I thought of Maltor. I thought of Mom. I thought of Dad. I thought of Henry. I thought of Ethan. I thought of Grandad. I thought of them all as Ethan and I sat together in the lobby of The Tower, racking our brains as the two of us versed each other in chess.

I had thought of them all a lot recently, especially Maltor and Henry. It had been two weeks since the two of them had been killed, and the pain certainly hadn’t lessened.

It had not been fun telling Henry’s parents. His dad had dropped to his knees and begun sobbing uncontrollably as his wife stared at us with wide disbelieving eyes. Henry’s half-brother, who was around my age, had immediately announced that he was going to the park, and he could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as he speed-walked up the road.

I visited Henry’s grave quite often. I had gone every day for the week after he had been killed. Jay had gone with me once, and the two of us had stood in the pouring rain as slow tears fell down his face. It hurt to see 28/07/1998 – 21/03/2020 below his name. He had been just twenty-one years old.

Charlotte had been inconsolable. She had barely shown her face since it had happened, and even if you were lucky enough to see her, she wouldn’t say a word. I had once gone up to the roof of The Tower for a quick flight after it had happened, but I had promptly gone back inside after seeing her crying uncontrollably.

Quinn hadn’t said anything either. He was rarely seen by anyone, and I was certain that he was not staying in his room all day. Nobody even tried to get a word out of him anymore; it was as though we all believed that he was a lost cause.

‘Checkmate,’ Ethan said, breaking me free from my train of thoughts.

‘Damn you,’ I said, annoyed. ‘Are we playing again or should we call it a night?’

‘I don’t mind,’ Ethan said, grabbing a crisp from the bowl that we had so graciously set up next to our game.

‘Will your parents let you-’

‘Boys,’ came a glum voice from behind me, ‘to your rooms, now, please.’

I jumped to my feet and whirled around. Charlotte stood there, wand in hand, her eyes wide and alert. Her hair was untidy for the first time ever, and her breaths were quick and short.

‘What?’ I said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Why?’

‘There’s no time to explain,’ she said hastily. ‘Just get to your rooms. Wait, no. Both of you get in the same room, but not Albert’s.’

‘Why?’ Ethan asked angrily.

Charlotte stared at us momentarily. I could tell that she was trying to think of a way to get us to blindly follow her. Upon realising that we would not budge without a reason, she gave up.

‘Amy’s soldiers,’ she said slowly, staring at the ground. ‘They’re making what appears to be their final push.’

My eyes widened, fear flowing through my body.

‘There are more of them than we even knew she had. And they all know that Albert is staying at The Tower. They might know the room, too, depending on how far Maltor went. So don- Albert!’

I blitzed past her, running straight for the stairs. I almost made it before an invisible force pulled me back, sending me spiralling across the room and causing me to hit the front wall with a dim thud.

‘Are you insane?’ Charlotte shrieked.

‘What?’ I said, rising to my feet, feigning innocence. 'Our rooms are upstairs, are they not?'

'Don’t you dare play smart with me,’ Charlotte warned sternly. I thought briefly about the moment that she had had the motherly look on her face. That look was back. ‘You can’t go out to fight! No matter how powerful or quick you are, you don’t stand a chance against what’s out there!’

‘Who says I don’t?’ I argued angrily, fighting the urge to place my hands on my hips.

‘I do, Albert,’ she said. ‘Amy herself is- oh for fu-’

‘Amy’s there?’ I said quickly. ‘Amy’s here? Herself? She’s joined the attack?’

‘No!’ Charlotte said quickly. ‘Amy herself is…’

‘You can’t think of an excuse, huh?’ I said, smirking.

‘Listen,’ Charlotte said, slowly raising her wand. ‘I have been ordered to get the two of you to safety. I am going to carry out that order, whether or not you like how I do it.’

I smirked. ‘By the way, where’s G- Steven?’

It felt wrong; referring to Grandad by his first name, but I couldn’t have Ethan knowing who he really was, not yet.

‘Don’t you dare,’ Charlotte said, giving up on the argument that hadn’t even really begun.

‘He’s on the north side of the Valley fighting, isn’t he?’

Charlotte stared at me.

‘I’m getting my belt. And you’re not stopping me.’

Charlotte defiantly pointed her wand at me, but her arm was shaky. I took a deep breath, considering my next actions.

‘I am going to get the two of you to safety,’ she said, staring at me, her eyes full of fear.

I raised my right hand to my mouth, ready to bite it, before remembering what vow Maltor and I had made to each other.

Instead, I charged at Charlotte. For a moment, she blinked wearily as she watched me run towards her. I swerved around her right, and I swung my left hand up as I did so. I knocked her wand from her hand and ran up the stairs as fast as I could.

‘Oh, and, Charlotte?’ I said, turning back for a moment and smirking. ‘Tell Heather I’m sorry for putting a knife to her throat, please.’

I ran all the way up to my room, and once inside I darted over to the drawers and grabbed my belt, my mind reeling.

Grandad. He was out there now on the battlefield, protecting his city. And Amy was there, too. I thought of the two of them hurling spells at each other like wild animals. No matter how good Grandad was, I was certain that in a fight of endurance Amy would come out on top.

I dug underneath my bed, pulling out both of my swords. I sheathed them into their rightful places before grabbing my wand off of the blanket. And I made sure that I had the smoke balls in my pocket before leaving the room.

‘Grandad…’ I murmured through gritted teeth as I stepped into the elevator at the end of the corridor, pressing the button for the ground floor. ‘You better not be dead when I get there…’

My heart was pounding furiously against my ribs. Something felt different about this fight. Sure, two weeks ago I had fought Robert and a few others, but now Amy was on the scene again. The last time the two of us had come face to face, she had slipped away narrowly. But when that had happened, I had been fighting her with Maltor by my side.

