After Jayesh told this story, Aunor Mahal vanished for the rest of the day. No doubt she was interrogating Nell more closely. Jayesh slumped in his chair, his arms resting on the table, wrapping the chains around his thumbs. Phoenix flew around the cell, examining the door, the chair and table, and the light panel in the ceiling.

"It's all Praxic tech," the Ghost said, returning to his partner. "I can't crack any of it without the right keys. And by the time I could manufacture keys, we'll be out of here."

"Will we?" Jayesh said drearily. "They won't just lock us up for centuries?"

Phoenix met his gaze. "Not centuries. The longest the Order has treated a patient was six years."

Jayesh returned to fiddling with his chains. "Kari had to have the baby without me," he muttered. "I haven't seen Anya. Or held her. Imagine if she had to grow up without a father because he was locked up in jail. Not any jail. Praxic Order therapy jail."

"Don't give up hope," Phoenix whispered. He flew up and touched Jayesh's cheek with the tip of his shell. "Once they have the full story, they'll surely let us go."

Jayesh played the chain through his fingers. "It had better be soon. I don't know how much more I can take."

The door's heavy latch creaked and thudded. Jayesh straightened, and Phoenix flew to his left shoulder. They waited, tense, as Cal stepped in. The huge warlock ducked to avoid the low doorway, then faced Jayesh. "You have a visitor."

"I do?" Jayesh brightened for the first time in days. "Who is it?"

"Your wife," Cal said. "We don't normally allow visitors to patients with Darkness readings as high as yours. But Ms. Mahal is interested in seeing your reaction. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to the visitor's room."

"I'll behave," Jayesh promised.

Cal unlocked the chains from the table loops. Holding the chains, he walked beside Jayesh, out of the cell and up a hallway. As they went, Jayesh tried to make himself presentable, straightening his shirt, combing his fingers through his hair. He hadn't showered in ages, and he didn't smell so great. He also hadn't been allowed to shave, so a scraggly beard had taken over his face, growing wherever it wanted. He glanced at his reflection in a one-way window as they passed by. He barely recognized himself. Who was that somber, middle-aged man with bags under his eyes? Kari would take one look and run away.

They turned right and entered a room hardly better than the cell had been. It was larger, with a higher ceiling, still with walls, floor, and ceiling of thick concrete. Huge metal staples protruded from the walls every few feet. Cal locked Jayesh's chains to two of these. Then he walked out, leaving Jayesh testing his range of movement. The staples were close enough together that he could almost touch his fingertips together.

As he was figuring this out, the door opened again. Cal returned, and behind him was Kari. Her face was lined with exhaustion, her fair skin a greenish color under the harsh lights. Her auburn hair was tied back in a messy bun, with loose strands escaping to frame her face in soft wisps. Jayesh hadn't seen her since he'd left for Europa. The sight of her was like a door opening, revealing memories of simpler times, and his first fireteam, and his adoration of this pretty girl. He opened his arms.

Kari saw him and hesitated, taking in his haggard appearance. For a moment, a pang of dread struck Jayesh's heart-he looked like a Darkness-ridden Guardian. She wouldn't want to come any nearer. Not after he'd learned stasis and returned with the weight of the pyramids on his shoulders.

But Kari was tougher and more loyal than that. She sobbed, pressing a hand to her mouth. Then she ran forward and threw her arms around him. "Oh Jay," she cried into his neck. "Oh Jay, what have they done to you?"

He tried to put his arms around her, but the blasted chains didn't have enough slack. He made up for it by nuzzling her neck, her hair, her face. Light, he'd forgotten how exquisitely soft her skin was, and how silky her hair to the touch. She smelled of home, and cooking, and a whiff of her own floral perfume. Her embrace was like an infusion of life, itself. She turned her head and kissed him, one long, hot, maddening kiss. It conveyed her fear, her loneliness, her desperation for him. He returned it, reveling in the intimate touch, her taste, her very closeness. His whole body was starved for touch. Light, he wanted to hold her tight, and he couldn't reach.

After a while, Kari pulled away to study his face. "You look terrible," she murmured, running a hand along his face. "Look at this beard you're growing. Haven't they let you shave?"

"I'm not allowed near anything sharp," Jayesh said with a wry smile. "I'm dangerous."

