THE DRAGON AND THE PHOENIX

by Shoraz

  As Ava pondered upon Jonah’s words she thought of what he said and her thoughts of a world full of happiness, health, hope, joy, contentment, and love went through her mind, and she knew that it was up to her to give this to everyone and everything in existence.

  “How do I do it Jonah? How do I kill you?” Ava asked as she began to put the reality of the situation into perspective and knew that this would be her only chance to kill Zarax as two of the four dragons were trying their best to pound through the force field that Jonah created, while the other two dragons and the diamond army were now mere meters away from them.

  “It’s in you Ava; I gave you the weapon to kill me back on earth. It’s the same weapon that the beast of the earth used to kill you – it’s the blue spear,” Jonah said, and as he said so, Ava vividly remembered the beast of the earth plunging the blue spear into her as she screamed in pain. And then as her mind took control of her body, the blue liquid that had seeped into her body after she was stabbed back on earth began to take form in her hand, and the spear began to take shape, and as it finally formed, the tears rolled down Ava’s face.

  Then, as the sadness and reality of the situation engulfed her, Ava mustered up whatever strength she could and raised the spear and as she readied herself to plunge it into the head of the Dragon, Jonah said, “I’ll tell mom and dad that you are everything that they thought you would be and more. You can do it Ava, and remember; happiness, hope and love for everyone. I love you so much my precious sister,” as he closed his eyes and happily waited for Ava to end the life of Zarax which was created from the evil and hate of Razen.

  “And I love you too my brother,” and with those last words, Ava began to thrust the blue spear towards Zarax. And just as it was about to make contact with him, and pierce his almost impenetrable armor, Razen looked on in utter disbelief as his malevolent creation that was full of hate and greed had somehow miraculously managed to find love, sympathy, and compassion deep within the furthest reaches of his mind as the fate of everything in existence hung in the balance.

  CHAPTER THIRTY–EIGHT

  As Razen looked on and saw Ava thrusting the blue spear towards Zarax, it briefly took his focus away from Mikaelos, and with every bit of magic that he knew, he conjured up a spell and fired his magic upon Ava in hopes of damaging her and slowing her down, and giving Zarax some time to find the hate and greed that Razen knew was within him.

  As Ava screamed in pain from Razen’s evil magic crashing against her body, she knew that she was too close to give up, and fought his magic back with everything in her. And just as she mustered up enough strength to again try and thrust the blue spear into Zarax, Mikaelos saw that Razen was focused on Ava and was firing his magical spell upon her, and Mikaelos quickly fired a powerful spell of magic towards Razen and he fell to the ground from the sheer power of Mikaelos’ sorcery.

  Then, as Mikaelos looked towards Ava and Zarax and began heading towards them to help his friend Ava, Razen used his last bit of strength and fired a bolt of magic towards Mikaelos. But out of the corner of his eye Mikaelos saw the sorcery of Razen coming his way, and just as it reached him, he put up a force field around himself, and as Razen’s powerful magic hit Mikaelos’ force field it shattered it, and Mikaelos flew into the air and landed forcefully on the ground below.

  Meanwhile, Razen fell backwards to the ground due to the impact of the shattered force field, and on top of that he was still wounded from the magic that Mikaelos had used on him only moments earlier. Then as Mikaelos was hit by the impact of the shattered force field due to the sorcery of Razen, he fell to the floor, and he screamed in pain, and then for a brief moment as Ava became distracted by Mikaelos’ screams of pain, Zarax lunged forward in desperation towards Ava in hopes of saving his life, and as he did so, his powerful jaws almost took hold of Ava, and as she jumped out of the way, the blue spear fell to the ground.

  Meanwhile, an injured Razen looked around and somewhat pretended to play as if he was dead in hopes of keeping the attention away from himself while he conjured up a plan that was no doubt full of evil and hate.

  Then, as Zarax saw that the blue spear had fallen to the ground, he tried to get up, but somehow the soul of Jonah managed to keep the mighty beast on the floor. And as Zarax screamed and lunged again at Ava, she moved out of the way, and then as her eyes made contact with the spear as it lay on the ground, Zarax knew that he also had to make his way to the weapon that Jonah gave to Ava back on earth for the purpose of killing Zarax.

