by Sarra Cannon
Lark, trapped in her earthen cage, fell to her knees, her straight black hair falling down around her face.
"Please, let me go," she said, coughing as bits of dirt rained down on her. "I don't want to die down here."
I stared down at this girl who I'd thought was one of my best friends. "You should have thought of that before you betrayed us," I said.
I placed my hand against the stone, knowing that with a single push it would cave inward, crushing her beneath its weight.
"Harper, don't," Mary Anne said, coming to stand beside me.
Tears of rage welled up in my eyes. "She deserves to die," I said, but I knew Mary Anne was right. I couldn't kill Lark.
Instead, I brought my hands together, squeezing the rock tighter to create solid walls. At the very top of the stone enclosure, I left a tiny hole. Big enough to let air in so she could breathe, but just small enough that a butterfly couldn't pass through.
My Destiny
A battle roared above us.
"We have to get up there," Mary Anne said, pounding against the black barrier. "Essex is up there."
"Jackson's up there too, but even if we find a way out, we're going to need a plan." I grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward me.
"There's no time for a plan," she said. I'd never heard her voice so full of panic. "Listen to it out there. They need our help."
"We won't be able to help anyone if we're all dead," I said. "We have no idea what the situation is up there or who is in control."
"What should we do?" Zara asked. She wrapped her arms tight around her body.
My mind raced ahead, searching for some solution. I looked up, remembering the battle with the crow witch. When she left this room, she hadn't bothered with the steps. She blew a hole in the roof and flew away.
"I know how we can get out of here," I said. "But then what? From the sound of it, I think the fight has already reached the inner circle."
"Please," Mary Anne said, her eyes begging.
I knew she was right. We didn't have time for some elaborate plan. "Okay, but I'm going first," I said. "As soon as I give you the signal that it's safe, you can come up."
"Where do we go?" Zara asked.
"Get into the woods, hide somewhere in the trees," I said. "Don't rush into anything. Watch the battle and see if there's a safe place to join the fight."
They stared at me with wide eyes full of fear.
"If we're losing and there's no hope, get the hell away from this town as fast as you can."
"What are you going to do?" Angela asked.
"I'm going after the master stone," I said.
Energy rushed through me. The ritual may have failed at the end, but we'd almost completed it. All that was missing was the master stone, and Lark had said Priestess Winter kept it on her at all times. If I could just find it and get it down here, maybe I could still complete the ritual. It was our only hope.
I turned and started up the steps, but Courtney reached out to grab my hand.
"Here," she said. "Give me your other hand."
I placed both hands in hers as she poured new power into my body. It filled my core, as if someone had plugged me in to some never-ending source.
"Thank you," I said, a strong current flowing beneath the surface of my skin.
I pushed everyone back against the stairs, then gathered my strength in the palm of my hands. I reached out to grab the earth above the ritual room. With a great yell, I pulled the ceiling down, rocks and grass and dirt falling to the floor.
A massive hole opened up, the dim light of the dreary day pouring in around us. I stepped forward, climbing over a mountain of earth, upward toward my destiny.
Bloodbath
I ascended into hell.
Spells flew through the air. Trees blazed with orange fire. A misty haze hovered above the area, blocking out the sky. Lights flashed all around like gunshots in the darkness.
I swept my gaze across the area, quickly taking in the scene from one side to the other. I searched for Jackson, praying he was still alive. Still fighting.
Lea commanded a group of archers to my left, their purple arrows flying deep into the woods.
Andros and the Resistance held the perimeter against the advancing witches of the Order. I saw faces I recognized fighting against us. Brooke's mother. Ella Mae. The sheriff. The ground beneath them was scorched and dead, demon power sucking the land dry.
No one had gotten through to the center of the ritual circle yet. I motioned to the others below.
"There," Mary Anne shouted as she joined me. She pointed toward Aerden's statue. "I see Essex. He's alive!"
My heart skipped a beat as I followed her gaze, searching for Jackson. He was supposed to be commanding the center line of defense, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Everyone spread out, find a place to join the fight. I have to find Jackson."
I shifted into white smoke, then shot straight up through the air, getting far above the trees so I could get a better view of the battle. Nausea rolled over me in waves. Everywhere I turned, bodies littered the ground like rose-petals, their bright red blood flowing across the scorched earth. The carnage turned my stomach.
My father was right. I had underestimated the Order. Underestimated my own friends. This was a bloodbath.
What have I done?
I had led both humans and demons to their deaths, betrayed by one of my closest friends. Someone I thought I could trust. Hadn't I learned my lesson by now? I couldn't let this be the end.
I needed to find Jackson. I needed to make this right.
I searched the battlefield again as I hovered in the air. There was no sign of him. I knew I needed to calm down. To focus my energy on finding our special connection. But my being filled with panic and turmoil as the battle raged below.
If I didn't focus, I would lose him forever.
I took a deep breath in, then released it, pushing away thoughts of the battle. I let go of my worry and guilt. I let go of all my doubt and fear until I finally came to focus on the one person who was most important in my life. The one I couldn't live without.
