In that last second as Lesath leapt at her, she closed her eyes and let the sword drop from her hand. It shattered, turning back into slivers of crystal, and the iron reliefs of her loved ones vanished like smoke. As the other three guardians launched their own power upon the armies of molochs, an enormous blast of light erupted from Lesath’s peak.
The light mushroomed and arced high overhead as Kryos lashed blue lightning over the dark sea below. It connected with the soft glow emanating from Karuna as she reared with arms spread wide. Zev threw his massive head back and howled a beautifully haunting cry while golden light speared outward from his shining fur.
Millions of crimson eyes turned skyward at the ceiling of pure light. Millions of tusked and fanged jaws roared in defiance. Millions of skeletal faces hissed and curved boney fingers over their soulless eyes. Lesath hung suspended in the light, inches from Ava’s closed eyes, frozen in murderous rage. Time seemed to have stopped along with him, but he and Ava were connected in a memory of the past; a past where one selfless act could have changed the future.