The massive explosion resulting in the destruction of the entity atop Lucia's tower rocked the entire structure to its core. Solon gaped skyward as the hurricane winds wailed madly away from the island, diminishing in power as they fled without conviction or reason. Tiny, so as to be no more than a speck, Ghaleon's body soared through the clouds, arms spread to his sides in calm acceptance.
Kazyr rocked to the motion of the tremors of the roof, eyes still lowered, but struggling deep within his mind to regain a part of himself. He knew the fear could end. Ghaleon had overcome the obstacle, though at what price he could not venture to see. Not now, not yet.
Below him, Sadoul stirred, mumbling something vaguely to himself.
"Sadoul," Kazyr murmured, shaking his friend.
"Here he comes," said Jeal, with a meaningful glance at Solon.
The Magician of Water nodded as the plummeting figure returned to earth. He spread his hands forward, palms upward in a gesture of offering. From below the sea boiled and reared like an angry stallion. With a hiss a massive geyser welled up and burst past the lower floors of the tower, growing in height and power until it nearly reached the level of Jeal and Solon.
Ghaleon fell past them, and the waters receded slightly, preparing to match his momentum and cushion the landing. Even so, the two met with a loud crack and Solon winced. He lessened the water's intensity until the warrior mage ceased his downward plunge, then gradually increased it, bringing Ghaleon level with them once more. With a gesture he dispelled the geyser and levitated his charge to a more or less level area along the side of the tower where they stood.
"You and Ardor are recovering, right?" asked Solon, now turning a glance towards Kazyr.
Kazyr inclined his head so slightly Solon almost missed the gesture. "Yes, we'll be all right."
"That's good to know, because Ghaleon's certainly worse for wear." Jeal crouched beside Ghaleon, one hand holding his wrist and the other pressed to his forehead. "The explosion banged him up pretty badly. No bones have ruptured the skin, but I'm fairly certain he's broken some."
"Can he be healed?" asked Solon. "By magic of course," he added.
Jeal shrugged noncommittally. "I would assume so. But we're going to need a lot more than just the bleeding to stop. Strong magic can mend bones, but..."
"It requires knowledge of setting them?" Kazyr asked faintly. "I can do that. I... I'm no doctor, of course, but Ghaleon is strong. He may forgive what mistakes I make."
Solon nodded gravely. "Then maybe after Ardor is himself again he can heal him. Or if not him, then Lucia."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," said Lucia, appearing before them in a halo of blue light. She hovered before them over the nearby chasm between spires, her eyes bright and tinged with concern. But somehow the men sensed the concern was not meant for Ghaleon.
Lucia lowered her head as her red cloak waved in an unseen wind. "Though I must thank you for freeing the dragons, Ghaleon's injury has placed us in a difficult position. If you cannot heal him on your own, I'm afraid that I will be of no help."
"W- Why?" Solon mouthed.
She slowly met Solon's gaze and her eyes glistened. "The crests are sealed away. Only my magic can break the barriers, and once I am through I will not be able to heal him. I have not yet recovered from the strain of my imprisonment. Had Ghaleon been well I would have merely asked the dragons to take you there and you probably would have fared well enough on your own. But...
"Time grows ever shorter and the Maker ever closer. We cannot wait for Ghaleon to recover and so I must take another course of action. It is a difficult choice; recovering Ghaleon's health at the expense of your group's protection, or your continued progress as planned save for the loss of him. Somehow, I know that Ghaleon is key to your success, and the dragons and I have chosen to drain much of our power in order to summon the crests to us, saving you journey."
"And the Goddess Crest just might be what we need to heal Ghaleon," Jeal concluded.
Lucia nodded solemnly. "But you realize that to accomplish that..."
She did not finish, nor did Jeal need her to. Before Kazyr or Solon could ask otherwise, Jeal stood to face them. "All right, we have our course of action. I'll go with Lucia and the other dragons to begin the process of unlocking and summoning the crest. You two look after Ghaleon and Sadoul."
