“I needn’t win this battle; only keep her occupied long enough without breaking the illusion! If she is still dreaming when midnight strikes, then the Keepers shall fall. It is impossible for me to lose when I control what happens in this dream.”

Madia

Madia sprinted across the courtyard through the rain as Cael hit the ground. Tuulin stepped back, as though giving her space. “Look now what this magic you so treasure does! And your people would so boldly call this a blessing?” Tuulin shouted angrily.

Madia knelt beside Cael and turned her over. Cael’s eyes were almost white, in contrast to the vivid green she had once sported. Her pale hair was frail and curled at its ends, feeling dry to the touch. “Madia… why have you come here?” Cael croaked.

“I-I came to help, Cael. Cael, I’m so sorry,” Madia whispered.

Cael clenched her teeth. “Y-your words mean nothing to me,” she spat. Madia’s mouth hung open a bit in response to that as the ex-Keeper of Magic glared at her. “For once in your life… just once, let your actions do the talking-” Cael’s final words came out as a stubborn gasp before she fell limp, a drawn-out breath escaping as her head swung backwards.

Tuulin turned around, starting to pace in small circles. “Now, that’s not what I expected from a pair of parting friends,” he muttered.

Madia let a pair of fingers slide down Cael’s face, closing the redhead’s eyes. Madia fought back tears as a wave of emotions flooded through her. “Flain, Aevum, Cael,” Madia whispered.

“Yes, you’re the last Keeper,” Tuulin groaned as he turned around, pointing his sword forward. “If I had it my way, you would have been the first to go.”

Madia lowered Cael down carefully, ever so slowly rising to her feet, refusing to take her eyes off Tuulin as she did so. “You have taken everything from me,” Madia growled back.

“Not quite.” Tuulin sighed. “I have yet to take your life.”

“And that was your greatest mistake.” Madia spun her staff in her hand, violet light and steam rising from the weapon as she held it in front of her defensively.

“Then show me, ‘Keeper of Mind’. Show me my mistake. Let your actions speak in place of your words.” he jeered.

Madia let out a cry of rage as she pushed herself forward, running at Tuulin.

He spread his draconic wings, but Madia flung her staff forward, jabbing it into the ground and vaulting off it into the air after him. In the same motion, she drew her knife from its sheath and opened her eyes wide in focus.

Tuulin’s confident smirk disappeared as he closed his wings, opting to avoid a clash in the air. He swiftly raised his blade to defend against Madia’s knife. With a resounding clang, the knife collided with the blade. Tuulin visibly stumbled as the strength of the strike caught him off guard, his icy eyes glancing up in surprise as they focused on his blade, which had a visible indent in it where the knife had struck.

Tuulin locked eyes with Madia in shock.

Before he could retaliate, Madia shouted again as she jabbed her staff forward. Tuulin raised a knee and knocked the staff away before back-stepping out of Madia’s range.

The lights on Madia’s staff flickered in the rain as she tucked it behind her back and gave chase.

This time, Tuulin ducked to evade the slash of the knife, swinging his blade at the arm gripping the staff. Madia sensed his intent and raised her arm away, swiping her staff at his head on the way up. Tuulin’s wings curled around him and he tumbled out of the way, rolling briefly before jumping into the air.

Madia whirled around and let herself crouch down. She threw her staff at Tuulin, letting it spin rapidly towards him. He leaned backwards in mid-air, narrowly evading the spinning wood, only for Madia to jump into the air to meet him.

He grabbed her wrist as the knife narrowly missed his face, then collapsed to the ground with the added weight of the woman’s assault. Madia grunted as the impact winded her for a moment, but, knowing her opponent surely suffered the same pause, she kicked his hand hard, sending his sword out of his hand.

Tuulin roared, before he twisted to the left hard, sending Madia off him as he scrambled to seize his blade.

Madia rolled to her feet and raised her hand to the sky, catching the staff as it fell to her. She slammed one end into the ground, causing a burst of multicoloured lights to erupt from the earth.

Tuulin shielded his eyes as he rose to his feet. Madia once again sprinted towards her opponent, but this time Tuulin took an aggressive stance.

Tuulin swung his blade vertically, despite his limited vision. Madia was forced to sidestep, being led into a hard kick to the gut from Tuulin. Madia gasped as she staggered away.