She gazed into his eyes. "The Light is still there," she said in relief. "They told me that you're sick and evil. But I knew that as long as that Light was still in your eyes-" Her voice broke and her lower lip trembled. She hugged him again and burrowed her face into his neck. "It's been so hard, heartspark. I thought you weren't coming back. And then you did, and they wouldn't let me see you. They won't let us come home from Acotango while there's dark Guardians in the Tower."

"We're still giving our testimony," Jayesh murmured against her hair. "Surely they'll let us go after that."

"Do you have Darkness powers?"

"Yes."

She pulled away again to study his face. "Are you evil, now? Did it break you?"

"It's been a long, hard struggle," Jayesh said. He shifted sideways to give one chain enough slack so he could cup her cheek in his palm. "All humanity has Darkness in their natures, lovelight. It's why normal people can do bad things for no reason. The Darkness isn't the Hive. It's smoother and more seductive than that. I have ice powers now, but I didn't have to sell my soul for them."

"Show me," she whispered.

Jayesh held up a hand and grew a pattern of ice crystals in his palm, branching and spreading like the leaves of a fern.

Kari watched in awe. "That's not evil. That's beautiful."

"It is," Jayesh agreed. "But the Praxic Order isn't convinced."

Kari touched the crystals, her warm fingers melting holes through them. Jayesh wiped his hand on his pants and hugged her again. "Light, I just want to hold you. I missed you so much. How's the baby?"

"Growing and healthy," Kari said. "And she doesn't sleep, of course. Connor and Stephanie have been good helpers, but … I need Daddy."

"And Daddy needs Mommy," he whispered. "Light, I miss you all. I thought I was going to die out there, the proverbial sacrificial lamb. Now I see the way forward, but the Vanguard won't like it. Shin Malphur was right when he told me all those things about Darkness. It's a tool, and we can use that tool against it."

Kari sighed against his neck. "I wish we could talk about it for hours and hours. For now, I'm so glad you're still … you." She drew a shuddering breath, struggling to hold back tears. "I guess you'll have to write a sequel to your book."

"I've been thinking about it," he said, grinning. "How to use Darkness for fun and profit."

She stroked his hair, trying in vain to make his tired curls stand up a little. "I've been so scared to see you again. They said you were dangerous, that you corrupted your whole team. Are Nell and Grant …?"

"They learned stasis, too," Jayesh replied. "We all fought the same battle. None of us are any more evil than when we left. We might be … cooler, though."

Kari's laugh was half a sob. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him slowly, her fingers stroking the whiskers growing along his chin and jaw. "They're soft," she whispered. "I like it. Makes you look distinguished."

"When I get out of here," he murmured against her lips, "I'll find a style that suits me."

Behind them, Cal cleared his throat. "Time's up."

"I have to go," Kari whispered.

Jayesh nodded and kissed her one last time, fierce and desperate. Then they parted, and Cal ushered her out. All life and warmth left the room with her.

Jayesh sagged against the wall and waited, the despair and loneliness sweeping over him again. This time it was worse, because he'd had a respite. He wanted out of this place so badly, it took all his self control not to break the chains and escape.

"Could you?" Phoenix asked in his head, sensing this thought.

"I could," Jayesh thought. "These cells were built to hold Lightbearers. I'm a Shadebinder. They don't have any idea how to stop me."

Phoenix was silent for a moment. Then he positively giggled. "That's my Guardian. Law-abiding and horribly dangerous."

Jayesh smirked a little. "That's most people, little light."

The door opened and Cal returned, accompanied by Aunor Mahal. Jayesh straightened and stood waiting, pushing down the loneliness and his growing hatred of this place.

Aunor inspected Jayesh from a few feet away, holding up various tools and looking at the readings in them. She flashed a light in his eyes, then passed a wand over his forehead.

"What are you doing?" Jayesh asked.

"Taking detailed readings of your aura," Aunor said, consulting her Ghost. "Hm. Both your powers are showing a recent flare. Excited to see your wife, I take it?"

Jayesh nodded. Kari was being used against him, somehow, and it was like bitter poison on his tongue. He stood there, sullen and downcast, and he felt every inch the Dark Guardian.

Aunor gestured to Cal and murmured, "Bring the other two in. I want a demonstration."

