Completed The Amalgamation

[Lazule]

The name. Heard.

The voice. Familiar.

Lazule had no innate senses. Those all belonged to Lena--her body. Lazule was raw consciousness, with no sight or ear or scent or taste or touch of the world around.

But Caliane, with her command of fire through magic, could communicate directly with Lazule. Thus, the hearing of her voice.

And Lazule responded in kind, able to speak in Caliane's mind through the conduit of magic.

Caliane.

A pause.

I was not truthful with you back at the Gilded Vale. I was not truthful with Erën until now. I have lied, directly or through willful omission, about myself all my life. For that I am sorry.

Another pause.

Will you still help me? Father, my creator, will know what to do. He lives in a Tower in the mountains of the Spine, more north than west of Belgrath.

Lazule knew only that a new body would be required. One with the heart removed. Just like Lena's. Lazule was unaware of any other procedures that Father may have done.

If nothing else, please tell Erën thank you. For his aid in hunting Zeng and stopping the Ancient Dweller from rising. For his effort to save me here. He is a good soul. As are you, Caliane.

Father was wrong about the Avariel.

Maybe, if Caliane agreed to do this, he would see.

Caliane Ruinë Xyrdithas

 

[Zeri Rekani]

0.48KM OUT​

GET BACK.

The lone warrior, the brave lone warrior who had chosen to stand alone against the Amalgamation in defense of her home, noticed her. Despite the totality of everything happening, her cheeks immediately flushed. He was like the heroes of legend, they who were immortalized in song and tale alike, and he had noticed her.

This moment of girlish admiration did not in the slightest abate the fear she felt--merely existed alongside it. And, in the seconds that followed, the fear consumed this pleasant feeling entirely.

The lone warrior, seemingly on account of his attention shifting to her and off of the Amalgamation, met with disaster. The Amalgamation swatted at him, one of the Spawns formed and tackled him, and he and it fell from that great height toward the ground.

Zeri gasped. Said meekly, "No, no, no!"

The lone warrior was falling. Others on the Amalgamation, those armored men, were dying. And the former may well have been her fault.

The lone warrior hit the ground, cushioning the blow by turning the Spawn around near the end of his descent, and he lay there next to the last adventurer.

And the Spawns on the ground rushed to close in on them.

* * * * *​

Ivaserin cursed when he saw Jirou fall from the Beast's massive height. But the man crashed down beside him, and he yet lived. Gods, what a sight. It snapped Ivaserin out of his awestruck reverie at his own luck. Brought him back to the horrid reality around him.

That he was still within the vicinity of the Amalgamation, and that the Spawns--now that only he and Jirou were left alive--were dashing toward them both.

Ivaserin crouched down. Used what scraps of strength he had left to lift Jirou up to his feet and drape the man's good arm around his shoulders such that he could assist him in walking.

"Come on. Come on," Ivaserin said. Taking the first painful step back toward the Line. The Line that was so distant in their beleaguered states that it might as well have been on Liadain.

It was hopeless. He knew it was hopeless. There was no chance that he or Jirou could escape the Spawns or the Amalgamation Itself.

But he wouldn't close his eyes and wait for it this time. No. He would die trying.

Ivaserin could hear them. The Spawns.

Closing in.

Their feet and their hands scrambling fiercely in the dirt on their approach.

The Spawns came within striking distance--

And stopped.

They all stopped. All at once. Each standing in a docile manner.

Ivaserin glanced at the swarm of them with amazement.

Then one massive fist of the Amalgamation pressed down calmly to the earth right beside Ivaserin and Jirou. The Beast was down on all fours in Its simian fashion again, and It was leaning Its head--with a reformed eye--down toward something.

An orcish girl.

* * * * *​

Zeri shivered and shook uncontrollably. Her spear spilled from her grasp and fell to the dirt. She had gotten the Beast's attention. Exactly like she had seen It do before, It leaned forward and down on Its fists to gaze and--more importantly--all of the Spawns had stopped.

She may have helped cause the lone warrior to fall and suffer injuries, but she at least made up for it to some degree by distracting the Beast and stopping the Spawns. So she thought. It gave the lone warrior and the elf some time to get away, if nothing else.

But now what? The lone warrior was hurt, the elf was hurt, those armored men were dead; the adventurers vanguard was no more. Now what? Who else was there to capitalize on this? Would the Line come forward? Would they not? Everything worked out well enough in her mind...up to this point.

The Amalgamation lowered Its head. Closer and closer. That supreme darkness drawing nearer to her. The very air around It burned away the cool morning. Steam continued to hiss from the vents and ruptures opened from the slaying of Spawns and Its own injuries.

Zeri thought her heart was going to burst. Her skin felt like an agitated colony of ants, squirming up and down the branches of her limbs and the trunk of her torso.

The Amalgamation brought Its head within arm's reach of Zeri's own. Stared down at her like a thing out a nightmare, there even when you woke up, peering down at you from above as you lay still in your bed. Frigid eyes locked solely onto her. She could almost feel it...drinking in some aspect of her with those horrid eyes. She smelled something in the air. Something odd. Citrus.

The sword of the lone warrior, the hilt of it, stuck out from one of the Beast's eyes.

Zeri whimpered and closed her eyes and slowly turned her head away. Her teeth chattered and her knees quivered.

She had stopped It. Bought time for the evacuation, for something to happen.

This lonely thought was the only thing keeping her standing.

* * * * *​

Khorvayne observed from afar.

Brought her hand up again to snap her fingers.

Then.

Thought to wait.

To see if an opportunity presented itself.

 

[Eren'thiel Xyrdithas]

The sword fell to his side, freed by the weakness of his grasp as he leaned one way. He held his hand out against the ground to steady him, and his eyes cast down. He held Lazule's fire close as he stumbled, sure not to endanger her.

So tired... so weak...

Then, as warm fingertips touched his cheeks and dirt was softly wiped from his face, Erën's eyes rose to meet hers.

"Keep fighting, Erën, they need you,"

I... have to...

His heartbeat became soft. His vision spun, and grew dark. The warmth of her touch began to cool. His grip on the Flame, loosened.

Then her lips met his.

In that moment he felt a rush surge through his entire body. The strength in his arms returned. His heart jolted with life. And light filled his eyes. He felt not the heat of the inferno that stretched and crackled across his skin, but a heat within that had lone ago grown cold.

A dying fire, invigorated with new life.

She withdrew from him, and he remained there - shocked. Careful eyes remained entranced upon hers, and wordlessly he handed her the case.

Her smile...

He rose to his feet. Though his face held a stern determination, his eyes softened and he placed his hand over his chest and bowed his head affectionately as she departed. He watched her ascend for a moment with a thankful heart. And then his eyes descended down upon the battlefield.

