s the mortal defiantly stabbed the vulture-Demon with his sword, crippling it.  That vrock had its head split in half by one of the huge Vendari and its axe, who was then bathed in a blasting cone of intense frost that was issued from the paw-hand of a boar-headed nalfeshnee.  The Vendari simply shook off the frost and turned on the fat Demon, but before the Demon could face the Vendari, he was skewered from the flank by a Knight with a scarred face.  That Knight and Vendari then teamed up to help the hammer-wielder battle the balor, and the two Selani that had been stunned on the ground recovered before the humans and Dura, and again aided the human against the marilith.  The other Knights, Vendari, and Selani battled against the remaining Demons, outnumbered by them but proving that those superior numbers only made it an equal fight.  The Dura and the forces of the One also jumped into that fight, until it was a chaotic, nightmarish scene, the sounds of the dying, the sounds of magic, the sounds of steel on steel raging over the sound of the driving rain.
	Just as the forces of the Dura and their allies began to take the upper hand against the Demons, as Binter fought the balor literally to a standstill, and started pushing it back once he received help from Ulger and Sisska, as Tsukatta, Var, and Denai pushed ShazBaket back further and further towards the wall, a similar explosion shuddered the earth on the far side of the valley.  Another incursion of Demons shuffled in by Xorn appeared on the far side of the valley, well ahead of  ShazBakets position on the east side, consisting mostly of cambion, vrock, and hezrou, the halfbreeds and the weaker types of pure-blooded Demons.  But just because they were weaker than marilith or glabrezu did not make them any less dangerous.  They tore into the Dura on the far side of the valley, ripped into the first formation of reserves waiting to rush forward if needed, causing immediate chaos behind the lines.  Kang and Bragg screamed orders and caused the reserves to react swiftly to the assault, but the Demons had already carved a deep breach into the Dura formation, and they broke through and into the open ground between formations within seconds.  Other formations quickly converged on the Demons and attacked, creating a pitched battle behind the lines, lines that were inexorably being pushed back towards the Demons everywhere but in the center.  But the Dura were out of position, and the Demons were moving very quickly, almost at a run, ignoring their rear, rushing forward with all speed towards their objective.  Kang himself interposed himself once he realized where those Demons were going, drawing his sword and waiting on the back of his Pegasus for them to reach him, for the magicians were behind him.  The warriors that had been charged with the protection of the magicians surged forward, led by Camara Tal, who was personally defending the safety of her husband, and Darax, who had been given command of the Elementals by Binter, got word of what was happening and dispatched Tarrins Elementals to assist Kang.  The four Elementals took up position around Kang, as did Haley, who had pulled himself away from the front line when ShazBaket had broken through, but had taken up a position near the magicians just in case she attempted to reach them herself.
	With a powerful cry, Kang spurred his Pegasus to rush forward as the Demons broke through the second attempt to contain them, and the others charged with him.  Kang met the Demons head-on, decapitating a vrock an instant after deftly parrying its halberd, and the others fell on the Demons instants later.  Haley, in his hybrid form, drove his rapier through the heart of a hezrou with a deft and subtle thrust, slithering around the swipes of its clawed webbed hands with graceful ease.  Camara Tal and the Elementals met their charge stoically, sword and arms and tendrils striking at the Demonic foes with lightning speed, even as Demon after Demon twisted and fell as Bragg used his axe to chop them down at the knees.  The Demons were halted in their rush forward, forced to fight, and fight they did.  Camara Tal was surrounded by four cambion, her sword and shield blurring in the murky light as she frantically defended herself from their lethal weapons, but the Water Elemental swept all four into the darkness of death with a pair of lashing tentacles of ice, so sharp and striking with such force that it sheared through their heavy metal armor.  Haley danced around the head and haft of a vrocks poleaxe, stabbing the much taller vulture Demon in the leg, and again in the lower hip, but he yowled in pain when a hezrou slipped up from behind and ripped its claws through his back.  The Were-wolf sagged to one knee as Bragg chopped down the attacker, then the Earth Elemental grabbed hold of him and dragged him backwards, towards the magicians, towards safety.  The Dura converged on the Demons again to support their generals, and the charge of the Demons was slowed, and then halted, with Kang, Bragg, Camara Tal, and Tarrins Elementals holding them at bay.  They only had to hold them long enough for the magicians to take notice of the assault and intercept them, and that was exactly what they did.  Phandebrass voice was audible over the din of the battle and the pounding rain, and when he completed his spell, dozens of small, fiery little missles issued forth from his hands and streaked across the battlefield.  They weaved and bobbed and danced around anything in their path, leaving glowing trails behind them, and then they slammed home into the Demons, again and again and again, each missle evading all others and unerringly striking that one target it had been created to attack.  Those missles burned through armor, burned through hide, burned through feathers and drove deep into flesh, causing the Demons to squeal or squawk or scream in intense painfor they had no intrinsic defense or immunity from the white-haired Wizards magical missles.  Phandebrass magical attack withered the Demonic combatants to but a handful that were still mobile enough to fight, and those few were quickly swarmed over by the Dura, Amazon, and Elementals.
