Creeping behind whatever structures remained in the west, Elysia found herself close to the town square. Her allies taking Reaun head-on gave her time to try and regain her composure. Though she was no longer in the fray, the malice and violence she felt kept her unnerved. Her hands trembled against the stony remains of a home. Her breath staggered, and she felt as though she would faint if she did not let out the heavy exhales that weighed on her chest.

Then, the harrowing splatter of flesh meeting stone – Chala’s body - caused her face to crumple. Even behind the roughly chiseled blocks, she instinctually turned away from the source of the wretched sound. She closed her eyes.

Back when she fell from Reaun’s hand – when his massive fists descended upon the wounded T’mo - something awakened within Elysia. The expulsion of her comrade’s life triggered another power from her connection to the benevolent god.

Through the darkness of her eyelids, she could see the soft shapes of those around her in gold. Ayii had not spoken in some time, but she didn’t need to – Elysia already knew what it was. In her last moments, T’mo’s glow dulled. It softly flickered until it vanished entirely with the sound of metal fists colliding with her bones.

Each death brought Elysia pain. Forced to witness their lights go out, the weight of their deaths built up in her chest like a furnace being fed firewood, one log at a time. Even when she turned away, the sensation of their aura violently snuffed out gave her pause. Attempting to find respite from the agony, she remained hidden from battle, even if it meant hiding from Ishh.

I can’t… she thought. I can’t do this. Whoever I was – whatever I did 500 years ago – I can’t.

Fueled by the emotions building since she awakened in the dirt, Elysia’s thoughts ran. Away from ration and reason, into hopelessness and dread, they intensified her turmoil. Grabbing her head, she felt it boiling over. Just before her cry could spill from her lips, something caught her attention, pulling her away from the maw of despair.

In front of her, she saw a glow through the darkness. It was small and jumped at the sound of Yulianna’s battle cry. Curiosity reached Elysia through her turmoil, guiding her closer to the little light. She reached her hand and bumped into an obstruction. It was the overturned basin of the metal fountain. She opened her eyes and lifted the large bowl to see the little girl Ishh had spoken to before.

“Alyera?” Elysia forced the words out of her mouth.

The little girl cried, her face scuffed and dirty. Elysia instinctively pulled her in, trying to soothe the scared child.

“It’s okay,” she said. Alyera continued to cry, becoming louder. Against her chest, she felt the sharp inhalation of the little Scarred, her tears dampening Elysia’s tattered rebel shirt. With her embrace, Elysia felt her inner turmoil stagnate.

A moment of peace soon ended with a thought: Why is she not in the mine?

“Why are you not in the mine?” she asked. Alyera looked up. Her face told the tale of an innocent child lost in the mayhem of war.

“Argh!” Ishh screamed as he landed nearby. After writhing momentarily, he turned to see Elysia and Alyera.

“Elysia?” he said, holding his abdomen, wiping blood from his lips. “Alyera? You should be in the mine.”

Before either of the girls could speak a word, the heavy stomps of the Enforcer quickly approached.

“There you are,” said Reaun as he grabbed Elysia by the hair, “Let's get ya nice and secure. Don’t wanna lose ya again, right?” He lifted her to her feet and pressed a button on his forearm.

“And you found a friend.” The Enforcer ripped Alyera away. “Sorry, kid, the adults are talking.”

The Collector gently hovered over, situating itself behind Reaun.

“I only got room for one,” he said dismissively, throwing the little girl away. His reaction instantaneous, Ishh caught the child in an orb of water before Reaun kicked him aside.

“Now, don’t struggle this time. Make it easy for me, will ya?”

The Collector opened its casing once more. Lilac light shined on Elysia as she hung from Reaun's arm in front of the dark metal cylinder. The lilac man’s eyes slowly opened as they darted around rapidly before finally fixating on Elysia. Stone launched from the piles of debris around them as she tried to break free.

“Hurry up, damn it,” Reaun said, becoming impatient and annoyed with the Collector’s slow start-up and Elysia’s resistance.

As the lilac man uncrossed his arms, Elysia felt a weightlessness take hold. She felt Reaun release her as she levitated. The Collector's arms opened, beckoning her to embrace him.

“She’s contained. Come and get her,” he spoke into his wrist as he stepped back from them. The idle airship finally moved, centering over Elysia.

A blanket of gravity enveloped her, completely taking over her mobility. Her control over the stones ceased as her mind blanked under the focus of the lilac man. As she inched closer, the force upon her became unbearable. Her consciousness slipped away as the pressure of gravity tightened its grip.

Elysia’s hands moved forward by the invisible force, passing them through the screen of the Collector’s container. Just as their hands met, a light ray phased through him. Elysia fell to the ground, and the Collector let out an eerie, guttural moan as the purple skin of his abdomen bubbled. The container warped before the lilac man fainted.

