text: Toirneach appeared immediately into my right hand, and I swung the axe at the webbing around my friend. The air whistled angrily behind the weapon as it slammed into the near-microscopic filaments. To my surprise the axe stuck onto the sticky rope as well, but when I yanked, the air around the weapon roared, and the axe blade came free with an angry screech, like that of metal scraping metal. I put all of my power behind the next swing, and this time I was able to tear my friend out of the invisible trap. She started to fall, wings desperately trying to clear the last of the binding thread away. I scooped her up with my free arm and bounded a dozen feet away.
  
  The voice from the ceiling seemed amused.
  
  "Don't worry, my little Stell," the voice hissed. "Uncle Cavus isn't going to let you run anymore."
  
  <Uncle?> my dragon growled from inside. <Who the fuck is this guy?>
  
  <The biggest asshole we will ever encounter,> I growled back.
  
  "Cavus!" I roared with bared teeth. "You ready for round three, you smoky Umbra bitch?"
  
  This time my use of profanity felt entirely appropriate. My conscience even said it was proud of me.
  
  A warbling chuckle came from above us, as the alien creep still refused to show himself.
  
  "Don't worry, my little Stell," the monster said as he still ignored me. "The ugly stupid boy won't talk like that for long. And when he dies, Uncle Cavus is going to make sure no other boy will ever come near you again."
  
  <Is he really talking to her like this?> Teeth growled. <What the hell is his problem?>
  
  "Wes," Breena whispered. She tried to shrink to a smaller size, but the webbing wouldn't let her. "Wes, run."
  
  That was probably a good idea. I growled again before I turned around and bound for the door. The truth of the matter was that I had no guarantee of being able to handle Cavus in a straight fight, unless that miracle lightning fire came to my aid again.
  
  <Are you there?> I whispered at the small quiet voice.
  
  No answer.
  
  I snarled, and then addressed Teeth.
  
  <Can we change again? Like with Raw-Maw?>
  
  <If we do, we won't be able to again for another month,> the New Guy answered bitterly. <Your last Battleform use is still taxing us right now.>
  
  That made getting away our best answer. The Pathway would close again and soon as we exited, and Cavus would hopefully be stuck here. If not, he'd fight us on another planet where more help could probably turn the tide. I refused to believe Stell's Icon allies would ignore him showing up on their planet.
  
  One more leap put me hurtling straight into the silvery door.
  
  I bounced right off of it.
  
  Expletives splashed out of my mouth as I skidded back to my feet, turned, and ran for the other Pathway leading back to Avalon. If that one worked and he still followed, Guineve and I would wreck his face together, now that she was fully healed.
  
  "Don't worry, my little Stell," Cavus continued speaking from the ceiling. "This time I did everything right. No one will ever take you from me again."
  
  Teeth cursed at him again. This time I stopped right in front of the Pathway entrance and slammed Toirneach at whatever binding covered the opening. There was a flash of light and an angry cracking sound, but the weapon bounced right off and nearly flew out of my hands.
  
  "Silly, ugly stupid boy," the guttural voice chuckled from the ceiling. "Didn't he hear me? Uncle Cavus took care of everything. The only way these doors will open again is if he leaves without my little Stell. And that's fine. Uncle Cavus won't mind that at all."
  
  <Make him stop talking to her like that or I will fucking eat him,> Teeth growled. <I mean it.>
  
  "Wes," Breena whispered. "I'm sorry. You have to let me go. You have to leave me here."
  
  "Ha," I spat as I summoned Carnwennan and had its shroud cover both me and Breena. Then I moved several feet away, so that we were in a new position. <Don't be ridiculous, Breena. Here,> I sent as I lowered her to the ground. I wanted to cut her free, but the threads were too small to remove without hurting her, even if I used magic. My eyes searched the ceiling, but all I could see was inky grayness. I twirled the axe in my right hand, wondering if it was still the right weapon for the job.
  
  Cavus chuckled again.
  
  "Look, little Stell. The ugly, stupid boy thinks he's strong enough to hide you from me. Can you tell him, my little Stell? Can you tell him that I can smell where you are exactly, right behind him? Does he know that I can always smell my little Stell when she's near?"
  
