For a while, they focused on running and after a moment, Sovanna was beginning to think they'd outrun Bristya. Surely, if nothing was happening to them, they were safe to slow down and conserve energy.

Then Bristya blocked their way. Sovanna and Rokki skidded to a halt. Taro was already way ahead of them calling for his brother. She glanced behind. Vislo was on the ground, sprawled out. His wings were torn up but visibly healing. Not fast enough.

"I feel the emerald near or on you. It's been in your possession at least."

Sovanna remembered Taro had it with him, but she didn't want Bristya to go after Taro. He had his brother to deal with without an ice-shooting Guardian after him.

"I do have it, but I won't give to you."

Bristya snarled. "Is that so? Well, you can't have it. It's mine."

At the word "mine", wisps of black smoke came off her back and shoulders. Bristya took out a dagger from the belt on the thigh.

"You're not worthy. Only I am. I can't give it up. I will never. I'm the Guardian of the emerald. I am. Give me my emerald, Sovanna."

A rope latched around Bristya, pulling her backwards and making her fall. She landed on her back. Vislo was up on his feet, holding a whip in his hands.

"I got her. Go."

Sovanna nodded and ran off again with Rokki. The land turned a brighter red as the sun rose up into the sky at visible speed. It stopped overhead like noon and the black moon made a slow ascent toward it. The eclipse was almost upon them.

She pushed her feet off the ground as hard as she could. Rokki was a few paces ahead of her. His mane rippled and he roared, turning into a lion. Sovanna followed suit and they pelted across the plains faster than before. The world whizzed by them and Drazlesk drew closer. And as they did, they could make out Taro standing alone before a crowd of armored Aerisi. He held something in his hands, over his head. It glinted green and began to glow as she approached.

"...and this emerald chose her!" Taro said. "She will free us from Kukkiri. Stand by us, nestlings, fellow flock. Fight for what is right. Fly not against, but for this wind."

Just then, behind the crowd where Sovanna thought was only white fog, a chunk of the fog moved and out stepped a beast almost as large as Drazlesk mountain with black spotted white fur, yellow eyes, and gnashing fangs. Huge paws stepped into the clearing making the ground rumble. Pale blue lightning flashed in the air. Heavy gusts of magick flowed across the land. Sovanna stopped running, skidding to a halt. Her magick shrunk inside of her. She could feel it hide deep into her core. Kukkiri's power was growing.

"Sovanna," Rokki tugged her arm and she turned to see the moon right next to the sun, nearly touching, "is your magick scared yet? Mine is. It's now or never."

She shook her head. "It chose flight."

"Fidni," Rokki hissed, bristling.

Tears welled in her eyes as she called to her magick over and over, but it wasn't coming out. It was too scared.

"Little lion does nothin'," came a deep voice bellowing. Sovanna noticed a silver armored Aerisi with metal-plated wings sitting atop the Kukkiri's giant head. "Look at it! Aerisi, our power dwarfs theirs. We are the true rulers. Even the Guardians fear Kukkiri. Liberate us, Kukkiri. And free yourself for what you are worth."

She knew this to be Kazo, Taro's brother. All the armored Aerisi, once at attention for Taro's speech, turned about face and followed Kazo as Kukkiri marched into the white fog. Flashes of magick in different colors erupted.

Taro was calling after them. "Fellow flock, please, listen to me. It can be done. I swear. Don't fight them. Fight with them!"

It took her a moment to realize that all the different colors of magick flashing were all from the Guardians of different gems. She counted four colors.

Then Bristya and Vislo, but that's six. I thought there were seven. Aurvandil is the other, she nodded. But why isn't he here?

An Aerisi stumbled out of the fog, blood dripping from its neck. Its helmet fell off and a young, bird face appeared with a cracked beak. He gasped for breath and flopped on the ground. Taro rushed over to take the outstretched feathered hand.

Taro began muttering something under his breath. The Aerisi stopped gasping and a small smile formed on its lips. Its gaze stilled and the next second, the body burst into ashes that whisked away on a breeze.

"You were trying to heal him?" Rokki asked.

Then another popped out as if a force was shoving them away. That one also fell to the ground, limbs crooked in impossible ways. The Aerisi's body turned to stone as it cried in pain. Then it crumbled to pieces.

Taro gritted his teeth. "Relieved him of his pain before inevitable death."

Sovanna searched for her magick but it still wasn't there.

Maybe my life does need to be threatened. It was her initial plan after all. She had to either go in the fog to do it, or find another way out here.

That way came sooner than she expected.

Bristya's shriek pierced her ears. Black smoke burst from her body.

