"Vessy is so narrow-minded. Her blinding love couldn't have fathomed her own brother would betray her." Demos' voice echoed in all of our heads, like a ringing church bell that refused to stay silent.

"But why?" I demanded to know, the hurt in my chest was both mine and Vessyra's. "What do you have to gain for siding with her?"

Edith pointed her wand at us. An immense amount of magic gathered at the tip, more than I could imagine possible. She was an ocean of magic. This is where all that magic was siphoned into— directly into the seven soul stones that dwelled within her.

The tip of her wand set alight with black flames that was more alive than inanimate.

"Allow me to impart another lesson, my dear students— When dealing with gods, you must always sweeten the pot." She fired off missiles from her wand that swallowed light around them as they traveled to us.

Eudora encased us in a powerful barrier and sent us away from the fight. We watched as the missiles sank into her body, tearing her physical form apart. I banged on the barrier, desperate to help but it was too thick to break.

"Ahahahaha! Centuries of hiding, and this is all you can muster? This is nothing— Nothing!" she screamed. Her skin and limbs began to melt, but the regenerative force narrowly kept her intact. True to her infamous name, Eudora laughed through it all. Enough that it was souring Edith's mood.

As Belle and I pounded on the barrier, Mira looked like she couldn't be bothered. Talos sat perched on her shoulder, staring at the explosive battle happening outside.

"Isn't this odd?" Mira asked.

"The only odd thing is you standing there," Belle said.

Mira grabbed both of our heads and directed our attention down below in the city streets. Hundreds of Piety knights were engaged in battle against Ferellis city guards and Ors soldiers. The fight was anyone's game. Princess Lisette must be desperately directing her people away from danger while navigating her own forces.

"Did Edith know this was a trap? The battle below suggests otherwise. A much larger army would be swarming such a small city. Assume she did know and willingly walked into one. Why? For what purpose?" Her jaw clenched, brows wrinkled so much that I was afraid she'd ruin her youthful face. Mira was deep in thought about this thread that didn't make sense to me and Belle.

Or… did it?

Belle and I came to the same conclusion at once.

"This was a distraction," I said.

"Her real aim— the bulk of her forces must be marching on Lotherain, if not already there," Belle completed my thought.

"You know, now go!" Eudora shouted, the strain in posture was evident to how out of league she was against Edith. "Their true aim is that knightess. She must be kept from their hands at all costs!"

I banged both fists against the barrier. "Let me fight Edith! I have the goddess Vessyra on my side!"

"If you cannot break through that, what hope do you have?" Eudora asked.

"You will not hinder my plans any further!" Edith screamed, launching a hailstorm of icicles in our direction.

Eudora incinerated them into steam. She raised the orb we were trapped in, waved goodbye, and flung us across the sky.

"No!" I shouted.

We're thrown past the city with no hope of shattering the barrier. Mira leaned against the orb, and Belle took a seat on the ground.

"Never would have crossed my mind that Eudora would do something like that," Mira said.

I continued to stare in the direction of Ferellis. We couldn't keep our promise to Princess Lisette, and potentially lost two allies to Edith.

"Give me a hand," I begged, beating my fists into the orb. "We can break out of this together and help them."

Belle pulled me away and held my face to hers. "You sensed how strong Edith was. All that magic channeling from the towers to Thanreas— now we know where it all went. We can't hope to beat that without a proper plan. Even with Vessyra's godly power inside you."

"Edith was desperate to stop us, which meant we were right. What I don't understand is why she didn't go to Lotherain herself to fetch Abstinence and leave us twiddling our thumbs in Ferellis?" Mira pondered.

We were left to contemplate on Mira's question as the orb traveled back to Parthun and shattered at the border. None of us were any closer to an answer. My powers had returned to dormancy, and the living robes back to its original form.

I knew for sure I would need it again very soon.

That proved to be true when we reached Lotherain under siege once again. The gates were shut and barricaded, reinforced with a frozen barrier by the witches who stayed. Piety knights and a mixed army of soldiers from the Council's many members had brought siege weapons, anti-magic weaponry, and christened greater knights amongst them.

Zeke and the harpies laid waste from above, while witches and archers rained volley after volley against the besieging army. They were holding. For now.

At the corner of my peripherals, a company of Piety knights detached from the main group and made their way for Ellowyn, which was currently defended by a small group of orcs and kobolds.

"Mira, you take care of the city. Belle and I will secure Ellowyn and Eudora's tower," I said. Mira nodded and pulled me in for a kiss before descending into the city with Talos flying close behind.

Both of us landed in Ellowyn. Roga, Clem, and Kati raced up to us for directions.

