Chapter Twenty-Four - Let's Do Something Crazy

Samara sat outside with Lady Faunus, behind Fort Ledanesis. It was late in the evening, the day after she and Lucian had left for the Algandars Castle. He was long gone now. At this point, she was permitted to leave, but she wanted to see first hand what was to come. She might have been able to watch more from the other end of the fort and looking towards the human city than here facing the lake, but that much she was not allowed to do. She wasn't sure why. Lord Nogueira never discussed things where any eavesdroppers might hear them. It was all hushed voices behind thick walls, barring the occasional outburst from the elf lord's brother.

She curled about her knees, her chin nestled between them. The light elf beside her slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled Samara close. The brush of that vegetative growth sent a chill crawling along her spine, but she made no effort to pull away.

"It'll be all right," Faunus said.

Samara wrapped tighter about her knees, a huff on her breath. Clay would worry. Ledert would be upset that they were left behind. And Samara felt alone without them. Faunus only watched, her arms folding before her stomach, as Samara stood and announced, "I'm going home."

Faunus smiled from where she still sat. "That would be for the best," she replied. "Would you like me to walk you there?"

Samara glanced to the dying light elf, and wiped her cheeks on the heels of her palms. She nodded and turned back inside the fort to collect her belongings. Faunus got up to follow. Inside no one paid much mind to Samara, she might even have been difficult to see in the darkening night, but everyone gave pause at the sight of the light elf behind her. Samara headed for the back room where she had been kept when Lucian and Kelvin left for the Silver Dragon Castle, though Faunus didn't follow her that far. She found her pack in the backmost corner, half-buried beneath rubble. She cast the rocks from her stuff. When she had fully uncovered her pack, she popped the buckles to examine the damage to their contents. Her box had caved under the rocks, beads had spilled everywhere, but aside from this the contents were undisturbed.

Samara took hold of the strap of her pack and pulled it over her shoulder. She headed back into the lobby of the fort. The whole space was lit from above in an ever-changing shimmer of color that spanned the rainbow. Samara glanced around, and then up. Lady Faunus was the only light elf on the ground. All of the smaller light elves were crowding above them, many of them altogether outside the reaches of the fort walls.

Samara returned to where Faunus stood. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," she said.

Samara glanced around the fort. There were look-out towers, and there were ladders to reach them. The light elves didn't need these, so the upper levels of the fort were clear enough that Samara could climb to them. She made her way up and looked out to see what the light elves saw.

Still a long way south, and a little to the west, was a shadow in the sky. It might have looked like a storm cloud in the evening's last lick of sunlight, but the shadow wasn't cast by light. It absorbed every ray and radiated darkness. Samara raced around to the next of the sentry towers, aiming for a better view around the light of all the elves' wings. It was still too distant to make out what was at the heart of that darkness, but it was getting closer.

She peered through the masses of light elves in search of any one, familiar face. "Hey!" she cried, "Hey you!"

The one she found was the squinty-eyed shop-keeper. The light elf glared at her as best her strange look could. "What do you want?"

"What is that?"

The light elf looked back out to the strange abyss. Her brow furrowed, and she shook her head. "I don't know."

Samara raced back to the ladder and to the ground. She darted for the Radiata-facing gate of the fort, and shoved past the elves guarding it. Zane turned and glowered at whoever had opened the front entrance, his expression turning fowler still when he saw who it was.

Samara glared right back at him, and jabbed her finger in the direction of the sky. "Tell me what that is!"

Zane's attention flicked briefly to the darkness drawing ever-nearer, and a twisted grin spread across his face. "Why, it's Lord Aphelion," he replied, "awakened, no thanks to you, and about to restore balance to the dreadful place this world's become."

Samara balled her hands into fists, drew back, and threw one forward. She hit her mark. Zane doubled back at the blow, and summoned his light javelin.

"Enough!" bellowed Nogueira. "Something's not right."

The light elf leader stood opposite his brother, Samara between the two of them. His stern gaze was fixed on that shadow in the distance. It had gotten much closer. It looked as though it was skirting the human city altogether.

"What is he doing?" Zane asked. "Brother, I don't—"

"Run."

Samara skipped back into the fort.

Zane glanced to Nogueira. "What?"

