Chapter Twenty-Five

CHARLIE

No one did great things without making tremendous sacrifices. I planned to be the greatest there ever was. That meant letting things go. I was willing to sacrifice my friendships, my reputation, and whatever good I still had left in me to become the ruler this world needed. It wasn’t about making a choice anymore. The only question that remained was if I was strong enough to see my plans through. I swore I wouldn’t break under the pressure, despite what it took to remain standing.

I had to lock Ava up. Not what I wanted, but what I needed. Ava didn’t understand, but she would. With enough time, she’d accept that I couldn’t lose her again and that the palace was the safest place for her. This was the right thing to do. She’d forgive me eventually.

I stood on a balcony off the throne room, listening to my soldiers demonstrate my power. The elder guard was experienced and wise, but the young guard outnumbered them at least two to one, and I knew there were some experienced soldiers who were wavering on supporting my father. My Associates had been ferrying me information for weeks, palace gossip that Cameron was a self-involved leader who cared more for parties than making decisions that would benefit his people. He wanted the luxuries of royal life, but not the responsibility of it, and the elder guard knew that. Soon, they’d buckle under the pressure and join me. Those that didn’t, my soldiers would kill.

The revolution wouldn’t take long. By sunset, my soldiers would claim Ilamanthe and they’d have my father in chains. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with him yet. It would be unwise to let him live, as he’d always pose a threat to my command, and I blamed him for pulling me away when there was still a chance I could’ve saved my grandfather’s life. Cassiel was gone because of my father, and I wanted to punish Cameron for it.

He was still my father, though, and taking his life would be distasteful in the eyes of the public. I didn’t need their trust, but this would be easier to do if I had it. I was already going to face some opposition from uprooting the line of succession. I could allow my father to live, keep him prisoner for a while until the city agreed that Cameron would’ve been a poor Emperor and nobody wanted him back on the throne. Then I’d let him go free, give him some meaningless position of ceremony within the palace to keep him busy and satisfy any whiners who still complained that I’d overthrown him.

The Elves valued power. This was a mob. I just had to prove I was more worthy than Cameron was, and they’d all fall in line.

I heard footsteps behind me. “I knew you were capable of some bad things. But I never thought you’d go this far.”

Chancey’s tone was full of accusation, but I wasn’t going to let him goad me into an argument that would take my attention away from the mission.

“I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make my grandfather proud,” I responded. “Don’t act like you thought I was some saint, because I never was.”

“You need to call this off. People are dying, Charlie.”

The screams of perishing soldiers rose up from the gardens, and I replied, “People die every day. Better they die for me than for someone else.”

“Fuck you,” Chancey spat. “When the hell did you turn so goddamn cold? I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

“Because you can’t. Letting people get too close is a recipe for disaster.” I kept my words even and plain. Fighting was a waste of energy right now.

“Your father?—”

“My father has no spine!” I bellowed, rounding on him. “Do you think he has what it takes to defeat the Warden? Because we all know he’s incapable of ruling a nation. I deserve to be Emperor. I’m stronger, smarter, younger and more willing to do what it takes. My father doesn’t deserve to lick the bottom of my shoes.”

“You could’ve told me about this,” Chancey growled.

“What for? I didn’t think I’d have to enact this plan for years, if ever. I was happy to let my grandfather keep the throne for as long as he lived, but I knew I would never allow my father to rule. Because my grandfather died so suddenly, I’ve had to set my plans into motion and take action quicker than I expected, so excuse me if this isn’t going as smoothly as I hoped.”

“You’re a real piece of work, aren’t ya, Charlie?” Chancey said in disgust. “Out of you two, I thought Ava was the crazy one, but you’re proving to be nuttier than she ever had the capability of being. Say what you want about her being off her rocker, but she’d never pull something like this.”

“Ava still wants to save the world. She doesn’t realize we can’t save the world unless we bring it under our control.”

“Your control, you mean,” Chancey flung out.

“Do you think any of this is easy?” I came closer to him, feeling my arms start to tremble. “I’m doing this to keep everyone alive and safe. We’re lucky as all hell that my grandfather is the only one we’ve lost recently, and I’m going to make sure it stays that way. Nobody else has the balls to do what needs to be done around here. I’m not going to allow another one of the people I care about to die on my watch, not when I have the power to do something about it! So what if I’m willing to sacrifice a few soldiers and civilians— faceless, nameless people to me, people that I have no knowledge of? I don’t care if they live or die! It’s worth it to protect what means the most to me! I won’t sacrifice that!”

“You already have! I could’ve died during that heist! I gave up one of my wings for you!” Chancey bellowed. “I’m never gonna fly again, and you know what? I thought it was a worthy sacrifice, because it was for you, Charlie.”

I heard the tears in his voice, and I wished I could say it had an effect on me, but it didn’t.

“And here you are, spitting in my face,” he continued. “You were gonna leave me pinned under that elevator, and I even begged you to, because I believed if I died at least it’d be for something bigger than me.”

Chancey gave a low, sickening laugh that was devoid of humor, only devastation. “I fell for that once before when I was a part of the Celestial Church, and I was stupid enough to fall for it again. We were brothers in the ring, and I thought we were brothers still, but you ain’t nothing to me. You’re just another psycho who has big guns, and by fuck you’re gonna use ‘em, aren’t ya, Charlie?”

“You’re damn right I am.” I left Chancey behind me as I turned away, back to the balcony. “I’m sorry you gave up a wing for me, but now it’s my turn to take flight. So watch me fly.”

Chancey’s voice was full of disbelief. “You really don’t care at all, do you?”

“Whatever good was still left in me died with my grandfather. I’m glad it did. It was holding me back from everything I needed to become.”

Chancey fell silent, giving up. I didn’t care if his heart was broken. I’d have to do a lot more damage before this was all over. At least he was still breathing. I couldn’t say the same for so many others that we’d lost along the way. He needed to be grateful for what I was giving him, and happy that he was still alive.

More footsteps entered— dozens of them. I was annoyed. Couldn’t they leave me alone until this was over with? It really wouldn’t take long.

I sensed that one of them was my guard. “Eddie, status report.”

“Your plans are going well, your highness,” Eddie rattled off in a disconnected, far-off tone. “Ilamanthe will be conquered before evening falls.”

“Good. Stay close.”

Cameron didn’t have authority as Emperor until his coronation, so he couldn’t order any of my soldiers to stand down magically. Even so, I didn’t trust Eddie not to turn on me, so I made sure my orders were clear and he remained in a place where I could make sure he wouldn’t go running off.

“Everyone’s here,” Eddie announced. “Kallie, Marcus, Ivy, Danny, Alistair, Ez, Opal… all your friends.”

“Quite a liberal use of the word,” Danny grumbled under his breath. “We've seen what you're trying to do, and this has gone too far. I knew you were up to something. I just couldn't put my finger on it. This plan has been brewing within you all along. You didn't even know what you were planning, yourself, but we should've stopped you long ago."

“You couldn’t stop me, not even if you tried.” I was tired of these insolent little games. Did he really think he could stand up to me?

“That’s why you had the inferichite net made, wasn’t it?” Danny asked, spite dripping from his words. “You didn’t want to use it against the Warden’s demigods. You kept it for us, just in case one of your friends got out of line and you had to get them under your control.”

