Chapter 50: Fated Confrontation


The sudden fiery blast had melted the wall of ice, creating a cloak of thick mist all around Hugo. As the unnatural fog dissipated, he found himself surrounded. Where there had been a wall of ice, now a wall of steel encircled Hugo's position.

Harmonian soldiers thronged Brass Castle's courtyard. Dozens of chest-plates, greaves, and helmets gleamed in the morning sun. But it wasn't the armor that worried him, but the spears, halberds, and swords pointed his way. Not to mention a dozen bolts aimed his way by trigger-happy crossbowmen.

The soldiers had cleared a wide circle around Hugo, and they were all staring at him. No one moved, and some of the soldiers looked to be holding their breaths. But the whole crowd was like a bed of bone-dry grass: a single spark could set them off.

The True Fire Rune throbbed painfully on Hugo's hand. Inside his skull the rune shrieked, demanding to be unleashed, hungering to turn the metal around him to slag and the flesh and bone to ash. Wrapped in the calm of Dharma's lifeless void, Hugo ignored the True Rune's gnashing fury.

Slowly, Hugo raised his hand, and turned to brandish the bright red glare of the True Fire Rune at the soldiers. "See this?" he said, projecting his voice to be heard over the din of battle. "Don't make me kill you all. You can still walk away from this. Lay your weapons down and surrender."

The soldiers shifted uneasily. For a time, no one spoke. Hugo strained not to flinch, expecting a crossbow bolt to discharge at any moment, or one of the men to charge him with spear or sword. Sweat ran down his neck.

A single spark. That's all they need.

From two ranks back, someone shouted: "True Rune be damned, he's just a boy!"

It happened almost by mistake. One man shifted his footing, and happened to jostle the man beside him. That man lost his balance and stumbled a step towards Hugo. Someone took it for the beginnings of a charge, and twitched. A crossbow twanged as it discharged its bolt.

The True Fire Rune sprang to life at Hugo's instinctive command, and a wreath of fire surrounded him. The bolt struck the barrier and disintegrated in mid-flight. A wave of heat washed out over the soldiers, and the men stumbled back. A dozen more bolts discharged ineffectively into the wall of fire. The soldiers in the front rank tried to back away, but the men behind them came pushing in like an avalanche. The circle of steel came crashing in on Hugo.

Hugo drew on the rune's power, and furnace-hot fire sprang up all around him. The rune howled in triumph as greedy flames swallowed the soldiers. Through the distortion of the fire, Hugo saw men's faces contort in screams, but the roar of the flame drowned the sounds. Hugo saw men's faces dissolve. He saw metal melt and bones turn to ash.

When it was over, fires still raged around Hugo. The flags of the courtyard were blackened with the heat, and everywhere lay the unrecognizable remains of what had once been people. Misshapen heaps of slag lay where armor had melted and resolidified.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, but wrapped in the void, he perceived the horror and grief as a bright lantern seen from far away at night. He felt cold, his hands numb. He looked down and was surprised to see twin black swords materialize in his hands. The sleek blades were as dark as night, but they glowed a faint scarlet where the unnatural metal touched the world of the living. As Dharma's power spread out from the blades, smooth black armor wrapped itself around Hugo's fists and forearms, spread up his biceps and shoulders and out across the rest of his body. Only his head was left unarmored.

King Crimson had manifested.


Chris watched in horror as pillars of fire shot up from the courtyard, rolling out like twisters to incinerate everything in their path. The fiery pillars churned out across the courtyard and annihilated the Harmonians. For a moment, Chris could not breathe.

Brass Castle's defenders had been driven to the gates of the inner keep. There, Chris had mounted a last defense, as she and the fighting men and women around her exhausted their last breaths of defiance. They had been losing, but now… Now 'winning' and 'losing' did not seem to have the same meaning, anymore.

The Harmonians ranks that had close to breaching the gates of the inner keep moments before now turned to see the conflagration spread throughout the courtyard. Panic mounted in the faces of the invaders. Entire formations broke rank and fled. It did them little good. It only took seconds before the entire Harmonian assault turned into utter chaos, men pressing and shoving and trampling each other in a desperate bid to escape the flame. But Chris knew there was no time for escape – neither for the Harmonians, nor for herself and her fighters.

