The arrival of Deirdre, Isla, and Oscar was more than a boost in magical power for Lorelei’s team.
It was also a needed boost in morale.
What had started to feel desperate, even hopeless, suddenly seemed far more possible. Kaohlad kept healing from even what should be fatal wounds, but he couldn’t so easily back the trio of Lorelei, Gwen, and Will into a corner, not now that they had three new allies. And the abilities of their allies were a big part of that.
Oscar was the most obvious, immediately impactful arrival. His Guardian Magic, in the form of flying sea turtle Summons, easily blocked and deflected Kaohlad’s attacks. The wicked twin sickles that had been so frightening and dangerous to Lorelei and her team now seemed almost benign. There wasn’t enough space in this chamber for Oscar’s giant tortoise Summon, but that was okay. The half-dozen sea turtles were doing a great job of surrounding Kaohlad and keeping the Son of Night contained, unable to harm the others.
And that gave Lorelei time to use her Healing Magic. She healed Gwen first, sealing up the wicked cut on her arm, before knitting together the much shallower cut on her own forehead. She felt the usual relief of a healed wound, but also something more.
She couldn’t feel Kaohlad’s tug on her energy.
“He needs to wound us to actively rob us of energy,” Lorelei said. “If we can stay unharmed, or if I can get to wounds fast enough, he won’t be able to keep regenerating.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Deirdre said, watching Kaohlad closely. Deirdre Greyson was the master of Divination Magic in Grimoire, and she could see things no one else could. It was no wonder she’d been able to find Lorelei’s team, even so far beneath the city. “He’s still pulling energy from the city above. And he stored up so much before you found him. Even if we can drain his stores faster than he replenishes them, and even if we can keep him from directly pulling from our own strength…”
“We’re still burning energy,” Will said with a nod. “We’re tiring faster than he is.”
“We’ll have to find a way to finish him,” Deirdre said. “Quickly and conclusively.”
“We already hit him with our best attack,” Lorelei said, raising a shaky hand. She placed her middle finger against her thumb, but then shook her head, dropping the hand. Another Cold Snap wasn’t going to happen. She was too weak, too drained.
And too cold.
That was her best indication for pushing things too far. Lorelei didn’t get cold. Not from winter weather, not from frozen food, not from water or snow or anything else.
Her magic was the only thing that could make her cold. And it only happened when she pushed things too far.
At the Library of Solitude, I froze. Completely. I’ve never pushed it that far before then. I didn’t even know that could happen.
She raised her ungloved hand, rolled that sleeve up partway. Small patches of gleaming cerulean ice dotted her hand and arm. She could feel the same on her torso, her neck, her legs.
I’ve never had to push this hard against Hollows. The first time I ever even knew I could freeze was the Library, and now here again so soon after that…
We all have limits.
Her mind was still spinning, too. She’d seen the ghostly figure, the strange being she’d so long been certain was with her, a part of her Elemental Magic, without any proof. Now she had that proof, and yet…
There was too much she didn’t know.
Don’t think so much. Not when there’s a fight going on. It’s your bad habit.
She was known as an effective strategist and tactician, good at thinking on her feet, being observant, using her mind even more than her magic to win fights. But she couldn’t shut her brain down. Her thoughts were always spinning, always active. When a new question arose, a new mystery came to her attention, she couldn’t just let it go or push it away.
“Lorelei?” Gwen asked.
“Sorry,” Lorelei said, shaking her head. She looked up, watching as Oscar kept Kaohlad contained, six sea turtles encircling the Son of Night. Kaohlad fought viciously, twisting and turning, snarling in rage at his containment.
Lorelei narrowed her eyes.
There’s no way he’s being contained so easily. Not against his will.
Well, let’s see what happens when he comes under attack.
“Everyone ready?” Lorelei asked. Nods went around. Lorelei raised her hand, her glove Talisman blazing with white light.
The assault began.
Icy spears shot forth, impaling Kaohlad. Gwen’s needle sword shot through him and out the other side, weaving silver thread through and around his body. Deirdre used Manipulation Magic to call the stones at Kaohlad’s feet to attack, spiking upward and through his lower legs. Beside Isla, Dama’s tails flickered and swished, and little wisps of white flame materialized, floating around Kaohlad in a sphere. The Son of Night screamed in anguish, his movements slowing, strength seeming to fail him.
