The Temple of Dawn lay in ruins behind them, its once-proud pillars reduced to smoldering rubble. Vivi staggered backward, Pell's arm steadying her, while Yazen clutched a fractured astrolabe, his face ashen. The desert air crackled with residual energy, the ground still trembling from the collapse.
Then, he emerged.
Kael Duneshade stood atop a shattered arch, his body a grotesque fusion of flesh and molten gold. The relic embedded in his chest pulsed like a dying star, its tendrils of light clawing up his throat and etching his eyes with solar fire. His voice echoed, layered with the relic's hollow timbre: "Princess… you are the key."
Pell stood, back straight, muscles tensed, scimitar drawn. "Stand down! Whoever you are!"
Kael's relic-arm twisted into a blade of crystallized sand and flame. "There is no purpose. Only the Judge."
The clang of steel against molten gold filled the air as Pell and Kael engaged in a fierce duel. Each of Pell's swift strikes was met with the unyielding resilience of Kael's relic-enhanced body. Sparks flew, illuminating the dusk, fierce flashes as Pell's scimitar met the crystalline edge of Kael's sand-flame blade.
Pell's muscles strained with every powerful swing, his eyes locked onto the twisted visage of Kael, searching for a weakness. But Kael moved like a phantom, his body imbued with the elemental fury of the desert itself. The relic in Kael's chest throbbed, casting an eerie glow that filled the air with oppressive heat.
Kael's strikes were devastating, each one a calculated blend of strength and supernatural force. His blade sliced through the air with a hiss, carving through the space where Pell had stood moments before. Pell's reflexes were sharp, but the relentless assault forced him into a defensive stance, his scimitar barely holding under the weight of each impact. The clash was brief, brutal. Pell's strikes glanced off Kael's molten armor, each parry sending shockwaves of heat rippling through the air.
Vivi lunged to help, but Yazen yanked her back. "His body is a conduit now—you can't reason with him!"
Kael moved like a sandstorm, relentless and untouchable. His relic-blade shattered Pell's scimitar, the force hurling the falcon warrior. The impact was like being struck by a comet. Pell's body was lifted off the ground, spinning through the air with a force that stole his breath. Sand and heat swirled around him in a disorienting blur, the world reduced to a chaotic maelstrom of flaxen particles. His back slammed into the side of a dune with a bone-jarring thud, the sand collapsing around him in a gritty embrace.
Yazen raised the astrolabe like a shield, but Kael swatted it aside, the device exploding into shards.
Vivi stood her ground, her voice trembling but defiant. "Fight it! You're stronger than this!" Her heart pounded as she stood firm, her feet digging into the scorching sands. Her hands clenched into fists, knuckles white with determination. She felt the weight of her heritage, the blood of Nefeltari royalty coursing through her veins, lending her strength. Despite the searing pain from the relic's energy, her resolve didn't waver.
Her voice, though trembling, carried a note of unyielding defiance. "I won't let you destroy everything we've fought for!" she shouted, her eyes blazing with desperate fury. "You're stronger than this! Fight it!"
For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Vivi's words pierced through the cacophony of battle, reaching the part of Kael that still remembered the man he used to be. His human eye flickered, a brief glimmer of emotion breaking through the cold, calculated fury of the relic's control. A torrent of memories surged within him—faces, voices, promises made long ago. He saw himself not as the relentless blade of destruction, but as a protector, a guardian of his people.
The relic's grip on his mind wavered, its oppressive light dimming. Kael's hand trembled, the blade of crystallized sand and flame faltering for just a heartbeat. "Princess… run…" he managed to rasp, his voice cracking with the weight of suppressed anguish. In that instant, Kael's human side fought desperately against the relic's consuming influence, battling for control over his own flesh and soul.
But the respite was fleeting. The relic roared, its light surging. "SILENCE."
A whip of golden sand lashed out, binding Vivi's wrists. She screamed as the relic's energy seared her skin, her blood—Nefeltari blood—sizzling against the restraints.
"Let her go!" Pell charged, weaponless, but Kael flicked his wrist. A cyclone roared to life around Pell and Yazen, an unrelenting storm of blistering heat and razor-sharp grains of sand. Visibility vanished in an instant, replaced by a whirling void of golden fury. Pell struggled to breathe, every gasp filling his lungs with scorching air that seared his throat and chest. He shielded his face with his arms, feeling the sting of the sand slicing into his exposed skin like countless tiny daggers.