He took up the sword, which erupted in blue flame within his hand. He drew it up, and measured his foes. Then he sprung forth, and fought his way back now towards the beast which now was nearly upon the city.

With his strength restored and even heightened by Caliane's power, he smote the fiends before him leaving nothing but smoldering corpses in his wake. Before long, he was once more alongside remaining Swords and together they advanced toward the beast. As they came nearer they spotted Ivaserin and Jirou, injured and beasts nearly upon them.

"Around them!" he ordered, and they each leapt to the pair's aid to garner them a moment longer to flee. But as they descended from the sky around the two, the beasts stopped. All of them stopped. Two Swords leapt aside as the Amalgamation's great fist was planted against the ground. But as the beast knelt down and leaned forward, and others hesitated - even his warriors - he did not.

There was fire in him again.
​

He leapt forth onto the creatures lumbering, massive arm, nimbly hurling himself up, up and up. He ran along its arm. Its head leaned down, peering at what he could not see. Its neck stretched out. He took up the blazing sword. As he was upon it, light shot out from the sword as he channeled all his newfound might and he swung down hard, seeking to behead the massive beast.

 

[Jirou]

All sound ceased. No, not ceased. It was deafened. The view of it all becoming clearer and clearer as Ivaserin held him up. The man again standing still in awe. He turned to see Erën and Caliane's embrace. To think they were here. And alive. His mind smiled. Yet his face could not muster the strength to do anything. He could feel it.

Yuuna had left already. He knew her power would not exist forever. He thought this would be his death. The Amalgamation looking at Zeri, that poor girl. What could he do? He was defeated...

Then he saw him once again.

Erën. His might. His determination. And it came back to him.

This monster did not deserve victory.
This monster did not deserve his death.
He owed this monster nothing.

Sound came back. The low roar of the creature in Zeri's face. He snapped to, thoughtless shoving Ivaserin's arm off of him with his left hand. He bolted. Stepping in front of Zeri. Erën reminded him who he was.

The beast dies, so does its spawns. He didn't bother looking at them. The massive amounts of spawns coming for him. He reached and drew the blade from the creatures eye with his left hand, and turned it to where the blade faced its throat while he looked in its eyes. He put his fractured arm backward to indicate that Zeri needed to get back.

Erën coming down on its neck. Jirou going for the throat.

It was now or never.

"For every soul you've taken,"

He pulled his arm far back.

"For every home destroyed,"

He brought it forward to The Amalgamations throat with all his might.

"I will drag you to Hell with me."​

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Another person dropped onto the walls of the city to a roaring cheer as Cali flew over their heads, the tips of her wings beginning to glow once again with flame. A few of the soldiers ducked their heads or felt themselves battered by the wind her wings created but it didn't dull their spirit. By the end of today there would be no use in hiding herself; the legend of the Avariel returning would sweep across this nation like wildfire. The thought made her grimace for a moment, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She was listening intently to Lazule.

You owe me no apology, Lazule. I will take you to your father if either of us make it out alive.

There was a thread of humour to her grim comments. Another person hurled out the way of danger and dropped unceremoniously a few feet back. It was getting harder to do this with just one hand, Lazule's flame in her other. She needed to carry her another way.

Lazule I need my hands for this war.

Her reigns on her fire were loosening, her wings now engulfed in flame and her hair quickly following suit. She paused in midair, twisting round to face the Amalgamation that her friends were so valiantly battling. Her breathing was ragged but in that moment it was oddly peaceful, just her and Lazule. She looked to the flame in her hands. After a moments hesitation she broke the glass and cradled the naked flame in her hands instead.

I... I'm going to add you to my soulfire.

Doing so would mean that Lazule for the while would mould entirely with Caliane's being. Two souls would occupy the one body, would be able to command it and use it to how they wanted. Cali was trusting this woman literally with her entire being. Closing her eyes for a beat she took a deep breath and then pushed the green flame into her chest where her heart would be.

When she opened her eyes it wasn't just Cali surveying the scene. Everything Cali felt, Lazule would know as if she were a telepath, but she would be able to also retain her own emotions and essence. Of course any hit to their body, all the tiredness and such, Lazule would also feel.

I really hope you don't get motion sick.

 

[Lazule]

I will take you to your father if either of us make it out alive.

Thank you, Caliane.

I need my hands for this war.

Lazule did not and could not know what was happening with the Amalgamation, and this lack of knowledge was painful. The sacrifice of Lena's body had to mean something, and for this to be so, the monster needed to be slain.

I... I'm going to add you to my soulfire.

Lazule did not know what this meant. What such an action would entail. But to Caliane Lazule gave trust. For Father had been wrong, and Caliane had shown that there was a better way of being for Lazule to attain. A more satisfying completeness. Agency. Freedom. Along with the righteousness of being the Slayer.

And what happened when Lazule was thus joined to Caliane was an utter shock. To go suddenly from nothing but thought and minor magical awareness, to being back inside of a body--replete with a slew of sensory stimulus and new emotional gravitas--was completely overwhelming. Like waking from a black and formless dream and into a starkly foreign world with senses and limbs and pulsating organs alien to all of one's experience that had come before.

An initial moment of panic. This especially so upon realizing that she was not standing on solid ground.

Lazule gasped with Caliane's lungs and mouth. Flailed Caliane's arms and legs in the pitiful manner in which a regular human, having fallen off the edge of a cliff or similar heights, might attempt in some vain way to fly and spare themselves from the rapidly approaching ground which ushered their fate closer and closer.

Lazule had more limbs than normal. She had more limbs than normal. Oh. Wait. Of course. It was fine. Caliane had her wings. She was sharing this body with Caliane. Added to her soulfire. Of course.

With this simple insight acknowledged, and with a few moments' acclimation, Lazule calmed and relinquished control back to Caliane. The intricacies of flight were best left with she who had done so for the whole of her life.

She spoke with Caliane's mouth (even though such was not needed), but, curiously, it was Lena's voice that came forth: "I think...I think I am adjusted now."

Lazule took a moment to use Caliane's eyes to assess the situation from up high. To see the Amalgamation and what It was doing.

And It was...beheaded.

Lazule's Fire warmed and swirled with exhilaration; this feeling leaking into Caliane's heart and bringing with it an accompanying quickening of pace.

This exhilaration, this joy, was soon crushed.

Caliane Ruinë

 

[Zeri Rekani]

0.48KM OUT​

Erën from above.

Jirou from below.

