The beginning of that day taught me one thing: a gut feeling never goes away. And the end of that day taught me another: a gut feeling is always right.

I knew that I would be the last one to arrive at that flimsy wooden shack in the forest because I was taking my sweet time. I let the cool spring air waft through my huge black wings as I soared, gliding effortlessly on the breeze as it carried me southward. My gut feeling still stuck with me: everything that could go wrong would go wrong tonight.

It was now roughly seven p.m. in the evening, and the sky was gradually growing darker as we turned away from the Sun. I had made sure to wear my toolbelt, bringing both of my swords and the two smoke balls, just in case. I had learned the hard way that only fools ignored their gut feelings.

It wasn’t even enjoyable flying through the trees. Rolling onto my side to weave in between them simply did not give me as much joy as it had a mere day ago. I flew slowly, only at about fifty miles per hour, and the deeper I went into the forest, the more my feeling of unease grew.

Then I saw it. The ‘flimsy wooden shack’. That’s what I’d been told it was. It was certainly small, but it was neither flimsy nor wooden. It was like a small box, only about as large as a dining hall at a school. It was painted in a strange way. It camouflaged perfectly into the background but was painted so perfectly that the camouflage wasn’t as obvious as it was on a military uniform. It didn’t have any windows. My unease soared. I noticed a front door beneath me, so I swooped down and landed gracefully in front of the building, opening the door and stepping inside.

Maltor and Quinn were not there.

Grandad stood tall, his blue eyes alert and scanning the area. Henry’s strawberry-blond hair is ruffled in a strangely handsome way and his singular brown eye seems both lifeless and determined. Charlotte stands shoulder-to-shoulder with him, her long black hair falling not only onto her shoulders but his as well. Heather’s short blond hair is perfectly styled, which posed a stark contrast to Henry’s. Tom’s hazel eyes watch me slowly as I step inside, knowing what I must do.

Natasha watches me, her brown eyes completely filled with worry. Asbel’s eyes of the same colour are watching me almost suspiciously as I enter, but he smiles at me to show that his intentions are not harmful. I began to realise that all of my friends had brown eyes as Ethan, who had brown eyes if you would believe me, beamed at me, his brown eyes sparkling. Jay watched me, his curly brown hair had evidently been recently washed, with sheer determination. After his Claiming he had become an entirely different person if you ask me. He was more confident and didn’t back down nearly as easily as he used to.

Everybody had one thing in common, however. None of them seemed to realise just how significant this meeting was. I was not sure exactly what was about to happen, but it certainly would not be fun.

The room itself seemed to just be a hall, of sorts. The floor was coated in a dark red carpet, and the walls were bare but painted a nice shade of baby blue. It was just…bare.

‘You heard a prophecy in your dream, correct?’ Charlotte asked the moment I had shut the door.

‘That’s what I think it was, yes, ma’am,’ I replied awkwardly.

She and Henry smirked. ‘You don’t have to call me ‘ma’am’.’

‘Sorry, ma- miss,’ I tried.

She and Henry looked at each other for a second and tried not to laugh before deciding to just leave it.

‘That’s certainly not uncommon,’ Grandad elaborated. ‘It’s not exactly an everyday occurrence, but hearing a prophecy in your dream isn’t too far-fetched.’

‘Yeah,’ Henry said, gesturing towards me with his hook. It appeared that his other arm was around Charlotte’s shoulders. ‘But why do you look so tense, Albert?’

‘I have a feeling,’ I said, avoiding everybody’s gaze. I felt everybody’s eyes dig into me as I stared determinedly at the ground. ‘Something’s about to happen.’

‘Don’t worry about it!’ Henry said, grinning. ‘Nobody’s gonna die!’

The door behind me opened and closed rapidly. Wheeling around with my hand poised to unsheathe my sword, I saw that it was Maltor and Quinn whom has just entered. Maltor’s hair was windswept and his blue eyes were wide and frantic with fear. Quinn’s hair was also untidy, and his brown eyes held the same emotion: pure fear.

‘Are you two okay?’ I asked upon seeing them.

