Chapter 15

Jinx

"Are you ready?" I ask the two men with me.

"Probably as ready As I'll ever be." Fabian replies first. I look at him and sigh. He smiles softly and walks over to give me a hug, "It was a pleasure knowing you." he whispered into my ear. I pull away and look over at Azriel who just nods with a smile.

"Okay. Let's go." I say, leading us out the room.

Ariel

We stand before the large castle. My home, or what is left of it. The walls have crumbled, smoke rises from the houses within and the castle has large holes in several places. A tear stings my eye as I stare at the once magnificent castle.

Suddenly mist begins to flow out from the streets of the town and forms a cloud before us, blinding us from whatever is happening behind the mist. I see my mother nod, in the corner of my eye, and the five mages take a step forward. The raise their arms and create a gust of wind, blowing the mist away, revealing an armed army with Zachary up front. We have a stare down, then he smirks and my father is brought forward. Mother and I gasp at the sight of him, he is suffering from several wounds and he looks so weak that he can bearly stand on his own.

We hear Zachary's voice echo through the air, "I shall start with your beloved husband, Fiona, then your sons and you, you shall be last." with that mother takes a step forward as a soldier plunges a sword through father's stomach. His head hangs and the sword is pulled out, causing him to drop to the floor. Mother turns away with tears in her eyes whereas I sob seeing my father lying on the floor, lifeless.

Mother pulls herself together then signals the Sisters again. Black clouds form above us. Thunder cracks the sky and lightning strikes the ground, creating small fires. With the next rumble of thunder, mother charges, and we all follow. The battle begins.

Horses crash into each other and the battle field begins to spread out. I recognize many of the soldiers as the castle's own guard. What are they doing working with Zachary? I am suddenly thrown off my horse and land on my back with a grunt. I am charged from several sides and I quickly stand. I duck under the first blade to meet the second. I twist our blades downward then strike upward. The man drops. I turn around and my blade clashes again with another. I strike the blade to the left use my shoulder to shove the man off balance and strike him as he falls. I look up from my crouch position and spot the next target on my left. Blade against my forearm, I strike the man across the chest, catching his blade. With both the blades I stand in my traditional position of blade against right forearm and left blade extended in front of me, acting as my shield. My sweaty hair hangs in front of my eyes as I wait for the next attacker to strike, and one does. I use my left sword to knock away his blade and slice up his chest with my right, twist and hit his face with my left elbow, turning to meet my next opponent. This time I block with the right and plunge my sword through the stomach, while my blade is stuck, I am struck from behind with a spear which pierces my side. I cry out in pain and the spear is removed. I turn around but drop to my left knee, I raise my right blade to block the second strike but have to drop completely onto my back to dodge the third strike. I'm in a vulnerable position. The man raises his spear to deliver the final blow but before he could, he bursts into flames and burns to death on the spot. I sigh of relief and look to back up to thank my savior and nearly cry for joy when I see Jinx. Like me, she has blood splatters on her face and she looks out of breath.

"How many times do I need to save you?" she asks and helps me up. I look into her eyes with a smile right before I pull her in for a kiss. It feels as though the entire world has begun to slow down, allowing us to savour this moment. I feel Jinx's hand on the side of my face before I pull away,

"As much as I enjoyed that, I don't think this is the time or place." Jinx says before she chuckles. I laugh as well.

"Right sorry. I just didn't know when I would get the opportunity again." I reply sheepishly.

"I'd like to think soon." Jinx replied seriously before bursting into a smile again. We kiss again and are disrupted by a familiar voice.

"Really? Here of all places?" I look to see who it is and see Azriel.

"Az!" I exclaim and grab my brother, holding him tightly. I wasn't really the affectionate type, but today I'll make an exception . I pull away, "Father--"

"I know. We saw." Azriel says softly.

"We need to kill Zachary, once we do the spell on the army will be broken." Jinx says. I stare out into the field and see smoke rising from the ground, ashes floating through the air and a continuing battle between the people. I suddenly spot Zachary battling with mother, they both throw orbs of magic at each other, every now and then landing a blow on each other.