"Hold!" Chris shouted. "For the Flame Champion! The Flame Champion! The fires of vengeance cannot touch us!" As others took up the call and closed ranks around Chris, she prayed to the Goddess that she was right. He will not harm us, she told herself. He will not. But doubt made a knot in her stomach the size of a wagon wheel. What if Hugo could not control the power? What if he had surrendered to the True Rune's will? What if…

No. All she could do was to put her trust in the man she loved – the man who was trying to save them all. She pushed her doubts aside and took up the call again: "For the Flame Champion! Hold!"

What followed was not a battle, but a slaughter. The Harmonians pressed towards the keep's defenders in desperation, leaping into spear, axe, and sword rather than face the wall of fire that churned the courtyard behind them. Chris and her fighters hacked and hewed at the wall of panicked soldiers. For the most part, it was not about fighting – it was about staying on your feet. With people pressing in on her from the front, from behind, and from either side, Chris felt as if she were a crate of cargo on a ship tossed by a storm. Most of the time, it was a struggle to even swing her sword, much less try to hack at one of the attackers.

She did not know how long they fought or how long the flames burned, but after what seemed an eternity, it was over. The fires died down, leaving ash and a foul smell of cooked meat on the air. Scattered Harmonian survivors threw down their weapons and fled across the courtyard towards the breach from which they had come, tripping over the bodies of the fallen – where bodies even remained, as most had been instantly cremated. Smoke billowed from unidentified heaps of melted metal and charred bone.

Chris swayed on weak knees. Most of the men and women with her were just as exhausted, but a few – incredibly – champed at the bit to chase the fleeing enemies down and take the fight to the Harmonians. Chris barked orders to pull them back. This was no time to pursue. Outside the keep, the Harmonians still had tens of thousands of soldiers to throw at them. All around her she saw the bodies of fallen Zexeners and clansmen. This was not over. They needed to regroup, care for their fallen.

She was issuing orders for the wounded to be carried into the keep's infirmaries when she saw him. Hugo came striding out of the smoke, cinders dancing around him. Chris's heart leaped in her chest, but she was not the only one who had noticed. The call went up on all sides: "The Flame Champion! The Flame Champion!" But Hugo seemed not to notice. Numbly he plodded towards Chris, and when she saw the twin blades in his hands, and the matte black armor encasing his body, she gasped, and started towards him at a run.

She drew up before Hugo, and he stopped to regard her. His eyes stared vacantly, as if the person inside watched without truly seeing. Dried tears streaked his cheeks. Chris's heart froze in her chest. Only now did she fully grasp what he had done, and what it had cost him.

"Hugo," she pleaded. "Look at me." Around them, the surviving defenders chanted his name and 'Flame Champion' over and over. "Look at me," she commanded. "I cannot pretend to know your heart. But what you did, you did because it had to be done. You were given no choice."

"I could have chosen to die," he said, his voice a cold monotone.

Chris flinched as if he had struck her. She took him by the arm, and hardened her eyes. Goddess, but the armor wrapping his biceps felt cold and clammy as the grave. "Die? And leave your people to fend for themselves? The Harmonians came here to kill and to die. Your death would merely draw this conflict out, and change nothing, except to waste the lives of your friends and family. If the Masked Bishop has his way, these men and women would all have died anyway. As would we all."

He watched her impassively. There was no emotion in his face, and that chilled her more than anything. She had expected grief, even rage. Instead there was nothing. Just as when she had found him in the ruins of Karaya. But she had not lost him then, and she would not lose him now. She reached up and clutched his cheeks in her hands. "Stay with me, Hugo. Do not leave me now."

"Hugo!" came a shout from behind. Lucia trotted up to stand beside them. Her cheeks were smeared with blood and soot, but the Karayan chieftain appeared unharmed, aside from a slight limp. When Hugo's impassive eyes turned on her, Lucia drew a sharp breath and muttered something under her breath. Her eyes turned to Chris.

"What's wrong with him?"

"The void," she said. "This is what he was like… before. At Karaya."