I shrugged. “I can trust my friends now, but that doesn’t mean I can trust all of you forever. I needed a backup plan, if one of you decided to rise up against me.”

Horrified gasps rose around me, but I didn’t care. They weren’t Elvish royals. They didn’t understand that contingency plans had to be put in place.

I heard Kallie give a hateful huff. “Yeah. Some friend you are.”

“Your perspective isn’t important right now,” I told her. “You tried to take your own crown and couldn’t do it. I can’t help it if you’re jealous of me for succeeding where you failed.”

Multiple people in the room emitted shocked exclamations, but I ignored them all. Kallie gave a comical laugh. “That crown wasn’t worth it. And you’re going to find out pretty fucking quick yours isn’t, either.”

“Where’s Ava?” Marcus asked, and he didn’t sound like he was fucking around. Whatever. He could be mad at me, too. I didn’t care.

“Where she needs to be.” They didn’t need to be concerned about what I did with my wife. She wasn’t theirs to keep.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ez shouted, storming my way. “Where did you put my sister?!”

“She’s in my quarters, which is where she’ll be confined until this is over with. Once I have control of the city, she can roam throughout the palace as she wishes, but she can’t leave these walls. Not for the rest of her life,” I stated bluntly.

I turned from them as I mumbled, “She’s too valuable.”

“You locked my sister in a fucking tower?” Ez screamed. “How fucking dare you. You know that’s the biggest nightmare she could ever face. I should kill you where you stand.”

“Stop trying to threaten me, Ez. It’s embarrassingly pathetic,” I told him, swatting his words off as if he was a fly buzzing in my ear. He might as well be.

“She’s not yours to control!” Ez cried out.

“I care for her far more than any of you do. She’s a danger to herself and others. This is the best option for her,” I replied. “She’s in that tower, and that’s where she’ll stay.”

From behind me, I heard Kallie quietly whisper, “No, she’s not.”

I went still. I rigidly turned as I whispered, “What did you say?”

“I set her free.” Kallie’s words were triumphant, goading me. “She and Oberi are off to do what they promised they would.”

I gave a scream of rage. I started toward Kallie, my arms outstretched, but Marcus planted himself in my way and shoved me backward.

“You hurt her, I will put you down, right here, right now.” Marcus’ voice was dark, daring me to take one step closer.

I was powerful, and I could take both of them down in an instant if they did anything to prevent my plans from falling into place. But I didn’t want to hurt them. Not unless I had to.

“Kallie, why did you do that?” I asked desperately. “If Ava interferes, she’ll stop this rebellion! All of this will have been for nothing!”

“She’s not going to stop the rebellion. She’s going to stop it all,” Kallie stated bluntly.

Her words felt like dunking me in a sea of ice-cold water. A shiver ran down my spine and over my body, gluing me to the floor. I couldn’t move, think, or feel. Since the rebellion had started, I’d been living in a dream, floating throughout space and unable to come down, but Kallie’s words forcefully woke me up.

Hurriedly, I checked the connection between me and Ava. I found with terror that she’d shut me out. I tried to pry my way through, but her mind was a steel fortress, and she wasn’t letting me in. Oberi wasn’t responding, either, and his replies to my prodding questions were just as silent. I screamed through our bond for them to hear me, but neither of them listened. I couldn’t even tell what Ava was thinking right now, let alone what she was doing or where she was.

Dear ancestors. Did that mean she’d already started?

“What… what does that mean, Kallie?” Opal questioned. She was asking the question aloud, but she didn’t really need to, because I think we all knew.

“She’s going to use her demigod powers to harness the Earth’s soul, and break the connection between the spirit world and ours. When that happens, the entire universe will collapse, and everything will cease to exist. Our souls, our gods, our afterlife and nature itself will be destroyed, and there’s not a damn thing Charlie will be able to do about it,” Kallie said victoriously.

Several people in the room began to scream. Shouts of panic and despair went up all around, overpowering the sounds of battle outside.

“Why would Ava do that?” Ivy asked, sounding horrified.

“Ava’s smart enough to know all of this is meaningless. Our pain is for nothing,” Kallie insisted. “Why allow life to continue if it’s just going to lead to agony?”

“Kallie, why would you support this? Why not stop her?” Marcus asked. He didn’t sound judgmental, angry, or upset— merely shocked.

“Because the world is fucked up, Marcus. I love you so godsdamn much. More than anything in existence, that ever was or will be,” Kallie pleaded. “But how can you ask me to keep living after what I’ve been through? How can you ask all the people of the world who’ve suffered so badly to keep suffering, when we can just end it all, and spare living beings the pain? Isn’t this the more merciful way?”

“I know better than anyone what it’s like to wish you could disappear,” Marcus replied gently. “But this is an extreme answer to a problem that’s been around for centuries, and it’s not like we can take it back.”

“This is the choice Ava’s prophecy was talking about, and she’s made it,” Kallie said flatly. “None of us can do anything about it now.”

“Fuck that. I ain’t dying because Ava is going through some existential bullcrap,” Ivy spat. “She don’t get to make that choice for me. I get to put meaning on what I’ve been through, and decide if it’s worth it or not. She wants to cry and carry on about the meaning of life, fine, but that's not my problem. Sorry she’s having an inner crisis of faith, but I ain’t going down for that. I’m not gonna let her take herself out, and the rest of us with her.”

“Ives, that’s not what this is about,” Chancey argued.

“I don’t give a shit. Me looking out for myself is what’s kept me alive this far,” Ivy shot back. “I adore Ava, but I won’t take the fall for this one. I don’t wanna live under a dictator on either side, but living is still living.”

“No it’s not,” Chancey insisted. “I grew up in the Celestial Church, and I’ve seen what happens when only one guy has all the power. I don’t want to live in a world like that, even if that guy is my best friend.”

“You know what? I’m with Charlie. Why not use our powers to take over the world?” Alistair suggested.

“Alistair, how could you?” Eddie asked, sincerely sounding crushed. “Magic is to be used for good, not evil.”

Alistair sneered, “Screw that. We’ll all be in power if Charlie runs the world. I’m tired of getting kicked around all my life. It’s time to rub everyone’s face in the dirt like they did me. They showed me no mercy, so I won’t give them any.”

“You’re delusional if you think Charlie’s going to share anything,” Kallie spat. “He wants it all for himself.”

“That’s not fair, Kallie.” I couldn’t believe she saw me in such a way. Even if I was on top, I couldn’t do it all.

“Fuck you, Charlie. I know you,” Kallie replied. “Any power you’d give up would be a farce, because you’d want your hands in everything.”

“He can’t run the entire world by himself, that’s not possible. He’ll have to delegate power, and it’ll be to us,” Alistair argued. “We could have all the power. If we control everything, we can get back at all those fuckheads who hurt us, every last one. In my opinion, it’s a pretty damn good gig to be friends with the king of the world. Nobody would mess with us, and we’d get to make all the rules. You guys wanna pass that opportunity up, be my guest, but I’m not losing my shot at greatness.”

“Your shot at power, you mean,” Eddie replied. He sounded truly disappointed in his partner.

