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Hejira: Sanguine Wave

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 50: The Last Dance

Dashing through the field and clutching her side, Faye runs from the angel and the armies of the allied tribes. With Adelram, his wife, and the majority of their kingdom swept away by the glory of the supernatural creature, she is alone once again. With her hand gripping the red stained bandage on her side and her muscles burning from the exertion, she can't help but recall what Balian had said to her; her bloodlust has set the denizens of this world against her, and with no one to help protect her, she knows that they’ll give chase.

Running through the field in pursuit of Faye, who has a considerable lead, they see her tiny form racing along the tree-line far in the distance. Rather than slipping into the forest, Faye follows the trees toward a portion of field that opens into a wide path. Like a verdant river flowing into a green lake, the path stems away and winds through the trees. Sarvah recognizes the area from maps; as Sahvath had said, Faye is running toward an ancient rock quarry. There will be nowhere for her to escape, if she continues on her course.

Watching as her closest friends, her family, run after her blood-crazed sister, Naomi stands with Travahn. She turns to him and throws herself into his arms, as if she was about to burst into tears.

“It’ll be okay.” He says in a soft, comforting tone.

“I know it will, because we’re going to follow them.” She replies.

“What? You heard what they said. We should stay here!”

“But they need our help!” She pleads.

“Naomi...” He sighs.

“I thought you would go where I go?” She whines.

“I will.” He nods. “If you want to go and help, I’m right beside you, but I don’t think this is safe and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I love you.”

“Aww! I love you too, baby.” She says, nuzzling and kissing his snout. “You’ll just have to protect me, won’t you?” She coos.

“Yeah, and who’s going to protect me?” He chuckles.

Taking her hand, the teens turn and dart away, chasing after Sarvah, Gareth and Kelly. With a considerable lead, the trio don’t notice that they are being followed by the teenagers as they follow the grassy path away from the field, trailing Faye who has long since disappeared. The trio curve into the mouth of the grassy trail, following the path along as it winds for half a mile through the surrounding forest. Each bend is a large, cleared area that was once a specific station, used during the quarrying process millennia ago.

They find themselves running through a carved cliffside, with walls cut deeply with primitive tools and leaving a jagged surface roughly thirty meters tall. Inside the quarry is another lush field, surrounded by an oval shaped wall of equal or taller cliffsides; it’s as though the ancient masons scooped out a whole mountain. To their left and near the rear of the arena is what could only be described as an orchard of cherry blossoms. The interior of the quarry looks to be a little over a half-mile in diameter.

“Before going into battle the Sioux used to say ‘this is a good day to die’.” Gareth comments.

“It’s also a very pretty location.” Sarvah remarks.

“When I actually plan on dying, I’ll have to come back here.” Kelly quips.

Taking a moment to catch their breath, the trio walk cautiously into the center of the quarry. Keeping their eyes peeled, they look in all directions, but cannot see Faye anywhere. Is it possible that they have lost her? Did she slip into the forest and is now running away from them? Gareth pushes the thought from his mind; Sahvath may not be God himself, but the angel has certain powers. Not only can it read active thoughts, it seems to be able to predict the future of everyone but itself.

“Faye!” Gareth suddenly shouts.

Walking further into the arena, they scan the area. They hear and see nothing.

“Faye?! Are you here?!” Gareth asks.

“Come out and talk to us!” Sarvah yells, cupping her hands around her snout.

“It’s all over! The kingdom’s gone and Adelram is dead!” Kelly adds.

“It isn’t over yet!” Faye shouts back at them.

Spinning around, they see that Faye has somehow climbed up one of the walls and stands on a chipped piece of granite that is just big enough for her to sit comfortably. Nearly twenty feet from the ground, they wonder how it is she managed to climb up there. Stepping off of the ledge, Faye’s body glows, a strange, fiery mist surrounding her. When she reaches roughly fifteen feet above the ground, she suddenly hovers. All three are left flabbergasted. None realized that talents could be powerful enough to grant levitation.

