AN: two songs in this chapter; Time, from the Inception soundtrack, and the trailer music for that movie, called Mind Heist. Cues included. : )

(Time) Star put a hand on T'reth's shoulder, smiling. "You should be able to see everything from here," she told him. "Just stay with the healers."

He nodded, smiling back. "Good luck."

The goddess smirked as she turned away. "Don't need it. You know that."

She spread her wings, the wind carrying her away instantly. Middan stepped up next to him and patted him on the back.

"Don't look so glum, T'reth," he chided. "You're the one who brought us here. Never forget that."

The general looked over at his lead healer, at his friend, and smiled.

~0~

Ackala glanced over as Star landed next to him on the front lines. The catapults were in position. The troops were ready, shifting restlessly behind them. It was time. The goddess looked at the mortal, silver coating her eyes, form tall and pale, and nodded.

(:30) Ackala turned to the men and women he led. He raised his swords, roaring. They roared back. Star lifted her arms and spread her wings. They couldn't see it from where they stood, but the very forces of nature turned on the castle walls in that moment, grinding away at the mortar between the stones, at the stones themselves.

Ackala brought his arms down. The catapults fired. Finally, their enemy could see them, and the battle had begun.

The castle walls buckled with the first impacts. The Royalists were admirably prepared, firing back before the Rebels could even reload their catapults. Star took to the sky, deflecting the burning balls of pitch with almost lazy gestures. The second wave of boulders broke through the impressive walls. Ackala started the charge. By the time the third shots widened the breach enough to let the majority of them in, they were at the walls.

Flaming swords were at his side the moment he stepped through the rubble, and Ackala didn't even flinch to know the goddess was with him. She was no demon to him. Not anymore.

Royalist soldiers swarmed to the breach, trying to force them back. Arrows rained down, burning to ash over their heads. Flames, ice, and power in every form lanced out of mages and sorcerers from every direction. None of it could touch them. Not with Star on their side.

She whirled, bringing down a whirlwind of flame on a particularly troublesome sorcerer, and he was gone without so much as a scream. Ackala grinned.

"Nice shot!" he crowed, laying waste to the enemies on his level of the battlefield as Star laid waste to the enemies on hers. She grinned back fiercely as she rejoined him, covering his flank in his soul brother's absence.

Ackala couldn't help but prefer it this way. T'reth couldn't get hurt while he was with the healers, after all.

~0~

T'reth hefted a sack of herbs and medicines despite Middan's protests. He could at least be somewhat useful with moving the healer's station to keep up with their army while he couldn't help with the actual battle. As the others moved on, he fell behind a bit, struggling to keep up with his load, as moderate as it was. He cursed his own weakness silently, wishing he could do more, and stopped to take a break.

He heard it moments before it hit, but he didn't have time to react. The wall of wind knocked him to the ground, sending the sack rolling away, spilling its contents everywhere. T'reth scrambled up, drawing his swords. He had no energy to fight. But he wouldn't let his healers be attacked from the rear, not while he was here.

The world went eerily still the moment T'reth saw him. (2:02) He was huge, cloaked in shifting shadows, as if the darkness was alive around him. There was a grin on his face as he stood several meters away, and ebony swords in his hands. T'reth could almost smell the evil on him, and he knew. This was no ordinary sorcerer. This one was here for him, and him alone.

Several healers trained in combat rushed forward with their crossbows to help him. T'reth gestured them back. "Middan, get your people out of here. I'll handle this," he ordered. The healers hesitated, but backed away when Middan called them.

The dark creature chuckled. "You'll handle this, hmm? I'm eager to see you try."

T'reth edged to the side, taking the retreating medics out of the line of fire. "You're about to." He charged, pulling energy out of the sunlight as well as he could. It wasn't very much, but maybe it would be enough.

He thought a prayer to Star, hoping she was listening.

~0~

(2:33) The Rebel army was fighting bravely, hope pushing them on. The battle was far from won, only just beginning, but who could have imagined they would ever get this far?

Ackala's inner ear starting ringing so intensely it made him wince and lose his rhythm. He turned to Star. Star was already looking back the way they'd come. The fear on her face was something Ackala had never seen in her before. It sunk his heart right to the bottom of his stomach.

"GO!" he bellowed. She was already in the air.

~0~

The creature parried, his broadswords slicing through T'reth's sabers like they were paper. T'reth stumbled. He never even saw the blow coming. It sent him rolling across the cobbled streets, pain lacerating his body. It took whole seconds for his vision to clear, for him to force air back into his lungs. He struggled to his feet as the sorcerer advanced.

"You wouldn't have to die if you had just left her alone," he almost purred.

T'reth pushed as much light as he could at the thing. The sun flare was weak, though. He didn't have the energy for that, and he felt the drain in his very soul. Another heavy hit sent him bouncing across the road again. This time, he had barely rolled over before a kick found him. There was blood on the cobble. His blood. He already felt like a piece of pulverized meat, and somehow he knew.

He knew he wasn't going to survive this.

The dark creature bent over him, seeming to swell in size. A strong hand took T'reth by the throat, lifting him into the air. He tried to kick the sorcerer, but his foot passed right through the darkness. "It's nothing personal, Child of the Sun," the thing murmured. A black dagger materialized in the creature's other hand, the grin coming back to his face. "Alright, it's a little bit personal," he admitted.

