Never

Before Berion could do anything, Kaeliss connected the two strings he had been carving in the world, his Soul tearing itself apart as he fueled them. Runes of Destruction, of Annihilation, of Piercing, of Tearing, and of Force, were tied to runes of Forward Direction, of Strengthening, of Magnifying, of Bending, of Guidance, and wrapped all together with Obliteration.

Uru-Aru-Hi-Los-Ka-Ha-Dor-Gor-Nem-Fa-Vish

The Essence around them shook, the one closest to the still triggered Rune started to unravel. Air breaking apart, Space pealing away creating gashes in the plane that destabilized further and brought in Essence from other planes pouring in.

With the Essence of dozen different planes spilling in, serving as fuel, Kaeliss triggered his attack.

The world wailed as a beam of pure dark red light blasted straight down at their opponent.

Berion felt Zacharia get free as the powers he had used to keep him in place frayed away. Then something rose from within him. His armor blazed with green light and he raised his hands to intercept Kaeliss’s attack.

Berion’s heart stopped, he knew that Kaeliss’ attack wouldn’t hit, knew that Zacharia’s mastery of Time was greater, that he could evade with all the time in the world.

And yet, he watched as Zacharia stopped the beam, froze it in Time. He saw as the power of the beam billowed through Time itself and started spreading its destruction around it.

Zach kept the attack at bay, kept it at bay because he saw what was building on the bank of the River of Time just ahead. Already it was a moment in time that would become a fixture, a tragedy. And he would not allow it to happen.

He had done so much wrong in his life. He had tried to be good, but sometimes there were no good choices to make. Now he made one, and stood firm even as the attack he was holding with all of his will and power was pushing through. As the gauntlet of his armor peeled away and the flesh of his fingers blistered and burst apart. As the bones of his hand started to blow away as if they were made out of dust.

He stayed, and held it at bay. Hoping that he had made the right choice. That someone else would make the right choice too.

Frozen, Berion watched as Zacharia held off Kaeliss’ attack, even as it threatened to overwhelm him. He didn’t understand, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. It was going to get through, and it would kill him.

He should still be able to get away, to slip through Time and escape it. And then he realized.

They were so far above that they were surrounded by clouds, they were above the mountain. Their battle had taken them straight up, but they hadn’t moved much like the others had.

The town was below them, filled with tens of thousands of people. Their people were down there, those who had been like them. People that had been abused, who had the misfortune of being considered as somehow beneath those in power. And they were in the line of fire.

“Kael!” Berion yelled, getting as close to his friend as he possibly could. “Stop, Kael!”

His friend didn’t react, his eyes were bloodshot, his Soul was crying out in agony, but he was fully focused on pouring more power into his attack.

Berion tried to get through to him again. “Kael, the town! You’ll kill everyone if you don’t stop!”

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His head twitched, and his eyes glanced in Berion’s direction. “No,” he whispered. “I can’t stop. He must die, like all the others that stand in the way of our better world.”

Berion shook his head. “It’s too much Kael, we’ve gone too far away from what we were supposed to do, to be!”

Kael shook his head, his eyes blinking rapidly as if he was unsure.

“Those people down there don’t deserve this.”

Kael grimaced, his lips trembling, his eyes wild and unfocused. “They believe, like we do. They would think it a fair trade,” Kael said, his eyes growing more determined. “Their sacrifice will bring about something better.”

Berion couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Stop this, stop Kael!”

Kael’s face turned grim. “Never.”

Berion saw no sign of his friend. Of the man that had saved him from slavery. Who taught him to live his life to help others. His friend was lost somewhere along the way, and Berion had only been chasing his shadow.

He closed his eyes.

|I Was One With Space|

|I Saw Through Space|

His hand raised and he drew runes, a string of his own design—his Soul sang with power.

Mark Space—he designated an area surrounding Kael and his attack. The Time interfered, but not as much as Berion had feared. It was almost as if it knew his intentions.

Warp and Transport

Berion focused, and triggered his perk. And immediately hit a wall. The Space around them trembled and shook, and Kael swung his head to look at him in disbelief.

“Ber? What are you doing?” His voice was filled with betrayal, but Berion pushed.

If he could just transport Kael and his attack somewhere else, across the world, where the damage wouldn’t matter.

But he couldn’t activate his powers. His attack was destabilizing everything around itself. Berion’s Image was shredded apart by the effects of it.

He carved runes, trying to stabilize Space enough so that his powers would work properly. He drew as deeply on the plane of Space as he ever had.

Kael snarled in his direction. “Traitor!”

Berion’s power started shaking the Space around Kael, bending it, he was pushing through.

Kael’s eyes turned fearful, and then from his ragged Soul something pushed out.

Before it could fully form, before it could wash across the world in a way that would shut down Berion’s power, Berion thought only on his need to stop him.

He knew that it wouldn’t stop his runes, it stopped only powers that came from living beings, and runes were something else.

Berion had lived his life trying to be free, trying to save people, to do better. Now, the person he had followed for so long was about to kill those that they had saved, those that they had promised to protect.

Perception of the world shifted within him, and he saw how others saw him, them. He had been part of a group that had caused so much death and suffering for others.

Somehow, he had convinced himself that it was okay, because they embodied the image of those who had done horrible things. Who had carried the whip and power over him and others.

He had been so wrong, so misguided.

Now, he just wanted it all to be gone, to hide what he and the Unchained had done from sight, never to be found again.

It ignited in his very being.

—Rej

—Collapse Space—

The world folded itself, and Kael was pulled in alongside his beam. It was as if time slowed down for a moment. Berion could see the disbelief in his eyes, the fear. Then, it was over in an instant. Space imploded toward Kaeliss, pulling with it all the Essence that Berion had marked. Kaeliss was crushed by the sheer weight of Space long before his own attack arrived and was forced into a singular point, its power obliterating everything on its way as it too was folded into nothingness.

A blink of an eye, and everything was calm. A rush of air filled the gap that Berion had created as Space repaired itself and was made whole once again.

He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

“You might not think so right now, but you made the right choice.”

Berion opened his eyes and saw Zacharia, the Warden, hovering in front of him.

“Did I?” Berion looked at the man, not knowing how to feel.

The man’s armor was cracked in places, it was leaking Essence. His left hand was gone, only half of his forearm remaining. Berion didn’t know if that could even be healed, if the limb could be regrown. The powers that Kaeliss had used would’ve Obliterated it completely, annihilated the very idea of a hand in the man’s Soul.

“Yes,” the man responded. “In time, you will come to understand. Your friend was far too gone. Perhaps once he was trying to do something good, but he strayed from that path long ago. The moment he decided that killing innocent lives was justified if he got to kill the guilty as well.”

Berion turned away, unable to look at him.

“Where is she?” Zacharia asked.

Berion closed his eyes. “The fortress, the tower. Ra’azel… he, I don’t know if she is still alive.”

“Ryun will find her then, one way or another,” he said. And then Berion felt a hand on his shoulder.

“A choice like this, should never feel easy. You’ve made a difficult one, now you must choose what it is going to mean for you.”

Berion couldn’t find the words to answer.

He felt the man move away, heading toward the other battles. Ber was grateful for it, he didn’t know if he could handle to look at him.

He remained where he was, staring at the place where his friend used to be. The place where Berion had killed him.