“Bullshit. This is the end of the line. It’s Ava versus Charlie, and if you’re not with us, you’re against us. Who’s side are you on?” Alistair demanded.

Ava versus Charlie. What kind of hellish world were we living in now?

“I’m not on Charlie’s side. Far from it. But we can’t let Ava do this, either. They’re both in the wrong,” Marcus stated.

“If you try to stop Ava then you are on his side, and you want him to take over,” Kallie accused. “You can’t have it both ways because only one person gets to win here.”

“We can come up with another solution,” Marcus demanded. “Everyone needs to take a breath so we can talk it out. Charlie needs to stop what he’s doing, and so does Ava.”

“Neither of them are going to,” Kallie said. “So what’s it going to be?”

“Marcus is right. We need to find Ava, then bring her back here so we can talk about this as a group,” Danny argued.

“You aren’t touching her. If we bring her back here, that monster will just lock her up again,” Kallie raged. I knew she was pointing at me.

“I agree. Ava should be able to do whatever she decides,” Opal said. “The prophecy says this is her choice to make, and we shouldn’t interfere.”

“Opal, you can’t agree with this,” Ez said, and the rest of them fell silent. Opal had a straight head on her shoulders and was more level-headed than the rest of us. She’d have a rational opinion, so everyone wanted to hear what she would say.

But it turned out her opinion was far from rational. Opal was quiet for a moment, before she said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever heal from what my father did to me. We all saw the terrible things that happened at the camps. Isn’t it our duty to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again?”

Ez stumbled back a few steps. “But what about Marina? Don’t you want her to grow up, and live a full life?”

“I am thinking about my daughter, because I want her to stay innocent and safe,” Opal replied. “This world isn’t either of those things, and I can’t always be around to protect her. It’s not a question of if she’ll get hurt, but when, and how badly. It’s morbid, and sick, but what if this is the only way to protect my child?”

“You don’t believe that, Opal,” Ez swore. “You’re sad and in pain, but I know you want Marina to live a long life. Taking that life away from her isn’t solving anything. You’re just becoming the person that’s hurting her.”

“Ez, I don’t want her to go through anything like what I did,” Opal whispered.

“I know your father hurt you, and there are pieces of you that are broken beyond repair because of it. But I’m glad that you’re still here, and what we have together is worth fighting for,” Ez promised.

More pleas and bargains went up around the room, from the various couples talking it out or arguing their own points. I drowned in them all, unable to take each voice in. Half of our friends were so emotionally bereft from what they’d seen in the camps, they didn’t care if it all ended. The other half were so pissed off and full of rage they wanted to survive, so they could make the ones who did this pay.

Ava was right about one thing, at least. This world was a cycle of suffering. But did that really mean she had to end it?

“Enough,” I said loudly, and the commotion ceased. “I don’t care what the prophecy says, this is too big of a decision for one person to make on their own.”

“But it’s not, because some of us are agreeing with her.” Eddie spoke up, and I was shocked that he had the courage to stand up to me. “This isn’t just Ava’s choice. Many of us throughout the world would take the same option, if the choice was in our hands.”

“Eddie, you don’t get a choice,” I said forcefully. “You’re my guard, so I order you to follow me. Now, go fetch the inferichite net. Then come with me, and help me search the city so we can bring Ava in.”

Eddie hesitated. “You once told me I could disobey a command if I did not agree with it, and that itself was an order in which I’m inclined to obey. I do not agree with you or your plans, that you desire to usurp your father and take the world for yourself. Turning the world into a dictatorship is not what I spent my entire life training to do. No, sire. I will not follow you. My allegiance is to the princess, and if this is what she desires, then I will serve her only.”

“I order you to follow me!” I raged. “I command you to bring the inferichite net to me, so we can use it on Ava and stop her from doing this!”

“I have hidden that sick object in a place where you will never find it, and even if you try, Ava will succeed before you are even close,” Eddie spat. “I reject your command. I will not follow your orders. You will not touch our princess, and you will not stop her.”

“I love you, Eddie, but you’re a fool,” Alistair said darkly. “You’ll come to your senses once we put Ava down.”

“If you desire to stop the princess, you’ll have to get through me first,” Eddie vowed. “I am no weak challenger to defeat.”

Footsteps echoed throughout the room. People were taking sides within the throne room, preparing to battle.

If they wanted to fight, so be it. Let the strongest survive, because only those who were willing to fight for what my idea of the world should be deserved to be in it. My heartbeat stuttered and picked up the pace inside my chest as I realized couples were starting to face off.

Ivy gave a disgusted scoff. “This is dumb. I’m not here for the latest episode of college kids have a mental breakdown, and it leads to the end of existence. Sorry, but there’s therapy for all that. You guys wanna let your trauma kill you, fine, but mine isn’t gonna kill me, and I won’t let Ava’s trauma put me in the ground, neither. I ain’t stupid enough for that.”

“I don’t wanna fight you, Ives,” Chancey warned, and I heard the rustling of feathers that came from the one wing he still had.

“Then don’t,” Ivy replied coldly. “But if you get in my way, you’re gonna have to.”

“You guys are jumping to conclusions,” Danny yelled. “Everyone needs to slow down and think!”

Danny was the only one who was keeping a cool head. But nobody was listening.

“Pretty girl, please. We just got together. We have our whole lives ahead of us,” Marcus hushed. “Don’t you want to experience more of that? We had so little time. You didn’t come back to me in that alleyway just to give up now.”

“The time we spent together mattered more than you know. But this is bigger than both of us. I have to believe that even if the universe is wiped out, we’ll find our way back to each other somehow,” Kallie promised.

“You can’t beat me, Kallie.” Marcus’ tone was gentle and loving, pleading with her not to do this. I heard him summon a battle orb that he cautiously cradled in his hand. “Witch magic can overpower fae abilities.”

“I don’t have to beat you, Marcus.” Kallie truly sounded defeated— a woman ready to take her last breath and be done with it. “I just have to buy Ava enough time.”

Kallie struck before any more words could be spoken. She cast an illusion spell that went ricocheting by my head, and the entire room broke into chaos. Marcus tossed his battle orb and it exploded near the door, making smoke rise throughout the room. Eddie and Alistair called out gasps of pain as they hurt each other, but neither were backing down. A window broke nearby as Chancey tackled Ivy into a wall. Ivy hissed, and Chancey screamed as I smelled the unmistakable tang of blood spread throughout the room from their fangs.

“Opal, come on!” Ez yelled, and her body slammed into mine as Ez yanked her to the exit.

“Cut it out!” Danny cried over the noise. “This isn’t helping anyone!”

I stood in the middle of it all, observing the destruction around me. Marcus, Ivy, and Alistair had chosen to fight for me, while Kallie, Chancey, and Eddie had taken Ava’s side. Danny was trying to break it all up. Opal and Ez had decided to stay out of it and flee.

This was what villains did— we fought for power and betrayed the people we loved. This couldn’t have ended up any other way.

That’s when the entire castle quaked. A few stones slipped out of the walls and shattered on the floor. I failed to keep my balance and toppled over as the floor beneath me rocked, and the ground gave a shudder that was unmistakable. My Earth magic caught on to it right away.

