Chapter 9: A Fall
Ariana watched as Simon and his shadow disappeared up the staircase. A cold chill came through her body as she noticed Lilith staring at her. Remembering the dream she had she looked at Lilith with wide eyes. She tried not to show her fear. "You . . . The dream. That was you." "Yes my dear I am your shadow. I have much to thank you for." Lilith said with a smile. Ariana wanted to run but there was no where to go. She knew her life was in danger here and something had to be done. She did not want to fall under the spell again of the evil that had plagued her. Feeling unsure and scared she stood her ground as best she could. Lilith kept her smile and started to move toward Ariana. She could feel the fear in Ariana and it felt good to her. She toyed with her like a cat playing with its meal. She felt powerful now and in control. She was her own entity now and wanted to stay that way. Only one thing stood in her way . . . Ariana. Ariana Stepped back, trying to keep a safe distance away from her. Anger was surfacing from inside her. Anger from being used, from feeling trapped, and from not knowing what may await her now. She shielded herself so the darkness would not enter. She had to face this evil and find a way to be free from its grasp. "You have fed me well Darling. You gave me the strength I needed to become what you see before you." Lilith told Ariana. "You are a monster. I did not want this. I did not want to create you." "But you did. And have you seen yourself lately dear? You seem moret he monster than I." The statement cut Ariana to the soul. She did feel like a monster and not like the person she longed to be. She listened to the truth of what Lilith was saying. ‘Can it be that she is right? That I am a monster.' Doubt started to penetrate the mental shield and seep through to her being. Then a thought came to her and she smiled. "If what you say is true and we are from the same place. Then we cannot live without the other. You can't kill me, I can't have you destroyed. We need another. You can't have the day without the dark. I am the day and you are the dark." Ariana said profoundly. This stopped Lilith in her tracks. She liked what she heard and wanted so much to kill Ariana for all the trouble she caused her. She knew that somehow she was right. They had to exist together. "I feel you and know what you are to me. I may not like it but that is the way it is. You are and will always be a part of me. We are connected by something only the gods understand. Never being truly separated nor together." Ariana said further in hopes that she could reason with her. "My dear I believe you have a good point. Is there an answer to our riddle? The riddle we call life." Ariana looked at Lilith without emotion. Focusing on the idea of being like the light and dark. Energy streamed from her fingers and into the air in front of them. "What happens if we combine our energy? We would still be ourselves but the power of both would be available for us both. This new energy could be used for many things and neither of us would get hurt. No one would be in control but able to guide the other." Ariana continued her stream of energy hoping Lilith would join hers. Lilith seeing the soundness of this and wanting to keep living as a person agreed. She let her energy make contact with Ariana's and become something else all together. She felt the power that she craved and wanted more so she fed more into it. Ariana put more into it as needed, keeping it equal. The streams of energy became a ball and encompassed both of them. It was not dark nor light, good nor bad, just the two of them and their magic. Everything and nothing surrounded them, pushing and pulling them into one mass. A blinding light flared and then darkness came over everything. When Ariana opened her eyes, she was standing on the floor in an open stance. Lilith she could feel within her but no longer atruggling. She sensed she was content and safe from harm. She decided to go find Simon.Simon reached inside Shadow's mind and pulled his mind in after him. There was a place he could go that they would be on equal ground . . . and suddenly he was there: a blank-walled room. Shadow stood glaring two feet away, and Simon felt buoyed by the magic he had brought in with him.
"What are you expecting me to do? Keel over and die?" Shadow stepped to the side. "I'm a little too vigorous for that yet."
"No, just expecting you to see what's really going on here." Simon replied, and stepped back half a step. "We're supposed to destroy each other."
"You are mad, Simon. I'm going to win when we finally fight."
"No, you fail to grasp what I know and you don't." Simon paused. "That as equals and opposites, we will simply obliterate each other and a good deal of this world with us."
Shadow watched him warily. "You have proof?"
"You know what proof I have! You know anything and everything I do about magic. All you need to do is think long and hard about it."
Shadow nodded, and apparently thought on it. Then he sighed. "What other options do you offer me?"
"Join me and let's work together rather than against each other. You know we were more powerful as a whole, even before you began to exist." Simon spread his hands. "You are a part of me."
Shadow hung his head. "It seems I have no choice. I can't run from you, that I know. I can't defeat you, if what you say is true. Therefore, the only way to win is to surrender." He threw up his hands. "Then let us be damned together." He reached out and took Simon's hand . . .
Simon awoke and opened his eyes. Where Shadow had been only a wisp of black smoke remained. He searched his mind and found him, sulking in the corner he went to when he wasn't needed. Leave me alone, I've given you everything I had.
He nodded. "Now, what about Ariana and Lilith?" He turned and watched as Gevillan roared in pain and confusion. Simon watched the magic fade away; Lilith must have been defeated as well. He saw Ariana emerge uncertainly from a doorway in the courtyard.
