The Guardian Temple

Table of Contents
Chapter 17 l Chapter 18 l Chapter 19 l Chapter 20 l Chapter 21 l Chapter 22 l Chapter 23
Chapter 24 l Chapter 25 l Chapter 26 l Chapter 27 l Chapter 28 l Chapter 29 l Chapter 30 l Chapter 31
Chapter 32 l Chapter 33 l Chapter 34 l Chapter 35 l Chapter 36 l Chapter 37 l Chapter 38 l Chapter 39 l Chapter 40 l Chapter 41l Chapter 42l Chapter 43

Zepherina

 

I had pulled Kriggary’s essence from Xyphiel’s soul and now we had Kriggary on our side.

 

Four against one.

 

The odds were in our favor. 

 

But then why was I getting an impending feeling of dread?

 

Xyphiel's rage shifted, his crimson eyes pulsing with intense heat as a maddened laugh slowly rose from his chest.

 

His crimson wings spread wide as he brandished the Puriel blade firmly, his burning eyes locking on me as his laugh reached an uneasy crescendo.

 

“I suppose I should thank you,” Xyphiel taunted with flourish, “I held back before, fighting my own children must have caused me to pause in my assaults…” Xyphiel's grin turned devilish as a deep-seated darkness spread out from his form. “But now? I feel nothing towards any of you. So I thank you, Zepherina.” He pointed the Puriel blade to Timothy, “For now I see only foes who must be felled by my blade.”

 

I dashed before Timothy, blocking Xyphiel's almost instantaneous assault.

 

Xyphiel's wings thrust forward, his bladed feathers slicing at my cheeks as he launched himself backwards.

 

As Xyphiel flew into the air he swung the blade towards us three times. Each swing gave a burning slash into the air, splitting the air and screaming towards Timothy and I.

 

I dodged, as did Timothy. Each slash left a burning scar in the ground below us.

 

I glared at Xyphiel, jumping into the air to press the attack.

 

Xyphiel's wings began to glow brighter, flames wrapping around him as his eyes glowed with intense fire. 

 

He spread his wings wide, a blast of fiery heat flashing out from his body.

 

I blocked as best I could, but the flames whipped at me like a thousand thorns thrashing against my skin.

 

I had to close my wings and land quickly, getting away from Xyphiel’s unholy firestorm.

 

Once I landed, I saw Timothy readying an attack of some kind, his body surrounded in a pink sphere, protecting him from Xyphiel's fire.

 

I turned to see Kriggary standing near the glowing white seal on the ground.

 

Xeisha was standing near Kriggary, helping him to keep the seal up.

 

It was clear to me that despite being separated from Xyphiel, there was not much left of Kriggary to help us.

 

Timothy's black scales crawled with pinkish lightening as his claws pushed him up and into the air.

 

I jumped up alongside him, joining in his assault.

 

Xyphiel pulled out a crimson feather from his wing, holding the Puriel blade in his right hand, the feathered sword in his left.

 

I clashed with Xyphiel's feather blade, shocked to see him parrying my attack.

 

He wasn't looking to strike me, he was looking to attack Timothy!

 

My heart skipped a beat as I watched Timothy’s attack not just parried, but countered completely. 

 

Timothy was completely open! I was already in motion and unable to defend him.

 

The Puriel blade slipped through my brother’s defenses, despite this Xyphiel turned the blade just enough to slash Timothy’s cheek.

 

I was confused. Xyphiel could have easily ended Timothy. But why didn't he?

 

Timothy recoiled, blood seeping from his face.

 

I turned to Xyphiel, seeing a vicious grin on his face, his crimson eyes scanning towards me. 

 

Xyphiel tapped the side of his face tauntingly, and I felt a sting on my cheek in the same place Timothy was struck.

 

I slipped my hand over my cheek, seeing wisps of violet mana seeping from a wound I hadn't noticed.

 

The wisps, however, kept coming. My wound wouldn’t close.

 

My eyes turned to Xeisha and Kriggary. 

 

Xeisha was trying to heal a wound on Kriggary's face! I saw a similar cut on Xeisha’s cheek. Her blood, rather than seeping from the wound, sparkled like broken glass. A black mist rose from the shimmering wound, a dark ooze dripping from the bottom of the cut. To my shock, the wound was closing slowly from the top down, leaving a white scar on her cheek. 