My heart stilled. The noise of the attack fell away. I searched for him in my soul, connecting to the bond I only shared with him. It radiated through me like a warm sun, bright and strong. I let it fill me completely. I let it lead me.
Our connection rose up from the battlefield, binding us together.
Pain seared through me, but it wasn't my pain. It was his. Somewhere among the slaughter, Jackson was in agony.
My eyes flew open and my head snapped to the right. I'd been searching the ground and the woods, expecting him to be lost somewhere in the bloodshed below.
But he was up. Here above the trees.
I saw him through the haze. His arms and legs were shackled. Mayor Chen held the right side in chains while Honora held him on the left. The three of them floated on some kind of platform just above the forest. Priestess Winter hovered behind him, her hands passing in a circular pattern above his head. Her lips moved as she cast a spell that had Jackson writhing on his knees.
I didn't wait for her to see me.
I dipped into the well of strength in my core, then rocketed toward her. I slammed into her with amazing force, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her with me as we fell down, down toward the forest floor.
She screamed, struggling against my grip. We tumbled faster and faster. I barely shifted in time, releasing her and flying out to the side, then up again. She hit the ground, bones cracking. Hope filled my heart as she lay there, her body bent at an awkward angle. Had I killed her? Could it possibly be that easy?
I wanted to search her. To see if I could find the stone. But Jackson's pain called me to him.
I turned my attention back toward the floating platform. I flew up, circling it once before coiling ropes of demon smoke around the shackles Lark's mother held in her hand. I broke the chains in two, then grabbed one end and yanked until she stumbled and fell to her kn
ees. I dropped the chains, ready to face Honora.
Before I could, Jackson pulled her forward with his free hand. No longer bound by whatever Priestess Winter had cast on him, he shifted to black, slipping out of his restraints.
For a brief moment, he was human, his green eyes seeking mine.
The love I saw there fueled my strength. I whipped around, my focus settling on Lark's mom. A second in the Winter family. A spy and a traitor. A murderer. But as I made my move, an invisible power wrapped around my chest, knocking the breath from my body.
I tumbled in circles, spinning out of control, unable to move my arms or control my powers. I thrashed with all my strength, struggling to breathe. To fight. The barren ground above the ritual room barreled toward me at great speeds. I skidded across the rocks, skin scraped from my cheek and arm. I winced and tried to stand, but my legs failed me.
On the ground, a blue stone glittered in the light of the fires that burned all around us.
Zara's protection stone. I scrambled forward, my palm closing around it just as the black heel of a boot ground into my forearm.
I looked up, taking in her blue skirt and white button-up shirt. So prim and proper for a battle. She must not have expected to get her hands dirty today.
I pulled my arm from under her foot and lifted my eyes to hers, hoping she could see the hatred I held inside.
"Did you really believe this was a battle you could win?" Priestess Winter asked with a sinister laugh. "Your kind has been underestimating me for centuries."
Warm blood trickled from the wound on my face and I was pretty sure my leg was broken. Still, I braced against the pain and forced my body to a standing position. "This isn't over yet," I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me, and I moved to shift, planning to come around behind her. Before I could change forms, two hands grabbed me from behind, breaking my focus. I turned to see my captors and instantly knew them by their white-blonde hair and light eyes.
Zara's aunt and great-aunt. Thirds, like her. Guardians trained to protect the priestess. They twisted my arms tight around my back while Priestess Winter approached.
"You're wrong," she said, gripping my chin in her hands. "It was over the moment you came back to Peachville."
Afterworld
I cried out, pulling and twisting to try to escape.
"Look around you," Priestess Winter said, motioning to the circle of fire and destruction that surrounded us. "Your battle is lost. Your friends are dying. Soon, your precious Jackson will be locked in a statue next to his brother and your throat will be split wide open, your essence transferred to a new family."
"No," I said, my voice a cry and a shout. A prayer. "You're wrong."
If I could only figure out where she was keeping the master stone, I might have a chance. If I could somehow find it and take it from her, she might grow weak enough for me to injure her. It was my only chance.
My eyes hungrily searched her for any sign of the stone. A ring. A bracelet. A pendant of any kind. She wasn't wearing a single stone that I could see. Nothing shimmered or glinted under her clothing. But I could feel it. Its power hummed in the air around us.
She had to be hiding it somewhere.
"There's no point in struggling," she said. "This will all be over soon."
She cupped her hands together and a bright light formed inside. The heat of her spell radiated from her, and I pulled back, desperate to get away. The thirds gripped my arms tighter and I winced.
I tried to focus. To shift. But I was too aware of my human form.
I closed my eyes, breathing in. I started to let go, but panic washed over me and my eyes snapped open again. I thrashed and kicked, screaming out in frustration.
This was the moment. Do or die.
I couldn't let this be the end. I had to be strong.
I searched my soul, dipping into a hidden well of power just as Priestess Winter sent the light flashing toward me. I shifted, slipping from the hold of my captors and reforming just beyond their reach.
