Final soundtracks! God-Shattering Star from FE3H for the Joko fight, because that seems like his kind of drama. :P Dive from Mystic Pop-up Bar is Caoilfhionn's final reunion song - and kind of the theme for this whole story! It just fits so well! I didn't plan it that way! But I ended up quoting it in the story although the English words don't fit the rhythm of the song at all. Trahearne's reunion song, by contrast, is Love Resembles Memories from the same show! Couple songs that didn't really get used for anything specific would be the male version of Magnet (for the boys together) and Mark Knopfler's Irish Boy (for Caoilfhionn).

Damara wears Tier 2 Human cultural armour btw. I really like it and I'm a little sad that my only Human character is a Guardian, I'm not a huge fan of Human heavy armour.

Shockingly, Joko's right about something: Canach is probably more suited. He would be her equal and they already understand each other better. But that's a story for another time.

This is probably the gooshiest thing I've ever written. :D


55: Who We Are

Caoilfhionn looked up from the battle, just for a moment, to see Annhilda returning, and Damara with her alongside her rock gazelle. That was a relief. Rox had already told him how Lord Faren had taken a wound for Damara. That had won Caoilfhionn's respect for him completely! He had thought Faren rather bubbleheaded, but he himself would do no less for his own love.

Braham turned away from the fight to complain to Annhilda. "Annhilda, Canach's trying to sneak the explosives past their front line. Thinks he's back in the Shining Blade."

Canach appeared at his shoulder. "Couldn't make it all the way to the front gate."

Annhilda pointed. "What about the towers?"

Canach folded his arms. "What about them?"

And they exploded. Masonry cracked and came crashing down, smashing across the high bridge that led to Joko's front gate. The foundations shook, splintering under the weight of the ruins above them. But the bridge itself held.

Damara laughed. "That was amazing!"

Canach's expression lightened around the eyes. He might still be mysteriously annoyed with Damara, but her laughter never failed to make him happy, Caoilfhionn had noted. "Our Awakened friends are scattered. I suggest we get in there before they manage to pull themselves together."

"There's our opening!" Annhilda bellowed over the field. "This is our moment! Let's go kick in Joko's front door! Who's with me!?"

"Ah yes, Annhilda's patented foot key," Canach murmured, eliciting another laugh from Damara.

A cheer rose from the army, Olmakhan, Asura, Sylvari, ghosts alike. Caoilfhionn twirled his sword and blinked into battle in the vanguard of the charge.

As they drew closer to the gate, Canach dusted his hands together. "Wonderful gate. It would be a shame if somebody blew a giant hole in it."

"Well, get to it!" Annhilda said. "We'll hold the Awakened off you!"

"Fabulous," Canach said, and ran to the door.

Of course, Braham and Rox both pestered the ex-terrorist to hurry – the way Rytlock and Zaeim had in Fahranur – and Canach told them in his usual way to be patient. Or to shove off, which to Canach was pretty well the same thing. Caoilfhionn tried to ignore all of them, only focused on slaying the enemy as fast as they came. And they came fiercely, determined to protect their fortress. Damara was shooting archers off the walls if they dared stick their heads out, and Annhilda was with her using her own new bow. Braham was projecting magical shields over Dragon's Watch to protect them from the arrows the two archer women could not prevent. There were Awakened on foot from all sides, too, though, and Caoilfhionn was busy, tearing through them with Fire and Lightning, Phiadi behind him to tear what remained of the Awakened's life force from their bodies and twist their flesh to her own uses. When a great conglomeration of bones and tar rose before them, Rhyoll blew its head off with a missile and laughed.

"Is this a bad time?" Canach asked, popping up suddenly at Annhilda's elbow.

"Canach, get back to work!" she barked, kicking a mummy in the face and then shooting it. "We can handle this!"

"Oh, I finished rigging the gate ages ago," Canach said, slicing an enemy archer in half with his whipsword. "Got bored, so I figured I'd help you lot."

"Not funny," Braham growled.

"Agree to disagree," Canach said calmly. "Care to do the honours, Annhi-"

"Just blow the damn gate, Canach!" Annhilda raged, smashing another mummy with her shield, and obligingly, the gate exploded in a massive fireball.