  "Motherfucker," I growled. "If you get any creepier I'm going to climb up there and see just how many ass-kickings it takes to get to the center of an Umbra-pop. Now stick your head out and say hi, bitch." I flipped the giant tomahawk in my hands. "I've got a package I need you to sign for."
  
  I couldn't help it. The bastard made my hair bristle and my mouth froth.
  
  "He just won't leave us alone, will he, my little Stell?" Cavus hissed, and I finally saw movement above us. "He can't help but be an ugly, stupid boy. Doesn't he know what happened to all the other ugly stupid boys?"
  
  Breena let out a muffled whimper as the monster came back into view. My own eyes widened in shock. Because he looked completely different.
  
  He was much smaller, roughly my own size. Like before, his entire body was black, but that was nearly the only thing consistent. Now he resembled a deformed spider instead of a deformed human, gripping whatever surface he was on with every single appendage. His number of limbs still varied, growing and collapsing into his center, but now he alternated consistently between six to nine legs. Each of the limbs resembled a normal spider's legs, except that the tips wiggled slightly when they lifted up, and tiny black-gray hands crawled over the appendages, leaving little trails of ink that disappeared when they touched the spidery limbs. The head was even more shadowy than it was in the past, a mandible-ringed thing that reminded me of a large ant head.
  
  The real horror was the monster's abdomen. It was shaped like that of a spider's, but every now and then it glowed. When I looked carefully, I saw a single light bounce around inside, creating the glow by slamming itself against the abdomen walls, as if it was desperately, uselessly, trying to break its way free. Worst of all, mouths of all kinds lined the bottom of the bulbous abdomen, some gnashing their teeth, some clamping serrated jaws, and a few drooling with deformed tongues. It was enough to make even the dragon side of me recoil in disgust.
  
  "Did you tell him, little Stell-piece?" the mouth at the very end of the abdomen asked, a wet, red-gray tear that resembled the mouth of the monster's original form. The abdomen bulged and shrank weirdly as the mouth moved, and it reminded me of how the Umbra's head always adjusted to fit the expression of the monster's mouth. "Did you tell him what happened to all the other ugly, stupid boys? Does this little piece of you remember?"
  
  "Wes," Breena squeaked. "Please run."
  
  "You know what I remember?" I said, ignoring Breena's request and reaching for the familiar burning lightning inside of myself. "I remember facing you before. I remember you doing your worst, and then I remember coming back to fight you for a second round. And that time, I remember you running away from me. Does that ring any bells, arachno-creep? Does that sound about right?"
  
  Cavus had begun crawling down one of the walls, but he stopped and hissed at me for a moment, the sound coming from every mouth on his abdomen. But then he made another disgusting chuckle, and continued crawling toward us.
  
  "Yes, ugly stupid boy. I remember all of those things. I remember you burning a part of your soul right out, just to hurt me. You're the first ever to be able to do that, ugly dumb boy. But you will die if you do it again. Is that why you're still teasing him, little Stell?" The shadowy ant head looked past me. "Because he was the first boy ugly and dumb enough to try and do that for you? To go that far, just to hurt your Uncle Cavus?"
  
  "Stop calling yourself that," I growled. "You're not her uncle. You're not her anything."
  
  "Yes I am," the monster chuckled, still crawling down the wall. "I have to be. I ate every other ugly stupid boy that claimed to be her father, or her uncle, or her cousin or her grandfather. So now I get to be all those things for her. I'm the only one who gets to, now."
  
  <He's in range,> Teeth snarled inside my head. <Why are we still talking to him?>
  
  "Good point," I said out loud.
  
  My enhancement spells all flared, and I roared and hurled Toirneach as hard as I could at the creepy bastard. The monster was chuckling right up until the wind began to whip around the weapon. Then the Umbra hissed, bunched his legs, and leaped away.
  
  "Where did you get that?" All of his mouths screeched as he landed some distance away on the floor. "Ugly stupid thief!"
  
  I didn't know what Cavus knew about my weapon. But he was afraid of it, and that was good enough for me.
  
  He also seemed far weaker than he had before. I had been directly enhanced by Avalon during our first battle, and he was still strong enough to send me hurtling hundreds of yards through the air. I was even stronger now, but it still felt far too early for him to feel threatened by me.
  
