Chapter 22

The Crystal

The sky crackled with a force beyond comprehension, its once pristine blue corrupted by gray swirling clouds that all pulled in towards a singular point: the top of the crystal tower. At Terrill’s feet, what was once stone flooring or walkways that wended their way through Priscus had now turned completely to crystal, opaque and clouded. An ominous whoosh behind indicated the rivers drying up, and all of the elements going haywire inside the city.

Terrill feared that it was happening outside, as well.

At present, he wasn’t even sure what was reality of the physical world, or an imposition of the realm of souls that was attempting to consume it. The only things he was sure of were who was causing it, and what would happen if he continued to tie himself to the Lifeblood. Terrill kept his gaze upwards, to where the top of the tower was shining with a bright beacon, like a lighthouse that was calling on Adversa and the merging of the worlds.

From that spot sprang a wave of darkness, monsters who encircled the tower as a defensive barrier. Some streamed through the cavities that formed windows, while others hung there. Yet more spread out across the sky, a declaration of Golbrucht’s growing power. He needed to be stopped, and Terrill took a step in that direction, the one his friends had taken, when he caught sight of Krysta on the floor. She was attempting to crawl to any sort of wall in the hopes of pulling herself up.

“Krysta, stay still,” he called, sliding to her side and propping her body up. There wasn’t much left of her human skin, and his heart sank, a lump rising in his throat. “You can leave this fight to us.”

“These are my brethren. My kin,” she managed to say, though with all of the crystal on her neck, it was a wonder she was even managing to breathe. “I need to be the one to end this.”

“Then trust us to. In your state, I think he’ll only try to use you.”

“But if Lumen-” Her head shook, her long hair tossed about when she cut herself off. He knew what she was trying to say, but he smiled at her, hitching her up on his body and shuffling for the entrance to the tower, trying to find a safe place for her to sit and recover.

“Lumen is determined.”

“Lumen wants to die.” Terrill paused in his steps. He knew it, but didn’t want to admit it to her or anybody else.

“I won’t let it come to that.”

“Oh, Terrill…” He felt her hand on his cheek, pulling it to face her, and then the sensation of her lips on his, a piece of her that still felt human as the soul she had. Terrill’s mind blanked for a moment, caught unawares by her action that lasted far longer than his brain accepted. He wanted to return it, but she had pulled away before he could. “You always want to believe in the best outcome, always want to believe in that defiance towards fate. I came to believe in it, too, but to do so would…”

Terrill grabbed her by the shoulder, finishing his journey to a piece of wall that was large enough for her to sit upon it. He gingerly placed her down, ignoring the sudden screech of magical energy that the center of the library exuded. “I won’t let Lumen sacrifice himself. Not if I can help it.”

“But you can’t always help it. Do you really think you can save everyone?” Krysta clutched at her chest, but waved him off when he tried to get close to her. She looked up, not with tears, but an imploring steadiness that told him how resolute she was. “It’s such an admirable trait, and I love it, the way it drives you and all of us forward. But if a person is willing to die, can you really stop them? Can you accept it? I need to know, Terrill.”

He was in agony over the question, and feared even more what the answer to his own would be. “Why?”

Her pause gave him trepidation, heightened by the pain with which she gripped her chest. When her gray eyes settled on him, worn years beyond what her body would suggest, she spoke bluntly, and with conviction. “The Lifebloods are crying out, their souls being sucked dry, the power holding this world up is fading while Golbrucht tries to break fate. And I want it broken, too. I want to save you. All of you, including Lumen. But it’s…it’s possible there will be no other way to save people and sever those chains than by…”

She didn’t complete the thought, and Terrill wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted her to. He took her by the hands.

“Then there’s no other choice but to destroy him, right here and now. We’ll snap his strings.”

“Then I want you to promise me, if things reach their most dire,” she said, taking her hands out of his and cupping his face as best as she could, “let me do what only I can to save you and all the world. I need you to promise me, Terrill.”

