347 Free Fall

Sunny fell down in a rain of broken stone, the floor beneath his feet suddenly crumbling like shattered glass.

The Crimson Spire shuddered and moaned, like a giant creature convulsing in the throes of death. The light of the artificial sun grew dim and weak, causing another tremor to run through the ancient tower, wide cracks appearing on its granite walls.

Sunny had banished the darkness that devoured the Forgotten Shore every night, and Nephis had killed the vessel of the sun that rose above it every day. Together, they had brought destruction to this cursed land. Today was the end of days for the Forgotten Shore, one that the two of them had ushered in.

And one of them was going to have to endure the fallout of this cataclysmic change.

Surrounded by a rain of falling shards of stone, Changing Star twisted and somehow managed to aim her sword in Sunny's direction. Even more miraculously, he managed to intercept it with his own. Both were thrown away from each other, the transparent wings weaving themselves behind their backs.

For a couple of second, Sunny felt his body plunging down into the darkness. Then, finally, the Dark Wing fully manifested and turned into a blur, supporting his weight.

Dodging a massive slab of granite that threatened to crush him, Sunny used it as a step and propelled himself through the air. The Midnight Shard flashed, aiming at Changing Star's wings, but was blocked by the blade of the silver longsword.

As the debris fell down, two human figures collided against each other and spun in the air. With nothing to serve as a support, the only chance they had to exert any force was to use the body of the enemy as one. Their bodies entangled, almost as if they were lovers.

But in reality, of course, the purpose of this intimate closeness was not love; it was violence.

Grabbing Nephis with one hand and using his legs to trap hers, Sunny twisted his torso and delivered a devastating blow with his forehead, feeling the brittle bones of her nose shatter under his strike.

…But at the same time, her armored fist crashed into his side, aimed cruelly at the half-closed wound left behind by Caster.

Sunny screamed.

In the next second, her other fist slammed into his face. Augmented by the weight of the silver sword, that blow caused Sunny to lose himself for a short moment.

When he came to his senses, the first thing he saw was a massive slab of granite falling on them from above. Feeling blood stream down his face and from the newly opened wound on his side, Sunny bent his knee, and then used Neph's body to push himself away.

The two of them flew into opposite directions, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the enormous piece of stone.

Gliding with the help of their enchanted cloaks, Sunny and Nephis circled around each other, moving down in a wide spiral. Both were too preoccupied with dodging the falling pieces of stone to launch another attack, even if they wished too.

Around them, the Crimson Spire was quaking and convulsing, more and more cracks appearing on its walls, whole layers of stone separating from them and plunging down. It felt as though the ancient structure would not be able to hold on for much longer.

Above them, the dying sun was growing weaker with each minute.

…And down below, the runes surrounding the perfect circle of the Gateway were shimmering in the darkness, their light slowly becoming unstable.

Concentrating at the distant balcony, Sunny hesitated for a moment, then threw a glance at Nephis.

Then, he dismissed the Dark Wing and plunged down, abandoning the safety of flight.

Instead, he chose to fall.

With air whistling in his ears, Sunny plummeted through the darkness, approaching the vast balcony with terrible speed.

…Deadly speed.

He had to calculate everything perfectly.

When the Gateway was close enough to discern separate runes shining in a circle around it, he summoned the enchanted cloak again.

As the Memory began to weave itself into existence, Sunny continued to fall, the stone balcony growing closer and closer. A second later, it was already close enough to see the shapes of the dead coral golems in the darkness. A second more, and a bestial fear took hold of his heart… he was about to die, to splatter on the ground like a crushed bug!

Almost at the last moment, the Dark Wing finally came into existence. Immediately, Sunny activated the enchantment and tried to turn his vertical fall into a horizontal glide.

As inertia pulled him down with dreadful speed, he cut a smooth arc in the air and hit the stone surface of the balcony, turning the violent impact into a roll. Then, without losing even a moment, he jumped to his feet and ran toward the Gateway.

Consumed by pain, Sunny limped over the shimmering runes and entered the ring. Almost immediately, a strange feeling overtook him.

It was like… like that strange and indescribable feeling you get a few seconds before realizing that the reality surrounding you is just a dream, and that you are about to wake up.

The light of the runes grew stronger. Simultaneously, Sunny's own body began to glow, emanating the same ethereal light.

…Before that glow had a chance to become bright, though, a shadow fell from above in a deadly rustle of sharp steel.

'No!'

Sunny threw his hands up, deflecting the blow of Changing Star's silver sword. Nephis descended upon him like an avenging angel, the fierce white flames burning in her eyes with frightening intensity.

As soon as her feet touched the stone inside the iron ring, the shimmering runes blinked… and disappeared. Both Conduits were cut off from the Crimson Spire, thus breaking the flow of soul energy. Without it, the Gateway could not function.

Only if one of them was thrown outside would the runes ignite once again.

Sunny gritted his teeth and thrust his sword forward, hoping to get Nephis before she had time to regain her balance. But she was too fast, too cunning; before he could even get close to piercing her flesh, Changing Star was already moving, trapping his blade under her own and throwing it aside.

Sunny rammed into her, throwing all of his weight into one devastating blow. At the same time, he felt cold steel brushing against his ribs, causing more blood to stream down.

The two of them collided with frightening force and fell out of the iron ring of the Gateway, rolling down the steps of the dais. As soon as the first of them crossed the circle of runes, they shimmered and shined once again.

Sunny fell on the cold stones and remained lying there, consumed by pain and exhaustion. A low, tortured moan escaped from his lips.

Something was broken inside of him. He felt weak.

And cold.

He didn't want to stand up.

'I'n not done yet… I'm not…'