The Paragons followed Carla into Illeta’s Mage Order. It was filled with different-colored torchlight and mages studying various aspects of magic. She led them further back into the main building where the library was located. The library was filled with brilliant golden light and held several rows of bookshelves. At the back of the library was a locked, enchanted door that held the Archives within. The Paragons agreed to steal the keys from the librarian, Akalar and Alicia distracting her, while Arturo pilfered them.
Carla searched for the right key while the Paragons stood watch. Eventually, she tried what she believed was the correct one, and the door swung open. The party took a short stroll down a stairwell; the air growing colder at an unnatural rate. Within the Archives, they found strange relics, tomes, and various other objects that seemed to emanate powerful and unknown magic. At the far back of the room, they found a small alcove of locked relics, one a strange dish that held rippling black water, one that held various magic staves, and another that held the book they were searching for, covered in illegible text. Carla touched the handle of the door leading to the book, and several glowing orbs appeared on the door. The Paragons learned these orbs coincided with enchanted, flying skulls lurking back in the main Archives. Once they destroyed each skull, one of the orbs faded. Once eight skulls had been destroyed, the room containing the book safeguarded by Tycustos Opopulus opened.
Carla began excitedly flipping through the book, revealing countless passages in unknown languages. Eventually, she stopped at a very gracefully written passage she seemed to be able to read. The letters themselves seemed to have beautiful stars embedded within the script. Carla struggled to read it in its entirety but was able to pull out certain phrases: “Night Fae Magic…”, “Our kin…”, “Celestial castle…”, “Shrouded in darkness, bearing the Silver Eye”, “Death blots our night sky”. Carla added that her father never included that last line when he told her the tale. The phrases were still shrouded in mystery, but time was running short. The script was too complex to trace down in a timely manner, and the Paragons decided against stealing the book and page. They returned the book and left the Mage Order. They found that much more time had passed than they realized. The Paragons decided to rest for the evening.
The following morning, Madison of the Queensguard returned to escort them to the coliseum for the final day of the Festival. Madison had the same attitude, seemingly drained from drinking the night before. Once they were left at the tunnel, they met a strange group of people wearing long mage’s coats, though they wielded daggers and bows. They had strange hats adorned with feathers and flowers.
Ronotte and Zola introduced the combatants and opened the final day of battles. Once the Paragons and the strangely dressed group, known as “On Dragon’s Wings”, were prepared, they drew their weapons. Before battle could begin, the leader of their group raised a hand, looking toward the VIP box. The leader spoke very slowly and enunciated clearly that they wished to surrender with no contest. Ronotte quietly discussed this with Zola and Arlia as the crowd gasped and gossiped. After a short few moments, Ronotte announced that the surrender was accepted, and that The Dragonguard would proceed to the final round with no contest. While returning to the tunnel, the Paragons asked the group why they wanted to surrender after coming so far, but they only gave vague answers before leaving.
Talla emerged into the tunnel to question the Paragons about why the previous group surrendered. It seemed she thought the Paragons were working with Avus. Once convinced they were not aligned with Avus, Talla revealed that the Queensguard had been trying to catch him for years, but they could never gather hard evidence, as he seemed to always see them coming. Before the Paragons could warn Talla about what they had witnessed Avus doing, she was called back to the VIP box by Ronotte.
The twins the Paragons had seen previously strolled by next to a large group of mages, the two remaining groups to fight. The brother that stopped to speak had shoulder-length blond hair, gray-and-gold eyes, and introduced his group as “Fire and Ice”. His brother hard darker hair tied in a ponytail and wore much heavier armor. The first brother seemed excited and confident to face off against the Paragons in the final round. The Paragons waited by the tunnel exit to see Fire and Ice in action, each wielding magic matching their group’s name. The battle raged for some time, but the brothers emerged victorious against the mages.
Before the final round, the Paragons spoke with the twins again, who introduced themselves as Robert and Roy. A friend of theirs, Eva, emerged into the tunnel, embracing each of them as she congratulated them. She had shoulder-length red hair, green eyes, and was an elf. Robert revealed that Avus had nothing on them, though some men did try to harass his friend Eva at a tavern. He added that he and Roy quickly dealt with them. Eva remembered that she had been tasked with a favor that morning and used wind magic to summon a trunk with the Paragons’ names on it. Within, there were more packages from their strange benefactor. While they investigated, the three others left to be healed before the final match.
Once Roy and Robert returned, the two groups entered the arena. During the fight, the brothers kept a close eye on one another, striking grievous retaliatory hits against the Paragons. They also made use of their Fire and Ice magic. Though it was a hard battle, once the Paragons dealt with Robert, it was only a matter of time for Roy. The brothers admitted defeat graciously as the crowd cheered for each of them. Ronotte crowned the Paragons as the winner, then teased the crowd about the upcoming championship bout with the Paragons and Avus.
Aksell made friends with Robert before the brothers left for the stand, finding out they were from the city of Seduzi. While the Paragons saw to their wounds with the nurse mage, Avus emerged into the tunnel. Avus was fairly quiet, only giving the Paragons’ goading questions terse answers. He seemed annoyed they had seen to the kidnapping he had arranged, but he remained confident they stood no chance.
