Without another word, Kendra grabbed his forearm and hoisted both of them to their feet, the Changeling forming a sturdy cast around her leg to assist her. She could feel her jaw clench, but they had very few options left. The Rebellion was slowly being driven up to higher ground from the rising water levels. More and more water was gushing out of the sky, the smell of wet stone and marshy earth filling the air, testament to the number that the fight was doing on its underground supports. Huge slabs of stone were beginning to rain down in clusters, throwing up tall splashes of water like cannonballs shot from a galleon.
Dad, Kendra spoke through the network, hoping he could still hear her. The chains are--
She suddenly grabbed Dario's chest in fright as a flurry of movement exploded from near the third pillar. The Warden's distraction had allowed Kezia to circle around and pin the Construct to the stone, crushing her against its surface, and it made horrific grinding noises as its limbs and neck were wrenched into awkward angles. Nala screamed Daemon curses at the Tyrant while it squeezed harder, the same cracks racing upwards towards the surface with ear-splitting sounds. Kezia looked to be in horrible shape--mangled by both the Arbiter and the Construct, seizing occasionally with Jari's electricity, acidic blood spilling and blooming across the choppy underground waters like oil. But then, like a rush of blood to the head, the scenery around everyone seemed to flicker and shift, and Kezia's form began to occasionally jitter back and forth between heavily injured and thriving at full power, unscathed. Dario's knees suddenly buckled as Kendra's weight hit his arms, and he looked down in shock, seeing her very clearly and obviously dead in his arms, neck broken and eyes gray. Then the air shimmered again and she gasped back to life with the same wounds she had before, the fatal injury gone like it had never existed, stumbling back to her feet on her one good leg. Across the hilltop, clusters of rebels died right in front of each other, and then the illusion vanished and they were returned to standing and breathing again. The bound Construct itself powered down completely, losing all energy and going slack against the pillar, before stuttering back up again, blues and golds surging brighter before settling into scarlet. Kezia's voice split the air in a crazed laugh, and she lifted her broken, healed, broken, healed arms to the surface, where the golden glow was getting stronger and stronger. She tightened her grip on the Warden, as though trying to choke her out of air she did not breathe.
"I̴ ̵S̶E̷E̵ ̶I̶T̵," the Illuminar cackled, entreating the sky as though worshipping. "I̴ ̵S̶E̷E̵ ̶I̶T̵!! I̸ ̸S̷E̸E̷ T̴H̷E̴ ̸O̴N̸L̸Y̴ T̶H̵I̸N̶G̷ ̶T̵H̵A̴T̵ ̷W̵I̷L̵L̴ S̴T̶O̵P̸ ̸T̶H̶E̵ ̶F̷L̴O̴O̷D̷ O̵F̶ F̴I̸L̸T̴H̷Y ̵M̴O̶R̷T̶A̴L̸S̸, ̵T̶H̴E̶ ̴E̵T̴E̶R̴N̸A̶L̷ ̸C̴Y̷C̸L̷E̴ ̴O̷F̶ ̸U̵P̸R̷I̴S̵I̴N̵G̶S̴!!"
In the caves above, Milae tripped to his knees, then realized that he only had one left when a rush of scarlet began spreading below him. He gripped his spasming thigh in horror, bile rising at the onset of blinding pain--his left leg was missing from the hock down. He lost balance again as he blinked and it was back, whole again, like this was a fleeting nightmare, and yet the pool of blood remained below him, soaking his fur. He looked down at the Construct's chest in utter tearful despair, and with a flourish of space, he and Virion vanished. The illusions crashed over the Rebellion again, feeling more real this time, more permanent, before washing away once again.
"W̸O̶U̵L̴D̶ ̵T̵H̸A̸T̴ ̸I̷ ̶C̴O̷U̴L̸D̶ ̷K̴E̸E̴P̷ ̴T̵H̴I̷S̶ ̶D̶O̷M̸A̸I̶N̸ ̵A̴S̵ ̶A̵ ̸T̸R̶O̶P̵H̵Y̷ ̷I̸N̸ ̸P̸E̸R̶P̶E̶T̶U̸I̷T̶Y̸ ̴A̸N̶D̵ ̵S̶T̷O̷R̸E̸ ̴Y̶O̴U̷R̸ ̴C̸O̸R̸P̵S̶E̸S̶ ̸I̵N̴ ̸I̶T̶S̷ ̴F̵O̵U̵N̷D̶A̴T̸I̸O̸N̸S̷," Kezia crowed, as the column behind her made a snap like a glacier. "B̷U̷T̶ T̵H̸E̵ ̷L̵O̴O̸M̴ ̶R̵E̵V̶E̷A̷L̵S̵ ̵A̷L̷L̴ ̷T̴O̶ ̴M̷E!! I̷ ̵W̷I̵L̵L̴ ̷B̷I̵N̵D̸ I̵T̷ ̵A̸S̴ ̵O̵N̶E̵,̷ A̸N̷D̶ ̴I̴N̷ O̸N̵E̴...B̴E̴C̶O̸M̷E̸S̷ ̵N̸O̷N̴E̵!!"
With a a strength beyond mortal possibility, Kezia crushed the base of the third pillar as though it were chalk in a man's fist. Dust and water both misted rapidly into the air, and silhouetted in the choking gray, they saw the Tyrant's mouth pick up the limp Construct in its jaws, and fling it overhead, sending it careening into the fourth pillar with another explosion of granite shards. The city above flexed and trembled and warped, shedding more and more light on the underground.
