Mage War

Chapter Forty-Five: Resurgence

I feel alive. In a way I’ve never sensed before. My body feels electrified, and my mind feels clear. I look around, lightning coursing through my veins.

“I’m here,” I say, deepening my voice, the tone rich and loud. “Let’s burn this place down.”

“What?” Xavier asks. “No. Burn it down? Why would you do that?”

I fall to the ground and embrace him.

“I just thought it sounded cool,” I admit. “Like my new look.”

“What happened to you?” Xavier wonders.

“Too much. I can’t explain right now but you have to trust me. We need to deal with this now.”

“You look super-powered,” Yue says, walking over to hug me as well. “But I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“I’m stronger now,” I tell her. “I have the strength to take on mages now, I think.”

“I wish I had your power,” Xavier says. “Is there any way for you to…”

Around us, the fighting resumes, with some of the beasts and humans throwing wary looks in my direction. I ignore them, instead looking at Xavier, smiling.

“Of course I can,” I tell him. Stretching my hand out, I grasp him by the shoulder, and reach inside me.

My core is changed. While its fundamental shape is there, it feels like there is another coreattacked to it. No, not another core. A bridge, to what seems like pure energy. I can’t comprehend what I’m seeing. It’s like the bridge starting from my core enters something invisible, tangible, but at the same time, something that I can feel, touch, sense.

It’s pure energy. Strangely, I can tell that most of it is locked to me, but with practice, I hope to unlock more.

Now, I focus on the task at hand. Somehow, in a way I can’t comprehend, I intuitively begin to channel the pure energy. My core pulsates as the energy begins to fluctuate. Then, it begins to enter my friend.

“This will be temporary,” I tell him as he bursts into flames. “It won’t last long, and I don’t think it will be as strong as my newfound power.”

“Woah!” Xavier breathes. “This is unbelievable.”

“I hope it’s not too much to ask, but…” Yue falters, looking at me expectantly.

“I don’t know if it works in non.mages,” I warn. “But I’ll try my best.”

Surprisingly, as I grab Yue’s arms, it seems like my energy doesn’t seem to care who it attaches to. It zings into Yue, and her eyes widen as it fills her, showing her the powers of magic. Raising her palm, Yue creates lightning on it, and shaking her head in wonder, she thanks me.

“Can you do it to anyone else?” High Mage Aegon asks next to me.

“No,” I shake my head, intuitively knowing the truth. The High Mage nods in acceptance and turns to the monsters.

“Let’s kill these bastards.”

I roar, my voice powerful, and I charge at the creatures, my sword swinging, glowing, lightning-filled. As soon as I stop a L’lorianne, the lightning arcs around the three closest beasts, stabbing through each of them, killing them instantly.

The flames around my skin begin to circle around me and the monsters I fight, and I send it at the Er’litahnus, engulfing them. Meanwhile, I use my skill to destroy a few L’lorian. Stabbing at the nearest beast, we sword slices cleanly through its stomach, tearing it apart from the inside.

In a few short seconds, I’ve killed a dozen monsters.

Yue and Xavier seem to have fared almost as good as me. There’s a pile of burned, electrified bodies around Yue, and a few charred bodies around Xavier. I grin and breathe in the electricity.

I finally have the power to fight.

— — —

Yue’s dreaming. She knows it; this should be impossible. Mages have existed since the dawn of man, but so have non-mages. Those who couldn’t do magic never did magic. It was a normal reality that everyone knew. Just like a species of lizard couldn’t be another. And Yue was fine with it.

She couldn’t deny the exhilarating feeling she got channeling this magic anyways.

And this was magic, she was sure of that too. From the descriptions she’d gotten of magic and skills, this fit the bill. Yue could now feel something inside of her that she guessed was her core.

As much as she didn’t care about being a mage, she was still grateful to Zade for this opportunity of a lifetime.

Plus, she was kicking serious monster ass.

The monsters continued to pile around her, and her sword swung back and forth in time with the lightning, stabbing her, swinging there, thrusting. As beautiful as normal sword-fighting was, this was on a new level.

But she wasn’t immortal and omnipotent.As many as she was killing, she was suffering some minor scratches too. One L’lorianne raked her back, and she winced in pain as she fell to the ground, the wound welling with blood. Lightning swirled around her, protecting her, but she still took a minute to recover as she felt the pain of it.

The L’lorianne rushed at her again, and Yue thrust her hands forward. The lightning arced through her and into the L’lorianne, its body glowing, and suddenly, it exploded.