‘Yes,’ Maltor replied quickly, taking himself and Quinn over to a spot about two feet in front of me, near the wall. ‘You have a prophecy to tell us, right?’

‘Um, yeah,’ I said.

The two of us stared at each other. His eyes showed nothing but pure dread. They were wide and glaring. After just a few mere seconds of eye contact, Maltor broke away and chose to stare at the ground.

I looked at Grandad for a moment, and he nodded encouragingly. None of them knew what I was about to say.

‘Quickly!’ Quinn barked angrily, as though he had somewhere to be.

‘Pardon?’ I said, aghast. ‘Forgive me for not knowing that you’re in a rush to be somewhere.’

‘Just say it!’ he barked again, ignoring me.

‘Fine! Fine!’ I shouted back. ‘Are the rest of you ready?’

‘As ready as we’ll ever be,’ Henry said, smirking.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes momentarily before continuing. Upon opening my eyes, I began, ‘Warrior with a-’

Then everything happened at once. I knew something was coming. I lunged forward, grabbing Maltor by the collar with my left hand and yanking him backwards as the wall to my right exploded, rattling my eardrums. As dust and debris flew through the air, I grabbed my sword with my right hand and unsheathed it. As flames began to dance up the blade, I threw Maltor behind me and I heard him fall to the floor right as I swung my sword to my right. I felt it come into contact with flesh and go all the way through. I heard yet another thud, and when the dust cleared I saw a headless body lying at my feet.

A spell flew through the hole in the wall and I jumped forwards, watching in complete horror as seven people stepped into our room.

Panting, I realised that I did not have time to worry over the fact that I had just killed somebody; I had to fight. I darted towards the person at the front of the group. The man that I possibly hated most in this cruel world. Robert Hansen.

With a simple flick of his wand, he sent me spiralling backwards to a spot about fifteen feet away from him and his gang. I noticed that Grandad, Henry, Charlotte, Tom, and Heather had all grabbed their wands and they were pointing them threateningly at Robert. Not anybody else, just Robert.

Surprisingly, he still did not have a left arm, even though it had been four months since Grandad had taken it from him. I had kinda expected him to magically get another one, but either he couldn’t or had just chosen not to.

Robert’s eyes were wild with fear. His voice, however, was tranquil, almost soothing.

‘Well, it appears we have stumbled upon a little bit of a mothers’ meeting.’

He stared down at the headless body lying at his feet.

‘Shame, we never actually thought he’d die,’ he said as he looked at me with vengeful eyes. ‘Especially not by your hand.’

‘You should really be more diverse,’ I said, still panting.

‘What?’ Robert spat, slowly raising his wand to me.

‘I saw that break-in coming from a mile away.’

‘What are you talking about, you stupid rat?’ Robert said, his rage evidently building.

‘Well, maybe if you were bright enough to come up with another break-in plan, you’d be bright enough to understand what I’m saying!’ I shouted before quickly jumping out of the way of Robert’s spell.

‘And Steven…’ Robert said calmingly, disregarding me, ‘it’s been a while, has it not?’

Grandad glared at him. ‘Robert…I see that you’re still missing an arm.’

‘As Henry is his left hand,’ Robert replied wittily. ‘I don’t even think he can see Albert from where he’s standing.’

That was a low blow. I was standing far to Henry’s left.

All it would take for that hall to fall into chaos is one thing. The only question that we were plagued with was when that thing was going to happen.

‘You…’ Maltor murmured, staring at me, his eyes still wide with fear. ‘You…saved me.’

‘Keep quiet, child!’ Robert barked at Maltor.

Never in the eleven years that I had known Maltor had I ever seen such fear in his eyes. He had looked braver on the night that we had escaped from The School.

Flames erupted to life over the blade of my sword. Their light covered the entire room, causing everybody to look my way. I didn’t feel like myself. I felt a burning rage coming from somewhere that was not me. Almost as though somebody was standing behind me and I was feeling their rage.

‘Robert…Hansen…’ I snarled, my words dripping with fury. ‘I’ll…I’ll…I’ll kill you!’

