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  The cathedral shifted. The bright blue and hopeful energy that surrounded it became something surreal. Something sinister grew. Magma red comets were falling from the blood-red sky, melting away at the lands between. The cathedral a half of itself. Omar opened his eyes and saw the place in ruins within seconds. The pillars and all its architecture were destroyed. All that remained was the balcony where Omar and it stood.

  “Your soul is mine!” Insidious barked. Its voice was long and hollow from each syllable that rolled off its serpent-shaped tongue.

  All of Leonidas’s armor was in mere ruins underneath its feet. The being rose with the fully awakened Lotus Blade in its hand. Like gravity disappeared it floated into the sky like a god. Charred-violet skin glowed with the crashing meteors flying all around the fallen cathedral. Its body was completely bare but spoke of power. Energy swirled menacing around it. The being of pure evil commanded it. When it laughed, devils feared it. Demons trembled at it.

  The Lotus Blade covered in a lava-red magical coding formed into a double-edged scythe. One eye birthed at the center of both sides of the scythe blade craved destruction. The blade was made of the bones of the beings it slain. Red and black energy swirled around it, as it swung the blade maliciously at Omar like a boomerang.

  “Shit!” Omar dodged to his side with a roll, as the blade returned to Insidious. It fell back onto its feet softly, raising its head at Omar. His heart raced but at the same moment, determination awoke in him.

  The Blade of Elysium, the answer to his cries when this journey all started was engraved into the broken stone floor. He pulled it out with both hands and aimed it at Insidious. “Today, I will bury you, along with my mistakes!” Omar grinned. “Or die trying!”

  Insidious moved the Lotus Blade behind his back. He tilted his head with a sharp smile. “No man… can kill me.”

  Omar buffed his chest out with a laugh. He tilted his head toying with it. “Come now. Haven't we both learned…?” Omar smiled. “I’m no man. I am Diborn.” His eyes shifted from pure blue to the crystalized onyx color of Diborn.

  Insidious swayed its shoulders in humor. “How the prodigal son finally accepts his fate.”

  Insidious slowly prepared to launch itself. “You’ll make a most perfect consort.”

  Omar responded, preparing himself for one last battle. He swung Elysium to his side nodding his head with anticipation. “Let’s finish this, monster.”

  The red moon hung over the balcony that now became a battlefield. The cold illuminating light from both Elysium and the Lotus Blade quaked the remaining cathedral. Omar’s majestic blue energy surrounded him, as did the red darkness surrounding Insidious. Both swords were all that could be seen as within a fraction of a second the swords clashed finally.

  With each clash of the blades echoing throughout the lands, the surrounding area failed to hold itself together. The earth shattered from each clash and broke apart from the sheer power of both swords. The ground beneath their feed was scarred by the conflict. Both of their feet broke apart the ground under them.

  Omar continued to stand firm, his blade gleamed with eternal light, defying the darkness that the Lotus Blade was. The cure to its plague. His eyes, weary but fierce, locked onto the monstrosity before him. Insidious the twisted shadow of what Omar could have become, pulsated crimson energy that leaked like blood from every attack. His eyes burned with malevolent fire, staring hungrily at Omar. He thirsted for the consort.

  “I will feast on your soul for an eternity.” Insidious snarled, his voice a guttural growl. He swung his scythe in a spinning attack.

  The Lotus Blade grinded on Elysium like a grindstone forge. The longer the Lotus Blade grinded Elysium, the stronger the radiant energy of Elysium became. “Your last feast has been this consort.” His voice was steady, though his heart ached thinking of Leonidas. “You resemble my past… but you will never define my future.”

  Insidious let out a chilling laugh, the sound reverberating through the fallen cathedral. “Fool! You are nothing but fodder for this war. This Lotus War. No man can continue further from their fate!”

