In the Dark - A Rise of the Guardians FanFic

Chapter 42- Love on Legs

"Shut up!" Jaxon screeched at her, and Dark could tell he didn't like the way things were going. "You will all kneel!"

Piper's hand was digging into Dark's arm, having been bitten when he had tried to mute her with it, but she didn't bother to respond. She knew Pitch enough to trust him to speak for her. And so he did. "Never!"

With a swipe, Jaxon sent a stream of Pitch's own black sand to drag the ex-King of Nightmares to Lilith's feet. "NOW!"

Nobody moved, except for Jamie to hug Dark tighter around her waist. Jaxon, growing far too restless, motioned with his hands, and a storm of black sand began to churn over their heads. Dark looked up nervously, knowing it was far too late to fly off to safety. Jaxon's eyes seemed to sparkle in the sudden darkness that filled the room as each light was strangled out, one by one. "I said, now."

And with a terrible sweep, he brought the whole cloud down upon them.

                                                                                  *

The impact pushed Dark to her knees, and she felt herself collapse into Jamie, bringing them both down into hard gravel. Darkness and sand swirled around them in a cyclone, and the air seemed almost filled with fear. She could feel Piper beside her, and one hand wrapped around him for support as the thick wind whipped at her cloak, but left her shadowy hair alone.

There were yells from around her, muffled at first, but as the sand cleared she could see Jack and Rebecca beside her, and on her left was North, and Sandy's stirring form. So he wasn't dead. Dark lifted her head, and her stomach dropped when she saw the solid mass of Nightmares before her, surrounding them. All the yetis lay unconscious on the ground.

A pile of black robes shifted in front of Dark as Pitch sat up weakly, holding his head in a way she'd never before... he looked defeated. Pitch rubbed his eyes before composing himself and glaring over at Jaxon, who hovered at the head of his Nightmares almost cautiously.

Pitch tried to get to his feet but stumbled. falling backwards into Dark, who caught him. He was truly pitiful. The fool had given over every Nightmare, everything that made him who he was to Jaxon. "I'll kill you."

"You can't even stand," Jaxon said with a sneer. "Now kneel before I kill you- all of you."

Most of them hadn't even risen to their feet, but they all looked about, weighing up the odds of surviving the Nightmares against the value of their pride. And, funnily enough, Dark valued her life a lot more than standing.

"Let's get it over with," she muttered, bending to one knee and sinking into an imaginary world where she was ripping out the so called 'king's' throat. Jamie, Jack and Rebecca copied her, and Pitch just fell to the ground with no one to hold him up. Sandy lay there, awake or asleep she couldn't tell. Finally it was only North and Piper standing.

"I told you to kneel."

"Bite me," Piper replied, apparently forgetting his own advice about shutting up. He stuck his chin out with pride, staring at the boy contemptuously. His boots were close to Darkness, and she noticed how scruffy they were, so different from the shiny polish they had when she had first met him.

"I'll kill you." Jaxon looked strained, running solely on the single threat which Piper clearly didn't care about.

"Better men have tried and failed."

 Jaxon glared at him, thinking hard and fast. Lilith whinnied beneath him, and he laughed suddenly. "I'll kill your girlfriend."

"I'm single, you ignorant twit."