~11~There You Are...

(BTW, start the music now, but listen to it kinda quietly. It is meant to help the mood, but it can be kinda loud and distracting if you have it at full volume.)

Mansi shook in Linh's arms, Tam holding a frozen cloth to her forehead. Alexios was crouched by his childhood friend's side, looking at her nervously.

"It's not going to last," Alexios breathed. His sea-blue eyes glanced around in a flurry, his mind working at a million miles per hour.

"We need to get everyone out. Our men need space to work," Everyone cringed as a boom sounded against the wall of fire, and Mansi crying out in pain, barely able to keep it up.

"Where can we go? And how?! We are completely cornered." Tam asked. Alexios bit his lip in worry, but Lilac came running over, furiously shaking her poor brother by the shoulders.

"I got in contact with her! It can work!" Lilac exclaimed. Alexios snatched her hands off of her shoulders, but his face was in disbelief.

"Are you sure?! We will only have one shot to do this."

"The Everglen property is big enough to hold everyone at Foxfire. She says she can hold the gates open just long enough." Lilac breathed. Alexios thought for a moment, glancing at the Vacker family, and then put his fingers to his lips. He let out a whistle that got the Vacker's attention, and they all came over.

"What is it, Alexios?" Alvar asked, his parents and siblings right behind him.

"We need your help." Alexios breathed.

"With what?"

"We are evacuating Foxfire." Alexios breathed. Even though Alexios said it as quietly as possible, the elves seemed to hound their hearing onto him. They all started to panicking whisper, but Alden cut in fast.

"You need to use Everglen, correct?" Alden whispered, putting it together.

"I have a mental connection with Sofia. I was talking with her; she says she can help hold the gates open enough for us to get everyone in there and then shut the gates." Lilac explained.

"How does she have a mental connection with you? Are you a telepath?" Fitz asked, stepping forward.

"Lia set it up between her and me when she dropped Sofia off that night. Lia kissed her cheek to keep Sofia oblivious, and but it was just her entering her mind and linking the two of us together. Lia and I both agreed that it would be best if I could contact her in dire situations." Lilac explained.

"How are you going to get these many people into Everglen on time? It's impossible!" Della breathed. Alexios smirked, reaching into his side pocket and pulling out a crystal that was the size of a grape. Lilac chuckled as she spotted the gem. It was a small little thing, somewhat cracked and broken on the outside, but a beautiful sky blue crystal on the inside.

"How on earth-"

"I may have nabbed it off of Lia's desk at the Guildhall." Alexios coughed.

"She is going to kill you-"

"Are you going to snitch?"

"Depends, how much are you going to pay me?" Lilac asked sweetly. Alexios nudged her, and he turned his attention back to the small crowd.

"This is a Pýli spásimo krystállou, or a Gate Breaking Crystal in your tongue." Alexios started.

"Tongue?" Fitz whispered.

"In our language," Alvar answered.

"They are extremely rare, even for Vatarians. Lia found one about a year ago on an Assassination contract in the Deserts of Avrima. They can open massive portals that people can step through and step to a new location that is nearby. Since Everglen is so close to Eternalia, we can open a portal to Everglen and have Sofia open the gates and let everyone in. Once all the elves are safe, we can completely take over." Lilac explained.

"These little guys can only be used twice before breaking. Lia already used one portal to escape a... bad situation," Lilac snorted when Alexios brought up this mystery situation, "So we only have one shot at doing this." Alexios turned to the Vacker family.

"It is up to you," Alexios said. Alvar turned to his family, who stared at everyone in thought. Alvar took his mother's hand, and he smiled as she looked at him in surprise. He didn't say anything, but Della seemed to understand the message he was conveying.

"Okay. Let's do it." Della confirmed.

Alexios knew that people used Vatarians as the villains in their stories. He knew that as his Guild practically threw the elves out of Foxfire, that people were making wild stories behind their backs. How they were monsters, brutes...

Murderers.

