I went for the stone yet again.

Pain burst in my left shoulder and I screamed.

I was pinned up against the stage.

The cloth fluttered away from my grasp.

My gaze riveted on the Zombie that had just impaled me with a slender metal pipe.

Stars sparked behind my eyes as I reached up with my good hand and drove my dagger into the Zombie's brain.

Tears would have been flooding my face if I could cry. The pole was too long for me to pull out myself and I couldn't move.

"Help!" I shouted, forcing my words on the air so that another Tracker could hear.

Colin appeared beside me.

His mouth was set in a harsh line. He grabbed the pole. "You could bleed to death if I take this out."

"I'm Drow." I gave a loud grown. "I'll heal. Just do it." He took a firm grip on the pole and jerked it from my arm.

I screamed again. It hurt so badly that I could feel myself starting to black out from the pain.

Blood flowed down my bare arm, flooding over my suit.

"I'm fine." I stumbled away from Colin. "Have to get the keystone." The bursts of green and orange light filled the air like a pyrotechnics show.

People in the crowd who hadn't been changed into Hosts obviously thought it was part of the show from their laughter and shouts of appreciation. They continued to sing along with Sinatra.

But more panicked sounds, more shrieks of terror, were starting to fill the air.

Blood pounded at my temples.

I had to hurry.

The Sentients were taking over Host bodies. Amory's mere presence was allowing the change to begin.

I held my arm to my chest, gritting my teeth, and almost passed out again when my knees hit the ground.

With my good hand I reached for the cloth and clenched it in my fist.

My head was yanked back and I cried out.

A Zombie had a tight grip on my hair.

Colin came up from behind the Zombie and beheaded it with his sword.

Screams came from all around as those close realized this was no show.

At once the Zombie released my hair and I dropped onto my one hand, the cloth still in my fist.

I shifted my body so that I was balanced on my knees and snatched the stone up in the cloth.

Blood continued to pour down my arm from the wound and I felt lightheaded. I could bleed to death if I wasn't careful.

Stumbling, I somehow managed to get to my feet.

I tossed the stone onto the stage.

It rolled between the two Sorcerers.

Desmond's multicolored bursts of magic like small lighting, laser-like charges appeared out of his fingers and struck Amory.

Amory looked stunned as a multicolored sparkling liquid gel form of him began to be pulled slowly from his body. The gel was attached to him and was being stretched out toward the keystone.

Desmond's power must have been drawing his essence out.

A supernatural tug of war.

It was happening so fast Amory had a look of horror on his face.

"No!" he bellowed when he saw the stone. His image shot back into himself.

Suddenly out of Amory's liquefied form his magic flew out, full of sparks and multicolored laser lights, and the same amoeba and plasma appearance of Desmond's multicolored magic.

Amory's magic came at Desmond's in such a powerful blast it lit up Desmond's entire body. I saw Desmond's form start to be pulled out of him-just like Amory's had.

I held my free hand to my shoulder, pressing against the wound, trying to stop the flow of blood as I nearly held my breath. I could do nothing but watch this supernatural tug of war. A tug of war that held the earth in the balance.

Sinatra sang on, as if there and oblivious to what was happening.

Desmond thrust back at Amory with an even brighter glow.

The battle between them looked evenly matched, their magic meeting at the middle, over the keystone.

But then Amory took control.

In the bright flare of light, Desmond appeared to grow pale. His features slackened as he weakened under Amory's assault.

Desmond's liquefied image moved from his body again, only more fully, and began stretching out toward the center of the stage, where the stone was.

It broke free and the floating blob form continued to move toward the stone.

I released pressure on my shoulder.

I grabbed my buckler from the center of my weapons belt.

Raised it and flung it at Amory.

The buckler bounced off a shield protecting Amory and landed on the stage instead of returning to me.

A shield. The Sorcerer had shielded himself.

My hopes sank.

I glanced at Desmond who was struggling against the pull of Amory's magic.

Then renewed determination strengthened Desmond's features. His image began to retract back into himself.

Amory gave a cry of rage and I saw a renewed glow coming from him.

Desmond's image wavered.

Something needed to happen. Desmond couldn't do this himself no matter what he'd thought.

He was losing the battle.

We were losing the battle.

Waves of agony made me weak.

Still I hurried, running on the asphalt beside the stage.

I ran to the left of the stage, until I was behind Amory.

Every jostle of someone from the now screaming crowd made me come close to passing out.

I held back a shout of pain when I used my air element to raise me to the level of the stage.

On my knees and one hand I scooted onto the stage.

I looked at Amory's backside as I rested on my haunches.

My vision swam as I watched the powerful ripple of muscles beneath his tunic as he fought. I noticed the shine of lights on his bald head.

I reached across my body and drew my remaining dagger. Slowly I got to my feet and started toward the Sorcerer.

"Nyx!" Colin's shout morphed into a roar as an enormous Dragon rose beside the stage.

The Dragon breathed fire and smoke at Amory. It rolled over his shield, showing that the Sorcerer was completely encompassed.

There was nothing I could do.

Maybe it was the pain that had made me forget that the Sorcerer was shielded. Or maybe it was something inside me that didn't want to admit that I couldn't do something.

I stood behind Amory feeling impotent as I cradled my arm to my chest.

The stage trembled from the power of the magic battle raging.

A battle that looked like it wasn't going well for Desmond. Not the way his face had paled again.

My grip on my elements felt weaker and I didn't know how much longer I could stand.

I looked at Amory's feet. The stage he was standing on.

And wondered why I hadn't thought of it sooner. If I could catch Amory off guard, maybe that would be what Desmond needed.

Dizzy from loss of blood, I braced myself with my feet shoulder-width apart. I raised my good arm as I called to my earth element.

I imagined the earth cracking open as everything began to shake and rock. Then I called to my water element, drawing water from the closest main.

Water, earth, and asphalt exploded through the stage where the Sorcerer was standing just feet from me.

The stage bucked and I fell to my knees.

Amory shouted in surprise as he lost his footing.

He started falling through the gaping hole in the stage.

The orange glow of his magic wavered. Amory had lost concentration.

Desmond's power strengthened.

The thick green glow of Desmond's magic reached Amory and encompassed him in a bubble.

Amory cried out as the magic caught him and held him above the rent in the stage, keeping him from falling into the hole I'd created.

Desmond's power pinned Amory's arms to his sides.

Laser-like illumination shot from him, striking and lighting up Amory.

And then Amory began slipping from himself.

I watched, transfixed at the image of Amory being pulled again from his body straight toward the stone.

"No, no, noooooooo!" He gave a painful, agonized cry.

Amory's entire body shuddered and trembled.

"Yes." The word came from Desmond with the sound of vengeance and determination behind it.

The image of Amory reached the stone.

And then it was sucked down, whirling, like water down a drain into the stone.

"New York, New York ... New York..."

Sinatra's powerful ending strain sailed through Times Square as the Sorcerer vanished.