'I have searched a thouhsand lifetimes for a soul like yours...'

An exchange of rings... the feel of her lips... the touch of her skin... her warm breath against his own...

'I want to lie with you forever.'

Forever...

The vision faded. He was not at the battle fort, this was not their wedding day. The woman seated upon Malkivian was not the woman he promised to love and cherish, but a demon wrought from the darkest pits of hell.

I will not allow this! Milton cracked his whip just as the creature passed over for another swoop. His whip caught the dragon's leg and wound tightly around it.

"Nani?" Nyx felt the extra weight lain upon her beast, but saw nothing when she turned her head to see what might have caused the shift.

Mercy had finally made it. Orion was still on her tail and there was no way to shake him. She had been preoccupied with ridding herself of her pesty Guardian that she had hardly noticed the news crews running about the place. She had tossed him off the boat on the Jungle Cruise, but the baka just right back up, turned into cat form and kitty paddled onto shore. She'd just gotten off the ride when she heard the roaring applause of a large crowd gathered at the base of the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

Tapping a man on the shoulder, she asked, "Excuse me, but what's going on?"

The man had grinned widely. "It's a great show! It wasn't even in the guide book or anything. Indiana Jones and some fire breathing dragon."

Mercy tilted her head and raised a brow. Either this was a crossover of Sleeping Beauty and Raiders of the Lost Ark, or...

"Mercy!" A female voice pierced through the air. It came from high above.

Mercy looked up but saw nothing.

SWOOP.

NIP.

SNATCH.

With the quickness of lightning, Mercy was swept off the ground flying through the air. Malkivian had snatched her up in his jaws and was holding her by the neck of her jacket.

Mercy let out a shrill shriek. As everyone below "ooh-ed" and "aaahh-ed."

"Man! it gets better every year!" someone commented.

Orion pushed his way passed the gawking crowd. "MERCY!!!!" There was nothing he could. Again, he was helpless. He would lose her...Felicity. NO! He shook himself. With great effort he concentrated on his charge. This is Mercy. I'm protecting Mercy.

"Let me go!" Mercy looked down at the theme park hundreds of feet below. "On the other hand, DON'T let me go!"

Nyx tossed her head back and chuckled. "You, little blonde girl! We have a score to settle." Malkivian was speeding towards Big Thunder Mountain.

She's going to ram her against the rock formations! Millie knew that Nyx would enjoy nothing more than publicly displaying her catch...the bloody, beaten, corpse of her enemy haning from the mouth of her Glyder.

RAM.

THUD.

Mercy's body hit the fitst of the rock faces. Malkivian backed up a bit and rammed her into to it again, harder and harder. The girl screamed and made and effort to kick agaisnt the on coming surface, but it was no use. She swung like a rag doll from the beasts mouth. Any more pressure and her jacket would rip. The girl's legs battered agaisnt the peaks of Big Thunder even as the beast dragged her along.

Milton swung back and caught the girl, wrapping his arm around her waist. She had fainted.

"NANI?!?" Nyx screamed. "You insolent fool!" With a steady hold on her, Milton cut the hood of her jacket and she slumped into his arms, her blood covering his clothes. She was alive, but barely. He spotted one of the trains sitting idle on the track. Malkivian was close enough to the earth that he could jump from the beast and bring the girl to safety. He counted to three and let go of the whip, sending the two of them plumenting down to earth. "Earth beneath me! Wind above me!" he cried the incantaion and the winds roared about them, envaloping them in a whirlwind and guiding them safely to the ground below.

Milton placed Tasuki no Otaku's bruised and bleeding body into the idle car. Her face, arms, and legs were cut and bleeding. The thick red liquid oozed from a cut above her left brow. Milton closed his eyes nad bent low, placing his lips against it. Instantly it healed. "I will be back for you, my dear. But first I must rid your world of the bakamono."

"Curses!" Nyx pounded her fist on the Glyder's back. "I should have rid myself of you centuries ago, wizard. Now is as good a time as any." The Gylder headed straight for Milton.

He braced himself.