We walked through the door, and into a beautiful cathedral. It was vast and grandiose, with a white marble floor filled with silver traceries and inlays. The walls were made of some pale stone, lined with gold that formed delicate patterns depicting rays of light, and several golden orbs from which the rays came.

There were five golden orbs in total; two were on the left wall, two on the right wall, and one on the far wall. In between the orbs were painted glass windows, depicting scenes of battle, of light triumphing over darkness, of glorious champions filled with golden power. At the far end of the cathedral was a simple stone altar atop a raised dais, and a long carpet of golden silk stretched from the base of the altar to the entrance of the building.

Along the walls were silver and gold braziers, alight with pure white fire. There were no pews or chairs on the floor, simply the altar, the carpet, and the braziers. The whole cathedral seemed well-lit, with not a shadow to be seen.

It was a cathedral of the Light.

I wanted to destroy it.

Light and Dark; anathema and opposites, nemeses and archenemies, two concepts utterly alien to each other. They do not mix, and they do not ally unless circumstances are truly dire. If there was one thing about my people that I respected and appreciated above all else, it was our hatred for Light. One of the most important parts of my plan to lead Darkness into a glorious new era was destroying every last vestige of Light in the seven worlds.

As such, I was going to enjoy destroying whatever trap or enemy was in here. I stepped forward with my friends behind me. I said, “Well, this place is just wonderful. A place of the Light. I’ve decided I’m going to smash it to pieces.”

“Uh, Shadow?”

“Yes, Clary?”

“I’ve been thinking. Every room of this dungeon has had a different element, corresponding to the six major ones, with minor representation for the two weird variations. First there was Fire, then Water, then Air, then Earth, and now Light, right?”

“Correct. Get to the point.”

“Well… doesn’t that mean Dark is next? What would there be for that one?”

I shrugged. “No idea. It won’t be any more of a problem than the others though, that I can assure you.”

Clary still seemed apprehensive, but she acquiesced and didn’t continue.

“Now, what are we looking for here?” I asked, not seeing any obvious threat in the room.

As if in response to my question there was a blinding flash of light, and I covered my eyes with my arm. When the flash ended I looked back at the room in time to see the light coalesce into three distinctive groups; one big group on either side of the carpet, and one smaller, elemental-sized light at the altar. In moments those lights faded to reveal an army.

The two large groups had formed into columns and rows of figures clad in gleaming silver armor and white cloaks, with assorted weaponry and no flesh visible, though there were two point of golden-yellow light in each’s helmet where eyes would normally be.

The single light had formed into a similar being more grandiose than the others. It was slightly larger than an elemental, and certainly more muscular than most, clad in golden armor with a silver cloak and a massive sword, as well as a large shield. Its eye-lights were pure white.

Expecting a massive brawl I gathered the darkness around me and unsheathed my blade, and was shocked when the lead figure spoke in a booming, powerful voice.

“Kiana Vessian, she who has taken the name Shadow! You stand before the army of divine Light, and now you shall be Judged!”

I blinked at him. “Uh, what?”

The champion took a step forward and said, “Today is Judgment Day, and you shall be judged for your crimes. You, Shadow of Nyx, are the woman who shall be the Endbringer, and must be slain here and now, lest you rise to power and the Eternal Chaos descends on all worlds, snuffing out life until not even a spark is left!”

“Hey, I’ve got nothing against life, I’m planning on improving the lives of Darkness elementals. And I’m not doing this to destroy life, I’m doing it enslave life! If you’re going to accuse me of committing future atrocities, you should at least get it right.”

“You are the Endbringer, Shadow of Nyx. It is the Chaos who shall be the Destroyer, but today is your Day of Judgment, and it is your crimes for which you shall be punished!”

I snarled, and sent a spike of darkness directly at his chest, shouting, “Today is not my day of ‘judgment’! Today… today is my day of ascension!” I flung myself at him, shadows gathered around me, ready to end the pathetic wretch that dared to defy me!