Caoilfhionn smiled. "Better work than the last time you blew something up, Canach."

"Oh, hush," Canach groused back. "Rytlock and Zaeim were distracting me then. And the ruins were in a much greater state of disrepair."

And then they caught sight of the shambling horrors behind the gate. A few scattered scarabs fluttered out, but behind them stumbled a horde of humanoid forms, their skin bulging and crawling with their colonies of scarabs.

"Third generation," breathed Gorrik, and while it was hard to tell if his voice were filled with fascination or fear, past evidence suggested to Caoilfhionn the former.

"Quick!" yelled Braham, flinging a magical shield over the gate; Taimi was right with him with an energy field generated by Scruffy.

"Force fields won't hold forever," Taimi yelled to Annhilda. "What's Plan B?" Already the plague carriers were pounding against the shields, brainlessly, with low rasping moans.

The ghosts of the Primeval Queens swept past them, their army streaming across the bridge. "Leave it to us, mortals," said Queen Nahlah said, a hand on her hip.

"Find another way in," said Queen Dahlah, mirroring her sister. "And give our regards to dear Joko." The ghosts behind them surged forward eagerly, their whispering murmur growing to a shout as they streamed past the barriers into the waiting plague carriers.

Braham waved to Annhilda. "Hey, I saw sewer gates into the fortress earlier. Maybe we can get through one while they're distracted!" He ran off, jumping from the bridge landing to the tar bubble shells below.

"Braham- Braham!" Annhilda groaned. "Damara. Caoilfhionn. Go after him. Nahlah, Dahlah, keep it up, we'll be back in a moment! Everyone else, fall back to Rytlock's position and regroup!"


Caoilfhionn bounded lightly across the stones and tar. "That was reckless, Braham!"

"And?" Braham demanded, not breaking pace.

"And... let's go find Joko," Damara said, relenting as quickly as always.

"That's what I thought," Braham said. "'Can't die'... Everything can die. Only question is how."

"Between the three of us, we should be able to figure it out," Damara said. "Anyway, what the heck, I've already managed to salvage one botched mission into sort of a success today, why not another?"

"This isn't botched, not yet," Caoilfhionn said, before Braham could take offense. "Is that the sewer you were talking about?"

"Sure is. Phew! Looks like there's worse than sewage in it."

The sewer was discoloured strangely, and Caoilfhionn did not want to know what had caused it to look the way it did... nor why there was so much tar oozing through it.

And on the other end, on the other side of a door, Damara stopped dead. "Is that... me?"

"Didn't know you had a twin," Braham said.

Damara shook her head slowly, staring in horror at the body that looked exactly like her – down to the armour. The dead Damara had crawled down a hallway lined with prison cells, dragging a thick trail of blood behind her. But the cells were also filled with dead Damaras.

"I don't understand," Caoilfhionn said. "All these bodies... they're all you. Mesmer magic?"

Damara wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "I know Joko's a sick bastard, but I didn't realize he was this obsessed. By Grenth, you decline to resurrect a guy one time..."

"My enemies burn me in effigy, but I've never inspired this level of... whatever this is," Braham said. "By the Spirits!"

They'd entered a new room on the far side of the jail cells, a torture chamber filled with devices, some of which Caoilfhionn had only seen in Priory documents, and some he could only guess at. Several bodies were still bound in place, and he ached for them. How awful it was, to see his friend dead in so many ways – when he had seen her dead once already! But how had Joko duplicated Damara?

He glanced at the table in the corner of the room, for the sake of looking not at dead Damaras, and saw a ring, a magical ring, he could tell just from looking. He picked it up.

"What's that?" Damara asked, leaning over his shoulder. She was a little taller than him, she could do that.

"I think I read about this," Caoilfhionn said. "An ancient skill signet, I think."

"Didn't think anyone used those anymore," Braham said. "What's it do?"

Caoilfhionn slipped it on and flexed, both physically in his fingers and magically, and the room changed in appearance. Every dead body changed face and clothing. No longer did Damara lie sprawled on every torture rack, but random ordinary people. "An illusion! I knew it. But we have no mesmers with us, so this will have to do."

"Oh, thank the Spirits, they're just regular dead people," Braham said. "I mean... you know what I mean. No one deserves this."

