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Sebbi's hand squeezed around Abby's as they navigated the wreckage together. Dodging flying debris before it had a chance of colliding with them, skirting past fires as they spread further into the Sands, engulfing trees and abandoned carriages.

They had to change the direction they ran quite frequently as the ground opened up beneath them, fissures spiderwebbing outward from the spot where the drilling had begun.

Though the world around them was unstable, Abby felt assured in each of her steps. Because Sebbi was at her side. His hand holding hers, tightly. Guiding her to safety, unfailingly.

A streak of lightning crackled overhead, another tremor rocking the ground. The sand dunes reared up, cresting like angry waves, dust tossed into the air. Abby coughed as it assaulted her senses, the coarseness scratching her throat and nostrils. Her eyes burned, her vision blurry as her tears tried to flush the irritation away.

Sebbi yanked her left, as he coughed, brown-tinted mucus running down his chin. He must have glimpsed her cock her head in confusion, because he nodded to her right. Where she'd been, seconds before, a fissure had opened up, leaking acrid steam into the air. She felt the heat lick her skin and shuddered. To think what would have happened if Sebbi had been a second or two too slow.

"Over there!" Abby spun her head around. Up ahead, Axion stood on a ledge, orange and reds flickering across his darkened silhouette. Behind him, another cluster of Cloudian huts exploded.

"They've started digging!" Compared to the chaos, Axion's voice came like a whisper on the tail end of a dying breeze. "We need to stop it!"

Abby was surprised she could hear him at all. There was so much noise. The screams. The scuffles and skirmishes. The even keeled, and sometimes truly nightmarish, gleeful laughter.

It all seemed so surreal. And yet, when the heat of the blaze touched her skin, and she had to wipe the sweat from her face before it burned her eyes, the horrible truth threatened to chase the air from her lungs. This was all happening. This was real. The destruction. The death. It was all going according to the Shadow King's plan.

"We're close!" 

There were fewer screams. Less skirmishes. The horrible night, settling. Stilling. So much fire, and Abby was shivering. She tried to keep it all out, to keep it all from wrenching free a memory she'd rather not relive.

"Up there!"

Sebbi veered them toward the direction of Axion's voice, and Abby, unprepared for such a swift change, took the turn wide and almost collided with a boulder.

Luckily Sebbi jerked her away, causing her to stumble into him. With their shoulders knocking against each other, they continued running, skirted past the remains of a few huts burned to the ground. Glass crunching underfoot.

"Careful," Sebbi called, his gaze steeled, always scouring the horizon.

Nearby, a hut consumed by flame hissed and crackled. Inside, something crashed to the ground. Abby startled, as the home collapsed in on itself. She tried to steady her breath, and stabilize her legs, but her heart was clutching. Failing.

It was just like that night. When the wood strained under the weight. When the flicker of flame danced across the windows, turning Abby's childhood memories to cinder. All the smoke veiling the figures stumbling over themselves inside, hopeful for an exit. That hope waning, as no exit worked. Her father on the third floor, framed by the etched glass windows of his study and the shared word between them because they both knew, they knew, what was coming, what was inevitable.

Goodbye.

It had been so quick. All had been well one moment, and then, nothing seemed like it would ever be well again. 

Abby's fingers reached for Sebbi's wrist, desperation making her dig her nails into his fur until she felt his skin squirm beneath hers. She needed an anchor, something to keep her from getting tossed into the sea of misery those memories provided.

He glanced at her, his ears angled toward her, his expression twisted with worry.

"It's just like—" Broken words fell from her mouth like sand spat on the wind. She gulped air, trying to smother the pain raging inside her.

She didn't get to finish before Sebbi was whisking her off the ground and into his arms. He wrapped around her without hesitation, his warmth cradling her from all sides. She pressed her face against his chest and breathed him in. Luxuriated in the intermixing scents. The dirt, the sweat. The faint whiff of bitterness from Axion's liquor. Hints of warmed grass and sea salt. In Sebbi's arms, she felt like she'd arrived home. Finally, after all this time. 

"Don't look," he whispered, bolting off in Axion's direction. "You don't have to look."