It was hard to comprehend that that fight with Amy had been less than five months ago. I hadn’t even been at RoCity for six months, and now it felt as though I were heading straight into the final fight for this place.

I knew from countless rough years that people like Amy didn’t simply forget. No, she was attacking RoCity with the memory of me absolutely kicking her to the ground fresh in her mind. And somebody blinded by the sweet promise of revenge was somebody that should not be crossed. Revenge was one of the most powerful tools that a human could use.

But I had to fight. For Mom. For Dad. For Grandad. For Henry. For the rest of my family. This was my revenge. This time I would do it. This time I would kill her.

The lift doors opened, and Ethan and Charlotte seemed to have agreed that stopping me was futile.

‘I’m coming with you,’ Ethan said defiantly, blocking the door.

‘We’re coming with you,’ Charlotte corrected, standing next to Ethan.

‘Fine,’ I said plainly. ‘Just don’t try and stop me.’

That got Ethan to crack, as I knew it would.

‘Are you actually insane? You can’t go out there and fight Amy!’

‘I have. I can. I will,’ I said, staring at him. ‘And I told you not to stop me.’

‘What would Hen-’

‘Shut your mouth!’ I snapped. ‘Henry would want me to fight with every ounce of my being, and you know it!’

Ethan’s eyes widened. ‘Wait, Albert-’

‘And don’t you dare try and use Henry as an excuse to get me to calm down!’ I yelled, my voice positively dripping with rage. ‘I told you not to stop me!’

Ethan stared at me, horrified. ‘Albert- I didn’t mean-’

I knew he was right. Henry would have wanted-

‘Henry would’ve wanted you to stay safe,’ Charlotte said quietly. ‘It’s what he devoted himself to. Keeping you safe.’

‘I don’t care,’ I said, not looking at either of them. ‘I’m free to decide. ‘It all comes down to that final brawl’, right? How much longer do you want to wait before that ‘final brawl’ happens, huh? How many more have to die just so I can be safe for a little bit longer?’

Ethan opened his mouth to argue before shutting it a moment later.

‘Give me one of your swords,’ he murmured.

‘Pardon?’ I said, staring at him and throwing my head back, appalled.

‘I’m coming with you,’ he said simply. ‘If we can’t stop you, we’ll just have to join you.’

‘Are you insane?’ I shrieked. ‘You’ll get yourself kill-’

‘I’m a son of Titan, right?’ he said, smirking. ‘If you can fight, I can fight.’

‘Ethan, I’m-’

‘You misunderstood,’ he said defiantly. ‘I was not asking.’

‘If you die I’m gonna cut your body into little pieces,’ I said, grinning.

‘Bet,’ he grinned back at me.

I passed him the sword that I had stolen from The School. Charlotte stared at the two of us, evidently trying to decide whether she should have been beaming or telling us that we were idiots. She made the choice quick.

‘You’re both idiots,’ she said, smirking. ‘Don’t leave my side.’

‘No promises,’ I said, and Ethan’s grin broadened.

My mind was racing. Was this really it? Were Ethan, Charlotte, and I really about to be the team that ended it all? If I saw Amy, I was going to gun for her, I didn’t care that Charlotte wanted me by her side. If I saw Amy, then she and Ethan would follow me.

‘You’ve got your wand, right, Albert?’ Charlotte asked, panicked.

I smiled at her. ‘Of course, I do. What, do you expect me to fight Amy with a sword?’

She chuckled lightly. ‘It wouldn’t exactly be a far-fetched expectation, would it?’

Ethan and I grinned at her.

‘So, are we ready to beat Amy to the ground?’ Ethan said.

‘I’ve been ready for nearly five months now,’ I said, my smile fading. ‘And this time…I don’t know what it is…but this time I feel like I can actually do it.’

‘I don’t care how you feel,’ Charlotte said, her grin dying. ‘You’re both staying by my side. You should be thankful I’m doing this.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ I murmured angrily. ‘If I get a clear shot at Amy then I’ll kill her instantly. You two just need to help me set up that chance. Charlotte, do you reckon you can hold out in a duel against Amy?’

‘Possibly,’ she replied, but her voice was dripping with doubt.

‘I’ll of course be going at her as well,’ I added reassuringly. ‘She can’t fend off the both of us.’

‘She’s a powerful witch,’ Charlotte said, sounding genuinely nervous.

‘She can’t fend off the both of us,’ I repeated. ‘Especially if I come at her from the side.’

‘I can go at her from her left if you go from the right,’ Ethan added hopefully. ‘We can sandwich her. And if Steven’s there fighting her, there is no way that she’ll manage to keep up with all four of us.’

I stared at him. For the first time since the topic came up, I realised just how worried I was for Ethan. After Maltor, Ethan was undoubtedly my best friend, and I by no means wanted to see him get murdered right in front of my eyes.

‘What’s with that look?’ Ethan asked suspiciously.

‘I don’t want you getting hurt.’

‘Tough. I’m gonna. And you can’t stop me.’

I tried to smirk at him. ‘Whatever you say, I guess. Now, can we please get going? I can’t leave G- Steven out on his own!’

Charlotte sighed, smirking. ‘Yes, yes, come on then.’

I ran outside onto the High Street. Ethan and Charlotte dashed out after me, but neither of them liked my idea.

‘You two Dis-Apparate to the fight, I’ll fly there.’

‘Now, hold on!’ Charlotte began desperately. ‘You need-’

I unfolded my wings through the holes in the back of my shirt. I pushed them down with tremendous force, lifting myself into the air.

‘Go!’ I called down before soaring off.

If I was lucky enough to encounter Robert then I would be taking two heads home. Oh, Gods, I prayed that I could kill him, too.

The cold night wind pierced every piece of my body that it could reach. I gritted my teeth to try and ease the pain but I continued pushing forward. I had to keep moving forward.

