The Battle for The Golden Age

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The feeling of belief was like having a heavy boulder lifted from your shoulders. It was feeling like a statue and then suddenly feeling like a feather. It was like living a life without aches and pains and light-headedness.

It happened to Tooth first. Tooth's feathers bristled and became a more vibrant version of their original colour. Her wings seemed to flap and flutter, gaining speed until they raised her off of the ground. Tooth glanced frantically round at her wings with a grin. In her joy, she zoomed to the heights of the buildings surrounding us.

"Yeah, Tooth Fairy!" The kids whooped and cheered.

The weight on my back from North's hand almost immediately dissipated as North stood up straight. His coat and skin also regained their vibrant Christmas attitude.

"Aha!" North exclaimed as he held up his swords triumphantly.

"Oh yeah!" A young boy with red glasses cheered excitedly.

At that moment, I felt a burst of energy spread through my entire body. Everything got louder, my eyesight focused on the finest details, I felt warmer.

Then I felt my physical form change. Inch long talons grew from my fingernails and a large pair of eagle wings sprouted from my back. Willow squeaked in my ear as she hopped up and down on my shoulder in excitement. A grin graced my features as I gave my wings a flap and was taken about two feet in the air before landing on the ground again.

"Oh, yes," I laughed as I retracted the talons on my right hand and took my knife from the ground. I spun and twisted it around my fingers before gripping the handle and glaring up at Pitch.

"She is so cool!" The girl in the beanie gushed. I couldn't help but smile at that analysis.

"No! Get them! Do your job!" A voice screamed down from the rooftops. At that order, the Nightmares began sprinting and practically trampling over each other to get to us. My grip around my knife got tighter as the Nightmares got closer and closer by the second.

"Oh yeah, come on, come on!" Bunny closed his eyes and waited in anticipation to be his old self again, but the rumbling of the Nightmares' hooves drew him from his excitement.

"Oh, Crikey!" Bunny yelled as he bounded away, the first wave of Nightmares right on his tail.

I glared at the Nightmares attempting to trample Bunny and sprinted in their direction. Willow tightened her grip on my shoulder, preparing for the bumpy ride. As I got closer, I flapped my wings and flew 3 metres off of the ground. I raised my knife and as I fell, stabbed down into the neck of one of the Nightmares. Once I landed, I slashed the chest of another Nightmare causing it to disintegrate.

The sound of two Snow-globe portals opening came from behind me. I turned around to see a stream of Yetis coming through each portal, ready to attack.

The kids laughed as three of North's flying toys flew over head and began destroying Nightmares.

"'M just a bunny!" I turned my head as Bunny scrambled under a car; a Nightmare reached under the car, bit down on something and pulled it out.

It was Bunny, but he was back to his regular, six foot self. He chuckled at the Nightmare's confusion. As did I.

"G 'day, mate." Bunny kicked upwards, did a flip higher into the air and threw his two boomerangs. The two Nightmares that were chasing him disintegrated as the boomerangs sliced through them.

As Bunny landed, he caught his two boomerangs with one paw over his shoulder. He smirked at the piles of Nightmare sand that now sat on the ground before hopping to the centre of the road.

Bunny tapped his foot on the ground three times and a rabbit hole opened in the ground. With a rumble, one of the Sentinel Eggs rose and landed on the ground as the rabbit hole beneath it closed.

A second Sentinel Egg rose from the ground beneath one of Jamie's friends.

"Woah!" He exclaimed as the Sentinel Egg continued rising until it planted it's feet on the ground with Jamie's friend still perched on top.

"Come on!" Bunny raised his boomerang to the sky and his Sentinel Eggs put on their angry faces before charging towards the tidal wave of Nightmares, closely followed by North's flying toys from his workshop and his Yetis.

"Let's get 'em!" The girl in the pink dress cried out with a fist raised in the air; she began running towards the wave of Nightmares with her friends in tow.