Lorelei watched closely, eyes narrowed.
It can’t be this easy.
What’s he planning? What’s he going to —
Her eyes widened. Bidding her icy powers to a new location, she screamed one name.
“Gwen!”
For while there was a Kaohlad within the cage of turtle Summons, being ravaged by a powerful offensive onslaught…
Another Kaohlad had appeared, rising up like a dark phantom, materializing right behind Gwen.
Kaohlad grinned with glee, swinging a wicked sickle.
Cerulean ice shot from the ground, flew from the sky. Gwen turned, raising her needle sword.
They were all too slow. Lorelei’s heart wrenched as Kaohlad’s sickle pierced Gwen’s torso with a sickening sound, protruding out the other side. Gwen’s golden eyes went wide, and then went dim, just a pale bronze sheen. Her whole body went slack.
Kaohlad moved to raise the sickle that impaled her, but Lorelei sliced his arm apart with a pair of spinning icy blades. A severed hand dropped, and then the sickle that was through Gwen’s stomach melted away into inky darkness. The next second Kaohlad melted away, too, and Lorelei raced to Gwen.
“Everyone on your guard!” Deirdre called out. “He can be in multiple places at once!”
Gwen dropped, and Lorelei barely reached her in time to catch her, cradling her gently as she knelt on the stone floor. She was bleeding so much, so fast, and her skin was so pale, growing paler still.
“Stay with me, Gwen,” Lorelei said, barely able to keep her voice steady. She placed a shaking hand over Gwen’s grievous wound, pouring Healing Magic into it. All around her the battle raged, but it was a dull roar in her ears, growing fainter the more she focused. Flashes of blue very near her told her that Oscar was keeping her safe as she desperately worked to save Gwen.
If she even can be —
But Lorelei shut that thought out immediately. The first stage of Healing Magic was analysis. She had to inspect the wound, and she who bore it. Without understanding, healing could not begin, could not be done properly. It was easy to watch and see it as just a pretty light show, but it was a delicate magic, one that was difficult to master. As proof, despite its incredible usefulness, the number of Healers among the Hunter Guild could be counted on two hands. Lorelei was one of only two who were proficient in combat as well as healing.
Her heart leapt within her as her analysis found evidence of life. Gwen was alive, though shock was stealing consciousness from her. By a stroke of luck, nothing truly vital had been pierced by Kaohlad’s blade.
Blood loss was the problem, and it was a serious problem. Even if Lorelei stopped the bleeding, Gwen had lost so much already that there was no way she’d be able to keep fighting. It would be amazing if she remained conscious for much longer.
And if Lorelei succeeded at knitting together Gwen’s wound, but couldn’t get her out of this dark place in time for more intensive medical attention…
She would die.
Now the healing could begin. Lorelei understood the wound, how horrible it was, and yet how miraculously simple it was. There would be no risk of internal bleeding, no complex internal repair to be done.
She just needed to close the wound. Knitting tissue and blood vessels back together was difficult, and became more difficult the larger and deeper the wound was, but this was as simple as such a wound could possibly be.
But healing took time. Lorelei worked as fast as she could without making things worse, without making mistakes, but every second Gwen’s wound remained open, she lost more blood. Her skin grew paler, her breathing shallower. She grew more limp, more cold in Lorelei’s arms.
“Stay with me, Gwen,” Lorelei said softly, soothingly, as calmly as she could possibly manage. “It’s okay. You’re going to be all right. Just hang in there a little longer.”
When’s the last time I saw a wound this horrible? When have I ever seen this much blood?
Twice. And one of those times, he was dead before he hit the ground.
You’re still alive, Gwen. You’re still alive. Stay that way. I’m not letting you die.
Not here. Not after all you’ve been through, all you’ve struggled and suffered through, all you’ve come out of. Not after you put your trust in me, even though you wanted nothing more than to go with Chelsea.
I won’t let you down.
