Chapter Forty-Eight: The Endgame


    “No, it isn’t possible,” Alyx whispered. “It can’t be true.”


    “It just works,” Yue told her. “I don’t want it to be him either.”


    “Our captain? A murderer?” Aster asked. “He was always so loving and he cared about us.”


    “So, he’s a Cultist then?” Alyx asked.


    “I think so,” Yue nodded. “That explains why he hated it when I made that speech.”


    “But that brings up so many questions,” Neena said. “Why did he choose you to lead the investigation on the murderers? Why did he start killing us? Did he overhear us?”


    “I know,” Yue admitted. “I don’t understand it all yet, but I’m sure I’m right.”


    Her friends hung their heads with her and pondered the revelation. Yue desperately hoped she was wrong, but this just worked too well. They hadn’t suspected him ever because he’d been the captain, it was ridiculous to accuse him, but pisces fell into place when she put him in the murderers spot.


    No wonder the assassins had attacked her; Captain Wolf was gone at the time. No wonder the spies the Wolf had set on her tried to kill her twice. One of the times involved the Wolf but that was probably for show. No wonder that he


    “I don’t want to interrupt this wonderful experience,” Th’ul told them. “But if we want to get there on time, we should get moving. The two hours are moving quickly.”


    Yue took in a breath and stood up. “You’re right. Let’s keep going.”


    They began to walk to the field again, burden in their hearts now.


    “I don’t believe it,” Alyx said. “Until you have evidence, I don’t believe it. I can’t.”


    “You don’t need to,” Yue told her. “When we confront the Wolf, then the truth will be revealed.”


    “I hope you’re wrong. For all our sakes.”


    — — —


    I think I’m catching up to my friends. Sia and I are jogging at a fairly good pace, not exhausting—although we’re already exhausted—but not too slow we don’t feel it. The view passes by as I run and I breathe in the air.


    I’ve heard that humans are always thinking about something. That’s a lie. I’m not thinking about anything. My mind is blank, purposely. I wanted a little time to rest my mind, and it’s working. I need to think clearer, and, although that will probably only truly come when I take a nap, I can still feel my mind thinking faster and better because I just mindlessly run.


    “I think I see them!” Sia exclaims, and I stare ahead of us.


    She’s right. There are silhouettes ahead of us, maybe a dozen, and I recognize Xavier’s gait. It’s slightly tilted, as if the person next to him is magnetizing him. It gets really annoying sometimes, having him bump into you when he’s talking to you.


    “Come on!” Sia says and runs ahead of me. I slow down a bit. If I can already see them, they probably won’t get too far ahead.


    My eyelids tease me, trying to close permanently. It feels like every time I blink, I’m in danger of falling asleep. My mana, once again, is at about 35% because of the massive wave of magic I used on Not-Astil the Invisible Demon. I slap myself to wake myself up and it works. For about two seconds.


    Sia has reached Yue, Xavier, and the others. They look behind at me, waiting for me. I groan, hating when this happens. If they think I’ll speed up just because they’re waiting impatiently, they’re dead wrong.


    “Come on!” Yue yells at me. “Faster, Zade.”


    I groan but do not pick up the pace. I realize how awkward the situation is now, but I don’t really care. My friends yell at me, but I just look forward and keep walking normally.


    Eventually, after about five minutes, I do reach them. They glare at me and I smile.


    “It’s good to see you, too.”


    “Where were you?” Yue asks.


    “Fighting my demons. Literally.” I fill them in on what happened.


    “So, who created them?”


    “No idea” I shrug. “But I have to thank whoever did it. What about you? What happened when you left?”


    “The Wolf—that bastard—asked for a meeting and we convinced the Vanguard to fight the Cult. Then I receive a message floating in the air that tells me to go to the plain. It burst into flames right after.”


    “And you’re assuming this is something very important? Okay, then,” I say, smiling wide.


    “Oh, and we just figured out that the Wolf is the murderer.”


    “Huh. Wait, didn’t you just say you convinced the Vanguard to fight the Cult? Then where does your captain fit into this?”


    “He wasn’t best pleased about it, but there was nothing he could do,” Yue replies, shrugging,


    “Wow, that’s a lot,” I admit. “What do you think will happen at the Arena? And don’t say the end, I already know.”


    “I think we’re going to fight the Cult,” Yue says. “The murderer, Xander. This will be an end, Zade. I’m sure of it.”


