."

"Forgive me Prince." Wilhelm's sword was directed straight at the Warlock's chest.

This was the other guy who was about to be cut into pieces.

"No!!!" The old warlock raised his hands to block. He cast another bright explosive spell.

"I said STOPPP!" River screamed, casting his own bright light.

Ki pounced at me, reaching out to grab me - was he about to jump off the tower with me?

If that was Ben's plan, I really gave him too much credit. So much for being a genius.

I crouched down so that Ki would miss in midair.

"Goddess!"

Too late! He flew over the wall. Sorry Ki. Please land safely down there.

Then I leapt towards Ben, my blades meeting each bright shard of light before it could reach Ben. Every block chipped off one of my blades so that it was a little shorter, and by the time I landed in front of Ben, my hair was shoulder length.

Ben looked completely shocked to be unharmed, and then he saw my hair and connected the dots immediately, "Damn, that dog."

"It's not Ki's fault." I argued. I was so mad.

And then River's spell took effect with a blinding flash, followed by a sonic boom that caused all the walls around us to burst and crumble off the tower.

"I said STOP!" River yelled.

Oh boy. Every wolf who said an Alpha going chi-ka-boom was the scariest thing in the world, had not met a formling going chi-ka-boom. River's usually warm brown eyes had turned into empty beacons of light. He was shining, even his hair was raised by the sheer force of his power.

"Why?" River cried out in unmasked anguish, "Why does anyone need to die?"

Remind me never to trigger River's chi-ka-boom.

And then I was lifted up in the air in a bubble of light. Was I really going to die now?

I looked around. Ben was rising from behind me in a similar bubble. The look of surprise on his face. Hahaha.

Wilhelm's bubble was across from me, I was relieved to see the healing glow in his bubble reversing his wounds. Now that was one strong healing spell. I guess we weren't going to die after all.

My own blades turned back to hair and grew back to its usual length.

"Total restoration." River said under his breath.

River had warlock held in a separate light bubble too, but his bubble shone brighter than all of ours. I watched fascinated as the bent old warlock straightened till he eventually threw back his head of black wavy hair - hair that was just like River's, but on a strapping young man with an unnaturally beautiful face, and a matching blue stone dangling from one ear.

The warlock smiled, "Thank you. Now please return my heart to me."

River's mouth pressed down in a firm line, "Only if you promise not to hurt my friends."

You had to be kidding! For all his power, we were back at square one again. I face palmed, "This can't be happening!"

It was really annoying. It was annoying that my stupid friend River was so over powered. It was annoying that we weren't allowed to solve this problem by punching the lights out of the warlock. It was annoying that we were all caught like goldfish in our little individual plastic bags. It was annoying! So annoying!

I felt Boo's ire rise.

River noticed it too. He tilted his head towards me, "Sorry, Sam. This is my fight. My rules. We will settle this peacefully."

"Then hurry up and settle it so that I can settle you!" Boo snapped back.

River's eyes widened, and then he laughed, "That's so much like you Sam."

Eh? No, that was Boo.

"But that's what I admire about you too." River smiled, "You're so strong, you can always run headfirst into anything."

WTH was he talking about? Did he not just notice that I was the one trapped in his stupid bubble, and he was the one pulling all the strings now? WTH! WTH! I hate not being the strongest! WTH!

"Hn." River chuckled and turned back to the warlock, "So what do you say, Fount the Warlock. Will you guarantee the safety of all my friends if I return this stone to you?"

River held up the blue stone to show Fount, "No matter how I look at it, its not a heart though."

"What do you know?" Fount smirked, "All the powers of a Warlock, should I show them to you?"

River shook his head, "Power isn't everything."

"Can you two just cut the crap and get this over with?" Ben interrupted because he was always patient like that.

"That's why I hate young wolves." Fount tsked and shook his head, "They are foolhardy and impatient, and they break everything they run into."

Fount gestured around us. Half the floor had fallen in. The broken furniture and crystals and books that remained lay strewn around the other half. There was no more roof to speak of, and most of the walls of our floor were just crumbled rocks. The only thing that remained was a large black furnace just behind him, and a window with most of its glass still hanging on its frame.

Fount couldn't mean to pin all this on us! I really had to straighten things out with him, "Hey, that's hardly fair to say. Most of the damage here was done by you."

"How dare you!" Fount glared.

I nodded, "You totally started it. We came peacefully to return your stupid stone just like you asked... Anyway, you totally should have just said, 'Thank you for your help' and take your stupid stone! But no... you had to make so much trouble for us..."

"I made trouble for you? Do you know how much trouble you pups caused me?" Fount fumed, "The prophecy said the goddess and her pet moon - not a rowdy crowd of oversized puppies!"

I flipped my hair at him and retorted, "Well I'm sorry I wasn't the goddess you were expecting."

I know, it was petty, but wth, I was seriously annoyed with this guy, who turned out to be even pettier.

"You, the goddess? What a joke!" Fount huffed.

Although that much was true, it just annoyed me more.

"River, don't you ever grow up to be an unreasonable idiot like Fount!" I decided.

"Who's the unreasonable idiot?" Fount got mad all over again.

You know, based on all the stories I've heard about Fount while growing up, I never expected him to be like this.

Like "this" being a doppleganger of my friend River, but adult looking, and a complete IDIOT.

"You're just a good looking air head." I told him.

Fount got so mad he cast another bright light around him, but the moment he did, his hair also turned white, and his skin wrinkled up.

"Looks like the old geezer is really on his last breath." Ben smirked.

"Who are you calling an old geezer?" Fount snapped, but he retracted the light and regained his youthful looks again.

Naturally, Ben the child genius immediately picked up on Fount's sore spot, "Turns out the great Warlock Fount is nothing more than an ugly old geezer."

And then the two of us laughed because Fount's face distorted in anger.

"Bark all you want. When I get my stone back, I'm going to kill you wolves!" Fount swore.

"Then I'm afraid River won't give you your stone." I teased.

"Maybe Prince River should keep it and use it as a paperweight." Ben suggested. To River he said, "I don't think you should use it, borrowing an idiot's power might make you stupid in the long run."

Hahaha. Fount's face!

Fount gripped his hands into tight fists, "Foolish puppies. I've eaten more salt than you've eaten grain! You should not have angered me."

"You're the foolish one." I (or Boo) told him, "If you refuse the toast, won't you have the drink the forfeit?"

Okay, it was Boo, I would never have thought of something so cool to say on the spot like that.

"My wolves and I took a lot of trouble to come return your stupid stone to you." I informed Fount, "If you do not give us a reasonable explanation, you can kiss your stone goodbye forever."