"How are you feeling, Ardor?"
Solon stood beside his friend's bed in the makeshift infirmary room Lucia had teleported them to. Sadoul had woken minutes before and started tottering about the room before anyone was even aware of him waking. Ghaleon lay comatose on the next bed over and Kazyr, back in human form, had nodded off on a blanket he had enlarged out of a handkerchief. Like every place within the tower, the walls and floor were made of stone, and though the storm without had ended, the dreariness remained.
"I'll be okay," Sadoul said, refusing to look at Solon. Having accomplished the first action of standing and the second of walking, his third had been spellcasting. But though Kazyr had done his best to secure Ghaleon's broken bones in the layers of gauze and wooden splints, Sadoul's spell would not work. The bones would not mend. After his failed attempt Solon noticed him standing, but gratefully not the result of his magic.
"You don't have to hide it," Solon offered lamely. "Kazyr was overcome by the entity, and perhaps Ghaleon as well."
"Still," Sadoul insisted stubbornly, "I should have known better. It struck me so fast." But his irritable words only masked his true disappointment in mending Ghaleon's injuries.
"Ardor..."
"Solon?"
"Yes?"
"Don't call me that anymore."
"Why?"
Sadoul looked to his friend through a pair of shadowed eyes. "When we were up on the roof, trying to get to that thing... Like Kazyr said, it brought out our hidden thoughts..." He paused, reflecting. "And I realize something now." Sadoul took in a deep breath. "I can't be two people at once. I can't live in the past. Solon, you haven't changed. You are now what you were a thousand years ago. But I... I have changed. And I can't carry Ardor's guilt with me any longer. Don't you understand?"
Solon shook his head sadly. "I know you've changed, but you're still my friend, you still were in love with Elynthia."
"Elynthia is gone," Sadoul said flatly, looking back down at the floor. "And Ardor died a long time ago. Only his shell remains; that which should have been cast aside long before. As for being friends, Sadoul had to earn your trust just as Ardor did when the Vay armor first landed. We are similar, but no, we are not the same. A man's name is his identity, and I cannot be both at the same time. Ardor's time has past. I can only be Sadoul now."
Solon nodded. "So that's it," he said with an air of finality. "All right, I won't dispute it. Perhaps you have changed as much as you think, but it is difficult to accept."
"The memories brought to life when the entity attacked me only revealed what I had known all the time. Ever since I met you again, I had begun to act as two rather than one. But I must be sure of myself when we face the Maker. I must know who I am."
Sadoul turned his head as he heard a rustle from the floor. Kazyr had sat up and peered sleepily at the sole doorway to the small room.
Jeal leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed before his chest. A vibrant crimson quiver of crossbow quarrels hung from his waist and seemed to suck the color from the dismal room. He offered a quirky smile. "The crests are here, and if you want to see what's left that they can do for you, I suggest you come with me."
En route Jeal revealed to them that his new quiver had come from the power still held within his Red Dragon's Crest and that it would never run out of quarrels. The quarrels themselves had special properties as well. "But you must understand," said Jeal, "the Red Dragon's Crest was already with me, so none of its power has been lost. Even after this gift, I can still summon its strength to transform me into the Red Dragon of Althena. That is not the case with the remaining crests. That's what Lucia meant by the protection they grant you being reduced."
They passed through the archway to the chamber where they first met Lucia and the presence of the three freed dragons loomed over them. Lucia stood on the dais as though she never moved, and all appeared as before, save the dragons and the loss of the storm on the outside. A crest, colored in black, blue, or white, hovered before the dragon of its color.
"So, these are our rescuers," rumbled the ancient blue dragon from her position in one of the chamber's far depressions. She bowed her head to the group. "We are grateful."
"You're quite welcome," said Kazyr, bowing deeply in return.
"Where's the Goddess Crest?" asked Sadoul, glancing curtly around the chamber.
