7. CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

F or a second, Val and Aris stared up at the large, flaming boulder hovering above their heads. And then everything went mad.

" Shields!" Aris yelled, and all the units on the ground simultaneously raised their shields. " Squadron Four, positions!"

The Nodarian units surrounded the boulder, and together, blasted the projectile off into the distance—mostly aided by Saros. But it was too late. Another flaming rock hurtled into the building where they had taken refuge, smashing into the old stone.

Flames burst from the impact. Val could hear screaming, see their soldiers fleeing the burning rubble. More projectiles were raining down on them, smoke and ash thick in the air as the units scattered, losing formation to avoid the fireballs crashing to earth.

"Get back to your unit!" Aris ordered and shoved her as a flaming rock hit the ground where they had just been standing.

Val hurdled to earth, chunks of burning dirt and rock hailing down on her. The heat was unbearable as more and more blazing projectiles fell. The Nodarian unit attempted to stop as many as they could, but none of them were as powerful as Saros alone.

Val sprinted through the ranks, watching as fiery hunks of rock crushed whole sectors of their units. Gasping, she stumbled and hit the desert floor, crawling across the scorched ground, choking for air through the smoke and flame. She didn't know where her unit was, couldn't make sense of any of the frantic bodies running around her, scattering like ants in a rainstorm.

They had been unarmed, unprepared. Readying themselves for rest, sorting supplies . . .

Flaming tar pounded the red desert ground around her, her heart beating like a war drum as the Manielian trebuchets fired. With each beat, her vision pulsed, the air moving in a hazy, fiery dream, the overwhelming noise from the battle washing over her, the heat suffocating . . .

Like it hot, baby sister?

Suddenly, a body tackled her to the ground as she attempted to rise again, jolting her out of her panicked daydream.

"Captain, move!" It was Lucia. Scorched and already bloody, her beautiful face was flushed as she shoved a burnt shield into Val's hands.

"Where are your swords?" she cried. "You have to fight! They're coming. "

"What?" Val asked, dazed, her vision still blurry.

" The Blood Riders ," Lucia cried, dragging her under the cover of a crumbling stone wall from the fortress that was now flaming ruins. "The High King's elite unit is coming. Now!"

As if someone had lifted the veil of panic from her mind, Val looked up. A wave of heat shimmered over the horizon like glistening fog. Through the haze, Val could see nothing. Not the trebuchets, nor the soldiers. But Val knew she was right. They were here.

Val's whole body seized, frozen with terror.

" Captain!" Lucia's hands gripped her, jerking her violently around to face her. " Look at me!"

Val focused tremulous eyes on Lucia's sharp golden stare. She homed in on her lieutenant's freckles, the blood dripping from a fresh cut on the side of her angular nose. Something to ground her racing mind and out of control heart.

"I know you are panicking." Lucia had to practically shout over the sounds of fire and death around them. "I know who leads this unit, but we need our captain , Val. You are stronger than this. Braver than this. You are Captain Valeria Augusta! Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you're anything less!"

Lucia's words washed over her. Finally, Val felt her mind begin to clear. With surprisingly steady hands, she reached to her side and pulled out both of her swords. Flames shot up from the golden hilts, billowing out like twin infernos. Lucia smiled.

"There she is," she murmured.

"Where's Atria and Katia?" Val asked. Snapping back into her role, she suffocated her nerves as best she could. They were roaring to life, almost as if being fed by her anxiety.

I know who leads this unit .

The Blood Riders were the High King's own personal elite unit. They operated in stealth, the trebuchets being their favorite means of initiating attacks. They had been around for generations, each group more violent and terrifying than the last. But this particular unit was the worst of them all.

"They are gathering our unit," Lucia replied.

"Fall in," Val commanded, and they rose from their cover and sprinted into the fray.

