Neira drew in a breath, and the entire mountain quaked with it. She pulled the very heat from the air, the lava flowing around the pathetic refuge Eni and Tin had found turning a dull black as it solidified. Eni could feel the dragon's power, not quite brushing against her, and the volcano's fury was no match. Neira turned her head to the side, her maw opening wide to reveal her glittering teeth, and a sound like a thousand brimstone batteries filled Eni's ears.
Sheets of flame, with flickering tongues longer than city blocks, poured forth from the dragon's mouth, a firestorm beyond imagining flowing out. The burning waves grew and spread, as though the volcano had grown a second and even mightier caldera, and plumes of smoke as black as night billowed forth. Crackles of lightning sparked in the darkness, the force of Neira's exhalation tearing boulders the size of caravans loose from the craggy mountainside and sending them thundering toward Vornstrom far below.
The brief chill that had taken hold as the dragon marshaled her power was utterly gone, the blazing heat returning with a vengeance, and the edge of the platform Eni stood on closest to Neira's show of power began to glow red. Everything beyond their small slice of rock was engulfed, nothing else visible but the dragon and the might she commanded, and at Eni's side Tin took a step closer to their foe.
"Don't!" she cried, the word meant for him as much as it was for Neira.
She couldn't hear herself over the rumbling, but there was no doubt what was on its way toward the city. A cloud of ash and flames, as thick and as dense as anything solid, would be cascading down toward the valley, rushing with impossible speed. Tin hesitated for a moment and Eni clutched at his arm, feeling rooted in place herself as she held him tight. The wolf's body trembled, his pulse fast and weak, and Eni swallowed hard as she forced herself to inch closer to Neira.
"Please, stop!" she shouted, her voice swallowed instantly by the din of flames that still poured forth from the dragon's mouth, but a moment later all the noise ceased.
Eni's ears rang with the sudden silence as Neira turned back to face them, gesturing with one enormous talon until the outcropping they stood on began sliding up the mountain as easily as water flowing downhill. The rock didn't crumble or break; it simply flowed, smoothly contiguous until it was approaching the summit. Eni held tight to Tin as they went over the top, expecting to fall into the churning pool of lava below, but their platform simply extended, growing longer and thinner until they were stranded dead center above the crater. The connecting stone rapidly reshaped itself until they were left on a column perhaps forty feet in diameter, its base plunging into the fiery heart of the volcano. The heat below was incredible, even with the lava at least two hundred feet away, and the air shimmered and distorted around them.
It wasn't enough to hide what was happening to Vornstrom.
Something out of a nightmare rushed down Gwared, caustic smoke and searing molten rock moving like a living creature. The onslaught hissed and sizzled as though it was snarling, vaporizing snow and incinerating scraggly trees in an instant. Eni could faintly hear the din of alarm bells, and through her grip on his arm she felt Tin stiffen.
"All those lives," Eni whispered in horror, staring down at the walls of the city.
The thick stone surrounding Vornstrom had always seemed so impenetrable, but from her vantage point it was less than what a kit could build with wooden blocks. What was once the capital of the world looked flimsy and vulnerable, and Eni's gaze was only torn away when Neira spoke.
"Hear how their revelry turns," she boomed, floating effortlessly above them; her wings were outstretched but did not move, as though willpower alone kept her aloft.
"They're innocent!" Eni protested, "Please, spare them!"
"How disappointing it is, to hear the plea come from your throat and not his," Neira mused, her awful eyes narrowing as she fixed them upon Tin, "Are you made only for fighting, All-King?"
The wolf growled, baring his teeth as he glared up at the dragon. "Allow your mind to be put to ease, leveret," Neira continued, her attention shifting smoothly back to Eni, "The truly innocent Misborn have indeed been spared."
Eni tore her eyes away, peering down at the city for any sign of reprieve, but the flow of noxious fumes and burning rocks continued unabated even as sirens joined the tolling bells. She was too far away to make out individual mammals, but she could see signs of activity boiling along the parapets like a kicked anthill. She was about to protest when the hideous truth of what Neira meant occurred to her.
"Your monsters," Eni said, her stomach sinking, "That's… I heard…"
She couldn't finish the thought, but Neira inclined her massive head. "The defenders thought the day was won when I sent my loyal followers away from what I knew to be coming. They will live to enact my will, but as for the city itself… There will be no glory today, Archivist. No great victory to be immortalized in song. They will be left as Idrun was, with nothing but ashes and sorrow."