  As a follow-up test, I fired off my fingerbolt spell into him. All ten darts followed his skittering, and at the last moment oil-like liquid belched out of his abdomen and covered his body in a shield. I saw the covering ripple as the bolts impacted it, but the electric darts just fizzled across its surface.
  
  "Breena," I asked quietly. "Why is he so much weaker now?"
  
  "It's just a small piece of him," she whispered weakly. "And he's still too strong for you." I turned to look at her. She looked as if she had worked her way clear of part of the webbing, and might be able to fight her way free if she tried really hard. But she had gone completely pale, and was shivering all over. Raw terror continued to wash out from her through our bond. "Run, Wes," she said again. "Be safe. Be well. I'm sorry. I'll miss you. I…" She tried to say more words, and then her mouth snapped shut on its own.
  
  The next moment there was a skittering noise, and Cavus barreled across the murky hall and directly into me.
  
  My dagger disappeared as I summoned my shield. I turned back just in time to have Cavus' clawed front legs crack into the wooden barrier. The shield held, but I felt myself skidding across the floor as the creature's other legs tried to stab over my guard.
  
  "Breena!" I shouted, straining against the Umbra's surprising weight. "Snap out of it and help me fight!"
  
  "Ugly, stupid boy," Cavus hissed. "Stell can never fight me!" The ant head chittered as the monster's legs bunched up against my shield. "She needs me!"
  
  "Like hell she does!" I shouted in the next moment, pushing back against the monster's weight and rearing my axe back for another strike. I swung at the nearest leg, but it drew back hastily before my blow landed. "She doesn't need you to do anything but get out of her way!"
  
  "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Cavus screamed from his mouths. He reared up on two legs and heaved on my shield with the other six. I went flying through the air. "You are the worst! You are the ugliest and stupidest of all the ugly, stupid boys!"
  
  I slammed down shoulder-first on the solid but formless ground hard enough to bounce, wincing from the impact as I struggled to make my second landing feet-first. I failed and wound up slamming against the wall next to one of the Pathway exits.
  
  "There, my little Stell-piece," the spidery Umbra said, walking backwards toward my terrified friend, abdomen looming toward her. "The ugly boy's far away now. You don't have to tease him, or listen to him." The fleshy mouth at the abdomen's tip curled and yawned open. The little light inside the abdomen began bouncing around even more frantically. "You don't have to pretend you can be what the ugly stupid boy wants you to be anymore, my little Stell. You don't have to pretend you can be brave. You don't have to pretend you can be smart. You don't even have to pretend you can ever be happy, or good at something. You just have to be my little Stell, forever. That's all you get to be—"
  
  <Safety measures deactivated,> my mindscreen chirped. <Battleform engaging.>
  
  As my Ideals began to merge, Teeth seized control of my throat and let out a roar that rattled the walls and ceiling of this formless hall.
  
  "STOP!" Teeth shouted out of my mouth. "TALKING! TO! HER!"
  
  My jaws began to stretch.
  
  <Dragon-bond engaging,> my mindscreen chirped again. <Be advised that current vitality may prove insufficient for dual-form activation. Recommending caution…>
  
  <Fuck off!> Teeth and I roared at once, dismissing the message. Red and gold scales began forming over the bare skin of my neck and forearms. Then they crawled over my armor, merging with it to provide better protection. My hands grew clawed gauntlets. Even my axe and shield began to glow with a red sheen. It made the light from the Battleform's enhancement magic dance all over the room.
  
  But none of that information was important as killing the god-damned, creepy idiot menacing my friend.
  
  "I WILL EAT YOU!" I shouted, clearing the distance between myself and the Umbra with a single leap. "I WILL WRECK AND EAT YOUR FACE!"
  
  Toirneach blazed with six different magics as I swung it clear through one of Cavus' clawed limbs, the combined enhancements churning up the limb like it was a stick trapped against an electric saw blade. The Umbra screamed in agony, rearing up and backing away from Breena.
  
  "Pain!" he screeched. "How dare you?" The shadowy ant head looked at me, as if it were seeing me for the first time.
  
