24. Soul Breaker

24

Soul Breaker

Merin

M erin laughed as he watched Chrissy chase Vale around the garden, her giggles mixing with the dog's playful barks. Jimmy, perched on a nearby bench, observed the scene with an air of feline amusement, while Mira sat cross-legged on the grass, weaving flowers into a crown.

"Careful, Chrissy!" Merin called out, grinning. "Don't wear out poor Vale too much. He's not as young as he used to be."

Vale paused mid-stride, turning to give Merin an indignant look.

Merin held up his hands in mock surrender, chuckling. "My apologies, oh great and mighty Vale. I meant no offense to your youthful vigor."

Jimmy snorted, his tail twitching. "Please. I've seen houseplants with more vigor than you, Vale."

Vale huffed, but before he could retort, Chrissy tackled him in a bear hug, effectively ending the banter.

Merin smiled, his heart swelling with affection as he watched the little girl who had become such an important part of their lives.

"She's doing well, isn't she?" Mira said softly, as if reading his thoughts. "Adjusting to everything, I mean."

Merin nodded, his gaze still fixed on Chrissy. "She's a tough kid. Resilient. I just wish she didn't have to be, you know? I wish she could have a normal childhood, without all the trauma and the fear."

Mira hummed in agreement, her fingers deftly weaving a daisy into the crown. "Don't we all. But she's got us now, Mer. We'll make sure she's safe, and loved, and as normal as possible given the circumstances."

Merin felt a surge of gratitude for the fiery phoenix who had become such a vital part of their little family. "I know. And I'm glad she has you, Mira. You're good with her, you know? You understand her in a way the rest of us can't."

Mira ducked her head, a pleased smile tugging at her lips. "I just know what it's like to feel different, to feel like you don't quite fit in. Chrissy and I, we're kindred spirits in a way."

Merin opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a sudden chill ran down his spine. He frowned, his eyes darting to the sky, which had begun to darken ominously.

"Jimmy," he said, his voice low and tense. "Do you feel that? The magic in the air?"

The cat's ears flattened against his head, his fur standing on end. "Dark magic," he hissed, his eyes glowing an eerie green. "The veil… it's close to tearing open. Leaking creatures from the hells."

Merin's heart skipped a beat, a cold fear gripping his chest. "Will it tear fully?" he asked, his voice strained.

Jimmy shook his head, his expression grim. "No, not yet. Riordan doesn't have what he needs to fully tear it, but I assume his goal was to free one of the great demons from the hells."

Merin swore under his breath, his mind racing with the implications. If Riordan succeeded, if he managed to unleash even a single demon into their world.

"Benjamin!" he called out, his voice carrying across the garden. "We need to get ready. Something's coming, and it's not going to be pretty."

Benjamin was at his side in an instant, his face set in grim lines. "I felt it too. Peter and Dominic are already on their way to the town center, to help with the evacuation and set up a perimeter."

Merin nodded, his jaw clenching with determination. "Good. We'll need all hands on deck for this."

He turned to Mira, his expression softening. "Mira, I need you to take Chrissy inside. Keep her safe, and don't come out until one of us gives the all-clear."

Mira's eyes flashed with defiance, her mouth opening to argue, but Merin cut her off with a pleading look. "Please, Mira. I know you want to help, but you're untrained, and I can't risk losing you both. I need you to do this for me, for Chrissy."

Mira hesitated, her gaze searching his face for a long moment. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders slumping in acceptance. "Alright. But you'd better come back in one piece, or I'll kick your ass myself."

Merin managed a weak grin, his heart clenching with affection. "Noted."

As Mira gathered Chrissy into her arms and headed inside, Merin turned to Vale, his expression serious. "Vale, I need you to shift. We're going to need all the firepower we can get and want you to follow Dominic and Peter in the town center."

Vale tossed his head, his form shimmering and expanding until a magnificent unicorn stood in his place. "Oh, I see. Now you want my youthful vigor, huh?"

