The first explosion rocks the entire building, and people are immediately scrambling to the trees for the cover. I make the mistake of breathing and cough up smoke. Stumbling to the edge of the roof, I look down, and my stomach lurches. On the ground, in full armor with weapons, is an army. And Rythe is the one leading it. Scrambling backwards, I look around to see what’s going on. Alar has disappeared, but weapons are being chucked up through the hatch to the roof, so I’m assuming he’s the one arming us. Ama is casting spells and her aura is getting more solid and blacker by the second. Klef is speaking to Mom and Dad. Flo is looking around, calling Rythe’s name. Hibiscus is trying to dodge the fires that are sprouting up from falling branches and damaged parts of the roof. I stick two fingers in my mouth and whistle the best I can. They all look to me. “It’s Rythe!” I scream. “Rythe is down there leading the attacking army! If he comes up here, do not let him ‘help’ you!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEL36L7fZE
Everyone stares at me in shock. Ama is the first to recover, unleashing a primeval scream before her chants pick up speed and suddenly there are dozens upon dozens of bones flying in the air from all around us, swarming at her. She sweeps one hand toward the madness below. “Attack!” she screeches, and the bones go flying.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgt3lZTV1fa
The leaders of the Crusaders are grabbing bows, pickaxes, swords, daggers, guns, whatever is being tossed up the hatch. Klef throws me a bow and a quiver of arrows, and I run to the edge of the roof, notching those suckers as fast as I can. Years of practice has made me an excellent shot, and I’m aiming to kill. One by one enemies are falling, dropping to the floor. But for every one that falls down, two are brought in to replace them. And Rythe is just standing there, a smirk on their face. “Still think you can win, do you?” he calls up, as if he’s just talking about the weather. “Give up, little Iri, you know you can’t win! You know how this ends!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUA9S4g0m9
I swallow. I had sort of pieced together what was about to happen, but that didn’t mean I was going to accept it. I notch another arrow and aim it straight at their eye. I release, and the arrow flies true to course, but gets smashed by a kind of magic I’ve never seen before. They smile up at me, waving their hand, where a charm is dangling from their wrist. I growl. Clearly, this is not going to be easy.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIhjz4A4hp
Something behind Rythe draws my attention, and I see a giant ball of flame in a catapult, ready to fire. “Back! EVeryone, back! They’re about to burn us all to a crisp! Get back!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeNTnRmCvG
Everyone who still can, runs, but Hibiscus starts sobbing. “I can’t move!” they yell. “I’m stuck!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX23vkoyRrv
My stomach drops. No. Hibiscus? After all they’ve been through, they can’t die. I run for them, but fire explodes in the corner of my eye, and suddenly we’re falling.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPPK3w8sOd
I sit up, not daring to groan. My vision is swimming. Fire. It’s all around me. It’s what I’m almost breathing in and what I’m choking on. I hear someone yell, “Shelter! We have to get to shelter!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8bArYB07O
Where is he? He has to be here, he couldn’t have been hit. “Klef!” I scream.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWFSk0c6hM
Coughs erupt 3 feet away from me. I reach out and grab a hand. Klef’s hand. He squeezes it, and we struggle out of the immediate fire. BANG!834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCUOrKYWIl
“They’ve got guns!” I exclaim, panicked.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUrleUAkpz
We’re sitting ducks, trapped in the base by fire. No way out this time. I look at Klef and he looks at me. There’s desperation in his eyes, and I have no doubt it’s in mine as well. And in what feels to be our final moments together…we kiss.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiGwBaGqdT
There’s footsteps running up to the now gaping opening of the base, and Klef and I break apart. “You have to hide,” Klef orders. “Go!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpFECxChpL
“No way I’m leaving without you!” I exclaim. “Don’t you dare tell me to go hide and be safe while you’re out here being stupid!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWFBwOSibl
There are blurry shapes walking through the flames, approaching fast. One reaches out an appendage and slams into the back of Klef’s head, causing his eyes to widen in shock before they close and he falls face- first to the floor. I scramble backward but the same appendage grabs onto my ankle and refuses to let go. “No!” I scream, kicking wildly. “Let me go! No!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysDSO0fcmN
Someone behind me grabs my arms and twists them painfully. “A-ah! No! Nnn… no!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ihHGB53OF
There’s a prick in my neck and everything starts swimming faster. “N… no… no…”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTOuqJ8G4g
The last thing I can clearly see is Klef lying there on the floor, and I can only imagine the panic he’ll feel when he wakes up, before my vision fades to black.