"RUN," Nogueira cried.

Samara turned around and raced through the fort. The light elves scattered as the eerie darkness overtook the fort. Samara couldn't move fast enough. Before she knew it, she was on the ground. Faunus was on top of her. A barrier of light shone all around them, and just in time. Pillars of darkness cut through the foundation of the fort. It tore through the walls like they were wet clay. Fort Ledanesis collapsed around them, atop them. The shadow faltered, just for a moment, and then was joined by lights in the sky. Violet, green, and red raced past from somewhere to the north. The shadow sped after them.

The barrier flickered. In a burst of light, the vegetative growth covering Lady Faunus overtook her completely. The barrier faded completely, and shattered rock buried Samara beneath the algandars cocoon.

They saw the shadow approaching from miles away. Even as the evening grew dark, it was like looking at distant trees beneath moon glow. There was unmistakably some foul abyss heading towards the city from a place beyond the Septem region. The signal went up, and alarm bells tolled at every gate. The people who could not be convinced danger was on their doorstep were coming out of their homes and rushing to see what was the matter. They headed for the gates.

Coty watched them scramble as he helped Mina descent into the sewer. "We've barely slept trying to tell them all how to save themselves," Coty grumbled. "Didn't they get the memo?"

"Forget about them," Mina stated. "If they can't listen, they can't be helped."

Coty glanced up at the sky as the shadow above drew near enough to cast darkness over the city. But it continued past them, skirted the city altogether, and proceeded towards the Cuatour region. It was headed for Fort Ledanesis.

As the crowd thinned above-ground, Mina called up after him. "Come on, Cotes! Get down here."

Coty continued to watch after the abyss, shutting out her voice. His focus broke when a torrent surged through the alleys. Shingles and siding washed along. He glanced back as a second large form swooped overhead. Its twin maws gaped. Before it struck again, Coty jumped down the manhole. He gasped as his feet hit the ground below.

"Hey!" Mina cried. "The hell was that for?"

"Dragon!" he choked.

Mina just as soon had an arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulders. Coty gripped her tightly as she hauled him to his feet and away from the uncovered manhole. He winced, a whimper beneath his breath. Sharp pain coursed up his leg from his ankle as he staggered along. They weren't nearly far enough as water gushed into the manhole from the streets above and washed their feet out from under them.

"You can't walk, can you?" Mina muttered, stumbling as she reclaimed her footing.

Coty rolled from his knees to his bottom. He shook his head. "Just go, Mina."

"Is it one or both feet, Cotes?"

"It doesn't matter, just go!"

Mina glanced to the manhole, and back to Coty. She stepped around him, reached under his arms, and dragged him along the slick stone path.

"What are you doing?"

"They passed," Mina said.

"They'll come back," Coty added. "They've barely started what they're here for."

"And you don't wanna be there when they do."

Mina pulled him along only for a few minutes. They still hadn't heard another barrage above, the silence before the storm. When she stopped, she slumped against the wall of the path. Coty shoved himself back the best that he could and sat with her. She reached for his hand, and her fingers twined with his.

"Why did you stop?" he asked.

"There's another manhole ahead," Mina said. "I don't know how much farther, but I don't wanna be under it when they come back."

Coty nodded. He gripped the hand in his.

"Cotes?"

Coty glanced sidelong at Mina. "Yeah?"

"When we get out of this," she said, "let's do something crazy."

"Like what?"

Mina looked squarely at him. "Marry me."

Coty's eyes widened, and he turned fully to her. She grinned wryly. She might have even laughed, but that he couldn't hear as the ground rattled all around them.

It could not have been the water dragon. It might not even have been the abyssal thing that had come from beyond the Septem region. It was the earth dragon. The dragons of the elements had been revived. The ground shook again, and this time they heard a crash ahead that echoed all through the Path of the Spider. The light of street lamps carried on the dust as rubble cascaded towards them. The road had collapsed into the sewer.

As grit peppered them from above, Coty shielded his eyes with his free hand. "It's not gonna hold, is it?"

It looked like fog all around him, darker than night and revealing to him only shadows of places that were vaguely familiar. It was all a blur—travel, time, existence. He could feel nothing. But he could hear the crackle of flames. The smell of burnt wood and flesh assailed his nostrils, and the taste of ash soiled his tongue.

