I stared at the familiar rippling ceiling of mana above me for the last time.
It was a bittersweet moment for me. On the one hand, I was grateful for having received as much training as I had under Kalia's tutelage. Her lessons in combat, Wraith mana manipulation, and everything else were as invaluable to me then as they were when we first started this ten-year equivalent of training.
On the other hand, it also marked the start of a battle; one that would shape the reality of not just the Underworld, but of the Between and, possibly, others as well.
It was a harrowing thought, to say the least.
Pushing my anxiety aside as Kalia had taught us to do, I gently nudged Ysevel, who was still sound asleep.
It must be nice to sleep so well on the eve of battle, I thought, recalling my feelings toward the first battle in Coltend Castle and everything that had happened since then.
Needless to say, it felt like I had already lived three different lives.
I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head, gently running my thumb over her shoulder. "Come on; we need to get up," I whispered, getting a sleep-filled groan in response. "I know, but I just want to enjoy this for one more minute," she croaked. I knew that denying her one more minute would only put her in a bad mood, so I did as she requested.
I could see the others stirring in their bedrolls as the light of the dome began to shine more brightly. It was a trick with the mana Sabura must have implemented to help us keep track of the passing cycles better.
I couldn't thank him enough for it.
Kalia rose from her kneeling position, glancing toward the rest of us with a strange look on her face. Whether it was sadness, fear, or just her morning face, I couldn't quite tell from where I was, but the connection Ysevel and I had to her core told us both everything we needed to know. No words, no physical expressions were needed; we just knew she felt the same as we did.
"Come on, Thoma! Is there an anvil on your chest that's pinned you to the bedroll? Get up," Irun chided playfully. Thanks to his daemonic augmentations, he hadn't aged much at all, save for a more mature voice. His features had roughly remained the same, though his bodily structure was much more muscular now than when we first began our training.
"If that was your way of calling me fat, it was pretty creative, I'll give you that," Ysevel growled sleepily. "I would never, but we have to get going soon," Irun shrugged. "Get up already, lovebirds," Athar's alternate voice rasped across the dome.
"Alright, fuck-ass, we're up!" I called out sardonically. "It's about time you got dressed, Uncrowned Prince of Caegwen," the alternate voice returned immediately with an adequate amount of sarcasm laced in his words.
"You let him take over too much sometimes, you know?" I sat up, grinning at Athar. "Sometimes he has a point, Prince," he shrugged. Chuckling, I helped Ysevel sit upright with my hand on the small of her back before grabbing both of our armor sets. They'd seen much in the way of wear and tear due to the ten years of abuse they'd just been through, but all that meant was that they were well broken in.
"I really should have Maikell take a look at our armor when we get back," I said idly, threading a metal pin through the leather strap across my side. "Well, there is a way to repair it, though I don't know if it will work well with dark mana," Ysevel said, pulling a strap taught across her waist. "There is?" my eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, but I've never tried it before. I'm not a smith, after all," she shrugged.
"I can help with that, though it will lose much of its beautiful green hues," Kalia said, moving towards us with a small sphere of her own kataki in hand. "But what about you? Won't that take away from your own armor?" Ysevel asked, her concern was also in my head as well, though she managed to voice it more quickly.
"It will, but I will recover it by the time we make it to Pyrdredd," she smiled. "Besides, we might as well take the time we have left in this dome to prepare adequately. Now, stand still and spread your arms and legs," she said, placing the kataki sphere in the middle of Ysevel's chest.
Like water flowing into cracks in the ground, I could see the kataki seep between the small scales and links in her armor. It flowed into and around her, just like the sword form had when she first gave them to us. The materials beneath the armor blackened and contrasted greatly against the remaining green scales. "Whoa," my jaw dropped with the revelation of just how versatile this material could be.
"There you go; good as new," Kalia smiled. Ysevel gave it a twirl, giggling lightly when she felt how well she could move in the upgraded armor. "It's wonderful. There doesn't seem to be any added weight or restricted movement, either," she smiled brightly.
"Now you will always have the protection of the Iron Plume Clan with you, and a piece of me," Kalia said with a morose undertone. "What do you mean? We still have the weapons you gave us," I lifted the black band around my wrist. "True, but those are weapons. I'd like to think this armor is more like a protective hug than anything else," she smiled weakly.
"Are you worried we might not come back to visit?" I voiced the feeling in my core aloud. Athar and Irun stopped momentarily to pay attention to the conversation. "I-I don't see why you would. There'll be nothing for you here after we complete our mission," Kalia shook her head and averted her gaze.
I stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Ysevel would hate it just as much as I would if we never visited. Besides, I owe you, Krozz, and Sabura more than I think either of us could ever repay," I chuckled, getting a light-hearted scoff out of her. "We did swear an oath, after all," Ysevel smiled warmly.
Kalia's expression softened as she looked at both of us, the feeling of gratitude coming through our connection. "You're right," she said softly. After a shake of her head, she took a step back, and formed another sphere of kataki in her hand. Mimicking Ysevel's gesture, I spread my arms before she placed the orb on my chest.
My armor blackened and highlighted the scales just like Ysevel's. "There we go. Good as new," she looked me up and down. I observed the color changes in my armor, but like Ysevel had noted, there was no added weight to it. "This is incredible, Kalia. Thank you," I bowed. "Do we get any of that?" Athar muttered jokingly.
"I've given out as much as I could without putting myself at risk, but I'm sure Sabura would oblige," Kalia grinned wryly. "H-He would?" Athar's jaw dropped to the floor. "If you ask him nicely," Irun nudged him with his elbow. With an approving nod from Kalia, Athar pumped his fist near the height of his hip. "Fuck yeah!" the alternate's voice blurted.
Never mind; I take it back, Kalia sent us, forcing Ysevel and I to stifle a chuckle.
"I wonder how he's been, being trapped in there for so long," I muttered idly. Without another word, Kalia reappeared in front of the obelisk and placed a hand on it. Infusing it with a bit of her mana, the dome around us rippled and flickered momentarily like a candle against the wind.
The mana began to peel back from the edges of the ring, giving us all a sensation of being lighter as it retracted. "Do you feel that?" Irun asked. "Were we under a gravity spell, too?" I asked in return. When neither of us could answer each other's questions, we simply shrugged and observed the resurgence of Sabura from within the Obelisk.
The seamless door melted away into the side of the obelisk the same way it appeared all those years ago. "Hello, Sabura. It's good to see you again," Kalia bowed. "Oh, is it that time already?" Sabura asked, getting up from his cross-legged position.