When Avus and the Paragons emerged into the arena, the crowd erupted in cheers. He immediately put on his champion’s façade, waving and smiling at his adoring fans. As each side prepared for battle, a strange wind picked up. The Paragons also noticed a single raven watching from atop the ring of the coliseum. Avus drew his sword and shield and engaged the Paragons.
Avus was able to peer into the Paragons’ defenses, seemingly using his eye-shaped amulet to do so. He dashed quickly on bursts of gray wind and could summon walls of iron-colored fire to protect his flank. As the battle raged on, a silver rain settled over the coliseum. The crowd grew silent, sitting on the edge of their seats as the battle grew more harrowing. As the Paragons landed hits, Avus’s amulet seemed to keep cracking open, causing rays of silver light to spill out. Once enough of it seemed to be released, Avus grew desperate. He swung wildly around himself, veins nearly protruding from his face around his eyes. He barreled down an attack on Aurora, who easily blocked the weakened man. Aurora countered, knocking Avus on the ground. She seemed to then release some inner rage herself, slamming her gauntleted fist into Avus’s face over and over. The crowd began to stop as Aurora showed no sign of stopping. She screamed at Avus for his cowardice, and if he was proud of all the lives that were lost in Luxen because of what he did. Ronotte got to his feet, shouting at Aurora that that was enough, but a blast of silver light cut off his command.
Avus’s amulet shot out a blast of silvery light, knocking all nearby Paragons off their feet. They felt their muscles grow nearly useless, their weapons almost too heavy to wield. Their magic fizzled out immediately. Avus stood straight, as if he had not just been inches from death. His eyes were no longer his own, replaced by two orbs of glowing silver light. Out of his mouth emerged a voice not of his own. The voice was gravely and deep, with a strange inflection on several words. He spoke of finally enjoying the fresh air, even though it was Mataran. The figure looked around, stating that he was freed just too early. As he gazed throughout the crowd, he claimed he saw an unexpected amount of Mageron blood in the crowd. He spoke to the crowd, saying that soon the Matarans would be returned to the chains where they rightfully belong. The raven the Paragons had seen earlier flew off.
Zola interrupted the figure as the crowd cowered in fear. She demanded the figure identify himself as she summoned a metal gauntlet around her arm, appearing to gather her own magic. The figure within Avus shouted back for the queen to be silent and that she bore a name that did not belong to her. His shout had deep hatred behind it, and when he noticed spectators beginning to flee the arena, he fired silver balls of flame into the crowd, destroying some of the exits, sending rubble flying. Without another thought, Zola summoned her own magic staff and fired a white-hot ball of flame toward Avus’s body. The white flames immolated the figure, burning and burning his flesh and muscle away. A laugh emerged from the flames, and another flash of silver shone through the flames. The famous white flames of Zola’s magic lost their white hue, fading to a black-and-purple color. Zola seemed surprised, but kept the flames burning. Ronotte seemed more worried about what he was seeing and told her to cut off the spell. When she did, Avus’s melting body still stood. His flesh was melting off his bones as he stood. The figure within gazed at the damage Zola’s fire did, his interest seemingly piqued.
The voice spoke again and said his time grew short in this weakened body. He turned toward the Paragons. He thanked the Paragons for finally “freeing” him. The voice added that they had crossed each other’s paths several times, though indirectly. He wondered if they would end up being foes or friends. The figure within Avus turned back to the crowd, warning them to keep their eyes on all horizons, for he certainly would be. He began to laugh as the silver lights faded, but the laughter faded into screams. The screams were Avus’s. He collapsed into a melting pile of bone and flesh, dead. The silver rain abated.
Zola stood at last, commanding the Queensguard to escort the crowd away and for Ronotte to arrest the Paragons at once. Ronotte nodded, stretched his shoulders, and from his back emerged purple-and-black dragon wings. Atop his head emerged black dragon’s horns. He glided down, prepping his night-sky magic as he landed near Avus and the Paragons.
Arturo had been inching toward Avus’s body, hoping to grab the amulet he had been tasked with retrieving, but Ronotte aimed his magic toward Arturo, warning him to stop. Arturo got within arm’s reach of the amulet before Ronotte gave him one final warning, and that he would be wiped from the face of Matar without a second thought. Arturo decided to back off.
Ronotte aimed his magic at the Paragons as knights emerged onto the arena grounds, forming a loose circle around the Paragons. Ronotte politely asked the Paragons to lay down their arms. He added that he believed they had no part, but they had to admit it did not look very good. The Paragons agreed they could resolve the misunderstanding in Amanta, the capital, and put down their weapons. Ronotte gathered them with his magic, sending them through a nightly rift. He commanded the knights to arrest the Paragons as he strolled over to Avus’s body. He picked up the eye-shaped amulet, a look of surprise on his face when his dragon wings and horns receded back into his body. A short moment later, he seemed to remember the Paragons. He held out his hand and commanded that they “Sleep”. The Paragons drifted into the darkest, deepest, most peaceful sleep they had ever known…