But as Mansi leaned against Tam and Linh, her fire sucking her dry, he was willing to do anything to get the bothersome elven assholes away from the school. He would allow them to cower and spit on his boots; he would allow them to paint him and his family as monsters. Some gaped at his beauty, he heard the girls whispering about him behind his back, but he wasn't in the mood. Anything to get Mansi some form of relief. He felt Nour, Keefe, and Amalia were gone for too long, but there was no time for him to look for them. Another pound sounded against the wall, and Mansi slumped farther into the Song twins' arms. Alexios found an open enough courtyard to spin the portal. He held the small crystal in his palms, closing them together and shining light through his palms.

The warmth of his light calmed Alexios, made him feel at ease. Amalia always loved her shadows and cold lightning, the night feeling like a clean escape for her. Alexios was her polar opposite; he loved the sun and warmth. He was loud; she was quiet. It felt wrong for her not be at his side right now. Not to feel the balance of the cool night against his warm light.

Alexios felt the portal start to open, a tear through the open courtyard as worried elves gathered. On the other side, an open gated Everglen sat waiting.

"Everyone move carefully and stay together!" Maha called out over the crowd of elves. The Vacker's hugged Alvar tight, wishing him luck before guiding the elves through the portal to their estate.

"Hurry it up guys; I can't hold this forever-"

"I'm sorry..." Mansi panted. Alexios turned to Mansi with a panicked face. Linh held Mansi tight, and Mansi's eyes rolled back, properly unconscious.

And the fire extinguished.

"Shit..." Alexios breathed, his hands struggling as he held open the portal.

"Go!" Alvar cried out. The elves started to scream as the Mirthless creatures pounded their claws, and blood dripped from their fangs.

"GO! GO! GO!" Alexios roared. The Elves ran and herded through the portal, the Neverseen soldiers roaring and yelling in victory as they rushed past where Mansi's fire shield once held them back.

"Luram Bak! Doreah!" Alvar cried out. The Red-Headed general took the skies, her remaining Winged Warriors speeding towards the oncoming Soldiers. Luram Bak and the Assassins rushed forward, revealing themselves from their hiding places and hitting them head-on.

"HURRY!" Alexios cried out. They tripped over themselves as they sprinted through the portal. A crowd of elves near the back fell, elves running through and over them.

"No!" Tam begged as Mirthless towered over the group of elves. Blood dripped from the Mirthless's mouth as he roared at the cowering elves, paralyzed in their spots.

It lunged for their throats.

And stopped dead in its spot.

The sobbing elves look up to see Nour ramming into it at full speed, pure, unfaltering death shining in his eyes. The Mirthless practically flew with the weight of Nour ramming into it, hissing and screeching as its claws tore at the ground, trying to grasp what it up and down. Nour's eyes didn't soften as he glared at the kneeling group of elves, who looked at him like he was a savior sent by the gods.

"Get. Out." Nour seethed. The Elves hauled ass to the portal, which shook with Alexios's effort to keep open. The last of them flew through the wobbly portal, and Alexios gave the Song twins a look.

"Get her out of here. Make sure she stays safe," Making it very clear to the two of them what their jobs were. They both nodded, and right before they lept through the portal, Tam glanced at Alvar.

"Biana? Is she okay?" He asked. Alvar cocked an eyebrow but nodded.

"My sister is at our Guildhall, doing whatever Amalia assigned to her." He smiled slightly, "Why do you need to know?" Tam grunted as readjusted Mansi, holding her a bit higher.

"Just asking." He muttered. Alvar glanced at Mansi, hurt and worry plaguing his eyes.

"Take care of her, please, for me?" Alvar begged. The Song twins merely nodded, and they were through the portal.

Alexios released the portal with a groan, it instantly slamming shut without his stronghold and blinding light keeping it open.

The Elves didn't even get the opportunity to say goodbye to their school.

They all turned to their fighting allies and Assassins, who were furiously trying to hold the front.

"Lilac, I want you inside," Alexios muttered.

"What? Alex-"

"No arguing Hathlani." Alexios snapped. Lilac flinched when he used her full name, fully realizing how dire the situation was. She hugged her brother tight, before running at top speeds into the glass pyramid.

Alexios glanced at the small group remaining.

Nour, Alvar, Maha...