Within what had to have been half a second, I was in front of him, my blazing sword perfectly poised to jab through his stomach.

Six spells flew at me, but all but one was deflected by one of my comrades. The only one that got through was weak. I watched as a red jet was absorbed by the flames encircling my sword.

Realising that he did not have time to shoot a spell at me, Robert brought his right leg up, kicking me in the stomach and sending me flying backwards as pain soared through my body.

That was the one thing that was needed to get everyone going.

Spells flew through the air at terrific speeds as most of my friends ran for shelter. Maltor and Quinn were the only ones that stayed rooted to the ground. The only problem with that plan was the fact that we were in an empty hall.

Robert slipped through the storm of spells and ran for my friends, who were all taking ‘cover’ in the furthest corner of the room. Darting forwards to intercept him, I jabbed my sword forwards into the thin air in front of me and the flames flew off of it, charging through the air and catching Robert in the side of his stomach.

‘I told you I’d kill you, didn’t I?’ I said, smirking. ‘Don’t think I was joking.’

But he slipped away again. As I ran over and swung my sword towards his neck, he ducked and ran back over to the main fight.

Then my sword showed its true potential. One of the other fighters broke away from the fight. He had short brown hair and hazel coloured eyes. He levitated a piece of debris in front of him, and I watched in horror as it transformed into a sword with a metre-long blade.

I laughed heartily. ‘Come at me, coward!’

He jabbed. I blocked. He swung. I blocked. He took a sweep towards my leg. I blocked. I swung towards his stomach. He cried in pain. I cut his throat. He let out a faint gargle. I cut off his sword hand. He cried out in agony. I jabbed through his neck. He fell silent.

I pulled out my other sword with my left hand and passed it to Jay.

‘Protect them!’ I yelled as I ran back towards the fight.

I sheathed my sword again and then pulled out my wand. If I couldn’t get close to anyone then I would just have to try and shoot some light jets at them.

Both sides were holding their ground well. Charlotte and Robert were furiously duelling, and Grandad was fending off two of their fighters. I stared at him in sheer admiration. How, at his age, he was managing that was beyond me.

Then bang. One of Amy’s fighters fell to the ground, lifeless. War.

Now it was an even playing field. Five against five. Five against six once I fired again.

‘Velere!’ I yelled, and a red jet of light shot from my wand and sailed right in between Robert and another fighter, neither of whom even glanced at me.

Then I ran straight into the heat of the fight, in between Charlotte and Grandad. I desperately fired spells so quickly that my arm began to go numb. Words that I had never even heard before were being shouted, and it was too much for my brain to cope with.

On my left, Jay was standing proudly with my sword, occasionally deflecting a stray spell. I heard Robert yell ‘Immitis Occisio!’. In front of me, and behind Robert’s group, Maltor and Quinn were still standing to the side, their eyes wide and their faces masked by dark expressions. I heard a dull thud against the ground. I screamed ‘Velere!’ so hard that my throat felt raw. Grandad was whispering words of encouragement to me as I fought. I even heard Ethan yelling ‘Give him Tartarus, Albert!’.

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Then it seemed to be just Robert and I desperately flinging spells at each other. Green lights, blue lights, red lights, every single colour that I could have possibly thought of flew from the tips of our wands, and it was an absolute miracle that I was keeping up with him. Our eyes locked together, unfiltered resentment filling each of our faces. Our jaws were set tightly in place, and I quickly thought that, in that moment, the two of us must have resembled each other. Then realisation hit me like a runaway train.

‘W-Wait…’ I whimpered weakly after disarming Robert with an Exarow. ‘Robert…he…he…he said Immitis Occisio.’

Grandad’s arm was a blur next to me. Glancing up at him for less than half a second, I saw that nothing but rage was fuelling him. I had seen the expression many times before, but never on someone as gentle as Grandad.

‘Who…who did he…who did he hit?’ I breathed quietly, quickly looking around at the floor. ‘W-Who’s dead?’