As Cal walked out, Aunor turned to Jayesh. "Nell's account matches yours, about the way she received Darkness with no splinter. And yet, you communed with Darkness more often than they did. Why did you keep going back?"

"I had to open those seals in the ziggurat," Jayesh said. "The exo stranger instructed me to. I did it so my friends would be spared. I could pass on any practical knowledge I learned."

"So what did you learn when you opened the third seal?"

Jayesh gazed at nothing, remembering. "After we closed the Vex gate, we returned to the stranger's camp. They rested, but the stranger told me to visit the ziggurat at once. So I did. The Winnower all but pounced on me the second I touched the seal."

"And?" Aunor said.

Jayesh drew a deep breath. "Well. It wanted to talk philosophy that time. It sneered at me about the Traveler-the Gardener, it called it. It claimed that they existed together in the beginning before time and space. And they played a game of life and death. The Gardener would create life, and the Winnower would harvest the crop. But the Winnower wanted only one life form to flourish, while the Gardener wanted lush, varied, diverse life. That's where the whole Final Shape thing comes from. They fought each other and started the universe that way, and they each had to join the universe in order to continue their game. The Traveler still encourages life to flourish. The Winnower still kills it off. But now, we Guardians are on the playing field. The Winnower wants us to be its ultimate tool of death. It could use us to kill everything else in the universe. We argued the finer points of survival of the fittest."

"What side did you conclude is right?" Aunor asked.

"The Light, of course," Jayesh said, raising an eyebrow. "I have small children. Survival of the fittest falls apart when it comes to the young of a species. Babies are weak and helpless, whether humans, or puppies, or birds, or Eliksni. They need adults to care for them. Why should we Guardians not do the same for weaker alien species we have not yet met?"

Aunor nodded. "Point. Go on."

"The Winnower hated that," Jayesh said. "It laughed in my face and mocked me for my adherence to a weak philosophy. Then it sent me back to the ziggurat. I was so sick of seeing its expressions on my face. But one seal remained."

"Did you open it?" Aunor asked.

Jayesh shook his head. "Not then. I was spent. I returned to camp and they let me sleep in the tent."

"He was exhausted," Phoenix chimed in. "He slept nine hours without stirring."

The door opened again, interrupting them. More Praxic Order guards entered, escorting Nell and Grant. As they chained them to the wall, Nell said, "Hey there, Jay McFuzz Face. Is it steel knuckles, or only whips? I like to be prepared for torture."

"Scorpions," Jayesh replied, hoisting a smile onto his face. "Down your shirt."

Aunor scowled so fiercely that Jayesh had to add, "That won't work on Grant, though. They'll just use electroshock on him."

"Ooooh, this sounds fun," said Nell, watching Aunor out of the corner of her eye. "Me first!"

"The Praxic Order does not torture it's patients," Aunor growled. "You have been assembled for cross-examination."

"Excellent," said Grant. "We are approaching the moment of our breakthrough."

"You will explain what happened when Eramis died," Aunor said. "Then I want you to demonstrate stasis for the Vanguard."

"This will be fun," Nell said. "Where were we?"

"Jayesh returned from his third communion with the Darkness," Aunor said. "He reportedly slept for nine hours."

"Oh yeah," Nell said. "We all rested then, but Jayesh overslept. Slug."

Jayesh rolled his eyes.

"So Grant and I went off to help Variks," Nell went on. "Remember all those Vex who came through the portal? They invaded Riis-Reborn, the Eliksni city. That's when a bunch of Eliksni started having second thoughts about Eramis's leadership skills."

"Namely, the females with young," Grant added. "And the males who had sided them. Eliksni do not have family units, as humans do. They raise their young in communal nurseries. But they cherish their young and protect them with their lives. When Eramis told them that she was prepared to sell their lives for a chance at killing Guardians and taking revenge on the Traveler … and then the Vex invaded … shall we say, there was some unrest?"

"When we found Variks, he was pacing around, all agitated," Nell said. "The Eliksni were turning to him for help. He's some kind of weird thing in their caste system. He's House of Judgment, so he's like … this impartial judge type person. Eramis did him dirty when she tried to have him killed. But word got around that he has ties to House of Light, so they were asking Variks to help them escape."

"And Variks turned to us," Grant said. "He did express disapproval of our stasis powers. He said that he could smell it on us, and warned us about how it had changed Eramis. We told him that we would only use our powers for good, but he was not convinced. Eramis thought she was using her powers for good, too."