 

I swiftly blocked a strike from Xyphiel, the Puriel blade now held centimeters from my throat as he crossed both his blades against mine.

 

“Your final gambit will be your undoing, girl!” Xyphiel boasted, “Now I can use the Puriel blade at my leisure! I no longer need to fear suffering the blows of the Blade of Genocide, for my spirit is no longer tied to your bloodline!”

 

My heart sank as I realized what I had done.

 

Yes, Kriggary was free and we had a tool to use against Xyphel. But now I had unbound Xyphiel's greatest weapon. He was free to harm us with the Puriel blade, a weapon so potent, we wouldn’t be able to recover from its strikes.

 

Worse yet, if Xyphiel so chose to attack Kriggary, the weakest of the four of us, he could end this battle in an instant.

 

Though that would mean he would need to get close to the Seal. Was it possible that I could goad Xyphiel into the seal or at least close enough where he could be forced into it? Would Xyphiel allow himself to be placed in such a position?

 

I didn’t have many options, so it was worth a shot.

 

So I took a chance, and screamed, “Xeisha! Protect Kriggary!!”

 

Timothy's eyes widened in shock at my tipping of our hand, but as far as I was concerned, it was a hand we had already revealed.

 

Xyphiel and I separated as Timothy rushed towards Xyphiel with a string of pinkish runes slashing towards the Puriel Blade.

 

Timothy pulled me away from Xyphiel, his hand holding my wrist firmly, “Are you mad?! You just exposed our weakest link!”

 

I turned to Timothy, speaking directly to his mind while keeping my face in a state of panic, “Tell me a better way to get Xyphiel closer to the seal?”

 

Timothy frowned and we both watched Xyphiel moving towards Kriggary.

 

Xeisha rushed to defend him, only for Xyphiel to hurl three more slashes from the Puriel blade towards Kriggary.

 

Xeisha held her staff firmly before her, holding a large shield over herself.

 

The Seal's light pulsed, creating a shockwave which echoed around it, disturbing the air and forcing even Timothy and I back slightly. As the shockwave pulses, Xyphiel’s three strikes were disrupted, each flung to the sides of Xeisha's shield, narrowly missing Kriggary.

 

Xeisha turned to Kriggary, confused.

 

Kriggary appeared winded, his face twisted in excursion, “...Your spirit is your shield, girl. Let not the Puriel blade touch your barrier.”

 

Xeisha frowned, but nodded, lifting her staff up and readying it to defend against Xyphiel.

 

Xyphiel, for his part, remained high in the air, but I could see he was near the edge of the seal.

 

I turned to Timothy, “We just need to get him inside of it, we're so close! I'm going to rush up to fight him head on, you flank him!”

 

Timothy nodded and with that I flew up to Xyphiel, screaming a loud battle cry to grab his attention.

 

Xyphiel's eyes tracked me as our blades clashed.

 

The blast let loose a shockwave across the sky, all of the air around us vanishing for a moment as a burst of cavitation flashed between my blade of light and Xyphiel's Puriel blade.

 

“It's a shame, your blades are not manifestations of your own soul… what are they if not your essence?” Xyphiel dragged the Puriel blade against my glowing blade, his eyes narrowing on mine as he gave me a sanguine smile.

 

“Like I'd bother telling you anything!” I growled as I pushed hard against his blades.

 

Timothy flew into view behind him, trying to slash at Xyphiel's wings with his blade.

 

Timothy slashed with his Sanctified blade, dozens of pink runes glowing around it, but Xyphiel did not flinch, merely grinning to me as he spoke to Timothy, “Two against one? So unfair**. Shall I even the odds, Timothy?”**

 

To my shock, Xyphiel grabbed my throat, dropping one of his feather blades.

 

With a thrust of his wings, he shoved me back.

 

I gasped as it felt like the wind was knocked from my lungs and I was ripped from the air violently.

 

White light filled my peripheral vision as I was cast downward.

 

I barely managed to get myself upright and my feet smashed into the ground below me.

 

I heard muffled shouting and turned to see a panicked Kriggary shouting at me over the sound of what I could only describe as loud chimes.

 

“I will break the seal and release you!” Kriggary shouted as loudly as he could, but I could barely make it out over the harmonious din within the seal.

 

I looked down to see my feet held firmly within the Seal that Kriggary had made.

 

I closed my eyes in frustration.

