It was funny how easily the spell came, the lines almost drawing themselves. Or maybe not so funny. Not only had Theo doodled it in his sketchbooks for years, he'd already cast it multiple times.
Never on Darian, but there was a first time for everything. If this would give her the power to defeat Zenith, then he would do it.
His head remained cold and clear as he infused the lines of the diagram with his Levia. The dawn light flowed at an even rate, helped along by the Star of Miriel's steady power. When the world behind his shut eyelids flooded red, he knew he had successfully cast the spell.
No, not yet. He needed to reach for Darian's power.
Just like that, her cosmos snapped into place around him. So much like the Star of Miriel's, but it felt different too. Less all-encompassing, more lively. And right now, every single star blazed with her resolve. The same that he felt.
His dawn light spread in waves across the cosmos, weaving together with the trails of stardust and spiraling toward a blue star that outshone all the others. The scene was so beautiful Theo almost wanted to admire it forever – but of course, he couldn't.
So he shut off the flow of power, neat and surgical, and let himself return to his physical body. When he opened his eyes, soft pink light greeted his vision. It spread beneath his feet, encompassing not just Darian but nearly half the room. Beneath its gentle but steady glow, the light-blades above Zenith no longer seemed so painfully intense.
He lifted his staff, his gaze landing on the Star of Miriel. Pink light pulsed within its core, drowning out nearly every trace of blue. The same glow danced across Darian's eyes, though not nearly as concentrated. It almost echoed the way his own power flowed through Darian's cosmos, and that brought a nostalgic ache to his chest.
Darian nodded at him, sharp and solemn, before turning around and raising her saber. Her Levia deepened, chasing away some of his dawn light, but that didn't matter. It still streamed across their contract, still pulsed within his body – and still glowed from the wings spreading behind his back.
The familiar scent of ozone stung the air, but to Theo's surprise, lightning didn't engulf Darian's saber. Instead, a single spark appeared above the tip. It pulsed as if with a heartbeat of its own, becoming ever brighter until bolts of lightning erupted from it in every direction, surrounding Darian in a cage of crackling white fire.
Theo stumbled back, blinded and disoriented, all the hairs standing up across his skin. But he kept a death-grip around his staff and never stopped pouring his Levia through the contract. As his vision adjusted, he saw the lightning dancing around Darian change shape, becoming less chaotic and more concentrated.
By the time it finished, a dozen spears revolved around Darian, each nearly twice as long as she was tall. They were forged from white-hot lightning, thrumming with so much energy they sizzled and sparked at the edges.
It was just like the spears Astraeon had created, but different too. A power unique to Darian – or maybe both Theo and her. Become stronger together than they ever could apart. A power beyond any Fortress seraphim's imagination.
Darian cast Theo a dazzling smile over her shoulder, then marched forward until she stood in the open area again, facing down Zenith directly. The spears moved along with her, smooth and seamless as extensions of her own body.
Theo stepped forward too, trying to ignore the sweat prickling his skin and the frantic thudding of his heartbeat. The light still glowed strong within the Star of Miriel, but he knew he couldn't maintain it for long.
With this attack, they had to end everything.
Darian folded one arm behind her back, then lowered her saber until it was extended horizontally before her. Beneath the stark glow of the lightning spears, she seemed like an otherworldly being – made of light instead of flesh.
"Sir Zenith. Let's make this a formal duel, shall we? I, Prince Darian of Miria, challenge you."
Zenith had been staring at her in wordless astonishment, but then he gestured and the light-blades floating above him plummeted to surround him in a ring. "As if I would accept a challenge from the likes of you."
"Is that so?" Darian said, almost pleasant. "A pity. I never took you for a coward, Sir."
"Don't be absurd," Zenith sneered. "You couldn't give me any kind of challenge to begin with. You have never been able to defeat me."
"True," Darian said, "but now I have something you don't. I have Theo."
