"You mean murdered."

"She begged me. There were demons everywhere, flaying or desecrating the living bodies of her neighbours. Better at my hands than theirs."

"Didn't want another demon to have her soul?"

"Clever wizard! Alright, better to kill her myself than give anyone leverage."

"I'm sure it was quick, painless."

"Come now, even you don't believe that. Vial after vial of bottled Agony. Sometimes they come to me in dreams, those rending screams; I haven't found anything quite like it. And I've looked for a long time."

Bliks dug her fingers into the stone of the tower, her eyes watering as she stared into the setting of the Worldwound bloated sun. It was the same feminine voice from before, from Irabeth's house, nestling in beside her ear like a reclining lover. The thought made her retch.

Still she stood away from her travelling companions, mindful not to let any Scrying see more than just her, and far enough that their exchanged whispers were not overheard. The sagging of her mood lingered on, keeping her from summoning the winds that kept her company, that held her aloft.

"Areelu Vorlesh."

"Please, call me Areelu. Bliks is it?"

"Bliksemani Volgeling, witch."

"Don't they call you that too? The Androffan Witch of Numeria? Besides I'm far more than just a witch now."

"What do you want?"

"To talk my dear! It's refreshing to talk to an esteemed colleague."

"You tried to Dominate me." Bliks gritted her teeth at the memory.

"And you resisted, so no harm done! How could I truly know I was in such company without an incy, wincy, little test? But you didn't pass on your own, did you? That Shadow Demon was right, wasn't it?"

"My mind, my soul is my own."

"Surely you jest!"

"I am not in the habit of trading gibes with the likes of you."

"Such hostility! But I suppose it's understandable, as I succeeded where you failed."

"What?!"

"I defeated my enemies. Destroyed them. Them and the nation that birthed them. Ground it into a gruel and fed it to Lord Deskari's horde. Sadly, too few knew it was me." The voice seemed to pout.

"You haven't defeated the Crusade."

"The Crusade? They oppose me, but I have no enmity towards them. Oh no, my enemies died with Sarkoris. You, all arcane spellcasters come to think of it, should thank me."

"Thank you … thank you? You're a monster who allies herself with demons!"

"Come now, be reasonable! How long did that prison, Threshold, stand? Where was Cayden Cailean? Arshea? Taraksun? Even Desna? Gods all, and yet none raised a finger at our imprisonment. Only Lord Deskari heard my pleas for freedom. Only he had the strength to break my bonds. And for what was I imprisoned? Not magic alone, as those snide druids would flaunt their powers to awe those Kellid simpletons, but arcane magic, magic they couldn't use, didn't trust, but wanted to yoke like any beast of the field."

"You say I have not defeated my enemies, but the Technic League has been crushed, the tribes that opposed us in the Sovereignty Succession have been driven back, and I didn't need to destroy Numeria to do it!"

"I suppose you think I should have focused on the Acolytes of the Green Faith? A weed does not die if you cut off its bloom. Tear the root from the ground. Scour the earth. That is why I rest easy at night when you toss and turn. Mark my words, the Kelllids will turn on you, abandon your reforms, smash your slaves. They are an obstinate people whose base nature sullies everything they touch."

"Is this the fate you wished to have? For your name to be cursed, for the blood of millions on your hands?"

"Better to be cursed and remembered then thanked and forgotten. When you drove your mechanical Androffan slaves along the Dagger and Seven Tears rivers, wiping out encampment after encampment of Blood Gars, did you not create fanatics who still curse your name? When word got back to Starfall, were not the whispers behind your back now tinged with respect born of your power?"

"They are not my slaves Areelu! The League may have treated them as such, but under our rule, they are free."

The voice chuckled, "thank you for being so familiar, Bliks."

Beneath newly formed threatening clouds a light bloomed. The signal. Somewhere in the Gate District Marilictor Volso was discarding the now useless flare gun and locking his horrific helm in place. Seconds later a rising shout announced the start of the assault. Bliks grinned and waved to the air, casting Mind Blank, cutting Areelu' Scrying off.

Eryno, still pointing to the drifting red flare, turned towards the hatch that would lead them down the tower and out into Old Kenabres when Hex caught his shoulder. "Wait." Looking first to his Sovereign's hand and then face, Eryno wrinkled his brow then looked down.

"But Hex, the longer we wait, the more will die. Wasn't surprise the plan?"

