Those behind the shields survived by the skin of their teeth, the magical protection that they sheltered under faltering momentarily, shimmering and sparking as the massive amount of energy threatened to overload and overwhelm. In the end, both barriers stayed strong, mainly down to the fact that the burden of each had been shared amongst those behind them. Had it just been one individual carrying the weight of the load on their own, they wouldn't have been so fortunate, something Richie was only too aware of, counting her lucky stars that she'd teamed up with Yoyo's youngsters when she had.
At the point where the magically rebuilt bridge connected with the king's residence, dozens of nagas and dark dragons that had been streaming across at Manson's summons, to join in the truly one-sided fight, lay dead, decapitated and just plain shredded. Faster than a speeding bullet, Earth thundered into their remains, landing hard enough to shatter the marble surface beneath them, the cracks and fissures themselves spreading out onto the bridge.
Over two hundred metres away, Peter's grandfather Fredric, the founder of the Crimson Guards, smashed equally hard into something solid, this time part of the wall about twenty metres along from where Peter, Richie, Janice, Hook, Yoyo and the others were sheltered.
"Noooooooooooooooo..." screamed Peter in utter horror, watching the being he'd hoped to get to know much better land harder than a problematic Soyuz space mission.
Arms and legs at impossible angles, the mother of all burns in the shape of a hand imprinted deep within his chest, a burning, blackened band circling his neck and with no hint of the laminium that had only moments ago covered him, dust and smoke rose into the air as brilliant red blood spilled down the perfect white wall, producing what was likely the most gruesome scene from the whole sorry play.
Without hesitation, Peter sprinted across to the part of the shield that was nearest to where his grandfather lay.
"Let me out!" he cried, banging fruitlessly against the magic. "Let me out!"
Even with so many of the enemy defeated, there were still dark dragons circling in the air above them, and not just a few. Leaving the safety of the shield would be futile, something all the voices inside Richie's head agreed upon almost immediately.
Turning to face his friend with a mixture of sorrow, anger and regret etched into his almost schoolboy like features, the hockey playing dragon begged to be let out.
"I have to go out there, Rich. Please. I have to get to him."
Swallowing hard, and with the voices in her head dead set against anyone leaving, Richie Rump struggled to maintain the focus on the shield as she composed her reply.
"You can't go Pete. You'll be killed. None of us can go with you, and we'll never be able to walk the shield over there in time. Without any kind of protection, it's just not going to happen. I'm sorry."
Boiling red with rage, fury radiating from every part of him, he cried out with all his might.
"LET ME OUT!"
Hands shaking, threatening to come apart on the inside, the lacrosse playing dragon knew the voices of the others made total sense and that it was nothing short of suicide to go out there on his own. She just had to make him understand. It was then that a gentle hand laid down on her shoulder, surprising her more than a little.
Janice!
"I'll go out there with him. It'll be okay, Fu'ts-ang will protect us. We can bring his body back in here. It won't take long. Let us through. There's no other way."
Processing the information in a fraction of a second, the de facto leader of the dragons made her decision instantly, ignoring the protests of those that had taken up residence inside her mind.
"GO!" she ordered the young human bar worker. "Good luck!"
Pleading for protection from within her mind's eye, Janice hoped the space age weapon would stop killing long enough to offer up its help, but without even checking that was the case, she sprinted forwards towards Peter and the barrier, which fizzled into nothingness just as they reached it, allowing the two of them to leave the relative safety of the others. As fast as they could, they dashed towards what remained of Fredric.
Reforming the defences behind them, Richie shouted out within her mind, determined to be heard over the squabbling that had broken out.
"BE QUIET!"
Instantly they were, and most of them weren't very happy about it.
"Make sure we're ready to go. When they come back with his body, we'll move off towards the king's position."
One of the impudent young dragons spoke up.
"We should just go now and leave them here. They knew what they were doing. I thought the whole point of this was to rescue the king. Metaphorically speaking, Yoyo buried his face in his hands.
"We're going nowhere until they come back, is that clear?" growled Richie furiously. "They get left behind over my dead body. Understand?"
More than a little shaken, a tiny female voice could just be heard to squeak,
"Okay."
With the tension raised higher than a wayward balloon filled with helium, Richie focused on controlling her breathing, regulating her temperature and letting the magic from the dagger and the necklace flow through her, all the time keeping one eye on what Peter and Janice were both doing.
Gliding to a halt next to what was left of the wall, Peter reached down to lift up a slab of marble that had slipped across his grandfather's face. Tossing it carelessly off to one side, he looked back down at the being he longed to get to know better, hoping against hope that his time on earth hadn't yet drawn to an end. Right on cue, Fredric's broken, battered and bruised body started to cough and splutter, all of its own accord.
"Thank God," uttered Janice, with no small degree of relief.
"We have to get him back behind the shield," Peter declared. "If we don't, then we're all as good as dead."
Only then did he turn his attention skyward, feeling something untoward watching him from a great height. He wasn't wrong. They'd caught the attention of two ferociously scary dragons, both far bigger than Tank's huge bulk, both now starting their descent, eyes firmly fixed on their newfound prey. Instantly Peter's legs froze to the spot, while his arms shook uncontrollably. Some hero he was turning out to be. Janice was also rooted to the spot, her attention fixed intently on both prehistoric winged beasts zipping through the air towards them.
'Do something,' she willed in Peter's direction, hoping against hope that was enough to kick start him into action. It wasn't, and he remained steadily glued to the floor, mouth agog, eyes wide open.
There appeared no way out, and that death had finally found two of the many heroes here today, as both homicidal dark dragons' downward flight reached the point at which both could use their mighty flames to incinerate the childlike human forms before them. They chose not to. It was a mistake. Flying side by side, they each acquired a target, satisfied that not only would their thirst for violence and murder be quelled, but their hunger as well. Grasping each other's hands, too afraid to attempt anything else, Peter and Janice closed their eyes, already petrified beyond belief. It was a shame, that's for sure, because they missed a move so superbly executed that it should go down in dragon lore, providing that the light side lived long enough to record that history. Out of nowhere, a shimmering, speeding bolt of brilliant, white frost cut through the molecules of the air, parting the very atoms themselves. Fast didn't begin to describe it, with it making most bullets look like snails. Not even aware of the danger they were in, both dark dragons opened their mouths to the fullest extent and savoured the expectation of their next meal. If kebab was what they dreamed of, then kebab it would be. Taking both dragons sideways on at ninety degrees, Fu-ts'ang hammered into them with no thought of his own safety. Like a knife through water, that's how easy it was for the centuries old weapon to pierce the dragon scales of both beings, impaling them both on the blade and compressing their bodies with the force of his approach, nailing both beings to the marble wall, slightly further along from where Fredric lay half-buried in debris. Surprised and more than a little grateful, the two young lovers opened their eyes, astonished to find a dragon kebab, with their friend, the magnificent Fu-ts'ang, the skewer.