Massive orbs of light were flying around over their heads, exploding on rock and debris around them, originating from a small golden creature with a blinding white light on his chest. The orbs were being blocked by walls of black magic that a tall white-robed wizard was throwing out with both hands while trying to move forwards.
Between the two, a small white gem lay on the ethereal ground.
Cyil looked down.
The toroid was shaking. There was a crack in the invisible floor where Aavern and Azor's fight had broken the boundary between the Dimensional Link and the plane where the Overseer dwelled. Loud crashes and eerie screeches rose from the crack, sounds that were the only evidence that Dracoa was still surviving against the shadow.
"I THOUGHT YOU TOLD US NOT TO TAKE THE ORBS!" Aavern yelled, throwing an especially massive ball of light at Azor.
"CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRE ME TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THIS ONE!" Azor yelled back, sidestepping and retaliating with a burst of black magic.
"THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE THE OTHER FOUR WITH YOU!"
Aavern stopped casting magic to collect power into an even larger ball of light above his head. Before he could throw it, though, a stream of magic resembling black liquid darted forwards and blocked Aavern's sight. He threw the light ball at his feet, scattering the black liquid, but Azor was no longer there. In the brief moment, Azor had crossed the distance and had his hands on the light orb. Azor drew it back and put it inside his robe.
Cyil stepped forwards to enter the fight, but Ezarik reacted first. Drawing his dagger, he formed a massive golden blade, which he brought down heavily in front of Azor. A thunderous crash resounded through the void.
Azor glanced over. A glare flashed across his eyes briefly before being replaced with a calm gaze.
"Ezarik. What are you doing here?"
"What's your friend's name?" Ezarik whispered to Cyil.
"Aavern," Cyil whispered back.
"Aavern," Ezarik said, "come over here."
Aavern seemed wary of him, but seeing Cyil next to Ezarik's side, he quickly darted over.
"What is the meaning of this?" Azor asked, ignoring Ezarik. "Are you teaming up with the one responsible for the destruction happening to the island?"
"Azor," Ezarik interrupted, pulling the scroll and map from his robe. "Explain."
He threw the scroll and robe at Azor.
Azor looked at it. His eyes flickered.
He didn't respond.
"Why are you with Ezarik?" Aavern whispered to Cyil.
"Were you planning this when you decided to stay back to protect Falnear during the Call of the Beyond?" Ezarik asked. Behind him, Cyil quietly explained what was happening to Aavern. Just like Cyil, Aavern's face twisted into a grimace.
"I should've attacked him sooner," Aavern growled.
"I'm going to burn his stupid face off," Cyil said.
"I've never seen you this angry," Aavern said.
"And you're not?" Cyil growled.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely furious that he lied to us this whole time," Aavern said, "but you're normally the one to laugh it off as a joke."
"What did you expect? His castle was like a second home for me. How would you feel if that home turned out to be a lie?"
"Not get this angry, that's for sure."
Cyil only made another angry noise. Aavern gave up trying to reason with him.
"What did you guys do to Cyil?" he asked.
"He's been like that ever since you disappeared to find the light gem," Riselus grumbled.
"What?"
"Answer me," Ezarik said.
Azor didn't respond. Instead, he reached inside his robe and pulled something out. He kept it concealed in his hand.
Qassot drew her sword from the sheath.
"Since when did Qassot have that?" Aavern asked quietly. "And since when did she walk around like a wizard?"
"I have no idea," Cyil said. "She never properly explained that."
"Your silence says you are guilty," Ezarik said. "I can't let you wake up the Elder Dragons. Have you forgotten the injustice those monsters have caused?"
"They never treated us wizards that badly," Azor finally said. His voice was coarse and sharp-edged. "We were the top of the food chain back then."
Ezarik gritted his teeth. "I guess you didn't care for all the wyverns that were killed."
"They're not human," Azor said. He met Ezarik's eyes with a cold glare. "Sympathy is something reserved for humans only."
"I see there's no reasoning with you," Ezarik said, drawing the quarterstaff from his back.
"Ask the other wizards. I bet a lot of them agree with me. They just didn't speak up because of Kovo."
Cyil's normally good-natured face was now straining with barely controlled anger. His eyes blazed like twin suns, and his voice dripped with resentment.
A shattering sound drew their attention. To their left, far away, the shadow had broken through the ethereal ground. It was chasing Dracoa towards them, creating dozens of black energy balls that floated menacingly around it.
"Dracoa!" Aavern yelled. Dracoa looked up. Her fatigued face lit up in surprise.
"Dodge to the left!" Aavern shouted. He launched a massive beam of light at the shadow. It blocked with some of the energy balls, but was temporarily pushed back.
