#WINGS OF LIGHT AND DARK SPREAD AF- I am forcibly removed from the stage

[lambs-rest]

Hope's Confluence III - Warrior of Darkness

Tracks: Holding Out For a Hero - Jennifer Saunders (YT), The Emptiness Machine - Linkin Park (YT), World On Fire - Les Friction (YT)

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Steel met crystal in a tremendous echoing clash, flecks of blue glittering shards exploding out from the impact point.

Lahabrea scrambled back, rolling onto his front and pushing himself up in an ungainly run. There was no time to stop, no time to think or plan, only a desperate need to put as much distance between him and this primal as possible. His soul was bound to his flesh, but presumably only as long as the magick woven by the father of dragons remained intact. Lahabrea was almost certain that a blade the size of that of the Warrior of Light’s would cleave him clean in half, not only destroying the vessel, but the wards that pinned his soul to it.

He would go floating right into Elidibus’ gullet.

Everything would have been for naught.

Elidibus had been kind enough to give him a few seconds head start at the top of the spire, waiting until he was in the plush red-lined theatre room before giving chase. It had been instinct alone that made Lahabrea dive to the floor in time to avoid being bifurcated. And now all he could do was struggle to keep ducking and diving out of the way on his mad descent, perhaps long enough until he collided with the Crystal Exarch, or maybe the Scions if he was truly unlucky. He did not want to have to explain to them why Elidibus was trying to kill him – though he seemed about as interested in the task as one would be swatting a fly.

Lahabrea leapt down two steps at a time – as if stairs would keep that menace at bay – almost taking a tumble and twisting his ankle when he reached the landing.

Scarcely had he taken two steps forward than did a shadow fall upon him.

Lahabrea threw himself back as the huge armoured figure dropped onto the short landing that stretched out before him, a tremor shaking the staircase. He instinctively stepped back, and the steps that he had skipped decided to thwart him, tripping him up. He landed heavily with the corners of the steps pressing into his back like teeth. The Warrior of Light raised his sword arm and swung down in a clean chop. Lahabrea rolled to the side, whole body vibrating from the force of the blow that had just barely missed him, the sound ringing in his ears. He launched into a frantic four-limbed scramble back up the flight of stairs, not giving himself a moment to even stand upright. There was no moment for such a luxury.

His entire stomach wanted to rise out of his throat when shadow swept over him again, and this time a giant hand grabbed the back of his shirt. He choked on the pull of the collar against his neck as he was wrenched off his feet, hands automatically reaching up to his neck to try and tug the fabric away from the skin as he dangled in the air, little more than a misbehaving nuisance. His legs kicked awkwardly, treading air, praying for solid ground to appear beneath them so he could breathe again.

All he got was the judgemental icy stare of heroism personified.

His eyes stung. Lahabrea wasn’t sure if it was from the lack of oxygen, or the guilt that permeated his being.

This… All of this was his fault.

The Warrior blinked and puzzled expression came over his face. He lowered Lahabrea, holding him carelessly at his side like a forgotten toy, as he looked around and honed his focus on his surroundings. Lahabrea suddenly hit the landing with a loud, winded yelp, dropping in a heap as he coughed and gasped. Every muscle in his poor body ached. He feebly rolled on the spot, as if the mild rocking motions would soothe his pains.

“No… This cannot be!”

Lahabrea squinted up the primal’s figure, seeing the shock painted on his face as he feverishly looked about. Had the Exarch activated some hidden function of the tower? That would certain explain the reaction. It might even explain the strange ticking he was hearing. Though maybe that was a side effect of almost suffocating. Maybe…

What is THAT?

Lahabrea’s concerns evaporated into confusion as he sighted something high above the Warrior of Light: a dark shadow, descending at a worryingly rapid pace. And the ticking. It was only getting louder, almost crushing down on him.

The primal, too, finally realised that something was above, and turned his gaze upward.

“ELIDIBUUUS!”

The roar bounced off the Crystal Tower’s interior, redoubling upon itself until it became a deafening bellow. They both realised what it was bearing down on them at such a horrific speed at the same time.

Granye, wreathed in darkness, vicious shadows billowing out around her in a miasmic cloud as she plummeted in a mad free-fall, hands wrapped around something large and lengthy that she held over her head.