Gareth notices that the ledge behind her has adequate footholds near the twelve-foot mark; Faye simply levitated most of the way to her perch.

“How come we don’t get to fly?” Kelly whines.

“You aren’t nearly strong enough. I had to drain the lives of one hundred pitiful souls before I found the strength to do this.” Faye says with a sinister grin.

“This has to stop! Can’t you see what you’re becoming?! You’re worse than that witch we found last year! Do you remember fighting her in that graveyard?!” Kelly pleads with her.

“I know! Now that I see the potential in the aura, I don’t blame her one bit. If I had known her then and was strong enough to fight her into a stalemate without killing her, I’d have loved to train with her.” Faye remarks.

“Please, Faye! You’re like my sister; I love you! I don’t want to hurt you!” Gareth yells.

“Neither do I!” Sarvah adds.

“Can’t we all just get along?!” Kelly quips.

“ENOUGH!” Faye screams. “I know it’s never going to be the same, and I’m not turning back now. If you don’t walk away, I’ll kill all three of you!”

“You know we can’t let you do that!” Gareth shakes his head.

“It doesn’t have to be this way!” Sarvah pleads.

“Oh, yes it does...”

Drawing their pistols, Gareth and Sarvah take aim. Kelly draws his katana machete with one hand and covers it with the cobalt blue aura of his sling-blade, then extends his chain-whip talent with his left hand. Faye takes aim with both hands but doesn’t appear to do anything. Waiting for her to make the first move, the trio look around as the ground begins to shake. Raising her arms high in the air, Faye rips a chunk of rocky dirt from the ground, roughly the size and shape of a queen-sized box spring and mattress.

Tearing the ground out just before them, the tremor causes them to stumble. Sarvah loses her balance and falls backward. Gareth is quick to help her up. As he pulls her to her feet, Faye heaves the very ground at them, cackling maniacally. The trio split up, running in separate directions to make it harder for Faye to hit them. Gareth and Sarvah aim with their pistols as they run to their left, while Kelly runs to his right. Focusing on the incoming holy bolts, Faye deflects the purple and cyan bullets of energy with her translucent orange shield.

Kelly gains distance and stands almost complete beneath the hovering Faye. With his concentration focused on his chain-whip, he swings his left arm upward. The flexile but razor-sharp aura swishes through the air and extends. He’s never tried to strike anything so far away. He somehow summons sixteen feet, which is apparently one more above Faye’s ceiling. Looking down, she squeals in fright as she leans back and dodges the incoming attack. Feeling the air flow as the blade whips by, she aims her hands down and uses a push.

Kelly dives out of the way as the ball of nearly invisible energy slams into the ground where he stood and drives it two feet down, forming a three-foot crater. A cyan holy bolt streaks across Faye’s back and she screams in pain. A purple bolt quickly follows, cutting both the flesh and a section of bone as it grazes her left shin.

“Good shot!” Gareth says to his lover.

“God damn you!” Faye snarls.

Faye raises a hand but sees another swish of blue. Dodging Kelly’s attack, she realizes that the three of them, whether they can hover or not, and whether they are strong enough by themselves or not, are still capable of killing her. Leaning to her left, the wounded Faye races away from them at speeds far faster than the three can traverse on foot. She decides to come up with a strategy; she must whittle them down until she’s fighting one-on-one with Kelly. As he has no ranged talents that she knows of, he’ll probably be the easiest to defeat in a duel.

Knowing that Sarvah has the weakest of talents, she makes her move. With an evil, twisted grin and narrowed eyes, she stretches out her arms. Taking hold of his lover, Gareth barely pulls Sarvah away as Faye tries to lift the very ground that she stands on. Landing atop her lover, the pair roll away as Faye tries to smash them beneath the weight of the floating rock and compacted soil. Kelly continues to pursue her, wishing that he could use holy bolts as well; though he wears his Rock Island Armory 1911 pistol, he isn’t a skilled marksman, nor does he have infinite ammunition.