Val's unit was hiding under shields. Katia and Atria were ahead, screaming commands, attempting to herd their numbers back together. The Nodarian unit were surrounding the crumbling ruin of the outpost, their eyes still trained on the sky. Val saw Saros, standing atop a pile of flaming rubble, his violet eyes glowing. She knew he was related to the late High King Castor, a distant cousin. This was their only blessing, their only hope to deal with the barrage.

" All squads advance !" Aris's shout echoed over the noise, and Val whirled to see the general, his gold sword out, attempting to hold control of the situation. He was scorched and dirty, his gold armor covered in soot. And he looked angrier than she had ever seen him. "We need to get out of range! Advance forward! Shields up!"

The squadrons who had managed to gather back together fell into line and began to charge forward towards the trebuchets.

Skittering to a stop, Val reached out and seized Lucia's arm as she watched the two squadrons advance into the smoke of the battle. "What are they doing?" Val gasped.

"We must get out of range, Captain," Lucia said, confusion as to why Val would even be questioning this evident in her voice. "The general knows that the closer we get to the trebuchets, the less of a threat they are."

But Val's thoughts were racing. All her years spent listening to her brothers plot and plan . . . All the memories of her childhood, sitting within war meetings and learning Manielian battle strategies were thundering in her mind.

" Stop!" Val shouted, throwing out an arm to hold back her unit from following the other squadrons. "Do not advance!" But it was too late. The other two squadrons had moved forward at Aris's command and were suddenly lit up in a volley of flames and swords.

Lucia cried out, lunging forward, but Val stopped her from running to their aid. The sounds of their soldiers' screams faded with the flickering flames, and then, through the smoke, a flash of red armor glinted in the desert sun.

They had been waiting for them to push up, knowing fully it was a game of cat and mouse. Knowing that, to get out of range, they had to advance.

Val felt a hand grip her heart, squeezing tightly. And then she saw red.

"It's no matter," Val growled, the flames exploding across her swords with her fury. "We see them now."

Lucia whipped around to look at her. "You intend to fight?"

Val only nodded. Oh, she intended to fight. The blood was boiling in her veins as she beheld the burnt bodies of three of the five squadrons they had traveled with. She did not care about her own safety anymore. She had just watched more than half of their comrades go up in flames. In that moment, she no longer feared the fire. In that moment, she became it.

And now she wanted blood.

"Ready positions!" Val shouted to her ranks. Val's unit was well-trained. Hand to hand combat was their specialty. A mix of Ember Magic and Water Magic users, they worked in tandem, compensating for each other's weaknesses.

At Val's order, they sprang to attention. Even Lucia, Atria, and Katia snapped to the ready, although their expressions were dubious.

"Valeria!" Aris shouted from his vantage point atop the crumbling base. " What are you doing? We must retreat!"

But Val did not hear him. All she could hear was her own blood pounding in her ears. And when she advanced towards the group of red armored soldiers, she did not hear the general screaming at her to stop.

The first strike came from the right flank. Val parried a spear with one sword, fire shooting out from her left, blasting an advancing soldier who was charging her way. Lucia exploded into the fray a second later, followed by Katia, then Atria. And then, Val's whole unit was locked in battle.

Val fought like a female possessed. The slash of her blades, the slicing of flesh from bone only fueled her. Fire was licking every inch of her body, the inferno building with flames both from Val's unit and their enemy, but none of it stopped her.

She could go further; the heat of their flames was nothing to her. She would not stop until they were all dead, she wouldn't rest until they were dust at her feet, she—

Arms encircled her neck, trapping her against blistering heat. A cool, hooked knife pressed against her throat, halting her deadly rampage. And then a voice breathed in her ear, "Look at how murderous you've become . . . baby sister."

The flame within her—which a second ago, had been roaring out of control—froze in her veins. A familiar gold hooked blade pressed against her throat, the screaming inferno of white-hot flames that suddenly erupted in a ring around her, blasting out everyone in her unit. Leaving only her . . . her and her older brother.

