The Grey God

"Darian!" Yully's yell was panicked.

He withdrew, resting his forehead against Jenn's while he wiped away the newest tears on her face.

"Good enough," he whispered hoarsely.

"If we survive, I'll teach you a thing or two when we get back," she teased.

"Oh, we'll survive," he assured her. "I plan on collecting this time. No more games."

"No more games."

He kissed her forehead and stepped away, turning. Jenn ducked at the sight of purple lightning, stunned when he caught it midair and flung it back towards the Other.

"Yully, you ready?" Darian called.

"God, yes!"

Darian snatched Jenn's hand and pulled her around to the other side of the obelisk. Yully floated several feet off the ground, radiating power.

"What's going on?" Jenn asked.

"Destroying this place," Charles answered.

Jenn's throat grew tight at the words, and she thought of the family she'd lost. Her eyes went to Darian and Yully as she thought of the family she'd gained. Her past was about to become permanently gone.

Darian met her gaze, his features resolved yet tinged with the same sorrow she felt. She smiled tightly up at him, squeezing his hand. The air between them was as calm and peaceful as it was raging around them.

"One world, one future," he said.

"Our future," she corrected him.

He squeezed her hand back and released it. Darian approached the obelisk and wrapped his arms around it. The air grew more charged, humming with magic from god and obelisk. He appeared to be trying to lift the massive structure.

"Guardsmen!" Darian bellowed.

She yanked her weapons loose. Charles darted to the other side of the obelisk to protect Yully. Jenn whirled.

"Hit me, Yully!" Darian's voice carried over the sounds of clashing metal.

Jenn didn't risk looking back, but the surge of power knocked her and her opponents to their knees. She killed one before he could recover. The obelisk groaned, and the hum in the air became a whine almost too loud to bear. Darian shouted again, and another pulse of power made the earth rumble.

The guardsmen stared past her, and Jenn turned at last, horrified to see the obelisk teetering. Yully's hands were on Darian's back, and magic flowed from the world around them, through her, combining with his power before he shoved it into the obelisk. Jenn covered her ears against the high-pitched wail of magic. The obelisk tipped and then fell, tearing a hole in the ground that threw Darian and Yully into the shallows of the ocean. It slammed into the orchard, shaking the earth.