Arsha and Gorfanth were starting to tire as Falnii and Foresna strained to keep the shields up. “Guys!” panted Gorfanth. “We can’t keep this up forever!”
“We already told you, these things take TIME!” snapped Lardeth.
“Lardeth, you and Malnar said you were almost done three minutes ago!” snarled Falnii, the limits of her patience reached. “The artificial lunar eclipse is right over the Tower! Are you done NOW?!”
“Got it!” called Malnar. “Arsha! Stone!” Arsha tossed her the Talkwen Stone. Malnar wired it up to the machine and pressed the start button. “We’ve got two minutes before the thing starts sapping up the Divine Mana! We need to keep them within two stas of the roof!
“Lardeth, if you please!” directed Arsha.
“TASHWENDORFAL!” shouted Lardeth as he made a glowing purple circle in the air, then brought it down to surround them. They were charged with the spell’s effects.
“Let’s go!” shouted Arsha. Everyone then leapt up the length of the Tower and landed on the roof. “CYTANEK YAVENAG BORG!” challenged Arsha. “YOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END! THE REALMS WILL SLEEP EASIER WITH YOU-!” A magic blast then struck her in the chest. Her lovers flocked to her. “I’m fine!” Arsha grunted, though she WAS in pain.
“Sweet us, I’ve always wanted to do that!” hissed Dr. Borg’s voice. The Imperial Council then stepped out of the shadows, only something was different. They had black mist seeping out of their eyes, like Oyed’s once did. The only difference was that there were lights in the middle of the eyes. Yulduk’s eyes had a red light, Remsu’s had a pink one, Shefarn’s had a blue one, Tormo’s had a green one, Scorpo’s had a purple one, Yamta’s had an orange light, Tensam’s had a yellow one, Jansha’s had a white one, Femfaf’s had a gray light, and Dr. Borg’s were straight black.
“Oh no!” groaned Falnii.
“Oh yes,” replied Dr. Borg. “You look upon the Divine Ones of the Eternal Age of Unity! Meet Lord Yulduk of Fire, Lady Remsu of Love, Lord Shefarn of Water, Lord Tormo of Earth, Lord Scorpo of Air, Lady Yamta of Magic, Lord Tensam of Lightning, Lady Jansha of Life, Lady Femfaf of Balance, and myself, Lady Borg of Death! And, rest assured, I WILL fulfill that function!”
“So, you finally ascended!” hissed Gorfanth.
“Exactly!” cheered Yulduk. “Give the cow a prize!”
“You failed miserably,” chuckled Dr. Borg. “I thought you said you knew how to use the Talkwen Stone, yet here you are, stoneless!”
“I’ve got a variety of methods to beat you!” hissed Arsha.
“I doubt it. You can’t hope to best us now.”
“Oh, you know me!” Arsha had a wry smile on her face. “I always pull a miracle from between my tails!” On that note, she pulled her rose hairpiece from a hidden pocket in her armor. The rose was glowing bright enough to make the Imperial Council cover their eyes.
“Bright!” yelped Remsu.
“And that thing’s saturated in mana!” remarked Jansha once her optics reset themselves. “Enough to kill you twenty times over!”
“If I were fighting alone, yeah, it would,” agreed Arsha. “But it took some convincing for Sorsha to put the mana back once I explained the plan.” She took her helmet off and fixed the hairpiece to her bun. She gasped in pain as the excess mana flowed through her. Her lovers then grabbed one of her tails and concentrated. It took a little longer for Arsha to concentrate, given her current pain, but she and her lovers activated their Candidate’s Auras. They then focused the Auras onto the hairpiece. After that, they gave a roar of determination. Light from across the entire spectrum surrounded the Tower’s roof. The Council was blinded for at least ten seconds. Once they regained their vision, they saw Arsha and her lovers standing tall and proud, their Auras now flashing in the colors of all ten elements that make up the Realms: fire, water, earth, air, love, lightning, magic, life, balance, and death. Their eyes were flashing the same colors.
“…Champion’s Auras!” gulped Tormo. “They’re all the Champions of that prophecy!”
“A prophecy written by now toothless worms!” snarled Dr. Borg. “They are champions of dead gods! We are stronger than them!”
“I’ll take them on!” cheered Yulduk. “That weak Zephyr girl is mine!” He charged at Falnii while lighting his hands on fire. He swung a punch…but Falnii caught it, suffering no ill effects. Yulduk’s eyes goggled. He tried to punch again, but Falnii surrounded her fist with lightning and slammed it into Yulduk’s chest, blowing him back across the roof. He stopped when he hit a pillar, then picked himself up. His fellow Councilors looked at him in amazement. He examined himself…and fear gripped his heart. “She…she hit me…and I FELT that!” he said.
“Impossible!” cried Dr. Borg. “We’re immortal AND invulnerable!”
“You’ve got Oyed’s Divine Mana flowing through your veins, don’t you?” asked Lardeth.
“The Champion of the Divine Ones,” explained Falnii, “was meant to fight Oyed and beat him, destroying his own Divine Mana.”
“And with you having drained him of it and blended it with the Divine Ones’ Divine Mana,” finished Arsha, “you’re as vulnerable as he would have been!”
“We’ve got a minute and a half!” reminded Malnar.
“ATTACK!” shouted Arsha. Gorfanth took on Femfaf and Jansha, Falnii took on Yulduk and Tormo, Lardeth fought against Shefarn and Yamta, Foresna fought Tensam and Scorpo, Malnar took on Remsu, and Arsha and Dr. Borg dueled for their lives!
To the south, both fleets continued firing their weapons and the fliers continued strafing ground forces. Elgrad, Hanako, and Markulak were slicing down robots, Revenants, and Golems. “You know, if I ever survive this,” called Markulak, “the Three Maidens asked me to join in their antics!”
“Then keep swinging that sword of yours!” replied Hanako. “You need to survive to reach that future!”
“Amen to that!” agreed Elgrad. He then looked to the Tower’s roof to see all sorts of lights flashing on top. “Come on, Arsha! Win this!” he prayed.