  With a roar, Insidious lunged, his scythe crashing down with the force of an avalanche. Omar met the attack head-on, Elysium intercepted the Lotus Blade in a shower of sparks flying and blinding Insidious with its light. The collision shook the heart, cracks spidering out from their feet as power surged between them.

  Omar yelled. “Enough!” Elysium knocked Insidious off balance, yet Omar broke the being with a kick onto the ground. He jumped into the air with Elysium behind his head. Insidious panicked for the first time, using the scythe as a shield. Omar swung it down and the bones cracked. He hurried with a flurry of overhead bashes to the being. His blade is a beacon in the devastation. A beacon that helped man rise from its lowest point. Each swing the Lotus Blade cracked more leaving fiery arcs in the air above it, howling in glee.

  The battle raged, a war of light and darkness. “You will die to a mortal,” Omar promised. Insidious kicked Omar in his gut and bones cackled again. Blood sputtered from his mouth, as the wound nearly caved his stomach in. Omar nearly appeared as a humble beggar, before he gripped Elysium tighter.

  For every strike Omar landed, Insidious retaliated with a raw monstrous strike screaming for overwhelming power. It no longer became a fight, but a war for Omar’s soul.

  “Every man dreams of power. Why resist?” Insidious taunted, yet his question barked confusion from himself. Omar locked blades with Insidious once more. The eyes of both blades of power locked onto each other, nearly centimeters away. They peered into the other soul. “Power makes the world, join me, and you shall have it all.”

  Omar gritted his teeth, his muscles strained from the battles before this and the power it took to match Insidious. He glared deep into the soul of Insidious, yet nothing remained. It was an omnipotent being, pristinely focused on one thing. Destruction and violence.

  “I don’t need the power to make a difference, I don’t want it all.” Omar pushed his blade further. “Having everything makes life pointless. I would rather struggle to chase my dreams than stay in the same place. That’s power. Having the courage to chase something so far, and never giving up!” His voice filled with determination.

  With a mighty cry, he unleashed a surge of energy through Elysium, the light exploded outwards into the bone sword the Lotus Blade became. The brilliant wave of light stumbled Insidious backward. The shadows consumed his wounds as he riled in pain.

  “I have failed. I have made mistakes. And I have learned.” Omar declared. “But no more, will I let my past define me. You or no one else will ever control me again!” A single step is all it took, as he charged forward to the recovering Insidious with unwavering resolve.

  A crescendo of reality altered around them. The fallen ruin of the altered reality shifted back and forth from the unharmed cathedral. Blue and red skies continue to banter back and forth, as the balance of power has tipped the scale. The battle is not for victory but for redemption for Omar.

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  Insidious roared in fury, as the wave of light from Elysium pushed him back, the armor in his burnt skin began to crack from the strain. The malevolent eye of the Lotus Blade darted in panic, its fiery glow slowly dimmed from its lost power. For the first time since the beginning of time, the blade trembled. It was afraid.

  Omar pressed his advantage, and Elysium radiated with pure energy. “Let’s go! Pegasus!” Omar cried out.

  Underneath him, Omar began to glow with a mystical white light. The distance between them was minuscule, but grand, as a being of purity galloped underneath him. Omar kicked it into high gear, as the winged horse spurred faster. White Pegasus the Shardbearer form of Omar. Its mighty neigh struck Insidious with fear.

  “Pegasus?” Insidious said in shock. “You aren’t the horse, but its rider!?” Insidious grinned, furloughing a pair of wings from inside its body. Black feathers reigned around him as he took to the skies evading Omar and Pegasus.

  Insidious ran rapid in the skies. Omar kicked Pegasus to a halt. “Go! Let’s end this!” Pegasus neighed as it flew into the sky. Radiant energy barked inside the dark skies, as though every fabric of darkness was being erased by Pegasus’s light. Each gallop was a declaration, a refusal to yield, even when the odds were at their greatest, Pegasus flew through the storm. The balance shifted.