"Thank you," she whimpered, burying her face in Sebbi's coat. Some of it tickled her cheeks, as she looped some of his fur around one of her fingers.

They ran like that for some time. Abby hurrying to bury herself deeper in Sebbi's fur when new screams found her ears, and especially at times when lulls in the fighting occurred. Successions of explosions erupted around them as Gravious continued to tear up the realm with unrelenting speed, rapidly chasing down his victory.

 She was grateful to be able to focus on Sebbi. His labored breathing, his feet beating off the sand. The panicked beating of his heart. His mere existence calmed her, but the newfound proximity replenished her strength, her commitment to fight. Together, they'd be alright. That'd been the promise, and Abby was determined it would be a promise they both kept. 

Finally, they reached an outcropping of rock, that put them directly over the excavation site. It was huge. An empty eye socket had been dug into the desert, large enough to fit two Cloudian camps already and steadily growing.

For a place kept protected from the fire by magickal wards, it should have felt less. Less harrowing. Less dangerous. But Abby felt her dread swarm, stinging at every shred of calm the journey hadn't shredded. 

This place was worse and the green light rising through the cracked ground, only added to her horror. It looked like magick, but it felt like something different. Something rawer, more ancient. Untamed.

She could hear it croon a song, something low and sonorous. It conjured images of rainy days to Abby's mind. Grey skies. Days locked inside watching water bead down glass panes. Weeping. Days, weeks, years spent suspended in an endless grief. It sent her skin crawling.

"He's getting close." Axion side-eyed Abby and Sebbi, only acknowledging her position in Sebbi's arms with a passing glance. Whatever retort had gathered on his tongue, he didn't speak. The time for quips had long passed.

"What do we do?" Sebbi placed Abby back on the ground, his gaze darting to the ever-widening hole as the drill sliced through rock. The cold was quick to wrap around Abby, and she couldn't hide her disappoint after being put on her own two feet. She'd savored Sebbi's warmth while she had it, and was left pining for it now that it'd been taken away.

Axion shrugged. "Haven't a clue." His fingers picked at a stray piece of lint on his sleeve as he crouched over the ledge, watching a group of Shadlings moving smaller rocks out of the drill's path.

"What?" Sebbi hurled himself over to Axion. Yanking him by the collar, he turned Axion to face him. "What do you mean, 'haven't a clue'?" Sebbi shook him. Axion remained expressionless, his stars drifting lazily across his face. "Why bring us here then? Why make us walk through hell when you don't have a plan?" Sebbi's shaking worsened as Axion remained stoic, a ragdoll held in Sebbi's clutches.

But then, Axion's stars went dark, one after another, and his eyes, usually hollow pits of black glowed the white of a fire ready to incinerate whatever it touched. "You're the king," he spat, shoving Sebbi away. The two of them stumbled for balance before falling. Axion's knees sunk to the ground, hitting rock. "Why don't you do something?" Axion snarled as malice flashed in his eyes. "Why not make yourself useful instead of burdening everyone else? You're nothing but dead weight." Though his words were biting, Abby heard something else in his tone. Something mournful like the song creeping up from the ground. "You," he said, digging his hands into the sand, pulling himself into sitting, "do something for once."

"Axion..." Abby went for his shoulder, but he slapped her away just as her fingers grazed his jacket.

"Don't."

"Hey!" Sebbi hissed as he got to his feet. "Don't treat her like that."

The Night prince snorted. "Why?" He broke into a wicked grin. The sight of something so bright surrounded by so much dark made shivers scatter across Abby's skin. "It's better than how you treat her."

Sebbi swayed, as though he'd been punched in the stomach. Axion cocked his head, his eyes finally returned to their normal color. "What? No clumsy retort? No slow-witted insult this time? Have I finally said something His Highness can't combat? That you can't swipe with those claws of yours? A truth you can't shred?"

Sebbi's eyes were a melted gold, bubbling with rage.

Abby's gaze fluctuated between them. They stood next to each other, but she couldn't imagine a greater distance between them than the one they'd erected with their words. 

"Sebbi—" Abby decided to broach Sebbi first. It was rare for him to seem more welcoming than anyone else, but the energy Axion was exerting was dark and oppressive. A hypernova in human form. While Sebbi's posturing signaled a cautious approach was necessary to engage, Axion's yelled at her to stay away with crushing authority. 