The spike shattered upon hitting his armor, and the knight raised his shield to block my first sword strike, retaliating with his own. I dodged the blow and attacked again with my blade, infusing it with power. The knight reeled from the blow, but his shield held strong, even after I rained down blow after blow, attacking with heightened speed. At the first opportunity, he struck again, catching me off guard and slicing into my arm. I snarled and healed the wound, and flung myself at him once more, the darkness forming a shield around me.

I slammed into him with deadly force, and he crashed into the wall of the cathedral, dazed. As he attempted to recover and raise his shield, I switched weapons, attacking with my fist instead of my sword. My punch landed on his shield and dented it, so great was the force I’d imbued the attack with.

I punched again and again, taking advantage of my one victory to earn another, and another, until his shield was a metal wreck, and he cast it aside, taking his blade in two hands. I did the same with my weapon, and struck first, nearly slicing into his leg before he got his blade up to defend.

I darted back a few feet, looking for any openings in his defense. But instead of defending, he came at me, bringing his blade down in a lethal arc. I raised my own weapon, bracing against the attack.

And then I watched as my sword shattered in two, breaking at the point of impact. I rolled away from the descending instrument of death, and it slammed into the stone floor of the cathedral, sinking an inch. However, I was not able to take advantage of this, because I was too busy staring at my broken sword. While I stared in confusion, the knight recovered, bringing his sword back up and standing to face me. I growled at him, rose to my feet, and threw my broken weapon to the ground, gathering the darkness about me.

In response, he gathered light. He began to glow, focused around his blade, and he separated one hand from the hilt, raising it to point at me. A beam of light shot out and I barely managed to raise a barrier in time, bracing against the force of the attack.

Except, there wasn’t any force. I blinked at my shield, which had not taken an ounce of damage or stress from blocking the attack. My concentration broken, the shield fell away and only then did I realize why it hadn’t taken stress. The beam was a distraction.

The knight’s blade came down and I twirled to the left, inches from death. I sent three spikes of darkness into his back but the armor absorbed it once more, with a noticeable shimmer of light. The knight turned to face me and brought the blade in a horizontal arc, slashing at my midriff. I stumbled back to avoid it and tripped, falling to the floor.

The knight raised his sword over his head and said, “And now you fall, Endbringer.” He brought his sword down in an arc, light dancing around it.

I caught the blade of the sword with both hands, dark meeting light. I smiled wickedly at the knight, and asked, “So what’s this Endbringer business? You keep calling me that, and you say I’m going to cause a bunch of death and destruction, and there was something about chaos? Care to explain?”

“You know what is to come. It is what you have wanted, to be a goddess. In your arrogance, in your rise to power, you will tear apart all of your foes, and upset the balance. And with this upset, Chaos will return.”

“And what if I kill Chaos?”

“You are mighty, Endbringer, but you cannot stop such a primeval force. None can. And so you must perish, to prevent Chaos from rising.”

I smirked, and said, “You can’t stop me. No one can.” I focused on the blade, on the spells woven through it, on the spells that surrounded the knight, and sought to destroy them like I had twice previously. I cast the spell, shoved my hands forward to force the blade back, and laughed.

Nothing happened.

I blinked, and tried again. My spell crashed against those of the knight, and dissipated, useless. “What… how!?”

The knight chuckled. “Your tricks are futile, Endbringer. We have watched you, took note of your abilities and skills. Nothing you try will work, for we have already put precautions and countermeasures into place. And now you die!”

The blade came down further towards my body and I began to worry. The blade was inching towards me, to kill me, and my ace in the hole had been turned into a joker. I needed something else, some flaw or fault I could exploit.

In a flash of inspiration, I had it. Those flashes of inspiration are becoming oddly common lately. First, I needed to test something.

Imbuing my foot with energy I kicked out at the knight’s knee, hoping to elicit a reaction. To my glee it did, and the knight staggered. I took the opportunity to roll to the left, jump to my feet, and punch him like I had the shield. This time there were no dents in his armor but the shimmer happened, just like with the spikes.

