Ya know what I really like? I really like cheese.

Wow. Omigodomigodomigod. This is – AHHHHHH! SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES, SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES! WHEN YOU WRITE omigodomigodomigod DOM IS IN THE MIDDLE! AHHHH! AHHHH! AHHHH! THE GOVERNMENT IS EVERYWHERE! *looks furtively around*

Woooooooo. Who can tell that KATE'S GOING SPASTIC?!?! I CAN, I CAN! I feel like maddy. (hehehe, no offense, dude! You know I love ya!)

In any case, what I was GOING to say before the whole "subliminal messages" thing was, this is the last chapter. so enjoy it. I hope it's worth thirty-six chapters.

Holy SHITE! This story is 37 chapters long!

Sorry, just kind of just realized that.

Oh, but there's still an epilogue. So be happy!

Urgh. Also just realized that a small part of this chapter reeks of "Lassie." I apologize.

All right. Last chapter. Long chapter. Love the chapter!

Fire's Flight and White Legions

Kel and Neal rode for two hours at a quick trot. They rested their mounts often, usually by stopping for several minutes or dismounting and walking for a short while. After those two hours and a mutual decision, they sprung their horses, galloping towards Corus. After all, after tonight there would be no Corus unless they reached the capital in time.

They had been galloping for just over twenty minutes before running into a Carthaki squad on patrol in the woods outside an occupied village. The ten men, plus a captain, were not very skilled - later, the two Tortallans would realize that they were probably mercenaries, swords for hire - and the result was a brief skirmish. It took next to no time to finish them off, and Kel and Neal turned their mounts' heads again towards Corus, leaving eleven dead bodies behind them.

It was perhaps only twenty minutes after their skirmish that they met another foe. And this one wasn't to be rid of so easily. He appeared on the path only ten yards ahead of the galloping horses, causing both of them to spook and rear, nearly bucking both riders. It took both of them a few seconds to calm their mounts before turning their attention to the man in front of them.

Kel bit her lip and swallowed a gasp. Neal's jaw dropped. Ichaeruut smiled.

Kel managed a sneer. "I should have thought we'd run into you," she spat out, voice dripping with venom. Her mind was racing; was there any possible way for her to get her bow up and readied before he noticed?

Neal was far ahead of her. He swung his bow into the air with his arrow already nocked. He loosed it at the prime point in his motion. The arrow sailed cleanly through Ichaeruut's head, who ignored it.

"Not thought, Lady Knight Keladry. Expected. Perhaps even anticipated. And you, Sir Nealan - did you really believe I'd reveal myself to you in person?" drawled the Realm of Chaos's second in command.

"One can always hope," Neal shot back, voice hard.

"Not when one is dealing with Chaos, mortal. There is no hope. Only knowledge of what will come. What must come. And no one can halt that progression. Not you, not your friends, not even that pathetic excuse for a bird you have hidden there."

"Why are you here?" Kel cried, arms drawn protectively over Byrn.

"Patience, my dear Keladry, is a virtue. One you should cultivate."

"I'm not your dear, you filth-sucking scum!"

Ichaeruut raised his eyebrows. "Tsk, tsk. Do you kiss your grandmother with that mouth? And we shall see about that, in any case," he answered lightly. "In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that I will be waiting for you when you reach the city. Due to a slight error by one of my underlings, I was led incorrectly and therefore allowed you to possess the Six. This was a setback I had not anticipated." He snapped his fingers, and a barely recognizable human corpse appeared. Kel stifled the urge to gag, and closed her eyes against the sight. "As you can see, that man is no longer among the living. But his error grows into a more pressing matter by the minute." Ichaeruut's voice hardened and grew louder, reverberating with power. "As I'm sure you know. You shall soon join him, in the Realms of those that even the Black God forsakes! I await seeing your corpses strung out on your precious Palace walls! So go ahead, look forward to reaching your city walls, and your deaths! If you were smart, you would run from disaster, but instead you call it to you, hastening the bringing of your own lengthy pain. I can't wait to greet you!" His last words were a shriek, and he vanished with a loud bang.

For the first time, Kel felt doubtful. If Ichaeruut was right, than Corus had already fallen. What was the point of sacrificing themselves for a country in ruins? They could run away, use the Six to make a new life. Why should they run towards an early death when they had the power to control empires?

"Kel," Neal gasped. He seemed to be fighting to get the words out. "Don't let him . . . twist . . . thoughts . . ."

