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A flash of grief strikes me. My gargoyle powers are my identity—stone sleep, flight, the runes etched across my skin. But if that’s the price to save Protheka and keep Sariah safe, so be it. Tears prick my eyes. “I’ll do it,” I murmur. “I relinquish it all if it means freeing us from her shadow.”

Sariah’s tears sparkle. “Then let’s end this.” She kisses me swiftly, brand scorching with final resolve. I taste salt on her lips. The illusions swirl around us, but we stand unyielding, synergy swirling into something new— a seal forged from purna’s purity and gargoyle’s earthen might.

My runes glow in a crescendo of light, each carving across my arms and chest resonating with the brand’s silver arcs.

Pain lances through me as I push everything into Sariah’s staff, wings stiffening to hold the illusions at bay.

She chants a purna incantation, voice resonating with a primal power that makes the air tremble.

Her brand flares white-hot, turning the staff into a beacon.

Nerezza shrieks, illusions contorting in panic.

“No,” she hisses, sending a final torrent of voidlike energy.

It crashes against our forming seal, forcing us to brace in agony.

I roar, runes flaring bright as I channel the last vestiges of my gargoyle magic.

My body feels like it’s unraveling, stone plates crumbling from my limbs.

But I press on, tears streaming. This is the sacrifice.

Sariah screams, brand blazing, funneling the combined power into a vortex that spirals around Nerezza.

The vortex shimmers with swirling gold and silver, forming tendrils of luminous chains.

Nerezza’s illusions flail, monstrous faces emerging from the chaos, but one by one they’re snuffed out by the seal’s light.

The thrall gargoyles wail, collapsing under severed illusions.

The ground rattles so violently that cracks race through the floor, releasing bursts of stale air from subterranean depths.

“Kaelith!” Sariah yells over the maelstrom, tears glistening, staff trembling in her hands. “Push your power fully. Don’t hold back.”

I grit my teeth, tail snapping. No more illusions, no more guilt.

I let go of the last grip on my gargoyle abilities—my partial stone form, my old sense of flight, the runes that once defined me.

A wave of anguish sweeps my body, but I channel it into the seal.

My runes blaze in one final burst, each line of power streaming into Sariah’s incantation.

Nerezza howls, illusions fracturing. “No,” she roars, voice echoing with despair and fury. Her swirling voidlike aura collapses inward, battered by the radiant chains. The entire fortress quakes, pillars toppling in avalanches of stone.

In a final, savage flash of brilliance, the seal clamps shut around her.

The vortex condenses, spiraling into a point of searing light.

Nerezza’s form flickers, mouth twisted in a silent scream.

Then, in one explosive eruption, the illusions detonate, leaving behind a crater in the center of the hall.

Dust and debris swirl, stinging my eyes.

I stumble, wings limp, no longer stone-strong.

Pain courses through every fiber of me, the leftover synergy draining.

Sariah staggers to my side, brand sputtering.

I sense the entire fortress groaning, illusions fading into stale rubble.

Twisted gargoyles collapse, inert or lifeless.

The sky overhead cracks with thunder, a final echo of the chaos we banished.

“Sariah,” I rasp, voice raw, tail limp on the debris-strewn floor. “Did we?—?”

She presses a trembling hand to my chest, tears flooding her eyes. “We sealed her,” she breathes, exhaustion and relief tangled in her voice. “Nerezza’s… gone. Banished. Not forever, maybe, but for now. The seal is formed.”

My head swims, runes dimming until they’re barely visible lines on my skin.

I gave it all. My vision blurs, tears hot against my cheeks.

“I can’t… I can’t feel the stone in me anymore,” I whisper, heartbreak mingling with relief.

A vast emptiness takes the place of my gargoyle might.

But Sariah’s here, synergy still warm in my chest, albeit quieter.

She wraps her arms around me, staff clattering away. “Thank you,” she breathes, resting her forehead against mine. “You sacrificed so much for this world, for me.”

I close my eyes, tears slipping. “Worth every breath,” I murmur. My arms sag around her shoulders, muscles drained. Despite the battered fortress, an overwhelming calm settles in. The hush after the storm. Nerezza’s illusions no longer claw at the edge of my mind.

Around us, the fortress crumbles, gargoyle thralls inert or reduced to dust. Drayveth is nowhere to be seen—maybe he fled or was lost in the chaos. My heart pangs for the gargoyle lineage twisted by Nerezza. At least now they can rest.

