Runners-Up

• Aquila Crest
• Automaton Halo
• Bent Horns
• Bleached Skull Helmet
• Brilliant Crown
• Coliseum Helmet Attachment
• Divine Sign
• Fiery Visage
• Iron Maiden
• Mark of the Phoenix
• Serrated Mohawk
• Skull Hood
• Spirit Charm
• Swan Crest
• Twisted Horns
• Smoking Hood
• Huntsman Hood
• Madcap Hood
• Darkprism Helmet Attachment
• Purple Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
• Ghostflame Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
• Stygian Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
• Arcane Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
• Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
• Arcane Horns Helmet Attachment
• Undead Outcast Helmet

An overcast and chilly afternoon found Jun in a dilemma.

The humidity clung to her robes as her eyes scanned the limited scenery of the hideout over and over. Almost three moons had passed since she stumbled out of that basement, Catarina's inky malevolence staining her dagger. Jun hadn't dared to dream that there might be something for her after the end of the Syndicate; and now that she was here, she didn't dare to proceed.

For the first time in a long time, Jun was afraid.

The source was a lonely figure sitting on the fringe of the hideout, arms limp by her side and eyes staring off into a memory farther away than any otherworldly realm she had ever conjured. Jun did not have to search hard to see the etchings of pain and grief on Zana's face. It had been barely a week since the tempest of nightmares ravaged through Oriath and Sirus' attempt to tear the very fabric of this world into fragments. When the storm had subsided and the Sirus' corpse lay impaled in the town square, Zana's face had been a perfect wall of alabaster, her mind seemed in shock and distant, and it remained so ever since.

It seemed good to Jun to give her some space at first. One needed time to process such an extreme event. But soon it became clear that Zana was slipping further and further away. She would wander absent-mindedly into the woods beyonds the hideout before dawn and return late in the evening, covered in cuts and scratches.

Jun looked at her now. She spied two small cuts just under Zana's right ear that seemed to be newly acquired today. Every part of Jun longed to go to her and pull her out of the insidious spiral that's draining her mind.

But Jun couldn't seem to move. Her decisive combat instincts forged in the heat of a thousand confrontations eluded her. Instead her feet were filmly rooted by tendrils of hesitation. Just move dammit! She is less than a throw away.

In a flash, before she had even realised she was moving, Jun sprang towards Zana. Her steps just shy of breaking into a sprint. Within moments, Jun stood over the bundled figure. Zana looked up from the noise of Jun's stampede and hurriedly stood, brushing off her skirt.

"Jun! Sorry you caught me daydreaming, is there something I can help you-"

Jun threw herself at Zana until she was inches away and twisted her face at the last second to plant a tender kiss on Zana's neck.

"You're not alone."

Jun froze. Impulse had driven her this far but now the events that had just transpired was beginning to catch up with her conscious, thinking mind and there were no more words left to say. An agonising eternity stretched between the pair and Jun became more and more aware of their proximity. The earthly scent coming from Zana's clothes, the fiery locks caressing her own jet black strands, her cheek suddenly moist.