	The pounding rains drum on the ground and on armor was split by a screeching cry, which caused all eyes to look upon it.  The shadow dragon appeared over the valley wall, hard to see in the rain, but those glowing red eyes did not give doubt as to what it was.  It rose into the air and turned, then it became apparent that it was coming towards the armies.  It was apparent even from that distance that the creature was seriously wounded, its wings torn and tattered, blood visible along its night-colored scales, but it was obviously strong enough to fly, and it flew with a steady deliberance, a seeming nonchalance, that made it seem that it was confident that the skies belonged to it and to it alone.  It screeched again, a cry of triumph, as it turned to approach the armies below, silhouetted briefly by a brilliant cascade of lightning.
	And the blue dragon was nowhere to be seen.
	Now you will taste defeat! ShazBakets telepathic communication boomed from her, audible to all around her as she rejoiced her impending victory.  Your god has failed you, mortals, and now your souls belong to me!

	Could it be? Kimmie asked in fearful disbelief between spells, as she dug a single emerald from the pouch at her belt, preparing to cast another spell.  They had been locked in magical combat with the enslaved Wizards of their enemies for long moments, until Neh had grown tired of it and had used one of her rarest spells to cause a prism of colors to erupt around the magicians of the Duran forces, a spell that suddenly caused every spell cast at them to reflect back upon the caster.  The spell only lasted for a few seconds, and sent Neh spiralling into unconsciousness, but it was enough, for Phandebrass struck at that same instant, again casting the Meteor Strike spell to virtually vaporize the opposition, leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater.
	After they were dispatched, the magicians found themselves facing a line that was about to buckle all up and down its length, and not just that one area to the side where the Demoness had punched through.  They were forced to not help Tsukatta and the others, but use their magic all along the rest of the line to help prevent it from shattering and having the forces of the One completely overwhelm their entire line.  They had to have faith that Binter, Sisska, Tsukatta, Ulger, Azakar, and Var and Denai could bolster the others and hold the breach against that sudden onslaught of Demonic adversaries, for all of their magic had to be devoted to keeping the Duran lines from folding.  That one moment where Phandebrass had turned his attention to the Demons attacking from the opposite direction caused the Duran lines on the west side to sag visibly, as the endless numbers of the humans pressed in on the Dura and pushed them back.  The only place where the line was strong, where they did not buckle, did not fall back, was where Darax stood, the Axe of the Dwarven King flashing in the dim light and the flashes of lightning, chanting one of the most ancient war songs of his people as the human forces that crashed against him were sent crumpling to the earth with every swing of his axe.  Other Dwarves began chanting that song as well, taking strength and courage from their young king as he stood at the very center of the line, willing to be the rock to which his people could anchor themselvesand anchor themselves they did.  The ruler of the Dura was once again assisted by the four magical creations of the winged furry one, the Were-cat Tarrin, who had been left by the Vendari Binter and told to fight at the side of the king, to protect him and do battle with their enemies.  Those four magical creations had returned from helping stave off the Demons attack on the magicians, and again fought at the kings left and right, felling foes with each strike, obeying the commands of the king even as he uttered them between words of his song.  The line bowed in to both sides of them, threatening to break and leave Darax surrounded, but then the magicians of the Shadows used what little magic they had left to assist their allies.  Explosive balls of fire, lethal rains of acid and ice rained down on the forces of the One even as the earth itself rose up to do battle, faltering the charge of the armies of the One, but only for a moment, as the endless sea of humans behind surged ahead to take their places.
