Chapter 17: A Battle in Time

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#2 of The Chronicles of Razial Drakken

Here is the final chapter of book one of The Chronicles of Drakken. I hoped you guys had enjoyed the series.


Raz and Maz stood at the ready as General Bloodlust continued to scream his delight. They held their arms up to shield themselves from the high intensity of the powerful shockwaves. As powerful as Strife was, Bloodlust tripled in comparison, and they knew it. However, they refused to let themselves be intimidated and stood their ground. Raz hoped that they could survive this battle.

Bloodlust stops his scream and takes a few breaths of air before standing up. The Drakken Twins shocked at his stature and estimated twenty feet in height. His whole body was massive, with his arms the size of oak tree trunks and his legs double that. His hair was long and coarse, hanging wild down to his mid-back. This brought their attention to the enormous bat-like wings on his back that shifted every few seconds.

Then Bloodlust turned around and noticed the Drakken Twins standing there. The transformation did nothing for him in the looks department. The transformation made it even worse. The most prominent feature was the jutting jaw with tusks sticking out the bottom lip. His nose was flat against his face as if he'd fallen on it as an infant and remained stuck. The eyeballs were pure black with solid red iris and white pupils. Following this were the ears that looked more like a couple of heads of cauliflower and had several earrings adorning each one.

His attire was, at best grotesque and, at worst horrifying. What armor he did have on came from the bones of fallen victims to which he'd previously consumed. The entire outfit looked like blood flowed around it and down to the ground. Like Raz, his shoulder pads, elbow guards, wrist guards, and boots were adorned with spikes. The armor was emblazoned with blood-red, matching his pasty white skin.

Bloodlust smiled unnaturally wide and displayed a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. This mortified Raz and Maz even more as they steadied themselves. It seemed to them that everything Bloodlust did was a tactic in mental combat, as if Bloodlust started the fight with his mere presence bearing down on his opponent before even making a single move. Raz figured that this was his way of battling and had to admit that it was an excellent method to win.

"Well, hello there, your dragon ships. So sorry about that interruption, but I had to teach that nasty Dark Angel a lesson that I did," said Bloodlust in a low but no less creepy voice. "Now, back to business with you, this is so. You two look like good morsels to gobble up, that you do. Now, who would you like to go first? Don't be shy, no, no."

Raz and Maz hesitated before Raz responded, "You won't be eating anyone here. Your dinner plans have been canceled."

General Bloodlust clicks his tongue repeatedly at the Dragons as a parent would their own child in trouble. "Well, that is such a shame. You can be joined with great power, but children don't always know what is good for them; no, they don't. Sometimes children need to be shown the error of their ways, that they do," General Bloodlust said as Raz and Maz didn't like the sound of that.

This turned out to be correct because, without warning, Bloodlust exploded off the ground so hard that it left a massive crater. Instantly, Bloodlust was in their face before they could react, kicking Raz and sending him flying toward the Tower. He grabbed Maz's head and smashed him into the ground. Raz could see this out of the corner of one eye, and instantly, the rage exploded out of him like a volcanic eruption.

Raz rebounds off of the Tower and fires back toward General Bloodlust. He lengthened his body with his sword stretched out ahead of him. Then he shouted out, "CHAOTIC JAVELIN!"

Instantly, Raz covered in Black Fire and quickly resembled a flaming javelin. Bloodlust looks up in time to see Raz pierce and go straight through his body. He staggers backward with a massive hole in his chest and looks down at it in disbelief. Raz checked on Maz to find he was all right, just a little banged up. Maz got up and dusted himself off before seeing the massive hole in General Bloodlust's chest.

"Holy hell! Did you do that?!" Maz asked as Raz nodded.

"Yes, but I don't remember much of it. I lost control for a moment." Raz said with a sheepish smile.

"It sounds like you need to let go more often," Maz said as they turned their attention back to General Bloodlust.

Bloodlust still smiled as he looked at them and winked. He grunted out, and suddenly the hole in his chest regenerated. Raz and Maz looked at this in horror. How were they supposed to fight something that could just regenerate? This was not a good sign for them, and they already felt the strain on their bodies from the transformation.

