The reflection of the moon glittered in the dark waters of Lake Artis. The small village that had been sitting at the lake's edge was a smoldering ruin now. On the other side of the lake, I saw a bright fire burning.

“That must be where they are.” I said.

The horse flew closer and closer, until Kathryn and I were able to see the land properly. The fire was a great bonfire, illuminating a great circle of light on the ground. A dark, robed figure stood away from the fire. Though I couldn't see much, I could easily see what he had brought with him as protection. The field was covered in a legion of the homunculi, some of them the homunculi from the city. I wondered if he had killed the entire army so that he would have this mass of creatures with him for this night.

A great ball of fire shot up from the bonfire, striking the horse in the wing. the horse gave a terrible whinny and we fell from the skies. I felt myself slow in midair as Kathryn held her hands out to mine, and levitated us down. The horse fell into the water. There was a few moments of splashing, then silence.

We landed in the middle of the circle of homunculi. Kos stood before the bonfire, his back to us and his armies, flipping through the book. Christen and Rico sat nearby, gagged and bound and thrown to the ground.

Kos turned away from the fire and looked at Kathryn and I. “Greetings,” He said. “I see you have indeed come to bring me the items.” He glared at Kathryn, “But why is she here?”

I suddenly felt myself thrown back, and held tightly to the ground by an unseen force.

“I've come to destroy you, Kos.” Kathryn said. “If the Goddess will, or won't help this world, that is not the issue to me. You've caused far too much trouble in this world.”

Kos sneered at Kathryn, “I don't wish to waste my energy on you.” he said, “Leave me be, or I'll kill the assassin, and his friends as well.”

“You think I care of that?” Kathryn shook her head. “Short mortal lives. In the face of such a terror like you, their sacrifice would be noble, their praises sung throughout time.”

“Our time will be erased.” Kos said. “Besides, there is something you've forgotten.”

“What?”

Kos lifted his hand. The ground beneath Kathryn broke and a great, snakelike mass of writhing black tendrils wrapped around her. I felt the pressure holding me down loosen and falter. I stood to my feet as the blackness around her shimmered, then melted away, leaving only a faded stone statue.

“I don't fight fair.” Kos muttered.

“You...you killed her.” I whispered. How was it possible for someone, even for a Magus to so easily kill another Magus of such great power.

“I didn't kill her. I trapped her.” He said. “I wouldn't be able to break the statue even if I tried. She's bound. I need not worry about her.” He turned to me. “However, It seems I do need to worry about you. You planned to flee to the islands?”

I bowed deeply to Kos. “A misunderstanding, I assure you.” I said, “I had hoped to send those two away on the boat so that I would not be hindered by them. The Mage works against you, and the girl would do anything he asked. I was concerned that they might try to destroy the items before you were able to use them. However, it was rather difficult to get the mage to board the ship. I may even have been successful, had Tenlon not interfered.”

“That wretched halfling is still alive?”

“Not anymore. He's dead by my dagger.”

Kos laughed. “Good job! He was a pathetic waste of flesh.” He snapped his fingers. The feather and the Moonshard appeared in the air next to him and gently floated into his hands. I glanced over at the gagged Christen and Rico, who were glaring at me. I imagined if they weren't gagged, they would have words like dragon's fire for me.

“The stone?” Kos said. I handed him the stone that I had still be carrying, the one I had broken into the stables with. It was smooth and heavy, and the lightest color of blue. Kos looked it over. carefully. “It looks like the stones of the islands.”

I had not noticed that. “It does.” I agreed, “Of couse, that's where this ritual first happened, isn't it? One would only expect-”

“Of course,” Kos said. He looked at me. “The moon is almost at it's peak. Freeze the lake for me.”

I nodded and went to the lake's edge. Setting my hand down on the water's surface, I worked my weak magics to make a thin, reflective covering of ice form over the perfect water. The surface stilled, the moon's reflection was perfect in the mirror of the lake.

Kos lifted his hand and the moonstone floated to the center of the lake. He tucked the feather behind his ear, held the book in one hand, and the stone in the other.

“What of them?” Kos asked, pointing at Christen and Rico. “Do you still wish me to make them siblings for you, or would you rather not?”