It’d been an earthquake, a massive one, and it wasn’t by chance. I knew Ava had started her spell to end all things. I scrambled to get to my feet and rushed to the balcony, tripping as the palace wavered again. My friends were so busy battling they didn’t even notice that the earthquake had rocked the palace. They continued to toss spells at their lovers, and a couple of them grazed me, cutting open my clothes and causing blood to seep from small wounds.

I jumped off the balcony and used my Air magic to take to the sky. The area below me echoed with explosions— probably magic cast by my friends, who were running throughout the palace inevitably trying to kill their significant others. I flew overhead, using my Earth magic to sense where the epicenter of the earthquake was. I knew Ava would be there.

I sensed she was on the beach, along with Oberi. I flew in that direction, following our bond as it led me out of the city. Ava was at the same spot where my grandfather had shown me his memories of his wedding. I landed, and my feet hit soft sand. Ava’s spell sent pulsing energetic waves outward, and I shuddered every time they hit my skin.

“Ava!” I cried, but she didn’t respond. I hurried to approach her, but Oberi got in my way, giving a deep growl and stomping his paws in the sand.

“Oberi, move,” I commanded. I went to step around him, but he snapped his jaws at me to stay back.

Stay out of this, Charlie. This is not your decision, Oberi warned.

I shouted over him, speaking directly to Ava. “Pidge, you need to stop! Let’s talk about this!”

Ava didn’t pull back her spell. Instead, the energetic waves became more intense, almost knocking me off my feet as she yelled, “You didn’t want to talk earlier!”

“That was a mistake!”

“A mistake? Ha. It’s a mistake now, because I’m not doing what I’m told, and because I’m a threat to you. That’s the only reason you’re out here.”

One of the energetic pulses blew me backward, and I was knocked down. I struggled to get onto my feet as I said, “I acted irrationally. But we can still fix this.”

“Hell yeah, you did. Oberi, take care of him.”

Oberi’s snarls got deeper. Leave now, before I make you.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I growled, and I went to go around him. Oberi bit my hand, digging his teeth in and drawing blood.

I cried out in pain and punched him across the face to get him off. Oberi went sprawling backward, and his growls became deadlier as he morphed, our connection changing as his fur became scales and he shifted into his wyvern form.

Fine. Two could play that game. I yanked on our connection, and Oberi was unable to stop me as I siphoned power out of him in order to become a wyvern myself. I pulled at his magic, and my body shifted until I matched Oberi’s strength and size, facing him as my tail twisted behind me. I lifted my leathery wings and roared, declaring a challenge.

Oberi, let me get to her. I don’t want to hurt you. This was my last chance to convince him, but if I had to do this the hard way, so be it.

You already have, Charlie. It will be my last act of free will, to prevent you from coming near her ever again, Oberi seethed, letting out a monstrous roar to respond to my own.

He charged first. Oberi slammed into my front and tossed me backward. The tackle would’ve been enough to collapse a building, and it made my chest bruise. I opened my mouth and spat venom at him. Several streams of venom collided with his side, sizzling against his scales and making the air smell like burning flesh. Oberi snarled in pain, responding with venom of his own that I dodged.

I would’ve hesitated at Oberi’s pain any other time, but now I was the one doing the damage. It was unfathomable, doing this to your own Familiar. I usually did everything I could to protect and care for him. I wanted to stop, even as I was hurting him, but I couldn’t. There was too much at stake. Ava ignored us both, focusing her attention on the spell that was draining the world as we did our best to overpower one another.

Oberi rose on his hind legs to strike at me, and I copied him, swiping out with my talons. One of his wings smacked me on the side of the head, and I responded, using my wings like I did my fists to punch him in the sides. A spike on my wing caught his shoulder and tore as I was smacking him around, and more blood poured onto the beach.

Oberi screeched at the injury and swung at me with his tail. I ducked and smashed my shoulder into him, trying to knock him off his feet.

I wasn’t fast enough, and the venomous pincher on his tail dug into my hip. I screeched as a sensation like fire rushed through my veins and made the entire area go numb. Oberi’s venom temporarily paralyzed the limb, making it so I had to drag my right leg behind me in order to move.

Now that he’d slowed me up, Oberi took advantage. He stampeded forward, and my tail wasn’t enough to stop his charge. He knocked my tail aside and reached out with his mouth, the acidic smell of his venom filling my nose.

Oberi bit down on my neck as hard as he could. His fangs sank in, scraping against bone. I let out an animalistic scream and clawed my talons at his legs to let me go, but he held on tight. Hot blood seeped from the wound and poured down my scales. I attempted to wiggle free, but he clambered on top of me and held me down with his weight.

Get off! I lifted my tail and stuck the barb into the side of his head. He groaned and let me go, backing off. He’d gotten away before I’d been able to deposit my venom, but the blow still hurt. My blood spilled against the sand from my torn neck, and Oberi hissed like an angry snake. We circled each other, both waiting for the other to resume the fight.

I can’t believe you chose Ava over me! I roared in frustration. I couldn’t help it; I nearly hated him right now.

You left me with no choice. You’ve become a mad prince, deranged with the idea of what could be, and I could not stand to let you harm her in such a way, Oberi replied— as if he didn’t care about me. It truly sounded like he didn’t.

That has nothing to do with it. You’ve always secretly favored Ava over me, I spat resentfully. You love her more.

Perhaps she is my favorite, Oberi— finally— admitted. I cherish you, Charlie, I really do, but look around at our circumstances! You have forced me to choose, and if it comes down to protecting her or you, it will always be her. I apologize if that wounds you, but that is the way it has been and must be.

You shouldn’t be siding with her at all! Look what she’s doing to the world! I declared.

Charlie, I tried to talk to you about this. When we left the naderei’s home months ago, I told you we needed to come up with a plan, just in case Ava got out of hand and we needed to subdue her. I begged you to see reason and play it safe, but you insisted that you had it handled and Ava would never consider doing such a thing. Yet here we are! Oberi spread his wings wide, and the gust from them buffeted me back.

I never wanted things to end this way, I pleaded.

But they did. I am tired of you ignoring my warnings. I will not be your weapon, to be used to conquer the world as you please. I belong to Ava now, more so than I ever belonged to you. And it is she who will be this universe’s judgment and reckoning.

Oberi attacked again, but I was waiting for him. As he attempted to strike, I dodged out of the way and latched my jaws onto one of his wings. I shredded it to bits with my teeth, breaking the bone. Oberi gave an immense cry of pain that broke my heart to hear, but I forced myself to keep going as I dug my claws into his back and tossed him into the ocean. He went sailing away at my strength, probably half a mile or more, before he crashed into the sea.

I couldn’t hold onto my wyvern form, and I staggered back into my own body. Feeling was starting to come back into my leg now, and I could use it again. I limped forward, toward the sound of my wife’s voice.

“Oberi, come to me,” she ordered.

The waves rushed within the sea, and I knew Ava was using her Water abilities to bring Oberi back to shore. My bond flared as she healed him of the injuries I’d dealt, and I felt Oberi shift, her form becoming smaller as she changed into a unicorn.

I clapped my hand over my bleeding neck where Oberi had bitten me and stumbled toward my wife. Ava’s spell temporarily paused, and the ground ceased to thunder as Ava pulled herself onto Oberi’s back.