Yue was drowned in its blood and insides, but she moved on immediately.

There seemed to be only a few hundred beasts left, at least in Magefell.

The battle was almost over. They just had to survive a little more.

She’s had her powers for a little over ten minutes now, maybe fifteen. Her body flickered, the electricity wavered, and then she couldn’t feel her core anymore.

Yue groaned as she fell to the ground.

I guess this is the time limit for the magic, she thought.

The beasts, realizing what was happening, crashed into her with renewed vigor. Heart hammering, she was put on the defensive, feeling weak after losing the magic.

Concentrate.

She swung her sword about, but was still overwhelmed.

Yue needed help, urgently. Or else she would die.

— — —

I can feel my energy returning into me, when it leaves my friends. For a moment, I think they’ve died, but one quick glance around the market and I know the truth. I wish I could give them the power back, but I can’t without touching them. Plus, I’m too concentrated now to be able to rest.

The mix of flames and electricity radiating around me gives the creatures caution, but they refuse to stop their relentless attack.

The L’lorianne, Er’litahnus, L’lorian, and Er’litahn circle around me, maybe fifty in total, and I don’t know if I can fight them all, especially when they completely surround me. My powers are strong, but they only do so much.

As they pile around me, I get a strange idea. One that I don’t think will work, but at worst, I’ll just have to keep fighting.

Raising my sword, I fill it with lightning. Seeing an opportunity, the beasts rush at me.

I bring the sword down.

It stabs into the ground and the lightning rumbles through the ground, striking up into any beast near me. As the energy courses through the cobblestone, the monsters scream, their hairs standing on end, and their bodies frying.

Slowly, they begin to fall to the ground, limp, dead. The smell of death and burn are all around me. I didn’t kill all of the monsters attacking me. But I’ve killed enough to fight.

Then I realize the limitations of my new power. I begin to feel weaker, and checking my core, I realize that not only am I depleting mana by using the energy, but the energy itself seems to have a sort of percentage like mana. I need to stop using it for a little, or at least use it less.

Rushing into battle again, I stab at an Er’litahn. It screams as my sword erupts from its head. As it falls back, I turn to a Er’ltahnus, who swings his axe in my direction. I catch it with my sword and slice down, slicing through its leg muscles. Crumpling, it strikes at my leg, but jumping over it, I stab down, ending its life.

A L’lorianne crashes into me from behind and I fly back, but I gain my feet quickly. The L’lorianne dives at me from the sky, and I thrust at it. It dodges my sword and opens its jaws to swallow me. My sword, still in its momentum from the strike I’d done, won’t be able to stop it.

I grab Nightwielder and stab up.

The following explosion rocks me to my core. The dagger strikes through the L’lorianne’s mouth, and as that happens, there is an explosion from the dagger. It throws me back, but somehow, I am shielded from the flames. The humans and beasts nearby aren’t so lucky.

Eva was right, Nightwielder is powerful.

Eva did say the dagger had powers, but I didn't expect them to unlock this quickly. I feel horrible for killing all those men. There must have been five or six consumed by the flames, but it isn’t properly my fault. I didn’t know this would happen.

Still, it hurts because I see their faces in my head now. A moment ago, they’d been fighting the beasts, intent on protecting others. One of the people had been injured on the ground, praying for relief.

And I ended all their lives.

I close my eyes, grit my teeth and sink in the ground, my breath heaving.

I killed innocent people.

Something stabs my arm.

I scream in pain, as I rise, my arm impaled on a L’lorianne's claws. The beast hasn’t even noticed what it did. It’s fighting Neena, and she grimaces as she sees what it did to me. Desperately, I stab with my sword, avoiding using Nightwielder. The monster finally notices me, and screeching, it throws me away.

I crash into a building and everything goes black.

— — —

Yue was desperate. She had no magic, felt weak, and the beasts surrounded her. Her sword had been dropped in the dirt somewhere. There was no one here to help her, and Xander wouldn’t see her die.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Xavier suffering the same fate. Groaning, she crawled to him a few feet away, and together they faced the wave of beasts.

“It was good to meet you,” Yue said Xavier, holder her back to his.

The first L’lorianne rushed at them, it's mouth open in a vicious roar.

“Really? You give up that easily?” A teasing, disapproving voice said from behind them. A body ran past them and charged at the L’lorianne.

Alyx. A few moments later others joined her. Skai, Th’ul, Aster.