 

Xyphiel tricked me.

 

He knew what Timothy and I's goal was. To get him into the seal.

 

Now that I was in the seal Kriggary would need to shatter it and reform it, if he even had the energy to do so.

 

That gave Xyphiel more time to attack, either Kriggary or Timothy.

 

I knew any blow Xyphiel stuck on them would harm Xeisha and I and now I was powerless to stop it!

 

Xeisha seemed ready to assist Kriggary in breaking the shield.

 

I held up my hand, my eyes fixed on Xyphiel. “Do Not Break It!” I ordered, spreading my wings and casting my hand towards the seal.

 

The edge of the seal flickered slightly and I could see a small echo of my power flashing towards the edge.

 

While I could barely hear Kriggary’s voice, I could see a look of shock on his face.

 

I shouted as loudly as I could to Xeisha, “Xei-Tash-WHATEVER!” I tried to calm myself for a moment, “Protect Timothy!” I ordered. I faced Kriggary, “Ready the Seal. You have to use it to drag Xyphiel down to Hell!”

 

“What of you?!” Kriggary called out to me.

 

I narrowed my eyes, “No matter what happens, no matter who else is going down, Xyphiel will be in Hell by the end of this fight.” I looked down to the seal, pushing my own energy into its pulsing rings, “We close this seal when Xyphiel is inside. No matter what.”

 

 

…

 

Xeisha

 

“Xei-Tash-WHATEVER!” Zepherina had shouted to me, “Protect Timothy!”

 

Our staff had changed. Mine? Things were so mixed up in our mind.

 

Even as I thought of ourselves more I found that I kept shifting to the singular.

 

Tasha's thoughts had briefly thought that this was how we were always supposed to be.

 

A single soul split in twine. 

 

The Sundered Child.

 

I shivered, readying our new polearm as I rushed into the fray, my wings carrying me quickly into the air.

 

I wasn't sure what Zepherina's plan was, but she had brought Kriggary back from the dead or at least I thought she did.

 

I recalled rushing to his aid the first few moments after he appeared from the arm Zepherina had severed from Xyphiel.

 

When I saw the severed arm begin to reform, I was concerned at first. But then ice blue mana had poured from the severed end of the arm. Slowly the form of a red Niten Dragon appeared, sprawled out on the ground. There Kriggary lay, face down and wearing tattered priestly robes.

I rushed to his side.

 

I knew my father was once a red Niten Dragon, the Scribe Lord.

 

Though I never knew him, nor saw him as this. 

 

But the tattered robes he wore seemed to imply all I needed to know, “Father?!” We shouted, shocked to see him.

 

It was here that Kriggary spoke the first words that made my heart sink. “Child…?” his icy blue eyes focused upon me, his face falling.  “No… No you are not her. I hold but one child, and that is not you.”  He staggered briefly towards Sume's damaged body, his ice blue eyes watering and shaking as he did so.

 

As I saw the despair in his eyes, I felt a lump in my throat.

 

“...Sume,” Kriggary’s voice started off so quiet and weak. But as he looked Sume over I could see hate filling his eyes, “You too, Sume? Does this rampant hate spare none? Not even you…? My most precious?!” A newfound power rose in Kriggary. Not that of hatred or anger, nor vengeance. I could see it in his eyes. The light of retribution, of a desire for justice. “No more! This ends now. We must be held to answer for all we have done!”

 

It was there that the seal had begun to burn itself into the ground before Kriggary’s bare feet.

 

I was shaken from my memory as my polearm's blade smashed into Xyphiel's Puriel blade mere moments before Timothy's hand was almost sliced by the cursed blade, “Begone with your utterly abhorred and cursed steel!” I cried out.

 

Xyphiel’s leg lifted in the air briefly before he swung his heel down towards my shoulder.

 

I barely managed to slip away from him, his leg passing with such a powerful strike that I could feel the turbulence around his strike.

 

Xyphiel's crimson eyes locked onto mine as his wings slashed towards me.

 

I grabbed Timothy and dodged his attack as best I could, spinning through the air as there was yet more turbulence.

 

Timothy growled, “We have this one last shot to defeat him,” he turned to me with his ice blue eyes concerned, “It's now or we lose everything. In this form, Xyphiel’s hitting us with everything he has! Where's Zeph?!”

 

I pointed to the seal, where Zeph seemed to be paying more attention to the potent barrier where she was imprisoned.