	And then the shadow dragon appeared.
	Do not count Tarrin out so quickly, dear one! Dolanna shouted as she used up the very last of her reserves of Sorcery, incinerating a large group of human soldiers in a withering blast of fire.  She then drew a small dagger from her belt, her utility dagger, meaning to join in hand to hand combat if it was necessary.  She knew, they all knew, that there was no retreat from this battle.  It was victory or death.
	Kimmie chanted another spell, throwing her emerald to the ground, and the earth before the Dwarven king suddenly became as glass, the earth turned to crystal, crystal that was both slicker than wet ice and whose every edge along the contours of the shattered landscape was razor sharp.  Humans slipped and fell on that crystal, slid forwards or backwards up the inclines, and were sheared to the bone by the lethal edges along the changes in gradiant.
	I never do, friend, but this doesnt look good! Kimmie called urgently as she took up her last spell component, a cats eye agate, as the shadow dragon landed on the valley wall on the far side of where ShazBaket had breached the lines, south of where the other Demons had erupted from the valley wall and had tried to reach the magicians.  It screeched once again, an eerie cry that made all the hair on Kimmies neck stand straight out, and it was a horrifying sight.  Its scales blended in with the shadows of the rain, making its form hard to see, but the bloody wounds on its flanks and in its wings were more than visible, as were the glowing red eyes, eyes that froze Kimmies blood, eyes that transfixed the entire battle below.  Human, Dura, even Vendari and Selani and Demon alike all looked up at the ominous creature as it screeched that high-pitched keen, and it drew in its breath meaningfully.  Dolanna put her hand up in reflex as every magician who still had any magic left began casting their spells to protect themselves.  There was a sudden collective shout from both armies, a shout of fear from the Dura and their allies, a shout of victory from the armies of the One.
	But there was one more voice that rose over that, a voice that cause Dolanna to look in that direction.  It was a female voice, and the diminutive Sorceress saw that it belonged to the Demoness, ShazBaket.  She was staring at the shadow dragon in shock, and that voice cried out over the din a single word.
	NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	The shadow dragons neck lanced forward, and it unleashed its breath weapon, a blast of what could only be called liquid darkness, an enveloping cloud of clinging shadow that blasted forth.  It did not blast down upon the Dura.
	It blasted down upon the humans.
	That cloud of inky blackness billowed forth over the armies of the One, far enough away from the Dura that its edges did not touch them, spreading out and sucking the very warmth out of any flesh it touched, clinging to them, invading them, draining away their warmth and their strength.  Within the cloud, the forces of the One shrieked in mindless agony, the agony of the cold of the grave, of Death Himself coming for them, and then they died in mid-scream, their very souls frozen within them and falling away into the chasm of eternity.
	Dolanna laughed with great delight.  Never count him out, dear one! she cried exultantly.  That dragon is Tarrin!

	It was indeed Tarrin.  The shadow dragon had been a dangerous and competent adversary, but it was not capable of defeating a creature like Tarrin, who had the ability to change, and could rely on tremendous reserves of hidden power.  Tarrin had chased it down into that cloud of shadow it created to provide it with what it needed to fight Tarrin, had faced it in its own element by changing into one of its own kind.  Shadow dragon had fought shadow dragon in that valley, within the shadows, even in that alternate reality which was the Shadow Plane.  The use of the shadow dragons own form had nullified its greatest advantage, that lethal breath weapon.  Dragons were immune to the effects of their own breath weapons.
