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Chapter XX: Sun Down

"You can never doubt how deep Harm Chronos' reach really is. Enemies that you hate are truly allies and friends you thought you could trust are foes you never suspected. Motives you thought were transparent are truly clouded and murky while 'impossible' just cannot be in your dictionary.

"What awaited us at Corona was beyond comprehension. Not the looting, rioting or madness. That was understandable. It was what lay beyond. The truth. Because the truth is what turns enemies to allies, what turns friends to foes, what makes the clear into unclear...

"... and what brings the dead back to life."

The Vulpunus Paladin Marshal straightened and seemed to sigh. His shoulder sagged as he turned towards Hunter, clear green eyes. Ophelia had the same eyes - perfectly clear and without a hint of the giddy madness made her into a giggling psychotic mess. Artem Ford regarded Hunter and then the others around them, leaning back against the console lightly.

"Surprised?" Ford asked.

"Fuck yeah!" Hunter bellowed before he could consider what this meant. "I thought - you... and Ophelia... How!? Why!?"

The Vulpunus ran a paw down his face and sighed heavily. "I just ran through this with Lady Valkyrie and the others..." He gazed at Hunter squarely. "Do you think that my encounter with Master Chronos at the Gate Cathedral was nothing more than a brief scuffle? Do you want to know how I lost my eye?"

Ford straightened, drawing Revolution from where it rested in its holster. "At the Gate Cathedral where I first encountered Harm Chronos, he revealed to Ophelia and I the truth. He told us about the Redaction Spell and returned to us our memories. Do you want to know what the difference between the reality the Church fed us and _true_reality is?"

"Our mother did force me to devour my siblings," Ophelia said, her voice clear and grave. "However, as my brother was under Master Chronos' tuition, both of them returned to the Sunless Lands after they heard the news. Master Chronos was incredibly appalled at my mother's actions and the madness that came with it. I too was driven insane but then, he brought the both of us to an asylum. There, he restored my mother's sanity in much the same way he restored our memories. I regained my sanity and so did she."

Ophelia flicked her paw and Andy was thrown straight to the side, crashing loudly just on the edge of the shadow the statues cast. "Knowing her guilt and her crimes, our mother took her own life. I regained mine and obtained Atropos."

Hunter began to piece together why these two were so horrified at the actions of the Church and what turned them against the organisation they defended so loyally. "If Chronos did all that... then the Church performed the Redaction Spell... That would mean..."

Ophelia nodded grimly. "To the world, I was still insane and I couldn't remember the Chronomancy that returned my sanity. I went right back to being insane. Can you imagine that? For the past five years, I have been a giggling fool! Worse yet, the guilt of letting me get reduced to this state has eaten away at my brother!"

He couldn't imagine that kind of agony. For Eton and Serena, Harm's Chronometric Tracing actually worked to their benefit but for Ford and Ophelia, it only brought up terrible memories of time lost and unnecessary pain. All brought on by the very Church that they swore to protect.

"When Master Chronos revealed to us his plan, we volunteered to help," Ford said. "We are the contingency. He had hoped you would take the Malicious Spear directly to Corona where you would learn about the Farmer's Archives. The Inquisition would have turned on you upon invoking Protocol 7 with Tynvandar present. The Apex Clericus Solis would follow your lead and be the inspiration that Corona needed to join the war. At the same time, the Inquisition would fire the Sun Spire and the light from the blast would push back the Shadows and give the armies a clean shot at the Concave of Shadows."

"Then why did you have to come up here yourself and initiate the firing sequence if the Inquisition was going to do it themselves?"

"That was not part of the plan," Ford answered calmly. "The Inquisition would initiate Protocol 7 to throw Corona into Martial Law. This would give the Vox de Sole reason to incite their rebellion. While the chaos in the streets occurred, the Sunspot_would bring us all to Corona, expediting the Inquisitions' path to the _Sun Spire. Unfortunately, Lady Valkyrie and the others decided it would be wise_to strike down the Inquisitors thus crashing the ship. This severely injured Dorthango and the Inquisitors, leaving _us_to initiate the firing sequence." Ford straightened. "The plan was to free you all before we reached the _Sun Spire, get off the Sunspot and then make our way to Corona on foot in time to see the Sun Spire fire."

"I used Atropos to secretly control some Inquisitors," Ophelia explained. "I then used them to free us and from there, we set out to free the others. However, Lady Valkyrie became obsessed with stopping the firing of the Sun Spire and went straight to the bridge, destroying any hope we had of keeping the Inquisitors and all of you safe. ."