  "You are Aegrim's heir!" the creature hissed in astonishment. "Why does Aegrim oppose this? This isn't right! He should like how I want her! You should be helping me!"
  
  We answered him with an incoherent roar, and struck at him again with Toirneach, drawing an angry line across the underside of his carapace. The monster howled again, and I saw little hands crawl frantically up his remaining legs to try and stitch the tear shut.
  
  "You dare?" Cavus screeched, slamming his right three legs into my flank. I twisted my shield into their way, shuddering at the impact. "You dare dispute my claim? She's mine! I bought her! I paid for her! I did everything they asked!"
  
  "What?" Breena asked behind us, and I felt her stir at the words.
  
  The monster struck with his remaining legs at the same time I struck out with Toirneach. Our attacks intercepted each other, forcing us into a grapple, as this time the oily black coating billowed out to save his limbs. I strained against the Umbra's weight but did not buckle, dragon man against disgusting nightmare bug.
  
  "Greedy, stupid, cheating boy!" the ant head snarled, black spittle flying out of the mandibles. "Stupid traitor-prince! You want her for yourself? You can't use her! You don't even know what to do!"
  
  "SHUT UP!" both parts of my mind roared. "SHUT THE HELL UP AND GET IN MY BELLY!"
  
  As Cavus cocked his ant-head in bafflement at my words, my own jaws launched forward and closed with a sudden snap.
  
  The bastard jerked his head back in time, but I still caught at least one mandible. I twisted my own skull and a good portion of the monster's front mouth came away with a crunch.
  
  "Stupid traitor-prince!" Cavus screamed from his abdominal mouths. I spat his nasty remains out of my mouth and ripped Toirneach free of his left limbs. The Umbra backed away awkwardly as my following swing grazed him. Then he leaped backward, putting over a dozen feet between us. "You think you're a match for one of us?"
  
  "I am," I growled, smoke coming out of my enlarged jaws. "And so is she." I pointed behind me.
  
  And I meant it. I refused to believe that Breena couldn't take Cavus in a fight. Not while he was in this wussy, spider-bitch form.
  
  A new leg suddenly burst out of the monster, replacing the one I had removed earlier. Gray hands crawled over the damaged ant-head, and new flesh bubbled out in their wake. Cavus reared back up, on four legs this time, and all the hands on his body faced me and began to glow. Streams of black, purple, and gray energy fired, blasting me before I could react. The dragon half of me roared in rage as I was knocked off of my feet. I rolled backwards to recover, and I caught sight of black smoke vomiting from the spider monster's abdomen.
  
  "You are not to call me prey, Aegrim-spawn," all of Cavus' mouths spoke, and this time their words echoed along the entire hallway. "You are a hundred thousand years too young to have earned that right!"
  
  The black smoke coated the monster like armor, thickening his bulk, reinforcing his limbs. The light from his abdomen dulled, and purple energy crackled from the gray hands crawling over the new armor.
  
  "I have eaten stronger beings than you!" the mouths shouted. "Just ask her! Ask her what happened to the heroes of her world!"
  
  I wasn't curious. I punched out with my right fist to send a stored lightning bolt out of my knuckles. The waving, burning, blood-red seared into Cavus' right flank, and he screamed for the millionth time already, because he was a little bitch who wasn't used to pain. Then the hands on his body all fired again, and burning purple bolts slammed into my armor, scales, and shield, nearly knocking me off my feet again. I felt my insides tremble under the attack, and I knew that unlike the bastard Umbra, I was far more hurt than I appeared.
  
  "Breena!" I shouted. "Get up! This is your fight too! Either heal me, or throw a punch!"
  
  She looked at me and blinked, looking a little more pink, and sane.
  
  "Wes," she said dumbly. "You're still here." Her eyes suddenly widened. "And you're hurt."
  
  I was torn between my desire to comfort her somehow in the face of such a traumatic event, or screaming in rage or frustration over her current inability to help.
  
  "She can't help, stupid traitor-prince," Cavus cackled, and his hands began glowing again. "She can never do anything but be my little Stell! And she knows it!"
  
