Sylas' senses screamed at him. As he whipped his head toward Kaelira, he was startled by her new changes.
The crown of sparkling ice above her head, the bloody fire burning within her eyes—together they sent his crazed mind haywire. The danger he sensed from her almost sobered his blood-thirsty mind.
But in the instant his body tensed, a new wave of hatred and fury burned through the haze.
'Kill them! Kill them all! They dare belittle us, dare to stand against our majesty! Fools!!'
'Make them suffer!'
'Make them bleeeed!'
'Bless them with the most divine pain!'
Hundreds of horrid voices screamed within his mind, clawing at his psyche and filling him with one unified thought: to grant death to those who opposed him.
The humiliation he suffered from their indifference, the agony of the voices wailing inside him, and the shame of his failure twisted within him like a malicious poison, fracturing any trace of intelligence he had left.
"GROARRRRR!"
Sylas' cry sounded like that of a malevolent demon. His voice lost any trace of the humanity he once had. His green eyes shone against the blackness of his sclera, and his pupils began to split into two, as if undergoing some demented form of mitosis.
His feral gaze locked onto Kaelira with a hatred so deep it seemed to devour the space between them. With a furious snarl, he lunged toward her without a second thought. He hadn't taken more than ten steps before he realized he couldn't move any further.
Just as he was about to lash out in frustration, a clear, melodic voice echoed across the area. The words sent a chill down his spine.
"From abyssal depths rise, and let the world tremble beneath your tide—Incarnate: Sea's Requiem."
The earth—no, the entire small world—seemed to tremble. Sylas turned his crazed eyes back to the weak woman trapped in his tendril's grasp. An opponent he had written off as defeated prey.
Now she looked straight into his eyes with a burning gaze, her expressionless face split by a crazed grin. Only then did he notice the two massive fists of water wrapped around his shadow, holding it down with everything they had.
Before he could process it, a massive deluge of water erupted from her body. Lunara's figure was swallowed by brilliant light as her form changed.
When the veil faded, she stood taller—6'3, floating in the air. A crown of water spun above her head, shaping itself into coral. Her eyes shifted from black to a luminescent blue, filled with the wrath of seven seas. Her presence radiated a power and grace that exceeded mortal limits.
Sylas took an unconscious step back—until he noticed the truth. Lunara's face, though exuding earth-shaking power, was pale to a frightening degree. She didn't even try to break free from the tendril constricting her.
A sinister smile spread across his face as the tendril tightened, seeking to crush her remaining resistance.
Lunara let out a muffled groan before her gaze sharpened. The torrent of water roiling beneath her shifted from clear blue to an almost inky black, as if a world-shaking storm was about to descend.
The water pooled above her, forming a trident humming with otherworldly power.
Just as the weapon solidified, a trickle of blood escaped her lips. Lunara turned her gaze toward Kaelira, who stood frozen in awe.
"Kaelira…"
Her voice was firm and clear. Kaelira's body jolted. Her eyes moistened as she heard the strain buried beneath Lunara's tone. Their gazes locked.
"Take care of Vairon. If he dies, I will stop at nothing to make your life a living hell. And…"
Her tone softened—barely.
"…don't die. We still have a score to settle."
Her aura exploded outward. Using every last bit of strength from her broken, battered body, she hurled the trident straight at the frozen Sylas. Only then did he fully register the lethal danger descending upon him.
He roared as hundreds of dark tendrils surged defensively. The trident reached him instantly. Without slowing, it tore through his defenses and pierced the entire left side of his body.
"ARGHHHHH!!!"
The sight was gruesome. His arm and half his face were wiped from existence under the trident's overwhelming force. The remaining left side of his torso fared no better—ribs and organs exposed to the open air.
As Sylas wailed in torment, the tendril gripping Lunara flung her away at terrifying speed. Her exhausted body crashed through dozens of buildings, each collapsing in her wake, before she vanished into the distance.
"NOOOO!"
Rage and grief tore through Kaelira as she watched her strange companion disappear, her fate unknown. The flames in Kaelira's eyes flared violently as she glared at the still-screaming Sylas. The air around her combusted.
With a fierce stomp, she vaulted into the air, her crown of ice morphing into a halberd that landed in her grasp. She locked onto Sylas and shot downward, air ripping at her skin.
Sensing her approach through the agony, Sylas reacted purely on instinct. Thousands of black spikes formed in front of him and shot forward with a feral roar.
Kaelira didn't flinch. Flames ignited across her body from sheer speed.
Just before the spikes reached her, a wave of flame erupted from her halberd. The blood-red fire incinerated many of the incoming spikes. As she closed in, the flames condensed around her weapon, mixing violently with ice.
The unstable combination hissed and bucked, threatening to explode. She braced it with both hands—one frozen over, the other wreathed in flame. It bought her only seconds before the fusion destabilized, detonating in a burst of force.
But a few seconds were enough.
Her raw, bloody hands tightened around the halberd as she roared and brought it down with unmatched ferocity.
Just before it struck him and split him in two, a presence Kaelira dreaded surged forth again. Time seemed to freeze. Instead of the overwhelming dread she felt last time, she now sensed something like a venomous serpent coiling around her limbs.
A mass of darkness rose from Sylas' shadow. A single green eye opened between them. The eye curled into what could only be a mocking expression before condensing the surrounding darkness into a single finger before her descending halberd.
All of this happened within a heartbeat before time resumed.
BOOM.
The explosion of qi shattered the earth. Sylas' body was hurled backward, crashing through a building before vanishing beneath the rubble.
Kaelira was flung away as well. Her arms hung limply—shredded, mangled beyond recognition.
Her consciousness waned—until a loud crack echoed across the battlefield.
The ground caved inward, revealing a massive whirlpool of energy devouring everything nearby.
Her mind snapped clear as she whipped her gaze to Vairon. His body was deteriorating again—his wounds reopening without Lunara's support.
With the last of her strength, Kaelira forced her body toward him as the ground fractured and fell into the vortex.
Fear and desperation seized her heart. Time slowed. She reached out and seized Vairon's body before it fell into the spiraling chaos.
But her qi evaporated immediately. She tumbled to the ground, rolling for dozens of feet before stopping.
She had let go. Vairon's body now rested a few feet away.
Ignoring the agony tearing through her nerves, she crawled toward him. Her raw nails dug into the ground. Lunara's words echoed through her fading mind.
She didn't care about dying.
They had fought hard. Given everything.
She was satisfied knocking that bastard off his high horse.
But Vairon… she couldn't leave him alone. She needed to hold him—one last time. His warmth had branded itself into her soul in the few months they had been together.
'Just hold on, Stone-face. I'm coming. You aren't alone.'
When she reached him, the warmth she expected was fading, his vitality leaking like a punctured sack. She pulled him into a tight embrace. The world blurred around them. Only he mattered.
As the ground gave way beneath them and they fell into the unknown, she clung to him with all her remaining strength.
At the last moment, Kaelira looked upon his pale face, burning every detail into her soul.
A proud, wild smile curved her lips as they entered the mass of unknown energy.
The world fell into serene silence.
Only the eerie wind of Eldrazhul remained.