Author's Note: As of June 27th, 2016, the entire fanfic has been rewritten. That means this chapter, all that came before it, and all that follow it now contain different content that they did previously. You are strongly encouraged to go back and reread the entire fanfic from the beginning, as the revised continuity may confuse you if you jump in part of the way through.
The sounds of battle, gunshots and screams floated through the air as X'lish stepped through the gate in front of her. She looked up at the sky, at the blood-red harvest moon that sagged overhead and the starless black canvas it was suspended in. She looked around her at the smoke billowing up from the fires scattered around the city. And she looked ahead of her into the eyes of her sister, at the same cold, empty stare Kelkaid Nagratek and his ideals had beaten into them almost thirty years ago.
X'lish drew her sword from the scabbard on her back as she emerged from the other side of the gate. Her sister did the same. The two of them stood on opposite sides of the courtyard, still and silent. Nibet moved first, walking toward her sister slowly, methodically. X'lish did the same. Eventually, they both stood in the middle of the courtyard, just a few feet from each other. X'lish spoke first.
"So I guess it would be too much to hope that you come to your senses?"
"I'm not here to talk. I'm here to kill you without remorse. So raise your sword." Nibet stepped back and outstretched her arms, pointing the blade at her sister.
"You may not be here to talk, but I am and I will." X'lish mirrored Nibet's movements. "I hope that won't be a problem."
"You won't be talking for long." Nibet lowered her sword abruptly and thrust it at her sister's stomach. X'lish countered the attack by striking it to the ground with her own sword. While she had her sister pinned, X'lish slammed her elbow into her sister's chest and, releasing her pin on her sister's sword, swung her own into the air and down on top of Nibet's head. Nibet dodged to the side and swiped her sword at X'lish's legs. Her sister jumped up over the swing and tried another overhead strike as she came down. Crouching on the ground, Nibet lifted her sword up and blocked X'lish's attack head on. As her feet touched the ground, X'lish pushed herself backward and out of Nibet's sword range. The two of them were back where they were at the start of the fight.
"You can do better than that, can't you sis?" X'lish remarked as they both calculated their next moves. "Don't tell me all of those years apart dulled your skills. Or perhaps you just don't have what it takes to kill me?"
"It isn't that. I just didn't expect prey to struggle to this degree. Don't mistake a miscalculation for a lack of intent." Nibet retorted as she stepped forward to deliver another series of strikes.
"I thought you said you weren't here to talk. Make up your mind." X'lish readied her sword as the first strike came at her side. She blocked it, and almost immediately another came at her from her other side, which she blocked as well. Nibet swung her sword violently and in quick succession in this manner for several dozen swings, forcing X'lish to the mouth of the gate she had entered through. When she was almost through, she ducked underneath one of the strikes and swept Nibet off of her feet with a roundhouse kick. Before Nibet could recover, X'lish stood back up and trust her sword at Nibet's ribcage. Nibet rolled to the side as X'lish's sword imbedded itself into the ground.
X'lish struggled for a moment to pull her sword out of the ground, and in that time Nibet got back on her feet and slashed at X'lish horizontally. X'lish managed to recover her sword just in time to block the attack. She realized that she had blocked it reflexively, without ever knowing that the strike was coming. Her sister had been using moves from an old sparing routine they developed when they were kids. X'lish smiled to herself, which put Nibet on edge. She moved back and reevaluated her position while X'lish began to chuckle.
"I don't understand what part about this you find funny." Nibet tensed up, expecting an attack at any moment.
"I'm sorry, it's just... Never mind. Let's have another go, shall we?" X'lish charged in head first, catching her sister off guard. Nibet tried to strike at her side, but X'lish effortlessly blocked the attack. She continued forward, pushing Nibet back as she powered through her defenses. X'lish could predict from her sister's smallest movements where she was going to lash out from next, and automatically moved to block.
"I thought you said that you intended to kill me?" X'lish asked as she forced her sister in circles around the courtyard with a flurry of strikes and parries.
"I did. I do. Concentrate on the fight. When you lose, I don't want you to blame our conversation."
"I'm not distracted. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm as focused as I can be. You, on the other hand, seem to have something on your mind. Feel like spitting it out?"
"Well…" Nibet thought as she dodged one of X'lish's swings and retaliated with her own. "It does bother me how little anger you've shown during our fight. I expected you to be pissed as hell that I killed your husband."
"I was angry. Then I was bitter. But I've had two months to think, and I decided that instead of hating you for what you did, I'd just kill you instead. And then you were on our side again, and I didn't take that very well. I'm almost relieved you're trying to kill us again. But I'm also a bit disappointed. I thought you'd put up more of a fight than this."
"I don't know what you mean." Nibet commented offhandedly as she barely managed to block X'lish's blade from plunging into her ribcage.
"You're barely holding out. Something's holding you back. Are you sure you're trying your hardest to kill me?"
"I could say the same to you. Here I am trying to kill you without remorse, and you want to have a casual chat like we're fifteen." Suddenly, as Nibet took a step forward to begin a counterattack, her footing slipped and she stumbled backward. She raised her sword to defend against X'lish's impending killing blow, but it never came. Confused, Nibet regained her footing and saw her sister just standing where she was with her guard down.
"What're you doing?" Nibet asked as she readied herself for another onslaught of attacks.
"Are you okay?" X'lish responded. "What happened?" She looked genuinely concerned.
"My foot slipped. Why do you care? You should've tried to take me out. This is a fight to the death, remember?" X'lish laughed.
"This isn't a fight to the death. It's a sub-par sparring match at best. You haven't even remotely tried to hurt me yet, much less kill me, and all of the moves you've been using are from our warm-up routine from back at Ivory Crest. And on top of that, you lost your footing on solid ground. This isn't like you. Something's up."
"You're right." Nibet said as she smiled to herself. "For some reason, I've been hesitating. Thank you for reminding me of the contempt I hold for people like you who show compassion for their enemy." Nibet's stance changed. She became more confident. "Now this fight starts for real." Nibet and X'lish charged each other, unleashing a staggering high-speed display of swordsmanship.
"So what was that remark about me showing compassion supposed to imply, exactly?" X'lish asked as she struggled to keep up with her sister's renewed vigor.
"You developed an aversion to combat ever since your exile. We swore to make the world a better place using our talents."
"And we did. We took down the Order and put Kelkaid down like a dog."
"And then you spent the next two decades on a beach growing old and complicit, while I spent them upholding a promise we made over our friend's corpse." Their blades clashed and they stood with their faces inches away from each other.
"And helping Kelkaid's son kill massive amounts of people constitutes honoring Viprus's memory to you?" For a moment, Nibet forgot why she was trying to kill her sister. X'lish used that moment to push her back and attempt a killing strike.