"Leo—" Val breathed. In the minute of silence between the flames and the battle, Val could hear voices screaming her name. And then she was face down in the sand, Leo on top of her.

"Leo, stop—!" Val was choking on the dust and smoke, but Leo was laughing too loud, drowning out her cries.

"What's wrong, baby sister?" he cackled in her ear. "Didn't you miss me?"

Val bucked her legs underneath him, desperately trying to get her face free of the dirt, but Leo's knee pressed harder into her back. She thrashed her feet, threw her elbows, and managed to jerk herself onto her back, finally coming face to face with her middle brother.

Short ruby red hair fell into his eyes, his mouth stretched into a ghoulish smile as he leered down at her. Tall, and wiry, Leo might have been handsome if it wasn't for the manic gleam in those familiar amber eyes. The murderous spark warped his features, making him look deranged.

Spitting her hair out of her mouth, Val turned her head to look around. A ring of Heavenly Fire had erupted around them, isolating her from anyone who could help. Through the flickering flames, Val could see Lucia, Atria, and Katia staring back at her. They were dirty, burnt and bleeding, as if they had tried and failed to make it through Leo's fire to rescue her . . . and were being held back from trying again by Aris. The general was staring through the flames, his handsome face scorched and bloody . . . and unmistakably horrified.

Suddenly, a streak of fire rocketed over their heads as a trebuchet released another projectile into the air. Val gasped, wrenching her gaze away from the general's face to watch as the flaming missile arced over them, and straight towards Bridah's walls. A loud explosion shook the canyon and Val screamed, bucking underneath Leo, trying desperately to break loose. But when Aris's shout mixed with Leo's horrible scream of mirth, Val knew.

Bridah's wall had been breached.

"Wanna watch us send Bridah up in flames?" Leo breathed in her ear, his hand clamping back down around her face, forcing her into the ground again. "Wanna listen to them scream, baby sister?"

Moving furiously, Val tore her face free from Leo's grasp just to stare through the flickering white flames, back towards the remainder of the Legion forces, which had begun to surge towards Bridah's wall. Val's heart lurched into her throat as she locked eyes with the general. His face was ghostly white as he watched her brother pin her to the ground, torn between going to her aid and rushing to Bridah's.

" Aris!" she screamed as Leo's knife dug into her neck. She gasped as the tip began to draw blood. " Aris! Go! Get them out of here!"

The general was holding Lucia around the middle as she fought, tooth and nail, screaming Val's name louder than even the roar of the flames. Katia was holding Atria, but there were wet tracks on her face where her tears had run through the soot.

"Now, now," Leo snarled, grabbing her by the face and jerking her back to him again. "It's just you and me right now. Leave your dirty rebel friends out of this. This is a family matter."

But she didn't care about any of it. All she cared about was Aris and her friends getting as far away from here as possible. The Blood Riders had already breached the wall. She had no idea how many of them were now entering the Frost Kingdom, nor how many of the Legion remained to stop them. And the general . . . the general seemed frozen as he watched her, holding back her three best friends as they screamed her name through a wall of fire.

" Hold still ," Leo hissed, and his hand slammed down on her throat, pinning her head to the ground. Val gasped for air, spluttering against the tightening golden fingers. "What do you and your little friends think you're doing here, Vílaya?" he whispered into her ear. "You think you can stop what we're doing?"

Val's skin crawled at the word . . . her name in Materín, Maniel's ancient mother tongue. Only her family had ever called her that.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Leo crowed, his hot breath caressing her face like a dragon's flame. "Have you still not learned to be obedient, baby sister? Perhaps I need to teach you a lesson again like I used to?" Flames unfurled from his fingers and the tender skin of Val's neck began to heat.

"No . . . Leo, stop, please!" But her words were lost in Leo's yell of glee as fire burst from the hand still fisted around her throat. A billowing inferno engulfed Val and her consequent scream of pain. Leo's flames were hot—hotter than what she could withstand . . . but only barely. Just enough to cause pain. He was toying with her. This was only a taste . . .

