[Mindy? Mindy!] Darian called.

[Darian. They're coming. Two Tier 8's. Sharphorn and Three-Arms are headed straight for you.]

[Blast!] Darian would have spewed bad words if he hadn't been considerate of Mindy's state of mind. [Gary! Hurry up!]

[We're going as fast as we can!] Compared to Mindy's mental voice, Gary's was tiny, like a little squeak.

[Kor'ag! We've got incoming!] Darian warned.

Kor'ag-dras roared, filling the skies with fire, but it was already all he could do to hold back the swarm of Tier 7 flyers. Adding another two more Tier 8's on top of all this… [Tim! George! We need backup!]

[We're already throwing everything we've got at them!] George's answer was filled with frustration.

Then, there was a short silence.

[Tim?] Darian dared ask hopefully, even as Three-Arms and Sharphorn approached.

[I'm sending over the Wind Emperor.] Tim said at last.

[Can you manage?] Darian was amazed. [Two Tier 8 Spectres with just Khar'al-dras?]

[We don't have a choice.] Tim's tones were grim and deathly quiet. [The airs.h.i.+p must get through. Everything depends on it.]

[Tim… what do you intend to do?!] George spluttered.

[I intend to last at least as long as Mindy did.] Tim answered. [And hopefully not embarra.s.s myself.]

[Mindy! Can you still fight?] Darian asked.

There was silence.

[Mindy? Mindy! Are you all right?!]

The only reply was the howling of the cold, indifferent wind.

[Mindy, hang on! We're coming!] George sent out. [I'm sending the Red Fang for you!]

In the meantime, Sharphorn had already arrived. Leaving Three-Arms in his dust, the fiercest of the Tier-8 Spectres charged headlong toward Kor'ag-dras.

Darian dove down from above and slammed his sword into Sharphorn's back with all the power he could muster.

A material sword might not have harmed Sharphorn very much. Weapons of solid matter just didn't affect Spectres that badly.

But Darian's sword was a blade formed of pure Psionic energy. It poked through Sharphorn's back, and caused a ma.s.sive fluctuation of energies where it pierced. Sharphorn roared, spasmed, his charge suddenly swerved, throwing Darian far off as the both of them went tumbling through the air.

[Not enough!] Darian thought regretfully as sky and land spun around him. [Not deep enough! I need more force, more power, more… everything!]

As ma.s.sive as the fluctuation was, Tier 8's were far, far bigger. That stab was little more than a sting to Sharphorn. But even a sting helped to buy time.

[More!] Darian poured Psionic energy into the night sky, filling it with a glow like a pillar of starlight. [More power! More size! More force!]

He lost control of its form, unable to keep it solid. The energies quickly warped, twisted, even as Darian fought to maintain some sort of containment. Instead of a blade, the Psionic energies swirled around in a spiral. Doom would never let him hear the end of it, but Darian didn't care. [If I can't manage a blade, a drill is fine! I just need the power!]

Sharphorn had regained his balance and had turned around now. He glared at Darian and let out a snarl. One hoof pawed the open sky, scattering the clouds.

[He's coming.] Darian's eyes narrowed, and then he lowered his arm, lowered his aim, and pointed a three hundred foot Starlight Drill at Sharphorn in an open challenge.

Sharphorn roared and charged. With all the speed and power of a Tier 8's rage, he barreled down towards Darian in a fury.

[This is for Mindy.] Darian felt his heart turn cold. He felt a sudden deep sadness, and a calmness that bore the pa.s.sing of ages without care. A deep green glow began to s.h.i.+mmer around him. [This is for Chirpy.]

Sharphorn approached with blinding speed, but to Darian, it seemed as if everything was moving slowly.

[This is for you!] Darian roared psionically, the mental shout distracting Sharphorn for a bare moment.

One moment. It was all he needed. Darian suddenly dropped out of the sky, and the Starlight Drill dropped with him a clear fiftyfeet. This dipped the psionic energies pointed at Sharphorn well below the previous meeting point of his horn, below his chin…

[DIE!] Darian charged, ramming the point of the Starlight Drill into Sharphorn's throat.

By himself, he'd never have managed enough force, but Sharphorn himself was in a full-on charge straight at him. Had the Spectre been material, Darian would have been totally crushed, but as it was, the result of their meeting was…

Sharphorn was speared through the throat with the Starlight Drill! It stabbed through the Tier 8's form all the way to Darian's arm, three hundred feet of deadly Psi-Energy in whirling devastation causing fluctiations that pretty much tore Sharphorn's throat apart.

As for Darian himself…

[Urghk!] The impact sent him flying. Even immaterial, facing a head-on charge by a Tier 8 was no joke.

Wind and sky sped past, and then Darian knew no more.