Piercing blue eyes squinted in concentration, the warrior moved his hands in a circular motion.  In the violent wind that ruffled his white-blonde hair, the figure's light brown cape flew out from behind him.  He slowly made an arc with his right hand.

Rion's jaw was rigid as he watched green power spiral from his palm and pain engulfed him.  Everything blurred and darkened as he felt the hum of magic rise--and then he was standing on the edge of the cliff in the rays of the setting sun again.  Rion panted; a drop of sweat fell from his brow into the grass.

He turned away from the glow of the sun, face set in that familiar grimace he'd worn ever since--no, he couldn't think about it.  There was no past.  There was only now.  He had to get stronger.

He was older now; the youthful innocent in his sky-colored eyes had been extinguished long ago.  Although the nickname 'shortstone' had stuck, Rion was much talloer, with a heavily muscled chest.  His hair had grown shoulder-length with blonde sideburns.  Now he wore his rock headband around his neck, and his heart in his chest and not on his sleeve.

And he knew much more about the world.  Things he'd never wanted to know.  Things that stabbed his heart.

About life.  Destruction.  Gain.  And loss.

So much loss.

He began to move his hands in complicated patterns again, feeling the tingling through his body as the Vitus energy flowed through him.  Vitus and Ethos in the same body, fighting for dominance.

Vitus had won long ago.  But there were times when his reckless Ethos nature flared up again, when he felt the tears sting in his eyes and the anger build.  Expectantly, he'd wait for the loss of consciousness as his dark side took over.  But it never happened.

"Hruh!" green magic exploded from his hand, pushing him back, threatening to consume his very soul.  His body throbbed with pain. "Uhhhh..." Rion massaged his temples, pushing back a pounding headache.

If he kept this up, he'd collapse any second.  Rion panted, closing his eyes and trying to keep standing.

Warm, caring arms wrapped around his chest.

Rion sighed.  He turned to see her dark brown face, light blue hair, kind ocean eyes.  She hugged him tighter, burying her face into his back.

"Mel..." his voice was soft. "I'm not a kid anymore, you don't have to..."

She drew back. "I'm sorry."

"No.  Don't be." Rion's eyes glazed over as he thought about times long past.  He had kept an uncontrollable rage pent up in him for far too long, and his dark side would manifest itself in cruel ways almost every day.  Each time he changed, she would hold him close and whisper sweet words until she'd coaxed the light out of him and he was himself once more.  Now his Ethos form was gone, but yet she still found time to hug him, so much that he never felt complete without her arms wrapped around him.

Rion wiped away a tear running down her face with his finger.  This angel was all he had left and he needed to let her know how much he appreciated her.

How much he loved her.

It had been a subtle falling-in-love, unlike the whirlwind he'd felt caught up in Kara.  Even after Erik's sister's destruction, he'd talked to her hologram, unable to touch but not unable to care.  But when the Ethos had split the Lifestone the day they'd--the day they'd--the day, he'd named it that, he didn't want to recall it.  That day she'd been lost forever and even though he'd fallen into love fast he'd plunged into despair even faster.

One wizard with a smile so warm it melted her own ice had lifted him out of that despair.

And slowly, when months turned to years he'd found himself staring just a little too long at her beautiful face, holding her just a little too long after his Ethos side was gone and he was Rion again.

No words passed between them as Rion looked at her.  Mel had grown up in so many ways.  The teardrop-shaped mark on her forehead had reverted into a elegant blue band that looked like a crown.  She now had her light blue hair in a ponytail, and her amulet was the centerpiece of a blue belt she wore over her navy dress.  Her face had only gotten more angelic as she aged.

"I wasn't holding you as a child, Rion," Mel said. "I was holding you as an adult, because I--"

He cut her off by softly planting his lips on hers.

"Because I love you," Mel whispered when they broke apart.

"I know." he entwined his hand in hers. "You're all I've got left.  I feel like it's wrong to fall for you after Kara--"

She interrupted him with a giggle. "You think you've got it bad?  Try falling for you after Seth and Adam!"

The conversation lapsed into uneasy silence.  Seth, Adam, and erik had been destroyed the same day Kara's Lifeston had been smashed.  Rion knew that he and Mel would never be the same without them.

"I'm sorry..." Rion squeezed her hand gently. "But I love you far too much to let you suffer alone.  Let's make the best of now."

He pointed a finger toward the heavens and focused all his magic.

Green power streamed out from his hand, curling into a ring that spiraled closer and closer to them.  Rion reached out, fighting the pain, and grasped it.  The pure gold band shone in the rays of the setting sun.  Engraved in its emerald was the Vitus symbol.

"Mel?" Rion asked. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she whispered in his ear.  He felt her arms wrap around him from behind, the light to lead him through the darkness, the one he loved and lived for.