Regius was glowing. Only a fourth of his body remained, but somehow he remained solid, glowing embers forming the absent parts of his body.

  As Deina uttered the last words of the ritual, his vision went golden...

  “Deina! Tell Kade and my parents and the guys at the village I say by-”

  ...then black.

  Regius vanished on the spot in a blaze of golden fire. Deina felt herself drop to her knees. Why was nothing happening? Was it because she stumbled over the ‘insert name here’? Was it because Regius was talking? Was it because of the shadelings?

  Then she realized the shadow monsters were retreating. Skia snarled furiously, but the cavern was getting brighter. The braziers all glowed brighter, each becoming a pillar of fire surrounding the altar’s square.

  Shadelings disintegrated on the spot, leaving only a slowly retreating Skia.

  It was a magnificent sight. Deina’s brown and amber eyes glowed as she looked up at the pillars of fire engulfing the altar and surrounding her and Skia. It was like life itself- beautiful, powerful, sad, filled with loss.

  The altar where Regius sat only moments ago began glowing, a pillar of flame larger than the rest erupting from the ground. For a moment, a vaguely humanoid form stepped out of the altar. It was shaped somewhat like Regius, except constructed entirely of flame and embers, like a miniature sun.

  “Lord Caleo,” Deina whispered, awe soaking into her voice. She was the first one to ever see Lord Caleo, such an honor?

  At what cost?

  “Fire shall always rise from the ashes, Skia,” a booming voice surrounded the cavern, seemingly coming from every source of light. “You gave up your rights as a God. Now you are a foe.”

  “No, no, no!” Skia screeched, the darkness growing again and two shadelings appearing. However, pillars of fire erupted from beneath them, disintegrating the monsters in a second.

  “By the rights of the Gods, as Caleo, God of Fire and Light and this World,” the burning figure took a step towards the shapeless goddess. “Burn, Skia.”

  Caleo’s humanoid form turned into a roaring blaze, fierce and scorching, encasing Skia in a flaming cocoon. Deina glanced away, the bright light hurting her eyes, as Skia let out a furious scream.

  A creature of darkness can never exist in light.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  With that, the Queen of Darkness vanished. Caleo’s form disappeared, too, as did the pillars of fire, leaving the lit braziers.

  “I have returned, I will once more guard over this World,” Caleo’s voice echoed from around the cavern. The god’s voice sounded almost exactly like Regius’s, except maybe a few millenia more mature. The familiarity shot a pang through Deina’s heart.

  She felt tears stain her face, her serious front as a member of village Archaios vanishing in favor of a young girl who just lost her best friend and older brother.

  Her injuries seemed less heavy, maybe the work of Caleo. Still, blood caked most of her cape and legs.

  “Regius... your sacrifice... was not... in... vain...” she spluttered to herself between sobs. Nothing would make her feel better, not even the knowledge she had revived Caleo.

  She stumbled up, wincing at the pain, but managed to crawl over to the altar. Her eyes gleamed curiously at the sight of red dust covering the altar.

  Deina didn’t know what it was, but it was the last memoir she had of Regius, who she had known for only a few days. She reached a trembling arm to retrieve the water bottle on her waist. She took a sip of the water, relishing in the cool refreshment, but quickly poured the water away on the floor of the altar. So what if this was offensive to Caleo? Whatever.

  A choked laugh forced its way out of her at the thought. To imagine Deina Adusta tolerating the slightest passing thought against Lord Caleo.

  She gathered the red dust with shaking hands, using her water bottle as a container. Once she was satisfied she had every last speck, she stood up again. Lord Caleo must really have done something for her injuries, since she could stand and walk at all.

  She glanced at a tunnel different from the way she and Regius travelled. The shortcut, passing through a hostile village.

  But why did she care? She faced Skia, she saw Caleo. She could handle some potential angry villagers.

  The girl slowly stumbled towards the cave. Her injuries really were healing quickly, and after a few minutes she could properly walk. Still, there were only so many things Caleo could do, as it seemed to stop just before the pain could completely fade.

  Her now unlit torch was strung roughly on her back, causing her to wince each time it bumped into a wound. The paper with the ritual incantation returned to one of her cape’s many pockets, while she clutched the ash-filled bottle with one hand.

  Deina screwed her eyes together as her torch poked at an injury again. She unslung it, now opting to use it as a walking stick. Her black hair stuck up at multiple places, covered in soot, and her amber-flecked eyes still watered.

  She had been expecting Regius to die for days, why should the real thing be so sad?

  She didn’t run into any Village Polemos people at all- she really should have gone his way when going to the altar.

  Some part of Deina knew Skia wasn’t gone forever. Skia was some sort of quasi-goddess, similar to Caleo, yet not officially a god. That meant the Queen of Shadelings could not die. Someday, she would return and Caleo would fall again.

  Someday, somebody else would have to die. And somebody else would have to cry for them.

  Deina didn’t stop hobbling for the entire day, despite desperately needing rest. She didn’t know herself why she didn’t want to rest, but she didn’t.

  As the girl neared the entrance of Village Archaios, it was clear the braziers set around were brighter and she didn’t spot a single Shadeling. She stumbled to the entrance, opening her mouth to speak, but exhaustion kicked in and she blacked out.