"My Crusaders will do their duty, even if it means death friend. The plan was to clear a path to the Gray Garrison. So they must be drawn out and there's nothing better to draw out the demons than moral deaths," Irabeth explained. "If you wish, you can join me in prayer, for those who have fallen and those who will."

Bliks walked to the others, returning Hex's nod. About her companions she set the components she would need, marked out the space with a wide circle of runes, focusing her thoughts on the spells she had prepared hours earlier, drawing them out so only a word would finish their incantation. All the while Irabeth and Eryno knelt, hands clasped over the hilt of Radiance, its golden blade shimmering in the failing light of day.

"I will have faith in the Inheritor. I will channel her strength through my body."
"I will shine in her legion. I am the first into battle, and the last to leave it."
"I will never abandon a companion, though I will honor sacrifice freely given.
"I will not be taken prisoner by my free will. I will suffer death before dishonor."

Hex slipped on a pair of Green keyed VeeMod Goggles his back to the two praying warriors. From their tower they had a clear line of sight to what remained of Clydwell plaza and the Gray Garrison on its western edge. A great rift had consumed not just the Cathedral but also many of the buildings bordering the plaza and those that it had not, demons had torn to pieces. Little was intact in Old Kenabres.

The Gray Garrison itself was a small building that could have been mistaken for a manor house in any other setting. It also had the look of a church with an offset nave poking through the roof, all stone construction and not a window in sight. Even the roof was stone, mostly flat but where the third floor rose, peaked across its length. No demons were visible.

And so they waited.

The injured sun dipped below the horizon and the brightest lights in the sky started to appear. Bliks hesitated in calling these points of lights stars, as she did not recognize the shifting constellations and smears. The stagnant air reminded her more of being inside than standing on the tallest remaining tower in the city.

"Movement."

Hex's word broke Irabeth and Eryno's repeated affirmations. Irabeth drew out a telescope while Eryno took the VeeMod Goggles and worked quickly. "I count … five dozen humans? And a dozen dogs and demons."

"Probably tiefling and human cultists," Irabeth added.

"There's a squabble and … one less cultist. I'd guess half the group is heading out?"

Hex turned to Bliks, "Cylex?"

She held up a finger, casting off the spells she had prepared and then said "Cylex. Eryno, are you ready to have some fun?"

Outside the disgusting human building the guards milled about as one of them continued to rifle through the belongings of the one who had questioned Faxon's orders. Their bodies moved jerkily, as if they had forgotten how to walk properly, while their bloated limbs strained their clothes, skin taut like a drum. Telepathically they shared lewd humour or complaints about being forced outside. Between them they wore no armour but carried primitive, wicked pole arms.

From the shattered road their cultist allies had marshalled out came a wisp of a figure. One of their number barked something in Abyssal at the figure that could be interpreted in half a dozen ways but was then silenced when it got jabbed with a scythe. Waddling to the fore was a man with thinning hair and a heavy horseshoe moustache, both silver but speckled with blood. A single boot was crammed on a bulging foot, while he wore a red and gold cape over torn matching finery.

"Prelate Hulrun!" the waif called out.

"Yes my child? Have you come to unburden your sins?" the obese man replied, his voice thick like his cheeks were packed with food.

"I worry for your health, you seem to have gained a few inches."

"Fear not! I have longed for this day, when I could grow fat on the gifts of Desakri. Perhaps you have come instead to turn yourself over to him as well?"

"First I need to know something."

"What is it my child?"

"Of all the elemental powers, which do you fear the most?"

"Rovagug's bolts from the sky, with their peals and crashing."

Bliks nodded and from her fingertip a bolt of lightning jumped the space between them, cutting through the man and a handful of his compatriots behind him. He just laughed as his scorched skin cracked and split, shedding to the ground in strips. Freeing itself from those remains the four tailed worm like creature continued to deeply chortle like a frog.

"Only a fool tries to use that on a child of the Outer Rifts. Now I will wear your skin!"

Tilting her head Bliks fired off a second spell and now lightning stretched along the front lines of the assembled Vermleks which was matched again by uproarious laughter by unharmed demons. The blocks of Cylex secreted into their lines by an Invisible Eryno, felt the charge pass and added their roars to the laughter. As the Androffan explosives detonated sending bodies and parts of bodies flying in every direction.

From the shell of a nearby building the other three travellers rushed down the street to join their wizard. Eryno carried the critical Rod of Cancellation strapped to the inside edge of his shield, letting Irabeth take the lead to the door. From a side pouch Bliks pulled a pair of Androffan Grippers and slipped the head into the gap between the doors after confirming they were locked.