Let's do this.

As two Elves rode forward on their trike, one launched from the front and wrapped his teeth around the leg of a Nightmare, beginning to gnaw his way through it. The kids ran forward with their hands outstretched and began to turn the Nightmares to Dream Sand at the touch of their fingers.

With their huge fists raised above their heads, North's Yetis charged towards the wave of Nightmares and slammed their fists down, causing the Nightmares to disintegrate beneath them.

Now it's my turn. I holstered my knife and spread my eagle wings. With a flap of my wings, I rose high into the air and willed myself to transform into a Phoenix.

Amber and golden feathers grew from my body as I shrunk down and turned into the large bird. Once I'd completely transformed, I dove down to the wave of Nightmares, releasing a cry so loud that it echoed through the neighbourhood. I felt Willow crouch down low on my back and dig her claws into my Phoenix feathers. 

I glided through the wave of Nightmares, causing them to burn and disintegrate when they came into contact with my wings. The flames growing from my feathers created a warm, bright glow that lit up the darkness that the wave of Nightmares brought with them.

I pulled up into the air with a flap of my wings; I turned around and flew back to North and Bunny, admiring the wide line of Nightmare sand I'd left in my wake.

As I landed, I transformed back into myself, keeping the large pair of Phoenix wings on my back and the talons on the tips of my fingers. I smiled at Willow as she resettled herself on my shoulder. 

As I recovered my bearings, the crackle of ice and frost resounded from above. Bunny, North, Willow and I looked up to see frost and ice spiking out against the night sky like fireworks. That was the rooftop that Pitch was just on. Did Jack go up there to fight him alone?!

"Let's get up there," Bunny commanded as he put his boomerangs in their sheaths and began sprinting down the street with North on his tail. Tooth began flying towards the buildings as the explosions of ice moved further away from us.

I spread my wings and gave them a flap. I rose into the air and flew towards the building. Where Tooth flew to the left of the buildings, I flew to the right.

As I glided through the air, I looked up at the top of the buildings. Nightmares were jumping over the gap between the buildings, closely followed by a blur of blue, white and brown. The strike of ice and snow that resounded through the street steered the Nightmares that attempted to flee.

As I began to near the last building on the street, the ice explosions stopped. I went around the corner of the building, quickly soared into the air and landed atop the building.

I observed my surroundings; there was a large skylight along the roof of the building and a small brick structure to my left. The Nightmares and Pitch must be on the other side.

Jack rounded the corner of a chimney and turned right. He froze and stared wide-eyed at something. Pitch. It must be.

Without hesitation, I flew out from my secluded spot and landed in front of Jack. I was met with the sight of the Nightmare King atop his Nightmare Stallion; him army was behind and beside him. In Pitch's hand was a spear, raised high. He launched it towards Jack and I.

I spread my wings and flapped them hard, sending a wave of flames towards the airborne spear. As it met the flames, it disintegrated.

A blur of green, yellow and purple zoomed past us and let out a laugh as it sliced through the Nightmares advancing towards Jack and I. It was Tooth.

"Thanks, girls!" Jack called to us.

I pulled my knife from its holster and prepared to charge towards the army of Nightmares when a plume of soot burst from a nearby chimney. As it cleared, there stood Bunny with both of his boomerangs in his paws.

"Ho, Ho, HO!" Bunny threw his boomerang and it tore through the Nightmares, causing them to explode into harmless sand. After his boomerang returned to his paw, he hopped down from the chimney.

Tooth began flitting to and from in an attempt to stop Pitch from escaping. Bunny ran towards Pitch; Jack and I ran after him. Jack shot a wave of frost towards Pitch's Nightmare stallion, causing it to rear upwards and turn around.

With Pitch still atop the Nightmare, he steered it towards the edge of the building and leapt off of the ledge.

