---

It was too much for her. Damian's head swam as she tried to control more magic in one moment than she had commanded in her entire life before it. Her mind crept out over the entire town as she ran toward the square where Garrick was under attack, and where Domino now approached with the speed of his amulet's enchantment. She tried to keep focusing on the painfully powerful beacon of Nephrita and the much slighter thrum of Garrick, while also reaching out to sever the threads binding the krolmins to Nephrita and trying to use her magic to protect other people. None of her actions were especially easy or natural for her to do, and trying to command all of it at once made her feel faint. All around her, tiny pulses of life winked out of her awareness. She tried to reach out farther, but it only made her head pound harder.

She couldn't spare enough focus to understand what was happening between Nephrita and Garrick, whose energy was almost absorbed by the goddess' presence. She tried to put up a magic shield around Garrick, protecting him against Nephrita's overpowering energy. Something happened, but Damian could give it no more thought as a krolmin attack near her physical body drew her attention away from the scene.

Once the krolmins were subdued, she reached out again, taking in everything she couldn't see with her eyes. She felt sweat bead on her forehead as she ran on, the effort weakening her with every step. She couldn't let go of anyone or anything, or else people would die and the krolmins would fall under Nephrita's control once again, but the magic use was almost more than she could bear.

Finally, she came upon the small source of the enormous beacon. Damian could hardly see the city around her, as her mind was too focused on the intangible to look with her eyes. Desperately, she hurled a spell at Nephrita, feeling the energy of her attack approach the beacon. A sliver of hope gleamed deep in her heart as the blast rattled Nephrita. Focusing on Garrick and Domino, she reached out, trying to ease the pain she could feel as she touched them.

Suddenly, a new flare of energy sped out from the beacon. It was all Damian could do simply to stop it from hitting her. She staggered back, vision fading and a coppery taste filling her mouth. She was so focused on trying to free krolmins and protect the people and creatures nearby that she didn't have time to react when another spell streaked out from Nephrita and sent her crashing into a burning building.

Damian cried out as she smashed through the wall to land on the second story floor, only to crash through its weakened timbers to ground level. Instinctively, she retreated back into her own body as she hit the floor with a sharp jolt. When she opened her eyes, she found an avalanche of blackened wood falling onto her. Yelping, she reached out her hand and blasted the flaming timbers away. She coughed from the thick smoke as she rolled over, still returning to her senses. The heat in the building was unbearable and she could hear the creaking of the weakened wood threatening to cave in. Ash stung her eyes and sent tears rolling down her face and her body ached severely from the fall, yet she felt stronger and more able than she had moments before in the city square.

Blowing the smoke and ash away from her face, Damian crawled across the floor, away from the rubble blocking the entrance from her. The back door loomed nearby, engulfed in flames. Reaching out, she willed the fire to diminish. Stumbling to her feet, she wrapped her cloak around the door handle and shoved it open, nearly collapsing into the alley outside.

She couldn't hear anything over the roar of the fire behind her. For a long moment she knelt against the building opposite the burning house, still returning to her senses. Her head cleared and she could feel her own body again. She stood, knowing she wasn't safe where she was, and moved out of the alley into the street connected to it, which lead back to the plaza.

Glancing over her shoulder, she found the battle raging harder than ever. Knights and archers had begun attacking Nephrita along with the magical creatures, krolmins, and Niabi. Nephrita looked frantic, but nothing was getting through to hurt her, and not all krolmins were aiming for her. Bodies of all shapes and sizes lied throughout the square.

Across the street, Garrick dragged an unmoving Domino into another alley. A hastily tied bandage wrapped around the knight's midsection below his cuirass and red and pink marks circled his neck. He moved haltingly, spear wedged under his arm. Damian quickly ran over to him.

"Damian," Garrick greeted in surprise as she helped him pull Domino out of the street. "Thank the Light you're okay."

"What happened?" she asked quickly. "Is he alright?" Garrick nodded tiredly.