Lucia nodded slowly. She had heard the story – though Chris had left out certain parts in the retelling. Some things a mother was better off not hearing. "How do we heal him?" the chieftain wondered.

Chris shook her head. "I am not sure. Last time…" She trailed off, uncertain of how to put it.

Lucia's lips pressed into a determined line. "Let's try this." She turned Hugo to face her. Then she slapped him hard, once on both cheeks. As color rose in Hugo's twice-stung face, he shuddered and his eyes opened wide, fixing on his mother with shock.

"Mother…"

As one, Chris and Lucia breathed a sigh of relief. "Not so far gone this time," Lucia murmured, then leaned in to kiss her son on the cheek. "Thank the spirits."

Hugo stared at the swords in his hands, frowning. "I…" he started.

A tremendous blast of lightning tore the sky overhead. Moments later, a deafening blast of thunder followed, shaking the courtyard's foundations and reverberating throughout the keep.

Chris turned her head and craned her neck to stare up at the inner keep's central tower. The thunder had struck there. On a cloudless morning.

"Geddoe!" Hugo cried out. He looked at Chris, and she nodded. Lucia swore.

"I'll handle things here," the chieftain said. "Go. NOW!"

Hugo set off towards the inner keep at a dash. Chris followed on his heels.


Luc blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he was elsewhere. The featureless roof of the tower of Brass Castle's inner keep rushed into view. The sudden disorienting sensation made his vision swim, and he felt as sick as if he'd been tossed by a ship at sea for hours. If he hadn't been accustomed to the unpleasant side effects of the Blink Rune, he might have emptied his stomach then and there.

He was already drawing on the power of the True Wind Rune as he made the transition to the tower. An eager wind swept over the battlements. Luc gathered the full weight of the rune's destructive power, and every fiber of his being thrummed with primal potency. He shaped it into a titanic hammer. Beside him, Sarah summoned the might of the True Earth Rune.

Caught by surprise, Geddoe had no time to draw upon his own rune. All the mercenary captain could do was throw his sword up before him as if to deflect a blow from a blade. The full weight of the True Wind Rune slammed into Geddoe like a falling boulder smashing through a roof. Razor-sharp blades of air followed in the wake, cutting, slashing, and shredding. Stone pulverized and tore loose from the parapet as Sarah brought down the True Earth Rune's force upon their target. Plaster powdered and split, swirling up like smoke.

In the wake of the assault, there was silence of the grave. Then there came a rasping cough from the cloud of dust. When the mist cleared, Luc expected to see a mangled mess of bone and flesh before him. What he saw instead stole the breath from his lungs.

Geddoe strode from the mist. The mercenary captain swayed and staggered as he walked, but he was on his feet. Plaster dust whitened his hair. In his hand hung a drawn blade he dragged behind him, the tip grating against the stone. A rune glinted on the sword's pommel. The man grinned.

"Is that all?"

Luc cursed himself for a fool. How could he have missed it? Having lived with the True Wind Rune for more than thirty years, his mind was utterly attuned to the frequencies of the True Runes. And he could indeed sense the throbbing pulse that was the True Lightning Rune nearby, tugging at him. It just wasn't coming from the black-haired man wearing an eyepatch. It was coming from behind.

Spinning on his heels, Luc drew upon the True Wind Rune and raised a protective shield even as he shouted a warning: "Sarah!" He had time to register confusion in her eyes. Then came a flash of unbearably bright light, and everything went white, as if the sun had swallowed the world. The thunderclap deafened Luc. The terrible lightning bolt hit his shield with enough force to crack it and send shivers of power down Luc's arms, but the shield held. His vision cleared in moments, but his ears still rang with the thundercrack.

Sarah lay on the ground, stunned. The illusion sheathing her body flickered out like a guttering torch, and her true form was revealed. Her staff clattered to the floor, snapped like a twig by the True Lightning Rune's power. The Blinking Rune lay upon the ground, shattered into pieces. Several runes still in their water crystals tumbled like glittering marbles from Sarah's limp hands. Luc's heart twisted at the sight. For a moment, fear gripped his heart, but then he saw her chest rise and fall. She was alive.