    “I certainly hope so,” Zade teases. “I would hate for us to go there just to find a love-struck person talking about their infatuation over you.”


    “And why would that happen to me?” Yue cocks one eyebrow.


    “Because you’re the Sterkona,” Alyx butts in matter-of-factly. “You’re one of the most famous people in Magefell now. Who wouldn’t be infatuated with you?”


    “I wouldn’t,” Xavier says.


    “I would,” Aster replies.


    “I can see myself being infatuated,” I step in.


    “Me too,” Alyx admits.


    “I couldn’t,” Neena says.


    “Me neither,” Th’ul says.


    “Okay,  let’s stop talking about who’d have a crush on me or not,” Yue glares at us, causing us to burst into laughter.


    “Just for the record tho, I’d sm—” Aster begins but Yue cuts her off.


    “No, no, no! Just stop. Y''all are so weird. Ugh.”


    That only causes me to laugh harder, but a sob stops me. Artemis is crying, walking with us in body but clearly not in spirit.


    “How can you be so happy?” He asks. “Poli died an hour ago, and now you’re acting like nothing happened. You’re laughing and joking. How can you do that without Pol?”


    The smiles are wiped off our faces and I stare pitifully at Artemis.


    “I didn’t know her too well,” I admit. “She didn’t like me, clearly. I’m sad she’s gone, but I didn’t know her well enough to give me more depression than the one I was healed from.”


    “I didn’t know her well either, and neither did they,” Xavier says, pointing at Sia and Skai.


    “Poli didn’t really like me much either,” Th’ul replies.


    “I understand you guys,” Artemis says, “But you,” he looks at Yue, Alyx, Aster and Neena. “You have no excuse.”


    “Poli was a little reclusive, Artemis,” Yue tells him, patting his shoulder. “She didn’t really let us get close to her. She was unpredictable, and was often angry. But she was still our friend, and for that, we are sad. But we can laugh, because company, Artemis, is the best medicine. That and laughter.”


    “I always thought medicine was the best medicine, honestly,” Xavier says.


    “Not now,” Yue glares at him.


    “That’s how we stay afloat.” Yue continues. “Because if we stop, then the problems will drown us. Artemis, you need to do the same.”


    “It’s been one hour! How am I supposed to be healed already?”


    “You’re right. We’ll give you space. Just know we’re here for you if and when you need it.”


    “Thanks,” He replies stiffly, turning away from her.


    The remains of the Arena comes into view. It’s a depressing sight, and a bad one for the climate too. The arena is totally gone, but the charred dirty ground is still left. There doesn’t seem to be anyone there yet, but I’m sure whoever is there will appear soon.


    “We’re here early,” Yue says. “We’ll be able to spot whoever comes before they spot us.”


    “Unless they come from the forest,” I point out. “At which point they might just shoot at us before we know anything.”


    “Ah, be optimistic for one,” Yue smiles.


    “Optimism is for cowards and weaklings,” I tease. “Pessimism is for realists.”


    “You do know pessimo means horrible in the language of the Tribos, right? So, it’s a horrible worldview.”


    The Tribos are a reclusive tribe from just above Galacia that refuses almost every contact with other nations.


    “How would you know that?” I ask.


    “Something my mom used to say,” She responds.


    “Well, the horrible in pessimism only means we expect the horrible in this life. Which, if you’ve noticed, is what happens ninety percent of the time.”


    “He’s right,” Artemis chokes.


    “Okay, now I might agree with you,” I whisper to Yue.


    “Optimism is about living your best life,” She says.


    “No, it’s mostly about being delusional,” I respond. “Pessimism is realism.”


    “You aren’t even really a pessimist,” Yue retorts. “I said what I said as a joke.”


    “I got converted, what can I say?” I smile. “It’s the greatest religion.”


    “And who’s the god there?” Yue asks.


    “The inevitable end of us all,” I laugh, and Yue rolls her eyes.


    “What happened to you?”


    “I killed my best friend.”


    Yue chuckles, and I decide the conversation is over.


    “Wake me up when they arrive, please,” I say, laying down on the ground. A minute later, I’m already asleep.


    — — —


    There was something strange about stress that Yue had never gotten accustomed to. Humans felt stress when a particular event had a legitimate reason for causing stress. Stress was a natural reaction for humans. And yet, stress didn’t do anything. It only hampered and sometimes stopped Yue’s progress in that particular event or work. It didn’t make sense. On the outside, stress could even seem like a good thing. If someone was stressed, they realized the gravity of a situation, right? That meant they could work harder, right? But, no, in fact, they worked much worse. How could something so natural and on the surface so helpful be so harmful?