I glanced over at them, confusion broke their hatred of me, if only for a moment. “No.” I said, “I won't remember them, I won't miss them.”

Kos smirked, and floated up over the lake. When he hovered in the center of the lake, he held the ancient book in one hand, and started to chant. “O' Mighty Goddess of one eye, your imprisonment-”

I stepped slowly out of Kos' sight and then ran towards Christen and Rico. I pulled their gags off and began to cut at the ropes that held them.

“Stiri.” Rico snapped, “What have you-”

“What have I done? I'm not sure yet. If this works, I've just messed up Kos' summoning. If it doesn't... Well, you might want to run.”

“Stiri! Behind you!”

I turned to see the legions of homunculi approaching me. I cursed, and quickly cut Rico's ropes.

Rico waved his hands and sent flaming waves over the mass of homunculi coming towards us. They burned, sizzled, and fell to the ground nothing but ashes. There were too manuy homunculi, and they kept coming.

“Your sacred light will cut through the faults and weaknesses of mankind-” Kos chanted over the din. He was absorbed in his ritual.

Christen was freed. I turned to Rico. “Burn a path through them, and leave!” I said. “I don't know what's going to happen when he's finished with his ritual. But you must be far away, just in case something-”

“Stiri! What are you doing! Why do you think I would help you after-”

“Because that's not the stone he has,” I whispered in his ear. “The stone sank with the caravan, remember? That's nothing that he holds up there. Just an old rock I picked up off the ground.”

A homunculi suddenly grabbed me by the hair. I yelled, and Rico send a wave of flames over my head and at the homunculi. We were surrounded, a wall of homunculi surrounding us, legions behind them.

“Can't you get rid of them?” I said. Christen had her dagger out, her back to mine, trying to keep the homunculi away. It was a fruitless effort on her part through.

“I don't think I can.” He said. “There are too many. I can't do it all.”

“Do what you can.” I said.

“The sacred oneness will consume all-”

“We have to live until Kos' ritual is over.”

Rico let forth a great burst of flame, destroying many homunculi at once. He fell to his knees, and lifted his hand again to drive back several homunculi that were approaching quickly. Christen kneeled down and tried to help him.

“The darkest night will bring the brightest light-”

More homunculi, more flames. Rico lay on the ground, his power getting weaker and weaker. The great bursts of flame dimmed, lessened, and the homunculi began to approach even quicker than they had. Rico fell limp and unconscious at my feet.

“Rico!” Christen cried. She picked him up and tried to wake him. I stood before him, dagger out. The homunculi were approaching, and indeed, trying to fight off so many would be a fruitless effort. I tried to use my own power. The icy blue air rose from the ground before me, stopping the homunculi only for a moment. I began to feel weak, tired, and let the power go. I was too weak to fend them off. They reached up, took Rico in their arms, pulled Christen away from me, and then started pulling on me, dragging me towards them, into their waiting grasp.

“And with this bone of the earth, I shatter your prison!”

Kos let the rock fall from his hands. The rock fell through the air, and struck the ice. A spider-webbing of cracks formed over the image of the moon just as it reached it's peak. A moment passed, the image shattered. A light, blue and bright passed through Kos, who gave a terrible scream of agony. The homunculi mimicked his screams and fell limp.

Christen fell to the ground, crying out in pain as her leg twisted beneath her. Rico gave a weak cry as the pain awoke him. I saw him try to pull himself to his feet, but he was still weak. He tried again, and fell to the ground once more.

The light that passed through Kos reached up to the great moon above. It shimmered, glowed silver and blue, then dispersed into the air. Kos fell from the air and into the water below. The light of the moon glowed brighter than ever before in the wake of this great power. It burned with silver light as great as the sun, as cool as ice, just like in the illusion the Magus in the woods had shown me.

It was the light of the Whole Moon.

The moon above stayed full and bright full for a moment, then faded as our own moon took its place, its light a poor replacement for the beauty we had just witnessed. Kos lay, coughing and gasping at the edge of the lake. I drew my dagger and ran over to him, turned him over and kneeled on his chest as I held the dagger before him.

“You're too weak for magic tricks now, aren't you?”

“What... What did you do!”

“What did I do?”