	Robbed of its ability to use stealth and its lethal breath weapon, the shadow dragon had turned to face him head on, with claws and magic.  This shadow dragon was old, intelligent, and itno, she, it was a shewas well versed in the arts of arcane Wizard magic.  They had battled one another with teeth and claws, with spells of Wizard magic, and with cunning and guile.  Their battle had begun in the mortal realm, but had ranged into the realm of Shadow, a quasi-state of existence that paralleled the real world, existing within it and apart from it at the same time.  As a shadow dragon, Tarrin had instinctual knowledge of this place and how it operated, so he had no trouble battling the opponent within this realm.  She had moved to that state of existence where her greater experience would be an advantage, and it had been to her.  Though he had knowledge of that dark, mysterious place through his dragon blood, she had been there many times and knew the nuances of the place better than he.  It was there that they had battled, resorting to teeth and claws after both had used spells of protection to stop their adversary from using magic against them, a type of combat that Tarrin was much better at than the female.  He had beaten her, but had not killed her.  By becoming a shadow dragon, facing the female in her own form, she had surrendered to him in an ancient rite of her breed rather than face death in his jaws.
	By rote and custom of shadow dragon society, Tarrin had earned a single service from his vanquished foe.  Tarrin exacted that service from her by forcing her to swear never to work with the Demons again under any circumstance, an oath that would force her to move her lair from the Abyss and to a new location.  He had released her and returned to the physical world after that to come and lay a nasty shock on the armies of ShazBaket.  Demons could see him for what he was no matter what shape he wore, but that was a function of sight, and distance and the heavy rain would conceal his true nature from them long enough to get into position to do something.
	Goddess, he would go to his grave with the sweet memory of the look on that bitch ShazBakets face when she looked up at him and saw the truth.
	As the dark cloud of Tarrins breath weapon evaporated, the carnage it left behind was absolutely ghastly.  Hundreds and hundreds of the soldiers of the One lay on the tortured ground, their skin a ghostly white, limbs frozen in erratic postures as they clawed at the air itself in their death throes, and then the cold of the darkness locked their corpses into that position.  The mad charge of the human armies, which had been absolutely unstoppable, suddenly began to waver, and then it ceased.  Those who had been close to that breath weapon had turned to flee in panic, and even more began to turn and flee when they saw the shadow dragon, saw it attack its own forces, saw that one of their most powerful allies had turned against them.  Demon or no Demon, competence or no competence, those Demons were not there now to protect the human forces from its own dragon, and the awesome size and power of the dragon and the fear it inspired had done its work on the humans who beheld it and realized that they now had to fight it.  More and more humans turned back into the press of their own forces, causing the entire charge to get jumbled up within itself, halting the charge as those men behind who had not seen the attack and did not know what was going on were tangled up with the ones who knew the truth, those struck with the terrified panic that a dragon could instill in a biped, a panic so powerful that it gave those men stricken with it the frenzied strength to push against the charge of their own army.
	That massive head whipped around, neck extending it over the magicians on their raised platform, and those glowing red eyes glared balefully directly at ShazBaket.  Now you are mine, bitch, his thought issued from within his mind, using another innate ability of a shadow dragon, the ability to project thought.  It wasnt true telepathy in the manner of the Demons, for a shadow dragon could only make their thoughts heard, not hear the thoughts of others in return.  Those eyes closed, and the dragons form seemed to waver in the darkness and the rain, until it was apparent that it was no longer there.  But the Demons all turned their heads in unison, turning to look over their own shoulders, as those glowing red eyes appeared on the side of the hill directly over them.  Those eyes took in the entire sight, and burned with sudden rage when they saw the form of Azakar laying on the ground, blood smearing a hole in the side of his breastplate, his eyes closed and his body inert.  He gave out a screeching howl of outrage, fury, and loss, and those eyes suddenly burned like coals stoking the eternal fires of the Nine Hells.  The look that it put down on the Demons was enough to make a Demon, even a mighty balor, feel fear.