Zeri had opened her eyes and peeked just in time to witness these two warriors, these heroes, decapitate the Beast in a coordinated strike. Its massive head, the size of a great boulder, fell down straight to the earth and the vibration of its impact kickstarted the swell of gleeful triumph Zeri felt in heart. Those two warriors! They were incredible! They saved--

A burst of black steam blew out like a geyser from the severed wound and flung Zeri back a number of paces. Caught in the blast, it was hot and stifling and the smell of citrus smothered her completely in that quick moment. She landed flat on her stomach and hurriedly scrambled up to her feet and went to pick up her spear from the ground.

The Amalgamation reared up again, in the very same manner as It had when Jirou had stabbed through Its eye. It clutched at Its stump of a neck and, strangely, Its head seemed to be having trouble reforming--this in contrast to the other injuries across Its body It had suffered. The great jet of black steam spewed forth from Its neck like the column of smoke rising from a terrible forest fire (and yet another meter of Its bulk shriveled away, shrinking Its overall height to twenty-five meters, in the short time elapsed since decapitation).

Then Its behavior changed suddenly. Disastrously.

* * * * *​

Khorvayne watched from afar as those small figures, mere specks in the distance, managed to cut the head off of her dear Amalgamation.

Oh, It had Its fill, did It not? Basked in and gorged on the potent emotions offered by the few who choose to stand alone. Those bright lights. Delicious and succulent. Of course they would be enticing.

But that was only half of the plan. It still needed to enter Bhathairk. Fulfill Its destiny.

Thus, it was time for the endgame.

Khorvayne sat relaxed on the tree stump and raised up her hand again and pressed her thumb to her middle finger.

Snapped.

Once.

Twice.

* * * * *​

The headless Amalgamation changed Its stance from that of a man clinging to a grievous wound...to that of a man preparing to sprint.

Its head on the ground burst open like a vile egg and birthed another company of Spawns.

The Amalgamation took Its first running step and the wind whipped up by the passing of Its gargantuan leg made Zeri brace herself against the ground to keep from falling. And the Beast went sprinting directly toward the Line and the city beyond, no longer in Its simian gait but with the determined stride of a running champion.

It left Zeri and Jirou and Erën well behind...with the new legion of Spawns created from Its severed bulk. All which began to move again and spring into violent action.

And Ivaserin, brandishing his weapon for the final time, shouted mostly to Zeri, but to the other two as well: "Go! Just go!"

He was the closest among them to the Spawns. And they all descended on him, the venerable elf turned mercenary disappearing in the black swarm of vicious creatures beating him to death and tearing at his limbs.

Zeri had no time to process any of it. No moment of grief or sorrow or anything for the elf who sacrificed himself. Only horror at what she had seen, and horror at what was about to happen.

Zeri ran. Ran as fast as she possibly could. Possibly as fast as she ever had in her entire life. Ran in the wake of the charging Amalgamation, toward the city that was her home and her family--somewhere--within.

And she would be powerless to stop any of the great tragedy which followed.

* * * * *​

There was nothing those of the Line could do. A single volley of arrows was loosed at the charging Amalgamation, nearly every arrow finding its mark and causes hundreds of tiny wounds across the vast bulk of Its body. Those without bows, they who were armed with spears and axes and swords and lances, were far less effective. The Amalgamation, with a complete disregard of them, simply kicked Its way through the center of the Line as a matter of course--It had, apparently, not even intended to do so, as if they who were on the ground were beneath Its notice.

A horrid spray of blood and bodies as the Amalgamation trampled through the two-hundred meter deep Line, kicking and outright crushing scores of orcs and humans and elves and dwarves with each step. Its feet sustained damaged from those courageous and fortunate enough to land a strike on It, but these efforts proved insufficient.

The worst followed as the Amalgamation closed on the Gates.

* * * * *

THE GATES OF BHATHAIRK​

The guards overseeing the evacuation, immediately upon seeing the Amalgamation burst into a sprint some four hundred or so meters distant, tried in vain to stop the civilian populace from pouring out of the Gates. To get them back inside the city and to disperse as quickly as possible away from the Gates.

They were unsuccessful. Panic, and the sheer size of the crowd bottled into the chokepoint of the Gates and the crowd still gathered behind this bottleneck prevented it.

The Amalgamation smashed through the Gates. An enormous spray of destruction flung wildly into the air, and the ground was painted red as Its feet crunched into the mass of civilians packed tightly together.

A horrific scene: the swath paved through the fighting men and women of the Line, and the catastrophic culmination at the destroyed Gates. A river of broken bodies and blood.

Chaos, among those civilians who still lived and were now trapped inside the city with the gargantuan Beast standing just beyond the devastated Gates. Screams and a great mass of terrified movement as they fled down the streets and alleys and anyway possible to put distance between themselves and the Amalgamation.

The headless Amalgamation stood for a moment, that plume of black steam still rising from Its neck, and another meter of height lost.

And It arched Its back and raised Its arms high into the air, like a man trying to cradle the sun in his palms, and Its baleful cry--that bone-rattling horn--issued from Its headless body.

An earthquake from somewhere in the city. Another. A third. A fourth.

In tandem, four thin black Spires matching the Amalgamation in height, sharp and glassy like obsidian, burst up from the Bhathairk Underground--in so doing destroying many homes and scarring the earth--and rose slowly at distant points across the orcish city.

A tether of black and writhing energy snapped into being between two of the Spires. Spread to the other two. And finally into the Amalgamation Itself, straight into Its chest where--if it were a man--Its heart would be.

A great and terrible pentagon was formed by these tethers of energy between the Spires and the Beast, high above the city of Bhathairk below.

The Amalgamation at the tip of the pentagon.

Attempting to fulfill Its destiny.

Xyrdithas Jirou

 

[Eren'thiel Xyrdithas]

Energy flowed through his veins. He burned with righteous fury, driving all his vengeance into the beast with the swing of the blazing sword. As he struck, his energies met another's, and together they tore through the creature's being and severed its massive, grotesque head. A terrible gas spewed from the creature, and he dug his sword into the Amalgamation's grevious and hopefully fatal wound. The blast of dark and putrid energy tore at him, threatening to blow him from the creature's terrible height.

He held on, dearly. Desperately.

His cloth, began to disintegrate. Buckles broke loose and armor tore free. One piece. Then another.

The creature reared in apparent agony, hindering his balance. Still he held on, drawing on more energy... then he slipped. He struck against the beast as he descended, grabbing frantically at something... anything to stop his fall. His hand grasped onto the edge an enormous wound that steamed and roiled as it moved and mended.

