Chapter 77

Two blood-red oceans collided, one's waves were taller, but the other's water moved with more ferocity.

Chaos lived between the two.

All outcomes were possible, non-perceivable.

Time was the enemy and the ally.

Death was the only certainty. Death and carnage, blood and terror-

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I wheeled around with a cry, bringing up my sword and finding its tip touching the throat of a man who I had long called a friend.

"Leon," I exhaled, lowering the Savage King's weapon which was made of the darkest metal known in this land. "Forgive me."

"You'd never kill me, Gabe," he said with such certainty it was like he had better foresight than me.

His golden hair was tied back in a knot to keep it from his face when it was time for him to join the fight. His armour was emblazoned with the Night family crest, even though I knew it to be stolen, its true owner's name erased from its shell. It had once been worn by a famous warrior of old who had fought in the War of Broken Thorns.

Legend had it, he had been the size of a bear with the heart of a lion, and so it was fitting that my feline friend wore it now. He'd barely had to adjust the size too, his bulk plenty to fill it out. I wore no armour myself, my Harpy's full form would see to that, and I didn't need the weight of any metal slowing me down when I took to the skies. For now, however, we were stuck up on this stars-forsaken mountainside awaiting our moment, and The Sight was unforgiving, showing me the faces of my family and friends in death time and again.

But I was well versed in this now. I knew death was a plague that would delve deep into the battlefield this day; I also knew that the dead could not be counted until it was done.

No vision was certain, fate so very malleable now, that I was suspended in a strange state, oscillating between hope and despair. These emotions were wrought of possibility, and I could almost taste the new dawn on the horizon, if only we could reach it. The world would drastically change for the better, peace would reign, fear would not follow the people of our land into their slumber. We were teetering on the brink of that beautiful, tantalising future, but it could be so easily snatched away from us too.

"Maybe we should have brought a few more earth Elementals with us," Leon said in concern. "Your head must feel like fireworks are going off in it. How are you ever gonna focus on this, dude?"

I gritted my teeth, holding the visions at bay. "I can do it. We can't spare the Fae. Just hurry."

I raised my hands, wielding more of the earth to create the vessels we needed for the entirely insane plan my sister had in mind for them. I couldn't see whether or not this would work, my Sight having limits when it came to such things, but if it did, perhaps this would be the edge we needed in this battle.

I acted quickly, wanting to take advantage of the rising sun which was fuelling my magic faster than I could wield it. With a surge of power, I pulled the clay from the earth, moulding it into a range of mounds and shaping them roughly before letting Leon take over with his fire Element to finish them.

"Don't give the clay tits," I cursed as Leon shaped two giant breasts onto one of my creations.

Leon baked the tits in place with his fire, ignoring me. "You just do your bit, and I'll do mine."

"You're wasting time," I scolded.

"Tits are never a waste of time," he said, giving me a pointed look and I huffed out a breath, knowing that nothing I said had ever worked to control Leon in the past. He wasn't going to start listening to reason now. The Lion always danced to his own tune, and no song would ever be tempting enough for him to change the rhythm of his feet.

The cry of battle roared just over the other side of this mountain and my hands trembled as a wave of violent visions poured through my head.

My wife was on her back, her throat ripped out by a Dragon.

Orio was crushed beneath a tide of charging Centaurs.

Dante was torn from the sky by three terrible beasts, wings tattered, chest cleaved open.

I blinked out of it, my breaths coming heavier and my focus sharpening once again.

It's not real. Just possibilities passing on a wayward breeze.

I drew on the strength of my love for those I'd seen dying, a roar of determination leaving me as I tore into the mountainside with my magic, heaving clay from the earth, huge blocks of it bursting from the ground. Leon ran between them all, working faster to mould and set them just how we needed. A sweeping count told me we had fifty or so ready, but that wasn't enough. Not nearly so.

I took the pouch of thyme sprigs from my pocket. Every one of my creations needed to have a piece of the plant embedded in its exterior, so I took to my wings, racing overhead and sticking a sprig in each of those that were ready, certain it was better to finish the ones we had now in case we ran out of time.

"Here." I tossed some of the thyme to Leon and he caught it with a nod, his eyes flashing with darkness.

He knew what was to come, and we drew closer to our moment with every passing second. My sisters would be counting on us, and we couldn't fail them. I just wished the stars would offer me a glimpse of certainty on whether this plan would work or fail. But they were eerily quiet on this part, and perhaps, if I was not going mad, an air of contempt burned from them too. We would defy them this day in the name of our destiny. But no star, no black-hearted Dragon, or monstrous fiend of the Shadow Realm would rip this fate from our hands. It was ours, at long last. And we would damn well claim victory come sunset.