	And to fear was to flee.  All of the survivors except ShazBaket took hold of the Xorn which lurked by the valley wall, and demanded that they take them back into the earth, out of the reach of the deadly creature above.  The Xorn obeyed, merging with the earth and rock and carrying the Demons away, drawing them into the earth.  But that was not far enough to escape Tarrins wrath.  A single paw in the hillside was all the touch he needed as he wove a spell of sorcery into the Earth, weaves of Earth and Divine, infusing them into the earth and rock, weaving it, then snapping it down and releasing it.  The spell picked up those barrels of gunpowder and pulled them through the earth swiftly, so swiftly that it created a furrow in the ground, until they were directly before the Xorn and their Demonic passengers.  They paused just a second when they sensed the objects, and that turned out to be fatal.  Tarrin touched those kegs with his power and caused them to explode, sending a muffled WHOOMPH through the air and a shudder in the ground around them.  The shockwave shattered the rock bodies of the Xorn, killing them, and their destruction caused those Demons who had been relying on their power to become fused with the earth and rock through which they had been moving, killing them instantly.
	And there was only the marilith left.  She glared up at Tarrin with defiance, not fear, her six bloody weapons still in her six hands.  Those six arms then moved with perfect harmony, causing her to strike the bracers adorning the wrists of her two highest arms together, which triggered a magical effect.  A pool of magical energy appeared beneath her snake-like lower body, and gravity asserted itself upon her, causing her to fall through the magical hole and out of sight.
	Tarrin sensed her some distance away, behind her armies.  She was beyond the Ward that prevented teleportation, but she did not flee, she did not teleport away.  Despite losing her shadow dragon, despite losing her Wizards, despite losing the rest of her Demons, she was not fleeing, she was not giving up.  She obviously thought she still had a weapon at her disposal capable of countering Tarrins power
	His power.  Of course!  She was trying to make him use his divine power, the one thing he had come into this battle determined not to do!  She was trying to make him use it, so she could tell the Demon Lord how strong he was, how much hed healed!  She hadnt retreated because she had not succeeded in that mission!  She would remain on the field, keep coming at him until she forced him to use his power, so the Demon Lord could see how strong he was!
	Her presence on the battlefield suddenly made perfect sense.  She wasnt here to destroy the Dura, she wasnt here to lead the armies of the Oneshe was here to test Tarrins power.  The Demon Lord didnt care about the human soldiers, because they were all going to die anyway once he killed the One and started the destruction of Pyrosia.  He was probably willing to sacrifice a few Demons to the cause as long as it forced Tarrin to reveal his power, to let the Demon Lord see how strong he was.
	Actually, once he thought about it, maybe she had completed her mission.  Tarrin had not used his divine powers outside of his ability to shapeshift.  He had used Sorcery, Wizardry, and had taken the form of the shadow dragon to gain access to its powers and use it to surprise ShazBaket.  He had beaten her without having to fall back on that power, and now she had nothing left dangerous enough to make him reveal that power to her.  She could construe his actions to mean that either he did not have that power and simply managed to fight it out and win with what power he had, or she hadnt worked hard enough to force him into a situation where he was required to use it.
	What she would do next would tell him which conclusion she made.
	He looked down, and saw Ulger and Sisska attending to Azakar.  The wound was deep, almost all the way through him, but he was still alive.  They quickly assessed the situation, then Sisska took him up in her powerful arms and carried him off the field.  He looked past them, to the Dwarven army, and saw that Kang and Bragg were forming them up to charge the disorganized front ranks of the enemy.  He saw immediately what they intended, and saw that it was a dangerous gamble.  The humans still outnumbered them five to one, and if they were so packed into the valley that those in the front literally had nowhere to go.  Theyd fight because they had no choice, not with the reserves still trying to push into the valley from behind.  What they needed was something so terrifying, so powerful, that it would panic the entire army and allow the Dura to charge the army while it was trying to flee.  Tarrins dragon form certainly would fill that role.  After he got them panicked, he could simply fly over them and cut them off from behind, then the Dura could use Tarrin as a chopping block to grind them into dogmeat.  Tarrin had to move quickly to wipe out the armies of the One, to keep ShazBaket from coming up with some plan that would force him to reveal his power, if she intended to try again.
	We will see to him, Tarrin, Binter called.  He honored himself this day, and even now Sisska seeks out the Priests of the Dura so they can use enough healing magic to sustain him until Miranda can make him well.  You have much left to do.  Do not dawdle here when you are needed elsewhere, it is a stain on your honor.
	Tarrin nodded.  If Binter said it was going to happen, it was going to happen.  Take good care of him, hes as much family to me as you are.  Ill go make sure they dont try to hurt him again.