The flames died down and Val's screams abated, but she could now feel tears streaking her newly blistered skin. The warrior in her who had been fighting only minutes ago was gone, destroyed in an instant. Now, pinned beneath her older brother, she was nothing but a scared little girl again, sobbing and screaming for someone to help her who would never come.

"I forgot how delicious your screams are," Leo snarled, lowering his face into her neck, and breathing in. Val's skin crawled and she choked on more sobs.

Through her tears, she could still see her unit fighting to get to her . . . but her eyes were drawn to Aris again, who was watching in a petrified trance as Leo's tongue flicked out and ran along her neck.

Val reached out to hit him, to shove him off her, but his other hand holding the knife came down and plunged into her shoulder. She screamed but her body was trapped under his weight.

All around them, the remaining Legion soldiers fought the Blood Riders at the opening in Bridah's wall. The sounds of the battle echoed through the red desert, yet all the while, Aris remained, rooted to the spot, still clinging to Val's sisters, who were attempting to push past him, all of them still screaming her name.

She didn't understand why he still stood there . . . didn't understand why he wasn't going to the Legion's aid, taking her sisters with him—

Go, Aris , Val pleaded mentally, staring through her tears at the general holding her friends back. Take them and go . . . please . . .

She couldn't bear the thought of having them see this, having to see what her brother truly was. But, by the look on Aris's face, Val knew he had realized it. The horror was evident in those hazel eyes, and she wondered if they'd ever look at her the same again.

Leo's laugh was crazed, flickers of flame unfurling from the corners of his mouth. "I'm gonna make you bleed again, Vílaya," he sang. "Unless you tell me what it is you filthy rebels think you're doing here. Perhaps you've come back to tell your dear brothers that you've made a mistake? That you're through disgracing the Augusta name . . ." His tongue grazed her burnt flesh again, and she fought back the heave of revulsion in her stomach. "We will take you back, little sister. Either as an ally or in pieces. It's your choice."

He pushed the knife deeper into her shoulder, and Val let out another scream. It was muffled by the hand still clamped around her throat, flames licking at her chin.

"I . . . won't . . ." The words sputtered from her. She couldn't seem to be able to string together a sentence. Her whole body was screaming in pain and fear.

"What was that?" Leo sang, leaning closer, his body weight sinking onto the hilt of the knife in her shoulder, and she felt it hit bone. "You'll have to speak up a little louder."

"I . . . will never . . . come back with you," Val spat, the pain in her shoulder and neck beginning to blind her. "I'd rather be burned alive than go home with you , Leíonum."

The sound of his Materín name following her pronouncement made the maddening smile vanish from his face.

"Oh?" he breathed; his voice so soft it made a pit appear in her stomach. "I think that can be arranged." And then his fingers were tightening over her neck again, and just as the flames were beginning to explode out of him, a rumble sounded in the distance.

Leo stilled on top of her. Then his head turned and whipped around to look towards the Bridanian border. Val craned her neck around him just in time to see a shadow fall across the boundary. Then, without warning, the ground began to tremble.

Leo let out a shout, but did not relinquish her, even as large, jagged glaciers erupted across the Manielian border. The sound of ice breaking earth shook the entirety of the continent as the wall of impenetrable frost rose, higher than even the fjords. The ice rocketed into the air, sealing off the small hole created by the trebuchets, sending red armored soldiers flying in a blast of frost.

From her place on the ground, Val watched as the glaciers shot like glass fingers, reaching towards the sky, their points jagged, sharp, and insurmountably tall. Even in the oppressive heat generated by the Blood Riders, the glaciers did not so much as glisten in the warmth. They remained tall, steady, and impossibly deadly. High and sharp enough to dissuade even a dragon.

Val let out an incredulous laugh.