His eyes shot up. The sword still stuck deep, glimmering in the light. The beast shifted, allowing him better grasp and he hoisted himself up, drew out his second sword and like he had the first he jammed it into the Amalgamation's abomidable hide. A great jolt, and Erën held on desperately with all his might. Each footfall threw him to and fro, but he grabbed and steadied himself, sinking a knife also in the creature.

His eyes cast down...

The carnage beneath him... the spray of blood reminded him of the mists of pandemonium, thick and red as it was. A great and terrible shaking as the Amalgamation tore through the city's gates and left them in ruin behind them. Debris of all kind pummeled him, but stuck safely to the beast's back he was relatively safe.

His grasp grew tired... he would not hold much longer. He strained up and down, left and right and then he was forced hard into the creatures back as it came to a halt. A spike from it pierced him, and he grunted. Painfully he pulled himself off, and began once more to climb. He tore each blade free and then lodging it once more. As he rose the creature let out a terrible cry, one which droned in his chest and stirred his insides.

He drove upward, exhausted. The beast jeered and swayed as great tendrils of darkness emmeshed with the beast from tall spires that rose up in the distance.

He grasped the ledge of the things shoulder and climbed atop it. This was his last shot. He leapt to the still stuck sword, glowing with power yet. He grasped it, and about him an aura took shape. It crackled, and snapped. Light shot from his eyes, and the sword in his grasp hummed, and violently shook.

Spoiler: father...?

They stood there quietly, swaying with the warm summer breeze. He withdrew from her embrace, and looked into her beautiful blue eyes, and stroked a strand of blond from her face.

"I've missed you too."

Atop the great Amalgamation a bright light sparkled, and down from the sky a great bolt fell and struck just there where he stood. The bright light there at its pinnacle persisted, and drove down deep into the massive beast through the sword. Great fissures split and erupted all across its skin, and light strove from within. And there, just above where the tethers of dark magic joined with the beast, a great opening was made - but the creatures power fought to close it, and slowly it began to tether itself back as whole.

But atop the beast, the light yet persisted... even as his strength waned he refused to relent... forcing all of it now, causing a great backlash from the interior of the creature at him once more as it spewed out to engulf him and then light...

But still the light strove from within...growing weaker...

He would not hold much longer, as the Amalgamation's chest once more began to close - the creature's tremendous evil began to overpower him.

Lazule Caliane Ruinë Jirou

 

[Jirou]

The head came off.
But at what cost?

The stream of black energy swelled and fired upon Jirou immediately. The smell of citrus overwhelming his senses. He was caught dead on by the blast and and knocked backward into the walls behind him. There he sat, vomiting blood into his own lap. Unable to do anything but watch as the beast reared back in preparation to charge forward. Sound vanished once more. His push of strength then would be one of his last.

He could not continue on much longer. His body would not allow it.

Then, The Amalgamation charged. Jirou did not look anywhere but forward since he knew what followed. Every body, every family destroyed by this creature behind him. Small bits of rubble falling into his blood stained lap. He could hear Ivaserin shouting but knew not what he said. His eyes panned to the sky and there he saw Caliane surveying.

Of course. He remembered the window she'd melted. She had fire.

Fire would cleanse this all. Another surge of energy came to him and he stood up. He pointed his blade in the sky toward Caliane and Lazule, letting the green energy flow through it and acting as a beacon. Then he charged through to meet Erën at the beast.

He yelled but he could not hear himself;

"EREN!"

He continued his march, blade risen as high as he could with his off hand.

"WE NEED TO OPEN THE BEASTS NECK!"

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane's body almost dropped from the area due to Lazule's initial panic, her wings crumpling as the girl failed to realise they had another set of limbs they used for this very purpose, her arms and legs trying to gain purchase. It probably looked a little more elegant from afar like she was nose diving towards the ground to pick someone up rather than wrestling with the person inhabiting her body trying to coax them into trusting her that they could indeed fly. Thankfully, she seemed to overcome the fear quickly and Cali snapped her wings back open and took them back to their original position to survey the scene. They were at the far wall, furthest from the creature running at them full pelt.

The same lips Lazule used to talk, Cali used to smile in response.

"It's about to get a lot rougher I'm afraid," the Avairel sighed in that heavenly voice. She didn't need to voice her plan, her friend would be able to see it clear as day. It was, by most peoples understandings, a suicide mission.

She was going to detonate herself inside the creature.

For that, they needed an opening. A silent unspoken question of whether Lazule could conjure her javelins of lighting to help them on her way through the creature as the pair watched the green light from Jirou's sword. Their eyebrow raised as he waved it around like some sort of torch - was he trying to get their attention? Then her eyes moved to Erën. A complicated wave of feelings Lazule was going to now have to pick her way through. Their move could kill both their friends for the safety of an entire city and her conscious was struggling with it immensely. Either way, they seemed to have come to the same idea as she had, at least Jirou had.

"Try not to make us vomit," the speed at which they were about to go would probably mean horrible splash backs. With quickening beats of their wings, they shot into the air with increasing speed before vanishing above the clouds.

The men below only had a short time frame before they fell.

 

[Lazule]

THE GATES OF BHATHAIRK​

A faint but tangible darkness began to manifest in the air around Bhathairk, in stark defiance of the morning's light. It was a strange darkness, not the shadows of shade nor the veil of night, but a darkness that seemed to lurk in and around things. A darkness that did not take one's vision away, but rather crept in from the corners of one's eye, disappearing and skittering away as one attempted to look directly at it. The Amalgamation was rapidly nearing the fulfillment of Its destiny.

Lazule saw this with Caliane's eyes.

And through her eyes she also saw Jirou's signaling. Erën's mighty bolt of light, and the Spawns falling off of the Amalgamation as that light tore into the monster and burst more and more pieces from Its coalesced bulk. Still, the Amalgamation stood with Its arms raised high and the pentagon of energy feeding into It.

And Lazule gained an innate sense of what Caliane was planning on doing. This, along with an infection of Caliane's emotions regarding Erën. Faint memories. She felt...oh...Lazule did not remember kissing Erën. Had she? The death of Lena's body had been somewhat of a blur. No. Wait. Lazule understood. That belonged to Caliane, that memory, that moment. It was not hers. Caliane's. It was Caliane's.

The wave of emotion passed. The distinct lack of a binary nature to Caliane's feelings, the tangled complexity, had been notably intriguing, however.

Try not to make us vomit.

"If such is unavoidable, I will endeavor to delay it until a time suitably--" Lazule paused. Swallowed using Caliane's throat. Then finished her sentence, a touch more queasy than before, "--appropriate."

Now, it was time to focus. To channel her Luminomancy to aid and bolster Caliane's own magic. If they were going to dive directly into the Beast, they would need as much arcane power as they could wield to ensure that they felled It.