Gevillan spotted her and then Dreamspinner. "You tricked me!" He was starting to fall, torn wings flapping as the air pushed through the tears. His wounds had apparently aught up with him.
"The Gift is a Curse when misused! Gevillan, let it go." The blue dragon grabbed Gevillan and tried to slow his fall. "Let the Crystal go, Gevillan!"
"You were going to destroy the Island! It was the only way . . ."
"Let it go! You have gotten all you can from it." Dreamspinner was helped as Dreamer and Aurous grabbed Gevillan's foreclaws and pulled up. Then two other dragons came from the courtyard: Maiya and Ilth. They tried as well to hold Gevillan up, and Timat moved under him, trying to support his bulk from underneath.
The white dragon's eyes cleared suddenly. "I was wrong! I was wrong . . . take it back, and try to fix the damage I caused. The Isle must go on . . ." Then he became quieter, and his eyes drooped. "It . . . must not . . . fail."
Simon watched as Gevillan hit at last, and the dragons that had been trying to save him moved around him. Then there was a flash of purple light, and the Crystal began to glow. Gevillan's body seemed to shrink, to shrivel up. Then his scales and flesh began to vanish, until only a skeleton was left. The Crystal was loosely embedded in the skull.
He breathed out a sigh, and leaned on the edge of the wall. "It's over." Then he looked up to see Ariana approached Dreamspinner and Gevillan's skeleton. Warnings began to go off in his mind, and he stood alert again. What was going to happen.
Shadow's voice whispered to him, "Simon, watch . . . Lilith knew . . . watch." Then he fell silent. Simon chewed his lip thoughtfully, and at last realized what he meant. Dreamspinner walked over to Gevillan's skeleton and paused. Then he reached down and plucked the Crystal from the skull, turning to face Ariana.
"NO!"
Dreamspinner looked over his shoulder at them, a tired look. "I must." Then he shoved the Crystal at Ariana, causing her to hold it in her hands. The light that had been moving to encompass her burst out in a radient flash and she let out a small scream. Suddenly she seemed far away, and Simon could feel her terror from where he stood.
Then, as if things weren't going strangely enough, she began to grow larger. The Crystal seemed an amythest jewel alive with fire as she held it closer to her. She screamed again, a scream of loathing and fear. He watched as she cast around, seeing everyone but not understanding. A strange insanity flickered in her eyes and she turned to look at everyone. Then she screamed again and reared up on her hind legs, kicking at the air. When she fell back down, Simon felt a barely perceptible shake.
Then she turned to face Simon, and screeched something worldess. She was already more than twice as large as she had been, and she charged at him. He dove aside, but she jumped at the last moment, over the wall behind him and off into the woods. As he watched her gallop off, he noticed she had not stopped changing at all.
He stood, and turned to Dreamspinner. "What have you done?"
"What had to be." Dreamspinner looked as surprised as Simon, and Timat was speechless.
"You don't know what you did, do you? Dream, she was horrified of changing again, and what happened now is beyond what she wanted. Fool!"
"Simon . . ."
"She'll probably go mad now! The only thing keeping her from doing anything about these changes was the her belief that she could return. Now . . ."
"Simon!" Dreamspinner sharply cut in, glaring at him. "Before you judge me, go after her. Find out what I did that for, at least. It's good for her and for all of us."
"I think it's best for you." Simon turned and rushed along the trail that Ariana had left, wondering if he was going to find her or Lilith in control. He hoped neither, knowing what Ariana would probably be thinking.
"I'm a monster." She thought it out loud, galloping through the woods as she felt the power at work inside her, causing changes she didn't want. There was a voice inside her that echoed her thoughts exactly.
"You're a monster, Ariana. Accept it."
"No, there has to be a way back . . ."
"There isn't." A mocking laugh echoed in her ears. "I should know. They all used you, Ariana, and then left you like a piece of trash."
Ariana shook her head, stopping. "No. They're my friends . . ."
"Monsters have no friends." The laugh was bitter. "You lost them a long time ago. You aren't even Ariana anymore, but a freak of nature."
She screamed, seeing the truth in that statement. She wasn't the woman she had seen in the mirror only a week before, she wasn't Ariana anymore. She was changed beyond what she thought was possible, and the power was still burning it's way through her. She didn't even want to think of what she looked like now.
"A monster." The voice seemed closer now. "That's what you are. Accept it, and then you can begin anew."
"I don't want to begin again! I don't want this!"
"You have it anyway, and where are your friends to save you. It's as it always was . . . used by the gods, used by Simon . . . used by everyone."
"No." She felt the truth in that and was shocked.
"Just a tool . . . Ariana Tryken was just a tool. But now you can be more than that . . . a tool that cuts the hand of the user." The voice seemed to read her mind, attacking the things she was thinking.
She shook her head, but she knew that it wouldn't go away. "Where are you Simon?" She opened her eyes and she felt tears on her face. "Where are you when I need you?"
