Tara watched as Ethan flew away, leaving Fauna and the dust of the blackened courtyard to settle.

So, this is how it's gonna be.

She looked to Klax, who had been avoiding her gaze at the other end of the doorway.

"You don't wanna say anything to him?"

The Lycae shook his head. It was as though he could barely even lift it after what had happened in there.

"There's nothing more that needs to be said. He's made his decision."

"And we've just gotta deal with it?"

Tara cursed herself for even asking that question. What Ethan had seen in the dream-vision Jun had shown him had obviously shaken him. But – in a way – he was right.

"What good are we to him, now?" she asked herself more than the dogman at her feet. "Compared to him, we're just tiny creatures. He's practically a God, now. And that's what he has to be to set this shithole right, huh?"

No reply came from Klax. Tara met Fauna's eyes as she began trudging towards them, staff dragging behind her.

"Hey," she whispered to Klax. "You ok?"

The dogman blinked up at her.

"…you were right. I wasn't ready."

Tara sighed again. "We never are."

The dawn was coming, and with it the entire fleet of Lucent. Already she could see the bows of their ships pouring through the mist that fanned out around the Argwylian sea and shrouded their approach.

There would have been a time when she'd display nothing but rapt excitement at the chance to watch Ethan tear those humans apart. But somehow – after everything in Haylock's hellhole – she just wasn't in the mood.

"Guess that's it, then," she said. "The party of the Last Archon disbands. We go our separate ways. Hunker down till he fulfills his mission and then walk out into the new world, right?"

Her claws dug into her arms. Her eyes flew to catch Klax's staring at his feet.

"Right?" she said – a little more shakily than she'd meant to. "Right? Everything we've been through has been for nothing, just like I said it would be. Right? Just like I said back in that damn City of Illusions. It's all been just so we can watch him leave now that he doesn't need us anymore."

Her body was quivering now. And for a moment, the impulse to comfort her took hold of Klax. He wanted to jump up, draw her close, and tell her it was going to be ok.

But he couldn't. His muscles failed him. As did his mind.

"Right?" she kept saying – until the word became like a curse. "Right? Go on, Klax, tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong."

To the catgirl's surprise, the response to her wasn't Klax's.

It was Fauna's.

The Hopla had marched up to them both, slammed her staff on the ground, and looked at them as she addressed Tara's woes.

"Ethan's chosen his path," she said. "It's not what we'd wanted, but it's what he believes is right. I'm not going to doubt him now, at the moment when it looks like he can finally fulfill the wishes of everyone who came before him."

Both Tara and Klax looked on the Hopla's newfound confidence with awe for a moment, but neither was really surprised.

"Maybe our part in his story is done," she said. "But that doesn't mean our story is over."

Tara blinked, looked to Klax, and then chuckled, shaking her head but smiling warily.

"You never cease to amaze me, Sis."

"Unpredictability is exactly what I was made for," Fauna quipped. "Right, Klax?"

The old wolf shuffled his feet. He looked at his hands that were still coated in Haylock's gooey remains, and those of his wife's.

And yet when he then looked up at Fauna, and saw the light of Argwyll's dawn stretching behind her, he smiled.

"Ethan was right," he said. "You're the one who can lead us to the paradise that waits for us."

He stood up, ruffled his fur, and placed a firm hand on Fauna's shoulder.

"You wouldn't ever let us fall apart, Faun. And neither will I."

Both Hopla and Lycae then turned to Tara, who just shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

"A dogbrain, a twitchy bunny, and a sexy catgirl" she said. "How could we break up a team like that?"

"And a self-righteous hat," Fauna added. "Who'll soon realize just how vital we are."

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She drew them all into an embrace, momentarily remembering the days before the Archons. Before war. Before the constant delves. When they were all just hybrids who had come together in shared pain, and acceptance.

Things would never be the same again. But in this moment, silhouetted by the dawn's light, Fauna allowed herself a brief instant of respite.

"But – what the fuck do we do now?" Tara asked. "The big guy's gonna take on the whole damn world."

"We go back home," Fauna answered. "We get Sanctum ready. If Lucent's really making its move, that means the Greycloaks are coming. And that means we have to defend what's ours."

Klax nodded. "I – I would like to bury – her – there, Faun. It's where she belongs. It's what she'd want."

"I'd have it no other way," Fauna said.

With the sun at their backs, they left together, leaving behind the terror of Griffon's Watch for new terrors that they had no idea about. With Jun'Ei really gone, it was almost as if none of them dared to speculate about what the future might now hold.

But even so, Fauna the Hopla held out hope.

Ethan, she thought. This isn't goodbye, even if you think it is. When we see you again, you'll see just how strong we've grown. And you'll see that we can stand beside you. To the end.

Transmogrification (Grade C)

Can Transmogrify items of {Mithril} quality or lower

Can place specific properties of weapons on others without the need for a [Blacksmith]

Spirit Core cost to Increase: 1500

Transmogrification (Grade B)

Can Transmogrify items of {Adamantium} quality or lower

Spirit Core Cost to Increase: 2500

Transmogrification (Grade A)

Can Transmogrify items of {Coryph} quality or lower

Spirit Core Cost to Increase: 4000

Transmogrification (Grade S)

Can Transmogrify items of {Onixia} quality or lower

[Corporeal Consumer] Unlocked!

