A/N - I'm going to get this out of the way right upfront: Gray dies in this fic. He also comes back to life. I'm sorry to anyone who doesn't want spoilers, but I'm not looking to traumatize my readers, and so I want to make it very clear upfront that I am absolutely not permanently killing off Gray. This fic is a whumpy, angsty, rather painful journey, but nothing permanent happens to any of these characters aside from some emotional trauma.

TW for loss of a limb in this chapter (it's a finger), but again, it will be resolved by the end of the fic.

This fic takes place post-canon when Natsu and Gray are engaged (they're about 24), and Erza and Jellal are married. Since I had to make new ships with Lucy and Juvia, Juvia is with Lyon and Lucy is with Loke, although neither of those come up much here.

I'm not sure exactly how long this fic will be, but long - probably 20+ chapters. It will be updated once or maybe twice a week unless I'm on vacation or something. I have never and will never leave a fic unfinished, so don't worry about it being abandoned.

The title is from "The Calling" by The Amazing Devil.

"Gray!" Erza shouted. Gray couldn't see her, she was somewhere off to his right. Pretty far away by the sound of her voice. He would have tried to look at her, but there were so many enemies pressing in on him at this point that that would have gotten him slaughtered. "Now's your opening! Here!"

"I-" One of the dark gray, misty-looking humanoids that they were fighting approached him, and Gray was cut off. He slashed the massive sword forward, ignoring the blooming ache in his arm. He wasn't used to fighting with a sword this big.

He must have hit the enemy in a lethal spot, because it dissolved into shadow. Gray tried once again to turn towards Erza, but was blocked by another one of the spirits.

"Gray, I'll cover!" a familiar voice yelled from behind. "Go!"

That was the only warning Gray got before a rush of flame consumed the enemy in front of Gray, and several more behind that one. The flames were so hot Gray instinctively reeled back. His face and hands stung.

A split second later, Natsu launched himself in front of Gray, forcing himself between Gray and the hoard of spirits. Gray didn't stick around to make sure Natsu could hold them off. He knew that he could, at least for a while. And anyways, Gray wasn't going to win this battle by cutting down the shadowy things.

No, if he wanted to win, for him and for all of Fairy Tail, he needed to kill Magnus. And if Erza was right, she had a path to him.

Gray turned towards the place where Erza's voice had come from, and started running. He saw Jellal first - on his feet, but a little shaky. He'd clearly cast Sema, and cut a huge swath through the encroaching enemies. Now, Erza was in her Heaven's Wheel armor, using her multitude of swords to keep the area clear for Gray.

Gray realized he'd been so focused on running he'd stopped paying attention to the sword. He'd almost let it drop to his side. He shook his head to clear it, and adjusted the sword so it was farther from his body.

He could have paid dearly for a mistake like that. Oblatio was no ordinary sword. A wound inflicted by it would never heal, never close. Even a small, accidental cut could cost Gray the battle. That made it the perfect weapon for killing Magnus - in fact, it was almost certainly the only thing that could kill him. But it made it almost impossibly dangerous for Gray to wield, and he couldn't afford to forget that.

Gray clenched his right hand harder around the sword, pouring a little more energy into making it through the area that Jellal and Erza had cleared for him. Up ahead, he could see a few scattered soldiers. And then beyond that, a stone platform overlooking the entire battlefield. On top of that, Gray could just see the silhouette of Magnus.

Gray let himself drop quickly to one knee, concentrating on holding the sword steady and away from him. As his left hand hit the ground, ice shot out in a sheet before him. The movement made the agony in his hand resurface with a vengeance, but he ignored that. In one fluid motion, Gray was up again, sliding past the few remaining soldiers as they struggled to keep their footing on the icy ground.

Usually, Gray didn't approve of one-handed ice make magic, but he couldn't sheathe the sword he held, and he really didn't have another choice. He would do what he had to do.

Up until a few days ago, Magnus had been nothing more than a legend, a half-forgotten dark wizard in the shadow of Zeref. Hundreds of years ago, Magnus had wanted to rid the world of demons. Originally a light wizard, he'd fallen to darkness as he plotted to invade the underworld and kill all its inhabitants. He'd crafted a legendary weapon in order to complete the task, the same sword Gray now held. And along the way, he'd brainwashed other wizards, mind-controlling them to help him in his crusade against the demons.