"Not a problem." I reply and pick up my swords. Jinx follows my line of sight then grabs my forearm,

"Hey. We do this together." she says. I nod. Jinx on my left and Azriel on my right, we charge forward.

Mother is thrown a few feet and when she lands she gets knocked out by the impact. The three of us stand in front of her, creating a wall.

"Ah, wonderful. The queen and her children all in one place. This will make things easier for me." Zachary says. He creates a blue orb in his left hand and twirls his sword in his right hand. He throws the orb at Jinx and attacks me head on. Jinx gets tossed to the side before she had time to react. Zachary attacks me head on and I deflect the attack, holding my ground. Azriel strikes but receives a powerful kick to the stomach causing him to double over and gasp for air. Zachary moves to strike him but I quickly jump in front of Azriel and stop Zachary's blade. My arms quiver as I try to hold his blade. Jinx jumps from hehind and places Zachary in a choke hold. He grabs her forearm giving me opportunity to strike but I don't get very far as he shoots an orange orb at me. My whole body stings as I watch Zachary grab Jinx by her hair, tossing her over his shoulder. Azriel runs forward to stop Zachary's blade and hits him in the face with his elbow making Zachary stumble, releasing Jinx from his hold. Jinx gets up quickly and jumps, wrapping her legs around Zachary's neck and uses momentum to throw him onto the ground with her landing in crouch next to him. I get up slowly, my body still aching from the orb that was shot at me. Zachary groans and before Azriel can deliver the final blow, Zachary bangs his fist against the ground, creating a blast throwing us all back, away from him. I groan and my ears ring slightly. I try to focus my eyes and see Azriel lying on the ground motionless. Jinx tries to move but cries out.

"Like promised, I shall begin with the eldest son." I hear Zachary say as he moves towards me. He swipes his blade left and right as he walks over to me. I struggle to move and can't get away from him.

Jinx

There is something wrong with my leg. I think I may have broke it. I look for Ariel and see him struggling on the ground with Zachary approaching him. Ashes floating in the air, smoke rising from the ground.

This looks like the backdrop from my vision. Does that mean thay Ariel is the one who dies. I groan as I try to move. No, I promised to protect Fiona's sons, and I will stop at nothing. Zachary raises his blade and with a quick flash of white I appear before Zachary and gasp as the blade is plunged into me instead. Zachary looks confused for a second before he smirks.

"Silly girl, you die for nothing." Zachary says. I try to smile and plunge my blade through his heart. When Zachary realises what I did, a soft no escapes his lips and he turns to glowing blue ashes. I take the sword out of me and drop backwards, landing into Ariel's lap.

"No no no no." Ariel says, tears streaming down his face as he sees that I too start to slowly turn to ash. Tears form in my eyes as well as I stare up at him.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. Ariel breaks into a sob.

"You can't leave me." Ariel sobs, "There's so much I want to tell you." Ariel's tears land on my cheek.

"It's okay." I says, my throat tight. I begin to sob as well.

"Hey," Ariel attempts to comfort me, "do you, do you remember that time on the plains, you t-told me that I get one wish." Ariel sniffs and I nod, "Well, I wish for you to come back." Ariel says in a strained voice. "Please, don't leave me. Please don't go."

I smile at Ariel and touch his face one last time.

Ariel

Jinx turns to ashes in my arms and I cry out, banging my fists against the ground. I choke on my tears as Azriel kneels next to me, Fabian right behind him. I stay there, kneeling on the ground when Azriel pulls me towards him. I grip his shoulder and allow myself to break down. The love of my life, gone.

***

It's been several weeks since the battle. We have buried father in the royal catacombs, as per tradition. The town is healing, slowly, and I feel that a few new rules need to be implemented and others to be removed. Mother and Axel are in charge of the city, making sure everyone gets what they need, and Azriel has been helping me with other royal stuff. I was coronated a few hours ago and there is to be a feast tonight. I stand outside the forgery, remembering my first encounter with Jinx. Her golden brown eyes, caramel skin and twin braids. I smile slightly at the memory.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Azriel standing there, Yashi resting on his shoulder a

s a green lizard. I look back at the forgery.

"She'll be back." I say.