Eni could do nothing but watch as the wave of destruction crashed against the city's outer wall, wondering if anyone had made it out. Smoke billowed, obscuring the city beneath an oppressive cloud lit only by streams of the burning rock melting its way through Vornstrom.
She thought of Aza, and despair filled her.
"I'll stop you," Tin said, his face twisted with fury, but the dragon only laughed.
The sound was bitter and resonant, shaking Eni's entire body as it passed through her. "This is your own doing, All-King," Neira replied, "Such a peculiar being you've become in this life. You quake in fear, where Kidu would have stood proud. You hold fast to an insipid notion not befitting the font of all wisdom."
Contempt colored her words, which felt as cruelly barbed as arrows. Tin staggered a pace back, his mask of defiance yielding momentarily to naked terror, and the dragon went on. "By locking your power away, did you suppose it would keep you safe? That it would keep the world safe?" she asked, her gaze mesmerizing as she crooned her words.
"Look upon what your choice has brought you!" she cried, and the crater beneath them rumbled and shook as red-orange bits of molten stone boiled up around their column, "You delayed our conversation; you allowed the Misborn to grow complacent in the peace you gave them. And now, in your final act, you brought a leveret to see how your attempt ends. Such a casual cruelty you have done to her, all in the name of your foolish conviction."
Neira's head turned back to Eni, the dragon gesturing to take in the fine robes she still wore. "So willingly did you go to him, so vaingloriously did you approach," she said, the words rich and mesmerizing, "Your own obsession more than the equal of his pride. I showed you the life you could have had… The life you should have had… If only your Slayer had been what you thought him to be."
"Alas, he was neither what you expected, nor what I allowed myself to hope for," Neira went on, and Eni felt frozen in place under the weight of her words, "But the search always goes on, and you shall have the opportunity to make what you could not find."
There was a sinister edge to Neira's voice, mixed with a terrible sort of sorrow that Eni understood perfectly. The dragon had spent millennia trying to resurrect her lost companion, and would willingly spend millennia more. Nothing else mattered to her, not the lives of mortals nor even her own, and Eni swallowed hard.
"You don't have to do this," Eni said, and Neira smiled.
The expression was cold and yet not without compassion, and the dragon bowed her massive head. "Could you deny the exhortations of your purpose?" Neira asked, and Eni's heart sank.
There was only one answer possible, and Eni knew what was coming a moment before it happened. Tin launched himself upwards before the dragon's attention could turn back to him, his legs like pistons as he made a mighty leap. What was left of his whip-sword was clenched tightly in his good paw, the remaining links whistling through the superheated air as he swung it faster than the eye could follow.
Neira caught him.
She showed no surprise, her talons darting out and closing around his body with crushing force. He dropped his weapon, the hilt spiraling end over end as it fell. It began to glow white-hot, melting into slag. Above, snowflakes swirled serenely, evaporating the instant they approached the volcano, storm clouds raging as flashes of lightning sparked between them.
Eni had eyes for none of it, all her attention drawn to Tin as he struggled helplessly in the dragon's grasp. Neira descended like an eagle diving; the instant before she made contact with the platform she opened her massive fingers, letting Tin fall heavily to the hard stone. He tumbled, his limbs flopping as he tried to stop himself, and he glared hatefully up at the dragon as Eni rushed to him.
"Tin!" Eni cried, but he didn't seem to be able to hear her.
"I see now how right I was," Neira mused, once more floating above them, "A wolf was a poor choice indeed for this incarnation, no matter what Vorher claimed when his counsel was yet mine. He committed the same grave mistake all mortals do, no matter how long they live; Misborn have no understanding of patience."
Tin was pushing himself upright, his fingers shaking as he tried to support his own weight. Eni heaved his arm across her shoulders, straining as she lifted him to his feet. "But even a dragon cannot abide forever, not when superior opportunities present themselves," Neira said, "You have made a poor showing indeed, All-King. I give you one final chance to convince me before we start anew."
"Not… done," Tin gasped, and despite the heat of the air Eni could feel his body burning against her.
Neira sighed wearily, the dragon's disappointment palpable. "Then we shall converse in your preferred manner," she said, and she gestured at the ground in front of Tin's feet.