  Then as he saw it he quickly dove forward for it, while Ava also quickly darted towards it as well, as they both made their way towards the weapon that was created from the remains of Jonah’s dead body, which included his mind as it lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And little did Ava know at the time, but when she created the beast of the earth, which was the only thing on earth that could kill her, she somehow found Jonah’s remains at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and unknowingly created the one weapon that would eventually kill her on earth which was a necessary and important step in her trek to becoming the Phoenix and returning back home to Zerros. And somehow deep within the furthest reaches of her vast mind she knew that Jonah was already in the process of merging with the Blue Dragon as Zarax lay dormant deep within the Ocean of Eternity prior to the annihilation of the earth and the death of the universe in what seemed like almost a lifetime ago, but in reality was only mere days ago.

  Then, as both Ava and Zarax made their way to the blue spear, Ava, in her wounded state, managed to get her hands on it first and just as she did so, and Zarax realized that Ava was ready to do all that she could to stop the spread of evil, he used every last bit of strength he had within him to fight off the power of good that still remained in Jonah’s soul.

  As he tried to fight off the power of Jonah he quickly grabbed Ava in his powerful jaws, and as Ava desperately tried to escape his jaws of death, the force field around them collapsed and the four dragons and the diamond army came rushing towards Ava in hopes of killing her and saving their evil master. While the sorcerers and what remained of the devastated army of Zerros followed them in hopes of protecting Ava and killing the army of the Blue Dragon. And then, as Ava saw them she gave into the pain of Zarax’s powerful jaws and used her last bit of strength to tightly hold onto the blue spear as the four dragons and the diamond army were now mere inches away from her, with the sorcerers and the army of Zerros attacking them from all sides.

  Then as the thought of Zarax and Razen spreading their wrath of evil throughout Zerros and the universes for all of eternity went through her mind, she took the blue spear which the beast of the earth had used to kill her and plunged it into the head of the Blue Dragon, and as Zarax screamed and writhed in pain and agony, the diamond army and the four dragons began to mercilessly attack Ava.

  And as she was being squeezed by the powerful jaws of Zarax, and as the four dragons and the diamond army bit, slashed and clawed at her in hopes of saving their master. Ava, using not only what remained of her otherworldly powers but also using her will to save her creations from an eternity of despair at the hands of Zarax and Razen still miraculously continued to plunge the blue spear into Zarax, and then one by one, a few of the soldiers of the army of the Blue Dragon began to fade away into thin air.

  Then, as the realization that their end was near went through their minds, they all began to scream and roar while the sorcerers began to fire their magic towards them in hopes of saving Ava as she was now at the edge of life, and in her almost depleted and dwindling state she still continued to tightly hold onto the spear and Jonah did all that he could to keep the mind of Zarax at bay and protect Ava and everyone in Zerros from Zarax’s wrath of evil.

  As Ava held the spear inside of Zarax’s head, and the pain of holding it within him seared throughout her damaged body, Zarax continued fighting for his life, and as he clenched his jaws tighter and tighter down upon Ava, she could feel that the soul of the mystical and mighty Phoenix wa
s trying to escape from her body.

  And then, with her last ounce of strength, Ava pulled the spear out of Zarax’s head, and then, using all of whatever little strength that she had left, she plunged the blue spear back into his head again.

  Meanwhile, the sorcerers and what remained of the decimated army of Zerros continued their fight against the four dragons and the diamond army as they tried to protect their leader – Zarax. And although the task was difficult given the great powers of evil which their enemies possessed, the sorcerers and the army of Zerros did everything they could to protect Ava from the army of the Blue Dragon as they attacked her. And as they looked death in the eye, and even at the cost of their own lives, the sorcerers and the army of Zerros knew that they had to do all that they could to save Ava as they knew that the greater good had to prevail in order to save everything in existence from the wrath of Razen and Zarax.