  “You claim man is weak,” Omar shouted, but Insidious was lost in the dark skies. His voice rang with conviction. “Yet, man is stronger than a being that wants everything handed to it. Our conviction makes us strong. I may be Diborn, but I was born a man. And I will fight until my last breath as both man and Diborn.”

  Insidious staggered. The monstrous voice in the sky faltered. “I made you what you are. You… you… are nothing without the Lotus Blades' help. We made you strong! You are bound to be my consort!”

  “I choose my destiny!” Omar roared, Pegasus screeched and erased every dark cloud. Insidious appeared in the clear skies, as Omar thrusted a piercing blow into Insidious chest. He struck with precision and poise for a last blow.

  The battlefield reacted. The ruins trembled, but light escaped the darkness. Elysium’s power and Pegasus broke open the light inside the darkness. The scythe of the Lotus Blade fell from the hand of Insidious. The encroaching darkness fell out of the lands between heaven and man.

  Insidious rose his head into the sky and flying down, Pegasus and Omar beelined for him. Insidious screeched. “I can’t be defeated, not like this!”

  The hooves of Pegasus sparked a lighting yellow spark with each gallop. “Your presence isn’t needed here, anymore!” Omar thrusted Elysium's back and delivered a painful last blow to the center of Insidious, driving the blade of light through him whole.

  Insidious and the Lotus Blade let out one last deafening screech. The crimson-blood eye of the Lotus Blade frantically swirled around searching for an escape. “No!” The monstrous voice howled, tingled with desperation. “You cannot defeat me!”

  The blade and Insidious both landed on the balcony of the cathedral. Omar jumped from Pegasus, who continued to soar around the ruins. His chest heaving as he stared at the broken sight of the being before him. “You were wrong. Man can rise above himself and conquer anything. We aren’t weak. We are strong.” He quietly finished, raising Elysium over Insidious.

  In a final, mighty swing, he brought the being Insidious down. The radiant energy of Elysium carved into the eye of the Lotus Blade and being Insidious lit up with polka-dot lights all around it. The corrupted weapon shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, the crimson eye bursting in a flash of light, burned to a crisp. A flash of light engulfed the battlefield.

  Insidious let out one last gut-wrenching scream, his form unrevealed and the altered ruins vanished into a golden sunlight. The abyss shattered amongst the sky. All its presence crumbled to dust. Everything disappeared besides Leonidas’s cold body, freed from the Lotus Blade’s grasp.

  Elysium’s light dimmed. The battle concluded as the cathedral became a golden crisp light. A new dawn of Eurafalia was born. Omar stood over the remnants of his enemy, his sword lowered, his expression a mixture of happiness and exhaustion.

  A slow-aching cough from under him resonated. His eyes no longer glow onyx or crimson, but a soft amber. The man no longer resembled pain and regret. “Marshall…?” Leonidas called out. His voice was soft and weak. “Did you defeat it…? Can I rest now…?”

  Omar knelt beside him, placing a hand on his chest, tears slowly searching for an escape from his eyes. “I defeated the Lotus Blade, Leo.” He whispered. “It can no longer control you.” His voice trembled. “I’m sorry. I will redeem myself and – “

  Leonidas’s hand rose halting Omar. Frail, tears fell from his face. Leonidas whimpered in relief. “Stop. You saved me. I never wanted to kill you. I just wanted to be you.”

  The first rays of dawn broke over the horizon after the blade was defeated. The cathedral glowed with a soft golden light, as the skies were free. The insidious being was slain. Leonidas had been freed. He held his hand out, as Omar took it.

  “I forgave you the moment I died. I was so mad, I shouldn’t have said all those things to you.” Leonidas promised. “I grew up fighting, and I died fighting a hero. You are not just a Diborn.” He coughed in withering pain. “You are a man who will evoke change in this world.”

  “We all will…” A voice from afar agreed.

