Before Terra can reach me, the stone shudders beneath my feet and Cirelian lands with a seismic thud next to me. He’s even bigger up close, and his armor is as white as cleaned bone. Typically a knight would have extra plating on their shield arm, but Cirelian has extra plating everywhere. I'd think that this would lower his mobility, but this simply is not the case. He’s fast, and upon me in a moment.

  He doesn’t bother with a stance; he just stands there, one hand resting on his holy shield that looks less like a shield and more like a battering ram.

  I raise Eloria’s Vow, the blade humming with borrowed divinity, and for a breath I think maybe I can flee if I'm lucky.

  That illusion is shattered as another figure appears opposite of me. The spellcaster of the Radiant Axis. The first feature of her that I notice is her face. She's more beautiful than any human or God I've ever seen. It's like she's an angel carved out of alabaster. Her features are pristine, free of imperfections, and I feel a momentary calm wash over me just from being in her presence.

  The thick, white healer's robes that cling to her body are the same as her, perfect in appearance.

  Her hair is as white as Elen’s, but cascades down her back in long, thick curls. The top has a braided crown, and this leads me to look at her eyes. They're large, and have wrinkles at the edges, showing a life full of smiles. They look like two little pools of sunlight as they land on me. She floats all the while, staying just a foot off of the ground. Next is her oversized staff. It's so bright that it's difficult to perceive. It's more of a beam of sunlight than it is a physical staff. Numerous runes are floating just mere inches off its surface, but I recognize none of them.

  The two of them don’t speak, but their anger is a living thing, coiling in the air around me. It’s a violent aura that threatens to consume me, and I can barely draw breath.

  "What," I say, hating how thin my voice sounds, "is this a three on one now? Fine! I’ll just kill all of you." I ready Eloria's Vow, feeling the heat radiating off of it and it makes me feel just a little braver. "Animasculu-"

  Something akin to a boulder slams into my throat, and the spell dies before it starts. I drop to my knees, gagging as I reach for my neck. My vision flickers, and I nearly drop Eloria’s Vow. I squeeze the blade as tight as I can. Looking up, I blink away tears as I see Terra standing over me with a closed fist.

  "Cirelian, Evelyn, this trial demands that you face one opponent of your choosing in a duel. You two don’t mean to interfere, do you?"

  "The trial is meaningless. This one dared to use the Lightbringer’s power without her blessing! That means I can play with her, right? I want to see how long she can last!"

  Evelyn looks like such a kind soul, but looks can be deceiving. Her composure slips, and she allows her true nature to bleed through. I watch as a horrible, twisted smile spreads across her face. It's just like Valerius's.

  She floats ever closer to me, staff pointed at me, but Terra is faster. He’s on her in the blink of an eye, sword arcing through the air.

  I see a message flicker in my vision as Terra passes me by.

  Divine Aspect, Dominion of the Duelist refuses to let anyone ruin its duel!

  Cirelian intercepts Terra, his shield raised high. The impact is devastating. Sparks of gold and raw force detonate between them, and this shield that appeared to be indestructible shatters at the edges. Cirelian and Evelyn skid across the stone, stopping right at the edge of the platform.

  Evelyn’s eyes are wild, animalistic even. She looks like she’s about to scream, but Terra beats her to it.

  "You would interrupt our duel because a girl managed to create a pale imitation of Eloria’s power? None will come between me and my duel. Not you, not your brother, not a couple a lowly Saints, not even Eloria herself! This fight is mine, and mine alone!"

  Terra slams his blade into the ground, and the shockwave is even to cause my eardrums to vibrate in my skull. The platform splits where the Saints stand, and the two of them are caught in a freefall. I watch Cirelian grab hold of Evelyn, squeezing her to his chest to shield her from the impact. She thrashes against him though, and bares her teeth.

  "Let go of me, you idiot! I can’t cast with you holding onto me so tight!" Her voice is high, and brittle with fury.

  Just before they hit the bottom, Evelyn wrenches her staff free and draws a sigil in the air. The two of them vanish, and reappear on the pillar with the other Saints. It’s difficult to make out their features, but I can tell that Evelyn, at the very least, is scowling at us.

  I look back up to see Terra looking down at me. Gently, he presses a hand against my bruised neck.

  "Eloria’s Embrace," he murmurs, and the pain evaporates, replaced by a hot, tingling rush of magic. My airway opens, and I gasp, drawing in a lungful of air.

  "We can’t have you going and killing yourself with a spell like that. Now, on your feet."

  I stagger upright, legs unsteady, Eloria’s Vow heavy in my hand.

  "I want to defeat you when you’re at your best." Terra steps back, and pulls his sword from the ground. "Go and collect some spells for our fight."

  "You want me to…just wander around and pick out spells while you wait?"

  "The most powerful ones you can find."

  For a second, I think about saying no. About refusing, about sitting down and letting this world just die with me. But I can’t do that. I

  have to at least try.

  I limp to the edge of the spire, looking out over the madness below. Dozens of fights still rage on, many of them have reached their apex by this point. I watch, eyes scanning for anything potent enough to tip the balance in my favor.