"Where is Sencen?" Alexios asked, pointing his head at Nour.

"He is... dealing with his mother." Nour trailed off.

"Is he safe?" Maha asked.

Nour shrugged, his face saying that he believed so.

"Then, we don't care." Alexios sighed.

The four of them stared at the battle, and then back together.

Gods above, where the hell was Lia?!

Alexios looked at all of them, not really knowing what to say.

Assassins and Winged Warriors were falling left and right as Neverseen barged through their numbers.

"Wreck shit up out there but don't die?" Alexios muttered to all of them.

Nour snorted. "Inspirational."

Maha elbowed him in the side.

The Neverseen soldiers met Alexios's steel, and the four of them desperately pushed them back and joined the front lines.

Ruy didn't bother to pull his hood back up as he hauled ass back to the Black Castle, Cato practically running to keep up with his long strides. He banged open the front doors, walked up the long staircase to the top of the tower he was staying and started to pack.

"Wait, are you... leaving?" Cato wondered.

"Don't tell the King. They are in trouble, she is in trouble. Even the reinforcements weren't enough."

"The King? Ruy... that's our father." Cato muttered. Ruy stopped dead and looked at Cato with a blank face.

"He isn't mine." Ruy spat. Cato visibly deflated, and he bit his lip as Ruy ran to grab his iPod from one of his strewn around shirt pockets.

Cato glanced at the leather book sitting on the desk, and he quietly opened it, simply trying to do something while his brother quickly packed. The book reminded Cato of something Ruy told him, when he was explaining his history with Amalia. The story of how he rescued her from execution, and how she left things behind for him that she was never able to gift him herself.

And inside, Cato would recognize anywhere... were lyrics.

Scrawled music notes and hastily scribbled lyrics littered almost every page. Noted about special people in Ruy's life, song titles and lyrics relating to them dotted the pages. Ruy glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened as he spotted his younger brother carefully reading through his lyric book. He snatched the book out of his hands, not saying a word as he stuffed it in his bag.

"She gave that to you, right?" Cato asked. Ruy didn't answer.

"When you went to rescue her, you said she left behind that music machine and a notebook for you, along with your cloak. Is that the same notebook?" Cato pushed.

"Yes." Ruy simply responded. The room looked more barren without Ruy's belongings in it.

"Cato?" A small voice called out. Both Cato and Ruy whipped around, staring at Kalem, who was standing in the door frame, visibly confused.

"Are you going somewhere?" Kalem asked Ruy. Ruy's face didn't crack as he and Kalem stared each other down.

Two Princes in a silent fight, the only weapons were their eyes.

Cato stepped between them, his shoulder-length hair tied up behind his head as he put his hands up.

"Ruy says the guild needs his help." Cato reasoned.

"That wasn't part of the deal you made with dad." Kalem reasoned, ignoring Kalem.

"I don't see him here trying to stop me." Ruy countered, hauling the bag over his shoulder.

"We sent our soldiers for you, and here you are, betraying us?"

"I'm not betraying anybody. I'm going to help your soldiers if anything."

"They are your soldiers now too."

"You seem to forget that I am half Vatarian." Ruy snapped at Kalem. The Prince went quiet.

"My home is in Inalia, my home is with my Guild. All my life, I dealt with my insane mother all on my own, no father there to help me or teach me anything. I tried to be here, to try to be a part of this. But you expect to much of me. Of a bastard." Ruy continued. Cato stiffened, listening to his brother, but something flashed over Kalem's eyes.

"Oh please," Ruy whispered, "Do you really think I haven't noticed how you look at me Kalem? An inconvenience, a bothersome detail your father had that is getting in your way. You fight for power in your own court, and then the threat of a new Prince gets in your way? A half breed bastard no less?" Ruy chuckled.

"I'm not dumb." Ruy pushed past Kalem in the doorway, "But don't worry. I won't get in your way. I have no want or need of the stupid crown." Ruy muttered. Kalem stayed in the doorway, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes full of white rage, but Cato ran after him.

"Cato. Don't." Kalem snapped, grabbing the young Prince's arm. Cato looked at Kalem's hand before pulling out of his grip. Cato looked after Ruy, and just looked at Kalem with heavy eyes.