They began to fight the monsters. Th’ul’s fireballs scorched the beasts, and as he sent one into the air, Aster struck ip, killing it.

Yue searched for her sword. After a few moments, she finally located it and breathed a sigh of relief.

She was alive, and she was a little safe for now.

Zade’s body flew through the air and struck a building, and he fell limp.

“Oh, God, not again!” She groaned.

Yue rushed at her friend, and she slapped his face. Immediately, he woke up.

“I’m okay! I’m okay! That hurt,” He said accusingly.

“You did get smashed into a wall,” Yue pointed out.

“No, the slap,” Zade told her. “It hurt. What was that for?”

“At least you’re okay. The battle is almost done.”

“Well, what are we waiting for then? I still don't forgive you about the slap, just so you know.” He stood up and gestured at her. She followed him into the fray and they set on the monsters.

— — —

The next half-hour is one of the most exhilarating moments of my life. The pulse-pounding grit of the battle, the blood and lightning erupting from the beasts, the impressive swordplay from my friends, the cries of the beasts as they die, the victory cries of the humans still alive all feels amazing to me. I can’t help but smile as I fight, because this truly feels amazing.

The humans realized a while back that they were winning, and since then, they’ve been fighting like never before, with a ferocity that makes me proud. The monsters grow desperate, some running, as their numbers dwindle.

Two hundred.

One hundred.

Fifty.

Soon there’s only a couple dozen beasts left, and I attack one, gutting it. Most of the fighting men are now tending to the wounded, checking for pulses, making sure everyone is okay. We don’t need all the soldiers to fight the monsters anymore, so those who aren’t fighting help others.

My faith in humanity rises then. We stand together, and we win together.

The monsters keep dwindling. There seem to be around twenty now. Their bodies litter the ground, their blood pooling all around the market.

I kill another L’lorianne sending my first lightning bolt in minutes. I’ve been conserving my newfound energy for moments when I truly need it.

There’s one Er’litahnus left now.It rushes at me, and claws my stomach. I stumble back, but keep my footing and stab at it. Grabbing my sword, it pulls my weapon out of its grasp and scrapes at me again.

It erupts in a pillar of flame, shrieking in confusion and pain. I’d been forgetting my skill, mostly because if I use it too much it stops working, but I needed it now. I retrieve my sword.

“We did it!” I hear Yue say. “I can’t believe it!”

OH, YOU POOR FOOLS! The voice at the arena is back, and this time it sounds disappointed, sad. YOU COULD’VE JUST LET THE BEASTS KILL YOU AT THE FIELD. YOU COULD’VE JUST FOUGHT THE BEASTS FAIRLY HERE.

INSTEAD, YOU HAVE FORCED MY HAND.

LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE, ZADE.

I look around wildly, and all my friends are staring at me confused. I shake my head.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

EVA HAS BROKEN THE RULES, the voice continues. WE AGREED THAT WE WOULD NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVE OURSELVES IN HUMAN AFFAIRS UNLESS HUMANS CALLED US THEMSELVES.

YOU HAVE SINNED GRAVELY.

Suddenly, a voice speaks in my wake from my mouth, but it isn’t me speaking.

“THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL WHAT YOU DID, DAUTHA?” The voice—who I’m guessing is Eva—says. “I KNOW YOU BROKE THE RULES TOO!”

I BROKE NO RULES, Dautha growled. HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT ME?

“WHAT ABOUT THE APOCRYPHAL PROPHECIES? YOU WROTE THEM AFTER WE MADE OUR DEAL!”

HOW DID YOU FIGURE OUT ABOUT THAT? YOU CAN?T PROVE I WROTE IT AFTER.

“CAN YOU PROVE I BROKE THE RULES?”

Dautha growled. YOU HAVE NOT WON, EVA. IF YOU HAD JUST NOT MEDDLED WITH THIS, ZADE AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD LIVE. OH, EVA, YOU WERE ALWAYS NAIVE.

A strange tingling sensation begins in my body and I feel myself getting transported to a different place. The world goes black and the last thing I hear is:

Sorry, Zade.

— — —

Yue woke up in a strange dark place. She couldn’t see anything, but she knew she didn’t recognize this place. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw chains, torture tables, and her friends.

All of the ones who’d fought with her. They were all here. Except Xander.

“We’re in Zenyth,” Th’ul tells them. “Welcome to the dungeons.”

