Blood ran in rivulets, splashing the water below.
A roar came from the depths of the pool.
The Osiri stopped. "Impossible."
Thea, sensing danger, tried to recall the briar. Kira grabbed one whip, keeping it in place. Its thorns bit into her hand, drawing more blood.
"Let go!" Thea yelled.
Kira bared her teeth at the other. "I don't think so."
Elena took advantage of the distraction, lashing out with one hand to bury a dagger that looked disturbingly like a piece of bone in Thea's shoulder.
Thea shoved Elena away from her. "Brat."
Elena toppled over the edge of the walkway and into the water. It closed over her head, swallowing her niece.
"Enough of this," the Osiri murmured.
He shoved Finn back. The oshota collided with the platform's central device.
Raider pounded toward the two, firing his weapon as the air around the Osiri's hand warped and condensed into a spear. The feeling it gave off so wrong and evil that Kira found it hard to breathe.
The Osiri’s spear took Finn through the chest, piercing his armor easily.
"I think you'll be a nice replacement for the toy I just lost," the Osiri informed him.
Finn coughed, blood spurting from his mouth as his lips stretched into a tired smile. "Think again."
Pallas rose from the gloom like an avenging reaper, his face merciless as he swung his sword. It removed the Osiri's head from his shoulders.
They all stood there, staring.
"That's it?" Pallas asked, looking confused. "It's over? I thought killing one of them would be harder."
Finn lowered himself to sitting, his face pale. The flow of blood had stopped as his armor clamped down on his wound, staunching it.
Raider bypassed the others, heading for the place where Elena had fallen.
Kira shifted, keeping an eye on Thea.
Raider knelt at the edge, searching the water for his daughter. "Where is she? I don't see her."
Thea's shoulders started to shake. A giggle left her. The sound growing until it bounced off the walls of the rotunda.
Pallas threw her a look. "Silence, traitor. Your reckoning will come soon enough."
"You don't get it. Gods can't be killed." There was a look of worship on Thea’s face as she stared beyond their shoulders.
Pallas and Kira's eyes met in realization. They turned too late as a being made of madness and light unfolded from the body of the Osiri.
Kira caught an impression of scorching gold where its eyes should be. The rest of the face’s details indistinct and hazy. As if her brain refused to focus.
The Osiri's voice was something out of a nightmare. "You will die painfully, screaming for your end."
Kira's ears buzzed from the assault. "Pallas."
He flicked her a glance, a grim understanding there.
Seeing it, Kira reached for her primus. It slammed into her consciousness, flooding her body with power and strength she'd desperately need.
Pallas tossed his sword in the air. Kira grabbed it, stabbing it into the Osiri's center.
The Osiri grabbed its length, using the blade to haul Kira closer as it lowered its face to hers. "You waste your time. I am eternal life. Unending. Undying."
"Haven't you ever wondered why they call me the Phoenix?" Kira snarled.
Flames started to lick along Pallas’s blade. Orange and yellow with hints of blue at their center.
The origin of her namesake channeled down Pallas's sword. It wasn't the best medium, but for her purposes it would do.
Kira shoved her power down its length.
In this place where her natural connection with her soul's breath was severed, it wasn't easy. It took chunks of herself. Bits and pieces, gladly sacrificed.
If this was what it took to destroy this blight, she'd offer it willingly.
The Osiri shrieked, the sound awful and penetrating. Like taking razorblades to her ear.
It wasn’t going to be enough, Kira realized. He was going to win.
Child.
Kira faltered, her consciousness suddenly in the pool below. Eyes flashed in her mind.
If she concentrated, she could make out the dim form of a coiled lu-ong crouched in the depths. Scales missing along its length. Open wounds that bled into the water around it.
Scars covered its snout and face.
Free me, child of a different era, it hissed with a touch of madness and a level of rage that was capable of toppling empires. You will not be able to destroy him by yourself.
"I don't know how."
The blessing does.
Suddenly, she was back in her body. The Osiri before her. Her flames still licking his body. Already weaker.