  Omar stumbled on his feet, readying Elysium, but he lowered his guard quickly. “Shay.” He said in shock. “How did you even find – “

  “Save it. Did you defeat the blade?” He warranted. Omar nodded, looking back at Leonidas. “Its consort is all that remains. But he is close to death.”

  Shay hesitated, seeing Leonidas, but the golden locks of the man were a new sight for Shay. He furrowed his brow and grinned. “Hmph. With him like this, the presence of the blade could be within him. It would be best if he returns to Belkos, so it doesn’t root a new evil. I can take him.”

  Omar nodded, and the two rose Leonidas up on his feet. Shay put his arm around him, hurrying to the one shadow area in the entire cathedral. Omar sheathed Elysium. “Save him.” Omar requested. Shay with a nod carried on. “I got you, Leo.”

  Leonidas laughed. “Leonidas was the name I used when I was a gladiator.” The golden sky reflected atop his head. “I’m free now if I make it. So, call me by my real name. Rios. Rios Valor. “The two men nodded at him. “Let's go then, Rios. For a new life.” Shay muttered, as the shadows consumed him and they teleported away.

  Dawn bathed the Cathedral of Dreams as Omar was all that remained inside of it. The cathedral is silent, as the waterfall flies down the rapid waves. Omar stood at the heart of it all, Elysium resting at his side, its glow dim but comforting. His body was battered from battle and exhausted, his spirit lighter than it had been in years. The weight of the Lotus Blade’s curse lifted from the world. His eyes were back to the ocean blue color, yet guilt still plagued him. Finally, it began to lift.

  He turned, his gaze falling on a ghostly figure stepping from the Pegasus statue. It walked on water with a majestic unordinary glow to him. Omar’s breath caught in his throat. It was the last chronicler, his father. His spirit.

  His father, looked as he did in life, elegant and noble to the core. His form shimmered faintly, an ethereal glow, marking him as the spirit beyond the veil of mortals. Omar’s knees buckled. “Father…?” he whispered, disbelief and emotion catching his throat.

  Darius approached, his robes brushed the ground, generating no sound. His face was stern, but his eyes filled with warmth and pride. He studied his son. “Omar…” he said, his voice resonating like a melody of the past. “You conquered what many would be too afraid to attempt. You faced the Insidious evil and fought your way back, reclaiming yourself.”

  Tears welled in Omar’s eyes, as he lowered his gaze to his hand. “At what cost? I killed you and so many others. My journey has now only begun to redemption.”

  Darius placed a hand on Omar’s shoulder, the touch solid and ephemeral like a lucid dream. “You bear the burden as any hero or knight would. Guilt doesn’t define your life. My son, it is what you choose to do with it that matters. Here before me, I see a man writing his wrongs. Not a villain.”

  Omar raised his head, searching his father’s eyes, as the words cut through his self-loathing like light did darkness. “As far as I can tell my child, you are redeemed.” Darius continued. “You chose to fight to protect the world from darkness. You are its light. That is the man you are, the one I always knew you would become.”

  A single tear slipped down Omar’s cheek as his father stepped back into the veil near Pegasus. His figure began to fade.

  “Father!” Omar screamed. “I’m sorry. I will honor you every day! Till my last breath.”

  Darius paused, his light flickering into the veil. “you haven’t failed me, Omar. You found your way back home, that’s all I could ever ask.” With that, Darius’s spirit dissolved into the air. His final words lingered with embrace. “Now you are free…”

  The morning sun rose fully over the horizon, Omar stood alone, his heart heavier with sorrow, yet uplifted with hope. He tightened his grip on Elysium, his resolve had been restored. His father’s words guided him, just as they always had.

  “It's time that I rebuild, that I protect, and to honor the life I have been given. For you father, for those wronged, and for the unwritten future, I will do my best to restore everything to its glory.

  The golden dawn blossomed onto Omar and all he could do was smile, reciting his father’s last words. “But for now, I can embrace the truth. Now…” a tear fell from his face. “Now, I am free…”