In the Brilliance of Longing | Ominis Gaunt

In the Brilliance of Repair

Una

Ominis, Poppy, and Natty were huddled together speaking in hushed voices. I threw myself forward with my arms extended. Ominis was the only one to notice my footsteps before I crashed into the three of them, crying, "We did it! We're finished!" I wrapped my arms around Poppy, Natty and Ominis wrapping their arms around the two of us in a group embrace. Natty and Poppy were laughing along with me, and Ominis had a bright smile on his face as I felt the tips of his fingers brush my waist.

When I pushed away, I realized we were back in the very same chamber we started in. I looked around for the way out, but only the four closed portals remained. I was dabbing the corners of my eyes from the overwhelm of emotion when, from the ceiling above us, dropped several guardians that were now surrounding us on all sides.

"We can't celebrate yet!" Poppy exclaimed as we all stood backs facing one another.

"Child's play," replied Ominis as he skillfully downed not one, but two guardians with ancient magic. I watched in awe as my friends each wielded the sacred blue source that I'd believed only few could possess. I was so incredibly proud of them, of all of us.

We made quick work of the guardians, but after the last one fell, the crumbled pieces of stone and metal that they once were began to reanimate. They flew arounds the air in a spiral, and caused a powerful swirling wind to blow all around us. I shielded my eyes with my arm to protect them from the dust and debris flying everywhere. I peered past my forearm and saw that the pieces of the statues we had just beaten were coming together to form something. What was it? The door out maybe?

I could not have been more wrong. The shards of the fallen guardians came together to form a three-headed dragon, almost like the one I had defeated the previous year in my final battle with Ranrok. This dragon, however, shone blue between the floating pieces of metal and stone, a definitive sign of the Keepers. Nevertheless, I was thrown back to my fight with the goblin overlord and I nearly lost my nerve. I wanted terribly to retreat, but I knew there was nowhere to go.

My friends, however, must not have felt the panic I did at the enemy before us. They were strong in their resolve, wands at the ready awaiting their first move. I was glad to see that the trial thus far had built their confidence, but this seemed much more dangerous than anything we'd ever done before. I stood by my friends still, raising my wand to fight whatever was coming our way. We will all go down together, if we must.

I nearly breathed a sigh of relief when one of the dragon's heads began charging an orb, just like the pensieve guardians did. It was the same fight. Still, it required all of us to cast correctly and in time. Control, Force, Control, Damage, on and on from each of the dragon's heads. A few we missed, but the creature's aim was poor. Still, it didn't seem like it was getting any weaker.

"What should we do?!" Natty called as we continued to cast. Force, Damage.

I could feel my ancient ability growing more with every orb broken. Control, Control, Force. I could only assume my friends felt the same. Damage. I called back, "Wait for my signal! When I say, concentrate on your ancient magic and cast it!" Damage, Control.

"Now!" We all simultaneously cast, blue beams flying from the end of our wands. Three of us cast at it's head, and one at it's chest. I put all my might into this cast, and it was completely draining, but it seemed to be working.

"Keep casting!!" I was getting weaker by the second. My vision was darkening around the edges. I was breathless. But still, I persevered. Everything we had been through wasn't going to be for naught.

I could tell my friends were suffering as well, and as one cast failed, then another, then another, there was just mine. I was on the edge of falling out, when the dragon finally gave a screeching wail of defeat and imploded upon itself.