“Ava, why are you doing this?” I called as I approached. “You’re taking things too far.”

“I’m doing what was prophesied at the time of my birth,” Ava proclaimed. “This is my destiny, and I have to follow it.”

“Your destiny?” I demanded. “It’s not your destiny to cast billions of souls to their doom!”

Ava emitted a disturbed laugh. “You don’t get it. I want to end suffering so badly that I’m willing to end the universe and start everything over to do it, because no one should ever suffer while they exist on this planet.”

“Life matters in spite of and because of suffering, pidge. It doesn’t take away its meaning,” I insisted.

“I don’t believe that,” Ava said through clenched teeth. “You and Cassiel might’ve shared that belief, but it’s not one I follow. You want to become the one who causes all this pain. Don't you see how much suffering you will create, despite your good intentions to save the world? I've seen it, Charlie, and at the end of it all, you'll be the one to suffer the greatest. Let me save you from that. Let me save us all. I don't believe there’s any meaning to suffering, so why not let me do as I will? The whole universal energy exchange system is messed up. We can’t avoid suffering no matter what. For some to live, others have to die. It’s a flawed system, one that I have to correct.”

“That’s not your responsibility. That’s too much weight for anyone to have on their shoulders. We can’t save everyone. All we can do is live as ethically as possible,” I stated, trying to make her understand.

“You claim your way is ethical?! You think you're doing the right thing, but I've foreseen what you will become. You will kill and enslave all these people to try to force them into a better life, but you will never succeed, because I will stop you. I saw you in my vision as a mad king, and it’s already starting. The old ruler I saw wasn’t the Warden; it was you, Charlie. That is a future I will never allow to pass.”

“You don't know that will happen. Your vision was merely a warning of the future, and we can choose to correct it, but we have to do it together!”

Ava chuckled. “So now you want us to have an equal relationship. Let me tell you something, it says a whole hell of a lot about our marriage when you think you can pull something like this and get away with it. I’m not yours to control.”

“So you destroy it all?” I asked. “We can only do the best we can to prevent others from experiencing pain, but we can’t change how the world works!”

“That’s not good enough! I’m giving the universe a chance to start over, to recreate itself to be more fair, and develop a better system,” Ava said wildly, clearly believing every word she told herself.

“You don’t know if that’s going to happen! You’re taking a shot in the dark, and chances are you’ll be sending everything into nothing more than oblivion!” I shouted.

She was talking nonsense— why didn’t she see how psychotic all this was?

“I’m willing to take that shot in the dark,” Ava replied. “As long as it gets me what I want. Why is oblivion so bad? No one is going to know they don’t exist, so it’s not going to hurt anyone.”

“Yes it is. You’re trying to protect people, but you attempting to heal this world is only making it worse. We still have a chance to make things better, but you have to work with me.”

“Don’t compare me to you,” Ava said harshly. “I’m doing this for everyone else, unlike you, who is only doing it for himself.”

“Pidge, don’t punish the entire universe because I hurt you.” If she needed me to get on my knees and beg, I’d do it. “Come with me to Ilamanthe. We can still rule together. Nothing is worth you doing this.”

“Too late. I know you’re capable of making this choice now, so there’s no going back,” Ava swore. “I never thought you were capable of locking me away, but you did. That proves to me that anyone can be corrupted by hatred and fear, no matter how good of intentions they have. And I’ll damn this world to hell before I let you or the Warden take control of it.”

“Please forgive me. We can come up with another way. We’ll be great, you’ll see. We just need to come up with a way where we both can win.”

Ava shuddered as she said, “My prophecy says it's my choice alone to save the world or destroy it, and I’ve decided. So don't try to stop me, because I won't allow another man to make a choice that should’ve been mine. Not even if it’s you.”

Oberi gave a horse-like cry that sounded like a scream. She reared on her hind legs to throw sand in my face. She galloped in a circle around me, and I felt Ava’s power growing, ready to use it against me.

Enemies to lovers back to enemies. Why did I think our tragic love story would turn out any different? I wasn’t going to take her life, but if I had to hurt her in order to stop this, I would. I steadied myself, preparing to fight again.

The whoosh of roaring flames incinerated the area, though instead of being hot, it was cool. My Air magic noticed a swirling vortex coming straight toward me, one that extended toward the sky and met up with the clouds. Ava had created a tornado made of blue Fire and sent it spinning my way!

I immediately took to the skies to dodge it. I flew around the tornado, sweeping in a circle to avoid the cyclone’s path. I struggled to resist it, forcing the wind currents to obey me as Ava’s blue Fire reached out for my limbs. Her flames singed my clothes and made frostbite pop up along my skin, and I gasped in pain. The cyclone’s power nearly ripped me into the sky, until I stopped running and turned to face it. I shot out a gust of Air that was so powerful it knocked the twister sideways, taking the energy out of it. The tornado disintegrated, though traces of Ava’s blue Fire still burned in the air and all around me.

Ava was galloping below me on Oberi, but now that the cyclone was gone, she was temporarily exposed. I conjured illusion magic using my Elven abilities and followed my bond to take aim. Shackles sprung out of the sand and locked onto her wrists and ankles, yanking her off of Oberi and pinning her to the sand. I landed, holding the illusion spell in place so the shackles remained tight.

Oberi let out a screech, but Ava merely laughed. “Nice handcuffs, Charlie. Though they’re not my favorite pair you’ve ever put on me. Too bad you’ll never get to tie me up again, but you get credit for trying.”

There was yet another combustion of flame, and my illusion magic began peeling away. I attempted to resist, forcing the shackles to hold, but my magic faded at Ava’s touch. I realized she was using her blue Fire to melt the illusion shackles away, and they couldn’t hold up to her vast power.

I took deep breaths, trying to recover my strength. She’d destroyed my illusion spell like it was nothing. A spell like that was powerful enough to hold a demigod, but Ava hadn’t even flinched.

“My turn,” Ava sang.

The beach was quiet, but only for a moment, for the sound of roaring water approached me from the right. My throat tightened, and fear overwhelmed my senses as I comprehended that there was a massive tidal wave rushing straight toward me, conjured from Ava’s powers of the ocean.

I ran further up the beach, casting my hand behind me as I fell to the sand once again. I scrambled backwards to get away as I created a mountain out of the area around me. It took a tremendous amount of effort, but I forced my demigod abilities to rush to the surface to fight for me as I raised a wall of earth that was over a thousand feet tall.

It wasn’t a second too late, because just as I’d stopped building the earth wall, the tsunami struck. The mountain of sand quivered and moaned, and sand went flying everywhere at the destructive power of the sea surge. The edges of the massive wave spilled over the top of the earth wall, but I’d managed to spare myself from the worst of the damage. My Earth magic cried out in pain as the cracks in the ground widened and grew larger from my creation of the mountain and the fall of Ava’s tidal wave. We were completely ruining this beach.

“Are you ready to give up yet?” Ava asked. Oberi snorted, and her hoof stomped into the sand.

I clambered shakily onto my feet and rasped, “Not until you quit.”

“Never.”