Yazen, caught in the same maelstrom, tried to call out, but his voice was drowned by the deafening howl of the storm. He clung to a fragment of ancient stone, his fingers raw and bleeding from the abrasive assault. The heat was unbearable, the air shimmering with the intensity of a forge. Each second felt like an eternity as the cyclone seemed to tighten its grip, pressing in on them from all sides.
The force of the vortex lifted them off their feet, spinning them through the air with a savage ferocity. Sand filled every crevice of their clothing, grating against their skin, their eyes forced shut to avoid the blinding torment. Their bodies were battered, tossed around like ragdolls in the grip of a merciless giant. Desperation clawed at their minds, the relentless storm threatening to strip away their very essence.
Pell's thoughts raced, searching for any means of escape, but the cyclone held them prisoner, its fury unyielding. Yazen's grip on the stone finally slipped, and he was flung into the storm's heart, his cries lost in the cacophony. The world was a blur of whirling sand and suffocating heat, a relentless torrent that seemed to sap their strength with each passing moment.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the cyclone dissipated, leaving them buried and gasping. The scorching winds faded into an eerie silence, the desert once more a still and desolate expanse. Pell and Yazen lay partly submerged in the sand, their bodies aching and their breaths ragged, the remnants of the storm lingering in the air like a haunting memory.
Vivi's heart pounded in her chest as she watched the chaos unfold around her, the relentless force of the relic's power tearing through friend and foe alike. She knew she had to act quickly, but her options were limited, her movements restrained by the searing binds of golden sand. She struggled against her bonds, her thoughts racing, searching for any glimmer of hope in the overwhelming darkness.
The storm's sudden cessation left an eerie silence in its wake, broken only by the labored breaths of the fallen. Vivi's eyes darted around, desperately seeking a way to free herself. She could see Pell and Yazen, battered but alive, their determination unbroken despite the torment they had endured.
She called out, her voice straining against the oppressive weight of the relic's influence. "You don't have to do this. Remember who you are. Remember what you stand for."
For a fleeting moment, she saw a flicker of recognition in Kael's eyes, a spark of the man he once was. But it was quickly extinguished by the relic's unrelenting grip, its malevolent light casting a haunting glow over his features.
With a final, desperate effort, Vivi summoned all her strength, focusing on the memory of those she loved and the promises she had made. She could not let their sacrifices be in vain. As the relic tightened its hold, she steeled herself for the battle ahead, knowing that every moment counted.
Kael loomed over her, his relic-hand cradling her chin. "The oasis awaits. Your blood will birth a new dawn."
Kael dragged Vivi northwest, the desert itself bending to his will. Dunes flattened into glassy plains, and skeletal ruins reassembled into jagged monuments as they passed. Vivi's mind raced—the Mother Flame Oasis. Yazen had mentioned it in his ramblings. A place where stars and sand conspired.
She twisted in his grip. "Why are you doing this? The relic's using you!"
"Using? No. We are… perfected." Kael's voice fractured, the relic's will devouring his last shreds of humanity. "Your lineage abandoned the flame. We will correct their weakness."
Vivi's pendant—a sun disc gifted by Koza—dug into her chest. Luffy… where are you? But the Straw Hats were oceans away. This was her fight.
Pell clawed free of the sand, coughing ash and blood. Nearby, Yazen lay pinned under rubble, his leg twisted at a sickening angle. "Yazen! Where's Vivi?!"
"Gone," the scholar wheezed. "The relic took her… to the oasis. The convergence point." He fumbled a scorched scroll from his robes—a map fragment. "The Mother Flame lies here. We need—agh—help."
Pell hauled him upright. "Then we find it. And her."
As they approached the heart of the desert, the air grew thicker with magic and oppressive heat. Kael's grip tightened, his pace unrelenting. Vivi's mind churned, recalling Yazen's warnings about the relic's power. She had to find a way to break free, to stop this madness before it was too late.
Suddenly, a faint cry echoed across the dunes. Kael paused, his eyes narrowing. He glanced back, sensing the disturbance. Vivi took the opportunity to tug at her restraints, but they held firm.