~0~

Star could feel her counterpart before she could see him. Pain knifed into her heart an instant later.

"NO!" she screamed, hurling everything she had at the dark shadow in the bloody streets. It was too late. Naman had stepped out of reality before her power could reach him.

(3:33) T'reth collapsed to the ground in his wake, blood pooling beneath him in the second it took for Star to kneel next to him. As damaged as he was, he shouldn't have been beyond her power. And yet, when she pulled him into her lap and tried to stem the flow of blood, tried to knit the flesh back together, black poison welled out of the wounds, and she knew. She could not save him from this. She was already too late.

"No, this wasn't how you were meant to die, you weren't supposed to die like this, T'reth," Star whispered, her life force tearing like it hadn't torn in time scales only the Universes could measure.

The mortal opened his eyes, and he was calm, almost at peace. He found her gaze and tried to smile. "This isn't your fault," he said, the words barely intelligible.

She shook her head, tears stinging her eyes unexpectedly as she fought the poison in his system, slowing the decay. "You aren't supposed to die here, I was supposed to protect you, T'reth, I… I can't lose you yet, they need you, I need you."

He twitched his head, still trying to smile. "No. Gree can do this, with your help. You don't need me. You just need to remember," he paused to take a labored breath, "that you don't have to be alone. That you deserve to be known, and loved, as much as you know and love everybody else."

Star closed her eyes, tears running down her face as she held the dying mortal closer.

"Remember that, Star. Promise you'll remember that. Remember me," he breathed.

"Always," she vowed, binding it into everything she was.

T'reth sighed, golden light spilling off his body for an instant, and then he was gone.

~0~

Ackala was on the ground, shivering, clutching his head and screaming in pain and loss when Star landed next to him. (Mind Heist) He staggered up as their warriors rushed around them obliviously, some form of insanity gleaming in his eyes.

"YOU SWORE YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM!" he roared, pushing at the goddess. Star didn't budge. "YOU SWORE HE WOULD BE SAFE!" he yelled, trying to push her again. He ended up leaning against her, sobbing. "You promised," he cried.

"I failed," Star said, her voice flat. "Call the retreat. Get everyone out of the city, back to the camp," she ordered.

Ackala pushed away from her. "NO! Tell me who did this!" he demanded. His inner ear started ringing again.

A wall (:19) exploded behind him, sending debris flying. Star lifted her hand. Most of the rocks stayed suspended in the air for a long second, letting people get out of the way, before dropping. A dark man was standing in the hole, black swords in his grip. The violence and evil practically radiated from his form, sending most people scrambling away.

"Him," Star said simply.

Ackala roared, rage filling his soul enough to overpower the obvious danger. This creature had killed his brother, and he would pay—dearly—for it. Star yanked him back before he could make it more than a step, her grip like iron.

"This is not your battle, this is mine!" she snarled. "You cannot fight him, mortal!"

Ackala wasn't listening, struggling to break free, spitting profanities and curses.

The dark man grinned at them and swelled into a great shadow, filling half the courtyard. Ackala gaped, taking a few steps back. Royalist and Rebel alike scattered before him like mice.

"Lead the retreat, Ackala," Star ordered again, turning toward the shadow. There was a rage in her that Ackala had never seen before, a hatred he couldn't fathom hiding behind her eyes. "I will finish this."

The darkness rose up and slammed against the ground. Ten men fell dead. The shockwave threw most others to the ground. Ackala turned without another hesitation, and called for his warriors to follow him. He knew she would at least keep this promise.

Star began to glow, but it was lost beneath the rising darkness. Then she was shining, expanding just as he had. She stepped forward, and (1:06) exploded directly beneath him. Light brighter than the sun punched holes in the shadow. Naman fell back, mustered his energy, and countered. He pushed her light away. Surrounded her. Tried to smother her, and her light dimmed. She fell back beneath his shadow, and he reveled in his victory.

A line of white fire unexpectedly flared around him with untamable fury, unstoppable power. He scrambled to break the circle and escape, suddenly desperate. She had not been faltering, she had been redirecting. He retreated out of a narrow gap he had made. Star was on him again, forming a new ring of light. He fought back with the violence of a trapped animal. He lashed out again and again, fighting to regain the upper hand. She struck back, precise, controlled, unconquerable. With every burst of light, Star gained a slight advantage. With every moment he was held stationary by her power, Naman became weaker.

He didn't have the stamina, the raw power to stand up to her. Their first battle had not been a fluke. Fear rose up in Naman. It was the second time in his life that he had known its bitter taste.

Their battle crashed through the fortress walls, crushing them like they were paper. Mortals scrambled for safety beneath the warring titans, forgotten in the epic struggle. The once grand castle had been reduced to rubble by the time the battle was over. None left within survived.

A final ring of light took the last of his energy. Naman shrank before his counterpart. He cried for her to understand. She didn't answer.

Star rose up before him, the white flames leaping higher, closing in on him. She paused a moment longer than necessary, letting him wallow in the only Hell he would ever know. If she could have left him like that for eternity, she would have. But instead, she drew her power together and (2:02) slammed all her might onto the pitiful shadow before her, scattering his essence like shards of glass.

Ackala watched it all from his brother's side, and finally let the healers set him on a stretcher and carry him away as the pillar of light dissipated into the light of the sun.

It was over.