  Then as the soul of the mighty Phoenix sensed that its great life was coming to an end, and as Zarax still continued to mangle her almost lifeless and withered body, Ava somehow continued to push the blue spear deeper into the head of the Blue Dragon in hopes of ending his life before he ended hers. Meanwhile, as the chaos of the battle continued on; Mikaelos, Astaria and the rest of the sorcerers along with the army of Zerros which included Stryker, Sarah, Usain and Roma continued their fight against the diamond army and the four dragons in hopes of protecting their ruler – the Phoenix. Then suddenly Zarax let go of his grip on Ava, and as she fell out of his jaws, she managed to grab onto the blue spear and Zarax then shouted, “Do it now Ava, kill him! I can’t hold him back any longer.”

  And as Ava heard the words she knew that somehow Jonah’s soul was doing everything that he could to help her defeat Zarax, and as Ava limped her way towards Zarax to end his life, he was still trying to do everything in his power to fight Jonah off. And then as Ava limped towards Zarax, some fighters of the diamond army and the four dragons rushed towards Ava but the sorcerers surrounded her and did everything in their power to defend her. And then suddenly one of the four dragons broke through the defenses of the sorcerers and as he made his way towards Ava she put up the blue spear to defend herself and the dragon fired shards of ice towards her and as it hit her she fell to the floor and the blue spear fell out of her hands, and then as the dragon readied himself to pounce on Ava he dove towards her with his mouth wide open ready to devour the arch enemy of his master. And then out of nowhere, Zarax flew towards Ava as the sorcerers and the army of Zerros fired their magic and weapons at him, and then just as the dragon was about to kill Ava, Zarax lunged towards him and grabbed him in his powerful jaws and then threw him aside.

  Then, as Ava looked on in bewilderment towards Zarax he shouted to her, “Kill him now Ava!” and as Ava heard the words she made her way towards the blue spear and as she picked it up she slowly walked towards Zarax as the sorcerers and the army of Zerros continued their fight against the dragons and the diamond army.

  And then with everything in him, Zarax managed to fight the power of Jonah off, and then as he did so, he looked at his weak and almost defenseless arch enemy – the Phoenix, and as he saw her square in his sight and the thoughts of controlling the Realm of Zerros as well as the universes within the Realm of Creation went through his mind he suddenly lunged towards Ava, and as he did so, she held the blue spear as tight as she could. And then as Zarax was only inches away from her and moving in ever so close for the kill of his life, she held the spear and then thrust it towards his face and as it pierced through his skin the mighty beast tried his best to move backwards and fly away but Jonah did everything he could to help his sister Ava and pushed Zarax towards the spear as Zarax tried to fight back.

  Meanwhile, Ava screamed in pain as her battered and almost destroyed body that was nearing death held the blue spear in Zarax as the pain of Zarax’s extreme evil coursed throughout her body, and she was now in a state of pain that was incomprehensible to the human mind, yet through it all she knew that she could not give up the fight. And as the pain coursed through her body she still somehow managed to hold onto the blue spear as Zarax tried to fly away, while only mere meters away from her; Mikaelos, Astaria, Stryker and Sarah as well as the others on the side of good did everything in their power to hold back the dragons and the diamond army as they desperately tried to save their master – the Blue Dragon.

  Meanwhile, as the battle raged on, Razen looked on unsure of what to do, and then just as he made up his mind to come out of his hiding spot to try and save his evil creation, the most evil of thoughts went through his mind and as he gazed around he saw his salvation and patiently waited for his time to come.

  Then as the battle continued, Ava felt her body and mind giving into the unbearable and nearly never–ending pain, and she felt that her life was nearing the end, and with that she mustered up the last bit of strength that she had and held the blue spear as tightly as she could and gave the spear one final thrust, and then, just as she did so, Zarax let out a final roar of defeat and finally collapsed to the ground of Zerros as everyone looked on in utter shock, including the evil one himself – Razen, while Ava fell to the ground in disbelief of what she had just done.