"Sebbi, you--" When she took another step toward Sebbi, he turned to face her and she stopped. The pleading look in Sebbi's eyes, as if he was begging her not to continue, made the next words she was going to say, impossible. 

You don't treat me poorly. That's how she'd wanted to finish her sentence.

Instead, the words stayed in her throat, dissolving slowing, leaving a bitter aftertaste. When had the truth ever hurt this badly? She groped for the fabric of her shirt, twisting it tightly around her fingers until the healthy glow of her skin retreated farther up her knuckles and left her fingertips ghostly pale, all while she fought to keep the tears hidden.

She couldn't cry, not here. Not now. Sebbi and Axion needed her to keep it together, to keep them from fracturing. They needed a plan and fast, before Gravious got his undead—

"No." It happened in a flash. Axion turning, screaming, all the stars on his face blinking warning signs as he whipped around, arms out, groping for Abby. Sebbi's eyes alert, too alert, his irises thin bands surrounding bloated pupils, his ears pricked forward.

He hunkered on the ground, worry and surprise taking turns flitting across his face. And then Abby felt herself sinking and the ground opened up. Axion disappeared first. Sebbi next. A scream tore free of her throat as she followed,  plummeting into the hole, sand and rock falling with her.

Into the abyss. She saw nothing. Heard nothing, save for the echoes of those things that found their way to the bottom.

Terror seized her body. She was going to die. Right then and there. At the bottom of the chasm. The Shadow King would get his army, and conquer the realms. Darkness. Nothing but darkness would be left.

She squeezed her eyelids shut, and pleaded with whoever had talked to her in the Hollows. Save me. Save us. No response came.

Save us.

Still nothing. No warmth tingling her fingers. No glow illuminating the endless dark.

This was it. She bit down on her lip and clenched her hands. She had no Wizard Kellog's Temporary Flight draft to drink or a Margo display of magick to depend on, no miracle hiding in her back pocket. She was falling, and eventually, she'd stop.

"Abby!" Hands flapped in front of her as Sebbi strained to latch onto her arms. She felt his claws dig in, saw them leaving behind little scratches that glistened with fresh blood, but didn't care. Her body was numb to the pain, as one far worse awaited her below. Managing to turn herself, the hands grabbed on and drew her in. Once more, Sebbi's warmth pressed against her.

"We're—we're—"

"No." Sebbi's tone brokered no rebuke. It was absolute. Assured. "We're not."

Abby tightened her grip on him, looping her arms around his neck, and burrowing into the fur above his chest. His hands stroked her lower back as he purred into her ear, his voice so gentle, so fragile. "No matter what," the air hissed around them, threatening to sink his words to the bottom of the pit, "Don't let go."

"I'll do my best."

•

They landed with a thud, Sebbi taking the brunt of the force. Abby'd toppled from his arms, sliding across a cool stone floor, its jagged edges tearing into her clothes and grazing her flesh. She felt herself rip open, a dozen times as she flailed and flipped and bounced along until her momentum slowed and she skidded to a stop. Warmth gushed from her shoulder and palms and the flesh of both her knees were in tatters. Grimacing, she opened her eyes.

Sebbi was a heap at the other end of the huge circular room, that was encompassed in ruins. Despite the ache in her body, and the desire to rest overwhelming her, she ran toward him.

He was still, too still, all the air leaving her as she shook him frantically. She was afraid. The antidote hadn't been enough. The poison hadn't been cured. Sebbi had fallen too much. Her determination to save him had been too small. Just like a weak useless hemma. "Sebbi!" Nothing. "Sebbi! Wake up!"

Groaning, he turned on his side, and slowly peeled open his eyes. He seemed groggy, and out of breath, scuffed to hell, like she was, but alive. Okay. "Are you—"

He let out a yowl and clutched his side. Abby scanned him for injury, but aside from a smattering of cuts on his sides and a deep gash over his eye,  nothing looked life-threatening.

