"So Elsinor, Garnet, you're with me and Miyu," Elswyth chirped. "We're going to take down Ammet. The rest of you are going with Cyprus and Tigaern to stop the battle. Remember, we don't want to kill the soldiers if we don't have to, but don't hesitate to do what you have to in order for the mission to succeed."

Garnet knew there would be no problem of her with that. She'd killed often enough on the island, hadn't she? This time, at least, it would be for a somewhat selfless reason. Surely that had to be more acceptable.

A chilly wind sent a strand of dark hair batting at Garnet's cheek. The strand in question was the only bit of her hair not currently piled atop her head in an elaborate but practical bun that Atlanta had done for her, even taking the time to securely place Garnet's focus in the fray of hair. If it were not for the stray strand, the bun would be perfect, but its touch at her cheek was a continual reminder of her own imperfection.

"It is here that we have to split off," Tigaern said. He gestured at the plains before them. "My team will have to head for the center of things so that we may get between the three armies before they may clash, while Miyu's team will need to loop around and come in behind Ammet."

Garnet glanced around at their circle of assembled trainees and Magi. Most of the former tributes were nodding in acknowledgement. Not forty eight hours ago, they had been prepared to kill one another, indeed, some of them may have slain others that the survivors had befriended, but Garnet could detect no trace of lingering bitterness or resentment, no division from one nation to another.

How ironic, she thought, that it is war that binds us together in unity.

Elsinor's face deepened into a frown, but she waited for Tigaern and Cyprus's team to set off before she asked, "And do we know where Ammet is?"

Elswyth and Miyu nodded. As typical for what Garnet had grown to expect from the women, the latter did so once, and the former too many times for mortal eyes to count.

"I went into the eyes of some bunnies this morning," Elswyth babbled. "Ammet is back between the Aavayohn and Lirimian armies with its defenders."

If that was his location, Aavayohns would doubtless be amongst Ammet's brainwashed servants. Garnet may have known some of them. All the more reason to take down Ammet as fast as possible. The sooner it was dead, the sooner anyone Garnet knew would be freed.

Garnet straightened her posture. "There is no time to waste."

"I agree," Miyu said. "Elswyth, if you would lead the way."

Elswyth grinned in a manner entirely inappropriate for the solemn occasion. "It would be my pleasure."

By the time Garnet's team reached the vague location Elswyth had described, the battle had already begun.

"Best of luck to you," Elswyth called. The growing roar of the fight made replying impossible, rather than just the growing irritation of conversing with her.

In seconds the fighting was among them. Garnet spun around amidst the chaos. Already all her allies were gone to her, somewhere in the fray.

A knife swiped at her shoulders. Garnet twisted and slammed into the assailant. The soldier stumbled, off balance. She grabbed her attacker by the arms and thrust the figure up against the bark of a tree. For the first time, she had a look at the face of her assailant. In that one instant, she could have sworn he was an air magic specialist, because he sucked all the air out of her lungs with no effort.

"You?" Garnet choked out.

He didn't answer her nor meet her eyes, and that was all the clues she needed to understand. He was under Ammet's control. Her real father would never blatantly ignore her, no matter how badly she had hurt him the last time they had met.

His gaze looked straight ahead, as glazed as if his eyes were made of glass. Miyu had said there was no way to recover one of Ammet's victims from its control, but that had been discerned from their prior knowledge. No one had encountered Ammet with so many defenders to control before. Perhaps with its control so divided, there was a hope of getting through to her father.

Besides. She was his daughter. If anyone in the world could reach him through Ammet's brainwashing, she could.

Garnet shook him by the arms. "Father, it's me. Garnet. Don't you see me? I'm your daughter, Garnet al Thea. You wanted me to be Garnet al Loba. Don't you remember?"

He blankly stared forward. She stretched to put herself into his line of sight. His gaze didn't waver, as if he could see right through her. Garnet's body trembled, but it wasn't enough to rattle her father.

"Please," she pleaded. Her throat clotted up. "I'm sorry I went away. I never should have left you, Dad. Please come back to me. I came back to you. I took far too long, but I did. Please come back to me!."

Only more of that cursed, unfocused gaze shone out of his eyes. If the eyes were the gateway to the soul, his soul was deeply hidden away.

Her own eyes blurred. "Please," she rasped again. "I need you. Please, Daddy."

His gaze focused on her for the first time. She had made it through to him. Garnet released her grip on his sleeves and formed a wavering smile.

The knife that entered her chest moved swiftly. She didn't see it until it was buried halfway up to the hilt in the space below her throat. Garnet made one choked gasp before her legs crumbled beneath her.

Her head hit the dirt ground. The impact, seemingly, hurt more than the knife had. Or perhaps that was just the sting of defeat.

This was it.. After all that struggle and heartache, the story of Garnet al Thea would end here, on this battlefield. Her eyes fluttered close.

"It's too hard!" The familiar voice of Elswyth hissed, irate for once. "How can we kill him if we can't risk looking at him?"

"Find a way!" Miyu snapped.

Their words registered in her remaining consciousness. Garnet put one hand around the wound seeping blood from her chest, and the other stretched to touch her white bone crown, still placed perfectly in her hair. She'd done this spell once before, but not to the extent she needed to do it now. It could kill her.

But that didn't matter now, did it? Garnet would die anyway. The most she could do is die a hero. She could die saving her father, even if he was the one to seal her fate.

No, she thought, I sealed my own fate.

Garnet took as deep a breath she could manage with her life ebbing away. Her hand tightened around her crown of bone. She reached down into the abysses of energy inside of her, of every last drop of fighting spit she possessed, and every inner strength waiting to be awakened. She reached for all that and pulled it up to the surface, and with all of it at her disposal, she began the spell.

The world around her filled with the sounds of helpless confusion. Everyone, she knew, was being blinded by the bright light her spell produced. The glow scorched her eyeballs from behind even the protection of her closed lids.

"Ammet's over here!" Elsinor's voice hissed.

"Strike now!" Miyu commanded.

Garnet's eyes did not open, but the sound of stabs and slices was easily identifiable. The power source that had been maintaining her spell ran out, but the battle sounds from before did not replay.

There was a shrill cheer of delight. Her weak lips curled into one last smile. They must have succeeded. At last, Garnet al Thea had done one thing right.

With that thought, Garnet let go.