Happy Holidays, Greywolfheir! (Part 6)

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About eight hours passed before the two woke up. Aziraphale looked over and saw that his lantern had burned out during the night. They both sat up and stretched their arms and legs, having spent the whole night lying down on a cave floor.
         
Once they regained their bearings, Crowley said, “So now we continue?”
         
“Yes. We’re fully rested now, and should have no problem going on.”
         
They both stood up and grabbed their bags, Aziraphale making sure to pick up his lantern as well, and continued walking deeper into the cave. Just like before, it was nearly impossible to see that far ahead, and Aziraphale was about to light his lantern again when the darkness began to slowly subside.
         
Wanting to speak up about this, Crowley said, “Angel, it’s not as dark as before. Do you think we’re nearing the end of the tunnel?”
         
“Hopefully,” Aziraphale replied. “I just want to get the artifact as soon as possible.”
         
As the two walked further down the corridor, it became brighter and easier to see. They both gripped a hand around their sword hilts, ready to face whatever came next. The exit of the cave could be seen, and the duo passed through it, and were faced with…
         
A garden. Perhaps the most beautiful garden to ever be seen on Earth by humans. The area was extensive and the air was spacious. The cave ceiling appeared to be a mile high, and a couple holes littered here and there allowed natural sunlight inside. The ground was covered with grass, with the occasional shrub, as well as different kinds of trees. The flowers that bloomed in the garden were all different shades of colors, ranging from red to violet and every hue in between. A few of the trees even bore fruit, all looking ripe and ready to eat. A stream flowed through the garden, meandering around the plants until it eventually pooled into a small pool. A handful of hills led to higher ground, which one could climb to in order to get a view of the whole garden at once. Overall, the garden had a serene atmosphere.
         
Aziraphale and Crowley stood there, mesmerized, taking everything in. For a long time neither of them said anything, too busy marveling in how large and beautiful everything was.
         
Eventually, Crowley stuttered out. “Angel, it’s...it’s…”
         
“Beautiful,” Aziraphale finished for him. “Marvelous. Absolutely breathtaking.”
         
Crowley nodded in agreement, and the two of them set off to explore the landscape. Aziraphale crouched down in order to inspect a vivid violet flower while Crowley gazed at a nearby bush. It seemed impossible that something so beautiful could exist on earth, much less in a place as dark and dreary as the cave had been.
         
“I never would’ve thought that such a place could be real,” Aziraphale breathed out, sitting down on the ground. “It’s like it came right out of a fairy tale.”
         
“My thoughts, exactly, angel,” Crowley said, sitting down next to him. “The place is packed to the brim with magic. It would be the perfect holding spot for the ineffable artifact.”
         
He said the last phrase without much thought, but it sent a jolt through the two of them. “The ineffable artifact!” Aziraphale exclaimed. “I’d completely forgotten about that. This could be a distraction to make us forget about it.”

“I don’t think it is,” Crowley corrected, thinking carefully. “Remember what Aldreda said before? She said the artifact was in a mountainside cave. This must be it.”
         
“Yeah, you’re right,” Aziraphale said. “But where could it be?”
         
Crowley thought silently for a bit more and said, “We’ll just have to look around, then. Search the premises. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot.”
         
And with that, the two of them began their search for the ineffable artifact. They searched high and low, checking in bushes, searching through the flowers, and checking different parts of the stream. Crowley looked into the pool and found nothing. Aziraphale searched the branches of one of the low hanging fruit trees and came up empty handed. It seemed like the search for the ineffable artifact was going to be a long one.
         
Crowley got up from inspecting what felt like the millionth bush when a faint glow caught his eye. He initially brushed it off as sunlight from the ceiling but realized that it wasn’t, as it was much too otherworldly. He looked up, and felt his jaw drop.
         
The ineffable artifact was a luminous orb perched on the top branch of a tall tree. It was too far away to get a proper look, but even from this far of a distance, Crowley could see that it glowed with a green and unearthly light. It almost made sense why so many people had risked their lives to try to find it. Along with the glowing, he could also sense a faint pulse of power coming from it. In that moment, he knew that the legends were not lies, or even exaggerations. The ineffable artifact was all that it was said to be, and now it was theirs.
         