They did it . . . Bridah had found a solution .

From behind her, Aris swore in relief while Atria and Katia let out gasps of surprise. And Leo roared with fury and slammed Val back to the ground by her neck.

"Is that what you were here to do?" he screeched in her ear over Val's strangled yell of pain. His fingers gripped her neck so tightly stars popped in her vision. Her own hand came up, attempting to pry the fingers loose, but it was no use. "You think you stopped us?" Leo screamed, and then his hand began to glow.

An explosion rent the air, engulfing them in a blaze of white-hot flames as Leo attempted to burn Val alive. No longer holding back, Leo's fire intensified, and Val screamed and screamed as her skin blistered, her vision fading. The knife was ripped out of her shoulder as Leo held it over his head, right above her heart.

"CAPTAIN!" Lucia's voice rang over the flames, but all Val could do was close her eyes. Her tears evaporated in the scorching heat, and she felt her heart breaking along with her body.

"You like it hot still, baby sister? " Leo roared, and, with a cackle, brought the knife plunging down . . . only to be stopped by a withered vine. It shot out of the desert ground, wrapping its dried green fingers around Leo's neck.

Leo let out a strangled cry as he was jerked backwards by the thick stem, the hooked dagger flying from his grip. The fire stopped, and Val let out a shuddering gasp as she sat up, turning to look back through the wall of flames.

Aris was standing in front of Lucia, his hand outstretched, fingertips glowing, and hazel eyes burning with a fury she had never seen before. The general had never used his magic in combat. She had never seen what he could do. Even now, the vine was weak, and it only took Leo a second to pry it loose. But it had bought her time.

Val sprang to her feet, lunging for Leo's dropped blade. Seizing its golden handle, Val pulled herself to her feet just as Leo turned around. Her brother lunged for her, but, even with her burnt and blistered skin, Val dodged it, ducking under his outstretched hand full of flames, and with a yell of rage, slashed the golden knife upwards towards her brother's face.

Leo screamed, a blood-curdling, agonizing scream as blood flew into the air, splattering the red desert earth, flecking her face. Staggering, Leo gripped his cheek, blood pouring from between his golden fingers as he slowly lifted his gaze to her. His eyes were twin, golden flames of rage and, as he dropped his hand, Val saw what she had done. The knife had slashed his face from the corner of his mouth nearly to his ear. Blood dripped from the gushing wound, dribbling down his chin.

And then he smiled.

The bloody gash elongated his grin. His tongue flicked out, tasting his own blood. His smile grew.

"Oh, what have we done," he murmured. And, before she could blink, Leo was on her.

He kicked out, sending her spinning, the small blade flying into the air. She cursed, whirling around, attempting to find her other blade, when a fist connected with the side of her head. Lights burst in her eyes as she hit the ground again, just for Leo to leap on her, pummeling her head with flaming fists. With each blow, she felt her ears ring, her bones crack, skull rattle.

Crack! She was a child again, hiding in the Augusta rose garden. Leo had just begun to master his Ember Magic and she had burns covering her arms and legs. Never on the face, though. He always said he wanted to keep her face pretty.

Crack! She was a teenager hiding in the dark of her bedroom, hoping that Leo wouldn't attempt to come in again that night. Stooping on the floor under her window, she could still smell the soft scent of the ember roses below.

Crack! She was standing in the courtyard, covered in sweat and tears, attempting to master Heavenly Fire. Leo jeered, and Lorenzo paced. More, Lorenzo would say. You're weak. You do not have the Augusta stamina .

The blows rained down on her as her life flashed through her mind, and she felt tears spill from her blackening eyes. Until, suddenly, Leo was yanked backwards, and a familiar voice spoke.

" Enough , Leíonum."

And everything was still.

Bruised, bleeding, and broken, Val looked up.

"Lorenzo ," she breathed.

