As his panic spiked when the dagger was going to definitely hurt if not kill him outright, Dazien was relieved when a familiar luminous shield popped into existence around him. It protected him from the incoming attack and sent the enemy falling backward to clutch at their now-blinded eyes.

  It also made him remember to conjure his blasted armor.

  The chestplate had been a gift from Paul and Pati as it sat in the family vault unused after Paul got an ability to conjure his own magical armor. Along with his Dawn Shield, he felt much more prepared to face these insane cultists, instead of fighting in his underpants.

  He stumbled when he was suddenly released and the cultist holding him went flying from Rayna using her body as a cannonball. He was about to thank her when she greeted him with, “What? Not gonna fight in your unders, King? I think half these Casters would probably be distracted by it enough to count as a Bane.”

  Dazien genuinely smiled for the first time in almost a month as he called back to the flying furball, “Missed you, too, Ray! Running a bit late, though, aren’t you? Might have to demote you from Knight to Jester.”

  “I’m pretty sure that would be a promotion,” the bard retorted as she pummeled one of the Casters that had been foolish enough to stand back up after she had slammed them into the wall. “From what I’ve read, those Jesters are merciless assassins that slay their enemies with words and smiles.”

  She paused for a moment to look at him and asked in all seriousness, “Are you actually a Jester, King?”

  Their banter was interrupted by the sensation of Saiya’s Boons on them, and as he turned to find his Healer, he saw his sister standing face to face with the man who had sent him to this abyssal cult in the first place.

  “Lukas Lumeris! I challenge your honor!” he shouted at the man, hoping his taunt wouldn’t be resisted by the Emerald Caster.

  Despite being Emerald, Dazien knew Lukas wasn’t a combatant. The man was an arrogant merchant whose powers were all Utilities based around increasing his quality of life. His power had lain in the businesses under his control back in Tulimeir, which had been seized after Veldrix had burned down the Crimson Rose.

  Not only was Lukas unnaturally weak for an Emerald Caster, he was also inexperienced. Dazien assumed this would be a match between his skill and the enemy’s blunt Attributes. That was, until little starlight birds crashed into him in a shatter of light and he felt his Mind and Magic increase and knew his attacks would deal more damage. His sister also turned into a mini-dragon-hybrid and lunged at the man making it a two-on-one fight instead.

  Dazien grinned at the knowledge that he wasn’t alone anymore, and made his own lunge at the plentiful openings the merchant cultist had.

  His version of [Accelerating Strikes] had cultivated to deal Radiant damage with every hit and as its speed increased, it also stacked more instances of [Honor] on him from his [Duelist] ability, additionally increasing both the damage he dealt and his own resistance to enemy Spells. It also used his stamina instead of mana, which was replenishing faster now with Phoenix’s [Astral Oasis] Aura surrounding him.

  He wasn’t sure she had realized it yet, but the Sapphire effects of that increased with the more enemies they fought, making it ideal against groups, and meant that every single cultist in this room was now helping their entire party’s mana replenish as the enemies were siphoned. It might have been an easily forgettable Passive effect, but it helped sustain them all and gave them more time to make a greater impact.

  Phoenix’s actions on the other hand—or claw in this case—were landing her own damage and Banes from the opposite side from him. Her silver claws dug into Lukas’ back where kidneys would have been, dealing Dimension damage that he knew would be boosted by her temporary fifth aura [Soul of the Celestial] along with Uriel’s [Battlemage] Aura that he could sense upon them, but he didn’t have the spare moment he wanted to look for his partner yet.

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  Dazien thought it was almost cute when Lukas threw a small throwing knife at him only for the little squishy [Starlight Companion] to block the incoming projectile for him, and the ghostly [Night Wisp] tried to gain revenge by sending a pulse of Dark magic back.

  While he knew Phoenix often complained about the unfocused nature of her powerset, Dazien knew she was an incredible addition to their team with her mere presence. Making all of them stronger together. From the day he had met her and saw that she was versatile, brave, and didn’t care about his own presence in the slightest, he knew that he wanted to fight alongside her.

  “Flames!” she called out, and he took a step back from the enemy as Phoenix maneuvered between them and let out a gout of black and white flames as he [Eclipse Breath] devoured Lukas.

  When her mouth was free again, she yelled, “I’ll hold him!”

  He wasn’t as familiar with that signal, and was afraid she would try to grapple the stronger Caster who would likely be able to overpower her, but it became clearer what she meant when a massive black hole appeared behind Lukas and dragged the Caster back a few steps. It was much larger than he had ever seen her try casting before, and she actually doubled over next to him to rest a hand on her knee while the other clutched her head.

  “Ow, mana headaches are the worst,” she muttered, but Dazien didn’t wait.