Dodging yet another attempt by Faye, both Gareth and Sarvah race toward the quarry’s exit, firing holy bolts wildly at her. Faye holds up her shield as she flies closer, a hand ready to strike. As she streaks overhead, Faye fires a powerful push. Though Sarvah and Gareth dive out of the way to avoid it, Sarvah feels the blast and is slammed into the ground.

“NO!” Gareth screams in both fear and rage.

Taking aim as carefully as he can, given his state of duress, he fires several holy bolts at Faye as she streaks by. One of them flies just beneath her shield and blasts a hole clear through her right foot. Succumbing to pain, Faye falls from the sky, slamming hard into the ground and cracking a rib. She raises her shield in preparation, but to her surprise, no more rounds reach her. Gareth pulls a wounded Sarvah from the ground. With his arms cradling her like a bride and her arm around his neck, she takes aim with her Kahr CT9 pistol and begins firing.

“Are you alright?!” Gareth asks.

“She just hurt my leg. It’s definitely not broken, but maybe severely sprained or a mild fracture. I’ll be okay, my love.” She answers.

“Not if you keep fighting. I want you to guard the quarry entrance and rest. If she tries to escape, shoot her, and if not, wait until we’re done.” Gareth instructs, setting her down and away from Faye’s line of sight.

“I don’t want to leave you!” Sarvah shouts insistently, grabbing onto his brown leather vest.

“Don’t argue with me! If I ever lost you!” He growls, smacking her hand away. “I... I can’t survive without you! Please!” He pleads with tear filled eyes.

“Neither can I.” Sarvah whimpers.

“I have a better chance of making it out alive. Just for once, trust me without question and sit here. You can rule over me for the rest of our lives; I’ll dote on you for the next seven-hundred and fifty years.”

“Don’t turn soft of me now.” Sarvah replies, stroking his face.

“Whatever I have to say to keep you here until this is over.” He replies, taking her hand in his.

“Alright... I’ll wait here for you, my love, but don’t keep me waiting forever. You know how much I hate that.” She grins.

“I know.”

The pair share a series of passionate kisses as they hide just beyond the entrance to the quarry. The ground shakes and they can hear Kelly scream.

“Go! Stop her!” Sarvah yells.

Gareth races off to help his friend, leaving his fiancée behind in the quarry.

“Weaklings.” Faye mutters, a smirk on her face.

She watches for a moment as Gareth carries an injured Sarvah away and toward the quarry entrance. Though she blocks a few of Sarvah’s cyan holy bolts, most of them miss entirely. Obviously, she’s succumbing to pain. Knowing that one or both of them are out of the fight, Faye turns her attention to Kelly. She keeps her mind on the mouth of the quarry, however, hoping to have the chance to kill Gareth once and for all. Turning her eyes toward Kelly, she struggles to her feet as he barrels down on her.

Levitating off of the ground, he swings his sling-blade as she flies out of the way. Glancing over her shoulder, she turns a hand back toward him and fires a push. Kelly screams as he jumps out of the way and lands with a hard thud on the ground. Slower but more powerful than either Sarvah and Gareth, he is only able to jump from place to place as Faye tries to crush him with her aura push. Lifting a hand, she tears a chunk from the ground and heaves it at him.

With only one hand performing the action, and less concentration, as she must now focus on staying in the air, the debris is much smaller. Kelly swings his left arm and breaks apart the rocky ground that moves like a slow cannonball. About the size of a large nightstand, or a modest computer desk, the natural projectile explodes into relatively harmless pebbles and lung choking dust. Faye throws another, and then another, but each is slashed and broken by Kelly’s chain-whip and sling-blade.

If she weren’t trying to kill him, this might actually be fun. Suddenly, Faye uses a push as a projectile nears him. Seeing her changing stance through the grayish-tan haze of dust, he brings up his shield. Struck by both the nightstand sized rock and Faye’s push at the same time, Kelly flies backward through the air, screaming the entire way before landing nearly twenty feet from where he once stood. Even Faye is amazed and amused by the sight. She leans forward and prepares to kill Kelly once and for all, but turns her head when she notices motion from her peripheral vision.