"Ari!" The shout came from a ledge to her left, and she looked over there. Simon was standing there, waving his arms. He looked so small . . . she was revolted by that thought, reminded of what she was and what was happening.
"Go away, Simon . . . please leave me be."
"No! You can beat this, Ari! You're in control of this power; the power is not in control of you."
"Would you bet on that, little man?" She heard herself ask that question and flung out an arm, unable to stop herself. A bolt of energy flew at him, shattering the mountainside behind him. He dived away and stood again. "Ariana is too weak to control this wondrous power, so I chose to control it for both of us."
"Ariana! I know you're in there! Fight her, Ari! You can control yourself now!" He stood up. "Lilith's part of you now, as Shadow is a part of me. You have to fight her to control yourself!"
"Enough of this. I was thinking of keeping you alive to amuse me and torture her as our destiny unfolded, but now I think I'll simply crush you under my foot . . . hoof." She felt herself approaching, and wildly sought around for some handhold to use against Lilith.
"No!" The word exploded out of her and she felt herself stop, and back up. She turned herself away, holding the Crystal. "He's a friend. I won't let you harm him."
"Fool! He started all this! Don't you realize that he has control over your mind and feelings even now?"
"I have control over myself!" Ariana drew in the power and held it, illuminating her spirit. She felt Lilith recoil in terror and let it shine into herself. The dark spot on her soul, the hole in her heart, seemed to flee from the light, but there was no hiding now; not anymore. She felt and heard an otherworldly scream, and opened her eyes. Her back was turned to Simon, but she saw a shadow hovering in the air. It had her face and was twisting, trying to escape the light that was surrounding it. Then it was gone, no more.
Simon spoke up. "Well done, Ariana." She turned and saw he was smiling. "Are you well?"
She thought on that, for a moment, and nodded. "Yes." She felt enormous, but no longer awkward or out of place; no more doubts as to who and what she was. "I feel fine."
Simon looked at her for a long, silent moment. "You did it." He pointed to her hand. "You fixed the Spectrum Crystal." True enough, the Crystal was glowing a soft white rather than the harsh blue she remembered. "But now what?"
She thought for a long moment. "I think I know."
"Are we going to go back, then?"
"Not just yet." She looked into the Crystal, remembering what she had read in the book: 'The Spectrum Crystal has the power to restore, to bind, or to Gift those worthy with it's power. The origins are unknown, but it has two sides as does everything. Restoration is only possible if the one to be restored wishes it to be so. Otherwise, there may be no change made.' She smiled and gazed into the Crystal. "Restore me, please."
The Crystal pulsed once and then a voice spoke in her mind. "Remember, then, what the price of ultimate power was, and that you would not pay it. Remember Ariana, that you are pure of heart, and you will never be loathed except by those that live in the darkness." She felt something enter her, and then nothingness.
She opened her eyes, and smiled. She was standing in front of Simon, not looking down at him like she had become used to doing, but eye-to-eye. "I'm back."
"Welcome back, my friend." Simon embraced her gently, then released her. "Welcome back, Ari. I'm sorry you had to give it up."
"Give what up?" She smiled. "I didn't give anything up."
"But . . . you . . . the light . . " He seemed confused.
"About the only thing I gave up was the quickest way to get back to the others." She laughed. "Though I think that's something that could be mine again if I wanted it enough."
He smiled again. "Then let me?" He stepped back and closed his eyes. Almost immediately, he was replaced by a green and red dragon twelve feet long, looking at her with a smile. "Climb on."
"You little wretch." She was laughing as she said it. "How long have you had this secret?"
"Quite a while, actually . . . this morning, I think." He chuckled as she climbed on. "But there was never a reason to use it."
"Not even against Shadow, or Lilith?" She asked as he launched himself into the air.
"No, that was your fight with Lilith. I couldn't fight it for you. And if I fought Shadow as a dragon, I'd have been forced to remain one." He turned and smiled back at her. "While it isn't bad, it's not something I look forward to."
"Why not?" She asked. "I can't think of anything better for you, Simon."
He laughed again, and let out a sigh. "Why did you not want to be a giant? Or a centaur? Or a giant centaur?" She smacked him lightly at that, and he chuckled. "The truth is, I'm more comfortable as a human. That's what I am, I finally realized."
She smiled to herself. "So what about Shadow?"
He responded lightly, "What about him?"
"Shouldn't you be trying to hunt him down?"
"No. He's already destroyed and gone, Ari. A part of me, I said. That's how he began, and that's how he ended. Just a part of a whole."
She smiled, and said nothing. Lilith, she wondered, was part of her as well? She answered herself; no, not anymore. When she had blasted the shadow to nothingness, she had also blasted apart the dark spot on her soul.
Then Simon asked, "So you still have the power you had before?"
"Want to find out?" She asked mischeviously, and smiled.
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