Merin rolled his eyes, but he couldn't quite suppress a smile. "Shut up and get ready, you sassy bastard."

Vale whinnied, pawing at the ground with a glinting hoof. "Born ready, boss. Let's show these hellspawn what happens when they mess with Willowbrook."

Merin nodded, a grim smile tugging at his lips as he turned to head inside. The weight of what was coming settled heavily on his shoulders, but he refused to let it show. His team needed him to be strong, to be the rock they could lean on in the face of the coming storm.

As he stepped into the manor, he found Benjamin already waiting for him, his face set in grim lines. "What's the plan, Mer?" he asked, his voice low and urgent.

Merin ran a hand through his hair, a humorless chuckle escaping his lips. "The plan? The plan is to not die."

Benjamin raised an eyebrow, a flicker of amusement passing over his face despite the gravity of the situation. "Solid strategy. I like it."

Jimmy padded into the room, his tail twitching with agitation. "They're coming," he said, his voice a low growl. "Shadow creatures. We need to get ready, now."

Merin's heart skipped a beat, a cold dread settling in his gut. Shadow creatures could only mean one thing. Wanda was here, somewhere, pulling the strings and orchestrating the attack.

But where she was hiding, he had no idea. And right now, they didn't have time to dwell on it. The creatures were coming, and they needed to be ready to face them head-on.

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs of fear and uncertainty from his mind. He was still pissed that his visions hadn't warned him about this, that something was still blocking his sight and leaving them vulnerable.

But there was no use crying over spilled milk. They had to work with what they had, had to rely on their skills and their magic to see them through.

Merin closed his eyes, reaching deep within himself to call forth his arcane power. He could feel it thrumming through his veins, a pulsing, living thing that responded eagerly to his summons.

Beside him, Benjamin was doing the same, his quill-shaped staff appearing in his hand with a flash of light. Merin could feel the potency of his friend's magic, could sense the raw, untamed power that burned within him like a star.

The attack came without warning, a tidal wave of shadow and malice that slammed into the manor like a physical force. Merin felt the impact in his bones, felt the dark energy clawing at his defenses and seeking to find a chink in his armor.

But he held firm, his magic flaring to life as he threw up a shield around himself and Benjamin. The creatures skittered and clawed at the barrier, their forms twisted and grotesque, their eyes burning with a hunger that chilled Merin to his core.

"Damn it, they're relentless!" he gritted out, sweat beading on his brow as he poured more power into the shield. "Every time we banish one, two more take its place!"

Benjamin grunted, his staff whirling in a blur of motion as he blasted the creatures back with bolts of searing light. "Wanda's been busy," he said grimly, his jaw clenched with effort. "She must have been planning this for a while, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

Merin's heart clenched, a sickening realization dawning on him. Benjamin was right. Wanda had played them all like fiddles, had lulled them into a false sense of security while she gathered her forces and prepared for war.

And now, they were paying the price for their complacency.

But even as the thought crossed his mind, even as he braced himself for another wave of shadow creatures.

She appeared.

Merin called out, his voice low and urgent. "Benjamin, I need you to keep the shadow creatures off my back. I'm going after Wanda, and I can't afford any distractions."

Benjamin nodded, his face set in grim lines as he raised his quill-shaped staff and unleashed a blast of searing light that drove the creatures back. "You got it, Mer. I'll hold the line, for as long as it takes."

Merin felt a surge of gratitude, of love and loyalty for the man who had become his brother in all but blood. But he couldn't dwell on it, couldn't let himself get lost in sentiment or emotion.

He had a job to do, a mission to complete. And he would see it through, no matter the cost.

Merin turned back to Wanda, his eyes narrowing as he tried to come up with a plan, a strategy that could turn the tide of the battle in their favor. But every idea he had, every tactic he could think of, seemed woefully inadequate in the face of her power, her madness, her sheer, unbridled evil.

"What's the matter, Merin?" Wanda taunted, her voice dripping with malice. "Afraid to face me alone?"