So it wasn’t countermeasures, not exactly. It was more of an adaptive shield, a shield that altered itself to defend against any ability or attack it had witnessed. But it hadn’t witnessed my full arsenal.

I mentioned, back in the room with the storm wisps, that I’d studied Air magic, but only enough to make my flight spell.

That was true. But I’ve also studied all the other elements, and their magic. I hadn’t done much with Air because I could accomplish all non-flight spells with basic Dark magic. But the other elements can do things as well. One thing that captured my attention, during my many studies, was Storm magic. The ability to stir up a fierce gale, or rain and thunder…

Or lightning.

As the knight rose to face me, I gathered the darkness once more. But this time, they were there as a smokescreen. The knight came at me, sword raised, and prepared to bring it down in another deadly arc.

So I sent a bolt of lightning at his helmet.

Quick lesson on electricity. Metal conducts electricity but a suit of armor like the knight’s would act as a faraday cage and distribute the electricity into the ground without really touching the knight. So a blast of lightning wouldn’t electrocute him, but the electricity would generate heat, and the impact would deal a bit of damage

The knight screamed, and staggered back, as his armor heated up, likely causing burns on the being within. I laughed, rose to my feet, and sent a bolt of Dark-infused lighting at it, scorching the armor. I sent two more while the knight was still distracted, but the third dissipated upon contact, signaling that the magical ward had adapted.

The knight was weakened now and caught by surprise. More light began to gather around him, and it dimmed as it was poured into his armor, fixing it and likely healing him. He stood up straight, and said, “You are more resourceful than we had thought, Endbringer. But it does not change what I must do.”

He came at me again, and I smirked. As his blade came swinging down I grabbed it with both hands, using a new spell: an enchantment on my hands that gave them the strength and resistance of hardest stone. An Earth spell I’d picked up.

“Another impressive trick, Endbringer, but it will not save you.” He put more force behind the blade, shoving me back a few inches. However, I was not out of ‘tricks’ yet. I prepared a spell, and my legs, and with one swift motion I cast the spell and leapt back.

The knight dropped his sword, which had been superheated by my spell. It dropped to the floor, and the impact changed it. It melted more, and was by now absolutely useless. The knight snarled, “Bah! I need not a physical weapon to slay you, Endbringer!”

He pointed at me, and another beam of light came at me. I raised my shield, and this time there was a solid amount of stress, as the beam was an actual attack. Three more followed, and the third pierced my shield as if it was nothing. Which meant the adaptive ward applied not only to the armor and weapon, but to any attack the knight made.

I snarled in irritation, and cartwheeled to avoid the next beam attack. I quickly ran through the other spells I knew how to cast. I could send a gout of flame at him, do some heat damage, but I wasn’t sure I could do enough damage in the time it would take his ward to adapt. Additionally, he’d already managed to restore the damage my first lightning blasts had caused, mostly.

I could send spikes of earth rising from the floor to slam into his armor, and possibly stab through the armor. I could definitely get some damage done with that, though not enough to finish the fight.

I could just do a couple variations of the same attack. But that’s boring! True enough, let’s keep brainstorming.

Water was useless, so nothing there. Much the same for Frost, unless I wanted to slow him down. I twirled around another beam, and as I did something came back into my sight; the stone altar. That could be useful… hmm, idea.

First I summoned up a little orb, an experiment I’d been working on the past few months. It worked on the concept of artificial intelligence and was designed to be like a second opponent for when I needed to keep an enemy guessing. It would automatically identify key targets, or targets I pointed out to it, and use a number of preprogrammed spells against that enemy. It required a little on-the-spot tinkering, but I set the orb to the three spells I had in mind, and ran to the altar to do my part.

The orb started by sending a gout of flame at the knight, who raised his arm to shield himself more adequately. The moment the knight’s ward adjusted to the flames, the orb switched attacks, instead sending spikes of stone ramming into the knight, sending him careening in different angles, and at one point piercing his armor.