His strawberry blond hair fell gracefully over the crimson carpet beneath him. His brown eye stared lifelessly up at the ceiling as the sarcastic grin on his face became etched there for eternity. His wand lay loosely in his hand by his side. His chest was still. His eye was unblinking.

I let out a shaky breath as I realised that the body lying at my feet was that of Henry Myers.

‘Immitis Occis-’ Grandad began to yell, and I realised that he had seen Henry well before I had.

However, before Grandad could get his spell out, Robert and his remaining colleagues ran back out through the hole that they had made. I didn’t even think about it. I gave chase immediately.

I ran into the forest behind them, the wind whipping through my hair violently as I actually started to gain on them.

‘Don’t you dare run away, you coward!’ I shrieked, my voice echoing throughout the forest.

‘Huh?’ I heard Robert scream back. ‘It’s not you I’m running away from, it’s him!’

I glanced behind me and saw Grandad fall to his knees, so overcome with a mixture of rage and grief that his body had not been able to take it.

‘Then face me, coward!’ I roared.

‘Avis Levare!’ I yelled, levitating a stray piece of debris from the ground. I swung my arm forward, letting the slab fly forward and hit Robert in the small of the back, causing him to cry out in pain.

All of Robert’s comrades Dis-Apparated whilst his running slowed.

‘We’re always fighting you when you have the advantage!’ I screamed, hot tears forming in my eyes. ‘You don’t see us giving up! We push forward, no matter who stands in our way! So get back here and fight me! What are you afraid of, Hansen? Are you worried you’re gonna get beat to a pulp, you pathetic little cow bag?’

Robert turned to face me, his eyes full of hatred. However, he did not raise his wand.

‘Henry was more of a man than you’ll ever be! He fought even after losing half of his sight! He fought knowing the dangers! He didn’t run at the sight of Eric! Look at yourself, you little weasel!

‘He fought to protect us! He fought to protect everyone! You think he wanted to kill you? He was more ready for his own death than yours, you selfish…useless…piece of absolute shi-’

He Dis-Apparated. My throat was dry due to how much I had shouted. And I still hadn’t told everyone the prophecy.

I dropped onto my hands and knees, clutching at the grass, desperately hoping that something…someone…would stop all of this. Tears streamed down my face and I sobbed so violently that I thought I might throw up. I threw my head backwards, glaring up into the sky, screaming in pure agony. Strangely, I did not feel The Power make an appearance, but for that, I was thankful.

I wandered back into the small building, tears flowing down my face to seemingly no end. I strode over to Henry’s lifeless body. Charlotte had fallen to her knees. She desperately clutched his shoulders as though trying to wrench his soul back in. Her tears fell onto his forever-still face as she tried her hardest to hold back her sobs.

Grandad, too, was struggling. I saw tears fall down his cheeks, and he did not even bother to wipe them away. He looked distraught, as though this had happened before. This was, of course, because it had happened to him before.

Jay was biting his lip, presumably to stop himself from crying. I glanced at him, my face wet. The two of us locked eyes and nodded slightly.

And still, throughout all of this, Maltor and Quinn stood to the side, completely silent. Their eyes were wide and almost traumatised, but something told me that it had nothing to do with Henry.

I collapsed to my knees, staring into Henry’s lifeless eye. I thought back to just two months ago when Henry and I had rescued Jay and killed Eric in the process. At the time, I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of Henry dying. He seemed so strong and determined that it looked as though Titan himself could not bring Henry down.

My tears dropped onto Henry’s clothes and I glanced at his silent smile. He had died laughing. He had died cocky, sarcastic. He had died knowing that we would win.

I shakily got to my feet, turning away from the body. I could have prevented it. If I had used one of the smoke balls then Robert would not have been able to aim. If I had just been half a second quicker, I could have killed Robert before he had the chance.

I gritted my teeth as another tear fell from the end of my chin. I’d lost someone else. I thought of Henry’s smiling face, and the cocky aura that he had always had whilst fighting. Even when fighting Eric, he seemed to be enjoying himself somewhat.

