Chapter Fourteen #2
Everyone’s faces paled. I acknowledged the truth with a grim acceptance.
The Warden had come here first to try and break my shield down.
Once he did, he’d cast his magic over the entire city.
Every building, structure, and person inside Ilamanthe would be reduced to dust. Millions of people, gone just like that— we’d be gone, and it would be our fault once the Warden ruled over our remains.
My brain couldn’t comprehend the swell of panic that was pressing against my psyche, so it just shut down. I accepted our inevitable fate, knowing we’d done all we could to stop this.
At least… my friends had done all they could. I hadn’t gone with them, and now, I wish I had. I wasn’t sure what I could’ve done in my current state, but something inside stubbornly said if I had been there, things would be different.
It was a foolish way to think. The Warden had us beat the minute I chose to end the world.
Charlie was forced to stop me, and that was when we’d lost everything.
Though it wasn’t that long ago that I’d decided to bestow this fate upon the realm myself, now I saw it for the twisted end it really was.
It was disgusting to think that there would never be another world where the Warden didn’t reign, because he’d live forever, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Oberi whimpered, jumping up so he was leaning into my lap and giving soft whines.
“I’ve got to get to Opal.” Ez ran away from the rest of us. We let him go, standing around uselessly while the Warden continued to pummel the shield outside. Boom. Boom. Boom.
“We have to do something,” Kallie pleaded. “Fight back.”
“It doesn’t matter now. There isn’t anything left to do but wait to die.” Charlie sniffed.
Everyone looked to me, as if expecting me to make a plan. They wanted me to rally them against the inevitable. Not even I was that delusional. This only had one conclusion.
The Warden would kill us all within hours. Then we’d all be stuck in the in-between together… forever. A jail without an escape.
A thought crossed my mind. Charlie had destroyed my half of our soul, so maybe I wouldn’t end up there after all.
For the first time, I was grateful he’d taken our bond away.
I’d rather my soul be destroyed and cease to exist than be locked in another cage ever again.
I would not return to the Institute, no matter what I had to give up, and an eternal Institute I couldn’t escape with the Warden at the helm would be a fate far worse than being erased completely.
It just sickened me that my friends had to suffer that fate… but maybe they didn’t have to.
“Marcus, I need to ask you to do the hardest thing you’ve ever done,” I started. “You need to use your Death magic to—”
“No!” he cried, before I had a chance to make my devastating request. “That’s worse than suicide. You don’t understand the implications of what you’re asking!”
“This is the only way!” I demanded. “The Warden is going to imprison our souls in the in-between for literally all of time. A fucking eternity. That’s the worst punishment that could ever be given, and there’s only one way out of it!”
“I’m not going to—”
“Stop being a coward!” I screamed. “Use your Death magic, yank our souls out and destroy them so we no longer exist! If you can’t find mine, fine, but at least do it for Kallie and Charlie!”
“I’ll go first,” Danny offered weakly, raising a hand.
“What you’re asking me to do is basically the same thing you did when you tried to destroy the world,” Marcus insisted. “You regret that decision. It’s not a choice I’m willing to make for any one of you! I refuse to do it.”
“I won’t be locked up for anything, and I won’t let my friends suffer behind eternal bars either. It’s the only thing we can do,” I argued. “This is our last option.”
“And what, we no longer exist and Marcus is meant to be stuck in the in-between alone for all of time?” Kallie snarled. “That’s not fair to him, Ava!”
“None of this is fair to any of you,” Charlie rasped. “This is my fault.”
“Charlie…” What could I say to that? It was his fault, but he wasn’t the only one to blame. All of us were— we demigods had screwed up for the last time, and because we had, the entire world was paying the price for it.
Marcus wouldn’t erase our souls, so I supposed we were all going back to prison together.
This time, there’d be no breaking out of it.
I gave up all hope at the thought of being chained up once again, but even so, my friends were still looking to me to lead.
I couldn’t let them down one final time, even if our last efforts would be futile.
I had to give my friends something to do, some sort of hope, while accepting this was our final farewell.
I would rally the Firebirds to fight while knowing that it was useless.
“We have to station troops around the city,” I said. “If the Elves feel the need to fight, let them try.”