He flashed her an unsure half-grin, but it wavered as he rocked forward again and grabbed his stomach. "Just a few broken ribs," he said. Blood trickled down his face. His frown worsened. "And that I guess." He played off what looked like a pretty severe injury with a shrug. It was probably an act. To protect Abby. Keeping her in the dark seemed his go to whenever he decided what was in her best interest.

Abby fell back on her heels and slapped him gently, careful not to add to the wounds he was keen on racking up. If only he'd just ask her what she wanted, instead of choosing it for her.

"'Just a few,' he says.'" She scoffed and offered her hand, something he took eagerly. "You're seeing red, literally because blood's running into your eye and you act like it's no big deal." Her hand lingered on his elbow well after he'd gotten to his feet. "I wish you'd be honest with me."

"Honest?" Abby nodded. Sebbi leaned down to look her in the eye. He blew out. "Honestly? I hurt like hell." He winced as he took a step forward. "Aelurians are tough, but a fall from that height stings." He pressed his mouth into a line. "Everywhere hurts."

Abby snorted with laughter. Sebbi's ears turned in her direction, while his gaze slid over the room. "Something funny?"

She nodded. "I hurt like hell too. We finally have something in common and all it took was us falling to the bottom of a pit."

The corner of his mouth curled as his eyes darted to her before returning to the room. "These the sacred, I'll kill anything and everything for them crypts?"

"Seem so." Abby dragged her fingers along the wet stones, iridescent moss getting tangled beneath her fingertips. Underneath, she discovered shapes carved into the stone. Harsh lines connected at severe angles and cut deep. Made to last. In all her reading, she'd never stumbled upon anything like them. 

Sebbi hobbled over to a door, and gave the doorknob a good tug. "It's stuck." He glanced up. Hundreds of feet at least. Rubble rained upon them as Gravious continued his onslaught above ground. "You think this is our only way out?"

Abby's shoulders slumped. "You know how to shadow-step? Or perhaps you have a Wizard Kellog potion stowed away in your trousers?"

He shook his head, easily ridding Abby of her childish need for hope. "I have claws though." He extended them slowly, for dramatic, menacing effect. 

Abby squashed a smile she felt wriggling on her lips and instead said, "Can you gouge the stone and climb up that far?"

He shook his head. "Not without declawing myself." 

"Things appear pretty grim then." Abby folded her arms across herself.

"Any signs of Crazion?"

Abby moved aside some rubble to see if she could get a good hold in the wall, but the moss and dankness made it impossible. Her fingers slipped off the wall like she was trying to capture a Jacquer fish bear handed. "Nope."

At her feet, something glimmered. She reached down, and picked up a dagger. From hilt to end it was the length of her forearm, the blade made of a rusted black metal. Somehow, it'd remained sharp. She yelped when the tip poked her finger and blood started trickling.

Sebbi was at her side in no time, frowning. Taking her finger, in his, he brought it too his mouth, and lapped up the blood. "There's plenty of things likely to kill us." Abby's heart jumped as Sebbi's eyes bored into hers. "No need to help them succeed."

She nodded, noticing how Sebbi hadn't let go of his side since they'd fallen. And how he was favoring his left, non-dominant arm. At this point, he was far more likely to help their enemies succeed at killing them than she was.

"Well," Sebbi plopped himself on the ground, plucked up a rock, and threw it across the room. It fell with a clatter that then echoed. "Guess we wait?"

"Why wait, Your Highness," a voice uncoiled from the dark. Abby's eyes darted around, but she couldn't make out any else in the room, "when I can have my army and kill you too?" Then she noticed. In the corner, a flicker of shadow.

Eyes like suns, desperate to scorch. A coat of coiled smoke trailing at his back.

"Shadow King."

He cocked his head, a dozen stars clustering over his eyebrows in faint amusement. "You know me," he placed a hand over his chest.

Sebbi moved to place himself in front  of Abby, him the more injured one, ready to get hurt even more, even fatally, if it meant protecting her. The metal of the dagger's handle bit into her palm.

"I'm honored," he cooed.

Sebbi sneered. "You really are like Crazion."

Gravious ran a long, gnarled talon along the wall as he paced, never removing his gaze from them. "My son's been helping you." He stabbed a stone wrenching a piece of it loose. It fell at his feet before it was ground to dust beneath his boot heel.