Soon, the knight’s ward managed to adapt, and the orb switched to its final spell; the Frost spell, the one that slowed things down. The knight found himself moving slowly, the intense cold focused on his armor hampering his actions. He said, “A cold spell? That is what you are resorting-“

He never finished his sentence, because at that moment the stone altar slammed into him, after I’d torn it from the floor with enhanced strength and thrown it at him. The altar was propelled by physics and operating on physics, unlike the stone spikes from the orb that had been moved by magic. The knight stood no chance.

He slammed into the wall of the cathedral, and slumped, the altar having crushed his breastplate and his helmet, and damaged other parts of the armor. I stalked over to the knight, and tore off his helm, revealing the pure white skin of a Light elemental. He was muttering something, over and over; “I have failed, and thus the end shall come.”

I peered into the knight’s golden yellow eyes, and they flickered golden brown as I sent myself into his mind.

It was similar to the cathedral, but when I looked back at the entrance I saw three doors, marked Secrets, Memory, and Personality. I suspected the knight was too far gone to offer supplication, regardless of what I did to his personality, so I simply walked to Memory. The reason for this mental intrusion was quite simple; I wanted to know why this elemental was here, how this place came to be, all those little details about this group that seemed to predict some terrible future that would come about because of me. Maybe not that simple, but still.

I passed through marble halls with murals depicting the life of the elemental; formed from a nexus, Academy of War, several years of service, and then the weird began. The next mural showed him going with a group of robed figures carrying staves and hammers, and from there it seemed he entered some secretive order or cult. Does the Light government have secret societies like that? Does the Dark government have secret societies?

I paused at an interesting mural, showing the knight crouching over a chest from which rays of light emerged. Etched above it was a title: The Discovery. I leaned in and brushed a bit of dust off the knight’s helmet, and the moment I touched the mural I felt the hall slip away, and I was enveloped in the past.

A solitary shaft of light shone down from a world above, into a dank cave occupied by two skeletons, both of them long dead. Looking around, I saw a chest like in the mural, very ornate and decorated with hardly any signs of aging. I lifted my hand, and saw it clearly. Well this is interesting. A few pebbles landed by my feet, and an armored form fell through the hole. Its descent knocked away more loose dirt, widening the hole so that I could more clearly see what was above.

It appeared to be Warfield. What little land I could see was blasted heath, and the sky was a mirage of infinite colors and twisting energy that only rarely broke to reveal the stars overhead, and the triangular land of a plane that I assumed to be Lux.

Satisfied with the location, I turned to the knight. He was disoriented, but managed to regain his bearings and was immediately attracted to the chest. Stumbling over, he knelt by it and carefully undid the latch, which was surprisingly unlocked. He opened it carefully, and there were no rays of lights like in the mural. I suppose those were symbolic then, or some dramatization of the event. There was however a glint of something, which he pulled out.

It was an ornate mirror, quite beautiful in fact. The knight removed his helmet, his silvery-yellow hair falling free. He peered into the mirror intently, and I walked closer, catching a glimpse of his lower face. He frowned at something, then shook his head. “Probably nothing, just a trick of the light.”

He put the mirror back in, and began rummaging through it. I heard the clink of metal and the turning of pages, and then a voice from above called out, “Abraham! Abraham! Knight-Caster, where are you? Are you okay, my lord? Abraham!”

The knight sighed and shouted back, “I’m fine, Wallace! There was a pit I didn’t see, I’m in here.” He walked over to the edge of the pit and pointed his hand upwards, letting loose a beam of light to signal his position. Footsteps were heard, and an armored head appeared.

“Knight-Caster Abraham, I’m so glad I found you! We should get back to the others.”

“Yes, we should…” Abraham turned to the chest, a glint in his eye. “…but there’s something I think the Lord Sentinel should see.”

The hall blurred back into shape, and I took my hand from the wall. Interesting. I’ve never worked with memories before, just personality and such. This is fun. That wasn’t very informative though… let’s see if we can find anything more useful.