"It's mi-ne! That's mi-ne. Mi-i-ne," she stuttered as her voice began to gurgle. Bristya vomited black sludge all over the ground. Vislo's sword was laying at her feet, but it disintegrated and the ground let up steam. The smoke curdled around her body, consuming her.

"Mi-i-ne," she said over and over until her voice was only a growl. The smoke completely engulfed her and her body stretched upwards. Limbs elongated, dragging on the ground. Like layers of black cloth, the smoke folded around her body over and over. Bones cracked as her spine stretched.

"The beast," Sovanna breathed out and her magick sparked, "Oh savat, this is it?" She didn't want to face this head on. All her instincts were telling her to run. Maybe Taro was right. Her heart hadn't been racing hard enough to trigger the Ater.

"Rokki, Taro, step aside." Sovanna took a shaky step forward. "I'm going to let it attack."

"That's an, a-abomination," Taro said, eyes wide, shaking his head, "You could actually die. It wasn't even in the prophecy. And what about Kukkiri?"

"I won't die. Just trigger it." She envisioned two birds with one stone. Bristya would come at her the same time Kukkiri did. Could it work that well?

Only one way to find out.

Sovanna grabbed the emerald from Taro and brandished it in the air. "If you want it, come and get it." She dashed off into the fog toward the sound of fighting. Rokki and Taro called after her, but she didn't call back. She could hear and feel Kukkiri. He was close. Bristya was here, too, searching.

Then she came upon a wall of fur in front of her. "Kukkiri, I have the Ater you want. Come get it!"

"Ater," came a growl and the mound of fur moved.

"Az...rk," came a gurgling voice behind her.

As I planned. Perfect. She faced Bristya and the now transformed Guardian loomed before her on its long legs. Its mouth hung down to the ground and its fangs lined its mouth in a circle, twisting on their own.

Her magick sparked.

This was it. She only had one chance to get it.

Holding the emerald tight, Sovanna took a deep breath and roared. In that moment, time seemed to slow. The red light dimmed as the smoke monster advanced. Magick swelled inside of her, ready to burst, but she held it in and whisked to face Kukkiri. Her plan was to get him before the eclipse made him impossible to defeat. If she were lucky, she could face back around and kill the smoke monster.

But when she faced back around, her sister stood with arms spread out side to side, protecting Kukkiri. Sovanna held her magick at bay, gritting her teeth as it struggled to escape ready to fight.

"Get out of the way," she snarled, "Or I'll kill you."

Rathana gave a sad smile. "I lost the baby. It doesn't matter now. I can't go home. I killed our father through Oolid. I stood by and let him. Kill me with Kukkiri. I can't live with this."

Sovanna didn't imagine this—that at the last moment, Rathana would appear, admit to everything, and ask her own sister to kill her. Death for murder. Life for a life. Traditions said it was the way things were.

But I can't.

"I can't," she said out loud, "I can't kill my own sister."

The air shoved out of her as she landed heavy on her back. The emerald flew from her grasp at the sudden impact. Rathana caught it and was on top of Sovanna.

"Then you are not worthy," she said and brandished the emerald, "I am. Because I can and I will kill you. I am Rosmathana and the Guardian of the emerald, and the ruler of them all, and I—"

A black tendril shot into her throat. She coughed and choked, falling off the side. Steam hissed around them. The ground rocked. A crack resounded in the air.

"Rathana!" Sovanna rose up when a chunk of the ground cut away from the rest, taking her sister under water. "Savat," she said. The entire land was cracking and large sections were falling away into the water below. It wasn't icy coal. It was some kind of ice that didn't make them slip.

The hissing came from behind. Black smoke licked the surface of the ice around her. The moon touched the sun. Shadows fell upon them. Kukkiri howled to the sky and its voice sent tremors of magick into the air, tingling up her arms and legs.

"Rathana!" she called and didn't know why it mattered anymore. Her sister was dead. She had the emerald with her. Sovanna couldn't become Guardian without it. But she couldn't use her magick in water and even now as the water seeped onto her slab of ice, she could feel it retreating.

It was all wrong.

"Vanna, hang on, I'll get help." Taro was in the air above her when an arrow shot in his direction. He swerved to avoid it and shot a shard of ice into the growing darkness. She saw someone crash into him and kept her eyes trained on him until shadows consumed him.

"Sovanna, where are you?"

Rokki, I'm here! Her heart reached out to him when a chill settled over her at the same time heat traveled across her body stinging her skin.

"Az...rk," came a voice in her ear. Sovanna unsheathed her claws, slashing in the air. She could see relatively well in the dark, but this was shadow, not night time. Dense and thick, it was as if the entire land was swallowed by a giant beast and now the beast was closing its mouth to eat them all up.