"A little."

The Shadow King's eyes narrowed. "I should have known." He sighed. "Well, where is he then, my loyal, valiant youngest son?"

Sebbi shrugged. He dug his feet into the ground, and hunched, claws at his sides. "Don't know."

A smile slid onto Gravious's face, "Ah. It matters not. This'll be just as fun without him." He paused at the chamber door, sniffing the air. Then he peered around Sebbi, his gaze meeting Abby's. She retreated, clutching at Sebbi's back, but realized too late she had no where to go. "You smell like the blighted Aureates, hemma."

Sebbi repositioned himself, cutting off Gravious's view of her. The Shadow King jutted his chin. "You love her?" Abby felt him stiffen under her hands. Gravious's smile grew. "Of course you do. It'll be your undoing." He slid a foot across the floor, ensnaring a shadow underneath. Abby's eyes widened in frozen terror. "Isn't it always?"

He disappeared. Shadow-stepping. Somewhere. Anywhere.

"Sebbi!" She whirled him around just as Gravious reappeared behind him, materializing alongside a sword that pierced the space Sebbi had occupied. His eyes were wide.

Abby tugged on him to get him to move, but he remained stock still. "Now is not the time to be surprised." She yanked him to the ground, as Gravious watched on, smirking. "We need to be careful. Watch the shadows." She peered over Sebbi's shoulder; Gravious had shadow stepped again.

Abby scrambled to her feet, pulling Sebbi up beside her. He nodded. "You're right, Abs. Of course you—"

Gravious reappeared between them, slicing the air with his sword. Abby threw herself to the right, Sebbi the left. She huffed as her ankle clipped a piece of stone. Pain skirted up her leg. She winced.

"Abby," Sebbi clawed the ground as he pushed himself toward her, "are you—"

"Behind you!"

Sebbi turned and ducked, Gravious's sword grazing his ear. He howled as blood trickled from the fresh wound.

"I could do this all night," Gravious said, cheerily.

Sebbi returned his mirth with a scowl. "Yeah, I don't think I like that idea."

He lunged, claws extended, fangs out, reaching to sink them into the Shadow King's throat, but Gravious just chuckled before dipping back into the safety of a shadow.

Sebbi hit the ground and rolled on his side, his breaths coming in shallow bursts. They couldn't continue dodging his attacks for much longer. There were too many shadows, too many places for Gravious to hide. They needed to lure him into the open and keep him there. They needed to banish the shadows.

Abby got to her feet, just as Gravious appeared at the opposite end of the room. He swung his sword in front of himself, Sebbi's blood arching wide before splattering the ground. Then, he trained it on her. "So what do you plan on doing?" Her chest began to warm. Sebbi stumbled to his feet, swaying where he stood. His eyes were glazed. "You have blunted nails no good for scratching. And flat teeth abysmal for tearing."

Abby needed to stop this now. No one was going to save them, she knew that; it was time she saved them herself.

She felt that familiar glow, like she'd felt in the Hollows. It started small, but was quick to spread from her stomach, washing over her legs and arms. The air felt electric.

"And what's this?" Gravious's blade shook slightly as he stopped in his tracks.

The whole of Abby brightened. "Only cowards hide in the shadows," she said through gritted teeth. Her back pleasantly tingled, as if someone was goading her on, "so let's see how his majesty fares when those shadows are taken from him."

Light erupted outward from Abby's center until the entire place was illuminated by it. It clung in the corners and the crevices. Dripped over the walls, coating everything. Gravious had no place to run. He hunched over, and spit black gunk onto the ground.

"Clever." More black spilled from his lips. "Aureates always were." His sword hand shook as he stumbled forward, a mass of black hair curtaining his face. "I thought light magick had left the Eridan once I took care of that accursed realm. Guess not." His eyes slid over to Sebbi, before returning to Abby. "You know how I killed them? All those Aureate scum?" She tensed. "I took that which they loved away from them."

Before Abby could think, Gravious went for Sebbi. Dagger in hand, she ran. With all her might, her feet pounding off the stone. Never had she had more reason to run. Gravious's sword raised.

