The first explosion rocks the entire building, and people are immediately scrambling to the trees for the cover. I make the mistake of breathing and cough up smoke. Stumbling to the edge of the roof, I look down, and my stomach lurches. On the ground, in full armor with weapons, is an army. And Rythe is the one leading it. Scrambling backwards, I look around to see what’s going on. Alar has disappeared, but weapons are being chucked up through the hatch to the roof, so I’m assuming he’s the one arming us. Ama is casting spells and her aura is getting more solid and blacker by the second. Klef is speaking to Mom and Dad. Flo is looking around, calling Rythe’s name. Hibiscus is trying to dodge the fires that are sprouting up from falling branches and damaged parts of the roof. I stick two fingers in my mouth and whistle the best I can. They all look to me. “It’s Rythe!” I scream. “Rythe is down there leading the attacking army! If he comes up here, do not let him ‘help’ you!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhYSLfyT7R
Everyone stares at me in shock. Ama is the first to recover, unleashing a primeval scream before her chants pick up speed and suddenly there are dozens upon dozens of bones flying in the air from all around us, swarming at her. She sweeps one hand toward the madness below. “Attack!” she screeches, and the bones go flying.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9LRweZlmv
The leaders of the Crusaders are grabbing bows, pickaxes, swords, daggers, guns, whatever is being tossed up the hatch. Klef throws me a bow and a quiver of arrows, and I run to the edge of the roof, notching those suckers as fast as I can. Years of practice has made me an excellent shot, and I’m aiming to kill. One by one enemies are falling, dropping to the floor. But for every one that falls down, two are brought in to replace them. And Rythe is just standing there, a smirk on their face. “Still think you can win, do you?” he calls up, as if he’s just talking about the weather. “Give up, little Iri, you know you can’t win! You know how this ends!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOcJ8CRKur
I swallow. I had sort of pieced together what was about to happen, but that didn’t mean I was going to accept it. I notch another arrow and aim it straight at their eye. I release, and the arrow flies true to course, but gets smashed by a kind of magic I’ve never seen before. They smile up at me, waving their hand, where a charm is dangling from their wrist. I growl. Clearly, this is not going to be easy.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbq71xgAO6i
Something behind Rythe draws my attention, and I see a giant ball of flame in a catapult, ready to fire. “Back! EVeryone, back! They’re about to burn us all to a crisp! Get back!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbM6axSTCjh
Everyone who still can, runs, but Hibiscus starts sobbing. “I can’t move!” they yell. “I’m stuck!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJq3J5xeKf
My stomach drops. No. Hibiscus? After all they’ve been through, they can’t die. I run for them, but fire explodes in the corner of my eye, and suddenly we’re falling.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHmkIbMuHp
I sit up, not daring to groan. My vision is swimming. Fire. It’s all around me. It’s what I’m almost breathing in and what I’m choking on. I hear someone yell, “Shelter! We have to get to shelter!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtS5Yp3jWa
Where is he? He has to be here, he couldn’t have been hit. “Klef!” I scream.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrDRQ8HZhe
Coughs erupt 3 feet away from me. I reach out and grab a hand. Klef’s hand. He squeezes it, and we struggle out of the immediate fire. BANG!1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu38m8FNeM0
“They’ve got guns!” I exclaim, panicked.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqOVDCfDCp
We’re sitting ducks, trapped in the base by fire. No way out this time. I look at Klef and he looks at me. There’s desperation in his eyes, and I have no doubt it’s in mine as well. And in what feels to be our final moments together…we kiss.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCBJZ3W0eM
There’s footsteps running up to the now gaping opening of the base, and Klef and I break apart. “You have to hide,” Klef orders. “Go!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSS0J1gfhBm
“No way I’m leaving without you!” I exclaim. “Don’t you dare tell me to go hide and be safe while you’re out here being stupid!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5T7t1IkZv
There are blurry shapes walking through the flames, approaching fast. One reaches out an appendage and slams into the back of Klef’s head, causing his eyes to widen in shock before they close and he falls face- first to the floor. I scramble backward but the same appendage grabs onto my ankle and refuses to let go. “No!” I scream, kicking wildly. “Let me go! No!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxpTyVuw4v
Someone behind me grabs my arms and twists them painfully. “A-ah! No! Nnn… no!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RXRFHiD9b
There’s a prick in my neck and everything starts swimming faster. “N… no… no…”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojUXFZTUwW
The last thing I can clearly see is Klef lying there on the floor, and I can only imagine the panic he’ll feel when he wakes up, before my vision fades to black.