The fog was slowly lifting. The shadows filled with dimension. He became aware of the heaviness in his limbs, and uneven rubble beneath his soles. He dropped to his knees and gasped as if he'd forgotten how to breathe. He closed his eyes and simply knelt. He could still smell it, smoke. The taste of ash grew more repugnant. The chill of the air overtook the warmth of the fires in a swirl of contrasting temperatures. He dropped farther forward, his palms meeting the earth, his stomach turning. The smells grew stronger still. That tang welled in the back of his throat. Don't swallow it, he thought. He tested the strength in his arms, shoving himself back on his knees, and forced open his eyes.

He wasn't quite sure where he was. Everything was in ruins. He pulled himself back into a stand, keeping still until he could trust his legs to carry him. He could see now, past the haze of his own vision and into the dark of night. The walls still stood, broken, but unmistakable. Where he stood was the City of Radiata—at least, what was left of it.

He turned to where the castle should have been, where there was naught but gray sky and ash drifting like snow. And it wasn't just the castle; the whole city had been leveled. The street wasn't even visible beneath his feet. These were the shapes in the fog. Before he had a handle on himself, these were what he had seen. He swallowed hard. Just as soon, he turned back around and vomited.

He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and wandered forward to put distance between himself and the contents of his stomach. What else had been in that fog? He saw the castle twice, but between these he had seen the shadow of another formidable place, wedged in the narrowest point of a valley.

"Fort Ledanesis," he gasped.

He staggered forward still, already facing the Cuatour region. He didn't go far, however, before he paused.

"Samara."

His eyes opened wide. He forgot the heaviness in his person, the broken city beneath his feet, and ran for the fort.

"Samara?"

The voice was faint, still well in the distance. She was sure it was familiar, but couldn't make out to whom it belonged through the rock and faintly glowing, bark-like casket. She shoved against the algandars cocoon. She briefly gained an inch to breathe, but when her resistance faltered, she lost two.

"Samara!"

"Over here!" she cried, "Help!"

The rock above her grew heavier the longer she lay there. Footsteps tread above her, nearly on top of her now.

"Hello?" she called again.

Piece by piece, the weight upon her lifted. When she could breathe again, in spite of the strain, she shoved against the algandars cocoon. Whoever stood above her cast everything aside, and before long Samara could see stars and moonlight.

"You're alive," the figure breathed.

She looked upon him at last and dove at him. With her arms wrapped around his waist, and her forehead nuzzling against his belly, she couldn't find her voice. It was several minutes before she pulled back, and only because he failed to return her embrace. She leaned back to look up to his face. Her tongue flicked to wet her lips.

"Lucian?" she asked.

He flinched. He looked back upon her without passion, without familiarity, but with a twist of remorse in his brow.

"Aphelion," she murmured.

"I'm sorry."

Samara's hold faltered. She stepped back, her gaze falling from his. Her lips pursed without sound. She settled for breathing instead. As the silence dragged on, overshadowed by the murmur of survivors, she shuffled back a bit farther. And then she looked up at him again. She took a deep breath, and her eyes searched his. He regarded her flatly. There was not even a trace of his slight smile or frown. She turned her attention back down upon to the remnants of the fort around them, the injured, the dead.

She couldn't keep her eyes from flicking to his as she asked, "Is any of Lucian left?"

He averted his gaze. "All of him is left," Aphelion said. "Every soul of every vessel, their hopes, their dreams..."

He studied the damage. She hadn't noticed it yet, but well beyond there was a trail of smoke rising from the direction of the human city. She lingered on it as he turned back around to face her.

"...and this." He slumped onto the rubble beneath them, his head in his hands, trembling. "I was not braced for a vessel quite like this one," he whispered. "If, in a thousand years, this is to be my nightmares..."

Samara stepped forward, and knelt before him. She reached out and cupped his cheeks. Her eyes bore into his. "Promise me this will never happen again."

"I would rather die."

Author's Note

Kind of strange to think this is it, it's really over, though there is one last piece to go. I'll share my thoughts on the story as a whole when I get it up. Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you'll share your thoughts on it all, too. :3

In the epilogue, we visit Drago's home, Cinco Village.