"Wow, that put a hole in my heart, that it did. I must really compliment you on a stunning attack, and had I been normal, I would have surely died; that is true. However, since I'm not normal, I should count myself fortunate. Now, one last chance. Join with my power willingly, or I will force you," General Bloodlust said as his smile faded.

"We've told you before, we will never be joined to the likes of you," Maz said as Raz nodded in agreement.

General Bloodlust sighed as he pulled out a massive Falchion from his side as the aura started to swirl around him, "Then it must be by force; this is so. I had wished for better cooperation and understanding, but alas, my words have fallen on deaf ears, that they do. Now, I shall bring my full might against you," General Bloodlust said as he raised his sword high above his head and drew energy to it.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, and cracks soon formed. They flew up but too late; the tendrils raced out of the ground. Before they knew what had happened, the Drakken Twins found themselves tangled up, trying desperately to break free. Bloodlust laughed loudly and said, "Now bear witness to your end. HADES DRAIN!"

Maz and Raz cried in pain as the tendrils started draining away their life force. Raz knew they had to break loose or risk losing everything. Suddenly, Maz came up with an idea as he chanted something in a different language. Instantly before them was a burning cross that glowed brighter and blasted out in all directions in a blinding flash of light. The tendrils quickly turned to ash, and General Bloodlust fell on his backside.

Then Maz chanted other words in the same mysterious language, and Raz felt his energy renewed. Maz had the same power renewed, as well, because he looked a lot better himself. Suddenly, Maz looked at General Bloodlust and said, "So you want to play that kind of game, do you?"

With that, Maz teleported and reappeared behind General Bloodlust as both ends of his ax glowed bright white with a bit of rainbow on the edges. "INFERNO STRIKE!" Maz shouted and swung his ax down at Bloodlust. However, Bloodlust was just fast enough to block this, but suddenly heard Raz behind him.

"CHAOS LIGHTING LANCE!" Raz shouted as Maz quickly jumped out of the way as a vast black bolt of lightning fired right through Bloodlust. Once again, leaving a gaping hole in his body.

Bloodlust looked at the Drakken Twins and said, "Really? Have we not been over this? I can regenerate any portion of my body."

Bloodlust grunts out and regenerates the missing part of his chest. It seemed at this point that defeating Bloodlust would be next to impossible. Raz looked at Maz and telepathically said, "Maz! What do we have to achieve to destroy this guy?"

"It sounds like we may have to obliterate every portion of his body."

"Great and destroy the planet in the process."

"I know what you mean. I've been holding back, as well. We can't risk hurting the planet."

"Well, then we will have to fight more precisely and try to catch Bloodlust off guard."

"All right, but better said than done. We'll give it a try."

Suddenly, Bloodlust groaned out loud and said, "This is boring. Come on! Show me something challenging for once.!"

Raz and Maz smiled as they looked at each other first and then at Bloodlust. Then, all three exploded off the ground in a flash, moving faster than Strife. As they went, Raz noticed something strange happen to their surroundings. At first, he saw the streaks of light pass them, followed by whole bands. Maz also noticed this and said, "Raz, what's going on?"

Raz didn't know himself, and Bloodlust was just as clueless. Soon they were surrounded by multi-colored clouds as the bands of light all fused, and soon they all landed in an entirely bright plane. All three looked around after backing up from each other. Raz and Maz were completely confused by this but not as much as Bloodlust. He continually looked for a way out and grunted in his frustration.

Maz looked at Raz and telepathically said, "What is this place?"

"I think it's another dimension, I could be wrong, but because of my time ability, it threw all three of us into this dimension," Raz said, looking at his hands, at first, before looking at everything else. There was not much to look at because, other than Bloodlust, the whole place was bright white.

"NO! STUPID REPTILES! YOU HAVE TRAPPED US IN OBLIVION! I WILL KILL YOU!" Bloodlust screamed as he exploded off the ground and charged at The Drakken Twins. They quickly jumped out of the way as Bloodlust struck his sword into the ground. Suddenly, an upsurge of electrical energy went off like a bomb. All three were sent flying in opposite directions.