That was about all there was to the old legend. It had been assumed that Magnus had died in the attempt, or that someone else had risen up to stop him, or that he had never been real at all. The legend was fragmented, mostly lost to time.

Except Magnus clearly hadn't died. He'd apparently managed to put himself into stasis, with a select few of his chosen followers, and he'd reappeared in Fiore about a week previously. In that time, before Fairy Tail and the rest of the Guilds had realized what was happening, he had attacked Lamia Scale. Gray didn't really understand what magic Magnus was using, but he'd brought the entire Guild under his control. Apparently, both his goal and his methods hadn't changed in the intervening hundreds of years. Magnus intended to march on the Underworld and destroy all the demons, and in order to do that he was going to bring all of Fiore under the sway of his mind-control magic.

Now, Lamia Scale was attacking other Guilds across Fiore, trying to subdue the other wizards with whatever spells Magnus had given them. Gray felt the familiar sense of rage wash over him at the thought of Lyon, who was once again just a pawn in someone else's game. He half-wished he could be there, with most of the other members of Fairy Tail, who were fighting to contain them.

But Gray was needed elsewhere. Magnus was on his way to attack another wizard guild with his shadowy minions, and Fairy Tail had sent a strike force in to stop him once and for all. The Strongest Team, with crucial assistance from Jellal, was going to try to kill Magnus while they still had a chance to, before he could possess any more guilds. If they couldn't, it was very likely they would die trying.

Somehow, Gray had ended up as the linchpin of the plan to take Magnus down. He was the only one who could wield Oblatio, after all. And that sword was the only thing strong enough to kill Magnus.

72 Hours Earlier

There was very little information on Magnus, the ancient dark wizard with the power to possess the minds of wizards, that was more specific than scattered, hazy legends. Everything had happened so fast that what little information there was, Erza hadn't had time to read. Together, Levy and Freed had managed to find virtually every mention of Magnus in whatever ancient texts still existed, and Erza was pretty much relying on their words to guide her.

The piece of all this that seemed most important to Erza was any mention of a legendary sword that Magnus had supposedly created. It would take on the aspect of any wizard who wielded it, and it would imbue that wizard with strength and power. More importantly, the blade inflicted unnatural wounds - any cut the sword opened couldn't be healed. According to all accounts, Magnus had lost the blade sometime before his "death," and that was part of why he was able to be defeated at all.

Everyone in Fairy Tail had pretty much chalked the blade up to legend, and in the chaos of Lamia Scale's initial attacks, it hadn't seemed worth pursuing. But then Levy had found mention of a dark blade hidden deep in a cave system in the Hakobe Mountains, and once she'd dug that up, it hadn't been too hard for her to find more information on it. It had rapidly become clear that if the legendary blade still existed, this was it, and that if they were going to defeat Magnus, this would probably be their best chance to do so.

She, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, and Jellal had made their way through twisting, freezing labyrinths to the cave that Levy had located, in hopes of retrieving the sword. And that was when things had started to go very wrong.

They'd entered a huge stone chamber with a door at one end. The door wouldn't open, and when Natsu had tried to force it, a shadowy animal that resembled a cat had appeared. It had taken them a few moments to realize the cat had a small key tied around its neck.

Natsu and Lucy had spent a few unproductive minutes trying to convince the cat to come over to them and surrender the key, but eventually Erza had decided to take matters into her own hands. The cat clearly wasn't real. Moreso, it was probably part of some final challenge before an adventurer could get to the blade - albeit a rather stupid one. So Erza had killed the cat with a sword, watched it dissolve into a thick, bubbling tar, and then watched it reform into something that was more the size of a bobcat, still with the key around its neck. When Erza had killed that, it had reformed into something the size of a large dog. And when she killed that, it had reformed to something almost the size of a leopard.

At this point, Erza started to get a little concerned. She hadn't expected the leopard to prove a problem, but there was no way to tell just how many lives the guardian would have, or how big it was going to get.

In a matter of minutes, and five more deaths, Erza was facing a giant, many-headed monster, with the body of a cat and many long, snakelike necks. The room was small enough that most of the other wizards couldn't cast for fear of hitting her, and the heads were fast and hard to strike. The thing turned out to have a better reach than she'd expected, and before she could guard herself properly, she had felt its teeth tearing into her right shoulder.