His teeth clenched, and his lips were unable to form the words. She held him tighter, and the longer he stared, the more he could feel himself in pain. He wouldn’t let it reach that point. He couldn’t. But he knew she wouldn’t let him go without those words, just as she hadn’t let him run off like a fool when he had been injured. It took all of the strength he had, more than any it took to fight Winifred, and he nodded. “Krysta-”

She leaned forward again, but this time he knew she would. Their lips met, light enveloping them for that single moment. Terrill pulled her close, promising his own words that he would keep her, Lumen and everyone safe. He wouldn’t lose another person or fail them the way he had failed Winifred. Krysta pulled back, pushing him away and dropping to the floor to put both of her hands there, light pouring from them. “Go, Terrill. Join the others, and finish what I couldn’t fifteen years ago. I’ll catch up. Go!”

They had said all they needed to, and sword in hand, Terrill faced back to the storm of darkness climbing ahead of him. With Krysta’s power, a path of light stretched out, parting the shadows that would impede his path. Trusting in her, Terrill stepped forward, launching forward into a run for the stairs.

The monsters reacted to him, many of them formless wisps, some of them shifting between a defined form and little but shadows. They all rushed on him, only to collide with Krysta’s barrier, the light disintegrating them. Terrill didn’t pay any attention, his head charging forward for the tower, and leaping up the first few stairs.

Some stone fell down, caused by an explosion up above, but Terrill was more concerned by the peal of thunder and the bright light that showed another seam of the Lifebloods cracking. A surge of magical energy filled him, and it drew those monsters inside the tower to him, screeching down. He slashed at the air, and from the sides of the tower emerged numerous spires, driving through the creatures. Terrill leapt over some of his creations, ducking under others, and began his climb up the stairs with all speed.

The higher he climbed, the more monsters there were manifesting, protecting their master with all they could. One of them took on a different form, like a snowy wolf that leapt for him with a wide jaw. Terrill’s sword flashed out, bisecting the creature and turning it into water droplets that splashed upon him. That was more disconcerting than any monster.

Magic… The elements, themselves, are bleeding into Dimidia… Terrill increased his speed as much as was humanly possible, hampered by his earlier wounds and declining stamina. The more he looked, the higher the tower seemed, and he growled. Enough of this.

Refusing to idle, Terrill leapt off the circular stairs, and pulled enough magic power out of himself to call the earth. It rose to meet him, his feet landing upon it. His entire body was yanked upwards, the pillar of stone moving faster than the monsters could spot him, straight for the top floor. The sight of flames proved that Floyd and the others were already there, but Terrill could see the sealed pathway that would lead to the roof. There was no way through. Golbrucht had barred the way, further complicating matters with the scores of monsters, of many elements, that populated the top of the tower.

“Terrill, about time you showed up!” Walter snapped, spinning his spear to create a vortex that buffered the monsters away from them. “There’s no path.”

“Then I’ll make us one!” His cry rallied them, and all five leapt away from the monsters to grab his rising spell. He created another, drawing from the stairs into the same kind of drill that had ended his battle with Winifred. It spun and pierced straight through the crystal, grinding it into flecks until it broke through the surface, and they with it. Terrill jumped, landing on the outside of the tower and rolling forward until he could stand. When he did, he glared forth at the ugliest sight imaginable.

“Beautiful, aren’t they? The Lifebloods.” Terrill wished to disagree with the abomination Golbrucht had transformed into, the power clearly too much for his body. He was tied back to Atrum, the ashen blond hair now flecked with glittering crystals. Much like Krysta, his body had transformed, but rather than affecting his body, the Fiend wore it as armor. Black strings came from his body, tying him to the top of the tower, where rivulets of all the elements were flowing upwards. His smirk was equally unsettling, a cross between confidence and a craze that was overpowering his body, mind and soul. “Such power they have, I can see everything.”

“Everything?” Terrill scoffed. His foot scraped atop the tower, putting Golbrucht’s eyes on him. His friends and companions did the same, their weapons held to bear, ready for battle. “You’re not a god, Golbrucht. You’re just a pathetic Fiend who has to use others instead of making choices for himself!”