"Still on Lunar, I'm afraid," said Jeal.
"Still?"
Jeal nodded curtly. "The Goddess Crest was unable to answer the summons. After Lucia dissolved the barrier around the Crests we dragons were able to tap into our own auras, and through them the magic locked within the Crests, to complete the process to transferring them over here. However... There is no particular dragon attached to the Goddess Crest."
"And Lucia?" asked Kazyr.
"I tried," she replied weakly. "There is barely anything left in me now. Jeal lent me the strength of his aura, but it was not enough. I could barely sense the Goddess Crest at all, let alone retrieve it."
Solon exhaled loudly. "So where is it now?"
"The last hero to use it took it with him to Lunar right before the Star Dragon betrayed us," said the white dragon. "He sealed it deep within the remains of Pentagulia so that the light of the goddess might revitalize the place."
"Pentagulia?" Sadoul murmured.
"I believe it's south of Ghaleon's grave," the young black dragon offered helpfully. "It's the ruins of a stronghold of the dark god who opposed Althena."
"But we should get back to business," Jeal said in a clipped manner.
The dragon nodded in deference to him and glanced to Lucia.
She met the young dragon's gaze with a weary look before letting out a loud sigh. Lucia turned back to the four men standing before her. "Jeal has already received his gift. Now I must use all the power that is left within these crests to aid you. The dragons have spoken, and have chosen who their power will go to. I am merely here to serve as the conduit to guide that strength."
"You there, white-haired mage," called the blue. "From the eldest of the dragons to the eldest of the mortals," --Kazyr stepped forward, movement hesitant-- "I give you the wisdom of the Blue Dragon's Crest."
A blue mist erupted from the Crest as it shattered, whirling in a conical shape before dashing around Kazyr. The wizard tried to follow the light as it surrounded him and centered around his wrists. The mist vanished in a radiant flash, leaving him equipped with a set of twin blue bracers. His mind raced as the insight the dragon promised filled him. He saw his ability and knowledge of where and when to strike used against countless opponents to come.
"Solon, Magician of Water," trumpeted the white, "the man who has as much love of ice as I; to you I give you the power of the White Dragon's Crest!"
Again the Crest shattered, sending forth long tendrils of white mist, this time to wrap about Solon's hand and leave him with a single golden ring inlaid with a shimmering diamond. The words to a new spell formed came to his consciousness, one that would protect his companions from the most dire of magicks.
"Ardor, mage redeemed from darkness," bellowed the black in his young voice, "I give you the strength of the Black Dragon's Crest."
The Crest leaped up from its hovering position in response to the black's words. Sadoul stood ready, preparing himself. But instead the Crest sunk down to its previous position. The black dragon stared stupidly at it, and waved a paw as though that would make it soar upward again.
"Onyx..." Jeal began.
"It ain't working!" The black dragon's voice came out in a squeak despite his bulk. "I give you the strength of the Black Dragon's Crest!" he squawked at the hovering shape.
For a moment everyone stood silent, then Sadoul broke the quiet with a low curse. "Great, I guess I'm not worthy enough."
"Onyx, do you have any idea what's wrong?" Lucia asked gently.
The black dragon shook his head violently. "Maybe my dad would have known. But I'm just so new at this!"
"Ebony isn't here right now though," the white dourly pointed out. "You are."
"Onyx, dear," murmured the blue, "you know you must wish your Crest upon this human for him to receive its power."
"I know!" the black replied indignantly, partially unfurling his wings as he half stood. "He needs the power, especially since Ghaleon is hurt!"
"Being without the Goddess Crest is bad enough," snapped the white. "We can't do without the Black too."
"We'll just have to keep going without it," said Jeal with a nod to Lucia. "The Maker is getting too close for comfort. Lucia's going to have to start pinpointing his first destination any day now, so we have no time to waste."
"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Solon, twisting his new ring around his finger.