The man they had mistaken for Geddoe grinned, tearing his black wig from his head. Beneath it, his own dirty blond hair was bound up. Luc groaned as recognition set in. Nash Latkje. Sasarai's hound.

The real Geddoe stood behind him. The True Lightning Rune glared like the rising sun on his hand. The mercenary captain had torn the helmet from his head, but he still wore the tabard and mail of a Zexen soldier.

Luc boiled with rage. He reached for the True Wind Rune and drank every drop of its power, gathering it around himself like a comforting cloak. Then he began his assault.

He ignored Nash. Face twisted with anger, he walked towards Geddoe, sending hammer blows of the rune's fury against the man with every step he took. Geddoe retreated step after step, deflecting each blow with shimmering barriers of the True Lightning Rune's power. Around them, the wind howled with all the mindless rage of a typhoon. Luc was losing control, but he didn't care.

"I'm tired of this. So, so tired," he snarled. "It ends today! IT ENDS!"

Geddoe weathered the assault, but step by step Luc forced him towards the parapet. In a moment, he would have nowhere to retreat. Then Nash was suddenly there, leaping into the middle of the gale with his sword raised. The rune on the pommel flashed defiantly, and Luc felt the fury leach from the gale. The winds lost their strength, lashing at Nash and Geddoe with only a whimper of their true power.

Howling his rage, Luc threw his arms out and drew on the rune's power until every muscle in his body ached with the effort. He poured every last bit of his strength into one final attack. The full force of the True Wind Rune struck Nash like a sledgehammer. It was a blow that would pulverize even steel. It should have turned the man into a fine dust. Instead, cracks spread in the ground around the spy's feet, and Nash stood his ground. The sword in his hands sliced through the storm's fury like a wave breaker splitting the surf.

Nash staggered back. He had the decency to at least look exhausted. The rune-empowered sword glowed and fizzled and ghostly blue smoke wafted off of the blade. Shivering, Nash looked at the blade and whistled appreciatively.

"You like the Crown Rune? Damned useful thing, isn't it? Wonder if your witch would've given it to Alron if she knew it worked against the True Runes, too."

For one moment, Luc hesitated. The winds softened to a whisper. Then Geddoe stepped up from behind Nash, and thunder leaped from the mercenary captain's fingers. The bolt struck Luc squarely in the chest. There was a wave of searing pain, and then his whole body went numb. He had the sensation of flying through the air and saw the sky pass across his vision. Then he saw worked stone flags and the crenellated parapet as he hit the ground and slid some distance.

Slowly, sensation returned to Luc's body. Everything ached. He tried to move, but his arms and legs just trembled when he tried. His heart beat like a hummingbird's wings. All he could do was turn his head. Sarah, he thought. With some effort, he twisted around so he could see her, and watched in dumb confusion as the remaining Zexen soldier who had been on the tower's top when they arrived knelt beside Sarah's limp body. The soldier rummaged eagerly along the ground, fingers skirting over the runes spilled there. Finally, he froze, as his hands closed on something. The soldier straightened up and tore the helmet from his head.

Luc stared up at a perfect copy of his own face. Sasarai looked pale, barely recovered from his ordeal. The Bishop unfurled his hand, revealing the True Earth Rune dancing in his palm. The water crystal broke like a popped bubble, and the true rune glowed warmly. The emblem sank easily into Sasarai's flesh. Sasarai waved a hand, and the stones of the battlements shifted with a grating noise. Bricks unwove, forming into something else. Luc felt a pressure on his arms and chest, and then he was lifted into the air. He hung there, helpless, body trapped by rough stone hands.

"It's over, brother," Sasarai said, strolling casually towards him. "You have failed."

Luc strained against his prison, but it was no good. He opened himself to the True Wind Rune, but where torrents of power should be streaming into his body, now there was nothing left but dust. He was utterly spent.

Sasarai's face loomed above him. "You tried to kill me, brother." The bishop's voice was as calm as if he had been remarking on the morning's light burning mist from dewy fields. "You stole my army. You stole my name, my face."

Luc tried to laugh, but it came out as a sputtering cough. "It's my face, too," he croaked.