 

Timothy frowned and I had to push him away from me as Xyphiel sent a slash of air from the Puriel blade.

 

Xyphiel was now above us, his wings spread wide.

 

“We're at a disadvantage then,” Timothy lamented.

 

“Just dodge what you can and take every shot you can,” I advised Timothy, I suppose that was Xei's battle prowess speaking. 

 

Xyphiel's feathers began to glow brightly, his wings closing slightly over his chest, his arms crossing as well. I could see his muscles flexing, as if his entire body was tensing up. Even his legs up into his chest. From the edges of his wings, I could see many feathers shimmer like blades.

 

“Dodge!” I screamed as Xyphiel spread his wings, legs and arms out with a loud bellow.

 

A rain of blade-like feathers was showered upon us. 

 

I dodged them as best as I could. One that was too close I managed to knock away from me as the blade spun and slammed into the ground below.

 

Each quill landed with such force that the ground cratered below.

 

I swallowed hard as I spread my wings and flew up towards Xyphiel once more.

 

I saw Timothy flying as well, Xyphiel brandished the Puriel blade and another feather-like weapon in his other hand. 

 

Timothy's blade clashed with Xyphiel's Puriel blade, runes surrounding the Blessed Blade of the Temple as the two locked in a power struggle.

 

I rushed upwards, looking to thrust my blade up into Xyphiel's leg or groin. Anywhere I could land a hit upon him.

 

Xyphiel broke his power struggle and allowed Timothy to fall toward me. I dodged Timothy's blade, shifting my strike a glancing blow upon Xyphiel's face.

 

My blade struck his cheek, a blast of crimson mana blasting from the wound as it did. 

 

The mana curled in the air, Xyphiel’s enraged face pushed through it, a look of burning hatred in his eyes as he reached out and grasped my neck with his golden gauntlet.

 

“Every moment of my life you were either not enough or far too righteous for your own good! Now you think, in my final moment of triumph, that of all those who spawned from me, that you will be the one to end me**?!”** He readied the Puriel Blade, aiming at my chest as we hurtled through the air, falling downward with such force that the billowing mana trailed behind Xyphiel and I. His rage broke for a moment, “What is the saying? Ah yes… a Haughty spirit goeth before the fall.”

 

As he was about to thrust his blade, I moved to strike it away, Timothy’s blade coming to my rescue as well, both of us barely managing to parry the cursed weapon from my heart.

 

I just managed to free myself from his grip, prying my neck from his gauntlet clad hand.

 

“Pride,” I snapped, “Goeth before the fall!” I corrected, readying my polearm.

 

Xyphiel’s wings flapped hard, the blackened trail of mana slowly dissipating behind him as he soared high into the air.

 

Timothy and I gave chase, following as close as we could while avoiding the miasma he left behind him.

 

Xyphiel stopped in the air, both wings spreading wide.

 

Then another set appeared below it, a pair of blackened wings.

 

Finally a pair of white, his eyes swirling with a multitude of colored flames.

 

I tried to slash the blade of my polearm towards him, empowering the strike with a burst of holy energy.

 

A torrent of foul energy snuffed out my strike, Xypihel’s crimson wings spreading wider. “The world shall be burned,” He hissed, the flames sparking in his eyes, smoke lifting from his eye sockets as his fists shook.

 

He let go of the Puriel Blade, dropping the other sword as well. Both blades floated next to him, hovering next to his body as the dark sphere flickered. 

 

Timothy’s runes crashed against the surface of this dark aura, having little to no effect!

 

Xyphiel growled, “From its ashes… It shall fall to the void… but first…” I watched as the sphere vanished, a horrific sulfurous stench filling the air as his wings spread wider.

 

A massive firestorm of flames burst from Xyphiel!

 

Waves of yellow, orange, cerulean, red, green, violet, and blue ripped through the air. I felt the air pressure crash against my body before anything else, the heat following shortly behind it.

 

Timothy grabbed me tightly as the fire wrapped around us. His runes shielded us for now, but I could see them shaking, pulsing and beginning to crack.

 

I placed my hand on Timothy’s shoulder, empowering him as best I could.

 

The pinkish runes turned white and steadied briefly.

 

I could feel the onslaught. Not just the fire, but the emotion behind it.

