There was a massive pulse of pure-white light.The rat king roared. Then screamed. Then whimpered.

Around us, hundreds of shrieks filled the tunnels.

Then, all at once, everything went silent.

There was only darkness. And stars. So many stars. I couldn't see a thing... except for the words that started flowing into my brain:

You complete the quest [Slay the Skitterslink King]

You reach level 39

+1 Strength, +1 Resilience, +1 Agility, +1 Power, +1 Will

You complete the Guardian task [Protect the Weak]

You reach Guardian 2★

You reach level 40

+1 Strength, +1 Resilience

Blinking the stars and words from my eyes, I whispered, "Tristan? Are you—"

Two slender arms wrapped around my neck, and a pair of soft lips pressed to mine.

We kissed slowly, savoring one another, until she used my shoulders to push herself away.

"Thank you for believing in me." Her voice was shaky but filled with love.

My vision came back in time for me to see a sheepish smile spread across her face. She looked tired and pale, and more than a little clammy, but there was something in her eyes... Something about her had changed. It was as if a fire had been lit within her soul. I pulled her close and kissed her nose. "You were incredible. Absolutely incredible."

Cupping my cheek with her palm, she leaned forward and kissed me again... then wobbled and fell to her knees.

"Tris!" Vral rushed to Tristan's side, her eyes wide and frantic, and began searching the priestess for injuries. "Are you okay? Why did you fall? Did you get bitten? What do I need to do?!" Not waiting for an answer, she threw her arms around Tristan's neck and furiously kissed up and down her face. "Talk to me! I'll do whatever you need!"

"I know you will, Vral..." She smiled and leaned closer. "For now, this is all I need." Cupping Vral's cheeks, she pulled the goblin in for a long, slow kiss.

Vral squeaked, her eyes wide, and pressed her hands into Tristan's shoulders. But, slowly, her eyes softened, and the little goblin melted into the quarter-elf's kiss.

Na-Ya reached out and touched Tristan's shoulder.

[Healing Light]

A wave of soft, soothing light rippled from elf to quarter elf, returning some color to Tristan's cheeks.

"My edán..." Na-Ya's tone was soft. "I knew how talented you were, but... that was... something else..."

[Healing Light]

Another wave of light rippled between the women as Na-Ya knelt beside her cousin. Her spells were getting weaker, though. I was confident she didn't have much left in her.

Finally, pulling away from Vral, Tristan murmured, "Thank you, Na-Ya." She squeezed her cousin's hand before slumping against the wall. "I didn't know I had it in me..." Slipping into a cross-legged position, she looked at her hands, which were shaking now. "But when I saw that... thing... when I watched as it surrounded Alex, I just..." Her hands balled into fists. "I knew then what I was capable of. What I had to do."

Touching her fingers to her lips and with a broad, lopsided grin, Vral said, "I never knew someone could be so beautiful..." She looked up at me. "You saw that, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"We're lucky as hell." She sat next to Tristan and leaned her head on the priestess's shoulder.

"Very." I put a hand on her shoulder. "Very, very lucky."

Ro-Saleh shifted beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know we have a reprieve, brother, but we should go inspect the tunnels. There could be more."

"You're right." I engraved the view of my women in my memory before turning, but when I did, Faye cleared her throat.

"No need."

"Why not?" We'd just been balls deep in a horde of monsters, and Tristan was down for the count. Worse, Na-Ya didn't look much better. We couldn't do that again. "I don't understand."

Faye shook her head. "Beyond all reason, your partner just managed to cast a fifth circle spell." Her green eyes took Tristan in. "I don't know how she did it, but I'm confident this place is purified."

"Purified?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a powerful kind of divine magic that cleanses places tainted with black essence. By casting it here, this dungeon will stay clear for quite a while."

Na-Ya shook her head. "I can't even cast that spell."

"She told me which page to open to... told me how to cast it." Tristan yawned. "I felt so much power... so much light... I felt like I could have done anything... but I also felt like I could have burned away in an instant if I'd lost focus for a second..."

Wild. Magic was amazing.

Working the knots out of my shoulders, I asked, "Who told you? Faye?"

"No. The Goddess."

"The... the Goddess spoke to you?" Na-Ya asked.