Eventually, she'd dispatched it with the help of some pinpoint maker magic from Gray, and it dissolved away into the floor and left the key behind. She'd bandaged her shoulder as best she could - waving Wendy away for the moment, since she might be needed for far worse injuries beyond the door.

Erza stood before the stone door, trying to ignore the ache in her shoulder and wondering if the situation about to get even worse. She fit the key into the lock left-handed, turning it slowly. The lock clicked, and she frowned as runes in an unfamiliar language began to scroll across the face of the door.

"What language is this?" she asked the room at large, even though she assumed it was unlikely that any of them would know.

"It's an ancient code used by dark wizards," Jellal answered, sounding somewhat surprised. He walked forward to stand beside her. "Many of the oldest books are in this script. I suppose I should have expected to see this here, but it's been a while since I've had to read anything-"

"What does it say?" Natsu interrupted, clearly annoyed.

Jellal frowned at him, then leaned forward to read the door. "Here lies the sword Oblatio. Only one wizard can claim such power. In return, the sword shall claim-" He trailed off, now glaring at the door. "It's an archaic wording, but this word seems to mean appendage."

"What does it mean?" Natsu snapped.

"It means only one of us can take it, and you need to cut off a finger in order to use it at all," Jellal spat back.

The whole team fell silent. Erza had known that the price for such a legendary blade would be steep, but hearing her husband say it so bluntly sent a chill through her. There hadn't been much about the sword in the documents Levy had found, and they hadn't known the exact specifics until now.

But if that was what was needed to defeat Magnus, then she would willingly give what she had to. Before going to retrieve the sword, the team had discussed who was likely to end up using the blade. Erza, of course, was at the top of the list, as she was by far the most skilled swordswoman the Guild had to offer. At the time, they hadn't known about the finger, or that only one of them could use the sword, but she didn't feel like that made too much of a difference. She was frightened, certainly, but resolute.

"So be it," Erza said, pushing open the door and revealing the chamber beyond.

This room was smaller than the chamber with the guardian. The sword was in the center of the room, embedded upright in a small, stone pedestal. There was no obvious light source, but the whole room seemed to be glowing with an eerie, reddish light.

There hadn't been any pictures of the sword in any of the legends Levy had found, so Erza hadn't been sure what it would look like. It was slightly smaller than she'd expected, but not in a bad way - it looked to Erza like even she would be able to wield it one-handed. The hilt was a dull, sturdy-looking metal, the blade shimmering faintly in the dim light.

Erza walked towards the sword, steeling herself. Magnus had to be stopped, and she she couldn't trust anyone else to do it for her. She had seen the look in Jellal's eyes ever since he'd learned about the brainwashing, and she knew her husband couldn't go through something like that again. In order to keep him safe, she would take the sword, and Magnus would die.

She hadn't thought about it before, but there was no reason not to keep the blade after she used it to dispatch Magnus. It would be potentially dangerous to her, and not something that should be undertaken lightly. But if a cut from the blade would never heal…there were enemies Erza had faced who would deserve that, surely.

"It's beautiful," Erza said, running a hand along the edge of the stone pedestal.

"I'm not sure I've seen a finer weapon," Jellal agreed.

"And it's practically radiating power," Erza said. It was - she could feel it like a faint, vibrating hum in her bones.

Erza reached for the hilt. She'd never cut off a body part before, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to do it if she spent too long waiting. It would probably be easiest to do it in one clean motion, grabbing the sword hilt and bringing it down on her finger in pretty much the same movement….

"Hang on, Erza," Lucy said worriedly. "Don't you think we should talk about this for a minute?"

"Why? We came here to claim the sword. And now we've reached it."

"But…but we didn't know anyone was going to have to cut their finger off. And since a wound from the blade will never heal, Wendy won't…she won't be able to heal it. That's big, Erza. We can't just act like that's nothing."

"The power of the sword will make up for it," Erza said dismissively. "With a weapon like this, I'll still be far more dangerous than I would be with all ten fingers. And with the sacrifice required…there's no reason to stop using it once Magnus is defeated. I could wield this blade for the rest of my life. The good I could do…."

"Erza, you seem-"

"Erza, step away from the blade," Jellal said commandingly. "You don't sound like yourself."