"He hit his head, but he's already coming around again." Damian turned to Domino, finding him stirring and groaning. Kneeling beside him, she laid her hands on his chest. She expanded her senses, finding a patch of magic energy and transferring it into Domino. His energy glowed undiminished, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damian," Domino exclaimed as he opened his eyes. He grasped her shoulders.

"I'm alright," she replied. Garrick slumped against the wall of the alley, cringing. Damian winced at the sight. Blood stained his trousers below his breastplate.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Garrick grunted.

"I've had worse." Closing her eyes, she willed more energy to seep into him. Garrick nodded at her gratefully, then turned his gaze back towards the street leading to the square. Damian and Domino followed his eyes. The battle looked grim. Nephrita yelled out and a tongue of glowing energy swirled around her almost to the edges of the square, blasting away everything nearby. Many of the people, krolmins, and creatures hit by the spell didn't get up again. Nephrita rose into the air and began flinging more deadly blasts of magic to the ground.

"It's no use," Domino remarked. "We're in no condition to go after her and they can't touch her."

"Of course not," Garrick growled. "All their tactics are based on fighting armies in formation, but she can take out an entire platoon at once." Damian's heart ached to watch all the people and creatures falling and their energies winking out in her mind, but she was reluctant to reach out to the battle after what happened before. She hesitated, torn between her desire to help and her fear of being too overwhelmed by magic use again.

When a pained scream rang out nearby, Damian leapt to her feet. Before she could move two steps, however, Garrick grasped her arm.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"I have to help!" She pulled, trying to free herself from his grip, but Garrick held tight.

"What are you going to do? Look at her!" He gazed sternly into her eyes. Damian sent him a curious glance, then turned to Nephrita, hovering in the air high over the square. She slung spells carelessly in all directions, pummeling everything nearby. Her familiar sinister grin began to spread across her face again as all attacks on her were repelled by her magic barrier to rebound back against her attackers.

"The wound I gave her isn't bothering her much anymore," Garrick continued, "and Domino's and your attacks haven't seemed to affect her at all. Don't just go charging recklessly into battle." Damian spun to face him and her desperation came through in her defiant voice.

"I'm the only one who can stop her!"

"You're overexerting yourself! You'll just get yourself killed if you rush forward again."

"I can do this!"

"Damian," Garrick cut in, sharp but calm. "You're the key to stopping Nephrita. You're too important to risk losing in battle out there." She frowned over her shoulder at the battle raging so near. "We need a plan." Sighing, Damian sank to her knees.

"What should we do?" She watched him glance into the fray.

"Well, obviously, this haphazard attack isn't doing anything," he stated. "Nobody can even get close to her."

"I can," Domino remarked suddenly. Damian and Garrick turned to him. Damian gasped as he gazed at her steadily. His bloodstone amulet glimmered in the moonlight. Garrick shook his head.

"It's going to take more than one sword stroke to take her down and you'll be dead before you can land another. What we need is a coordinated attack." Garrick scanned the battle briefly before turning back to Domino.

"Find someone to lead the archers," Garrick ordered. "Tell them to get into position so they can all fire at once on our signal." Domino nodded. "Find Orok'Ti and tell him to do the same thing with his krolmins. And," Garrick frowned briefly, "find Niabi if you can. We're going to need everything we can throw at Nephrita and she's the closest thing to a god we have."

"What are you going to do?" Domino asked before Damian could. Garrick drew in a heavy breath.

"I'm going to find Agasis."

Damian gasped, recalling what Garrick had said about the disastrous results of Agaesi trying to summon magic themselves.

"Garrick, you can't!" Before she could say more, he grasped her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Damian, you have the most important job of all. We might be able to stop Nephrita tonight, but only if she doesn't get away. You have to keep her from escaping, no matter what else happens."

"But..."

"Can you do that?" he cut in.

"Yes," she answered immediately, "but..."

"Good." He turned to Domino. "Go. And good luck." Domino nodded and stood.