In the nick of time she saw his next swing, leaning and falling onto her back as the blade crossed the air where her neck had been moments ago.

On the ground now, Madia clenched her teeth as Tuulin prepared another slash. With a roar, she pushed herself up feet first to collide with Tuulin’s chest, knocking him back in turn. He supported himself on the blade as Madia quickly stood tall again.

She swung the crimson rod at him again from the left, where Tuulin parried it with his sword. At the same moment, Madia leaped after him with the knife again. Not having time to dodge after blocking the staff, he raised his sword. Madia felt a flare of confidence enter her heart as her eyes went wide once more, the light on her staff flashing before disappearing. She located the dent she had created before and struck it hard, once again forcing Tuulin to stumble back.

Now Tuulin’s confusion gave way to anger, his teeth clenched and his eyes filled with wrath as he caught on to what Madia was doing. “You think you’re the only one with these tricks? I will show you just what our element is capable of, Keeper!”

Tuulin raised his sword above his head as thunder boomed through the atmosphere. Madia flinched as a high-pitched whining began to fill her ears and tendrils of magic surged around Tuulin. She jumped back, distancing herself just in time before Tuulin propelled himself forward and his sword stabbed into the ground before her.

Now Tuulin was on the offensive as Madia parried a vicious strike. He spun and jumped side to side, Madia barely able to track his movements as he ducked and weaved past her, before Madia finally held her staff in place and jabbed it at him. He jumped away from her before snapping his fingers.

There was a resounding crackling of magic as suddenly a blinding light flooded Madia’s senses. She screamed as her eyes burned, shaking her head as she tried to recover. She collapsed out of the way of another sword strike as she opened her eyes, finding everything around her to be completely black. Panic began to well up in her as her vision was lost, and she felt the wind of Tuulin’s attacks blow past her.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she was forced on the defensive, using what few senses she had to dodge any incoming attacks and backing up rapidly. If I keep backing up, I will hit the castle wall-!

Madia knew that Tuulin was in his natural element so long as he was pressing the attack. He is a natural aggressor. I need to exploit that somehow, Madia realized. Yet, without her eyesight, she couldn’t reliably fight back. Madia knew she was cornered.

She ducked to the side and did a somersault, pulling herself back to her feet moments later and taking the brief respite to focus her magic. She struck the earth again with her staff and felt heat erupt from it, nearly hot enough to burn her hands as she heard the hissing of the rain evaporating on contact with the weapon.

The discharge of magic filled Madia with a second wind as she held her knife out again, just in time to parry Tuulin’s own blade. Tuulin seemed to gasp in surprise as she sightlessly deflected his weapon. For a moment, Madia sensed the warmth of a spark light up where she had defended herself, and an image from the sounds and the impact formed in her head.

She let out a battle cry and swung her knife, hearing fabric and metal clamoring together ahead, telling her Tuulin had jumped backwards.

She held her staff close to one end and swiped it through the air, reaching it outwards as she felt it collide with a clang, Tuulin’s cough telling her exactly where he was.

She ran forward as the sound of metal sailed through the air. She jumped up, feeling the slightest trace of a breeze beneath her feet before slamming her staff down hard on Tuulin’s shoulder. He cried out in pain before twisting his arm around. Moments later, Madia felt a searing pain break across her arm as the steel of Tuulin’s blade sung in the rain.

She screamed as she collapsed to the ground, skidding across the grass for a moment before forcing herself to stagger back to her feet. She placed a hand tentatively to her side and felt the warmth of blood on her hand. She stomped her foot on the ground as she heard the shifting of metal armor and footsteps approaching.

Madia winced in pain as she stepped forward to meet him, maintaining her stance as she held her knife out to the side to block another unseen strike.

She felt his blade give in response to the collision, and her grip on the knife tightened as she jumped up, kneeing Tuulin in the jaw as her feet sprung off the ground.

He cried out as he pulled away again. She heard him spit before the air shifted above Madia’s head. She lowered herself instinctively, expecting a horizontal strike, but instead noticing too late it was coming from above.

She pushed herself away only for the blade to strike her other arm. She tumbled to the ground, rolling for a moment, as pain shot through the arm holding her staff.

She had yet to land a hit that could cripple Tuulin, while he had landed several already. I am relying purely on my magic right now, and that will not last forever-! she thought desperately as she tried to come up with a solution. She had to keep the pressure up, or else the much larger man would easily overpower her.