Sasarai sneered. "You are a traitor. A blasphemer." He made a small gesture, and the stone fist tightened around Luc's chest. There was a crack of bone, and pain shot through Luc's body like thunder. He tried to scream, but only a ragged gasp escaped him. Suddenly there was no air left in his lungs. As his vision blackened, Luc saw clearly through the panic and agony: he was going to die.

Sarah. I want to see her, one last time.

His eyes turned to where she had lain, but they did not find her.

Sarah was gone.


Sarah clutched a handful of runes to her breast as she used the other hand to crawl down the stairwell. Her whole body felt numb, barely responding to her commands. The brick stairs felt chalky and dirty under her fingers, but she did not care. Nothing mattered anymore.

Tears stung her eyes. Master Luc. She had failed him. She had led him into an ambush. Worse, she would not even be there with him when he died. She had left him, crushed in the grip of the True Earth Rune. Left him to die.

This was not how she had meant for things to end. For so long, Sarah had known she would die. She had tied her fate to Master Luc's, and she had been prepared to stay by his side and perish when his plan came to fruition. She really had been. But as she lay teetering on the brink of death after the True Lightning Rune struck her to the ground, everything had changed. When she came to, she had awoken with such a fierce need, it made her stomach heave. And when she had seen Master Luc's twisted body in Bishop Sasarai's grip, and heard his screams of anguish, she had known true terror. She had known regret. And she found that, above all, she wanted to live.

Is that so wrong? Wanting to live? I deserve to choose, don't I? And I choose to live.

By the time Sarah reached the guardhouse at the foot of the stairs, she had regained enough control over her body to stand and stumble forward as long as she leaned her hands against the walls. There, she paused to run her chafed fingers through the glittering runs held in a trembling hand. Hands shaking, she picked out the rune she wanted and peered into its gleaming depths, focusing her thoughts. She still had her unique talent, but without her staff to aid the process, attuning to the unaffixed rune was much harder. It took every bit of strength left in her body to activate the rune. When she did, her dusty clothes and features rippled and shifted as she took on another form.

Sarah slipped loose a dagger from a sheath hidden under her dress. Wearing another person's face, she stumbled down the stairs.


Breathing hard, Hugo took the steps three at a time. He'd returned King Crimson to the void and shed the black armor as he ran, just so he could move faster. Chris was right behind him. He didn't know how she managed to keep up. Reaching the landing of the guardhouse one floor below the tower's top, they both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the man coming towards them.

"Geddoe!" Hugo said. A wave of relief washed over him. The mercenary captain stumbled towards them. His black hair was a mess, his leather armor singed and torn, but he didn't look seriously hurt.

"Where's Luc?" Hugo asked. He thought he saw Geddoe flinched at the name.

"Dead," Geddoe said, grimacing. "It's over."

"And the Chimera?" Chris asked. There was an edge to her voice, something he couldn't quite place.

"Also dead," Geddoe reported without slowing his pace. He kept coming towards them, one hand held behind his back, as if nursing a wound.

"Are you alright?" Hugo asked. Geddoe grimaced.

"I'm fine. I just… I took a blow to my head."

Hugo started towards him. Geddoe stopped and shifted position, hand still behind his back. Hugo was about to reach out to steady him when Chris suddenly grabbed his wrist and held him back.

"Hugo, wait."

Hugo started, and looked at Chris with surprise. "What's wrong?" he asked, but she did not reply. She kept her eyes on Geddoe, brow furrowing in concentration. Suddenly Chris's lips curled into a grim smile, and she nodded to herself as if confirming something.

"Sarah…" she breathed.

Geddoe's whole body went rigid. "What?" The mercenary captain raised a hand, and Hugo felt a rune flare to life somewhere on his person. Before Hugo could react, Chris lunged towards Geddoe, sword leaping into her hand. She plunged the blade into his chest with a savage thrust.

"Chris, NO!" Hugo cried out. Geddoe gasped, and blood blurted from his lungs. A rune still in its water crystal tumbled from his grasp and struck the floor, and the mercenary captain collapsed. Hugo ran towards him.