He opened his mouth to call out to the angel but stilled himself at the last second. Something didn’t settle right with him. After all the trials that they had to endure, he wasn’t ready to believe that the artifact could just be swiped that easily. He cautiously walked towards the tree in the distance, looking out for anything that might trip him up. Upon getting closer, he realized just how massive the tree really was, and debated on methods to extract it, when he spotted something that made his stomach drop.
         
Next to the tree, a large dragon lay curled up on the ground. It was covered with golden scales that reflected the sunlight and the glow of the artifact. Its wings were folded over its back, and its tail was curled around it. There were dangerous looking spikes on its head and running down its back, and Crowley didn’t have to look to guess that its teeth were equally sharp and deadly. Even while it was lying down, the dragon was half the height of the tree, and he shuddered to think about how large it would be at its full height.
         
Aziraphale walked up next to Crowley. “Hey, that’s great, you found the artifact. Now come on, we need to…” he faltered, seeing the dragon. “No, that’s not…”
         
“Yes it is, angel,” Crowley whispered, not daring to speak louder.
         
Aziraphale stood there, petrified with fear. How he managed to do it, Crowley didn’t know, but he steeled his nerves and said, “I’ll go down there. You keep guard.”
         
“Angel, no,” Crowley hissed, but it was too late. Aziraphale was already making his way down the small incline and up to the tree trunk. Crowley wanted to call to him to come back, but he knew that he would only succeed in waking the dragon, and instead stood guard.
         
Aziraphale cautiously made his way to the tree trunk and, after checking that the dragon was asleep, grabbed onto one of the lower branches and began to climb. He tested each branch to make sure it was secure before using it to lift himself higher. Leaves constantly got in his face, and he sometimes had to grope around for the nearest branch. The whole ordeal was tiring, and he was afraid of losing his footing, but before long, the artifact was only a few feet away. He climbed the last few branches and, wrapping one arm around the tree trunk, reached out a hand towards the artifact. It was extremely close, and even though Aziraphale had a hard time seeing it, he could feel the waves of power radiating from within.
         
Apparently getting close to the artifact caused a reaction. In that instant the dragon’s eyes shot open and in less than a second, it uncurled its tail and smashed the trunk of the tree.
         
“Angel!” Crowley shouted in warning, but it was too late. The impact caused the tree to shake violently, and because he was too fixated on grabbing the artifact, Aziraphale did not have a tight enough grip on the tree. He frantically grabbed for a branch to balance himself, but toppled backwards instead. He fell down, with nothing to use to slow or stop himself.
         
Crowley didn’t even know what he was doing. In a flash, he was sprinting towards the base of the tree, not worrying about the dragon. He didn’t stop or slow down out of fear that he would be too late. While running, he held his arms out as wide as he could, ready to catch Aziraphale.

Suddenly, he slammed into something and was knocked to the ground. A white hot flash of pain shot through him, and he thought that he had run into the tree until he heard Aziraphale groan.
         
“Angel,” Crowley said, grimacing at the pain. “Are you okay?”
         
“No,” Aziraphale grunted. He looked down at his hands. “I didn’t get the artifact.”
         
“That looks like the least of our problems,” Crowley said, pointing upwards. “Look.”
         
The dragon had awoken from its slumber and stood up. It looked ten times more terrifying awake than it did while asleep. Extended to its full height, the dragon was as tall as the tree, perhaps even a little taller. Its wings expanded to their full length and its tail unfurled completely. The dragon roared, and the two were able to catch a glimpse of a set of large and pointy teeth.
         
The two stared at each other, eyes wide with terror. Eventually, Aziraphale managed to get out, “Crowley?”
         
“Yeah, angel?”
         
“I think I just learned why no one has managed to get the artifact successfully.”
         
“Me, too,” Crowley said. He then unsheathed his sword and held his other hand out. “Well, it was nice knowing you, angel.”
         
Aziraphale unsheathed his sword and stuck his hand out as well. “You, too, dear.”
         
The dragon roared and stomped its feet. The two unlocked hands, and after one more look, turned to face their last and most difficult trial.