She sprinted at him yet again, this time leading with a block. She struck his sword with her staff to knock it out of the way before swiping one leg under him. Much to her dismay, instead of pulling him out from under his feet, her leg hit his shin with a thud, causing her to gasp as the metal collided with her leg.

Thinking quickly, she hooked her foot upwards and pulled back hard, finally achieving her goal as one of Tuulin’s legs was pulled away. The stomping of his feet told Madia he was off-balance as she swung her staff up, meeting his sword once more before slashing her knife forward. She felt her blade make contact, and the pained roar told her she had hit her mark.

Something hit Madia in the chest hard, winding her as she was forced backwards again. She gasped as the wound in her arm throbbed, blood dripping into her tunic as she heard another swing. Once again, she parried it with her good arm wielding the knife, a spark flashing into vision, before Madia realized what it was she was sensing. Heat… I can feel heat!

Taking advantage of her prior plan, she flung her arm upwards, grinding her knife against Tuulin’s blade, and sending sparks everywhere. She grunted as she whipped her leg up, hitting his weapon-arm away with her knee before throwing her knife into the air above her. Her senses soared as her now free hand reached out into the air, grasping at the sparks that floated into the air. Seizing them, there was a crackling sound as heat throbbed from her staff, before Madia opened her hand and swung her palm through the air.

An orb of fire struck the earth, and immediately nearby grass and plants burst into flame. Tuulin had hardly a moment to react as she could now sense the cold spot where Tuulin was against the scorching heat surrounding them.

She vaulted forward, grabbing Tuulin’s wrist as he attempted to bring his sword back up. She gripped his hand hard, feeling his muscles ripple as he tried to wrestle free. The much smaller girl lowered herself down before letting go, using his own struggling to her advantage as he staggered backwards. His sword swung desperately over Madia’s head as she preemptively evaded the strike.

Madia backed away as the heat begin to overwhelm her, hearing her knife spinning in the air. She heard it stab into the ground directly behind her and reached down to pick it up. She felt the heat growing behind her rapidly, alerting her to the movement of the flames. She tumbled forward as fire crackled, picking up the knife on the way as a cold spot came flying out of the flames.

Recognizing it to be Tuulin immediately, she forced herself over to the side, evading the blade and following up with her own re-acquired knife. Her heightened senses immediately identified the dent in Tuulin’s blade as her focus returned, and she struck the weak point.

Her opponent gasped as he nearly let go of his weapon then and there, before jumping back. She felt the coldness vanish as she realized he had jumped into the fire. That’s right- Arden can withstand that kind of heat! she realized, furious with herself for not thinking of it before.

There was no time to waste. Madia knew exactly where he was. She had to chase him and take advantage of his respite.

Wasting no time, Madia ran as fast as she could towards the heat, fighting the voice in her head telling her to stop as she prepared her next move. She jumped into the fire, feeling the tongues trace along her leg as her cloak burst into flame. She did not stop though, as moments later she found the cold spot again, hearing a shout of surprise ahead of her.

Madia knew there was a chance he would strike back, but she bet on him aiming to block as his reaction told her he wasn’t prepared. She let out another war cry as with all her might she forced her blade forward, feeling it contact Tuulin’s blade as the heat of sparks exploded from the collision. Madia’s face was seared with heat as the embers hit her face, but her teeth remained clenched and her unseeing eyes wide in determination as she pressed hard against the hot metal, before feeling something give.

Madia lurched forward and heard an echoed CLANG as she followed through. She collapsed forward on top of Tuulin and the two rolled for a moment before Madia was flung from him.

Madia suddenly caught a glance of Tuulin’s black silhouette against the fire she had just jumped through as her vision finally started to clear. Though it was dark she could make him out against the orange flames behind him.

Without a moment to spare, Madia rushed after him again as he raised his weapon to defend, only to find it missing half of its blade. His look of terror pushed Madia forward, swinging her staff as fire curled up her pant leg. It collided with the hilt of Tuulin’s weapon, sending the off-balance sword to the ground as she followed through with her knife. Not even once did Madia hesitate as she thrust the blade forward towards the defenseless Tuulin before a voice broke across the battlefield.

“MADIA!!”