“It’s not going to do any good,” Danny said dryly.
“It’s what people have to do. To feel some sort of hope.” My shoulders dropped. “Enjoy these last moments, because this final taste of freedom is all we’re going to get.”
Nobody else had any other plans.
“I need to hide you, Kaz,” Kallie said frantically. “Cameron can’t know you’re here.”
“Why does it matter? The Warden’s going to kill us all anyway,” Kazim snarled.
“Kaz, please,” Kallie pleaded, and her twin’s face fell. “Hide out with Mom and Dad. It’s the only thing we can do.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’m with you.”
Marcus and Kallie left the garden holding hands, and Kazim followed them with Sigrid.
Danny staggered away, alone— I felt so bad for him, that he had no one to indulge in these last seconds with, but maybe he was luckier than the rest of us.
He didn’t have to watch someone he dearly loved die, because all of us would before we perished ourselves.
I wasn’t sure who would go first, me or Charlie.
I prayed that the ancestors would be merciful and Charlie would die before I did, because I didn’t think he could handle watching me die again.
He already had once. It was my turn to carry that particular burden.
I didn’t want him to go through any unnecessary pain.
I could handle his death. I would carry it.
The weight of that responsibility was heavy, but it wasn’t as heavy as letting Charlie be without me, even if it was only for a few moments after my demise.
If I wanted to protect what little was left of his wounded soul, I had to die last. There was no other way.
Charlie fell to his knees before me, his head hanging low. “I let you down. Again.”
I rolled forward, cradling his head in my lap. “Charlie. Let’s go.”
“Where? There’s nowhere to go.”
“Just take me back to our room.” Our room— not his room. The impending divorce meant fuck-all in this light.
He sniffed again, nodded, and got back up. He wheeled me into the palace. Oberi followed with his head hanging low.
The palace was in a state of chaos. Nobles, servants, and council members mobbed the halls, crying out for family members and pleading with the gods to save them. I’d never seen the Elves in such a state of disarray as the noises against the shield grew louder. Boom, boom, boom, boom, BOOM.
He was getting pissed off. I could tell the Warden was infuriated that my shield hadn’t broken yet, because his magical blows against it had grown more severe.
It caused a slight smirk to spread across my face, that my spell was giving him this much trouble.
I hoped he choked as he was forced to swallow the realization that I really had been better than him, once upon a time.
Cameron was running around the halls, wailing.
It was to be expected. He couldn’t lead on a good day, let alone during impending doom.
Generals and council members asked for orders, but all he could do was babble and blubber in response.
Drea watched him panic, a thin scowl of disgust written across her face.
Drea noticed me venturing by and ran to my side. “Princess, what are your orders?”
“Get the Firebirds ready. Station them around the shield’s perimeter, and have the rest of the army posted around the city. We attack once he gets in.”
Drea nodded. “Right away, your highness.”
Drea raised her sword, crying out directions. Several guards noticed. The soldiers in the room moved to follow her lead, ignoring Cameron’s screams. Nobles and servants cleared the way for them, grabbing anything they could get their hands on to use as weapons as they followed Drea into the city.
I only gave the order because I knew the desire of the Elves was to die with a sword in their hand.
All I wanted to give them was their last wish.
The Elves seemed to be relieved that somebody was taking charge, even if my commands were all but useless.
People wanted something to do once order broke down and destruction was imminent.
Standing around doing nothing was the worst way to wait for death.
I wasn’t sure if my soldiers would be able to do a thing once the Warden got in, or if they’d just be fodder for his deadly spells once the shield fell, but at least they weren’t going quietly.
“When did you start giving orders around here?” Charlie asked, curious.
“When your dad proved he’s about as useful as a kumquat. But I don’t want to spend our last moments talking about him.”
“I don’t, either.”
It was a pretty silent trip back to Charlie’s quarters, save for the deafening explosions that kept hitting the shield. There were so many now it nearly sounded like background noise. Once we got there, Oberi laid on the area rug by the bed, letting out a long whine.
“I know. I’m sorry, boy.” I reached down to pat his head. “Kind of a crappy way to end several millennia of your existence, stuck in a room with us?”
Oberi huffed, his floppy lips sputtering outward. I had to laugh a little.