The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 28 - Final battle

           Xornoth was happy. Things were going his way. He'd killed Oli and gotten the Crown, and then he'd captured the ender dragon. And with Lizzie already supplying sculk, he had everything he needed for the spell to give himself a physical form again. 

           He watched as Lizzie and Joey set everything up for him. They were surprisingly adept at this; Joey had used a little voodoo magic in the past, and Lizzie was a practicer of nekomancy. An altar surrounded by lava, with the ender dragon bound to it. Sculk and blood drawn in patterns on the floor. The Crown on his head, ready for when the spell was set to be cast. And the Rune Blade, held in Xornoth's own hand.

           He'd refrained from using it; it would have been more fun to kill his enemies with it when they were allowed to kill him. And now that he had the Crown, they could try. And they would inevitably fail, banished to an afterlife of the worst sort of hell imaginable by the blade. 

           False watched the proceedings with a deadly glare that would have killed if looks could do that. She was inside a cage hanging above all of them, chains binding her limbs to the bars to keep her from strangling herself and escaping that way.

           When Lizzie had chopped her head off, the architect had respawned in Animalia, and when the corrupted emperors and Xornoth himself came back from kidnapping the ender dragon, they'd run into her and captured her as well. If the worst came to worse, Xornoth could always threaten to kill her with the Rune Blade, and chances were the emperors, with their pathetic sympathy, wouldn't want her to die. 

           Lizzie and Joey finished their work in setting up the spell and walked toward Xornoth. "We're done, Xorny, what should we do next?" Joey asked, eager to help. "Thank you, Joey dear. Now just keep watch. I don't want the other emperors interfering when they get here."

           "They're here," Lizzie said promptly, sniffing the air. Everyone looked westward and saw the other emperors assembled there, though Xornoth noticed some of them weren't around. Princess Katherine wasn't there, and neither was God Joel. He instinctively turned to see if they were sneaking up on him, but he saw nothing. Just then, the emperors attacked. 

           "Get False!" Scott shouted, and Ocean Queen Lizzie rushed to the cage. It was slightly out of her reach, so she picked up Shrub to let her hack at the bars. Joey flapped his parrot wings and swung his ax at the two of them, not letting them rescue the hostage. The blade sunk into Lizzie's arm; she shrieked and nearly dropped Shrub, who dangled precariously.

           The gnome activated her elytra and flew towards Joey, sword unsheathed. Below her, wolves prepared to catch her if she fell, and to pounce on Joey if he did.

           Elsewhere, Xornoth discharged electricity all over the battlefield; around them, plants caught fire, like they had in Olipeligo. Several emperors leapt closer to each other, barely avoiding being singed by the flames. Xornoth chuckled. All close together, just like I want. He called down more lightning. 

           Pearl chucked her ax at the demigod, and the lightning followed it, attracted by its metal, and nearly struck Xornoth. The demon dodged and felt the electricity sizzle close by him. That was close. He snarled and came closer, hands sparking. He didn't even need a weapon. All he had to do was touch someone and they'd be shocked with enough electricity to send them into the afterlife.

           Except it seemed like the emperors figured out his strategy, because they quickly switched to using projectile weapons, and all but discarded their metal gear. fWhip threw a potion at Xornoth, and he dodged. The vial shattered into a million pieces behind him, and from the pool of blue liquid arose a familiar stench. "It's Fae magic!" Mayor Lizzie shouted. "Don't touch it!"