Merin gritted his teeth, pushing down the fear that threatened to overwhelm him. "Not a chance," he shot back, channeling every ounce of bravado he could muster. "I'm just giving you a chance to surrender before things get ugly."

Wanda's laughter echoed across the battlefield, a sound that sent chills down Merin's spine. "Oh, Merin. Always the optimist. Allow me to show you just how outmatched you truly are."

With a flick of her wrist, Wanda sent a wave of dark energy hurtling towards Merin. He dove to the side, feeling the heat of it singe his hair as it passed. Rolling to his feet, Merin unleashed a barrage of arcane energy, his power as an Arcana Seer manifesting in dazzling bursts of multicolored light.

Wanda batted them away like they were nothing more than annoying flies. "Is that the best you can do?" she sneered.

Merin didn't waste his breath on a reply. Instead, he focused on his next move, his mind racing through possibilities. Come on, Merin, he thought to himself. You've faced worse odds before. There's always a way.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Benjamin still holding off the shadow creatures, his quill-shaped staff a blur of motion as he rewrote reality around them, turning their dark forms to mist.

"Hey, Wanda!" Merin called out, a cocky grin plastering itself across his face. "Bet you can't hit me with that fancy dark magic of yours. Or are you all talk and no action?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You'll regret those words, boy."

The air around them crackled with energy as Wanda summoned her power. Merin braced himself, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. But nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught that followed.

Tendrils of darkness lashed out, faster than he could track. Merin ducked and weaved, feeling them whistle past his ears, his heart pounding in his chest. One grazed his arm, and he bit back a cry of pain as it seared through his sleeve and into his flesh.

"Not so cocky now, are we?" Wanda's voice dripped with satisfaction.

Merin forced himself to laugh, even as he struggled to catch his breath. "That all you got?"

Anger flashed in Wanda's eyes, and Merin knew he'd struck a nerve. Good. An angry opponent was more likely to make mistakes.

But as the battle raged on, Merin began to realize just how outmatched they truly were. For every spell he cast, Wanda had a counter. For every strategy he attempted, she was two steps ahead. It was like fighting a force of nature, relentless and unyielding.

"Merin!" Benjamin's voice cut through the chaos. "I can't hold them off much longer!"

Merin risked a glance back and saw that the shadow creatures were pressing in, overwhelming Benjamin's defenses. They were losing ground, and fast.

"Hang on, Ben!" Merin shouted, desperation creeping into his voice. "Just a little longer!"

But even as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a lie. They were outgunned, outmaneuvered, and rapidly running out of options.

Wanda's laughter rang out once more, filled with cruel triumph. "Do you see now, Merin? Do you finally understand the futility of your resistance?"

Merin gritted his teeth, refusing to give her the satisfaction of an answer. Instead, he dug deep, summoning every last ounce of power he possessed. If he was going down, he was going down fighting.

With a roar of defiance, Merin unleashed a torrent of arcane fury. Streams of pure magical energy, pulsing with the power of his Arcana Seer abilities, erupted from his hands. Beside him, Benjamin swung his staff in wide arcs, rewriting the very fabric of reality to aid their assault.

For a moment, just a moment, Merin saw surprise flicker across Wanda's face. Then her lips curved into a smile that sent chills down his spine.

"Impressive," she purred. "But ultimately, futile."

With a casual wave of her hand, she dispelled their attack as if it were nothing more than a gentle breeze. Then, before either of them could even think to move, she struck.

Pain exploded through every nerve in Merin's body as Wanda's magic enveloped him. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but scream as the darkness threatened to consume him entirely.

Through the haze of agony, Merin dimly heard Benjamin calling his name. But it sounded distant, fading, as if he were miles away instead of mere feet.

This is it, Merin thought, a strange calm settling over him. This is how it ends.

But just as he was about to give in to the darkness, a new voice cut through the chaos – a male voice he didn't recognize.