The stone split open, a gleaming length of something black pushing its way out of the ground. It was a sword, emerging hilt-first, inscribed along its length with elegant patterns in Derkomai. The entire weapon was the color of obsidian, as glossy as a mirror with a metallic sheen, and it presented itself into Tin's good paw. "I give you the very same blade Wordermund used to carve his empire," Neira said.
Tin's arm was a blur; he clearly tried to throw it at the dragon's eye but it didn't leave his paw. Even with all his fingers outstretched it clung to his palm, and the dragon laughed. "Come now," she said, "Do not grow tedious with your ultimate effort."
Tin scowled and Eni looked at the blade uneasily, her mind filling with terrible possibilities. "You needn't worry, leveret," Neira said almost kindly, as though she had read Eni's thoughts, "It isn't intended for you. Step back."
Eni's feet betrayed her before she could even think about denying the dragon's order, her arm slipping free from Tin's shoulder seemingly of its own volition. She tried to go back to Tin's side, but it was as though an invisible wall had taken shape, one that felt as unyielding as hard rubber but clearer than the finest glass. She pushed against the barrier, straining with effort, but it was no use, her fingers barely pressing into it.
She was separated by Tin by no more than two and a half feet, but the distance between them had never felt greater as panic slowly welled up in her chest. She scratched at the air frantically, her blunt nails digging through her fine gloves as she tried to push her way toward him, but nothing else happened. She went up and down the length of their little platform, trying to find some kind of weak point, some spot where she could find purchase.
There wasn't one.
Tin was left standing warily, the sword he had been burdened with clutched in his paw, and Neira gazed down at him. "Tell me, Slayer, what binds you to this world?" she asked.
"Protecting it from things like you," he said viciously, but Eni could tell he was barely able to stand.
He was swaying on his feet, his bad arm limp at his side as blood dripped down his fingers. "A noble promise," she said, "When you were young, you craved an equal to fight. An opportunity to test your skills, in the way you favored. But something changed along the way, didn't it? After Idrun, you still sought out the monsters of this world, no matter what form they took. You told yourself it was to fulfill that vow you made as a young and impetuous pup, but it wasn't. Tell her what became of your hope; tell her what you longed for above all else."
Neira gestured at Eni, and she watched the wolf's throat bob as he swallowed hard.
"I… I was looking for someone stronger," he said at last, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"Tell her why," Neira demanded, her eyes boring through Tin's.
"To kill me," he said, his head lowering shamefully.
"Yes," Neira said, her attention turning to Eni, "See the ruin your hero allowed himself to become. He couldn't end his own existence, not while notions of duty and purpose still raged in his mind. But if he did his best… If he could find Aerodan a new champion… Then everything could end."
A long silence descended over them, the wind howling past as the volcano below boiled with its liquid rock. "And now it can," Neira said, "You have met your successor. Taught her all you dared, straining against your own guilt, and readied her for the lessons I shall teach her."
The dragon gestured almost casually, a single one of her wicked talons moving an inch to the side, and the sword spun in Tin's grasp until he had the length of its blade pressed against his bare chest. "Unless, that is, you are ready to show me why I shouldn't," she said, and Tin's paw pressed down on the hilt.
He collapsed to his knees, his muzzle closed in a grimace of agony as a thin red line appeared against the pearly white and midnight black of his chest, blood oozing from the wound as he slowly applied more pressure. Eni slammed her paws against the invisible barricade, crying out as she pressed with all her might.
She was pushing so hard that her fingers were going numb, tingling as they slowly sank into the barrier, and she strained herself for just a little more. Two and a half feet was barely anything, and yet it felt like more than she could manage.
"I… don't want…" Tin panted from between clenched teeth, the muscles of his arm bulging as he tried to move the weapon away.
Eni shook her head, banishing her doubts as she willed herself to try harder, murmuring silent prayers to the Mother for the viscous force to yield. Her progress was slow, mere fractions of an inch, but she couldn't give up, not when she was so close.
"Things to… end," he gasped, but the vicious blade was cruelly sliding between his ribs, biting in even as his arm trembled with effort.
"Unleash yourself, then," Neira said, "Flesh cannot stop that blade; will you die while she watches?"
"Tin!" Eni cried, "Tin, please, it's alright, I'm almost there. Just… Hold on!"
