Heaving sobs overtook me and my tears dripped on a stone face as I held Anara tightly. The overwhelming grief came in waves, one after the other, lashing against my shattered soul. Never had my heart been so broken. If I could trade my life for hers, I would have, and that I had not that option was a bitter failure.
Topping the rubble berm, Mom gasped as she saw us. The rigors of fighting left her clothes tattered with numerous cuts and abrasions across her body. She came to my side, kneeling, embracing me. "I'm so sorry, Micah."
I bent down and kissed Anara's forehead, then gently laid her body on the ground. Standing upright, I wiped the moisture from my cheeks. "We must end this!"
"But how?" Mom said, putting fingers to a bowed forehead. "When we strike Cephas down, he comes right back."
"That was not actually Cephis, but a projection of him. Like his rock giants."
"Then where is the real villain?"
There could only be one place. "The obelisk. I sensed more there than just rock."
Before we took two steps, rock claws shot up from the ground all around us, cracking through the stone. We danced away as pointed talons snatched at us, but one grabbed my ankle and held fast. Like at Adam's house, I called forth the Symbio Magique and placed hands on the ground. The claws crumbled away.
A swirl of brown magic appeared beside us. Rock and gravel lifted from the ground and reassembled Cephas' body. He crossed his arms while gazing at me.
Hot anger rose. "You are truly evil," I spat.
That irritating, self-absorbed, smug grin returned to his stony face. "Come, now. Good and evil are only arbitrary concepts defined by the victorious."
My eyes blazed back at him. "Then, I will define them."
Cephas' lips turned down into a deep frown. "Such arrogance I cannot abide." He raised his hands.
But before Cephas could launch a magic attack, my mother launched her own. Baring teeth and hissing, she shot out glowing yellow streamers from her hands, enhanced by the Symbio Magique. The streamers surrounded Cephas and collapsed inward, and by alchemy transformation, his rock body transformed to dust.
"I doubt he is done," Mom muttered.
True to her prediction, a dozen more rock giants self-assembled from the rubble, rising like zombies from a cemetery, surrounding us in a menacing circle.
Growling with contempt, my mother placed one hand on my shoulder and with the other, fired off a barrage of three tight pressure pulses at the closest giants, upending them with loud booms.
Targon joined the battle, letting out a screech as it attacked in a flurry of wings and talons, scratching at a giant's eyes. Annoyed by the distraction, the giant swatted at the little wyvern, but its heavy rock arms moved much too slow, and Targon easily avoided the blows.
One giant jumped behind us, landing with a deep thump. It swung down a maul-like fist at us, but missed as I pulled Mom aside. I dove between its legs. Grazing my hand against its foot, I called the Symbio Magique to my defense, and it answered. By disrupting the magic holding together the giant, it disassembled, forcing me to jump back to avoid the falling rock.
"This way!" she shouted, taking my hand.
We dashed through the gap she created by her initial blasts, past the fallen giants, only to find four more rising from the rubble. Yellow threads of alchemy magic shot out from her extended hand, wrapping around the two closest rock giants. Their rock bodies converted to sand in flashes of yellow, then sloughed down into piles.
Mom bent over at the waist, trembling while heaving deep breaths, and grasped my arm to steady herself. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. "I can't do this much longer, Micah," she said in a strained voice.
"But I can," a voice chortled behind us. We swung around to find Cephas standing with arms crossed. His giants flanked him. "Without a frail human body, I do not suffer magic exhaustion." He extended a hand, palm up. "One last time I offer — join me. Micah, is it? From the old Earth Hebrew, the name means 'like God.' And by my side, so you shall be."
I bowed my head into my hands as conflicting emotions swirled within my mind. I had already lost Anara and could not bear to also lose my mother. And perhaps I could bargain for the good of this world? But a deep part of me knew Cephas could never be trusted. There was only one acceptable path, and if it meant the death to myself and those I loved, so be it. I allowed the rage that simmered in my soul to flare up like a roaring wildfire, leveraging it. And so did the Symbio Magique.
"Well? What say you?" Cephas asked impatiently.
I lifted my head and narrowed my eyes. "This is my answer."
Go, I whispered to the power bucking within me.