"All of this," Ford continued, pointing towards Corona, "could have been settled very quickly had the Sun Spire merely been allowed to fire as scheduled."

Hunter gazed at Aria who had her eyes cast down. He could see her train of thought. This was her fault. If they had just obediently followed Harm's set path, there would be less death, less destruction and far less pain.

"You know what else could have avoided all this bullshit?" he growled. "If the lies, the deceit, the manipulation and all the string pulling didn't fucking occur!_If the Inquisition just told everyone the truth, if Chronos just came forward with _why he killed Lumire and if you just told us what you wanted to happen!"

Ford fixed him with critical stare. "Would you have done what we had asked if we had told you?"

"Probably not but less people would have been hurt. You can't put the blame on us for killing people when it's you assholes that are the ones killing them!" Hunter spun Zero Hour_in his paw before lifting it into his battle position. "You can't say that we 'forced your hand' when we had no idea what you were after. All these deaths, all this destruction, it's _on you."

"And the pain we suffered?" countered Ophelia. "The suffering we had to go through before Master Chronos released us. Who do we blame for that?"

He had no answer. Oddly enough, he thought about one of the many quotes Chronos had said very early on. 'Who do we blame when we are all guilty?' Ophelia and Ford blamed them for pushing them to the extremes while he blamed them for causing the death of so many. Who do they blame?

Thinking about Chronos led him to think of another of the Chronomancer's quotes. Specifically one where he was holding an apple.

'It's funny. The Apple symbolises so many things in our world. Many consider it the forbidden fruit; a symbol of sin and temptation. In the Illuminus Weizar, the world for apple is 'm?lum' while the world for evil is 'malum'. Yet in other cultures, it is a sign of redemption, immortality, rebirth, health and beauty.'

Then Chronos took a bite out of the apple.

He took a bite out of the symbol of sin and evil...

... of immortality, redemption and rebirth...

Holy crap...

"Chronos."

He felt the eyes of all those on the Sun Spire on him. Even Shinniah was regarding him closely. Tanar had regained consciousness with a whimper and eyed him.

"What?" Ophelia demanded.

"He wants us to blame him," Hunter murmured softly, lowering Zero Hour. "Who can we blame if we are all guilty? If we blame one another, the world falls to shit and we tear each other apart. It's what happened with the Lupus civil war. One side blamed the other and only led to pain and suffering. If we blame ourselves, we just tear ourselves to shreds." His eyes turned to Shinniah who gave him a grave nod. "So we need a patsy... we need to blame someone... someone to focus all our hatred upon... Harm Chronos."

"That is absurd!" Ford shouted. "Master Chronos will save us all from the tyranny of the Church!"

Hunter shook his head very slowly. "No... I don't think he will... I don't think he wants that at all." He fixed Ophelia with a firm stare before switching it to Ford. "Come on, we need to ask him what's going on. If he were just honest with us -"

"He is the only one that is honest!" barked Ford, lifting Revolution and levelling it at Hunter. "The Church has lied to us all, has kept the secret of the 'Sun Goddess' from us just to maintain their tenuous hold on Incendius! They've known all about the truth for centuries and they were to afraid that they will lose their power so they maintained the lie! They kept the Sun Spire lit for centuries but never fired it, masking the charging process behind some religious festival that only served to hypnotise the masses into praising a deity that does not exist!

"What else have they lied to us about!?"

Hunter shook his head sadly. "And what about you and Ophelia? Can you truly claim to be doing the right thing when you were lying as well?"

"We were lying to do what was right!"

Again, he shook his head, this time in disgust. "You're just so focused on the 'evil' Church that you can't see the other possibilities. Why do you think Chronos needed to get everyone to the edge of the Station before firing the Sun Spire? If he wanted to beat back the Shadows, why not just fire it at the very start and use that as some religious propaganda to gather everyone to the south? You saw what IO and even Dorthango reacted to the Farmer's Archives! They want to end the lies but it's idiots like you two and Chronos who keep making them out to be evil that keeps putting them on the defensive!"

A soft 'ah' made him turn towards Shinniah. Ford gawked and Ophelia's eyes went wide. Gungnir clattered against the floor and even Tynvandar lost his composure.

"Who are you?" Ford asked warily.