  <Hold fast,> the quiet voice said. <I rage.>
  
  <About time,> I growled back, hurling my axe at Cavus. The Umbra skittered to the side, right into the fireblast I launched next. He screamed, but again I knew he was just reacting to the pain instead of the actual damage. And he would repair the damage quickly, if I did not find a faster way to take him down.
  
  <Daughter,> the quiet voice said again, to my utter confusion.
  
  <What?> I asked.
  
  <Daughter,> he repeated, and I finally realized he wasn't talking to me.
  
  <Daughter.>
  
  Breena shook, and then suddenly looked around.
  
  <Daughter.>
  
  There was a quality, some kind of echo, that made me realize that my quiet, angry friend had been saying that word to Breena, to Stell, for a very long time. It reminded me of Val's actions back when the Umbra on Avalon had attacked me.
  
  <Daughter. Use me. I rage.>
  
  "But you're not real," I heard Breena whisper.
  
  <Daughter,> the voice repeated, with a patience that suggested thousands of years of practice, a thousand years of calling out to her. It made me wonder if he had also been talking to me all this time.
  
  <Stop getting distracted,> I told myself as my axe returned to my hand. <Invictus, or whoever you are, interfere in this right now or you and I are done.>
  
  <Hold fast,> he replied. <I will rage with you.>
  
  My hands sparked silver.
  
  "Yes!" Cavus chittered with his ant-head mouth. "Do it, traitor-prince! Burn yourself out and leave me with my little Stell!"
  
  <That's the second time I've heard that,> I thought, letting the silver power intensify.
  
  <No,> the quiet voice directed. <Like this. Now use me. I rage.>
  
  Feeling the subconscious instruction, I dashed forward instead, letting the silver, burning lightning build up in my body.
  
  "Wait," the ant-head cocked sideways. "What are you doing?"
  
  <Daughter,> the voice said again, and Breena began to stir. <I rage.>
  
  Cavus' confusion cost him. I closed the distance and slammed my axe back into his face, crunching into the oily armor and slicing another mandible off. The silver power merged into me, mixing with my Battleform's magic, enhancing me even further. Cavus shrieked, scuttled backwards, and then whipped out at me with two new, scythe-like limbs that grew directly from the top of his body. They slashed around my shield to leave long gashes in my arms, piercing all my magical protection.
  
  "You think to survive by holding the power in! Foolish ugly boy!"
  
  I ignored him and slashed at his scythe arms so I wouldn't get decapitated in the next ten seconds. This time Toirneach crunched into the limb but didn't cut clean through. The remaining limbs all hammered at me, striking until my shield was battered out of the way and they began slamming into my stomach. I felt my scales crunch, then felt my padding and leather absorb most of the blow, then felt the remaining force knock me clear across the hall.
  
  I rolled back to my feet, but noticed the trail of red-gold scales I had left along the floor.
  
  <Can't keep this up much longer,> Teeth gritted at me.
  
  I looked at Cavus, and realized his mandible and scythe-limb were already healing, and realized I was going to lose this fight on my own.
  
  "Throw it, stupid traitor boy," the Umbra taunted. "It's your only chance. Throw the Soulcurrent so that you can finally die and leave me alone with my little Stell."
  
  <Fuck him,> Teeth snarled.
  
  <Agreed,> I answered, hefting Toirneach again.
  
  Because I refused to lose to anything as depraved as this sick freak.
  
  <Now!> the quiet voice said urgently. <Use me now!>
  
  Words burned into my mind.
  
  "Let the lightning beget fire and light, and let the light chase shadows and fear away! Force the dark to make room for truth, and the truth make room for courage!"
  
  Toirneach crackled with silver burning current, and I hurled it straight at Cavus' center mass.
  
  But to my surprise, the lightning arced off of the weapon and straight into Breena.
  
  "Let the lightning beget light and truth, and let the truth beget more light!" the once-quiet voice shouted out, and Cavus shrieked at the sound of the voice, unable to even dodge my axe as it crunched into his carapace. "Daughter, you are precious. You are valuable. You are mighty. You are not who he says you are. Daughter, you are chosen, and not orphaned. You are loved, and not abandoned. You are not who he says you are. Daughter, you are brave, and you are wise. You are capable and you are a joyful light to these worlds. You are who I say you are! Every part of you is meant for greatness! Now rise up and rage!"
  
