Mechanicum

'We can do nothing for them!' shouted Sigismund. 'They must stand or fall on their own.'

Dalia stood open-mouthed, staring numbly at the empty space where, not a moment before, Severine had been standing. She couldn't comprehend what had just happened and her brain fought to process the knowledge that her friend was dead.

She took a horrified lurch towards the edge of the promontory, but a powerful hand seized her arm. Rho-mu 31 held her firm and said, 'Don't.'

'Severine!' wailed Dalia, her legs turning to the consistency of wet paper and giving way beneath her. Rho-mu 31 bore her gently to the ground as aching sobs burst from her. She held him tightly, burying her face in the fabric of his cloak as she wept for her lost friend.

'Why did she do it?' asked Dalia, looking up at Rho-mu 31 when her sobs had subsided.

'I do not know,' admitted Rho-mu 31, as Zouche came up behind Dalia and placed his hand upon her shoulder in an awkward gesture of comfort.

'I think our Severine was a girl who depended on certainties,' mused Zouche. 'This place… well, it strips away the illusions that allow us to function and shows you that there's no such thing as certainties in this universe. Some minds can't handle that kind of truth.'

'She's gone,' whispered Dalia.

'Yes, Dalia-girl, she's gone,' said Zouche, his voice choked with emotion. 'With all that's happened, I'm surprised any of us are still here.'

'Caxton!' cried Dalia, suddenly remembering that when she had last seen him, he had been insensible on the ground.

'I think he'll be fine,' said Rho-mu 31 as Dalia disentangled herself from him and stood on unsteady legs. 'He blacked out when everything went… strange.'

'Like a fuse or a circuit breaker,' elaborated Zouche, making his way over to the lectern, upon which sat Semyon's book. 'He should be fine when he wakes up.'

Dalia saw Caxton lying in the recovery position, his chest rising and falling with rhythmic breaths. He was alive and she could sense the bruised insides of his mind already beginning to heal. She wondered at how she could see such things, and then remembered the power that had flowed into her at Semyon's dissolution.

'Good,' she said. 'I can't bear to think of this place claiming any more lives.'

Zouche lifted a handful of golden dust that was all that remained of Adept Semyon and his battle servitor. 'What happened here?' he asked. 'They aged a thousand years in an instant.'

'More, I think,' said Dalia. 'I think Semyon had been a Guardian for a long, long time.'

'So now what do we do?' asked Zouche, his eyes scanning over the pages of Semyon's book. 'We found the Dragon, so do we free it?'

'No, absolutely not,' said Dalia. 'You were right after all, Zouche. Some things are meant to be left in darkness forever. We were never meant to come here to release it.'

'Then why did you have to come at all?' asked Rho-mu 31.

'I think you know,' said Dalia, turning away from Zouche and facing Rho-mu 31 as flecks of golden light simmered in her eyes. 'To make sure it stayed entombed. Semyon is dead, but there needs to be a Guardian of the Dragon.'

'And that's you?' asked Rho-mu 31.

'Yes.'

'No, Dalia!' said Zouche. 'Say that it's not so! You?'

'Yes,' said Dalia. 'It was always me, but I won't be alone. Will I, Rho-mu 31?'

Rho-mu 31 stood tall and planted his weapon stave in the ground. He knelt before Dalia and said, 'For as long as I remain functional I will protect you.'

'With the power I have now, that may be a very long time, my friend.'

'So be it,' said Rho-mu 31.

Zouche and Rho-mu 31 carried Caxton between them as they made their way back through the twisting maze of the Dragon's caves. Dalia led the way, guiding them unerringly along the path they had followed to get here. Their mood was subdued, for the death of Severine was heavy in their thoughts, and no one spoke as they passed through Semyon's abandoned laboratory. Once again they trudged through the glittering tunnels that led to the dark, shadow-cloaked grabens of the Noctis Labyrinthus, before finally emerging into the chill air.

'I think I hate this place,' said Zouche, as Rho-mu 31 took the unconscious Caxton from him. The Protector shrugged Caxton onto his shoulder.

'I wouldn't blame you,' said Dalia. 'It's a place of despair. It always has been and I think it's that more than the Dragon that's kept people away.'

'And you're sure you have to stay?' asked Zouche, his eyes brimming with tears.

'I'm sure,' said Dalia, leaning down to embrace him. He put his arms around her and held her tightly, letting the tears fall without shame.

'I'll never see you again, will I?' asked Zouche when she released him.

She shook her head. 'No, you won't. And you can't ever tell anyone about me or this place. If anyone asks, tell them I died when the Kaban Machine attacked us in the tunnel.'

'And what about Caxton?' asked Zouche, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his robe.