"Yeah." Tristan yawned again. "But I didn't hear words. I heard... feelings, I guess. And I saw her standing beside me."

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"I don't know what to say." Na-Ya took her cousin's hand.

"I'm as confused as you are."

Not once had Faye's eyes left Tristan. "What's your sign, Tristan?"

Tristan looked at the Hero and cocked her head. "The Tower."

"Makes sense. Everyone born under the Tower has improved potential with the light." Faye stepped closer. "But that can't be all." Kneeling, she asked, "

"Who are your parents?"

"My mothers are Na-Liriel and Na-Raesha of Fael-Na."

"Which birthed you?"

"Na-Liriel."

"That makes you Ura-Elathiel's granddaughter, correct?"

"Yes."

"That... makes sense..." She stroked her chin. "And your father?"

"Um..." She looked at me, then back at Faye. "His name was Ander."

"Ander? Ander what?"

"Ander... of Llyn."

"Ander... the Hero of Llyn, Ander?"

"Y-yeah."

Faye's brow knitted, and she exhaled slowly before speaking again. "You're Ander's daughter, huh?" Faye looked taken aback. "I wasn't aware he'd had a child."

"I... I was young when he passed."

"A shame what happened. He was a good man." Faye took Tristan's hand. "I wish I'd gotten there sooner."

"You... you came back then? You knew what happened?"

"I did. Lady Varga sent me a raven, but by the time I got there, it was all over."

"I'd heard you finished off the rest of the bandits after we were freed." Na-Ya's expression was hard. "Good riddance."

Ro-Saleh spat but didn't say anything.

"I didn't know that." Tristan squeezed Faye's hand. "Thank you."

"Am I the only one who's out of the loop?" Vral was looking between all of us. "What the hell are you all talking about?" She looked at me. "Alex? Do you know anything?"

"I don't know either." I focused on Tristan. "But I do know that Tristan's been reluctant to talk about her past for a long time." Sighing, I added, "I'm not here to pry or prod. I never have. But... Now might be the time, Tris. If you're ready."

Tristan breathed deep. "When I was a girl, my dad was my hero. He told me stories about a faraway world, where the magic was so different, and the culture was so unique. I dreamed of going there." She paused, her eyes distant. "He promised to take me to Alderwood for my eighth birthday. I always wanted to go. It was this amazing place with fairs and rides and performers from all over the kingdom. I'd never been so excited about anything in my life."

Na-Ya's grip on her cousin's hand tightened. "I couldn't wait to share it with you."

"I know." She smiled a sad smile at Na-Ya and continued, "But he had a quest to finish first," Tristan continued, her voice steady. "So he sent Na-Ya and me ahead with some of his allies from the Adventurer's Guild. Two warriors, a ranger, and a mage. Good people. Strong people. I can still see them sometimes when I sleep." Her jaw clenched. "They weren't enough."

I moved closer and sat beside her.

"We were maybe half a day from Alderwood when they hit us. Bandits. Dozens of them. Dad's friends fought hard, but there were too many. When they were overwhelmed, Na-Ya stepped in and fought, too." She looked at Na-Ya. "You were incredible."

"I tried," Na-Ya whispered. "I tried so hard."

"I know you did, edán." Tristan squeezed her cousin's hand. "Na-Ya killed four of them before they overwhelmed her." She looked at Na-Ya again. "I watched you take a mace to the ribs and still keep fighting. You were... you were everything I wanted to be."

Vral pressed closer to Tristan's side.

"After the battle, they captured us both, and they killed everyone else." Tristan's voice went flat. "They threw us in cages on the back of a wagon and laughed about the ransom they'd get for an elf and a quarter-elf. About what they'd do to us if the ransom didn't come fast enough."

My stomach twisted.

"But I never stopped believing," she said, and for the first time since she'd started talking, a small smile touched her lips. "I knew my dad would come. I knew it with every fiber of my being. And three days later, he did."

Faye was watching Tristan with an intensity I didn't often see from the Hero.

"He came alone. Just him, walking into their camp like he owned the whole place. He was covered in blood and dirt, and he looked like he'd fought through the Depths themselves to get to us.

"Because he had," Faye whispered.