Even as he fell, Geddoe's form began to waver and fail. The outlines of his body grew indistinct, like air distorted by intense heat. His body shrank, and hard lines turned to soft curves. Black hair bleached to platinum blonde. And by the time Geddoe hit the ground, the body that lay crumpled on the stone floor was not Geddoe's at all, but Sarah's. In her hand, the one she'd held behind her back, lay a wicked-looking dagger.

Hugo stared in shock. Chris ungently pulled her sword from Sarah's body. The Chimera's eyes stared up at the knight as the blade was gouged free, her small red mouth hanging open in surprise. Chris shook her head wearily. Her eyes tracked over the floor to where the rune Sarah had dropped lay glittering. With all force, Chris brought down her booted heel on the rune, shattering it.

"No more illusions. Never again."

Hugo swallowed. He thought of all the pain and suffering the Chimera had caused with her illusions. He thought of Chief Zepon, who had been murdered just so the Destroyers could sow chaos between his and Chris's peoples. The Saraak chief would be smiling now, in the land of the spirits. He leaned in to enfold Chris in a hug, and gave her a quick squeeze. Then he motioned for the stairwell leading to the top of the tower. Sunlight shone in through the opening. "Let's go," he said.


Geddoe had lived a long life, and he thought he'd seen a lot, but as he watched Bishop Sasarai drop Luc's broken body onto the ground, he found that his stomach for enduring cruelty did not match the bishop's capacity for dealing it out. He thought he'd be sick. The Masked Bishop had screamed for a long while. Those screams would likely stay with Geddoe forever.

Sasarai stood in silence for a time, staring at Luc's body. He seemed… thoughtful. The bishop's face showed none of the emotion that must have raged beneath the surface. He had, after all, just slain his twin brother. Finally, the bishop turned to regard Geddoe.

"Now," he said. He raised his hand, and the True Earth Rune flashed bright upon his flesh. He gestured, and the stone beneath Geddoe's feet began to tear apart. Geddoe leapt aside, striking his shoulder awkwardly and rolling to come up running. Behind him, ahead, on all sides, Sasarai churned the tower's bricks, narrowing the path.

Geddoe cursed himself for a fool. Should've seen this coming. Reflexively, Geddoe awakened the True Lightning Rune. His old companion blossomed with power, and he threw his arm out to point at Sasarai. He was about to unleash the hammer of the gods upon the bishop when he felt a sudden cold and searing agony in his chest.

He looked down to see the tip of a sword sprouting from his breast. He felt weak, so weak. He couldn't think clearly. He pawed at the sword tip thrusting out of his chest, but only managed to cut his fingers on the blade. His vision grew dark. But the strangest thing of all was the True Lightning Rune.

For so long, the rune's pulse had been there, beating in tune with his own heartbeat.

For the first time in fifty years, Geddoe could not feel it.


The sun stood high in the sky when Hugo burst onto the battlements. He had to shield his eyes to make out the outlines of two men standing upon the tower's roof. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness of daylight, he saw that they were Bishop Sasarai and Nash. Of the two, Sasarai looked to be in far better condition. The bishop stood with his back to them, studying something held in the palm of his hand. Nash stood beside his master, still clutching Alron's sword with the Crown Rune affixed to the hilt. The spy was a mess. His face was bruised, his clothes ripped and torn, but he was still on his feet. The Crown Rune had done its job, even against a True Rune. Two more forms lay unmoving at their feet. Luc, his body broken almost beyond recognition, and…

Geddoe!

Hugo ran to where the fallen mercenary captain lay in a pool of his own blood, and kneeled beside him. Geddoe's damp hair obscured his good eye, but even before Hugo brushed the hair aside, he knew the eye that hid there would be staring back at him without seeing.

Slowly, Hugo rose to face Sasarai and Nash. "What happened?" he demanded. It had not escaped Hugo's notice that Geddoe's wound had been made by a sword. Besides Geddoe, only one other person on the tower's roof had a sword.

Bishop Sasarai turned to face them.

"Congratulations, Lady Chris, Master Hugo." The bishop's voice was passionless. "Your plan was a great success."

The object in Sasarai's hand caught Hugo's attention. As the sun's light caught it, the rune glinted purple, and Hugo felt a sick feeling rise in his stomach.