"So many people died just because Joko hated me," Damara said, her voice shaking. Her gazelle pressed close to her side.

Caoilfhionn shook his head at her. "Joko has killed so many. He would have killed these people regardless of his twisted fetishes. You are not responsible for his madness."

"I wanna get out of here," Damara said, but just then the ring flickered, and the enchantment ended. "There doesn't seem to be a door, but there wasn't really another one the way we came, so there must be one here. I thought I saw a switch a minute ago, can you do that again?"

"Clever," Caoilfhionn said, activating the ring again and following her to the switch that became visible. "And unnecessary... though I suppose it prevents escape quite effectively..." They all shuddered in unison.

And on the other side of the door was a bunch of traps. Flame jets lined the floor, lasers beamed from the walls and ceiling – at least before the signet's enchantment wore off again. Caoilfhionn frowned at it. This was going to be somewhat tedious to concentrate on in the midst of everything else he did.

Damara stopped abruptly as the green shadow of Joko rose from the floor before them. "Damara, I'm insulted. I invite you to the biggest battle the world has ever seen-"

Braham charged. "Die, you fiend!"

His mace passed harmlessly through Joko's projection and smashed into the wall, leaving a cracked indentation in the stone. Joko stared at him for a second, then continued talking to Damara. "...and you show up with an idiot Norn and a nerdy Sylvari? I feel like you're not even trying." Caoilfhionn disagreed with the 'biggest battle' part, he'd read of many larger battles in the Priory archives...

Damara shrugged. "Left my friends and their army on your doorstep."

"Oh, I know," Joko said. "They'll be my army soon enough. I hope you feel at home; I spent so much time preparing for you. Nice to have a reason to break out the crystal." He laughed uproariously, then stopped frighteningly abruptly. "Enough waiting. Joko's bored. Let's pick up the pace." He vanished as swiftly as he'd appeared.

"I'm actually with the lich," Braham said. "Enough screwing around. Can't wait to get my hands around his bony neck."

"If he wanted us to get to him faster, he shouldn't have filled these hallways with traps," Damara said, picking her way through flames and lasers just ahead of Caoilfhionn. "Aren't you coming, Braham?"

Braham eyed the traps. "I don't trust them. You can trust Caoilfhionn and his magic ring if you like. I'll wait for you to turn them off."

"I'll try," Damara said. "Gina, stay with Braham! You don't know how to dodge these traps! I guess this is what he meant by 'preparing'. I can't imagine him waltzing down here every time he wants to torture another illusion of me to death."

By the Tree, there were too many close calls to count. Both Caoilfhionn and Damara had their own magic to aid their speed and protect against fire, yet Damara was burned by a laser, stifling a scream as the red-white light burned through her glove, and Caoilfhionn's robes got singed. But they made it to the other side and hit the switch, and while they waited for Braham and the gazelle to catch up, Caoilfhionn cast healing spells on them both.

Joko taunted them all the further they moved into his fortress, assaulting them next with his 'favourite' Awakened, more traps, and puzzles that really weren't hard enough to be puzzles at all. Not even for Braham, who had no interest in puzzles.

"He thinks he's so funny," Braham growled, as they worked on a straightforward 'puzzle' involving lasers and rotating stone discs.

"He's not," Caoilfhionn agreed. "He's a murderer."

"If he wasn't a murderer, he might be funny," Damara said. "But I'm pretty sure he's just crazy."

"Oh, Damara! You're hurting my feelings!" Joko's apparition boomed at them, crying fake tears. "As if your boyfriend doesn't act just the same!"

Damara looked confused. "My boyfriend is Lord Faren. He doesn't act like that at all. He's a good person – not like you."

Joko gasped. "What? Not him! Oh, dear, no no no. What a terrible choice. Why didn't you go for the overgrown choya?"

They looked at each other. "...Is he talking about Canach?" Braham asked.

"Yes! That's the one. The sassy green one who blew up my trebuchets and towers. He'd be a much better choice for you. He's much more interesting. And cleverer. Not that that's difficult."