Lahabrea didn’t even get the chance to think how insane the sight was before she was upon them. The Warrior of Light threw up his shield at the very last moment and the explosive bang of unstoppable force meeting immovable object rang out like a gong, up and down the entire Tower as if it were little more than a glorified tuning fork. Black shadows poured down over the Warrior of Light in a shroud, screeching like damned souls as they fountained over him, drenching his gleaming figure. Despite his attempts to fend off the cataclysmic assault, he was forced down onto one knee with a shout, holding his shield above his head desperately.

Lahabrea curled in on himself, ducking his head and covering them with his arms. He heard nothing over the rush of darkness but the slow, aggressive, prowling build of heavy strings, and the steady tick-tick-tick-ticking. Nothing, until the howl of shadow finished washing over him and faded away to a low flicker, like a flame.

When he found the courage to lift his head, the Warrior of Light was on his knees, gasping and confused. And Granye stood on the steps, a colossal dark purple greatsword in one hand.

Lahabrea struggled to prop himself up, not fully believing the sight before his eyes. Funnily enough, the pose was mirrored by his much larger contemporary.

“You… You should be trapped in the rift!”

“An’ you make a piss-poor hero. What? D’ye think yer the only one allowed to call on reinforcements!?” She lifted the blade in both hands and lifted it like a bat, a fresh flush of darkness spewing down its blade like a geyser. “Here’s a wee message from someone who told me to WAKE YOU UP!”

She swung, and shadows flooded forth from the blade, gushing out in a torrent that slammed into the Warrior and swept him clean off his feet and over the edge of the platform before smashing his back into the interior tower wall with a shout, pinning him there.

“Ye wanted a Warrior o’ Darkness, Elidibus! Here I am! Or are you only a hero when it’s easy!?” she roared over the sound of the torrent.

The tower wall let out a series of faint but unmistakable cracks under the pressure and Lahabrea saw, eyes wide, the crystal wall behind the Warrior of Light slowly spread with a dark stain.

Where had she gotten so much power over Darkness!? It was almost like she were on par with a Paragon-

He snapped his head toward Granye, eyes fixed on the blade in hand.

It couldn’t be. But…there was no other explanation! No other reason why the aether he sensed was so unlike Granye and so much like…

“…Emet-Selch?”

The flood tapered off before dispersing entirely. Granye waited until she was satisfied that Elidibus wasn’t going to immediately pluck himself from the wall before she descended the stairs and went to Lahabrea’s side. She’d never seen him look up at her with such wide, confused eyes. She couldn’t tell if it was with awe or fear. All she could do was hope it wasn’t the latter.

“Sorry I took so long to get back. Did he break anythin’?” she asked, kneeling next to him.

Lahabrea floundered for words. “N-No, I don’t think so.”

“Good. Wrap yer arms ‘round me neck an’ I’ll hoist ye up.”

She spoke like it was just another day, like she hadn’t somehow pulled a manifestation of their dead Architect’s eldritch power out of the rift. And Lahabrea found himself doing as she said, draping his arm around her neck before she stood up and dragged him to his feet. Even when he was standing again, her left arm stayed wrapped around his waist, holding him upright against her figure.

“Can ye walk?”

“I don’t know.”

She glanced back at the still stunned Elidibus, then briskly unhitched her gunblade and discarded it on the floor with a clang. She turned her back to Lahabrea and dropped to one knee. “Up, on me back right now.”

He baulked, freezing in place. Her left hand wiggled, beckoning him to get on. “Come on, darlin’ we dinnae got all day!”

He had so many questions, but for the moment, he was glad of her sudden return to her usual antics. Lahabrea gingerly climbed onto her back, putting one leg on either side of her waist. He didn’t even flinch when her free hand pressed on his bottom so he didn’t slide off when she stood up. All he wanted to do was lay his head on her back as she climbed back up the stairs, close his eyes, and go to sleep before his body rebelled in protest at how hard he had pushed it.

“You owe me a thorough explanation after this.” he whispered.

“Aye, once Elidibutts stops bein’ a delusional murderous wretch.” she muttered sourly as they crested the stairs and the platform of the Golden Sacristy opened up before them. Granye knew that their fight had to stay at the top of the tower, lest it spill into the Crystarium proper and endanger all the innocents therein.

They were halfway across when there came a shout behind them. Granye turned at once, holding up the purple blade on a defensive slant, taking her hand off Lahabrea to wield it with both. It turned out to be a good call, because Elidibus had struck out with a blast of light that rushed over the floor and slammed into them with such a force that it knocked Lahabrea off her back and onto his backside.