"Glaian is not the person his father was. He's not a murderer. He's a visionary." Nibet resumed their conversation as she resumed her defense, meeting X'lish's attack with full force.
"Now I know Glaian's messed with your head. We left the Order because they turned us into common thugs. What makes his crusade so different?"
"He's different because he doesn't have a separate agenda. The Order used us to their own personal ends, but Glaian has been completely honest about his goals from day one. He's the first person in my life to do that, including you." Nibet's comment caused X'lish to hesitate for a moment, and in that time Nibet swept her feet out from under her and knocked her sword away.
"It's over." Nibet smirked. She placed her blade on her sister's throat and looked her in the eye. She was meet with a look of intense defiance, which surprised her. "I thought you'd be the least bit afraid of death, after having avoided it this long."
"I won't die here. If you were going to kill me, I'd be dead already. But you won't. I can see it on your eyes."
"I will kill you without remorse." Nibet reiterated. She tried to move her hand to finish the job, but she couldn't.
"You've said that a lot in the past few minutes. Who are you trying to convince, exactly? Me? Or yourself." X'lish began to stand up, and instead of killing her, Nibet moved her sword away. X'lish stood up and looked her sister in the eye.
"I will kill you without remorse." Nibet repeated, trying desperately to move her arm, to no avail.
"No you won't. Because you don't want to. Glaian did something to you. Otherwise you would have never said any of those things. He's gotten into your head somehow. You need to push him out."
"I will kill you without remorse!" Nibet shouted, dropping her sword and clutching her head in her hands.
"Come back to me, sis." X'lish placed her hands on Nibet's shoulders. "I know you're in there somewhere."
"I will kill you without remorse." Nibet began to cry. She pulled a sidearm from her belt and placed it against X'lish's head. "I will accomplish my mission." Her hand shook.
"Then do it. But if any part of my sister is still in there, you will fight this. It isn't like you to give up so easily." X'lish closed her eyes. "Do what you have to do." She whispered. Nibet screamed. And emptied her magazine.
But not at her sister. She turned around and shot at nothing. Then she threw the gun away and sank to the ground. X'lish opened her eyes, mildly surprised to still be alive. She sat down next to her sister.
"I don't suppose now would be a good time to apologize for killing Faldr?" Nibet asked sheepishly.
"We'll deal with that later. For now, I'm just glad to have my sister back." X'lish responded.
"Well, I wouldn't get too used to the feeling." A male Bone stepped out from around a corner with a sniper rifle aimed at Nibet's head. "I still have business to work out with her."
"Selthash." Nibet scowled. She stood up to meet the brash man's challenge.
"Selthash? You're alive?" X'lish asked, more than a little caught off guard. "What happened to you?" She pointed at all of the burned tissue on his body
"Hello X'lish. Your sister gave me these, actually. Kind of like a goodbye kiss. A very hot, very scarring goodbye kiss."
"This'll only take a second." Nibet said as she bent down and picked up her discarded sword. "Then we can go join the others."
"So you'd like a swordfight then? That suits me fine." Selthash drew his own sword form a scabbard on his back. "I've been training years for this moment. I can taste revenge now." He readied himself to begin attacking. Nibet slowly approached him with her sword outstretched, and he instinctively backed away from her.
"You've always been more talk than action, Selthash. It used to be endearing. Now it's just pathetic. I don't know whether it was love or wishful thinking that moved me to spare you twenty-five years ago. But I can assure you I will not make the same mistake twice."
"That makes two of us." He gulped as he prepared to fend off her attacks. Before he could react, however, she ran her sword clean through his neck. When she withdrew her blade, he collapsed to the ground dead, his eyes still wide with surprise. Nibet bent down to collect her empty sidearm as X'lish stood up and picked her sword off of the ground.
"Do you think there's any blood on this? I absolutely hate getting rodent blood on my gear." Nibet asked her sister as she inspected her sword.
"I'm sure it's fine." X'lish replied as she sheathed her sword. "Now come on, we have to get to the temple."
"Right." Nibet recalled her plan as she too returned her sword to its scabbard. "It's this way. Follow me." Nibet motioned down an alleyway and the two of them took off running.
"So how much of what you said during our fight was true?" X'lish asked as they weaved through the Atheian streets.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. At the time, it felt as though everything I said was what I wanted to say. But looking back, I'm fairly certain Glaian made me think those things."
"Not entirely certain?"
"Most of my memories from my time spent in Glaian's stronghold are hazy at best, so I couldn't tell you what he made me think. Or say. And after you spend a lot of time like I did, your own thoughts become hard to distinguish. But I should be fine now."
"That doesn't exactly leave me brimming with confidence."
"Well do you at least trust that I'm myself again?"
"For now, yes." They continued to run in silence after that.
"For what it's worth, I really am genuinely sorry I killed Faldr. I didn't want to, but Glaian-"
"Let's just get through this first. You can apologize all you want after we put an end to… What is it he calls himself these days? The All-Consuming?"
"I think he actually switched to Lord High Devourer."
"Talk about melodramatic." X'lish rolled her eyes.
"I know. The temple's just this way." The two of them emerged from an alleyway near the temple entrance just as Phoney, Fone, Thorn, Bartleby, and three humans approached it from the front.
"I figured you'd show up sooner or later." Phoney remarked as X'lish and her sister met Phoney's group in front of the temple.S
. "To be honest, I was expecting it would be later."
"X'lish, good to see you. And who might this be?" Thorn asked, nodding at Nibet.
"That's my sister, Nibet. She's on our side now. Again." X'lish said. "Nibet, these are the others."
"Mr. President." Nibet saluted Phoney, who saluted back. She turned to Fone. "You're Fone Bone right? I read your book. It was pretty good."
"Thanks. X'lish has told us a lot about you." Fone responded. "I'm looking forward to you not trying to kill us.
"Likewise. And you must be Thorn Harvester." Nibet turned back to Thorn. "Sorry about the mess."
"It's fine. But what's with the constantly swapping allegiance?" Thorn asked.
"I'm glad to finally meet someone who likes to get to the point. I like you already." Nibet laughed. No one else did. "Right. I had my memories stolen by a small crystal Glaian planted in my tooth. Julius Freeman took it out a day or two ago."
"Julius Freeman?" Phoney asked, puzzled. "I saw Archibald shoot him in the head. We brought his body out of the city with us along with Smiley's. I interred it in a morgue myself."
"He said he snuck away from the meeting. Maybe he had a body double in place? Who knows. The point is he rescued me from Glaian's control and is currently somewhere in the city. He should meet us here soon enough. Anyway, apparently Glaian set up a failsafe system of mental triggers in case I went rogue. He activated them, but I managed to get out from under his control again. You don't have to trust me, but I am here to help." Thorn, Fone, and Phoney mulled the information over for a moment in silence.