The dark city spread out below me as I flew closer and closer to the northern side of the Valley. Glancing back, I watched as The Tower became a mere pinpoint as I headed towards what very well could have been my final fight.

I felt sick to my stomach. This was it. Now or never. If I failed to kill Amy tonight, countless others would continue to lose their lives for my sake. I had had enough of people sacrificing themselves for me. Mom. Dad. Henry. Even Grandad had turned his life around for me.

Today that had to change. Today I would fight for me. Nobody else would. I would save myself. I would end it all.

Then I saw it. The last time that I had seen the fighting on the Valleyside it had been nothing compared to this. Hundreds of Amy’s soldiers were making a great push against our own outnumbered forces. Their colourful spells illuminated the night sky and set off bangs that echoed around the whole Valleyside. I saw two dark silhouettes furiously fighting on a small hill to the left, and they were evidently moving the fastest out of everybody that was there. I sped up, desperately trying to find Ethan and Charlotte through the darkness.

I saw two figures standing away from the large battle, and swooped down towards them. They weren’t doing anything so I presumed that they were looking for me. They were not. They were not Ethan and Charlotte.

As I landed a few feet away from them, their builds struck me as they contrasted Ethan and Charlotte’s physiques drastically. For starters, they were both very tall men.

The two of them stared at me, their eyes wide with shock and horror. Their mouths hung open slightly as they began to process who I was. One of them shakily raised his wand.

‘S-Santrrer?’

He fired. I was just as fast, however. I drew my own wand just as fast as his spell flew. My speed took the two of them by surprise, allowing me to deflect the original spell with a simple Velere and then fire an Exarow at the man that had fired.

He fired another spell to deflect mine, and, to my dismay, he was successful; my spell flew away into the starry night, never to be seen again.

By this time the other man had drawn his wand, so now I was outnumbered. I slowly began to reach for my sword with my left hand, before the cold realisation set in that I had given that sword to Ethan.

One of the men shot a spell at me, and in my attempt to dodge it, I lost my left ear to a spell shot by the other. Pain soared through my head and it was all I could do to not scream out in pain. Blood oozed onto the grass below, staining it a horrible shade of dark green.

‘Velere!’ I screamed, but my spell sailed past their heads.

I then noticed that the two men were not looking at me with anger or determination, but instead, they seemed scared. No, they were more than scared. The men standing before me were straight-up terrified.

For a moment, just a brief moment, the three of us stared at each other. Just for that split second, the three of us began to lower our wands. For no more than half a second, the three of us stood, panting, our arms slowly beginning to fall to our sides. Then blood flew.

It splattered all over my face and shirt. It flew into my breathless mouth and blinded my left eye. The first man that had begun to fight me stood, his eyes widening more in that brief second as a wave of crimson descended upon him as he saw his friend’s head blow up right in front of him.

The headless body first collapsed to its knees, pausing in that position momentarily before finally taking its final rest on the bloodied grass. It lay there, completely still, and I realised that the man had not even had time to think before everything had gone dark.

Through the night, I could barely make out two figures standing a few feet behind the corpse. Charlotte and Ethan. Charlotte’s wand was steaming and her shoulders were heaving through her heavy breaths. Ethan stood next to her, my sword hanging limply by his side, his eyes wider than I had ever seen. His jaw was set determinedly as he stared, rooted to the spot, at the man Charlotte had just killed.

Charlotte’s eyes were wild with unfiltered rage. Her arm was steady as she turned slowly to the other man, who, in contrast, was evidently feeling nothing but fear.

‘No- Please!’ he screamed wildly, bringing his arms up in front of his face as a final desperate attempt to protect himself.

‘Detognis,’ Charlotte said, barely louder than a whisper.

The man’s body bent at an odd angle as he threw his head up to the sky, screaming in agony. A giant hole had been blown through his midsection as blood sailed across the air, painting the grass an even darker shade of green. The blood fell across even Charlotte, who I had thought was out of its reach.

The man fell weakly to his knees. ‘I- I never meant- I didn’t ever want to- I’m- I’m sorry.’

He let out a final short breath as his eyes went grey and his body went cold.

The night seemed colder. The wind seemed harsher. The world seemed quieter. Ethan and I stared at each other for a moment, both of us rooted with terror. The man’s pleas echoed through my mind. He hadn’t even fired at Charlotte; he had merely used his arms to try and defend himself. And that had gotten him nothing but the sweet release of death.

‘Let’s go and find Amy,’ Charlotte snarled.

As she marched over to me, she kicked the bodies roughly. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the fray.

‘Come on, Ethan, now or never, right?’ she said, glancing back.

‘Y-Yes, ma’am,’ Ethan murmured before scuttling forwards to catch up with us.

‘Charlotte,’ I began slowly as I was dragged through a storm of spells. ‘Are you okay?’

She did not respond for a moment. After what felt like an eternity, she said quietly, ‘No.’

I knew better than to continue.

Spells flew at us from every direction, and Charlotte and I had to work hard to keep them away. Even without the continuous flow of spells being hurled our way, it was still difficult to traverse the battlefield. What seemed like an endless amount of people were ferociously duelling. The shouts of spells were lost in the unending screams of misery and the bangs and clashes of the jinxes and curses as they collided in the air. And if we were lucky enough to squeeze between two duels, we would have to be careful that we did not trample on a body. Countless lives had already been lost in just that night, and that was evident in the sheer number of corpses that were strewn all across the northern Valleyside.

One poor woman was unlucky enough to be killed and then have her body flung into me. Her cold, lifeless body slammed into my side, sending me down to the floor, hard. Immediately after hitting the floor, people began trampling me. Each foot felt like a brick as it collided with my body, and I cowered, bringing my arms around my head and my knees into my chest, as though that would help.

Grunting, I reached out and grabbed someone’s ankle. I dragged them down to the ground, praying that they weren’t on our side, and used the momentum to launch myself up onto my feet.