"Wanda, that's enough!" it called out, filled with a mixture of anger and desperation. "You've damaged so much already. Please. I just want my sister back."

Suddenly, the pain receded. Merin gasped for air, his vision slowly clearing as he struggled to focus on the source of the voice.

A man stood at the edge of the battlefield, his features strikingly similar to Wanda's. This had to be Wyatt, the brother she'd mentioned in her rants.

Wanda's expression softened for a fraction of a second before hardening once more. "Wyatt," she said, her voice a mixture of longing and contempt. "Have you come to join me at last?"

Wyatt shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow. "No, Wanda. I've come to stop you."

"Stop me?" Wanda laughed, but there was an edge of hysteria to it now. "You can't stop me, brother. No one can. Join me, and we can reshape this world together. We can make it better, make it ours!"

Merin watched the exchange, his mind racing. This was an opportunity, a chance to turn the tide. But how?

Wyatt didn't budge, his resolve clear in every line of his body. "I can't do that, Wanda. This isn't you. This isn't what we dreamed of."

"Then I have no choice," Wanda snarled, her face twisting with rage and grief. "I'll have to take you out too."

She raised her hands, dark energy crackling between her fingers. But before she could unleash it, Wyatt made his move.

Merin had never seen anything like it. One moment, Wyatt was standing there, unarmed and seemingly defenseless. The next, the very air around him seemed to ripple and tear.

Wanda's scream of pain and shock echoed across the battlefield as Wyatt's power struck her. Merin watched in awe as her magic seemed to unravel, pieces of it floating away like mist in the morning sun.

"A Soul Breaker," Merin whispered, realization dawning. He'd heard legends of such power, but he'd never dreamed he'd see it in action.

Wyatt's face was a mask of concentration and pain as he continued his assault. "I'm sorry, Wanda," he said, his voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."

Merin knew this was their chance. Gathering what strength he had left, he pushed himself to his feet.

"Benjamin!" he called out. "Now's our chance! Hit her with everything you've got!"

Benjamin didn't hesitate. With a cry that was part battle roar, part sob, he swung his staff, rewriting reality itself to amplify their power.

Merin added his own arcane energy to the mix, drawing on reserves he didn't know he had. Magic and altered reality merged, swirling around Wanda in a vortex of cleansing energy.

Her screams grew louder, more frantic. The darkness that had surrounded her for so long began to dissipate, revealing glimpses of the woman she had once been.

"No!" she cried out. "No, you can't! I won't let you!"

But her protests grew weaker, her struggles less coordinated. Merin knew what he had to do. He looked at Wyatt, a silent question in his eyes. Wyatt, tears streaming down his face, nodded once.

With a heavy heart, Merin reached out with his Arcana Seer abilities, seeking Wanda's soul core. It was like wading through a sea of tar, like swimming through a river of pure, unadulterated evil. The darkness clung to him, tried to drag him down into its depths and drown him in its inky, suffocating embrace.

But he pushed on, pushed through with a will of iron and a heart of stone. He had to find it, had to locate the source of Wanda's power and cut it off at the root.

And then, like a beacon in the night, he sensed it. A pulsing, writhing mass of shadow and malice, buried deep within the very center of Wanda's being.

Her soul core, the twisted, corrupted heart of her magic and her madness.

"Benjamin, now!" he shouted, his voice raw and ragged with the effort of holding onto his sanity, his very sense of self in the face of such overwhelming darkness. "Hold her, don't let her move!"

Benjamin grunted, his face contorted with strain as he poured every ounce of his strength, his magic, into keeping Wanda trapped, immobilized by bands of searing, blinding light.

Merin didn't hesitate. He opened himself up to his power, to the raging inferno of arcane energy that burned within him like a second sun.

And he let it loose, let it explode outwards in a tidal wave of pure, unbridled magic that slammed into Wanda like a freight train, like a force of nature that could not be denied or resisted.