"That's absolutely none of your business," Damara had begun saying halfway through Joko's statement, and said repeatedly, increasingly loudly, with the most indignation Caoilfhionn had ever seen in her. "None of your business, none of your business, none of your business, none of your business!"

Joko's projection shrugged. "Not that it matters. You'll all serve me in... well, as soon as you get here. Chop chop!"

Finishing the puzzle had opened the door to the next chamber; Caoilfhionn could see the soft glow of starlight from a great window ahead. Together, he and Damara ran ahead, with Braham hurrying after them as quickly as he could.

And Caoilfhionn froze, and Damara and her gazelle beside him. Not under their own volition, but they had activated some spell upon crossing the threshold of the door. All he could move was his eyes, not even his mouth. Ahead of them was a massive arch that opened onto a raised balcony beyond which he could see the beautiful night sky; around the sides of the room was machinery that worked the flame traps in the middle of the room. A large desk was at the back of the room, under the balcony, and Palawa Joko rose from it and came forward to look curiously at them. Or at least at Damara. Caoilfhionn was certain Joko didn't care one whit about him in comparison.

He was an undead, like his minions, a lich with burning bright blue eyes, decked in linen, gold, lapis lazuli, and tar-covered bones. Caoilfhionn's attention was drawn to his hands and bare feet; the nails had been distorted into bestial claws.

"How disappointing," he said. "And honestly, unexpected. I thought you were smarter than this. Sub-Commander of the Pact, Hero of blah-blah-blah, rendered useless by a glorified parlor trick."

"Oh no you don't!" Braham roared from behind, and Caoilfhionn heard his footsteps pound on the stone. "Give him one for me, you two!"

Caoilfhionn felt a huge shove, and he and Damara each were pushed out of the spell and into the room. Behind them, Braham was trapped, frozen in the act of pushing, a determined growl etched on his face.

Joko snorted derisively. "That's your ace in the hole? Morons so besotted with you they're willing to sacrifice themselves? Haven't enough people already died for you?"

"No more," Damara said. "You're just a distraction from the real problems. Braham's not dying here. We're gonna beat you up for him – and for Taimi."

"And that's what it's all been about, eh, Damara?" Joko said, raising his staff and pacing back towards his desk. "You and I – two comets on a collision course. War. Plague. Gods. Dragons. I've seen them all. They come and they go. Like the tides. But a worthy nemesis... that is rare indeed."

Damara loosed an arrow at him. "Shut up! Time to learn how to die!"

"An historic moment! When I stood toe-to-toe with the destroyer of dragons. The executioner of gods. The greatest villain in the history of the world!"

"I said... shut up!" Damara yelled, darting past his spell and loosing another three arrows in rapid succession.

"I'm not sure he's physically capable," Caoilfhionn said, blinking forward to close with Joko, but Joko did not seem bothered at all by his flames, and teleported away before Caoilfhionn could get a second strike on him.

He might have expected Joko to be offended, but Joko seemed to be smiling still. "I'm glad we have this time together. Admit it, the Norn is never this fun."

Caoilfhionn had a lot to keep track of. The flame vents in the floor were going off in patterns, which he could track... if he didn't mind losing track of Joko... and the bodyguards Joko was summoning from niches in the corners of the room... and the magic ring that he had to keep using. Damara was trying to keep the bodyguards off him, fortunately, but he still had to be quick on his feet as Lightning itself, ducking Joko's spells, darting past flame traps, weaving Earth into his spells for a little extra durability just in case he slipped up...

"Ugh, I don't even want to fight you," Joko said, teleporting away from him. "I mean, yes, you will all fall before me and serve me, but Damara, is this really how you fight? However did you beat Balthazar, hiding behind your teammates all the time? Your form is terrible, too."

Damara grunted. Caoilfhionn was glad she had decided to adopt the same strategy as him – to save her breath for fighting. Joko only wanted to distract, to elicit reactions for his own twisted sense of humour, so wit was wasted on him.

Joko split into multiple images; Caoilfhionn triggered his ring. "That one, Damara!" He spun away, giving her a clear shot to nail Joko in the chest. Which she did with one of her blindingly-rapid volleys.

Joko shrugged and raised his arms, and a buzz rose from the back of the room. Damara spun. "Braham-!" But the scarab swarm was not attacking Braham, only diving straight at them.