They raised their swords and charged towards the dragon. It stomped forward menacingly, intending to crush them both at the same time, but they rolled out of the way in time. As soon as they got up, they thrust their swords into the dragon's legs, hoping to cause some damage. A loud clang was heard as their swords clashed against the iron hard scales. The dragon turned to look down at them, seemingly unimpressed, and began moving its legs to crush them again. Aziraphale dashed to the right while Crowley went left, and the dragon turned its head to look at both of them, debating which one it should go after first.

For the next couple of minutes, Aziraphale and Crowley tried to find any weak points on the dragon. They slashed at its legs, its feet, and its tail. Loud clangs could be heard as the blade bounced harmlessly off of the scales. The dragon appeared to be completely unaffected by all of their attempts. Meanwhile, the effort of swinging the swords and dodging the dragon had its toll on the two. Aziraphale was out of breath and he could feel his heart racing. He looked over at where Crowley was and saw him unsuccessfully trying to stab the dragon’s torso. He pointed his finger outwards, hoping that Crowley would understand what he was trying to communicate.

Luckily, he seemed to understand, and sprinted out from underneath the dragon, making sure to avoid its legs. Aziraphale rolled out of the way of another blow and rushed over to where Crowley was standing. They continued walking forward for a bit, making sure that they were out of the line of fire.

Aziraphale panted, trying to catch his breath, and asked, “What do we do now? Our swords are useless against it, and unless we find something soon, we'll get killed.”

“Hold on. Let me think.” Crowley put his hand to his chin and furrowed his eyebrows. This lasted for a while, and Aziraphale became worried that the dragon would get impatient and try to crush them again. After a while, he said. "You distract it, and I'll try to find a way to kill it."

Aziraphale didn't have time to process what he heard before Crowley sprinted off. The dragon turned to look at him as if it was wondering what he was up to. It turned towards him and took a couple steps forward, intending to pursue him.

Aziraphale began to panic. He didn’t know anything about distracting a dragon. However, he knew that he had to act fast. Taking a deep breath, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loudly as he could, "Hey, you there."

The dragon turned to look at him, and Aziraphale felt like his heart was about to explode. He ignored it, instead backing away and shouted, "Yeah, you. You don't do much, do you? All you do is sleep in this dark cave, wasting precious hours away."

He inwardly cringed at the things he was yelling, but since they seemed be working, he didn’t stop. He backed away even farther, hoping that the dragon would follow him. It did, which both relieved and terrified him at the same time. "You think you're so tough, don't you? But you're not. You know what I say? You're just an overgrown lizard. That's right. An overgrown lizard with wings."

His words seemed to have the intended effect, and soon the dragon was barreling down on him. Aziraphale turned and started running ahead of it, not wanting to get trampled underfoot. He didn't pay any attention to where he was heading, his only focus being to keep the dragon occupied and to not get killed in the process. The dragon was fixated on him, all interest in Crowley having ceased a long time ago. While running, Aziraphale worried about where Crowley was or what he was doing. He soon pushed those worries away, trusting that Crowley had a good plan. He instead focused on running forward and not losing his nerve.

Soon he found himself nearing one of the hills that lead to higher ground. He had a brief inner debate about which way he should go, but decided that he wanted to stay on low ground. If the dragon followed and cornered him, then he would have nowhere else to go. He continued running forward, the ground rising to the right of him. The grassy hillside became steeper until it faded away and was replaced by a rocky cliffside. Aziraphale was vaguely aware of this, and made sure not to get too close to it.

The dragon started roaring, as if demanding that Aziraphale acknowledge him. It got its wish soon, as he came to a full stop and turned around to face it head on.

Aziraphale yelled, "Hey, lizard. You're probably wondering what I'm planning right now? Is that it? Well, I'll tell you. Yeah, I'll tell you what I’m planning."

The dragon tilted its head to the side, and Aziraphale briefly wondered whether or not it could understand him. His eyes wandered up to the top of the cliffside, and he saw something there that sent a shock through him. Crowley was standing only a couple feet away from the ledge, elevated slightly above the dragon’s head. Aziraphale realized that while he was distracting the dragon, Crowley had been running up the hill. The question that still remained, however, was what exactly he was planning.

Crowley looked down at the dragon from the ledge, trying to determine how far away it was. He knew that this was going to be extremely dangerous, but if it worked, then they may succeed in killing the dragon. While doing this, he glanced at the ground and saw Aziraphale standing only a couple of feet from the cliffside. When he noticed that Aziraphale was looking back at him, he put a finger up to his lips, signaling to be quiet. He then took a couple steps back, braced himself, and sprinted forward as fast as he could. He used the buildup of energy to launch himself onto the dragon’s head.