In the distance, a falcon's shadow loomed nearer, growing larger with each beat of its wings. Pell's keen eyesight had spotted the shifting sands, the unnatural formations leading him straight to them. With Yazen clinging desperately to his back, they hurtled through the air towards the oasis.
Kael snarled, recognizing the approaching threat. "Your friends are persistent, but they cannot save you now."
Vivi's heart surged with hope at the sight of Pell. She knew that if anyone could turn the tide, it was him. But as Kael's power grew, so did her fears for their fate. She whispered a silent prayer to the Mother Flame, willing the stars and sand to aid them in this dire moment.
Miles east, Vaughn's boot crunched on a shard of glowing obsidian. "This way. The trail's fresh."
Charlie adjusted his cracked glasses, squinting at the sand. "Fascinating! These glass patterns—they're identical to Hasa'ir's ruins! The relic's energy is carving a path—"
"Save the lecture," Marya snapped, her mist swirling erratically. The closer they got to the relic's resonance, the louder the whispers in her skull grew. "Weak… unworthy…"
Vaughn knelt, brushing sand from a half-buried banner. "Someone else is tracking this thing. Recently."
A shadow passed overhead—Pell, soaring in falcon form, Yazen clinging to his back. The scholar spotted them and waved frantically. The desert sky darkened as Pell descended, his falcon wings kicking up a whirlwind of sand. Yazen tumbled from his grip, coughing and clutching a charred scroll. "You! Help us!" he croaked, pointing a trembling finger at Vaughn, Charlie, and Marya. "The Princess—has been taken, heading northwest! Have you seen any signs?"
Charlie's eyes lit up. "The bloodline catalyst! Of course! The convergence requires royal—"
Vaughn silenced him with a glare. His grip tightened on Light Bringer, his eyes narrowing at Pell's royal guard insignia. "Who are you to give us orders?"
Pell landed, his scimitar half-drawn. "Who are you to ask, and why are you skulking around ruins armed to the teeth."
Marya's mist coiled like a serpent. Shifting her weight, "We're hunting. It sounds like it might be the same thing that took your princess."
Charlie slid his glasses up and stepped between them. "It's a relic—it's called the Judge. It's part of a triad linked to the Mother Flame. If it reaches the oasis with the princess, the entire desert could—"
"Enough." Pell's blade flicked toward Charlie's throat. "You know too much. Who are you?"
Vaughn's axe intercepted the strike, steel ringing. "We're the ones who'll stop the relic if you get out of our way."
Yazen staggered to his feet, waving the scroll. "The oasis isn't just a location—it's a celestial lock! Vivi's blood is the key to opening it, but the ritual requires all three relics! The Judge, the Guardian, and—"
"The Purifier," Charlie interrupted, adjusting his glasses. "But your hypothesis is flawed. The texts describe the Mother Flame as a stabilizing force, not a weapon. The relic isn't seeking to 'open' anything—it's trying to rebalance!"
"Rebalance?!" Yazen spat. "You think incinerating villages is balance? The flame is a judge—it purges the unworthy!"
Marya's mist flared flaxen at the edges, power resonance gnawing at her control. Her eyes flickered with an inner turmoil, glints of gold sparking within the depths of her irises. Her mist trembled, the flaxen edges wavering as though caught in a tempest, betraying the strain beneath her composed facade. Each breath she drew seemed to battle against the force gnawing at her core, the power resonating through every fiber of her being, threatening to surge beyond her control.
She clenched her jaw, willing herself to harness the chaotic energy, to bend it to her will. Her fingers twitched, the mist coiling and uncoiling like a serpent ready to strike, a vivid manifestation of the constant struggle within. "Argue later. The sand's shifting." She nodded to the horizon, where a wall of gilded sandstorm churned—Kael's path, warping the desert itself.
Pell glared at Vaughn. "If you betray us, I'll carve your spine into a sundial."
Vaughn smirked. "If you slow us down, I'll feed you to the sandstalkers."
Charlie clasped Yazen's shoulder, ignoring the scholar's flinch. "We'll combine our notes. Your celestial maps, my reactor schematics. Together, we can predict the oasis's exact coordinates."
Yazen yanked free. "Your 'schematics' are heretical nonsense. The ancients weren't engineers—they were diviners!"
"And yet here we are," Marya muttered, "chasing a sun god with a PhD."