Shinniah lifted her gaze and waved a hand. A flurry of white feathers spread from all fingertips, spreading all over her body and concealing her from sight. A heavy gust blew by, sweeping the feathers aside. The pristine, statuesque Sun Goddess Apollia stood in front of them, her broad, white wings spread and her black hair like an ebony waterfall.

"I am Apollia," she responded. "Paladin of Incendius, Daughter of the Seraph of Fire, Adramalech and the Sun Goddess." From her palm, light sprang out and took the shape of a large, black mace lined with glistening, white crystal; the Scorium Axis. "Paladin Marshal Artem Ford, Paladin Ophelia Ford. I have been working alongside Lord Harm Chronos just like you and my father. However, I will have to agree with Hunter Hart. The lies must stop. We cannot continue on this path because Harm Chronos believes it is the only path we can take. This path only leads to more guilt and blame. Even if Lord Chronos wishes to take it all into himself, knowing full well the pain we have all gone through, can we honestly let anyone bear the burden of the world like that?"

She lifted her weapon. "Step away from the console."

Ford shook his head. "You cannot be the Sun Goddess. That cannot be the Scorium Axis. What is giving off the light behind us?"

"I am a deity, Ford," answered Apollia dangerously. "You are the centre of my power. Think again before you cast doubt to my strength and identity."

The Vulpunus snarled and lifted Revolution at her. "I will not be made a fool of by your cheap parlour tricks! I will fire the Sun Spire and we will end all the lies! Ophelia!"

Ophelia swept her arms wide. The metallic strings that she controlled glistened in the light. Aria, Tanar, Tynvandar and even Andy were forced to their feet like puppets being yanked upwards by a grand puppet master.

"Run!" Aria cried. "This is how she defeated us before!"

Crap... if I so much as touch them with Zero Hour they'll...

"Hunter." The comforting voice eased his panicking heart. Apollia stepped in front of him, spreading her wings. "I will keep the others off your back. Deal with Ophelia and Ford. Make sure they do not fire the Sun Spire."

"Got it."

He reached around his neck, placing his headphone over his ears. A quick check on his Telecube showed several concerned texts from Daniel and Jerry. There was one from Klaus but that one he ignored. A small smile touched his muzzle. Music blared in his ears and the world became the simpler world of twisting cogs and turning gears.

One look at Apollia and he understood. She was extending her strength to bring forth a corporeal form beside him. It surprised him just how much power she had. Somehow, she continued to maintain the light across Incendius but also manifest herself physical. Still, the drain was evident. Her stores of power were fading fast and he doubted she could remain corporeal for long without sacrificing some of the light from the Sun Spire.

Apollia suddenly moved, sweeping forward and clashing her mace against Aria's spear. The winged goddess easily caught Andy's wrist as he tried to claw at her with Celestial Crime. Tynvandar and Tanar swept past her, screaming for Hunter to run. White flames surged out from Apollia's body and blasted the two off their feet.

Hunter saw his opening.

He bolted forward, ducking beneath Aria's attempt to cleave his head off. Through the world of gears, he could see the faint strands of Ophelia's strings. They formed a near-inescapable lattice in front of him. If he so much as got caught in her web, he would be under her control. Luckily, he could see their movements, predict where they would go and he had Zero Hour.

"Her strings are an extension of her consciousness!" Andy shouted even as he sliced through the with his clawed gauntlet. Bolts of wicked, black and red lightning exploded from his fingertips and collided with Apollia. "Sorry! Sorry! _Atropos_is the manifestation of her magical strength! She can keep producing these things so long as she has a single strand left and enough magic! Crap! Leap to your left!"

Her magical strength, huh?

Hunter lashed out with Zero Hour, the blade easily cleaving through a large number of the near-invisible strings. They began to dissolve into black dust, the degeneration rapidly sweeping towards Ophelia's form. She didn't give the act a second glance until she realised the rest of strings were vanishing. Tanar's swipe at Apollia went wide, missing her by a large margin and sending him crashing to the ground. Her eyes widened in panic and it looked like she purposefully severed the strands that were dissolving!

"Be careful, Ophelia!" Ford shouted over his shoulder as he rapidly mashed the keys of the console. "Hart's Valour and completely destroy anything from Time!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Ophelia snarled, eyeing Hunter dangerously.

Hunter ignored her completely, bolting straight for Ford. Tynvandar suddenly stepped in front of him, arms spread wide. He bowled over the Apex Clericus Solis, muttering a quick apology before reached Ford.