“Welcome to the dungeons indeed,” A masked man steps from the shadows, turning to them. “You have broken the rules, and you shall suffer the consequences.”

“What did we do?” Yue asked. “We broke no rules.”

“Ask him,” The masked man pointed at Zade. Zade hung his head.

“I didn’t do anything,” He whispered. “Eva broke no rules.”

“Zade, what are you talking about?” Alyx screeched.

“It’s…complicated,” He said. “I was recruited by a goddess to take on Dautha and protect the word, and there are other champions and other continents and Dautha cheated so that’s why Eva could do all these things, and you definitely don’t understand anything I’m saying right now, because it’s complicated and convoluted and even I don’t understand it all but the point is that I’m fighting a war beyond me that Eva apparently broke the rules on, but Dautha broke them first.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Yue accused. “Explain yourself. That man is about to kill us for this, and I’m not going to go without a fight, but I would like to know what I’m fighting for.”

Zade bit his lip. “Do you trust me?”

Yue sighed. “I hate that question. People only ask it when they’re hiding something. But I do, Zade.”

“Then trust me. I’ll explain later. Just know that I did nothing wrong. The blame goes to Dautha.”

“THAT IS NOT TRUE!” The masked man screamed. “Dautha found a loophole. Eva cheated. For her sins, you shall pay. You, Zade, her champion, will watch all your friends die.

Yue felt Th’ul and Zade concentrating and Zade gasped.

“There’s no magic here.”

“The dungeons here at Zenyth have a special property, you see,” The masked man grinned. “In this place, the person in control of this thing,” He holds a diamond, “Can control who has magic in here or not. I have blocked the magic from all of you, even you Vanguard folks, just in case. You cannot leave. You are done.”

Yue groaned and reached for her sword.

It was gone.

Looking around, she saw that her friends were looking for their weapons too.

“There!” Zade said. On a table blacked by a strange field of light, were their weapons.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you. You’ll disintegrate.” The masked man laughed. “Well, shall we start?”

At that phrase, Yue and her friends attacked as one.

After all, there was only one man, right?

— — —

More mages step out of the shadows, all in the silver mask glorifying their precious anonymity, maybe five of them. I groan as I see it. We’re weaponless, defenseless. There is no way we can win this.

Leah, help us!

I’m sorry, but I can do nothing here. Both me and Dautha have no access here. I can barely even speak to you there. I wish you luck. Please stay alive.

Her presence disappears and I hang my head.

I’ll still fight, but I don’t have much hope now. What am I without my magic and my sword?

I rush with my friends at the mages. I take on a female on with Xavier but she just whisks her hands and I’m bound by air. I’d forgotten that my shield would be disabled too.

I fly back into the wall, where chains wrap around me. After only a few seconds, my friends are in the same predicament as me.

“Honestly, I thought you would put up more of a fight,” The leader shrugged. “Well, let’s get to it then.” He raises his hands, and suddenly I feel a searing pain like fair coursing through my body. The other five mages do the same magic, and my friends scream with me as the man laughs.

“Who should I move to first?” He asks, his smile widening, his magic still doing its work on us. “Maybe you?” He says to Neena, who is crying and the fear is obvious in her face. “Maybe I’ll move to you, mage-in-training,” He turns to Th’ul. “Or maybe you, the most troublesome of you,” He points at Yue.

“Screw you,” Poli moans, and the mage glares at her.

“So, you wish to be the first?” He shakes his head. “What a brave volunteer. Knife, please.”

One of the female mages hands him a curved blade, one that I can see is magically enchanted. I struggle in my bindings, still feeling the pain the leader sends at me.

“What is your name?” The leader asks. Poli glares at him. “Fine. We’ll do a trade. My name is Mogui. And you are?”

“I’ll remember that name,” Yue growls.

“I won’t tell you anything,” Poli spits in his face.

“Oh, really? Then I guess you’ll be fine without a finger.”

“LET HER GO, YOU BASTARD!” Artemis screams.

“Oh, y’all are so pathetic. Please, stop.” The five mages wave their hands, and a metal gag covers my mouth. Artemis continues to struggle and scream, but the leader ignores him, raising his dagger and her hand.

“Three…two…oneeeee…”

“Poli,” She says, a single tear finally erupting from her. “My name is Poli.”

“See how much better it is when you cooperate,” Mogui smiles. “Unfortunately, you took too long to respond.”

With that, he chopped down.