Nell did an impersonation of Variks's creaky voice. "You use Darkness, yes? You will become evil snotbags like Eramis. Chitter chitter."

Jayesh snorted and pretended that he had sneezed.

Aunor gestured impatiently for them to continue.

"Long story short," Nell said, "Variks asked us to help an evacuation craft escape. A bunch of Eliksni had grabbed a ketch and stripped it down until it was a flying gas can. They packed their females and kids into it, and were going to make a run for Earth. Variks was going to clear them with Mithrax, and they were going to join House of Light. Our job was to make sure they got off without being shot full of holes."

"I assume you succeeded," Aunor said.

Nell nodded. "Oh yeah, but it was a hell of a fight. The Eramis loyalists locked the skiff down with these tractor beam generators. We had to run around and deactivate them, while being swarmed by angry aliens. And surprise, they used stasis on us. Stasis royally sucks when it's used on you. I got so mad, I invented new stasis powers on the spot. I made these pickaxe things that I can throw. Also ice shurikens. Grant started punching the ground and doing a wave of ice. We were awesome. We shattered a bunch of Eliksni, and a bunch of Vex, too. They were wandering around, calculating who to kill first. They decided that we were the biggest threat. Stupid robots."

"It was there that we named ourselves," Grant said. "Nell took the title Revenant and I took the title Behemoth."

"I'm speedy undead, and you're a powerhouse," Nell said, grinning. "Jayesh got named Shadebinder by the Darkness because he's it's favorite."

"It's better than Blizzard Wizard," Jayesh said. "Which was what you wanted to call me."

"You accepted a title from the Darkness?" Aunor said, eyes narrowing. "The Shadows of Yor also take names from certain wicked sources."

"It was an insult," Jayesh said. "That's why I took the name. When the Darkness was sneering at me for sticking to a weak philosophy, it said, 'You would rather bind the shadows with Light than use them.' I said, 'I've done it my whole life, so why quit now?' It spat on the ground. 'You are a pathetic Shadebinder, incapable of grasping the true power I offer you.' I said, 'Then I'll be a Shadebinder.'"

"I like Blizzard Wizard better," said Nell.

Aunor typed rapidly on her tablet. "Go on. Your powers were strengthening, it seems."

"Yeah, but Grant and Jay were still using splinters," said Nell. "Remember that, because it's important."

The ketch had escaped into the sky as if shaking the frost of Europa from its hull. Nell and Grant were beating a retreat from the angry Eliksni hunting them, when Jayesh found them.

They sheltered deep in a crack in the ice, which traveled like a tunnel for several hundred yards. Light gleamed through the far end, where the fissure opened out on the mountainside. The three stood close together in a healing rift, letting it mend the various injuries they had taken in the battle. Nell was shivering and stood close to Grant, who out an arm around her.

"Done with your beauty sleep, I see," said Nell. "We could have used some help back there. I killed sixty-three Fallen and it barely made a difference."

"Well, excuse me," Jayesh said. "You didn't have to take off without me. Or you could have woke me up."

Grant laid a hand on his shoulder. "You needed your rest, my friend. Now we are able to face Eramis together. She is up there, in Riis-Reborn."

Jayesh heaved a deep sigh. He gazed out the fissure's opening at the frozen skyscrapers with horizontal icicles lining them. Beyond them loomed the huge, mushroom-shaped arcology of the aliens. "I wish we didn't have to kill her. We're behaving exactly as the Darkness wants, using this power to cause suffering and death. Do you think Eramis might negotiate?"

"No," Grant said. "Variks has already said that she has been consumed by rage and the desire for vengeance. We are symbols of the one she hates most of all."

Jayesh shook his head and looked down at his belt pouch, where the tips of the splinter protruded through the layered fabric. "Eramis is the most adept with stasis. This won't be an easy fight. Ghosts, what do you think?"

Hadrian, Sentry, and Phoenix appeared beside their Guardians. They looked at each other, then their partners.

"I can't save you," Sentry said to Grant, her voice soft with feeling. "I can help you with Light, but Darkness … I can't even touch it. You'll have to develop this power alone. But I'm still here. I won't leave you alone."