  Breena stared at the silver energy crackling all over her. The very next instant her bonds broke, as she grew to her full height, surpassing it even as she rose to her feet, a five-foot-tall woman that crackled with beauty and powerful majesty. She took a step forward, the air around her crackling with a multicolored rainbow of energy. Brilliant wings expanded from her back like giant golden blades, their edges tinted with every color of the sunrise. She looked at Cavus as if she was seeing him for the first time, and was disappointed in what she saw.
  
  "You hurt me," she said simply. "And you hurt a host of others that were very dear to me."
  
  She held out a radiant hand in the Umbra's direction. "Give me back what I lost."
  
  The flash erupting from her hand seared my eyes shut. The loud crack that followed made my ears ring like a high-pitched dial tone. I lost track of how long I was blind and deaf. I couldn't even tell whether my eyes were open or shut. My vision came back in stages. I saw Breena in her human-sized form, hand still held out, a haze of brightness ahead of her. The next blink, I saw Cavus hurtling away from her, legs writhing and melting, body flipping through the air. The next blink, the ringing began to fade, and I heard Cavus let out a short scream that cut off as the light ate at him. I saw the trapped dot of light slam against the remains of his melting abdomen, and I hurled the resummoned Toirneach into a brittle-looking patch just above the dot. I saw Breena's eyes track my weapon as it flew through the air to crack into the last barrier between the little light and its freedom. Then her eyes narrowed, and she fluttered her burning wings and created a storm of sharp, bright blades that cut a circular hole around my axe's cluster of cracks. The pieces of Cavus' black exoskeleton fell to the floor like broken bits of pottery. The little light darted out of the hole, and Cavus somehow managed to usher one final shriek.
  
  "No! Not another one! Come back! Come back my little—"
  
  Then Breena's wing-blades found the remaining mouth, granting us all a moment of relatively blissful silence as the Umbra's body finished melting and crumpling apart.
  
  For a moment we both stood there, me breathing heavily, still shedding scales and changing back to my normal state, her still breathing steadily and composed, powerful and beautiful in her glory. Then she looked down at her outstretched hand, and back up at where Cavus was once was.
  
  "Wes?" she asked, blinking as her wings dimming out of sight.
  
  "Yes, Breena?" I asked, walking over.
  
  "Did that…" she began to say, taking a deep breath before she finished. "Did I just do that?"
  
  "Yeah, Breena," I said, walking forward. "That, right there, at the very end? That was all you."
  
  "Cavus," she said in a numb, shocked voice. "We beat Cavus." She looked down at herself. "I beat Cavus." Her voice grew soft. "I beat the nightmare that haunted all of me."
  
  "You didn't just beat him, Breena," I said, walking over to her as I put away my shield and put my armor around her, looking around to make sure the fight was really over. "I think you actually killed him."
  
  "Just a small part of him," she said numbly, looking down at her hands. "But that was still supposed to be impossible. Umbras never lose." She blinked at her palms. "Not to a tiny fairy, of all things…" She trailed off, blinking again. "But I'm not just a tiny fairy," she realized, looking up. "I never was just a tiny fairy. Or a tiny girl that had lost her family and planet. Is that… is that right?" she asked a sky I couldn't see.
  
  <Daughter,> the quiet voice repeated, this time in affirmation. Breena smiled with wet eyes.
  
  "I hear him," she said in a happy quivering voice. "I hear him. Even though I never believed in him." She turned her head toward me, lips still quivering. "Even after I told you he was a fairy tale and you shouldn't believe in him. I hear him. And then I fought alongside him, and now all my nightmares are gone. This part of myself is free now." She gestured with her hand, and even in this moment—especially in this moment—it was hard not to notice how beautiful she looked. "You helped, Wes. Thank you." She smiled wider, and I tried not to lose my wits at the sight.
  
  "You're welcome," I stammered. "You did most of it on your own, though." I tried not to think about how much I was enjoying the brightness of her smile or the closeness of her human-sized body. But distracting myself wasn't working.
  