Erza felt an unexpected crest of anger, and her heart started beating faster. "Jellal-"

"There's something wrong with it. The sword…it's corrupting you."

Jellal thought that Erza had about the farthest thing from a weak mind that one could have. But she was injured, and exhausted, and that was probably all it took to explain the fact that the sword was clearly doing something to her. There was something in her eyes as she looked at it, something in her voice as she spoke of it…Jellal didn't like it one bit.

Before she could reach for the sword, he darted in front of her, positioning his back to the pedestal. They hadn't read anything in the archives about a mental effect that the sword had on people, but Jellal supposed it made sense. He should have guessed, really, given that its maker relied on his power to control the minds of others.

Jellal felt a familiar shiver work its way up his spine and shoved it away. They had the sword now, and it wouldn't be long before Magnus was dead. Before he killed Magnus. Because now that Erza wasn't able to take the sword, Jellal would have to.

"What are you doing?!" Erza asked sharply.

Jellal blinked down at his hand, which was creeping towards the blade. He hadn't exactly meant to do that, but it was starting to seem like this made more sense anyway. He was older, and stronger. Losing a finger was nothing compared to losing ten years of his life, and at least this trade would be worth something.

"I'll take it," Jellal told her. "It's for the best. I'm more powerful, and I know what to expect now. I can resist…whatever it's doing to your mind."

Erza narrowed her eyes in fury, taking a step towards him. "Absolutely not. Step away. You…it will corrupt you, Jellal. It's a dark weapon."

In his mind's eye, Jellal saw himself claiming the sword, dark energy spilling from its blade and filling him with power. It all looked…so easy.

"Those touched by darkness are the best equipped to wield it." His voice was starting to sound far away, as if echoing down a deep well. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind, but the compelling images of the dark avenger with the terrible blade remained. No one would ever be able to hurt him again. "It…I will be stronger. Stronger than any of the rest of us."

"Step away," Erza snarled, and she opened her hands to summon her own blades. She leveled them at his face, but it was too late. Jellal was quicker, and he circled around her, letting magic power build up inside him. The mists swirled up inside his mind, promising him that if he was faster, stronger, he would have his reward.

Behind him, someone screamed.

Jellal blinked, momentarily disoriented by the sudden sound. He'd thought they were done fighting. Why did Erza have her swords out, seemingly aimed at him?

Surprised, he looked down at his own stance, a position he recognized well as the first form required to cast Sema. He just didn't remember why he'd…wanted to. They had vanquished the guardian, and now they were talking about…

The sword. Jellal whirled around, suddenly feeling a cold weight sink into his stomach. The sword…was gone, no longer standing upright in the stone.

Instead, kneeling beside the empty rock, was Gray, one hand bleeding badly and tucked into his chest, the other wrapped around Oblatio's hilt.

Gray had done what Erza and Jellal couldn't do. Probably shouldn't have done.

The sword was Gray's.

Gray's hand was throbbing. His brain hadn't seemed to realize his finger was actually gone yet, and it was basically telling him that the pinky of his left hand was on fire. An acute burning pain was running up and down the spot where the missing finger should be and traveling over that whole side of his palm. Beyond that, his hand and wrist were trapped in an ache so intense it seemed to have spread all the way through his shoulder to his ribcage.

Gray had been prepared for pain - of course he had been. But he simply hadn't been expecting this intensity. The agony was so great that for a few horrifying seconds, he was sure he was going to cry.

But Gray just hadn't been sure what else to do. Erza was a way better sword fighter, but she'd had this crazy look in her eye, and Jellal had looked like he was about to smite her. Gray had sort of felt the sword calling to him, like an itch in the back of his mind, but he really, really hadn't wanted to cut off a finger and claim it, which he thought proved he was a better choice.

And anyways, he could fight with a sword, better than anyone else aside from Erza. He used a sword made of ice all the time.

Gray managed to look up, ignoring the way even that slight movement made his head spin. Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy were still standing a little farther back. Natsu's eyes were wide with shock, his lips slightly parted. Gray couldn't look at him too much.

