At a frantic pace, Lewis tore down the corridor, no longer needing the guidance of the Spiritbound Stone as he followed the sound of a battle. 'Lewis! Slow down,' Emily called after him. He ignored her.

A shadow lunged out of an alcove at him. As his eyes met with the white ones of the shadow, it burst into a million pieces with a screech, falling like ash on the wind. No matter where they burst from, the power inside of him seemed to be reacting before he had a chance. In his wake, he left them screeching as they were removed from the world. The door ahead of him burst open, ready and waiting for him to pass.

The ground shook as he crossed the threshold of an enormous entrance hall. At the centre of it, he saw Olivia and Arthur weaving to avoid blows from the fist and an enormous greatsword wielded by a gargantuan, stone figure with burning purple eyes. On a balcony opposite the double doors that stood wide open, he saw Robyn, her black hair swirling around her as she threw something at the golem, trying to draw its attention.

'He's here!' Someone out of sight shouted as a screech ten times as loud as that of the shadow guards filled the air as an enormous winged creature made of black shadow swooped through the palace doors. It only made it as far as the centre of the room before it dissolved, a figure in a red and gold cloak slowly descending to the floor. As he did so, Tristan raised a hand, and the balcony where Robyn stood exploded, filling the room with dust and rubble.

'No!' Lewis screamed, no longer caring that Tristan would know he was there. He saw nothing but blinding white light as he allowed the power to course through him, bursting forth.

Behind Tristan, the golem shattered, a thread of gold connecting the centre of its chest to his outstretched hand. Tristan staggered slightly with the force of the blast, his eyes locking with Lewis'. A golden bubble surrounded him, flickering as it was pelted with stone. 'Well, look who's found their way free of my chains. You've brought friends as well,' he said, his eyes never leaving Lewis. 'He told me you were powerful; you'll make a fine crux when I'm done slaughtering them.'

Shadows began to swirl around Tristan like a mass of ribbons caught in an underwater current. With a twitch of his hand, the tendrils wrapped themselves around Olivia and Arthur, constricting them. He saw them both grappling with them, trying to pull them away from their throats.

'They needn't have died. All of them could have accepted me, but now they are dead because of you, Lewis Vandemark,' Tristan said, taking a step forward as the ribbons around Olivia and Arthur drifted, leaving them both unmoving on the floor.

His eyes darted from the two of them lying motionless to Robyn, half buried and unmoving amongst the rubble. 'Don't worry, you'll join them soon,' he spat, the inferno inside him bursting forth. With a blinding flash, the thread that connected him to the golem flashed like a bolt of lightning, cutting through the air towards Tristan.

Ten feet or so from its target, it stopped dead, as if it had hit an invisible wall. Tristan began to laugh as he watched the crackling energy spread out around an invisible bubble that encased him. Slowly, it began to fade, with shadows that seemed to ooze from Tristan like smoke enveloping it and draining it away. 'Brave. I see the shadows have taught you nothing since we last faced each other. It's hopeless. They'll all die and then you'll join them in the darkness.'

With a flick of his wrist, the bubble dissipated, and golden lightning struck out around the room wildly. The air was filled with dust and chunks of rubble as the bolts collided with the walls and ceiling, sending it raining down over both of them. A golden shield erupted over him as he heard footsteps behind him. 'He's here!' Lilian shouted behind her as she raced out of the darkness.

The shield only lasted a fraction of a second as Tristan twisted the falling rubble into a cloud of burning daggers. Jagged and searing, they slashed through the cloak with ease, gashing the skin beneath. He screamed instinctively; the pain far worse than the burning chains he had been forced into when he arrived.

Behind Tristan, he saw something falling through the air. He glanced up in the direction it had come from just in time to see a head duck down behind the banister of the balcony. With a thunderous boom, it hit the ground, shaking the whole palace around them. Amongst the dust and falling rubble, he saw Tristan knocked from his feet by the blast. Now was his chance.

Hurdling a large chunk of stone, Lewis charged across the room, rubble falling left, right and centre, just seeming to miss him as he dived towards Tristan as he made to get up. The pair of them tumbled across the floor, Lewis' fist connecting with his cheek as he swung wildly.

With a thud, he felt something heavy strike him in the chest, winding him as he was thrown back. A searing pain shot through his ribs as he scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could. Tristan was already weaving patterns with his hands, the shadows moving with him as one as he got to his feet. Lewis charged towards him again, wishing he had something to fight with.

As if by command, a dark green and black energy flashed into existence, a heavy weight nestling in his grip. It had a balance like no other weapon. With a final flash, Convergence reassembled from the black dust Tristan had turned it into, ready for battle once more. Tristan's eyes went wide at the sight of the blade, and he just managed to deflect it by pulling a chuck of rubble through the air between the two of them. Sparks flew as the metal connected with the stone.

