The battle tore across Tark Island like a storm. Fire roared, water surged, shadows writhed. The serpent murals glowed violently, their twin heads snapping toward each other as if prophecy itself was breaking loose.
Kafé stood at the lagoon's edge, wrist blazing with light. Water spiraled around him, rising in waves that shielded the Resistance. Each surge carried calm, balance, protection.
Beside him, Taye burned like a furnace. Flames leapt from his hands, fierce and wild, scattering beasts into ash. But the fire was hungry, consuming everything in its path. Wooden beams smoldered, vines shriveled, even the cavern air grew suffocating.
Imade shouted over the chaos, voice raw. "Control am, Taye! You dey burn us too!"
Taye's eyes blazed. "I no fit stop! The fire dey call me!"
Red Shadow raised his staff, shadows twisting into a storm. His voice slithered through the night. "Dawn go betray dusk. Dusk go consume dawn. Choose, and let prophecy finish una."
Kafé thrust his hand forward, water crashing against the tide of darkness.
Taye roared, flames bursting higher, meeting the water headon.
For a heartbeat, the lagoon itself boiled. Fire and water collided, hissing violently. Steam rose, choking the air. The ground trembled, cracks splitting across the cavern floor.
Resistance warriors screamed, caught in the storm. Shields melted under Taye's fire, others shattered under Kafé's waves.
The serpent mural flared, its twin heads clashing, biting at each other. The prophecy twisted, alive and dangerous.
Imade dropped to her knees between them, tears streaking her ashcovered face. "Una dey fight like enemies, but na brothers una be! Stop before prophecy kill us all!"
Her rod struck the ground, sparks flying, but the resonance was too strong. The twins' marks pulsed in rhythm, then broke apart, each beating against the other.
Zoba's pendant flared suddenly, casting a serpentshaped light across the cavern. For a heartbeat, the twins' powers paused, steam and flame frozen midair.
She shouted, voice sharp and desperate. "Listen! If una no join together, prophecy go destroy una—and all of us!"
Her words cut through the chaos. Kafé's eyes met Taye's. In that instant, they saw the same vision: the serpent rising from the lagoon, its twin heads locked in endless war, the world burning beneath it.
Taye staggered, flames licking his arms. "Maybe na me be dusk. Maybe I go destroy everything."
Kafé's voice shook, but he stood firm. "No. Dawn or dusk, we no be enemies. We be brothers."
The fire dimmed slightly. The water calmed. The serpent mural flickered, its heads pulling back, though still snarling.
Red Shadow snarled, cloak whipping in the storm. "Weakness. Balance. Choice. All illusions. I go break una myself."
He raised his staff, shadows surging once more.
The cavern shook, dust raining down. The serpent mural glowed half in fire, half in water—neither winning, neither yielding. The prophecy had twisted, but it had not yet broken.
And in that fragile balance, the twins stood together, battered but unbroken, facing the storm.