Erza and Jellal were both staring at the sword. Erza's weapons were gone, and Jellal didn't look like he was about to cast again, but Gray didn't want to take any chances. Reluctantly, he lowered his maimed hand to his lap, and reached towards the sword with his right. He realized with a shock as he looked down at it that it had changed slightly. The hilt was still dark, but it was semi-translucent now, and more ornate. Frankly, it looked like the hilt of the sort of sword he would make with ice.

As soon as he touched the sword, the pain in his hand got a lot better. His hand was still bleeding like crazy, and it still hurt a real lot, but the edge was taken off and Gray felt like he could breathe again. With a sigh of relief, Gray dragged it closer to him.

"Gray, what…what did you do?" Erza asked breathlessly.

Even though the pain in his hand was a little better, Gray felt the lump return to his throat. This was all feeling very sudden and very fast. "I…you guys were actin' so weird. And I wasn't sure what to do. You guys looked like you were going to kill each other, and just…just over this. So I…."

Erza opened her mouth to say something else, but she was interrupted by Natsu suddenly pushing past her, and kneeling down beside Gray. "Oh god, Gray, your finger," he said, as if he was only just noticing. "That…that doesn't look good. Gray…Gray…."

"I think I'll be okay," Gray said. His voice felt a little far away, even to his own ears. But he'd been hurt badly before. He was sure it was true. Pretty sure, anyways.

"It's bleeding so much…Gray, oh man…."

"Natsu, move aside for a second," Wendy said commandingly. Natsu didn't make any sort of effort to move, and she shoved him gently aside. "I need to take a look."

Reluctantly, Natsu allowed himself to be maneuvered, and Wendy took his place. She reached out, and reluctantly, Gray placed his injured hand into hers. There was a moment of cognitive dissonance where he couldn't remember when he'd put on a red glove, and then he realized that his entire hand down to his wrist was coated in blood. Gray wasn't squeamish, but he felt his stomach turn over.

"Alright," Wendy said. She sounded a little breathless, but calmer than Natsu, certainly. "Where's the finger? I don't know that I'll be able to…reattach it, but I'd like to-"

"Oh," Gray said. He looked around. "I think it, uh, vanished."

Wendy blinked, and he saw her gulp slightly as she started looking around.

"What do you mean, it vanished?" Natsu asked sharply, and Gray could feel heat pouring off of him as the situation sunk in.

Gray shrugged, careful to use only his right shoulder and avoid jostling his hand. "It's gone, Natsu. I think it was part of the whole thing. It was a…sacrifice."

Natsu didn't say anything else, but Gray felt his hand on his back. Natsu was too hot at this point, almost burning from the stress, but Gray didn't ask him to move.

Slowly, Wendy raised her head from the ground. She was empty-handed, as Gray had expected.

"I can't find it," she said, and her voice only contained a very slight wobble. "I'll…I'll try to stop the bleeding, then."

She bent over his hand, and Gray looked away. He could feel the magical power she was pouring into the spell. He was still feeling pretty queasy, probably from the loss of blood, and he appreciated that she wasn't making too much of a scene. If Wendy lost her composure, he wouldn't be able to keep his own for much longer, and that wouldn't help anything.

"Um…."

At the sound of Wendy's voice, Gray looked back down at his hand. She was still crouched over it, but the bleeding hadn't stopped. If anything, it actually seemed to have gotten worse. Gray felt dizziness swoop through him, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Why is it still bleeding?" Natsu demanded, and Gray felt him draw closer, warming Gray's entire body.

"The spell didn't work," Wendy said, and now Gray could hear the stress in her voice.

"It's okay," Gray mumbled, then forced himself to speak more clearly. "It's okay. I can just freeze it over."

"I'm sorry," Wendy whispered. "I guess it did say that wounds from the sword couldn't be healed, but I didn't expect…."

She trailed off. Gray didn't want her to finish her sentence anyway. He was starting to feel as though all of this was happening to someone else, which was probably for the best. If he thought too hard about the situation he'd landed himself in, he would lose the detachment.

Right now, he needed to be a little numb. He didn't want to think about permanently losing a finger at all, much less about the wound perpetually bleeding if he didn't seal it with ice. He would think about it later.

Still, it was getting hard for him to take a full breath. His hands were shaking. He knew he would have to put the sword down in order to freeze the wound, but he couldn't make his fingers open. He remembered how badly his hand had hurt before picking the sword up, and he wasn't eager to go through that again.