He felt her soul core shatter, felt it crumble to dust and ashes beneath the onslaught of his power. And for a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to feel a flicker of hope, of triumph, of the sheer, unbridled joy of knowing that he had done it, that he had put an end to the monster who had caused so much pain and suffering.

But then, even as he reached out to crush the remnants of Wanda's core, even as he prepared to end her once and for all…

She laughed. A high, mad cackle that sent chills down Merin's spine and made his blood run cold in his veins.

"Go ahead, little seer," she crooned, her voice dripping with malice and twisted amusement. "Destroy me, if you can. But know this… we've done what we needed to do here. This was just a diversion, a little game to keep you occupied while our true plan unfolds."

Merin's heart stopped, his breath catching in his throat as he stared at Wanda with a mix of horror and disbelief. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, his voice shaking with fear and fury. "What plan, what have you done?"

But Wanda just smiled, a cold, cruel thing that made Merin's skin crawl. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough, little seer. But by then, it will be too late. Too late for you, too late for your precious Willowbrook, too late for everything and everyone you hold dear."

And with that, she raised her hand, her fingers curling around the shattered remnants of her own soul core. And before Merin could stop her, before he could even draw breath to cry out. She crushed it, grinding it to powder between her fingers as her body began to crumble, to dissolve into a fine, gray ash that drifted away on the wind like the last, lingering remnants of a nightmare.

He shook his head, trying to clear the fog of confusion and dread that threatened to overwhelm him. They had won, damn it. They had defeated Wanda, had banished her shadow creatures back to the hells from whence they came.

So why did he feel like they had just lost, like they had played right into the hands of some greater, more terrible evil?

All of a sudden a vision slammed into him, so sudden and so vivid that it nearly brought him to his knees.

Mira and Chrissy, locked in a desperate battle against two shadow creatures that had somehow slipped past their defenses. Mira, her face contorted with strain and fear as she tried to summon her phoenix magic, tried to fight back against the monsters that sought to tear her and the little girl apart.

But it wasn't enough. Mira was untrained, her powers raw and untamed, and no match for the creatures that had been honed and sharpened by centuries of darkness and despair.

The vision faded as quickly as it had come, leaving Merin gasping and shaken, his heart pounding in his chest and his mind racing with a sickening, terrible certainty.

Wyatt stood motionless, his face a mask of grief and shock. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his shoulders shook with silent sobs. The weight of what he had just witnessed – the destruction of his sister by his own hand – seemed to crush him.

Merin, still reeling from Wanda's final words and the vision that had assaulted him, looked over at Wyatt with concern. Despite everything that had happened, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the man who had just lost his sister, twisted though she had become.

Benjamin, leaning heavily on his staff, broke the silence. "Wyatt… I'm sorry. We… we had no choice."

Wyatt nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the spot where Wanda had disappeared. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with emotion. "I know. I know you didn't. It's just… she was my sister. Once, long ago, she was kind and bright and full of life. And now…" He trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

For a long moment, no one spoke. The weight of what had transpired hung heavy in the air, a palpable presence that seemed to smother all other sounds.

Finally, Wyatt took a deep, shuddering breath and turned to face Merin and Benjamin. His eyes were red-rimmed but clear, filled with a steely determination that hadn't been there before.

"You need to go," he said, his voice stronger now. "Wanda's last words… if she wasn't bluffing, there's more at stake here than we realized. You need to find out what's happening, what this ‘true plan' of theirs is."

Merin nodded, the urgency of the situation pushing aside his exhaustion. "But what about you? What about…" He gestured vaguely at the area where Wanda had fallen.

Wyatt's expression softened slightly. "I'll take care of things here. Gather her ashes, perform the proper rites. She may have lost her way, but she was still my sister. I owe her that much, at least."

Benjamin stepped forward, placing a hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "Are you sure? We could stay, help you-"

But Wyatt shook his head firmly. "No. This is something I need to do alone. And you have more pressing matters to attend to. Whatever Wanda was talking about, whatever this plan is, it can't be good. You need to stop it before it's too late."

