Alainn soars up into the air, gaining height at speed until, still invisible, it hovers directly over the dragon. Then the spells begin!
Zassiron roars with fury, his skin crackling with electricity and his shoulders slump as Alain's spell takes effect.
He draws in a deep breath and lets go, a bolt of electricity shooting from between his teeth leaps towards Sercha and Lydia.
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Lydia cries out in pain as the the electricity scorches her. Smoke rises from her body as she falls to her knees, gasping for air. She proclaims a judgment as she uses her wand to heal herself.
Sercha manages to dodge the majority of the effects and moves up to slash at the beast with her shadowy blade.
Alainn riffles through the Harrow Deck and produces The Tyrant.
"Your reign ends here!" The gathlain declares, swooping behind the dragon, but taking care to stay out of tail range!
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"My reign will NEVER end foolish mortal! I won my place on this throne."
Zassiron rears up on his hind legs and comes crashing down on Sercha and swings his tail round at her legs.
Lydia steps up to attack the dragon, largely unsuccessfullly.
"Lydia! Run!" Sercha shouts out, just before she breaks for the door. She lets her weapon vanish back into the shadows and grabs her lover's arm as she runs past her.
Without another card to play Alainn resorts to trickery and insults.
"Hey Zarrison! I know fifty year old stuffed animals that look in better shape than you!"
Alainn zips upwards once more, now forty feet directly over the dragons back and unleashes more necromantic energy!
107 -6 neg levels
"You insolent fly - I will crush you." Zassiron roars, taking to the air to take revenge on Alainn, snapping at them as he goes.
Slicing the dragon as it flies away, Lydia hastens to Sercha’s side, using the wand to heal her. ”We can’t leave Alainn!” she says.
"Álainn can fly better then we can run! Now run!" Sercha responds, shoving Lydia before her.
Alainn dodges as best it can before casting another spell at Zassiron.
57 -10 negative levels
The huge dragon's stature droops as Alainn's spell takes hold yet again.
He wrath remains terrible but his ability to inflict it is diminishing rapidly. He lashes out with rage at the little creature in front of him, only one of his claws making contact with the nimble creature.
Lydia unlimbers her longbow and fires a dragon bane arrow into the Tyrant!
"So we're not running. Fine," Sercha snarls. "We die like heroic fools then."
She turns and screams out a war cry at the huge beast as she charges it. Her blade appears in her hand at the last moment for a dramatic strike meant to behead the beast in a single blow. And it might have if it had actually struck the dragon.
Alainn ducks and whirls in an attempt to avoid Zassiron's jaws. The moment they're out of range they disappear into invisibility.
The dragon's jaws snap closed around Alainn's fragile body and you hear a sickening crunch before they fall to the ground with a thud. Just as they touch the ground, the gathlain's limp body disappears, leaving all their belongings behind on a pile on the floor.
The dragon lands back on the floor and turns menacingly to face Sercha and Lydia before making an arcane gesture with one talon. Nothing happens. He frowns briefly and then speaks.
"No matter. Now you stand no chance without your little minion. What're you going to do now?" Zassiron goads.
”Now we make you pay for your villainy. For Desna! For Alainn!” Blinking away tears, Lydia grimly fires on the dragon again.
Sercha cries out in rage, and swings her blade wildly at the taunting beast.
Lydia's first arrow strikes true and pierces the monster's eye as Sercha rushes into the Tyrant to avenge Alainn, slashing and stabbing at his chest with unrelenting fury.
The dragon collapses heavily to the ground, lying still and no longer moving, stiffening as if transforming into a graven image.
Alainn's belongings lie in a messy pile with Sonnorae's Harrow deck somehow perched neatly on top.
Lydia takes a deep breath. ”It is done.”
She kneels down and solemnly gathers Alainn’s belongings. ”I was hoping to bring their body home so that we might raise them from the dead, but they seem to have disappeared. I know not what that portends. For now, let us gather Meloigne and find our way back to Golarion.”
Sercha gives the still dragon another slash with her sword and a kick for good measure before silently approaching Lydia. "I'm sorry," she says, her lip beginning to tremble. "It was my fault. If I hadn't run then ..." She doesn't finish the statement as tears begin to fall.
Lydia embraces Sercha. "No. The only fault lies with Zassiron, and he has paid the price. Do not blame yourself." She gives the fetchling a gentle kiss.
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"Hey, don't be so glum! Ooo! Kissing!" Alainn's voice sounds from Lydia's arms. Looking down the Survivor is perched on top of the Harrow Deck and Alainn is sprawled cheerfully across the throne, surrounded by the conspirators who all look distinctly miffed. "It's perfect. No story can end without a heroic sacrifice, and I'm the sidekick, it's my role to inspire you guys to victory."
The gathlain looks to one side as Zassiron appears at the back of the crowd. "See? I know you won. So it was worth it, and besides this realm needs a Storyteller." Alainn gestures expansively, "Without Sonnorae or Zassiron, there has to be someone to tell the stories and keep everything going. There are so many tales I can tell, it's going to be great!"
Alainn-in-the-card hops off their throne and walks towards the face of the card. "Lydia, I need to talk to Sercha for a second." When the inquisitor turns the card Alainn smiles at Sercha. "Do you know the most important part of a story Sercha? The ending. It has to be a happy one. You understand? What you need is in my belt pouch." The gathlain grins widely and looks expectantly at the fighter.
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Sercha frowns.
"But she might ... It's too ... We just ..." she stammers out excuses, but fades off when she looks up at Lydia's face. Her fear and self-doubt fade to a murmuring in the back of her head as her love for the woman in front of her fills her.
She kneels down, setting the card on the ground facing up and digs through the belt pouch to find the two rings. She stands back up and swallows.
"Lydia. I've never loved anyone but you. Not like this. And I know it's sudden and ... and it should be done so much more romantically. I should be ... oh!" She quickly kneels down and reaches out to take Lydia's hand in hers. "I should be kneeling down," she adds with a nervous smile. Reaching out, she takes Lydia's hand in hers and holds up one of the platinum rings. "Would you marry me?" she asks, tensing for a rejection.
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”Sercha!” Lydia gasps, gazing down at the ring. Fresh tears well in her eyes, this time of joy. ”I don’t want to spend another moment apart from you. I love you, too. Of course, I will marry you! Yes! A thousand times, yes!”
"Now that's how an ending should be!" Alainn-in-the-card says triumphantly. "Hold on tight!"
The world dissolves into streaks of color around the embracing couple until it reforms into the tent of 'All-Seeing Hajek'. Meloigne Garracy is a few feet away, gaping at the sudden change in scene.
Alainn waves once more from the card until the decks folds itself backwards into space and disappears.
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And they all live Happily Ever After.
The End.