  Then, as Ava lay on the ground and looked towards a motionless Zarax, she could see that the mighty Blue Dragon was no longer moving and she knew without a doubt that the battle was finally over as the powerful Blue Dragon lay dead on the ground. Meanwhile, as the sorcerers and the army of Zerros looked on in astonishment, the four dragons and the diamond army continued to fade away as their master was now dead, and then, some of the sorcerers and some of the army of Zerros began to run towards Ava.

  Then, as Ava looked at the dead Blue Dragon, all that she could think about was Jonah as tears of sadness streamed down her face, and then as the last of the four dragons and the diamond army continued to fade away, the Blue Dragon also began to fade away and disappear, as his life which was created from pure evil and greed had finally come to a bitter and violent, yet somewhat selfless end.

  CHAPTER THIRTY–NINE

  Then, as the last part of the force field that the Blue Dragon created to keep the diamond army and the four dragons at bay disappeared, some of the sorcerers, as well as some of the army of Zerros, ran towards Ava as she lay on the floor beside an almost faded away Zarax. And as she looked at Zarax and touched the face of the majestic Blue Dragon for the final time, he faded into nothingness, and as he did so, Ava’s memories of Jonah flooded her mind and she quickly pondered back to one of her last and most significant memories of him back in the dream in which they were both small children in the amusement park of fire with Razen in pursuit of them.

  Flashback: Ava and Jonah as small children in the amusement park of fire

  As Jonah ate the candy apple, Ava looked at him and she saw the truth of what he was eating, and it was a blue orb, which was in truth an evil spell that was created by Razen.

  Then as Jonah ate it Ava could see his skin color turning blue and she then began running towards him and hit the candy apple out of his hand and it fell to the ground, and as it fell Jonah screamed at Ava, “Why did you do that?” as he got upset and began to cry.

  Then as he began to cry Ava looked towards Razen and tried to use her magic on him but it was of no use, and as she came to that realization she tried pulling Jonah away from Razen, and Razen raised his hand and hit her and she fell to the floor and as Jonah saw that he let go of the balloon and bit Razen’s hand, and as he did so, he ran towards Ava and pulled her up by her arm and began leading her away from Razen into the amusement park. Then, as Razen grabbed the balloon and held it in his hand, he slowly followed Jonah and Ava into the amusement park.

  As Jonah and Ava ran, they were both crying and in the distance, they could see Razen slowly following them and as they continued running through the amusement park and hiding anywhere they could, Razen still followed them as he knew that he had to get Jonah back to Zerros.

  Then as they continued ru
nning and hiding at the Ferris wheel, at the bumper cars, and at the carousel, Razen still followed them.

  It was at that point that Ava realized that Razen would not stop until he found Jonah and as she quickly looked around thinking of what to do next, she saw it and ran towards the house of mirrors and pulled Jonah along.

  As they reached the house of mirrors, they both crouched and tried their best to hide from Razen who for the moment had lost track of them, and then Ava began explaining to Jonah what they had to do in order to deceive Razen.

  “Jonah this isn’t real,” she said to him, but as Jonah looked around, he looked back at her in confusion.

  “What do you mean this isn’t real?” he asked her.

  To which she replied, “Well it is real in a way, but the true you is not what you see. Right now we are within a dream and the evil man after us is named Razen and he is an evil sorcerer and he’ll stop at nothing until he finds you and takes you back to the real you in a place called Zerros.”

  “How do you know this? Are you real?” Jonah asked Ava.

  “No I am not real as well, and I am a part of this dream, but Razen will find us soon and we must hurry, now here is what you have to do,” Ava replied.

  “What must I do? Tell me Ava, please,” Jonah said to her.

  “Look at yourself in the mirrors Jonah, and look at all the reflections looking back at you,” Ava said, and as she said the words, Jonah looked at the mirror and stared at the many reflections of himself.

  Ava then looked at the reflections of Jonah and said to him, “None of these reflections are real Jonah but in order to trick Razen, I will try to put a piece of your soul into one of them.”

  As Jonah heard the words, he was unsure of what to make of them and Ava tried comforting him and said, “I know you are confused brother, but know that I love you dearly. Now choose one of the reflections and I’ll do what I can to defeat Razen.”