The dragon roared with rage and shock, having not anticipating the sudden assault. It started shaking its head from side to side, trying to dislodge its attacker. Crowley held on to one of the spikes as tightly as he could, not wanting to get flung off. The force of being flung around was disorienting, and dark spots started to blot his field of vision.

The dragon turned to the side and flung its head with a large jerk. Crowley lost his grip on the dragon’s spike and was tossed in the air, away from the cliff ledge. He flew through the air at a high velocity before hitting the ground with a thump. A loud snap was heard, followed by a scream of pain.

"Crowley!" Aziraphale shouted. He ran over to where Crowley was lying and knelt down at his side. Crowley’s face was twisted with pain, and seeing him like this caused Aziraphale’s stomach to churn. "Crowley?"

"Angel?" Crowley whispered weakly.

In the distance, Aziraphale could hear the dragon give a single snort. He looked up and saw that it was staring at them, wondering if he was going to try to go after it again. The sight of the dragon standing there filled him with rage. A surge of energy flowed through him, replacing the exhaustion that he had felt earlier. He traded his lantern out for Crowley’s sword and stood up, ready to face his scaly foe.

His eyes flashing, Aziraphale shouted, "You want to go? Two can play at this game."

The dragon scraped its foot against the ground a few times as if preparing to charge. Aziraphale took this as his cue and took off, heading for the hill. The dragon watched him curiously for a bit, as if it couldn’t believe that Aziraphale was trying the same method that Crowley had. It then lumbered towards him like it was taking its time. As soon as the hillside was climbable, Aziraphale turned and started making his way up. The combination of adrenaline and anger flowing through his body gave him the endurance to make it to the top of the hill and, before long, he found himself standing in the exact spot where Crowley had been. Without giving it a second thought, Aziraphale flung himself at the dragon and grabbed onto one of the spikes, not letting go.

The dragon roared again and started shaking its head, trying to fling Aziraphale off. However, Aziraphale had seen this before and was prepared. He wrapped his arms tightly around one of the dragon's spikes and, as an added precaution, he stabbed the two swords into the dragon's head. The swords dug into the scales and, while they didn’t cause any significant damage, they were deep enough so as to provide an anchor. The dragon was persistent, and continued shaking its head, determined to get Aziraphale off.

Crowley had a hard time focusing through the haze of pain. Bursts of agony shot through his leg and he suspected that the bone was broken. In the distance, he heard Aziraphale yelling and raised his head to see what was going on. He discovered that Aziraphale was in the exact same position that he had been in not too long ago. He could tell that Aziraphale was faring much better than he did, but that would only last so long. Eventually Aziraphale would lose his grip and be thrown to the ground. The thought of that happening helped Crowley refocus and form a plan. He grabbed for his sword but found that the sheath was empty. He briefly panicked, wondering what he was going to do now, when he came up with an idea.

He reached into his pocket, looking for an object, and was grateful when he found it. He wrapped his hand around and pulled out the dead mouse from yesterday. Inside, he knew that this was a completely crazy plan, but he decided that it was better than nothing. He crawled forward a bit and then, with an effort, stood up. Pain shot through his leg, and it took a lot of willpower to keep from falling over again. He instead balanced his weight on his other leg and, leaning forward, yelled to the dragon, "Hey!"

The dragon stopped shaking its head after a while and turned to look at Crowley. He held his arms open and said in a challenging tone, "I bet you thought you had bested me, did you? But you didn't." He took a step forward and started swinging the dead mouse by the tail. "Look at you. You're such a big bad dragon, and yet you can't even kill two humans. Pah, how weak is that? Why, if I was a dragon, I would be able to wipe out the puny invaders in half the time it took you to throw me off."

Aziraphale was squeezing his eyes shut and hugging the spike as tightly as he could. He suddenly became aware of the fact that the dragon had gone still, and wondered what had caused it to stop. It was then that he could hear Crowley yelling insults at the dragon. Worry filled him as he feared what his friend was doing. "No, he can't be. He wouldn’t challenge the dragon. Not while he’s in so much pain."

