Two and One: Chapter Nine (End)

 Grakdar lay on the ridge and closed his eyes as the red pillar of flame rose into the sky, licking the undersides of the clouds above. The Demon Lord was chanting his unholy spell to open the gates to the underworld and tear the world apart.

"There are too many," Laira whispered.

The demons were all around them, guarding the Demon Lord. Hundreds of them. Maybe even more. They were massive, their bodies twisted and grotesque. Their horns were black and twisted, their teeth were sharp and pointed. Their eyes were burning coals, filled with hatred and anger.

"How are we going to do this?" Hope whispered.

Grakdar looked at her, his eyes cold and hard.

"We fight," he said. "Until we die."

Grakdar charged at the demons, his axes raised. Laira ran behind him, her hands glowing with magic. Hope stayed back, her hands shaking. She had never fought like this before, and she was scared.

"We do not live forever!"

Grakdar sliced through the demons, his blades cutting deep into their flesh. He was a blur of movement, his axes swinging in a deadly dance. "Die! Demons! Die!"

Laira was behind him, her magic blasting the demons with holy fire. "Burn with the light of the holy flame!"

Hope shook her head, ran down the hill, and lit the arcane fires in her hands. This close to the breaking of the Veil felt strange, and she felt an unearthly power surge through her. Her hair whipped around her head, and the fire burned hotter and brighter.

"For the gods!" Grakdar shouted as he cut through a demon, his blade slicing its neck.

"For love!" Laira yelled as she blasted a group of demons with holy fire, her hands glowing white.

"For our lands!" Hope screamed as she unleashed a torrent of fire, her hands burning with an inferno.

They fought with everything they had, their weapons and magic cutting through the demons. But the demons were endless, and they were outnumbered.

The demons kept coming, and Grakdar, Hope, and Laira were slowly being overwhelmed. Grakdar grunted in pain as a demon's claw sliced through his arm. Laira cried out as a demon bit into her shoulder. Hope gasped as a demon's horn pierced her leg.

The battle raged on, and the odds were against them.

"We have to get to the Demon Lord," Grakdar grunted, his voice barely audible over the sound of the raging battle.

"I'll clear a path," Laira said, the holy magic crackling around her hands.

"No," Grakdar said. "I will do it."

He swung his axes and carved a path through the demons. Laira followed behind him, her hands glowing with holy light. Hope ran behind her, her hands still blazing with arcane fire.

They reached the Demon Lord, and Grakdar lunged at him, his axe swinging. The Demon Lord caught his axe, his hand wrapped around the blade.

He voice blasted. "Who are you fools?"

"We're here to kill you," Grakdar growled.

"Fools," the Demon Lord sneered, "you can't kill me."

The Demon Lord's eyes glowed red, and he unleashed a blast of dark magic, sending Grakdar flying back, rolling head over heels.

Laira raised her hands and summoned a wall of holy fire, shielding herself, Hope, and Grakdar.

The Demon Lord laughed.

"This is your last chance," he growled. "Surrender and die peacefully."

"No," Grakdar said, rising to his feet, his axe gripped in his hands.

"We'll never surrender," Laira said, her eyes burning with holy light.

"Then you will die," the Demon Lord hissed.

The Demon Lord threw a ball of dark magic, and Grakdar ducked, the spell flying past him and striking the ground. The ground exploded, sending a shower of dirt and rocks flying into the air.

Laira summoned a ball of holy fire and hurled it at the Demon Lord. It struck him in the chest, and he staggered back. Grakdar swung his axe, the blade cutting into the Demon Lord's flesh.

The Demon Lord snarled in pain, his hands glowing with dark magic.

"Die!" he screamed, unleashing a blast of dark magic.

Hope stepped in front of Grakdar and Laira, her hands glowing with arcane fire.

"No!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the battlefield.

The blast struck her, and her body was engulfed in a pillar of dark fire.

Laira and Grakdar watched in horror as Hope was consumed by the darkness.

"Hope!" Laira screamed.

"We can't let her sacrifice be in vain," Grakdar growled. "We have to keep fighting."

"I can't lose her," Laira said, her voice shaking.

Grakdar grabbed Laira's shoulders and shook her.

"Hope gave her life for us," he said. "She gave her life for the world. We have to keep fighting. For her. For the world."

Laira nodded, her eyes burning with holy light.

They turned towards the Demon Lord, and they attacked. Grakdar swung his axe, cutting into the Demon Lord's flesh. Laira blasted him with holy fire, her hands glowing with holy light.

But the Demon Lord was too powerful, and their attacks weren't enough.

The Demon Lord laughed, and he unleashed a blast of dark magic, striking them.

Grakdar was thrown back, his body smoking and burning. Laira was thrown back, her body hitting the ground hard.

"The world is mine," the Demon Lord growled, his voice echoing across the battlefield.

Grakdar's body was smoking and charred. Laira's body was bloody and broken.

The Demon Lord raised his hand and summoned a bolt of dark magic.

Grakdar closed his eyes, his body smoking and charred. He opened them one more time and saw the light—a beautiful flaming bird of fire circling the sky, cutting through the clouds with a long tail of flame igniting the sky behind it.