She’d barely gotten the word out before she cast another spell. I reached out for her, but my hands were blocked by some sort of invisible force. Ava had cast a shield, one that circled around me and left no exit. I pushed against the glass-like dome, and as I did, it pushed back.

My knees began to bend, and I realized that the circular jail she’d put me in was getting smaller. If she kept this up, I was going to be crushed. I punched the walls of the shield, trying to get it to break, but it held up like bulletproof glass.

“Ava!” I cried, but she didn’t respond. The walls of the shield only got narrower, closing me in.

This wasn’t working. Ava was trying to kill me, but I was trying to apprehend her without seriously harming her. It made for a lopsided fight. I needed to do something drastic even if it caused her damage, because if I didn’t, she was going to take my life.

I called on my Elf abilities again and focused them on Ava. I wasted no time siphoning her magic out of her before she could force the Spirit shield to crush me. It worked, and she lost control of the spell. When her shield broke, shards of it fragmented off, cutting my lip and eyebrow. My blood splattered everywhere.

I had some of Ava’s Spirit magic now, though it wasn’t enough to heal everything. I fixed up the worst of my injuries, including my bleeding neck, before I rose to face her again.

I hoped that would be the end of the fight, but it wasn’t. Though I’d siphoned her power, Ava quickly regenerated, and through our bond I felt her magic instantly return to her.

I started to lose hope. I couldn’t take her magic, not for any longer than a few seconds. I wasn’t strong enough to stop her, only delay her abilities. Any power I stole, she’d take right back.

“You want to know something, Charlie?” Ava asked ruthlessly, while I was still spitting blood out of my mouth. “My gut told me you were going to do something like this. You were always headed toward villainy, always playing the bad guy with your guns and torture. It was like a game to you, because you wanted to make granddaddy proud and fit in with his mob, even though you didn’t. You wanted to play the part, and you’re still acting now. I hated those damn pistols. I’m so pissed that I let you pressure me into using guns. I think that’s one thing I can’t forgive myself for.”

“What?” I asked viciously, wiping the stinging blood out of my eyes. “You said you were comfortable with it!”

“I wasn’t,” Ava spat. “I’d do anything that you asked me to, and you knew that.”

My anger exploded. “I was asking you to tell me the truth, and you didn’t. Don’t put this on me! I trusted you to know where you were at.”

“You shouldn’t have done that, because I didn’t even know! I’ve never been able to do that because of my bipolar. You’ve always been the one who makes sense of the world for me. You should’ve known better, and you ignored the signs in order to suit your own agenda!”

“I can’t be your moral compass all the time, because there’s things I don’t know!” I raged. “I’m in your head some of the time, but it doesn’t give me perfect insight on what’s going on with you, so you need to communicate with me!”

“I can’t communicate with you because you’re a pathological liar!” Ava screamed at the top of her lungs.

Fury boiled inside me, giving strength back into my aching limbs. “Now you’re just throwing insults at me because you don’t know any other way to win.”

“No, it’s the truth! Too bad if it hurts! Charlie, you lie all the fucking time, without even realizing you’re doing it! You lie to yourself, constantly, and delude yourself into telling your ego whatever story you want to hear, and that’s why we’re in this position now!”

I wasn’t going to take this lying down. “You want to talk about me like I’m the bad guy? You’re brutally honest. You wound people, because you don’t know how to be tactful with the truth.”

“Bullshit. You’ve never had an honest thought in your life. Yeah, I’ve been harsh with the truth, and I’ve lied a lot, too, but I never lied about how much I love you.”

I gaped, hardly able to believe that messed up shit had come out of her mouth. “You doubt that I love you? Are you fucking insane?”

“Yeah, I am, and I’m fucking owning it. Because you chose to do this, I’m doubting everything you ever said to me, because I don’t think someone could love me and want to keep me in a cage.” Ava’s voice cracked like thunder as she sobbed bitter tears of heartbreak, and out of all of this, it was the thing I regretted most of all. “Maybe you loved me, and maybe you didn’t. Maybe I am the person you adored, or maybe I was just a convenient weapon for you to call upon whenever you needed me. It doesn’t matter now. I’m ending it all.”

“Ava, I’m sorry that I locked you away,” I wept. “I never should’ve done that. It was wrong. I did it because I loved you so much, I wanted to keep you all to myself. I knew that went against everything you wanted, but I thought I was doing the right thing to keep you safe!”

“I get to decide what’s right for my life! Me!” Ava screamed. “I gave you too much power, and I never should’ve let that happen. I purposefully looked the other way and lived in denial when I knew something was wrong. I loved you so much it blinded me to what I didn’t wish to see. You’re a monster, Charlie.”

I gave an unstable snicker as I hissed, “You’re a monster, too.”

“Damn right I am. We’re in agreement that we’ll do whatever it takes to put each other down, so let’s just kill each other and be done with it. At least we’ll die together, because even now, I don’t want to go down without you.”

A crackle overhead made my Air magic tingle with electricity. Ava summoned lightning, and it was hot and out of control as it raced across the sky. Thunder rolled so loudly above it made my eardrums ache.

If I didn’t get her under control, and soon, the universe was going to fall apart at any moment. She could sustain the spell to drain Earth’s soul while she was fighting me, and I was running out of time.

I had to get twisted, and get into her head in order to slow her up. I brought my illusion magic rushing forth once again, and I caused it to conjure into something new. I pulled from our Familiar, taking the smallest piece of Oberi and fashioning it into an illusion, something living and breathing. I took from the part of Oberi that loved Ava more than she loved me, because it wasn’t fair, and I had to make things even somehow. Oberi snorted in disbelief, and Ava showed the tiniest bit of weakness as she gave the smallest noise of torment.

My illusion magic created a duplicate version of Oberi, right down to the tail and horn. I created her so she was solid, living and breathing just like the real Oberi.

I think Ava was in disbelief, because she didn’t do anything, not at first. The Oberi duplicate shot fireballs out of her horn at Ava. The real Oberi dodged, keeping Ava at a distance as the fake Oberi attacked.

If anything could hold her off, it was this. If Ava wanted to continue what she was doing, and get to me, she had to kill a piece of our Familiar. She didn’t have the stomach to do it.

"You think an image of Oberi can stop me?" Ava hissed.

"It's not just an image. It's the real thing. This Oberi is just as real as the one you're riding on,” I snapped. “It's a piece of her. A piece of us all. Oberi took your side, but there's still a part of her that’s connected to me. If you kill her, you kill a piece of Oberi."

Ava gave a heartless scoff. "I've already killed a part of my spirit today. I can do it again."

Ava let out a high-pitched scream, and a firebomb erupted in the middle of the beach where the fake Oberi had been standing. Ava’s wails echoed throughout the beach as the dying cries of the duplicate Oberi closed in around us. I felt the heat of the explosion coming the moment the firebomb went off, and I sheltered myself inside of an Earth shield that I enclosed around me as the flames rippled overhead.

When the detonation was over, I let my Earth shield drop and knelt to the ground with a shaking hand. My magic surveyed the scene. Ava had left a crater in the middle of the beach over twenty feet wide, and just as deep.

I was stunned. I couldn’t believe she’d killed off a piece of our Familiar… a piece of our joined soul— without hesitating. She wouldn’t have done that hours ago.

