Page 107 of Hybrid Heroics

The dagger was heavy in my hand, not made for steady use like my obsidian ones. I dug a straight line in the middle of his forearm, drawing a stripe of blood to guide me. Then I raised the blade and bore down, cutting his right hand off.

“Ahh!” he growled, enduring the pain with deep, heaving breaths.

I sighed as I muttered, “I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t stabbed me. Twice tonight with daggers, if we’re counting.”

I rolled my eyes when he turned his head in search of his guys. They were all dead. He found Amelia, but she gave him no emotion, not even glassy eyes full of unshed tears. I touched his chin, pulling his attention back to me.

“And I’m the timer.”

I called a ball of hellfire to my palm and covered the end of his nub with my hand. That got a scream, but I had to stop the bleeding before he passed out. Without all that stocked power, he was nothing more than a six hundred-ish-year-old mage who was well past his prime.

“I am your judge, juror, and executioner.”

The weight lifted from his chest at my command, and he bounded to his feet, legs shaking. His expression contorted into one of unyielding anger, the knowledge of his end flickering in his glower.

“I’ve found you guilty, Alric. And if there is one thing I understand above all else, it’s the wrath beating inside me, ready to serve your justice.”

Once more, he lunged at me… Only this time, I shoved my hand through his chest and gripped his pounding heart. My heart beat in a steady rhythm, dispassionate but relaxed, as he clawed at my wrist, leaving shallow tears in my skin.

I leaned close, whispering in his ear, “This is my favorite way to kill a man. Your heart could have made you the most powerful mage in existence, but you swore you didn’t have one. Can you feel it now? The way it thumps in my grasp? The way it slows when I squeeze?

“Despite all the things you’ve done, all the achievements you’ve reached, you lost sight of the one thing that could have saved you. You’re not eternal, Alric. Stolen magic wasn’t going to alter your lifespan. Your heart could have saved you, but instead, you ignored it. And now, that burden is your death sentence.”

I snatched my hand out of his chest cavity, bringing his heart with me.

He blinked in surprise one last time, then collapsed into a heap at my feet.

I dropped his heart on the ground, stomping on it for good measure, because I wouldn’t go through this shit again. A short spray of blood peppered my legs as the organ flattened out. With a flick of my hand, his body went up in flames.

Somehow, he was the easiest and hardest kill I’d ever had.

But it was done.

And that was what mattered in this one honest moment of silence I gave him.

We went through hell for weeks, only to face a man who overestimated his control. It was almost disappointing, but the irony wasn’t lost.

If we hadn’t gone through hell, we wouldn’t have grown. I would have still been scared of how powerful I was. I would have continued to doubt myself, just like I made Alric do.

When I turned around, I would assess the damage.

If my vision from this morning played out, then we didn’t suffer any casualties. There would be serious injuries, though none of them would be life threatening.

Some of the strongest creatures in all the realms were behind me.

Not all…

Now that this war was over, my next mission would be to find the rest of those creatures.

Why?

I couldn’t say.

I simply felt compelled.

Thursday, June 25th

Night