“The beach, on the city limits,” I told her. “It’s going to be deserted. No one will be able to stop me out there.”
“I’ll find Charlie and the others. I’ll distract them, to give you enough time to get the job done.”
We hesitated, and it was for the same reason. I somehow managed to process that this was the last time I was going to see her… ever. There’d be no afterlife for us to reunite in.
It would be like that for everyone I loved. I would never see my parents again, my siblings, my friends…
I’d never see Monica again. I was willingly choosing not to. Ancestors, it nearly broke my will and made me turn back. Let Charlie and the Warden destroy it all, just so I could see her smile and say my name one last time.
Yet my cause was greater. I wished upon wish that maybe one day, the new stars that would be created from the fragments of our souls would come together, casting out stardust. Perhaps in another eternity, we’d be reunited again.
She embraced me again. “You’ve been the best friend I could’ve ever asked for, Ava. I wish things could’ve been different.”
I hugged her back as tightly as I could, praying I could mold her into me so we didn’t have to be separated. “It was the best, Kallie. You were one of the greatest joys of my life.”
“And you mine.” She lifted a watery smile as Oberi shifted into a unicorn beside me. Kallie helped me onto her back. I grasped Kallie’s hand, locked onto her gaze, and held on for as long as I could before our fingers trailed apart as Oberi carried me away.
There were guards warring and killing each other in the halls, but Oberi swerved me around the various battles as we galloped through the palace. I glanced to my right as we passed the main hall and saw Cameron surrounded by his men, shouting orders as he battled Charlie’s warriors off with magic and his sword.
All this death and unnecessary war, merely to decide who would rule over what. It was stupid. That cycle would end today.
Oberi burst into the gardens. Once she did, her body morphed and became larger, growing scales and wings. The wyvern lifted into the sky, taking flight and carrying me far away from the palace.
Oberi flew me toward the beach. As he did so, words that the Warden spoke to me years ago came back to haunt my thoughts, his voice creeping at the edges of my being.
One day, the four of you will have a disagreement, a difference of opinion that’ll lead to division. Then it’ll be as simple to pick you apart as it is to pick the wings off a fly.
Well, he was right. We were broken apart now. Charlie and me, our friends, all of us. But I wouldn’t give the Warden enough time to divide our group in order to conquer them, because I was finishing them off myself. The best part about this was even though I was destroying the people I cared for, I was destroying the Warden, too, and he was going down with us.
As I flew over the city, I looked down. I observed Elves battling in the streets, fighting with each other and spilling blood as Charlie’s side and Cameron’s fought to take control.
Let them. It would all be over soon.
Then… my eyes locked upon a lone figure on the top of a nearby penthouse. I recognized her as I flew overhead. Our eyes connected, and her gaze… it looked so sad. But full of acceptance, like she’d been waiting for this day to come and no longer had to carry the burden of it upon her shoulders.
Aunt Maddie. She knew I was going to do this all along, because she’d foreseen it. She’d tried to warn me, but I hadn’t listened. She could’ve killed me in my crib, stopped all this from happening, but she didn’t. She’d left the choice up to me.
I was grateful for that. She’d done the job of anadereiand hadn’t interfered, despite what she’d foreseen.
Oberi landed on the beach. I was still inside the shield, but it wasn’t like that made a difference now. I held on to Oberi’s head as he lifted me off his back, setting me in the sand. He shifted back into a husky as he stood beside me, waiting for me to take action.
The waves crashed onto the shore, my most beloved sound. As high tide met its peak, I gave a sad smile at the ocean I loved so much. The horizon line called to me as it always did, promising adventures I’d never have and incredible sights that I’d never see.
It was a shame we were losing all this beauty, the brilliance of the natural world and all its biodiversity. All because we couldn’t get along.
An orange hue broke out over the sea, purple and pink colors racing throughout the sky. What a beautiful sunset. A perfect way to conclude our story.
Are you going to do it now?Oberi asked, and he tilted his head.
“Yes,” I replied. It was the only way.
I put both hands on the ground, digging into the sand. I felt the Earth’s energy deep within the ground, going down to the core of the planet. There was the bond that linked our realm to the spiritual one. The vibration of the Blessed Haven and all the afterlifes it contained sent an echoing call to Earth, and I felt that connection tremor as souls ferried back and forth along that tethered rope. Once I set off a chain reaction that couldn’t be stopped, all of it would fall apart.
Harnessing all my power, I wrapped my Spirit magic around the rope and began to pull. Immediately, there was resistance, but I pushed harder. The bond began to crack under my pressure, and there was a great moan that spread throughout the land as the Earth started to protest.
I became enraged at this realm and outraged by her spirit. Back in the gardens with my parents, when I first felt Earth’s spirit, I saw her beauty. She showed me her divine feminine energy, her desire to nurture and spread joy.
But she was in all of us— every human and supernatural on the planet— and while she could build mountains and create life, we were the part of her that would always be destructive. There was a dark side to her feminine beauty, and it wasus. People would continue to sabotage each other— to starve, rape, murder, and abuse. This was never going to end, unlessIput an end to it.