 

The anger, the hatred, the thirst for vengeance, the desire for vindication and the need to end everything - to return to a state of nothing.

 

Xyphiel was pouring every emotion he had into this attack.

 

It was then I felt something else crashing against me.

 

Confusion and more anger?

 

The flames weakened and I saw Xyphiel’s glowing form, nearly white hot from the energy exploding from his body.

 

A single shimmering golden chain now locked around his neck.

 

Another whipped out of the ground, clamping onto his gauntlet clad hand.

 

I turned to see the source of the chains.

 

The shimmering lengths ended at a pair of shackles which were affixed to the enchanted bracers adorning Zepherina’s forearms. Were those the same bracers that Zithero had given her?  I could see runes of violet and green which sparked and sputtered potent energy as she pulled the golden chains taut. 

 

Was this some kind of Trump card Zepherina manifested from the seal? It was the only explanation I could think of, if she could do this before, I can’t imagine she would have held back at this crucial time.

 

Zepherina’s eyes pulsed as a pair of solid, yet fierce violet orbs beset by her glowing white eyes, “I will not let you!”

 

Xyphiel grabbed at the chains, the flames dying down as he focused his efforts on removing them.

 

I pushed away from Timothy, rushing Xyphiel with my polearm, slashing at him.

 

Xyphiel’s feather blade blocked my attack, the disembodied sword of Puriel attempted to strike me, but I managed to dodge it.

 

Timothy rushed towards Xyphiel’s wings, swinging his blade at them.

 

I could see the blackened aura that deflected Timothy’s strike, but as it did Xyphiel sank further to the ground.

 

“He cannot defend against us and fight Zepherina off at the same time!” I cried out, rushing to Xyphiel’s wings and swinging at them.

 

My polearm slid down, and though I was rebuked from striking his primary wings, my polearm sunk into the flesh of his blackened wings.

 

I heard a woman cry out in pain as my blade cut past the onyx feathers, green mana pouring from the wound.

 

I pulled my blade out, thrusting towards the white wings.

 

As my blade struck, cerulean mana ripped from the fresh wound, though I heard no screams of pain.

 

Timothy rushed to deflect the Puriel blade before it could soar into Xyphiel’s grip once more, runes wrapping around its hilt and causing it to plummet towards the ground.

 

Xypheil’s feather blade whipped across Timothy’s back, causing Timothy to spin in the air.

 

I kept my assault up, striking once more at the barrier protecting Xyphiel’s wings.

 

Each strike yielded another few meters downward, and whenever Xyphiel attempted to flap his wings to gain ground, I would ensure my blade sank into another one of his exposed wings.

 

The white wing on the left, curiously, spewed red mana as I sunk my blessed blade into the cursed flesh.

 

Xyphiel tried to turn to me and strike at me with his free hand.

 

A burst of flames ripped from Xyphiel’s fist, I let my own wings loose, falling away from the strike just before the flames could burn me.

 

For Xypheil’s efforts, however, he sank another few meters down from the sky.

 

I could hear Zepherina’s voice calling out and my eyes widened as I saw her now waist deep in the ground below, the seal slowly sucking her in.

 

“Zeph!” I called out, looking to Kriggary, who merely knelt beside the seal.

 

Xyphiel’s teeth gritted as his dark aura expanded. He opened up his gauntlet clad hand, the möbius crest on his new seal glowing crimson red, “I had wanted you devoured by Hellfire… But I see that is no longer my best option.”

 

Kriggary cried out in pain as a möbius slowly etched its way across the glowing Seal of the Scribe Lord.

 

Xyphiel’s eyes turned to Kriggary, a sick grin on his face, “We may have been split in twain, but your seal is weak compared to mine. You were always the weakest part of me. I am so glad to be rid of you, at last!”

 

Kriggary fell forward, his hands landing flat on the ground, “...I am weak.” He looked up to Xyphiel, “But the seal given to me by the Guardians is not! The Seal is still strong,” Kriggary shouted, holding out his hand, “And it is mine to wield,” the seal upon Kriggary’s hand began to glow white, before it slowly flickered and cracked away from his palm, “and mine to yield!”

 

The seal dimmed for a moment and as it did I watched it shift in color.

 

The glowing white of the seal shimmered, before glowing brightly again, now a lavender hue saturating its intricate circles.

 

As it did, Zepherina rose slightly from the seal, no longer drawn in as deeply as she once was. The golden chains ignited with violet flames.