Lazule gathered the light of the morning about Caliane's form. Gathered and gathered until a shimmering halo of radiance manifested about the whole of her body and they became as a second sun before disappearing into the clouds. A reservoir of additional magic for Caliane to use at her whim.

It seemed so...peaceful...up here. The unobstructed blue sky above. The wisps of the clouds at their feet.

This peace needed to be brought down below. And so it would be.

Lazule conjured a Javelin in Caliane's hand. Gripped it then with both, and enlarged it into a veritable Lance of Light. Jirou and Erën could carve for them the way into the Amalgamation, and the Lance--Lazule prayed--could pierce through what the Beast may have reformed as the two of them got to a distant safety.

And Lazule spoke with Caliane's mouth. Said, "I am the Hunter. I am the Slayer. In this purpose so clear I find only joy."

This statement, with the omission of "And there is nothing but that," was at last true.

Lazule was ready.

In victory or in death.

Caliane Ruinë Xyrdithas Jirou

 

[Eren'thiel Xyrdithas]

Spoiler: "Where will you go next time, father?"

They walked, her hand held in his. Sharyrdaes was so beautiful this time of year. All throughout the city were vibrant colors and hues to dazzle the eye, and birdsong was perpetually present. They were lovely, soft melodies that rolled through his mind like the gentle sounds of a late spring stream.

"Father...? Where will you go next?"

He'd almost lost himself in the vines which draped overhead, eyes drifting through the scattered light beaming through them, revealing hummingbirds and bees fluttering throughout.

He looked down at her with a smile. Though she was many years from being old enough to be joined with the Soul Forge, there was a different, stronger connection he felt with her, "I will first speak with Ànië. She will know. Has she treated you well?"

"Yes, father," she giggled, and skipped ahead of him. She went and plucked a flower from nearby, and smelled it. Then she turned back, and skipped back toward him.

The force of the energies billowing out of the beast tore at him, and tired him. Still he strove to end the beast here in now. But slowly as his strength could only fade the Amalgamation's seemed immeasurable. The tears and fissures caused by his attack began close. He could feel the weight of its defenses pressing down on him, demanding his surrender. But then something caught his attention, and while he held his head forward his eyes strove to see.

"EREN!"

He continued his march, blade risen as high as he could with his off hand.

"WE NEED TO OPEN THE BEASTS NECK!"

Open... it...?

His foot slipped. He steadied. For the darkness and light that whirled around him he could not see what Jirou could - but he trusted him. He knew he could not defeat the beast, not on his own. He had no choice...

The strike relented, and he pulled the sword free and started forward. Monsters reared up around him.

Spoiler: "Father!"

He turned, and saw her running toward him as quickly as her legs would take her. She slowed, and came to a stop several meters away from him. She stood with her hands behind her back, half spinning back and forth.

"I'm going to miss you."

He knelt, and opened his arms. She ran to him.

One last time.

"I'll miss you too," he said, tears welled in his eyes.

She handed him a flower...

He leapt high, soaring around and raising the sword once more. His eyes sparkled. He dropped, and releasing every last ounce he still had he swung the sword, descending down the front of it and splaying the creature wide. Then something caught - the sword snapped, and then shattered. This sent Erën in a scrambled fall toward a nearby building.

He reached for its ledge....

Lazule Caliane Ruinë

 

[Jirou]

IF EVER THERE WAS A DAY TO DIE
​

The only thought that passed through Jirou's head was this. He needed to save Eren. He needed to let Caliane kill this thing. These were not wants. They HAD to happen. No more death. No more strife. This ended

RIGHT NOW.

Jirou set his sword into his teeth. He had only one arm to help Eren with in this moment. He hopped onto a barrel, then onto the building where Eren was to fall. He backed up to the opposite ledge and waited for his elvish friend to be in range. He saw Eren's hand reaching for the ledge. This was it.

He sprinted, harder than he ever had in his life. His lungs and heart on the verge of explosion. He jumped, and grabbed Eren's hand with his own. The force of both warriors causing them to swap positions in the air. Eren would be able to fall to the building and now Jirou was flying back towards the beast.

He encroached the beasts arm and when he reached it stuck his sword into it while it remained in his mouth. He climbed up with his good arm and tried to swing himself upward.

ALAS

The exposed bone from his fracture also stuck into the arm of the beast. He cried out in insane pain and was now hooked to the monsters appendage while Caliane was closing in.

Jirou let out a maniacal laugh at the realization of what he must do.

"SO BE IT THEN!" ​

And he lobbed his own arm off. The pain immeasurable but the adrenaline taking over. He ran up its arm, blood from his now right stump leaving a trail of crimson determination. The sword glowing its pale green, his orange eyes alight with fire.

Atop its neck he stood, his sword held high. No words this time.

Just fury.

He brought the blade down hard, and split the neck open vertically a couple feet down it. The actual neck splitting to its sides just enough to create a crevasse that could be aimed into. Jirou's focus led him into only more peril, it seemed. As he was now being climbed and suffocated by several of the smaller creatures.

They prevented him from leaving the blast area.

"CALIANE!" He called, able to get a little bit of room to speak.

"DO WHAT MUST BE DONE!" ​

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Caliane could feel Lazule's wonderment as they looked out over the peaceful scene in front of them. The clouds were white and light beneath their feet, birds even sung up here away from the stresses of the world below. Paradise. The winged elf had been lonely for a long while, not being able to face going home just yet whilst she still tried to find evidence that the rest of the world was worth opening their doors to again. It was hard going not sharing what she was with the people she had met out of fear for what they might do to her. So in this moment Cali appreciated for a few beats of their joined heart the simple pleasure of sharing an asset of herself she couldn't share with many with Lazule. Her world. This sky, the endless possibilities and freedom her wings provided.

It was true joy.

And she might never see it again.

Cali watched her hands form the javelin of light and marvelled at it. So curious to see your own body do something it had never done before as easily as breathe. Once complete she turned it experimentally in her hand to get used to the weight. She knew her friend was relying on her mostly for this next part - all of her friends were. There was only one way for this nightmare to end.

Two butterflies fluttered past their face, twirling, twirling further up to the secret current that only insects rode upon. Cali watched them go and shut her eyes, searing the image into her mind. She wanted that to be her last view of this world. Lazule's words echoed in her mind and she smiled one last time, soaking up the fire of the sun to fuel what she was about to do.

With a final sigh Caliane spread her arms and wings and tipped her head backwards, her body followed in the lazy somersault and she began to fall.