Gareth has returned, and he immediately begins firing. His purple holy bolts zip by like actual bullets, forcing her to cease her assault and turn toward him, activating her shield. Walking toward her with a proper, two-handed grip, Gareth puts over a dozen rounds into her shield; without it, all would have landed in her torso. At over seventy feet away, these are very competent shots. Faye can feel her powers dwindling, and knows that she has to act fast to put an end to this. She turns her eyes toward the quarry entrance and formulates a plan.

Sarvah rises to her feet. Using the stone wall for support, she moves away from the quarry and the battle raging within. A feeling in the pit of her stomach tells her to move away, though she desperately wants to help her beloved. Knowing how powerful both he and Kelly are, she is certain that they’ll survive and defeat Faye. She just needs to trust in them and be patient. With a severely sprained leg, she hobbles away for some distance, moving as far away from the quarry as she can.

Looking up, she is dismayed by the sight of two figures jogging to reach her. Quickly coming into view, she immediately sees a masculine looking, black furred Sahvorai and a feminine, white furred Sahvorai with long, crimson red hair. It’s obvious who they are. More afraid for their safety than angry, she tries to hobble even faster.

“Sarvah! Are you okay?!” Naomi calls out to her.

The teens race up to her, each one taking one of her arms and slinging it over their shoulders. They carry her away from the battle as she answers them.

“I’m alright, but what are you two doing here?! We told you to stay behind!” Sarvah growls.

“We just couldn’t sit by and let you walk off without our help.” Travahn answers.

“You don’t even have talents!” Sarvah yells.

“Don’t be mad at him; it was my idea.” Naomi admits.

“I know that! It’s not safe for you here! You need to go back, or at least stay here!”

“Is Faye in there?!” Naomi asks.

“She is. If you stay here, we might catch her fleeing. After she hurt me, Gare made me stay here.” Sarvah explains.

“I think we should stay.” Travahn remarks.

“But we can help stop her!” Naomi pleads.

“We can’t do anything. I’m a sitting duck in there.” Travahn retorts.

“He’s right.” Sarvah nods.

“You can do something; I’ll stay here with Sarvah.”

Turning and leaving the two, Naomi races toward the quarry. She suddenly has a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. It’s as if her very soul is crying out to her. She stops, and turns back, glancing at Sarvah and Travahn as they move even further away. Wondering if she should help them, she turns back. Naomi stands still, torn by the dichotomy of her heart and mind. She suddenly has a recollection.

"Be wary; your red eyes will see the path, but your heart will know the truth. Trust your heart instead." Sahvath had warned her.

Taking the angel’s advice, Naomi races back toward Sarvah and Travahn, set on helping them retreat from the battlefield. As she runs, an incredibly powerful blast strikes the rocky walls. Using most of her remaining strength, Faye blasts the entrance to the quarry, determined to crush Sarvah to death. Turning back, the entrance collapses and rocks tumble in, filling the space where Naomi had been running through. Only feet from where she stands, she looks at a pile of boulders that were not there until several seconds ago.

Had she not stopped and then turned back when she did, she’d be dead right now. Her ruby red eyes are wide, staring in horror. She realizes that Faye must have seen Sarvah retreating to that spot; the monochrome she-wolf wasn’t moving very fast, and had they not aided her, she might have actually died in that attack. It makes Naomi’s blood boil. No sooner than the dust has settled, she begins to climb. Struggling to overcome the obstacle, she focuses on moving over it.

Her body glows faintly crimson and she jumps for a ledge that’s far too high. To her surprise, she traverses nearly ten feet, hovering before the ledge and carefully touching down on it like a vertical takeoff aircraft. Apparently, she has another talent that she didn’t know about. Using her newfound ability to levitate, she moves from ledge to ledge as Sarvah and Travahn watch in stunned silence. Though they eventually continue their escape, it isn’t until Naomi has nearly cleared the almost twenty-foot-tall pile of boulders.