  A woman in little more than rags stands alone in an arena full of flames. I barely catch the end of her spell that obliterated her opponent. I catch the incantation and repeat it under my breath as Ethel’s grimoire memorizes it. A man with horns like a ram channels a wave of geomancy that completely destroys his own arena. I take that, too.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I continue to circle the perimeter, scavenging what spells I can.

  When I turn back to the center, Terra is waiting for me.

  "Ready?"

  I nod.

  Terra mutters a spell under his breath, and I barely have time to mimic it before he’s in front of me.

  His blade is heading straight for me, and I don't have time to deflect it.

  Divine Aspect, Fragment of the Slumbering Tree

  Active Effect, Lucid Dreaming:

  Control a target with the power of the Grand Tree.

  Their perception fractures for five seconds.

  Awake yet asleep, the user can suggest one rule that will be enforced on the target

  Current target Terra will be unable to attack Clara Crowsong for five seconds

  Denied. Current target is too strong, please lower parameters

  I grit my teeth as I watch the blade inch closer to my form. Time slows to a crawl, and I try something else.

  Current target Terra will be unable to attack Clara Crowsong for three seconds

  Denied. Current target is too strong, please lower parameters

  Current target Terra will be unable to attack Clara Crowsong for one second

  Denied. Current target is too strong, please lower parameters

  Current target Terra will be unable to lift his blade for one second

  Accepted

  A second is all the time I have. I don’t have time to be thankful, just time to act. I need to make this count by landing a decisive blow in this time I’ve been given.

  Terra’s eyes widen ever so slightly as his blade arm drops to his side.

  I swing my own Eloria’s Vow with all my might, but the world begins to blur at the edges. I just barely graze his neck before hot, red blood fills my vision.

  "You tricked me…"

  "Yes, I tricked you. Please, you think I can actually eat sins? It's an esoteric art of your people. I'm capable of all kinds of magic, but Sin Eating is not amongst those."

  It’s strange, I can hear my own voice again. A memory I’ve long since forgotten is bubbling to the surface at a time like this?

  "But... I saw them. The shadows."

  "Shadow magic. I learned this spell after beating it out of a stray Stygian. I never thought it would be useful until now."

  I can just barely see her outline. It's like there's a filter keeping the details hidden from me, as if I'm seeing something I'm not meant to.

  Her face is as gaunt as I remember, and black strands of hair hand loosely in front of her face. Her eyes are the same too. Scarlet. They're hardly masked with over the counter contacts. She always tried hiding that aspect of her life from me, but I saw right through her.

  Which life was this again?

  What was her name?...

  "A stray Stygian?..." she asks.

  The image fades, and I’m face to face with Terra once more. Numerous shadows are coming from my body in an attempt to restrain him, but… they fail.

  My blade has just barely scratched Terra's neck, whereas his has pierced my stomach, sliding in just to the left of my navel. For a moment, I feel nothing. There is only cold, and then a bloom of heat that radiates out from his blade, pulsing in tandem with my heartbeat. The putrid scent of my own burning flesh fills my nostrils, and I try to scream, but the air refuses to come.

  I stumble back, and the blade leaves me with a wet, sickly noise. I try to back away, but I lose my footing and begin to fall from the platform. Terra grabs me just in time though, and pulls me in to his embrace. My legs give out, and then Terra lowers me flat onto my back.

  I want to hate him. I want to claw his eyes out, or at least curse him, but all I can manage is a wet, choking gasp. My blood is everywhere, sticky, and bright, and it feels cold as a breeze rolls on by.

  Terra brushes a stray hair from my face, and then leans down, whispering something into my ear.

  I hate that he sounds like my brother...

  I can barely make out the sounds of the Saints cheering. Evelyn howls in glee, and Cirelian claps, but it’s all distant, muffled by the roar of my heartbeat in my ears.

  The last thing I see is Terra’s face before he stands, and leaves me behind.

  Then I’m left alone with my own thoughts, and the encroaching darkness.

  Am I really going to die like this?

  More importantly, who was that girl again?

  No matter how hard I try, I just can’t remember who she is. She feels like someone important, but it’s like something’s missing.

  Why had Terra gone to such lengths? Why did he say such things? Nothing made sense. Where did I go wrong in this life?

  Passive Effect, Whisper of the Grave:

  You have received a fatal blow, you will persevere for some time!

  How vague could a Divine Aspect be? I guess it answers one question though. I'm still alive, just unable to do anything.

  I find my mind wandering to that woman I saw. This was my second memory of her, and there were others I had seen too.

  A boy on a train.

  A man at a bar, Bell.

  And a woman at a penitentiary.

  I feel my consciousness slipping now. It makes sense that I'd pass out. I've sustained a fatal wound, and Whisper of the Grave can only do so much for me...

  I feel weightless now, and as I fall into the darkness, I see the outline of that woman standing over me. I hold a hand out to her, and where memory fails me, my soul does not.

  "Tal...Tally...Talia?..." I'm slow to sound out the syllables, but I find the word I'm looking for.

  Her name was Talia, and she was my friend in a past life, a forgotten life.