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Glancing around towards where Charlotte and Ethan were, I saw that Charlotte was locked in a duel with one of Amy’s fighters. Her left arm was stretched protectively out to the side to try and stop any stray spells from hitting Ethan, who stood unmoving behind her. Her arm was nearly a blur as she gave it everything that she had for the sake of protecting Ethan.

Then my body was tossed high into the air. It was painless, but fear shot through my heart like a bullet.

‘Shame, isn’t it?’ Robert said, smirking up at me. ‘Shame, that you’ll never get the chance to fight Amy again.’

Silently, I tightened my gut, watching the grass at Robert’s feet slowly thicken and grow. The blood-stained blades began to curl around Robert’s ankles like snakes, and it appeared that he did not notice.

‘I- I’ll kill her the second I’m done with you,’ I snarled weakly.

‘Will you now?’ he replied tauntingly. ‘Because I d-’

He glanced down at the grass, which was now up to his knees, and it showed no sign of stopping. Robert quickly looked back up at me, anger filling his eyes.

‘Immi-’

His legs were dragged out from beneath him. He gave out a small yelp as he dropped, his face ploughing into the ground. But the grass did not stop. It continued to writhe and grow until it was tall enough to hold Robert upside down in the air.

When Robert hit the ground, I did too. He lost his grip on me, and as a result, I went tumbling onto the grass below. Spitting dirt back onto the ground, I jumped up to my feet, glaring at the man being held before me.

‘You’re the great Robert Hansen, correct?’ I teased. ‘Amy Wright’s top fighter? If so, how is it that you’ve let yourself be bested by me again?’

I pointed my wand directly at him as the grass continued to grow and loop around his body. It had now encased everything up to his ribcage. I could see the strain and fear in Robert’s eyes as he truly realised that the grass would not stop.

‘Exarow,’ I murmured.

A red beam of light exploded from the tip of my wand, sailing towards Robert. It hit him square in the chest, and I saw his wand slowly wriggle out from the grassy binds. It fell to the ground just a few feet in front of me.

Pointing my wand directly at his, I said quietly, ‘Avis Levare.’

The wand slowly lifted up off of the ground, and it followed my movements as I slowly brought my arm upwards. Once it was about five feet in the air, I glanced at Robert.

‘Shame, isn’t it?’ I growled. ‘Shame, that you’ll never see your wand again.’

And with that, I hurled my arm forward as though I were throwing a ball, and Robert and I watched as his wand swept through the night, onwards into the crowd of fighters, never to be seen again.

‘You rotten little c-’ Robert began before I cut him off.

‘You don’t deserve to have your words heard,’ I snarled. ‘And this? This is for Henry Myers, the man that you killed.’

More blades of grass elongated below Robert, but this time they grasped onto Robert’s hair, which had been hanging close to the ground this entire time.

Then, I pulled. The fists of grass tightened on his hair and slowly began to pull downwards. Robert let out a horrifying scream of pain as he felt his hair gradually leave his head.

He cloaked himself in that swirling black shroud, evidently trying to get away, but I held on tight. He writhed in my grass to no avail; he was trapped. His hair was still being tugged by the greenery and his screams of pain were only getting worse. This was for Henry.

‘You’ll see,’ he snarled faintly through pants. ‘You’ll see…you can’t beat Amy. Not again. You bested her on a fluke. If she sees you again…you best pray to the Gods for your survival, kid.’

'Albert!’ Charlotte called.

I glanced to my right. Charlotte and Ethan were running over to me whilst Charlotte occasionally snapped her wand out to the side to shoot an attacker away. As I looked at them, the two paused for a moment, their faces fearful. They looked briefly at the scene before them; at me dangling Robert in the air with thick blades of grass, at me ripping Robert’s hair from his scalp, at Robert desperately crying out, as though his pleas would cause me to show mercy. Not after Henry.

‘Oh, you’re screwed now,’ I said, smirking, as I looked back to Robert. ‘You are so, so screwed.’

Charlotte and Ethan caught up to me.

‘So,’ Charlotte began slowly, not taking her eyes off of Robert, who was still letting out cries of misery, ‘this is what you’ve been keeping yourself busy with?’

I nodded slightly. The grass had now encased Robert’s neck, and with another great silent heave of effort, I began to slowly tighten the grass case. Now, not only was it slowly creeping up Robert’s body, but it was constricting his airways.

Charlotte raised her wand. ‘Keep him there. Truculor.’

I felt Robert’s pain. I felt the invisible force push out of Charlotte’s wand and into his body. His head twitched violently, as he let out a gut-wrenching scream of pain. His entire body was violently jerking in every direction as his howls echoed through the night.

‘I’m sorry!’ Robert cried as tears began to fall from his eyes and down his forehead. ‘Mother, I’m sorry!’

My heart dropped. It felt as though something in my body was falling as I watched the scene before me. Robert, bound by unnaturally large blades of grass as he went through the-Gods-know-what. I had no idea what Truculor did, but it was evidently painful.

‘I should have kept my promise, Mother!’ he howled as the grass began to slowly creep up his chin. ‘I made the wrong decision! I- I should never have-’

Charlotte remained unfazed as Robert continued.

‘Father! Please! Help me! I never should have done it! Please, Father! Please!’

I felt sick to my stomach. Ethan and I didn’t even look at each other. The two of us stood, completely frozen with fear, staring at Charlotte, whose eyes were determined and whose jaw was set as she brutally tortured Robert.

His hopeless pleas of sorrow drilled in my head. He wailed about his mother and father, and about the supposed promise that he made to them and had failed to keep. Ignoring the part of my brain that wanted to know what the promise was, I sped up the grass in an attempt to get it to cover his mouth.

