by Ben Hale
"Goodbye Hawk," she whispered.
***
Hawk fell away from the Spirus with regret in his heart. He'd thought he would feel relief that he could finally rejoin Archeantial in the eternal flame. Instead he found himself torn by the family he'd never thought he would have.
Banking out of the dive, he flapped hard to gain altitude, and rose well above the still-raging battle. Drawing from his well of rage at the Iseonix, he set aside all other concerns and prepared himself for the duel that would end his fire. Then he folded his wings and dived.
In seconds the wind screamed around him, whipping and pulling. He didn't deviate in his course, and dived true. Battling the handful of planes still alive, the Iseonix had blasted one of them and caught it in its grasp. Landing on the surface of the city, it touched its jaws to the plane's nose and issued a horrendous screech. Unholy and piercing, it sent a tremble through the frozen plane—then flesh, metal, and cloth shattered into glittering chunks of ice.
The Iseonix raised its head and issued a victory cry—and Hawk struck. With the force of a falling meteor he released the current of liquid fire trailing in his wake. The entire city shook from the ensuing blast as pure heat came in contact with frozen flesh. Fire and bits of ice blasted in all directions, tearing into the trees of Sentre and leaving them charred husks.
Before it could retaliate, Hawk launched himself skyward and rotated away. Amidst the steam and smoke the Iseonix raised its head and issued its challenge. Water pooled at its feet, and ugly wounds marked its torso, back, and head. Undeterred, it leapt in pursuit. Hawk released his own challenge, and the thundering screech sent a shock through those watching. Whether by order or fear, the surviving planes and choppers veered away.
Hawk spun and sent a blast of fire from his wingtips, but the Iseonix dodged. Hawk dropped one wing to avoid the retaliating blast of cold. Rotating out of his spin, he came up from below, and sent a searing whip of fire across the Iseonix's wing.
Ice chipped away with a burst of steam, and it released a cry of pain and rage. Flapping hard, it unleashed an expanding sphere of cold in all directions. Already a hundred feet to the side, Hawk pulsed the fire across his body, but it faded as the white air sucked it away. Gathering his rage, he scorched every last shred of cold from his body and banked toward his adversary again.
Stronger and larger, the Iseonix was almost as fast as Hawk. Over the next few minutes of furious combat both played to their strengths. Hawk spun and twisted, avoiding the currents of cold by inches. Several times the tips of his wings were frozen, forcing him to pull from his inner heat to keep himself aloft.
Seemingly undeterred by the multitude of burns and steam rising from its form, the Iseonix pursued with unrestrained wrath. Twice it failed to turn in time and accepted blasts of fire that could melt steel. Both times it emerged with streams of former flesh pouring off its frame.
The air took on the acrid stench of smoke and steam, with clouds of ash drifting over the city. Onlookers below huddled behind any barrier, terrified by the ferocity of the two titans of the sky. Deafening shrieks of pain and rage echoed like rolling thunder, mingling with detonations of fire and cracking ice. Like two wild beasts, the enormous magical birds tore into each other with frightening brutality.
But it could not last forever. His injuries sapping his strength, Hawk turned on his foe and drove his power into its face. The Iseonix did not flinch or turn, and cold exploded from its maw. Frigid air enveloped Hawk as he passed over the top of the icebird. Mortally wounded, he fastened a spell onto the icebird's back.
Chilled to the bone, Hawk struggled to halt his fall. He landed in the already damaged Northpoint and tore a swath in the earth before he came to a stop. His once bright red and gold feathers were cool blue, and he could feel the cold seeping deeper into his soul.
As the Iseonix landed next to him, Hawk forced himself to turn and released his awesome challenge. Ignoring it, the Iseonix pulled its wings back and released a blast of supreme cold that enveloped Hawk from beak to claw. Grass underfoot and neighboring trees froze solid as the fire on Hawk's body faded . . . and went dark. The cold cut off only when Hawk had been encased in ice, his head still extended from where he'd issued his challenge. With nothing to stop it, the Iseonix stepped close and placed his jaws against the top of Hawk's head. Its horrendous screech shattered the ice, and Hawk disappeared in the cloud of steam.