"Get behind me, Damara!" Caoilfhionn shouted, feeling one of her protective spells suffuse both of them as he cast a wall of flame before him. It was difficult, without a focus, to hold the spell in place, to keep the flames high enough to cover them, but he burned a hole through the wave of scarabs, and the bugs mindlessly escaped out of the window. Caoilfhionn panted for air and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Joko was still talking. "While we're having this little chat... Who dresses you? I mean, really? You wore that for this occasion?" Caoilfhionn knew he was stylish by any standard, but he took offense on Damara's account – he liked her armour with its asymmetrical panels of leather scales.

"Caoilfhionn, look out!" Damara cried, shooting at something behind him, and he felt something explode, knocking him forwards – into a flame trap. He rolled through it, jumping up to see huge fat scarabs scuttling along the floor towards them. He was vulnerable to them with his sword, so he exhaled... and ran. Damara would have to take care of them. He swatted at his leaves, at the singed feeling on the back of his head. It stung but he would live. One by one, she shot the huge scarabs, and they exploded in bursts of biochemical fire.

"Well, this is productive," Joko jibed at them. "Oh look, your norn's crying."

That caught Damara's attention, and she glanced over - "Damara!" Caoilfhionn cried, but he was too late, for the last scarab had scurried up to her and detonated itself, knocking her backwards – into one of Joko's spells. She collapsed with barely a pant of air.

"Damara!" Caoilfhionn shouted, blinking to her side, heedless of the danger. She looked at him, struggling for air, helpless. The scarabs were dead, the bodyguards were fallen, but Joko was readying another spell. But if Caoilfhionn didn't get Damara back on her feet that moment, Joko would kill her...! He channeled Water into her, shielding himself with Earth against the inevitable, blocking Joko's shot with his own body. Joko raised his staff-

"Palawa Joko!" came a shout from the balcony. Joko's attack went wide, smashing into the wall instead.

Caoilfhionn lifted his head with his whole face wreathed in smiles. "Trahearne!" For his love was standing in the opening of the balcony, tall and commanding, dressed as he always used to, with fierce eyes and Caladbolg shining like a sunbeam – a Caladbolg sprouting and blooming in his hands. His face and leaves pulsed with magenta luminescence, strong and healthy.

He had last seen him angry, doubting himself and the world, unstable and out of balance. Now he could feel his anger, but it was a righteous anger, and balanced by the confidence veritably radiating from him. By the Tree, Caoilfhionn fell in love all over again.

Trahearne leapt lightly to the floor of the chamber and crossed over to them as Joko stared. "Has he hurt you badly, Caoilfhionn?"

Caoilfhionn finished his spell and began to help Damara up. "He made Taimi cry."

Trahearne nodded gravely. "I did not need another reason to kill him, but I accept it." As Caoilfhionn stood, Trahearne took his hand and laced their fingers together.

Joko rolled his eyes. "Trahearne? The idiot who went running off to fight Mordremoth face to face without realizing he was literally its grandson? I mean, it had the right idea with its Mordrem."

Caoilfhionn tensed to attack, but Trahearne said with dangerously measured wrath: "Your necromancy is a crime against decency and magic – a travesty of true necromancy. I realize that means nothing to you, and that is why we will end you. Together, as we ought."

Caoilfhionn gently squeezed the hand he held. "We've slain dragons and gods. We're not afraid of you. We never have been."

Joko simpered at them. "Aww, the sad spinach and the delicate flower are mad at me. Well, tough luck!" Caoilfhionn blinked. Trahearne was much more of a prayer plant than a spinach.

Trahearne straightened yet further, were it possible. "Have some dignity!"

Joko shrugged. "It's overrated."

Trahearne smiled, and it was a grim smile. "Then your death shall be as pathetic as your life. Come, Caoilfhionn!" He let go of his hand and lifted Caladbolg to a ready position.

"I'm with you! Damara!" Caoilfhionn raised his sword and dagger.

"I'm still here," Damara said cheerfully, an arrow already on the string.