“Are you crazy?!” Reaun yelled at Zetii, snatching his light ray weapon away as he tackled her. He turned sharply, staring at the Collector with concern he had never shown. The Collector remained still.

Yulianna punched the Enforcer’s face. Stunned by the surprise attack, Reaun tripped over, barely catching himself. Satisfied with her successful strike, she attempted another, only to get caught. Reaun’s large hand wrapped around the rebel’s fist as he pulled her in. Returning the punch in kind, her teeth scattered in a mist of blood.

Ishh yelled as he rushed over. Reaun aimed his light ray weapon at him. Before he could pull the trigger, Zetii grabbed his massive arm, redirecting the shot to the ground. Ishh slammed the red ice brick into Reaun’s face. The Enforcer kicked Ishh’s chest, knocking the captain over. He shook Zetii off his arm, tossing her into the Collector, toppling it.

With his arm free, he pointed his weapon at Yulianna’s mashed face and fired. Her skin bubbled, and her eyes evaporated as her voided skull hung over. Reaun released the spent rebel and walked back to Elysia, grabbing her unconscious body as he contacted the airship again.

“I’m done with this shit. Get me out of here,” he said as he wiped ice from his cheek.

The airship lowered a platform. Reaun stepped on with Elysia over his shoulder. As it raised into the air, it wobbled. The Enforcer looked up to see an ice pillar slam into the ship. Reaun raised his weapon at Ishh, only to miss as Zetii grappled him again.

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“You’re starting to piss me off,” he growled, shaking his arm. “Let go!”

She wrapped a wire around his arm and pulled him down, using her weight and momentum to throw the Enforcer off balance. With another slam into the airship, the platform crashed into the ground, causing Reaun, Zetii, and Elysia to fall into the center of town.

“Unbelievable how badly ya wanna die. Ya really wanna join ya friends? Fine.”

Reaun charged at Ishh. Covering his forearms with ice, the captain received each furious hit, refreezing the water each time it melted against the Enforcer’s fists. Ishh could feel the force rattling his bones even through the frozen covering. Picking up the red ice brick, Zetii struck Reaun in the back of his head, finally drawing blood. The Enforcer backhanded the rebel, sending her down by Elysia.

Ishh fell to his knees, exhausted from withstanding the soldier’s powerful punches. Reaun turned and grabbed Zetii, twisting her hand. She screamed as her hand contorted from the Enforcer’s grip.

“I thought we had something,” he said as he pressed his weapon against her head. Before he squeezed the trigger, Elysia grabbed his foot. Reaun looked down at her.

“I’m almost done here,” he said. Elysia looked up at him, her eyes black as the Void.

“Hm?”

The ground softened and gave to his weight. Reaun sharply sank before it turned back into stone. Elysia stood quietly, smoke rising from her eyes.

“Neat trick, girl,” said Reaun as he broke out of the ground. On his feet, he reached to grab Elysia.

“Do not touch her again.” Elysia’s voice boomed as she caught his hand.

“What the hell?” he said. He swung his other fist, which Elysia also caught, her hand breaking from the force. Roots erupted from under the stone, grappling the Enforcer. Pulling away from Elysia, he ripped them from the ground as fast as they came. Elysia stepped back and looked at her broken hand. It cracked and wriggled as it mended itself. Zetii stared in puzzled amazement.

Free from the roots, Reaun tackled Elysia. Braced by the stone under her feet, she caught him as they slid across the town square. As Reaun attempted to hammer down on her, she delivered an uppercut that lifted the Enforcer off the ground, flattening the giant soldier for the first time. Her hand broke once more.

Reaun sprang up from his back onto his knee and rubbed his jaw. He watched Elysia walk to him, her disfigured hand healing itself.

“Nature-Scarred, huh,” he said, “There’s no Nature-Scarred with the General who could do that. He’s gonna love you.”

Elysia continued to approach quietly. Reaun charged.

Her movements were that of an experienced fighter. She unexpectedly ducked and weaved through his flurry of strikes, countering with confident ease. Zetii and Ishh looked onward, both bewildered and excited at Elysia's sudden display of strength and focus. The nervous woman who had stumbled and meekly struggled against a single Guardian earlier was now single-handedly overpowering an Enforcer—a substantial feat.

Swift and precise, she slipped her strikes within the pocket of the Enforcer’s rhythm. A swing and a miss – then a strike to his cheek. A swing and a miss – his jaw clicked from a hook she delivered. All of his attempts to make contact were unsuccessful. With a final punch to end the bout, a spray of blood spotted the ground as Reaun stumbled back onto his knee. Bruises and cuts covered his face, along with a second look of concern.

“What the hell is this? One minute, you’re struggling to break away from me – now you’re a trained fighter?” he said as he caught blood dripping out of his mouth.