  "You were there for all of it, Wes… I—" She opened her mouth, and then it snapped shut. She just shook her head, as if she was refusing to let something bother her. "Never mind. I'll find a way to tell you. Or show you, if the rest of Stell will let me get away with it."
  
  "Stell," a small voice said from down the hall. I finally spotted the little light hovering a few inches off the ground a dozen feet away. "Stell," it repeated. "Are you Stell?" The light began to float closer to us. It was a soft golden color, and the whole ball was about the size of my fist. "Is that you? Is that part of you, Stell?"
  
  Breena blinked.
  
  "You…" she began. "Yes. I'm part of Stell. I'm Breena. You're Stell's… you're my sister." She took another quivering breath and she stepped out from my shoulder-hug. She kept her grip on my hand as she walked closer to the little ball. "Lucima? Is that you?"
  
  "Yes!" the little ball bobbed happily in the air. "It's me. I'm… I'm alive again!"
  
  "But he ate you," Breena said softly, tears streaming from her face. "I remember."
  
  "He did," the little ball bobbed. "He kept all of us inside, because he was obsessed with you. But I'm free now. And in time my body can be whole again." The light suddenly bobbed over to me, floating up and down. "The Soulcurrent. You used it. You even gave it to Breena. How are you still alive?"
  
  "You are the third being to ask me that question," I said slowly. "And I have no more comprehension than I did the first time I was asked."
  
  "Third? How can there be three?" Lucima asked as she swirled around. "You are an Earthborn. That explains why you can do it at all… but even two times was enough to kill the Earthborn long before they diminished. Yet I saw you fire the Current twice in your second battle with our nightmare. You freed Astremee that way."
  
  "Astremee?" Breena asked, blinking. "Stell's other sister… my other sister is free? Wes did that?" the vibrant-colored woman asked as she looked at me. "My Wes did that? Where is she?"
  
  "Wait—" the little light hesitated—"your Wes? Nevermind." She shook herself. "She probably went to look for the rest of you. But how did this Earthborn manage the Soulcurrent that many times? Why is he still alive?"
  
  "Why do you keep asking that?" Breena suddenly said, sounding worried. "Is he okay? Is he hurt? I haven't even checked…"
  
  "I'm fine, I think," I said quickly, and truthfully my wounds had pretty much recovered by now, though I felt extremely tired. Lucima bobbed in agreement, as if she had finished examining me. "I probably feel better than I should, in fact. Why don't you tell us what the Soulcurrent is, though? Because I haven't exactly been able to look up all the recent health science on its use."
  
  "Health science?" The little ball tilted. "Is he trying to be funny?" Breena just shrugged, so Lucima continued talking. "Whatever. The Soulcurrent was a power some of the ancient Earthborn were known to wield. Their civilization is older than ours, so our records are incomplete, but supposedly the greatest of them would burn up a part of themselves to either destroy or build something much more powerful than themselves. Very, very rarely, they could transfer part of that power for another being to use, although that's supposed to be even more taxing on them. Some say this power was what built their kingdoms across the Expanse. Others say its use was what finally toppled them from the Council. I got a glimpse of you the first time you fought Cavus." The little sphere seemed to shudder. "Back when he was trying to show us all off to Stell. You looked even weaker back then, not even as strong as the extinct Dusk-Era Earthborn. I saw part of you literally melt off of your own hands. Yet you've used this power again, since then, for a total of at least three times."
  
  "Five, I think," I corrected, trying to think. "Let's see, Cavus, the Malus dungeon, the other two dungeons in Avalon, and just now… yeah, five. Unless I'm forgetting one."
  
  Somehow, the little light was able to cough.
  
  "How?" Lucima gasped. "That's over five thousand Earth years' worth of your lifespan! You don't look anywhere near that old!"
  
  "Thanks," I said dryly. "Pretty sure I'm still eighteen. I'd have to check a calendar, though."
  
  Tiny sparks told me Lucima was sputtering.
  
  "I don't even know how to answer that," the little orb finally said.
  
  "That's normal," Breena assured. "For talking to Wes, I mean."
  
  "Well, how do you feel?" Stell's older sister said, circling around me. "Do your muscles feel weak? Any of your bones seem like they're about to snap in half? Do you feel like you're missing a lung when you try to breathe?"
  
