Together

Reinan and Asval stood, back to back, both tired and weak, as the seemingly endless onslaught of enemies continued to circle around them. Reinan still had his sword firmly held in his hand, while Asval had long since lost his own. Fortunately, Asval was much more skilled in magic, and had been able to continue to hold his own. However, his supply of mana was running low, and it wouldn't be long before he was out entirely. Reinan, on the other hand, had his sword arm badly damaged, and could barely hold off attacks, much less retaliate.

"Hey, buddy," Reinan called out, his voice barely loud enough to be heard. "You know, I've been thinking. Neither one of us can last much longer, correct?"

"Yeah," Asval responded, just as breathless. "Not very likely. I'm running low on fuel, and you can't even attack. We might as well be dead at this point."

Reinan sighed. "Blunt and irritating as always, dear friend," he replied. "I was thinking though. You know that spell we're not supposed to use under any circumstances?"

"You son of a bitch," Asval cursed, using a blast of wind to knock the enemies away, buying them some time. "You can't seriously be saying that's what we should do. You know better than that, don't you?"

"Well, normally I would. But it's kind of do or die right now."

Asval grumbled, unable to disagree. He took a deep breath and began to cast, his words mumbled and foreign to Reinan's ears. He was used to hearing his friend's spell casting, but even this sounded dark and unfamiliar, unwelcoming. He could practically feel the power of it starting to pull at his feet, and how corrupt it was. Asval had refused to tell his friend where he had learned this magic. But Reinan could tell it was not from his old master.

Darkness began to swirl at their feet, pulling them together. It lifted from the ground, crawling up their legs and torsos, constantly pulling them closer together. Just before the darkness reached his hands, Reinan cast away the sword he had been holding. He remembered just in time the danger that could arrive from his holding it when the spell was finished. They didn't know all of the details, but they knew for sure that, other than the clothes on their backs, it would be best for them not to be holding much that wasn't directly a part of them.

As the darkness completely covered them, it pushed them together, mixing together until there was no longer two towers of darkness, but one. The moment the towers of darkness finished coming together, the darkness faded away, and there were no longer two people, but one. The combined person looked down at his body, an amalgamation of the two people that had been there before. Their features had combined together, and the clothes had become a jumbled mess. And yet, somehow, the appearance worked for him.

The man walked to the discarded sword and picked it up, testing its weight. Finding it suitable, he looked at his other hand, and summoned a tornado of fire around it. "Well," he spoke, both voices of Reinan and Asval coming out of his mouth simultaneously. "I think this will work after all."