Aster stared blankly at the mage, connecting the dots a bit slower than the others had. His eyes went wide in shock when something appeared on the rabbit's left ear.

It looked like a tiny spark, an ember glowing brightly on her fur. It spread the way one would on a piece of parchment, erupting into a glowing circle, eating away a hole. Where the edges crumbled away beneath the spreading light before it halted briefly. Small flecks of those embers sprinkled up into the air, drawing towards the battlefield as the magic used her very life-force to complete the task commanded of it.

Aster tried to take a step forward, but immediately fell, drained of all energy himself. Oust caught him, but the boy snatched his gaze back to the rabbit, reaching out and grabbing a hold of hee fur in an attempt to hold her together, to keep her where she was. Mollis smiled sadly as the fur simply broke away, disintegrating into the flecks of light as well. She spoke kindly to the human.

"I am sorry… I have to go, there's one more thing I have to do."

Oust held Aster as he flailed vainly, not wanting to accept what he had to. The human screamed out to the mage as Mollis went to jump over the edge of the pillar.

"I'M SORRY MOLLIS! I'M SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT, I WAS AN ASSHOLE, AND I WAS TOO STUPID TO SEE WHAT YOU WERE DOING… Please stay. Please…"

The rabbit didn't dare let the boy see her own tears, so without ever turning around, she spoke to the human one more time.

"You are a true king… Aster Venatus… Solis Aureus… Or whoever you become… Never let that darkness within you outshine that light that resides as well." The rabbit stepped off the pillar, dropping to the earth as the boy wailed out in protest, experiencing the pain of losing such a close comrade for the first time that day.

Mollis landed on her feet expertly from such a short drop. She called out to Stahl, who was waiting at the bottom.

"Aschefell… You'd better take good care of him, that kind of power needs someone to depend on… If you run into Cortist, be on guard… I still don't know if you can trust him… We had some fun back then, you and I. I've always enjoyed that mean-streak you have, so you should maybe show it a little more."

Mollis gave her a friendly wink. Stahl could only stare solemnly, satisfied with any goodbye she could receive on a battlefield. The noble wolf nodded once, and gave the rabbit a bow in respect as she spoke with acceptance, and gratitude.

"Rest well, Mollis."

The mage walked right up behind her captain, who was still kneeling, even though he was free from Aster's shield. All the allies were free, but not a single fiend was. The bull knew they had just won, but he had lost. He stood, and turned on the rabbit, bellowing down at the rabbit, even as she faded apart more and more.

"YOU WERE NEVER THE DAMNED FOOL MOLLIS! YOU KNEW BETTER! I TOLD YOU, YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THAT… You were supposed to stand by my side… How am I supposed to keep all of this together without you? You've always ran my team… Why did you have to do it? We could have ran. We could have made it far away…"

The bull lost his voice before all within earshot that day, the proud roar finally cracking to a raspy croak. Mollis reached a hand out and placed it on her Captain's shoulder before she answered.

"You'll manage just fine. You're too stubborn to die… Keep them on their toes." The mage spoke a bit softer then, trying to approach her final promise with dignity. "Carcer… It's time for that thing you promised me all those years ago."

Captain Rix almost lost it when the rabbit used his first name with that kind of finality to it, but he stood, and turned to his lifelong ally strongly, not letting tears ruin this moment for the rabbit. The bull stared down at the mage with a longing for more adventures together. Mollis simply smiled, reaching a hand up to the broken horn as she spoke in her familiar, playful tone she used to keep the bovine in check.

"Honestly Captain, this just won't do… I finally get to do it, and you go and break a horn off right before… I'll have to fix that…" Mollis closed his eyes, redirecting the last stray traces of the magic to the bull's injury. A small magic ring briefly formed around the perimeter of the break on the horn, and a small branch of cherry wood shot out from the rune, slowly shaping itself to match the bulls black horn on the other side.

When the shape settled, Mollis gave it a little tap and the bark stripped away, leaving a reddish brown wood behind. Mollis gave it another little tap, and the wood hardened, polishing itself smooth, matching the texture of the missing black horn as well as the brown coloring on the bull's fur. The circular seal burned lightly into where the wood met the horn, and the spell completed itself without a hitch. Mollis winked at her Captain, explaining the modification.