"He feels like a brother, Kalem." Cato breathed. Kalem stiffened, just slightly, his eyes still full of anger,

"He felt like someone who has seen things in the world, he was kind to me." Cato glared at his elder brother, "Unlike you." Cato spat. Kalem's face didn't change.

"He felt like a real brother. Treated me like I was a friend, not like a nuisance." Cato muttered. The two didn't exchange any more words as Cato sprinted down the stairs, after his brother.

~~~

Ruy's veins were filled with determination and anger. Anger at Kalem, anger at his father...

Anger at the Dunmer, at them for even thinking he may be able to help them- that he was strong enough to be able to do anything for them.

"Stop." A voice commanded. Ruy stopped more out of curiosity than listening to a command. He lazily looked ever his shoulder and cursed under his breath as the King leaned against the door frame.

"I'm going. I did your stupid training; I waited in that stupid tower. I can't sit here and wait when my family is being slaughtered." Ruy said quietly. The King looked Ruy dead in the eye, his face unflinching. His hair was much looser when Ruy first met him, his golden tan skin complimenting the black streaks running up his face. His leather wings bristled as he readjusted the lapels on his black jacket.

Ruy heard Cato come flying down the stairs, but stop when he saw Ruy and the King staring each other down.

"And how are you going to get out of my cavern?" King Dorian asked, picking at his nails.

Though Ruy didn't show it, he cursed his stupidity for not thinking that far ahead.

His entire body was just telling him to go, go, go, and after seeing the image of Sophie desperately begging him for help, gods above he just needed to be on the battlefield next to her.

King Dorian simply hummed as Ruy stayed quiet, knowing he pointed something out to Ruy that was pretty important.

"Or how are you going to get there in time? If I'm correct, the little Foxfire school is in Eternalia? And that is a good two or three days ride away, and that is using the wings that you are too weak to open." The King sighed. Ruy glared daggers at his father, who looked plainly at him.

In the corner of his eye, Ruy spotted Queen Sarai come up behind Prince Cato, grabbing onto his shoulders and quickly pulling him away.

"Mom?" Prince Cato whispered.

"Your father is an idiot and is doing an idiotic thing. You are not going to be here when it eventually happens." Queen Sarai muttered, quickly taking her son back up the stairs.

"I'm not weak." Ruy snapped at his father. King Dorian simply smiled, ad finally pushed off the door frame. He casually put his hands in his pockets, walking towards Ruy.

Seeing him in his natural state, not presiding over a court, Ruy saw the simulates between them even clearer.

Their face structure, their skin tone, their stride, their casualness.

Ruy clicked his tongue, hating to admit how much of himself he saw in his father.

"I am." King Dorian shrugged. That got Ruy's attention, and he only readjusted the bag that draped over his shoulders.

"I am weak for letting your mother break me when she stole you from me. I am weak for not searching for you longer and harder. I'm weak for not having the courage to try to have a heart to heart conversation with my lost son in the last couple of days." He explained.

"I think we can both agree to our aversion to heart to hearts," Ruy muttered. King Dorian simply smiled, and Ruy just seemed to notice that no silver or gold crown adorned his father's head, no blue and silver cape.

"But you are weak as well," King Dorian sighed. Ruy gripped the strap of his bag.

"You can't open your mind." King Dorian shrugged.

"Is that so?"

"I blame your mother, in all honesty. The mentality she built as the Neverseen is one of the stupidest things ever, and even though you left every part of the Neverseen in that base three years ago, you grew up in that filth Ruy. You grew up with people all around you telling you that you can never take a breath, that everyone can be your enemy, that protecting your heart and mind is the only way to survive in this world." King Dorian mused. A muscle flickered in Ruy's jaw.

"You seriously think I don't know about you? What you have been through the last couple of years?" King Dorian scoffed.

"To be fair, that Guild sometimes thinks the same thing. Always looking over their shoulders, always cold and icy. But there it is warm from within, a family built on secrets and trust, and I am glad you are in a better home now. But it doesn't matter, because even as all these things happen around you, it never affects your heart."