Trahearne breathed, and that was all the warning Caoilfhionn got – that was all the warning Caoilfhionn needed to go back on the attack. The two of them were as one, alternating their strikes in perfect synchronization. From Caoilfhionn, the four elements, all the power of nature's magic flowing through him; from Trahearne, the shadow of death and Caladbolg's light of life, creating a beautiful and deadly storm of swirling power. They had never fought this way together before, but it didn't matter. They knew each other. Damara's arrows sang past them, the physical counterpoint to their magical strikes.

Joko teleported, teleported again, grimaced as he cast in return; Trahearne batted the spell aside. "Isn't it nice you have friends to protect you like this, Damara?"

"Yeah, must be completely foreign to you, huh?" Damara sassed back.

"Of course not. I'm beloved by thousands!" Joko chuckled as he summoned more bodyguards to distract them. "I admit it, I've indulged in a few calculated fabrications to bolster my myth. I hoped yours was more than that. Perhaps it is."

"You bet your wrinkled... toes it is," Damara said.

"Scarabs!" Caoilfhionn called, as another swarm rose from the entrance to the room. Trahearne stepped before both Caoilfhionn and Damara, slamming Caladbolg's point into the floor, and dropping a column of death magic around all three of them. The scarabs buzzed into the magical wall and perished, their corpses rattling to the stone floor in droves. Caoilfhionn looked up at his love with a breathless smile. His power was so mighty and effortless, and he was using it in new ways! It was magnificent and... sexy...

Joko glared as the shield fell and still they stood there unharmed. "Why persevere? It's folly. Everyone knows I can't be killed!"

Damara winked. "I'm thinking maybe that's one of those fabrications you mentioned."

"I see." Joko growled and swung his staff, summoning yet more guards, more explosive scarabs. Trahearne and Caoilfhionn glanced at each other, and split paths, Caoilfhionn to deal with bodyguards, Trahearne to pursue Joko. Damara once again called out scarabs before she shot them, doing her best to keep them from blasting either of the Sylvari.

Trahearne was hounding Joko closely, and Caoilfhionn could feel his fury from across the room. And it sounded like Joko was getting tired. "All right, all right, well played, you've made your point. Let's talk about this."

"Let's not!" Damara cried, jumping forwards with two arrows on the string. "Get outta here!"

The arrows sank deep into Joko's chest, nearly up to the fletching. Joko wheezed and clutched at them, then teleported away, reappearing near his desk to reel heavily. "This... cannot be... the end...!" He tottered, then crashed to his face in a jangle of gold and bones.

Slowly, they lowered their weapons, carefully watching. Braham jogged forward to join them, freed from his magical prison. "Whoa. You... I think you killed him. I mean, I think you really killed him!"

"Cool," Damara said, walking over and reaching forward cautiously to prod the corpse with the end of her bow. "I don't believe it yet, though."

Braham pointed at the two bodyguards who had not been slain. "Look, the Awakened... They're in a stupour. They're not under Joko's command. We- we won!"

"Did you," Joko growled, and Caoilfhionn found he could not move again!

He could hear it from the others, hear it in their strained breathing, sense it in their anger and frustration. No one could move. The only one he could see was Trahearne right beside him, and only if he moved his eyes so far over it hurt. But he caught a glimpse of Trahearne's jaw tightening even through the paralysis spell, his teeth grinding, feel his rage flaring out of control.

Joko climbed to his feet, wearily, picking bits of wood and feathers from his middle. "The rumours of my immortality are drastically... understated. Oh, kids, you look so disappointed. So impotent. I feel for you, I really do. But let's be honest: you knew, in your heart." Caoilfhionn had to roll his eyes. "Fear not," Joko continued, "the world will not forget you. The scars you've gouged into it spell out your names for all to see."

"I confess," he went on in a contemplative tone, pacing a little before his captive audience, "I was happy to take credit for your 'victories'. But did you ever stop to wonder what that says about you? That so many bought what I was selling? They call me a monster and you heroes. The world expects Palawa Joko to dare to throw reality into chaos. But surely no mortal would be so monumentally stupid as to destroy a dragon, the life force of this world. Let alone two! And a god to boot? Perhaps they will finally thank me for luring you to me..." He leaned in and grasped Damara's chin in his withered claw. "So that I... may save the world... from you." He let go and stepped back, grinning, spreading his arms in a most theatrical manner. "Once you're gone, everyone will flock to my embrace. They will all love me – Palawa Ignacious Jo-!"