“You’re just fine, Gwen,” Lorelei said, one hand stroking her auburn hair while the other worked at healing her wound. “You’re okay. You’re gonna come out of this all right. Stay calm, and stay with me. Don’t go to sleep. Not yet, okay? I know you’re tired, I know you hurt, but you need to stay awake a little longer. Don’t leave me, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I’m with you. I need you to stay with me.”
Gwen’s lips moved, but Lorelei couldn’t hear a sound except the barest of shallow breaths. Dull eyes tilted the slightest bit to look at Lorelei’s face.
Lorelei nodded. “That’s right, Gwen. I’m with you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her hand shook. A shiver went through her whole body.
She could feel ice creeping up her neck.
Not now. I’m not done until Gwen’s safe. I know I’m short on time, short on strength, short on everything I need.
But I have enough. It has to be enough.
Her eyes fluttered, and she suddenly sat up straighter, forcing her eyes wide open. She hadn’t dozed off, but she’d come perilously close.
Sleep sounded wonderful right now. All magic exacted a toll, required strength, stamina, energy from the mage, just like any kind of task, physical or mental. Combat outwardly seemed the most strenuous, but Healing Magic was easily the most taxing, the most exhausting.
There was, of course, the mental strain. It was a complex process, that required little in the way of physical movement, but a great deal of mental focus, of concentration, of analysis and decision-making.
But Lorelei suspected, as did other Healers she knew, that there was more to it than that.
I’m not just putting tissue back together. There are all sorts of cells, of tissue, sometimes of bone and cartilage, that gets destroyed. And yet, if we can reach them in time, we can almost always put their bodies back together like new. No scarring, nothing missing.
We replace what’s been lost, somehow.
It must come from us. Exacting from us a great toll, more energy and strength than any other Magic. Because we need to replace what’s been lost as if it was never destroyed.
That’s why some Healers work in ways similar to normal medicine or surgery, stitching things up, holding things together, putting the body in a state where it can heal naturally. They don’t risk exhausting themselves with “perfect” healing.
But I’ve…
Never done that.
It wasn’t the first time Lorelei had wondered at her methods. But now wasn’t the time for it.
With a sigh, she sat back, holding Gwen as steadily as she could. The healing was done. Her flesh was like new, not even the faintest hint of a scar.
“Gwen,” Lorelei said softly, finding it hard to speak up. She was so tired, so weak, so cold. “Gwen… it’s okay. It’s okay. Just… hang in there.”
Gwen’s breathing came slow, shallow… but steady. Her eyes were closed, but a brief application of Healing Magic — just a quick inspection by Lorelei — showed she wasn’t yet in danger. Rest might help her, at this point.
You’re going to live, Gwen. Just hang in there.
Slowly, Lorelei looked up. It was a force of effort, just tilting her head and eyes back to the battle.
There were three Kaohlads, and as she watched, one melted away into darkness while two sprung up elsewhere, bringing the total number to four. Oscar’s sea turtle Summons were doing an excellent job spreading out and managing the multiplying Son of Night, but Will, Deirdre, and Isla were hard-pressed to mount a proper offensive. Will used Gravity to crush a Kaohlad, but he just melted away, popping up elsewhere. Deirdre manipulated stone to lance upwards, impaling a Kaohlad, but another broke him free, and his wounds regenerated on their own.
Worse still… even Lorelei’s reinforcements were tiring. They must have worked hard to get here in time to save Lorelei’s team, and now they were fighting a monster who couldn’t die, who could multiply himself, warp his own body, heal from any wound…
We can’t win.
The sudden crushing sense of defeat, of hopelessness, made Lorelei pause.
She took a deep breath, but it was hard, it hurt. She was so cold, freezing inside and out, and her breaths came both in and out frigid, hurting her throat and lungs.
Don’t give up. Not now. No matter how bleak things are… no matter how little strength you have left… don’t give into despair.
“We appear to be in a tight spot,” Isla said, leaping away from a scything slash, landing next to Deirdre. “Perhaps a little break is in order?”
“We’re not running,” Deirdre said, pushing up her glasses. The frames gleamed with light.
