Note: While it is not neccessary to understand this story, you can read about Zerinne and Zorinne here on my profile in the story Origins.

~ I ~

"Keep the formation! Shields up!" the commander shouted and raised her own shield. The two front lines followed a split second later and blocked the incoming mass of bodies surging from the Silentera gate. "Fire!" The spells and arrows rained down the attacking swarm. But despite that, two lines of soldiers were not enough to hold that kind of pressure for long. Soon the enemies tore a hole in the defense and pushed forward. That was where Zorinne and her unit waited, she swung her glaive and cut off the arm of the first attacker. Black, viscous liquid surged from the wound, which almost made her step back. She cursed under her breath and attacked again. That glistening oil was the most dangerous thing these no-longer-Balaur possessed, but that was only true in the long term. First she had to actually survive all the claws and blades and whatever else that oil transformed those Balaur into. She parried another attack, kicked away the creature made of white, porcelain-like metal and dark, blue and red flesh and stabbed it into its neck. Another two took its place, their blades whirling dangerously close. She barely evaded them, they even got close enough to slice off a strand of her white hair. With a series of attacks she chopped the head off of one and the other became a lesser threat. She was one with her weapon.

"Close the gate!" her sister commanded from the front. A group of aethertechs pushed through the narrow battlefield. Now it was up to Zorinne and only a few others to keep the not-Balaur from getting through completely. She swung her glaive in a wide arc to make space, slashed through another twisted limb and continued fighting. One eternity later the gate slammed shut with a thunderous boom. As no more enemies were coming, the Asmodian army dealt with the remaining troops quickly.

"Seal the gate!"

The sorcerers and spiritmasters, already worn from the battle, weaved the aether around the giant door. This path was safe. For now. Without any rest the spiritmasters summoned water spirits and started cleaning everyone, who had even a drop of the glistening oil on them. And the melee fighters had a lot. In the meantime, the clerics directed their purifying aether towards those already contaminated, leaving healing of all but the most serious injuries to chanters.

"Zeri, get healed," Zorinne walked up to her sister, who was giving orders from the moment the oil was washed from her dark blue armor. The Fenris Fangs insignia shined in the Gelkmaros sun.

"Yes, I will, but first we have to take care of the most injured and secure the location," Zerinne waved her hand in a dismissive gesture and pushed loose strands of her dark purple hair away from her face. "You're alright?"

"Yes. Minor bruises, but all cleansed."

"And your hand?"

Zorinne took off the glove from her left hand and examined the ornate ribbon wrapped around her palm, firmly attached to her skin. It was still unnerving to look at it, but there was no damage. She quickly put the glove back on. "It's fine."

"Alright, join the scouting squad going to Vorgaltem pass. We have to tear it down before they regroup and figure out..."

"No, not before you get your wounds at least cleansed."

"No? I'm your commander, Zorinne, that means I give you an order and you listen."

"You're my sister first and I don't want you to turn against me, when that oil eats your mind."

"I told you, I'll get..."

"Hey, you!" Zorinne called a songweaver in a Fatebound legion uniform. "You can cleanse the oil, right? Cleanse the commander's wounds."

"Uh, yes?" the soldier gave Zeri a questioning look.

"Fine," Zeri glared at her sister. "Coralith, please cleanse my wounds in case there's an infection. But don't waste aether with healing, these scratches are not serious."

"Yes, ma'am."

When Coralith was done, she quietly left to find someone else who needed help.

"Again, Zori, stop being rude to my soldiers and start following my orders. If you keep this up, you can leave and fight by yourself. Is it clear?"

"Yes, Zeri. It's clear," the scolding brought her back to when she was a little girl in the raider camp, looking up to her older sister, who almost never got angry, just disappointed. Which was worse. And she probably deserved it. "I just don't want you to turn into a Phyrexia's pawn."

"I'm not an idiot, Zori, I understand the danger. I didn't go to different worlds like you, but I do understand. I trusted you, when you came with the news of this army. So please trust me, when I say I know what I'm doing."

"Alright. Vorgaltem pass, you said?"