"Fine." Phoney said, speaking for the group. "We'll trust you for now. But if you do anything I don't like, we break your legs."
"Fair enough. Now what was your-" Nibet was about to start talking strategy when a group of about forty humans charged down from another street to meet the group. Leading them was Gran'ma Ben. Thorn ran up to her and hugged her.
"Gran'ma Ben? What are you doing here? I thought you were busy drawing the enemy away?" Thorn asked as they released their embrace.
"Nice to see you too Thorn." She turned to address everyone. "There's a large force of Glaian's men moving this way. Jigafta and the Great Red Dragon stayed behind to hold most of them off, but some of them will get through to here. We'll hold them off here while you deal with Glaian."
"Are you sure that's wise, Gran'ma? Glaian's men have far superior weaponry."
"We've been holding our own this whole time. We can handle a few more minutes. Besides, these little squirts aren't so tough when they don't have the element of surprise. We'll be fine. Just go."
"If you're sure." Phoney shrugged and turned to his group. He pointed to his three human guards. "You three stay here and bolster Queen Rose's forces." They nodded and Gran'ma Ben directed them into one of the buildings around the area to set up an ambush. "The rest of us will go put Glaian in the ground."
"Are you sure it'd be a good idea for you two to come along?" Nibet asked, pointing at Fone and Phoney. "I don't doubt Thorn's training, but a politician and a writer don't exactly qualify as combatants."
"Nibet, this is hardly the first war we've fought in, and Glaian will most definitely not be the first person either of us have killed. We can handle ourselves."
"If you say so." Nibet dropped the subject. The six of them lined up in front of the temple doors.
"Here I come you bastard." Phoney muttered as he pushed the large door open. The six of them walked through the threshold. In front of them, Glaian sat on the altar, brooding. The rest of the hall was empty. He looked up and locked eyes with Phoney. The six of them tensed up. The door closed behind them. Glaian stood from his perch and smiled.
"Caydmar!" Rankyne shouted at the top of his lungs as he pulled himself closer to the neck of the dragon he was riding, trying to protect himself from the sheering winds produced when flying on the back of a dragon several hundred feet in the air at several hundred miles per hour. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
"Are you kidding me?" His brother asked. Caydmar was sitting up behind Rankyne, arms outstretched, letting the sensations of flying roll over his body like a tidal wave. "This is incredible! I wish I could spend the rest of my life in the air!"
"Speak for yourself!" Rankyne responded, his face growing paler by the second. "If we live through this, I'm never leaving the ground again!"
"Please don't throw up on my scales." The dragon carrying the brothers requested drearily. "It takes forever to remove the stench."
"Just hold on!" Caydmar shouted, trying to keep his brother calm. "I think I can see Sinner's Rock from here!" The lonely spire of Sinner's Rock rose into view on the horizon. Ahead of them, the rest of the Sky Legion had already arrived at the target. Dragons flew through the air scorching the panicking soldiers on the ground. By the time Caydmar and Rankyne's dragon landed, the only things on the surface were charred corpses and scattered crates of weapons. Rankyne flopped off the dragon's back ungracefully and reveled in stable ground. His bag of explosive flopped off after him.
"I'm never flying again. Ever." He exclaimed as he began to stand up and steady himself.
"I don't see what you have against everything new we keep discovering." Caydmar grabbed his satchel of explosives and dismounted the dragon with ease, landing on his feet beside his recovering twin. "It isn't so bad once you get used to it."
"It's getting used to it that I take issue with. Namely: surviving the experience."
"Oh will you two just get moving already?" Breshet interrupted as she and the rest of the Sky Legion began to take off again. "We're already behind as it is. I'll be back to pick you up after you do your job." With that the Sky Legion flew into the air and descended upon the city to wreak havoc.
"And there goes our backup." Rankyne muttered as he picked up his satchel and began walking miserably to the tunnel entrance. "I'll check the tunnels. You get started with the crates out here."
"That won't be necessary." A low feline voice growled behind the princes. They whirled around with their guns drawn. Roque Ja's slightly quizzical features loomed above them.
"Rock Jaw I presume." Caydmar glared at the imposing mountain lion staring down their weapons unintimidated.
"It's pronounced Roque Ja, I'll have you know." He stuck his head in the air to flaunt his regal features. "And I'd be more than happy to clear the tunnels while the two of you get to work out here."
"Much appreciated, I guess." Rankyne hesitantly put his gun back in its holster.
"Is there something you'd like to say?" The gargantuan cat asked with a tilt of his head.
"It's nothing… Well… I just never expected you'd be so cooperative is all."
"Believe me, neither did I. But what choice do I have, exactly? The entire valley is on the verge of extinction, and I'm just as much of a target of this madman's wrath as you are." The cat proceeded into the tunnel. "Now get to work. The quicker we get done here, the quicker I can get the rest of you trespassers out of my pristine mountains." He disappeared into the passageway. Not long after, the sound of gunshots and screams drifted back out. Meanwhile, Caydmar and Rankyne began planting the explosives on the crates.
"We should be clear in here now!" Roque Ja shouted at them through the tunnel. Rankyne finished arming his third explosive and began to head for the passageway. Caydmar, who had just finished rigging his sixth crate, stopped him.
"I'll go." He assured his brother. "I'm faster than you at this. I'll be back out before you know it."
"Sure thing. Just don't get lost in there." Rankyne nodded back as he moved on to another crate.
"Did you forget that you're talking to the grand champion of the village hide-and-seek matches? I'll be fine." Caydmar waived his hand dismissively at his brother as he proceeded through the entrance. He was only gone for a few seconds when Rankyne's earpiece jumped to life, making him jump as well.
"Rankyne… Walking… Trap..." The transmission cut in and out, and was filled with static. But that didn't stop him from getting the message.
"Caydmar, get out of there!" He shouted, dropping what he was doing as he ran for the secret passage. "It's a-" His shouting was cut short by Caydmar's pained screams, followed by several gunshots. A moment later Caydmar burst through the tunnel clutching several large gashes that ran along his chest and right forearm and collapsed on the ground. Roque Ja leapt through the passage after his prey, landing right in between Rankyne and Caydmar's unconscious body.
Rankyne raised his gun, aimed it at Roque Ja's face, and without hesitation pulled the trigger. The bullet narrowly missed Roque Ja's eye. He fired again, but Roque Ja had already pounced. Rankyne managed to dive out of the way of the mountain lion's claws and quickly scurried behind a rock outcropping out of the lion's line of sight.