But he was losing too much blood. With a superhuman effort, Gray wrenched his fingers open and let the blade clatter to the ground by his side.

The lightheadedness immediately got worse, and Gray felt his teeth start chattering. The pain was so much that it seemed to extend all the way to Gray's other arm, and he was having a difficult time moving that hand too.

"Gray, your ring," Natsu whispered.

"W-what?"

Natsu's hand was on Gray's, suddenly. That hurt so badly black spots started to gather in Gray's vision, but a small part of Gray's mind was impressed by how calmly Natsu was weathering all the blood. As gently as he possibly could, which was very gently, as it turned out, Natsu pulled the engagement ring he'd given Gray off of his finger.

Gary did not want Natsu to be taking his engagement ring away. "But wait, I want-"

"Natsu's right," Wendy said gently. "Your whole hand might swell up at this point. It'll hurt more to have a ring on."

"I'll keep it safe for ya," Natsu whispered. For a split second, Gray thought Natsu was going to kiss him, but then he just ran an unsteady hand up his back. "You can make it into a necklace or something later."

A necklace or something later. Gray hadn't thought about it, but if the wound wasn't going to close, and his hand was going to need to stay bandaged, Gray would probably never be able to wear the engagement ring on the proper finger again.

"I want-" He cut off. At this point, he wasn't sure what he wanted.

"Freeze it," Wendy commanded.

Gray managed to cast one-handed, thinking the whole time about how much more unstable it was. Lyon would have made fun of him, after all the shit Gray had given him. But if Lyon was here to make fun of him, Gray wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. They were doing this for all of Fiore, but first and foremost, they were really doing it for Lamia Scale.

As soon as he was done casting, Gray snatched the blade back up. Calm and strength washed through him, taking the edge off the pain. He could do this. He had chosen this because he thought he could do it. Magnus…Magnus didn't stand a chance.

God, how he wanted to believe that.

Gray felt Natsu wrap a careful arm around his shoulders. Gray leaned into the touch, and took a shaky breath.

"Gray, you…you shouldn't have done that," Erza said. Gray managed to look up at her. Her face was pale, her mouth set. "We would have figured something else out, you know."

"But…." Gray didn't know what he was going to say. He didn't even really want to be doing it now. Every time he tried to think about what he had just taken on, his mind skipped away from the magnitude of it. He didn't think he could contend with Erza's anger at him, too.

Behind her, Jellal shook his head, almost like he was trying to get water out of his ear. He raised his head, blinking, and for a moment, Gray was worried that Jellal was going to yell at him too. But instead, he stepped forward, placing his hand on Erza's shoulder.

"Gray is right. Erza…neither of us should wield that sword. It would have taken us over. He made the only choice he could have."

Erza took a deep breath.

Jellal looked over at Gray. "Is it calling you?" he asked bluntly.

"I…I don't think so," Gray answered, trying not to think about what the dark wizard might do if Gray said that it was.

"How do you feel?"

"Scared," Gray said quietly, dropping his gaze away from Jellal and Erza. He felt Natsu's hand tighten on his shoulder, and he leaned backwards into the touch.

"He'll do better than we would have," Jellal told Erza.

Gray still didn't look up, but he heard armor clanking as Erza strode across the floor, closer to him. She kneeled down, inside his field of view, and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Gray. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just…worried about you."

Gray offered her a small smile, which was the best he could do with the agony in his finger. Ice didn't hurt him, not really, but it still wasn't a pleasant way to seal an injury. It killed tissue, constricted blood vessels, and was in the end almost as hard on the system as cauterizing a wound with fire. And he would have to do it again and again. Forever.

"I'm sorry that you have to do this," Erza finally said, gritting her teeth. Now, Gray could tell that she was just mad at herself.

"I'll be okay," Gray told her, trying to convince himself at the same time. The blade in his hand helped a little, but Gray knew that as soon as he put it down, the fear would come rushing back.

He would just have to hold onto it, then. Carefully, with the help of Erza and Natsu, Gray got to his feet without letting go of the sword or jostling his hand.

"Ready to go?" Natsu asked tightly.

Gray nodded, and they set off back the way they had come. He tried to tell himself that the weight of the sword in his hand wasn't a burden, but a blessing. However high the cost, now they had a way to fight and defeat Magnus. Everything else, they would have to sort out afterwards.