Flying toward the cherry blossoms and looking for a place to hide, Faye lands behind a large tree. She takes a moment to catch her breath before hobbling away on her injured limbs. Kelly and Gareth race toward the orchard, slowing to a walk as they near the edge. Though it is not nearly as dense as a forest, the prospect of Faye sneaking up behind them is more terrifying than anything they can currently imagine. Kelly turns to Gareth and holds up his palm, nodding once as a signal for him to hold back.

Growing his chain-whip, he prepares to swing, but both are suddenly startled when Faye peeks out from behind a tree and fires a somewhat weak push at Gareth. Still powerful enough to easily crush his ribcage on contact, he quickly brings his right arm up and engages his translucent purple shield. Taking the brunt of the blast, Gareth flies back, his tail flailing as the gray panther slams into the grass and rolls several times. Faye can’t help but chuckle at the sight.

She’s only thankful that she considered the possibility that Kelly would cut down the forest; peeking out, she saw an opportunity to strike. As Kelly turns to see his friend flying backward from the force of the blast, Faye spins around the tree and aims her other hand at him. Her orange vampiric mist slams into his side before he can even turn his head to look at her. Screaming in pain as he feels the mist stinging his skin like a thousand bees, he falls down onto his hands and knees.

“Take it like a man!” Faye growls, laughing maniacally.

Although protected from death by his aura, Kelly immediately feels his strength draining. With each passing second, Faye sucks the energy right out of him. At any moment, he’ll soon begin to wither and die like everyone else who’s been touched by the aura. Faye’s eyes bulge out of her head with delight as she feeds off of Kelly’s strength, her own powers rejuvenating. Even her wounds begin to heal. So great is her thirst for Kelly’s power that she doesn’t even notice Gareth standing to his feet and taking aim.

Firing a holy bolt, is slams into her right pectoral muscle on a severe angle. By sheer luck on her part, it blasts through her body while missing her lung, heart and esophagus. Neither she nor Gareth can believe that she wasn’t instantly killed. With one final second used to absorb Kelly’s power, her wound closes and a healthy Faye retreats back into the cherry blossom orchard. Racing up to Kelly, Gareth helps pull him to his feet. Hobbling away, Kelly is alive and otherwise appears unharmed, but he is physically exhausted.

“I need a vacation.” He says through labored breaths.

“I hear Miami is nice this time of year. It’s got to be twenty-forty back on Earth now; we’ll rent you a nice hovercar and you can beach yourself.” Gareth replies.

“Go get her, man. This isn’t going to stop until one or more of us is dead.”

For the first time that he can recall, Kelly sounds deadly serious; it’s incredibly unsettling. Leaving Kelly to sit upright in a nearby crater, his back resting against the slanted rock of the ground, Gareth races back to the orchard. He walks carefully into the field, his ears pricked and listening for anything out of the ordinary. He tries to smell her position, but all he can detect is his own scent of sweat drenched fur and the cherry blossoms.

“Man, do I miss deodorant.” He sighs.

Walking through the orchard, it’s eerily quiet. The only noise is the sound of his paw-like feet pressing down on the soft blades of grass. A tree to his right shakes violently, struck by what sounded like an aura push. He spins around and aims Vetra, both hands holding tightly to the weapon. Petals of light pink, almost white in appearance, fall all around him. It’s such a beautiful sight that he can’t help but stop. He steps further into the wash of pink that falls from the solitary tree.

Suddenly realizing that it might be a ploy to distract him, he turns around. Nothing stands behind him. He suddenly remembers something else; he does not know why the memory surfaces.

"Do not turn your back to the pink rain. It will be your undoing." Sahvath warned him.

Quickly spinning back around, Gareth turns to see Faye hovering only a foot away from him. Firing from the hip, he strikes her in the right side as she fires a weakened push. Unable to muster her full power from the pain, the push throws Gareth back and gives him a nosebleed, but he is otherwise unharmed.

“FUCK!!!” Faye screams at the top of her lungs. “Just another second and you wouldn’t have felt a thing!”