"Wait," Damian stated, feeling overwhelmed again. Domino took her hand briefly, then turned and ran off down the alley. She watched with her heart in her throat as he disappeared around a corner. She had a sinking feeling that she would never see her two greatest friends alive again and didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

A hand laid on her shoulder. Turning, she found Garrick smiling.

"Be careful," he stated. "I know you can do this." She shook her head roughly.

"You don't have to do this," she pleaded.

"You know I do," he answered. "We all swore to do everything we could to stop her. It's my duty and my honor to put everything I have into this."

"It'll kill you!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not doing so well as it is." He grinned, wincing faintly. "If this is how people will remember me, then I'll die happy." He turned and began to walk out of the alley.

"You can't just sacrifice yourself like this!" Damian argued. "I love you!" He stopped, back to her. A moment of silence sounded as the battle raged close by.

Finally, he turned his head and gave her a sad smile. "Don't say that. Domino's the one you love."

"But I care about you, too." She stepped forward. "I can't just let you throw your life away like this." Tears gathered in her eyes as she gazed at him. His smile widened, and yet grew sadder, as he lifted his hand and brushed her cheek with his gauntlet.

"I'm not throwing my life away. This is what I was meant to do. You gave me the courage to do this, to be the knight I was born to be and face anything, no matter what it takes." Damian's throat grew thick, but she could find no more words to argue.

"You're really something, Damian," he added. "You changed my life. I'm glad I got to know you." Leaning down, he hesitated, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "May this be the end of your hardship and Light bless you for the rest of your days." Damian could only watch as he turned and began walking away.

Finally, she uttered, "Thank you."

Like Domino, Garrick soon turned a corner and disappeared from sight. Damian crumpled to the ground, leaning against one of the buildings lining the alley with a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach. As prepared as she had been to give her life to stop Nephrita, she hadn't truly expected that she might lose Domino and Garrick as well. She could have sat there for hours, but that was not why she had come to Albrith. Taking in a deep breath, she stood and let her senses expand.

 

It took Garrick a few minutes to find an alley near to the battle, but safe from it. Finally, he stopped, alone as the roars and screams from the fight rang out through the night sky. Pausing, he tried to slow his breath and ease the churning in his stomach. Despite all his confidence with Damian, he was still afraid of what he was about to do.

Sighing slowly, he shut his eyes. He focused intently on the darkness behind his closed eyelids and tried to tune out everything around him. The heat from the fires, the sounds of struggle, the flashes of light that shot overhead, even the sharp pain in his stomach, dulled though it had been by medicine. He needed absolute concentration and found it easier to obtain than he thought.

He had been taught how to draw from Agasis, as it was called when he was in training, mostly so he knew when to stop if he should do it accidentally. Every lesson, every instructing knight, and every book said the same thing. This was not something he wanted to be doing, ever, and more still, it was an extremely painful way to die.

He let in just a hint of the sounds of the battle to his reverie. Blasts and choruses of screams rang through his mind, as well as the roar of fires consuming buildings down every street in the city. The defenders were dying with every beat of his heart. Once they fell, the rest of Albrith wouldn't last long.

Garrick pushed the sounds out of his mind with a vague feeling of the determination and pride he had felt the night Damian spoke to him atop the castle in Windermere. Then, everything faded to darkness and he stretched his mind out into the night sky.

A warm sensation ran over his bodiless spirit like a hot breath from an enormous creature. He could see the dark scales shining in the moonlight as in a dream, misty and indistinct. Glowing blue eyes opened within the magnificent pointed face, shining deep into him and freezing him in place. Garrick didn't draw back. He drank in the warmth and incredible power lingering in those shining eyes. They drew closer, growing in size to larger than him, until the blue glow was all he could see, and then...

A staggering jolt of pain ripped through Garrick's body, bringing him back into it with a painful start. He tried to swallow a scream, but a strangled noise still escaped from his mouth. The pain in his stomach raged as if the head of a mace was grating his insides, but it was only a shadow of the pain now spreading over his back. The agony caused his head to throb so severely he thought it would explode behind his eyes, yet the pain in his back only grew stronger.

