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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvv4JgpJeyS
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeF6zGdD132
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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOgSPc2S77
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkKSuvvBDl
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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbf3cxmvE0f
Everyone who still can, runs, but Hibiscus starts sobbing. “I can’t move!” they yell. “I’m stuck!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoZD5zptAY
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5o5RlCEli
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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g7JKwOn18
Where is he? He has to be here, he couldn’t have been hit. “Klef!” I scream.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEDK5WPW7Q
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!972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsxGrqEAba
“They’ve got guns!” I exclaim, panicked.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdrWyu1GQQ
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2h9gym1hL
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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwJkNAOpa8
“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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh0iolRiPgT
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!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UbITUIbjE
Someone behind me grabs my arms and twists them painfully. “A-ah! No! Nnn… no!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlFnfaYkdk
There’s a prick in my neck and everything starts swimming faster. “N… no… no…”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0nIrtQFqn
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.
972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrQFj7ElWh
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCzTgltyWX
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlz2liXBqRI
“Screw you,” I rasp, before coughing.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTFV8QECZi
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMv1XZ1GQS
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?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JewneVxeJ
“I knew you were in the ensuite, I was trying to kill that pesky little boyfriend of yours.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogDdxb9SP5
“Somehow, that’s not reassuring,” I snark.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpHtnVYjzt
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OG1gAnpD1
I lean back into the wall behind me, staring up at Rythe with disgust. “And how are you going to do that?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMAtt2XZdT
“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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMir40sXCW4
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLoXRV7qMg
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfBOlyQwbw
“Is everyone okay?” his voice asks.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMVpMNbdx6
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSFnKrgPRa
Hibiscus. “Hibiscus, I am so sorry,” Klef says.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGU5cv7GGOx
The dragon smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned about Rides’ parents. Has anyone seen them?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuCP3aIEdX
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXE1JoJ6Yk
Klef turns and runs over to him. “Have you seen her mother? Please tell me she’s okay!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3un1Mvyk20
Dad sighs. “Well, she’s technically still alive…”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4ASRiUw4K
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOqeFxotw6
“That’s not necessary, really, it just takes a bit getting used to,” Klef assures her. “Has anyone seen Rides, though?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqSI3JpLvj
Everyone turns solemn. I can feel Klef’s panic in his head. “Someone has seen her, right?! She’s not gone?!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14Y4G43PXp
Hibiscus stretches their wings. “I saw someone grab her and carry her out as I was dying. I’m sorry.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eYuDB7Rrq
“We have to find her!” Klef exclaims. “Form a search party! We have to find out where she’s gone.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCvGLkSohb
“No, Klef, don’t be an idiot!” I scream. “They’ll just kill you too!”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmprLVBASMJ
Klef’s head whips around. “Ride?” he whispers.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7armw80duQ
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUA1Lzwatw
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?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhiZvYnFto
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.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHV4n33e6n
“‘I was angry at my friend,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIFJa6LNu6
“‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaBEyknksU
“‘I was angry at my foe,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypIMQKbEH8
“‘I told it not, my wrath did grow,” I mutter.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNxueFhuHA
“‘And I watered it in fears,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEXOdI21Wl
“‘Night and morning with my tears.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiQciQC6ar
“‘And I sunned it with smiles,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdgA1SHalG
“‘And with soft, deceitful wiles.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZul0ZpnJcJ
“‘And it grew both day and night.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5RivpTCyU
“‘Till it bore an apple bright.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXYIrzteHu
“‘And my foe beheld it shine,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNKekpykEQ
“‘And he knew that it was mine.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdWLUiLfFH
“‘And into my garden stole,972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdlHR0b00w
“‘When the night had veild the pole;972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcyW3BgPyF
“‘In the morning glad I see;972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3H89r8CllE
“‘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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX9WwkQ3w9
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIfDwX8BKG
Rythe smirks. “Feisty like her, too.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx359DBg8xc
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9medIUqKm1
“You had Flo,” I point out. “Wasn’t she enough for you?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpj09HitItx
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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUerE7unNB
I swallow and drop my eyes.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd3tU51dat
“‘Course, I would never have anyone but myself kill her. Only the best for my love,” he sighs.972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpi2kx4Y766
“You’re a monster,” I growl. “Nothing more than a monster.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspbgxH4H1F
“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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqLNTyyO5N
My eyes sting. “Shut up,” I growl. “You don’t talk about the dead like that.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEILI47wJI
“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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVaVdxX4ey
“I’m going to die anyway, what’s the point?”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaj5SJlOmgW
“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.”972Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudYeDlp3C8
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.
and then Add to home screen.