	Fight with honor, Binter said, saluting him with his bloody warhammer, then he rushed off to assist his mate.
	With a furious screech, the shadow dragon which was Tarrin Kael flared his battle-torn wings and launched into the air, soaring over the armies of the Dura and landing quickly in the no-mans land between the Dwarves and the human army, a void created with his own breath weapon.  His massive paws crushed the cold bodies of the dead as he landed between the two armies, and he snapped out his wings and screeched a keening cry of challenge at the armies of the One, a high-pitched cry that made everyone who heard it cringe.  Your Demon bitch of a general has nothing left to save you from me! he sent his thought out towards them, even as he started drawing in his breath, even as a dark, ominous mist began to billow out from between his scales, as Tarrin called on the shadow dragons innate ability to create deep shadow, a move that would put him into shadow and give him the ability to use some of his other powers, as well as conceal the actions of the Dwarven army behind him.  Now join the ones I stand upon in the cold of death!
	A jagged flash of lightning illuminated the shadow dragon in brilliant light for an instant, just as it snapped its head forward, just as the first tendrils of its inky breath weapon began to billow from its mouth.  It was an image of unmitigated terror for those humans before it, those humans who had nowhere to go, those who were looking into the maw of Death.  But the instant passed, and a powerful jet of inky blackness blasted forth from the dragons maw, quickly billowing out into a fast-moving cloud of soul-numbing, strength-sapping cold.  The inky cloud enveloped another large swath of the armies of the One, and all whom it touched had the very strength sucked out of them by the icy cold of shadow, had the warmth of body and soul consumed by the hunger of the darkness and the cold.  Everyone within the cloud of darkness shrieked in mindless agony, and then those shrieks ended with horrid finality as those who screamed died before they could run out of breath.
	Tarrin realized as the cloud evaporated, and as the rain finally began to stop, that he had stumbled across what was probably the best shape he could have used to inspire terror.  Dragons could create fear and panic because of their size, but there was just something about a shadow dragon that took it one step further.  Golds and blues and reds looked both frightening and majestic.  A shadow dragon looked frightening and eviland that was a much more effective combination when one wanted to incite terror.
	The results certainly could not be disputed.  The humans in the armor began to scream in fear and horror, and more and more began to turn and push against those trying to move forward, who themselves stopped and turned to flee as Tarrin began ambling forward on his huge paws, as his form shed off dark shadows as he moved, concealing that behind him and partially hiding his form, letting their imaginations create much more terror than seeing him completely ever could have.  The officers in that jumbled mass had tried to shout orders at first, but they too lost their nerve and turned to flee when they got a good look at the windrows of the dead, all slaughtered by a single attack, a carpet of white-skinned corpses locked in hideously agonized positions, as if they were frozen in the instant of the most horribly painful event in their lives.  A carpet upon which the dragon tread with a terrifying, measured, almost stately pace forward, letting them look at him, letting them see him coming, letting them see the dead and the shadowy mist emanating from his form, letting them associate that dark cloud with the killing breath weapon, even though it was actually nothing but harmless shadow.  To fall into that dark shadow would mean death, and that shadow advanced on them.
	One more teeth-jarring draconic shriek just about did it.  Tarrin flared out his wings and keened that high-pitched cry one more time, which caused the shadow-creating mist around him billow out to surround him as it emanated from his wings.  The entire advancing army saw that because he was now standing atop the rampart, was easily visible for everyone in the valley for he stood upon the highest point on the valley floor.  They saw it, and even those who didnt yet know about what he could do remembered his voice in their head promising the cold of death, and as they saw him and heard his shrieking keen, they were stricken by terror.  Those who had witnessed the carnage of his breath weapon were gripped by total and utter panic, and that caused the army to stop its forward advance.  The reserves stopped trying to come forward, and then, as the shadow dragon sucked in its breath and started forward with a fast gait, obviously moving to attack the human army, they turned and fled.  Those closest to him were so driven by panic that they trampled men under them, tried to climb over the backs of those in front, even used their weapons to slaughter the men that stood between them and safety.
	Tarrin thrust himself into the air even as Kang called for the Dura to charge