Or'do and I lunged, fists raised and trailing banners of flame, mine wrought of light, his cast in deep shadow, both writhing around the other like affectionate serpents. My cloak of shimmering flame blazed brighter, rolling over my shoulder like a radiant pauldron that contrasted with his own fluttering surcoat of shadow.

"By the heights of Flame," I began, the words alone sending a glorious rush of warmth through me. Once I would have reddened at the mere thought of chanting before my foes, yet not only did this focus my power, it reminded me that no matter what loomed ominous and terrible beyond, I would never again have to face it alone.

"And the depths of Darkness," Or'do pulled back his fist, which was at once lost in a flare of shadow. I to reached inside, probing the molten seam where forces clashed, drawing it forth and spilling its blazing power into my veins.

"And the tempest between," We spoke as one, our combined voices resonating with the power of a thousand. Lightning flashed in the blighted heavens above, lashing down upon us and wrapping around our forearms, coiling around our fingers like thorned gauntlets. As one we surged on, the ground shining as if it were upon glowing stars we tread. I felt the Flame pulse in my veins, a second heartbeat that thundered in time with my own, a river of fire that filled me with endless strength.

"Shall we strike you down!" Time slowed around us, as if it was through honey we moved. Our fists came arching forward, our bodies turning in time with the strike, bands of lightning peeling away like gangrenous flesh sloughing from mangled limbs. Fury, hate, rage had all abated; it was hope that filled me now, a boundless flame that nothing would ever again quench. As we came lunging in, trailing feet charring the earth, thrusting fists aglow with light and shadow, I saw in Gehrman's eyes true fear, neither feigned nor exaggerated, neither a ploy nor trap, but the cold, primal terror that one on the brink of death feels.

As we leaped toward him, springing like vipers upon prey, he slammed his palms against the ground, tongues of darkness surging between his clawed fingers, caressing his crooked knuckles and reaching plaintively heavenward. Sudden, cloying shadow wrapped around us, familiar bronze glinting in the murk. He would again trap us in those foul labyrinths! Gehrman could not bear to face the death he had lavished upon so many, and to avoid its touch, he would instead cage us like beasts. This time however, we would not fall silent into that abyss.

"Aspect of-" Or'do began, his hand piercing the black mist if only briefly.

"Blazing Shadow!" I clasped his shoulder, pouring my strength into him. Lines of blazing gold appeared along my body, a framework that crawled atop his frame and drew plates of shadow across it, forming a silhouette garbed in light and dark. It surged through the curtain as it drew tight and solid, coagulating like spilled blood around us. We fell again to those all too familiar stones, yet this time, it was with weary smiles. Gehrman would have to contend with the combined force of our undying hope, and if that alone did not slay him, we would soon return. These were feeble prisons, forged of brittle fear, wrought of fraying despair. It was a weak place that held weaker beasts, and we had boundless strength with which to break it.