Gaining ground, Alijah stepped towards her, his spells intensifying. Through the flashes and blinding bolts, Inara could see a grin of wicked glee on Alijah’s face. It didn’t look like her brother’s face. Instead, she saw the insidious malevolence of his companion behind his expression, a beast who wanted nothing more than to break the surface world and its ties to magic.
Then, inexplicably to Alijah, his lightning spell began to shrink away from her shield, as if it was retracting into him. Within seconds, his hands held nothing but smoke.
“What is this?” he fumed.
Inara, gritting her teeth against the pain in her hip, and just about everywhere else, rose to her feet. In her right hand, she presented the Crissalith dagger, a sturdy weapon now, thanks to the dwarves.
Alijah’s eyes narrowed. “Is that…”
With the Hastion gem sitting comfortably on her finger, Inara flicked her wrist and struck her brother with a fiery spell that launched him from his feet. “Crissalith,” she declared, walking towards him.
The force of the spell certainly inflicted a fair amount of pain upon Alijah, though his smoking scale mail held up to the flames. Before he could get up, Inara unleashed a short burst of lightning and shocked him with enough energy to make him howl in agony.
Enjoying her superiority, the Guardian waved her hand left and right, flipping him one way then the next into the hard stone. Her last outburst shoved him across the platform, to the very edge.
Inara displayed the back of her hand and the blue gem that adorned her finger. “It’s not so easy when you aren’t the one holding all the cards, is it?”
Digging deep into whatever reservoir of energy he had long learned to hold on to, Alijah managed to lunge at her from the floor. It would have been an easy attack to counter, his bare hands unable to stand up to the edge of the Crissalith blade, but he had a blade of his own. At the last second, Inara saw the glow of the Moonblade in his grip. She didn’t have time to chastise herself for losing sight of it - she could only defend herself.
Each cut the other with their chosen weapon, their attacks intricate and deadly. Inara’s spells, however, had taken their toll on Alijah, adding to his growing injuries. Taking advantage of his sluggish movements, the Guardian shifted her stance and locked his arm in place. She knew the exact amount of pressure to apply and forced him to drop the Moonblade. As he yelled out and released the dagger, Inara twisted the Crissalith blade in her hand and thrust it up between two layers of scales in his armour. It missed his heart and rammed up through his shoulder until the hilt became lodged. His cry of pain was instantly amplified before she let him fall back to the edge of the platform again.
Inara… Athis’s voice called to her in that moment. She could sense the great effort her companion required to speak to her while locked in battle. Inara, he said again. What you do now will define you. Don’t meet wickedness with more wickedness. You love him. Set him free. Their bond was severed when the red dragon retracted his mind and recommitted to the fight in front of him.
Focusing on Alijah again, Inara recalled Gideon’s advice. She had to feel it, one way or another. Only by acknowledging her true emotions could she make that killing blow. Standing over him now, Inara looked down at her brother. He was utterly broken. And, through that broken exterior, she wondered if she was glimpsing something of that scared boy he had once been, before all the wars.
It brought tears to her eyes.
He was still the little boy she had dreamt of grand adventures with. He was still her best friend who knew what she was thinking, who knew when to comfort her. Under it all, there was something left of him in there - she had to believe that. The Alijah Galfrey she had known was strong… and good.
Feeling it all, at last, Inara crouched down beside him. Her emotions had, indeed, given her the strength needed to deliver that killing blow. But it also gave her the strength not to deliver that killing blow.
“This… isn’t over yet,” Alijah croaked. “I will… beat you.”
Inara met his eyes. “The Crow wasn’t the only one to lie to you,” she told him. “Malliath has fooled you.”
Through his pain, Alijah managed to direct his scowl at her. “You… don’t know what… you’re talking about.”
“Your bond was never altered, Alijah. Malliath just made you believe it was. You have to trust me,” she pleaded. “He’s had you under his thrall from the beginning. Day after day, his mind has poisoned yours. And now, he has you so enclosed in his grip that you can’t see the damage being done to you. Can’t you feel it? Your magic might flow from within now, but the Crissalith will still untether you. Soon, his influence will be all but gone.”
“Liar,” he seethed.
With tears streaking down her face, lost to the rain, Inara replied, “See for yourself, while you still can. Go into your sanctuary. Take the passage, the one that changes everything - you’ll see. You must go through.” Alijah didn’t look convinced, though he also looked like he might be losing consciousness. “Quickly,” she urged. “Our sanctuaries are places of deep magic. You don’t have long before the Crissalith prevents you.”
Alijah closed his eyes and let his mind fall into that deep place Inara spoke of. When he next opened his eyes, he was whole again. There was no Crissalith blade