"Yes, the scouting squad is leaving in a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

~ II ~

The tunnel in Vorgaltem pass was clear and without any trace of glistening oil. Zorinne scouted to the first intersection to see if the Phyrexians were anywhere nearby, but it was quiet. The team set up the explosives, collapsed the tunnel and returned to the defense base in Marayas city, only a few hours after Zeri and the rest of her league. The soldiers were exhausted from the fight and overwhelmed by the deaths of their fallen friends. The songweaver from before directed Zorinne to the officer meeting, where Zeri and Mastarius, the commander of this base and Agent of Lord Marchutan, and a few others were waiting for her.

"You're finally here, good," Mastarius said. "Anything to report from the pass?"

"There were no traces of the Phyrexians, so we collapsed the tunnel as planned. But there are..."

"There are other passes to Silentra, yes," Mastarius nodded. "I've sent soldiers to guard them. I also sent a highest priority request for reinforcements. Unless these creatures attacked us elsewhere, the Shedim lords should come themselves. In the meantime we have to form a viable strategy against this enemy."

"We have to find where they're coming from," Zeri pointed at the map. "Silentera is huge and... Zori, how did you say they got here?"

"Realmbreaker, that's a giant tree that tears holes in the space and they climb on its branches. No idea how that works, but that's the basic stuff. Those holes can be anywhere, in the sky, under the sea, underground..."

"If we find this Realmbreaker, how do we remove it from Atreia?" Mastarius asked.

"Explosives? Lots of them? No idea," Zorinne shrugged. "But we surely have some smart people here, no? Lady Lumiel was able to seal this," she took off her glove and raised her left hand. The ribbon slightly glowed green in the dim light making her own eyes even greener. "So a hole in space should be no problem for her? Damn... I guess I could try..."

"No!" Zeri stopped her, suddenly frightened. "That will kill you."

"It might, I know, but... Or we can ask the Elyos, if they have an idea."

"Elyos? Are you insane?"

"No, we really need allies here. Any allies we can get. And we should send someone to them, at least to let them know we have nothing to do with this."

"Why can't we just let these Phyrexians and Elyos weaken each other and then crush what's left?" one of the officers asked.

"Because they won't weaken each other," Zorinne took a deep breath and turned towards Mastarius. "It's the same reason as why you turned off obelisks in the entire Gelkmaros. Phyrexia doesn't kill if it doesn't have to, they transform their victims and add them into their hive. If the Elyos fall, Phyrexia's army will only grow because of it."

"We'll send a messenger to them," Mastarius nodded after a brief silence. "I'll be the messenger to make it clear we're serious. You two will come with me," he pointed at the sisters. "And only a few more, we need to move fast."

"Yes, sir," Zeri replied. "I have a few names in mind."

~ III ~

The group of five entered Silentera canyon through the Mitrakand pass, Zorinne and a ranger named Garon at the front, and while she wasn't the best in tracking and finding new possible paths, which was what Garon was for, she had the most experience with the Phyrexians and could recognize their presence. Mastarius and the songweaver Coralith walked behind them, followed by Zeri. Here in the north there were no tracks of the Phyrexians, but as they got closer to the sealed gate, traces of the glistening oil appeared on the ground and the walls.

"They're heading south," Garon returned from a brief scouting round. "We might slip around if we stick to the north, for now."

"We have to find where they come from," Zorinne suggested. Yes, getting allies was the most important thing now, but if they had a place to point to, the negotiations would be easier.

"No, we have to get to Inggison," Mastarius shook his head. "Find the path that lets us avoid most of them."

"Yes, sir," the ranger saluted. "This way, then, follow me."

They raced through the tunnels and caves, avoiding any traces of the oil they could find and vigilantly stepped between puddles, when avoidance was impossible. Without any incident they reached just one turn before the Jotun square. The enormous space wasn't exactly crowded, but six of the huge constructs, which now bore parts made of white porcelain, were looming around and that was enough to notice them if they tried to get through.

"I thought the Jotun could defend themselves," Zeri said, disheartened.

"They did," Zorinne pointed at a column broken in half and several gashes and oil stains on other columns and walls. "For a while. And then they got overwhelmed. And Phyrexia took them."

"We could defeat them," Mastarius suggested. "It won't be easy, but with Lord Marchutan's blessing..."