1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3hiJNRJOp
When I wake up, there’s something cold against my wrists and ankles. I sit up, blinking rapidly, trying to clear the swimming in my head. “Good morning, Oracle,” a voice says across from me. “You’ve been out quite a while.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo48UElCD5E
I frown and blink more, and slowly the blurry form of Rythe comes into view. I lunge forward, or at least try to, but the cold on my wrists is holding me back. They chuckle. “Don’t try and fight, little Iri, you know how this is going to end as well as I do. Not well for you, I’m afraid.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOofjdRAg0
“Screw you,” I rasp, before coughing.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaybx9UAAq
A glass of water comes into my line of sight and I scowl at the hand offering it, which quickly retreats. Rythe waves a hand dismissively, and shrugs. “I can understand why you don’t want my help, Oracle, but I want to make sure you are in top condition.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡby07mAddHy
I laugh. “You shouldn’t have tried to kill me, then. Or weren’t you the person who threw the grenade in the bedroom at the base?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nyofiRbkf
“I knew you were in the ensuite, I was trying to kill that pesky little boyfriend of yours.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYw4nJcE81B
“Somehow, that’s not reassuring,” I snark.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7v4BFH25l
Rythe rolls his eyes. “Yes, well. I’m afraid we won’t be talking for much longer. You see, your Sight is rather… unusual. I suppose you now know that you were in my head in your dream? Thing is, I never even felt it. I felt heightened paranoia, perhaps. The feeling I was being watched. But I didn’t know who, or how. And I want to see if we can harness that power.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTdDrGkOpW
I lean back into the wall behind me, staring up at Rythe with disgust. “And how are you going to do that?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqPHs6HtZ3
“Simple,” Rythe says, waving a hand. A fairy starts connecting wires to my fingers and hands, and clips glass circles to my eyes and around the back of my head. “We’re going to force your magic to conduct itself while you are awake, and see what you can see through a screen.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilmvQUznaH
Something starts buzzing and I arch my back in pain. It feels like my entire body is on fire, and that my soul is being split from it. Slowly, images start to take form.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyidCpEd1hq
Sharp, blackened shapes that stretch into the sky. Rubble all around, and dead bodies of people in their Deuxlives scattered about. Fresh deaths are just starting to rouse with groans and gasps. The head I’m in doesn’t stop looking around, and sighs. I know that sigh. Klef, I realize.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWE3rJMLgB
“Is everyone okay?” his voice asks.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDBcxQRDwU
Someone is crying. Another person is calling out names of people they care about. One giant shape in the rubble stands up shakily. A new dragon. They look down at themselves and smile. “Well, if I had to go some way, I’m glad I got to be a dragon.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWY7qM9saR
Hibiscus. “Hibiscus, I am so sorry,” Klef says.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nYJzUb4Nk
The dragon smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned about Rides’ parents. Has anyone seen them?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc36ucIMgo
A lump forms in my throat. Mom might still be alive in her Deuxlife. But if Dad died… he has no way of coming back this time. “I’m here,” Dad calls.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSUuphtjZf
Klef turns and runs over to him. “Have you seen her mother? Please tell me she’s okay!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfa3ZxC2NF
Dad sighs. “Well, she’s technically still alive…”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwpUG4GehM
My heart skips a beat. Mom died. It’s all my fault. She walks into view, rubbing her shoulders. “Klef, I never realized how complicated it is to have wings. I’ll be making some adjustments to our house rules, to better accomodate you.” Tawny yellow wings stretch out from Mom’s back.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUkTszucff
“That’s not necessary, really, it just takes a bit getting used to,” Klef assures her. “Has anyone seen Rides, though?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2dmAbaH5H
Everyone turns solemn. I can feel Klef’s panic in his head. “Someone has seen her, right?! She’s not gone?!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbXiGPuo2P
Hibiscus stretches their wings. “I saw someone grab her and carry her out as I was dying. I’m sorry.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN3YCAgVNl
“We have to find her!” Klef exclaims. “Form a search party! We have to find out where she’s gone.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmkD1bVGVk
“No, Klef, don’t be an idiot!” I scream. “They’ll just kill you too!”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkzEswku73
Klef’s head whips around. “Ride?” he whispers.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaRiyQGhHP
Before I can say anything else, I’m disconnected from the wires that let me see him. I want to scream in frustration, but I refuse to give Rythe the satisfaction. “See your boyfriend, did you? How sweet,” they coo. “Hope you said goodbye.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4jeeE02vm
I ignore Rythe in favor of looking around where I’m being held. It’s a carriage, but it’s one of the ones usually reserved for escorting prisoners. No ammount of yelling for help is going to get me anywhere, but I do recognize the rock patterns outside on the hills from pictures I’ve seen of places in west Argentor. “Do you want to see your hometown?” Rythe asks casually. “I’m sure all your friends would love to see you carted away like the criminal that you are. But then again, someone such as yourself probably doesn’t have any friends, am I right?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRTbwYrJVs
They’re trying to rile me up, but I stay silent. I’m not willing to give them the satisfaction of interacting with me anymore than they force me to. They sigh. “This is going to be a long ride,” they sigh.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBcHiyDwU6
“‘I was angry at my friend,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AYEPlmT6v
“‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhIg8lPlRW
“‘I was angry at my foe,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFmP6R3PAe
“‘I told it not, my wrath did grow,” I mutter.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKauTIWDvfI
“‘And I watered it in fears,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouzVpoVspn
“‘Night and morning with my tears.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7M8jwHGNja
“‘And I sunned it with smiles,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7YyUR5k9U
“‘And with soft, deceitful wiles.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iu6BFsOKW
“‘And it grew both day and night.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRChftnktO
“‘Till it bore an apple bright.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyj2eKpA2hs
“‘And my foe beheld it shine,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPQCtUCF2M
“‘And he knew that it was mine.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw32kfuM2Q5
“‘And into my garden stole,1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVncCWp0EbB
“‘When the night had veild the pole;1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHm4lXvkho
“‘In the morning glad I see;1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Tnqn7nrxU
“‘My foe outstretched beneath the tree.’ Nice poem,” Rythe finishes. “One of our founders was fond of it as well. She actually used that to motivate herself to get things done, a lot like you.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuZWfgead1
I feel a little sick at the comparison. “You don’t get to say who I am and am not like. I’m my own person, and expect to be treated as such.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVb5aAnp1X
Rythe smirks. “Feisty like her, too.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkaNMQNDr3
I stand as best I can with the shackles on me and spit in their face. Rythe blinks, before laughing. “Definitely fiesty,” they say. “I really like you. If we weren’t on opposing sides I’d like you to be my partner in crime.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5WH9RFmdY
“You had Flo,” I point out. “Wasn’t she enough for you?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiCHdaDRjr
Rythe shrugs. “She was nice, true, but she was a means to an end. We needed a Crusader base in the Werewolf Territory. And she was the most likely to start it. Shame what happened to her last night.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul170kiUTD
I swallow and drop my eyes.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KGD7F3dIv
“‘Course, I would never have anyone but myself kill her. Only the best for my love,” he sighs.1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqFyyUt5az
“You’re a monster,” I growl. “Nothing more than a monster.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWEZrrp3Ek
“Want to know how she died? With honor, maybe? It was pathetic, I’ll tell you that much. Told me that if I stopped now we could still have a chance. I smiled and shot her. Never saw it coming, dropped to the ground. I would have laughed, if it weren’t so tragic.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0CC1tjr2t
My eyes sting. “Shut up,” I growl. “You don’t talk about the dead like that.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaBGQ0dlNx
“Maybe you don’t, but I do,” Rythe says with a satisfied grin. “Oh, you’re stuck here, my dear. May as well get used to my brand of humor.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJBSbHepxn
“I’m going to die anyway, what’s the point?”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGzj2AUpar
“Die? No, no, no, no. You’re not going to die. The machine we need you for won’t kill you, we’ve made sure of that,” Rythe laughs. “You’re simply going to destroy the humans. And the grief will drive you mad when we kill the Crusaders who aren’t with us, starting with your precious boyfriend. But we need your dreams. We’re not going to kill you. We’re going to break you.”1098Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIvuY91M5k
I bite my lip and look at the outside world. It wouldn’t take that much to break me at this point, to be honest. Flo is dead. Hibiscus died. Mom died. Klef is stranded without me. And I’m going to be instrumental in genocide. I sit back sullenly and watch the scenery go by. For all I know, it could be my last time seeing it.
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