 

The short horns on Zepherina’s head grew larger.

 

I watched as they cracked and curled around her head, encasing either side as the violet spheres within her eyes shifted in shape.

 

They grew longer, thinner and more draconic.

 

Her white wings spread wide as her neck elongated.

 

My eyes widened as I watched Zepherina shift into a different creature. A white and violet Niten Drake! Zepherina had become a Seraphim!

 

Then, on the white scales of her forehead, the Seal of the Scribe Lord etched itself, shimmering with the bright pulsing light of her violet mana.

 

Xyphiel grabbed at the emblazoned chains around his neck, violet flames burning his hands as he struggled. His teeth gritted as he continued to sink downward. “Fool Girl! The both of us will be imprisoned once that seal closes!”

 

Zepherina’s fiery eyes now locked firmly on Xyphiel as she pulled the chains closer and closer to her, her Niten wings spreading wide, Xyphiel’s seal flickering, then shattering all around her. “If I must go too, then so be it! I will drag you down to Hell with me, Xyphiel! I will be your jailer, for all eternity!”

 

Xyphiel gritted his teeth and roared in anger as he struggled.

 

Each attack he tried to levy I managed to put down before he could do anything, Timothy assisting me, keeping Xyphiel hindered as best we could while Xyphiel inched closer and closer to the seal.

 

I slashed at Xypihiel’s crimson wing, while Timothy attacked on the other side.

 

I watched as the shield around his crimson wings began to flicker, finally weakening.

 

Xyphiel’s free hand reached out and out of the corner of my eye I saw the Puriel blade whip towards him.

 

I gasped as it seemed the blade was headed straight towards Timothy’s back, “Timothy!”

 

Timothy turned, the blade stopped mere millimeters before his chest.

 

The blade quivered in the air, but held still.

 

I was so focused on the blade’s tip, I hadn’t glanced at the hilt.

 

Standing there, arm shaking, feet firmly set on the ground, I saw Kriggary holding back the cursed sword by the grip, his ice blue eyes locked on Timothy’s.

 

“...Father?” Timothy whispered.

 

Kriggary looked up to Xyphiel, his hand barely managing to hold onto the cursed blade, the scales of his hand burning, “...It must end here.”

 

Xyphiel glared as Kriggary moved the Puriel Blade into the pulsing barrier around the Seal of the Scribe Lord. The blade began to char, and disintegrate, along with Kriggary’s own forearm.

 

Xyphiel roared in pain as he pushed his dark aura out before him, now nearly within the seal. His wings spread out, a burst of mana ripping from each of the other wings on his back, knocking Kriggary, Timothy and I to the ground.

 

“I will not fall to the likes of you**!”** Xyphiel roared at Zepherina. He thrust his feathered blade at Zepherina, the feather striking her as if it were just that, a feather behind the barrier. Still, Xyphiel grinned as a dark shadow slowly crept through the barrier around the seal, “You are a great warrior, but you are nothing of the arcane, of spirits, or of the power of magics!”

 

We needed to recoup, and finish this!  This was it, our last chance! 

 

I slowly got to my feet, ready to help before a white blur whizzed past me.

 

I watched as Demond, in his wolf form, rushed Xyphiel!

 

“Demond!” I cried out, afraid he’d get harmed by Xyphiel.

 

Even restrained, Xyphiel was too much for my precious Demond!

 

It was at this moment that I realized my feelings had, if anything, redoubled for him.

 

Demond ducked under a strike from Xyphiel’s injured wing and pulled a large white shard he had been clutching tightly to his chest.

 

It was covered in blood. It was the same shard that had pierced my own shield and Tasha’s chest.

 

Demond thrust the shard into Xyphiel’s back, the barrier shattering around him.

 

Xyphiel’s eyes widened in shock as a burst of Crimson mana poured from the wound, the shard remaining lodged in his back.

 

Demond landed on his feet a few meters behind Xyphiel, panting heavily, “That… That was for Elon,” he growled.

 

I took the moment and rushed towards Xyphiel, Timothy alongside me, our blades ready.

 

I moved to Xyphiel’s left side, Timothy attacking from the right and together we swung down - severing Xyphiel’s crimson wings from his back.

 

Crimson mana spewed out into the air, nearly choking me as it did so.

 

Yet even as it spewed forth, it dissipated unlike before.

