[Location: Holo Taxon]

[thornandmoss]

Briar buried each of his hands in a jar of the temple's medicine supply, green energy flowing from his fingers into the dried plants. The medicines were due for a renewal, and this would double their strength. They would be needed.

The Yanxing emperor had decided his empire was not vast enough, and his troops were coming. A temple might be a terrible thing to target, but it was a strategically sound one. Living Circle temples were centers for mages and healers, and they would be as vital to the defense of Gyongxe as civilian militia. Briar's first priority was always Rosethorn and Evvy, but doing everything he could to help temple mages and healers survive the onslaught came in a close second. Time was limited, and he set aside his current jars to move on to the next pair.

Bells rang, a warning rather than a call to service. Briar's head snapped up. Extending his magic through the network of plants in and around the temple, Briar withdrew as several of them died. The temple was burning. Where were Rosethorn and Evvy?

Briar ran toward the fires rather than away, keeping an eye out for Rosethorn's familiar green magic as he went. She would always be where she could do the most good, unless she were looking out for someone. He stopped very briefly to pull a jar of burn salve and three cloth-wrapped balls of thorn seeds from the kit slung over his back, then broke into a sprint. He had to find them.

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[slayersidekick]

Briar might not be able to find Rosethorn's magic at that moment, but he would, if he kept going, find himself faced with Willow's. Her eyes were pitch black and she had a barrier up around herself, between her and the hellgod in front of her. She was chanting something in Latin, but as soon as she became aware that someone was approaching, she turned around.

"No! Don't come here! She'll-"

But the distraction was enough for Glory to gain control, pushing past Willow's barrier and sending the witch flying through the air towards Briar. Willow scrambled up, breathing hard.

"She's too strong!"

[location]

[electro_girl]

While electricity flew from her arms into the hearts of her enemies, a blur of brown and green flew past her. She did a quick double-take and broke off the energy, calling out to him. "Hey, kid! You okay?"

[location]

[thepersianyouth]

Briar isn't the only one running towards the fire; in Bagoas' home land, fire is sacred. It is divine, and for a moment he hopes in vain that it is a ritual fire seen to by the Magus; another moment passes and he sees before him the pyre at Persepolis.

To be there and live it alongside his dead King would be a blessing, even in a place such as this.

In the end, when reason claims his mind and turns it once more onto the path of sanity, he drops to his knees and cries to the heavens. This is not Persepolis of old; this is not a dream of Alexander, but a nightmare without end.

Let the fire claim me, he thinks to himself, And let my bones find their peace among the ashes of long lost dreams.

[allthatlife]

Martha, disheveled and tired but alive, wasn't sure when she'd managed to escape from the ruined cities of the year that never was. She wasn't even sure how she'd managed to escape. All she knew was that there were no more toclafane in the sky and the vast network of sound systems that had broad casted the Master's voice across the planet were gone.

She rested against the wall of an ornate and unfamiliar stone building, allowing herself the brief luxury of closing her eyes for a moment. The peace didn't last for long. Martha could smell spoke on the air.

The toclafane might not have been to blame, but this city was burning just as surely as Japan had burned.

Bells ringing around her, Martha headed out into the open, trying to get away from the flames and work out exactly where she was. In her haste, she almost crashed into Briar.