With a roar that echoed deafeningly in the hall, Aurene shot through the window and tackled Joko to the ground. He flailed ineffectually for a few seconds before Aurene took his head firmly in her jaws, shook his entire body violently, and hurled him into the corner of the hall; his pained cries fell silent. Aurene sprang after him, and there was the sound of rending flesh and snapping bones. Caoilfhionn could move again.

Braham laughed and said sarcastically, "Praise Joko."

"Wait," Damara said, confused. "His middle name was Ignacious? But that's... so... Hey Aurene! Are you sure you should be eating that?"

Aurene growled over her shoulder at them.

"A dragon," Trahearne murmured, staring – he had not seen Aurene before, had he?

"Maaaaybeee we leave her be," Braham said. "Although... eating Joko is probably the only sure way. Makes perfect sense. Kinda wish I'd thought of it myself."

"You would not wanna eat Joko," Damara said. "He looked absolutely disgusting. I hope he doesn't taste bad, Aurene!" Aurene grunted between crunching, throwing her head back to gulp down her bites ravenously.

"Of course not!" Braham said indignantly. He sounded like he used to years ago, before Eir's injury. Like his heart had healed towards them. It was heartening. "But we should have asked her to come with us from the start. Though she would probably have hated those sewers."

"He had to be distracted," Damara said. "He was so busy with us, he never saw her coming."

Caoilfhionn put their discussion out of his mind. Joko's essence was disintegrating under Aurene's sharp teeth, and there was no more danger to them. All that mattered now was Trahearne, living and breathing and strong beside him. And Trahearne also tore his fascinated gaze away from the young dragon and turned it on Caoilfhionn, and he felt his limbs grow weak. "Trahearne," he gasped, pulled off his glasses, and ran into his arms.


Trahearne fell into Caoilfhionn's embrace as Caoilfhionn fell into his, holding him to himself as tightly as he could, cheeks pressed together, feeling each other's warmth, inhaling each other's scent. Caoilfhionn smelled of floral cinnamon and oh how he'd missed it and him, his violet and blue dawn, his enchanting orchid. Never mind the dust and grime of battle. Never mind the scent of death and sap and scorched leaves. He was whole again.

At length, he pulled back to look into his eyes, cradling his head with a hand, and was caught and overwhelmed by the open, trusting, infinitely loving look in them. Those were the same rose-coral eyes that had caught him when Caoilfhionn had been the awkward, clumsy, curious, naive-to-a-fault fresh sapling he'd met five years ago. Caoilfhionn had grown graceful and skilled in everything he put his hand to, mature and strong, intelligent and wise, but his eyes were the same, and the look in them when he looked at Trahearne was the same.

He needed him. He needed him like the air he breathed, like the sun in the morning, like the sap in his veins. He didn't know how to say that. All he knew was that he loved him more than life itself. "Caoilfhionn."

"Trahearne," Caoilfhionn said, with a shiver running through his slender body and a gasp, almost a wail of a moan. Trahearne almost melted, holding this precious, precious heart so gently – and Caoilfhionn tightened his grip in a passion of fulfilled longing and kissed him deeply.

By the Blessed Source, by Caladbolg on his back, by the stars and sun and moon, this was the happiness he'd been searching for, that he'd been afraid he'd never find again even with Caoilfhionn... but here it was, nearly choking him with inexpressible emotion. It sounded like something Caoilfhionn might say, but his soul had wings in this moment and the world was his sky. He was happy. Here with his love, he was happy.

"Get a room!" he heard Phiadi complain, and grinned. The rest of Dragon's Watch must have stormed the fortress at last.

"It seems our companions wish to be rid of us," he said, letting go of Caoilfhionn and taking his hand instead. "Shall we oblige them?"

Caoilfhionn grinned back, shining like a luminescent star before him. "I'd like that."


Trahearne led him out onto the balcony, away from the others, under the beautiful desert night sky and its cool gentle breeze. The conversation of the others was a murmur from inside now. Caoilfhionn was giddy as a newborn, feeling his soul beside him, his slender, calloused hand in his. "You seem well. Thank you for coming when you did."