  “You have been weighed, measured, and found wanting,” he coldly incanted, and executed the man with his [Royal Executioner] ability. A dark part of his mind repeated Finndeshin’s words in his head: to aim for the brain. He knew that Lukas wasn’t the same kind of threat however, and his aim readjusted to impale his glittering sword glowing with rainbow light through the merchant’s magically replaced heart.

  “I yield!” Lukas yelled, his hands grabbing at the Radiant blade, “I’ll tell them everything!”

  You should kill him, Dazien’s mind whispered once more, After everything he put you through, he deserves death.

  Dazien yanked his blade free of the body and was sorely tempted to stab his mouth next, but Phoenix’s hand on his arm drew his attention towards her as she said, “We’re not here alone. The Royal Guard are fighting and capturing the rest.”

  He glanced around the room to see more cultists being subdued instead of killed, and he felt a pang of regret as he saw Kelana kneeling beside her uncle’s body and trying to reattach his head. He wasn’t sure if Emerald Caste regeneration could mend decapitation like that, but he halfway hoped so simply for her sake.

  The handful of cultists he had thrown in cages were still in them, holding their hands up in surrender in the hope of not getting shot by a magic bolt.

  His attention was drawn back to Phoenix as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I was so worried about you! When your bead broke I thought my nightmare was some crazy vision and you had died!”

  Dazien chuckled softly at her onslaught of worries over him. It was nice to feel cared for after the last few weeks. He returned her hug, resting his head against hers as he tried to lighten the mood with a gentle tease, “I couldn’t leave you without a brother. Who would look out for your irresponsible spending habits then?”

  She seemed to tense in his arms and muttered, “Before you ask later, Rayna picked our inn so yell at her for that.”

  His laugh became louder at that as he squeezed her tighter, “I missed you all so much. Thank you for coming to rescue me, Princess.”

  “Does that make you the Emerald Prince that the orphans were telling me about before?” she asked, glancing up at him with a grin, “The one that keeps getting captured by corrupted dragons?”

  Dazien returned her grin, “I guess this time I played that part well, didn’t I?”

  “I much prefer you playing the part of the King who defends the others when the Ruby Princess can’t,” she said, smooshing her face against his armor again in another hug.

  His humor fell as he thought about how miserably he had failed to do that the last time they had all been together, but he managed to say, “Me too. I’m glad you were all able to stay together… Wait, where’s Camilla? I don’t feel her aura.”

  “She’s fine,” Phoenix reassured, “She’s still resting at the inn. She didn’t think she’d be any help in a rescue mission when Kelana told us where you were… We have so much to catch you up on. We were all separated at first, and I only reunited with Uriel three days ago.”

  At the mention of his partner, Dazien turned to look for the one person he missed more than any other in the world. The person he needed right now to tell him that everything was going to be okay.

  He couldn’t stop the smile as his gaze landed on the Mage. Uriel wore new clothing, but it was still black like he knew his partner preferred, and the gentle smile Uriel gave him in return made his heart feel like it might be able to make a full recovery from his entire ordeal in mere moments.

  Dazien’s feet moved without conscious thought as he accelerated towards his partner and wrapped him in a hug, trying not to accidentally hurt the Crystal Caster. When the arms embracing him back were stronger than he last remembered, it finally registered with his aura that Uriel was Sapphire now. His heart broke a little at the knowledge that he had missed Uriel’s ascension, especially when Uriel had been there for both of his own. It was a minor disappointment, though, that was overshadowed by the fact that Uriel was here. Finally in his arms once more.

  He couldn’t find the word he needed in that moment to express how relieved he was to be together again.

  “I’m so glad we found you in time,” Uriel whispered to him and tried to push him back.

  He didn’t want to let go yet. Didn’t want to ever let go of his partner again. He wanted Uriel to know that no matter what they had done to him here, he wouldn’t flinch from his touch like Uriel had after his own time in captivity. He needed Uriel to know that he still loved him and wanted to be held.

  Dazien tilted his head up and moved forward to kiss his partner.

  He winced as pain met his lips and fell back onto the floor as he tripped when Uriel roughly pushed him away.

  The shove had completely caught him off guard, and he just sat on the ground, staring up in confusion for a moment as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Uriel was staring down at him in fear, and that was when Dazien finally noticed the new addition to his partner’s outfit: a white torc around his neck.

  “White?” he managed to ask through the vice grip around his heart, “Why are you—I told you what that means. You chose to wear white?”

  “Yes. I—” Uriel hesitated for a moment before clenching his fists and firmly stating, “You can’t touch me anymore.”

  Dazien felt his face contort into utter anguish at the words, and it felt like his heart had been crushed then brutally ripped out of his chest. With no other words, he turned and fled into his [Armory] where no one would see the tears he couldn’t hold back any longer.