I then thought about how quickly he had protected us all. When Robert had attacked our school, Henry had taken us to safety as quickly as he could. And when I had flown over to the side of the Valley, Henry had been screaming at Grandad to get to safety. He had had no regard for his own life.

And that’s when Maltor spoke, breaking the eternal silence that had descended upon the room.

‘Albert…I need to tell you something.’

I stared at him, another silent tear falling down my face. His words sounded distant, but I was certain that he was speaking at a normal volume.

‘What?’ I said, my voice breaking.

I saw his lips move, but the sound didn’t register. In the background, I saw Asbel’s and Ethan’s faces become coated with rage. Had they heard what he had said? Charlotte’s sobs had fallen silent, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her staring at Maltor, her eyes wide.

‘Pardon?’ I said quietly, my voice hollow. ‘I didn’t quite-’

‘I betrayed you.’

The world went quiet. Nobody moved a muscle. Nobody spoke a word. Nobody even blinked once. Quinn stared at the ground, and I am certain that a tear fell from his eye onto the carpet.

Everything else seemed to disappear; it was just me and Maltor. The two of us stared at each other. He was lying. He had to be. After everything that the two of us had been through together, he wouldn’t betray me. We’d both promised each other that. But I could always tell when Maltor was lying to me. And this was not one of those times.

‘W-What do you mean?’ I said, my eyes wide and unblinking. ‘Y-You betrayed me?’

‘I told Amy that we’d all be here.’

He spoke quietly, but his eyes showed a sort of worried determination. He was not going to back down.

‘I told her exactly where you’d be, what you were trying to do, and when you’d be there,’ he continued.

‘We can talk this over!’ I said, smiling like somebody that had gone insane. ‘We can forgive you!’

‘I got Henry killed,’ he said.

The words died in my throat. My breathing became shallow once more as Maltor and I continued to stare at each other, still not blinking.

‘She told me that if I betrayed you then she’d make me powerful…without any experiments…show me how to save the world,’ he said sheepishly. ‘I wasn’t supposed to say anything…but I can’t take it.’

‘How long has this been going on for?’ I asked.

‘Since around Christmas.’

My heart stopped briefly. Four months. He had tricked us all for the past four months.

‘You’re lying!’ I said, grinning like someone insane again. ‘You’re just tired! We need to get you back to The Tower so you can rest!’

‘I betrayed you,’ he repeated.

Then the voice returned.

Kill him.

I stared at Maltor. The voice didn’t come from him.

Then, suddenly, I felt a burning rage come from behind me just like I had before. I glanced to see who was there, and my eyes fell upon Grandad, but he did not look angry. His eyes were wide more so with shock and grief.

Then it felt as though a ghostly hand were holding my shoulder. Nothing was visible, of course, but I could feel the weight of somebody gripping my shoulder as clear as day.

He betrayed you. He could have gotten you killed. Don’t you think that that was his intention? A best friend wouldn’t do what he’s just done.

I stared at Maltor. The voice…was right. But I didn’t want to kill Maltor. Maybe we could talk it over, and somehow get him to change his mind. But, no, Maltor was nearly as stubborn as me, we couldn’t get him to change the way he sees things.

Kill him, the voice repeated. Remember what I said? Albert, now is your time to change the future. Kill him. End it all before it even begins.

But I had to satisfy the voice. I had another nagging feeling that it would not go away until I complied with it. And the past hour had taught me that gut feelings were never wrong.

Did you forget? The reason that you’re here? You’re here to kill Amy, right? Put a stop to her and her soldiers? Maltor is now one of those soldiers. Change it, Albert. Change the world. Kill Maltor Confussée.

I shakily put my hand on my sheathed sword.

Kill

I slowly pulled my sword out from its place.

Him.

Maltor and I stared at each other, both of our eyes wide with fear. A singular tear fell down his cheek before dropping off of the end of his chin. My entire arm was shaking. My heart was beating so rapidly that I thought I was about to fall over.

End it all, Albert! Right here! Right now! For the future! Save the future from its fate!

I jabbed my sword forwards.