"It's over!" he cried, swinging Zero Hour.

Ophelia's strings suddenly seized Ford and the Vulpunus was yanked boldly away. At the same time, the statues blocking the Sun Spire were wrapped by those same strings. They were pulled aside, somehow attached to a set of railings that allowed their free movement. Hunter realised too late what that meant.

He was instantly blasted by the intense heat and light from the Station's 'sun'. When he screamed, the heat shot right down his throat, scorching the sensitive flesh there. Powerful arms seized him and yanked him away. His regeneration quickly ate up his Time and began healing the severe burns, easing the terrible scorched feeling before replacing it with a mild itching. The world was momentarily dark. He guessed his retinas had been completely burned out. Slowly, shapes began forming and he was starting to regain his sight.

He also realised the music was no longer blaring in his ears.

"Are you alright?" Apollia asked, concerned.

Before he could respond, the floor beneath him began to shudder. A loud, metallic grinding hit his ears. Apollia seized him and spread her wings. Suddenly, they were in the air. Hunter, still barely regaining his sense of sight, barely made out the entirely of the Sun Spire shifting.

The titanic, white tower began to tilt. Even from his height, he could hear the screams of the people as the source of their light and the epicentre of their faith began to topple. Large, hidden struts sprang from the sides of the tower, slamming hard into the buildings in front of it. The delicate, white stone that made up the tower shattered and broke. Delicately carved statues of the Sun and Mother Goddess were shattered completely, falling on the civilians below. Panels as large as entire houses made of white stone dropped off the cylindrical edifice, crushing anything beneath it. Cold, black metal littered with pipes, wires and blinking lights were revealed beneath the panels.

"Oh shit..." Hunter murmured.

"That is the true face of the Sun Spire," Apollia said grimly. "I built it not as a tower of faith but an weapon. The Church added everything else afterwards."

He saw that the platform with the four statues had moved to just the edge of the weapon, set just above the lip of the cylinder on what would have been the tower's side. All four statues had moved to flank the central console, two on each side. The Scorium Axis itself had sunk into the Sun Spire, darkening the entire sky and forming a conical blast of light.

"Can't you just stop the shine from your bloody weapon!?" Hunter asked. "No Scorium Axis, no weapon!"

"You have it wrong," Apollia said. "It is the Sun Spire that gives the light that channels through the Scorium Axis. I guide the light, I do not produce it. That is why there is a Sunrise Festival each year; to give me the power to keep alight. The Scorium Axis is the bullet that when it lands in the Darkened Lands, will give Harm's armies a month to obliterate the Shadows!"

"Fuck me..." He shook his head. "Set us down. We can still stop this!"

Apollia made no reply as they landed on the flank of the tower about fifty metres away from the firing platform. Ophelia stood a short distance away from them guarded Aria and the others.

"You're too late!" Ford shouted from the console. He turned towards Hunter, lifting Revolution. "The firing sequence has begun. You cannot stop it."

Hunter smirked with a confidence he didn't feel. "Bad guys always say that before their ass gets handed to them and the good guy stops the explosion with seconds to spare."

"This is not one of your corny movies. Now is the Revolution." His gun clicked and the laser pointer appeared. He levelled it at Hunter. "Can't you see? You're the bad guy here! We're trying to save Incendius!"

"By destroying everything that it stood for!?"

"By destroying all the lies!" Ford growled and shook his head. "Enough of this! Ophelia! End this!"

Hunter suddenly felt each of his limbs go rigid. He suddenly couldn't move his arms or legs. Worse, he felt a thin, metallic wire closing around his neck, digging into his flesh.

"I will make this quick," Ophelia responded, lifting her paws. The strand of metal string that wrapped around Hunter's neck glinted off the scant light.

Apollia was also restrained and she was unable to move. "Do not do this!" she pleaded. "There are other ways!"

"We have chosen this."

Hunter growled and shut his eyes.

This is going to really hurt.

"Well I haven't!"

With a monumental roar, he surged forward. Ophelia's wire's cut right through his flesh, ripping through muscle and bone with frightening ease. His entire left arm and left leg were taken clear off. Blood exploded from the severed limbs. The other strings around Hunter loosened as Ophelia's jaw opened wide in shock. Somehow, Hunter managed to lunge forward and swing Zero Hour. Ophelia dodged the attack but he could see the swarm of black dust that heralded several of her strings dissolving from Time.

"Now!" he roared.

