Chapter Thirteen: Final Battle
***
The Dragon Lord pulled the arrow out of the back of his throne. Fortunately, he had not been sitting there at the time. He snapped the string with his claw and uncurled the note.
Such lovely penmanship, he thought as he read.
"My Lord?" asked one of the Rank.
Dragon Lord crumbled the letter in his hand. "If she wants a fight, then she will get one."
***
"No way, Raph."
Raph stared Leo down. "I ain’t askin’, Leo. We're going to help her."
"Why?" Leo snapped. "This is between her and the Dragon Lord, no one else. It would be wrong to interfere."
"She could be killed!" Raph argued.
"Then so be it."
Splinter struck the floor with his staff. "Enough!"
Both Turtles stopped and faced their sensei. Splinter closed his eyes. "What do the rest of you think?"
Mike spoke first. "I say go for it! She’s our friend. She would help us."
Don disagreed. "Yeah, but this is a fight for dominance. It’s supposed to be one-on-one. Aura and the Dragon Lord."
Venus felt all eyes on her. As the fifth Turtle, she was now the tie-breaking vote. "If we're careful…"
"Three to two! That’s it, we help," Raphael exclaimed.
Splinter glared at him. "I have not decided, Raphael." He paused for a moment. "We are sworn to protect."
Raphael grinned.
"But we must adhere to the rules of honor."
Leonardo smirked.
"But I do not expect the Dragon Lord to follow those same rules. He must be stopped at all costs. She may lose this battle, but if you fight, so may you."
"Well?" Raphael asked impatiently.
Splinter shook his head. "This is one time I cannot force your decision."
"I know my decision," Raph said.
"Me, too!" Mike joined in.
"Count me out," Leo said. Don nodded in agreement.
All eyes were on Venus again. "I will fight. The Dragon Lord killed my father. I will help destroy him."
***
Aura waited at the designated battlefield. She turned in a full circle, admiring the scenery and getting a feel for the energy fields and lines in the area. This would do fine. Hopefully, Dragon Lord hadn’t had time to study up on the advances in magick in the last few millennia.
She felt a breeze and turned. The Dragon Lord was standing about twenty feet away from her. The Rank surrounded them, but only as spectators. They wouldn’t dare interfere. They would be good soldiers and bow to the victor.
Dragon Lord bowed to her. "I must admit, this is a surprise. I didn’t think you’d risk this."
Aura stiffened. Damn, he knew. "You must be stopped," she said coldly.
"Then let’s begin."
Aura pressed her hands together and they were surrounded by a bright yellow-gold. The Dragon Lord’s eyes burned red as he drew his sword.
***
Raphael pulled the binoculars from his eyes. "They’ve started."
Mike grabbed the binoculars and watched. Venus stood behind them, clutching her book to her chest and praying that this would work.
"Are you ready?" Raphael asked.
Venus nodded. "She needs to wear him down."
Raphael snatched the binoculars away from Mike, leaving the turtle looking through his empty hands.
***
Dragon Lord stumbled back from Aura’s last blow. This was not going well for him. Not only did Aura have the advantage of youth, but she was also a powerful sorceress. Damn her.
He raised his sword to deflect another blast. She wasn’t even tiring. And except for a lucky shot to her left knee, Dragon Lord was doing poorly. He only had one chance.
He moved swiftly, ducking a fire blast, and grabbed her by the throat. She let out cry before starting to choke. Her feet dangled in mid-air.
"Last chance," Dragon Lord hissed. "Concede, and I will let you, and the child, live."
"You will die," Aura gasped.
"Very well, you’ve brought this upon yourself." He placed his free hand over her belly and focused. Several of the Rank turned their heads away.
Aura threw her head back and screamed.
***
Michaelangelo chased after Raphael. As soon as Aura screamed Raph had taken off like a shot, totally ignoring his teammates and their plan.
Venus cursed in Chinese and ran after them.
The Rank turned in surprise as Raphael crashed through their numbers. He took down two with a double kick and kept going. Dragon Lord seemed oblivious to the enraged turtle heading towards him.
Mike watched his brother tackle the Dragon Lord. Aura rolled aside and remained still. Mike ran to help, but found several Rank blocking his way.
Raphael sat on the Dragon Lord’s chest and pounded his face. Again. And again. And again.
"Don’t you ever" Punch "fuckin’" Punch "touch her" Punch "again!"
Dragon Lord shoved him off and slashed with his sword. Raphael took the blade across the arm.
Raphael used his sai to catch the sword before another strike could hit. It went flying and imbedded itself into the ground.
Raphael stood between Aura and the Dragon Lord. He could hear her gasping for breath, so that meant she was still alive.
When the Dragon Lord made a sudden move, Raphael threw his sai. The dragon cried out and grabbed his bleeding shoulder. The sai had managed to hit between the plates of his armor. Raphael used the distraction to check on Aura.
Dragon Lord removed the sai and prepared to use it on its owner.
"No!" Michaelangelo yelled between punches.
Suddenly, the Dragon Lord stopped with a jerk. He fell to his knees and gurgled, then fell forward to the ground.
Behind him stood Venus, holding the Dragon Lord’s sword, which was now stained with his own blood. An aura of pale blue surrounded her and the sword. Raphael stared at her a moment before going back to Aura. The Rank stopped fighting and stared.
Michaelangelo approached Venus, but was hesitant to reach out to her.
"Venus?" he asked cautiously.
Venus looked down at the body of her enemy, her face completely blank.
Aura coughed and Raphael helped her sit up.
Mike gently touched Venus’ shoulder and she started, like she had been in a trance. She looked at her hands and dropped the sword. The light faded. She gasped and turned into Mike’s arms.
"It’s all right, Venus," Mike soothed her.
Aura’s eyes were glazed over as she watched them. "Raphael?"
"I'm here, baby."
She let out her breath in short sobs. "I’m so sorry."
Raphael placed her head on his shoulder and tried desperately to ignore all the blood coming from his lover. "I forgive you."
***
The four returned to the lair. Don did a double take and hurried for the first aid kit. Splinter and Leo helped them to seats. Mike and Venus weren’t physically hurt, but Venus was eerily quiet. Aura had taken the worst, and Raphael never left her side.
For the longest time, no one spoke. It was Don who broke the silence, while rinsing out a washcloth. "I assume you won."
"The Dragon Lord’s dead," Raphael said grimly.
"You killed him," Leo said, narrowing his eyes at Aura.
"I did."
He turned to Venus in confusion.
"I did it. I killed him." She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Leo watched in silence as Mike rubbed her shell. Splinter looked down and returned to bandaging Aura’s knee.
Aura touched Raphael’s shoulder. He tried to smile but ended up just turning away.
***