"I can still smell you, boy." Roque Ja mused as he prowled slowly around, searching for his quarry. "You cannot hide from me. And even if you manage to get away, what chance do you think your dear beloved brother has?" Rankyne popped out of cover and shot a round into Roque Ja's front paw. Before Roque Ja could react, however, he was gone.
"I must commend you for surviving this long against me in a fight." The large feline began to grow impatient. "Not many have. But your time is up." Roque Ja lashed out with his claws at a protrusion of rock. He clipped the side of Rankyne's face. Rankyne in turn put a bullet in Roque Ja's eye before bolting for another hiding spot. Roque Ja howled in pain. He lashed out blindly in multiple directions before he regained his composure.
"Perhaps you'd like me to go ahead and kill him now then?" He said as he approached Caydmar's body in a bid to lure out his prey. "I am under orders to cause you to despair. I would imagine watching me feast on his flesh would be enough to do the job." Rankyne burst out of hiding and sent several shots into Roque Ja's body. The great cat recoiled as Rankyne continually sent bullets tearing through his hide. Then Rankyne ran out of ammo.
Roque Ja regained his footing as Rankyne fumbled to exchange the magazines. Before he ejected the empty one, however, Roque Ja was upon him. Roque Ja knocked Rankyne to the ground, but left him unharmed. Then he sauntered over to Caydmar and prepared to dig into his meal. Rankyne could barely move. He watched Roque Ja descend upon his brother. He watched the animal's jaws open wide to take the first of many grisly bites. For the first time in his life, Rankyne prayed to the Dreaming. He pleaded for it to spare his brother such a horrible fate.
Then something welled up inside him. He felt energy and vigor course through his veins, and he stood up, renewed and ready to face any challenge. Roque Ja was about to feast when he noticed Rankyne's continued resilience. He chuckled to himself and backed off from Caydmar's unconscious body.
"So you still have some fight left, do you?" He prepared to pounce on the defiant youth. And then, as if out of nowhere, a chill went up Roque Ja's spine. Rankyne scared him. He growled a low growl and began to back up. Rankyne ran forward and punched Roque Ja square on his nose before the hulking beast could react. The blow sent both of them reeling backward, and Roque Ja knew instantly what the prince was.
"You're a Veni-Yan-Cari, aren't you?" He asked, mildly surprised. He began muttering to himself. "That does make sense in hindsight. Lord Deyavara did need energy, and the amount a newly awakened Veni-Yan-Cari could contribute would be extraordinary." Roque Ja steeled himself and charged forward at the young prince. He lashed out with his massive claws. Rankyne caught one and slammed it into the ground. At the same time, he punched the other set of claws from below with enough force to break all of the bones in Roque Ja's paw. Rankyne then grabbed Roque Ja's head with both of his hands and raised it up into the air with intent to slam it into the rock. Roque Ja snarled and pounced, carrying Rankyne with him. He threw Rankyne off with a shake of his head while they were in the air. They both landed in the same spot, and Roque Ja pinned Rankyne's torso with his good hand before the prince could recover.
"I changed my mind." Roque Ja roared as he licked his lips. "I'm going to eat you first. I want to see the light go out of your eyes as you realize no one will save you." He opened his jaws, displaying an impressive array of teeth. Rankyne tried to move, but he couldn't get any leverage. Right as Roque Ja was about to begin eating, he was interrupted for a second time. He heard the hammer of a gun pull back. He looked to his left. Aiming right at his eye with an almost fully loaded handgun stood Caydmar, barely conscious and still losing copious amounts of blood. The two of them locked eyes. The fire behind Caydmar's eyes was the last thing Roque Ja ever saw.
Caydmar fired a single shot into Roque Ja's eye. It cut through his skull and pierced his soft brain matter. Roque Ja recoiled, and Caydmar put another bullet in the feline's forehead. And another. And another. Finally the colossal beast crumpled on the ground dead. Caydmar put another bullet in the side of the animal's head for good measure. Then he collapsed as well.
Rankyne pushed Roque Ja's limp limb off of his body and ran to his brother. Caydmar was fading in and out of consciousness. Rankyne grabbed Caydmar's hand.
"You're going to be alright. You just need to stay with me. You got that?" Rankyne looked around frantically for something to stop the bleeding with. Caydmar offered Rankyne his satchel.
"I'll be alright once you fire off the signal." Caydmar whispered through fits of coughing up blood. "And get us the hell out of here." Rankyne instantly reaching into the bag and pulled out the emergency flare gun. He fired it into the air and returned to his brother's side. He tried, with little success, to keep pressure on Caydmar's extensive wounds. Caydmar's face was rapidly turning pale. Rankyne was beginning to panic.
"You are getting out of here alive. Breshet is going to come and get us real soon." He spoke hurriedly, as though the speed of his speech affected Breshet's travel time. Caydmar ignored his brother and reaching into the discarded satchel. He pulled out the detonator for the explosives. Then he kicked the satchel through the entrance to the tunnel.
"You need to get out of here. Go give Glaian's army hell, and then go take back our home. Do you understand me?" He asked, his voice calmer than his brother's.
"We can do that together. You said it yourself, you're going to be fine." Rankyne looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Breshet burst over the ledge and rescue them. Miraculously, she did. "Look!" He shouted. "Here she is! We can go!" Rankyne began to lift his brother, but Caydmar pushed him back.
"I said I'd make it to keep you calm enough to fire off the flare. I lied. There's no chance I'm going to make it, these wounds are too extensive. I'll be unconscious again before long, and then shortly after that I'll be dead. But I'm not going out like that. I'm going out on my own terms." Rankyne stood up, unable to accept what he heard. His brother continued. "But you need to get out of here before I can make that happen. So go." Rankyne wouldn't move. Caydmar leaned to the side and shouted at Breshet.
"Take him and get out of here! There's no time!" As soon as he spoke, his body began to shudder violently. He coughed up another wave of blood, and his vision blurred. Breshet nodded and walked over to Rankyne. She dipped her wing underneath him and swept him off of his feet. He landed on her wing, and from there she rolled him onto her back. He tried to get up and return to his brother, but before he could she began flying. He was forced to grab onto her to stay alive. He tried screaming, but he couldn't form the words. Caydmar smiled at him as Breshet began to fly back to the city. Then Caydmar pressed the button on the detonator, and he was engulfed in a sea of flames. Sinner's Rock collapsed. Rankyne began to cry.
Breshet landed in the courtyard in front of the temple. Gathered in it were forty or so Venu monks standing over a field of bone corpses. Gran'ma Ben stood in the middle of them. As Breshet descended, they moved to the side and let Gran'ma Ben approach her alone.
"Queen Rose, my name is Breshet. I would like you to take this man off of my hands now. I have to get back to my Legion." She rolled Rankyne's unresponsive body off of her back and onto the ground. After she was sure he was clear, she took off into the sky again. Gran'ma Ben sat Rankyne against the temple wall to see if he was alright.