“Poor Terrill Jacobs, how little you can see.” Golbrucht’s crystal hand reached forward, pulling the strings while his fist tightened. In the air between them, heat formed, turning to a ball of scorching air that burst. They would have been knocked over, but neither was intimidated by the power Golbrucht attempted to show. “But I can see everything. The beginning. The end. Every point of fate that exists, and how to destroy it. I can even see your past, your future, your very home. Should I destroy it?”

“That’s all you ever seem able to do,” Terrill brandished his sword, cleaving the air as he pointed it straight for Golbrucht. He was tired of talking with this man, the lost cause he could never break through to. “Destroy human lives. Destroy Adversa. Destroy fate. Destroy humanity itself. Your answer for everything lies only in destruction, because you’re so broken and alone you can’t fix anything.”

“I don’t need to fix. I will be free!”

“Yes. We will free you.” Lumen took his few steps forward to be at Terrill’s side, and Floyd followed suit. All of them faced the King of the Dark together, weapons bared against the Fiend that had tormented them. At this, Golbrucht lost any humor, leveling a glare devoid of any compassion. “This is your end, Golbrucht.”

“Then it shall be yours as well, Blessed. I’ll not suffer you to taint my world with your compliance to fate!” From his body came crystal spikes, arcing through the air with the intent of impalement. Terrill acted, his sword slicing around with a spin, breaking them all apart with but one blow.

“We’ll forge our own fate, and we’ll do it by stopping you. Together.” Golbrucht laughed, but Terrill wasn’t done. “Isn’t that right, Atrum?”

Golbrucht’s laughter died, and he gasped, one of his hands cracking through the crystal to clasp his side. In that moment, his eyes flickered, the soul of Atrum rising to the surface. “Free us. Keep your…promise!”

That was one he would, he and his friends answering as one. “We will!”

“Silence, boy! You’re naught but a vessel! Accept it!” Golbrucht’s soul, tethered to the Lifebloods coursing through him, overpowered Atrum’s soul, pulling a tight rein on his powers. It was the signal for Terrill to draw his sword close, and run forward.

The order was heard: attack.

With the thrust of his blade, Terrill’s spikes jutted from the ground, stabbing through the crystal. A snap later and they exploded into fire. Floyd jumped through it, a grin on his face to bring a kick down, only to be tangled up in the strings. Lumen caught his slack, buoyed by Walter’s wind to slice through and free Floyd. Golbrucht reached for him, but Charles’s timely cross-slashed prevented him from gaining hold of Lumen, who skidded back towards Terrill.

“You keep telling Atrum and myself to accept our roles, don’t you, Golbrucht?” Charles sunk into the ground, and Terrill watched Golbrucht’s eyes track him mercilessly, the crystal glowing an angry red, prepared to explode and rip Charles’s body apart. “You keep telling us to accept fate while you want to defy it. Well, what if we do both?!”

“You cannot escape my destiny!” Golbrucht’s crystal fingers snapped and cracked as they formed a fist, and the ground detonated. Charles escaped, soaring forth to bring his twin blades crashing on the top of the crystal armor. He could not cut through neither that nor the strings, the defenses reinforced. The Fiend and his former puppet were locked together, at least until lightning tore up the ground.

From beneath it.

“The clock is already ticking. Adversa is fusing, its magic unintegrated, ripping Dimidia apart. When the dust settles, only the Fiends and the Blessed will remain, and all will be as it should be. Those who are left will be free to make their own choices.”

“That doesn’t sound like choice to me!” Terrill bumped fists with Torry, and both raised a spire that split some strings, allowing Charles to break off. He hit the ground and flipped back, lightning shooting up from the ground where he had momentarily been. “But then, you’ve never been a fan of choice, forcing the Fiends to do your bidding, forcing Sayn into a twisted game. It ends now.”

