The storm fell like judgment.
Mortain's avatar hit the scorched earth in a quake of black wind and screaming echoes. Wings of broken glass unfurled behind its faceless form, and a crown of bone hovered above its head, spinning slowly, humming with cursed magic.
Rose didn't flinch. She planted her feet, magic spiraling up her arms like vines catching fire. Beside her, Basil drew his sword—not just steel anymore, but shimmering with the mark Rose had carved into its hilt weeks ago. Her magic had sunk into it, into him. They were not separate forces anymore.
The avatar screeched.
Rose screamed back, flinging her magic forward in a spiraling arc of red lightning. It met the creature mid-lunge, exploding on contact—but the thing didn't slow. It surged through the blast, claws extended, wings slicing wind like razors.
Basil moved before it could reach her. He struck the creature with precision, blade cutting into the unnatural flesh. It bled shadow, the black mist sizzling as it hit the ground.
Rose leapt back, fingers tracing sigils mid-air, summoning a rune circle above them. The symbol spun, then dropped like a guillotine, slamming into the creature's back. It howled, staggering.
Nimbus dove down from above, pelting the creature with tiny bolts of stormlight. "It's like fighting a grudge held by a thunderstorm! Why is it so squishy and yet so hard at the same time?!"
"Because it's made of pain and smugness!" Rose shouted, hurling another bolt of fire. "It's basically a cursed philosophy major!"
The avatar turned its faceless head toward her, and suddenly the voices came—a thousand versions of her, whispering doubts, mistakes, regrets. It was using her echoes against her.
You're not strong enough. You're a joke. You'll always be alone. You'll lose him.
Rose stumbled. The voices grew louder. Basil tried to grab her arm, but she sank to her knees, eyes wide, magic flickering.
But then—
He touched her face.
One hand, warm and grounding. "Rose," he said, gently but firmly. "You're you. Not them."
She blinked, and her magic surged back into focus. The whispers faded like mist.
She stood, burning with light.
"No more echoes," she said. "Just me."
Her power roared out in a cyclone of color—scarlet, gold, violet. The glyph on her palm burst into light, and the ring on her finger hummed with harmony. She reached out, and Basil stepped into the center of her spell with her.
Together, they cast.
Light and steel, magic and trust, fury and hope.
The avatar screamed as their combined force struck its core. It writhed, came apart in shards of shadow and fire, then shattered like obsidian into the ash below.
Silence fell.
Nimbus landed beside them, panting. "Please tell me that's the only one."
Rose wiped blood from her brow. "That was just his first move."
Basil looked at the sky. "Then we'd better make our next one count."
And above them, the clouds began to turn.