A Phoenix.

Hope had risen.

Grakdar smiled and closed his eyes.

Hope was alive, and the world had hope.

Laira, too, saw the Phoenix, and her heart filled with hope. She smiled, seeing her sister riding atop the bird of fire.

Grakdar had been right. Hope had given her life for the world.

And the world would not be destroyed.

Not today.

Hope soared through the sky, the flames burning around her. She felt a power inside her that she had never felt before. A power that was beyond anything she had ever imagined. She pointed the finger at a demon army, and a beam of light shot down from the heavens, cut a burning chasm into the ground a mile long and vaporized the army where they stood.

She looked at the Demon Lord, and she attacked. She blasted him with a beam of fire, her flames burning hot and bright. The Demon Lord roared in pain, and he stumbled back.

"No!"

Hope jumped from the bird's back, her own arms wrapped in flame and easing her descent. She wore the ancient yellow and red fire robes of the Phoenix, they flickered and danced around her like flames, and the metallic silks caught the wisps of flame and turned them into glowing embers that floated away in the night.

She held her staff in one hand, the metal shining like molten gold, and the gemstone on top was as red as the fires of hell itself.

She strode forward, her eyes blazing with fury.

"You killed my friend," she said, her voice booming like thunder.

The Demon Lord laughed.

"And now, you will die," he said, his voice dark and evil.

He threw a bolt of dark magic, and Hope waved her hand, the flames swirling around her. The bolt bounced off and blew a crater into the side of the hill.

"No," she said, her voice like a burning fire.

"What are you?" the Demon Lord hissed.

"I am the Phoenix," she said. "I am the destroyer of worlds. And I am here to end you."

The Demon Lord roared and unleashed a blast of dark magic. Hope raised her hand, and the flames around her flared. The explosion struck her and was absorbed by the fire, which glowed brighter and hotter. Hope sent the bolt into the army of demons, lined up in worship to their majesty, and blew them all into bits of body, arms, and legs, flying out of the inferno on fire.

The Demon Lord stumbled back, his eyes wide.

"You cannot defeat me," he said, his voice shaking.

"Yes, I can," Hope said, her voice as hard as steel.

She raised her staff, the gemstone glowing like the sun.

"Die," she said.

She pointed the staff at the Demon Lord, and a beam of fire shot out, the flames burning like the fires of hell itself.

The Demon Lord screamed as the flames engulfed him. The clouds parted, and the sun shone on the ground around him. A finger of fire came straight from the sun, and the Demon Lord turned to a black silhouette, then embers, then ash, and he was gone.

Hope stood there, her staff in her hand, the flames swirling around her. The wind blew her hair, and her eyes burned with the fire of a thousand suns.

She turned and looked at Laira and Grakdar.

"It is done," she said.

They stared at her, their mouths agape.

"Hope..." Laira said, her voice shaking.

"I'm here," Hope said, her voice softening. She walked to Laira, ran a flaming hand over her sister, and healed her wounds and mended her broken bones.

Laira stood up, and she hugged Hope.

"I can't believe it," she said.

Hope smiled, and the flames around her faded.

"It's over," she said.

They all looked at the place where the Demon Lord had been, and the clouds parted. The sun shone down onto the battlefield, and the sounds of birds singing filled the air.

Grakdar smiled and put his axes away. He fell to a knee and lowered his head.

"You did it," he said.

Hope smiled, and her eyes welled with tears.

"No, we did it," she said. "Together."

She looked at the sky, and the flaming bird was gone.

"Where did the bird go?" Laira asked.

"To where it belongs," Hope replied. "His home. But he shall always be with me, the Phoenix Princess."

"One last thing," Grakdar said. "One last favor I have to ask of you two."

"Anything," Hope said.

"If the gods are real, let me return to my family," Grakdar said. "Kill me."

Laira and Hope looked at each other, and Hope nodded.

"As you wish, my friend," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Thank you," Grakdar said. His face broke into a smile, and he closed his eyes.

Hope stepped forward and placed her hand on Grakdar's head. Her hand began to glow with a golden light.

"Go to your family," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

The light around her hand grew brighter, and Grakdar's body began to glow. He disappeared, and the light was gone.

Laira and Hope stood there, their eyes filled with tears.

"He's gone," Laira said, her voice shaky.

"Yes," Hope said, her voice filled with sorrow.

The wind blew across the battlefield, and the sun shone down onto the two young women.

"What now?" Laira asked.

"Now," Hope said, a smile on her face. "We rebuild. We rebuild the world. And we move forward."

Laira smiled and took her sister's hand.

"Together," she said.

Hope nodded, and the two of them walked off the battlefield, their hearts full of hope and their minds full of possibilities.

The sky was blue, and the sun was shining. The world had been saved. The rains fell and healed the land.

The two sisters walked together as life slowly found its way back into the broken forests. They had a mission to rebuild. To find survivors. And to move forward.

For the world had been saved.

The rain fell, and the forest was green again. The sun shone, and the birds sang. The world was full of hope.

"Let's go home," Hope said.

Laira nodded and smiled.