‘Amy!’ Robert yelled, his voice dripping with anguish. ‘Forgive me, ma’am! I-’

The thickened grass grew to cover his mouth. His words of pain became mere muffled cries, the only part of him that seemed to be still alive was his eyes, which were frantically glancing at the three people before them in turn. It seemed as though he wanted help from either me or Ethan, but it soon became clear to him that the most we were capable of doing was standing there in shock.

He gave a horrific screech of pain as his hair was slowly ripped off of his scalp. The grass wriggled slightly, dispersing the greasy blackness across the ground, before elongating once more and snaking its way around Robert’s forehead.

‘W-Where’s Amy?’ I muttered faintly, just about loud enough for Robert to hear.

His cries of agony quietened as though he were trying to stop himself from revealing the answer. But his eyes gave it away. He glanced to my left for less than a second. Looking in that direction, I saw the hill quite a distance away. The hill that those two silhouettes had been fighting on when I had arrived. Amy was on that hill. And so was Grandad.

I did not think. I ran to my left as fast as I could. In my hurry to get to the hill, I felt my grip loosen on the grass. I didn’t even need to glance back to know that I had accidentally set Robert free.

‘Albert!’ Charlotte called, but her next word was interrupted by a chorus of spells.

Someone grabbed my shoulder. Ethan.

‘Don’t!’ he yelled over the noise of spells. ‘Wait until Charlotte’s done with Robert! It won’t take long!’

‘I told you not to stop me,’ I said quietly, trying not to let my rage take over now of all times. ‘I’m going to kill her, Ethan. Right here. Right now.’

He tightened his grip on my shoulder. ‘You can’t! She’ll kill you!’

‘Shut up!’ I screamed. ‘G- Steven’s there as we speak! Who knows how long he can hold off for!’

‘I don’t care!’ Ethan snapped. ‘Let’s help Charlotte deal with Robert and then we’ll get her!’

‘Ethan, are you insane?’ I replied, really getting heated now. Anger spread through my body like wildfire. ‘This is the woman that killed my entire family! I’m not passing up this chance! You either come with me or wait with Charlotte, but I’ll tell you one thing: I am not backing down now!’

And with that, I wrenched myself free from Ethan’s grasp and began to weave through the fighters. I had to barge past a few, but I remained generally unharmed. Then the grass looped around one of my ankles, causing me to stop in my tracks. I glanced back and saw Ethan running towards me, his face concentrated.

‘What are you-’ I began.

‘At least wait, man,’ he replied as the grass around my ankle shrank.

‘Don’t ever pause me like that again,’ I responded, fighting the urge to smirk. ‘It’ll only make the wait longer. Let’s get this witch.’

And the two of us ran. My stomach had become a mosh pit. The hill grew larger and larger and the fighter pairs became thinner and thinner, almost as though everybody was purposely staying away from that hill.

This was the woman that had killed my entire family. I had to kill her. I had to save Grandad. I had to save RoCity. I had to weave the strings of Fate.

If I did not kill Amy then I would not save the world. If I did not kill her, then my family would go un-avenged. I had to do it. I had the might to kill her, right? Then why couldn’t I do it? Every single time Amy and I had met, she had slipped through my fingers by the strands of her hair; I had to make this time different. I had to make this time count.

The hill loomed over me and Ethan. There were no fighters at its base, but, occasionally, a spell would shoot past my ear and disappear into the dark grass.

The hill itself wasn’t large, it was only just larger than a house, and I could hear the horrifying bangs as the spells collided with each other at the peak. I was now certain that it was Amy and Grandad up there.

‘Uh, Albert?’ Ethan murmured from behind me. ‘W-Where’s Charlotte?’

‘Up the hill!’ I barked, refusing to look back. ‘Keep moving forward, Ethan!’

The two of us began our trek up the hillside, my stomach turning. Each step felt harder than the last. Every single time my foot hit the ground, the world seemed to get smaller. It felt as though everything was shrinking in on this one hill. It all came down to this. The final brawl.

‘You can just die!’ I heard Amy shriek from the summit.

Grandad was silent.

Ethan and I quickened our steps. The two of us were gasping for air as we made our ascent. Sweat fell down my face and my fringe was stuck to my forehead with blood and grime. Every muscle ached and it became a strain to even keep my eyes open.

Two more metres.

‘We’re really doing this,’ Ethan said incredulously through pants.

‘We’re really doing this,’ I repeated determinedly. ‘Right now. I don’t expect you to help. If need be, run back down the hill and get Charlotte.’

One more metre.

‘No. I’m staying at the top with you,’ he responded, sounding almost angry.

‘This is why you’re my best friend,’ I snarled.

‘It’s an honour,’ he replied, and I could tell that he was smirking.

And then we made it.

Amy and Grandad stood a few feet apart, violently throwing spells at one another. Their curses and jinxes illuminated the sky as Amy roared angrily at Grandad. They had not yet noticed us.

Grandad was evidently a lot more sluggish than he had been the time he had fought Robert. His glasses were missing, and judging by the sporadic cuts on his face, they had been blown up and the remaining pieces of the lenses had dug into his face. He was missing his left hand. Thick crimson blood dripped from the end of his arm to the ground but he paid no attention to it.

Amy, on the other hand, seemed to be in relatively good condition. She was bloodied and panting, sure, but she still had both of her hands, and her face had not been cut. Dried blood coated the left side of her face as she grinned maniacally. Her black clothes had been ripped in multiple places, most noticeably in the giant rip in her shirt that exposed her stomach. He may have been in bad condition, but Grandad was holding his own very well.

There was a circle roughly six feet in diameter around Amy that simply had no grass. That patch was dead and grey, but whether it was intentional or not was a mystery.

‘Just give up, Steven!’ Amy howled, her eyes flooded with frenzied glee.

The two were so fixated on each other that they had still not noticed me and Ethan standing there. So I took action. If Amy would not notice me, then I would make her.

Pointing my wand at Amy, I murmured, ‘Velere.’