"Me, neither," said Phoenix stoutly, turning to Jayesh. "No matter how many times the Darkness takes me over and speaks through me. But … I really don't like that. Can we not talk to it anymore? It hates us so much."

"Once more, little light," Jayesh said wearily. "But not now." He turned to Nell's Ghost. "How are you holding up, Hadrian? She's not even using a splinter."

"I'm all right," Hadrian said, his voice quavering. "It's not the Darkness that scares me … okay, it scares me, but … but we have to go into a Fallen city and fight a Fallen Kell. Oh, Nell, I'm so scared." He burrowed his eye into her fur collar, trying to hide.

Nell pressed her cheek against his shell and cupped her hands over him protectively. "It's all right, Hadrian. Nobody will touch you or even see you. I'll go stealthy. Eramis will never see me coming."

"You don't understand," Hadrian said, his voice muffled by her collar. "Eramis is a Kell. She feasts on ether. She has grown strong on the backs of her people." He emerged from hiding and looked at the others, his little blue eye earnest. "Even without Darkness, a Kell would be a terrible fight for a Guardian. And this is a Kell of Darkness, one who uses stasis. You have only begun to learn, but Eramis has been communing for months."

"But the pyramid ships just got here," Nell said.

Hadrian shook his whole shell, like shaking his head. "There was already Darkness here among Clovis Bray's research. The coming of the pyramids only provided the splinters. Eramis … don't underestimate her. I know the Fallen. I run on Servitor parts."

Nell kissed his shell. "You do, and you're the best Ghost in the universe. We'll be careful."

"Being careful isn't enough," said Phoenix. "Eramis is brutally strong. She's powered by hatred of us and the Light we represent. We came to Europa, expecting the pyramids to kill us. But the worshipers of the pyramids will do the job nicely."

"Do you think," Jayesh said slowly, "do you think that's the key?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Murdering pyramid cults?" Nell said.

"No, no," Jayesh said. "I mean, the true power of Darkness. We've already seen that it amplifies your most base desires. The power it offers is the power to cause suffering and death, and it's addictive. But it doesn't remove our free will, as if we were Taken. It wants us to choose it's side. Just like the Traveler wants us to join it's side. What I'm trying to say is, Eramis is feeding her power with every base desire in her heart. Rage. Revenge. Power lust. Is it possible for us to come at it from a different angle? Use stasis and not be corrupted?"

"Like love?" said Grant in a low voice.

Nell laughed. "That's crazy. Oh, I love you so much, I'm going to freeze you solid and shatter you into pieces."

"That's not what I mean," Grant said. His glowing orange eyes turned to Nell. He held out a hand, and she took it. "I have taken up stasis out of a desire to protect you, Firefly. I didn't want you facing this alone. I know you."

"But I-" Nell began.

Grant touched a finger to her lips. "Shh. Let me finish."

Nell subsided.

"You are insensitive to Light and Dark," Grant went on. "Maybe that will change with time. But with Darkness, using it mindlessly will lead to corruption. Enjoyment of causing pain. Addiction to death. I've felt it, and it's made me question my own connection with the Light. But I think … it might be possible to lean on those higher virtues to wield stasis in a way the Darkness did not intend."

"Stasis made me feel Darkness," Nell said, gripping his hand. "I never paid attention before. But you're right. I gave my power to the Gardener to save Hadrian." She lifted her other hand and cuddled her Ghost against her cheek. "I'm only using stasis because I need it. It's a tool."

Jayesh listened to all this, gently wiping frost off Phoenix's shell. "I think you're right, Grant. You too, Nell. We can use stasis while rejecting the Darkness's philosophy. I don't know if everyone will, but … this is our choice to make. I only hope it's enough to defeat Eramis."

Grant held out his other hand to Jayesh. Jayesh gripped it.

"We are Fireteam Solarflare," said Grant. "But for now, I suggest that we call ourselves Avalanche."

"Yes!" Nell exclaimed.

Jayesh grinned. "I like it."

"We may not survive the next few hours," Grant went on. "I want to say that whatever happens, I have been honored to fight alongside both of you."

"Me too," Jayesh said. "You're the finest fireteam I could ever ask for."

Nell started to say something, but her voice cracked and she stopped. She grabbed Jayesh and Grant in a hug, instead. They exchanged a group hug, there in the ice in the bottom of the fissure. Then they set out for Riis-Reborn in silence.