Raz could catch himself before hitting the ground and landing in a crouch. He wasn't sure what had just happened other than this dimension did not like being struck. Then he had to wonder if what General Bloodlust said was true. Was this truly, oblivion, and if so, could he and his brother get back?

Maz landed on his feet but skidded across the ground and noticed that it didn't do anything to him. He smiled at this and looked over at Raz. However, his attention was returned to Bloodlust, who landed on the ground some feet away from him. Bloodlust sat up, and the sight almost made Maz vomit. His whole was twisted as if his entire structure was made out of soft clay.

"Raz, I don't think this is oblivion," Maz said telepathically.

"Really? That's awesome! But what makes you think that?"

"Because when I dug into the ground to stop myself, it didn't explode as it did with Bloodlust."

Well, that's some good news. Then what are we in?"

Maz looked around for a moment before responding, "If I had to guess, you did this."

"Me?! Why are you blaming me?!"

"Well, you were using your time manipulation, right?"

"That doesn't have...Oh!" Raz said telepathically as he looked around and thought about it.

"You see it, don't you?" Maz said in their minds.

"Yes, but I thought I figured out everything about my abilities. Wait, this has your energy attached to it, as well."

"What are you saying, Raz? We somehow created a pocket within time and space?"

"It looks like it," Raz said as he flew over to Maz.

Suddenly, Bloodlust put himself back together and screamed out his frustration. Raz and Maz turned their attention back to him, cracking a smile. "I don't think he likes it," Maz said as Bloodlust pulled the sword out of his arm and scowled at them.

"No, I don't think he does. Anyway, can we help make it more unbearable?" Raz said as Maz smiled and nodded.

"PRISMATIC AX WHEEL!" Maz shouted and flung his doubled-ended ax at Bloodlust as the entire weapon became a spinning fiery rainbow wheel.

Bloodlust was, however, ready for this and charged at the weapon. He swung his sword, and as soon as the two weapons made contact, the energy exploded as both sides tried to push back against each other. Maz's white aura was swirling around him as he struggled against Bloodlust's great strength. Finally, there was another massive explosion as Bloodlust went flying back, and Maz called his ax back to him.

Bloodlust rebounded off one of the walls and shot back toward the Drakken Twins. Soon, all three were engaged in intense combat and were all over the place. Neither side let a single drop in defense happen until Bloodlust tried to take Maz's head off. Raz saw the opportunity and hit Bloodlust with an energy blast, sending him flying back into the outer wall.

Then, the dark aura around Raz started to swirl as he floated up and shouted, "BLACK SPECTRAL FIRE!"

Suddenly, a ghostly black fire rose above Raz in the form of a dragon. It roared out and breathed a whole torrent of black fire at General Bloodlust. Bloodlust saw this and brought his sword around just in time to block the attack. However, it pushed him back against the wall, and he struggled to push back. Finally, he deflected the fire up and quickly ducked out of the way.

Raz cursed under his breath and went to chase Bloodlust. However, he smiled as he let Raz follow him for the longest time. Suddenly, he turned around and pointed his sword at Raz.

"UNHOLY BOMBER!" General Bloodlust shouted, and it seemed, in that exact moment, everything within that dimension went dim as his sword quickly collected all the evil energy in the world until it grew five times the size of a standard ball. Then it fired at Raz, who stopped and tried to activate his time ability but stood frozen with fear.

Then, Maz came out of nowhere and shouted, "SHIELD OF FAITH!"

Maz landed in front of Raz with a massive shield resembling an octagon buckler with a cross on its front. Raz was surprised by this, but not as much as when General Bloodlust's attack hit Maz's shield.

Maz and Raz yelled out in horror as they pushed against the shield as soon as it hit. The force on the shield was the equivalent of a mountain crashing down on top of someone. They slid backward, and Raz knew he had to end this. He quickly lifted his sword and shouted, "DARK FORTRESS!"