Kill him!

I heard the wind rustle from outside. I saw the sky get a tad bit darker. I could smell the cool night air as it wafted through the forest and entered our room. I could feel the weight of the world descending onto my shoulders.

I could also hear the faint trickle of blood as it hit the soft carpet. I could also see it faintly seeping down my blade. I could smell it, too. I could feel my body get lighter as the voice fell silent.

Maltor and I stared at each other, my sword embedded so deep into his stomach that it came out his back. His blue eyes stared at me, completely full of more fear than any human should ever feel.

‘I- I’m-’ Maltor began, before his voice cut off, his entire body going limp.

I slowly pulled the sword out from his stomach, staring at the ground. I heard the inevitable thud as his lifeless body hit the floor.

Everybody stared at me. I stared at the ground. Quinn stared at Maltor’s body. A pool of blood began to form beneath him. His blue eyes stared at the ceiling above him, completely dead.

‘Albert…’ Natasha breathed. ‘You…Maltor…weren’t you two…friends?’

My mind was completely blank. Maltor’s dead blue eyes gazed upward, a permanent look of fear engraved into his face.

‘Henry…’ I heard Charlotte whisper to herself. ‘You…I…I love you…’

My heart shattered. More tears slowly descended down my face, and I turned to face the group.

‘The prophecy-’ I began before being cut off.

‘One sec,’ Jay said, crouching beside Henry’s body. ‘I need to process what just happened.’

He stared into Henry’s eye, which returned a blank stare. It was strange, how so much happiness could be portrayed on a dead person’s face.

Jay’s tears fell silently and gracefully onto Henry’s face. His shoulders shook with his soundless sobs as he tried his hardest to not even let out a sniffle of grief. Asbel crouched next to him, firmly placing his hand on Jay’s shoulder.

‘It’s okay,’ he said quietly.

‘Death happens,’ Ethan said reassuringly, but even his voice was hollow as he spoke. ‘And look, he died happy.’

‘Died seeing the best of the world,’ I said faintly.

I was beginning to become quite jittery. I wanted to be out of that room as quickly as possible. And Grandad made it clear that he felt the same way.

‘Albert,’ he said slowly, wiping a few remaining tears from his cheeks. ‘The prophecy?’

‘Ah, yes,’ I said. ‘Are you all ready?’

I thought back to the last words that I had heard Henry say: ‘As ready as we’ll ever be’. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he had said those words.

Everybody murmured different variations of ‘yes’.

I glanced around at them all, and it hit me just how thankful I was for having them all. Nevertheless, I took a deep breath and began reciting the prophecy that I had heard Alfonso say in my dream just this morning.

‘Warrior with a heart of stone,

Born as the second month comes to a close,

Forced to fight all alone,

Forced to choose whether to face the shadows.

Born to parents of power,

The boy has the might to kill the killer,

But only with his grandfather to help him flower,

Can he show all that he is no quitter.’

I glanced up at Grandad as I said the seventh line, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Then I continued.

‘Witnessing his model fall,’ I said, pausing for a brief moment. Then I tried again.

‘Witnessing his model fall,

With rage he will be consumed,

It all comes down to that final brawl,

No matter the victor, all shall be doomed.

The war to weave the strings of Fate,

Hatred and anger boiling high,

Taught nothing but hate,

And forced to- And forced to watch those near die.’

I was forced to take a deep breath after that stanza, for obvious reasons.

‘Pushed down a destined path,

The boy can only pray,

That those he loves are spared from his wrath,

And those that wronged him pay.’

A tear fell down my cheek before I continued, and my voice broke on the next line.

‘Betrayal amongst friends,

Life becomes a hunting game,

Never being able to make amends,

The war ends with a dying flame.’

Everybody stood, or crouched, in stunned silence. I felt all of their eyes burning into me as I stood there, staring blankly at the ground, trying to process everything that was going on.

Henry was dead, Maltor was dead, and now a magical prophecy was telling me that I could kill Amy. I felt as though I needed to vomit.

