“I cannot,” Eldin replied firmly. “Our orders from the Emperor are to get you out of here, and his commands are above yours.”
“We have to help!” I shrieked. “Let me go!”
“You’re not going anywhere,” my father hissed, and he pulled me in the direction of the portal, despite me fighting him the whole way.
I would condemn myself to the worst pain the supernatural world knew before I allowed Cassiel to die here alone. I wouldnotlet him go down, and if he did, I would go down with him. I’d die with my grandfather, because that’s what family did, and that’s all I ever wanted. My father would not prevent me from perishing at my grandfather’s side, because that’s where I belonged. I drew my fist back and punched Cameronhardin the face. He reeled back at the blow, but his grip on me only tightened.
“Wehaveto go!” Cameron screamed. He looped his arm around my neck to put me in a headlock. My concussion pounded with pain, disorientation growing stronger as I struggled to breathe.
“Where’s your demigod army?” Cassiel taunted the Warden.
“Off following my orders in other parts of the world,” the Warden replied coolly. “I don’t need them to kill you all.”
My father dragged me back while I struggled to free myself from his hold. The tingle of illusion magic filled the desert. My grandfather must’ve been using it to blind the Warden. It worked for a split second, giving my grandfather enough time to race forward. The Warden merely scoffed, and the illusion broke.
But Cassiel was already within arm’s reach.
The Warden gave a gurgling sound as my grandfather grabbed him by the throat. The Warden’s shoes made a scratching sound against the sand as Cassiel lifted him off the ground with one hand, strangling him.
I knew what his plan was. The Warden was too strong physically, but my grandfather knew exactly where to hit him. He was using his Elf power to turn the Warden’s own memoriesagainst himself, pulling out the Warden’s worst recollections and replaying them back to torture and weaken him. My grandfather wasn’t usually powerful enough to read demigod memories, but when he siphoned my magic, it must’ve given him just enough of an edge against the Warden to do so.
“These memories… can’t hurt me,” the Warden rasped.
“Remember who you are,” Cassiel urged. “Your father would be disappointed in you. You think you’re so powerful, but you’re merely a worthless, weak child who everyone thought would grow up to be nothing, and you’re still nothing. Everyone picked on you and kicked you around, and instead of learning from your past, you just turned into the people you despised.”
My grandfather’s memory magic resonated throughout the camp in waves, so powerful that it hit me square in the chest. The desert seemed to close in on me, and my own screams faded until everything around me was happening in slow motion.
A heavy fist sank into my stomach, and images began to form inside my mind. I saw the remnants of the camp flying by me, until I was lying on my back in the middle of a crater formed by the impact of my body. I continued to scream, but my voice was far off in the distance. Without choosing to, I rose from the crater to my feet.
It was then that I realized what was happening. My grandfather’s powers were so intense that he was projecting his memories of this moment outward, so that I could see what was happening in real time through his eyes. I didn’t think he intended for it to happen. He was so focused on killing the Warden that his powers had flared beyond anything I’d seen him use before, and now, I was witnessing it all.
Cassiel stood to face the Warden. The Warden was at least fifty feet away, and he gave my grandfather a wry smile, like he merely found this amusing. In the blink of an eye, Cassiel shot a battle orb at the Warden that was crackling with power. Itblasted straight through the Warden’s chest, leaving a mangled hole where his heart should be. I saw organs, like his lungs, poking through the hole, as well as gnarled rib bones.
The Warden merely walked forward without missing a beat. His chest began to heal itself automatically, and the hole in his body that the battle orb had made became nothing more than a burn in the Warden’s suit.
I felt my grandfather’s panic like it was my own emotion. He took a step back, but the Warden had already spread his wings. He launched himself on Cassiel and grabbed him by the collar.
The Warden flew high into the sky, and the camp became smaller and smaller with each passing moment. Through my grandfather’s eyes, I saw that our friends were already gone. Liam carried Oberi through the portal, until only Ava and I still remained.
The Warden must’ve flown my grandfather a mile up before spiraling downward, punching him through the sky. Cassiel spun through the air and landed on the ground so hard I heard the crunch of bones as the Warden’s fists smashed him into the Earth.
Delirious pain surged through my grandfather’s body, and he cried out in agony. Still, Cassiel didn’t give up. He staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain of his broken leg and wiping the blood from his face as the Warden landed in front of him.
Cassiel lifted a hand, and tendrils of magic began to siphon out of the Warden. He staggered, forcing his crushed arm to remain outstretched as he struggled to take the Warden’s abilities, giving moans of anguish as he did so.
The Warden merely smirked. “You cannot siphon my power, you filthyElf. You will never be able to contain it, for I am more powerful than anyone in this universe has ever been.”
Cassiel’s body sagged, and he fell to his knees. The power he tried to siphon was already too much, and he couldn’t take it. Itwas terrifying to watch. My grandpa was so powerful, and yet, the Warden acted like his power wasnothing.
The Warden gave a smug grin as he stepped toward my grandfather. “I cannot thank you enough, Emperor Cassiel. You kept your people alive for all those years, so that one day, their power could become mine. My siege on Forevermore was merely the beginning. Now, I shall have the world.”
Cassiel didn’t have time to react. A bright light emanated from the Warden’s palm and slammed into my grandfather’s chest. His back arched, and his face turned toward the heavens. Complete anguish tore through me as my grandfather’s cries echoed across the camp, and I screamed along with him.
My grandfather’s pain permeated the memory, projecting outward so that I felt everything. The light magic felt like razor blades slicing through each nerve ending, separating muscle from bone and skin from flesh, scorching him into nothing more than fragments of skin and bone. The light magic tore away at Cassiel’s body, consuming him as a covetous, unsatisfiable blaze.
The light grew in intensity, until it became blinding. An explosion sounded, and my grandfather’s memory projection ended, until all images washed away from my mind.
Air swept by my feet, sending dust particles swirling around me. Embers fell upon my face from the sky and smeared across my clothes.