Elidibus dragged himself up the stairs, leaning on his sword, posture slouched, dishevelled.

“It isn’t possible that you could escape, let alone have obtained such power!” he snarled.

“Now, now, ‘lidibus, I thought ye were s’posed to be the hero. That sounds like somethin’ a villain would say.” she teased, mouth curling into a smirk. He only grit his teeth at her.

“The only villain here is you, shadow-spawn! I will not tolerate your stain upon the world a moment longer!” With his declaration came a renewed radiance from his being. He thrust the tip of his sword up and a pillar of light erupted from it, rocketing into the heights of the Tower. “To me, Warriors of Light!”

From the pillar flew seven figures of light – more spectres, each seemingly of a different combat vocation. They surrounded Elidibus, floating, gathering at his back as he pointed his sword at Granye, as if they were backing him up.

“I am…salvation given form!” he said, first words still rife with exhaustion, but his voice only grew in strength. “Mankind’s first hero, and his final hope!” Light flared from Elidibus, pure and white – nearly blinding. “For victory, I render up my all!”

His voice shook the Tower, and even Granye with her magically inept skills could feel the colossal building pressure of aether radiating from him. Whatever it was he was winding up to unleash, she was prepared to meet it, confident in her ability to apply the theory behind Superbolide to the power of darkness lent to her. She would shield herself in shadows and then–

Granye glanced back, eyes landing on Lahabrea where he sat, helpless, unable to move, watching Elidibus with a terror she had never seen – never wanted to see – in his eyes. And then those eyes met hers. ‘Is this where it ends?’, they seemed to ask.

No. No!

You cannot fall here.

You cannot let it all be for naught!

Her bequeathed blade exploded with darkness, and the words – the voice – that had haunted her for weeks now filled her with determination.

With a herculean effort Granye tore her eyes from Lahabrea and swung her blade, slashing at the air above her head with a yell, guided by the hand of the spectre at her side. A pitch black tear ripped open, a stark contrast from the building light Elidibus emitted. The rip poured liquid darkness, gushing like blood from a gaping wound, washing over Granye like a sickening wave of floodwater, before splashing over Lahabrea, drenching them both in ephemeral void.

For a brief moment their vision was swaddled in darkness, and Granye almost lowered her weapon, nearly lulled by the sudden peace.

Up! Hold it up! Don’t you dare succumb!

She did as the voice said and raised it up overhead, bracing the flat side of the sword in her palm.

Barely a second later, cracks of light began to break through the darkness. First as thin lines from a point, then spider-webbing out like shards of broken glass. Now she could feel the tremendous weight bearing down on her, like the jaws of a beast threatening to devour her whole.

The protective shell shattered entirely, the last of the dark protection blown away, and everything was white, blinding, suffocating and scalding. Her arms screamed, her legs shook, and every part of her body wanted to fall away under the pressure.

But as the light faded she opened her eyes, and she looked up, into Elidibus’ face, beyond their clashing blades. His heavenly face was twisted in rage – insulted that as he brought all his might down on her head, she had the audacity to remain standing.

Granye bore her teeth. She tasted blood and felt a hot streak of something running down the right side of her face. But it all felt so small, so much of a nothing, compared to what lay before her. This wasn’t just a fight for hers and Lahabrea’s survival – it was for everyone. For the Scion’s, for G’raha, all of Norvrandt and the Source. It was for the very soul that stood in her way.

“You still stand?!” Elidibus seethed.

Her snarl turned into a strained grin. “Aye. An’ considerin’ that worried twinkle in yer eye,” she grunted, “I reckon that was the best you’ve GOT!”

She shouted and pushed him back, hard, throwing Elidibus off balance and following up with a quick arching slash that scraped across his breastplate eliciting a loud, harsh metallic shriek. He staggered back, left hand flying to the wound. She was on him before he even had the chance to visually assess the damage, running across the Golden Sacristy with the tip of her sword scraping over the floor before she swung it up, flicking sparks and crystal shards into Elidibus’ face as she would with a gunblade. He raised his shield arm automatically to protect his face, and while his vision was obscured Granye took the chance to slam her greatsword down on his legs.

