Ken was hammering away on a blade, even by dwarf standards he was an excellent blacksmith.
Renny was pulled out some old weapons covered in dust.
"Hey," said Renny, "look at this. This place was once a military training base. There's all sorts of weapons and gear here."
"We might be able to use these. Maybe we can hold off the goblins."
"Maybe," said Mica, "but that's not what worries me. Where the hell is Edgar? He should be here by now."
"Don't worry," said Marie, "I'm sure they'll show up."
William pulled a suit of chain mail out from a trunk and put it on.
"This will work." Said William.
Spike the baby dragon was lying on a pile of blankets, he seemed happy.
"This place was an army barracks," said Gong, "we might find something else we can use."
"Here Ken, use these!" Said Alice, as she handed a pot full of silver coins.
"Wow, thanks Alice. Silver tipped arrows, that's brilliant!"
"No problem, I knew you would be able to put them to good use."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Brian.
"I found some silver coins here a while ago. Knowing Ratty, he will have vampires and werewolves with him. These silver tipped arrows can kill werewolves and vampires."
"Good idea." Said Luke, "Those things will come in handy."
"We've got company!" Gong called out, as he looked through the scope, goblins and vampires were coming closer to the castle.
"Damn," said Ken, "They're coming for us. I guess the army won't make it."
"There must be a million of them! Goblins, Gargoyles, Vampires, skeletons, Cyclopes, Minotaurs, werewolves, wyverns, giant worms, zombies and giant bats!
"That's not all, there are ogres, trolls, and giants. Oh, and Ratty's leading them. We're done for."
"Don't panic!" Said Alice, "We can still fight them."
"How many did you say there were out there?" Asked Mica.
"Let me put it this way," said Gong, "How many monsters? How many members of Ratty's army? ALL OF THEM!!"
"All of them? Damn, we can't beat them. Not even if Edgar shows up with the army."
"It doesn't matter," said William, "we've got to hold off as long as possible."
Ratty's voice roared through the castle.
"I'm coming for you Underhill, if you wish to plead for mercy; surrender now!"
"Don't," said Tara, "He'll kill us just the same."
William clutched his sword tightly.
"Maybe he just wants me."
"Don't even think about it," said Alice, "I won't let you. You can't just give yourself up."
"Alice is right," said Brian, "We'll all fight."
"They're right William," said Luke, "Ratty wants to make sure none of us can warm the ark about his curse."
"Ratty! You blood sucker!" Yelled Marie, "You think we're going to beg for our lives? You'll get no such pleasure from us!"
"Wait a second," said Celeste, "Is that Edgar's army?"
Through the scope, the others could see a legion of knights riding horses, and an army of elves, dwarves, humans, gnomes, centaurs and halflings marching on the ground.
"Yes," said Ken, "they're coming. We've got a chance now."
"Ratty is dead," said Alice, "he's history. That bastard has messed with the wrong group of people. Now he's going to pay the price."
Prince Edgar rode up towards Ratty on his horse.
"Stand down Ratty, you have no chance!"
Ratty laughed.
"Nice try," he said, "But my army is more powerful than yours. Your soldiers will die."
General Graham and Madam Circe ride up next to Edgar.
"Ratty, your reign of terror is over." Said General Graham, "We will not allow you to destroy the ark."
Madam Circe spoke, "You have killed many innocent people, and caused a lot of suffering. You will answer for your crimes."
Ratty laughed.
"You're out numbered. No army can defeat me. And the ark is already doomed, I have placed a curse on the land and it will sink into the ocean soon. There will be no escape."
William stood up on the balcony railing.
"Don't listen to him Edgar! All we have to do to get back to the ark and take off."
Ratty turned back to face William.
"Underhill, how nice of you to join the party. You're going to pay for all the trouble you caused me."
William growled like a wolf.
"Your threats mean nothing! You murdered colonel Cyrus! He was my friend!"
William waved a board sword that Ken had forged from silver.
"Ratty! I will cut off your head! See if you're still grinning then!!"
Marie, Ken, Alice, Gort, Tara, Renny, Mica, Alice, Cayleb, Brian, Luke, Shai, Nova, Pretta, Wyndham, Rana and Amber were all cheering.