That moment of shock, that moment when Ophelia was forced to sever all her strings before her entire existence was consumed by _Zero Hour's_inescapable hunger was a moment when everyone was free.

Apollia thrust her palm forward. A blast of searing, white light exploded from her fingertips, causing Ophelia to cry out and stagger back. Andy instantly wrapped Celestial Crime around her chest and swung her boldly through the air before slamming her down hard_against the _Sun Spire's metallic surface. Glistening crystal daggers plunged into her palms, pinning her to the ground.

"Ophelia!"

A red dot appeared against Aria's temple and gunfire exploded through the air. Tanar suddenly leapt in front of Aria, his blades colliding against one another in a thick lattice of swords. Ford's bullets bounced off the swords.

"He never misses!" Hunter warned.

Tynvandar stepped up next, sweeping his hands around him. A wall of ferocious flames encircled them all. Small droplets of liquid metal sprang through the flames and landed harmlessly on the floor.

"He can if there are no bullets," the Apex Clercius said ominously. He snapped his fingers and the flames died. Eyes firmly set on Ford, he said, "This is high treason, Paladin Marshal. Rest assured, when we stop this madness, you will face court martial and suffer a worse punishment that would make the Chronomancers cringe!"

Ford's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you think it will be that easy to defeat us, then you are sadly mistaken." He placed both paws on his gun. "Let's change the world, Revolution!"

"Secundus!" Aria warned. "He's activating Drive Mode!"

A steely-grey aura wreathed the Paladin Marshal. The aura began to solidify, turning itself into hard pieces of metal armour. Each segment attached itself to Ford, connected by thick tubes and wires. His cloak was completely torn off as he became wrapped in a heavy but flexible breastplate. His midriff was exposed and he kept his pants but his boots became completely metallic and steely grey. Unlike Eton, one-eyed visor attached itself to his head, hovering over his good eye. In his free paw, another revolved appeared of similar design to the first.

Hunter felt the air simply sizzle with the power from the Paladin.

"It's time to dance, Atropos."

The air sizzled with even more power and Hunter was forced to turn to Ophelia. Even as his arm and leg were still halfway to regenerating, he could still turn enough to see thousands upon thousands of black strings spring from Ophelia's body. They completely consumed Aria's crystal spears, snapping the off and turning Ophelia into a writhing black ball. The ball sprang into the air, hovering just off the edge of the Sun Spire before it extended, growing exponentially.

Hunter's jaw dropped as an arm formed followed by a second... a third... a fourth and all the way up to a sixth! Ophelia's face - the size of a house! - formed and her mutated body took shape alongside it. Her entire form was made of a writhing mass of black strings, glistening off the light of the _Sun Spire_and making it look like she was made of black snakes. Her dark, hollow eyes glared at them fiercely as her muzzle peeled back. Her monstrous form loomed over them, well over a hundred feet.

At that moment, he could feel the pull of her strings wrap around his body again. "Shit!"

The sound of tearing cloth hit him and he watched Andy tear a hole through space and time before leaping through.

What the...?

A second later, another tear appeared beside him and Andy reached out, pulling him straight into the writhing, dark voice beyond. He felt Ophelia's strings immediately let go of him. Instead, it was replaced by the overwhelming sense of... nothingness. There was no air and yet was able to breathe. There was no ground and yet he was standing. There was no light and yet he could make out Andy clearly!

"Her strings can't reach us here," Andy said. "I'll pull the others in but you're the only one that can survive against her pull. If anything, you can tear yourself apart and regenerate. Plus, your weapon is the only one that gives her pause."

Hunter nodded numbly, unsure if he could speak.

"Keep them off my back," the Leomian said. "I'll try to get some of the others to distract Ford but I need you guys to make sure I have a clear shot at the console! I'll stop the firing sequence!"

Again, Hunter could only nod.

Andy tore another hole through the air and he saw the _Sun Spire_beyond. He vaulted through, followed shortly by the Leomian. Andy disappeared into another tear while Hunter bolted forward, swinging his weapon around wildly to slice through any strings that threatened to take control of him. He heard Ophelia hiss in annoyance. One by one, Andy pulled the others into his little void, including Apollia.

That suddenly left him against two Paladins both in their secondary mode.

Wait... was this such a good idea...?

"Let's see how you fare against the two of us," Ford said, lifting both his guns. "Can you block both my shots and Ophelia's strings and her attacks?"

"Wait... What?"