The shrill, struggling voice of a young girl caused Madia to stop, the tip of her knife poised right in front of Tuulin’s throat. His eyes were wide with shock as he leaned back, before the two simultaneously turned their heads to where the voice came from.

There, shivering where she stood, was Rell, standing in a puddle of water as she panted, her expression filled with pain.

Madia blinked in surprise. “R-Rell?” she exclaimed as her vision began to clear.

“Impossible…!” Tuulin muttered, a growl deep in his voice. He leaned back and swung his arm up, knocking Madia off-balance as he struck her wrist with his palm. She yelped as she lost her grip on her knife and it fell to the ground.

Rell screamed as Tuulin dipped down, spinning as he snagged the broken sword that he had been relieved of, before lunging at Madia with it.

Madia gasped as the blade went straight for her heart.

She had come too far to let it end so easily.

Madia felt her senses flood with awareness as she sidestepped quickly, raising one arm as Tuulin’s frantic jab went past her. She brought her arm down, striking him hard and forcing him to follow through before Madia wrapped her arm around his and pulled up. She grabbed his blade as it hung loosely in his grasp and – with one swift motion – she whirled around and plunged the fractured blade into Tuulin’s heart.

The Arden man gasped, his mouth and eyes opening wide in shock as they looked down. He collapsed before Madia, quivering as blood began to spread through his clothing and drip against his light armor. His eyes shook in their sockets as they glanced up to Madia, filled with rage.

“Un… believable…” he coughed, as Madia released her grip on the weapon and backed away, leaving the hilt protruding from his chest.

Tuulin gasped as he stood on his knees, staring at Madia incredulously. “For you of all people to best me in combat, when once it took four of you-!”

Madia glared at him through her still partially blind eyes. “Keeper or not; weakest or not, Alarulin is still my home, and its people are mine to protect,” Madia said through shaky breaths.

Tuulin stared right back, his teeth clenching as his expression shifted from anger to intrigue while he attempted to drag himself forward and onto his feet. He let out a pained roar as he stumbled and collapsed forward, before suddenly bursting into a flurry of multicoloured lights. Madia gasped as she stepped back in response, watching the colours dissipate and scattered into the air. “W-what…?” she stammered.

“Madia!” Rell choked as she called to her once more. “You’re dreaming!”

In an instant, everything around her shifted, and the entire world seemed to pulse and wave as a thunderous boom like ice cracking filled the air. A lack of clarity she had not previously been aware of suddenly vanished, and Madia felt her senses erupt with reality. Her body shivered, and every hair stood on end as the sky above flickered. Madia suddenly found herself surrounded by the same lights as she looked at her hands.

Dreaming… I am dreaming? Madia’s thoughts swirled as every moment that had happened in the last week played back in her head at a breakneck pace. “I’m dreaming,” she muttered, before a smile began to curl across her face. “I’m dreaming-!” she exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she looked up.

With that, the illusion was broken. She suddenly felt herself thrown off her feet as she fell into nothingness. But for the first time in days, no fear filled the Keeper’s heart as she felt water surround her. She tumbled and spun as she fell through the water, before suddenly sitting up straight with a gasp.

Madia’s eyes stared in shock as she found herself on the coast of the sea of dreams, a mighty storm throwing the waters about like a loosely held bucket, and the crimson moon blazing overhead. Madia suddenly realized all her wounds had disappeared and she had a renewed energy. She felt her connection to the dreamers of Alarulin return and remembered her purpose with renewed clarity.

If one dies, all Keepers lose their power, Madia mused to herself as she pulled herself to her feet. How ridiculous! She began to realize just how absurd what had happened in her dream was.

The island in the basin; the distance between Elra and the Vaira stronghold! All of that makes sense now!

“M-Madia…” Her joyous thoughts were interrupted as she heard Rell’s sputtering voice to the side. Madia quickly rushed to her side, to find Rell on her knees, supporting herself with her hands.

“Rell! Rell what’s happened; what’s wrong?” Madia questioned. As she did so, she went to wrap an arm around the little girl before almost screeching when she felt blood on her back.

“Th-the festival... the realms are merging-!” Rell choked. “Y-your nightmare is becoming r-real!”

Madia’s heart stopped. Flain, Aevum, Cael… even Rell! She began to understand Tuulin’s plan in its entirety as Rell gasped.

