Overwhelming Light

Theo didn't think – couldn't think. He dove off the case, lunging for his falling brother.

But he couldn't move fast enough. The air pressed around him like tar, fighting his every mad stroke and kick. He cursed, sobbed, thrashed with all his might. All he could see was the blood trailing in Victor's wake.

When his hand brushed something hard, he jerked. It was armor beneath his fingers, smooth and black. Finally, he had reached Victor.

But it didn't give him any relief. This close, the stench of blood thickened the air until he felt like he was slurping it down with every desperate breath. He forced himself to stare at Victor's chest, even if it was the last thing he wanted to see.

A gash ran from Victor's left shoulder to his right hip, splitting the armor wide open. Blood drifted out of it into the weightless void, swirling like ink in water. When it brushed Theo's cheek, startlingly hot and wet, he almost let go.

He clenched his teeth, blinked back his tears. A little blood wouldn't stop him.

A spell formed in his mind, made of wave-like lines and curlicues. He'd studied healing spells, but so far had never cast a single one. Well, there was a first time for everything.

Holding his hands above Victor's chest, Theo gathered his Levia. To his relief, the spell flared bright and strong, bathing his brother in warm dawn light.

Which gave Theo a horribly clear view of his face – the ashen skin, the grimace twisting his mouth. When his eyelids fluttered open, Theo's heart lurched.

"H...hey." Victor's lips moved, blood bubbling at their corners.

"Don't talk!" Theo shouted, pumping more Levia into the spell.

"I thought...I told you...not to…on me…."

Theo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm not going to let you die!"

Victor sighed, long and languid as if releasing all the air in his body. Theo's terror spiked. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to focus on the diagram glowing beneath his hands.

Even now, his dawn light hesitated when it brushed Victor's icy Levia, tried to double back on itself. Fury and self-hatred twisted Theo's insides. Who cared how unwelcoming Victor's Levia felt; in the end, Victor was still his brother. The brother he had sworn to save.

After he'd come all this way – after he'd finally gotten to fight alongside Victor –

So he reached into the deepest corners of his soul for every last drop of his Levia, pouring it out of his hands and into his brother's body. His head ached; his mouth tasted like metal; his heart felt like it might explode out of his chest. But the light bloomed brighter until it swallowed Victor's entire body.

It beat against his face like a burning wind. Beneath it, Theo could no longer sense a trace of Victory's icy Levia.

One last ferocious shove. Pink light exploded, sending him reeling. He cried out, stretching his arms in a vain attempt to grab his brother again.

His back hit solid glass, driving the breath from his lungs. A display case? Gasping, Theo struggled to focus his vision.

Through the blood droplets flecking the air, he saw Victor floating in the void, sword by his side. The gash still marred his armor, but – Theo's heart flipped around – the skin beneath it was perfectly smooth.

Something too painful to be relief gripped Theo's throat. His vision swam.

Slowly, Victor drifted upright. With a few languid kicks, he floated back over to Theo. His face was still drawn, but he fixed Theo with sharp, alert eyes.

"Theo," he said quietly. "You didn't have to."

Tears bloomed in Theo's eyes, hot and stinging. Angrily, he wiped them away. "What are you talking about? Of course I did."

"I owe you again. You have no idea what you've done for me." Victor's voice held a strange, almost sad edge. "One day, I will repay you."

With that, he kicked his feet and drifted back up to the fight. Theo forced himself to follow.

Flashing green light. Arcing flames. Glinting metal. Theo blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.

The others must have won their fights, he realized. Now they were all engaging Greisen at once. Avia shot arrow after arrow; Ryllis jabbed her burning spear; Lodo slashed with metal claws.

But Greisen shook off their attacks with contemptuous ease. His stone axes swung so fast they were blurs, preventing the others from getting too close.

Hatred surged inside Theo's chest, black and bitter. Hell if he was going to let Greisen get his way in the end. After everything he'd done – all the people he'd hurt –

A flash of blue. Zenith dove at Greisen, sword raised.

Only for the sword to clang off Greisen's axe with a trail of shrieking sparks. Zenith swerved, tumbling through the Liminal.