Ford began pulling the triggers of his revolvers. A hail of bullets began streaming towards Hunter. At the same time, Ophelia's strings began closing in. They were easier to see now that they were jet-black. Above him, Ophelia lifted an enormous fist and sent it crashing down towards the Wulfun.

Oh shit!

Hunter thought fast.

He jabbed Zero Hour into the floor beneath him and quickly dropped through the hole created. His boots clanked heavily against the walls of the elevator shaft. Without a second thought, he bolted straight down the tunnel just in time to hear Ford's bullets shoot into the tunnel and Ophelia's massive paw slam into the structure. The floor was hot beneath his feet and he guessed the Sun Spire was already gathering its energy to fire.

Hunter spun around and swung Zero Hour wildly. Some of Ford's bullets collided with the weapon but the others slammed into his arms and chest. Pain exploded from the contact and he was thrown hard against the floor. He gasped. The ground was molten hot. Scrambling to his feet was equally as painful.

The soft noise of gunfire rippled through the thin walls of the Sun Spire.

Maybe the others have joined the fight?

The bullets shot through the hole and came shooting towards him again.

Maybe not!

Again, he didn't think and just sliced Zero Hour through the ground before leaping back. Pure, white flames erupted from the hole he created, shooting straight upwards before spreading out wildly. The bullets shot through the wall of flames, landing at his feet as molten puddles. The white flames began rapidly filling the elevator shaft but they were died within a few metres of him.

Wait! That's it!

Hunter quickly jabbed Zero Hour multiple times into the floor. Without waiting for the flames to spring out, he sliced through the walls to his right. The cool mountain air contradicted the burning heat from the rising flames. With Zero hour firmly embedded in the wall, he bolted up the elevator shaft heading straight for the elevator doors. The moment he reached them, he stabbed his sword through the golden plates. He immediately dropped through the doors, finding gravity taking hold and himself dangling over the muzzle of the gargantuan cannon.

He didn't pause before he swung himself away from the doors. He found a handhold one of the many tubes that supported the cannon. At that same moment, the entire elevator shaft filled with the Sun Spire's flames and the white fire came shooting out of the doors. Ophelia screamed as the holes Zero Hour had eaten through the flank of the shaft allowed the flames to scorch her wire frame.

"Take that you bitch," Hunter snarled. He pulled himself up onto the pipe, scrambling to get back up to the dais. He made sure to recall _Zero Hour_lest he accidently brush it against a critical handhold. He banged his knee against the underside of the dais as he lifted himself up, biting back a curse. As he came back to the battle, he saw Ophelia desperately trying to move away from the flames while Aria and Apollia bombarded her with glistening spears of light and multiple swords made out of crystal. Not too far away, Ford was scrambling against Tanar, Tynvandar and Andy. At close range, he was at a disadvantage.

"Enough!" Ford shouted. The boots at his feet sprang to life, erupting with fire from his heels. He rocketed up to Ophelia's shoulders where he lifted his guns. A hail of bullets suddenly riddled the Sun Spire, forcing Apollia and Aria to retreat.

A dome of flame instantly erupted around Tynvandar, protecting Andy and Tanar. The bullets that shot towards them were instantly melted while the two airborne women were forced to dodge desperately. Ophelia's twisting shape became a writing black mass of strings, shooting over the Sun Spire with Ford on board. She reshaped herself on the other side, grinning wildly.

With two of her paws, she snatched Aria and Apollia from the air.

"False gods and a fallen angel," she hissed. "Die and face justice!"

"Justice is mine to claim!" Apollia shouted back. Dazzling light erupted from her body, spreading out and blinding everyone. Hunter was forced to stagger behind something before the light faded. Panting, he dared to peer around his hiding spot. Ophelia was staggered, shielding her eyes and Ford was doing the same. Apollia, now freed shot towards Ford, colliding with him and sending him falling.

Ophelia screamed and backhanded the Sun Goddess. She turned, lunging for her brother.

Hunter saw his chance.

He shot to his feet and bolted for the distracted Vulpunus made of dark strings. He passed Tynvandar's orb of flame and a stunned Aria. Apollia landed, exhausted from her dazzling display and gave him a brief nod. Just as Ophelia caught Ford, Hunter leapt off the Sun Spire...

... and latched onto her back.

The strings beneath his paws felt like thousands of metal worms squirming together. Gritting his fang together, Hunter scrambled to stand.