"If we do that, the rest of them will know," Zorinne interrupted him. "They all have one mind. It's your call, boss, but if there are others nearby, they'll be at our asses before we finish the fight."

"Garon, is there a way around this area?"

"There's always a way around, sir, it's how far around you wanna go. This one takes us almost to Beshmundir."

"You mean the ancient temple turned into Balaur prison?" Coralith shivered.

"That's too far," Mastarius shook his head. "We're going this way. I'll go first and fight them, when I transform and get their attention, you will go to the other side. Don't interfere in the fight, unless something goes wrong and Lord Marchutan's blessing isn't enough. Zerinne, you're in charge."

"Yes, sir," Zeri nodded.

Mastarius readied his warhammer, imbued himself with aether and walked to the giant plaza. The Jotun stopped and turned at him immediately, perfectly synchronized, all as one. The daeva muttered a prayer to Aion. Aether swirled around him into his body, which glowed and grew and within a few seconds he was taller and more massive than the Jotun, his head almost touched the high ceiling, his skin and clothes looked like stone. He ran and smashed the chest of the closest enemy with his hammer. Ribs would shatter if the Jotun had any, but they were made of stone and metal, much easier for the Phyrexians to take over than creatures of flesh. At that moment the others swarmed him. As a precise unit, each of their strikes was followed by another, from an unexpected angle. Mastarius kept the monsters at bay with an aetheric shield and summoned wind that slashed everything around.

"Go," Zeri commanded and the group stalked around the walls of the plaza, careful to not make any unnecessary sound. Zorinne's hand clutching her glaive twitched with every attack the Jotun-Phyrexians made and she couldn't take her eyes off them. When they almost reached the exit from the plaza, Mastarius crushed the skull of another enemy. Only three remained and he was getting tired. Even Zorinne could see he was using too much aether too quickly and his blessing wouldn't last long.

While one creature attacked him directly, the other two opened their arms?! Ropes slick with oil shot towards the daeva and wrapped around his leg and torso. The decoy Jotun shattered under his hammer, but such a weapon wasn't the best choice against chains. Thorns of aether shot from his skin, which tore two chains, but the rest of them held.

Zorinne shouted and ran at the closest enemy. She didn't care what her sister or the other two shouted behind her, she couldn't let Phyrexia have Mastarius. That risk was too big, better her than one of the strongest Asmodian generals. As she jumped, the creature, which was no longer a Jotun, turned at her, but its arms were bound to its former prey. She sliced one chain, which slid off of Mastarius and allowed him better movement, but it also freed the hand of the Phyrexian. It swatted her with its forearm and she crashed into the middle of the wall. The creature shot spikes of white porcelain from its opened arm at her. She wanted to roll away, but she was sluggish, she needed only a second more than she had. As she braced for the impact, Zeri crouched in front of her and the shards clattered harmlessly on her shield.

"What are you doing?" her sister was angry. No, that wasn't anger, she was afraid.

"Sorry, he needs help."

"Yes. There's four of us, we can coordinate."

Zorinne already felt the cleansing and healing aether from Coralith.

"Sorry. What's the plan?"

"We have to kill one of them or keep distracting it, until Mastarius deals with the other. So yes, you rush in, but in tandem with me. Garon will cover us from a distance and Coralith will take it down."

"You can do that?" Zorinne wondered.

"Well, yes, I know a spell like that, but it takes a bit too long to charge. Please, keep it distracted."

"Yep, we'll give you that time," Zorinne got up, picked up her glaive and nodded at her sister.

They ran at the Jotun, which already turned its attention back to Mastarius and its arms and hands formed fists again. Zorinne swung her glaive, slashing its arm, but it was too thick to chop it off with one blow. It focused on her again, trying to punch her, but Zeri's aetheric rope caught its hand, creating an opening for Garon, who shot several arrows at it from who knows where. Zorinne evaded the other arm and slashed the creature's torso. The oil gushed from the wounds and the floor was getting slippery. There was a weird discordant sound at the edge of her perception. She ignored it, if other Phyrexians were coming, they had to get rid of these first. Zeri drew its attention to herself, leaving Zorinne to stab the creature's back, but due to the porcelain plating, her glaive didn't get too deep. The discordant sound grew louder. And louder.

