The Warden’s maniacal laugh came in response. I heard the illusion monster groan in pain, then the ground shook as hismagic took it down, shattering the queen’s spell into a million pieces. Emma gave a cry of rage and sent illusion spells racing at the Warden, but he batted them all away, redirecting her own spells back at her. One of them hit her, and Emma gave a cry of pain as it forced her to the ground.
Our allies didn’t miss a beat. Though Emma was down, droplets spread across the area as Liam drew water from the dirt where the water tower had fallen. His rage-filled scream filled the area as he sent a massive wave down upon the Warden with the intent to drown him.
The Warden merely flapped his wings and shot out of the water before blasting Liam backward. Liam grunted as the blast hit him, slamming into the earth.
Death magic permeated the camp, so strong the air began to develop a ghostly chill. Bones clicked against each other as Lucas’ power surged out of him, turning his body into the skeleton of a reaper. I heard grunts of pain come from Lucas as he struggled to work his necromancy magic on the Warden.
“I’m trying to rip his soul out, but it’s not working!” Lucas shouted, sounding frightened.
Shit.That wasn’t good. Lucas was a master reaper, the highest caster of Death magic there was. If he couldn’t rip the Warden’s soul out, nobody was going to be able to.
The spell backfired, and Lucas went flying off his feet. He landed twenty yards from where he’d been standing, the sound of his clicking bones gone. He groaned as he stood upright.
It all happened within seconds, and it became abundantly clear that despite how powerful our allies were, they were no match for the Warden.
“It’s not fucking working!” Emma cried. “He’s impenetrable!”
“I’ll deal with Doctor Taurus!” my grandfather shouted. “Get the children out of here!”
Another portal blossomed nearby at Emma’s command. She started shoving people through, yelling at them to hurry into the portal and back to the city.
Fuck that. I wasn’t going to leave my grandfather to deal with this alone. The small bits of power I had left surged through me, but I hadn’t cast a spell before a hand that wasn’t my father’s landed on my shoulder, pushing me back.
I slumped to my knees, becoming weak as the rest of my power surged out of me and into another. Disbelief rattled my entire being. I refused to believe it, but when I tried to cast a spell and it wouldn’t come, I had to face the truth.
Cassiel had siphoned the remainder of my magic for himself. He didn’t want me to fight. He wanted me to flee, and be safe, while he took the blowsfor me. I sagged against the ground, and Cameron wrenched on my shirt to get me back upright.
My grandfather turned and sprinted toward the Warden, and I heard him draw his sword. Metal clanged, then came the sickening— or perhapssatisfying— squish of flesh and crunch of bone.
Something heavy flew through the air, smacking me in the stomach. Warm blood soaked into my shirt.
I realized that what hit me had beenthe Warden’s decapitated head. My grandfather had just sliced his head from his shoulders!
Relief flowed through me so heavily I wanted to sob. Finally— after nightmarish years of fighting this horrible man, the Warden was fucking dead. My grandfather had killed him. This was all over.
Then… from below me came a horrifying sound. The Warden’slaughter.I realized it was right below me, coming from the Warden’s mouth, even though his head was no longer attached to his body.
Before I could fully process it, his laughter began to grow distant… like his head was rolling across the ground back toward his body, his hands commanding his disembodied skull to return to his headless body.
No. This couldn’t be happening.
“This is impossible,” Chancey gasped from a few paces away. “You decapitate an angel, and they die.Every time.I’ve never seen this happen before.”
There was an awful, slick sound as muscle knitted back together and arteries mended themselves. The Warden cracked his neck as he placed his head back on his body, reattaching it like my grandfather had never cut it off at all.
“You are all fools,” the Warden mocked. “I cannot die.”
“Leave now, Charlie!” Cassiel order. “Don’t come after me, no matter what!”
It absolutely petrified me that, for the first time in my life, I heard fear in his voice. My grandfathernevergot scared. He was always courageous, even when the situation was dire.
His tone told me that he knew we were going to lose, and that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. Except this time… I was the greater good.
And he was the sacrifice.
Cameron yanked on my arm. My friends’ voices disappeared as Emma, Liam and Lucas pulled them through the portal.
“We can’t leave!” Ava yelled at Eldin, and I knew from the bottom of my heart she was trying to fight her guard off. “I order you to let me go!”