"The time is now, Zero Hour!" he shouted, bringing his blade back up. The moment his cry hit Ophelia's ears, she began to straighten but she was far too late.

Hunter swung his sword wildly, slicing back and forth against her strings. Like maggots being thrown into the air, her strings were tossed aside before dissipating into a swirl of black dust. She howled in pain as the degeneration spread rapidly. Hunter found the mass beneath his feet starting to fade so he scrambled further up, slicing along the way. He made his way up her back, reaching her right shoulder blade. He gave her one, deep stab.

A little further up, she straightened fully, reaching back with her arms as she clawed at the dissolving strings.

Click-click.

"You will pay for that," Ford snarled, his gun pressed against Hunter's forehead.

"I'll have to owe you," Hunter growled back and immediately ducked. He had intended to stab the ground beneath Ford's feet to destabilise him but at that moment, a glistening, crystal spear shot over his head and plunged into the Paladin Marshal's chest.

Ophelia cried out in pain and fear.

Hunter felt someone seize his arms and haul him straight off the rapidly degenerating giant. Aria, riding Gungnir, carried him straight back to the Sun Spire. His eyes never left Ophelia. Distracted from her vanishing body, she lunged straight for Ford with her multiple arms. Twice she came close to gripping her brother but just as she did so, her limbs vanished in a cloud of black dust.

Her cry of agony broke his heart.

Fuck...

Aria set him down and he fell to his knees, panting.

"What you did was very brave..." Aria whispered. "And necessary. Never forget that."

"Yeah... Yeah it was," he murmured, rising to his feet. "I'll have time to be a baby later. Come on! We've got to stop this bloody thing from firing!"

Hunter charged straight towards the console where Andy was working furtively to stop the firing sequence. "How long?" he asked.

"One minute to fire," Andy responded. "Thirty seconds before I get it to stop. As long as no one touches the big red button!" He pointed at the big, round, red button sitting in front of them. Hunter lifted his paws and took a step back.

A big timer had appeared on the console screen.

50 seconds.

"Andy..." he began worriedly.

"I'm working! I'm working! This is ancient technology! My mechanics isn't _that_good!"

45 seconds...

The ground beneath their feet began to grow extremely hot.

"Curses!" Andy exclaimed. "The damage Hunter inflicted to the _Sun Spire_destabilised some major communications lines."

"Please don't tell me there's a manual override that one of us has to go into and die to save the rest of the world..."

"Don't be silly. There are secondary and tertiary lines of communication."

40 seconds...

The flames erupting from the flames of the Sun Spire died.

"There! I've stabilised it! Ten more seconds!"

35...

BOOM!

Hunter jumped back in horror.

Ophelia rose up in front of them, half her face gone and with Ford clutching his chest as he rested against her neck. She gripped the sides of the platform, shaking it and sending everyone tumbling.

"You will not condemn this world!" she screamed. "All the guilt must be destroyed!"

30 seconds.

There was no time to stop Ophelia_and_ stop the firing sequence. She swept across the platform with one paw, shattering the statues of Malfemir and Leandros. Tynvandar pulled Andy out of the way just as two segments of the statues fell upon him, crushing his legs. Ophelia's other paw came sweeping forward. Hunter threw himself against the console in time but Aria and Apollia were both sent flying off the edge.

20 seconds.

Crap! Crap! Crap!

"Die!" Ophelia screamed.

Hunter... acted on instinct.

"You first!"

He slammed his paw against the big, red button.

*****

From Corona, Eton was helping a woman wearing the emblem of the Vox de Sole out from beneath some rubble. He was surprised how the sudden transformation of the Sun Spire could stop all fighting. Everyone had just dropped their weapons and watched anxiously at what the weapon would do. Then, when Ophelia appeared and began attacking, his heart leapt for joy! Hunter and the others were still fighting the Inquisition to stop them from firing the Sun Spire.

Then... Ophelia moved in front of the cannon...

... and the cannon...

The world became filled with a blinding light. Heat like he had never felt before burned at his flesh for just a brief moment. When he could see again, he found the dazzling light of the Sun Spire focusing from the conical blast to a single beam of light that pierced right through Ophelia's form. The black tower suddenly went completely dark...

Then...

KABOOM!

A white, flaming bullet exploded from the tip of the Spire, blasting right through Ophelia's form and leaving only her head and fragments of her upper arms hovering in the air in shock. The shockwave of the blast rippled through the air. Eton could see it strike the upper city, tearing all the building into rubble and spreading a wave of debris up into the air... a wave that was quickly spreading towards them.