    Yue was feeling stressed. There was a knot in her stomach that just like any real knot—she’d always had trouble with them—, she couldn’t unwind it. It gnawed at her, telling her how important this situation was and how crucial it was that she do her best.


    Shouldn’t that help her?


    But no, it just made her nervous and anxious. That was stress. No one she knew had the same thoughts about stress.


    And now Yue was thinking about stress while she was stressed. She felt there had to be some sort of ironic joke but she couldn’t place it. She was too stressed to figure it out.


    And how many times had she thought the word stress in the last minute? Too many, that was for sure.


    Yue knew what she was anxious about, but she wasn’t even thinking about it. That was another weird part of stress. Stress was there even if one wasn''t thinking of the thing one was stressed about. Of course, if the reason one was stressed didn’t exist, one wouldn’t be stressed. But if the reason did exist, it didn’t matter if one was thinking about it. The stress would linger.


    So what was stress even for? Natural human reactions shouldn’t be so…useless. Harmful. Stressful, even.


    Of course, there was a legitimate reason for her to be so stressed. Seeing Xander again was anxiety-inducing enough, but seeing him wanting to murder her would be even worse. Plus, she knew she would have to face the Wolf now and she really did not want to do that, although at the same time it was the only thing she wanted to do.


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    Life was strangely, unnecessarily complicated. Yue didn’t know if she0d ever understand it. Of course, she wasn’t sure anyone did. The rivers of life just tugged you along until you gave up fighting and went along with it.


    Existential thoughts? What the hell was  happening to her? She really was stressed. She didn’t remember the last time she’d thought something deep and existential like this, probably because she’d never thought like this. Surprisingly, she found she liked it. It felt refreshing.


    Of course, there wasn’t really any use in these thoughts. Everything would happen the way it did whether Yue thought if she was stressed or not. She was thinking just to pass the time, waiting for whoever was coming to arrive.


    The silence was pregnant. Yue didn’t even know what the meant but she’d heard it said once and she felt like it described the situation perfectly. Zade and Xavier were asleep. Artemis was crying in his corner. The others, including her, were just sitting, thinking, silent, looking at each other awkwardly not willing to start conversation, but hating the silence all the same, lost in their thoughts, trying to find their way out of that maze, the maze harder to escape than anything real.


    Had the two hours passed yet? Was the person going to arrive now? She couldn’t see anything going down the hill yet, but they could be coming from the forest. Yue needed to be ready, but she did want to fall asleep a little. But at the same time, she didn’t trust sleep.


    Sleep felt like missing a big chunk of your life. Yue would wake up with no memories of the last eight or nine hours and she was just supposed to accept it? It felt so strange. Anything could happen in that time. She could die and she’d never know it. It was another strange phenomenon, but at least sleeping was helpful. She would sleep later, when this was all over. When she had Xander again.


    When she deserved it.


    “Any signs?” She asked Th’ul, who was sitting behind her, watching her back. From the rustling noise she heard, he’d been falling asleep.


    “Um…no, not yet,” He replied. “They should be arriving anytime soon, though. Maybe we should wake up Zade.”


    “Go ahead.”


    Yue stared forwards again. Maybe whoever the person was wasn’t coming. Maybe they wanted Yue alone.


    From behind her, she heard voices and she covered her mouth to not laugh.


    “You woke me up for what?”


    “The time is here.”


    “But the person isn’t here yet.” Zade’s voice was oozing with ire and sarcasm.


    “No, but they’re coming anytime now.”


    “I told you to wake me up when they arrived.”


    “Cry about it.”


    “Excuse me?” Zade shrieked. “Ugh, I have not been sleeping anymore.”


    Next to him, Xavier woke up too, wiping his eyes and looking around.


    “Where the hell am I? Oh, wait, I remember. I had a great dream. I was actually happy, and life was wonderful.”


    “Yup, definitely a dream,” Zade laughed. “I’m going back to sleep.” Yue turned around and gaped as Th’ul slapped Zade.


    “Hey! Why’d you do that?”


    “We have no time to sleep now,” Th’ul responded. “And that definitely woke you up.”


    “I’m starting to like you,” Yue smiled at him.


    Zade grumbled something about women and fake friends, but Yue didn’t hear it.