"I was just in time, wasn't I?" Trahearne said, flashing him a grin. "Still miffed that I alone was not enough to aid you, but the dragon does as she likes, I suppose, and no one can gainsay her."

"I was overjoyed to see you. I think we might have defeated him before he killed us. But Aurene will ensure that he can never rise again – unless he likes the pain and suffering of being digested for a thousand years."

Trahearne snorted. "He might. Piercings like that, he must be a masochist."

"How did you get in? How did you know?"

"I didn't. My quest had been fulfilled – the part that isn't an ongoing process of life, that is – and I was coming to join you without specifics. It's only fate that I happened to arrive at the most dramatic moment I could." He laughed a little self-deprecatingly. "Annhilda told me what was happening, and the moment the ghosts made a hole in the scarab defenses, I was in and heading for you, where I could see the lights flickering. Managed to glide to the balcony from the outer wall and you know the rest."

"And you are well!" He seemed strong and healthy, emotionally and physically. No doubt it was related to the restoration, the blossoming of Caladbolg. Nothing was the same, but everything was as it should be.

Trahearne nodded. "I am well. The road has been long, but Caladbolg and I are whole once again." His gaze grew solemn and he took both of Caoilfhionn's hands. "I am who I am now. I can't change that. But I can control it."

Caoilfhionn gave him his best look of trust and acceptance. "I am happy for you. And I am happy to be by your side once again. I loved you before and I love you now. That's all that matters."

"I want to be by your side forever, to love you, my beloved... And I will destroy anyone who dares threaten you." He was deadly serious. He was right – his soul was changed from who he had been. He was darker and harder, and just a little bit more creepy. His will was implacable and his wrath was relentless.

Caoilfhionn only laughed. He didn't mind. He had never minded. For Trahearne was happy, too, and still noble, courteous, and generous, and good. He could feel it, for he knew Trahearne's soul like he knew no other. "I know you will. But we fight as one now, as we did in there." He pulled his hands free and slid his arms around Trahearne's neck instead. "Together, beloved. My scholar."

"My prince," Trahearne said, staring at him again as if he'd never truly seen him before.

The unspoken feelings in those yellow eyes set Caoilfhionn's sap racing. He'd started this embrace, but now he wanted to dance for joy – well, there would be a party, wouldn't there? At least for the army! There would be dancing. He'd make sure of it. "Fear not this night," he began, his voice almost shaking with his giddiness.

"You will not go astray," Trahearne answered, as he knew he would.

"Though shadows fall, still the stars find their way."

"And you can always be strong, lift your voice with the first light of dawn." Trahearne leaned his forehead against Caoilfhionn's, and he could feel his breath on his face.

"Dawn's just a heartbeat away... hope's just a sunrise away..."

"My dawn," Trahearne said softly, that deep gentle voice that completely seduced Caoilfhionn every time, and kissed him. Caoilfhionn kissed him back, hard, a hand in his leaves, his body wholly against his. The dawn could not exist without the dusk, and he gave himself to it fully...

He was the first to end it this time. "Forgive me, my love! I want to kiss you until sunrise but I also want to dance for joy..."

"Dance, then," Trahearne said, loosening his arms around him, though not letting go completely. "To what music?"

Caoilfhionn looked up mischievously at Trahearne. "Well... it's true I know other songs..."

"Yes?" Trahearne said, and Caoilfhionn had not heard him so breathless in years.

He began to sing again. "Fly towards the light, against the dark night... Right here, right now, I can see you dreaming... by diving in your dream." Trahearne's eyes gleamed as Caoilfhionn began to shimmy and writhe, stepping to his own beat, and Trahearne began tentatively to join him. "I'm the miracle you've been waiting for in the night. Now show up here, watching your dreams unfold in front of you, diving in your dream."

No matter what happened from now on, he knew it would all turn out all right. The world was threatened with destruction more than ever, his friends were constantly in danger, and there was always grief and loss in this imperfect world. The Sylvari were still finding their place in the world, and the balance of magic was a mystery yet to be solved, let alone restored. But there was hope, too, and joy, and love beyond measure, and he would show that to everyone, at Trahearne's side.


THE END