Behind him, he heard shouts, and a mass of radiant arrows flew past him and Tristan as he swung again with the blade, the tip catching the red cloak and slicing through it with ease. Tristan backpedalled a couple of paces, holding his hand out and summoning a sword of his own. It almost seemed to have a pearlescent glow to it, pure white except for a black gem embedded in the hilt, reminiscent of those that had once formed part of the crown.

The swords clashed, crackles of energy jumping from the blades as they collided. With his free hand, Tristan weaved his fingers, twisting the energy so that it wrapped around Lewis' arm like vines. He could feel it burning the skin beneath the cloak as he tried to resist it. It dissipated, turning to smoke with a hiss. In his moment of hesitation, Tristan lunged forward, his blade slicing across Lewis' bicep. Convergence dipped in his hand as the muscle weakened for a moment.

Lewis backpedalled, parrying a flurry of strikes from Tristan. With each swipe, he seemed to strike out faster, and Convergence just about managed to block the blows in time. Just as he was sure Tristan was about to land a heavy blow, he was thrown back, the white sword bounding away across the stone floor.

Tristan scrambled to his feet, throwing his hands up to form a protective shield just in time to stop a barrage of silver daggers. They began pummelling into the barrier, with cracks beginning to appear in it and spreading outward. He looked harried as the shield shattered, and he swept an arm around, turning the daggers back in Lewis' direction. Before he could react, Lillian was at his side. She grabbed his hand, throwing up a golden bubble to protect them both.

On either side of him, he saw Thomas and Edward, each with their arms outstretched, rubble swirling around them as they sought to overwhelm Tristan. He saw Tristan's eyes widen as the avalanche of stone shot towards him, engulfing him.

In the chaos, there was a single second of silence before, blazing with fire, the rubble that had swamped Tristan exploded outward once more, raining down on them. 'You're too late; everything is already in place,' he said, backing away, the burning rock partially obscuring him as it flew towards them. As he turned, running for the corridor on the far side of the entrance hall, he threw up an enormous wall between them. Before his view was completely obstructed, he saw Tristan grab something that was glowing purple on the floor.

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No, he couldn't let him escape, not after everything. Letting go of Lillian's hand, he charged out of the protective bubble, burning stones soaring past him. The wall Tristan had conjured disintegrated before him, a curtain of dust falling in its place. He wiped it from his eyes with the back of his hand as he ran after Tristan.

'Lewis!' he heard Thomas shout his name, calling after him, but he ignored him. The Spiritbound Stone tugged on him, driving him faster than he had ever run in his life. He wasn't certain where it was taking him, but he knew he had to get there fast.

It didn't seem as though Tristan had been expecting anyone to be able to follow him when a look of surprise crossed his face as he saw Lewis charging towards him. Half a dozen deep red daggers flew from his hand, their dull glow illuminating the dark corridor. He was no longer aware of his movements as the Spiritbound Stone seemed to pull him aside, dodging between the blades with ease.

'Kannan! Open the archway!' he shouted as the tunnel opened into a cavernous room. Throwing the glowing purple gem to one side, he sprinted towards the enormous stone arch on the far side of the room. Scaffolding still covered a large portion of it, with melted gold and silver filling in some of the missing pieces and glinting in the low light.

The scaffolding exploded towards them, tumbling down with a crash as chunks of the archway shattered. Flying out of the shadows, Clara tackled Tristan to the ground with surprising force, sending the pair of them tumbling across the floor. With a swing of his arm, the back of his hand caught her across the face, a flash of black energy sending her through the air and sliding across the stone floor ten feet or so away.

In the shadows, Kannan picked up the purple gem, his hand glowing as the crystal pulsed. 'Russell, please,' Lewis begged as he saw him look towards the archway.

Without a word, he held up the crystal, the tumbling pieces of the shattered archway suspended in place by a grey web as it stretched from the edges. In the distance, he heard people talking. Voices shouting and screaming from beyond the veil as it swayed slightly, like it was caught in a gentle breeze.

Lewis willed the veil to tear and the archway to come tumbling down. He pulled against the force keeping it in place desperately, but there was something else there, forcing it open as he tried to close it. With Convergence, he turned to Russell. Bringing his hand back, he threw the blade in his direction with as much force as he could muster.

The blade soared through the air, the dark green energy shimmering around it and guiding it on its path. With a crack like a whip, it struck the stone in Russell's hand, shattering it before it glanced off, embedding itself in Russell's chest. Tristan laughed, watching as the blade sank into Russell as he limped backwards towards the archway.

'I told you, you're too late, Lewis Vandemark. Maybe not today, but this world will kneel before me soon,' he said, his words hanging in the air as he stepped back, the veil reaching out to engulf him. For a moment, his visage lingered behind it before he was gone, the veil dissipating as the archway, now devoid of power, came crashing down where he had stood only a moment ago.

'You bastard!' Lewis screamed. In a flash, Convergence reappeared in his hand, but he threw it aside, tackling Russell to the floor. With one hand clenching around his throat, his other fist connected with his face, cracking Russell's head back against the stone floor. 'How could you?'