Sariah helps me walk to a stable patch of ground near a splintered column.

We sink to our knees, leaning against each other.

My chest feels so… human . No runes blazing, no stone strength.

Just a man with a battered body and a tether to the woman I love.

The brand on her wrist still pulses, though, faint arcs of synergy bridging us. That’s enough.

She cups my face, eyes shimmering. “We did it,” she whispers, voice thick. “You’ll never be fully gargoyle again, but we’re free from her illusions.”

My tears return, a bittersweet ache. “I accept this,” I say, voice wavering. “All that mattered was stopping her… and staying with you.”

She kisses me, gentle and lingering, the brand throbbing with tenderness.

Her lips taste of salt and hope. My wings, though limp, curve around her shoulders.

The synergy hum resonates quietly, reminding me that, though I’ve lost my gargoyle powers, the bond we forged remains. That’s the only strength I need.

For a long stretch, we just breathe, listening to the fortress settling. Stones shift, rubble clatters. The air no longer crackles with chaos or illusions. Sariah’s brand glows softly in the gathering moonlight, my runes faint lines on my arms. We found peace in the aftermath of cataclysm.

Eventually, she breaks the silence, voice trembling with exhaustion. “I feel… empty and full at the same time,” she admits. “Like the greatest magic I’ve ever channeled has left me hollow, yet at peace.”

I nod, heart pounding. “I feel it too. A hush after the storm.” My tail flicks, a mere vestige of its old might. “Nerezza won’t trouble Protheka for a long while, if ever again. That seal was forged from purna purity and gargoyle essence… stronger than the old wards.”

She exhales softly, tears glinting in the corners of her eyes. “Kaelith, I—thank you for trusting me enough to fuse your last powers. I know what that cost you.”

My chest tightens, emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “I trust you with my life. That cost is nothing compared to losing you or letting her illusions devour the world.” My voice cracks. “You gave me something better than stone sleep. You gave me a reason to live.”

Fresh tears slip down her cheeks, and she leans in, pressing her lips to mine once more, a slow, tender affirmation. My heart warms, synergy fluttering in a gentler rhythm than any frantic battle trance. Yes, we’re not unstoppable warriors anymore, but we share a bond deeper than illusions.

Gradually, the tension in my muscles eases.

The fortress stands quiet—no shrieks, no illusions, no swirling shadows.

If we strain our ears, we might hear the faint wind or distant debris falling.

The entire domain, once bristling with Nerezza’s malevolence, feels drained, as if purged by our seal.

Drayveth might reappear or remain hidden, but for now, he’s irrelevant.

We’ve accomplished what was deemed impossible: banishing Nerezza’s darkness without dooming ourselves to centuries of isolation.

We help each other to our feet, leaning on our staffs—hers literal, mine figurative, as my wings no longer bear me in flight.

My body aches, yet an undercurrent of relief cushions the pain.

Sariah threads her arm through mine, brand pulsing lightly as if content.

Together, we pick our way across the courtyard, mindful of loose stones and the occasional inert gargoyle thrall that disintegrates into dust upon contact.

At the fortress threshold, we pause, turning back for one final glance at the half-collapsed citadel.

Our last battleground. A swirl of emotions churns in my chest: sorrow for the gargoyles warped by Nerezza, relief for this victory, and a quiet sense of finality.

I once sealed her at the cost of my own freedom.

This time, Sariah and I sealed her together, forging a better future.

Sariah’s fingers tighten around my arm. “We did it,” she whispers, her voice laced with awe. “She’s gone.” Her brand flares with a warm glow, a testament to her unstoppable heart.

I recall how illusions once enslaved me. No more. “She’s gone,” I echo, voice unsteady. “And I remain with you.” My runes are shadows of themselves, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I have her. My heart yearns for rest, for the chance to rebuild a life unchained from illusions.

Her gaze searches mine, a tentative smile appearing. “So… what happens now? The coven branded me Nyxari, Drayveth wants our heads, and the world might remain suspicious of gargoyles, even if you’re half-human now.”

A rueful chuckle escapes me. “Perhaps we travel away from these mountains, see if Snowfall Glen offers refuge. Or we wander, forging alliances. Whatever we do, we do it together.” My wings twitch in muscle memory. “I might not fly anymore, but that’s a small price for freedom.”