“Heavens,” I cried out, the word shaky and strained.
Celeste parted her lips in a grin as she said, “Starlight.”
“Father, let her go,” Azazel ordered, his enormous body entering my periphery as he moved to stand in front of me. I slid out my arm, stopping him before he could block me from view of Celeste.
“Oh, so you’re not only growing a soft spot for akhatas, but the pets too? Are you fucking the eadi as well then?” The general left his mask on, but I could still hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.
Of course this was all a joke to him. In his eyes, we’d die and he’d conquer. Easy to smile when the odds were in your favor.
The best thing about odds were that they could never truly be concrete, and even a one percent chance was enough.
“Don’t make me tell you again.” This time, Az’s voice was firm, the deep and raspy tenor he’d had all throughout Elite Academy making an appearance.
While I was nearly positive his father didn’t take him seriously, Iblis Altair acquiesced, using his grip on her shoulders to forcefully shove Celeste to the ground. She crumpled instantly, her body failing as she soared forward and down.
“Celeste!” I yelled, reaching for her. Az grabbed me by the waist, tugging me back.
“Go on, take her, Son,” the general cooed, flicking his hand towards Celeste on the wooden floor. “Don’t forget your friends though. I think they might need your help.”
With that, he disappeared in a cloud of darkness, leaving the room eerily silent for a few moments. That was, until I wiggled out of Az’s grasp and dove for my sister. Our breaths were both loud, hers strained and mine heavy. I lifted her, pulling her upper body onto my lap. Desi was at my side after a single heartbeat, her cries starting right back up as she stroked Celeste’s uncut cheek.
“Heavens?” I asked, shaking her. She blinked slowly, barely opening her eyes enough for me to see her grey irises beneath her dark lashes.My sister is alive. She’s in my arms.
“I was getting nervous I’d never see that smug face of yours again, Starlight.” A laugh burst free of my lips, bubbling out of me without intention.
“Yeah, well, I was pretty nervous too. I have a lot of yelling to do, you know. Starting with you being a selfish liar.” My words had her grinning, the smile wrinkling her cheeks. For the first time in what must have been my entire life, I relished those lines. Sure, they meant she was aging, but they also meant she wasalive.
“Rain check?” she asked.
Nodding, I leaned down and hugged her, feeling my heart swell when she held me back. It took me a moment to pull away, but when I did, I slid Celeste into Desi’s arms, watching with true joy as they kissed and hugged.
My sister is alive and in love.
Right as the wordloveentered my mind, I whipped around, trying to spot Azazel. But he was already gone, the door still hanging open and smoke still painting the air grey.
“Desi, Az is gone!” Apparently, we were still shouting. I stood, wiping the tears from my eyes and darting to the doorway. “Take care of my sister! If anyone but me shows up, then hide!”
I didn’t give her the chance to argue or agree, too focused on getting to Azazel. My boots gripped the solid ground, my legs flying at what had to be a record speed for me as I darted to the top of the slope, looking at the ruins and searching through the smoke to find him. To find any of them.
Everythingburned.The patches of forest I had foraged in. The greenery Az and I had run through. The wooden structures left behind by people thousands of years ago. Only the concrete seemed to hold, though the sounds of it cracking beneath heat and magic could be heard.
Heads bobbed, masks flashing. The face coverings had been crafted to match our shadow marks, the silver shade of the swirls used to highlight our unique blessing from the stars. What they really did, though, was strip us of our identity. Our autonomy. Our sense of self. That was what it seemed to accomplish as hooded, masked figures appeared through the grey smoke, making it hard to identify anyone.
Then a flash of golden hair caught my eye.
While she’d never been at the top of our class, Zura held her own as she fought off what looked like three masked soldiers, her long braid still caked in blood and dirt as it swung in timewith her fists and parted the smoke. Now focused, I willed myself to her side, ordering my magic to obey, demanding the fatigue fade. As my body moved from the clifftop to the ruins, I readied for a brutal fight.
Right when my feet met the solid ground, I swung, catching the tallest of the group in the throat with my fist. They grunted, folding slightly. In my head, I heard every shouted instruction Az had given me, even Talon’s determined directions guiding me as I slammed my knee into the elite’s gut. While they didn’t fall, they did groan as they wrapped their arms around their stomach.
Bringing up my elbow, I shoved it down into the back of their head, hoping their skull cracked beneath their cloak. They shrieked, grabbing their head before suddenly rising and pushing out their leg. A large, black boot collided with my chest. Gasping for air, I stumbled back a few steps, forcing myself to stay upright out of sheer will.
Zura cried out behind the elite, who turned to face her. I wheezed, the sound of her pain causing my rage to bubble over, my fury feeding me. I leapt onto the elite’s exposed back, using my momentum to swing backwards and flip our bodies. We rotated in a slowed instant, time feeling as if it warped as I watched the ground near. When my face barely missed the debris-littered grass, I knew I’d won. Their head slammed into rock and rubble, blood squirting out and soaking my eyes as we crumpled.
Unsure how long we had, I wiped my face with my sleeve and stood. Zura was still attempting to fight off the other two elites as they repeatedly beat her down with pure magic, which poured out of their hands like a waterfall. I let every large chunk of rock that caught my eye as I scanned the surrounding area know what I wanted. I spoke to my magic, imagining the stones rising,twisting, attacking. And when it listened, there was no stopping me.
Both remaining elites were so focused on Zura that they didn’t immediately notice the shift in the rubble. I lifted my arms, throwing them forward and screaming as the magic within me forced the debris forward, my mind straining to focus on ordering the rock to only hit the elites.
A larger rock immediately struck the upper back of one elite, a loud crack sounding just before their body slumped. The other was hit in the arm by a smaller chunk, warding a second after and spinning to face me.
