Rasputin's Revenge:Part Four

     "Please.. for the sake of Fyora, stop playing that harmonica." Nera, who was sitting on the floor with her hands over her ears, begged the shadow draik who she learned was named Dave

     Dave had played the instrument for what felt like hours. The more he played, the worse he seemed to get. Nera tried ignoring it, but after so long it had become annoying. Being rude to the guy was something Nera didn’t want to do, but again, the sound was incredibly annoying. She could only take so much at the moment.

     The Draik stopped, and smiled. "I’m only trying to make light of a dark situation."

     He laughed, slapping his knee at his small joke. Nera groaned, putting her arms over her knees and resting her head down. On top of being tortured by that awful noise, Nera still hadn’t found a way out of the dark and dusty dungeon. She never came down here so she didn’t know the room’s layout all that well. And..Rasputin most likely has taken over the kingdom by now. Nera worried for the kind residents of Altador, and for all of Neopia. The mutant ixi may just decide to conquer the entire world.

     And it was all her fault.

     Before Nera could reminisce over the happier times of the kingdom, she heard the dungeon door open and close. The queen stood up, ready to face Rasputin once again. He had always been the type of person to brag about his accomplishes and taking over a land. Nera convinced herself the Ixi came back down to brag.

     To her surprise. Nabile, the queen of Qasala and one of her closest friends, walked down the staircase instead of her old foe.

     "Nabile? What..what are you doing here?" Nera watched as the pink Ixi opened the lock of the cell door with a small golden hair pin.

     "Getting you out of this place of course." Nabile finally opened the cell door, and Nera immediately hugged her.

     "Thank you so much! I’ve been worried out of my mind that no one would come to help us!"

     Nabile happily hugged her back. "We saw the dark cloud all the way from Qasala. Jazan and I have been worried sick about you. Then when Altador came to us for help, we had to come as quickly as possible."

     Nera suddenly pulled away from her friend’s hug. "So...so my Altador is okay?"

     Nabile nodded. "Him and Jazan are with the guards, trying to help the residents that haven't been frozen yet."

     Nera felt relieved that her dear husband was safe. He did as he promised and came back to their kingdom with the help of their friends. Hopefully it would be enough to end the ongoing nightmare.

     The two queens agreed to go back upstairs and help the city. Nabile followed close behind Nera, going over ideas on how to defeat Rasputin. Nera knew she was only trying to be helpful, but none of the ideas would really work. The sorcerer knew better this time, and would be harder to defeat. She couldn’t just fight him with a sword, he would win in a landslide.

     "Why don’t you do what you did the last time?" asked Nabile as they emerged from the dungeon and back into the city.

     The entire land of Altador was now covered in darkness. If Nera didn’t hurry and take down Rasputin, Altador would suffer the same fate just as Moonstone Island had. The sun was blocked with thick dark clouds, preventing any light from coming through. Nera’s heart saddened at the current state of her once glorious city. Shadow like creatures roamed the land, creating havoc and chaos all around. Most of the residents were frozen, just like the army had been. It looked just like Nera’s nightmare from before. She had nightmares about this exact scenario, and it hurt her even more that it became true.

     "Nabile, he’s a very powerful man. It’ll be hard to trick him once again and I don’t even know if he has his spellbook with him. The only way to save Altador and Neopia is to trap him in his amulet once again. I don’t even remember the spell I used!" Nera sighed, trying to figure out what to do.

     The two Neopians walked across the courtyard, making their way to the Hall of Heroes, the source of the dark magic was coming from there. Dark strands of magic slithered out from the building, moving in all directions of the city. It’s how the kingdom was overthrown in darkness so quickly. If Rasputin wasn’t stopped, it would spread to the surrounding lands.

     Nera knew she had to go in to take the sorcerer down anyway. She had to try for the sake of her people. For the sake of Neopia and all the innocent lives that would be affected.

     Putting the doubts in the back of her mind, Nera ran. She ignored Nabile’s calling after her to slow down, and Nera ran to the building. Once inside, Rasputin turned around, surprised she was free. He stood in the middle of the twelve grand statues, his spell book in one hand and his amulet in the other.

     "How did you..?" He glanced at the Xweetok and out the door. "Nevermind that, you’re far too late to save your precious city. It’s been overthrown, just as your pathetic little island had been."

     "You don’t have to do this!" Nera, not caring for her own safety, approached him. "Rasputin this doesn’t have to be the person you are! You don’t have to keep taking over kingdoms and spreading hate and evil. You can be a better person and change."

     Rasputin’s expression changed, he seemed..touched.

     "You..you really think I can change?"

     Nera nodded, now standing in front of him. "Anyone can change! Jazan was once a villain and now he’s..neutral or a good guy at least. So there’s a chance for you too if you just try."

     Rasputin thought for a moment and laughed. "Oh that’s hilarious! You..you really think that I want to change? Don’t make me laugh. I’m perfectly happy being who I am and nothing you say will make me want to change."

     Nera felt hurt, even upset that for a split minute, she believed the villain could change.

     Out of anger, while Rasputin was laughing and talking about how ridiculous she was, she grabbed his book.

     "HEY!" Rasputin lunged for it, and Nera quickly moved away from him. He may be more powerful, but Nera was quicker.

     "If you refuse to change, I have no choice but you place you back in your prison." She held the book out and starting quoting a spell, the same one she used before. She remembered it being on page 203, so flipping to it was quick.

     "Oh no you don’t. You are not sending me back to that endless void." The sorcerer waved his hand, sending strands of dark magic towards Nera.

     Nera kept trying to quote the spell, running and dodging his attacks. Trying to read while running was difficult, but she had to manage. She needed to get close enough to the sorcerer to steal his amulet, so she could complete the spell. Nera ducked behind Jerdana’s statute, waiting for Rasputin to turn around to look for her. The man turned away from Nera’s position.

     "Oh princess..where did you go?" He sneered. "I want my spell book back you know."

     Nera emerged from behind the statue, and crept up on him.

      Once she was close enough, Nera kicked Rasputin in the back of the knee and grabbed his amulet. She held it up and finished quoting the spell.

     "And may you spend your darkest days, for an entirely in the amulet." Nera said, as light magic emitted out of the amulet, sending a bright flash all across Altador.

     Once the light had dimmed, Nera opened her eyes. The sorcerer was now gone, the only traces of him now were his spellbook and amulet.

     She did it..Nera banished the villain once again. Altador and Neopia was now safe once more. Nera fixed the mistake she had made, and this time it would never happen again.

     "Nera!" King Altador ran into the Hall of Heroes. He was breathing hard and looked surprised to see her. "Where’s Rasputin?"

     Nera held up the red amulet. "Where he should be."

     The king smiled, picking the Xweetok up and hugging her. "I’m so proud of you. The darkness is gone and the residents and army are unfrozen and back to normal."

     Nera laughed, hugging him back. "I’m just happy it’s all over."

     The kingdom of Altador never worried about the villain again. His amulet and spellbook were put in a safe place by the wise King Altador. Never again will Rasputin overthrow a kingdom or send terror to the hearts of Neopians.

     Queen Nera was once again praised for her bravery and noble deed. She risked her own safety for her people, and they were thankful for it. Nabile and Jazan went back to Qasala, happy they were of some help to the royal couple and their kingdom. The Miss Altador Cup pageant went back on as planned, and all the women of Altador spent the next three days dressing up, without the worry of a certain sorcerer taking his revenge.

     The End.