XII
"You are nothing; you are less than nothing!"
"Stop this madness! Can't you see what you've become?"
"You did this to me!"
"You did this to yourself!"
Ellesime wove the Tree's power around herself; Irenicus' magics shattered against it. Each spell, so deadly, was gradually bombarding her defences to nothing. With each spell, a little more of the Tree died.
The cage had burst open, the elven gods empowering their champion. Bound to the Tree, Ellesime stood as guardian; bound to the Tree, the elf queen was surely dying. Now the former lovers exchanged words arcane and mundane, invoking all they had for this sole moment, a moment he had yearned for. The time of revenge was at hand.
"And I will have it!" the mage roared.
"You will have nothing!" Ellesime cried, "Would that you had used your years–"
"Silence! You took that from me! You took all from me!"
"Why did you not ask, Joneleth? Why could you not have admitted you were wrong?"
"I was right! I had the right! And you, my love, you stood in my path! For years I clung to the memory, then the memory of the memory, seeking to create, to rekindle something of our love, but it is gone!"
"And I pity you!"
He unleashed another devastating barrage; slowly forcing her back, he was a torrent of power, a consuming storm.
"I do not need your pity!"
"You have already taken everything from me, Joneleth! Must this madness continue?"
"Everything Ellesime? I have only begun!"
"Then we will both die!"
"No, my love, I shall ascend!"
"No, Joneleth, you will not! Can't you feel it? Even now the Tree is dying! You are killing her!"
Raw fire flung from his fingers scorched the bough beneath her feet; it was extinguished, "Then your gods shall suffer as I have suffered."
"Will nothing dissuade you?"
"No, my love, it is too late for that. Once, perhaps, but that is gone. The man you knew is dead."
"Then I have done a great wrong." She let the tattered remnants of the shield fall away, and she faced him without wards. "Have your revenge, Joneleth, take my life. I cannot abide this madness. My city is ruined, our people are dead. Does it mean nothing to you?"
Towering over her, he took a menacing step closer, gathering his magical energies. "I look at this and feel nothing. I look at you and feel nothing."
"Joneleth…" She reached out her hand; her fingers touched empty air and then his mask brushed their tips.
"Farewell, my love." The last word was edged with bitterness.
"Mercy," she pleaded, not for herself.
The mage froze, arm drawn back to deliver the death blow. Something deep within gripped him, something lost, forgotten. "Where was your mercy?" His commanding tones all but snarled, each word punctuated, each word pronounced.
"You are better than this… something in you…" Unwilling to accept the truth, she took his mask in both hands, thumbs caressing the crinkled leather.
"Is dead. The man you knew is dead."
"It is not too late; I will plead for you, we can start together anew."
"A hopeless dream, Ellesime." Only ice held his words now. "Let this end."
"For years I waited, hoping, dreaming, praying you would return. From the moment you left… I am sorry, sorry I turned my back on you. I was wrong. You were right; oh my Joneleth, you were right."
"No Ellesime," His voice was heavy, the weight of a lifetime carried in those few syllables, "I was not."
She stared at him, crazed hope in her eyes.
For a split second, he wavered, caught between ambition and life. He poured his power into the Tree, shattering it from its core; the trunk splintered, sap boiled. Blinding light became her world, rending her to her very soul. When the haze cleared, there was nothing left of it, of him.
"Joneleth!" she screamed.
Her screams went on and on. She read his final look: it was she who would live a mortal life, stripped of all hope; this, his last gift, to deny the Drow the Tree of Life, his sacrifice, his ambition. Revenge was all he had left, revenge in place of hope; his revenge was to leave her soul intact, her heart without hope.
The great tree city of the elves fell, the forest collapsing under the broken trunks weight. Ellesime tumbled with it, forsaken by her gods. This time, she had chosen love over their will. This time, she paid for her mistakes. There was no forgiveness, only vengeance.