They recovered faster than I expected and three spells hurled toward me at once. Energy hummed through the air and I screamed, unable to shift again in time. I stumbled backward as each spell made a direct hit.
Zara's stone burned my palm as it absorbed some of their magic. But it wasn't strong enough to take it all. I opened my fist and the stone fell onto the ground, shattering to pieces.
I stumbled again as pain ripped through my body.
I fell to my knees, reaching toward the sky as if hoping to find something I could hold on to. Something I could use to pull myself back up.
But there was nothing.
My strength faltered, and I collapsed.
The two guardians began casting spells, and I knew they were meant for me. I pushed myself back up, refusing to to give up.
For the sake of everyone who had ever fought against the Order of Shadows and everyone whose lives had been destroyed by them. I would fight until I had nothing left.
A flash of light and a ball of flame rocketed toward me. I pushed my hand away from my body, palm out, forming a shield around myself. Their magic turned to black sand against my shield, and I tasted the dry blackness of the guardian's hearts. Their dark magic.
It choked me, and I doubled over, coughing uncontrollably.
Metal clanked as Priestess Winter conjured iron chains that rose up from the ground. Shackles closed around my wrists and neck. She pulled forward and the chains shortened, bringing me to my knees.
Everything moved so fast and happened all at once.
One of the Winter guardians sent a spell flying toward me, but just before it hit, a red light crashed into it, causing it to explode to early. Mary Anne appeared at my side, her hands glowing deep red. She shot her power out toward the guardian like a laser.
Essex joined the fight, coiling thick black smoke around the throat of the other guardian.
Priestess Winter conjured half a dozen small knives that hovered in the air in front of her. I'd seen her conjure the chains before, so I should have known she was talented with metals, but I hadn't been expecting blades.
I thought she would turn them on me, and I prepared to shift.
But then I followed her eyes and saw that I was not her target this time.
Her gaze was locked on Mary Anne. I shouted her name, but she couldn't hear me over the roar of the battle around us. I pulled against my chains, time seeming to move so slow as Priestess Winter launched the daggers toward my friend, their tips ripping through the air.
I shifted, slipping from the chains and launching myself across the ritual circle. I moved faster than I ever had before, the world a blur around me.
The blades caught me mid-air. They sliced through the flesh in my side, my arm, my thigh, then disappeared into thin air. Their damage done.
I fell to the ground, the force of the fall knocking the breath from my lungs. I breathed in, but no air came. I panicked, clawing at my neck, begging for life.
Finally, my lungs opened up and I inhaled with a terrible gasp that left my throat raw and sore. I exhaled and struggled to draw another breath.
My wounds sobbed, blood gushing forth like tears.
My body grew cold, and I began to shiver. I hugged my arms tight around myself and closed my eyes. A battle drum beat inside my ears, my blood pumping fast, spilling onto the barren earth that cradled me close.
When I opened my eyes, the air in front of me shimmered and for a moment, I wondered if this is what it felt like to die. Was this my demon spirit leaving my body?
I waited for the end to come, feeling no regrets. Knowing I had given my everything. Done all that I could. I had been a true warrior. If my father had been here, he would have been proud of me.
Then, suddenly, he was.
He leaned over me, his silver eyes filled with tears.
"Dad?" I said, lifting a bloodied hand to his face. I was sure I was hallucinating.
"I'm here, Harper." He glanced down
at my wounds, then ran a shaky hand over my hair. He pressed his lips tight to keep them from trembling.
He seemed so real. A welcome vision to my weary eyes.
"I'm dying," I whispered.
He shook his head. "No," he said. "You're being reborn."
He placed a hand over my heart and a great warmth radiated in my chest.
I lifted my hands to his, running my fingers across his skin to see if this was all a dream. "Are you real?"
He laughed through his tears. "Yes," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. You were right. I was afraid. Like so many others, I lost everyone I ever loved to the Order of Shadows. My mother. My father. Claire."
He paused at her name, closing his eyes to hide his pain. I gripped his hand tighter, letting him know that I understood.
"I was so scared that if I loved anyone again, the Order would take them too," he said. "I let my fear keep me from really spending time with you and getting to know you. I let my anger and my pain close my heart off from you and your sister. I told myself that if I didn't let myself love you, it wouldn't hurt when you were taken from me."
The warm energy he poured into me reached all the way down to my toes, rolling through me like a wave, healing me from the inside. My strength began to return and I lifted my head slightly.
I drew in a startled breath and my mouth fell open. A shimmering dome of light covered us, locking the two of us inside. Spells of light and poison erupted against its surface. Priestess Winter beat her angry fists against the dome, but nothing could penetrate his shield.
"But I loved you anyway," he said. "I've always loved you. You and Angela, you're a part of me, and I had turned my back on you. When I realized it, I gathered my people together and we came here, but I was too late. I saw you fall to save your friend and my heart broke all over again."
I reached my other hand up to his shoulder and gripped it tight, wanting to tell him I loved him too, but unable to find the words.
"You were right, Harper." He placed a second hand over my heart. "Some things are worth dying for."