Aiming her palm at him, Faye tires of their little battle. Orange flames fly from her palm, singeing the cherry blossoms as Gareth dives out of the way. He races out of the field as fast as he can, glancing to his left and behind him and firing his purple holy bolts from the golden barrel of his customized Glock 22. Faye dodges most of his rounds as she flies after him, determined to kill him once and for all. Emerging from the orchard, he stumbles and falls into a crater Faye had left behind; he didn’t see it as he was looking over his own shoulder.

Faye flies past him, coming to a stop and looming over him as he scrambles to his feet. She raises her shield as Gareth kneels in the pit. With his pistol in both hands, he fires at her head, knowing that he won’t do any damage. As the rounds strike all within the space of what would have been her forehead, she begins to chuckle. Her chuckle turns into a laugh and soon she cackles like a stereotypical villain.

“You thought you could defeat ME?! HAHAHA! ... Bad kitty!”

“Kitty can scratch.” Gareth chokes out.

“Not even a little bit...”

Panting and drenched in sweat, he watches helpless as Faye aims a hand at him, though it’s behind her shield. He knows that as soon as she’s ready, she will turn her shield off and fire. Keeping his weapon trained on her, he knows he may not survive; he will only have a split second, if that, to kill her before he is crushed or burned alive by her talents. His finger caresses the trigger and his off-hand clutches tightly to the tarnished brass cross hanging around his neck. The pair stare each other down for a moment.

Faye’s fingers coil around her palm as she prepares to make her move. With a flash, Gareth jumps as Faye is struck by an unseen force coming from his left.

“NO!” Screams Naomi as she grips her sister.

Flying into the ground, Naomi slams Faye into the dirt hard enough to dislocate her left shoulder. Faye screams in pain and throws her sister off of her. Hovering in the air, she turns to Naomi, who also hovers before her. Gareth races toward Kelly, who is still weakened from suffering Faye’s vampiric aura.

“YOU’RE DONE!” Naomi screams.

“Are you going to stop me?!” Faye growls.

“If I have to.”

“Then give me your best shot.” Faye smirks.

Immediately flying away from her sister, Faye uses push after push to keep Naomi at bay as sge chases after her. Without looking, Faye slams into a tree, knocking her dislocated shoulder back into place. She screams and scrambles to her feet. Taking a moment to recover from the pain, she is temporarily unable to levitate. Soon, however, she is hovering once again. Ripping ground from beneath them, she throws chunks of soil covered granite at Naomi, who dodges each attempt to crush her.

Faye uses her flamethrower, but Naomi shields herself. For some reason, either Naomi doesn’t have or chooses not to use offensive talents; she merely chases after her and attempts to grab onto her with her bare hands. Reaching the end of the quarry arena, Faye refuses to run anymore. She stops and turns to face Naomi, but she’s so close behind her that she nearly tackles her. Sliding to her left, Naomi flies toward the rocky wall. Quickly halting, she flips in midair and lands her paw-like feet atop the stone surface, before pushing off of it like it were the wall of an Olympic swimming pool.

As she flies by Faye, the human sister uses a powerful shockwave. Blasting in all directions, Naomi cannot shield it. She swirls in the air and soon tumbles toward the ground. It takes all of her concentration for the white furred Sahvorai girl to land without breaking her neck. Now hovering upright only a few inches from the ground, the blades of grass tickling her footpads, she dives out of the way as Faye throws boulder after boulder at her. Naomi blasts each one with a powerful push, shattering the rocks.

She soon destroys each oncoming projectile with one hand, creating so much dust that neither of them can see through it. Faye hovers and swishes from side to side, waiting for the image of her sister to appear. Suddenly struck by a red mist, Faye screams as she feels the stinging of one thousand bees on her skin. Falling to the ground, Faye cannot believe how much the vampiric mist hurts. With her powers draining, she struggles to control her faculties through the excruciating agony.

Realizing that Naomi must be close enough to have seen her, she uses her shockwave once again. Naomi squeals as she flies up and back. So powerful is Naomi’s aura, that she can fly even higher than her sister; her attack came from several feet above her, where the dust cloud was thin enough to see through. Straightening herself in midair, Naomi lands on her digitigrade feet some distance from her sister. As the dust settles, Faye struggles to stand; she feels as weak as she did when she first arrived in this world.