 

The crimson miasma fizzled and burned away as it came into contact with the mighty barrier around the seal.

 

Kriggary called out, “Cast the wings into the seal!”

 

I glanced down to see each wing sputtering a different color of sin.

 

Timothy kicked one or two wings into the seal, and I did the same with the remainder.

 

As each wing vanished, I could see their owners appear next to Zepherina.

 

I recalled each of them, Mammon, Zelletia, Astaroth, Kharisnusia, and even Bella! They all took hold of the fiery chains, finally dragging Xyphiel into the seal.

 

“Traitors!” Xyphiel roared, “I gave half of you your power!”

 

Bella stepped forward, her hand caressing Xyphiel’s chin as his face was pulled into the seal, “And you took it… just as easily…”

 

Xyphiel’s body slipped completely into the barrier.

 

Zepherina dragged him in roughly, hurling him into the ground as she too began to sink.

 

The other demons dragged Xyphiel down as he screamed in anguish, “I will not stay fallen! I shall rise up, I shall have my vengeance!”

 

All but one.

 

Bella remained, watching as Xyphiel was dragged downwards into Hell.

 

Zepherina glared at Bella before Bella’s tail whipped across Zepherina’s body with such a vicious blow it hurled Zepherina from the pulsing seal.

 

I gasped as I caught Zepherina.

 

I watched, curiously, as Bella gave a half smile to us, before the seal dragged her down as well.

 

The Seal itself, now holding no foes within it, began to shrink.

 

It shrank down until it was merely a one meter diameter pedestal. 

 

My heart hammered in my chest.

 

“Did… Did we?” I asked breathlessly.

 

Timothy slowly got to his feet, panting, “I think… Yes… we did it!”

 

Zepherina laid in my arms, now in her normal Cherubim form. She shook and coughed from an extreme overdose of Mana.

 

“Shh… Zeph, settle down,” I smiled as I tried to heal her wounds.

 

Kriggary slowly walked past me, his forearm had reformed.

 

I frowned as I realized he was slowly approaching Sume’s body.

 

“...Sume,” I whispered softly.

 

Kriggary knelt by her upper body, turning her onto her back and weakly smiling to her, “...I’m so sorry, my Star-light.”

 

Sume, to my shock, spoke, “It’s okay, Pappa.”

 

Kriggary’s smile grew as he moved her slowly back to her upper body, holding her firmly in place, despite the slash severing her in half.  “It was me.”

 

“No, Pappa,” Sume tried to argue.

 

Kriggary’s finger moved to Sume’s lips, “I lost myself. I tried so hard to find cures for you and every failure eroded my faith all the more. You, my precious innocent child, never should have suffered… Yet, you suffered for my failings, daily. Trapped in a stone prison by which you had no right to be. For I had done as I had asked and the foes of God cursed me and as a result, my first born. My frustration turned to rage over years and I began to doubt the Guardian’s motives at their very core.”

 

Sume’s expression shifted.

 

Kriggary’s eyes dropped, “And when I heard that the Guardians of the Temple would not help me… My faith finally shattered,” his eyes moved back to Sume, “And so… I walked away from everything. Even you. Even when I found, at last, how to free you.”

 

Sume’s eyes widened.

 

“But by then… I was so full of vengeance that I could not bring myself to make the sacrifice it would have cost to save you,” Kriggary spoke as his face twisted into anguish, “For that… I cannot, should not ever be forgiven. So, all I can do now is make the sacrifice I was too selfish to make before.”

 

Kriggary held Sume softly in his arms, his wings wrapping around her as he whispered something.

 

Sume’s arms moved slowly to hug him, at first.

 

I watched in shock as Sume’s stoney fingers grew softer, more flesh-like. 

 

Her hands next, then her arms. I watched as gray stone was replaced by soft pinkish skin. 

 

Sume’s body slowly shifted from stone, to flesh, her stony hair turning black as her soft honey colored eyes blinked in shock, “Pappa? I… I can breathe again!”

 

Kriggary slowly let go of her and he smiled as he looked into her eyes, he placed a loving kiss on her forehead, “...I have not seen your mother’s eyes in so long. To think… I doubted…” Kriggary’s smile faded as he stood, walking from Sume.

 

Sume fell to her knees, looking to her midsection to see only a small scar where she had been sliced in half just moments before, “Pappa!  Wait, where are you going?!” Sume asked as she unsteadily got to her feet.