I walked past images of training and talking, all these scenes that were probably quite meaningful but were useless to my quest for knowledge, until I found it. A mural depicted a lead figure intoning something to a gathered crowd. The title had an air of the grandiose, and a bit of zeal. The Prophecy and Our Mission. I pressed my hand to the mural, and was enveloped in the past.

Within a large, grey stone room, a crowd was gathered; a crowd of robed figures carrying staves, some with hammers and hints of armor. On a dais at the end of the room stood a figure in lavish golden robes, his hands resting on a wooden podium. They were all Light elementals, and I saw Abraham in the left corner behind the speaker, wearing ornate armor that denoted high status. I walked over to join him, leaning against the wall.

The figure spoke. “Silence, ye gathered. Today meets again the Order of the Lightly Sentinels, in eternal vigilance against the forces that would end our society. We are here for a very important reason. Three days ago I experienced a vision, and was given a prophecy by a powerful being. It calls itself Prevara, a spirit of balance that seeks to restore what might be lost, and preserve what might be taken. It has enlightened me, opened my eyes to what is to come, and what is now.”

The figure took a breath before continuing, “There exists a tentative balance between the eight factions of our universe. Each element is unable to ever fully conquer another, and thus we are eternally in conflict, but also in balance. The prophecy I received suggests that if that balance is ever shattered, it will release a primordial force known to Prevara only as the Eternal Chaos.”

The figure paused again, and then said, “The prophecy was thus; The seething Darkness and the blazing Light will meet in the place of balance, and unleash the Eternal Chaos upon all worlds, consuming all life until naught is left but dust. The Darkness shall be a girl, and that girl shall be the Endbringer. The Day of Judgment can be the only salvation.”

“I have thought on this, and had more revealed to me. I know now what we must do. Recently, a cache of artifacts was discovered, artifacts of strange and awe-inspiring power.” He nodded to Abraham. “You may thank the Knight-Caster for this discovery. The cache is now being held on a vault here on Lux, as the Order has been debating whether to use these for our own purposes or give them to the general Light military. This cannot be. Those artifacts will allow the Endbringer to rise, and if they are held on Lux they will inevitably be taken by the powerful forces of Darkness, and thus make their way into the hands of the Endbringer, when she eventually is formed. So, we must take the artifacts to a place where the Dark forces will never suspect to find them.”

A random nobody in the crowd asked, “But where could that be? The ambition of Darkness is without limit, and it is only thanks to our coalitions with the other elements that they have not taken all worlds. Where could such a cache possibly be safe from the Dark military?”

The speaker smiled. “Nyx.”

The crowd gasped in shock, and the speaker gestured to us. “I shall allow Knight-Caster Abraham to explain, as he was instrumental in this.”

Abraham stepped forward, nodding to the speaker. “Thank you, Lord Sentinel. Gathered Order, I must admit that I had my reservations about this plan, when the Lord Sentinel first told me of it. The cache seemed too useful, but the Lord Sentinel’s retelling of his vision convinced me. This Prevara must be thanked for saving us from that horrid future. Now, as for the plan itself… it is complex.”

He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and said, “The cache of artifacts shall be placed in a dungeon on Nyx, guarded by one trap from each of the elements. The acquisition of such magic shall be handled by myself and several trusted Knight-Sentinels, while other members of the Order work to construct the dungeon itself. The dungeon shall be cloaked by spells to mask its nature, and a group of local beasts shall guard it against any true threats. Hopefully these precautions will prevent the Endbringer from finding it, but if she does it will be up to us to bring about the Day of Judgment and kill her. When the construction is finished, I and any who volunteer will remain in stasis, awaiting her arrival. The Endbringer will not rise. This I promise.”

He stood awkwardly for a few seconds before stepping back. Obviously not used to public speech… but that was very informative. Thank you, memory.