"Az...rk, Azark," the voice came on her right and tendril wrapped around her neck. When she touched it, it burned her paw, making her hiss in pain. Tears sprung to her eyes and then came an instinctual whine of fear.

"Please, please," she began to sob without control. Sovanna knew this was the end. She didn't even get a chance to prove herself worthy. Pain shot through her body, but she didn't know where it hit her. Cold water doused her as her body tipped backwards. Sovanna fell into the icy abyss. She floated through the dark and watched bubbles of air leave her mouth. There was no pain now. Only a numbness and a tempting sleep.

Dark, she thought, how is it so dark? My eyes are still open.

"Vanna!"

"Fidni, I'm not losing you."

How nice to be fought for, she thought. But it's the end. She closed her eyes. Kaunlutha might live on without her for a while, but with Kukkiri stronger than ever, they wouldn't stand a chance. She should have killed Rathana even though she wanted to save her. In the end, hesitating made it all worse.

Her mind clouded and her thoughts faded. Sleep pulled her under but not for long. Her body right. Her mind came awake. She struggled to open her eyes when her feet met hard cold ground, rough against her pawpads. 

Sovanna sprawled on the ground and sniffed, smelling wet earth and snow. The stone around her neck began to glow. A cream yellow beam poured from the stone onto the ground and illuminated the tunnel as it slinked to the end. There lay a black-furred feline as a smoke monster vanished.

"Aurvandil," she whispered. His arm moved. He was alive. Sovanna staggered to her feet, and stumble-ran to him. She took the necklace off and shoved it in his face hoping it would revive him. "I knew I shouldn't have taken this," she said. "I've almost killed a Guardian."

She jerked when Aurvandil rolled on his back. "Kill? I would give you my position if you could do that. I am eternal. Might be knocked out, put to sleep, stunned, shocked, burnt, or play dead for past time, but not die."

Sovanna gaped as he sat and stretched his arm as if he had woken from a sleep. Swirls of vines along his fur glowed a yellow gold. She couldn't believe his response to her. She imagined the Guardian of Guardians to be more regal like her father.

"You're Aurvandil?" she asked to make sure.

He twitched his whiskers. "So, stiff." He stretched his arms again and grunted. "Oh, back cracked. I am truly the Aurvandil of which the moonstone belongs to me." He pointed to the stone. "That is my stone I let you take, so you could come through the tunnel and visit me again when I was not in a peril fighting the first corruption of a Guardian to ever exist because I was, 'stupid', as you said."

"And you are right," he added quickly, "Kukkiri is Bristya's creation. I made her do it. So, it might as well be my mistake. She loves the thing. Too much. Now, she is no longer with us."

He was Aurvandil. That much was clear now.

Master Eavesdropper, Sovanna thought and flinched when Aurvandil suddenly laughed, tipping his head back.

"Master? I would say Expert Eavesdropper."

Her jaw dropped. "What, you, I—"

"Read minds," He tapped his head, "quite useful if you do not speak the language. I will not get into how it translates. Universal, well, what a Human thing this is, us two Elganians speaking in the language of our invaders." He let out a hiss and shook his head. "What can you do?" He shrugged and stood up. He beckoned to her. "Let us walk. We have much to talk about. Time is in abundance, Sovanna. We have it all here. Come."

Sovanna looked over her shoulder at the tunnel. She still had the moonstone with her. "Couldn't I go back with this?"

But he shook his head with a sad smile. "I am afraid you will die if you do. I called to you as you took your last breath in the ice water. Your magick is frozen and even just that would kill you if you return."

I won't be able to save them anyway?

Tears welled in her eyes at her failure. The risk had been too high. She'd done it this time. It was an irreversible risk.

Aurvandil stood there, watching her as she struggled not to cry. She didn't want to in front of him.

Crying is no weakness, came his voice in her head. It is strength to be vulnerable.

Get out of my head, savat, you're not allowed, she snapped, then realized the next second what she had done. Certainly, that would prove she was unworthy of being a Guardian. In haste she looked up to meet his gaze only to find a knowing smile. Who was she kidding?

Probably seen my birth. Knows all my secrets.

"Well, not all," he muttered under his breath.

Sovanna growled. "I thought I said—"

"Sorry," He licked his shoulder, "habits are hard to break."

Her tears retreated. Aurvandil was so normal as if she were talking to another mortal feline. It was hard to imagine he ruled over all of them for eternity. 

After a moment, he set off away from the tunnel and she followed. There was still the chance she could do what she came here for.