"Rankyne, can you hear me?" She asked. He didn't respond. "Where's your brother?" He was silent for a moment.
"Dead. Roque Ja killed him." He muttered. Gran'ma Ben lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
"You know what's funny? Roque Ja said he wanted to cause me despair. He said that because I am apparently a Veni-Yan-Cari, his mission was to make me despair. Well I guess he succeeded." Gran'ma Ben chose not to ask about Rankyne being a Veni-Yan-Cari, but she remembered all the same. Rankyne continued talking. "And then my brother starts telling me to make Glaian pay. And then he blows himself up. Now what am I supposed to do?"
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say put one between Glaian's eyes." A Bone walked up to the pair. He stretched out his hand. "Hello. My name is Julius Freeman. I orchestrated this counter attack." Neither of them returned his gesture.
"I assume you want to give Glaian his comeuppance, for your brother's sake? Well I say we go do that right now. What do you say?" Rankyne stood up. Gran'ma Ben rose to her feet as well. "I'll take that as a yes."
Meanwhile, Breshet flew across the city to the southern gate, where the fiercest battle was raging. The Great Red Dragon tore through ranks of troops on the ground whilst the Sky Legion flew above the clash attacking snipers on the walls and scorching large enemy clusters. And in the middle of everything, Jigafta leapt around like a madman from area to area. Literally. He was bouncing several dozen feet into the air at times. He shredded large swaths of enemy positions using only his bare hands, and managed to dodge or hit back every bullet they sent his way in response. As he was finishing attacking one group, Breshet descended from the sky and landed next to him.
"This is quite something, isn't it? It almost reminds me of our adventures back in the day." She began making small talk as he finished off the last few soldiers.
"This is much tamer than anything we used to do. For starters, these guys die so easily. It's almost upsetting how little effort this has taken." He ripped a man's arm off and threw it straight through another one's chest, liquefying everything involved. "But anyway, how are things on your end doing?"
"They could be going better. We lost Caydmar."
"How's Rankyne?"
"He lost it, so I dropped him off with Queen Rose. He should be fine. More reinforcements arrived shortly after I left, so he's in good hands." Jigafta stopped right as he was about to kill the last of the men in the vicinity.
"What do you mean reinforcements?" He asked. His tone set Breshet on edge.
"Another Bone showed up just as I was leaving. I thought everyone was going to kill him, but they just stood aside, so I just assumed he was a friend." She began to grow concerned.
"That wasn't a friend. That was him." Jigafta began walking toward the temple.
"What do you mean him? Him who?" Breshet asked. In the back of her mind, she already knew the answer.
"Deyavara." Jigafta said as he prepared to jump. "I want you to get to the Cipher and take it to the Councilman's prison. If I'm late, even by a little, the Councilman could wake. If he does, hit him fast and hard. We'll only get one shot before he fully regains power." Jigafta launched himself into the air and toward his final confrontation with his brother. Breshet took to the sky and flew off for the Cipher. Jigafta couldn't afford to be late, but neither could she.
"Ah, Phoncible. You've come to face me again at last. Have you finally resigned yourself to your fate? Have you finally seen the error of your ways?" Glaian began to walk the expanse that separated him from the group.
"I knew you were a psychopath. But to think that after everything you've done, I'd just lay down and give up? Admit defeat? You must be crazier than I thought. I'm here to kill you, you mad bastard." Phoney replied, his rage barely contained behind his smirk. Glaian stopped.
"You cannot kill me, Phoncible, for one simple reason. You do not hate me. You fear me. You may blame me for your cousin's death, but that hatred is far overshadowed by what you know I am capable of."
"Fear you? That's a laugh." Phoney began to walk forward defiantly. "Look around you. Everything you've accomplished has been reduced to ashes. Your army is overrun. Your most trusted soldier has betrayed you. And you stand alone, inside a monument to everything you hate built by the very people you have sworn vengeance upon. You have failed."
"Honestly I envy your unquenchable sense of optimism, Phoncible. It is such a shame that it stems from your naiveté. You've marched all of your forces into a single location without knowing the extent of the enemy's fighting strength, and you call my army overrun. You've played your entire hand, while I've yet to show a single card, and you interpret my patience as failure. I have not failed. And I'm sure the young Pawan Princes would agree with me. That is, if Roque Ja hasn't ripped out their throats already." Phoney stopped dead in his tracks. He frantically raised his hand up to the side of his ear and pressed the button on the side of the small communication device planted in his ear-hole.
"Sybron, can you hear me?" He asked.
"Loud and clear, and a bit baffled that this 'radio' really works like you said it would." Sybron responded.
"Sybron I need you to contact Caydmar and Rankyne. Tell them they're walking into a trap."
"Will d-" Sybron's broadcast cut off.
"I'm afraid it's of no use, Phoncible." Glaian chuckled as he resumed his gait. "My military grade radio frequency jammers just activated. Your friend won't be alerting anyone of anything."
"Maybe not. But I'm confident that two armed humans and half a dozen flying dragons can take on a talking cat." Phoney motioned for the rest of the group to move forward. "And that the six of us will be more than enough to kill you." Glaian began to clap as he slowed his pace. He stood in the exact middle of the temple.
"It appears I must retract my previous statement. You truly do not fear me. I'll have to change that. Consider this the first card in my hand." Glaian stopped and moved one of his feet back. Suddenly, with impossible force, he leapt into the air over a dozen feet in an arc straight toward Phoney. As he began his descent, he attempted to put his fist through Phoney's head. Nibet and X'lish crossed their swords in his path, and his fist impacted against the steel inches from Phoney's face. Phoney didn't flinch. Glaian pushed off of the swords and sent himself backward out of their range before they could react. Thorn stared at him awestruck.
"Those were Veni-Yan-Cari abilities." She said aloud to herself. Glaian scoffed.
"Ah yes, the ancient order of monks dedicated to protecting the Dreaming. If only they knew what I know, they would not be so quick to leap to his defense." That word took Thorn by surprise. The Dreaming wasn't a person, of that she was sure. He continued regardless. "I took some time to read up on the Valley after I conquered this city. Between the ancient tomes I found and what was left of my father's archives, I know much of the secret history of this place. Your pitiful monks only scratched the surface of what a Dreaming eye could accomplish. There are beings more ancient and nightmarish than you would believe that are the epitome of the abilities you so crave. And I've been given one's physiological traits. None of you are a match for me." He boasted as he unconsciously nursed the hand he had punched the swords with. Both Nibet and X'lish noticed. He was in excruciating pain, caused by overexertion. He couldn't keep going forever.