"The True Lightning Rune…" He clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. His blood boiled. He turned to Nash. "You did this," he spat. "You!"

The spy wouldn't meet his eyes. Sasarai made no sign he'd even heard Hugo. The bishop held his hand up to the light to study the runes there. Only now did Hugo notice the green glow of Luc's True Wind Rune beside the True Lightning Rune in the palm of the bishop's hand.

"I have often marveled," Sasarai said, "At how such titanic forces could be contained in such tiny bodies. As tiny as gemstones, but more precious than the world itself. And these particular treasures were stolen from Crystal Valley. They have been sorely missed."

Chris had approached warily, sword still in her hand from before. Her eyes flicked to Geddoe's body, then fixed Nash with a withering glare. "The wound is in his back. Fancy that, Nash Latkje."

The spy's face tightened defensively. "I do my duty. As you do yours."

"Oh? Duty, you say? That is not how I would describe the actions of someone who would win a man's friendship through falsehoods and pretense, only to stab him in the back. In Zexen, we have other words for that."

"Spare me," Nash said, rolling his eyes. "You play your part, Silver Maiden. I play mine. Knights and spies are both needed in the defense of a nation. You of all people should know that." The spy pulled out a cloth and wiped Geddoe's blood from his stained blade. His usual playful smile was nowhere to be seen, having been replaced by a tight-lipped scowl.

Sasarai gestured to Geddoe's body. "This man stole from Holy Harmonia. That is the same as stealing from the Perpetuator himself – may he be eternal. The Perpetuator always gets his due."

"That's a load of crap," Hugo said. "The True Runes don't belong to anyone. Your 'Perpetuator' is just a common thief." He held his hand up, displaying the brand of the True Fire Rune. "If you wanna get this rune, you're gonna have to try it the hard way. I wouldn't turn my back on you if you told me the sky had turned green."

Sasarai's eyes hardened. "I would not be so quick to blaspheme against the Eternal One if I were you. Wise men consider it unsafe."

"This was all a ruse," Chris said, voice thick with sudden realization. "You never intended to uphold your end of the bargain."

Bishop Sasarai smiled. "I came to this forsaken landscape on a mission. I was sent here to retrieve the True Fire Rune. As I said, the Perpetuator – may he be eternal – always gets his due."

Nash's eyes flitted between Hugo and Chris, and the spy shifted anxiously. "Exalted One," he said. "You have the True Runes of Lightning and Wind. Perhaps…"

Sasarai cut him off with a sharp gesture, never taking his eyes off of Chris.

"Even as we speak, my army pours into Brass Castle. Lady Chris. Master Hugo. Having observed you up close, I believe you two would do anything to protect your people. You are the leaders of this ragtag coalition. You have the power to spare these lands the Perpetuator's justice. Give me the True Fire Rune, and I shall return to Holy Harmonia with my army." He paused long enough for them to let that sink in, then added: "Of course, you defied this very reasonable request once before. There must be a price for that, you understand? You shall have to yield the True Water Rune as well. A small price for the safety of your people, do you not agree?"

"How noble of you," Chris said. "Yield the runes, or give your people up to slavery."

Sasarai's eyes went cold. "The Perpetuator – may he be eternal – is not a slaver."

"What else to call it when men and women are not free to govern themselves, and a tyrant dictates their every action?"

Nash let out an exasperated sigh. "This petty wordplay leads nowhere." The spy's eyes were pleading – there was true fear in his eyes, fear of where this conversation would lead. "Surrender. It's your only option at this point."

Chris ignored him, focusing on the bishop. "I must admit, Lord Sasarai, it appears we have no choice." The bishop smiled, and was about to speak, but Chris raised her hand to cut him off. "However. As we have well learned by now, appearances can deceive. I shall have to call your bluff." The bishop looked genuinely confused. Chris went on: "You would steal our True Runes by appealing to my sense of duty to my people? In the first place, why should I trust you? You have proven your word to be more worthless than a three-armed tunic. The only thing that keeps my people safe from your grubby hands is the very fact that we do possess two of the True Runes. The moment we surrender them, you will simply march your army right into Vinay."

Sasarai's face had darkened with each word Chris spoke. Hugo's heart swelled with pride. Pride in her fierceness. Pride in her determination. Most of all, pride in the fact that she was right.