“I-It’s almost midnight,” Rell said through tears. “Help us! Please-!”

Madia stood up immediately. “Hold on Rell, just hold on!” Madia said as she turned around to look back out at the waters.

Her breathing was picking up as she investigated the chaotic waters. Madia sprinted as fast as she could, stopping at the edge of the surf as she gazed into the vision her nightmare had created. She held her breath as she saw many flashing moments of terror. Aevum collapsing to the ground as he dragged himself forward in pain, Elra city in ruins as fire tore apart the hillsides. The moon was adopting a crimson hue as midnight approached, and the stars in the sky seemed to be disappearing as the colours shifted from pink to red.

Madia staggered back a bit as she placed a hand over her heart. She swallowed her anguish as she realized what had become of her home in her absence, before finally understanding what had been holding her back all this time.

You are not insignificant, Madia thought to herself as she stared into the lightning-riddled ocean. “You are the only one that can fix this, Madia,” she said to herself. Despite everything that happened, she began to make sense of why she was here and why she had been chosen.

With that, Madia pushed forward, running through the sand and crashing through the waves before pushing herself up and into the air. She spun in the air as magic trailed from her fingertips, her eyes sparkling violet as she descended towards the waters. With a splash, her feet met the water and the sea practically parted on impact.

The spray of the ocean scattered around her, soaking her almost immediately, but she did not flinch as she jumped again, lifting one foot as the other pushed her forward, alternating as she traced her hands through the air, sending sparks of light off her body as she danced across the waters.

Every movement; every thought seemed to work together as she reclaimed her place as Keeper of Mind and wove the dreams of Alarulin back into the balance Harmony had so carefully crafted before her. Her mind worked faster than ever, her gaze darting around as she saw every nightmare below and twisted them into tales of beauty, valor and justice.

At last Madia came upon the darkest dream of them all as the moon turned red. Her very own nightmare was the one that threatened now to consume her home.

With one more cry, she stomped her foot onto the water's surface, sending it rippling away from her violently. On that final step, she heard what sounded like the shattering of glass as the sky above her waved in the night sky and the stars shuddered, the black clouds disappearing as the waters calmed.

As though the very realms had been split, she looked into the waters to see the moon return to its natural hue and the colours in the atmosphere fade to black, until at last the sky erupted with moonlight, revealing a beautiful veil of stars.

Thus, the realms were separated once more, just as they were meant to be.

Madia did not even realize how out of breath she was as the moon finally peaked. The waters around her gently lapped at the shore as she stepped backwards, staring up again in wonder and awe as light washed over the sea of dreams.

Immediately she remembered who she had left behind on the beach. She whipped around and skipped across the waters, jumping onto the sand as she skidded to a stop before Rell, who was laying on the ground. “Rell! Rell it’s alright! I’ve done it… everything’s going to be fine now!”

Rell simply lay there motionless.

Madia blinked as she knelt. “R-Rell? Hey, little one. Everything’s fine now,” Madia felt her heart rising in her chest again as it began to pound.

Rell still showed no signs of response as Madia pulled her up onto her lap, supporting her much like she had earlier that day when she had lost the child in her arms. “Rell? Rell please, I just got you back… I can’t lose you again-!” Madia pleaded.

Suddenly Rell heaved, her eyes opening wide as she inhaled hard. She coughed as she awoke in Madia’s grip, her eyes darting around in confusion as she came to. “H-hah! What? What happened?” she stammered.

She hardly managed to get those words out before Madia embraced her tightly, practically crushing the poor girl as she hugged her tightly. Rell almost immediately returned the gesture despite her surprised response. Madia shook her head as she rubbed the child’s back, fighting the urge to cry, but failing miserably. “You’re okay… oh thank heavens you’re okay-!”

Rell coughed as she came to her senses. “I missed you… I missed you so much,” she whispered as she gripped Madia’s wet clothing.

They remained there for a few minutes, both sobbing into each other as Madia bathed in the freedom she found upon being released from her nightmare.

At last, she loosened her grip, pulling back and looking at Rell through tearstained eyes as she smiled painfully. “You should go; everyone must be worried about you.”

Rell wiped her nose. “W-what about you?”

Madia looked over her shoulder into the water, seeing the vision of a cavern illuminated by torchlight. “I have one more thing I need to do.”