    She was too busy dodging the arrow that narrowly missed her. It thunked into the ground where she had just been. She and her friends stood up and unsheathed their weapons. Xavier  awkwardly stood off to the side, dagger in hand that he probably filched off a dead corpse, but clearly unskilled with it. Sia had a sword, too, but she also clearly didn’t know how to use it.


    “I’ve been waiting for this moment, you know,” A voice reached her from the direction of the forest. It was amplified with magic, clearly. Yue recognized the voice, but was too busy searching for the person to identify it.


    “Show yourself,” She growled.


    “Love is complicated, isn’t it?” The voice responded. “One day, you’re kissing. The next you’re killing.”


    Yue already knew who it was, and the stress in her body tripled.


    “I have learned the truth. And I’m thinking if you don’t want to learn it, then you deserve the punishment. I hate to do it, but all in the name of love, right, love?”


    Xander then stepped out of the first shining with a purple glow. His eyes were purple orbs too. On top of his hands was a purple energy that pulsed rapidly.


    “Xander, they’re controlling you!” Yue said. “You know that.”


    “Control? You’re the one who’s been brainwashed,” He said. “I am not being controlled. You still have time to surrender.”


    “You really think I’ll take it,” Yue said, tears forming in her eyes. “Xander, I don’t want to fight you. You know me. You love me.”


    “Aw, you want to bring me back with love,” Xander replied. “Here’s the thing. I do love you, Yue. That is why I must do this. One day, you’ll understand. Or you’ll be dead, in which case, rest assured it was necessary.”


    “Please, Xander, no.”


    “Enough.” Xander raised his arms, and the purple energy raced towards them, and Yue was sure she couldn’t block it.


    The purple energy stopped just before it reached her as a force field wrapped around them.


    “I was afraid this would happen,” High Mage Aegon said, appearing next to her.


    “Don’t hurt him,” Yue warned.


    “I don’t know if we have a choice.”


    “No. There’s always a choice.”


    “I’ll need to protect you,” High Mage Aegon said, deliberately changing the subject. “I’ll keep a shield on all of you at all times. With that effort, I will barely have any concentration for any other magic. Be careful when you attack him. Your shield will stop his magic from killing you, but they will still hurt.”


    “Let’s get my boyfriend back, then,” Yue frowned.


    The end really was here.


    — — —


    I don’t want to find Xander. None of us do. But we have to. To me, this fight will probably last two seconds. We’re so many, and Xander is just one. Even with magic, he can’t take all of us down. We have a High Mage on our side.


    As soon as the force field drops, we charge as one at Xander, and he snarls, and begins to hurtle purple energy at us. One of the blasts hits Th’ul and he’s sent flying through the air. The shield works on him—the energy didn’t kill him—but it does look like it hurts a lot.


    Aster is the next to be struck, then Skai, and finally Neena. We keep rushing at Xavier and his fists become encased in purple energy armor. He runs at us, sword still sheathed. Yue reaches him first, and she swings at his leg, her intentions only to maim. He dodges the blow and strikes her face. Yue crashes against a tree and falls still, but breathing.


    Xavier is the next and he throws his dagger at Xander, who catches it with his armored hands, then rethrows it at Xavier. Xavier ducks the blow, then falls to a punch to his stomach.


    Alyx and I come at him simultaneously and we strike at the same time, locking eyes. Xavier catches the blows with his gauntlets then brings his fists down. I’m sent spinning through the air as the purple energy strikes at me. It feels like a thousand needles pricking my skin. I cry out in pain as I strike the ground.


    Yue is already running at him again, and as I watch Xander rise in the air, but he doesn’t seem to be the one doing it. He seems to be struggling against it. I look behind me to find High Mage Aegin and Th’ul focusing on him with all their strength.


    Yue finally reaches Xander and she thrusts at his immobile form.


    “I’m sorry, darling,” She says.


    Xander kicks upward, somehow breaking the spell Th’ul and the High Mage were putting on him. His kick lands on Yue’s already bleeding face, causing her head to snap back with an ugly crack.


    “He’s using a shield too,”Th’ul breathes.


    Xander falls to the ground, another dagger passing where his head had just been. He turns to a nervous but courageous Sia. Sending his purple energy at her, he thrusts his hands forward. Sia screams as she’s thrown backwards.


    “Pathetic,” Xander says. “All of you fighting one of me, and you can’t do anything. Now imagine what happens when more arrive.”