She almost missed hearing him. Her brain rattled with selfish thoughts, ideas and plans for escape from Tortall. Who cares if they're dead or captured, any of them? she thought bitterly. I'm still alive. They don't deserve my help. If they were stupid enough to be caught, that's their own fault. I should leave them to deal with the consequences of faulty actions.

Even as such thoughts ricocheted through her mind, one small part of her kept her back, stayed her body from action. That part called to her through her haze of sudden doubts and worries.

Suddenly, Kel found herself in the eye in the center of the storm inside her. She rested there, in her inner being, the core of her person, gathering power in the truths she knew. She realized that those doubts were placed in her head by Ichaeruut in an attempt to discourage her from ever reaching Corus. That he had gone to such lengths to discourage them led her to another truth: he was frightened. He was frightened of what they could do with the power of the Six behind them.

Kel rested in her strength, remembering times spent at the Palace and people she knew and loved in her life. Their faces floated before her eyes as she fought her way through the storm of lies and deception.

Finally, with a halting gasp, she drew in a breath of fresh air and knew she had triumphed. The inner struggle she had fought was over, and her mind was clear once more. I will go to Corus, she thought decisively. It was time this quest, started so many months before, was brought to a finish.

Looking at Neal, she realized that he had gone through the same transformation she had, and that both their resolves were strengthened by it. He opened his eyes and gazed at her, bright green eyes piercing her soul.

"He knows we can do this," Neal spoke. "He knows we can, and he's scared."

"I know," Kel said softly.

There was a slight pause.

"Let's do it," she said.

"You're on."

They raced onwards.

After riding hard well into the next hour, Kel and Neal reached the outskirts of Corus. They pulled up short, disbelieving what lied before their eyes. They had known Corus was under attack, but this was the first time they had seen it put into reality.

It seemed that the Palace hadn't fallen yet, but it was well on its way down. Copper Islanders launched battlefire at the walls, and siege engines were still hard at work on the Palace gates.

The city itself was in ruins. Under attack by four countries, the commoners had given easily. Now, they had no choice but to let enemies of the Tortallan Crown live in their homes while being forced into slave labor to defeat their own country. It was, so to say, a sticky predicament.

"How in all the Realms are we ever going to pass? There must be three thousand foot soldiers alone between us and the Palace!" Kel wailed. Her ability to conceal her feelings had vanished as her fatigue grew.

Neal opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a loud bang. Both knights scrambled for weapons, thinking Ichaeruut had returned.

"Relax, little ones. 'Tis only me." Pitken's deep voice sent tremors of relief through Kel. She slid her sword back into its scabbard, having pulled it half out at the sound of the bang. Neal stopped trying to reach his arrows.

"Pitken, what are we going to do?" Kel's voice sliced through the early evening like a knife, plaintive and despairing and forlorn.

Even though Pitken was an immortal, a demi-god, he still had very human emotions. Those emotions were thrown into turmoil as soon as Kel voiced her plea. Even so, the gods had sent him down for one purpose and one purpose only, and he could no more disobey the gods than unmake himself.

When he finally spoke, Pitken's voice was kind and warm, and the Tortallans clung to it like a piece of wood in a raging ocean. "Little ones, I cannot help thee. I have been sent to thee with my task already allotted, and as much as I wish to change it, I cannot. I have come to tell you that the gods can help thee no longer. We, the immortals, who were here before and will remain after, have done all we can to assist thee. From hereafter, thou art on thine own. But know this: thy task will be done before today melts into tomorrow. For good or for bad, it will all have come to an end by midnight tonight."

Kel's heart sunk more with every word. The hope that had filled her at Pitken's appearance leaked out through her toes.

After Pitken finished speaking, Kel heard only a ringing in her ears; neither she nor Neal tried to speak. Eventually, the ringing was penetrated by the insistent pounding of the battering ram, thudding with the regularity of her heartbeat against the Palace gates. Pitken stood quietly, understanding their feelings.

Kel, always the rational one, tried to form a coherent sentence, but Neal beat her to it. "You're just going to leave us here? You're not even going to try and help us finish this, or even get inside?"

Sadly, Pitken shook his head, unkempt hair brushing his shoulders. "The gods have given me instructions; I cannot break them and help thee myself. However, I can tell thee that in order to find the safest way in, thee must think like a horse. No, not a horse. More like a fly, or a bug. An animal of some sort, surely."

Neal's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "A what? A bug? We're going up against the forces of five countries and you're telling us to think like bugs?" Kel let him rant; it was just as well that she was accompanied by Neal's infamous tongue, because if he hadn't have said that, she would have.

