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One of the tentacles narrows itself into a spear and strikes Max in the shoulder.Hard.He yelps, then chomps off the end of the tentacle with his razor-sharp teeth. But with that distraction, Simon has gained the upper hand. The black mass of tentacles forms into one solid, throbbing fist that batters the both of them so hard that I swear I hear bones break as they fly backwards.
Terror stabs at my chest as I watch their bodies strike the fourth floor of an apartment complex, then begin to fall, certain to break their necks once they hit the ground. Two tumbling masses that don’t seem to be moving, fighting, or even trying to save themselves.
The fear of losing them shakes me loose from my stupor and something rises up within me. Instinct kicks in and I extend my arm towards them. Suddenly, a silver object shimmers into being in the air beneath them. It’s like a soft shield that gathers Max and Braxton and carries them safely back to the asphalt, placing them down gently.
I’ve saved them. I don’t exactly know how, but I’ve saved them. Max looks unconscious, Braxton isn't faring much better, but a bizarre sensation chases dread away. Are the shadows my brother created running from my shield? From the light?
Save everyone. You have the power to do it.
As the feeling swells within me, the silver shield expands, pushing back against Simon’s shadows. As light filters through the black fog like a beacon, revealing the city for what it was before my brother let the dark magic take it.
I tell myself not to question it.Let it save you, Asha. Let it save Max, Braxton, and the people of the town.But how do I do that and still save my brother?
A thought occurs to me then.Maybe if I focus the energy on Simon, I can banish the darkness from his soul.The moment the thought comes to it, I cling to it in desperation. This could be the answer to everything, my strange new powers from the Blood Mages shaped into something new.
I turn my attention to Simon, sprawled out on the road, struggling to regain his strength in the wake of the wolf attack. His eyes—or, rather, the sickly green eyes of the dark mask covering his face, regard me with fear.Simon is mine, not yours, they seem to say.
Hell.My hand curls into a fist.He won’t be for long.
Focusing on the strange feeling I had before the silver light appeared, I watch my hands begin to glow. Bring my arms together, I focus a concentrated beam of silver magic that fires on Simon, and to my shock, it works. The light shines so brightly it’s painful to see, but I don’t look away as it blasts the tar-like substance cocooning him.
He screams, and the substance begins to shake. To weaken. I canfeelit.
As the seconds pass, the dome capping the city trembles, the fog slowly begins to thin, and the mask peels away from Simon’s face — my brother’s face, sweet, innocent Simon. The desire to just run to him flares inside of me, but I can’t stop. Not yet. I press on, funneling all my strength into the beam of unknown magic, intent on banishing the shadow from his soul.
Maybe I can actually free him from the dark magic. Maybe I can save him.
But then Simon starts to weep. His face twists with pain as rivulets stream down his cheeks. I watch him crying, my heart aching, but don’t falter. The darkness clinging to him is disappearing. Off his neck. Off his chest. It… it seems to be working.
Above the roar of my magic, I hear his pleading voice calling out to me, “Asha! It hurts! You’re killing me! Asha!”
It’s a trick, I think, but doubt hollows the assumption. It sounds like Simon. I don’t know what I’m doing. Maybe Iamhurting him.
“Are you… okay?” I call, my voice trembling.
He cries harder, the darkness nearly gone from his body. “It’s too much! You’re killing me! You have to stop!”
My magic is wavering. I’m trying to save him, but what if I’m not? What if by doing this I kill him anyway? I couldn’t live with myself.
I’d rather die than lose my brother.
It’s enough uncertainty to make me stop. I drop my arms and the silver beam relents, allowing the dark slime to creep over him again. Though, it’s slower now, weakened by my attack. It only manages to coat his legs, animating them to flee.
And I don’t stop him as he goes. I just watch. Not knowing what to do. Feeling lost.
Half a block away, he pauses, turning back. His face is awash with pain and fury. His voice floats the distance between us and reaches my ear, almost as though he’s whispering beside me. “We’re far from the end,” he says. Then, Simon turns and runs again, disappearing from my view.
No, I can’t lose him again. I have to follow him. I have to find a way to help him, even if he doesn’t want my help.
I take one step towards him, then pause. Something holds me back, but I don’t know what. That’s my brother. The person I’ve been looking for. Shouldn’t I go after him?
The last of the shadow shrinks away from the town, permitting daylight to flood the town once more. It illuminates the blood and gore and horror left in Simon’s wake. A shudder rolls through me. My brother did all of this. He was capable of… this.
What does this mean?
“Asha!” Braxton’s pleading voice snaps me out of my daze and I turn to find him and his brother in their human forms again.
Braxton has Max propped up against the side of the apartment complex. Neither of them looks good, but Max looks really bad. He’s pale, and his face is twisted in pain. The cut-off black tentacle that pierced his shoulder now wriggles to drive itself deeper. Blood leaks from the wound, and I get the terrible feeling that if that thing gets fully inside of him, he won’t survive it.