Excruciatingly, Jun tilted her head back to look at Zana's face and found it drenched in tears. For the second time that day, impulse took over and Jun stretched out her arms. Zana trembled as she felt Jun's arm envelope her and melted into the embrace.

~~~~~ ~~~~~

"Alright, since neither of yous have are first-timers aboard me ship, I'm expecting four extra legs a-running and four extra hands a-hoisting. Yea?"

Zana turned with a small chuckle.

"Thank you again for ferrying us, Captain Roth. Of course we'll help however we can."

Jun stayed silent facing the brilliance of the amber sunset. Zana's euphonious voice, accompanied by the gentlest of touch on her arm had flooded her senses. Jun shifted her stance and wrapped one arm tightly around Zana's waist, pulling her close.

"I was hoping that when it was all over, you would be able to show me some of the worlds you've seen in the device." Jun whispered, she eyes quickly scanning Zana's face for a response.

Something wistful crept into Zana's expression before evanescing as quickly as it had appeared.

"No. But I can show you this one."

The Karui Shores were beautiful at dawn. The sun would rise from the sea as it did, it would paint the sky different colours, changing again and again as it made its journey across the sky. Today, in particular, the sky started with pale pink, followed by a rich crimson, a pouty orange, and then a gentle blue.

The survivors from Oriath, both Karui and Oriathans, were hustling around, busy in their own tasks, trying to maintain an entirely new society full of people with a complicated history: one enslaver, the other, enslaved. It was a new start, but the scars would remain until they heal and become lines, memories, that would shape the future in a few decades for a new beginning, a new war, a time when exiles could have more than two 6-links, but that was not a concern right now. The concern was to survive and to rejoice as two people came together in love.

The Witch had been training her spectres on how to play instruments. Without any actual air inside them, or the lungs to hold them, she had to resort to making them use drums and maracas. They made quite the decent band within a few weeks of practicing. Who knew that the Redeemer's archers had an ear for music, or lack thereof?

The Duelist had been busy the past few days along with the Ranger and the Shadow, helping in making some decorations. The three had gone in the nearby wilderness at dawn and cut long vines with flowers in them. Then, going back to the camp, where the Duelist's many admirers had quickly tied the vines to arrows, the Duelist and Ranger shot the arrows to the roofs of the houses, as the Shadow jumped from roof to roof, making sure they were sturdy. At one point the Duelist had taken off his shirt, and many women and a few men screamed as if a new god had come to kill them. But really, they were just fawning over a shirtless Duelist, not noticing the few who had fainted at their feet. The Ranger and the Shadow both found it amusing.

The Templar and the Marauder had been busy consoling the Oriathans and the Karui who were still suffering from the shock of the loss of their home, and almost dying twice: once to an ever-hungry god, and the other to a man who might as well have been a god. When they came to know about the marriage, the Templar immediately consulted the happy couple and made preparations with the Marauder to hold a wedding with both Oriathan and Karui elements. The Marauder took an additional step and overlooked the culinary preparations for the day.

The Scion had been going around the settling, helping as much as she could with everything. She had helped pick the songs the witch's specters would play, coordinated the scheme and patterns of vines being hung by the Duelist, the Ranger, and the Shadow, and helped the Marauder and the Templar in finetuning the wedding ceremony, and later explained it to each bride.

As Zana, dressed in her best armour, made her way to the rudimentary altar consisting of incense, a dagger, and a barrel with water, she couldn't believe the day was happening. And as Jun, wearing her newly polished armour, made her way to the altar from the other side, she could not believe that the day was finally here. As both stepped in front of the altar, they felt their hearts beating faster.

"Zana Caeserius" Jun said, looking into the eyes of the explorer she had fallen in love with, "Since the day I met you, I was in love with you. As much as I wanted to talk to you and confess my love, I had my duty before me, and you had yours. I had to avenge my akhara, and you had to save the world. But we no longer have to fight all-powerful immortal beings. We can start a new life, and I want to start mine with you by my side." Saying this, Jun took the dagger and opened a small slit on her finger with it. A drop of blood oozed, and she dropped it in the barrel.

"Jun Ortoi" Zana said, taking the dagger from Jun and looking in the eyes of the veiled master, the warrior she had fallen in love with, "When I first met you, I thought you did not trust me, even hated me to some extent. But you showed me that you do care, and you do trust me. And I want you to know that I trust you with my life, and love you with my soul, till the end of time." And with that, she cut a small slit in her finger, and a drop of her blood fell into the barrel.

The Marauder and the Templar brought two pieces of metal burning brighter than the sun and tempered them in the barrel of water. When the water stopped sizzling, the pieces of metal were wrapped in two pieces of cloth given to Jun and Zana. Twin hitless daggers, sharp and deadly. The daggers would get a hilt after the first year of their marriage.

"I give my love to you, Zana, and I belong to you, until death separates us, and even after that," Jun said, giving her cloth-wrapped dagger to Zana. "I give my love to you, Jun, until my last breath, and if there is a life after this, I would love you then too," Zana said, giving her cloth-wrapped dagger to Jun.

The Witch's spectres started playing 'The Ballad of Jerra and Romana", the story of the two lovers who fought the skies themselves so they could be with each other. The warrior stared into the eyes of the explorer she fell in love with, and the explorer stared into the eyes of the warrior she slowly befriended, and then started loving. Another challenge could come any day, they knew that. But today, the only thing in their world was each other.