Pitken nodded serenely. " But now I must leave thee- I stay too long on hostile soil. Remember: just a few more hours, and everything will be over. I leave thee with the blessing of the Goddess and Mithros, and my own good luck. Thou have made it this far - go, and finish your quest!" Slowly, he faded from sight, like dusk fades into night.

"Oh, gods," Neal moaned. "This is it. It's over. There's no way. We can't do this."

"Stop it," Kel told him sternly. "There has to be a way inside, otherwise they wouldn't have contacted us at all. And I know we can find it -- Pitken said we could. Don't you trust him?"

"I don't know . . . " Neal faltered. "It's just so hopeless -- there must be entire legions between here and the King's Garden!"

"Let's just try to figure out what Pitken meant by "think like an animal." Kel bit her lip and sat down, her back to a tree, her face forlorn. Peachblossom walked over, worried about his mistress. He nuzzled her shoulder with his big nose.

Absently, Kel reached up and stroked the silky hair on his nose. "What do you know, huh, horse?" she asked quietly and affectionately, thinking to herself. "Do you know how to get into the castle?" she queried, chuckling to herself.

Peachblossom banged Kel's shoulder with his face. "Ow!" Kel said, frowning. "What's wrong with you?" Peachblossom hit her again. Neal watched the exchange with amusement, cradling Byrn in his arms. "What, you do know how to get in?" Kel said, looking at her horse with incomprehension. Peachblossom stopped moving and stared at his mistress straight on.

A rush of energy raced through Kel's veins, giving her a second wind. She jumped to her feet. "Neal! Peachblossom apparently knows how to get in!"

"Really," Neal drawled. "I never would have guessed."

"Don't play like you don't believe it. You saw it just as clearly as I did: he was trying to tell us something!" Kel turned to her mount. "Can you take us to where we need to get?" Peachblossom nodded his big head. An eerie shiver ran down Kel's spine; she still couldn't get used animals acting so human. She shook off the weird feeling and continued her one sided conversation. "Fine. Take me there!" Kel mounted in one fluid motion, and Peachblossom took off.

A glance behind her assured Kel that Neal was following her lead, mounting Topaz and kicking her into a canter after Peachblossom.

Peachblossom stayed on the outer boundaries of the city, not letting any unfriendly eyes get a glimpse of them. He took Kel around the city to the left, until they were behind and to the southwest corner of the city, where the area between the city walls and the palace was only half a mile.

Suddenly, Peachblossom ground to a halt. He bounced up on his hind legs, jolting Kel's saddle. Kel dismounted, peering ahead. "Why'd you stop, Peachblossom? Is this the place?" She looked closely at the Palace walls, but didn't see anything different than normal. "What's the deal? There's no difference!" she asked her horse impatiently.

The horse gave an annoyed whinny and brushed up next to her, so his shoulder was pushing into her back.

Kel squinted, frowning. Something had just appeared on the Palace walls. From this far back, it almost looked like . . . a hole? Kel shook her head, thinking it was a problem from staring at the same place too long.

"Kel?" Neal's voice came. "Do you see what I see?" Peering backwards, Kel saw that Topaz had pushed up against her owner, and that he was squinting as well. "Is there suddenly a hole in the Palace walls?"

"That's what it looks like," Kel answered, pursing her lips in thought. "But I can't think why we'd see it now."

"Wait . . ." Neal trailed off. Kel turned around expectantly. "I remember now! I overheard—"

"—Eavedropped—"

"—overheard Daine and Alanna talking once, back when I was still a squire. Alanna asked how Daine could stand it, leaving her friends behind when she had to flee, and Daine said something about 'bolt holes,' like a magically protected hole for the animals to escape through. That must be what that is!"

"Which would explain why we can see it only when the horses touch us!" Kel exclaimed, excited.

"But wouldn't the enemy be able to see it, then?" Neal asked, confused.

Kel bit her lip, thinking. "No . . . I bet because Daine told the Palace animals where the bolt hole was, so they could get out if they needed to. The enemies horses wouldn't know where that was, nor would they care to."

"So that clears that up. But there are still hundreds of — It looks like Scanrans again — between us and that hole! How will we get through?" Neal lamented.

At his words, Kel felt another nudge from her horse. She turned around, facing him. "You want us to mount again?" Peachblossom nodded. Shrugging, Kel mounted up, seeing Neal do the same. She was almost thrown off when Peachblossom bolted, straight towards the center of the Scanran camp, followed closely by Topaz, carrying Neal.