You may Transmogrify up to 5 weapon or armor types at once. This process cannot be reversed.

HIGHEST GRADE REACHED

Ethan Hawke Spirit Core Total: 5500

…that oughta do it.

…agreed.

He tossed Greybane into the air, releasing it from his new scorpion tail and watching as it shattered into deep black fragments that flew towards his nails. He watched the inky blackness of Carliah Argent's refined blood ooze over Revok's claws, and closed his eyes as he felt the power and weight of destruction behind the blade bleed into him.

It was like absorbing the energy of the sun itself.

He wasn't about to flail around with the blade in his mouth as he struck down the Greycloaks who were coming for him. So he knew that, with the landfall of Cores Jun'Ei's life had given him, he needed to spend it on upgrading Transmogrification fully before anything else.

There were so many more skills to be gained. So much more upgrades to add even more destructive potential to his new arsenal. But now wasn't the time to focus on the rest of them.

It was time for action. And it was time to put all those Cores and the Hosts he'd jumped through in this world to good use.

Standing tall on the crumbling balcony of the black castle's last remaining tower, he watched the horizon. And he waited.

Those sorry bastards have no idea what's coming for 'em, Sys chuckled in his brain.

You sound almost giddy.

Well, can you blame me? You're finally at the stage when I can say you're a real, true Archon worthy of the title. In fact – you're even worthier than the other humans that came before you.

Am I?

Unlike them, you've seen that some things have to be sacrificed to set this world right. And Ethan, you've got not only got the power to do it now. But the will.

He braced himself as the dense fog snaked towards the black towers of the castle, the beams of Argwyll's sun becoming lost in its grey haze.

You still feel bad about leaving them behind.

It's hard not to.

Don't. I get it – I do. But look – you could fly to Mistborne right now and deal with ol' Kaedmon, pick up those extra Cores you need to unlock your final skill on the way. But you aren't. Why? Because you know that as long as the Greycloaks and their servants exist, they'll never leave you or the rest of the Hybrids alone. You're doing this for them, Ethan. They'll understand.

He looked through the mist, seeing the first sails begin to flutter in the cool morning breeze across the ocean.

Sys, I'll be honest, he admitted. I'm doing this for them. But I'm doing this for me, too. I'm done running. I'm done letting these people have their way over the world. And I'm done showing mercy to those who don't deserve it.

He thought of the people of Sentinel, and of the boy whom he'd spared in the plantation with Tara, and of all the Hybrids who'd been part of Haylock's grisly experiments. And then of Haylock himself.

I'm going to burn them, he said. First their ships, then this castle. Then, the new ruler of their city. Then, Caer Krea. I'll wipe the slate clean, and then I'll face Kaedmon. I'll do it – because I'm the only one who can.

Now we're talking.

"And when I sit on Kaedmon's crushed skull, I'll show this world what true freedom is."

He said this aloud, knowing that someone had just entered the balcony behind him.

Knowing, also, who it was.

"You once told me something," he said. "You said that I didn't know how cruel this world could be. You said that it would be my teacher."

Lamphrey came to stand beside him, and yet even she shivered to see the true might of his new form glowering down at her.

"Yes," was all she said. "Well, I've seen it," he said. "And yet, I still have more to see. There's an entire continent out there of other humans – beyond Lucent, beyond Westerweald. They might not even know I exist. Maybe there's a tribe of humans there who don't deserve death. Maybe there isn't. It won't make a difference soon, either way."

He looked down at her and saw that she seemed neither happy or sad at this turn of affairs. Instead, she was gazing out into the fog with him, looking as the Lucent Navy readied their first volley.

"Seven hundred ships, Sire," she said. "With Greycloaks at their helms. More Spirit Cores in one place than you have ever seen before."

Ethan knew what she was getting at. But he decided to lead her in a different direction.

"Was this the Archon you had in mind, Lamphrey?"

She glanced at him again, meeting his stone-cold stares with her own fiery eyes.

"Power cannot be given or taken," she said. "It comes from the self, or it does not come at all."

She turned fully towards him, shaking, but still with conviction in her old bones.

"Do you know your true self now, Ethan? Do you see who you really are – what you are capable of - and where your power lies?"

He thought about it, and about the difference between who he wanted to be, who he needed to be, and who he was.

And even though he came up short, he wasn't about to dwell on questions that didn't matter.

"Not yet," he said. "But it's time to find out."

He leaped from the balcony as the first streaks of flame from the ships cut through the clouds. Lamphrey watched in silence, seeing him spread his wings and fly towards the sun, letting out a roar that could shatter the hearts and minds of men.

She would not stay to watch the battle. Fate – the strange destiny of the Archon – drew her elsewhere.

But she couldn't help but smile as he brought his wrath down upon the ships of men, like a comet coming down to crush them all.

"May the memory of the Prophet and the Archons be our guide," she said. "For the Last Great War for Argwyll has begun."

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