“I did everything perfectly,” He snapped. “I even had the book that foolish girl had. It must have been something you did!”

I thought of the halfling, and started laughing.

“What?” Kos snapped.

I calmed myself. “By Tenlon's reasoning, it's your doing.” I said with a grin. “That stone... The stone I gave you... I picked it up on my way here. I had the real stone.” I laughed again, I was almost giggling. “The stone.. The stone you wanted was in the caravan!” I clasped my hands together with glee. “The caravan that Tenlon managed to destroy... And if it was my fault that you tore off his wings, because I let you to that action... then it was your fault that he sunk my caravan, because you led him to that!” I laughed again.

“You knew! How could you-”

“I bet you could still find it,” I said, calming down slightly. “The stone that is. It is at the bottom of the harbor, but I'm sure you could find it. Shame you already destroyed the shard of moonlight. It did break when you hit it with the plain old stone, did it?”

His eyes were nearly red with rage. “Who did it!” He hissed. “Who paid you? Who bribed you? Who got to you? What did they offer you?”

I said nothing, but drove my dagger down. In one swift movement, Kos took my hand, and squeezed it tightly. The pain shot through my arm, which went numb. The dagger fell upon the ground. Kos hit me in the side of the head with his great fist, knocking me back. He pushed himself up and took my dagger. He stood up before me. He was too weak for magic, but he could still kill me

“I offered you everything you ever wanted, everything I could have offered you. Why didn't you tell me before I performed the ceremony? Why did you let me destroy the shard! WHO TOLD YOU TO DO THIS!”

“No one,” I said. “I did it on my own.”

There was a moment's silence. I looked over to see if Christen and Rico could help me. Christen was crawling over to Rico, who was just managing to stand. He still looked dizzy, and injured. There would be no help from them, not anytime soon.

“You did it yourself?” he hissed. “Wonderful. Why though? Did I not offer you everything you wanted? Did I not offer you riches beyond belief, rest for your mind? Peace for the rest of your life?”

“You did.” I said “And in all honestly, if you had let me go, let me wander about, you may have had a chance of getting the pendant, and the book, and of learning where the stone was. You could have waited for me to die, as you said. You even could have approached me in years to come, and I likely would have given it to you. But you made one mistake. You did something I had to rebel against. You tried to do something I had to stop.”

“And what, pray tell, was that?”

I staggered to my feet, and reached for my dagger, which I then remembered wasn't there. Kos had it.

“You hurt my friends,” I said simply.

Kos looked at me stupidly a moment, then let out a roar of fury. Before I could move, before I could think, I felt something. I felt warm and cold at the same time. In my chest, there was ice, on my skin there were flames.

I looked down. Kos had plunged my dagger into my chest.

I staggered a moment, then fell. He held his dagger, and let me fall to the ground without it. I gasped in pain as I fell. Everything turned to flames. blood roared as it came out of my skin, it burned like fire.

Kos fell upon me, hovered over me, and raised the dagger again. He plunged the dagger into my stomach. He twisted it, slowly, then took it out and let it fall to the ground. Then, he leaned close, and whispered in my ear.

“You lost your life... Because I hurt your friends. You're friends will still die.” He hissed. “Is it worth it? This pain. Is it worth it?”

“...Yes..” I gurgled. With the last of my strength, I reached for the dagger laying on the ground, and dug it deep through the course fabric of his robes, through his ribs and deep into his heart.

He rose up, and howled in pain. He tore the dagger from his side, and threw it to the grass. His blood spewed fourth, purple in the moonlight. He howled as he tore at his side, trying to stop the flow of blood.

“All.. Magi...” I muttered. “Their.... power is in.. their mind... The rest of them...”

Kos fell to the ground. The wound was too deep, his mind too exhausted, he could not preserve himself.

I gasped, blood pooling in my mouth. I tried to turn, but the pain was too much. I lay, my blood pouring out of me. I stared up into as the power that had illuminated the night sky began to fade.

I heard a voice. Christen and Rico limped over to me. Christen fell to her knees and picked up my broken and bleeding body.

“We'll make it to Rawlin.” She whispered. “There... someone can... Some apothecary can...”

“No.” I whispered, spitting blood from my mouth. “No... I'm dying... surrounded by... friends... What more could... I....”