Bones formed in his back and ripped through his flesh with enough strength to break through his armour. He could hardly feel his limbs, he was so crippled by the unimaginable pain. He never thought his body could hurt so much, yet each second that passed only seemed worse. His muscles rearranged, twisting as they wrapped over the new bones so tightly it seemed they would tear apart. With it all, he felt his strength surge to incredible heights, and his entire body pounded with his racing heartbeat. Each breath he drew in seared his lungs as he could feel fire burning inside them. His vision grew hazy and he staggered in place. He could feel his life slipping away from him, torn apart like his throbbing and bleeding back. Until that moment, he never realized that he could die from pain. A shadow of fear alighted in the back of his mind that he would fall here without even being able to help fight Nephrita.

Before he realized what happened, the pain began to subside, leaving only the pulsing energy behind. His breath raced, filling his body with a sense of warmth and restlessness. His body no longer felt like his own, and he hardly understood the movements he made. He gazed down at his gauntlets, sharper and clearer than he had ever glimpsed them before. It felt as if his hands were glowing beneath them.

Turning his head, he took in the cacophony of sounds emanating from the plaza nearby. His feet didn't seem to touch ground at all as he ran down the alley and leaped into the air.

 

Domino darted into a dark alley as the aged shaman rose into the night sky. Glancing around the corner, he took in the sight of the battle. He couldn't see most of the plaza behind the people, krolmins, and magical creatures that filled the square, but between their legs, bodies lay everywhere. He only hoped that the attack would work, and that Damian was safe. An ache grew in his heart as he thought of her. He knew he had to do this, but he wished he hadn't left her. Hundreds of things he wanted to say to her rushed through his mind. He considered abandoning the battle to go find her and keep her safe.

Before he could move, a shadow in the air across the street caught his attention. He drew his sword at the sight of the huge leathery wings, uncertain whether the approaching creature was controlled by Nephrita or not. As the tail swung gracefully to the side behind it, Domino stepped back a pace. The tail was too long and the wings too large to be a krolmin. He shifted into a defensive stance, not knowing what this strange creature was, and why it seemed to be flying right towards him.

As the creature came into the light of the fires from the plaza, his eyes widened. Soaring through the sky towards him was Sir Magni. Enormous, midnight blue wings sprouted from his back, along with a long scaly tail with sharp spines running down it. Both glistened as if soaked in something dark. The knight sent him a meaningful look as he dipped into the alley toward Domino.

Understanding, Domino turned and began running from him, then reached his hand up. The knight grasped his glove and effortlessly lifted Domino into the air with him. Domino brought the hand holding his sword up and reached his fingers around the hilt to touch his amulet. Everything faded to grey silence as they rose into the sky.

Turning, Garrick dropped him onto a roof just a few buildings away from where Nephrita hovered. Domino hit the roof running, his steps falling noiselessly on the clay tiles. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Garrick still immersed in the same greyness as him, and he could feel the spell reaching out to the knight from his amulet.

Facing forward, Domino gripped his sword tightly and focused on Nephrita.

 

The outcome of the battle still looked dark. A third as many bodies littered the plaza around Nephrita as the last time Damian had reached out to it and the dark goddess remained unharmed since Damian's attack. Nephrita had even regained control of many krolmins Damian had already freed from her grasp. Without a further thought, Damian searched for the krolmins she still commanded and severed the magical threads binding them to her. As the screams of battle rang around her, Damian began forming protective fields around those closest to Nephrita, but every time her heart beat, another life winked out.

Damian clenched her teeth as she reached out further. Nephrita was trying hard to regain control of her krolmins and was fighting Damian's approaches. Away on the far side of the square, Damian could sense Domino with another pulse of energy. As she found Garrick, she cringed. His energy was surging to incredible proportions, beyond anything else in town aside from Niabi and Nephrita herself, but with it came an agonizing pain down his back, blinding him to almost everything else. As Damian focused on him, trying to help him, an echo of the pain he felt shivered over her back. Soon, he resisted her touch with startling force. Moving away, she found the shields she kept over the creatures in the immediate battle fading. Desperately, she tried to increase the protection she offered.