"Sorry, I know it's a museum," she said as she reversed their action, snapping the lock free.

As they charged in, they quickly surveyed the foyer. Its mural had been defaced with blood and feces, but the clattering of arms and raised voices in Abyssal from a side room was quickly silenced after Eryno loosed a pair of Concussion Grenades. The debris from the room was caught up in the travellers' Fickle Winds spell.

"Here, through the shrine," Irabeth led.

As they raced through the next room, she staggered at the sight of the altar covered in blood, but quickly recovered, "Iomedae will be avenged for this insult." With a snarl she slammed her heel against the door to the stairwell and it cracked open. The spindly and pathetic Dretches stationed there looked up from their game in time for Radiance to end their lives.

A red skinned horned man blocked the top of the stairs, shouting. Bliks grabbed Irabeth's shoulder before she stormed up, leaving Eryno and Hex to their bloody work. The retort of Hex's revolvers added to the ringing from the earlier grenades but body after body tumbled down the stairs, Eryno shoving them out of the way as he steadily made his own ascent. Mounting the blood slick stairs after them, Irabeth crossed the hall and tried kicking the door there. Following her and then peering around a corner, Bliks saw a handful of cultists hastily stuffing sheaves of parchment into a small chest. Spreading her fingers, Magic Missiles struck them dead.

A crash signalled Irabeth's success and as they entered the room Bliks was thankful for the Fickle Winds in place of her usual breeze, as she was sure the smell would have otherwise made her gag. A handful of bloodstained white robed zombies stood in a circle, the poor men having had their bellies cut open to fill the basin they surrounded. Again Radiance blazed in Irabeth's hand, ending their defilement.

Sealing the door behind them with a Hold Portal, Bliks quickly followed the others mounting the final set of stairs. This vestibule had mirrored alcoves housing bent and broken armour, previously held in pristine honour. The room stank of unwashed bodies and the fine carpet was scuffed and burnt in places.

Ahead was the reliquary room, where captured cultists had revealed under Charm Person that entry was punished by death. In council this, combined with the concentration of demonic forces at the Gray Garrison, was the agreed upon hiding place of what might remain of the Kenabres wardstone.

Its door swung open and a bitterly sultry voice called out, "come in my honoured guests!"

'Areelu Vorlesh' Bliks sent to the others who caught her eye and nodded. Irabeth again led the group in, all eyes scanning for traps or concealed opponents.

Sitting across from the door was a ravishing beauty. She lounged in a chair, one of her finely painted nails playing with a tassel that drooped between her nearly exposed breasts while the other waved cordially. Her red dress clung to her form with a wide cut out exposing much of her chest, blending from a near sheen at her shoulders to a black flame pattern at her bare feet. When a sinuous tail wrapped itself around her tattooed legs, her other alien features suddenly became clear. Horns curved back from her forehead and behind the chair rustled a pair of leathery wings.

Her form silhouetted a great egg shaped cage, in which floated a lightly glowing spire of cracked stone. Above the cage floated a foot long perfectly smooth purple cone of crystal, it's point down towards the remnants of the wardstone behind the bars.

Standing, the succubus bowed, her eyes not straying from the drawn weapons of the travellers. "Your majesty! Had I known I would be welcoming such a prestigious guest, I would have prepared a better welcome." She fixed her gaze on Bliks, "your Magister failed to announce your presence."

After a silent beat she smiled, tilting her head and continued, "well Bliks? Will you not introduce us?"

"I am not your servant, Areelu."

"But those in my service do find it ever so … pleasurable. And I would say I too would find pleasure in you, Eryno. Your … physique is remarkable."

Irabeth stepped forward, levelling Radiance at the woman, "step aside, foul demon, and you may be spared this day. Refuse and you will be sent screaming to your just reward."

"Tut tut Irabeth. I speak with those beyond your station." Languidly she reached out a finger, resting it atop Radiance's golden blade, her flesh searing under its holy power. Another broad smile without a twitch of pain spread across the demon's face. "You are also beyond your depth."

"Submit Areelu." Hex said, his voice level and hard.

Bringing her seared fingertip up to her mouth, she licked the already regenerating wound then tapped her lips. "I think not," and in a flurry of motion, flew up and away from the travellers.

Bliks knew the space was too small for her to use her hardest hitting spells, but instead reached out to end the conflict quickly. Greater Possession pressed her mind against Areelu's and for a moment time seemed to freeze, their wills striving for dominance. She felt the mental walls crumble only to find herself slipping past her target and snapping back to her own vision, her spell resisted.