The eldest Augusta brother stood over her, Leo's collar fisted in his hand. Where Leo was lean and wiry, Lorenzo was regal and imposing. His shoulders were broader than she remembered, exacerbated by the red armor of the Blood Riders. Long ruby hair was bound back, not a single strand out of place as he gazed down at her with a cold, vacant stare.

"I'm disappointed, Vílaya ," Lorenzo said softly. "After all this time, you are still weak."

The flames of the Augusta Heavenly fire continued to rage around them. She did not know whether her friends remained watching or if they had retreated. The tears in her eyes flowed down her face as she bowed her head, feeling smaller than she had in years.

"Lorenzo . . . please ." It was pathetic to beg, but here she was. Groveling at her eldest brother's feet again. He was right . . . it was like no time had passed at all.

Lorenzo still had Leo cuffed by the collar like a rabid dog. He growled and jerked against his hold, blood still dripping down his face.

"Let me go, brother," he snarled. "She asked me to take her in pieces. I will shred her to bits, and we will feed her to Titus's dragon as an offering."

Val spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring up at her brother, but Lorenzo's face remained stone.

"You are acting like an animal, Leíonum . Heel , or I will have to incapacitate you. Besides . . ." His steely gaze locked onto hers, and she saw the slightest hint of disdain behind those cold amber eyes. "I have things to discuss with our little sister."

With a wince, Val attempted to sit up, but her bones ached, her shoulder dripping blood from the wound Leo had given her. "I have nothing to say to either of you," Val said, attempting to remain strong, but her voice wavered.

"Stop wasting your time, brother," Leo sneered. "She already told me she has no remorse for what she has done to the Augusta house. Just let me cut her to bits and—"

Before he could finish, Lorenzo whirled on his younger brother. With a flash, he extracted the heavy gold sword at his hip and brought the butt of it crashing into the smaller male's skull. With a cry, Leo was slammed to the ground, his hand flying to the large gash the blow had given him.

" What did I say, Leíonum ," Lorenzo hissed, his voice still as even and cool as the steel of his blade. " Heel, or I shall run you through just to have my silence."

Val gaped, watching Leo spit and splutter with fury, blood completely masking his features now. But he obeyed and fell silent, slinking behind their elder brother with his tail between his legs. Lorenzo had always been the only one able to control Leo.

"Now," Lorenzo continued, his gaze turning back to hers. "I made a grave mistake allowing you to walk free, Vílaya, " Val opened her mouth but closed it again as he took a step towards her. He had not re-sheathed his sword.

"I allowed you to choose banishment, not to disgrace and smear the Augusta name further." The tip of his blade reached out and scraped against the scorched metal of her pauldrons as she held her breath. "A captain of the Pillar Legion," he sneered, his soft voice barely audible over the white flames still roaring around them. "You not only disgraced our name, but you spit upon my mercy." The sword dragged from her shoulder to her throat, and the point bit the skin above her jugular. Val stifled her scream to keep the blade still, to stop it going even further. "I will not make the same mistake again, Vílaya ."

" Laurus ," Val sobbed quietly, her brother's Materín name slipping from her mouth. "Please . . ."

Outside the ring of fire, Val could hear Saros commanding the retreat. The Legion was leaving . . . but why wasn't Aris taking her friends and going, too? As if reading her thoughts, Lorenzo's eyes flickered away from her, instead, turning to look at what she had prayed to the Mother was no longer there. But Aris, Lucia, Katia, and Atria still stood outside of the Heavenly Fire, watching, frozen with indecision on how to act, how to save her . . .

"Perhaps, your friends could change your mind," Lorenzo mused, that frightening voice of his low, unhurried.

Val started. "What? No—! Lorenzo, please, I will do anything you ask! I will go with you, but please , let them go!"

Lorenzo's face was a death mask as he turned and stared down the general of the Pillar Legion. Aris's arms were still spread protectively in front of Val's unit. And he stared right back.

