CHAPTER 21 – ANGELINE

The Elf’s sword flashed above her, fast. Too fast. A white-hot sting shot through her arm. She didn’t even have to look, the hot trickle running down her forearm said enough. Blood.

Angeline swaggered back. She was tired. So tired. But she had to keep fighting, she had to hold this Castle. She had to protect the kids.

The water was rising faster now, rushing, roaring in her ears, the icy cold, clawing at her chest.

Heavy breaths thumped against her empty lungs. Numb.

So tired.

“Angeline!”

Kallen?

Another blow whistled across her shoulder as she jerked away just in time.

Kyle. Why had he had Merlena teleport his amulet? He was safe. Why didn’t he stay out there? It was all her fault. She’d pulled him in, she’d gotten close. Now he’d die for nothing. Just one more tally on this list of those she couldn’t save.

She jolted again, the Elf’s claws swiping her cheek. Agony split across her face, writhing down her jaw.

“ANGIE!”

Angeline swiveled, the lacerations making her mind go loose, her brain struggling to damp down the pain, all the pain. She had to keep fighting.

Her blurry eyes rolled toward Kyle, toward his golden halo, and his deep blue eyes, like a summer night sky. The sky, she’d like to see it one more time. In those arms. His arms.

“MOVE!” That voice. “ANGELINE!”

The Elf lunged for her, blade singing, the shadow of death dancing on that wicked grin.

Something hard barreled into her from the side. No, it hadn’t hit her. It moved her. Kyle.

His chest heaved against her shoulder, his hard arms, gripping her tight, holding her upright in the polar current.

His lips brushed her ear, his breath hot on her wounds. “Angeline Quintana. You listen.”

She blinked, forcing the daze from her skull, his commanding words had power over her. Magic all their own.

Kyle squeezed her tighter, backing away as the Elf stalked toward them. “You’re ten times stronger than me, Ang. Stronger than anyone. You are the only one who can get these fuckers. So stop holding back.”

She felt a strange rushing in her chest, something bubbling, something only he could stir within her.

His voice dropped lower, his words bleeding into her. “Stop being a Captain. Start being a fucking warrior.”

He slowly unwound his arms, growling his last command into her ear, “Let me see that hellfire.”

He released her, the bitter cold of the water shivering through her. But she was fine. She didn’t need his heat anymore. He’d stoked the fire. She knew what she had to do.

She had to lose control.

She’d tried to fix all this, she’d tried to save The Realm, but it was already broken. The Elves didn’t play by rules. So she’d have to throw out her own. She’d have to burn it down, just like before, just like the warehouse. This time she wouldn’t miss.

She drew in a deep breath.

The Elf lunged, blade overhead.

Angeline clapped her palms together. A spark. An ember. A light.

She unleashed the fires of cataclysm. Annihilation.

The Elf Captain’s sword glowed instantaneously red, his guttural wails reverberating as his flesh fused to the metal. She watched as his skin bubbled, as his skull dented and bent, warped by the devouring conflagration.

The jet of hellfire ripped through the hall, cutting through the rivulets of water, converting them to scalding steam on contact. Elven visages melted, charred skin dripping as their heads turned to torches in the inferno’s path.

Still she pushed. She pushed until her fire had consumed every pocket of space left in that room, until nothing had survived. Until all was ash.

Only then did she release. She closed her fists and the fire immediately extinguished. Oxygen rushed back in through the windows, the cool breeze forcing its way into her singed lungs.

She fell back against the wall. She slid sideways, exhaustion shredding the fiber of every muscle.

A jet of water shot up next to her, a gasp for air. Large, warm arms wrapped around her, tight. Kyle pulled her against his chest and pressed his forehead to the crown of her hair.

Then all around the hall, heads popped up, a sea of black and blue amulets, of astonished gazes, of tentative smiles of victory.

Krystal waded over to her, arms held awkwardly above the water. Lance followed, propping up Master Pallas as they floated. She was awake now, smiling softly.

Angeline smiled back. The water began to recede all around them, flowing away, no longer bound by magic.

“I see you’ve gained XP!” Krystal shouted, punching Kyle’s arm.

He laughed against Angeline’s hair. “Hey, easy, I’ve taken enough hits today.”

“But the battle has improved your statistics,” she beamed. “Intelligence:4.”

Kyle chuckled. “Are you sure you’re not biased? You sure you don’t just like me better now that we’ve kicked ass side-by-side?”

“The statistics never lie,” she grinned, “it was your idea to teleport the Salamander power, yes? And to use my knowledge in the fight? Aaaand to have the Captain here light ‘em up!?”

Angeline smirked and leaned back against Kyle. “Yes, that was all him.”

She turned and angled her face up towards his, his heavenly blue eyes peering down at her with words unsaid. “He was the brains, I was the brawn.”

“Hey,” he laughed, biting his lip, “if you’ll recall, I did quite a bit of fighting myself—”

A deep rumble shattered the calm.

Angeline shoved off Kyle, suddenly recognizing the sound. She’d heard it before. “EVERYONE OUT! THE CASTLE IS COLLAPSING.”

She plunged over to Lance and slid Pallas from his arms.

“Hey, I got her,” the skinny Mage protested, “you rest up, sweet thang, you just put in hella work.”

They didn’t have time to argue, but they also didn’t have time to lag.

“I need your help with something else,” Angeline said. She raised her voice again to the fleeing hall. “DIVINERS! Keep your Sight sharp! MAGES! Prepare to intercept stone and steel!”

Lance nodded and snagged Krystal by the arm. They slogged ahead and gathered a group of struggling inhabitants. They took the lead and continued ushering everyone out of the hall.

Kyle dipped and collected the Master from Angeline’s shaking arms. “So I guess you’re going to just have to explode falling objects with fire?”

“We are going to run and hope I don't have to,” Angeline said, beginning to trudge ahead. The water had drained to her knees, but still felt like more than her tired body could stand.

A scream rang out from somewhere a floor down.

Shit. “More Elves,” Angeline said. She’d forgotten about those who’d captured the first half of the recruits, those that might still be roaming the Castle.

Her heart rammed against her ribs as she forced her legs to move quicker. Kyle followed close behind.

She cleared the room, the drainage battering against her ankles. Her boots slipped over slick rock as she flew down the stairs. She landed with a thud on the landing. Palms raised, embers burning, she pushed to her feet and rounded the corner.

She nearly tripped over the fallen Elf.

Lance stood, fists blazing with his own blue magic. He smirked at Angeline. “I told you I got this, honeydoll.”

A chunk of brick plunged from the ceiling.

It landed on the fallen Elf, the crunch of bones echoing through the hallway.

“DANGER:5+!” Krystal shouted. She turned and bounded toward the next set of stairs. They all ripped after her.

Lungs screaming, muscles raging, they tore down the remaining floors, rock and metal crumbling all around, streams of blue Mage magic firing, Diviners scouting, Sight sharp. Elves falling.

They cleared the last door and burst into the blackness of night. Collapsing on the hard ground, Angeline inhaled a rattling breath.

…But the battle was not yet over, there was still something left to lose.