Zechs held the sword in his hands, carefully turning it over in the sunlight. As he held it in the river, the water flowed up and skipped around the shining metal, twisting and sculpting the light in Zechs’ eyes. He looked over the curved form of the crosshilt and the perfectly crafted blade. The "sister blade of the Epyon," he had heard it called. He knew it by the name Zero, for none had escaped its fatal sting once they were set as its victim. He only wished that Treize had gotten it to him sooner.

"Sir," he heard behind him, and turned around. Quinze was waiting there.

"Yes, Quinze?" he asked. The darkness of the entrance to the caves gaped behind him.

"The men have prepared," Quinze replied. He drew a dark rock from a pouch on his belt and showed it to Zechs. "And the Spell Stone is adequately strengthened."

"Good," said Zechs, rising and sheathing the Zero. "Have them assemble."

He followed Quinze to where the other three members of their force were waiting. At a wave from Quinze, they assembled into a circle, with their palms touching. They began to chant quietly, and as the force of the magic gathered, Zechs looked around at their faces. His three most loyal, and strongest, apprentices: Walker, Otto, and Trant, young, strong, and ready to follow him to their graves. If that’s what it takes, thought Zechs.

Zechs realized that Quinze was talking to him. "…no match for it," he was saying. "They’re old, burned out, and don’t have the strength they used to."

"Of course," said Zechs. "The Five masters will fall easily. Just be sure to get back quickly as soon as you’re finished with them."

"Sure," said Quinze, and ducked into the center of the circle. He closed his eyes and joined in the chanting. In a few seconds a shining darkness in the air, that could almost have been one’s imagination, surrounded him, and he vanished.

As soon as he was gone, the three dark apprentices separated and turned to their master. "Can we go now?" asked Trant. "We are wasting time."

"Patience," said Zechs, "is an important virtue. There is one thing we must do first, to weaken their forces."

"What do we need to weaken them for?" asked Otto.

"They are strong," said Zechs. "We must take all precautions against letting them have an advantage." He put his hands together and began muttering a chant. It was a familiar chant, one they all knew: a Puppet Spell.

"There," said Zechs when he was finished. He looked at them. "Now we may enter. Find the apprentices as quickly as possible and destroy them. But," he said, and his gaze grew strong and his eyes narrow, "if you find the one with the Epyon of Ironblood, leave him for me."

The apprentices nodded, and followed him into the dark mouth of the caves.

Danger is here. He is here…. Heero heard the woman’s voice and sensed him, Zechs. He was indeed here. He opened his eyes and saw Dorothy, moving to wake Quatre. Trowa and Duo were already rising.

Quatre fought his way up out of a deep sleep and opened his eyes to see Dorothy standing over him. "They’re here," she said.

Quatre sat up and stood, looking around. The others were already strapping on there swords, and Duo was heading for the door, his eyes alight with the fire of battle but his face grim. Heero joined him, and they disappeared into the passageway. Quatre grabbed his bow and arrows and started after them, but a low, cold voice behind him said, "Quatre."

A shiver of terrified realization gripped him, and he turned slowly, to see Dorothy standing, a sword in each of her hands, with a sinister black light shining from her eyes.

Heero ran ahead of the others, stretching out his senses, searching for something… some clue to follow in this labyrinth of darkness….

He stopped, and Duo ran into him. "Hey, what is it Heero?" he whispered.

Heero looked to his left. There was a passage there, and it was wider than most of the others. "Zechs is waiting for me," he said, and ran off down the passageway.

"Hey, Heero!" Duo called, "You gonna take him alone?" He started after him.

Wufei also started to follow, but Trowa put a hand on his shoulder. "We have to find Zechs’ apprentices," he said. "Heero has to fight Zechs alone."

Meanwhile, Duo continued down the passage, calling, "Heero, wait! You—" He stopped as a figure stepped out in front of him. "Hey, who’s there?"

The figure stepped into the light of a lantern on the wall. He was older than Duo, with a mop of unruly hair. "Trant Clark," he said, and pulling his sword, rushed at Duo with a cry.

Trowa and Wufei heard the sound, but before they could start down the passage to help Duo, two more figures stepped out in front of them. One had curly dark hair and a large, peaked nose, and the other was as young as they were, with blond hair and large eyes. Wufei and Trowa looked at each other, and drew their swords. 

Heero did not hear Trant’s cry as he ran down the passageway. Following his senses, he took no turns into the side passages, but continued on straight for several minutes. Finally, he stopped. He could hear rushing water up ahead.

Putting on a final burst of speed, Heero emerged into a huge underground cave. On one edge of the space a great pool bubbled and ran over into a small river, which continued along the floor until it reached a ledge where half of the floor of the cave fell away into a great waterfall. Heero walked across the stone floor to the edge of the waterfall and looked over. Below was a great churning lake, filled with crags and jagged rocks. The water flowed out the other side into a dark tunnel. This was the true source of the river.