"Madness," the bishop muttered. "Utter madness. You think you can stand against me? You will regret this day. You may not live to see your people led away in chains, but you will regret this day before you die."

Hugo had had enough. Reaching into the void between worlds, he drew upon the primal power of structure and form that was Dharma. His skin chilled as black steel bled from wound in reality, wrapping itself around his body in the shape of sleek armor. With a scream like stars shattering in the night sky, King Crimson manifested in his hands – twin long knives, their razor-sharp blades glinting darkly. He stepped towards the bishop.

"You're right about one thing – we would do anything to protect our people. We'd both die to keep them safe from you. So, go ahead. Make your move. Maybe you'll take us down. But there's absolutely no chance that you'll leave Brass Castle alive unless you back down. I get it - you don't want to be the one who lost a True Rune. But the question you've got to ask yourself is, do you want to be remembered as the man who lost three True Runes?"

Sasarai stared at him, his face a mask of smooth ivory. The entire Grasslands seemed to hold its breath. Five elemental True Runes, brought together in one place for the first time in a generation or more, hummed with anticipation, sending violent memories of the world's creation screaming through the minds of the rune bearers atop the tower. Finally, Sasarai let out a deep breath, shoulders sagging.

"Very well. Keep your runes. Just know that you are fools to do so. Those runes belong to Holy Harmonia. As long as they reside outside of Crystal Valley, you will never know true peace."


The battle was over. True to his word at last, the bishop had called off his soldiers. Chris and Hugo stood on what remained of the east wall, watching the invaders break camp and begin their long march home. Still, Sasarai and Nash stood nearby, disarmed and under guard to force the bishop's compliance. Trust was in short supply these days.

When the evacuation of the castle was complete, the bishop and the spy were the last to be escorted across the east bridge. As they parted, Nash turned and shot Hugo and Chris an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry things turned out this way," the spy said. "I really am."

"Nash," Hugo said. The spy turned towards him, eyebrows raised expectantly. "If I ever see you again after today, I'll kill you."

Nash flinched. His eyes hardened. "You're welcome to try," he said, and turned to stalk after the bishop.

Later, a light rain began to fall. Hugo stood in the courtyard, where a funeral pyre had been built for one of the greatest heroes the Grasslands had ever known. Still dressed in his mercenary leathers, black hair swept from his face, and his eyes closed for the last time, Geddoe had finally found the rest he'd denied himself for so long. His hands were clasped atop his chest, grasping the hilt of his sword.

Hugo clambered onto the pyre and laid his hand on Geddoe's arm. Grief washed over him, hot and overwhelming. He hadn't known the man for long, but it seemed they'd been comrades forever. Perhaps it was knowing that this man had been Jimba's friend all those years. Or perhaps Geddoe served as an emblem for all the people they'd lost. It shouldn't matter. It was enough that he was Geddoe.

"You can rest now," Hugo said softly. "We've got it from here."

Footsteps approached. Someone stopped at the foot of the pyre, then clambered up behind him. Warm fingers enfolded Hugo's hand. Starting, he turned to see Chris's eyes staring into his.

"Saying goodbye?" she asked. He nodded dumbly. The captain of the knights was still in her armor, her hair was a tangled mess, and blood and grime caked her cheeks. But her eyes were wide and deep, purple as a king's silk. He'd never seen her so pretty.

"Yeah," he managed. This war had been terrible. They'd lost so much. But they'd also won something – a new future for their people. A promise of peace, if they dared to seize it. He squeezed her hand.

After they had both said their goodbyes to their friend, Hugo and Chris walked hand in hand across the courtyard of Brass Castle. Hugo felt a high-spiritedness come over him. The battle had been savage, but the Harmonians had borne the brunt of the losses. He'd been relieved to find that his mother, Rina, Lilly, Yumi, and Sergeant Joe were all among the survivors. And somewhere overhead, he perceived a shadow passing over the stars, and the sound of great wings flapping. He stopped and stared up into the sky, and grinned.

"Hey, once this is over…"

"Yes?" she said.

"Wanna go for another sky-ride?"