    “What is coming, Xander?” Yue asked him.


    “I don’t know if you’ll be alive to see it,” He says, and smashes down on Yue’s face. The earth cracks around her head, and she falls limp.


    “No,” I breathe.


    “You have been judged and found guilty,” Xander whispers.


    Standing up along with my friends, I roar at Xander.


    “You’ll never win,” I tell him.


    “Oh, but I already have,” He says. “Yue is as good as dead, and I can take on all of you.”


    “Then do it,” Alyx growls.


    “You asked for it,” Xander smiles and charges at her. Alyx looks at me and nods. I understand what she means, but I don’t want to do it. Shaking my head at her, I mouth the word no, but she smiles reassuringly, asking me to trust her.


    So I do.


    As Alyx and Xander meet, I rush forward and strike at Xander. His punch collides with Alyx’s head but somehow, it doesn’t do any damage. Alyx looks happily as my sword enters his stomach slightly, before I remove it. I don''t want to kill Xander. He snarls and staggers away, and I stare at Alyx.


    “What happened?”


    “I’m not sure,” Alyx said. “But I think it was…”


    “High Mage Aegon,” I finish. “Imagine we didn’t have him here.”


    Xander breathes in and his wound begins to close before my eyes.


    “Where is he getting this magic?”


    “Must me the mage controlling him giving him these powers,” High Mage Aegon says from behind me. “Judging from how powerful he is, I’m assuming he’s being controlled by a High Mage.”


    “Do you know which one?”


    “No,” He shakes his head. “But it could be Eldor.”


    Xander and Xavier are once again locked in combat, but this time it wasn’t Xavier that went after Xander, it was the other way around. Xander is shooting beams of energy at my best friend, who runs in a zigzag away from him. Eventually, due to Xander’s good aim, one of the bems of energy strikes Xavier in the back, who falls to the ground.


    “How do we beat him?” I ask.


    “I think we—” he trails off as Xander jumps on him and they roll on the ground, fighting each other. I can feel the shield that High Mage Aegon put on me disappearing but at least I still have my own. They trade blows, Xander with his purple beams and High Mage Aegon with reinforced armor.


    When two people are fighting, the natural human reaction is to watch, not help. I have to remind myself that I’m not a spectator to go help the High Mage Aegon, but as soon as I go to attack, Aster, Neena, a resilient Alyx, and Skai are there to help me.


    Xander sees us coming and he growls jumping off High mage Aegon, who grabs him mid-jump and slams him on the ground. With a scream of rage, Xander sends a beam of energy at High Mage Aegon, who spins through the air and crashes to the ground with a grunt. He begins to rise, and, groaning in pain, he falls back down.


    We all reach Xander simultaneously and unprepared, he doesn’t react when we strike him. Our blows are enough to seriously injure him.


    That is, if they touched him. Instead, they rebound off him and create a small amount of energy wherever we touch him. We are flung back to the ground and I groan.


    From the small nap I took, my mana increased to about fifty percent now. It’s still not a lot but I’ve been waiting to use it.


    Should I use it on Xander?


    — — —


    The headache woke Yue up, but it was the shouts of battle that caused her to open her eyes. The sun shining on her face only caused her head to pound faster.


    “Urgh,” She mumbled, sitting up. “What happened?”


    Touching her face, she felt a sticky substance on it. Blood. There was so much blood on her face, and she was pretty sure it was hers.


    Yue remembered what happened. Xander had crushed her. Somehow she’d not only survived, but was now conscious. From the sounds of fighting, Xander had not been defeated yet. That was not a good sign.


    She stood up carefully, grabbing her sword. Her mind reeled and her vision fuzzed, and she trembled, shifting back and forth. After a minute, her body adjusted and she stared at the one-sided fight. Technically, it should be a one-sided fight for her side, but somehow Xander was demolishing them. He was even beating High Mage Aegon, although that part made sense. He was so busy protecting them that he had virtually no way of attacking Xavier. He was stretching his concentration too much, and even for such a high-level mage, it should be really hard. Especially because the shields he’d put on them seemed to be much stronger than the one she’d felt before.


    Putting a defensive stance, Yue slowly marched towards Xander. Yue didn’t want him to know she was coming. She still moved sluggishly, and her heart pounded harder than ever, plus her nose hurt now, but she needed to stop Xander.


    She wouldn’t let him hurt anyone.