She went faster, her breaths stumbling over each other, everything a blur as she rammed into Sebbi, knocking him to the ground. Hands tight around the dagger, she lodged it deep in Gravious's side.

She tumbled, skidding across the floor, her chest on fire. She glanced up, just as Gravious fell to knees, his sword clattering at his side. Hands convulsing, he yanked the dagger out and an explosion of black blood poured from of the wound.

She ran to Sebbi, cradling his head. "Sebbi! Sebbi!"

His eyes fluttered open, and as he gazed at her, he reached a hand up, and cupped her cheek. "Yeah, I'm here."

"You're okay?" Finally, she thought it was okay to let her tears spill. They ran over her cheeks, and Sebbi's fingers.

He stroked her. "Of course."

"Oh girl..." Gravious's voice took on a singsong tone that chilled her to her core. Sebbi sat up and together they turned. The Shadow King smiled, even as more of his blood leached out of him. He had the dagger in his hand. "Never let your guard down." His eyes flickered over to the corner of the room, where Abby's light had started to diminish. The smallest shadow hid in a crack.

She didn't see Gravious pull the shadow to him, or when he disappeared. All she saw was when he reemerged, standing behind Sebbi, Sebbi plucked off the ground by the scruff off his neck, the dagger stuck through his gut.

With a wet, drawn out wrench, Gravious freed the blade. Sebbi's eyes bulged as blood splattered to the ground. Cackling, the Shadow King tossed him aside. Sebbi seemed to crumple where he fell.

Abby scrambled to him, a steady stream of red leaving him. Bright, violent red. So bright. So red. It accosted her eyes. It's reek curdled her stomach. She toppled over him, ramming her palms into his side to staunch the bleeding. It just kept coming. Cruelly. Unrelentingly. More of Sebbi just kept slipping through her fingers.

"Dam—damnit...." She sputtered, struggling to keep him together. It was too much, blood coming too fast. Pooling at her knees, clinging to her clothes. Sticking to her skin. Blossoming in the air. His warmth waning.

Gravious laid on his back, a whistling wheeze escaping his lips. "I told you," he strained, smoke rippling off his body, "I took away the things they loved."

"Sebbi!" She picked him up, placed him on her lap, and rocked him. All her remaining strength she sent to her palm pressed in his side. The hand that was stained crimson. The floor that was stained crimson.

There wasn't anywhere she could look that hadn't been drenched in his blood. His lips twitched, his eyes fluttering, their dulled gold reminding her of a sun setting. Light extinguished, before night fell.

"No," she shook her head.

"No." You don't get to take him.

"No." I won't allow it.

"No." Not again.

"No," she whimpered. Please, don't take him.

Tears streaked down her face. She frantically pawed at the blood, scooping it up, and trying to put it back where it belonged. A sob ripped from her chest as she bent over and placed her forehead against his. She could barely feel any warmth.

"No. No!" She straightened, and looked at the sky. "Someone! Help! We need help!"

Tears dampened Sebbi's face. She didn't know if it was from her crying or his own.

She clenched her jaw, and set to stemming the quakes running through her body. She needed to think. To do something fast. To prevent--

A hand covered her eyes. Soft fur. A whiff of home. Abby almost bit her tongue to keep from screaming.

"Don't," Sebbi croaked, his trembling hand cool against Abby's skin. "Don't."

"Sebbi?" Here he was bleeding out, while she was useless and he was protecting her, until the end. Until the very damned end.

Her cries were vicious, they shredded the back of her throat, and bruised her lips on their  way out. Her mouth was dry and bloody and raw.

"Don't."  Sebbi's grip loosened as his fingers threatened to slacken.

She cupped his hand in hers, frantic to keep him with her. "You can't..." She blinked, the heat of her tears searing her eyes. "You can't..."

He was pulling away. Again. She knew it. He knew it. He always pulled away. But this time, if he went away, she'd be left in the dark, condemned to spending the rest of her days chasing a dawn that would never come. He couldn't do that to her. He'd always strived to protect her.

She hung her head. "You always did your best to protect me, but right now, you're shattering my heart. Stay with me."

He spasmed beneath her. Only once, before his hand went lax beneath her grasp, and fell back to the ground.