Daniel let out a yell as he transformed into his enhanced self. His size grew by three additional feet, his arms adorned with a type of armor with his fingers being long claws. He felt the familiar current running through him, like a type of battery. He was overcharged, ready to destroy Mortezan’s army single handedly. Once Mortezan had closed the gap, Daniel punched him in the stomach, knocking the Dark Lord back. Daniel, however, wouldn’t stop. I need to keep pressuring him. If I let off once, I’m done.
As every one of his punches found their target, he noticed that Mortezan was laughing. “Is that all you’ve got Chosen One?”
Mortezan swung behind him, wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned back, smashing him into the ground. With his head buzzing, Daniel lay defenseless with the Dark Lord beginning to claw at the back of his head. There was ringing in his ears, blood dripping from the sides of his head.
The Dark Lord had finally stopped, leaving Daniel somewhat conscious, but the need to close his eyes was weighing on him more and more by the second. He knew that if he closed his eyes, that would be the end.
“Your prodigal son is no more Varin,” Mortezan said. “Now all of this wretched Kingdom will burn!”
Daniel.
Anya’s voice came awake in his head, the ringing somewhat dissipating. Daniel. You have to get up.
He wasn’t strong yet. He did his best, sure; but his best ended him lying on the ground clinging to life.
You have to get up!
He could hear the urgency in her voice now, sterner than before, desperation as well.
Get up!
“I can’t,” he said to himself. The hell you talking about you can’t? Your parents didn’t die for you to give up on yourself! Get up!
Get up Daniel!
Get up!
His arms that were on his side began to inch forward; intense pain shot from both his shoulders all the way to his fingers, yet he still fought to get them above his head.
When he finally had gotten his hands above his head, he dug his fingers in the dirt and put all his might, all his remaining strength into standing up once more. “Hey sleazebag, is that all you have?”
Before Mortezan could turn all the way around, Daniel got up and swung frantically at Mortezan, hoping a good deal of swings would stagger him. Momentum quickly shifted from Mortezan to Daniel, with Daniel taking advantage of every opportunity given. He made him hurt. He could see him getting irritated, growling in protest, but Daniel didn’t care. Every time Mortezan attempted to counter, Daniel would grab the back of his head and pound it against the ground several times.
Mortezan began to slip into unconsciousness. Daniel lifted his hand one last time to give the final blow when something tackled him down.
Penelope had rolled off Daniel and stood up, hissing. “It was fun while it lasted. Now it’s your turn to die.”
She lunged at him with her sharp claws; Daniel sidestepped out of the way and broke her elbow, rendering her arm useless. He then put his leg behind hers to push her, making her fall to the ground. He sensed Raven coming his way and waited for her patiently, anticipating her arrival at any moment to save her sister. When she had finally shown her face, Daniel dealt a blow to her face with his elbow, breaking her nose and causing her to fall to the ground.
He went on top of Penelope and, like Mortezan, began dealing blows left and right to her face.
“Please,” Penelope begged. “Please stop.”
The anger inside Daniel had reached its peak. He dealt one last blow to her before screaming, “Who are you to beg?”
He stood up, looking around him to make sure no one was trying to save her. With no one coming from what he could see, he helped Penelope to her feet. “Come here.” He then dealt a blow to her stomach, causing her to go on her knees.
“I’m not done with you yet.” Daniel once again pulled Penelope to her feet. “You shot Mary Strickland because she was willing to fight you. I had no idea who I was or what I was capable of at the time.” He pushed her back down and gave her a punch to her eye.
“I was…I was only doing what…what my father wanted done.” She put her hand in the air to defend herself with; Daniel, in turn, grabbed it and broke her wrist. “And now I’m doing what I should have done that day.” He finally had her next to her father, who was rolling on the ground on his back. After, he would lift his arm and wait for his sword to materialize. Once it happened, he made sure Mortezan was watching. Just like he had to watch Mary die, he wanted him to cradle his daughter.
“Any last words Penelope?” Daniel asked, raising his sword above his head.
“Go ahead,” he heard Mortezan say weakly. “Go ahead and kill her. If that’s what will make you sleep better. Your girlfriend is still dead; your death is still certain.”
Daniel’s sword began to shake. He shook his head in retaliation. No! Enough fighting with myself about what I should do! He let out a yell and stabbed Mortezan in the chest.
Red mist began to richly come out when Daniel had taken out the sword. “You’re right,” he told Mortezan as the Dark Lord looked at him in shock. “Mary won’t come back, but you won’t either. Not for some time anyway.”
Mortezan looked at Daniel as the red mist evaporated completely from his body, leaving the Dark Lord to turn into a black mist himself before disappearing for good.
He had done it. He fell to one knee, exhausted, his vision becoming blurry. He tried to stand up but couldn’t. He was just too weak.
With Mortezan and his army now gone, Daniel collapsed just as the King and Queen, Anya and Balisnor were getting there, some of their soldiers present as well to serve as the royal’s first line of defense.
They dragged him to the wall, Princess Anya never leaving his side.