Her head began throbbing from the effort, but she couldn't let go of any of the presences connected to her. She had to help, but it was getting to be too much. If she only had more time, she could learn to focus her power, but every second she tried to conserve her energy, something else died. The battle was brutal. She began to feel the misery and hopelessness of the townspeople. The minds of everyone and everything she tried to help shrieked through her mind, drowning out her own thoughts and losing her in the swarms of people and creatures struggling through the battle. It was overwhelming, overpowering, but she couldn't let go, couldn't leave them defenseless against the dark goddess.

Then, a voice cut through all the sensations tearing her apart.

Let them go.

Opening her eyes, Damian drew back from some of the presences she touched. She didn't know if the voice had been hers or someone else's, but the words echoed silently across her ears. She couldn't just leave all those people and creatures to die, but she knew the words spoke truth. She was so busy trying to protect everyone that she couldn't even muster the energy to do what she had come to do. Nephrita was going to continue attacking everything in town regardless of her attempts at protection. Damian's efforts were only clouding her mind and there was only one way she could truly keep everyone safe.

Rising to her feet, she released everyone she had been watching and protecting, keeping her mind focused only on Nephrita to prevent her from disappearing. She paused, letting the paralyzing rush of feelings fade out of her mind.

Suddenly, the wall behind Damian exploded. She yelped as she was blown forward, then twisted around to see the building she had been leaning against now consumed with fire. She reached out to quell the flames, but instead drew them towards her. Gasping, she released her hold too late, but the flames drifted harmlessly over her arm before rising into the air and disappearing. Surprised, she reached out to the burning building again, pulling a stream of fire out of the wood. She gazed at her engulfed hand for a moment, then turned a determined eye to Nephrita hovering over the plaza. The dark goddess' back was to her.

Standing slowly, Damian held her hand forward and pulled all the fire she could out of the building before her. Before long, her arm was covered in brilliant yellow flames, with none left burning in the building. She stepped out of the alley into the street, reaching out with her mind for the house she had been thrown into earlier and any other burning building she could find. Each one was like a patch of magic waiting for her to grasp it, all with Nephrita's distinctive signature over it.

Blazes consuming buildings all around her began fading away as she pulled the fires to her, spiraling in a tremendous rush around her. When Damian reached the edge of the square where Nephrita still hovered, she focused her mind and began to float upwards as well. Block after block behind and around her grew dark as the fires that lit up the town moved to glow fiercely around Damian. She lowered her head, sending Nephrita a steady gaze when she had reached the goddess' height.

Nephrita began looking around curiously as the fires engulfing buildings before her shrank to nothing. Startled, she spun, and her eyes widened briefly as she took in the sight of Damian. Blinding white flames circled her, hot enough to melt iron but carefully controlled by her hands. It was so much easier, she realized with dark satisfaction, to command the deadly flames than to try to protect everyone. As she gazed into the violet eyes that once scared her, she began reaching into the beacon. There, she saw, was the invisible barrier that protected the goddess. Reaching out, Damian picked away at it and watched it diminish as the last of the fires engulfing the town winked out.

Nephrita soon regained her composure and smirked at Damian.

"Fancy trick," Nephrita remarked casually. "But you're not powerful enough to stop me." As Damian held onto the flames lighting up the night sky, she could sense Domino's familiar energy and Garrick's greatly heightened thrum of life on a rooftop just behind Nephrita.

"I don't need power," Damian answered, perfectly calm. All around, other presences waited, watching the scene intently. The city had grown oppressingly quiet as the attacks on Nephrita stopped and darkness shrouded the night sky. "All I need is help."