Then it occurred to him that Crowley was trying to distract the dragon, similarly to how he had tried to distract the dragon earlier. He took advantage of it and began to climb the dragon’s head. Just like when he climbed the tree earlier, he grabbed the spike above him and used it to elevate himself higher. He moved slowly so as to not fall or remind the dragon of his presence. Soon enough, he was on the top of the dragon’s head and could see its yellow slitted eyes. He reached his arms down and started to make his way toward the eye.

Doing this must have alerted the dragon to his presence again, for it began shaking its head. Aziraphale was lucky enough to have stabbed his swords into the dragon's head. Unfortunately, he had left the spikes behind, leaving nothing else to grab onto. All that he had to keep him latched on was the two swords, and it was uncertain how long those would hold.

Crowley quickly saw the position that his friend was in and, once again, did not even think about what he was doing. With a loud war cry, he threw the dead mouse as hard as he could. It tumbled through the air a couple of times before bouncing off of the dragon's chest harmlessly and landing on the ground.

Although it didn’t cause any damage, it caused the dragon to halt once again. It stared down at Crowley with a curious look in its eye. Crowley gave it a challenging look in return, feeling secretly relieved that his plan had worked somewhat.

As soon as Aziraphale realized that the dragon had stopped again, he resumed climbing farther down its head. He thought to himself that it was odd that the dragon was just standing there, not saying anything, but soon discovered why. The dragon had unfurled its tail and was sweeping it out towards Crowley. He was about to yell a warning, but before he could get the sound out of his mouth, the tip of the tail was zooming toward him.

Fortunately, Crowley happened to spot it in time, and jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the effort of jumping backward put force on his already injured leg, and when he landed on the ground, he gave a pained shout. The dragon steadied its tail and positioned it for another go, and it didn’t seem that Crowley would be so prepared to dodge a second time.

Aziraphale didn't hesitate at all. He hurriedly clambered down to where the eyes were. Then he raised both swords and began impaling the dragon’s eyes. The dragon roared in pain, one of its weak spots having been damaged, and tried to dislodge Aziraphale. This didn’t stop him at all, and he continued to stab over and over.

Crowley looked up at the dragon and saw that he had a clear shot at the inside of its mouth. He wondered if the inside of the dragon was as steely as the outside, and was about to test that when he remembered that his sword was with Aziraphale. He glanced over and saw the lantern that was next to him. This gave him an idea, and he grabbed it by the chain. Once again, he shakily stood up, careful to not put weight on his injured leg. He then held the end of the chain tightly in his hands and began to swing the lantern. It began to pick up speed, and when it was swinging fast enough, he released it and let it fly off.

The lantern landed on the tip of the dragon’s tongue, and the dragon bit down on it. The force of the teeth biting down caused the glass to shatter, and the broken shards cut the dragon's tongue and throat. Just as Crowley had predicted, the inside of the dragon was not nearly as steely as the outside of the dragon, and the cuts caused severe damage. Between Aziraphale stabbing the eyes and the cuts from the shattered lantern, all of the injuries added up and began to take their toll. The dragon’s roaring slowly faded away until it stopped moving completely, dead.

Because the dragon was no longer supporting itself, it slowly began to fall. Crowley saw that the dragon was going to fall over, and tried to yell at Aziraphale to jump back onto the cliff edge while he had the chance. Aziraphale must have realized that same fact, for he tried to climb back up the dragon’s head. He was too slow, however, and before he could get off, the dragon’s dead body crumpled to the ground in a heap.

“Angel!” Crowley shouted. He tried to rush over to where the dragon had fallen over, but due to his injury, he only made it two steps before he fell over again, clutching at his leg in pain.

Everything was still over near the dragon’s corpse. Nothing stirred at all, and Crowley was afraid that Aziraphale had somehow got hurt from the fall. Then there was movement, and Aziraphale shakily sat up, still clutching onto the dragon’s head. He carefully lowered himself to the ground and staggered forward a few steps forward until he saw the position Crowley was in.

“Crowley!” he shouted, sprinting forward as fast as he could, still disoriented from the fall. He crouched down next to him and asked in a concerned tone. “Where are you hurt? How bad is it?”

“Never mind me, angel,” Crowley said impatiently. “Go get the artifact.”