"I'm sure you are aware, Vílaya, that Titus's steed is circling us," he said.

Val's eyes snapped upwards to the sky, but there was so much smoke, so many clouds, that she could not detect a thing. But still, the knot of worry tightened in her chest. The prickle of danger that had activated before the attack was still there, even with the Blood Riders stalled while their two leaders toyed with her like a monster playing with its food.

"While the ice barrier is an annoying interruption to our plans," Lorenzo continued, "one command from me and the beast can incinerate each and every one of your friends with ease." Crouching down, he came face to face with her, his high cheekbones as sharp as slate, and not a flicker of compassion in those amber eyes. "Would you like that?"

Val stared him down. Her chest was tight with unshed tears, her body bleeding and defeated. Yet she recognized her brother's game. They were negotiating. Lorenzo always negotiated.

"What do you want?" she said finally.

Enzo's mask did not slip an inch. "I need to rectify my mistake, little sister," he said. "I will not allow you to walk free again. You come with us now, and I will consider allowing your friends to leave here alive . . . for now."

Breathing hard, Val studied her elder brother, but knew it was no use. He was unfathomable, as inscrutable as fog on a dark night. Cold and ruthless, that was who Lord Lorenzo Augusta was.

"Why?" she asked. Her eyes flitted towards Aris. The leader of the Pillar Legion stood not even ten feet from them, and yet her brother—the commander of the Blood Riders—was letting him walk away? It did not make sense.

For the first time, Lorenzo's mouth twitched into a small smirk. "Take a look around you, Vílaya ," he murmured, that voice a gentle lullaby of death, a whisper of a breeze on a battlefield. "Your troops are dead. Even the ones who attempted to retreat. Besides a few irritating survivors, your mission is an abject failure."

He leaned closer to her, his finger coming to rest on her chin so she could not look away, even as more tears cascaded down her face at his words. But this time, they were angry tears. She yearned to seize her brother by the throat, throttle the life out of him, like he stole hers. But she bit it down as he leaned closer to her, his touch hot on her jaw.

"This was a victory, my dear sister. I will demolish your silly Legion, cut the head off that general and give it to you in a box while you languish in Ironbalt for the rest of your days. I feel that is more worthy a punishment than simply letting Leo have his way with you."

Leo gave a low chuckle behind him, and Val's stomach twisted. His threat lingered in the air, but Val knew it was her only choice. If she had any hope of seeing her unit survive . . . if she had any hope of seeing Aris survive, she had to come quietly.

Without another word, Val nodded.

" No!"

The shout broke Lorenzo's trance on Val, and she turned towards the pitiful, agonizing sound. Lucia was straining against Aris's hold, pitching herself towards the flames, tears pouring from her golden eyes.

Val tried to give her a reassuring smile as Lorenzo pulled her to her feet, binding her hands securely with rope.

" It's okay," Val said to her girls, all of whom were sobbing desperately, pushing hard against the general's back. She knew they couldn't hear her as Leo fisted her hair in his hands and pulled her along. But still, when her eyes found Lucia, Atria, and Katia, she mouthed the only words she had never said to anyone.

" I love you ."

All three girls were screaming her name, their voices breaking her into bits, crushing her heart and soul into powder. And as they led her away, Val took one last look at her friends. And her gaze collided with Aris's.

The general's handsome face was twisted in pain. He looked as if he were holding back a tsunami all alone. But as he looked at Val, she knew he understood. Knew that he was holding back her sisters, not because he was afraid to come after her, but because he would come after her, that for now, the safety of the three girls were more important to Val than her own life.

"Take care of them for me ," Val mouthed. She did not expect the general to understand, to hear her from that far away. But his hazel eyes hardened, and he nodded jerkily before raising his hand, a glow emanating from his fingertips again.

And as Val was dragged away by her brothers, she saw something breaking through the cracked desert sand. Illuminated by the roaring white flames, a bright red poppy bloomed.