"Get down!" Coralith shouted. Somehow Zorinne could hear her even though all that noise. She ducked and a burst of fire hit the Jotun. Was it shaped like a horse?

As the smoke and dust settled, the fight was over. Mastarius was back in his normal form, breathing heavily, leaning on the closest ruined column for support. Coralith was on her knees, choking on dust, but otherwise looking neat, as if she weren't in any combat, barely sweating and her light brown hair was in as perfect shape as before. Unlike Zeri and her, who were a mess. As well as Garon, but he looked like a mess all the time.

"We should go quickly," Zorinne urged. "Sir, can you walk? Are you... still you?"

"In a moment," Mastarius rasped. "I'm afraid I'm out of aether." He pulled a pink jelly from his cube and ate it. Coralith cast a cleansing melody on him to speed the recovery and within two minutes they were on the way again. Garon scouted ahead and the others followed, not as quickly as before, but rather more carefully.

~ IV ~

The group stopped at another intersection and waited for Garon to bring them information of what was awaiting them ahead.

"I found an Elyos group, sir," the ranger returned. "They're..."

A white blade burst from his torso.

"We're here," a figure stepped out of the shadows behind him, sliced off his head and let the body slide off the blade. The vaguely humanoid shape, remnants of tanned skin and the torn Wisplight insignia indicated it used to be an Elyos woman. Now the creature had white porcelain plating and sharp swords instead of its arms. With a smirk it disappeared into the shadows.

Zorinne leapt forward, swinging her glaive in a wide arc to cover the entire width of the tunnel, but sliced only through the air. Zeri, Mastarius and Coralith took a defensive stance, the songweaver played a cheerful melody, the sound rippled through the air around them.

Two more Phyrexians, who used to be Elyos, marched into the intersection. The one clad in metal and porcelain armor immediately attacked with its spear, Zorinne barely parried the blow, its strength enhanced by phyresis. The other one opened its mouth and let out a discordant screech. Zorinne's muscles tensed against her will and pain exploded in her head. Instinct told her to run away. But there was nowhere to run, Phyrexia was spreading everywhere! No, she wouldn't abandon her sister or her world. With a series of mad swings of her glaive she kept the gladiator-thing at bay, but it was slowly pushing her back towards her group.

Suddenly the screeching stopped. She regained her footing and lunged. The Phyrexian raised its spear, but a fire spirit hit it from behind and she stabbed it between the plates. As it tossed around, the spirit kept pounding at it and Zorinne pulled back her glaive and chopped off its head.

Behind her, Mastarius smashed the head of the used-to-be assassin and the screamer was sprawled on the ground with slashes all over its body. An Elyos man with a blood stain on his arm and chest leaned against the tunnel wall, with a gesture he called back the fire spirit.

"Help us," he breathed heavily. "Please."

"How are you not like them?" Zorinne pointed at the dead Phyrexians.

"I... got rid of it. But I was too late for my friends."

Mastarius finished healing and cleansing Zeri and directed the cleansing spell to the man and healing his most severe wounds. Coralith in the meantime cleansed Zorinne.

"Thank you, I'm Perry," the man got up. He was dressed in a fine coat adorned with a Wisplight insignia. "We were on the way to Gelkmaros to ask for help against these invaders. But I guess they beat us to it."

"We're going to Inggison to do the same," Mastarius said.

"Yeah, well, Inggison isn't the best place now, only the Illusion fortress is still holding up. Lord Kaisinel and Lord Nezekan are leading the defense, but these creatures completely surprised us. One day they just crawled from Taloc and overran the entire Inggison."

"Of course, Taloc," Zorinne facepalmed. "That makes sense."

"Why? You know them?"

"Yeah, I fought them elsewhere. They're from a world called Phyrexia and they found a way to invade other worlds. They're using a twisted magical tree they call Realmbreaker and they climb its branches to get here. Taloc is something like its cousin, so it makes sense they connected there."