Elidibus noticed her move to cripple him at the last second and took flight, soaring up and out of her reach. She didn’t give him a chance to catch his figurative breath, swinging her sword in great sweeping arcs, each one letting loose a wave of cleaving shadow. The first one hit his shield, but the second struck at the perfect angle to knock his arm to the side. The third hit true, lacerating Elidibus’ front and making him cry out as he was pushed further away by the blow, until he collided with the next floor of the spiralling crystal staircase.

Granye gathered a writhing mass darkness in her blade again and swung the blade up, unleashing the black wave in an upward swing.

Elidibus saw the attack rushing for him and he scrambled out of the way, carrying himself further up the tower to evade it.

“That’s right, ‘lidibus,” she muttered under her breath, “keep goin’ up!”

Granye spun on her heel and raced for the archway that led to the higher levels of the Tower, thundering past Lahabrea.

“Granye-”

“Stay here!” she barked, not even glancing back at him.

He could only sit and stare as she made her mad ascent after the Warrior of Light, blasting waves of darkness at him, shepherding him further up into the misty heights of the spire, until he couldn’t see their attacks anymore, only knowing that they were still going at it by the way the tower shook intermittently, and tiny shards of crystal debris fell like rain.

Lahabrea fell back, arms out like a starfish, breathing hard.

Maybe…it was a good idea to do as she said this time…

-~-~-~-~-~-

The Emperor’s Throne had played host to many scenes in its long and storied existence scraping the belly of the heavens – many historic and secret dealings, pacts and sacrifices, schemes of blood and shadow. Now it lay silent, unoccupied as it had since its founder’s rebirth and demise over a hundred years ago, in a world strangled by Black Rose.

The Tower shook, sounds of cracking crystal and muffled booms accompanying each tremor, steadily encroaching upon the peace the enveloped the Emperor’s Throne.

The battle between the Warriors of Light and Darkness was but another chapter, destined to be added to that history, to unfurl before the long-dead Xande’s seat of power, like a play performed for the Emperor’s hard-won delight.

Elidibus flew from the tower’s depths with his body low to the ground. Not a second later was his flight followed by a torrent of shadow, roaring over his head like spewed dragonfire. Only when he was clear across the walkway did he dare to look over his shoulder. She was there, already standing at the threshold, both hands on the purple greatsword’s handle. Its blade was smothered in writhing darkness, just waiting for the gesture to billow forth.

He paused, not for want of breath, but to steady his mind. It didn’t help. Once his eyes found hers, he couldn’t look away, mismatched yellow and brown boring into him down to the core. While she hadn’t been taking their battle seriously before, there was no doubt in Elidibus’ mind that now, Granye was entirely focused on living up to her reputation as the Slayer of Primals.

But why now? What had warranted her drastic flip in attitude? Did she take him more seriously now that he had cast her into the void?

“If there is but one factor I can rest assured of, it is that she will guard my life with her own, be it from steel or fang, primal or Scion…from Emet-Selch, and even from you.”

Lahabrea’s words bounced in his head, and his face twisted in revulsion. Surely it couldn’t seriously be out of some misguided sense of responsibility for the fallen Speaker?!

His momentary distraction cost him his momentary head-start. She was on him, closing the gap swiftly and following with one of her terrifying upward swings. He barely managed to direct his shield down in time to catch the blow, thankfully one not infused with darkness.

“You…would really go this far for your enemy!?” Her brow only furrowed deeper as she maintained pressure on him. “Lahabrea!” he clarified. “He has been your nemesis from the moment you met! So why!? Why do you bring your strength to bear only when he is imperilled!?”

She bore her teeth at him in a snarl. “Is that some kind o’ piss-poor joke!? The question should be why’re you tryin’ to kill ‘im! Though per’aps tha’s just what Zodiark does to people – makes you want to kill an’ consume the folks yer supposed to be savin’!” she shouted.

Elidibus couldn’t break away from their struggle in time to avoid the rush of shadow that exploded in his face. He staggered away from her, holding his hand over his face. It felt like an ice burn on his face, though it lasted only as long as the shadows touched him.

It was her words that truly stung.

“You have NO notion of what it meant to become the heart of Zodiark!” he shouted back, swinging his blade and lashing at her with an arc of light. She sheltered behind her blade like a barricade until it passed, then stood tall again.