Standing across from her, Naomi’s arms are outstretched and slightly above her head, her fingers coiled as if clasping at an invisible object. She stands there like a statue; her bushy white tail isn’t even swaying.

“Is it over now?!” Naomi demands.

“... It’s never over, you little bitch!” Faye screams with rage.

Naomi pulls her hands toward her and rips a single chunk of granite from the wall behind the exhausted Faye, breaking off a piece as large as a one-story, one thousand square foot house. Glancing over her shoulder as the shadow looms overhead, a horrified Faye tries to run, though she is too weak to move quickly, or levitate. The enormous boulder slams down atop her, crushing her beneath it and shaking the very ground. Naomi sniffles as she looks to the massive rock, her ruby red eyes welling with tears.

Why couldn’t she have just stopped? Why did she even run away over a year ago? She had so many chances to find redemption, but she squandered them all, and now she’s dead. Dropping to her knees, Naomi weeps for her sister, who she killed with her own talents.

“Damn you for making me do this... God damn you, Faye!” She cries at the boulder. “I’m so sorry...”

Approaching the crying girl, Gareth and Kelly drop to their knees on either side of her. It had taken them that long just to walk over a quarter mile through the shattered arena to reach her.

“Why did she make me do it? Why couldn’t she just stop?!” Naomi sobs.

“Shh... It’s alright.” Gareth says softly, slipping an arm around her. “You didn’t have a choice.”

“Didn’t I?” She sniffles.

“No, you didn’t. The Faye we knew and loved died not long after we came here, if she ever came here at all.” Kelly explains, also taking hold of her.

“I can’t imagine how tortured her soul must’ve been.” Gareth remarks.

“I guess in a way, I set her free. Now she’s finally home...” Naomi murmurs.

The three share a group hug and weep over the loss. Nearly two years earlier, they left the United States to seek adventure. Barely a week into their journey, they left Earth to continue it, albeit unknowingly. Now, two of them are no longer human, having accepted the transformation via Sahvath’s machine. Yet another, perhaps the most adventurous and outgoing of them all, is now dead. Her corruption overwhelming, Faye has finally been destroyed, and none have to fear Adelram’s Harbinger any longer. Only Kelly remains as he was before.

“Come on... Let’s go home.” A melancholy Kelly suggests.

“I need to see Travahn.” Naomi chokes out.

“And I need to see Sarvah.” Gareth adds.

“And I need to see Vahna and Zeike... And also dinner.”

Chuckling through their tears, the three friends head back for the collapsed entrance to the quarry. With Naomi’s telekinesis, the two men are helped over the wall where Sarvah and Travahn wait for them. They don’t say a word as they approach; no words need to be said. Their return is proof enough. Sarvah holds Gareth and cries tears of joy, elated that this chapter has finally come to a close. They have the rest of their lives ahead of them now, as they had always wanted. Travahn clutches Naomi tightly, trembling from worry and fear.

“I hate to cut this short, but can we get out of here?” Kelly asks.

“Right. We should return as soon as possible. They’ll all be worried.” Travahn says.

“What will we do when we get back?” Sarvah asks Gareth.

“What else? We rebuild.” He says with a warm smile.

A blinding white light lands on the mountaintop, beaming against it at a slight angle and visible from many miles away. Standing in the darkened room, Sahvath returns to its former lair. Walking slowly through the massive chamber, golden lights glow from the presence of the creature, banishing the darkness. How many years have passed since it left to seek forgiveness from the Creator? It’s hard to say. Perhaps the mortals who aided the angel are still alive?

Upon returning to the Creator, Sahvath stunned the deity’s servants, the others like Sahvath who had remained loyal. Wading through their ranks, it met with Him, promptly throwing itself down in reverence. Apologizing in its native tongue, Sahvath begged for forgiveness, regretting everything it had done. Unsurprisingly, the Creator knew all of Sahvath’s transgressions. What shocked Sahvath and the other angelic beings, however, was how willing the Creator was to forgive.