"It'll be even stronger than your real horn… It looks good too… Now I won't feel cheated… Are you ready, my captain?"

The great bull leaned his head down lower, dropping it right before the smaller rabbit's own. Mollis slowly reached up, and placed a hand on each horn, holding the bovine in a way nobody else ever had. The rabbit pulled the bull down by this intimate grip, and planted her lips firmly to the bull's own, tasting that part of him at long last.

The captain swallowed his pride, allowing the rabbit to finally hold his head in that humiliating way she had always begged to. Captain Carcer Rixator kissed the rabbit powerfully, making sure it was truly a worthy last request. He didn't like the fact that it was a goodbye kiss, but he truly loved that rabbit in every way he could.

They had agreed towards such a short but intimate exchange a long time ago despite her refusal to commit and his unwillingness to have anything intimate to do with her without that commitment he sort after from her.

But this was different... it was an intimacy for if the time ever was near, and their separation was certain. They cared about each other enough to not deprive each other of such indulgence in the face of death.So in actuality, it was more of a kiss of respect and friendship...

Mollis finally pulled away, but simply held on to those horns tenderly as more and more of her body burned away with those glowing embers. The Captain made himself smile, pulled his broken horn free from his belt, and handed it to the rabbit. Captain Rix spoke in a tone the rabbit had never heard before… Truly, a whisper of all things.

"Take this piece of me with you… May you battle with the gods, Mollis Macula."

Mollis chuckled, taking a hold of the horn in gratitude, feeling a little less alone from the gesture. The rabbit started speaking once more as the last of her faded away with that horn, feeling peaceful for knowing she had saved such wonderful friends.

"I think I'll wait for a certain stubborn bull, then we can beat the shit out of them together, Carcer… I truly did love you, my friend. And thank you for giving me my life back."

And with that Mollis was gone…

As the last of the flecks of light from the rabbit's body floated toward the center of the battlefield, the magic really kicked into overdrive. All around the partially destroyed landscape, the fiends started spasming, and twitching violently in place.

A roar of screeching could be heard as the pressure built within each before they burst open, one by one, a small flowery plant sprouting forth and consuming them for their magical growth.

The fiends writhed and slinked away to nothingness as the hundreds upon hundreds of tiny white flowers with orange centers sprouted where each stood, forming a dense meadow of local greenery among such barren landscape.

The earth quivered below, and the trenches stretched further back, tying into the river as water flooded through them. Any ally in danger felt the earth shift them to higher ground before the torrent could ever reach them.

A mighty shrieking filled the air, and the Earthwyrm burrowed once more, desperately trying to escape the spell working its way through it. Oust watched from atop the pillar in awe as the demon barreled towards the center of the walls, the upturned dirt revealing its exact location.

Suddenly, without warning, it burst forth from the earth once more, extending thirty feet straight into the air. It opened its mouth wide as it reared back, and the tiger feared another blast of sand was coming, but a magnificently green cherry tree limb shot forth from the greater demon's throat instead, spreading wider and wider as it tore the very demon apart with its mighty trunk.

The tree grew ever higher climbing forty, fifty, then sixty feet into the air, never slowing as the monster withered and died around it, crumbling away as the branches crushed its heart, and ended its fifty year reign.

The tree lit up with blossoms as big as the rabbit's head, and these in turn withered away to reveal fruit bigger than her fist. Orcs and beasts alike looked on in a daze as the rabbit's sacrifice left behind a mighty reminder of her heroic act.

There upon the branches, well over seventy five feet in the air, were the biggest cherries the world had ever seen. The tree would stand as a powerful symbol to the orcs for many generations to come, and the fruit of that tree would sustain their life for centuries.

A single taste of that fruit after the battle was over was all that Captain Rixator needed to know that Mollis had finally gotten them right. She had finally made them as sweet as she had wanted to. Mollis always did love cherries, after all.

The bovine smiled, letting his tears fall at last… He was going to miss that frisky and bossy rabbit, but he touched his new horn tenderly, and felt just a piece of the mage with him even then.

The captain laughed at himself, thinking he should've kissed the rabbit much sooner, and many more times before the end. If only he wasn't so hellbent on committing first.

Perhaps he should finally start listening to the mage, and start tasting the fruit more often.

***