— — —

Yue screamed inwardly as she saw Poli’s left pinky fall to the ground, severed. Poli shrieked as she saw the blood pool from where her finger had just been. Her friends watched on in horror and Artemis struggled to release himself as he watched the scene unfold.

“Now let me ask you a different question,” Mogui told Poli. “If you answer correctly, you may yet live. Are you ready to swear fealty to Dautha?”

“Never,” Poli spat again.

“Pity,” Mogui replied. “Mace, please.” Another of the mages handed him a mace, and without further ado, he smashed it on her foot, crushing it, leaving a smashed pulpy mess in its place. Poli shrieked and yelled and cried but there was nothing she could do. Mogui was in control.

“How about now?” Mogui asked again. “Are you ready to change your answer?”

Poli shook her head weakly, and Mogui stared at her sadly.

“Another wrong answer. You aren’t very smart.”

The mace came down again, crushing Poli’s second foot. Yue closed her eyes to the scene, unable to watch the horror. Vomit came up her mouth, but she was forced to swallow it due to the gag in her mouth.

“We still have your fingers, hands, chest, other parts,” Mogui said slyly, “Left to go. It will be a painful death for you, unless you change now.”

“I’ll do it,” Poli cried. “I’ll do it. Just get me out of here.”

“And a wise choice for Poli!” The leader said. “I’d like an applause for her.”

The five mages clapped, showing their appreciation for Poli’s ‘wise choice.’

The shackles and chains around Poli disappeared to the ground and she crumpled to the ground.

“Here, let her help you.” Mogui said, pointing to a female mage, who reached over to Poli and waved her hands. Immediately, a strange contraption grew under her legs. Soon, Yue realized what it was.

Wooden feet.

“Now are you ready to swear fealty to Dautha?” Mogui asked, smiling at her. “You have made the right choice. Now act on it.”

Poli panicked and ran, tripping on her new wooden legs but stumbling away, crying. Artemis screamed through his gag, tears flowing through him.

Just as Poli was reaching the door, an invisible force stopped her.

“Oh, Poli,” Mogui shook his head. “I can’t believe you could be so naive. Your friends must learn a lesson now on what it means to break a promise.

No, Yue thought to herself. Please no.

Mogui dragged Poli to the middle of the room, and Yue closed her eyes, seeing Mogui’s hungry eyes.

The next fifteen minutes passed as torture. Yue refused to look, but Poli’s desperate, pained screams reached Yue’s heart and soul, crushing her.

Eventually, Poli’s screams turned to whimpers, and satisfied, Mogui grunted.

“Open your eyes, everyone,” He said. When Yue did so, She found Mogui holding his mace over Poli’s limp form.

“This is the punishment for disobedience. This is the punishment for breaking a promise. This is the punishment for not swearing fealty to Dautha.” Then, with a heave, Mogui brought his mace down.

Poli’s chest caved in, and immediately, blood exploded from her, her face frozen in one last scream. Unsatisfied, Mogui brough the axe down again and again and again until all that was left of Poli was a bloody pulpy mess. All Yue could see was blood, remains and pieces of skin. Poli was unrecognizable, and Yue cried uncontrollably.

“Dautha was merciful to you, but you didn’t see it,” Mogui told them. “Now you do. Now, does anyone here want to swear fealty?”

— — —

No one nods. I’m in shock, my mind reeling. I barely knew Poli, but no one deserves the fate she got, except for Mogui himself. He seems to take pleasure in what he did to Poli, and it sickens me. My mind is muddled; I can barely think. Who would do something like this?

“Zade, you will be forced to watch as each of your friends die unless they swear fealty. Shall you convince them?”

The gag leaves my mouth, and I stutter, my sobs tripping up my words.

“Go…to..h-h-h..hell!” I manage to say, my words dripping with venom and sadness.

“You are destined for death,” The leader of the cultists here says. “You always were. But you just sentenced your friends to the death you just saw that whore get.”

“MMMMHHH!” Artemis screamed.

“Do you have anything to say?” Mogui asks, removing Artemis’ gag.

“She wasn’t a whore!” Artemis screams, then sags in his chains. “But I’m ready. To swear fealty.”

“See, here’s the thing,” Mogui tells him. “I don’t know if I can believe you. Not only did you contradict me before saying that, but I did just sentence you to death. Plus, Poli did just break her promise, and I’m guessing she meant something to you, didn’t she?” Mogui laughed. “Do you want to join her in death?”

