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Thelbiz stood at the edge, firing three more arrows rapidly at Noshtiz. One was knocked aside with a swing of his greatsword, but two drove into his chest. Blood splattered, falling to the ground like a great flood, but it hardly seemed to faze him much.

And so, the fight went on, the gods dealing each other wounds that sent magic flying but didn’t stop them like it might a mortal.

It seemed like Noshtiz was going to win.

But then as his sword swung around in a great, powerful arc, Limhiz leaped into its path. His hammer morphed into an enormous shield and a huge clash rang out as it met Noshtiz’s sword. Limhiz was driven back by the momentum, his heels dragging deep gouges into the earth, then his arms seemed to shatter entirely with a loud roar that rattled Iryana’s bones.

Iryana squeezed her sisters’ hands tight.

But the momentum of Noshtiz’s sword had been stopped by Limhiz’s block and would take a moment to get moving again.

“Now’s your chance!” Vaneshta started screaming like she was watching a fight in the pits, not that there was any chance of the gods hearing them.

Mhakiza lunged forward and pressed her sword into Noshtiz’s chest, sinking deeper and deeper as she snarled. Thunder erupted as she spoke to him. And then she tore her sword out of his side. Noshtiz screamed as his magic poured out.

Two more golden arrows landed in Noshtiz’s head, right where eyes would normally be, if they even had them in those forms.

As Noshtiz stumbled, Voordiza, gaping wound and all, stalked in. She crossed her swords on either side of his neck and jerked her hands apart, cutting through until his head tumbled off, fell to the ground, and burst like a sack of magic.

“Yes!” Vaneshta screamed, shoving a fist into the air. “Decapitation! Make his head roll!”

“Or… splatter,” Lidishta laughed.

“That’s nasty,” Misha gagged.

Iryana was quiet at first, worried that somehow Noshtiz would get back up, reform his body, and take the rest of them on. But Noshtiz’s body fell, shrinking to a size they couldn’t see before hitting the ground.

She sagged back, releasing her sister’s hands. Her fingers were numb from how hard they’d been squeezed. It was hard to believe, hard to process.

“They did it!” Hadima hollered with relief, laughing wildly. Misha grinned at her.

Iryana kept her eyes on the gods, needing to be sure it was over. Pyetar was equally still at her back.

The remaining gods turned toward the great pit, moving to circle it. She didn’t know what they were doing, but they seemed to pour their very essence into it. They didn’t stop until they all began to waver and shrink. And then Limhiz held out his shattered arms, bent in spots they shouldn’t be and limp in others, and slowly the pit closed.

The storm cloud around them dissipated, the wind dying down.

“It’s over, Iri.” Pyetar curled around her, sagging with relief.

She could only nod.

The gods continued to shrink, disappearing somewhere in the ground below. And then the dragon turned, flying in their direction.

“Uh, where are we going?” Vaneshta looked toward the dragon’s head. It seemed to ignore them.

“Perhaps Mhakiza wants her dragon back,” Iryana sighed.

Misha and Lidishta groaned together.

Pyetar fell back on the platform, pulling Iryana with him. His eyes fluttered shut. His chest deflated as he released a long breath. Iryana curled into the crook of his arm.

“Tired?” she asked teasingly, feeling surprisingly light despite her fatigue.

“I could sleep for a week,” he mumbled, his voice deep and rough.

She looked up at her sisters who were smiling down at them.

When the dragon landed, they peered over the edge of the platform to see the gods in a clearing, a sea of flattened trees around them. They were back in their human-looking shells, recuperating. Their wounds didn’t seem to translate exactly to these bodies, but there was clearly an effect.