I emerged from the depths of memory, back into the marble halls of Abraham’s mind. I found the information I’d discovered to be… very interesting. The dungeon bit was amusing, because they apparently built the dungeon way back when specifically so I wouldn’t get the artifacts, but the dungeon’s existence was the only reason I was going to obtain said artifacts.

Regarding the prophecy… well, it was interesting, to say the least. I doubted it was true, of course, but even if it was I was confident I could subvert it somehow. The hero always manages to make the prophecy work for them. Some could argue I wasn’t a hero, but an antihero is still a hero. Sort of. It’s complicated.

I had the basics of what I needed, but still… it was an interesting plot. I continued my trek, and soon a title caught my eye.

A Slew of Pawns.

The knight stood tall above a group of robed elementals. I pressed my hand to it, and entered the memory.

Abraham walked through halls covered in sigils that matched those of his armor, and alongside him marched several less armored knights, emotionless. A window showed that they were on Warfield with its ruined terrain, and soon they arrived at a simple door. The two knights opened it, and Abraham gestured for them to go inside. “I’ll… be with you in a moment.”

Once they were inside and the door was closed, he leaned against a wall and let out a sigh. “I do not know if I can do this, Prevara.”

I frowned, and then my eyes widened as a Light elemental clad in earth-toned clothing seemed to just appear in front of Abraham. He spoke in an echoing voice. “Abraham, remember that I am here to help. The Order of the Lightly Sentinels is the best hope for the balance of all worlds, and unless you receive the aid you need to construct the dungeon, you will fail. Let me aid you once more.”

“Your aid is… unconventional. I will speak with them without you. If I fail… then perhaps another more worthy might take my place.” Abraham walked through the doors, Prevara fading away, and I followed the Knight-Caster.

In the next chamber stood a collection of casters from all six elements. The exact number of each varied, but there seemed to be about thirty in total. Abraham looked displeased. “Are none else willing to aid us in saving our worlds?”

A Dark caster snapped, “None else are willing to believe the obvious tricks of a dimwit crusader. I myself only barely believe this meeting has merit.”

A Fire caster sighed. “Quiet yourself. We have agreed to this meeting, we might as well listen to what he has to say. And as for you, knight, consider us ambassadors. We are here to hear your appeal, and then we will decide whether or not to commit our resources.”

Abraham nodded. “Very well. What we face is… it is something we have never seen the likes of before. An Endbringer. An apocalypse.”

“How imminent is this apocalypse?” asked a Water caster.

“We don’t know. All we know is that it will come from Darkness. A girl.”

“Typical! Blaming us for all your troubles, why the nerve-“ cried the Dark caster.

“Only because you’re always at fault, wretch!” countered a Light caster.

Abraham snarled, “Silence! Your bickering is meaningless, all elements are threatened by the rise of the Endbringer. She will bring about a great chaos to all lands, and all lands shall be destroyed.”

“Chaos? You state that our enemy, the weapon of your ‘Endbringer’… is a philosophical concept? Really?” asked an incredulous Earth caster.

Abraham looked almost sheepish. “We… do not know everything. The vision was unclear. It showed destruction, destruction of everything, but no clear source. We believe that perhaps the ‘Eternal Chaos’ the vision mentions is perhaps a power she will create, or unleash. Ancient magic perhaps, that gains a life of its own. We do not know. But we know it is coming. The artifacts we discovered have the power to bring it about.”

“Then destroy the artifacts.”

“That is not possible.”

“Why not?”

“They are protected. We do not know by what, but they are protected.”

“Bah, you’re useless!”

The casters milled about, and argued with each other, and Abraham looked on with despair. Finally, he sighed and said, “Return tomorrow, I beg of you, when calmer heads might prevail. Today, let us retire.” They eagerly seized the opportunity to leave, and soon the hall was empty.

“Prevara… let them dream. Let them see what is coming.”

Prevara appeared, with a predatory grin that seemed almost too wide for his face. “Your wish is my command.” He vanished, and Abraham sat down, attempting to rest.