“If you have the strength for it. The world will be long finished before you find it!” From his crystal claws came extensions that dove into the ground, burrowing into it. From where they split, the top of the tower glowed blue, even as the black tempest whirled around them. An eruption sounded in the distance, a pool of magma collapsing some Priscan houses and spilling over to where the river once was. At the very center of the world, all things were beginning to fall apart.

Terrill rolled to the side, back-to-back with Lumen and Charles, while the remaining three dodged their own way. Where the blue lines split the crystal, stalagmites crusted up from the ground, each of them narrowly avoiding the attack. Walter was the first up, planting his spear in the first of the structures and bounding towards the sky with his wind. He ripped his spear out and sent a cascading tornado through, tearing up the brittle crystal and sending them Golbrucht’s way.

The Fiend was wordless, some of his crystal armor flowing off of his body unevenly and forming a shield that covered his front. The pieces of his own previous attack battered it, but did not break through, covering him in a dust that obscured him while the field was cleared. Clear enough, at the very least, that Charles rushed forth, both of his blades held close to his body in a cross position. They were coated in a shadowy flame, one that split the air when Charles reached Golbrucht, and rent the shield in two. The crystals hit the floor and shattered, but did not reform. Only some spots remained, but Terrill couldn’t examine where he was drawing the most or least from. Golbrucht was already acting, his fingers twisting.

Beneath the crystal, it was now water that came in pressurized streams, not unlike Warren’s attacks. With the force of the souls attached to him, Golbrucht pushed them forth. Some shot straight through parts of Charles’s body, though he protected the most vital parts, only being forced to take a knee. One of the waters snagged his knee, pulling on him.

“Come now, do not continue to defy the powers of the Lifeblood. You’re far too weak for that.”

“Perhaps, but as long as I have my charge, my country, and my world to protect, I will find the strength!” One of his blades stabbed through, severing the hold and distorting it. “Now, Miss Rainert.”

Torry must have understood exactly what Charles wanted, because she held no hesitation in whipping her hand out. The water coming from the ground froze, and with another wave, the girl had created an icestorm that blanketed the top of the tower in a haze of white. A different kind of crystal covered Golbrucht’s body, hindering his movements and allowing Charles’s pierced body to pull out of the line of fire. Terrill’s eyes met Floyd and Lumen, and as a single unit they dashed through the ice, the redhead’s flame protecting them.

“There is naught the Guardians can defend! They live on a lie! Just as this world does, clinging to its flow, unaware of the end intended for it. The end I can now see!” Through the ice came an orange glow, and Terrill felt the heat on his skin, blistering at his wounds. His feet nearly slipped on the melting ice, turning to rain that boiled as it struck the crystal. The flame was evident, becoming akin to the sun in its intensity. Floyd acted as a vanguard, jumping in front with his smoldering blades. The fire transferred to the rest of his body as the icestorm ceased in its entirety to the reveal of the globe of flame coming for them. “Even your own ends. Shall I tell you how to avoid it?”

“We’ll do that on our own!” Floyd shouted. With a cry, his daggers slashed downward, making contact with the exterior of the fire. It split, but did not break as the flames diverted to their sides. Terrill and Lumen got behind Floyd, holding him up as the force of the attack burned at his clothes, his own fires trying to mitigate the damage as much as possible. Floyd’s foot slipped, and Terrill could tell he was running out of magic, their previous battles taking their toll. “We’re not gonna try and pretend fate absolves us or some nonsense. That’s why…we’re here! Terrill, Lumen, I’m giving it to you!”

A different heat spread through Terrill’s veins and limbs. It wasn’t the destructive force of Golbrucht’s, but a kinder, gentler magic. His power didn’t increase, but his body felt lighter as Floyd dropped, exhausted from his lack of magic. He could no longer hold back the flames, but Terrill and Lumen knew that he no longer had to; he had conferred that responsibility to them.