But Aziraphale did not set off immediately, instead reaching down to help Crowley up. “I’m not going without. We’ve gone together so far, and we’ll see it through together to the end.”

Ignoring Crowley’s protest to just go without him, Aziraphale grabbed him by the arm and helped him off of the ground. Aziraphale draped one of Crowley’s arms around his shoulders, and the two of them made their way back to the tree with the ineffable artifact. It took a long time, as neither of them was able to go that fast, and Aziraphale had to let Crowley lean on him for support, but they made it eventually.

Aziraphale sat Crowley down a short distance away from the base of the tree. “Hold on, dear,” he said. “I’ll get the artifact.”

“Be careful,” Crowley said, breathing hard.

“Don’t worry. I will be.”

Aziraphale walked over to the base of the tree and, just like he did last time, grabbed a branch and started climbing up. The physical exertion of fighting the dragon had left him exhausted, and the rage that had fueled him earlier was depleted. There were multiple times where he feared that his arms and legs would give out from overuse. Only the thoughts of the ill villagers and of Crowley waiting for him on the ground motivated him to keep putting one foot - and one hand - in front of the other.
         
At last, the artifact was within grabbing distance. Some thin tree branches were wrapped around the base of the orb, and the light inside it was even more vivid up close. Aziraphale reached out his hand again, this time making sure he had an iron fisted grip on the tree branch. Just before touching the artifact, he hesitated, wondering if another trial was near. The last thing that they needed, he thought to himself, was another test that would put them on the verge of death. However, he quickly pushed that thought aside, thinking that the end of the tests was at hand. It had to be. With one swift movement, Aziraphale lunged for the artifact and wrapped his hand around it.
         
He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he knew this wasn’t it. He thought that maybe the artifact would be burning, or freezing, or something equally unpleasant to the touch. He also thought that maybe another trial would begin or - he shuddered just thinking about it - another dragon would fly in, this one bigger and fiercer than the last. What actually happened when he made contact with the smooth surface was….nothing.
         
Well this is a load of fadoodle, isn’t it? he thought to himself, and was about to slip it into his pocket when he gave a gasp of alarm.
         
The jewel of the artifact shone even brighter than before, and a burst of power emitted from the surface and directly into Aziraphale’s hand. The power flowed through every part of his body and left a weird tingling sensation which, while unexpected, was not entirely unpleasant. Soon afterward, the power ebbed away, and the artifact continued glowing at its normal luminosity. Aziraphale remained there unmoving, trying to work out what happened.
         
He must’ve been there for a long time, for he heard Crowley calling from the ground, “Hey angel. Are you alright up there?”
         
Aziraphale shook his head once, refocusing himself. He looked down and called back “I’m fine, Crowley. I just got the artifact.”
         
“Really? That’s great. Bring it down here so we can get out of this place.”
         
Aziraphale put the artifact securely into one of his trouser pockets. It fit snugly inside, with only a tiny part of the orb sticking out. He took a deep breath and readied himself to make the exhausting descent down the tree. The climb down the tree was a slow one, as he took great pains to avoid slipping and falling, but he made it back to the ground safely with the artifact in tow.
         
When Crowley saw Aziraphale, he got up and tried to walk over to him. However, the injury in his leg kept him from doing so, and he fell down before taking a single step.

"Crowley," Aziraphale scolded, walking over to him. "You have got to stop doing that. You're just going to make the injury worse."

"I don't care," Crowley snapped. He stayed on the ground anyway. Aziraphale sat down next to him, and he didn’t say anything at first. Then he asked, “So you really got the artifact?”

"Yeah, I did," Aziraphale said, sounding incredulous himself. "It's still crazy to think that we managed to succeed, despite all the obstacles."

Crowley nodded wordlessly. A moment of silence passed, and he asked nervously. "If you don't mind, could I see it for a moment?"

Aziraphale decided there was no harm in showing it to him. After all, Crowley had been a big help throughout the quest. "Sure. I don't see why not."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the artifact. Crowley took one look at it and gasped, becoming wide eyed upon seeing it up close. Aziraphale was also awestruck at the beauty of the artifact because, although he was the one to grab it, he was unable to get a proper look at it through the leaves and branches.

