“No!” Donna looked petrified. She looked at Gilraen and for once, Gilraen looked back. She was still crying silently. “You knew?” “Please, Donna. I couldn't possibly feel any worse!” Donna wasn't listening. “The professionals couldn't figure out how she died. There was no evidence of anything…Gilraen, why didn't you tell me?!” Donnas eyes we're now brimming with tears aswell. Kai had had just about enough of all this. “Come on! This stalling has gone on long enough!” “It wasn't stalling. I was just telling everyone what had happened so that they wouldn't be confused and also I took all the pressure off you, Kai. If I had killed her without the explanation, you would've had to tell the whole story.” There was a long silence. Then Tyson spoke. “Kai, when did all this happen?” Kai looked from the floor to Tyson. “At the Russian tournament.” There were more murmours to follow this. Donna gasped and spun round, facing Adrian. “You mean-?!” “Yes.” Said Adrian, “I'm sure you all remember Adam, my brother!” “Adam!” Tyson blurted out, “The guy organising the tournament! He's your brother?” Adrian stepped into the corridor and turned back, facing them. “Yes, he is my brother. And now, I would appreciate it if you lot would stay out of the way of my source of power. PYTHAGANITE! GO!” A huge bit beast rose from behind him. It was the biggest anyone had ever seen. It was like a giant snake. At once there was a chorus of people yelling out their bitbeasts names. “Dragoon!” “Draciel!” “Drafite!” “Deana!” “Danta!” Rei remained in the corner, his blade was still lying where he had dropped it. Kenny set Dizzi down on the floor and looked for weaknesses in the blade. Kai was still standing at the wall, waiting for opportunities to go and untie Gilraen, while Adrian was distracted. Pythaganite was a lot stronger than they had thought. He ceased Drafite and Deana at the same time and threw them so hard, both blades smashed through the window. Emma and Lauri we're so shocked by this that they didn't even bother going to get their blades. All they could do was watch in horror as the huge snake grabbed Danta and squeezed it hard, until it lost all its energy and returned to its blade, which then stopped spinning. Donna, Lauri and Emma were all shocked at their defeats. But Max and Tyson were ready to take the bit beast on. Now it was their turn. “Draciel, go!” Draciel did its best to attack the snake, but as Draciel was better at defence, Pythaganite had an advantage. Kai seized this opportunity and made a dash towards Gilraen. Unfortunately, Adrian saw this. Pythaganite threw Draciel into Dragoon and they both sped into the wall. “Pythaganite, get him away!” he pointed at Kai. Pythagonite smashed the end of its tail in the tiny space in between Kai and Gilraen. The force sent Kai flying backwards. The bitbeast then advanced towards Gilraen. “Kill her!” “STOP!” Donna made a move towards Gilraen, right in the path of the bitbeast. As Rei realised this he went from being huddled in the corner, to the centre of the room in half a second. He grabbed Donna by the arm. Donna fought against him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Donna, this won't help!” Rei tried to reason with her, but Donna wasn't having it. “DON'T KILL HER!” It happened in about 2 seconds. Donna broke free of Reis clutches. “No!” Rei yelled as she ran straight into the path of the giant snake. Kai got up, hearing Rei yell. He dove to save Donna, but Emma got there first. Forcing her to the ground, the bit-beast missed them. Then it turned around and dived down straight at them. They both looked petrified, but then… “DRAGOON!” Something blocked the way of the bitbeast. Sure enough, it was Tysons bit beast, Dragoon. While the blue dragon shielded them, Emma and Donna made a break for it. Donna ran back, straight into Reis arms, but Emma ran in the other direction and now that Adrian was distracted, helped Kai untie Gilraen. They started to make a break for it, but then, as Adrians bit beast threw Dragoon straight into the door, he ordered Pythaganite to attack. The beast seized Gilraen and squeezed her tightly, the same thing it had done to Danta. Gilraen screamed as the snake lifted its tail and threw her hard against the brick wall. “Now, my powerful bitbeast! Attack!” At once, the snake dove at Gilraen, who was standing, just about, but was very weak. Gilraen turned her head away to avoid its teeth and felt one of its fangs sink slowly into her neck. She screamed and fell to the floor, trying to wrench the fang out of her neck. Adrian was, once again doing his evil smile “Yes, come on. Poison her. Suck out her blood. Kill her.” Gilraen was looking weaker and weaker, until she went completely white and fell to the floor. Pythaganite released his fang from her neck and drew back. Gilraen stayed on the floor. Everyone stood round, silently, waiting for the moment of truth. “Oh no, she's gone.” came Tysons' voice. He blinked furiously. Everyone else looked at the floor. Kai clenched his teeth and ran towards her. On his knees, he lifted her. He looked at her lifeless body and squeezed her hand in his. His lip trembled and he got a huge lump in the back of his throat. “Gilraen.” As he said her name, he burst into tears. Even with all those people behind him, he had never felt so alone. Donna too, was crying into Reis chest. He had both of his arms around her. “Kai, I'm so sorry we couldn't save her.” Kai hated the way he said that. He didn't want to believe she was dead. He was just getting ready to give up and let her go, when he felt her move. She shifted her arm. “Gilraen!” Kai tried to call to her, but he didn't get a response. He lowered his head and more tears fell. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Gilraen! Gilraen, come on. You'll make it. Please don't die, Gilraen. Please don't die!” He didn't know if anyone could hear him. He was really just talking to himself and he knew it. Before lowering her to the ground, he whispered one more time “Gilraen, please don't die.” “Kai…” came a whisper back. Gilraen had opened her eyes. A bit of her colour was coming back, but she still looked pale. “Kai…I can't.”