My fingers shook as I withdrew them from the sand. Ava truly was stronger than me. Any control or power she’d given to me in our relationship had certainly been a gift, and I’d squandered it. She was kicking my ass all over this beach without any problem. I couldn’t even get a hit in on her, and here she was, making me her bitch without breaking a sweat. Only days ago she’d promised to get me in handcuffs, and she’d certainly kept true to that promise, because my hands might as well be tied behind my back while I was fighting her. I was nothing more than a doll getting tossed around at her whim, a toy to entertain her rage.

“You know, Charlie, you’re really pissing me off today.” I hadn’t heard Ava use a tone full of hate toward me in such a long time, but loathing infected her voice now. “I think you like playing these twisted little games.”

I whispered quietly to myself, “I think you like them too, Ava.”

She’d heard me. Viciously, she responded, “Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter much to you, because you’d still make me play them.”

We’d done this for years, played mind games and gone back and forth, but Ava and I weren’t playing the same game anymore. I didn’t even think we were on the same chessboard.

I was stupid to think I could dominate her. I’d been so, so naive. Childish, cruel, heartless— there weren’t enough words to describe how ignorant I’d been, any way to encompass the severity of the horrible mistake I’d made.

And that mistake was going to cost me more than anything I’d ever gambled on before.

I started gasping as something inside my chest contracted. Fragments of pain projected outward from the inside, and my being withered as an unknown force tore me apart, shredding my essence like bits of paper. This felt similar to when the Warden had sucked the life force out of me, but worse. I wasn’t just dying. I was ceasing to exist.

I realized the awful truth, and felt that I might as well be perishing inside. Ava was using her Spirit magic to crush my soul. Whatever piece of me that was tied to Oberi was being torn apart, and it was all thanks to her.

“How does it feel, Charlie?” Ava asked. “How does it make you feel, knowing this is what you did to me?”

I’d never intended to make her feel this way, and if I had, I regretted any choice I had made that had led to it. Damn my plans, my kingdom, the world. I never wanted to do anything unless it was for her.

“Fine. If this is what you want, pidge, take me,” I rasped. “Take my life.”

The searing agony continued for a moment longer. Then Ava pulled her magic back, and I fell onto my side as I curled up in the fetal position, trembling as I did my best to breathe.

“I know I want to end the world,” Ava said quietly. “But I don’t know if I can end you.”

I laid there on the ground and didn’t blame her. I got it. She got it. She still loved me, and I still loved her. Didn’t matter what we did to each other. We just couldn’t escape it. We’d damn it all if it meant we could be together, but there was no coming back from this. There was no hope for our relationship now.

Not after what we had done.

Ava’s spell continued to grow, wracking the ground with tremors and causing the sky to fracture above. A cry of defeat echoed from somewhere down shore, and it sounded like it’d come from Kallie. Her sobs were only twenty feet or so away, muffled as she cried into someone’s front.

“It’s all right, pretty girl. I’ve got you,” Marcus said lovingly. I knew he had to be holding her.

Marcus had beaten her, but I didn’t know if it meant anything. Not at this stage of the game. Farther away, Ivy said, “Stay down, Chance. I don’t want to keep doing this.”

Chancey moaned, but gave no other response. I recognized Alistair, heaving in pain. Eddie must’ve hurt him badly, though I couldn’t tell what the injuries could be.

Our friends had followed us out here to the beach, fighting all the way. They’d finally caught up with us. They’d clearly planned to help either me or Ava, and now, they were going to jump in.

“Ava, we’re here to stop you,” Ivy screamed over the noise of the roaring tempest.

“You’ll never stop me! No one can!” Ava cried.

Ice rushed past my face, and I realized Ava had cast another spell. There were shouts of pain, ones that melded into panic.

“I can’t move!” Alistair shouted, and Ivy let out similar protests. She’d frozen Alistair and Ivy to the beach, and they couldn’t do anything to get away.

I staggered to my feet, but my head swam. Marcus took action. He ran past me, nearly knocking me over on his way to get to Ava. His arm was drawn back, the Death spell in his hand grazing my face.

“You’re giving me no choice!” Ava cried. There was the whoosh of a fireball and Marcus cried out, stumbling to the ground. I smelled burnt flesh, and Marcus wailed in pain as Ava’s flames rushed up and down his torso. It quickly fizzled out into smoke, but Marcus still curled on the ground in pain.

“No!” Kallie screamed, falling to his side. He breathed heavily, trying to get up, but his injuries wouldn’t let him.

This was my fault. I’d done this to my friends. I’d put them in this situation, and now, they were paying the price for it.

“Ava, draw back the spell!” I said again. I leaned into the wind, bracing myself against the roaring currents as I came closer.

“You’re too late!” Ava shouted toward the skies. “Any moment now, all of this will be gone!”

“Ava, please!” Kallie pleaded, but the earth shook again, and didn’t stop this time. The earthquake was so violent it rattled my bones, creating caverns in the ground. Skyscrapers within the city made creaking noises as the steel ruptured, falling into the pits and burning into the earth’s core. Ava’s maniacal laughter resonated over it all, the last sound the universe would ever hear.

“Charlie, do something!” Kallie shrieked. Now that she’d seen Marcus get hurt, she’d suddenly changed her mind, as she fully comprehended exactly what was happening. She now realized what was at stake and understood that she was willing to give up the world, but not give up Marcus. She wasn’t just telling me to take action— she was giving me permission to hurt her best friend in the only way I had left, because there was no other alternative.

An idea rose to the surface. Something that had been on my mind since the start of this fight, It was magic that, until now, I’d been unwilling to try. There was one thing I could do to stop this. It was the only spell I hadn’t tried, and it was now or never.

There was only one way an Elementai could lose access to their magic forever… if they lost their bond with their Familiar. And if I didn’t take Ava’s magic away, she’d destroy us all. There was no other choice.

A golden spiritual cord, gleaming like what I supposed was sunlight, hovered out of my chest and into the open air. It was two feet across and wound together with many strands, thousands of past lives woven into the threads. It was the strongest bond I’d ever come across. Probably the strongest bond there ever would be, in all of time.

The cord linked me to two beings, Oberi and Ava. Tears beaded at the corners of my eyes as I observed the spiritual strand tying us together. I needed to do this, but I didn’t even know if I could.

But she was forcing my hand.

“Ava, don’t make me do this,” I warned. I took hold of the bond, praying with all my might she’d stop what she was doing, so I didn’t have to go through with this.

Ava didn’t listen, just continued what she was doing. I swore that I heard the very Earth itself begin to crack in half as her power accelerated, breaking apart the spirit of the world.

“You’re not going to do anything.” Her voice was certain, confident. “You’d never hurt me that way.”

“Ava—” I begged one more time, but she didn’t listen. Ava increased the intensity of her magic, and my friends screamed in terror as they cried out that the sky above had gone pitch black, plunging the entire planet into a world without light.

There were only seconds left before the universe disappeared forever. So, I did what I had to do.

A heart-wrenching crack rang over the ocean, and the physical effect was like having my body sawed in half, straight down the middle. It felt as if my flesh was being ripped from my bones by the jaws of a resentful beast that had crawled into my chest and started tearing outward. The worst pain imaginable permeated down to my bones. The feeling of ice covered my body as I felt the warmth of Ava’s Fire leave me forever.