The artifact was an emerald green crystal ball that was propped up by a short stand made of intertwined tree branches. A couple of the tree branches wrapped around the base of the crystal, keeping it in place. There were even a few tiny leaves growing from the stand. Inside the crystal, a bright light shone with a mystical glow. The surrounding air seemed to vibrate with the power radiating off of the surface.

Crowley did not speak for a long time, too fixated on the artifact to properly think of what to say. After gathering his thoughts, he simply asked, "Can I hold it?"

Aziraphale simply shrugged and said, "Yeah, sure, go ahead.” He held the artifact out toward him. "Just make sure you be careful with it."

Crowley reached out and was about to grab it when he withdrew his hand and asked suspiciously, "Wait, what do you mean 'be careful'? This isn't going to burn me or anything, is it?"

Aziraphale laughed for a bit before he calmed down and said, "No, don't worry. I thought the same thing, too, but nothing bad happened. Trust me."

Crowley seemed to relax, but only a little bit. He reached out a cautious hand and wrapped his fingers around it slowly, as if he were still wary of any possible side effects. However, just like when Aziraphale first grabbed it, nothing happened.

"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic," Crowley started saying before he gasped suddenly. Aziraphale was worried that the artifact did have some sort of trap mechanism and prepared himself to pry it away.

The artifact started to glow brighter again, and another pulse of power was emitted from the jewel. It flowed into Crowley's hand and through his whole body. Aziraphale did not react to this part, but he recoiled away when he saw that rings of glowing green light were traveling down Crowley's body. He realized that this must have been what happened to him when he grabbed the artifact, but he just couldn't see it. Eventually it stopped, and the artifact glowed on like normal. Crowley sat there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath.

Once he did, he asked confusedly, “So what exactly was that?”

Aziraphale was just as confused as him and said, “No clue, to be honest.”

The two of them sat there in silence for a bit longer. Then Crowley looked at the artifact and said, “So how exactly do you use this? They never exactly gave us instructions.”
         
“I’m not sure,” Aziraphale said. He took the artifact back and started shaking it, knocking on the crystal, and holding onto it while concentrating on a specific goal. Nothing worked.
         
“Here, let me try,” Crowley said. He flicked it a couple of times and threw it into the air. It landed on the ground with a dull thump. He then righted it and put his hand on the top of the jewel while staring intensely. Still nothing happened. “Okay, so that doesn’t work either.”
         
Aziraphale thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps we have to do it together.”
         
“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Crowley said, although he was already starting to doubt whether it would work.
         
The two of them scooted closer together and put the artifact in between themselves. Both of them placed a hand on the crystal, covering it completely. They both focused as hard as they could on trying to activate the power of the artifact. They knew that it existed, as they could feel it on the skin of their hands, but the question on how to utilize it still remained unanswered.
         
Nothing happened for a long time, and Crowley was about to suggest taking the artifact to Aldreda when it suddenly started to vibrate violently. They both hastily withdrew their hands and, upon doing so, saw that the light within the crystal was changing. It was expanding in size and becoming brighter to the point that they had to avert their gazes.
         
“Now what?” Crowley asked, trying to keep his voice from rising. “Did we break it?”
         
Aziraphale risked looking back at it and said, “I don’t think so. I think...that this is what is supposed to happen.”
         
“What? Are you out of your mind?”
         
“No, I’m being serious,” Aziraphale said, purposely not answering Crowley’s question due to not being sure of the answer himself. “Maybe when the artifact released that surge of power into us earlier, it was - I don’t know - transferring some of its powers over.”
         
“Angel, that’s insane, and you know it.”
         
“So? This whole quest has been insane. Just trust me on this. I have a feeling.”
         
Crowley was about to protest but then realized that Aziraphale was correct. Reluctantly, he placed a hand back on the crystal, and Aziraphale did the same. The power that once came off in waves was now just one large wall, and they had to fight back the urge to remove their hands and get as far away as they could.

A giant wave of energy exploded outward from the core of the artifact, and the two were knocked back. There was a brilliant flash of white light, and they both covered their eyes in order to avoid being blinded. It ended as suddenly as it started, and everything returned to normal, or at least as close to normal as possible.