As the merged group trekked northwest, the desert seemed to conspire against them. Glassy sand sliced their boots, and mirages of Kael's golden eyes flickered at the edge of sight. A haunting apparition, shimmering like liquid gold against the undulating sands. They appeared sporadically, flickering just at the periphery of their vision, like phantoms conjured by the desert's cruel magic. The eyes were not mere illusions, but projections of Kael's relentless presence, his power bleeding into the fabric of reality. They burned with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the very soul, casting an eerie, omniscient gaze over the group.
As they pressed on, these spectral eyes seemed to multiply, each one a silent harbinger of the trials that lay ahead. The golden orbs glowed with an unnatural light, their radiance undimmed by the swirling sand and the encroaching darkness. They were a constant reminder of the force they were up against, a warning that Kael was always watching, ever close, and that his influence extended far beyond the physical realm.
Despite the oppressive heat and the biting wind, a chill ran down Marya's spine each time she glimpsed the golden eyes. It was as if the desert itself was alive, a sentient entity conspiring to test their resolve and unravel their unity. Yet, amid the fear and uncertainty, the group forged ahead, driven by the unspoken understanding that their fate—and perhaps the fate of the world—hung in the balance.
Pell flew ahead, scouting, while Vaughn matched Marya's pace. "That power's got its claws in you, doesn't it?" he said lowly.
She flexed her mist-wreathed hand. "Not anymore."
"Liar."
She didn't deny it.
Charlie and Yazen's voices rose in heated debate over their interpretations of the codex and the mosaic.
"You're completely missing the point," Charlie insisted, waving the ancient codex in frustration. "The codex clearly outlines a mechanical process. Look at the diagrams—they're blueprints, not star charts!"
Yazen snorted, shaking his head. "Those 'blueprints' are abstract representations of celestial movements. The mosaic corresponds to constellations and planetary alignments. The ancients were mapping the heavens, not building machines!"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You're so blinded by your stars, you can't see what's right in front of you. The mosaic's symbols match the components in the codex. Together, they form a schematic for accessing the oasis."
"Heretical nonsense!" Yazen barked. "Trying to force your mechanical interpretations on sacred divination is sacrilege!"
"And ignoring the practical application of these designs is just plain ignorance," Charlie retorted. "The ancients were engineers and diviners. They combined science and mysticism to create these artifacts."
Yazen's eyes narrowed. "We'll see who's right when we reach the oasis. But mark my words, your mechanical approach will lead us to ruin."
Behind them, Charlie and Yazen's bickering faded into the growl of the approaching storm. The oasis awaited. So did the reckoning—the stars above pulsed in unison—a celestial countdown. Somewhere ahead, Kael marched, Vivi in tow, the relic's song drowning his screams. The Mother Flame Oasis awaited. And in its heart, a choice: salvation or annihilation.
The group trekked onward, their tensions simmering beneath the surface, as the storm's fury began to encroach upon them. Every step brought them closer to the oasis, the uncertainty of what awaited gnawing at each member. Charlie and Yazen's disagreement hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the different paths they believed would lead to the same destination.
As the first sight of the Mother Flame Oasis broke through the desert's veil, a sense of both awe and dread enveloped them. The ancient pool shimmered with an otherworldly light, its mysteries poised to reveal either triumph or catastrophe. The air grew thick with anticipation, the significance of their arrival sinking in.
Kael, driven by a force greater than himself, pressed forward with a singular purpose. While the relic's song guided his steps, the others quickened their pace, driven by their resolve to thwart whatever dark purpose the relic harbored.
The reconciliation of their interpretations could wait no longer—the oasis stood before them, demanding resolution. In the face of such an ancient and powerful enigma, they would have to reconcile their differences or face the possibility of losing everything.
With the oasis looming large, the group steeled themselves for what was to come, the weight of their mission pressing down on them like the very sand beneath their feet.
The Mother Flame Oasis emerged from the desert haze like a mirage made flesh—a crescent pool of water reflecting the star-strewn sky, surrounded by crumbling obelisks etched with Void Century glyphs. At its center stood Kael, Vivi bound in chains of molten sand, the relic in his chest pulsing in time with the oasis's eerie glow.
"Stop!" Pell's roar echoed across the water as the group surged forward.
Kael turned, his golden eye flaring. "You are too late. The covenant begins."