"Why are we always under attack?" Clem complained.

"How many do we have?" I asked them.

"Seventy strong," Roga answered.

"There were about two hundred of those knights on horseback. They will be here any minute second now." Belle chewed her thumb in anxiousness.

"Go ahead to the tower just in case. I'll hold back as many as I can, but there may be stragglers," I said.

Belle took off without hesitating, her worry for Eleanor was clear as day.

The rest of us formed a defensive line in front of the entrance to the tower and faced the cavalry of knights head on. I erected a field of jagged icicles that jutted from the ground, forcing many of the knights to abandon the charge.

"Vessyra, lend me your strength again." I tapped into the divine magic, allowing it to envelope and change my form a second time.

We held our breath, wondering if my frozen barricade would hold. Then it shattered into a sea of flames, transmuted before my very eyes.

"Lord-Commander of the Knights of Piety, Giselle Artoire the Fourth. I am christened— Discipline." A sweet, almost lullaby-like voice sang as she spoke. The flames cleared as she stepped through, as though parting to make way for her grand entrance.

Fitted with dark-gray plate armor from head to toe, she walked with a poise befitting a trained knight that spoke decades of experience. Yet… the woman before me, who wore no helmet to allow her long, black ponytail dance behind her, was so young. Possibly about the same age as me.

Something about her piercing glare was setting off warning bells inside my head. She was undoubtedly strong. Could I… even defeat her?

"You're fighting the wrong witches. The Councillor Anora you serve is—"

"None other than Edith Percouli," she said.

"Then… why?" I asked, trying to understand how a righteous order could have been so corrupted.

Discipline clapped her hands once, materializing a rapier as they parted away. She snatched it from the air and stabbed in my direction. I flinched, thinking a spell would have been cast from it.

"You should understand more than anyone. The sacrifices we make, the comrades we lose. Where do we draw the line?" she asked. Her army of knights, having dismounted from their horses was the most honor they were going to show, marched forward with weapons drawn. "Step away and let us through. Otherwise— en garde."

"We've defeated every single one of your christened knights, Discipline. You'll fall just like the rest!" I slammed my staff on the ground, summoning greater fireballs without the need to verbally incant the power words, and sent them roaring towards the knights.

"And from their ashes, we shall rise, rise again." Discipline swung her rapier once, causing the fire to fizzle out into steam.

I took a step back, surprised at how easily she transmuted one element to another.

At last, the clash makes contact. Orcs and kobolds do battle against the knights, but they are quickly getting overwhelmed. Whenever I tried to help with magic, Discipline nullified my spells.

"Not so easy, is it?" She stabbed the air a dozen times, leaving visible echoes of her rapier suspended in mid-air that then flew at me. I threw up a barrier of ice only for it to be melted, forcing me to dodge out of the way. The blades singing in my ear as they narrowly miss my neck.

More echoes were created each time she stabbed the air. I was forced to be on the defensive. The longer I couldn't fight back, the more my side was lost. 

Think back to what Edith did. Use my magic and create a weapon, the goddess spoke to me from within

"It's worth a shot." I focused her well of magic on my staff. It glowed to a sustained light and formed a golden lance. I sprouted wings and took off into the sky. "With me, Rio!"

"Nyaa!"

Rio went invisible and distracted Discipline with a series of unrelenting attacks. She was put on the defensive. I summoned all my strength and launched my weapon, crackling with energy. Discipline was too late to defend herself. A pillar of lightning smited her as the lance struck the ground at her feet. The explosion knocked many of the incoming knights away, giving the orcs and kobolds reprieve.

The lance returned to my hands, still bristling with magic. As the dust settled, Discipline was gone.

"You're too confident in yourself. Especially in a power you are not used to. Discipline is a valued virtue." She was suddenly behind me. I put my lance between us in time to block a thrust.

Rio slammed into her, but again, she was nowhere to be seen. I turned around to see an echo of her rapier fly up to the teleportation circle, then she appeared at its location, holding it by the hilt. Discipline took a bow as the runes activated and sent her into the tower.

"Belle— No!" I dove for the teleportation circle with Rio clinging close.

Faster, faster. A few seconds could be minutes inside. So much could happen in that span.

As soon as we were teleported inside, I saw that I was too late. Belle was defeated on the ground. Discipline carried her former comrade by the throat.

"Witness the beginning of an end," Discipline said, as her hand entered a small portal in Eleanor's chest and pulled out what looked to be a black stone. She crushed it between her fingers, letting the dust crumble to her feet, and the world— not the tower, but the world outside began to tremble.