Arsha and Gorfanth were starting to tire as Falnii and Foresna strained to keep the shields up. \u201cGuys!\u201d panted Gorfanth. \u201cWe can\u2019t keep this up forever!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe already told you, these things take TIME!\u201d snapped Lardeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLardeth, you and Malnar said you were almost done three minutes ago!\u201d snarled Falnii, the limits of her patience reached. \u201cThe artificial lunar eclipse is right over the Tower! Are you done NOW?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGot it!\u201d called Malnar. \u201cArsha! Stone!\u201d Arsha tossed her the Talkwen Stone. Malnar wired it up to the machine and pressed the start button. \u201cWe\u2019ve got two minutes before the thing starts sapping up the Divine Mana! We need to keep them within two stas of the roof!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLardeth, if you please!\u201d directed Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTASHWENDORFAL!\u201d 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\u2019s effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d shouted Arsha. Everyone then leapt up the length of the Tower and landed on the roof. \u201cCYTANEK YAVENAG BORG!\u201d challenged Arsha. \u201cYOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END! THE REALMS WILL SLEEP EASIER WITH YOU-!\u201d A magic blast then struck her in the chest. Her lovers flocked to her. \u201cI\u2019m fine!\u201d Arsha grunted, though she WAS in pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSweet us, I\u2019ve always wanted to do that!\u201d hissed Dr. Borg\u2019s 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\u2019s once did. The only difference was that there were lights in the middle of the eyes. Yulduk\u2019s eyes had a red light, Remsu\u2019s had a pink one, Shefarn\u2019s had a blue one, Tormo\u2019s had a green one, Scorpo\u2019s had a purple one, Yamta\u2019s had an orange light, Tensam\u2019s had a yellow one, Jansha\u2019s had a white one, Femfaf\u2019s had a gray light, and Dr. Borg\u2019s were straight black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh no!\u201d groaned Falnii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied Dr. Borg. \u201cYou 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!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you finally ascended!\u201d hissed Gorfanth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExactly!\u201d cheered Yulduk. \u201cGive the cow a prize!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou failed miserably,\u201d chuckled Dr. Borg. \u201cI thought you said you knew how to use the Talkwen Stone, yet here you are, stoneless!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a variety of methods to beat you!\u201d hissed Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI doubt it. You can\u2019t hope to best us now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, you know me!\u201d Arsha had a wry smile on her face. \u201cI always pull a miracle from between my tails!\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBright!\u201d yelped Remsu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd that thing\u2019s saturated in mana!\u201d remarked Jansha once her optics reset themselves. \u201cEnough to kill you twenty times over!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I were fighting alone, yeah, it would,\u201d agreed Arsha. \u201cBut it took some convincing for Sorsha to put the mana back once I explained the plan.\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Champion\u2019s Auras!\u201d gulped Tormo. \u201cThey\u2019re all the Champions of that prophecy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA prophecy written by now toothless worms!\u201d snarled Dr. Borg. \u201cThey are champions of dead gods! We are stronger than them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take them on!\u201d cheered Yulduk. \u201cThat weak Zephyr girl is mine!\u201d He charged at Falnii while lighting his hands on fire. He swung a punch\u2026but Falnii caught it, suffering no ill effects. Yulduk\u2019s eyes goggled. He tried to punch again, but Falnii surrounded her fist with lightning and slammed it into Yulduk\u2019s 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\u2026and fear gripped his heart. \u201cShe\u2026she hit me\u2026and I FELT that!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cImpossible!\u201d cried Dr. Borg. \u201cWe\u2019re immortal AND invulnerable!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got Oyed\u2019s Divine Mana flowing through your veins, don\u2019t you?\u201d asked Lardeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Champion of the Divine Ones,\u201d explained Falnii, \u201cwas meant to fight Oyed and beat him, destroying his own Divine Mana.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd with you having drained him of it and blended it with the Divine Ones\u2019 Divine Mana,\u201d finished Arsha, \u201cyou\u2019re as vulnerable as he would have been!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a minute and a half!\u201d reminded Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cATTACK!\u201d 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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. \u201cYou know, if I ever survive this,\u201d called Markulak, \u201cthe Three Maidens asked me to join in their antics!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen keep swinging that sword of yours!\u201d replied Hanako. \u201cYou need to survive to reach that future!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmen to that!\u201d agreed Elgrad. He then looked to the Tower\u2019s roof to see all sorts of lights flashing on top. \u201cCome on, Arsha! Win this!\u201d he prayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsha and Gorfanth were starting to tire as Falnii and Foresna strained to keep the shields up. \u201cGuys!\u201d panted Gorfanth. \u201cWe can\u2019t keep this up forever!\u201d \u201cWe already told you, these things take TIME!\u201d snapped Lardeth. \u201cLardeth, you and Malnar said you were almost done three minutes ago!\u201d snarled Falnii, the limits of her patience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,238],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-5315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-5-the-final-fight","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5316,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5315\/revisions\/5316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}