Red light shot from the end of my wand. Unfortunately, it sailed right past Amy’s ear, but it got her attention.

Both she and Grandad paused for a moment and turned to me and Ethan, who stood there panting. I tried to make myself look as menacing as possible; I straightened my back and tried to keep my arm and breathing steady.

‘Ooooh,’ Amy taunted, not sounding out of breath in the slightest. ‘What do we have here? Two puny boys here to save the day?’

Grandad stared at me, evidently trying not to let his jaw hang. His chest was heaving and every single time he took a breath, he winced. I had to save him. Blood dripped dully from his chin and arm, but he did not appear hurt, he looked proud.

‘It all comes down to this final brawl, Amy,’ I said, trying to sound calm. ‘You and me. Here and now.’

Her grin broadened. ‘Why would I kill you when this old fart is still a danger?’

I glared at her. ‘Amy, think about what you’re doing.’

‘I am!’ she snapped. ‘Don’t you dare insult me like that, child! ‘Witnessing his model fall’, yes? Why don’t you sit here and watch then?’

She and Grandad began firing at each other instantly, as though it had been planned. Their arms became blurs, and even though I had unwavering faith in him, I was almost shocked that Grandad could still move at such speeds.

I periodically pointed my wand out in front of me, but I quickly realised that there was no way that I would be able to fire a spell into that mess and hit Amy. The two were weaving left and right like nobody’s business. They ducked, jumped, and even rolled a few times to dodge the other’s spells. There was simply no way that I could match those speeds. They became silhouettes, standing out against the bright flashing lights of their curses as they collided. The two of them simply moved like animals.

I put my wand back in my belt, realising that the only hope I had was to use my sword. But before my hand had even grabbed it, Ethan spoke up.

‘We have to do something! The plan we mentioned with Charlotte!’

I stared at him. ‘If…If I loop round to her right, you have to promise me that you’ll attack from her left and not die, alright?’

‘Promise!’ he said weakly.

I reached for my sword, frantically trying to steady my breathing. Grandad had said that anything was possible so long as I kept my breathing steady, so I was going to use that advice to save him.

But then Grandad himself yelled at me. ‘Use your power!’

My heart stopped.

‘Shut your mouth, Steven!’ Amy roared over the music of the spells.

‘You know how to activate it, son!’ Grandad continued, his voice raw. ‘Use your power and trample everything beneath your feet!’

‘Albert…w-what’s he on about?’ Ethan screamed over the noise.

My breaths became shaky. There was simply no way. There was no way that he knew. How could he? The Power was something that I had desperately tried to keep a secret. Sure, the smoky healing wasn’t exactly discrete, but I was certain that I had done a good job at hiding it.

He couldn’t be on about The Power, could he? He had to have been talking about my demigod powers, right? He had to have been talking about the grass extensions, or the fiery sword, right? He couldn’t know about The Power. He simply couldn’t.

My stomach churning, I slowly moved my hand away from my sheathed sword and brought it up to my open mouth. If he was talking about The Power, then I had to obey his orders. If he wasn’t then this was a huge gamble.

‘D-Don’t tell anyone what you’re about to see,’ I murmured to Ethan.

‘I wo- Wait. What?’ Ethan said, sounding scared.

‘Quick, Albert!’ Grandad called to me in between spells. ‘Save yourself! Save everyone else! Don’t think about-’

A spell hit his left eye. He did not cry out. He did not even flinch. As the flow of blood became heavier, Steven Santrrer did nothing but push through.

I bit down on my thumb. Nothing happened. Not even the yellow lightning showed itself. Nothing. So I opened my mouth again and bit down harder, pain shooting through my hand. Nothing. It was useless.

‘What is this, Steven?’ Amy yelled angrily. ‘Some pitiful attempt to avenge Eileen?’

Grandad roared. It was a noise so full of rage that even I flinched. His spells somehow flew even more violently than before, his arm becoming a whirling mass.

‘S-She was my everything!’ he screamed.

‘And you killed her!’ Amy called back, hopping from foot to foot as she deflected Grandad’s spells with seemingly no effort.

Grandad let out yet another roar. ‘You…you…’

I was now biting down on my hand so hard that a faint trickle of blood was oozing down my thumb and in between my fingers.

‘I have to…’ I murmured, ‘…save…everyone…use…The Power…’

‘Immitis Occisio!’ Amy screeched.

‘Detognis!’ Grandad yelled.

The green jet of light from Amy’s wand clashed with the orange one from Grandad’s. They met perfectly in the middle of the two, and for a strange moment, it seemed as though Amy’s spell was pushing Grandad’s. The site of the clash gradually moved closer and closer to him as he gritted his teeth and desperately tried to push it away.

Blood now poured from my hand so hard that I worried that I might bite my finger off.

I pulled my teeth away for a brief moment. ‘Why isn’t it working?’

Then I bit down on my finger again, harder than before, and a new wave of pain washed through my whole body.

‘Why am I so useless?’ my murmur was muffled by the blood and, of course, flesh that I was biting into.

‘Albert…’ Ethan breathed. ‘What are you-’

I let out a stifled roar of anger as I clenched my teeth harder onto my hand. I was going to carry out Grandad’s wishes. It did not matter what Maltor and I had promised each other. We had promised that we wouldn’t betray each other, and where had that gotten us? Grandad wanted me to use The Power, so I would.

Grandad had broken free from the spell-lock that he had evidently been losing, and now had resumed a normal duel with Amy, but his movements were now much more noticeably slower than Amy’s.

‘Yes, Amy!’ Grandad called, his voice sounding both vengeful and jubilant. ‘This is my pitiful attempt at avenging Eileen!’

I was now violently shaking my head in an attempt to bite deeper into my hand, but some part of me knew that it was useless. I was useless. I wasn’t going to save Grandad. I could never. I wasn’t going to avenge Mom, or Dad. Or Kane, or Leah. Or my aunts and uncles. Everybody died in vain.

