Alex awoke to find himself in a chamber filled with light. There were no floors, nor were there walls or a ceiling. There was only the light. Light seemed to emanate from everything, even himself. He thought he was dead.
"So this is what the afterlife is like," Alex said, thinking out loud. He looked forward (or what he assumed was forward) and saw a shadowy figure. The figure moved closer, and Alex could clearly make him out. He had brownish hair, and a long sword strapped to his belt.
"You are not dead Dragonmaster," Byron said, "you are in a dimensional void." Byron lifted his arms, as if to show Alex the decor of a house. "From here, you can go anywhere in the universe."
Alex cocked his head back and said, "So what am I doing here then?"
"Very good question Dragonmaster," Byron answered. "As you might have guessed, Terranox is not very easily defeated. The only way to smother his darkness, is to acquire a way to produce vast amounts of light. To do that, you must travel to the planet of Lograndia and find Kane. Only then, will you have a chance of defeating Terranox."
Alex started to evaluate his task. It sounded reasonable enough, all he had to do was to find Kane. But then, he remembered Luna. She had been swallowed into the same chasm that he was, and yet, she wasn't here. "Where's Luna!" Alex screamed in desperation, he was really starting to fear for his wife.
"Don't worry Dragonmaster, your wife is fine. She is in the Dark Earth, along with everyone else that has been swallowed up by the fissures. Although it pains me to say 'fine', I can't imagine how insanely terrifying it must be to be alone where light doesn't exist."
That sent a sigh of relief through Alex. Luna wasn't dead, she was fine. Although Byron was right, 'fine' wasn't the right word for it. He knew Luna still had nightmares about being "trapped" inside the Goddess, so cold and alone. He wasn't sure she could stand going through that again. But she had to.
"So," Alex said, "when do I go to Lograndia?"
"Not so fast, there will be many hardships on Lograndia. First of all, you speak a different language. To overcome that obstacle, take this." Byron tossed Alex a mysterious pendant.
Alex caught the pendant and looked at it. It was a silver medallion, with the symbol of a phoenix in the center. On the other side was a dragon. The dragon, he thought, might represent Nall. He was unsure about the phoenix.
"You can admire it later," Byron told him, "for now, walk through here." Byron led Alex to an area that was brighter than normal. Byron just looked at him, and urged him to go through. Alex took a last look around this place, then stepped in.
The next thing Alex knew, was that he was in a new place. This place was very lush, and looked just like Lunar. Birds chirped in the sky, and small animal frolicked through the brush. It was a most beautiful place.
"Lograndia," Alex said in awe. He couldn't remember things have been this peaceful. It seemed as if they've had this Terranox problem forever.
Alex remembered the pendant and took it out of his satchel. He took another look at it's silvery finish. He lifted it up, and put it on.
Immediately, pain rushed through his body. His body was engulfed in a burning flame. The blaze burned, and Alex could do nothing to stop it. After what seemed like hours of agony, Alex fell unconscious.
The heroes, now less two, sailed away from the sinking island. Mia was crying into Nash's chest. Nash was trying his best to calm her down. Nobody could calm down. They had just lost two very good friends. The vessel was filled with mixed emotions of fear, anger, and depression.
Depression, because they had lost two very good friends. No matter how much pain they could inflict on Terranox, they would never come back.
Anger, because Terranox had killed their friends. Nash was the one with the most anger held up inside. His anger just festered the entire trip home.
And fear, because of what Terranox said. Animaxus was very strong, and if it weren't for Luna, they wouldn't have defeated him at all. If Animaxus was only a pawn, who knows how many strong allies he still had. Terranox could very well be the thing that brings an end to all of Lunar.
They had no time to think of that though. One thing they all agreed upon, was that they had to defeat Terranox at any cost.
Within a day, Meribia was in the horizon. But it wasn't the Meribia they wanted to see. What they saw was a blaze of fire that engulfed the entire city. It looked like the setting sun, but it was way past sun down.
"Father!" Jessica hollered. "We gotta go save my father!" Jessica started to push the wheel, trying to make the boat go faster. Kyle pulled Jessica away from the wheel. He started to caress her, and try his best to soothe her pain. He looked up at Nash and nodded. Nash didn't need any words to tell him what Kyle wanted. Nash and Mia started their wind incantations, and the vessel sailed faster, towards the burning city.
Finally, they could see the silhouette of a woman over the burning buildings. The woman was beautiful, with long blond hair. The woman was laughing maniacally as they approached.
Kyle immediately knew who it was. "Xenobia! How the hell are you still alive? I thought we killed you!" Kyle's rage emanated from his body.
Xenobia's laughter rang throughout the burning city. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! You did sweet Kyle, you did. But as you can see, I'm very much alive."
"Why would you do such a horrible thing?" Mia asked, although she knew the answer. People like Xenobia were capable of doing anything.
She began her answer with her maniacal laughter once again. "Very simple. Master Terranox was disapointed that his little death trap only claimed two of you. So he ordered me to take care of the rest. I burned the town just as a distraction."
Nash's face turned scarlet with anger. "You demonic witch."
Another round of laughter came out of her vile lips. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Demonic witch, demonic witch, I haven't been called that in a while. Seven years to be exact." Xenobia watched as their faces were enveloped by the tell tale signs of anger, and fear. "Enough of this chatter, join the rest of the city.
Xenobia chanted some kind of fire spell, and fire came flying at them. "Trouble Bubble!" Mia shouted, as her bubbles met the flames and put them out.
"Aargh! Take this!" An even larger blaze of flames was propelled their way.
Trouble bubble could not repel this assault. The party ducked, as the flames enveloped the mast and set it ablaze. "Well, it was fun while it lasted," Xenobia said, "but now it must end. Master Terranox, inflict your wrath!"
The water began to fluctuate, as the ocean floor beneath it trembled. Hot steam rose from the sea, as burning buildings toppled over into it. Fissures started opening up into the sea, causing gargantuan tidal waves. Water poured into chasms, making whirlpools, with a ferocity unmatched by any of it's kind. If it wasn't for Nash, they all would have died.
"Quick everyone," Nash commanded, "come close. I'll teleport us to someplace safe." With a flash, the party disappeared. They left Xenobia, laughing Maniacally once again. Her life brought a new fear into their lives. If Xenobia was somehow resurrected, then what about Ghaleon.