King Dorian looked Ruy in the eyes, and for the first time, Ruy felt like there was a real father looking at him.

"Your stubborn, brazen, immense, stupid heart."

"Well, shit, love you too dad." Ruy hissed. King Dorian shrugged.

"I'm not wrong. Your heart is stubborn Ruy, and that conflicts with your mind. Your mind is always working, always wanting to learn new things and explore. Your heart and your mind are always conflicting, and therefore, it creates weakness."

Ruy clenched his bag strap so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"You are indecisive sometimes when hard decisions are put in front of you. You refuse to show any signs of the weakness you have because of what your mother drilled into your head." King Dorian started towards Ruy.

Ruy noticed there were no sentries or guards stationed around them either.

"You love to enjoy the simplicity of life, but you always love to contemplate the complexities of which you don't understand. This won't help on a battlefield, it will be useless on a battlefield. You would be useless on a battlefield."

Ruy's mind flashed back to a cold room in that horrible Neverseen base, his mother hurling insult after insult at him, holding his dinner out of his reach.

"Stop-"

"You aren't strong enough to help your family Ruy. You aren't strong enough to understand that if you don't put yourself in front of others sometimes, you are going to die."

Another flashing of his memories, Fintan sneering at a young Ruy after he was brutally beaten for tackling one of the training instructors who was harassing a pair of girls.

"I said stop-"

"You are weak-"

"No-"

"You aren't strong enough-"

"You-"

"They will die. Because of you."

Ruy's face dropped.

"That woman will die because of you."

Ruy exploded. His body roared with firey blue power and inky black all at once. Glass shattered out of the windows, doors blown off their hinges, black wind and blueish hellfire ripped all around them. Ruy couldn't feel it though, all he felt was unbridled white rage.

He glowered at his father, his face in a vicious snarl.

He felt his ears point, his pointed canines finally feel right in his mouth, his blood filled with power and electricity. Across his shoulders, the top of his chest is where he felt any pain. It felt like a hot iron being dragged across his body, stabbing into his shoulder blades, biceps, and chest.

Ruy looked upwards, almost like he was looking for the sky.

And roared.

And, as fast as it came, the darkness and hellfire sucked into him, through his skin, mouth, eyes, almost like it wanted him. It called for him, wrapping around him and absorbing him as he absorbed it.

Ruy looked down from the ceiling at his father, who was still on his feet, smiling. Not an inch of damage on him, almost like he planned this.

Ruy's eyes had a sharper glint, his hands felt stronger, his fangs finally felt right in his mouth. He could hear everything, and it honest to the gods felt like second nature...

To flex his back, and open his wings. Massive wings that shone in the luminescent light of the Dunmer cavern, the dark leather reflecting beautifully and showing off the large muscles flexing beneath it. Ruy's lips pulled back in a snarl, vapor billowing out of his mouth.

"There you are..." King Dorian smiled.

Deep in Ruy's blood, his Dunmer soul sprinted alongside his Vatarian one.

Sophie kneeled on the ground of the now empty chest room at the top of Foxfire. The Golden cord no longer levitated in the stone chest, every side of the room full of metallic cold.

The shabby cloak and hand wraps were gone, Sophie guessing they were just an illusion by Kynareth when Sophie was in the limbo realm.

But Sophie's armor was still wrecked, and her body was still recovering from whatever the hell Kynareth did to it.

But, it was more than just rearrange her back tattoo.

Gods above, it was something more.

Sophie's entire bod thrummed with power. More than just her normal abilities, but with the sky.

She wasn't a Shade, she was night.

She was darkness, starlight, moonlight, stealth, and death all wrapped up in one.

She wasn't a Charger or Froster, she was a Storm.

Lightning, clouds, rain, ice, thunder, wind, it all was in her blood, in her mind, intoxicating her and worshipping her.

She was the sky, and all that bowed to it.

You will get a taste of the power I promise you for your little scuffle.

Kynareth told that to Sophie in limbo, telling her to go the Throat of the World and find her temple. In exchange, Kynareth is granting Sophie the taste of the power of Kynareth's Heiress.

