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The boy stares and slowly his arm lowers. The shuffling of steps and groans of the zombies stops. Silence falls with the weight of a blanket covering us. I wipe away the tears which aren’t of fear, but of forgiveness.
I forgive myself. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been wrong, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone makes mistakes. Life is about making mistakes, but I realize I’ve been stuck in mine. I think, in large part, everyone is.
Regret is a sticky thing, clinging, and holding me back. Keeping me trapped and not seeing the world around me but coloring it with all the things I can’t let happen again. Relief rushes in and the tension of my shoulders eases. My breath comes easier; my chest expands and fills in what feels fuller than ever before.
“What did you do, Quinn?” Dugald whispers.
I open my arms and move towards the soldier boy. There is an instant of revulsion at what I’m about to do but this is the right thing. This is what I must do.
I wrap my arms around him. He stands stiff as a board, then slowly, he closes his arms around me and we’re hugging. He lowers his head into my shoulder and as he does, he is no longer cold. Warmth suffuses his body as his flesh returns to life or some semblance thereof.
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “It was an accident.”
“I know,” the boy says. “It’s fine.”
As he grants me his forgiveness he fades and, in a heartbeat, I’m hugging empty air. The zombies pressing in on us are gone. The world is an empty, barren wasteland once again. I drop my arms to my side, bowing my head and enjoying the sense of relief.
Power hums in my core and in my thoughts. My power. True power, not dependent on any outside force. Power I’ve kept from myself because I was afraid. Filled with tiny regrets for every accident, every mistake of not only my entire life, but on some level of every misjudgment I’ve made in many lifetimes.
So many regrets and each one was a brick in the wall between myself and my true nature. I am named Destroyer and Destroyer I was, but in focusing on destruction I also cut myself off, one piece at a time, from myself.
“Quinn, you’re glowing,” Moira says, something akin to awe in her voice.
I raise my hands and inspect them, waving them through the air they trail sparkles of light.
“Huh,” I say.
Something explodes and all of us jump, spinning towards the source. Another explosion, this one so close it makes my ears ring. The earth blasts into the sky, spewing smoke as debris rains down around us.
ChapterSixteen
“What’s happening?”I yell to be heard over another explosion.
It’s followed by another. And another. It’s as if some giant set of cannons is shelling us. The only comparison in my head is the intro toSaving Private Ryanwhen they stormed the beach at Normandy. Spinning towards the tower we run.
There’s no time or need for words. The world is ripping itself apart. Explosions are happening all around us, and as the ground explodes what remains is empty craters of swirling blackness. A nothingness, a true, utter darkness.
The darkness has found us once again and here, it’s even more powerful. We weave our way through and around crevasses and craters, angling towards the tower every time we can. We can’t talk, the explosions are a constant, deafening rumble, but Dugald points and we follow as he leads us through the nightmare. The only good thing is the tower is closer.
We’re going to make it.
Hope lightens my steps as I run. The tower is made of black bricks that look almost seamless. A wooden door big enough for a giant to walk through with black iron hinges is directly in front of us.
An explosion happens right beside me and I’m thrown to the side. I manage to keep my feet, barely, but as I stumble and try to stay upright my foot catches on a rock, and I fall. Throwing my hands up to protect my head I catch myself before my face hits. Ash puffs into my face, temporarily blinding me.
“Quinn,” Dugald yells my name.
He and Moira grab my arms and lift me onto my feet. There’s no time to express gratitude for them and their help. One fast look and I see we’re on a crumbling path. All around us is the swirling black left behind where the world has been destroyed. My stomach knots looking at it and I know, all the way to my bones, that if we fall into that blackness, it’s over. No more lives, no more nothing.
We continue our mad dash, but something pulls my attention. I look up along the smooth bricks of the tower and then I see him. Duncan.
I point and my companions look, then nod. Duncan is chained to what looks like a wooden X. Demonic figures surround him, tearing at his flesh. I hear his screams even over the noise of the world being destroyed. I see a demon’s clawed hand rip through his guts, then the wound heals a moment later, ready for him to be tortured again.
My vision tinges red with anger and I dig deep, running faster. We reach the door at last. I grab the iron ring and pull with all my weight, but it doesn’t budge.
“Damn it,” I curse, jerking again and again.
Dugald and Moira grab on as well and the three of us jerk and pull but to no avail. It doesn’t even tremble, no matter how much effort we put into it. The explosions are less often. The deafening roar easing so I look over my shoulder.