Hooves thundering, the two horses bounded over the makeshift boundary to the city, heading straight for the Palace. Startled Scanran faces hurtled past them as shouts of alarm reached their ears. The horses just kept running.

Within minutes, Peachblossom and Topaz reached the bolt hole and rode at full speed through the opening. The Scanran officers, seeing how much Chaos they had caused before running into a stone wall and disappearing, told the soldiers that it was the dead spirits of some Tortallan knights, and nothing else was thought about it.

Kel and Neal were inside the Palace.

They immediately dismounted. Kel gave Peachblossom a pat on the neck, telling him how smart he was for getting them inside before Neal placed a quick circle of protection around the horses.

Inside Kel's shirt, Byrn gave a feeble cry and shuddered. Terrified, Kel looked inside her shirt. The phoenix's eyes were closed. No flames ran across her body; No heat came from her any longer.

Kel's eyes burned. "Neal," she said, but her voice wouldn't work. She cleared her throat. "Neal."

He turned at the sound of her voice and came to her, seeing that Byrn glowed no longer. Neal bit his lip, blinking furiously. Kel gave in to her feelings and let tears trickle down her throat.

"There's no time to bury her," Neal said, his voice cracking. "Take her with us." Kel nodded as more tears fell, cradling Byrn's cold body inside her shirt. Both knights took off at a run for the King's Garden.

Entering the Palace through a side door, they got their bearings back. The hall was deserted; no sounds could be heard. It was eerie, running through the kitchen with no ovens roaring or chefs shouting. Their footsteps were the only thing that made noise.

It took three minutes of sprinting through the castle before they came out on the main hallway, by the banquet hall. Kel was accosted by memories as she remembered first receiving notion of her quest in that room.

As they passed the door of the banquet hall, they heard voices emanating from it. Both knights slid to a halt on the polished stone floor to listen.

Ichaeruut's unmistakable voice sounded through the door and into the hall. "You have served your purpose, King Jonathan." He practically spat the word out. "You, and your useless family, will be executed at midnight, unless you promise to obey the will of the Realm of Chaos."

Jonathan's clear voice rang on the stone walls and floor, echoing with strength. "We will never give in to those who oppose the true gods of these Realms."

"Well, then," said Ichaeruut. "You have sealed your fate. Lock them in the dungeons, until tonight!"

Kel and Neal looked at each other, not saying a word, before turning and running again, towards the King's Garden.

"So that's what Pitken meant by, 'It'll all be over by midnight tonight,' " huffed Neal grimly. Kel shook her head and kept running, trying not to jostle Byrn too much.

Finally, after another four or five minutes' worth hard running, they came to the entrance of the Garden. Kel gasped out the password, and the magical door opened, allowing them access. She ran to the handle, crouching down and hitting it, as she had done before. The wall slid open.

She had taken two steps before Neal cried out.

Ichaeruut called her name.

"Keladry, Keladry, Keladry," he said with a sigh. "What are you planning to do now?" Turning, Kel saw with horror that he had Neal in a headlock, a long-bladed dagger at his throat.

"How did you get here?" she asked coldly.

"That is none of your concern right now, I should think. What am I going to do now is the more relevant question."

Swallowing, Kel said, "Let him go." Her voice was hard.

Ichaeruut snorted. "Now, Keladry, am I really that stupid? Hmm . . . no, I don't think I'll let him go. Unless . . . you give me the Six."

"Never." She spat out the words and took a step towards the Grotto.

Ichaeruut shoved the dagger higher, and Neal inhaled sharply. A stream of blood trickled down his tan neck, and he closed his eyes. Ichaeruut never wavered.

"Give them. Now. Or your friend dies."

Kel felt helpless. What could she possibly do? Could she hand over the Six, and condemn the deaths of her countrymen, or hold them back and watch as the man she loved was murdered? Her brain whirled for the second time.

With her arms at her sides, her left forearm dangled against the pouch that held the Six. She felt a comforting heat, in steady pulses, coming from the bag.

Kel frowned. Were the Six actually trying to communicate with her?

"Tsk, tsk, lady knight," called Ichaeruut cruelly. "Quicker decisions! Snap, snap!"

Kel's mind was decided. She unhooked her belt pouch, feeling the warmth grow stronger. Taking steps towards Ichaeruut, she held the pouch towards him. "Here," she said. "Take them."

"Kel, no! Don't do it!" Neal cried, wild fear in his eyes.

Ichaeruut grabbed for the bag, frantic elation in his eyes. "At last!" he screamed. "At last, I have the Six! All the lands will bow under my domination!" He began to laugh, a frenzied, high-pitched cackle that made the hair on the back of Kel's neck stand up.

