OK everybody here it is. The LAST CHAPTER of The 'Gift' Of Magic. My God it's been such a long time coming and everything it's quite scary to think that this part is over. Now I have very little reason not to look for publishing...

At any rate I'd just like to thank everyone who has supported me in this story, from those who actively helped me go through it to all you amazing reviewers to those of you who simply read it. Without any of you I wouldn't be so sure about this whole thing. So a big thank you to you all =]

Oh as a side note, there won't be any sequel up here for a while.

I guess then without any further interruptions here is the last chapter. Enjoy! (It's your last chance to do so!)

Darius' gift

Rek saw the horrible creation of Darius and the strange man stumbling through the room. It sickened him to see his friend like that, knowing that this would be the end for him.

He backed away towards the window in fear. He didn't know how he was going to do to get out, he felt magically drained and the distance to the ground was sickeningly far away.

He turned back and saw Darius smiling.

Then a wave of power exploded out of what remained of the two men. It instantly knocked Rek out of the window and he fell towards the ground.

He stared up at the tower exploding as he fell, the top just ceased to exist it seemed, but luckily it ended there. Rek felt a slither of gladness as he realised his old home would be safe.

He felt something slam into his back; then another slam and everything went black.

X

Ane rushed into the house of the thinkers after hearing a commotion. She stopped dead once inside, her hand over her mouth, stifling her own scream.

The floor was a bloody ring of dead thinkers. One lay face up, staring blankly at the ceiling, blood still oozed from the old woman's eyes but she wore a smile of triumph.

Ane closed her eyes and then felt it.

In the centre of the room a warm glow pulsed gently, making her tingle though it didn't touch her. She approached the ball. Then finally screamed as it expanded outwards rapidly.

She fell to the floor and blinked in shock as she was consumed by the glow and yet was unharmed. It continued to expand until it covered the entire house, and didn't seem to stop there. The glow passed into invisibility but Ane could still feel its tingle. It felt warm and powerful.

She exited the building and looked at the village, everyone had stopped as the glow had touched them and were looking around in confusion.

If Ane concentrated she could feel the glows presence still expanding, and she knew it would keep going until the world was covered by it. She smiled.

"They did it." She whispered.

X

Rek opened his eyes and realised he had died. Atia's face was incredibly close to his own and she was staring at him with a look of worry on it. He closed his eyes and groaned. How had she died too?

He felt a blinding pain in his back and his groan continued.

"Are you ok?" Atia asked.

"Aside from being dead, I'm just bloody fine." He said, eyes closed.

"You're not dead yet." She growled in his ear, making him sit up in shock. Definitely a bad idea.

He looked around him; he was sat on top of the steamship that had brought him there, with Atia stood next to him, the canopy lay crumpled beneath them. The sun sat pleasantly in the sky and the square they were in seemed devoid of people completely.

"What...?" He drawled; struggling to stay sat up. Atia held him affectionately.

"I hitched a lift on top of the ship." She grinned. "Sengar took off as soon as I told him I was coming after you, that bastard." It didn't stop her smiling though.

"Then when you were taken up I decided you'd need rescuing again so I tried hijacking the ship." She shrugged his shock away like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But, just as I got the canopy inflated you fell right into it, talk about lucky." She laughed. Then her face fell.

"Where's Darius?"

Rek felt a wave of sadness and loss. He opened his palm and Darius' Focci lay there. He felt worse then. How much of the man he'd known was a lie? Luckily Atia didn't say anything further. They just sat there for a while.

When the sun had moved across the sky a bit Atia started to pull him to his feet.

"C'mon, we need to get moving before someone comes to see what's happened here; I'm not sure why no-one has already." She looked around suspiciously.

Rek let himself be lead down from the steamship and away from the ruined tower. They walked in silence. Rek felt slightly better to have the sun warming his face as they moved. He could feel a tangled mess of bruises growing on his back and he limped slightly.

"What do we do now?" Atia said as they moved along. Rek could have almost laughed at the question he'd voiced so many times.

"Erm I guess we could always go to my house..." He stopped as a pulse of red passed along his vision.

He fell to his knees with a thud. He could hear Atia shouting at him, asking what was wrong but she sounded far away. The pulse continued. Images of the tiled room from his dreams seemed to mix with reality until he wasn't sure which was real.

Looking ahead of him the road was empty. Then he saw the man from his dreams. He walked towards Rek, disappearing when his vision cleared to show the road, the real road. As he drew closer to Rek the tiled room seemed to take over reality and ensnare him.

The man bent down on one knee to look Rek hard in the eyes.

"Thief." He whispered. "You took what's mine."

Pain threaded through Rek's entire body, making him writhe. He could still hear Atia's dim shouts. As he felt his face hit the floor he heard the man's voice, seeming to take over his entire world.

"Your magic is mine." Was the last thing he heard as the world fizzled out into nothing.

X

Thanx!