For an eternal moment the Iseonix stood victorious. Then the cloud dissipated, revealing Hawk's broken form before the Iseonix. The icebird stumbled backward in surprise, but Hawk did not allow it to get far. With half his form covered in frost and most of his flesh burned from the cold, he swelled with magic. Only possible with his foe so close, he gave himself over to the two spells he'd prepared.
At the same moment they exploded with deafening power—one from Hawk himself, and the other from the icebird's back. Planted by Hawk as he'd tumbled over, the massive fire trap ignited. It seared a line through the Iseonix’s body to merge with the burgeoning flames from Hawk's soul. Like a red hot cleaver, it sheered the Iseonix down the middle.
Its screech of pain was cut off as its head split, and its whole body disappeared in the blue flames that ruptured outward. Ice chunks pummeled the area as the titanic body shattered—never to rise again. But the supreme spell had a cost. Every speck of Hawk's form was being consumed to fuel it.
His body being devoured by the rising tide of magic, Hawk drew in a great breath. Doing so caged the fire and amplified its power a hundredfold. It brightened to rival the sun until his entire being had merged with the heat—and then detonated. The city rocked with the shockwave as incinerating fire engulfed the surface of Northpoint, destroying every last drop of water that had created the Iseonix.
Taxed to the extreme, the magic that bound Northpoint to the city snapped. Purple and brown sparks exploded as a fissure appeared. The stone groaned from the effort to remain whole, but failed. Cracked and rending, the shattering of rock abruptly overcame the sounds of the raging fire.
Like a petal being torn off a flower, the four mile stretch of Northpoint bent toward the Earth and ripped free. Held at bay for centuries, gravity caught the shard of Auroraq and pulled. In seconds the huge chunk of burning rock disappeared into the Dark.
For a long moment the city leaned to the side before its spells managed to compensate for the loss and righted itself. Gone forever, Northpoint ended at an ugly scar adjacent to Sentre.
Hawk and the Iseonix were gone.
Chapter 49: Impact of the Fallen
Breaker held onto a broken rock shield until the city righted itself. Then he rose to find their enemy gone. Many of their foes had been caught on Northpoint, and had been destroyed with Hawk's final magic. Any surviving Harbingers on Sentre were quick to depart, leaving Breaker bloodied and exhausted, but alive.
As the battlemages and SEALs took stock of their situation, Breaker walked to the jagged edge. He gazed at the emptiness that had been Northpoint, numb at the loss of his friend. Hawk had been the pinnacle of defiance, and Breaker had never dreamed the mighty phoenix could be killed.
The sun may have been shining, but Breaker felt that its rays had darkened.
***
Robar watched the Harbingers retreat with the bats. The defeat of their frostbird had been the final straw, and the entire force withdrew from Tryton's. He wiped the blood from his face, his gaze falling to the bodies littering the ground around his protective circle. Harbinger and Voidling alike had failed to reach him.
He looked beyond the circle, and saw the hundreds of Tryton's students rising into view. They were alive and free because of him, because of who he was. He felt a surge of triumph, and knew that he had found his place.
Unbidden, the image of Katya flashed across his eyes. For the first time her green eyes did not condemn him. Instead he recalled their first conversation. She had looked at him with absolute faith.
"Are you going to keep us safe?" she had as
ked.
Her words seemed to encompass much more than just herself, causing him to respond aloud.
"I will."
She seemed to smile . . . and after ten years of seeing her face, she faded into memory.
***
Jack closed his eyes, the relief so poignant that his chest felt heavy. It was over, and his family had survived. Hawk's sacrifice had not been in vain, and Tess had lived because of it. Deep down he knew that the war was not over, but for now it did not matter. They had been victorious today.