"Yeah! You tell 'em Will!" Yelled Gong.
Ratty laughed again.
"So little knight wants to play?"
"Stand away from him you scum!" Said Edgar, pointing his sword at Ratty.
"You wish nothing by death on all of us! Get ready for hell!! Charge!"
General Graham, Sir Haggar, Edgar and Madam Circe led the charge.
"Come on, let's go. We have to fight with them. Let's do this." Said Mica.
"Cayleb, take down the stone wall at the front door." Said Marie.
"Right," said Cayleb, "stand back."
Cayleb cast a spell.
"Take down barrier!"
The stone wall blocking the main entrance exploded.
William stood in front of the group, the board sword in one hand, a shield in the other, a quiver of silver arrows on his back and Cyrus' crossbow tied around his belt.
"Okay, everyone follow me. Stay together, and watch each other's backs."
"Right," said Pretta, "let's go."
The front door of the old castle burst open, and William led the group outside.
"ATTACK!!!" Screamed William.
The group charged at the goblin army.
"Come on, let's go. We have to help the army." Said Marie.
"Right," said Ken waving his axe in the air, "let's go. This is our last chance. If we lose, the ark will sink. Let's make Ratty pay."
"Yeah," said Mica, "let's do it. For the Colonel!"
The group charged into battle.
Edgar smile at William slashed through several goblins.
"That's my boy. Keep up the good work, and don't die. I want you to marry my sister, not a tombstone. You hear me? Don't you dare die."
"I won't Eddie. " Said William, "And thank you for everything, you're the best teacher any young swordsman could ask for."
Graham charged towards the enemy and slashed his way through a pack of skeletons.
"Take that!" He yelled, "Die you undead bastards!"
Suddenly, a gargoyle swooped down and attacked him.
"Damn," he said, "that hurt. Hey, get off me!"
Amber shot at arrow into the gargoyle, killing it.
"Thanks, Amber," said Graham, "that was close."
A group of goblins surrounded Madam Circe.
"If you think you can beat me, you wrong! Inflict Wounds!"
The goblins were hit with a powerful spell, causing them to die.
Pretta fired a silver arrow at a vampire, killing it.
Ratty casted magic missiles everywhere, hit a dozen soldiers.
Bodies were piling up everywhere, the battle was raging.
William ran towards Ratty, catching him off guard and slashing at his hand. The sword had sliced Ratty's wand in half; now it was useless.
William stared at Ratty and raised his sword.
"Ratty, I've got you now! You will never harm anyone again."
Ratty smirked as he pulled a long sword out of dead body of a large troll.
"You are nothing but a child. I will end this, and then the ark will sink and your friends will be lost forever. Then the world will be mine to rule. I will kill every person on earth, and create a new world with no life."
William swung his sword, but Ratty blocked it with his own.
"Not bad," he said, "for a kid."
Ratty stabbed at William, but William jumped out of the way.
Their swords clashed!
The battle raged around them.
The army of the ark was losing ground, many were dying.
"This is not good," said Luke, "we're getting overwhelmed."
"I'm sorry," said Alice, "there's nothing I can do."
"Don't give up hope," said Luke, "we can still win. We've just got to hold on."
Ratty swung his sword and slashed William in the stomach.
"Agggh!" Yelled William.
"Die Underhill!"
William blocked Ratty's next attack and slashed at him.
"You're weak," said Ratty, "You'll never win!"
"Watch me..."
Ratty swung at William again, but William dodged.
William swung his sword and slashed at Ratty, cutting him on the arm.
"You're bleeding too." Said William, panting heavily.
"Yes," said Ratty, "but I'm not the one who's going to die. I will kill you, and then the ark will be doomed."
Ratty lunged at William, but William blocked it.
Sparks flew!
Their swords clashed!
Their eyes met!
"I've got you now, Underhill." Said Ratty.
"Not yet, you don't."
William blocked a dozen more of Ratty's attacks until Ratty kicked some dirt in William's face; blinding him.
William swung wildly at the air, trying to strike his enemy.
Ratty swung his sword and cut William in the face, leaving a large gash.
"Aagh!"
William slashed at Ratty, but Ratty blocked it.
"You are getting slow boy."