Without thinking, Theo reached for Zenith's Levia. The stark light gave a weak pulse in response. He had almost completely run out of Levia, Theo realized with a sick jolt.

Then it was up to Theo to help him. Healing Victor had taken a lot of his Levia, but he still had enough left. He reached for it now, drawing the softly flickering dawn light out from the core of his being.

As his heart pounded, he imagined the light becoming brighter and stronger with every beat. He'd give it every last ounce of his resolve.

A diagram began drifting from the depths of his mind. As its intricate lines sharpened, he remembered blades of white light racing around the Infernal Legion's lair, destroying everything in their path….

No. He didn't have enough Levia to cast this spell. Gritting his teeth, Theo forced the diagram back and pulled out another one. A simpler one, but still elaborate, filled with radiating star-like patterns.

The strongest elemental spell he knew. If this didn't do it, he didn't know what would.

He closed his eyes, reached for his Levia. As it flooded the lines of the spell, he sensed an answering surge from Zenith's Levia.

They didn't need words. Not when they had their contract. The light spilled free, flooding the world behind his shut eyelids red. When it met Zenith's, their combined power reverberated through his entire body.

Zenith's stark light blazed brighter, sharpening at the edges like a sword made of diamond. As he poured his dawn light into it, Theo felt it swell like a star going nova.

Until Zenith's body could no longer contain it. The connection between them hummed, and the power released.

Theo's eyes snapped open. Sunlight flooded his vision, washing away the Liminal's swirling colors.

No, not sunlight. Instead it glowed from the center of Zenith's blade, blazing so bright it turned him into a stark silhouette.

Along with the other fighters, Greisen had frozen in shock. But now he sprang into action, leaping toward Zenith with both axes extended.

'Now!' Theo thought, and he felt the reply, a silent 'By your will,' resonate through their contract.

In a single swift stroke, Zenith brought his sword down. A beam of white light blasted from the tip. Greisen raised an axe to block, but the beam sliced it clean in half.

Greisen lurched, though he recovered quickly and swung his other axe. With a slash of his sword, Zenith summoned another beam that carved apart the second axe as easily the first.

Undeterred, Greisen flung out his hands. Well, Theo wouldn't give him a chance to create new axes.

The next beam of light speared Greisen through the palm. He bellowed, caught off guard for the first time. Before it could dissolve, Zenith fired off another beam that impaled Greisen's other hand.

As Greisen writhed, Zenith blasted one more beam of light directly at his chest. It struck with a satisfying thud, making Greisen roar. Something tiny and glinting blue flew out of his jacket.

The crystal. But Theo couldn't think of getting it now. The light wreathing Zenith's blade was starting to flicker; it wouldn't last for much longer.

So better make this next one count. Understanding what he wanted, Zenith lunged.

His sword glowed so bright Theo couldn't look at it directly. But that didn't stop him from pouring all the Levia he could muster into Zenith's crystal core. 'Burn brighter. Become sharper.'

When the sword struck Greisen's chest, the light exploded and wiped out Theo's vision. For one terrifying moment, he felt as if he were falling through a stark white void. No up or down, beginning or end.

Nothing but his and Zenith's combined Levia.

Gradually the light cleared, revealing the Liminal's colors once more. Theo blinked, trying to banish the dark spots dancing across his vision.

Zenith loomed above Greisen, sword plain metal again. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving, hair swirling behind his head.

A massive hole gaped in the center of Greisen's chest. There was no blood, only darkness. The demon drifted down through the Liminal, eyes peacefully closed.

When they snapped open, Theo's heart stopped. Only to lodge in his throat when Greisen's fingers twitched.

After all that, Greisen could still move? Panic buzzed in Theo's head. He didn't have enough Levia left for a basic strengthening spell, let alone another elemental spell. And Zenith too could barely maintain his grip on his sword.

Green light flashed, making Theo wince. Through watering eyes, he saw an arrow of crackling Levia shoot from above and strike Greisen in the skull.

The green light exploded in a shower of sparks. Greisen continued sinking, smoke curling from the top of his head. This time, he didn't stir.

"Boom, headshot." Ryan's smug voice echoed through the Liminal. "You're welcome, guys."