As she watched his arm wavered, his strength nearly exhausted as the blade continued its merciless approach. "Can't," Tin replied, falling to his back as the sword slowly cleaved into his body.
Tears had filled his eyes, mirroring her own agony. Horrible desperation filled his face, his gaze pleading as it met Eni's. She was still pressing against the invisible force that kept them apart, straining with all her might, but it was as solid as ever.
Tin gasped as the blade sunk even deeper, nearly half of its width buried in his torso. "Tin, don't give up, please, don't give up," Eni said, words falling out of her mouth as she fought for another infinitesimal gain, closer but still horribly short, "Please, reach for your light!"
"It won't come anymore," he said, his voice cracking.
His eyes were haunted, pleading as they met hers. "I can't," he whispered, "Please, I can't."
"Then tell me what to do!" Eni cried, and the numbness in her paws and arms was sweeping through her entire body as the barrier refused to yield.
"I'm sorry," Tin replied weakly.
"Don't leave me," Eni begged, still straining with all her might.
The blade slid a fraction of an inch deeper, and Neira spoke. "Then you have given your answer," she said with cold finality.
Her voice was dispassionate, and Eni was suddenly overcome by a fiery rage. The dragon had obliterated the final bastion of Wordermund's empire, taking with it hundreds of thousands of mammals and avians, once it had served her purposes. She had caused unbelievable suffering, and now Tin was at her mercy, helpless to stop her cruel torture.
Eni gritted her teeth, letting her own strength flow through her. She made no effort to stop it, allowing her anger to go unchecked as she pushed harder and harder against the wall of force that separated her from Tin. She could hear it as she strained, a faint tinkling like wind chimes, and Eni realized it wasn't as impassible as it seemed. It let air and sound traverse it unobstructed, and Eni's focus narrowed as she scrabbled for a grip with her mind, letting her raw power flow at the gaps she knew had to be there.
Her vision blanked out; sight was irrelevant, a mere distraction when the important sense was what she could hear. Tin was there, thrumming with vitality despite his injuries, and Eni reached for him, shoving extensions of her will closer. She had no idea what she was doing but that didn't matter; she felt a savage pride filling her heart as her own body sang out, the music of her very being straining against the container that Neira had erected.
The harmonics were beautiful beyond description, unearthly and vivid in a way that nothing created for a mortal instrument or voice could be. Her power filled her and surged outwards, the barrier vibrating in sympathy with her own efforts. Her mind strained, harder and harder, and Eni cried out wordlessly, her magic crashing through her and—
She stumbled into Tin, losing her balance as she passed through a barrier that was no longer there. Her veins were still alive with something otherworldly, and without thinking she pulled the sword from Tin's paw. It was colder than winter against her fingers, as bitter as loneliness and sharper than any regret, and as it called for her she cast it aside contemptuously, drops of Tin's blood freezing against the dark metal as it clattered to the edge of the platform.
"Tin!" Eni cried, cradling his head in her lap as she grabbed his good paw in hers, "Tin, it's…"
She was seeing with her eyes again, her impossible clarity lost for a grim reality. The wolf had carved himself open, a long horizontal line passing all the way across his chest and so deep that she could see into it. Blood oozed out sluggishly, brilliantly crimson and yet oddly dark. Eni pressed her other paw against his wound and Tin didn't even flinch, his eyes fever bright as he tried to speak.
Tin's pulse was slow and weak, but it was Eni's entire world. The faltering beat filled her, the sound of it in her ears and the feeling of it in her fingers as she held his tight. He looked up at her with terrible effort, panting for breath as his gaze met hers.
"Eni," he rasped, and her throat tightened, her own voice completely lost.
She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but all the details of his face were smeared together, the whites of his eyes going black as they blurred with his fur. Her lips trembled, still wordless, and she could feel him falter.
"My life alone," he began slowly, each word terribly distinct even as he slurred them, "It led me to you. I think…"
He coughed wetly, his entire body trembling against her, and when he went on his teeth were flecked with red.
"I know," he said urgently, his eyes like dark pits as they held hers, "It was worth it."
His head slumped back and Eni went completely blind, sobbing helplessly as hot tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks. She couldn't see his face anymore, but she knew. Nothing filled her ears or throbbed against her fingers.
His heart had stopped.
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