As we reached the edge of the roof, North jumped from the roof of the building standing opposite. He let out a battle cry and raised his scimitars to Pitch's Nightmare stallion. Pitch simultaneously formed a spear with his Nightmare sand and aimed for North's chest.

Before Pitch could throw his spear, North brought his scimitars down into Pitch's Nightmare steed, causing it to disintegrate and Pitch to fall to the ground.

Pitch landed precariously on his feet, closely followed by North, who landed steadily with his scimitars outstretched beside him. North charged towards Pitch, who formed a large scythe with his Nightmare sand.

Pitch swung the scythe over his shoulder and brought it down on the hand guard of North's right scimitar; the momentum knocked North to his knees.

I didn't hesitate as I jumped from the ledge of the building and glided down to the ground as Pitch raised his scythe once again and hit the hand guard of North's left scimitar when he tried to point it towards Pitch. North once again got knocked aside.

I landed between him and Pitch and retracted my wings; I transformed the talons on my hands into tiger claws, my knife still in my right hand. My ears transformed into those of a tiger and a pair of razor sharp fangs appeared amongst my teeth. A tiger tail grew from the end of my spine and whipped back and forth aggressively.

I lunged towards Pitch and sliced my knife through the air. He leaned back, causing me to narrowly miss his chest. With my left hand this time, I swiped at Pitch's face. Before I made contact however, Pitch raised his fist and slammed it down on my wrist.

I yelped and took a step back. When I looked up again, Pitch's scythe was already over his shoulder and practically flying towards my head. Willow and I let out a cry of surprise and ducked. The scythe swung over my head, just mere inches from my hair.

Bunny jumped and flipped over my crouched body. He landed in front of me, but before he could throw an exploding egg or a boomerang, Pitch already had his scythe in the air again.

As he brought it down to the ground, Bunny side flipped to the right as the scythe hit the ground where he was just standing.

Whilst Pitch was busy trying to wrench his scythe from the asphalt, Bunny flung his boomerang towards Pitch's face. Pitch dodged the boomerang and turned around to pull his scythe from the ground before the boomerang began to make it's way back.

However before the boomerang began its path back, Tooth appeared and began zooming towards Pitch.

Pitch finally managed to get the ground to release his scythe; he turned and lifted the scythe over his shoulder and a swung it at Tooth. He missed and was spun around to face us from the momentum.

Jack landed in front of Pitch and kicked him away. As Pitch still hadn't recovered from Bunny and Tooth's attack, Jack's kick sent him stumbling backwards.

When Pitch finally regained his balance, he looked up at us. We all took defensive stances and glared at Pitch, daring him to make another move.

With Jack pointing his wooden staff, Bunny spinning his boomerangs around his fingers, Tooth raising her fists, North flourishing his scimitars and my tail aggressively swishing left and right, Pitch knew he was outnumbered. A low growl rumbled from the top of my throat. I tightened my grip on my knife and held it aloft, pointing towards Pitch.

Pitch glared at the five of us and began taking steps back. With each step that Pitch took backwards, we took a step forwards. The Nightmare King eventually reached a nearby alleyway reserved for Burgess' yellow school buses.

"It's over, Pitch," Jack stated, "There's no place to hide."

A vicious snarl escaped my throat as Pitch stopped moving away from us. His eyes danced between each Guardian before he froze. The Nightmare King flashed us a wry smile before disappearing into the shadows of the dark alleyway that we'd cornered him in.

"Oh, man!" I groaned. We all immediately spun around, almost expecting Pitch to be behind us but he wasn't there. Of course we cornered a man who can travel through shadows into a dark alleyway. On either side of us, a shadow of Pitch was projected onto the buildings.

My grip on my knife tightened as we all stood in a circle. I could cut the tension in the air with my knife, the suspense was killing me. Is Pitch even still here? There's no way that he'd just leave in the middle of this.

"Jack, look out!" Bunny shouted, panic evident in his voice. I looked over at Bunny as he threw one of his boomerangs. My eyes followed the boomerang that Bunny threw and I watched as it hit a scythe. A scythe that Pitch was holding as he stood behind Jack.