* * *​

"'ere did you see where that angel went?" Ivan nudged his comrade. They were both exhausted, sweat and dirt and blood coated their faces as they tried to fend off a stream of creatures as black as night from attacking the still fleeing citizens. His friend, Gnurl, shook his head grimly as he finished off another hellanimal.

"If I were her I would have gotten out of here too. Look at that thing; this is hopeless," the pair watched the two valiant warriors attempt another strike. "Poor bastards," murmured Gnurl. Ivan could only nod before his attention snapped up. In fact, everyone's attention snapped up. High above their heads where the dark storm clouds gathered a light appeared. It was small at first as if it were still high above the murk but it grew brighter and brighter. As it broke the clouds there were no longer clouds but fire.

The sky was on fire.

It crept along the black tendrils burning them to ash which rained from the sky onto the upturned mesmerised faces of those below. It kept going, going, going into the distance until all that could be seen was molten flame. But from the blaze came forth the angel, her wings bringing down the furnace to meet the beast.

* * *
​

Caliane gritted her teeth as the fire roared against her skin. It wanted more. It wanted out. It broke her skin, visible fractures appearing along her face and arms as if her body could no longer contain the elemental power of her soul. And it couldn't. It was why she had trained so long and hard to keep this part of her contained and suppressed. As the fissures spread her skin, her hair, her feathers their colour was gone. She was pure white heat and the fire danced along her body in victorious glee. She was holding on to her control by the bloody tips of her fingers.

The monster came into view and she held the javelin out before her. She had no will to search for her friends, if she did she might not be able to do this, she would hesitate and pull her blow.

Give in. Embrace us.

The fire crackled in her mind. She couldn't even hear Lazule and she prayed she was able to handle this rush of power. A fleeting thought, she must stay focused. Another two fingers gone on her control and the heat radiated out around her, across the city. It was oppressive like the desert under the full heat of the sun with no ounce of shade. Some of the trees nearby erupted into flames.

Closer still, closer.

She could see the opening in the neck now and she pushed on. Feathers fell from her wings, burnt into ash the second they were gone.

In the last few seconds she spied her friends out the corner of her eye and instead of letting that last finger on her power go she clung on, forced her will upon it as she slid through the hole in the creatures neck to the darkness of its body. Like a hot knife through butter.

A collective in draw of breath could be heard across the city as the flame vanished. It seemed that sound itself was sucked down into the vacuum Caliane had gone.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

Sound and a fire infernal exploded out from the creature. The force of it would lift those close to it clean off their feet and throw them away like dolls.

It had no time for mortals.

This fire was alive and it had a single purpose: to purge. It rushed upwards along the black tendrils the abomination had been feeding from and smashed down into every epicentre, erasing it from existence. From the centre itself a ring of fire that should have been as hot as the sun shot outwards. The creatures which had come from the Amalgamations body gave an ear splintering screech before the fire engulfed them too. On the fire ran like headless horses. It licked up every building, over the walls and sprinted outwards further, further, dying...

Dying...

There had been no time to run for anyone. Even if there had been the fire would have found them. As people screamed in the streets and cowered over loved ones in a desperate attempt to protect their children or their brothers or their wives, a curious thing happened. Whilst the flames seemed to burn the spawn of that creature, for the people it felt like a mild sunburn, the worst the feeling got the closer one was to the epicentre. For those unlucky to have been at the foot of the creature it would feel the worst.

Blinking, people stood and glanced around their relatively intact home in bewilderment.

Birds began to sing.

The clouds were gone.

Where the creature had been there was nothing. Buildings and people that had been within a 100 meter radius were gone. The people flung, the creatures ash, the buildings nothing but dust. All that remained was a hole a good 20 meters deep and black with ash. As the sunlight broke through the wispy white clouds it shone down into the pit onto the form of a fallen, broken angel.

 

[Eren'thiel Xyrdithas]

He reached for its ledge...

...he could not...

Suddenly there was an abrupt tug, and he was whirled around. Panicked eyes screaming no met with Jirou's determined stare, and he was flung into an unceremonious heap atop the build's roof, which buckled and collapsed under his sudden crash. He fell through onto the floor inside with a terrible cry. He gasped for his breath, and turned to look up and out.

From where he lay, he could see the beast standing high overhead. He felt the ground shake from its terrible magics. He saw Jirou, one armed, scaling the mighty creature to do what he had failed to. He made way for the stairs, limping all the way. He burst out into the street, and staggered out to be violently bumped by a number of civilians, running for their lives. They passed.

Behind them, a horde of the monsters encroached like a cloud of black seeping through the streets. He knelt down, grabbing an abandoned lit torch in one hand. In the other, the remains of the broken sword.

His neck ached, the back of it burned.

His stance widened, weapons raised.

He met them in a song of blood, fire and worn steel. His roars rang out over their horrid growls. They struck him, but he did not stop.

The sword dropped. He waved the torch wildly. They drew near. His eyes flashed up - the task done. Jirou prevailed where he had failed... was this the indomidable spirit of man he saw? Where centuries of diligent mastery had failed, this undefeated determination to win succeeded.

He was lifted from his feet with a mighty blow. The breastplate, shattered. He fell to his back. It grabbed him, and held him high off the ground and roared a victorious cry as it reared back its ghastly talons.

Then it froze... they all froze...

"DO WHAT MUST BE DONE!"

The spawn's head turned to see - all of them did. Erën too, looked. There she is...

It had not occurred to him until now what is was she planned to do. But now it became clear, and he knew... he had felt it, in that shared moment. Deep within, a consuming fire as brilliant as the Sun itself... he had felt it, and now he saw. He knew this was the only way to stop such a thing... but the cost of it all. The cost to him. More dear friends... for my failures... no...

"No!"
​

He struck it with a bloodied fist, and it released him. A kick, and it fell back. He reached for a weapon. Anything.

The light drew closer now.
​

He fought toward it... but no, the beasts reacted to him and barred his way. His desperation failed him, and he was pushed back. He looked up again... and the brilliant flame descended into the monster, and for a moment, all was quiet.

In horror he watched on, and a dread overtook him. The blastwave came at first in a flurry of wind and rock, which he steadied himself against and winced. Then the flame, bright and beautiful and terrible as it was rushed forth.

He welcomed it to take him, as it had surely taken his friends.

But it did not... where the spawns writhed and crumbled into smoldering piles and then to dust to be blown away into memory, he stood there - though bombarded by heat - relatively unscathed. It passed for a time before receding upon itself once more, as if drawn back into the seeningly infinite expanse it had erupted from.

Another, now lasting quiet. He limped forward, using the broken shovel he grabbed - little more than its handle now - for some support. As he stumbled through the rubble he came across numerous defenders, dead but likewise mostly unharmed by the fires that had licked their skin. The monsters however, were gone, leaving only the decimation behind.