‘Born as the second month comes to a close,’ Natasha repeated. ‘You’re born in February, right, Albert?’

I nodded. ‘The twenty-first.’

‘That’s a bit of a stretch,’ Ethan reasoned.

‘It’s within the last week,’ Asbel said quietly.

I glanced up at Quinn, who was now facing the wall. Even through his pitiful attempt at hiding his face, I could see the sobs echoing through his shoulders.

One line struck me. The line that, in my opinion, cemented the fact that the prophecy was about me. ‘Born to parents of power’. I was in line for the title of Prime Minister of RoCity, so my parents must have been in a position of power, too, right? Even if they weren’t directly Prime Minister, my mom certainly would have been in line for it.

‘Warrior with a heart of stone,’ Grandad said faintly. ‘Your last name. Santrrer. It roughly means ‘saint warrior’.’

‘So, this is definitely about Albert?’ Tom said faintly, still staring at Henry’s body.

‘Without a shadow of a doubt,’ Grandad said, sounding almost glum.

‘The boy can only pray, That those he loves are spared from his wrath,’ I repeated. ‘Am I some sort of danger to you all?’

Charlotte chuckled quietly. ‘You are quite scary when you’re angry.’

‘Especially with your spooky yellow lightning,’ Ethan whispered from behind me. I had to choke back a laugh.

Then I ruined the mood by asking the question that was on everybody’s minds. ‘What do we do with the bodies?’

‘Henry’s funeral will be next week,’ Charlotte said determinedly, her voice full of pain. ‘And Maltor…well…’

‘Don’t give him a funeral,’ Asbel snarled. ‘Let’s just throw his body in the sea. He doesn’t deserve any more.’

‘Or any less,’ I reasoned, glaring at Asbel.

‘He told Amy where we were,’ Asbel said, glaring right back at me. ‘Traitors should be punished.’

‘If we’re done here,’ I said quickly, feeling my body growing hot. ‘Can I go?’

Grandad nodded. ‘I think it’s time that we all went home. It has been quite the eventful night.’

Pain was etched into his voice. It sounded as though every breath caused him mental anguish. His eyes looked broken, scarred. Charlotte was still silently sobbing, her tears still dropping onto Henry’s lifeless face.

We all watched as Grandad and Tom used magic to lift Henry’s limp corpse off of the ground and float it out of the building. Quinn and I shouldered Maltor and dragged him through the hole in the wall, slowly making our way back to the Valley.

We walked in silence, not even looking at one another. Maltor’s body was light and his feet barely made a sound on the ground as they dragged. Then I felt my body get hot again.

‘I have to go,’ I said quickly. ‘Can you carry him by yourself or do you want me to help carry him back to the others?’

‘I’ll manage,’ Quinn murmured. ‘Just go and do what you need to do.’

I dropped Maltor to the ground, turning in the opposite direction and snapping my wings out, soaring to a faraway spot in the forest, and I felt The Power take over my body once more.

I let out a ghastly roar, shaking the very earth beneath my feet. I had killed Maltor. My best friend. I had known him for eleven years, and I was only twelve. I had thought that the two of us could trust each other, but clearly, that had not been the case. Even with The Power in effect, I could feel tears falling down my face.

‘Are you happy now, Voice? Is this what you wanted? I stabbed Maltor in the stomach.’

I let out another painful roar. Henry. Maltor. Both of them were dead. No coming back.

***

Once I got back to my room, my body was steaming so much that it nearly filled the corridor outside as I had walked. I closed the door behind me and darted to the bathroom. I gagged once before vomiting into the toilet. I retched for at least five minutes, before washing my mouth out with cold water.

I slowly crept into my bedroom, taking off my shirt and collapsing onto my bed. My mind was whirling with everything that had just happened. They were dead. I had killed Maltor.

I felt dizzy. I didn’t know what to feel.

‘Just…go to bed…’ I said faintly, as though I could order myself to fall asleep.

And after what felt like an hour of trying to fall asleep, I finally did. And I prayed for a dreamless night. The last time I had a dream, I had gotten two people killed.