Sophie's mind racked with new memories, ones of her and Leto desperately trying to flee Inalia, both of them distraught and panicked.

You didn't survive the Fall of Inalia...

Kynareth's words echoed in Sophie's mind. Sophie didn't have the courage or time to investigate her death, because she noted the lack of Mansi's fire. The sound of clashing steel and screams, even from the fortress within the school, roared into the sky. Sophie merely reached her hand out beside her, the darkness swarming to her as if she were its queen. But these weren't her regular shadows, these were pure swirling whorls of inky night, a darkness that bent and bowed to her will like never before.

Sophie felt like she was in a trance as she shot her hand through that darkness, the night seducing and calling to her, just telling her to listen to her intuition. For some reason, Sophie wasn't even surprised when her hand grasped around a sword handle.

She yanked her hand out of her pool of night with ease, the shadows settling at her bowed kneels and feet. She observed the sword with a dull glint in her eye, and then she heard it.

Alexios's scream.

She recognized it anywhere, and even in her dull haze of either possession or pain, Sophie looked up for the first time, and the glint in her eyes turned into battle-ready fury. The inky shadows at her knees and feet turned red, burning orange and ruddy just like the horizon at a sunset. Sophie wasn't wielding fire, she was wielding the sky during a powerful sunset or sunrise. Her hair was undone, in a loos Vatarian updo, most likely her hair falling out during the chaos she just endured.

She held the sword pommel tight in her hand as she pointed its silvery tip to the ground, using it to push herself up.

She normally didn't succumb to her rage, but her powers rioted alongside it, filling it with energy and excitement.

But that wasn't Sophie.

"Don't let your emotions get in the way of what matters most, Amalia." Allesandro's voice echoed throughout Sophie's mind. Allesandro, her own kind father, didn't snuff out the power running in Sophie's blood but rather reminded it that it bowed to her. Sophie closed her eyes, and that rage turns to quiet white-hot deadlines. The hot red sunset burned away from around her, replaced by the cold inky night she holds so dear. In the blank of the black of her night, Sophie's storms thrummed and pounded, ready for her every command.

Alexios screamed again, not like the first one however, more like a crying moan of pain, but urging himself forward.

The sound of her brother in pain broke Sophie, and her hand tightened around her sword as she heaved herself fully onto her feet.

Clashing metal and the call to battle honed in on Sophie.

"Walking down will take too long," She muttered.

Her gaze focused on the western wall of the room, where it sounded like the heaviest part of the battle raged.

She gazed at her hand and willed it to come to life with the night.

She gazed at the other hand, and booming lightning, thick clouds, and ice formed among her palm, wrist, and fingers.

She shuddered, feeling the power cover her entire body. Along with her entire person, she felt cold metal start to form, to cover her bare skin.

She left her hair in its wild state, but as the armor secured over her, she felt like herself in it.

Sophie has multiple sets of armor, but this one just felt right.

She didn't need to look at it, she just knew it was hers.

It belonged to the Heiress of the Sky.

And the Sword made from shadows that Sophie held, it was hers. Not something Maria made, not her grandmothers, forged by herself for herself. Made from her midnight shadows and moonlight, the blade gleamed brightly, almost made of starlight itself, beautiful runes etched into the middle of it. The pommel was made of pure black metal, curved and carved like it was made of dragon scales.

Sophie slid the sword into the sheath at her side that appeared with her sleek armor. She felt a bowstring secure across her chest, along with a quiver. All of the finest throwing knives, smoke bombs, and other weapons were all worked into the armor.

Sophie had a job to do. Kynareth could get bent for all she cared, she needed to be on the battlefield.

The Throat of the World can wait.

Sophie's powers hummed with excitement as she focused on the western wall.

And rammed her body into the metal wall, again and again.

Keefe stared open-mouthed at the monstrous size of the army. Hundreds of Neverseen soldiers and Mirthless creatures were pouncing and charging, having the time of their lives that they didn't even notice the school was completely empty of civilians and the Council.