“Shield!” the two cried, a crystal wrapped in light emerging from the ground to drive through what remained of the fires. It dispersed enough for them to zip straight up the angled plinth of rock, faster than they ever had been. Looking back, Floyd was grinning, and it gave Terrill the encouragement to leap off and bring his sword spinning down. Lumen did the same, the tangle of strings getting in their way.

He refused to let them, his brilliant blade shining and cutting straight through, to Golbrucht’s dismay. They snapped, allowing Terrill to continue on, only for his sword to meet another shield, more of the armor channeled to that spot. A few key areas were left protected on Atrum’s body, and Terrill realized what Golbrucht was attempting, only for the Fiend to fling him and Lumen off, straight for Walter who caught them.

The skies rumbled, and the tower shook. The monsters surrounding it screeched, becoming nothing but shades that joined in the trembling sky. A vortex appeared overheard, darkening as the lightning rained upwards from the ground, producing static in the forming clouds. Rain fell atop the tower, turning its already slick surface to a floor without traction. Their group gathered together, prepared for the storm that Golbrucht sent hurtling their way with the descent of his hand.

The searing bolt came thundering down, electrifying the very raindrops that it accompanied. One struck to Torry’s skin and she winced. Frost formed on her fingertips, and she prepared to freeze it to prevent further damage, only for Walter to hold her tight, pushing the hand away.

“You need to conserve. Leave this to me!” Walter’s spear turned skyward and he started to spin it, speeding up its rotations. Wind was produced, taking all of his energy to produce them. The light struck it, sparking along the cyclonic barrier, and not breaking through. More rained down from the sky and Walter pushed further. His winds started to cancel the storm out, driving the rain off the tower and to the grounds below, turning the streets of Priscus into a flood. “I cannot achieve defeat of him on my own, so you need to use all you have left and vanquish him! I entrust this to you! Voided Wind!”

Walter’s gale turned to a concentrated shot that soared to the eye of the storm, piercing through it and breaking Golbrucht’s attack. The skies returned to their muddied gray, while Walter dropped, joining Floyd and Charles in their wounded exhaustion. His arms were burned by the storm, but he grit his teeth against the agony.

“Look at all of you. So weak. A single battle with my Fiends has run you ragged. And you think you have the strength to defy?”

Terrill, Lumen and Torry, the only three that remained, turned to face the Fiend, Atrum’s face showing through. The crystal armor had diminished to only a few spots, and Terrill knew just what Golbrucht was trying to protect. He swung his sword around, meeting each of his companions’ gazes. They all knew what to do, united under their singular goal; something Golbrucht could never comprehend.

“We will defy. All eight of us.”

“Eight?”

“Because Atrum will fight you, too, once we remind his soul that his body doesn’t belong to you, just like the Lifebloods! Just like this world! Let’s go!” Terrill swung downward, his stony drill appearing in midair to whir for Golbrucht’s form. He expected this, his strings quivering with two elements. The stone froze, and then exploded into a blaze. Torry leapt into it, whirling her hands with water to dispel the fire before freezing it to a solid blade that she slashed down towards one of the protected spots.

“Rudimentary, girl!” Without moving, Golbrucht’s entire body was covered in armor of wind, one that flared out and caught Torry within it. Her blade shattered into pieces, but she yet made use of it, providing the distraction for Lumen to run through the arrows that peppered Golbrucht’s body. “I see all! Your fates! The decisions you can make! You cannot win!”

Lumen leapt over the swinging claw, his sword finding its mark and jabbing into the crystal. It remained lodged there, while Golbrucht’s hand shot out and pinned the boy to the ground. He spoke again, his hand pushing into Lumen’s throat. “Come to die, have you, Chosen One? I will not allow it. You will be my vessel. Your new destiny.”

“I…will make…” Lumen choked out, grabbing the claw and attempting to lift it off of his body, “my own destiny! Be it life, or death, I will vanquish you by my own choice!”

“There is none!” The claw reared back, and Terrill intervened, his sword piercing the hand as he attempted to hold it back, pushing against the Fiend. In that same claw, more fire was formed, warping parts of the steel and burning at his skin. It was a deadly blaze that Terrill knew he would not survive, pushing against it with all he could.