The Symbio Magique surged out like churning black smoke. It attacked, swirling around Cephas and the rock giants. Sharp flashes of light erupted as the Symbio shredded and stripped away the magic in turbulent fury. Without the magic that held them together, their rock bodies fell apart and crashed to the ground, sounding like rolling thunder.
"Finish it now, Micah," my mother gasped, "before they come back again."
Firming my resolve, I scaled down the jagged tumbled debris surrounding the broken obelisk. As I drew near the shattered remains, the sheer magical power set my nerves on edge and rattled the Symbio Magique. The source must be here, somewhere. If not, all was lost.
Dropping to my knees, I rifled through the scattered rock shards, desperately searching. There! Moving aside an obelisk piece revealed a yellow-brown gem, like citrine, that glowed bright enough that I had to divert my eyes. It must be Cephas' talisman crystal. By some magic, he must have downloaded his consciousness into it.
I gathered my courage and snatched up the crystal. Electric shocks surged up my arm into my chest, and I cried out from the searing pain. The obelisk shards lifted from the ground and swirled around me in malevolent havoc.
For Anara.
Destroy, I called to the Symbio Magique, and squeezed my hand. The crystal shattered in a blinding flash of light.
Then darkness overtook me.
"Micah?" my mother said. Her voice pierced through a dizzying mind fog.
My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself in her arms with head on her lap. "Micah, are you alright?"
Groaning, I rose to a sitting position. "I think so," I answered, putting a hand to my throbbing forehead. "What happened?"
"You did it!" A smile brightened her face. "I sense no more of Cephas' magic. And I would suppose the Stone Curse ended as well."
A warm relief flooded the depths of my being and my body relaxed. But without Anara, victory was bittersweet. No glory could I savor. But at least, it was a suitable tribute to a most worthy soul.
Rising on wobbly legs, supported by Mom's arm, we trudged back to where Anara's body laid. The tears came again as my heart dropped back into the darkness. But as a small consolation, signs of the curse had vanished from her body and she could rest in peace.
Dropping to my knees, I took up her hand. But as I did, a shimmer of purple flashed across her body. I froze.
"Micah, did you see that?" Mom exclaimed, dropping beside me. "A spell envelops her. A time spell!"
My breath halted. Could it be? A beam of hope reached my shadowed heart.
This had all the feel of a 'sleeping beauty' moment. While bending down, I made one more request of the Symbio Magique — Gently — then brushed my lips against hers.
The spell broke with a gentle snap. Anara's chest rose as she pulled air across my lips with a subtle moan. Circling her arm around my neck, she pulled our lips tighter together. Deep and earnest, the kiss lingered. A flash flood of emotion surged through my soaring spirit as our hearts connected.
It was, well... magic.
As the kiss ended, the warmest of smiles appeared on those soft lips. God, she is beautiful. And now, for the first time, she gazed at me with two impossibly deep lavender eyes — twice the allure.
"Never have I woken so wonderfully," she cooed.
Not to be outdone, Targon hopped onto Anara's chest and slathered her face with a forked tongue. She grimaced, but with a grin, and hugged the little beast.
Her eyes lifted to me and widened. "What of Cephas? And the Curse of Stone?"
"It is done," I replied, helping her sit up. "They are no more."
"Thank you, Micah. You mean everything to me." Anara grasped my shoulders and moved her lips closer to mine, but then, with a faint gasp, she noticed my mother's presence. Rouge flushed her cheeks, and she dipped her head. "Oh, I am sorry. I have acted improperly."
Mom let out a chuckle and grasped Anara's hand. "Not at all. Under the circumstances, it is quite appropriate. So, did you cast a time spell over yourself?"
"At the last moment, yes. It was my last hope." Her eyes drifted to me. "And you, Micah, are hope fulfilled."
"Can you stand?" I asked Anara.
She replied with a nod, and I helped her rise. Her fingers traced her left cheek and arm, finding no trace of the curse. "For so long, the Curse of Stone marked me, and I had forgotten being free of it."
I gathered Anara into my arms, then cast my mother a sideways glance.
With a sigh, Mom picked up the wyvern and walked away. "Let's give them some privacy, Targon."
"Sooo," I said to the woman in arms, drawing out the word. "You said you wished to court me. What does that mean?"
Anara rounded her lips and caressed my cheek. "Allow me to demonstrate."