Lila. Grey. Tezz sounded eerily calm for the pure chaos around them. If Darien's tower is destroyed, we are about to lose our last chance to finish her for good.
"T̴H̶E̸ ̸W̸O̴R̵L̸D̸ ̷W̴I̷L̶L̵ ̷B̵U̸I̸L̴D̷ ̴A̶ ̶T̵H̶O̴U̶S̴A̴N̴D̶ ̴M̷O̷R̴E̴ ̷C̴I̴T̴I̴E̶S̷ ̷I̵N̷ ̵M̶Y̶ ̴N̵A̶M̵E̴,̷ ̴A̸N̸D̸ ̸I̷ ̸S̵H̴A̷L̴L̸ ̴O̷B̵L̵I̷T̵E̷R̶A̵T̶E̸ ̵A̶L̶L̸ ̴O̵F̶ ̸T̶H̴E̵M̴-̶-̷J̵U̴S̵T̷ ̵A̶S̸ ̶I̵ ̵S̷H̷A̶L̶L̶ ̸T̷H̶I̷S̵ ̵O̷N̷E̵!̸!̵"
Reality rippled again, another alternate ending crashed into the present day, and this time, the entire Rebellion was extinct of life, for several seconds before life was restored once more. Kendra clutched Dario from where they both had fallen, speechless with terror. She didn't even know if her family was still alive. Maybe it didn't matter. She shut her eyes, bracing herself. The end of the world was closing its jaws on them for the last time.
Kendra didn't hear the word with her ears, but she felt it in her chest, and she snapped her eyes open. Everything was white again, but it was...quieter. More peaceful. She turned, her burned, bloodstained braid moving slowly in the space like she was underwater. Endless white stretched for miles, leaving her completely alone, except for...
She immediately sobbed, and Liam looked alarmed, not hesitating to move forward and open his arms to let her throw herself into them. He still looked and smelled like war, in his dirtied clothes and bone armor, but he didn't appear to be injured anywhere. Kendra wailed into her brother, and he grew even more worried, pushing her flushed face up and away from his shoulder so he could sign Hey, hey, what's wrong? to her.
We died!! she barely managed to respond, her hands trembling violently, and Liam looked around in shock, like he was just seeing their surroundings for the first time.
Whoa--no, oh my gods, I'm so sorry. He pulled her close again, but left a paw free so he could sign in front of her face while it was pressed to his chest, something they hadn't done for years. I just wanted to reach out before I came back, I'm sorry. I'm not good at this yet.
What? What? Kendra lurched away while repeating the sign, still crying, but now out of bewilderment. What do you mean?
Liam studied her face for a second, then gave a wry smile, making the freckles on his cheekbones wrinkle. It's okay. You'll think it's cool. He made a sign to get her attention, even though they were definitely both locked into the conversation. You should get Dario's help near the tomb, though. You're badass but I don't know if you can carry two people.
Carry people? Kendra shook Liam's shoulder urgently; she barely took the time to wonder why he knew Dario was nearby. Kezia is bringing the city down on us. It's too late. It's over.
Liam appeared to consider the information, and Kendra started to feel the roar of the battle rumble in her chest again. He nodded a bit, satisfied with some internal conclusion, and cupped her face with a hand, speaking with the other.
It's not over until we say it's over.
Kendra's eyes widened as the phrase encompassed her entire state of mind. It's not over until we say it's over. She jerked her head up, back on the ground, back to the horrors raining down from above, but the difference in the sight before her was a thin golden seam between the lid and the body of the tomb. It's not over until we say it's over. The lights in the carved valkyrie's eyes brightened, and Kendra grabbed Dario and pulled him upright, both of them stumbling towards it as the lid split in two and pulled away from the tomb. It's not over until we say it's over. Like a brightly lit room, the inside of the tomb shed pure white in the shape of a door frame, and in pure trust, Kendra put out her arms and caught the unconscious body of a person falling out of the stone walls--Verdandi, looking much worse for wear in prisoner's rags, but whole and alive. Kendra quickly backed away and Dario copied her, shocked to pull an awake but extremely fatigued Vox in his arms.
It was a good thing that they both made an effort to drag the two newcomers away; the floating tomb started to vibrate and glow again, its surfaces running with molten platinum droplets, shining ice on a hot summer's day, and the material began to morph and pull into a brand new shape, stained with shadow and painted with light, taller than any human, two wings outstretching as wide as a dragon's, a long, lashing tail, half-breed forearms and clawed feet, and shining horns with two halves of a broken halo floating around them. It opened its eyes twice; one set gold, the other white, with oily tracks over its cheeks and nose. Its hair was a brilliant, curly gold. It was physically painful to behold, and everyone felt that if they looked away, it would spell their doom. It looked over its shoulder at everyone, and Kendra felt like she had never even pulled away from Liam--in fact, she felt like he had poured into her, and refused to leave her heart. It was him. It hoped they knew it was him.
It turned its attention to the Tyrant Eternal, who was slamming its body into the Construct over and over, making it spit sparks and arcane liquid as it was torn to pieces against the final column. As it began to crack, she became aware of the glow like daylight in the island at the center, and turned her whole insectoid body to face it, flaring her legs wide in a threat display, mouth stretching in a deep roar. The entire cavern shuddered and cracked, compromised and filling with water.
High Central, bisected, started to fall.