“I will not…let you, Golbrucht! I am a Guardian, and that means…protecting Lumen! Protecting everyone!”

“Then you will protect no one, Terrill Jacobs! I have seen it! The end that awaits you! There is no one you can save without suffering! Without sacrifice!”

“Yeah, then what about something you can’t see coming?” Floyd’s voice took Golbrucht off-guard and the Fiend turned his fire in the direction of the voice, only for something to shatter.

The fire disappeared all of a sudden, the strings that were once taut snapping and vanishing back inside his soul. He gasped out, yet grinned at the same time. Terrill knew what had occurred, especially seeing Floyd, who had emerged from the shadows behind Golbrucht, pause for a second. The world grew a little colder.

The Lifeblood of Fire had shattered, its power drained.

The clock was ticking down, and knowing that, Floyd fully emerged from the shadows that Charles had used his last to create. His hands gripped to Lumen’s sword, and with all his strength, he pushed on, driving through the crystal until, at last, he reached the flesh of Atrum, the weakness that Golbrucht had tried to keep protected. Lumen gasped at the pain, synchronous with Golbrucht.

His scream was magnified, the Fiend howling with pain. The elements swirled around him as a typhoon. Lumen threw himself on Terrill’s feet, trying to steady the both of them as the winds drew them back, cracking the very roof they stood on and crumbling further down below. Terrill could swear to seeing Krysta, but his whole body was tossed away, he and Lumen rolling across the roof with painful and sickening cracks. The others were tossed away, too, many to the edge, while Floyd almost fell off the roof, hanging by its edge. The cry of the Lifebloods could be heard through the attacks, and Terrill knew how little time was left of them.

He pushed at the ground, breath heavy and limbs sluggish. Terrill flexed his fingers, attempting to feel any kind of magic coursing through him, but finding nothing. It was just them and their weapons against the source of all magic in the world. A dauntless, unforgiving situation that was to spell the end of it all. The tower flickered, Floyd’s grip disappearing as Adversa bled through, but he kept holding on, his tips bleeding. They weren’t going to give up. Knowing that, Terrill chose to stand.

His body groaned, his wounds aching, but he shuffled forward to Golbrucht. Lumen joined him, holding his fists up as the sword in Golbrucht’s side had been discarded by the earlier attack.

“Terrill…” Torry called out. She pushed up with what she could, but Terrill could see the wound on her lower leg, a shard of crystal embedded in it. “The Lifeblood’s gone.”

“I know.”

“We’re out of magic.”

“I know,” he repeated, refusing to take his eyes away from Golbrucht. That was why Torry raised her voice.

“Which means he can run out, too.” Terrill could hear Torry grab the crystal spear in her leg and begin to pull, the squelching echoing and the squealing contained. “He’s protecting himself, because his vessel is weak, and the more Lifebloods he loses, it might mean we’re close to losing but…”

“It puts him at a disadvantage, too,” Lumen finished. Terrill looked away, realizing fully how they were the only two left standing, facing their shadow and best friend, against the King of the Dark. Lumen put his foot forward, and Terrill knew what he would ask before he did. “Atrum, are you ready to end this on our terms, together?”

There was a moment where all went silent, the storms and outpouring of magic ceasing, and Golbrucht’s eyes turned from red to blue. “Yes. Together. Terrill…keep your promise. Save me. I am willing, if that is what it takes to fulfill my dream.”

He didn’t want to admit it, but Terrill’s heart fell at those words, understanding what Winifred had meant all along. What Lumen had never stopped wanting to do.

Or, perhaps, he had always just wanted to do it on his terms, never understanding another path. A sacrifice that Terrill could not accept, not as his Guardian, and not as his friend.

So, when Lumen ran at Golbrucht, Terrill was at his side, only one path forward to defeating Golbrucht before it was too late.

Lumen and Atrum were going to die, and kill the King with them.