Merin hesitated for a moment, torn between his desire to help Wyatt and the urgent need to uncover the truth behind Wanda's cryptic warning. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. But Wyatt… thank you. For everything. We couldn't have done this without you."

A ghost of a smile flickered across Wyatt's face. "Just go. Find out what's happening. And… be careful. If there's something out there worse than Wanda, you'll need all your strength to face it."

"Benjamin!" he shouted, already moving, already running towards the room where he had left Mira and Chrissy, praying to every god he had ever known that he would not be too late, that he could still save them from the fate that awaited them. "Jimmy! We need to move, now!"

He didn't wait for a response, didn't stop to see if they were following. He just ran, his feet pounding against the stone floors of the manor as he raced towards the one thing, the one person, that mattered more to him than life itself.

But when he burst through the door, when he skidded to a halt in the center of the room with his heart in his throat and his magic crackling at his fingertips… he knew that he was too late.

The room was in shambles, the furniture overturned and the curtains torn and shredded. And there, in the center of the chaos, was a shimmering, pulsing portal, a gateway to some dark and terrible place that Merin could only imagine.

And through that portal, he could see them. Mira and Chrissy, their bodies limp and lifeless as they were dragged away by the shadow creatures, disappearing into the swirling, inky darkness that threatened to swallow them whole.

"No!" Merin screamed, his voice raw and ragged with despair as he lunged forward, as he reached out with every ounce of his magic, his very soul, to try and grab them, to pull them back from the brink of oblivion.

But it was too late. The portal snapped shut, the last of the shadows disappearing into the ether, taking Mira and Chrissy with them.

Merin stared at the spot where they had been, his mind reeling and his heart shattering into a million pieces. How could this have happened? How could he have let them down, have failed to protect the two people who meant more to him than anything else in the world?

"No," he whispered, his voice breaking on a sob that tore at his throat like broken glass. "No, no, no. This can't be happening, this can't be real."

But it was real. It was happening, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, nothing he could do to bring them back from the darkness that had claimed them.

He sank to his knees, his body shaking with the force of his grief and his rage and his utter, complete helplessness. He had failed them, had let them down in the worst possible way.

And now, they were gone. Taken by the very evil he had sworn to protect them from, lost to a fate that he couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Merin," a voice said softly, a hand coming to rest on his shoulder with a gentleness that made him want to scream, to rage against the unfairness of it all. "Merin, I'm so sorry. But we need to move, need to figure out what happened and how we can get them back."

He looked up, his vision blurred with tears, to see Jimmy standing beside him, the ancient cat's face etched with sorrow and grim determination.

"Get them back?" Merin choked out, his voice hoarse and raw with emotion. "How, Jimmy? How are we supposed to get them back, when we don't even know where they've been taken, or why?"

Jimmy sighed, his tail twitching with agitation as he met Merin's gaze with a look of quiet, aching understanding. "I think I might know," he said softly, his voice heavy with dread. "The last ingredient, the final piece that Riordan needs to open the veil fully and unleash his army of darkness upon the world…"

He paused, his eyes closing for a moment as if he couldn't bear to say the words out loud. "It's the blood of a phoenix, Merin. The lifeblood of a creature of fire and light, spilled in sacrifice to the darkness that seeks to consume us all."

Merin felt like he'd been punched in the gut, like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs in one brutal, agonizing moment. Mira. They had taken Mira, had dragged her into the depths of hell itself to bleed her dry, to use her very essence to fuel their twisted, evil plans.

And Chrissy… oh gods, Chrissy.

Rage rose up in him like a tidal wave, hot and fierce and all-consuming. He wouldn't let this happen, wouldn't let Riordan and his minions use the people he loved as sacrifices to their dark and terrible cause.

He would find them, would tear apart heaven and earth and the very fabric of reality itself to bring them back, to keep them safe from the monsters that sought to destroy them.