Zenith's face tightened. Then he pointed his sword and all of the light-blades revolved at once until they too were aimed at Darian.
A jab of his sword, and they went flying. Before Theo could yell a warning, Darian swung her saber and sent her lightning spears racing forward.
Light and lightning clashed across the room, exploding in dazzling bursts, lashing out in white-hot whips, raining sparks everywhere. Theo instinctively flung himself behind a suit of armor and curved his wings above his head, but through it all he never stopped pouring his power into the staff.
When the last lightning spear fizzled into nothing beneath one of Zenith's blades, Theo was ready. His Levia swelled across their contract and a new series of spears blazed in front of Darian. These she hurtled at Zenith with reckless abandon, one after another, slicing apart the light-blades in their wake.
Zenith swept out his shield and a tower of searing light erupted in front of him. Two of Darian's spears glanced right off it, dissolving into sparks. Darian lurched back a step, but quickly rallied. Her Levia deepened, and the next time she jabbed her saber forward, the remaining spears wove together to form a single massive one, burning so bright Theo couldn't look directly at it.
With a ferocious cry, Darian launched the giant spear at the tower of light. Theo clenched his teeth and dragged out as much Levia as he could, reaching deep into the core of his being. His limbs began to feel heavy and numb and his head was pounding, but he wouldn't give up. Anything, anything to break through....
Light exploded everywhere when the spear collided. It wiped out Theo's vision, and the shockwave sent him flying off his feet. He hit a suit of armor with an impact that jolted all his bones, but he barely felt it beneath the crackling, blazing, raging waves of power flooding the room. With every breath, he tasted the sharp sting of ozone and a faint acrid tang of burning.
It felt like an entire lifetime before the light finally died down. Theo slumped against the suit of armor, gasping for breath, tears flooding his eyes. All he could hear was the blood thundering in his head.
A few hard blinks sent the tears spilling down his cheeks. The world spun around him, a sickening pale blur, before coming into clarity once more. He dug his staff into the floor, using it to help pull himself up to his feet. Though his legs trembled, he didn't fall.
Still, he couldn't deny how weak and empty he felt, as if all the blood had drained out of his body. One look at the Star of Miriel revealed why: his Levia no longer blazed within it. And the sudden loss of weight on his back made it clear his wings were gone too.
Darian was on her knees before him, breathing just as hard. His chest tight, Theo looked beyond her at the person slumped at the base of the window.
With him backlit by the bright sky, Theo couldn't make out details. But he could tell Zenith's hair had fallen in a tangled curtain in front of his face, and his arms lay limp and twitching by his sides, static still crackling around them. And – and a massive crack gaped in his breastplate, slicing through the crystal at the center.
Hope swooped through Theo's body, leaving him dizzy and breathless. Had they done it?
But at that moment, Zenith's head snapped upright. His hands slammed into the window behind him, cracking the glass, and he yanked himself back to his feet. Lurching a few steps forward, he picked up the sword lying on the floor in front of him.
This he lifted, and pointed at Darian. Darian tensed, raising her own saber.
Zenith's Levia surged again, this time augmented with so much golden light Theo almost didn't recognize it. That was all the warning he got before Zenith slashed out his sword and blasted a bolt of light directly at Darian.
Quick, a shield spell – but the lines had barely appeared in Theo's mind before the bolt struck. It knocked Darian off her feet, hurtling her across the room. She hit the wall with a sickening thud, then slid down and collapsed in a limp heap on the floor. The saber spilled from her fingers, and she didn't pick it back up.
"No!" Theo cried. Panicked, desperate, he groped about for Darian's Levia. There, still pulsing across their contract – but so much weaker than before. Like a faded image of the cosmos. And with every choking breath, the stars within it grew dimmer.
He stumbled forward, trying to reach Darian, but the distance between them gaped vaster than the cosmos. Before he could begin to close it, heavy footsteps thudded and armor filled his vision.
Heart pounding, Theo lifted his head and met Zenith's icy gaze.