"I'm so sorry, Cora."

"Dimitri! Stop it!"

"I can't, I have to do this, The Blood King will kill all of us!"

Cora cut through the the ropes releasing her other hand.

"How could you betray me like this?" he asked her. He was visibly shaking. "I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends and I didn't betray you!" Cora answered.

"I know everything, you're working with the Blood King to destroy Prince Lyon."

He wasn't wrong, but how was she going to explain this. She took a step back and a deep breath. "The Blood King isn't the bad guy and Prince Lyon isn't who he says he is. The real prince has been dead for years, someone else has been masquerading as him using magic."

"You've officially lost your mind!"

"I know it sounds crazy..."

"You think?"

She held the knife out in front of her and slowly took another step back. "Please, I need you listen to me. Whatever Lyon told you about the Blood King is a lie. Everything we've been taught about the Blood King is a lie."

"You really have been working with him haven't you?"

The blonde nodded hesitantly.

Dimitri tucked his sword back into it's sheath. He let out a long exasperated sigh as he ran his fingers through his curls. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't let you leave."

Cora set her knife down on the table and crossed her arms. "Fine.  I'll stay here, but you should know, I have backup on the way and they won't hesitate to beat you up to get to me."

He nervously glanced out the window. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.

"Do you remember the time when we went to the zoo and and we tried to climb into the lion cage?" Dimitri asked not making eye contact.

"We were only five!"

"You said you were going to move in with them."

Cora tried to hide her embarrassed smile. Soon her embarrassment faded into sadness. "We were so close back then."

Dimitri frowned. "Yeah, we were."

"What happened to us?"

"I guess we're drifting apart."

"I guess so."

A loud knock on the door made them both jump.

"Are you gonna answer that?" Cora leaned up against the walls and folded her arms confidently.

Dimitri's glance shifted from the door to Cora then back to the door again. He slowly approached the door with sword in hand. A faint beeping noise sounded from the other side.

With a loud crashing noise the door was reduced to splinters.

"Now that's what I call going out with a bang!" Val exclaimed as she removed her safety goggles.

Ray handed her sword to her. "Scarlet and Zyler had business they needed to take care of, they'll be joining us shortly until then we need to hold off the King of Shadows for as long as we can."

Cora smiled down at her sword this time she was ready for the final battle.

As the trio turned to exit Dimitri stood in their path with his sword pointed towards their throats. "You dragged Scarlet into this?" Anger radiated from his voice.

Ray pushed away Dimitri's sword with his own. "You have nothing to worry about, your sister is helping us out of her own free will. He glanced down at his nonexistent watch. "In fact we're supposed to be meeting her any minute now, so we should really be going."

"You're not going anywhere!"

"You've been deceived by the King of Shadows," Ray gestured to the storm clouds out the window. "He is the one responsible for this."

"You're lying." Dimitri swung his sword so quickly Ray was barely able to block it.

Ray turned to her "Coraline, I need you to go defeat the King of Shadows, I'll hold him off."

Cora nodded slowly. She knew what she needed to do. She turned back to get one last glimpse of him before running out the door with Val following behind her.

Ray slashed trough Dimitri's jacket intentionally not harming him. "I don't want to hurt you because I know how much Coraline cares about you."

Dimitri swung his sword at Ray's chest, which he instantly deflected. He swung again, this time he aimed for they face. Blocked again.  He swung again and again, over and over. The room was filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal. Dimitri hardly managed to put a scratch on him he was too skilled. Before he knew it he was backed into a wall.

Ray pointed his sword between his eyes. "Surrender now or face the consequences." Ray commanded in a tone of voice he hadn't used in nearly two thousand years, a tone of voice that reminded him too much of who he used to be.

The earth below them began to quake, which caught Ray off guard long enough for Dimitri to slice open Ray's good leg. Crimson poured out of the wound. The pain caused him to collapse onto the floor.

"Now it looks like you're the one who should surrender," Dimitri gloated.

Ray dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender. "Congratulations, very many have challenged me and very few have been able to defeat me, you were wise to go for the legs."

Dimitri closely scanned his face. He tried his hardest not to gasp when he realized who he was speaking to. "You're the Blood King." He gripped his sword so tightly it felt like it might crumble under the pressure.

"In the flesh."

Dimitri head was filled with so many different thoughts he feared his head might explode. The real Blood King was right in front of him. He fought the Blood King and won? "You're not really what I was expecting," he thought out loud.

"I'm sorry to disappoint."

"You're just an ordinary guy."

Ray shrugged, still holding his hands up.

"I was terrified of you as a kid, I was so afraid that you were lurking in the dark corners of my room at night just waiting to strike."

Ray couldn't hold back his laughter. He laughed so hard he was nearly in tears. "Believe me I have much better things to do than hiding under your bed."

Dimitri grumbled something foul under his breath then regained his composure. "My point is everyone is so scared of you, but here you are, my prisoner, you're completely defenseless,"

"Oh, but I'm not defenseless, I could easily snap your neck right now, but it would break Coraline's heart and I've been trying not to kill people anymore. I could escape if I wanted to the only reason I'm still here is because I want to be."

Dimitri starred him down trying to determine if he was bluffing or not to no avail. "If you can leave then why are you choosing to stay?"

"Coraline is in the fight of her life against the King of Shadows and the last thing she needs is your interference, I'm here to distract you."

The earth shook again. This time lighting struck the top of the castle short circuiting the power.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's time for you to decide who you are and who's side you're on. We can fight together as brothers to defeat this foe or you can stand with the King of Shadows, who thinks of you as nothing more than a puppet and be forced to fight against me and your best friend. You can stand with me or get out of my way, what will it be?"