Keefe tied his own mother down to the chair, checking her pockets for weapons, anything that could be shifty about her. Lilac came running in about 25 minutes earlier, telling him they needed to lay low, the battle was raging on outside.

They both have been keeping an eye on Gisela, debating what they would do if she woke up.

"Just keep her asleep until this all blows over-" Lilac stopped dead when she heard a scream. It sounded familiar, but Lilac was up with her face pressed against the glass before Keefe could do anything.

On the ground, bleeding from some wound, was Alexios.

"Adelfós!" Lilac screamed, banging on the glass, yelling something in Inalian Keefe didn't understand. Alexios didn't move, only moaned in pain as blood pooled. Keefe came running up behind Lilac, gaping at the injured soldier.

Assassins desperately gathered around him, protecting him as green-clad soldiers tried to push forward to finish the job.

"Master Alexios! Get up!" One of the Assassins cried out, meeting the blade with a Neverseen goon.

"No! Get him off the field! He is loosing too much blood!" Lilac screamed pounding on the glass even harder. Alexios, quite stupidly, pushed away as Assassins came to heave him off the field. He pulled his pale body up, holding his sword out, trying to shake off the wooziness.

Keefe and Lilac paled when they saw the injury.

It started along his right eye, just at the corner of it. A long gash stretched across his entire face, starting at the edge of his eye and ending underneath the tip of his ear. Blood oozed out of it, running down his face, running into his eye and blinding him in his right eye. Lilac only whimpered when she saw her brother, but Keefe's elven mind couldn't' handle looking at the gruesome wound.

Keefe heaved his stomach into a nearby student's backpack.

Lilac only let out a cry of desperation as Alexios moaned in pain, dropping his sword slightly and struggling to stay on his feet.

"Alexios, get your ass inside! You're loosing too much blood!" Nour cursed, running his wrist blades through the guts of two oncoming soldiers.

"I'm either leaving this battlefield victorious or as a corpse, Nour!" Alexios spat, shaking himself out again as a Mirthless Horoa charged him.

"Your stupid Morretti morals!" Maha cursed, mesmerizing five Neverseen to properly launch themselves into the jaws of the Mirthless. He spun, kicking the Horoa onto its stomach and stabbing his blade through it. From a nearby rooftop, sniper blasts could be heard.

You had to squint, but atop one of the demolished elven buildings, you could see Alvar firing his sniper rifle with pristine accuracy. Neverseen soldiers fell left and right, all of them searching and scanning for the Assassin's hidden sniper.

And then there was a boom.

From inside Foxfire.

Keefe and Lilac hit the deck as the ceilings and walls shuddered.

"What is happening now?" Keefe groaned, covering Lilac's body with his own as debris fell. Again and again, the pyramid shook and banged. The Assassins and Winged Warriors tried to stare at the shuddering building but were bombarded with Neverseen and Mirthless. Keefe sheltered Lilac's head, but underneath Keefe's body, Lilac went silent.

"Mini Foster?" Keefe muttered.

Lilac started to shake.

"Hey. Hey!" Keefe scrambled off of her, trying to get her attention. She remained curled up on the ground, muttering things Keefe simply heard.

The banging stopped.

And Lilac looked up, gasping as if air finally entered her lungs.

Everything next seemed to happen in slow motion.

Lilac got up and sprinted to Keefe.

Her eyes were brighter and clearer as if she just cleared a fog

But her face was all but happy.

"GET DOWN!" The girl screamed.

She rammed Keefe under a table, both of them ducking as the building shook again.

So hard this time, the glass panels shattered.

Keefe sheltered Lilac underneath the table as shards of broken glass flung everywhere, the young girl shaking. Keefe's body was sliced and cut, and he cursed under his breath, reminding himself that his mother was still tied up out there. Maybe she was alive?

Hopefully not.

The building went silent, and even the battle outside went quiet.

"What the f-"

"Lia." Lilac breathed.

Keefe turned to her, both amazed and confused.

"How did you know? That the building was going to shatter?" Keefe asked quietly.

"I, just, saw it. It was clear in my mind, came to me so fast I had a headache." She muttered.

Weird. That was definitely not normal.

But Lilac didn't seem to be dwelling on it, as she hauled herself out from under the table to the now-empty panes.

At the peak of Foxfire, stood a hole punched through the metal top of it.