Russell didn't try to struggle. The features of Kannan faded, replaced by the ones of the Russell he knew, but still he didn't resist as Lewis' fist connected with his nose with a crack, blood beginning to pour from it. 'I trusted you!' he shouted in his face, clenching harder around his throat. He wanted to watch the last breath escape his lips and the light leave his eyes as he forced it from him.

He didn't try to fight Lewis off; instead, he smiled weakly as he fumbled with the front of his cloak. Out of the corner of his eye, Lewis saw a glint of glass encased in a golden wire frame before Russell's fingers closed around it. Without a sound, Russell disappeared, Lewis' fist connecting with the bloody stone floor and sending a shockwave up his arm. He was gone; he had vanished into thin air.

'Lewis!' he heard Emily shout, her hand on his back a moment later. 'Are you alright?'

'He did it again,' he breathed in disbelief as he slumped backwards, lying exhausted on the bloody floor. 'He opened the archway; he helped him escape.'

'I'm sorry, I tried to destroy it,' Clara said, limping over to them with cuts and bruises on her face and covered in dust. 'Where did it take him?'

'Somewhere that none of us are able to reach him,' Thomas said as he entered the room, closely followed by Edward, Captain Caldwell and Lillian. 'He's beyond the veil that separates the world of the living and the dead.'

'What do we do now?' Lewis asked, still numb from seeing Tristan disappear.

'Captain Crosse and his ship will be leaving at dawn; we should gather up everyone we can and get back to the docks. The sooner we get out of here, the better,' Thomas said.

Reluctantly, Lewis got to his feet with the help of Emily, his hand lingering on her waist. With one last glance at the broken archway, he turned, allowing them to lead the way back towards the entrance hall. 'It's okay.' The distant whisper caught his ear from somewhere behind him, but when he looked back, there was no one there.

The entrance hall was calm; the battle that had raged before was now silent. As they entered, everyone turned in their direction, with Arthur getting to his feet unsteadily with a questioning look on his face. Lewis shook his head. Arthur's shoulders slumped as he looked away. Behind him and Olivia, a couple of the precursors Lewis recognised as being from the tower were having wounds patched up.

'We tried everything,' Olivia said quietly, her cheeks sparkling with tears. Beyond those getting treatment, there were three bodies, all lying unmoving, with Robyn at the centre, flanked by Achak and one of the younger precursors, whom he recognised as Ingrid.

His footsteps echoed around the entrance hall as he moved past Olivia and Arthur in silence, kneeling at Robyn's side. Her body was battered and bloodied, and one of her legs looked broken. Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes connecting with her unseeing grey ones. He expected her to blink and sit up at any moment and tried to will it into existence, but nothing happened.

It wasn't fair. 'Why was she even here?' he asked no one in particular.

'She was an alchemist; Charles taught her. Without her, we wouldn't have had half the weapons we brought with us. When she found out you were alive and in danger, she wouldn't take no for an answer,' Emily said, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

'Can I have a minute?' he asked.

'Sure,' Emily said. Her reassuring squeeze of his shoulder only served to elicit a couple of tears from him, but he appreciated it none the less. Quietly, they all moved towards the courtyard; the Cimant warriors, with the help of Edward, moved the bodies of Ingrid and Achak away. As they lingered just beyond the doorway to the courtyard, muttering quietly, Lewis turned his gaze back on Robyn.

'I'm so sorry, Robyn,' he whispered, pushing some of her blood-matted black hair from her face.

'It's okay,' the faint whisper drifted to his ears again. He looked up, searching for the voice.

At the mouth of the corridor that led to the archway, a faded figure stood, seemingly behind a grey shroud. It was Robyn, the same as ever, and not the broken body that lay beside him. 'How?'

'There's so much more. Far more than we could ever hope to understand,' she said quietly. 'He hasn't figured it all out yet, but he might. It'll take time though; it's not over.'

'If you're here now, I might be able to help you,' Lewis said. He knew he was clutching at straws, but he had to try, whatever it took.

She shook her head. 'There's nothing you or anyone can do; my place is here now. Take my body back to my family, please.'

'I promise,' he whispered as he tried to close the distance between them, but with each step he took, she seemed to be further away.

'This isn't goodbye forever, I promise,' she said as she began to move away faster, as if pulled backwards by an invisible force. 'The basement under the bakery; there's answers there if they survived the fire.'

'I'm sorry,' he said again, his words echoing in the empty entrance hall as she faded from sight. He looked down at the ground, unable to hold back the tears any longer. Amongst the rubble was a glowing purple crystal, just like the one he had seen Tristan pick up as he ran. Pushing another stone aside with his foot, he scooped it up. It sat in the palm of his hand, a good two or three inches in diameter, pulsing gently.

He had no idea what it was, but if it had been important enough for Tristan to grab the other, then he didn't want to leave this one here. Tucking it into a pocket of the cloak, he walked back to Robyn's side. 'Let's go home,' he muttered, gently closing her eyes for the last time with his hand.