He opened his eyes to see his wife lay her rifle down and stand. Then she moved to embrace him. He hugged her back just as fiercely. No words were spoken. None were needed. From the moment that they had learned who Tess was they had felt helpless to protect her. For the first time Jack felt like that was no longer the case.
***
Wolf slid down the wall, exhausted. The Harbingers had withdrawn, and the SEALs had succeeded in holding the room. While the medics hurried to stabilize the wounded, Iris slid to a seat beside him. She didn't seem aware of the blood darkening her shoulder and cheek.
"You okay?" Wolf asked.
"I'll survive," Iris said. "You?"
"I'm more worried about my sanity," Wolf replied.
Iris chuckled, but it ended in a wince. "You get used to it."
Wolf issued a laugh, and realized that it was already true. The sight of Linda floating the injured and carrying them out of the room was not strange at all. He caught her eye and flashed a weary smile. She returned it, and it warmed him to the core. At least magic had brought her into his life.
He went to excuse himself from Iris, but she was talking to the wall. Grinning, he forced himself to his feet and moved to help Linda.
***
Tess looked down on the absent corner of the mage city. The concussive blast had shattered all the windows on the north side of the Spirus. Pride and loss warred within her, and she knew without searching that Hawk was dead. His final act had been one of sacrifice and triumph.
Just weeks ago she had fallen into the Dark. The impact of her death was their victory today, and yet the cost was too much to bear. Robar had warned her that witnessing a friend die would be agony. She'd worried over her parents, Derek, Iris, and others. Never had she thought that Hawk would be the one to perish. Without him, her foundation of hope threatened to crumble.
Her gaze settled on the jagged wound that extended away from Sentre. It mirrored her emotions too closely, causing her to turn away. Numb, she descended into the Spirus. Her hope gone with Hawk, her feet did not leave the ground.
Through the destroyed sections of the city the people came, raising their voices in exultation at their freedom. All the Harbingers and Voidlings had withdrawn at the icebird's defeat, and the city was free. Tess walked among them with tears in her heart.
Many cried for those who had died, but Tess could not bring herself to pity them. They did not understand the cost of freeing the city from Alice. The guardian of light had fallen for them.
Yet the Dark remained.
Chapter 50: Broken
Tess flew to the pinnacle of the earth school mountain and sat. Then she wrapped her hands around her knees in an effort to ward off the ache within her. Stel tightened around her arm in his version of a hug. Then he morphed into a diminutive wolf before exploring the area around her. She'd just finished her latest meeting with Magtherian officials, and couldn't bear to force a smile for another hour.
Under protest from the students, the reinstated school directors had insisted that classes return to normal—which included final exams. The students had protested, and Iris had even tried to prevent them, to no avail. Even the student's parents had agreed, and further insisted that Tryton's be given greater protections.
Tess couldn't bring herself to care. She'd been exempted from school, and was a student in name only. While teachers struggled to resume normal classes, Tess avoided contact with everyone. At times her emotions burned hot with a desire for vengeance, only to have sorrow return and deflate her anger. Like her soul couldn't decide what to feel, she moved because it hurt to sit, and stilled herself when it hurt to move.
From her vantage point she could see the gaping absence of Northpoint. For a while she refused to look away, hoping in vain that it would suddenly reappear. Eventually she couldn't bear it any longer and her gaze lifted to the sky.
It had been a week since the battle, and much of the city was still being repaired. The ousted members of the Magtherian had returned to their former roles, and had worked tirelessly to rebuild the city. Led by the reinstated High Chancellor Gerik, who had been caged next to Ranson, the mage government had fortified the city borders to ensure that Alice could not return. In spite of their efforts, fear prevailed.
Tess couldn't blame them. Soon after their victory the Dark had started to expand once more. This time it was advanced not from behind—but from the front. The Twisted filled the ocean ahead of the Dark, dragging it closer to the American continents. The gathered nations had just five days to prepare before Alice's army invaded the last free land on Earth.
