Sorry this has taken so long but here it is. Please review and let me know what you think of this conclusion.
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Chaos reigned. The Gods moved too quickly to be visible as anything but colored light while a hail of arrows fell with pinpoint accuracy from the bluffs on either side of the battle ground.
Hephaestus' automatons had been pulled back within minutes of the first assault. They were overwhelmed too quickly by the monsters and over half their number had been torn to pieces.
The demigods were pushed even farther back than the automatons, those who were unskilled with bows had been given the safest job of guarding the edge of the battle.
The only demigods in the midst of it were Percy, Clarisse, and Nico. Percy was almost as effective as any of the gods, cutting down any creature near him but Kaie could tell he was beginning to tire. His sword strokes were slowing and he had begun to fall back away from the center of the battle where Kaie and the Gods were still pushing towards the death gate.
Clarisse stood alone, her body cloaked in a thin layer of crimson flames that matched the ruby engagement ring on her left hand. Ares had renewed his blessing before the battle and the demigod now vaporized creatures with her gaze as she swung a vicious double edged axe. Her eyes, glowing with an inferno at the beginning were not dim, holding only embers. A wide swath of bodies lay around her but the creatures had learned from their previous attempts after they were reborn and had begun to attack from beyond the range of her axe and gaze.
Nico was fighting near Percy, surrounded by a hoard of skeletal warriors. A thin sheen of sweat coated his pale skin and his movements had become jerky. Like the other two demigods, his energy was fading.
Returning her attention to the chaos around her, Kaie slid under the sword of a dracanae and stabbed upward with one blade, sliding it between the ribs. The monster dissolved to dust which blew back towards the deathgate where it reformed in the blink of an eye.
A terrified part of Kaie saw the monsters lined up dozens deep between her and the deathgate as funny. It reminded her of the masses of people waiting in line for a carnival ride. Only here, they were waiting to kill her.
She knew they were loosing. There was no way around it but one. The easiest and the hardest. "Pull the demigods away, onto the bluffs." Kaie charmed the wind around her to carry the words to the gods around her as she cut the legs from under a manticore, jumping out of the way of it's tail as it staggered and fell.
Blooms of light flashed across the battle ground and Kaie knew without looking that the demigods had all been moved following her order.
In a single move, Kaie reversed one of her knives and sunk the blade into her arm where the metal band lay under the skin. Forcing down the scream of pain that clawed at her throat when mist metal met mist metal Kaie watched as a tiny drop of silver welled from the wound, hovered against the edge of the blade and rolled down her arm to drop to the soil below.
Nico felt hands grab him for a moment as the pull of godly teleportation tugged at him. In the same moment he found himself standing on one of the bluffs. Percy wavered next to him before his knees buckled. Travis and Conner caught him before his head could hit the ground.
Below him Nico saw Kaie standing alone as a wall of creatures rushed towards her, unburdened by attacks of the gods. Panic welled up he started to shadow travel despite his exhaustion only to be stopped when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Don't. The Gray Lady knows what she is doing." Athena's voice was hard as she moved to stand next to him. Demigods crowded around her, watching.
Just as the monsters reached Kaie, Nico saw her reverse one of her knives and sink it into her arm. A white glow spread from the knife and an arc of gleaming silver spread outward in front of Kaie.
The arc hovered in the air for a heartbeat, reflecting sunlight in the shimmering heat, before it flew forward faster than any mortal or demigod eye could follow. At it's touch, every monster blasted to dust and in less than a minute Kaie stood alone in the field. She began to fall but stopped herself half way and stood wavering.
Once again Nico began to shadow travel down to help Kaie regardless of whether he had enough strength to safely do it only for Athena's hand to stop him.
"She isn't done." The goddess told him, resignation passing over her features as she spoke.
Pulling herself upright, Kaie walked forward, the dust of the dead floated around her feet as she moved. Tiny tornadoes sprung up as it struggled to reform. With a thought Kaie blocked the power of the deathgate and the dust stilled.
Letting every block on her power fall, every ounce of restraint dissipate, every piece of humanity she still clung to free, Kaie disappeared and the Gray Lady returned to the mortal planes whole for the first time in millenia.
She knew what was necessary. Only the blood of an immortal could open a deathgate and only the same could close one. Letting one knife fall to the ground, she came to a halt in front of the pulsing mouth of the gate. Tendrils of smoke floated from it, stroking her bare arms as time seemed to slow.
She turned to look up at the cliffs. The young Ghost King stood next to the Goddess of Wisdom, only beginning to grasp her actions.
The Gray Lady felt her lips move of their own accord and a name unrecognized since her first time to walk through the mortal world was caught by the wind to be taken to him when it was all over.
Her second blade found its way to her throat, the cool metal pressed into skin slicing easily, letting the silver of her blood free from it's earthly shell. Voices echoed as darkness reached from the gate, pulling at her power before claiming it. Everything she ever was or would ever be.
Nico heard the cry before he realized it was his own. The shadow travel took no conscious thought. He simply appeared next to the deathgate as the blade slid through Kaie's throat. His hand reached out for her wrist as she fell forward, closing on nothing but empty air as darkness engulfed her body.
The world froze for a moment as Nico watched jagged lines of light slice through the darkness of the gate before they broke through the edge and into the open air. Warmth radiated from them as Nico was knocked from his feet and sent flying backwards.
Nico landed with a bone jarring thud and staggered up right, eyes finding the site where the deathgate had stood only moments before.
In it's place a circle of women stood bathed in a silver light that emanated outward from the center of their circle. They varied in height, size, hair color, and in every other way possible. Their only common characteristic was the steel gray eyes that were lifted upwards, watching something in the clear air above.
"O thánatos tou Theoú. Bás An Dé. Kami no shi. Mungu wa kifo. Death." The whisper eminated from each set of lips. Their gazes lowered to look upon the center of their circle. "Life." The glow spread outward and everything disappeared in a haze as a single word fell upon Nico's ears.
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So? What do you think? Please review and let me know.
There is one chapter left to wrap up everything and I hope to post it in the next couple of days. The more reviews I get, the quicker it gets posted if that is any incentive.