"I didn't know that." Tristan's voice cracked. "He demanded they let us go. When they put a knife to our necks, he told them he'd give them anything they wanted. His gear. His gold. Everything." She paused for a good minute before continuing. "The bandit leader was a sick bastard. He laughed and told my dad he could have one of us back. But he had to choose." The words came out hollow now. "His niece. His daughter. Or himself."

"I'd have killed them all," Vral grumbled.

"And there were rules. If he chose Na-Ya or me, the other would die. If he chose himself..." Tristan's hands began to shake again. "If he chose himself, we both lived. But he had to do it. Right there. In front of us."

Na-Ya was crying now, silent tears streaming down her face.

"I remember him looking at me. At Na-Ya. Back at me. I could see it breaking him. I could see him trying to find another way, any other way." Tristan's voice was barely a whisper. "But there wasn't one. The captain was someone high up in the Crimson Kingdom. Dad wasn't fast enough. So he smiled at us. Told us he loved us. Told us we'd be okay. That we were strong enough to survive anything." She swallowed hard. "Then he drew his dagger and drove it into his own heart."

I pulled her close, and she didn't resist.

"The bandits laughed. They laughed as he fell. Then, as he bled out. I broke free from the cage... somehow... and ran to him. Held him. His blood was everywhere, and he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand. The words wouldn't come."

Faye's expression was stricken. "Tristan..."

"Na-Ya was screaming. They were dragging her away. I wanted to help, but I couldn't leave him. I couldn't..." Her voice broke completely now. "And then there was this sound. Like thunder. The ground shook, and suddenly they were there."

"I remember it still," Ro-Saleh said quietly. "We killed many that night."

"You cut through them like they were nothing."

Ro-Saleh nodded slowly. "They were less than nothing."

"The battle didn't last long. When it was over, Ro carried Na-Ya from where they'd dragged her. She was..." Tristan looked at her cousin again. "You were hurt so badly. Your face was swollen. Your arm was broken. I thought you were going to die, too."

"I'm here," Na-Ya said softly. "I'm right here."

"I know. I know." Tristan wiped her eyes. "My mothers arrived minutes later. They'd been riding all night. Mama Liriel collapsed when she saw me. Mama Raesha went straight to my father and started casting every healing spell she knew. But he was already gone."

Faye closed her eyes. "I didn't know the whole story. When I arrived, the survivors were only just rallying. I ended them."

Tristan nodded. "Then Lady Varga came. She was this... this presence. Like the Goddess herself had come. She knelt beside my father and placed her hands on his chest, and I swear I felt the world shift." Tristan's voice grew stronger. "And he came back. Just for a moment. His eyes opened, and he looked at my mothers. At me. He told us he loved us. That he'd love us forever. That we were his everything."

My throat was tight. I couldn't imagine watching the ones I loved die like that. And I especially couldn't imagine dying, knowing that I was leaving them behind.

"Then, he was gone. Really gone. No magic could bring him back again." Tristan wiped her cheeks. "Lady Varga held me while I cried. Told me my father was a hero. That his sacrifice was an act of pure love. And when I finally stopped crying, when I could finally breathe again, I looked up at her and told her I wanted to go with her. That I wanted to become a priestess. That I wanted to serve the Goddess who my father had served."

"That's how you ended up at the temple?" I always wondered.

"Yeah. Lady Varga accepted me right then. Na-Ya too. My mothers didn't want me to go. Wanted me to stay home, to heal, to be a child." Tristan smiled sadly. "But I couldn't. I couldn't imagine not doing for someone else what was done for me. So I went to Light's Hope Temple, and I trained. And I prayed. And I promised the Goddess that I would never let anyone else die the way my father did. That I would protect the weak. That I would be the light in the darkness."

She looked around at all of us.

"I think that's why I cast that spell. Why I could cast it even though I shouldn't have been able to." Her eyes met mine. "Because when I saw that thing surrounding you, Alex, I saw my father dying all over again. And I knew I had the power to stop it. To save you. To save all of us." Her smile was radiant despite the tears still on her cheeks. "And I'd do it again. A thousand times over. Because you're my family. All of you. And I won't lose any of you the way I lost him."

Not knowing what to say, all I could do was pull her close.

Vral shuffled closer, and Na-Ya and Ro-Saleh both sat with us, too.

For one brief moment, we were one big family, connecting and grieving and loving one another in the world below.

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