834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROa6KfCeJf
When I wake up, there’s something cold against my wrists and ankles. I sit up, blinking rapidly, trying to clear the swimming in my head. “Good morning, Oracle,” a voice says across from me. “You’ve been out quite a while.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVELzEF41Zp
I frown and blink more, and slowly the blurry form of Rythe comes into view. I lunge forward, or at least try to, but the cold on my wrists is holding me back. They chuckle. “Don’t try and fight, little Iri, you know how this is going to end as well as I do. Not well for you, I’m afraid.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3UDVE1P7s
“Screw you,” I rasp, before coughing.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwGWpslcMS
A glass of water comes into my line of sight and I scowl at the hand offering it, which quickly retreats. Rythe waves a hand dismissively, and shrugs. “I can understand why you don’t want my help, Oracle, but I want to make sure you are in top condition.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsunRBwG2I
I laugh. “You shouldn’t have tried to kill me, then. Or weren’t you the person who threw the grenade in the bedroom at the base?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2R8kMQaRd
“I knew you were in the ensuite, I was trying to kill that pesky little boyfriend of yours.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYOGin5Fyf
“Somehow, that’s not reassuring,” I snark.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFY2uWRV4v
Rythe rolls his eyes. “Yes, well. I’m afraid we won’t be talking for much longer. You see, your Sight is rather… unusual. I suppose you now know that you were in my head in your dream? Thing is, I never even felt it. I felt heightened paranoia, perhaps. The feeling I was being watched. But I didn’t know who, or how. And I want to see if we can harness that power.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyJu9kANQ5
I lean back into the wall behind me, staring up at Rythe with disgust. “And how are you going to do that?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdADnKJTfVs
“Simple,” Rythe says, waving a hand. A fairy starts connecting wires to my fingers and hands, and clips glass circles to my eyes and around the back of my head. “We’re going to force your magic to conduct itself while you are awake, and see what you can see through a screen.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvDUTmiY4F
Something starts buzzing and I arch my back in pain. It feels like my entire body is on fire, and that my soul is being split from it. Slowly, images start to take form.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlopukRKpJ1
Sharp, blackened shapes that stretch into the sky. Rubble all around, and dead bodies of people in their Deuxlives scattered about. Fresh deaths are just starting to rouse with groans and gasps. The head I’m in doesn’t stop looking around, and sighs. I know that sigh. Klef, I realize.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgLEQj0So1
“Is everyone okay?” his voice asks.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QU8f7ZikI
Someone is crying. Another person is calling out names of people they care about. One giant shape in the rubble stands up shakily. A new dragon. They look down at themselves and smile. “Well, if I had to go some way, I’m glad I got to be a dragon.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2qrPefZ7m
Hibiscus. “Hibiscus, I am so sorry,” Klef says.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeisAyMsJk
The dragon smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned about Rides’ parents. Has anyone seen them?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mMuKbBrMh
A lump forms in my throat. Mom might still be alive in her Deuxlife. But if Dad died… he has no way of coming back this time. “I’m here,” Dad calls.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpB1pX0T6Cj
Klef turns and runs over to him. “Have you seen her mother? Please tell me she’s okay!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EW71I7nez
Dad sighs. “Well, she’s technically still alive…”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWzzGODmyn
My heart skips a beat. Mom died. It’s all my fault. She walks into view, rubbing her shoulders. “Klef, I never realized how complicated it is to have wings. I’ll be making some adjustments to our house rules, to better accomodate you.” Tawny yellow wings stretch out from Mom’s back.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcxVqiuzKs
“That’s not necessary, really, it just takes a bit getting used to,” Klef assures her. “Has anyone seen Rides, though?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUH5wB9gJy
Everyone turns solemn. I can feel Klef’s panic in his head. “Someone has seen her, right?! She’s not gone?!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDyDcpBWir
Hibiscus stretches their wings. “I saw someone grab her and carry her out as I was dying. I’m sorry.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWY9nqPfCU
“We have to find her!” Klef exclaims. “Form a search party! We have to find out where she’s gone.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPoBc072zq
“No, Klef, don’t be an idiot!” I scream. “They’ll just kill you too!”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrVM0ifshL
Klef’s head whips around. “Ride?” he whispers.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3A0uYP3ML