Dracoa, who had darted out of the way, arrived breathlessly.
"What happened? Is that Ezarik? What's going on?"
Qassot shot a glare at Azor, who was looking at the shadow trying to regain its orientation.
"Why don't you ask Azor."
Dracoa looked at Ezarik, then at Azor.
"What is happening?" she asked slowly.
Azor sighed. "Why can't you ask your friends?"
"Answer."
Dracoa glared at him. The mental pressure she exuded began to seep out, causing Azor to waver slightly.
Azor sighed and chuckled. "Fine. I'll make it clear."
He opened his hand, revealing all five elemental orbs, all attached to a golden chain.
"Everything was orchestrated. The plant that gave you the dream, the dream itself, getting the gems, fighting Ezarik, everything."
He turned to look at the shadow.
"Well, everything except that. I didn't think that it would arrive so fast."
"Why?" Dracoa asked. Her voice was shaky. Her wings drooped, and her tail automatically began to curl up. She seemed to be panicking.
Azor looked Ezarik in the eye as he spoke. "Things were better when the Elder Dragons were alive."
Dracoa snapped up. Her eyes were blazing, boiling over with rage.
"Well, I guess things are still going to plan. I'll be leaving you six to it," Azor said, grinning.
Ezarik lifted his staff and summoned several golden spears. Gathering his power, the spears began to merge into one massive golden spear whose aura seemed to make the air shudder. Azor widened his eyes in surprise.
"If you use that you won't have enough strength to fight the shadow," Azor shouted, his voice carrying a slight tinge of fear.
"That won't matter if I don't stop you from waking up the Elder Dragons," Ezarik growled, then threw the spear. A loud bang resounded through the void, and the backblast from the throw forced Ezarik to his knees and sent Cyil and Aavern flying.
Azor immediately threw up a wall of black liquid, but the spear was't aimed at him. Ezarik threw the spear at the toroid, breaking through the ethereal ground in an instant.
The golden light made a beautiful arc through the darkness, before it violently impacted the stone at the center of the toroid. With a thunderous crash, the stone cracked to pieces. The golden light scattered, revealing the crumbling pedestal that used to hold the light gem slowly breaking down. With a thunderous roar, the toroid began to waver and flicker, violently shaking and shrinking. The golden light grew brighter and brighter as the toroid shrunk, compressing down into a single point. Silence fell abruptly.
"What did you do?" Azor asked angrily.
Ezarik was breathing heavily, but despite the weariness from destroying a pillar that held up reality itself, he gave Azor a crooked grin. "Now you can't escape to Falnear."
A sudden explosion of golden light briefly lit the dimensional link up like the midday sun, knocking the shadow far away and every creature in the vicinity to their knees.
Azor's face shifted into disbelief. He waved his hand in the air. A wispy black circle appeared in the air, but there was nothing in it. Azor tried again, and tried putting his hand through it. There was nothing.
"You-" Azor's face twisted with fury.
Ezarik managed to climb his feet, still smiling. "Now it doesn't even matter if we lose to the shadow here, as it will not be able to escape."
Azor's eyes began to dart around frantically, his fingers began to twitch.
"Can I burn his face off now?" Cyil growled.
Azor's face suddenly lit up with a sneer. Ezarik suddenly stiffened.
"Good thing I weakened the magic in that pool when I did,"
"You didn't-"
Azor chuckled. "What a stroke of luck."
"You-" Ezarik's face became wrought with fury.
"Thanks for trapping yourself in here." Azor said, chuckling, as he lifted the five orbs on the chain around his neck. Magic flowed through them, and a bright golden ring appeared in the air behind Azor. Ezarik leapt forwards, swinging his massive golden sword, but Azor quickly stepped backwards. Briefly, through the ring, a strange view appeared. Tall, gray rectangular structures as tall as mountains lined the sides of gray paths with strange metal objects moving in orderly files. The sun was unable to shine through the dark, overcast sky. As quickly as the view appeared, it disappeared, the golden ring surrounding it shrinking and vanishing along with Azor.
Dracoa roared in anger and threw several wispy blades of air at where the portal was. They never hit, instead landing where the now-closed portal used to be after he disappeared into it.
Before Dracoa could get angrier, a roar drew their attention. The shadow was quickly approaching.
"Looks like we're fighting the shadow after all," Ezarik said, struggling to control his anger.
"How did you survive so long against him?" Qassot asked Dracoa. "He's supposed to be absurdly powerful."
Dracoa took a deep breath. "Shadowfang is weaker than he originally was."
"Let's get this over with, then go burn Azor's face off," Cyil snapped. The others couldn't help but agree.