The golden grains of sand writhed and twisted as if imbued with a life of their own, coalescing into sinuous, serpentine shapes. Each form elongated and expanded, their bodies undulating with a hypnotic rhythm. From their jagged maws, a fierce, incandescent light flickered—solar fire crackling and dancing like miniature suns trapped within their gaping mouths. These fiery serpents, born of the desert itself, radiated an intense heat, their every movement accompanied by the hiss and crackle of burning air. The sheer ferocity of their presence transformed the tranquil oasis into a battleground, their serpentine lethality poised to strike and consume all who dared to challenge the ancient powers at play.
Marya dissolved into mist, weaving through the onslaught, Eternal Night slashing at Kael's flank. The relic-arm parried, their clash scattering embers into the pool—each drop hissing into steam. She moved with the fluid grace of a shadow, her form dissolving into mist to evade the fiery serpentine onslaught. Eternal Night sliced through the air with deadly intention toward Kael. The relic-arm, a grotesque fusion of metal and flesh, darted to intercept, the clash of blade and relic igniting a shower of embers. The sparks cascaded into the shimmering crescent pool, each ember sizzling into steam upon contact with the water's surface. The air crackled with the intensity of their duel, the ancient oasis bearing silent witness to the cataclysmic struggle.
Vaughn and Pell stood as twin pillars of resilience amidst the chaos, their movements synchronized through the intuition of countless battles fought. Vaughn's Light Bringer, flared with a radiant Haki hue, each swing carving arcs of searing light through the air. Sand beasts lunged at them, their serpentine forms undulating with menacing grace, but they were met with the unyielding force of Vaughn's blade.
Pell, with his scimitar gleaming under the eerie glow of the oasis, moved with the precision of a master swordsman. His strikes were a blur of lethal efficiency, each motion designed to decapitate or dismember the sand constructs swarming around them. The two warriors complemented each other perfectly—Vaughn's brute strength and fiery onslaught balancing Pell's agile and calculated strikes.
"You're slowing me down, birdman!" Vaughn snarled.
"Says the man with the decoration for a weapon!" Pell shot back, severing a serpent's head.
Charlie and Yazen darted to the obelisks, their feud momentarily silenced by urgency. "The glyphs—they're a counter-ritual!" Yazen cried. "We can disrupt the relic's tether!"
"No, you fool—it's a stabilization matrix!" Charlie argued, scribbling calculations. "We need to overload it, not coddle it!"
Vivi twisted in her bonds, her voice cutting through the chaos. "The relic's lying to you! It doesn't want to save Alabasta—it wants to replace it!"
For a heartbeat, Kael faltered. His human eye met hers, fractured but present. "Princess… I can't… stop…"
The relic shrieked, its light burning brighter. "SILENCE."
A shockwave erupted, hurling Marya and Pell into the dunes. Vaughn barely kept his footing, Light Bringer's Haki hue guttering.
"Now!" Charlie shouted, slamming his palm onto a glyph.
Yazen did the same, grudgingly. "For the princess, not your ego!"
The air grew heavy with the scent of ozone as the obelisks pulsed with newfound energy. Ancient symbols carved into their stone faces glowed with an ethereal light, casting long shadows that danced across the sands. The beam of starlight intensified, its brilliance almost blinding as it pierced through the heavens.
As the water of the oasis churned and frothed, steam billowed upwards in ghostly tendrils, obscuring the shimmering surface. The relic's glow wavered, its once steady light now erratic and desperate. Cracks began to spiderweb across its crystalline form, releasing bursts of raw, untamed magic.
The obelisks' hum grew louder, resonating deep within the earth, echoing through the bones of all present. The ground beneath their feet trembled, and the temperature soared, the heat from the boiling oasis becoming almost unbearable. The relic's shrieks of protest mingled with the cacophony, a chorus of defiance and desperation. In that moment, the balance of power shifted, the forces at play teetering on the edge of chaos and order.
Kael roared, clutching his chest as the relic's hold wavered. "NO! YOU WILL NOT STEAL THIS GLORY!"
He seized Vivi, sand swirling into a cyclone. "We will finish this… at the flame's heart."
The vortex vanished, leaving only glassed sand and the echo of Vivi's pendant clattering to the ground.
Marya materialized, breathing hard. "He's heading deeper into the desert. To the true oasis."
