Kalmar
and Gegen rallied behind Flindra's mental shield and steeled their thoughts
against the madness. They were soldiers
and immediately counterattacked by filling their minds with all things positive
to counter the poisoned Darkness. Their
efforts released her from having to stave off the full battering. Just as she had done when facing the evil
seed, Flindra drove her focus deep into her extended memories until she
experienced the sense of oneness with all that was now and all that gone before
her. Due to the overlapping proximity of
Kalmar and Gegen's thoughts, she dragged them with her so they, too, became
aware of the encompassing wholeness and interconnectivity of life. Existence was an exquisitely complex tapestry
with the color and grandeur of the weft threads fully interwoven and supported
by the sturdy warp filaments, in a masterful pattern of the Spirit's design.
Fortified
by this experience, the champions struck back at the Valkea and through her to
the Kwetwer beyond. If the power of the
Nameless Ones was experienced as a paralyzing coldness, the answering challenge
of the Champions was expressed as blindingly bright light, which produced a
heat capable of melting a cold and evil heart.
For several moments, the opposing forces cancelled each other into
nullity, but then Flindra, Kalmar, and Gegen drew deeper into their personal
energies and the crystals responded with a power increase of three to the power
of three.
Within
the confined sphere they had projected around her, the Valkea could do nothing
to hold off the energy of the crystals.
She was in a furnace fueled by the focus of the Champions and felt her
will weaken. The Nameless Ones had to
rely upon her strength to keep open the hole that allowed them to broadcast
forth their evil energies, so they became unable to respond to the Champion's
assault when the Valkea could no longer maintain the connection. She had become so dependent upon the power of
the Nameless Ones to fuel her attacks that she had no reserves of energy of her
own to fight with. Pushed by the growing
force surrounding her, she collapsed inward much like a hollow gourd will
wither and shrink when exposed to heat and sunlight.
The
Champions pressed inexorably onward with their assault and the Valkea weakened
and faded. It was difficult to say when
she actually perished - she merely vanished beyond the limits of perception.
"She's
gone," Flindra finally announced.
"Let's drop the barrier.
Kalmar why don't you assess the situation around us while Gegen and I
see what's happening inside the caverns?
We can enter the caverns now that the Valkea's power has been
broken. Before we attack the nursery we
should be aware of the full situation."
"An
excellent suggestion," Kalmar agreed.
"It shouldn't take me long to talk with my men. Then we will end this horror."
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