A head of blond hair could be spotted.

"Lia?" Lilac muttered to herself.

Sophie back up, and took a running start as she lept out of the tip of the Pyramid.

She landed on her feet, the ground cracking underneath her landing. Her hair was wild and not like how he saw it when she disappeared. But Sophie wasn't in her Pancras form, she was her real self, even as she wore different armor, newer and better armor.

It was thick metal and thin leather set, it was terror and it was stealth. It reminded Keefe a lot of Sophie's grandmother's armor, almost like hardened dragon scales. But it was like it was taken to the next level. It conformed to Sophie's every single curve and straight, almost like a second layer of skin. It wasn't fake leather to look like dragon scales adorning the armor now...

They were real.

Real glinting black dragon scales were sewn into the suit. On her back was a beautifully carved black ebony bow, with matching arrows in a black quiver. At her side, it wasn't her grandmother's golden sword, but one made of night and the moon.

As Sophie pulled it out of its sheath, the blade glinted so brightly it was as if the moon's essence itself had been crafted into the metal. The Pommel was a simplistic design of black metal, crafted like dragon scales and fitted specifically to her hand on only her hand.

The only shade of color was a red strand of fabric, not quite a cape and not exactly a scarf, hanging from her neck that drifted to her waist. But a thicker piece of gold embroidered fabric also hung from her shoulders, most likely a hooded cloak if Sophie needed it.

It was a piece of armor meant solely for Sophie, meant solely for her purposes.

But Keefe had no idea where it came from...

What happened to her white armor she arrived in?!

The Winged Warriors and Assassins continued their gaping, but the Neverseen and Mirthless charged forward.

Stupid mistake, from the smirk on Sophie's face.

"You might want to get a flashlight..." Lilac muttered. Again, her eyes were bright, as if she were gazing beyond this world, as she stared at her sister.

"Why?" Keefe asked, glancing at the high sun.

Keefe's question was answered as Sophie didn't even lift a finger from where she stood, and night unraveled across the sky, almost like a blanket being draped across the world. No stars dotted the sudden night, however, no moon to illuminate the suddenly darkened battlefield.

But moonlight coming from nowhere seemed to illuminate on Sophie.

Then onto Alexios.

Then Nour.

Soon, every single Winged Warrior and Assassins had a pale moonlight shining on them coming from nowhere in particular. The Winged Warriors glanced at their red-haired commander, who was just as confused and startled as they were. But the Assassins' fear melted away, and they simply embraced the light as they gazed at their mentore.

A painting drifted into Keefe's mind as he stared in wonder at the gathered warriors. Each one a killer and shadow all on their own, but together an unstoppable force with a killer queen at the head of it all. A family born from shadows that loved and protected each other from within the darkness their Mentore shrouded upon them.

The painting in Keefe's mind had a name...

A Guild of Moonlit Shadows.

The conflict between moonlit shadows perfectly shows the terrifying conflict of brutal slaughtering Assassins protecting what they hold dearest. The conflict between a Queen doing everything in her power to protect what she knows is true and right, and everyone bowing to her not out of fear, like Vespera and the Neverseen, but out of respect and love.

"Hold onto something," Lilac smirked.

Keefe didn't even need to ask why as Sophie raised her hand to the sky, and among the inky black night, the booming sound of a storm crashed through the world.

Not regular lighting, Sophie called a whole damn storm to her will.

Keefe now realized Sophie illuminated the Assassins and Winged Warriors simply so she wouldn't hurt them as she attacked. General Doreah smartly told her soldiers to stay in place as the storm crackled and screamed with power in the sky. Mirthless and Neverseen could be heard through the black night, but not seen.

Storm clouds clapped and roared as lightning crackled within them, frost spiraling around it.

The last thing Keefe saw of the world, was the hell of wholly black night and the strength of a thousand storms slammed into the Neverseen.

BOOM! I did it, two chapters in one day, just like I said I would!

Things are finally moving along, and I am so thankful for it! Please support the original artists!

Please remember to vote, comment, share, and follow aswell!

_Sibylline_