“Oh?” Isla asked, raising an eyebrow. “Dama, do my eyes deceive me? It appears our dear friend has a plan.”
“Will, I need your help,” Deirdre said. “Oscar! Isla! You’re going to have to hold up the fight. This is going to be complicated, and take time. But it’s likely the only way to win.”
“No further harm shall come to any of you,” Oscar said, eyes hard even as he smiled slightly. “No matter how long it takes.”
Deirdre turned away from the battle, looking to Lorelei and Gwen for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lorelei just nodded, giving Deirdre the most determined stare she could muster. Deirdre paused, then nodded briefly and turned her attention to Will, speaking softly as Will listened closely.
You need to focus on the fight. Don’t worry about us. Oscar’s defending us, and I…
I won’t let Gwen die.
Every breath misted the air in front of Lorelei’s face with snowflakes. Her vision was getting that faint cerulean tint over it again. She was weak, and tired, and so cold…
In a way, the fight was over for her.
But from a different perspective, her fight had just shifted.
She cradled Gwen gently, stroked her hair and stayed close to her. Blood had pooled around her, gotten all over her clothes, but somehow it didn’t seem so grotesque now that she knew — as long as Deirdre’s plan with Will worked — that Gwen was going to live.
Three times, a Kaohlad moved to strike Lorelei, and a sea turtle Summon got in the way, powerful Guardian Magic forcing the wicked sickles back. Oscar hadn’t earned the nickname “Iron Wall” for nothing. Lorelei knew only a handful of the many stories about Oscar Greyson, but just a handful was enough. The legendary former Head of the Guardian Guild, even without the space to use his largest and most powerful Summon, was incredible at defending his allies. Now that he knew Kaohlad could be in multiple places at the same time — once that card had been played — it had never served Kaohlad well again. Oscar, once again, had him locked down.
But what other tricks is Kaohlad hiding? Despite it all, he seems to be enjoying this, even still. He’s gleeful that he even just wounded Gwen, and that wound must have given him so much energy, so much that he could steal from her in a short time.
He’s taking his time with us. The multiplying was a trump card he played when he needed it and no sooner. How long until he pulls out another terrifying new trick?
And who will nearly die to him next?
“Not to worry, weakened friends,” came Isla’s voice. Lorelei looked up. When had she come to stand behind her? Isla’s mysterious smile never wavered. “You see, Mister Rook uses Energy Magic. And our vicious foe is dependent on a vast store of energy that isn’t his. Deirdre marvelously noticed something, something very special. He’s going to be undone very soon.”
Energy Magic…
That had been the key all along. Lorelei should have seen it. How had she not seen it? Will was the one who’d been able to track Kaohlad. He was the one who’d helped prove Lorelei’s theories about the dying crops, the rotting food, the comatose people.
All because of Energy Magic.
He’s been the key since the start, and I didn’t even see it.
But…
What’s he going to do? How does Deirdre intend him to use his power?
“It’s time!” Deirdre called out, stepping forward. She pushed up her glasses. Stone suddenly surged upward in multiple places, trapping each Kaohlad in a stony prison. Before he could melt away, Will stepped forward, drawing a symbol in the air. Blue lines formed a glowing G over the image of an open book.
The emblem of Grimoire?
Will tapped the emblem with his stylus Talisman, and it pulsed once with light.
Kaohlad suddenly cried out.
“What are you doing?” he cried, each of his six forms squirming in their stony prisons. “What have you done? What is —”
He convulsed, mouth open wide in a silent scream. The other five vanished, leaving only one. Stone rumbled around him, until his prison shattered, but Deirdre didn’t trap him again.
Kaohlad didn’t move from his spot. His feet seemed rooted to the floor, even as his body shook and squirmed, wildly and violently shuddering. Veins of light started spreading across his body, many different colors.
“No!” Kaohlad suddenly cried through ragged, gasping breaths. “You can’t take this away from me!”
“It never belonged to you to begin with,” Deirdre said. “You stole your strength from Grimoire. From the city, from her crops, from her people. We’re just returning that energy to where it belongs.”