I sat next to him. It’s an interesting story, I’ll admit that. Ancient order of idiot Light dudes finds a box of magic items, starts hallucinating people and getting crazy visions of the end times, and host a meeting of casters from all elements. I’m pretty sure there isn’t any Endbringer after all, now that I’ve seen these guys in person.

The robed man from the previous memory walked in, looking grave. “Knight-Caster, I have dire news.”

“What is it, Lord Sentinel?”

“Our engineers have recalculated, and we believe we will need more energy for this dungeon. We think we have a way, but… we’re not sure if we should do it. I thought I would ask you before I made the decision.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is. We must stop the Endbringer. We must save the world.”

I returned to the hall of Abraham’s mind, some of my curiosity satisfied and yet more stirred. I walked further on, until I came to one of the latest murals. It showed the knight, with his sword wreathed in elements. Destruction and Creation.

“Well, that’s an interesting title.” I muttered.

I pressed my hand to it, and let myself enter the memory.

The head of a Fire elemental landed at my feet. Abraham stabbed a fleeing Fire caster in the back, and flung her to the ground. The bodies turned to flames that fell away from their skeletons, but Abraham extended his sword and the flames gathered to it. When they were circling, he picked up the skull of the elemental nearest me and poured the flames into it. The skull glowed red, and he tossed it onto a pile of similar skulls.

We were in the entry hall of the dungeon.

“I hate this task… but it is necessary.” Abraham muttered as he gathered up the skulls in a sack and muttered an incantation. The room glowed red, and then returned to normal. He walked out, past the sleeping kraken, and into a room with a staircase and heavy winds. He walked up the staircase to the exit door, and entered an empty cavern. He walked to the other side, and entered the cathedral where the others waited. “It is done, my fellows. The last of the casters have been slain. Their skulls are here, and they have been bound to the room. The runes have been laid. Is the crypt ready?”

“Aye, Knight-Caster.”

“Then take these in there, and we may enter stasis. This abominable task is at last almost over, and we can begin our wait.” A lackey took the sack and pressed a spot on the wall, which sunk into the wall. The floor shifted, dropping to form stairs, and the lackey went down into them, coming back up without the sack. So there’s a crypt. Glad I watched this memory, I wouldn’t have bothered looking for that otherwise.

Abraham looked at those gathered, and gave one last weary sigh, before walking to the altar and kneeling. Light enveloped him, and then the memory ended.

My information collected, I returned to the cathedral in dear old Abe’s mind, and then back to the actual cathedral. Abraham was muttering madly, lost in a malaise of memory. I casually snapped his neck, and his flesh began to turn to light. With the lead knight dead, I turned back to the rest of the cathedral, to see how my friends had managed against the army.

Turns out, not very well.

I saw Wabbit slashing up a knight, and there were about ten dead knights dotted around the cathedral, but Malk and Clary were huddled in a corner, Clary having raised a shield to defend against the knights, while Malk periodically darted out to slash at a knight, before darting back inside to avoid retaliation. They had managed to kill one, but even with eleven dead total, there were still about nineteen standing.

I contemplated, and had another idea. I turned back to Abraham, who was not yet a skeleton, some light still fading. I was reminded of his final memory, and checked his armor. The adaptive ward was still there, and several other spells, and I could sense some fading energy. He’d died only seconds ago, so most of his life force was still there.

So I stole it.

I opened my mouth and breathed in the energy, and drained it from Abraham, and poured it into myself.

I felt a rush of power, of adrenaline, and of endorphins, and I laughed with sheer joy. Energized in both literal and metaphorical ways, I turned back to the small army of knights, and sent out a wave of darkness, which latched onto each one and gripped it tight.

Then, I commanded the darkness, and it crushed each knight like a tin can. The darkness faded away, leaving a floor of dead elementals. Clary brought down her shield, and I walked over to my friends, rolling my shoulders and tossing my hair about, still enjoying the rush from the magic I stole.

It’s been years since I killed an elemental.

I’d forgotten how good it felt.