Come on, she thought at the Six. Do something! This is not how it's supposed to end!

Whether they heard her or whether her timing was right, the Six suddenly reacted violently. Ichaeruut broke off his cackle with a agonized scream. He dropped the bag, clutching his arm and almost weeping with pain. Neal, in his weakened hold, slammed the immortal in the stomach, momentarily winding him, then grabbed the bag and ran towards the door. "Come on!" he cried. Kel chased after him.

They took two steps into the Grotto and the wall slammed shut, closing out Ichaeruut's wailing cries. Kel and Neal looked at each other. "Well," Kel said finally. "We either succeed in here, or die out there." Neal said nothing.

Simultaneously, they walked quickly toward the circle containing the mosaics of all the gods and the statues of the animals.

"Okay," said Neal. "What do we do now?"

Kel recited the next part of the poem. "Place all in thine sights; Use thy lessons well learned; Fly fire to ignite; and thy battle will be turned."

"Right," said Neal. "Let's have a look around, then. Start with these statues." Kel nodded, and moved off toward the statue of the eagle. Neal went to go look at the bear.

The statue was exquisitely made, there was no contest about that. It looked almost ready to explode into flight. Kel started with the base and moved her way upwards. She noticed a small runic one carved into the stone at the eagle's feet, and drew out the First with a small inhalation of breath. They must go together, she thought excitedly.

She continued her examination upwards, until she reached the eyes. Kel caught her breath. One eye was missing.

"Place all in thine sight," she whispered, and pressed the first into the eagle's empty socket.

It shone suddenly, a brilliant green that made her shield her eyes. A beam of emerald light shone upwards at an angle, towards the center of the circle. Kel cried out in wonderment, and Neal turned at her voice with an amazed gasp.

"It's the eyes!" Kel cried. She drew out all of them from the pouch and moved around the circle, pressing each Stone into its corresponding place. When she had finished, she stepped back and took in the effect.

Six brilliantly colored beams shot from the eyes of the six statues, converging at the exact center of the wheel of gods.

"Fly fire to ignite," Kel whispered. She felt a pang in her heart, and opened her shirt to look at Byrn. To her horror, she realized that she was now carrying nothing but ash in her sling. The phoenix's body had burned away.

Before her startled eyes, the ashes burst into flame. Kel screamed with shock, trying to get the sling out from around her body. She dropped it, and strangely, the ashes didn't scatter. In fact . . .

"Neal!" she screamed. "It's Byrn!"

The phoenix rose from the ashes, flapping her wings serenely and looking exactly the same.

"Of course!" Neal shouted. "Phoenixes are reborn from the ashes of their deaths! How could we forget?"

Byrn didn't even seem to recognize them. She floated above the floor, gaining strength. The flames that sprang from her body burned brighter, and suddenly, she rose higher — straight into the point where the beams of light converged.

Byrn gave a trilling, piercing whistle, and Kel and Neal's worlds exploded.

A great burst of light and sound emanated from the conversion of light and phoenix. Kel and Neal were thrown back ten feet, unconscious.

***

At that second, around the very border of Tortall, a wall of sparkling white magical fire — the magic of the gods — rose fifty feet high. No enemy on the other side of the border could get through, but Tortallans could.

Everywhere the enemy was encamped, there were suddenly legions of sparkling white soldiers that fought with the fury of unstoppable whirlwinds. Those enemies who stayed were cut down like wheat, but most ran as fast as they could, far away. Anyone who looked upon those soldiers was struck down by a sense of awe none could experience ever again.

Tortallans were left unharmed.

Some enemies were lucky enough to make it back through the wall of flame to their own countries, but most were not.

In Corus, it was a peculiar thing. Every single man bent on destroying the Tortallan throne was instantly incinerated.

Except for Ichaeruut.

Ichaeruut was lifted to the Council of the Gods, and was given his punishment for disobeying the will of Mother Flame and Father Universe and using mortals as instruments. He was imprisoned until that same star that had to be born for Uusoae to be released had died.

The white legions stayed until every last man with a malicious intent was either driven from Tortall or slain. This included a number of Tortallans who were working as spies.

Tortall was free once more.

***

Kel and Neal came round at exactly the same instant, within two feet of each other. They pulled themselves upright, wincing; each had a raging headache.

Neal stared across, holding Kel's eyes. "We did it, Lady Knight Keladry."

Kel smiled back. "That we did, Sir Nealan."

They fell into each other's embrace.