Several times called out, "Jirou," but his ears still rang, and could hardly even hear.

His exhaustion was great, and his vision was blurry. But he knew the way. Closer, and closer to the place he trudged - he had to see. And finally he came to the edge of a deep crater. Others now too, were beginning to dot the perimeter of it, and each of them looked down. He too, looked - though part of him did not want to.

And he beheld her. How can... this be...?

It doesn't matter.
​

Disregarding his own condition, he descended into the crater without hesitation. He stumbled, and slid most of the way, and dropped to his knees by her side. He touched her cheek, and then her neck for a pulse.

His voice was hoarse, and laboured, "Caliane...? Can you hear me?"

Lazule Jirou Caliane Ruinë

 

[Lazule]

THE GATES OF BHATHAIRK​

Lazule gave to Caliane everything.

Together that second sun above Bhathairk. Caliane the burning core, Lazule the radiant light.

The Hunter and the Slayer, both of them. And they descended. Lazule focused only on gathering more and more of the dawn's light, imparting her magic into Caliane for her use, and to this end she disregarded all else. The screaming descent from the clouds felt in the very pit of Caliane's stomach, the whipping rush of wind howling into Caliane's ears, the intense grip of emotion on Caliane's heart.

Was it Caliane's heart? Is it mine? Do I feel it too?

A momentary lapse. Caliane's body of fire. It...was the most beautiful feeling Lazule had ever experienced. In Lena's body she thought herself to be nothing more than a doll, pretending at life. For she was merely an arcane ball of fire powering a body, a corpse, that did not belong to her.

For a few fleeting seconds, down from the heavens and diving toward the gaping wound in the headless Amalgamation's neck...Lazule lost herself in the illusion that this body of fire was hers. All hers. Something she could finally call her own.

It was not.

And here all the world vanished in sound and fury, and a deep, deep blackness followed.

* * * * *​

The Spires which had risen from the Bhathairk Undercity were obliterated, their tethers of black energy alighted and burned away, and the Amalgamation was utterly destroyed.

Utterly destroyed.

Save for one piece.

Which sailed through the air and landed outside the city in the field of the dead.

* * * * *​

Caliane...? Can you hear me?

Lazule forced Caliane's eyes open. And even this small motion was a monumental task. Caliane's body felt spent to a devastating degree, and Lazule could not tell if Caliane herself was conscious or not. She assumed not. But with the sheer weight of everything pressing down on her, exhaustion of varieties physical and magical and mental, it was difficult to be certain.

She had, at least, not gotten sick. That much she knew. Or hoped.

Lazule saw through Caliane's eyes a familiar elf in an unfamiliar sight: Erën, and all around him...nothing? Simply brown dirt and earth carved into a enormous bowl shape. She did not know where she was. But it was comforting to see Erën nonetheless.

"Erën," she said. Simply talking, moving Caliane's tongue and jaw, felt like pulling oneself up from the edge of a cliff. "Is the Amalgamation...dead?"

She looked at him. Curious and hopeful.

Then added, even though the voice that had come out from Caliane's lips was clearly not Caliane's own, "This is Lazule...for clarification..."

She tried to smile. Cordially.

The effort was too great.

 

[VigiloConfido]

The Amalgamation's black heart landed, smoldering with dying fires and steaming mightily, outside the ruined Gates of Bhathairk and in the field of the dead that the monster had trampled when It plowed through the Line.

That abyssal blackness shriveled and died, like the accelerated rotting of a fruit left to the relentless sun and open air.

The massive heart shrank and shrank and at last fell apart, very much in the manner of blossoming flower.

Lying in the center of the heart, a woman. Naked. The blackness receding from her and leaving her exposed there on the ground.

Anima.

Her eyes closed.

And a delightful smile on her face.

Who are you??

 

[Zeri Rekani]

"Who are you??" Zeri shouted at the (human?) woman who had been in the center of that Beast's foul heart.

Zeri had run and run and run and only just escaped the Spawns that had been chasing after her once they finished with Ivaserin. She rejoined with some of the remnants of the shattered Line and together they fended off the Spawns. But the battle wasn't over. The Amalgamation had stampeded its way into her home, called...something out from the ground, and was turning the very morning into some kind of twisted mockery of night.

And there was nothing Zeri could do. All she had was her hunting spear. Nothing else. No wings like that flying human she saw, no magic like that armored elf, and no agility to match the lone warrior. She was not strong like any of them. She was no hero nor legend. She was a girl whose dreams far exceeded her grasp, and that was all.

She could merely watch as the Amalgamation took everything from her. She could merely weep over the countless bodies she now stood among in the field of the dead, the bloody path the Beast had ran through the line. Tribesorcs she had seen in the city. Tribesorcs who were her friends and neighbors and fellow denizens of Bhathairk. Tribesorcs she had hunted with or helped with a small favor or purchased goods from or smiled at or shared stories with.

Here. Dead. And many more would follow them to their ancestors.

Until the Spirit of Fire descended from the sky and smote the Amalgamation before Zeri's very eyes. The rush of triumphant emotion was momentarily quashed as Zeri and surviving fighters of the Line and civilians were blown back by the raw force of the Spirit of Fire's wrath.

And that was when the Amalgamation's black heart landed a few paces from Zeri's head, pulsating in the bloodied dirt before the ruined Gates of Bhathairk. Zeri had gotten to her feet, pointed her spear at it expecting the grotesque organ to become more of those smaller Spawn creatures...

And it did not. It steamed and shriveled and shrank and exposed that human woman--if she even was human. To Zeri, she may as well have been a demon, a malevolent thing as evil as the Amalgamation itself, this very fact evident from her presence inside of the monster.

So she had her spear pointed at the unconscious woman's face and was yelling at her with all the grief and rage that stirred in her chest. Demanding to know who she was.

But the woman did not stir.

* * * * *​

Khorvayne watched the impressive display with voracious eyes. Watched from afar as the Amalgamation was destroyed.

Her dear sweet Anima would not be embraced today. Oh, but she had come so close. Yet it would seem that Anima would need to suffer more in this dreary world.

And how delectable most she be now? All those emotions...yes...she had to be absolutely enticing now. The Watching of Anima was sure to be salivating at the prospect of her joining with It, of taking her into Its immortal embrace. Hm. No daughter of Khorvayne's would be made to suffer death. No. For Khorvayne's love for her daughter was such that she simply would not allow her to be bound by the Thread of Mortality.

The Amalgamation was destroyed, yes, but there were ways other than this. The Symbiote had been expended, her champion Peter had fallen in the fight to claim the Amalgamation's ritual chamber, but...there were ways other than this.