"We'll just have to find out then, won't we? Kill him." Phoney ordered his twin assassins. They happily obliged, walking forward side by side, perfectly in sync. They began to circle around him, eyeing up their prey for weaknesses as he continued to talk incessantly.
"You know, my father often praised you two as the best and brightest of his Vanguard. Every night I would be put to bed with tales of the bravery of Nibet and X'lish Trenya, stalwart defenders of the faithful. That is, until you betrayed him. So I've been thinking: if I beat you two, my father's sharpest weapons, his steadfast guardians, will I in turn be my father's greatest creation?"
"You talk too much. I guess you take after your father in that regard." X'lish commented as the pair began to close in on him.
"I'm nothing like my father." He retorted. "I achieve results."
"I think that might be the first thing you've said ever that made any sense." X'lish raised her sword. Her sister did the same.
"Enough of this pointless prattle." Nibet reprimanded her sister. They tossed their swords into the air. "We've got a target." They both jumped up. "Launch!" Nibet shouted as the swords descended. At the same time, both of the sisters kicked the handles of their swords, sending Nibet's at Glaian's head and X'lish's toward his ribcage.
He put up his hands in a flash at the last second and caught the swords by the sides of the blades. He wasn't quite quick enough, however, as a small amount of blood tricked down his arms from where the swords broke the skin of his palms. As soon as Nibet and X'lish landed, they ran straight for him. At the same time, Glaian threw the swords by their tips back at their owners faster than they had kicked them at him. X'lish ducked under the sword and grabbed the handle as it passed over her, while Nibet jumped up and caught the sword from above. Both of them reacquired their weapons with a very brief reduction in speed before they resumed their charge.
As they reached him, they tried to attack up close where they had originally targeted him at range. As the swords closed in, Glaian knocked Nibet's upwards with his elbow and brushed X'lish's aside with the back of his other hand. Immediately following, he brought his raised hand down to grab X'lish's head. She drew a handgun from her belt and wedged the muzzle into the sword wound in his hand. He wrapped his fingers around the barrel, but before he could yank the gun from her hands she fired two shots into his arm. The bullets cut through his wrist and part of his forearm.
He stumbled back, reeling from the injury, when Nibet tried to cut his leg off. The sword got stuck in his leg before it hit his leg bone. His muscle density was unusually high, even for a Bone. He slammed down on the side of the blade with his good hand, shattering it. He grabbed the handle with the broken off blade as it fell to the ground and threw it at Nibet's shoulder. She knocked the broken handle to the side with her own handgun, which she in turn used as a bludgeon to force the broken blade further into Glaian's leg.
He turned around and tried to catch her hand, but before he could X'lish thrust her sword through his good arm's shoulder blade. He used his unusual strength to push it pack out with one punch to the end of the blade that had broken through the other side. The blade flew through the air and landed at Thorn's feet. She, Fone, and Phoney all raised their guns at the same time, looking for opening to shoot Glaian without hitting either of the twins. Bartleby growled as he sat the fight out, anxious for the opportunity to maul one of Smiley's murderers.
Glaian turned away from Nibet and stood face to face with X'lish. She tried to shoot him again, but he didn't fall for the same trick twice. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and crushed it, rendering it unusable. He then ripped the gun out of X'lish's hands, whirled around to face Nibet, who was still trying to force the blade through his leg, and knocked her in the side of the head with it. She staggered back, and Glaian took the opportunity to subdue X'lish. He elbowed her in the stomach and punched her square on the nose. She crumpled to the floor.
Only He and Nibet were left. While she was still recovering from his attack, he grabbed the blade still imbedded in his leg and ripped it out. Wielding it like a throwing knife, he launched it into Nibet's shoulder, and she collapsed as well. Both of the twins lay on the ground, barely conscious.
"Fire!" Phoney shouted as Glaian turned to face his gun wielding opponents. The three of them fired every bullet they had at him. As they squeezed off round after round of ammo, the space around Glaian became a blur as he forced his near immobilized limbs to move at almost imperceptible speed. After they ran out of bullets, they lowered their guns and surveyed the damage. Glaian stood exactly where he was, with his fists balled up in front of his face. He lowered his arms to the side, and the three could see that most of his body was covered in bullet wounds, but none were in vital areas. He loosened his hands, and out of them dropped over a dozen bullets each, along with some of fragments of the bones in his hands.
"Bloody stars." Thorn gasped as she witnessed him take a step forward and smile.
"Is that all you can muster, Phoncible? I'm still standing here. What happened to killing me? Or are you sufficiently afraid?" Glaian broke out in a cacophony of laughter. Trembling, Thorn drew her sword from its scabbard.
"What are you doing?" Fone asked as she weighed the object in her hands. "You can't use your powers right now. He'll tear you to pieces. Don't do this." He pleaded with her.
"Fone, hand me my cloak." She demanded. "It should be in your bag. I told you to pack it, remember?"
"How can you even-" Fone was about to protest when Phoney placed a hand on his shoulder.
"If she wants to fight, let her fight. She's the only chance we have of ending him here and now." Phoney said grimly. He stared at Glaian as the wounded man continued to cackle.
"Fone, I can fight him." Thorn began to speak before Fone could mount another protest. "The Dreaming has been clearing up since we got here. Or, at least, it's established a readable pattern. If I wear the cloak, I might be able to focus enough to resonate with the Dreaming and move as fast as him. I don't see another way."
"Thorn, I will not stand here and watch the woman I love get taken from me by a madman." Fone was on the verge of breaking down. "Please, don't do this."
"Do you trust me?" She asked. Fone was taken rather aback.
"I…"
"You love me. But do you trust me?" She asked again. Fone swallowed his anxiety.
"Yes, Thorn. I trust you." He responded.
"Then hand me the cloak." He slung his back pack off of his shoulders and rummaged through it until he pulled out Thorn's red hooded cloak. She crouched down and he handed it to her. She took it. Before either of them knew what was happening, she kissed him again. It was shorter this time, but more passionate. Phoney coughed, bringing them back to reality. Thorn stood up and put the cloak on.
"What was that for?" Fone asked as she readied herself for battle. He looked back at him and smiled.
"It was an answer to your question." She responded. She turned to face her opponent as she drew the hood over her face.
"What… oh." The previous day's conversation resurfaced in his mind, and he suddenly became extremely elated and moderately embarrassed at the same time.
"What's takin so long, Queen Thorn?" Glaian shouted across the room as his laughter died down. "I'm just dying to get my hands on Fone's little human bitch!" Thorn didn't respond. Instead, she attempted to focus on the Dreaming.