Nephrita shot Damian an odd look. Even as she did so, Damian could see Domino and Garrick with her mind, both cloaked by the mercenary's amulet, leaping silently through the air toward Nephrita. Enormous leathery wings and a long, scaly tail now sprouted from Garrick's back, both stained with blood.

They swung as they fell, their weapons crossing as they ripped deeply into Nephrita's back. Nephrita shrieked in pain and stumbled forward in midair. As she did so, a flash of light flared out from the wound and Domino and Garrick screamed as well. They instantly became visible as they fell limply three stories down to the ground. Damian forced them out of her mind, knowing that she couldn't be distracted now.

Nephrita stumbled, gasping in pain, though she remained floating. Glowing energy began gathering around her hands, but another voice rang out through the night before she could cast any spell.

"Fire!"

A chorus of twangs sounded from below and a storm of arrows flew through the air. Nephrita cried out and stumbled again as dozens of arrows hit her from every direction. Echoing screams rose from the ground, but Damian set those aside as well. Feathered shafts stuck out all over Nephrita's body and she struggled to remain in the air.

Again, she began to summon a spell to retaliate, but Orok'Ti's gravelly voice cut through the air before she could act.

"Ghalech!"

From in the air and all around, more arrows streaked through the sky, illuminated by as many glowing spells accompanying them. Once more, Nephrita's pained voice filled the night air, accompanied by the cries of dozens of krolmins. Damian still had eyes only for Nephrita, even as bodies dropped out of the sky like Domino and Garrick had. Even more arrows now protruded from greater angles from Nephrita's body. She felt Nephrita attempt to disappear, but Damian simply grasped the diminished beacon tightly with her mind, not letting it escape.

Once more, glowing energy began to circle Nephrita's hands, but the next command was Damian's own, silent and spread out in the night sky beyond words and voice.

Now.

With a massive roar, incredible blasts of magic shot out from every direction, from creatures in the air and creatures on the ground, creatures large and small, creatures visible and not. The immense booming caw of the thunderbird rang out with the crackly roar of the stone bears, the gurgling trill of the water fish with the rushing hiss of the salamander. Massive blasts of lightning, earth, water, and fire crashed together from different directions at the same moment as all the spells from the other creatures struck, as did a huge, glowing blast from Niabi, positioned directly below Nephrita in the square. Nephrita's pained cry rang out in a hundred different voices as all the creatures fell to the ground.

Feeble sparks flashed around Nephrita's hands as she staggered in midair, sinking slowly towards the ground. She tried harder to escape, but Damian acted before she could disappear.

Thrusting her hand forward, Damian sent the single blast comprised of all the fires Nephrita had started in Albrith toward her. The resulting explosion lit up the night sky in a blinding flash. Damian barely heard Nephrita's scream as she went flying backwards far down the street.

Damian dropped quickly but gracefully to the ground and began marching across the plaza after the dark goddess. Humans, krolmins, and all manner of creature lay moaning and writhing around her, but she passed by them without a second glance. Her determined footfalls rang through the air as she continued down the street.

A few blocks away, Damian found a smoking, blackened streak against the ground running away from her and the rubble of cobblestones scattered around it. Soon, she saw Nephrita, coughing weakly on her hands and knees. The beacon had faded to less than Damian's own.

Nephrita gazed, terrified, at Damian as she approached. No magic came to the hand she held up. The blast had apparently burned off all the arrow shafts that had struck her, but her body was riddled with bleeding wounds, and her elegant robe was in blackened tatters.

"Wait," she pleaded, as Damian came within hearing distance. "I... I can give you power, incredible power, beyond anything you've dreamed..."

"True power," Damian answered, "is the ability to live without fear." She strode forward purposefully, Nephrita seeming smaller before her with each step she took. As each step brought her closer, her strength and determination grew. "To face anything no matter what the consequences, to fight for what you believe in, and to reach out when you need it." Nephrita's expression softened, startled and moved by Damian's words. Slowly, she struggled to her feet. "To stand up against anything and see it through to the bitter end." Damian came to a stop just in front of Nephrita, who now gazed at her with understanding.