Either those savages would let her dear sweet Anima live, or they would "kill" her. Oh, and that just might be the easier way, this latter possibility, would it not? The necessicities in becoming embraced were...complex. Difficult. But not impossible: Khorvayne believed this to her very core.

Khorvayne made a flourish with her hand and her body exploded into a cloud of black fog and a murder of crows, the birds all flying up and away in a dark flock.

Other plans could be set in motion. She did need a new champion, after all, for the trials ahead.

And she had her eye on a couple of...prospects. They who had shown great skill and valor in the fight against the Amalgamation.

One of them might possibly be tempted by the inescapable darkness which lurked in the hearts of all.

Yes.

Xyrdithas Caliane Ruinë Jirou

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Silence.

If Caliane was somewhere in the broken shell of a body that remained then it was not somewhere Lazule could reach her.

The fire lived though and it was enjoying its new freedom without the rigid controls of the woman it lived inside. It roamed just under her skin and could been seen through the flaring cracks that ran across every inch of her body like lava under volcanic rock. The tears were over every inch of visible skin and there was a lot of visible skin - her hunting gear had never been built to withstand the temperatures she had reached in that fall. Bits of leather lay tattered here and there and as she was moved more fell away in plumes of ash.

Her wings were the worst. They lay broken and twisted where she had hit the creature at such force and then the subsequent ground. Feathers lay strew about her, some still on fire and others on the cusp of falling to ash. It was hard to tell if there were any still on her wings for they were a molten living flame still that scorched unwary fingers.

When Lazule opened their eyes gone were the cool and soothing green, replaced instead with the white heart of a flame. The more they stayed open the worse the cracks around her face appeared as the pushed at her skin and tested the boundaries of their home.

But there was no voice.

No hint of life.

Nothing to say Caliane yet lived.

 

[Jirou]

All he saw was black.
And then all he saw was fire.

Jirou thought he'd found himself in Hell already. He hadn't expected his descent so quickly, but always knew he'd end up there one day. Jirou did not believe in a place where warriors went. Jirou did not believe in honor. He believed that those who took others lives all met the same fate in the end. One of suffering. One of flame.

Caliane's strike was gorgeous. There was no other way to put it. It was a beautiful display of sacrifice and heat. They had all sacrificed so much to stop this thing. And still the lives they saved were minimal. Even so, Jirou decided to take it with a smile. This day was always to come, and as he said before;

If ever there was a day to die.

The blast shot up, covering him and the monsters in fire. The blast also knocked him back. Straight through a window already shattered by the effects. His body limp and gripped by the the force of Caliane's attack. He flew out the other end of the building, crashing into the wall of a second. Most would have died this way. Engulfed by flame and then tossed aside by some magnificent wave of energy.

And yet Jirou's eyes still opened. A pale glow of violet around his now broken body. At first he thought it just a cruel joke. The world offering him a life not worth living, but no. A vision came. A feeling of warmth, and love. And then her voice ringing one last word to him, before he felt her presence vanish from this world entirely.

"Live, my loveliest Orchid."
​

Jirou was dumbfounded. That her spirit stayed all this time just to give him a second chance at this life.

The ronin laughed, coughing blood from his throat. And still he laughed.

​

 

[Eren'thiel Xyrdithas]

"This is Lazule...for clarification..."

The surprise on his face was displayed in full, and for a moment he found himself without words. He could hardly believe what he had just heard, thinking at first she that she must be delirious from the unimaginable exertion she had just experienced. He shook his head at first, and then his eyes shot wide. He looked for the case - there was no sign of the Life Fire of Lazule. A quick shake, and he brought himself to - vision still blurry, mind still foggy.

"It," he said, painfully unlatching the brooch from his cloak - a once glorious and glimmering jewel, dead of the power that once resonated within, "is finished."

He could hardly help but take notice of her state - the cracks all across her body, the glow from within, as though she'd been dipped into the heart of a star. The cloak he unclipped was stained, and torn - but it was not so burnt or decayed as her garments. He covered her, ensuring her honour be kept before the eyes of all these astonished onlookers.

He paled as he examined her. Wings of a once blissful elegance were left in ruin, a terrible cost. It mourned him, and he prayed that they would one day be well again. He could only imagine the sorrow it could bring to one such as an Avariel to be stripped of their most precious and - from what he had experience - liberating gift. His brief moments of flight just weeks ago had been firmly imprinted on his mind, something he would not soon forget. And like she had carried him to safety out of that dwelling, he too would carry her away from here.

He reached under her, them, careful... the heat from her was intense. He recoiled, noticing now that even his cloak was beginning to disappear, burnt away from the heat she still produced.

He hung his head from exhaustion - but he would push through this as he had pushed through everything else that had set itself against him. Those things that could not break him.

He was not broken yet.

Go father, do as you always have... I'll see you again someday...
​

His body screamed. His mind demanded he collapse. His heart burned.

Channeling his rage, his refusal to fall, he slapped his hands together. Between them, a bright stream of light took shape, and sparkled. Weight, fell heavy upon his shoulders. He spread his arms wide and looked up into the sky. The sparkling light traveled down his arms, and he harnessed the Pillar of Tychan in a way he had never even dreamed of attempting.

Again, he reached beneath her molten body, and did grab her. It strained him greatly to do so, but with her there in his arms he rose to his feet. He staggered, but caught himself.

No!

I will not be beaten!

...at the very least for her sake...for their sake...
​

One laboured step. And then another. The journey back up through the crater was arduous, torment. Every fiber of his being begged him to stop, but he would not stop.

His friends had already given so much...Lazule had sacrificed her body, and for all he knew both Caliane and Jirou had sacrificed their lives. He could not stop.

He reached the top, and through some miraculous feat of strength he pulled himself atop with only the use of his legs - but he'd chosen where the crater was the most shallow. Thankfully, it had been just enough.

Despite his magic, the heat from Caliane's body began to reach him. Sweat began to pour from him, and the Pillar, such as it was, began to fail.

"I... must get you... to the Spine..."

At some point, it was as though he were not longer himself. Like only instinct, or motive propelled him. He limped forward, refusing to stop. Refusing to mind the heat. Refusing to release the shield.

"Jirou...Jirou…"

He called out, but his voice was weak, and hollow. His eyes, empty. Whatever fueled him now was beyond what he could properly maintain - and caused his senses to fail. So continued forward, somewhat aimless, looking for something to get them out of this city... a horse... a wagon... anything.

"I will take you... to the Spine..."

"I'll always love you father.."

Jirou Caliane Ruinë Lazule ​