"Other worlds?" Perry's silver eyes widened in surprise. "Well, it did look bizarre enough. Are you also..." he gestured at her armor, a dark green breastplate made of stormheart, a metal not found on Atreia, and with an emblem of a sword and a fiery eye.

"Nope, I'm an Asmodian. But some time ago I... kind of accidentally got to, well, somewhere else. Not relevant now. We must go to Taloc and close that connection."

"No," Mastarius shook his head. "We must continue to the Illusion fortress to secure the alliance. We must also report back to Lord Marchutan about the location of their entry."

"Are you suggesting we should split up?" Zeri frowned.

"Yes, we don't have time to do anything else. I have a return scroll here..."

"Are you fucking insane?" Zorinne shouted. "That's dangerous, what if you were also turned into them?"

"I am aware," Mastarius stayed calm. "But I'm not the only one with a scroll, the fortress has precautions for that possibility. Coralith, you will deliver the message to Gelkmaros fortress. Tell them everything that happened here and about Taloc. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the songweaver hesitantly took the scroll. "At least take this, I'll get new supplies in the fortress," she gave everyone a piece of pink aether jelly.

"Wait!" Perry stopped her. "We can't go back to Inggison, have you not listened? It's overrun by these creatures. We'll die there!"

"We have to know what's the situation there. If we can't find a way to the fortress, we'll return."

"Well, it's gonna be a waste of time, but whatever," the spiritmaster resigned. "I would probably have been already dead if not for you."

"Let's move," Zorinne said. "I'll fill you in on the way."

~ V ~

When the group emerged from the canyon in the Hanarkand area, Zorinne had to shield her eyes from the sudden light. It wasn't just the difference between the dark and closed tunnels of Silentera canyon and the open plain of Hanarkand. Just above the Taloc forest, a giant circle blazed with red light and through it a branch of Realmbreaker descended into the treetop. And aether flashed in all colours above the Inggison Illusion fortress. The sky wants to say something. A memory of her friend from a distant world flashed in her mind. Words in the wind, whistling, wandering, wasted. She reached into her glove to make sure the binding ribbon was still in its place.

"Wasn't Inggison supposed to be overrun?" Zeri's distrustful question brought her back to the present. The open area in front of them was completely empty.

"Yeah, it was," Perry looked around. In the daylight of Inggison his shoulder-length hair was something between green and blond. "Guess they moved to Gelkmaros or are concentrating around the fortress. It looks like it's still holding."

"Great, so which way?" Zorinne asked.

"We have to go north to avoid those cliffs. There's a gate and if we're lucky, it's not occupied."

They hurried across Hanarkand and tried to stay as away from open areas as possible, but in the flat land in front of them it was way more difficult than they would like. In less than an hour they reached the road leading from the plains to the Hanarkand gate. From the distance it seemed unmanned, and even when they approached, the structure was eerily abandoned, as well as the path ahead.

"That's suspicious," Zorinne said.

"I wouldn't have noticed," Perry grunted. "Let's hurry."

"No, I mean, I'm sure we're just walking into an ambush."

"There's an army of monsters around the fortress. I don't think they need an ambush. They don't even know we're here."

"They do. The hive mind, remember?" Zorinne pointed out. "All will be one and shit."

"That's... How the fuck are we supposed to stop them, then?"

"We need to get into the fortress," Zeri said. "The four of us can't defeat an army, but if we can let the Seraphim lords know that we, the Asmodians, want to cooperate, they can create a strategy. So do you know any quick path to the fortress?"

"We can... we can take a shortcut over that slope there. Not sure if it's faster, but we'll avoid the road and can take a better look from the hills."

They left the path and climbed the rocky slope, which was steep enough to give them trouble. Zorinne and her sister had enough physical training, but they had to help Mastarius through the trickier parts. Perry dismissed his fire spirit and summoned a wind one to keep him afloat, when he occasionally slipped. In the end he gave up and accepted Zorinne's help. The following hike through the mountainous terrain was only slightly easier and after almost two hours they reached an empty Elyos garrison in Phanoe valley. The bloodstains, burned tents, broken weapons and shards of porcelain were all they needed to know. No usable supplies were left for them and Zeri pointed out there was much more damage caused by fire than weapons.