 

Kriggary walked to the Seal, sinking down on his haunches upon it, “...Sume, your curse could never be broken,” Kriggary whispered, his eyes slowly turning gray. “It could only be taken… by another… of your blood…”

 

Sume’s eyes widened as Kriggary’s flesh lost its color, his icy blue eyes losing their luster as his flesh turned to stone. “Pappa!”

 

“Here… I remain… Silent guardian of the Gates…” Kriggary spoke slower and slower.  “My final… eternal act… as the Scribe Lord.”

 

My hand moved to my mouth as I watched Kriggary turn to stone completely, his feet fusing with the small dais on the Seal of the Scribe Lord.

 

“Pappa!” Sume shouted, rushing to his stone body. She wept against him, holding onto the stone effigy tightly as I found it difficult to speak.

 

Demond approached me, “Uh… so…” He looked me over, “...Xei or… Tasha?”

 

I blushed, feeling heat in my cheeks as Demond spoke to me, “Oh.. uh.. Well… uhm…” I tried to compose myself, “...I had mostly settled on… Xeisha.”

 

“Are… you going to bring Tasha or Xei back?” Demond asked.

 

“I…” I chuckled, “Well to be honest, we were sort of… supposed to be like this.” I blushed, “I was sundered, I guess. My spirit that is.”

 

Timothy turned to me, “Wait, I had lost my arm… I thought I was the sundered child.”

 

I frowned at Timothy, “Sume was literally cleaved in two, Timothy.”

 

Sume called out between her sniffles, “All of us were sundered children!”

 

Timothy turned to Sume, “What?”

 

Sume stood, drying her eyes, “We were all sundered, even Zepherina… Though she might not know it for a while. We all lost a piece of ourselves in this war,” she turned to Demond, “Even the Avatar of Ariel over there.”

 

Demond frowned.

 

“Your brother, you thick-head,” Sume hissed, sniffling. “Sorry just…” she shook her head, “I just got him back and he…” She turned to the statue.  “...Is all of this my fault?”

 

Timothy shook his head, “No. It’s his. Xyphiel’s, Kriggary’s…” He sighed, “Kriggary’s faith failed and he turned to wrath and vengeance. He could have saved you at any point after learning the cure to your curse. But once he knew he’d have to take your place, he knew he’d be unable to exact his revenge against God.”

 

Sume turned from the statue, “...It’s hard for me to believe my father would do that.”

 

“It’s not for me,” Timothy said firmly, “Unlike you, I saw what he did. The depths to which he had fallen,” Timothy shuddered.

 

Demond heaved a sigh, “We might have taken out Xyphiel and the pillars of sin, but we still need to clear the rest of the board.”

 

Timothy nodded, “Those of us who can, we need to meet with Gabriel and the other Archangels.”

 

I nodded, about to spread my wings when I saw something off about the sky.

 

It was violet.

 

The sky then shifted, as if the very firmament was made of a massive eye looking down upon us.

 

A violet eye.

 

“What the fuck?!” Demond shouted, grabbing me protectively.

 

My heart caught in my throat as I watched a vision not unlike a bit of the sky being dragged down to the ground.

 

It was as if the sky were a sheet and someone had pinched it, dragging it downward towards the ground.

 

Once it met the ground, forming from the tip was a figure.

 

A pulse of some kind echoed through the air as, standing before us, was Ragna!

 

The fabric-like sky was attached to her shoulders like a cape and rose infinitely upwards.

 

“Sorry….” Ragna’s voice boomed, “I’m not used to this.”

 

**“**M-Mom?” Zepherina whispered. I looked at Zepherina, watching as she shrank in my arms, “W-what’s happening?!”

 

Zepherina looked younger, as if she were a teenager!

 

“Please… Forgive me.  This must be done.” Ragna formed a bident in her hand and slammed it down onto the ground.

 

A burst of white light erupted from where her staff met the ground and it surged towards us all like a tidal wave.

 

Demond rushed to me, but I stopped him, a grin on my face.

 

“Xei-Tas-Xeisha! Run!” Demond screamed.

 

I smiled, turning to Demond, “No… This is as it should be.”

 

As I felt the white light wash over me, I could feel Demond cling to me.

 

But through all of this, I knew I should not fear.

 

For I trusted in the Lord.