Then the air seemed to be squeezed out of her chest. Her ribs cried out and she saw her companions similarly convulsing in pain. Radiance dimmed as it tumbled out of Irabeth's hands, clattering to the stone followed shortly by the sharp crack of the paladin's armour clad knees as she clutched at her throat.

The retort of Hex's revolvers ended the pain as they tore through Areelu's wings, bringing her down on the dais just in front of the cage. Irabeth remained curled on the ground. With a snap of finely manicured fingers the air before the demon rippled and screeched open. From this maw stepped a great pig faced giant, ridiculously small wings sprouting from its back countered by a roar and heavily muscled limbs ending in stubby fingers and toes. A Nalfeshnee, one of the guardians of the Abyss itself.

With a cry, Eryno dashed forward, cutting into the great monster's flank, ichor staining the floor. A sickly glow spread across the creature's body as it clumsily swung at the warrior it dwarfed.

Again Bliks felt the air around her change, but this time instead of crushing her lungs, it felt like great webs were trying to hold her limbs in place. She knew this to be a deception, that Hold spells played with the mind, and she threw off its influence much to the screams of frustration from Areelu.

The Nalfeshnee snorted as its eyes flashed for a moment and Bliks could see Eryno clearly fighting against some new force in the air. Still with a sharp stroke he brought his blade up and caught the giant's wrist, its hand landing beside Irabeth's inert form.

A ray arced between Areelu and Hex and he began firing wild, sending 'Blinded' Seeing the battle beginning to turn, Bliks brought her wrists together, her cupped fingers firing sphere after sphere of fire that engulfed both demons. Then the glow on the Nalfeshnee's skin bloomed across the room, almost blinding her as well but leaving her stomach churning as her vision distorted.

Shaking her head clear, Bliks saw Areelu and the Nalfeshnee barely singed by her Meteor Swarm. Grinding her teeth she drew a deep breath, letting it out in a blast of sound, sending the Nalfeshnee reeling while Areelu covered her ears, her own scream lost in Bliks' thundering Greater Shout. Over the link she heard 'Up up. Stop. Right. Stop,' as Eryno sent the blinded Hex directions on where to continue his fusillade.

Those bullets impacted the Nalfeshnee as it steadied itself, throwing its focus off as it tried to bring another of its spells to bear on Bliks. "You have earned my wrath, mortals!" Areelu screamed, brandishing a fist sized gem at Eryno.

In a eyeblink Eryno was gone. His equipment collapsed in on themselves.

Her eyes widening, Bliks stepped back, leaving Hex in the fore as he continued to fire blindly into the bulk of the giant demon. She stammered, fumbling with her components, and then felt the wall behind her stop her unconscious retreat. Then she saw Areelu bringing together a powerful spell and tried to throw up a shield to protect herself and Hex.

But he was in front of the Wall of Suppression. His skin sucked around his bones as his muscles lost mass. Parched lips tried to speak, but with a tongue a solid mass, nothing but a wheeze came out. Jerkily he continued to reflexively pull the trigger on his revolver, empty clicking replacing its usual roar, the reloads in the other hand scattering at his feet. Then the Nalfeshnee reached out a meaty paw of a hand and lightning arced from the ceiling through Hex's body.

The corpse of the Black Sovereign crumpled in a smoking pile of scorched, dehydrated flesh and bones.

Crisscrossing her legs as she walked, Areelu sashayed through the intangible wall Bliks had thrown up. With a seductive smile, she reached out and held a hand over the wizard's mouth. Regaining her senses, Bliks pawed at the muzzling hand but floundered against the succubus' grip.

"Don't worry, I've done this dozens of times before," Areelu soothed before she snapped Bliks' neck.

The struggling hands lost their life and fell to numb sides. Areelu leaned in, kissing the tears rolling down Bliks' cheeks.

"Your friends, they were the true threat. You? Too full of doubt. Too distracted by the future. You could have prepared for this fight properly, but you didn't. Deep down, you really didn't want to. Don't worry love, once I learn your secrets, you'll come to my embrace on your own."

Effortlessly Areelu carried Bliks by the neck to where Eryno's gear was piled. Her tail snaked through the jumble, pulling out the Rod of Cancellation, its green gem still glinting atop its silver length. "You were going to destroy the wardstone? Clever wizard! I knew you'd at least try to steal it back, but destroy it? How positively refreshing to see someone embrace the path of the Abyss."