“Not one of my fallen children has asked me to lift them up; none have come back to see me. They simply rage against me, though I still love them. For returning to me and asking for my favor, you shall have it.” The Creator spoke.

“Thank you for sparing your unworthy servant!” A bowing Sahvath replied.

“You have done well in your test, Sahvath.”

“Test?”

“You were always spirited and intelligent. I allowed you to create your world and even enhanced your power so that you could succeed.” The Creator said.

“I do not feel as though I succeeded in anything. Every action I have taken since the rebellion has been a mistake.”

“All but two: Stopping the war and returning to me. It pleased me to see your heart; I was watching your progress. Even when forced to destroy them, you still had compassion.” The Creator explained.

“I did not want them all to die because of my error; I brought them there.” Sahvath answered with black, tear-filled eyes.

“Every soul is worth saving.”

“They are.” Sahvath nodded.

“But not every soul will choose to save itself... That was not your fault. You hold no guilt. I will send you back to the realm from whence you came. There, you will be its guardian. When the final judgement comes, I will call to you, but not to punish you; you will rejoin me on that day.” The Creator said.

Blasting Sahvath with a beam brighter than the brightest star in the galaxy, the angel’s form was altered. With eyes of gold and a suit of gold and platinum, it now appeared different, unlike the others of its kind. They stood in awe, staring at the redeemed Sahvath who had earned the Creator’s favor.

“Thank you! I will do as you wish!” Sahvath chanted, bowing before Him.

With another beam of light, Sahvath was sent back to the world it had crafted. Instead of exile, it has position. Instead of being imprisoned, it now serves as a guardian; Sahvath is destined to watch over and protect this realm until the eventual end of time. Walking up the long flight of steps and toward its throne, Sahvath remembers how it was once a site of great sorrow and worry. The eight-foot-tall creature looks upon the carved crystalline chair with new, golden eyes that blink from the sides.

Wearing the new suit of gold, with platinum bands around the collar, wrists and ankles, it carefully sits upon the chair, the tendrils of its head continuously swaying. It returns not as an exiled and frightened creature, a fallen angel who rebelled, but as a redeemed spirit, once again basking in the grace of the Almighty. Looking to a flat portion of the wall before the seat, Sahvath’s thoughts activate a screen. Holographic and perfectly colored, the angel scans the world for changes since it had left.

Many of the villages are now much larger. Groups of merchants travel back and forth between them, and there are no armies to be seen, though the towns still have guards. Overcome by curiosity, Sahvath zooms in on a particular location. The site where Wildwood once stood has been rebuilt. A sprawling city of brick and stone now stands where the ashes once lay. Finding a unique looking home, which it can only assume is a palace of some kind, Sahvath cocks its head and observes.

From a second story balcony emerges a familiar looking Sahvorai. The monochrome she-wolf, Sarvah, steps outside with an arm beneath her heavily pregnant belly. She clutches the railing and looks out at the town that she appears to rule, quickly joined by a teenaged Sahvorai female. With gray, black and white fur like her mother, Sarvah’s daughter gives her mother a hug. In moments, more emerge to join them.

Standing beside his wife, Gareth gives her a loving kiss and wraps an arm around her, while their young son, no older than six, holds his father’s hand. Walking past the palace below are two couples. Steve and Madina walk together, while Madina wears a strange harness. Within it appears to be a bear-like Sahvorai infant with orange fur. Beside them walk Naomi and Travahn, also caring for a young child of their own. Passing a house adjacent to the palace, Kelly sits on his porch, a teenaged Zeike sitting with him.

They prepare fishing poles as Vahna and another young child join them with a packed basket, presumably with lunch. The family walks toward the gates on their outing, passing and greeting their friends as they do. Sahvath’s small, thin lips curl into a little smile as it watches the image on the screen, it’s golden eyes blinking. None of them have ever looked happier than they do at that moment. After all that they’ve endured, they’ve finally earned something; they have pleasant and peaceful lives, which is all they ever wanted...