Come on! I told myself. Bite harder! Use your goddamn Power! For once in your stupid life do something! Stop relying on other people! Fight for yourself, you damn coward!

Occasionally, Amy would flick her wand out to the side and fire a spell at either me or Ethan, but she missed every single time. Even though Grandad was not directly stopping those spells, he was keeping her distracted enough to the point that her aim was entirely off.

Their spells were still violently soaring through the air. They illuminated the sky with every colour on the spectrum as I frantically bit deeper into my hand, trying my absolute hardest to activate The Power.

Come on! I mentally screamed at myself. Grandad needs you!

Grandad and Amy were roaring at each other, but it was clear who was winning. If I did not do something quick, Amy would-

‘Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!’ Amy shrieked as her movements sped up slightly.

Hurry up, you useless cow bag!

Grandad and Amy shrieked at each other, their souls filled with nothing but pure rage in that one moment. Their arms were still blurs as they frantically tried to kill each other.

Just bite harder!

‘Just give up, Steven!’ Amy called over the noise.

‘I’m still standing, aren’t I?’ Grandad shouted back. ‘So I’ll keep going!’

But he didn’t give up. His eyes were determined. He glared at Amy with an emotion that I thought impossible to convey. It seemed as though his head was floating, as it was the only part of his body that was completely still. And he still pushed forward. He was fighting. As I bit harder and harder into my hand, he tried his absolute hardest to give me the chance to end it all. Red and orange beams shot from his wand, but his movements were slowing. Amy needed less effort to deflect his spells, and it seemed as though she was taunting him, playing with his spells. He let out another roar of anger as he fired another spell.

Then there was a flash of green. Time itself seemed to slow. Blood dropped faintly from my hand onto the grass below. Ethan’s eyes widened briefly. It looked as though he was about to cry out but the noise died in his throat. The wind calmed and the temperature dropped. The sky darkened and my stomach churned.

Grandad’s body graciously fell backwards, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

My whole body went numb. Everything seemed to shut down. I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I didn’t feel. Surely I was misinterpreting something. Things were not as they seemed, surely. I was dreaming. I was tired. I wasn’t seeing the truth. I just had to wake up and it would all be over.

Some part of the back of my mind realised that I was seeing the truth, however painful that may be.

‘How’s that, huh?’ Amy laughed. ‘I told you-’

It happened instantly. I unsheathed my sword and charged at Amy. The blade was coated in flames and I closed the gap between us within half a second. I moved so fast it seemed as though I had teleported. I left a trail of flames in my wake as I swung my sword around, perfectly aiming to strike Amy in the stomach.

She flicked her wand up, sending me spiralling through the air. The force of it caused me to drop my sword, and it disappeared into the darkness. I could vaguely make out Ethan staring up at me as I fell towards the ground.

He wasn’t. He can’t have been.

I leapt to my feet.

‘Look at you, child! Without your sword you are useless!’ Amy cackled.

I grabbed my wand, pulling it out from my belt, and I used the same trick again. I closed the gap between me and Amy instantly. She let out a small yelp as she realised just how quick I was.

Then we began firing at each other.

I did not make a single sound. I just fired. I did not know what flew from my wand, and I was certain that some of it wasn’t even magic. Pure flames erupted from the tip of my wand and sailed through the air towards Amy, who tried her hardest to fend them off.

My eyes were unblinking. My mind was blank. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to stop, but I kept pushing forward. Grandad had done just that, so why couldn’t I?

Electricity ran up and down my arm, firing from the end of my wand like bullets. Amy’s eyes became fearful. I was scaring her. Pride swept through me. Even if I didn’t kill her, I was going to give her a fight that she would never forget.

‘How is this- How are you so quick?’ she yelled, finally beginning to fire her own spells at me.

That’s when The Power decided to make its appearance. I saw the yellow lightning fade into existence and begin to crackle all over my body, and I tried my hardest to not lose control. To let The Power take over now would be a death wish. Not just for me, but for Ethan and everybody else nearby.

‘He died thinking you were a useless grandson!’ Amy yelled.

Newfound rage shot through my body.

‘He told you to kill me and you just stood there! He died without your help! You got your own grandfather killed, Albert!’

I stood completely still, my arm a complete blur in front of my face. Flames shot from the end of my wand, and they were seemingly beginning to fuse with the electricity that was doing the same.

I felt my wand begin to tremble in my hand. I felt faint cracks appear along its surface and I wondered if it would hold up through the pure energy that I was firing from it.

‘You lived that night on a fluke!’ Amy continued. ‘I should have killed you that night, boy!’

One of her spells hit my left hand, completely evaporating it. Blood poured from the end of my arm, and I pushed through the pain. I had to push through.

Another spell hit my left eye, and half of the world went dark. I had to keep pushing forward. With enough conviction, I could win. I just had to keep fighting, no matter the dangers. That’s what Henry and Grandad had done.

I waved my wand in a circle above my head, flames trailing from the tip. After a second or two, I flung my arm forwards and the flames shot towards Amy, who leapt out of the way just in time. She slipped through again. The fire just barely brushed against her shoulder. She, unlike me, cried out in pain at just the graze.

‘That hurt!’ she yelled, firing a green jet of light at me.

I leapt out of the way, right into another spell of hers. I flew backwards again and rolled on the ground before jumping back to my feet. I was getting further and further away from her.

I furiously jabbed my wand forward multiple times, firing multiple different spells from the end of it. The wind itself seemed to follow my arm’s movements; I felt it rush forward every time my arm did, ploughing into Amy.

She was falling behind. I could see her getting tired. We had been fighting for a little more than a minute, and I had already worn her down to her limit.

‘This shouldn’t be- How?’ Amy roared before firing two Killing Curses at me.