"And what a waste it would have been. I have spent years searching for just the right Nahyndrian crystal. That brute Khorramzadeh thought the sliver I gave him could destroy it. So many forget the Abyss isn't about simple annihilation, that's the point of the Void. Oh no, it is about all kinds of destruction, including the destruction of rebirth. All those arrogant Crusaders? They're about to start a new campaign, this time in Deskari's service."

"This is why I spared you … who else could appreciate my work?"

'Technician Volegling, this is-'

'Broken Arrow, immediate suppression, danger close, authorization Salometa, out.'

The twin engines of the Myrmidons blazed as they shot ahead of the lumbering Annihilator as it too lifted into the sky on a plume of white fire. Rockets breached the air, detonating on the stone tower.

Dropping Bliks' limp body, Areelu spat as the room shook around her. Broken masonry showered down on them. "Damned Ulkreth, there is little left in this city to smash, this is my hour!"

A Vrock Teleported beside one of the robots, a screeching vulture with human arms, only to be deftly sidestepped. Another volley of rockets again smashed the tower.

The Nalfeshnee shouted something, throwing itself over the succubus as a massive chunk of ceiling crashed on its back.

The other robot fell, caught in the grip of a four armed Vrolikai, frantic demonic stabs met with quantum lashes. Behind them, the ponderous Annihilator cleared its path with the relentless growl of its chain guns. The demonic screams were joined by an ever increasing hum.

For a moment the Annihilator and the Grey Garrison's tower were linked by an iridescent light.

Then the weakened roof and the walls of the tower crumbled and blew away like ash.

From where Bliks's head lolled she could see the hulking body of the Nalfeshnee still shielding Areelu. Under that tangle a silver rod topped with a green gem rolled free, coming to rest between the wizard and the wardstone's cage.

A gentle breeze stirred the debris in the room. At its centre lay the immobile body of Bliksemani Volgeling, her eyes focused intensely on the Rod of Cancellation. The breeze stiffened, howling into a gale, into the indescribable roar of a tornado. Shards of rock tore at the flesh of the demons and lightning crackled between the blinding winds and the remains of the tower.

The rod rattled under this force, then lifted like a spear being hefted by unseen hands. With wild eyes, Areelu reached past her summoned demon, cloth and skin ripping as she strained forward, her screams lost to the storm.

Then in a sudden rush the winds threw the rod forward into Kenabres' wardstone.

Light.

Brilliant and soothing.

A voice, then a duet, then a choir, singing a timeless hymn.

The air filled with golden razors, billowing out against the storm, each seemingly moving slowly until Bliks saw pebbles lazily falling all about her, barely touched by gravity's pull. She felt energy piercing through her face in a glorious rush, saw it slashing through her clothes, riddling her body with glowing scars. Then the wounds sowed themselves shut, leaving behind no trace of their passage, and she could feel her legs again.

She stood, seeing the remains of the wardstone continue their outwards path. Each was a tiny comet of holy light, streaking out from the now ruined cage. Areelu was pinned by the Nalfeshnee, their bodies now tied together by long, brilliant nails. As Bliks watched the two seemed less and less separate, until there was a seamless whole. The body was then limbed in an arcing black and red fire, and was gone.

"My most humble apology that that hadst to befall thee. Thither wast nay other way." The voice was powerful. Booming. Everywhere. The dialect was an ancient form of Taldane.

"Our interference hath dire consequences. But knoweth yond thee doth not travel high-lone, for we art with thee."

Within the blaze of light that had been the wardstone, Bliks could see figures coming into focus. Most prominent was a scarred woman clad in polished plate. To her left was a powerfully built dwarf leaning on a massive warhammer. To her right was a bronze angel, her hair a flowing flame. Others crowded in until all she saw was a great host, stretching back into infinity.

"Thy companions wilt not share thy burden, they shall see only light and life."

The voice was coming from the scarred woman, Bliks was sure of that now. Iomedae, Aroden's herald, The Inheritor. Goddess of righteous valour.

"But if it be true that thou can carryeth it, the reward shall beest most wondrous."

Rays of light splayed across the room, first focusing on Irabeth's suffocated form, then on Hex's desicated body, and finally on the gem that trapped Eryno's soul. Each began to glow and heal and finally stand as if untouched by the combat that had just finished. Their chests puffed, their backs straight, Bliks saw in them a new resolve, their eyes filled with understanding. Yet they stood as still and solid as statues.