"I have that power," Damian stated. Nephrita's expression shrank back into fear. Damian drew the marble-hilted dagger from its sheath on her hip. "And all I want from you," she plunged the dagger up to the hilt beneath Nephrita's ribs, "is an end." Nephrita's face contorted with pain. Her breath came up short as she doubled over the beautiful dagger. After a long moment, Damian pulled back the blade. Closing her eyes, Nephrita fell over backwards, a pained and fearful expression etched forever on her face. Damian watched impassively.

Finally, the beacon winked out.

Damian dropped to her knees, suddenly tired. Her mind was empty as she gazed at the body of the woman that had caused her and all of Faneria so much grief.

It was finally over.

She let out a long sigh. It seemed both hard to understand and easy to accept that after so long, Nephrita had finally been stopped. The thought was like the end of a nightmare, and now Damian could finally sleep peacefully. It was all she wanted to do, but she couldn't rest here.

Wiping her blade off on her skirt, Damian struggled to her feet. With one last look at Nephrita, she turned and began walking back to the square with stiff, sore legs. It only then occurred to her how dark the town was, with just the full moon shedding light over the buildings and streets. Even the silence, pocked with soft groans and murmurs from townspeople, seemed oppressing. Damian ambled forward mindlessly, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of the other.

Hours seemed to pass as she stumbled down the street. Slowly, people and creatures off the main road began to stir around her. Faint cheers rose up in the night sky. It had little effect on Damian as she walked on, feeling detached from the world.

Soon, she began to come upon the bodies of the people, krolmins, and magical creatures that had attacked Nephrita. Some simply crouched against the street, nursing wounds in arm or leg, but many others lied struggling to breathe and others still seemed already gone. As Damian glanced around at the injured, suffering the very wounds they had inflicted upon Nephrita, her aloofness began to fade. A knot formed in her stomach.

Finally, she saw the city square ahead where the fight had taken place. Her heart skipped a beat. The plaza was carpeted in bodies. She began to increase her pace. So few of the bodies moved at all. Her heart hammered in her chest. She had forgotten all about the sacrifices everyone had made while she remained so focused on Nephrita.

Just as the thought began to cross her mind, she sighted a familiar body lying ahead.

"Domino!" she cried, breaking into a run.

Domino lay unmoving on the ground, black cloak and dark hair pooled around him. His eyes were closed and he didn't react to her approach. As she neared, she saw a dark stain creeping out from beneath his leather breastplate.

"Domino," she uttered as she knelt before him. Rolling him carefully onto his side, she lifted his face in her hands. Blood trickled out from a corner of his mouth. Softly, he stirred, and he gazed glassy-eyed up at her. A smile crept across his face.

"Damian," he murmured thickly. "I'm glad you're alright." He cringed as he attempted to move.

"H-hold on," she stuttered. The glow of his life force was faint, nearly gone. She desperately reached for the surrounding patches of magic hanging in the air, but she was too weak to grasp any of their power. Domino coughed and Damian cursed her inability to heal him.

"Don't worry about me," he replied. "I'm just glad... you're safe." Damian ran her fingers through his hair, uncertain what to say. Her stomach twisted in guilt. She could sense what little was left of his energy was fading.

"It's not fair," she choked out. "After all this time..."

"Damian," his voice came soothingly, and he smiled at her. It was a true, genuine smile, without any of the uncertainty, worry, or doubt that had lingered every other time she had seen him smile. "This is better than I had hoped. I'm happy to die like this... protecting you, and doing something I know is right. I'm glad it ended this way... and I know you're strong enough to move on." Tears gathered in her eyes.

"I don't want to be strong enough," she answered. "I want to celebrate our victory. I want to know a peaceful life with you. I just want you." He reached a shaking hand up to grasp hers.

"You are strong enough," he stated, his voice breaking, "and I'll always be with you." His hand clutched hers weakly for a moment longer, then fell limp. Damian could only lean over him, letting her tears run down his chest as it began to rain.