Heero turned, very slowly. Zechs was standing beside the bubbling spring. In his hand was a sword with a curved crosshilt, and a blade as perfect as the Ironblood’s.

"What is that?" Heero called, drawing his own sword.

"You do not know of the sister blade of the Ironblood?" Zechs replied calmly. He began to walk towards Heero. "It’s name is the Zero."

"I have heard of it," Heero replied, and began pacing towards Zechs warily. "I thought it had been destroyed by the first Heero Yuy."

"That is what they would have you believe," Zechs said, and stopped. The breeze kicked up by the waterfall made his long hair wave slightly. "Dekim Barton stole it from him, and kept it hidden all these years, until it could fulfill the ancient prophesy and face the Epyon of Ironblood in battle."

"Dekim Barton?" said Heero. "Was he your master?"

"Before he died, yes. He taught me the dark arts, and that is how I was able to decipher the Book of Meteors for my new master, Lord Treize."

"Your apprentices came with you?" asked Heero.

"They did," said Zechs. "And they should be dealing with your friends right now." He raised the Zero in front of his face and turned its blade sideways. Heero did the same, and they both dug their heels against the rock and prepared to attack.

Dorothy held out a hand and dropped one of the swords. It clattered loudly as it hit the ground. Quatre looked at it, and back at her. "What’s the idea?"

"I am commanded to kill you," Dorothy said; her voice held no emotion. "You must be given an honorable chance to fight back."

Quatre looked hard at her. "Dorothy, I cannot fight you. Look deep within yourself, resist it. I know you’re in there, and I know what it’s like—"

Before he had a chance to say another word, Dorothy launched herself at him, the sword brought to an attacking angle. Quatre ducked, snatched the sword on the ground, and rolled to his feet, facing Dorothy. Even though he wasn’t experienced with a sword, her skills were at least less than his.

"Please, Dorothy," he said. His voice was quiet, his eyes pleading. "I don’t want to hurt you."

In response, Dorothy swung the sword again at him; he brought up his own weapon to deflect the blow. He forced his arms upwards and she stumbled back, bracing herself for another attack.

Quinze was standing between two large trees in the middle of a birch forest. The white, scarred trunks rose to a dappled, light green canopy as far as he could see. He reached out with all the magician’s senses he had, but could not detect the presence of the Five magicians.

Had the transportation spell not worked? It was supposed to take him straight to them–

"It seems you have underestimated us," came the perpetually amused voice from behind him. Quinze jumped and spun around to see them standing together, twenty feet away among the trees. Master J bowed slightly, mockingly. "Hello again to you, Quinze. It seems that you have not grown much since you began your training under Zechs; you still can’t see through a cloaking spell."

Quinze growled and hunched his head between his shoulders. "If I wanted to remain weak I would have stayed in training under you." He spat on the ground. "I have come to do a deed in Zechs’ name."

"We know," said Master G, Duo’s instructor. "Zechs couldn’t be bothered to come attend to us himself, I suppose. Too busy dealing with our apprentices – they’re quite a handful, aren’t they?" He chuckled.

Quinze’s eyes narrowed. "Enough," he said. "I’m here to finish you once and for all!" As he spoke, he lifted the Spell Stone before him. Even as he began to shout the incantation, the five magicians raised they’re arms and called in unison a counterattack.

Light shone in great beams from the Spell Stone, and birds and creatures fled as the ground began to shake. Quinze paused in the spell, and finally cried out the final word of it. A great blast of sweeping white energy flowed forth from the stone; it barreled forward, shredding the thick trunks of the trees in its path. As it neared the magicians, however, it slowed, and the end of it hung suspended, rolling and boiling as it tried to get nearer to them. Great rumbling cracks sounded through the forest, and the very air seemed to be crackling and burning away from the blast.

Quinze dug his feet into the dirt and pushed his arms forward. "Be gone from this world!" he cried, and the white energy surged forward over the magicians, and enveloped them. As it did, the stream of the blast stopped, suspended, and after a hanging second, rolled outward in a catastrophic explosion. It swept over Quinze; his last scream was drowned out by the deafening roar of the energy burning through the forest. The two great trees on either side of him were ripped from their very roots with a sickening crack and thrown forward, incinerated in a matter of seconds.

The blast’s energy sank, humming dully as the white flaming air cooled and thinned, and in as much time as it had formed, dissipated into the air and was gone.

It had left nothing untouched. Within three hundred yards of where Quinze had stood was bare, scorched ground, most of the trees gone and what remained of them merely blackened logs. Total silence seared the air.

Quinze, and the Five Great Magicians, were gone.

Stay tuned for Part 7 of Ironblood

Next Time: The battle continues against Zechs’ dark apprentices, while Quatre faces Dorothy and Heero and Zechs fight their own private battle against each other. Meanwhile, Wufei discovers the secret behind Treize’s dark schemes….