Taiwo captured Adisa before they reached the Gate.
Black chains wrapped around his body.
Each chain carried a stolen name.
Gris Charnel began to drain from him.
Zara stopped several feet away.
Kofi and Dr. Obi remained behind her, while Babycat moved through the communication stone in Amara’s hand.
“If you close the Gate,” Taiwo told Zara, “he dies.”
Adisa was already fading.
His face had begun to lose colour.
His fragrance had lost the fig.
Only black tea and weak sandalwood remained.
“If I do not?” Zara asked.
“Everyone else does.”
Kofi moved forward.
“There has to be another way.”
Taiwo tightened the chains.
Adisa gasped.
Gris Charnel weakened.
“Stay back!” Zara warned.
Dr. Obi held Kofi’s arm.
“This is her choice.”
Adisa looked at Zara.
“Close it.”
She shook her head.
“Do it!”
Babycat broke through the stone.
Amara’s voice trembled.
“Zara... I cannot see beyond this moment.”
Taiwo smiled.
“At last. The great Ori learns that love is weakness.”
Portrait of a Lady rose from Zara’s skin.
Amouage Guidance held beneath it.
“No.”
She walked toward Adisa.
Taiwo lifted one hand.
The chains tightened again.
“Another step and his heart stops.”
Zara continued.
Gris Charnel reached her faintly.
Not a warning.
A memory.
The Tube.
The coffee shop.
The archive.
Hackney.
The life they had not finished living.
“Love is why I will not accept the choices you give me.”
She placed her forehead against Adisa’s.
Portrait of a Lady surrounded them both.
“I choose you,” she whispered.
“And I choose them.”
Adisa understood.
Gris Charnel strengthened once.
People were fighting behind them.
Kofi shouted orders to the remaining teams.
Dr. Obi began the closing prayer.
Babycat burned through the stone as Amara screamed warnings from another vision.
The Gate shook the earth.
Zara kissed Adisa once.
Slowly.
Like a promise made before death.
Portrait of a Lady and Gris Charnel joined.
Guidance rose around them like a shield.
Then they joined their power.
Taiwo screamed as the chains broke!
“Now!” Dr. Obi shouted.
Zara and Adisa stepped into the Gate together.
Not one behind the other.
Together.
Rose.
Fig.
Incense.
Black tea.
Guidance beneath them all.
The Hollow One swallowed them both.
The Gate closed around their bodies.