Pell snatched the pendant, his grip trembling. "We follow. Now." Pell's heart pounded in his chest as he clutched the pendant. It felt heavier than it should have, as if it carried the weight of their very mission within its delicate frame. The cool metal pressed against his skin, a stark contrast to the searing heat of the desert. His fingers trembled, not from fear, but from the enormity of the responsibility now resting in his hands. The pendant seemed to pulse with a life of its own, resonating with his racing heartbeat. Determination and a grim resolve settled over him; this small object was now their beacon, their guide through the treacherous sands towards a destiny that hung precariously in the balance.
The Nefertari pendant throbbed in Pell's palm like a second heartbeat, its golden crest radiating a warmth that defied the desert's biting cold. Around him, the group huddled close—their breath visible in the frigid air, faces gaunt under the pendant's ethereal glow. It pointed northwest, unyielding, as if pulled by an invisible thread only it could sense.
"It's… alive," murmured Charlie, adjusting his cracked glasses as he leaned in. His fingers twitched toward the relic, itching to dissect its secrets. "The oscillations match harmonic frequencies found in Alabasta's ley lines. This isn't just a trinket—it's a resonance engine."
Yazen scoffed, clutching a frayed scroll to his chest. "Ley lines? Ley lines! You reduce Queen Lily's legacy to dirt vibrations? This pendant is a covenant with Ra-Harakht! Its light is the sun god's gaze, guiding us to his trials!"
Vaughn spat into the sand, his axe, Light Bringer, glinting dully in the eerie light. "Don't care if it's magic or machinery. If it leads us to the princess, it's useful. If not, I'm melting it down."
Marya stood apart, her silhouette sharp against the moonlit dunes. The pendant's glow dimmed slightly as she stepped closer, her mist-mist powers coiling like serpents around her wrists. Pell eyed her warily, the relic's pulse stuttering in her presence.
"Back up, Marya," Vaughn ordered, his voice low. "Your Devil Fruit's disrupting it."
She retreated without a word, her blade, Eternal Night, gleaming at her hip. The pendant's light steadied.
Vaughn eyed the horizon, where the stars now formed a scorpion's tail—pointing northwest. "He's not getting far. That relic's tearing him apart."
Charlie and Yazen stared at the activated obelisks, their rivalry muted by dread. "The convergence is accelerating," Charlie murmured.
"And we've just handed him a roadmap," Yazen finished.
They followed the relic's pull through a labyrinth of dunes, the sand shifting treacherously underfoot. The air grew heavier, charged with a static that raised the hairs on their necks. Above, the stars contorted into unfamiliar constellations—a scorpion's tail, a serpent's eye—as if the sky itself were rebelling
The group's every step became a battle as the desert transformed. The once shifting sands turned to jagged, glassy dunes that cut through their boots and shimmered with a menacing beauty. The air grew thick with the heat radiating from the ground, distorting their vision and creating a surreal, almost dreamlike quality to the landscape. Ghostly figures emerged at the edges of their sight—phantoms of Kael's past, each failure a stark reminder of their enemy's relentless ambition and the cost of their quest.
Specters of battles lost, allies betrayed, and moments of regret flickered in and out of existence, taunting them with the possibility of their own defeat. The mirages were almost tangible, their whispers filling the air with a chilling realization: every misstep, every hesitation, could lead them to the same fate. The desert's resistance was not just physical but psychological, attacking their minds as much as their bodies.
As the obelisks continued to hum and the ground quivered beneath their feet, the group steeled themselves against the onslaught of memories and the sharpened glass that sought to deter them. Each member drew upon their inner strength, their resolve hardening like the very glass that sought to impede their progress.
Pell, with the pendant in hand, led the charge, each pulse of the relic guiding them closer to their destiny. His determination became a beacon for the others, illuminating a path through the treacherous terrain. With every step, they defied the desert's malevolent will, pushing forward with a singular focus: to confront Kael and reclaim the balance that had been so violently disrupted.
In the distance, the true Mother Flame flickered, a promise of both salvation and doom. The choice that awaited them loomed ever larger, and the weight of their mission bore down upon them with an intensity that could not be ignored.
Marya's mist flickered gold at the edges, the relic's whisper taunting her. "You could have been divine."
Vaughn tossed her a canteen. "Don't let it in."
She drank, her gaze steely. "Wasn't planning to."
Ahead, the true Mother Flame awaited—and with it, a choice: save a princess, or kill a god.