She sighed and looked east, where the line of Dark had faded into the distance that morning. Shortly after the battle, the city had begun its journey to join the gathering nations. If Alice had any desire to stop them she did not appear.
A grinding of stone interrupted her brooding, and she turned to see a small shelf of rock sliding up the side of the mountain. Derek stood on top of it, his expression reproachful. She spoke as he came to a stop next to her.
"I'm sorry about hiding." Her tone made it clear she wasn't.
He waved it off. "I had to finish my last final. After all of our training it was nothing, although it will take them a few hours to repair the testing room."
A smile started to form on her face, and she looked away before it could spread. It felt wrong to be happy after what had happened.
He grunted and sat next to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he said, "Being happy doesn't betray his memory, Tess."
She didn't comment, and he didn't press the point. He just held her. After a while she changed the subject.
"What happened with the vote?" Afraid of the answer, Tess didn't look at him.
"The nations want to fight," Derek said. She swiveled to look at him, and he grinned. "Your president let everyone decide. Refugees and citizens alike had a vote. Apparently less than thirty percent wanted to give in to Alice."
Tess looked away, her emotions chaotic. After a while Derek continued.
"Your father was named commander of the new Earth Army by the president. He said that Jack was the only one who knows both mage and auren abilities. He's already bringing auren military officers here and putting together a command center."
"And Robar?"
"The SEALs were sent to join the front line in the United States. I think the MIO team is staying to guard your dad. Robar and a few others are still recuperating in the healing school. The hospital went down with Northpoint."
Her throat constricted at the reminder, but she took solace that only Harbingers had been there when it had gone down. Between the Iseonix and her losses, Alice didn't have many Harbingers left.
Derek blew out his breath. "I can't believe it was Ranson all along."
"Alice tricked us all," Tess said, her voice bitter. "If we had known about Ranson earlier maybe we could have prevented all of this." Maybe if I was better at farsight I would have known.
"What happened to the Swordsman?"
"He and Indigo are in the city," she said, "but after all the magic he used on his body, he will have to recover. I'm not sure what they intend at this point."
Her voice sounded hollow, even to her. None of it seemed important. They had lost their best hope at stopping the Dark. After everything they had fought for, they had closed the portal too late.
"At least we have a chance," Derek said. "Apparently the United States has been preparing for an invasion for weeks. The T
wisted will be in for a fight when they reach the shore."
"It doesn't matter," Tess said. "There are too many."
She struggled to finish the statement, and didn't meet his gaze. She couldn't bear the look of judgment she deserved. First she'd brought the mage world public, and now she'd condemned it to die against Alice.
"I should have defeated her," she growled. "It's what I was born for, wasn't it?" The anger was strong, but brief.
"You were born with power," he replied. "Your choices are your own."
The phrase mirrored what Hawk had said to her, and her heart constricted at the realization that she was now bereft of his guidance. Abruptly she turned to face him.
"What are we going to do without him?" she asked. "He's the only reason we lasted this long."
His brow was furrowed. "In the absence of a leader, another must rise."
"Who said that?"
"Who else?"
She released a bark of laughter. "Even dead he still knows what to say—but I don't know if I can do it alone."
"You can," he said, and the confidence in his voice caused her to raise an eyebrow.
He flashed his characteristic grin. "Do you remember when we went to the rock troll village? It was our first real fight."
She blinked, confused at the turn in conversation. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Every single person in that cave had succumbed to the Dark," he said, and then as if to emphasize his point, he added, "even Iris was being taken over."
"So?"
"You fought back."
"All I did was kiss you," she said. "You knocked Ducalik back through the portal."
His grin widened. "True—but you were the one that knew what to do. Don't you see? There's something in you that refuses to give up, a willpower unlike any I've ever seen. Any normal person would have bent or broken from the pressure long ago, but somehow you keep going."