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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjw0hv9MAr
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutMCMaw0Zj
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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5M40seu62
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6a6eu9KfQ
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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeMm69M3pr
Everyone who still can, runs, but Hibiscus starts sobbing. “I can’t move!” they yell. “I’m stuck!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr5gtaD3e4
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oQ1r0z2y5
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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0pKfq5oDK
Where is he? He has to be here, he couldn’t have been hit. “Klef!” I scream.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlX8b3qU40p
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!559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRO8G3RYrR3
“They’ve got guns!” I exclaim, panicked.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKCsruvtPK
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqVAsTHIK9
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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo16CnMF7Gq
“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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLXZORw4y5
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!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtrZi37Vka
Someone behind me grabs my arms and twists them painfully. “A-ah! No! Nnn… no!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1tdPnLjm8
There’s a prick in my neck and everything starts swimming faster. “N… no… no…”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLARjwDvlk
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.
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhNcEcEL0h
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwBsiswAfx
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYypjyYeVem
“Screw you,” I rasp, before coughing.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLciNJgJ5a
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2Q2hdsnO4
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?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR339xRYEkJ
“I knew you were in the ensuite, I was trying to kill that pesky little boyfriend of yours.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8CAkv7Z8N
“Somehow, that’s not reassuring,” I snark.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HkNOvyMwn
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqt7kRCbLg
I lean back into the wall behind me, staring up at Rythe with disgust. “And how are you going to do that?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAtfcLndMC
“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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YkMMZNRQm
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2gan04QoB
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUavCGPLU1
“Is everyone okay?” his voice asks.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7PqlkVGfP
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoXUvY2uxM
Hibiscus. “Hibiscus, I am so sorry,” Klef says.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJEDLzzHWs
The dragon smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned about Rides’ parents. Has anyone seen them?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBfvmNkYZK
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkh2Dqbk0wU
Klef turns and runs over to him. “Have you seen her mother? Please tell me she’s okay!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNX1EdrUmWb
Dad sighs. “Well, she’s technically still alive…”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObrU68dNow
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9wyaxFxX3
“That’s not necessary, really, it just takes a bit getting used to,” Klef assures her. “Has anyone seen Rides, though?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc081cqoTL8
Everyone turns solemn. I can feel Klef’s panic in his head. “Someone has seen her, right?! She’s not gone?!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanG8pyk1ak
Hibiscus stretches their wings. “I saw someone grab her and carry her out as I was dying. I’m sorry.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqGODAcXAj
“We have to find her!” Klef exclaims. “Form a search party! We have to find out where she’s gone.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz00IPI6kY
“No, Klef, don’t be an idiot!” I scream. “They’ll just kill you too!”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9Ezixb0Ub
Klef’s head whips around. “Ride?” he whispers.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdceKq9jgN
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOS3KsxmnN
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?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOX2bj05C04
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW55sbq7PkN
“‘I was angry at my friend,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhwFVW7R3d
“‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRyx3F0DbW
“‘I was angry at my foe,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPvB52LDCc
“‘I told it not, my wrath did grow,” I mutter.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvwwgZFzQd
“‘And I watered it in fears,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhvOJh0Qnc
“‘Night and morning with my tears.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGCWnySqkz
“‘And I sunned it with smiles,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG09Z3agjS
“‘And with soft, deceitful wiles.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDmHrQq51J
“‘And it grew both day and night.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4OaL00Bc6
“‘Till it bore an apple bright.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8f6ZwXa2ZJ
“‘And my foe beheld it shine,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfti5lxewvL
“‘And he knew that it was mine.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4C7tzHGgVd
“‘And into my garden stole,559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAN5jmdbmaX
“‘When the night had veild the pole;559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJStjKuJCyt
“‘In the morning glad I see;559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWsZtJeykx
“‘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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhKgg8PXdx
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBDULMRxVK
Rythe smirks. “Feisty like her, too.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCPLFaGWmb
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRlLrHTJw5
“You had Flo,” I point out. “Wasn’t she enough for you?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajBJyWcbuB
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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsDwNBsPJV
I swallow and drop my eyes.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGieTmrp0DF
“‘Course, I would never have anyone but myself kill her. Only the best for my love,” he sighs.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AC42WwZWO
“You’re a monster,” I growl. “Nothing more than a monster.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTdizj0yN8
“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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEuvvBIJWR
My eyes sting. “Shut up,” I growl. “You don’t talk about the dead like that.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHu80ZGQYt
“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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdht6TkqwfF
“I’m going to die anyway, what’s the point?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORgyWsmnuk
“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.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOe98TnAMeV
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.