“I think the only one of us who dinnae have any ‘notion’ is you! Yer the one who’s forgotten! Why would ye try to kill one of yer brethren!? How in the seven hells is that part of yer precious duty!?” She let loose another brief flood of darkness that forced him to turn his head and back away, stumbling toward the right-hand side of Xande’s throne. Granye stayed opposite him, moving to keep their mirrored positions. She waited for him to clear his vision before she pointed her blade at him.

“The way yer actin’… I cannae let it slide. I cannot let ye continue down this path!”

“And by what right do you make such bold assertions?” he scoffed. “You are nothing. You know nothing!”

“I ken why what yer doin’ makes me so damn angry!” she shouted back. “You… Yer doin’ the same thing I was. Yer blindly walkin’ down the path o’ duty, even though it’s cost ye EVERYTHING! Every shred of you, sacrificed. An’ fer WHAT!?” her voice rebounded off the crystal floor, echoing repeatedly in his ears, the question assaulting him. Granye grit her teeth and lowered her head.

“Ye asked me why – why do I protect him, my enemy? It’s because doin’ that…is all I can do to hold onto the last scrap of me.”

Elidibus stared, mouth ajar. He’d been so ready to hit back at her, to refute whatever pathetic excuse she had to offer. But those words were not what he was expecting.

“Doin’ what they – the Scions, Hydaelyn, all of ‘em! Doin’ what they wanted, felt like I was dyin’. Felt like pieces of me were being broken off each bloody time. I did what they asked. I did what everyone said was right, what ‘had’ to be done! I killed Igeyohrm, an’ all I wanted to do die right after her! If I’d done what everyone expected – if I’d finished the job, or even allowed that bastard Thordan to do it, I’d have been where you are now. I wouldnae care. I wouldnae do anythin’ aside from what I was told to do!” Her voice shook. “I never wanted this. I never wanted to be at odds with yer lot. Keepin’ him safe… I’s the last way I can stand against fate an’ gods an’ all that bullshite! I willnae let you be the one to crush that, ‘lidibus! Definitely nae when yer so far astray from who ye should be.”

Granye lifted her head, gaze fixed on him, her grasp firm and a renewed determination in her eyes.

“Emet tore me up already. There’s nae a bloody chance I’m lettin’ you take another piece o’ what’s left. I’m ‘ere to wake ye up, Elidibus! I’m goin’ to drag you back down to earth, nae matter how hard ye kick an’ scream an’ curse me name! I’m nae leavin’ here with any more regrets!”

She raised her sword overhead, shadows bursting from the hilt and flaring up the blade.

He could see it – the power, billowing around her. Darkness that should, by all rights, not be hers to wield. He refused to linger on it, to scrutinise the power any further. He feared what he would find if he did. There was only one course of action left to him.

He pulled his arm back, sword pulled back behind him, shield up, before blinding light built along the blade until the steel beneath was completely obscured by the light.

“I agree. You will not be leaving here at all.”

Light and dark swirled around their respective wielders, gathering at their weapons and turning them into huge, deformed silhouettes of their physical shapes. For a moment – a brief, choking moment – all was silent, but for the sing and scream of of light and shadow folding upon themselves, growing, blooming.

The Tower no longer shook or shuddered, no longer rang with the sounds of battle.

The sky continued to crackle faintly, scattering ephemeral meteors across the skies of Norvrandt. Everlasting Light had given way to Starshowers, the latter just as unwelcome as the former.

The peaceful reassuring sight of the monolithic Crystal Tower looming over all, even through the fog of a phantom end, was disrupted one more time.

From its spire burst two eruptions of unrelenting power. Light spewed from the left, and Darkness from the right, clashing in the middle in a titanic struggle. Water from the lake at the Throne sprayed over the edge of the Tower, dispersing into a fine mist before it ever reached the ground. The flash of skewed light and the uneven shade cast by the darkness threw the Crystarium into a moment of eerie monochromatic silence.

Until the light faded, and the shadow followed scarcely a blink later.

The orange storm above all shuddered, as if someone had dropped a stone into the perfectly still surface of a lake. From the eye of the storm the clouds began to ripple and fade away, the Starshower’s effervescent nature coming full circle. It disappeared from the world, relegated to becoming nothing more than a memory of memories in the minds of the people of Norvrandt.

The rich azure sky of an evening blue hour appeared in its place, staking rightful claim over the tarnished heavens, stars playfully glittering in the Sunless Sea.

The Crystarium was silent.

All was finally as it should be.

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