“Stop it!” Kaohlad roared, turning his gaze on Deirdre. He could turn his eyes, yet the rest of his body was completely out of his control. He screamed in agony as the lights swarming across his body suddenly burst outward, shooting across the floor, back up the stairs that had brought the mages down to this chamber, or up into the ceiling, vanishing through the stonework.
Two lines went elsewhere. One golden line went to Gwen, touching her chest and pulsing as it poured into her. A cerulean line of light went to Lorelei, touching her chest and pulsing faintly.
Lorelei gasped, as did Gwen.
Energy, strength, was returning to her. Just a little, and then…
The cerulean line faded. Kaohlad hadn’t stolen much strength from her, but even with what little was returned to Lorelei, she felt rejuvenated. She was still weak, tired, and cold, but she felt lucid, aware, alert.
The golden line running to Gwen kept going, pouring into her for far longer than Lorelei’s had. When it finally stopped, many lines of light were still pouring from Kaohlad and upward, back to the city. Back to where they belonged.
Gwen’s eyes fluttered open, and she started to sit up. But gaining back her energy, though it brought a little more color to her cheeks, a little more light to her eyes, couldn’t replace all the blood she’d lost. Lorelei helped her, and Gwen sat up, leaning against Lorelei for support.
“Welcome back,” Lorelei said softly.
“Thank you,” Gwen said, taking a few slow, steady breaths.
Kaohlad’s screaming faded away, even as light continued to pour out from him. All the energy he’d been stealing for weeks since he escaped death at the hands of Alice and Rabanastre was finally going back to Grimoire. All the horrific damage he’d done to Lorelei’s city was being repaired.
We did it.
Lorelei let out a sigh of relief. Slowly, the lines from Kaohlad started to fade, and then vanished completely.
All of the energy he’d stolen was gone from him. He stood there, breathing raggedly, shoulders slumped, arms dangling at his sides. There were cuts and bruises on his body, and his previously impeccable dark suit was torn in many places.
“What… have you… done?” Kaohlad said, voice harsh between breaths. He looked up and around, his gaze dark and menacing.
“It’s over,” Deirdre said. “You can plague our city no longer. And —” her glasses pulsed with light, and a stony prison engulfed Kaohlad’s body again, “you won’t escape.”
Kaohlad squirmed, but it seemed half-hearted. He didn’t have the strength to escape.
Lorelei looked at Gwen, who nodded. Together, with help from Isla, the pair stood. Gwen brandished her silver needle sword. Lorelei tugged her glove Talisman on tight.
A sudden flash of movement. Three icy spears impaled Kaohlad’s chest, along with two needle swords thrown by Gwen.
Kaohlad stared at the girls in shock, but slowly, the life left his dark eyes. His head slumped forward.
For a long time, nothing happened. Then, slowly, Kaohlad’s body began to dissolve into darkness. Each little mote of shadow drifted up into the air, slowly, before disintegrating into nothing. One by one, the remnants of Kaohlad vanished.
The Son of Night was dead.
We really did it.
A sudden rumbling shook the chamber. Lorelei and Gwen stumbled, caught by Isla. Everyone looked around frantically. What was happening?
A sound like rushing wind, like many tiny legs clicking and clacking over stone, like an oncoming storm, like a great beast squirming through tight passages…
Lorelei’s heart stuck in her throat.
The darkness. It’s here. It’s coming for us.
“We have to go,” she said, struggling to find her voice. She cleared her throat, then repeated herself in a shout. “We have to go!”
“Right,” Deirdre said, starting towards the path they’d taken to get down here.
She stopped after two steps.
The path was blocked by a wall of living darkness.
“Another way,” Isla said, ushering Gwen and Lorelei along. “Here.”
“Let’s go!” Deirdre said, starting after them. Will and Oscar ran as well, and as he came alongside the weakened girls, Oscar scooped Gwen into his arms.
“Don’t try to walk under your own strength, my dear,” Oscar said gently. “It’s my fault you were so grievously injured. Let me make up for it by carrying you to safety.”
“I can run,” Lorelei said determinedly as Will came to help her.
It’s not that I don’t want to be carried.