"Oh shit!" he screamed. "Everyone -"

Too late.

The blast struck them. Bricks, wooden splinters and metal objects slammed into his armour followed quickly by the brunt of the shockwave. It felt like a starship had hit him a full speed. He was hurled clear off his feet, peppered in all directions by devastating debris. He couldn't hear anything except for the roar of the blast and his own cries of fear and agony.

Then the world went black.

*****

Harm Chronos stood on the icy, black wall of Chillfarn. The massive fortress was built directly between two impassable mountains and with several structures built into the very mountains themselves. Two, enormous, impenetrable black gates stood, one that faced Corona and the other that faced the Darkened Lands. Above the dark, snowy gates was an enormous, glistening, ice-blue crystal suspended in the air by four, enormous chains that were pinned into the sides of the mountains.

The Ice Heart.

He stood on the edge of the Ice Heart, the residence of the Warden of Chillfarn being constructed into the very crystal itself. The Sun Spire had turned dark and he could sense the panic of all those below him in the fortress itself. The Lupus and Vampiri watched in fear. People who they had gathered along the way clung to one another as their symbol of hope died.

Boom!

The doors to his private quarters sprang open and the white and grey, gargantuan Lupus that was the Warden burst in accompanied by Leandros, Phalgymr and the ever-present Blood Mage, Alaric.

"I am sorry, Master," Alaric pleaded. "I tried to stop them but -"

Harm lifted his paw without turning to them. "It's fine, Alaric. In fact, this was expected."

"This was expected!?" roared Leandros. "When you told me what you had planned, you failed to mention that the Sun Spire would go dark! I thought you were gathering us here to fight the Shadows!"

"I should have known you had something else in store," Phalgymr snarled. "We've been here for the past week and yet you didn't let us charge or even scout out the Darkened Lands. We have the power. You gave us Shadow Magic. Yet you had us stay our hands. Why?"

Harm smirked and waited, letting his silence just sink in and scare those around him even more.

"Because a miracle is about to occur," he said at length, still with his back turned to them. "Now, the advantage will be given to us and we will be able to get to the Concave of Shadows far easier."

"We have done nothing but wait!" growled the new Lupus, the Warden Snowpaw. "I am done waiting, Chronos!"

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer. Even after the little miracle, we'll have to wait until Church reinforcements get here."

"Church -" Snowpaw shook his head incredulously. "Are you seriously going to rely on them after they have sat there doing nothing and all the lies they have concocted!?"

Harm glanced over his shoulder, smiling. "When the Shadows first arose, the Darkened - Malfemir's people - begged for help. The Church sent ships for a relief effort. They were consumed. Do you honestly believe that our meagre forces could stand up against possessed starships, no matter how old after what happened at Ironfrost?"

Jaws dropped and eyes widened.

"The fleet..." whispered Phalgymr. "The fleet above our heads... the one that has been gathering ever since Mirecragg was decimated. That was your_doing!? They're under _your control!"

Harm threw his head back and laughed. "I'm surprised it took you this long to realise, Phalgymr!" He turned fully towards them, his smile sinister and confident. "Now... what have we learned?"

The King of Bats shook his head in horror. "You are playing both sides... You have pawns in the Church! You have them pretending to be against you when in reality, they are working for you!"

The Wulfun applauded mockingly. "Bravo! Bravo! For your brilliant guess..." He grinned, spreading his arms wide. At that same moment, a brilliant light began rising from the distance, rapidly growing as it approached.

"... I give you a miracle."

The Sun Spire's bolt shot right over the Ice Heart, dazzling all those who stared at it and sending the massive, crystal rocking violently. Harm did not need to see what was had occurred. His plans were finally coming to fruition.

Somewhere in the distance, the Scorium Axis would collide very close to the Concave of Shadows. A brilliant blast of light would push back the Shadows, heavily weakening them and giving enough light into the Darkened Lands that his army wouldn't be at a disadvantage. While the north would be in perpetual darkness, the south would be utterly illuminated. The captains and ships secretly under his command would then start their journey towards Chillfarn. His Custodia Lumbra would rise from the underground and provided their support to the lost and fearful people of Incendius, taking those unable to fight to the Sunless Lands where they would be safe while those willing to fight would be transported directly to Chillfarn.

All the while... he would be making his final preparations.

"Soon, Adra," he whispered softly to himself. "Soon."