A quick kick to the groin sent William down on his back.
"This is it Underhill! Die!"
William was starting to get light headed from the loss of blood.
"No! Leave him alone you monster!" Someone shouted.
Marie jumped on Ratty's back, holding her staff in one hand and covering Ratty's eyes with her other hand.
"Get off me you wench! Get off!!"
Ratty tried to shake her off, but she held on tight.
Marie pointed her staff at William.
"Cure wounds!"
A magical beam shot out of her staff and hit William, healing his wound.
Finally Ratty got lose from Marie's grip and then sending her to the ground with a big punch.
William screamed in anger as he jumped up into the air and kicking Ratty in the face.
"Leave her alone!"
William swung his sword wildly with the strength of his adrenaline and hit Ratty with a flurry of slashes.
Ratty screamed in pain as he fell over, his chest bleeding.
"Impossible," he said, "no human can beat me."
William attacked Ratty over and over again, screaming in fury!
"This is for Cyrus! This is for all those people you killed!! This is for Marie!!"
Ratty tried to defend himself, but the attacks were too much.
Finally Ratty fell to the ground overwhelmed.
William continued to strike Ratty's sword again and again, until the blade shattered into pieces.
William pointed his sword at Ratty's chest as tears ran down his face.
"You've lost, Ratty. It's over...."
Ratty grinned again.
"Go ahead, kill me boy. But know this, you will become no better than I am."
William squeezed his eyes shut for a second as he tried his best to hold back his tears.
"You can't do it." Ratty taunted, "You don't have the guts. You are not a killer. You will never be able to live with yourself if you kill me."
William was crying.
"That's enough!" He screamed.
Ratty laughed again.
"That's right, cry you baby. Cry for your daddy. Cry for your mommy. Cry for all your little friends. They will all die! I will kill every last one of them! And there is nothing you can do about it!"
Suddenly, something snapped inside William.
He dropped his sword and jumped on top of Ratty, pounding him in the face over and over again.
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"
William kept punching Ratty's face, in a few minutes Ratty stopped breathing.
No sooner did Ratty die, then so did his whole army.
As the goblins and other creatures of his army fell to the ground, the land began to rumble.
"We did it!" Alice cheered.
The earth shook violently as monsters and giants fell to the ground.
"Yeah, we won! We beat the goblins!" Said Cayleb.
"Victory is ours!" Yelled General Graham.
William still punched Ratty again and again while screaming.
Soon there was no more face on Ratty, only a bloody skull.
"William?" Said Marie.
William still kept punching Ratty.
"William!"
Marie grabbed William by his shoulder and pulled him away from Ratty's body.
"William! Stop! That's enough!William? Look at me! It's Marie!"
William looked up at Marie, he was shaking. His face was bruised and his clothes were torn, and blood was coming out of his nose.
"M-Marie?"
"It's okay William, he's dead... he's dead..."
William was crying.
Marie wrapped her arms around William and hugged him, letting him cry on her shoulder.
"It's over, it's okay. It's over."
William cried on Marie's shoulder.
"Come Will," said Edgar, his voice was so soothing, and comforting, almost fatherly.
Edgar put his hand on William's shoulder.
"Will, the fight is over. You did it, you killed him. You are a hero, you saved the all of us."
Madam Circe walked over to Ratty's body and looked down at him.
"Good riddance," she said, "the world is better off without him."
She turned to William and smiled.
"You did well, my dear."
Gong was walking through the battlefield.
"Wow," he said, "looks like we won. I'm glad, we can go home now."
"It's not over yet." Said Renny, "This land is going to sink. We better get back to the ark."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Alice.
"Just listen, the ground is shaking. There's a good chance this land is sinking into the ocean."
"Oh crap," said Edgar, "I had forgotten about that. Come on everybody, let's get moving!"
Everyone quickly began walking across the battlefield and back to the ark.
William picked up his sword and started to walk with Marie helping him stay on his feet.
"Wait," said William, "Spike! My baby dragon!"
"It's okay," said Celeste, "he's right here."
Spike was laying in Celeste's arms, he looked very happy.
"Good, you found him." Said William, "Let's go."
Celeste nodded and started to walk away.
The ark was only a mile away.