I’m just afraid that if I stop moving now, I’ll lose all my strength, I’ll fall asleep.
And I’m not ready for that yet.
Not until we escape this. Not until I see for myself…
Lorelei flooded her body with Enhancement Magic, largely focusing it on purging her exhaustion, on giving her artificial stamina that she knew would leave her woozy and sick for the next few days, given how far she was pushing herself already.
But she could run with the others. She could stay awake.
Isla led the way, Lorelei close behind her. There was a stairway, wide and shallow, rising steadily into dimness. Forcing weary feet up the stairs, Lorelei ran.
The darkness flooded behind them, surging, roaring, rushing, unstoppable. How far would it go? Would it chase them all the way to the city? Would it flood Grimoire completely?
Was their victory going to be that short-lived?
One of Oscar’s sea turtle Summons flew back to fight the tide, and Lorelei cried out, “Don’t! You might lose him forever!”
I don’t know what will happen. But I’ve only seen this rush of darkness once before, and it wasn’t as intense as this one.
We can’t fight it. We can only run, and hope.
Somehow they managed to stay ahead of the flood, Enhancement Magic working overtime for all five who ran — Oscar especially, as he carried Gwen in his arms and yet kept pace with the rest of them.
There was little room for talk. The rushing flood was so loud, so overpowering. Though it was dozens of feet below Lorelei, the sound made her keep glancing back. It sounded like the darkness was right on her heels.
And yet, it was getting closer.
“There!” Gwen called out, pointing. “Light!”
That simple word gave everyone a burst of speed. They raced upward, spiraling round and round on the spacious stone stairwell. The faint light above grew larger, and brighter, though it was clear it was quite dim. In the crushing darkness they raced through, even a dim light seemed so wonderfully bright.
The light came from a caged lamp hanging over a metal door. Lorelei eyed it strangely for a moment, finding it oddly familiar…
At the door, they all paused for a moment, looking down.
It had grown eerily quiet.
There was the living darkness, the great flood of immeasurable, untouchable blackness, deeper than the deepest night.
It had stopped.
It didn’t seem to have stopped of its own will. It pulsed and bubbled, frothed and foamed, and yet…
Some kind of barrier, some invisible wall, held it at bay.
After several moments, the flood receded, vanishing below the stairs.
Deirdre opened the door, stepping through first. Oscar and Will stepped aside, letting Isla and Lorelei go ahead of them.
Lorelei blinked in astonishment at the place she found herself in. Tunnels, made of stone. The sound of dripping water, faint but constant. And beyond that, the faint tunes of…
A piano.
“There’s no way…” she said softly, looking around. She hadn’t been here in so long, not since just before she first met Isabelle. And yet there was no mistaking it.
“Lorelei?” Deirdre called out in surprise. Lorelei was running, as fast as her feet could carry her. To the stairway, to the door, and out…
Into Grimoire’s public library.
“But how?” she asked softly, staring. There was the grand piano Isabelle had played, though someone else played it now, and the sofa she’d sat on. There was the balcony where Anastasia had played the Piper’s Flute, calling on so many Hollows to attack them, to help her try to kidnap little Isabelle.
“What is this?” Deirdre asked, first to emerge after Lorelei. She looked just as perturbed. “But… we were in Duo’s home, or what remained of it. To then arrive here…”
“And the darkness came up from beneath it,” Will said. “It seemed… old. Like it had been there since long before Kaohlad. Angry, as if it attacked us in vengeance for Kaohlad.” Deirdre nodded her agreement.
“It’s so dim in here,” Lorelei said. She pulled out her phone. It was only 4:16 PM. She raced to the door, flinging it open and stepping outside.
Up in the sky, the sun was pale, an ashen star in a grey veil of clouds. It was swiftly on its way to the west, and would likely set behind the mountains in less than an hour.
“Nothing’s changed,” Lorelei said, clenching her hands into fists. “We defeated Kaohlad. We returned the energy to Grimoire. Yet the days are still… so dark…”
Her strength suddenly failed her. She was very tired, and cold. Even Enhancement Magic only went so far. She fell.
Consciousness left her long before she hit the ground.