"What?"
"I said, 'I can wait.' Did you not hear me? Did the fortress falling on your head perhaps damage your hearing?" She smirked at him.
"You think a combined army will be enough to stop me, but that's not how this works.
The other Bastions will come to me, saving me time and effort, and I'll get what I want so much sooner.
It's rather funny how you've done my work for me. All I have to do is sit back and wait."
August stared at her as she stretched her arms out and yawned theatrically.
This Messenger was so confident in her power that she thought she could defeat the combined might of the remaining Bastions of Falmir?
Then again, she had effortlessly crushed him. Could she pull it off?
He swallowed. Then dove into his binding stone and did something he had never thought he would ever do. Something he had sworn to never do.
The Messenger froze. Her eyes met August's the moment his mind returned to reality.
"Did you seriously just…" she trailed off and licked her lips nervously.
Her dismissive manner from earlier disappeared.
She took a step forward, her eyes focused entirely on his. "You did, didn't you?"
How did she know what he did? It's impossible for somebody to sense what another Bastion is doing in their mental world.
She should be clueless as to what he had done. But she wasn't.
"What are you?" he asked.
"Finally, somebody asks the right question." The Messenger grinned. "I am known as Sister Kadria. But just call me Kadria.
You know me as a Messenger, but I am much more."
"But you're not going to answer my question, are you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I did. I learned long ago to place little faith in humans.
Your minds are rather fragile, and you're good at denying reality when it doesn't fit your preconceived notions.
But you can tell that I am no mere Messenger, can't you? That's why you're so troubled, hmm?" She took another step forward.
"It doesn't matter. None of this does. If you know what I've done, then you know what comes next," August said.
"I know what comes next. Do you, little human?"
"The binding stone detonates. A chain reaction ripples through the leylines. The explosion will turn everything in a hundred-mile radius into an uninhabitable wasteland.
No plants will grow here. No sorcery or magic will ever be usable here. Everything and everyone will die."
August swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment. None of that mattered, given the people he cared about were already gone.
He reopened his eyes. "More importantly, the portal will collapse. Without magic, and without the binding stone or leylines, no demonic portals can be sustained here.
Your army will vanish. Everything you've done will be invalidated. This is the end," August said.
He made to dive into the binding stone again.
"Wait!" Kadria shouted. "Do you really think that's it?"
"Is this where you try to convince me not to do it?" August sneered.
"Don't bother."
"Oh no, feel free to blow yourself up after I speak. But understand, you cannot stop me with this. No magic or technique born from a binding stone can kill me.
You will buy time. Losing my army and this portal will hurt. I am impatient, so I can't say I'll be happy with the result. But the end?" She laughed. "Hardly."
He stared. "You're bluffing."
"Maybe. But I can tell you that the next part isn't a bluff. You have two choices—die, or accept my offer."
For a moment, August wanted to ignore her and finish detonating the binding stone.
Her arrogant attitude grated on his nerves. He forced himself to listen to her.
He had nothing to lose. Even if she killed him here and now, the binding stone would detonate by itself within minutes.
"What offer?"
"You want to save this world, don't you? Well, maybe not this world,"
she said, waving a hand at the ruins surrounding them. "But the world you grew up in. Filled with so much hope, greenery, friends, and lovers.
I imagine that's why you're a Bastion. You're trying to stop the demons and Messengers from ending everything, yes? But here we are, in the ruins of your life. The ruins of this world, even."
"Are you done?"
"Listen for a minute, will you? I'm selling you on this," Kadria said, glaring at him.
"Your sales pitch is kind of shit."
She ignored him. "What if you could save that world? Go back to before everything had fallen apart and stop the world from falling apart?
A second chance at life, but with all of your current knowledge and ability. Would you take it?"
Silence reigned.
August didn't breathe. Couldn't. He stared into space as he tried to comprehend her words. Everything faded into nothingness around him as he fell into fantasy.
"Are you saying you can send me back in time? Messengers are capable of that?" he asked.
"If we make a deal, then I can send you back to the world you so desire to save, instead of this ruin."
"Why me? And why offer such a deal if you can destroy the world so easily?"
"Because I don't want to destroy the world. Our objectives aren't too dissimilar. Neither of us wants this world.
You want to save and live in a world that hasn't been despoiled by horrible demonic armies. Would you believe that I want the same?" Kadria raised an eyebrow at him.
He looked around at the ruined fortress. "No."
"I said you wouldn't believe me."
August frowned. Her statement irritated him because it was true.
If what she was offering was possible, did he have a choice?
A chance to save everybody who had already been killed by the demonic hordes was something he had only dreamed of.
And if she was lying, then he could detonate the binding stone regardless. There was nothing to lose.
"Fine. But why me?" he asked again.
"Because you're the first Bastion I've met who's been able to bypass the protections of the binding stone like this.
They're not supposed to explode, you know. If they could, then the world would be in too much danger to let any random human manipulate them.
So that makes you my best candidate for what I want to do. Anything else?" she asked.
"Anfang," he said. "I want to go to Anfang. Not Falmir. If you can actually send me back."
She tilted her head to one side and held a finger against her bottom lip.
Slowly, a grin crept across her face.
"Ah, I see your game. The Anfang Empire. The first great nation to fall, and the beginning of the end.
You think you can stop it from collapsing, and thereby stop the demonic hordes from ever taking hold? Amusing.
I know exactly the time and place to send you, then."
Kadria rushed forward. Ignoring his instincts, August remained still.
Every part of his body told him that he was about to die. The power oozing off her terrified him.
His very essence screamed that she was vile, and he was making a mistake.
Her hand grasped his, and he felt something reach into his mind. He gasped. That feeling vanished in an instant.
"I just needed the connection," she muttered. "But you are cuter than I thought. All that dust and blood does you no favors."
August looked away. His eyes fell on a half-broken statue of the Watcher Omria. He averted his gaze.
Did he have any right to gaze upon the figure of the goddess when he had now become a heretic? He was consorting with a Messenger.
He could still detonate the binding stone. It would only take a moment.
"And done," Kadria said. "See you on the other side."
August opened his mouth to say something. No sound come out, and he realized he couldn't hear anything.
White light crept over the edges of his vision. Kadria vanished a moment later, leaving him to stare into an endless white void.
Then all thought stopped. August Martel ceased to exist.