When they were sure that everything was back to normal, they got up uneasily and looked at where the artifact had been. The crystal had shattered into pieces and the light that was within it was gone. The waves of power that they could feel had disappeared completely. Neither of them said anything at first, too shocked to react.
         
Then Crowley put his hand to the top of his forehead and said, “Would you look at that? That artifact exploded. It’s gone forever. All of that work. All of those trials. All for nothing.”
         
Aziraphale was too stunned to say anything. Despite knowing about the hopelessness of the quest, he had genuinely believed that they would be able to get the artifact and heal all the townspeople. Now it was destroyed, and they would need to find a new way to cure the illness, assuming there were still people left to cure. Worse, he and Crowley had gone through all of that suffering together to get the artifact, and now it was gone.
         
He turned to look at Crowley and said with a shaky breath, “I’m so sorry, dear.”
         
Crowley looked up at Aziraphale and said, “Why? What for?”
         
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this quest. I’m sorry for making you suffer all the trials to only turn up empty handed. If it hadn’t been for me, you would still be in the village.”
         
Crowley listened to all of this, a serious look on his face. He then said, “Hey, don’t say that, angel. The reason that I went on this quest is because I wanted to, and if I were brought back it time to that same moment, I would not change that decision.”
         
Aziraphale sniffed and said, “But...all of the pain...all of the suffering…”
         
“That’s true. There was a lot of suffering on the way. But if I hadn’t gone along, then you would’ve had to face it all by yourself, and I wouldn’t want you to have to do that.”
         
Aziraphale turned and asked, “You really mean that?”
         
“Of course,” Crowley said, reaching his hand out. “You’re a great friend, angel.”
         
“You, too,” Aziraphale said, reaching his hand out as well.
         
The two of them grabbed each other’s hands, and all of a sudden both of their palms started glowing. They both gasped, and when they pulled their hands apart, they saw a bunch of intricate lines drawn on both of their palms. When they put their hands side by side, they saw that the images were two halves to a whole, creating a complex sigil.

“Angel,” Crowley said, eyes wide. “I don’t think the artifact is actually gone.”

“No,” Aziraphale said. “Not completely.”

The marks on their hands faded away, and the two of them contemplated their next move.

“Well, we should probably head back,” Crowley said, about to stand up again.

However, Aziraphale was on him in an instant. “Not quite,” he said. “First we have to deal with your leg. You can’t walk on it.”

Crowley threw his hands up. “Well if you think you can heal it, then be my guest.”

“Very well, then. I will,” Aziraphale said.

He rolled up the pant leg, and grimaced at what he saw. The bone was broken badly, and a bump on the skin showed where the fractured bone was pointing up. He gently placed his hand on the bump, careful not to hurt Crowley. No reaction was given, so Aziraphale assumed that it was safe to move on. Some doubt sprang into his mind about how effective this would be, but he pushed it back. I can do this, he thought, and he focused.
         
The result was immediate. In the pit of his gut, Aziraphale felt the same weird tingling that he did when he first held the artifact. This time, however, it seemed to come from within. He then focused his power so that it would flow into Crowley’s leg and heal the fractured bone.
         
A small circle of green light flowed from Aziraphale’s hand to Crowley’s leg, and the bone rearranged itself before healing completely. Crowley grimaced at first but eventually relaxed when the fracture was fixed.
         
He looked at Aziraphale, baffled, and asked, “Angel, how did you do that?”
         
Aziraphale looked at his own hands incredulously. “I don’t know. I just focused and…” He looked up and said, “I should heal the rest of your injuries. That fall looked rough.”
         
But Crowley shook his head, “No, angel. That broken leg was the only really severe injury for me. As much as I would appreciate it, there is a whole inn of people who need your healing much more than I do.”
         
“Okay, then,” Aziraphale said. “If you insist.”
         
The two of them stood up and wrapped their arms around each other for support. The walk back to the cave they had come through was a long one. They both looked around at the garden one last time, knowing that they would probably never see it again. They got the urge to take something, whether it be a plant or a fruit, as a souvenir, but thought better of it. As they got closer to the cave, they remembered all the trials that they had to endure in order to get there, and dreaded the thought of having to face them again. But then they decided that whatever the obstacles, they would conquer them together. They stepped into the mouth of the cave, and began the long trek through the darkness while holding onto each other, not wanting to let go.

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