(This will be an ongoing 'finale' starring Blixt and Dond. For more info on their rivalry, please read Hooves of Lightning as well as Masked Beauty.)

His first steps into the Forest, he caught the whiff in the air. He could smell it in the breeze, he could smell him! As quickly as this happened, a doe was walking by him. "You there!", Dond called to the doe, who stopped and tilted her head at him, "Do you know a deer named Blixt?" "I've heard of him.", the doe replied.

"As I thought...", Dond thought. Blixt was alive. Without a reply, he continued on, smelling the air once again for his rival's scent.

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Quad took a long, deep sip of the pond water. As he raised his head, he saw his brother standing there. "Hello, Blixt!", he said, bending down to take another sip of the drink. "Hello, brother.", the green stag replied, taking a drink of the water himself. The two sat up and looked to one another. Quad tilted his head for a moment, "Where did your mask go?", he asked. Blixt shook his head, "I don't need it anymore, I don't need to hide who I am. I gave it away to a stranger."

"Come, I need to discuss some things with you.", Blixt continued. "Sure, sure.", Quad replied, and the two walked off toward the Ruins.

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Dond followed the scent to the Pond. He stopped there, taking a deep breath. Blixt was here, not too long ago. He just missed his foe. There was nobody else around, so Dond spoke to himself, "What if he has trained this whole time? What if he has surpassed me in strength and will? I will find him, but I must have the guarantee to defeat him..."

"That can be arranged...", someone spoke nearby - a raspy, feminine voice. It startled Dond for the moment as from the shadows underneath the old bridge crept a slender, black stoat. She stared up to him with piercing grey eyes, and her body seemed to drip a black ooze. Dond, curious, spoke to her, "What can you do to make me stronger?"

The infectious stoat raised up on her hind paws, maneuvering her tail before her and forming strange shapes with the infection that dripped from them. The shapes hardened and turned into gold pieces - rings of armor, gauntlets, and a helmet with intricate patterns upon them. Dond watched eagerly as she put the finishing touches on the armor before stepping back. "This armor will increase your strength, speed, and endurance greatly. Any foe of yours will bow to your hooves and beg for death!", Iugulare spoke to him.

"Perfect! And what would you ask in return?", Dond asked her.

"Oh nothing...", Iugulare lied, "Nothing at all." She vanished at that point, her liquid body seeping into the ground. Dond heard one last thing from her voice, "Blixt has gone northeast from here, to a place called the Ruins. Move quickly and you will catch him easily."

Dond heeded the words, bolting from the pond in the direction Iugulare spoke. His anger grew with each hoof he thrust on the ground.

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"Do you hear something?", Quad asked, his ears perked up. Blixt listened as well, and at once his heart sunk. "It can't be...", the green stag spoke.

At that moment, they saw the armored rival appear over one of the hills nearby. "Blixt!! The end has come for you! Face me!", Dond roared at him.

"Is that...?", Quad began, and Blixt nodded. "He has returned. I hoped this would not happen, but the fight must be done." The green stag approached his rival, looking up at him on the hill. "I have no quarry with you anymore, Dond. Why don't we put all this aside.", Blixt spoke.

"Never! I've waited a year for this day, and nobody will take it from me!", Dond spat back.

"Come on, this is foolish!", Quad said from afar. As he started to approach, Dond turned toward him, and without warning charged. "Quad, look out!", Blixt shouted, but Dond was too fast, and his antlers clashed with Quad's.

The attack was so powerful that Quad was thrown back a few feet, his antlers shattering. Blixt ran to his brother's side, who stumbled to his hooves, out of breath but otherwise unharmed. "I'm fine, I'll get new antlers! But that strength...!", Quad assured Blixt, but then his eyes opened, "That armor! He must have gotten that from Iugulare!"

"Hmph...armor or not, Blixt will fall to my antlers! Face me, my enemy, and we will settle this once and for all!", Dond roared once again.

Blixt took a stance. "Blixt, don't! Don't give him the opportunity!", Quad pleaded, but the green stag approached his rival. And when they were in range, the two locked antlers. Quad watched as Dond was clearly overpowering Blixt, but the green stag fought back as much as he could, showing his own impressive, unaided strength. The fight would last for a few moments, as Dond's armor gave him greater strength. He threw Blixt to the ground with enough force that the an impression was left in the dirt, the sound was booming. Blixt tried to get up but his body was in too much pain. He gasped for air, expecting Dond to finish him off at that point.

And that was exactly what Dond wanted to do, but at that moment, a voice popped in his head. "Your time is up. You belong to me now.", he heard Iugulare seem to speak to him.

"Wha...?", Dond questioned, and at once, the armor he wore liquefied into Iugulare's infection, the black goo engulfing his body. The once powerful stag cried out in pain, the infection burning his body all over. He lost his footing and hit the ground hard, writhing in agony.

Quad helped Blixt to his hooves. The green stag looked to his brother, "We have to help him, Quad!", he spoke. "Are you sure? He was about to...", Quad began, but Blixt interrupted him, "I don't care about all that. No one should suffer this kind of torture!"

Quad nodded, and channeling from deep within, his back sprouted the gift the Twin Gods gave him - his Grand Talux wings. The stag's body shimmered a brilliant white, and he immediately stood over the suffering Dond. "Relax your body! Let the light kill off the infection!", Quad instructed him.

At that moment, the area was engulfed in a blinding light. Blixt shielded his eyes, and just as quickly as it appeared, the light vanished. Quad's wings faded, and he stepped away, looking down at Dond. The rival's body was burned, but he was cured of the infection.

Blixt stepped toward Dond, and the rival at once asked, "You...you saved me...after I was...?" "Yes, but really Quad did. You are lucky he was here, most who are infected don't survive.", Blixt replied, and began to walk off, "Come on, Quad. We need to ask the Twin Gods to restore your antlers."

"Blixt, wait!", Dond sat up, painfully but he was able to look upon the green stag correctly now. "How could you be like this now? After the anger we had before?", he asked.

The green stag let out a sigh and said, "Because I moved on. I was given the opportunity to live here, my mind is much clearer. Maybe if you ask the Twin Gods, they will forgive you for your actions, and you may be able to move on yourself."

He and Quad walked off, not saying another word to Dond, whose mind was cluttered but soon realized that the conflict was over. He would find Blixt again the following day, but from that moment on, the two looked to one another with respect rather than as bitter rivals.