I couldn’t sense where Ava had gone, and I started to panic. She ceased to exist entirely to me, as if she’d been stolen away from all realms. I reached out with my magic to find her, but my power found nothing.

A pit deeper than hell opened inside of me, leaving nothing but an empty void. My spirit fractured and bled out, spraying love and emotions everywhere and suffocating me with the need to breathe. I became nothing but a hollow shell, the wound of my soul covering me in loneliness.

I realized I’d never been truly alone before. Even before we met, Ava had always been there, her presence tangled intricately with mine. I felt her beautiful existence from the moment I could breathe, and now she was just… gone. There was a part of me that was missing, and I didn’t understand how to fill the hole, because nothing and no one in this universe could mend a chasm this deep.

The moment I broke our bond, my purpose in this life and everything we dreamed of together faded. Ava toppled off of Oberi’s back from the blow, crying out as she hit the sand. Oberi yelped as he was forced out of his unicorn form and into the body of a husky. Oberi barked loudly in protest. I could feel him attempting to shift into a unicorn or a phoenix, but both attempts failed.

The earthquake came to an abrupt halt, and peace returned to the beach. The sun returned, for I could feel it shining on my face as the storm ebbed and the clouds parted.

I waited for something to happen, but magically, I didn’t feel any different.

My soul, though? It was ripped to fucking shreds.

Then, I felt it. The intimate waver of a bond, still so recognizable to me.

Charlie, Oberi broke. No.

I could still hear him. Which meant…

Ava groaned. I felt tears slip from my eyes as she came to.

I checked again. Maybe I hadn’t done anything irreversible. Maybe I’d just weakened it a bit.

What I wished for was whisked away by the wind as my spirit saw the golden cord once more, but this time, it was only connected to Oberi and me, leaving Ava out.

“What’s going on?” Ava asked, clearly delirious. She was so used to our bond being there, she didn’t recognize the obvious. She’d never needed to check before.

Nobody said anything. Everyone on the beach had witnessed what had happened, and like me, they were all in shock.

“Oberi,” Ava whispered. “What happened, girl?”

Ava, darling, Oberi breathed, but I knew I was the only one who heard.

A few moments passed, until Ava stuttered, “I… I can’t hear her. What’s she saying? Why can’t she talk to me?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I wasn’t able to respond. I was still a coward, because I couldn’t admit to her that I’d been her undoing.

More long seconds dragged on. Ava’s breathing quickened, and she began to panic as she cried, “Where’s my magic? What did you do to me?”

“I… I took your magic away.” I managed to speak this time, but my voice cracked. “I broke our bond.”

Ava took in a shuddering breath of agony that pained me to hear, worse than anything else I’d gone through in my entire life. I’d been taking a risk when I broke it. Oberi had said when we’d discussed this before that if the bond broke, who he would remain tied to would be a fifty-fifty chance. I knew if I broke the bond, there was a shot that I’d lose my abilities and my connection to Oberi, and Ava would keep all her power.

That wasn’t what happened. Oberi had remained bonded to me, and I kept my magic.

But I’d taken hers. Ava had lost her powers, her connection to her Familiar, and her bond to me, all in one stroke.

To stop her from doing the worst, I’d taken the source of her magic. I’d taken her soul. And I knew, without a doubt, it was the worst thing anyone had or could ever do to her.

A choice will be made by the twin of her soul, to save her and damn the realm, or curse her, and save us all. A fate worse than death is the chosen one’s destiny.

Maddie’s warning, and the final words of Ava’s prophecy, came back to me in the most sickening way. This had been my choice, and this was Ava’s fate.

“Bring it back, Charlie!” Ava demanded, and she began to weep. “Bring it back!”

My grandfather had made clear that once a bond was broken, it could never be repaired. What was separated was destined to remain apart.

I tried anyway. I attempted to reforge the connection between us, taking the golden cord that was hovering between Oberi and me and putting it back into her.

It wouldn’t take. The cord sprang back, refusing to join with her again. It didn’t even recognize her.

“I can’t fix it once it’s broken,” I grieved. “It’s… gone.”

Ava wailed, and unimaginable pain ached throughout my core and spread over my spirit, turning it to stone. This was true suffering unlike any other. To be separated from the one you loved, and to lose the connection that brought you so close, was torture unlike any other. My bond with my wife was permanently severed. She had lost her Familiar, and lost her magic. We’d lost each other.

As Ava wept, I wasn’t sure if any of this had been worth it. At our wedding dinner, she insisted we were taking the lives of blameless creatures for our own pleasure, and I’d done just that to her now. I’d taken away her innocent belief in our marriage and exchanged it for my own greed. I devoured her as my sacrificial lamb, and enjoyed every moment.

I regretted my decision to stop her, but it was too late now to go back and change it. I thought I had known suffering before— that living on the streets, growing up without a family, and losing the people I loved was the worst that could happen. But I was wrong. No suffering could compare to the feeling of losing oneself, because without Ava, I didn’t understand who I was anymore.

She was right to try and end this— to end it all. But she couldn’t anymore, because I had taken her magic with our bond, and I’d ruined her in the process. I wished we’d never met in the first place, because I never wanted this to happen to her.

Ava was always stronger than me, and that was clear now. Ava had tried to kill me, and she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t choose the world over me, but I chose the world over her, and it was a cruel thing to do. Ava loved me more than I loved her, because I had done this to her, and she would never do this to me. That’s what made her stronger than I could ever be.

To save the world, I’d taken upon myself unimaginable suffering, and it just wasn’t worth it in the end. I’d sacrificed myself, my love, and everything that meant something to us for the good of the world. That sacrifice ultimately meant nothing, because the world would continue to be a horrible place whether we gave ourselves up for it or not. The Warden would continue his rampage, evil people would continue to do terrible things, and there would be no heroes to survive to tell their tale… only villains who would always come out on top.

I tried to play the hero, because the hero always chose the world over the person he loved. I was wrong to do so, because the outcome I was promised turned out to be a lie. People said if you did the right thing and were a good person, that it would always turn out to be a happy ending.

It was a false and empty promise that I made the mistake of believing in. I’d swallowed the lie that doing the right thing was always the best way, and doing good was just. Now I realized doing good could be just as harmful as being evil, and we didn’t get to decide the outcome. People who tried to make a difference were beat down by all the effort they put in to make the world a better place, only to find that nothing ever changed. It only got worse. Eventually, the world beat them down so much that the only remaining option was to give up.

I was no hero. Nobody was. I’d tried to make myself into something I wasn’t, and that had demolished me completely— and I tore down everyone else in my path.

Ava was always destined to be the villain, and she’d stayed true to herself the entire time. She had chosen me constantly in every situation, but this time, I’d chosen others over her.

It didn’t matter. Despite everything I’d done to protect people, our enemies were still out there, and they would rampage across the realms to continue this cycle of suffering that I could do nothing about. After this, we didn’t have the heart to fight them anymore.

Now that we were apart, there was nothing left in it for me… for us.

Just silence.

END OF BOOK FIVE