"Knoweth yond thee hast did save many from a horrible fate. And while thy descent into darkness shall beest long, thither shall beest redemption."

"Finally doth not taketh the paths hath given, but findeth thy own. While your enemies are many, your allies are greater. Farewell!"

Only then did the broken stones and dust of the tower fall, the world no longer paused.

"Are you guys alright?" she said tentatively testing the silence.

Hex quickly inspected his body, shrugged and nodded. "What a rush!" Eryno exclaimed, drawing their attention. "Where'd those demons go? Did we win?"

"I'm not sure and yes, we won. The wardstone has been destroyed."

"Attend friends," Irabeth interrupted, "to the north."

On the horizon a memory seemed to replay. For a moment Bliks was back there, standing on the highest peak of Silvermount, somewhere above the Divinity's Primary Engineering deck. Again she saw a golden spike drive down from the heavens, but then she saw another, and yet another. She swung around and saw the same to the south. All along the border holy light was breaking through the darkness and corruption.

"By the Whisperer …" Bliks gasped.

"What's going on?" Eryno asked.

"The wardstones." Hex said. "All of them."

This time when the darkness recoiled, it did not return. A wave of blistering gold rolled towards Kenabres from north and south, and where they could spot the silhouettes of demons, the fiends were caught up in it and torn asunder. Bliks features twitched and her hung mouth agape, while the wave stormed up the terraces of the city, converging on the Gray Garrison.

Its power was grand and terrible, molten silver and gold reaching out. Bliks looked to where the wardstone had exploded expecting the streams to meet there, wishing to see this grand act of pure creation.

Then she looked down and found herself skewered by them.

Every muscle clenched, her fingers splaying open, her artificial hair stretching in all directions, as she lifted off the ground. Painlessly it burnt through her. Silently she cried out. Looking down, her skin was not her own, as her tattoo like markings darkened into sharp contrast against her blinding flesh. And all around her, her breeze was a river of stars.

Then her mind was elsewhere. Mists and clouds of the purest pearl. The air was clean and clear, and she took it in deeply, and even though she knew her body was still floating above the ruined tower of the Gray Garrison, it was a refreshing breath. The beat of wings made her turn.

Beside her stood a figure that was hauntingly familiar but unlike any she had ever met. The woman had great multicoloured wings like those of a tropical bird sprouting from her back, but skin like molten rock. A crown of flowing black hair trailed down her back over finely woven silver armour festooned with blue butterflies. Even from behind, Bliks could see that her physique was finely toned with powerful muscles alongside alluring curves. The figure started, turning. Impossibly Bliks felt her throat constrict.

Two kind brown eyes glittered under long black bangs. Her cheeks each sported the glittering outline of a blue butterfly wing.

"Dreams in the Dark?"

The beauty smiled, "Yes, my Little Breeze."

"I'm not really here, am I?"

"No. Nor am I. This," Dreams gestured to herself with a curtsey, "is not my body as it is, but as I wish it could be. Desna has blessed me, letting me see again and again the possibility of redemption. But you. You've grown." She shook her head, smiling, "not this dream self, I know you as you are. Your body is a wonder, you dance so well. Until now, I wasn't sure it was truly you."

"That … was you? Last night? You wrote that note?"

"Yes."

"Your note implied you were trapped in the Worldwound … it's been years, Dreams, why …"

"… can't I leave? This is the body I wish I had, but not the body I have. My soul …" she began to weep, "… my body reflects my soul, and my soul is not pure enough." As the tears slid down her face a pair of horns grew from her forehead. The lava that was her skin hardened into alabaster as the feathers fell from her wings, revealing the crimson leather of bat wings. Her hair fell out in clumps until it was the short almost military cut that Bliks remembered from years ago. And what started as bloodshot eyes from tears spread until the orbs became a solid red.

Bliks paused for a moment to take in Dreams' new form, then took the weeping succubus into her arms. When their foreheads touched, she could feel the horns press into her skin. A strength rose in Bliks. A clear sense of purpose. Of direction. It flowed between the women, and Bliks could feel the horns melt as Dreams' skin became molten once again.

"Yes," Dreams breathed, "of course. Hope. Hope freed me from Vhane's prison. As I am in you, you are in me. Thank you. Thank you for everything."

In a blink the mist was gone, replaced by the cool open air of Kenabres. There she floated, her skin still glowing like a torch, when the cheers from the city rose. The demons were gone. Blasted in a moment of holy energy.

But one demon could not leave Bliks. To the north. There. There was a demon that wished to be an angel.