“I’ll swear, I promise,” Artemis groans.

“Okay,” Mogui turns away. “I believe you. Unfortunately, Sasha doesn’t.” The mage next to him threw a dagger that impaled itself in Artemis’ stomach. The Vanguard Warrior screamed in pain, his stomach heaving, his glare murderous yet defeated.

I can’t believe what’s happening. A few minutes ago, I’d thought we’d won, and now I’m forced to watch as this man—this monster—will kill all of my friends. A few minutes ago, I had hope. Now, I just want to feel death so I don’t see all of my other friends die.

“Now, as we hear and see Artemis’ death, why don’t we move on to another one? Let’s pick…” Mogui turns to Neena. “You.”

“NOOO!” I scream. Neena is a lot like Astil to me, and I know how much Yue cares about her. Next to me, I feel Yue shaking in rage, and I grimace looking at her.

She looks at me and closes her eyes.

I can’t help but feel she’s going to do something crazy.

— — —

Yue couldn’t let Neena die. Neena was her little sister, her friend. Yue said she’d always protect her.

The chains were weak. She knew that since the mage chaining her was chaining her other friends too, that just a tiny bit of disconcentration would be enough to release her.

With her best effort, she spit out the gag. While the other mages were looking at Neena, she screamed.

“BASTARDS!” Mogui and one of the female mages jumped, and Yue felt the pressure on her chains disappear slightly.

Perfect.

Just as Mogui raised his dagger to stab Neena, Yue heaved and swung her arms forward.

The chains fell off the wall, and she stumbled to the ground, regaining her footing, and running quickly. Thankfully, since Mogui and the other mages were all looking at Neena, they didn’t notice her. Except for the female mage, who looked at her, but it was too late.

Mogui stabbed down, and Yue ran in his way pushing him.

The bite of the dagger in her leg pained her but she forced Mogui down. An invisible force pulled her up again. She bit her lip against the pain of her now-bleeding leg.

“So, you’ve saved your friend, eh?” Mogui snarled. “I should kill her quick then and make you watch.” He stood up, and Yue noticed he was limping.

“Don’t touch her!” She growled. “You’re a dead man.”

“Thank you for saving me,” Neena whispered. “I love you, Yue.”

Yue choked back a sob as Mogui stabbed at Neena again.

— — —

An explosion rocks the dungeon, throwing the door open.

Startled, Mogui turns to the entrance, his sword in his right hand immediately and his left hand flaring with magic.

“YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!” A voice screams. A familiar one. I can’t place it, but I’m sure I’ve heard the voice before.

A figure emerges from the smoke, radiant, body glowing, face livid with rage, yet filled with beauty. She looked like a cross between an angel and a demon, and I immediately recognized her.

Sia.

“YOU DESERVE TO DIE!” She roars, and a black pulsating energy pulsates from her and swarms over the five cultists. An explosion to the left of the dungeon kills two of them, black flames overwhelming them. The other three are enveloped by the black energy, and they start to age quickly, their bodies decaying, wrinkling, the skin dissolving, and their skeletons left. Soon, even the skeletons were gone. The chains holding us disappear, and I fall to the ground

Only Mogui is left.

He throws magic at her. Some of it I recognize, some of it I don’t. But none of it touches her.

Instead, she raises a fist and Mogui rises in the air.

“Worm,” She says, and closes her fist. Two slabs of concrete rise next to Mogui, then slam into him. A squelching sound tells me he is dead.

Sia crumples and I catch her. Smiling, she looks up at me.

“Did I just…”

“Awaken?” I ask. “I think so.”

“Sweet,” She smiles, then faints. I leave her on the ground and look at my friends.

Artemis is crying next to the puddle of Poli, screaming. Yue and Alyx are trying to take care of the wound, but he refuses help, instead preferring to mourn.

I look around. Most of my friends are here. Xavier, Th’ul, Anni, Yue, Alyx, Aster, Neena, Artemis, Skai, and Sia. We’re missing Xander, Astil, and Poli. And Diamond, although I never met her. I have no idea where Xander is now. But Astil, Poli, and Diamond were all killed by the Cult.

I watch all my friends, staring at the horror, contemplating what the Cult has done. They’ve killed my friends, tortured us. One day, I’ll kill Dautha, when I can.

But for now, we should be safe.

A voice finds me in my thoughts.

Be careful, Zade. This fight is not over. More is on its way. Prepare yourself.

I groan. It’s time to keep fighting.