Horror shot through me like lightning. I reached out and grabbed Jack's hood. Once I had a grip, I called upon every ounce of physical strength I had in me and pulled Jack out of the way of the Nightmare scythe.

As I pulled Jack away from Pitch, I lost my balance and fell to the ground, taking Jack with me. Jack's wooden staff clattered to the ground and my knife slid from my grip. Willow fell from my shoulder and landed on the ground. She hid behind me after taking one glance at Pitch. 

I looked up at The Nightmare King, who began the descent of the deadly end of his scythe. It's path headed directly for my chest. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion.

Can I die again? Would I come back again if I did? I'm not sure I want to find out, but I may not have a choice.

The scythe disintegrated. Mere inches from my chest.

I looked up at Pitch, who looked befuddled. My attention was drawn to a bright rope made of Dream Sand wrapped tightly around Pitch's wrists, infiltrating his dark aura.

Pitch was suddenly pulled from the ground with a yell and away from us. Before he could return, I quickly got to my feet. I held my hand out to Jack, who placed his cold hand in mine. I pulled him to his own feet.

I let go of his hand and reached down to grab my knife. I reached down once again and lifted Willow from the ground. I placed Willow on my shoulder, who settled in and hid in my hair. Similarly, Jack reached down and grabbed his staff.

"Are you two okay?" Tooth asked, her voice laced with worry.

"Yeah, we're fine, Tooth," Jack replied.

I placed my knife in my holster and ran to the yellow buses. I leapt up and dug my claws into the metal roof of the large vehicle as heart palpitations began thundering against my rib cage.

That Dream Sand rope... It wasn't Pitch. He could only control Dream Sand after he'd corrupted it. It wasn't Jamie and his friends. They could only convert the corrupted Nightmare sand back to Dream Sand. Wait... If they converted enough of the Nightmare sand back to Dream Sand, then does that mean...? The only one who can control Dream Sand is... Sandy!

I heaved myself onto the top of the bus and observed the view it was previously blocking.

A Pitch-shaped trail in the snow caught my attention. I followed it with my eyes until I saw Pitch lying on his front, leaning on his elbows and looking up at a bright mass of Dream Sand.

The middle of the mass of Dream Sand began to glow almost as bright as the sun. A bright silhouette began to form within the Dream Sand. A familiar silhouette...

Once the light reached it's brightest a figure emerged from the mass of Dream Sand. As the light faded, the Sandman was revealed. The Dream Sand cloud dispersed as Sandy yanked the rope tied around Pitch's wrist closer towards him.

Sandy gave Pitch a look, wagged his finger and uppercut The Nightmare King into the air.

There's no way! Sandy... My best friend, he- He isn't dead?!

Without hesitating, I ran across the length of the yellow school bus and leapt from the front of the bus to the snowy ground a couple of metres below.

Once I landed, I immediately began to run in Sandy's direction. As I clambered up the hill, the desperation to hug him, the guilt at just watching him get shot with that arrow, the pure devastation as I watched the final light of his Dream Sand, all those emotions began to overwhelm me. I couldn't start crying again. Not now at least, in front of everyone and mid-battle.

As I reached the top off the hill, Sandy appeared in my view again, though much closer and clearer. The Sandman formed a bowler hat from his Dream Sand and tipped it towards Jamie and his friends.

"Sandy!" I cried as I reached him. I skidded to my knees and threw my arms around my short golden friend, being sure not to jog his arm that was holding the rope tied around Pitch's wrists. Willow emerged from my hair and crawled onto Sandy's shoulder, snuggling against his cheek. 

Relief flooded through me as I hugged my best friend. I buried my face into Sandy's chest as I took in a deep shaky breath. I couldn't help but smile as I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and a kiss pressed against the top of my head.

I've got my best friend back.

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