When the fortress went up, it exploded against the onslaught of Bloodlust's Unholy Bomber. Raz and Maz went flying in one direction while Bloodlust went in another. The force of the explosion cracked one of the walls of the white plane, and the Drakken Twins landed on the opposite wall of Bloodlust and staggered back to their feet. Raz groaned as he saw Bloodlust was already up, heading for the crack in the barrier.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Raz said as he brought his great sword around and held it level with the ground, arms outstretched. Suddenly, it started to charge at the tip with a black fireball that constantly grew in size. Finally, it rivaled the size of Bloodlust's Unholy Bomber, and Maz looked up in surprise.

"Raz, that's not a good idea," Maz said, but his words went unheard.

"Fire something at me, will you? BLACK FIRE CANNON!" Raz shouted as the massive fireball shot forth like that from a cannon. The sound was deafening as it fired and shot straight for Bloodlust, who looked up.

It took him by surprise as the flames engulfed him and exploded like that of a small atomic bomb. Bloodlust cried out in pain and staggered forth in his misery. He fell forward as the flames died and looked fried to a crisp. Raz panted as he let the end of his sword drop and leaned against it. He looked back at Maz and said, "And that's how you get rid of a pesky general."

Maz was about to remark, but then he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. He quickly tackled Raz to the ground as Bloodlust's sword flew past and got stuck in the wall. The Drakken Twins look up at the sword in surprise and then at General Bloodlust. The sight wasn't pleasing at all to behold, as Raz was the one who almost lost his lunch.

Bloodlust was almost entirely nude except for a scrap piece of clothing around his midsection. He was breathing deeply, and Raz could tell his temper had snapped. The sword was good evidence of that. Then Bloodlust spoke, "You dragons have been more trouble than you are worth; this is true. I will do what I should've done in the first place and destroy you both, that I will. You dragon ships say your prayers because your time has come, that it has."

"Raz, wasn't he already trying to kill us and unsuccessfully, I might add?" Maz said as Raz cracked a smile.

"Yes, I don't feel dead yet. Do you?" Raz said as Maz shook his head.

"He must be doing something wrong. But hey, I can show him how to kill someone properly." Maz said as Raz's face lit up.

"Oh, yes. Show him. This ought to be good. Pay attention, General Bloodlust; you won't see this attack every day." Raz said as Bloodlust's temper started to get the better of him.

Maz turned his doubled-ended ax vertically as the energy around him swelled again. Holding the ax with his left hand, he raised his right hand and started to drawback as a bright white arrow appeared. General Bloodlust had had enough and exploded off the ground, flying directly at Maz.

Maz smiled and shouted, "HEAVEN'S ARROW!"

Suddenly, the arrow was let loose in a Prismatic effect, leaving a rainbow trail in its wake. The arrow struck General Bloodlust in the chest as he screamed out in pain and suddenly disintegrated into ash. Raz smiled and clapped him on the shoulder as the white room dissolved. The sun shone as they lowered to the ground, and friends came running up to them.

"Hey! Hey!" Buckner shouted as Raz and Maz turned towards him. They smiled upon seeing their friends and felt relieved that it was finally over.

"Wow, you guys were just amazing!" Amber said as Blaze agreed.

Miles came up to his sons and said, "I am so proud of you two. You have saved us all."

"Yes, for now. But this war is not over yet. We have to fight more Dark Angels before this is all said and done." Raz said.

Suddenly, a bright white light broke out of the pile of ash, and an angelic being rose up out of it. Raz recognized him immediately and said, "Strife! What are you...."

The angel held up his hand and said, "I am no longer Strife! I am what I was before I became Strife. I am Tranquil. Thank you so much, Razial and Mazial Drakken, for freeing me from my bondage. I will always be eternally grateful to you two, and to show you my appreciation, take this gift."

A silvery pouch floated from Tranquil's hand to Raz's, and Tranquil ascended into the sky. Raz looks down at the silvery bag and opens it to see a deep red ruby. He instantly realizes what it is and closes it back up.

"What did he give you, Raz?" Maz asked as Raz gave a look that said I'll tell you later.