As they were leaving the camp, a blonde Elyos woman in a white-and-purple dress accompanied by a neokin walked out of the overgrown terrain.

"Hello, Mastarius, long time no see."

"Veille? What are you doing here?"

"This is Inggison, my dear, I belong here," she smiled as she studied the group. "I'm guarding it against our enemies."

The neokin beside her was completely motionless and something was off about it. The feline wasn't supposed to be tame, but who knows what Veille's powers were? The crystals on its back were all in the right places, but they weren't glowing. As if...

"Madam, is the fortress still holding?" Perry asked and made a step towards her. "We need..."

"Stop!" Zorinne grabbed him and stepped in front of him with her glaive ready. "She's one of them."

Zeri raised her shield and drew her sword.

"No, that's... madam, they didn't get you, right?"

"Oh, dear," Veille raised her arms and as her sleeves slid from her forearms, they could see white protrusions on her otherwise flawless skin. "You'll understand everything soon."

And she threw a fireball at them, casting it faster than should be possible. Mastarius raised an aether curtain just in time to block the spell.

"Go, I'll deal with her," he stepped in front of them, ate an aether jelly and muttered a quick prayer to Aion. His skin began gaining the stone texture and his body grew. Veille, even though she clearly didn't pray to Aion anymore, did the same, except her skin and dress turned into white, glossy armor.

"Let's go," Zeri nudged them to continue. They were already moving away from Mastarius's transformation, but Perry kept staring at Veille. Or whatever was left of her.

"But... he can't beat her alone..."

"He definitely can and we'd only be in his way," Zeri pushed the spiritmaster in front of her.

The neokin turned and sprinted towards them, its maw open and full of white sharp teeth. Zeri slammed her shield to it and pushed it aside. Perry screamed in frustration and sent a tornado at it. The creature screeched and thrashed around, but the wind held it firmly, tearing away pieces of its hide. A few moments later the remnants fell to the ground.

"Alright, which way to Taloc?" Zorinne asked as they ran away.

"We're going to the fortress," Zeri objected.

"No, she was clearly waiting for us. We'll never get there. The best thing we can do is to go to Taloc and close the portal."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Perry said in disbelief.

"Well, I..." Zorinne looked at her left hand.

"No, absolutely not!"

"Come on, Zeri, you know it's our only chance right now. Perry, I have to get to that portal over there and I'll try to close it. I already closed one hole in the sky, so I can..."

"No, Zori, even if you get there, that... thing will kill you. I won't allow that!"

"If we do anything else right now it will probably kill us too!"

"Shut up, you two!" Perry shouted. "You can close it? You can stop them from coming?"

"Well, maybe? I hope so."

"Fine," he took a deep breath. "Fine. Taloc's this way."

~ VI ~

As they crouched behind a rock among the surrounding trees and bushes and watched the Phyrexian, formerly Elyos, guards standing completely motionlessly in front of the windgate to the Taloc forest, Zorinne has checked the sealing ribbon on her left hand at least ten times in the last minute. It was still the same as each time before. Despite the confidence she showed the others, the thought of removing the seal terrified her. And once she does remove it, there is no coming back.

The guards didn't seem to notice them, but with the Phyrexians, they could never know if another group was already sneaking behind their backs. They had to assume they were watched. Always. And this was the only way in, at least according to Perry.

"The moment we show up, all of them will know we're here," Zorinne said. "So killing them before they raise an alarm is not an option."

"We distract them and rush through," Zeri suggested. Since their argument she was mostly quiet. "Those inside still need time to react, so we get there as fast as possible."

"I don't really like having these two behind our backs," Perry objected.

"Yeah, but they're only two. Not a big difference," Zorinne turned to him. "Can you summon a compassion spirit?"

"What the fuck is that?"

"It could help us, they're quite stealthy and good with knives," she shrugged. Yeah, bad idea. "Could your fire spirit set the whole tree on fire?"

"I'm not doing that. Forget it. We need the tree to get to the portal."

"But if we fail..."

"No. I'm not setting Taloc on fire. We can't win if we destroy everything."

"I'll take the one on the left," Zeri interrupted them. "Perry, you take the other one and Zori, you go straight to the windgate. We'll follow as soon as you're in."