Elysia raised her hand, and the ground shook as the cobblestone ripped itself from the street and surrounded the wounded Ome soldier. Balling her hand into a fist, the rough-cut stone compressed into orbs the size of an eyeball. Releasing her hand, the orbs shot into the Enforcer at incredible speeds. Each one fired like projectiles from their weapons.

They battered his face and armor, shredding the thick Ikarium alloy off his body. As the numbers dwindled, Elysia raised and compressed more stone from the surrounding rubble, continuing the stream of dense orbs.

The airship that watched retracted its platform and flew away, abandoning the last Ome soldier in Dust. Reaun was all alone. He growled as the orbs continued to bruise and puncture his skin, doing his best to protect his head. As he rose, his growl grew into a roar.

Elysia released the remaining orbs back into bricks and let them fall.

No longer shielded by his armor, Reaun’s insecurity was evident as he stood bare and unprotected, unable to lock eyes with Elysia.

Witnessing her fight and control of stone and wood, seeing the smoke that plumed from her pitch-black eyes, Ishh softly spoke her name, “Ayii?”

She glanced at him, then returned her focus to Reaun, watching him look around, searching the area. Ayii took a step forward, and the Enforcer darted to Zetii. Roots reached for him, but his movement was faster than Ayii anticipated.

Zetii frantically rose to her feet, unable to avoid him. His knee connected to her chest just before she could stand. The rebel hacked and flew back. Catching the red ice brick Ishh threw, Reaun turned and smashed it into his face, Ishh’s blood becoming indistinguishable from the iron in the ice. As he fell to the ground, the Enforcer followed, straddling the captain.

Before he could continue his desperate assault, vines pulled him off, which he quickly ripped out of. Ducking and jumping over roots and vines that came for him, Reaun sprinted towards Ayii, who braced herself for his strength, which never came.

She turned to see him holding the little girl in his massive hands. He laughed almost manically as he squeezed the defenseless child. “Since it looks like I’m gonna die, I might as well take as many of ya with me as I can.”

The child’s eyes bulged.

A hardened wooden spike flashed out of the ground, piercing Reaun’s arm. He dropped Alyera, who stumbled ahead to the rebels. His ruthless tactics had gotten to Ayii, who pierced several more spikes through the insane Ome soldier, tethering him to the ground. After each groan of pain, he laughed.

“No fair,” he began as he spit out blood, “I’m just a regular old mortal. I don’t have a Scar. Just stand still and let me kill ya first. Call it a handicap.”

Ayii met his eyes. Her face winced at the sight of the corruption that filled him. Unscarred, but the echoes of Darkness were strong. Behind her, Ishh, Zetii, and Alyera approached.

“Kill him, Elysia,” Zetii said weakly.

Ayii turned to Reaun, and with a swing of her arm, a final spike rushed out of the ground and toward his head. As it was about to enter his skull – it stopped. Ayii looked at the still spike, calling it to kill. It trembled in place.

“Do it,” Ishh implored.

The severed god tried, but the spike remained. It did not move.

“What are you doing?” Zetii said, becoming impatient, “Kill him!”

Ayii turned to the rebels who egged her to end the Enforcer's life. Ever opportunistic, the Enforcer took his chance. Reaun ripped himself from spikes, struck Ayii down, and ran.

Her eyes followed his bloody trail to the Collector. The Enforcer tore open the lilac man’s container and cackled, “Now, we ALL die!”

A loud pop sounded, and the Collector screeched as air breached him. The rebels watched in horror as the psychotic laughter of Reaun warbled and silenced. His face still expressed his reckless enjoyment as his body stretched out of shape.

Recognizing the power of gravity, Ayii reached her hand to command it, but it did not listen to her. The area around the Collector bent under the immense power of Space. All things around him were sucked in. As the boundary of the singularity grew, the rebels and Alyera began to slide towards him. Ayii stood as fast as she could and pulled them with dense roots.

Zetii watched the bodies of her friends fall into the purple void. Buildings pulled apart, as did the tree in the town center. The three escaped the walls of Dust, but they were slowed even more by the increasing pull of the unraveling lilac man. A sharp purple light radiated outside the wall, accompanied by the howl of the dying Collector.

On the island's edge, fighting gravity, Ayii reached for a nearby island. Roots rapidly grew, building a bridge across. The walls of the town crumbled. The trees outside Dust stretched painfully into the epicenter of the expanding purple void. With a final push from the ground, Ayii and her allies hopped onto the roots before they sharply retracted back into the neighboring island. They watched the island of Dust fold in on itself. All that touched the island, which touched the Collector, was gone.

Ayii, Zetii, and Ishh looked at the space where the island and its inhabitants once were. Ishh and Zetii shed tears at the sight of the emptiness. Their friends and the citizens in the mine were all gone. In its absence, the island left something—a reminder of the lengths to which the opposing force would go to achieve victory – or stalemate.