    Her friends reached him simultaneously and she wanted to tell them to be careful, but she could only watch as they’re all sent back by his magic. He was intangible now, somehow. Did that mean she wouldn’t be able to win?


    Her only thought now was to get him back from his mind-control. She would do anything to save him, but now she was scared she wouldn’t be able to.


    “Yue,” High Mage Aegon whispered to her. “You can’t do it. We can only get him back by stopping the one who is controlling him. Unless you kill him, he will not stop.”


    “I won’t do it,” Yue said. “I can’t.”


    Ignoring High Mage Aegon’s next phrase, she kept moving towards Xander, who was now focusing on Neena.


    “So, the little sister is here,” Xander smiles. “Maybe Yue will learn this way.”


    Yue sprinted as he stabbed down. For the second time that day, Yue stood in the place of Neena. For the second time that day, Yue saved Neena’s life.


    And for the second time that day, Yue was stabbed. It bit down on her thigh and she groaned, falling to the ground. This one hurt much more than the last one. The last one had barely scraped her leg, so much so that pain was ignorable and wasn’t even limping. This one would definitely leave her limping.


    Xander’s head snapped up and smiled. “My friends are here.” He turned and went back to the start of the forest.


    Yue stood up slowly, checking on Neena.


    “You saved my life again,” Neena said. “How can I repay you?”


    “I told you I’d never let you die,” Yue replied. “I promised I would protect you, and I will not break that promise. But we still have a job to do. This isn’t over.”


    “We’re with you,” Zade said, standing next to her with Xavier, Th’ul, Skai, and Anni.


    “So am I,” Neena exclaimed.


    “As are we,” Alyx and Aster told her.


    “I’m with you too,” Artemis said.


    “We all are,” High Mage Aegon said, bringing Sia. “Who is that?”


    He pointed at the forest, where figures were beginning to arrive.


    “I’m not sure,” Yue replied.


    When there were five figures, including Xander, they began to walk forward.


    “High Mage Eldor,” Zade breathed.


    “Yes, and two other experienced mages as well,” High Mage Aegon said. “That one is Xander, and…”


    “The Wolf,” Yue finished.


    The four men and one woman stopped about five paces from them.


    “So, I take it you already know,” Yue’s captain told her.


    “You’re a murderer.”


    “I did what I had to.”


    “Why do you Cultists keep saying that? You never had to do it, you chose to out of your own free will. And now you’re controlling my boyfriend to kill me! One of your best soldiers. You need me in your army.”


    “You’re delusional,” The Wolf growled. “I don’t need you in my army. You’re lucky to even be standing here. I overheard you speaking of the Cult and so I killed Diamond as a warning. The others were all against me, so I had to get rid of them too. The only reason you’re alive is because I didn’t have any way of getting rid of you without me myself doing it, and if I did that, everyone would know I did it. Plus, I like you, Yue. You are a good soldier. I wanted to spare you.”


    “Well, spare me that load of lies, captain,” Yue spat. “But why did you recruit me to figure out who the killer was?”


    “Oh, you didn’t figure that out yet,” The Wolf laughed. “What was the best way to remove all suspicion? By looking like I cared a lot about who the murderer was. And it worked. You all thought I was working so hard, and so I escaped.”


    “Your time’s up now,” Yue said.


    “We’ll see about that.” The Wolf turned to the Mages and Xander and they unsheathed their sword and prepared their magic.


    “Ready to charge?” Zade asked.


    “Let’s do this. FOR DIAMOND!” Yue yelled. Her friends roared in unison.


    “FOR JOS!” Alyx said. Yue yelled with her friends then, letting her rage fill her.


    “FOR ROSALIA!” Aster screamed, and another round of roars came and went.


    “FOR ASTIL!” Zade choked out tearfully, and the response was great.


    “FOR CALI!” Yue yelled again, and her friends screamed half-heartedly for the girl they never met.


    “FOR POLI!” Artemis screamed, anguished.


    “FOR THOSE WHO THE CULT HAS KILLED. WE FIGHT FOR THEM!” Zade ended, and everyone did one final roar. It was time to fight.


    — — —


    This is for you, Diamond and Jos and Rosalia and Cali and Poli. But mostly, Astil, this is for you, my brother, I think. May you look down on us with a smile. I miss you.


    Time to make them pay.


    In unison, the Band—as I’ve taken to calling us now—charged at the enemy, and in unison, the enemy responded.


    Yue was right.


    The endgame has begun.