“Yes,” Shadow confirmed. “Sacrifice into the mists is common.”

Now it was my turn. Fuck.

The others had to lift themselves up as well, Inky and Midnight doing their best to shield us all from the shooting spurts of lava attempting to take us out. Lava that didn’t bother me or my power, and knowing I might have the only shot, I darted forward, blasting Dannie with a bolt of pure energy.

We had to stop her before this army of undead reached us. They’d clearly be very hard to, uh… kill, giving her a true advantage. My power was deflected by a bolt of her own, and she countered with a strike back at me.

I’d been ready for it, swiping it aside, surprised that she did feel much weaker. We had to finish this shit before she had time to recharge, and that meant I could not stop now.

I attacked with force, and every time her power hit me, it was like a sledgehammer to my gut, but I was fueled by such anger and determination that I barely let it faze me. My determination to save my loved ones added a ferocity to my attack that she was missing.

Her movements slowed, and when she got her shield up a second too slow, I was able to hit her at full power, slamming her against the wall of the castle, the force sending feathers flying around her.

“Give up the stone, Dannie,” I shouted at her. “Give it up and have a chance at redemption.”

At this point, I noticed that Shadow was at my side, but so far, he was allowing me to take the lead in this one-on-one battle. It cost him to do so, if the tense expression on his face was any indication, but his faith in me was too strong to break his resolve.

Love. He spoke it at an expert level.

Dannie laughed, a screeching, chill-inducing sound, and I blasted her again, but she managed to slip free. She might have been weaker, but she was far from fragile, especially as her literal zombie fire creatures exploded across the land. There was just so much to unpack about what was going on here. Not time for that, though.

Shadow joined me this time, the two of us using our energy to try to contain her, all the while Dannie stepped up her game, sending out her long tail feathers to strike at us. I had no idea what was going to happen if they hit us, but thankfully, Shadow was able to cut them off before we had a chance to find out.