With those words she leapt over the boulder and ran at the Phyrexians. Perry sighed, sent his wind spirit at the Phyrexian on the right and followed while keeping his distance. Zorinne waited for the Phyrexians to be fully occupied and ran for the windgate. But as she passed by, she noticed the one on the left pushed her sister away from the gate, too far to reach it safely. Without hesitation she stabbed her glaive into the creature's back, distracting it enough for Zeri to bury her sword into its skull.

"Go," Zeri snapped at her and grabbed the other Phyrexian with her aetheric rope.

Zorinne didn't argue and jumped to the gate, spreading her wings at the exact moment to be grabbed by the windstream. When she emerged in the Taloc forest, where the aether was finally rich enough to truly fly, she flapped her wings and headed up. She avoided a few shots from the sentinels in the former research campsite and hid from them in the canopy of the giant tree. Several way too long seconds later, Zeri flew out of the windstream, immediately followed by Perry and his wind spirit.

"Can you stick to the plan at least once?" Zeri chastised her the moment they found each other in the branches. "Or do you want to get killed before that thing in your hand tears you apart?"

"But you had trouble..."

"I was luring him away!"

"Girls, stop, really," Perry jumped between them and the branch shook a little. "No time. What's the plan now?"

"It's more like a part of a plan," Zorinne took off her glove. "I'll get as close to that portal as possible, remove the seal and, well, we'll see. You'll have to defend me once I start, 'cause I won't be able to do anything."

"Let's go," Perry nodded.

"Zori, I... I don't want you to die," Zeri hugged her and squeezed tight. "Please promise me you won't die."

"I can't, Zeri, I... I don't know what will happen when... I'm sorry. I'll try."

They began climbing the boughs, with each step getting closer to the offshoot of Realmbreaker. The bark of the alien branch looked like interlocking metal plates with deep red light pulsing between them. A few Phyrexians got close and attacked, but as long as they noticed them in time, coordinated effort of Zeri's aetheric rope and Perry's spells was enough to push them from the canopy and simply let the creatures fall.

Several guards, original Phyrexians, stood on the Realmbreaker's branch. Just above the Taloc tree Zorinne flew up and charged at them, pushing one down. There was dissonance in the aether, not enough to affect her flight, but enough to annoy and distract her. And it grew stronger the closer she got to the hole in the sky. Zeri and Perry took care of the remaining three guards.

Zorinne landed on the metallic branch, just under the portal leading to... where exactly? Look at all the stars. Their light is very far away. Some of them are gone. Another memory of her friend. Was he doing alright? Did Phyrexia attack his world too?

"Alright, let's see what happens," she ate the aether jelly from Coralith, took a deep breath and cut the sealing ribbon.

She aimed her hand at the portal, the red lights at its edge connected with the green blaze radiating from her left hand. Aether rushed towards her, through her, she was engulfed in flames of all colours, but mostly red and green. The circle rippled and slowly began shrinking. The green glow in her palm spread to her forearm, as if through cracks in her skin, but she couldn't feel them. There was pain, somewhere. Was it in her body? No, the sky was hurting, screaming, consuming... Shadows moved around through the light, towards her, but at the last moment the slowly closing hole in the sky pulled them and they rushed past her into... Blind Eternities? Phyrexia?

She couldn't see anything, except green and red lights tangled together, fighting, dancing. She could no longer feel the body she knew she had. Or used to have? The only sensation she could feel was the wound in the sky closing. The branch of Realmbreaker was in the way, the circle constricting around it like a noose. And then it snapped.

The world around her exploded.

For a brief moment she saw everything. She saw the Inggison Illusion fortress resisting against the hive army, Lady Lumiel helping Lord Kaisinel maintain the barriers around it, while Lord Nezekan along with Lord Marchutan pushed back the Phyrexians who got through. She saw Lady Yustiel healing and cleansing the injured. She saw Lord Zikel fighting against these monsters in Gelkmaros. She saw bodies of Veille and Mastarius lying on the ground as if in embrace. She saw Perry, unconscious on the falling metallic branch. She saw her sister, eyes full of tears, screaming...

Zeri, I did it... the sky is whole again...