"I suggest we attend to the matters closest at hand." Jeal turned to stride out the door. "We don't have much time and fighting the Maker is not going to be by any means a cakewalk."
Jeal continued to speak as the three wizards followed him back to the levitating platform. Lucia silently drifted after them, seeming to almost hover just above the floor as the platform lowered to the next level down.
"First off, we should try healing Ghaleon. Being down one person is far worse than missing a crest. A crest without someone to use it is even more useless than someone without a crest, especially one such as Ghaleon. Now that Sadoul is standing we can try using his healing magic on him. Hopefully that will be enough."
Sadoul frowned, though no one noticed. He cast a glance at Kazyr, finally catching the white-haired mage's attention.
"Do you have any suggestions, Lucia?" asked Solon.
She shook her head, long blue hair waving behind her. "There is little I can do for you until the Black Dragon's Crest activates or the Maker arrives."
Jeal pondered for a moment. "Lucia, do you think Sadoul can still use the weakened Crest? I know it wouldn't provide much of an aura, even surrounded by your tower as we have originally planned, but..."
"You know better than that," Lucia replied wistfully. "Without all its strength the Crest would be too unpredictable to control. That's why we had no choice but to break them down into armaments for everyone. Only your Red Dragon's Crest has a chance of recovering."
Jeal nodded slightly and paused at the door to Ghaleon's resting room. "Well, here we are. If Ghaleon revives we'll try putting together some sort of mission to retrieve the Goddess Crest, assuming we have any time before the Maker arrives."
"We will," Solon said confidently.
"Perhaps. Onyx might come around and break down the Black Dragon's Crest for Sadoul after he's given it some thought too."
Ghaleon remained motionless on his bed, condition no worse than when they had left, yet no better either.
"It's all yours now, Sadoul," Jeal announced as those in the hallway passed into the small room.
"Sadoul?" Jeal turned to look back at the group, but only the void where Sadoul and Kazyr should have been greeted him in return.
"Sadoul, you sure this is a good idea?" asked Kazyr, panting as the two conspiring wizards exited the base of Lucia's tower.
"Of course!" said Sadoul. "What else is there to be done? My own magic isn't strong enough to heal him and you know one of the landmarks near the Goddess Crest."
"But will your teleportation skills really be enough to take us all the way up to Lunar? I don't think I know of any mortals who have teleported beyond the limits of the sky before."
Sadoul cast him a confident wink. "Hey, I've never known of any mortals who have sailed the stars in a transparent prism. Besides, who's to say we're ordinary mortals anymore anyway?"
Sadoul etched out a vague circle into the gravel along the shore with the heel of his boot. "Now stand in here and concentrate as hard as you can on our destination. This sort of teleportation's a lot harder than the usual sort since only you've been there, not me. If you break your concentration-"
"I know," Kazyr griped with an impatient wave. "It's just like any other teleport spell in that respect. I know enough to keep focused."
Sadoul nodded. "That's good, because I'm going to be more than a bit drained after we'll pull this off."
"You're not mad about not getting anything from the Black Dragon's Crest are you?"
"Ha! Well, I admit I'm a bit teed, but that's nothing on the havoc I want to wreck on the Maker for" --Kazyr winced at Sadoul's cursing-- "with my mind."
Kazyr obediently stepped into the circle and Sadoul joined him, raising his arms slightly to either side. Sadoul closed his eyes, murmuring the first words to his spell as a fiery red aura surrounded him. Kazyr looked out to the now stormless seas and wondered if he would return to see them. But as the magic heightened around him he returned his thoughts to all he remembered of Ghaleon's tomb; the inscriptions, the pictures, the story of his rise and fall that had forever marked Lunar with his legacy. Such a life as his... deserved another chance.
Blue fire flashed around Kazyr, the wispy peaks reaching out to meld with Sadoul's until the auras surrounded them both and the lavender light containing the two wizards arced skyward towards Ghaleon's tomb.