Pain, fierce and hot, surged through Stathis, up from her belly, settling deep into her bones. She couldn’t move, her limbs refusing to obey her, sensation flaring, agony bright and fierce. Above her, the sky was solid black, or she was blind – it was impossible to tell, nothing in her field of vision. A ringing sounded in her ears, throbbing in time with her heartbeat, every pulse bringing new pain.

The wound felt deep – cold penetrated her body, stabbing and harsh, from where it stuck through her, like razor-sharp icicles thrust into her body, growing and thrusting deeper and deeper into her. And the hunger! It was a desperate, howling need, cutting as deep as the bitter chill, driving away all other thoughts.

She could dimly feel the hilt beneath her hand, keeping hold of it, her fingers locked in a reflexive and tight grip. The darkness in her vision intensified, a numbness creeping along her fingers, then down her arm, a weakness it was hard to fight. The pain seemed to lessen as she felt her consciousness fade away, her eyes slowly closing, falling into the soft seduction of the numbing darkness, away from the pain…

Light erupted in her vision, bright and stinging.

And so all falls to darkness and death. Even with my blessings, it wasn’t sufficient. This world shall be left to the shadows, where all grows dim and dark.

Around her was light, stingingly bright. Directly ahead of her, still embedded within her body, was the Blade, now solid black. It sucked at the light, causing a flow towards it, the Blade gulping thirstily at the energy all around it. The twisting hunger in her own guts faded somewhat, the voice sounding out from all around her.

Perhaps I placed too much faith in you. You fought, with bravery and skill, but even your strength wasn’t enough.

Stathis tried moving, finding that she had some limited control over herself, although her body was still numb and slow. When she tried to grasp the hilt of the Blade, her hand passed through it, feeling nothing more than a sudden, intense chill, the desperate hunger intensifying, her fingers cramping in cold agony.

‘You didn’t exactly help much!’ Through the glow, she could perceive darkness, dim shapes, slowly moving – was that the battlefield, combat still all around her? ‘You didn’t really do anything! You’ve not even given me any useful advice.’

Even I, powerful though I am, cannot reverse the flow of time. It is to be regretted that you were weak, that the light sparked in you was not strong enough. Perhaps had you not been seduced by the darkness, then events would have transpired differently?

‘Don’t blame Janaxia for this!’

The shadowy images were growing dimmer, getting harder to see in the surrounding pillar of light.

‘She’s done far more than you have! At least she’s actually doing something, not just sitting alone! Have you ever done anything, other than create me and then sod off?’

You dare much, child of light!

‘I’m already dead, there’s not much else that can go wrong! And you haven’t done anything! Even now, you’re not helping. And did you ever even try and do anything?’ Her body was weakening now, getting colder, the hunger still burrowing into her, Blade still embedded deeply into her flesh. She tried grabbing it again, but it was like thick mist, her fingers unable to find any purchase. ‘All you did was give vague prophecies, nothing actually useful! At least Janaxia is fighting, trying to stop this! What are you doing? Anything?’

There was the mental sensation of an indrawn breath of shock.

‘Can’t you feel it? It’s hungry, it’s been starved!’ The flow of light towards it was more obvious now, like water down a plughole, leaving ugly sears of darkness in the flaring light. The light made a pained sound, the area around Stathis darkening further. ‘And you have energy to spare, don’t you? It’s not like you’ve been doing anything these past centuries, or however long it’s been for you! Just because you’ve been sat alone for however long it’s been – you even abandoned the one follower you had left! And now you’re abandoning another world, barely doing anything to help! You just laid it all on me, and laying a bunch of prophecies that didn’t mean anything.’

She fumbled for the Blade again, her fingers tensing up on thick, gelid air. The Blade suddenly moved, getting pulled out of her, the pain getting more urgent, as the stabbing cold faded away. She had a brief image of Janaxia’s face, looking through the haze, before she was gone.

The darkness will not stop. It cannot be fended off!

‘It might not be possible to destroy it, but they can be bought off. Skotadi just wants pretty dresses and… Well, I’m hoping she doesn’t figure out boys and or girls for a while, as that’s going to be a mess. Armoniki just wants to read a lot and meet people. And the Blade just wants food, or energy. They’ve been shoved in a cave for centuries, and then broken apart into shards and dust. They’re hurting, they’ve been tortured and broken. They’re not in a position to fight. And unless the other two do something, there’s nothing to worry about. Most of the demons left are just… people. OK, a lot of them are creepy, weird people, but even Zarazonnia can be talked to and negotiated with.’

They will bring nothing but destruction!

‘I think the only thing Skotadi might destroy is a fancy dinner! And some wine, unless Janaxia can stop her. And at least they take interest in the world! You just abandoned it!’

I created you, child of light!

‘Yeah, and my mother thought the best thing to help me was to have a strong base to work from. So she founded an entire country, just to make sure I would have the support I would need. What have you done?’

Victory could not come from military might.

‘Well, you never told her that, and having a powerful, loyal and well-trained army to support the champion of light seemed a good idea at the time! If we do pull through this somehow, it’s going to make the clean-up operation a lot easier.’

There will be no survivors. The world will perish, and all that was, shall fall to shadow.

‘The others are still fighting! And I’m still here! Even if you can’t heal me, then there must be something you can do!’

Your allies, and the accursed one, shall fall. They may be powerful, by mortal standards, but they cannot stand before such a foe. All will perish and the world shall fall.

‘Then do something! Help me!’

There was a flicker in the bright light, showing Stathis an image of the world appearing – Semari was wounded, her arm broken, Vrintar bleeding heavily, Janaxia caught in the middle of the air, flying backwards, pain on her features. Their attacker had the Blade, and lifted it up, bringing it down and stabbing it back into Stathis’ body.

Pain, hot and cold, both surged into Stathis, her vision wavering, streaks of darkness and white light flashing across her vision.

You see! There is no victory, my child. You fought well, but you must accept it.’

‘No! It doesn’t have to end like this! For once in your existence, listen!’ Stathis focused her power, the streaks fading somewhat. The pain was getting worse and worse though, bitter-hot ice stabbing up through her guts, with greater intensity. ‘You have power! Lend that to me! Let the Blade feast!’

You would empower my greatest foe?!

‘Whoever is fighting us is the enemy! The Blade? They’re broken, weak and almost shattered – they don’t want to fight, they’re just being used.’ She could see the energy flowing into the Blade, the weapon hungrily gulping it down, wanting more and more to sate itself. ‘What do you even need your energy for? You’ve sat, alone, in another world for centuries! Help me, feed the Blade, and we can end this! At the least, you can help me to stop another world falling to darkness. Lend me your power!’

Stathis managed to force herself up, trying to ignore the desperate, searing pain, hot and cold mingling together in her guts, her legs worryingly numb. It took all her focus and will to move, inch by slow and faltering inch, managing to find the hilt again, the thing seeming more solid in her grip, unless that was a pain-induced hallucination.

‘Actually goddam do something! You need to take responsibility for this – let the Blade feed, or accept that you’re fucking useless!’ Her rage and frustration was making her feel light-headed, and it was even harder to see, her vision gone except for the wide slab-blade of the weapon impaling her, and the backing corona of the light, now a whirlpool.

It suddenly burned, clean, clear and pure, dazzling Stathis, making her eyes hurt. She felt the Blade heat up, struggling to consume the energy, some of it flowing into Stathis, making her body ache and hurt even more, but the coldness was starting to fade…