She could feel it flowing around her for the first time in weeks. She felt its power surge through her. The murky fog that had settled over her mind had lifted, and now her dreaming eye could see clearly again. But something was wrong. The Dreaming began to constrict around her. She fought back, but to no avail. She heard piercing cries of pain and smelled the sound of burning flesh. Then the Dreaming caught fire. This fire was even hotter than the Locust fire of the ghost circles. It was pure horrid energy. Nightmare energy. And standing in the middle of the all-consuming fire, wracked in pain, was Fone. She screamed. She fell out of contact with the Dreaming and collapsed on the ground, wheezing. She dropped the sword to the ground, and yanked the hood off of her face. Fone ran to her.
"Is that all you can muster, human trash?" Glaian asked. He began to laugh again. "Well Phoncible, it looks like you-" He grunted and coughed up blood. His sentence had been cut short when Nibet drove the sword blade he had stuck in her shoulder in between his ribs while he was distracted.
"That's for the weird crystal tooth!" She shouted at him as he collapsed on the ground. She kicked him in the head a few times just to make sure he was incapacitated before running to tend to her unconscious sister.
"Are you all right?" Fone asked frantically as Thorn stood to her feet. "What happened?" She started at him until she knew that what she had seen was just a dream. He wasn't actually burning. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"We have bigger problems than Glaian on our hands right now." She said, still trying to catch her breath. "What I saw in there was horrifying. There's a source of terribly powerful energy moving this way. It's big and it's close. It might already be here."
"Well, I wouldn't call Glaian a problem anymore, exactly." Phoney smiled to himself. "He seems to be down for the count. Come on, let's co check this out." He began to walk toward Glaian's body.
"What about what I saw? The dreaming was on fire, for crying you loud. Something's about to happen." She exclaimed, exasperated that he could remain so calm.
"No, it isn't." Phoney argued as he continued to walk toward Glaian. Thorn rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword. Then she, Fone and Bartleby began following him. "Nothing's about to happen because that source of energy you saw obviously needed the events of the past two months to build up. So if Glaian is down for the count and his army is in tatters, then it doesn't have an energy source anymore, so it isn't a problem." The four of them joined Nibet in crowding Glaian's immobile form. "And plus I still need to get Archibald's location from this guy, so until that's over I refuse to let anything else bother me." He crouched down in front of Glaian's face and put his gun against Glaian's head.
"Now you will tell me where Archibald is. Or I will put a bullet in you." Phoney cocked the hammer back on his sidearm.
"Do you really think one bullet from a handgun will be enough to kill me? You cannot frighten me. And you need me alive." Glaian spat in Phoney's face. Phoney wiped it off.
"I'm counting on it not killing you." Phoney smirked. "But that doesn't mean it won't hurt. So tell me, and I'll spare you that."
"Your threats are empty to me, pretender. You have not won."
"From where I sit, I very much have won. You just seem too stubborn to admit it."
"Then you are an even greater fool than I thought. My army will triumph over your rats and your humans with their swords. Then they will come here and kill you and I will be victorious. And even if you manage to survive my wrath that long, Archibald's location will do you no good. But, since I enjoy watching you squirm, I'll tell you. He's in a complex in the desert, working tirelessly to release the Crystal Councilman from his prison. And soon he shall succeed. The Councilman will rise from his grave, and then we will tear this valley apart together. When the dust settles, the only living thig left in this valley will be the Crown of Horns himself." Phoney stood up and began pacing to clear his head. Thorn squatted down in his place.
"That's the second time you've referred to the Dreaming as a living being. A person, more accurately. Why?" She asked. She knew it was probably nothing more than his lack of education about the Valley, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something larger was playing out around them. She needed answers.
"I refer to it as such because it is. The humans of this valley have become incredibly blind to the history of their own people. Gabriel is the only one of you that I've met that knows anything about the true state of affairs. About Mon'Yaran and his lies."
"Mon'Yaran? I've never heard that name before."
"And pray that you never need to hear it again." Glaian's tone became suddenly graven. "Pray that my plan succeeds. That my Lord's plan succeeds. Or else the whole universe will pay the price."
"What are you blabbering on about?" Phoney asked. "When did you get so heavily involved in the mythos of this place?" He demanded angrily.
"When I came here and learned the truth."
"And what truth would that be, exactly?"
"I would be remiss to tell you. To divulge that secret would be tantamount to admitting my own defeat. And since I haven't been defeated yet, I cannot tell you."
"Haven't been defeated yet?" Phoney shouted. "Look around. You're bleeding out on a temple floor and yet you have the arrogance to still claim the upper hand? Get with reality. You lost when we caught you off guard and blew a hole straight through the heart of your army. You've just been too proud to admit defeat."
"That is where you are mistaken, Phoncible. I still have a few cards left to play. I was just the first. Would you like to see the second?" Glaian mused. Phoney fumed as he contemplated killing Glaian then and there. Before he could raise his gun again, however, the door to the temple exploded. Rankyne and Gran'ma Ben flew through the opening. They landed on the ground unconscious.
"I'm sure everyone would like to see it, Glaian." Said a solitary male Bone who stepped through the ruined door after the humans. He exuded a presence of absolute dread. "And now we have the proper audience."
"Julius Freeman?" Nibet asked, dumbfounded by her ally's sudden behavior. "What are you doing?"
"You're the second card." Phoney began putting the pieces together in his head. "You faked your death and you've been playing us this whole time. You orchestrated the attack to gather us all in one place."
"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that. I've been waiting for this day for longer than any of you can imagine. You might say that without my guidance, all of your lives would be very, very different. I even gave you the presidency, Phoney. Everything in your life, and in the lives of your cousins happened exactly as I intended."
"You're Silas Cohen." Revelation dawned on Phoney. "But… We knew each other for years. You taught me everything. You even found me that…"
"Deal on discount prune tarts?" Julius finished Phoney's sentence. "Yes. I did. And I was also the one that cut your campaign balloon loose, the one who found Glaian's army the funding it needed, and so much more. I needed you to go to the Valley. More specifically, I needed your cousin Fone to go to the Valley." Nibet grabbed Fone's gun and pointed it at Julius's head.
"Surrender, Julius Freeman." She said through gritted teeth as she approached the supposed mastermind. "This is over. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're outnumbered. And you don't have an army to back you up. If you come quietly, I won't have to break too many of your limbs."
"Wait Nibet." Fone stood up. "He said he wanted me to come here six years ago. That means he knew about the Valley six years ago. I don't think he is who he says he is. Something bigger is happening here." Fone turned to question Julius. "On that note why did you want me in the Valley six years ago?"
"Oh you poor, naïve child. You know nothing of your birth. Of the grand purpose for which you were destined." He interrupted his own though and pointed at Thorn. "Before you ask, young Harvester, I am not the source of nightmare energy you witnessed consuming the Dreaming. And neither is the Crystal Councilman. What we're about to bear witness to should explain what I mean."