  "Definitely not," I replied, disturbed, as I tried to examine myself. "Actually I feel a lot better now. In fact," I added, remembering. "I usually feel better every time afterwards. Lighter, stronger. It's even easier to think."
  
  "That's how I feel too now," Breena insisted. Her hand squeezed mine.
  
  "I don't understand," Lucima said. "The legends all said the Soulcurrent came with great cost. Could they be wrong? Could something else have brought your people low?"
  
  "Probably," I asked. "But can you tell us if Cavus is gone for good? Breena only thinks we killed a part of him."
  
  "That's right." The little light bobbed in a nod. "He's been crawling through the Pathways, trying to find your main body. When he realized how many Satellites you have, he split himself into multiple parts to try and catch them all. This part of him was crawling around the outside of Avalon, looking for a way to catch the current part of you unguarded. When he realized this Pathway was opening from Avalon's end he rushed over here and snuck in before the tunnel finished forming. Then he waited until you were as isolated as possible to spring his trap. And then you two fought him, and killed this part of him."
  
  "What about everyone else?" Breena asked worriedly. "Is everyone else still inside of him?"
  
  "Everyone," Lucima said softly. "He wanted us all. Everyone who ever knew you. He tries to use us to learn more about you."
  
  "So they're all split up into his multiple bodies," I said, considering the issue. "Which means to free the rest of you, we'd have to beat the pieces of him hunting Stell's other Satellites as well as destroying his main body."
  
  "Free the rest?" Lucima asked. "Kill Cavus altogether? But that's impossible. And it's not even your fight. You're not a Starsown."
  
  I didn't know how to reply to that other than to laugh.
  
  "Sorry," Lucima said quickly. "I'm sounding ungrateful, and I don't mean to be. You've freed two of us, and we will never forget that. It's just that… he's not a Starsown, Stell," Stell's sister said carefully, turning her attention back to Breena. "There are things he just won't get."
  
  "No kidding," my human-sized fairy snorted. "There are a lot of things he never gets every day." Then she suddenly brightened. "But impossible stuff is what he's best at not understanding." She leaned against my arm as she said that.
  
  "I'll take your word," Stell's older sister replied, clearly not having any idea what Breena meant. "Speaking of Stell, or the rest of her, where is she? Do you know?"
  
  "I wish I did," I said, shaking my head. "She's hiding from Cavus and trying to help out with all the Tumults as best as she can."
  
  "I can't believe she's managed all of this on her own." The little light waved through the air. "All of it. She's even greater than we realized. You're even greater than we realized, Breena-Stell."
  
  "Thank you." My friend smiled, happy tears still streaming down her face. "I've missed you, Lucima."
  
  "And I've missed you, too. But I need to rest," Lucima said sadly. "I'm going to find a place to go recover. Then I'm going to see if I can help your main body, so I can gain my own body back faster and be of more help. But I love you, Breena-Stell. I love this part of you. And it feels so good to be free." The orb of light started to drift away. "But I will see you again, okay?"
  
  "Okay," Breena said tearfully. "I understand. Hurry up and get better faster, sister."
  
  "Thank you, little sis," the orb said in a quivering voice, sinking to a corner near the floor. "I'll rest here until you leave, and then I'll find a safe place to hide. Goodbye, little sister. Goodbye, brave Earthborn. Take care of her."
  
  "Always," I answered.
  
  <Damn straight,> the new guy chimed in.
  
  We let the injured Starsown rest as we walked toward the doorway leading to the Woadlands. Whatever magic Cavus had used to trap this place faded as there was no further webbing and my experimental touch passed through the opening easily.
  
  "One second, Wes," Breena said, holding a finger up. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and her wings reappeared behind her back, in their pink gossamer form this time, though other colors still played along the edges of them. Then she began to shrink until she was small enough to sit on my shoulder, and plopped down on my right one. "Alrighty. Back to business-casual Breena. Lead the way, super-mighty Challenger," she said, and we began to exit this trans-dimensional space. Breena looked up one final time before we fully passed through.
  
  "Will I keep hearing you?" she asked hopefully.
  
  <Daughter,> the quiet voice affirmed.
  
  "Good," she said happily. "And thank you."