Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian Chronicles: Book 1 ❯ The Past Returns ( Chapter 5 )

Back in the battle…

"Frostfire Flash!"

"Star Storm Blast!"

"Moonlight Burn!"

"Submarine Reflection!"

"World Shaking!"

The Dark Knights were trying for about the hundredth time that evening to pin her down with their attacks, but few had actually landed. The warlords were up in the trees, they hadn't moved yet. Neither had Lady Kayura.

"Soul Break!"

"Shadow Incineration!"

"Vertigo Slam!"

"Time Warp!"

"Black Flame Sniper!"

"Enough!" All eyes turned to Kayura as she landed on the ground, in front of Starfire. "You've played with her long enough. Return to the Dynasty. I'll finish her myself."

All of the Dark Knights bowed, and vanished. The Warlords remained, content to watch. Kayura drew her swords, clipped them together at the hilt, and held them out in front of her. Starfire knew she was too tired to avoid Kayura's blast. She shut her eyes and bowed her head, and for the first time in her life, admitted defeat.

Kayura smiled, and began her own attack. "Star Sword Scr-aieeeee!!!"

Starfire opened her eyes in time to see Kayura go down under an enormous black tiger.

"Kokuenoh!" Starfire practically wept with joy. She'd never been so happy to see that damned tiger in her whole life.

With a snarl, Dais lept down from his perch to aid Kayura. With his concentration broken, the illusion faded, and Starfire found herself at the top of the waterfall. It was more than 100 ft to the bottom, and she was too weak to fly. The other three warlords leapt down as well, surrounding her, so that the only way out was the sheer drop behind her. She braced herself.

"It's over, Inferno." Anubis's quiet voice almost sounded like he was pleading with her. "Surrender now, and we will let you live."

"Go to Hell."

Anubis just sighed and shook his head. This is it, Starfire realized. This time, there was no way out. Warren and the others had no idea where she was, and Kokuenoh was too busy fighting Dais and Kayura to help her. If only…

"Quake with Fear!" The chain from Anubis's kusari-gama wrapped around her neck, and he pulled, tightening it. She couldn't get loose.

"Snake Fang Strike!" Starfire twisted to one side, but it did little good. The katana Sehkmet had thrown embedded itself in her shoulder. He made a motion, and it ripped out of her shoulder, causing even more damage. If she'd been able to, she'd have screamed. As it was, her face contorted with pain. Cale smiled, raising his sword to finish her off.

"Black Lightening -" Cale's face twisted in pain suddenly, as Lady Raenafel's telepathic voice cut through all their minds.

**Return to the Nether Realm immediately!**

Starfire felt Anubis's chain release her and took advantage of the situation. She'd be damned if she was going to let them have the pleasure of killing her when there was another option. She took a step back…and fell.

As soon as she fell, Kokuenoh broke off his attack on Kayura and took off into the jungle. Kayura and the warlords ran to the edge of the cliff, but they could see no sign of Starfire.

"We'd best go below, and make sure she's dead," Kayura said.

**NO! Return to the Nether Realm. Leave her.**

"But-"

**Do NOT question me, Warlord of Darkness. If she lives we will deal with her later. The Z-senshi are coming. It will not serve our purposes if they know how many of you there are right now.**

Kayura knew better than to question her mother at a time like this. "It will do us no good to question her now," she reminded the Warlords.

The other warlords agreed. As they turned to leave, Kayura could almost have sworn she saw a smile on Anubis's face. But when he glanced back at her, all she saw was his usual nonchalant expression. She shook it off, and decided that her mind must have been playing tricks on her. After all, why would a Warlord be pleased that Inferno had escaped?

Below, moments later…

Starfire pulled herself out of the pool. Something nudged her.

Starfire reached up. "Kokuenoh…"

She could hear footsteps. Someone was coming.

"Get out of here. They'll…kill…you…too…" she muttered.

"Starfire!"

Starfire squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable blow. She was startled when instead of a weapon she felt strong arms around her. They lifted her and turned her on her back.

"Zhane…answer me…"

Starfire opened her eyes weakly and looked up.

"Gods, Zhane! What happened?" Warren's eyes were filled with worry. He'd never seen her in such bad shape.

"Warren…Kayura…Warlords…"

She passed out. Warren picked her up carefully and took off, determined to get back to the beach house as fast as possible. He didn't see the black tiger watching him from the trees.