Before I can say anything else, I’m disconnected from the wires that let me see him. I want to scream in frustration, but I refuse to give Rythe the satisfaction. “See your boyfriend, did you? How sweet,” they coo. “Hope you said goodbye.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvae3Tf9IG
I ignore Rythe in favor of looking around where I’m being held. It’s a carriage, but it’s one of the ones usually reserved for escorting prisoners. No ammount of yelling for help is going to get me anywhere, but I do recognize the rock patterns outside on the hills from pictures I’ve seen of places in west Argentor. “Do you want to see your hometown?” Rythe asks casually. “I’m sure all your friends would love to see you carted away like the criminal that you are. But then again, someone such as yourself probably doesn’t have any friends, am I right?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9qamTyyFz
They’re trying to rile me up, but I stay silent. I’m not willing to give them the satisfaction of interacting with me anymore than they force me to. They sigh. “This is going to be a long ride,” they sigh.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukh3pqfZGr
“‘I was angry at my friend,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVA6S6ilpO
“‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzwL7ipAXB
“‘I was angry at my foe,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcD0AWky8jg
“‘I told it not, my wrath did grow,” I mutter.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0E2X2EtR8F
“‘And I watered it in fears,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkkt24EdEs
“‘Night and morning with my tears.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjSMrTGvBD
“‘And I sunned it with smiles,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY71IB5HzN6
“‘And with soft, deceitful wiles.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19xO65IpGi
“‘And it grew both day and night.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahnNuc30mN
“‘Till it bore an apple bright.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVQwMxLilO
“‘And my foe beheld it shine,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqCLxmMdjp
“‘And he knew that it was mine.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmzmLFUEm8
“‘And into my garden stole,834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcpzswn3dJ
“‘When the night had veild the pole;834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROM8habjhB
“‘In the morning glad I see;834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX07vzlkKra
“‘My foe outstretched beneath the tree.’ Nice poem,” Rythe finishes. “One of our founders was fond of it as well. She actually used that to motivate herself to get things done, a lot like you.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSI3dgXj0Lf
I feel a little sick at the comparison. “You don’t get to say who I am and am not like. I’m my own person, and expect to be treated as such.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIyYYFmVpU
Rythe smirks. “Feisty like her, too.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdebon7hHL
I stand as best I can with the shackles on me and spit in their face. Rythe blinks, before laughing. “Definitely fiesty,” they say. “I really like you. If we weren’t on opposing sides I’d like you to be my partner in crime.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rr0ceemep
“You had Flo,” I point out. “Wasn’t she enough for you?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2SOMDhId5
Rythe shrugs. “She was nice, true, but she was a means to an end. We needed a Crusader base in the Werewolf Territory. And she was the most likely to start it. Shame what happened to her last night.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVxCfn29RR
I swallow and drop my eyes.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWRz5QFjDh
“‘Course, I would never have anyone but myself kill her. Only the best for my love,” he sighs.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymObIU2bO2
“You’re a monster,” I growl. “Nothing more than a monster.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37iSFQis1b
“Want to know how she died? With honor, maybe? It was pathetic, I’ll tell you that much. Told me that if I stopped now we could still have a chance. I smiled and shot her. Never saw it coming, dropped to the ground. I would have laughed, if it weren’t so tragic.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QNT7Kgoxl
My eyes sting. “Shut up,” I growl. “You don’t talk about the dead like that.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBWkpVO8Ry
“Maybe you don’t, but I do,” Rythe says with a satisfied grin. “Oh, you’re stuck here, my dear. May as well get used to my brand of humor.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv52X9509qU
“I’m going to die anyway, what’s the point?”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AArbAsOeO
“Die? No, no, no, no. You’re not going to die. The machine we need you for won’t kill you, we’ve made sure of that,” Rythe laughs. “You’re simply going to destroy the humans. And the grief will drive you mad when we kill the Crusaders who aren’t with us, starting with your precious boyfriend. But we need your dreams. We’re not going to kill you. We’re going to break you.”834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RmtZyeYXs
I bite my lip and look at the outside world. It wouldn’t take that much to break me at this point, to be honest. Flo is dead. Hibiscus died. Mom died. Klef is stranded without me. And I’m going to be instrumental in genocide. I sit back sullenly and watch the scenery go by. For all I know, it could be my last time seeing it.