"He's obviously crazy. He's just trying to get inside our heads." Phoney commented, more to himself than anyone else.
"I don't care what's going on, I'm taking him down." Nibet snapped. "Julius Freeman!" She began to shout as she approached him. "Put your hands behind your head now!" Julius chuckled. He was about to respond when someone else began to speak.
"Put the gun down, Nibet. It won't do you any good to ask something of a man who doesn't exist." Jigafta walked through the busted doors and stood just beyond the threshold. He locked eyes with Julius and instantly everyone in the room felt a very powerful, very unique sense of horror.
"Julius Freeman and Silas Cohen are just names." Jigafta continued to talk as he slowly moved forward to meet Julius. Every word he spoke carried what seemed like the weight of the world. "Like Jigafta Utenki is for me. They were names created to mask what he truly is. His real name is Deyavara Harvester, Prince of Atheia, and younger brother of Queen Ven."
"Ah Nagratek. It has been awhile since we used our real names. Doesn't it make you feel nostalgic?" Julius began talking. At the same time his face was enveloped in an inky black substance. It receded a second later, but his features had completely changed, and he had acquired a large scar over his left eye. They never broke eye contact, almost as if no one else in the room really mattered. "It's almost enough to make me forget what you did to my family. What you did to me."
"I'm not here to reminisce, Deyavara. I'm here to settle things, once and for all. I will not let you destroy everything we built. Everything your sister built."
"I do not care about Ven's little fool's errand!" Deyavara shouted, motioning at his surroundings. "I don't care about these humans you seem to have grown so fond of! I care about my duty to my father! And I will not be lectured to by a traitor to my people!"
"I haven't come here to reason with you, Deyavara. You proved a long time ago that you were well beyond comprehending reason. I've come here to kill you." The temperature of the room increased steadily.
"You can't kill me, Nagratek. You've tried and failed twice now. What makes you think that this time will be any different?"
"I failed before because I thought I could kill you without absorbing you. But now I don't have any other choice. This has to stop. And I'm going to stop it." Julius and Jigafta both readied themselves for a fight. Both of their bodies began emanating an eerie black light, and the inky substance that had changed Julius's face began to envelope both of them. Everyone else save for Glaian stood rapt at the sight of two seemingly otherworldly being about to do battle. Just before it started, however, the ground shook with the shock wave of an explosion. It was close. Glaian smiled.
"What was that?" Phoney asked as he pointed his gun back in Glaian's face. Glaian smirked.
"That, Phoncible, was the sound of the third card."
"What is it? Tell me or I will blow your brains out."
"You can't kill me. Not because you fear me, but because you have no fight left." Glaian stood up. There was another explosion, closer this time. Glaian and Phoney stood eye to eye. The muzzle of Phoney's gun was inches away from Glaian's forehead. "You've lost." Glaian taunted.
"Maybe." Phoney lowered his gun. Glaian smiled a triumphant smile. There was a third explosion. Phoney's grip tightened. He raised the gun again. Glaian's smile faltered. Phoney looked him in the eye. "But not to you." Glaian took a step back. There was a fourth explosion. Phoney pulled the trigger.
The bullet exited the gun. The ceiling collapsed. Everyone looked upward. Descending from the sky directly over Glaian and Phoney was a giant white mech wielding King Agak's corpse. It used the body of the large rat to knock the ceiling aside as it fell. After it entered the temple, it swiveled around and threw King Agak at the back of the temple. The body knocked down most of the temple wall, revealing a substantial force of Bones standing over a large number of rat creature corpses. As the mech continued to fall, it spun back around and extended its arm to the ground. It opened its hand on top of Glaian as it landed on its feet, shielding him with large rectangular metal fingers. They fell into place just before Phoney's bullet hit its mark. The bullet bounced harmlessly off of Glaian's new shield. Then the mech's pilot spoke over the mech's speaker system.
"I told you to be more careful Glaian." The pilot admonished him. Phoney and Fone instantly recognized the voice. "You seem to have forgotten the first rule of any fight. You've got to find yourself a shield."
The cockpit of the mech opened. Inside stood a tall, slender Bone. Spreading along the left side of his face grew a solid blue crystalline structure. In encompassed his left eye, most of his left forehead and the space in between, touched the left corner of his mouth, and ran down the backside of his neck to his shoulder where it spread like wildfire across the rest of the left side of his upper body. But that wasn't what Fone and Phoney noticed. They noticed the cigar burning idly in his mouth. They noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual vest and hat. They noticed that his joyous eyes had been reduced to cold, lifeless sockets. They noticed that the indelible smile they had once cherished had twisted into a sickly grimace that cursed the world. Inside that cockpit stood a ghost. Inside that cockpit stood the dead body of Smiley.
"No." Phoney whispered. "This is a trick. This had got to be a trick." He muttered to himself. He tried to deny what he saw right in front of him. "I didn't ask for you to save me!" He began to shout. "And now here you are, condemning me with your gaze! This isn't real! This can't be real!" Phoney collapsed on the ground and began to weep. Meanwhile, Fone approached the mech in disbelief.
"Smiley, it that you?" He asked the thing wearing his cousin. It stared at him but did not acknowledge his presence. It stared through him. "What're you doing here? I thought you were dead." Fone reached out to touch it. It didn't react. He hesitated, and pulled his hand back. Its unfeeling gaze terrified him. "What's wrong?" He asked. "What's going on?" Again it did not respond. Fone pleaded with it to say something, anything. Finally it spoke.
"How shall I deal with them, Lord Glaian?" It asked. Its voice was almost Smiley's, but the joy was gone from it. The life was gone from it.
"Kill them." Glaian responded gleefully. "Start with the closest one. Let him see you as you do it." Glaian pointed at Fone. Fone backed away, refusing to accept what he was hearing.
"Acknowledged." It said mechanically. It retreated back into the cockpit, but did not close the canopy. The mech shuddered to life again. It lifted its hand up out of the ground. Out of one of the fingers extended a large blade. Without pause, the thing that wasn't Smiley ran that blade through Fone's heart. Fone screamed.
His entire body felt like it was on fire. He writhed in pain. Smiley, gentle innocent Smiley, had attacked him, had killed him. His soul screamed in agony. He felt weightless. He lifted from the ground like an angel. And then his pain sharpened into hatred. His body stilled and his vision cleared. He could see in front of him as he floated on air the same scene as in his vision: A white mech, and behind it an army, and overhead a burning sun. And suddenly he was confused. It was night. There was no sun here. And yet it was illuminated all the same. And then he realized that he was not dead. This was real. And so was raging inferno spreading forth from his skin. He was the sun in his vision. He was the light. And he was going to burn everything away.