The Curses were lost in flames that were shot from my wand, which was now nearly destroyed. It had to hold out. Just a little bit longer.

‘You little rat! Nobody can kill me, fool!’ she shrieked.

A spell hit the side of my head. Thick blood began to pour from a newly opened wound and trail down the side of my face, falling dimly off of my chin.

This was for Mom. Dad. Henry. Grandad. Kane. Leah. This was revenge for them all.

Then time slowed once again.

My movements felt both sluggish and energised. I was moving at both the speed of light and at the speed of someone underwater. My arm, which had been hanging by my side, slowly began to rise in front of me. My wand began to gradually heat up in that one second, trembling under the weight of my power. Amy, whose eyes were wild with panic and glee, swung her arm around in my direction, a beam of green light slowly emerging from the tip of her wand.

The two of us were silent in that one moment. As my arm came up, hers came round, and our eyes locked briefly. Nothing but rage was fuelling the two of us.

Every muscle ached. My body was crying for a rest, but I had to keep pushing forward. Once it was over, I would drop, I knew it. I wouldn’t be able to stand upright after this. It strangely felt as though my body were dead but my soul was very still much alive and kicking.

This was the woman that had started it all. The woman that had killed my family.

There was a bright flash of light that lasted for less than a blink.

My eyes widened as I desperately tried to regain my breath. I had not been breathing for most of that time. I clutched at my knees and tried my hardest not to collapse. My wand broke into two in my hand and the pieces fell dully to the bloodied grass below.

The world seemed quieter, darker. Everything seemed more tranquil for a short moment before realisation set in.

Ethan and I slowly stepped forward, the two of us limping slightly, and stared down at Amy’s burned body. Her eyes were still somehow full of the manic glee that she always carried with her. Her mouth, which hung open slightly, would never say a word again. She would never taunt, tease, harass, or utter another incantation again.

The great Amy Wright had fallen.

I grabbed her limp right arm and shouldered it, glancing at Ethan.

‘Come on, let’s drag her to the edge of the hill. Let’s show the world that she’s dead.’

‘How did you- You moved so fast,’ Ethan breathed incredulously.

I remained silent for a moment. ‘Get her other arm.’

He gradually followed my orders, and the two of us slowly began to drag Amy’s body to the side of the hill, where she would be visible to all.

‘Steven…she said you were his grandson…’ Ethan murmured. ‘Is that-’

‘Get her to the side of the hill!’ I shouted, painfully closing my eyes. A hot tear fell down the side of my face.

‘Steven- Your grandad…He’s-’

‘-Still alive!’ I yelled. ‘Now let’s show the world that she’s dead!’

Ethan opened his mouth momentarily before shutting it.

Every cell in my body ached. Every step caused me unimaginable pain. But she was dead. We just had to spread the word.

Her arm felt heavy and cold against the back of my neck. Her head hung limply as she was dragged forward. But all that mattered was that she was dead.

The noise from the base of the hill had died down. It sounded as though only about half a dozen pairs were still duelling. It was as though everybody had seen the hill go quiet and needed to see what had happened.

As the Valleyside crept into view, I saw that that was exactly the case. Only a few people remained fighting, everybody else was staring expectantly up at the peak of the hill.

Then they all saw us.

A deafening silence followed. As everybody slowly began to make out what was happening, the silence only thickened. Through the darkness, I saw some of Amy’s fighters drop to their knees, but I was unsure whether they had been attacked or whether they had just given up.

Then the cheering began. Every remaining RoCitian soldier let out a jubilant cry. The noise echoed throughout the forever dark sky, and people set off lights like fireworks from the tips of their wands. She was dead.

Then I saw a huge mass of people appear on the Valleyside. Normal people. The people of RoCity. Normal civilians had made their way to the battlefield with the one goal of destroying the remnants of Amy’s soldiers.

They all let out a war cry of sorts before charging forwards. I almost felt bad for Amy’s soldiers. Some Dis-Apparated. Others, which were apparently not so smart, tried to fly away in the black cloud of smoke. Every single one of them was shot out of the sky.

I glanced behind me, my eyes falling on Grandad’s body. Maybe he was. Maybe he could have been.

As I looked at him, I felt the weight of the world descend onto my shoulders. I was now Prime Minister. I had failed to save him. If the stupid Power would have just worked as it did at the worst times, then Grandad would be standing behind me, cheering and celebrating with everybody else.

It did not feel like a victory.

I dropped to my knees, tears falling thickly from my eyes as I let out a wail of grief. He was. He could have been. I clutched at the grass below me in some desperate attempt to cling onto a living thing. I felt sick to my stomach. I shook violently with sobs as Ethan tried to whisper something to me, but I could not hear him for the life of me. I felt my chest constrict. Grandad was dead, too. No matter how much time passed, I did not think that that fact would ever settle with me. I had failed him. I had failed to keep him alive. I had failed to save the world.

Charlotte Apparated in front of us, staring down at me for a moment, before glancing at Amy’s dead body, and then finally looking at Ethan.

‘Albert?’ she murmured. ‘Are you-’

Then she saw him. She must have, for her words fell silent.

Hot tears dropped onto the grass. Why? Why couldn’t I, for once in my goddamn life, save someone? I’d killed all the right people, if that were possible, but I could apparently never save anyone, either.

My body gave way. Everything hurt. I lay on my side for a brief moment, letting the cold grass wash against my body as I fought to keep my remaining eye open. I could vaguely make out Charlotte falling to her knees in front of me, and I could just about hear her cries. Ethan, too, sniffled, as though he were trying his hardest to hide his grief.

My right eye slowly began to close, and the entire world descended into darkness for what half of me hoped would be the final time. I did not want to wake up in a world without Grandad. It would be wrong.

Charlotte’s cries slowly faded from existence, and my body gave up. The world went quiet, non-existent. I took one final deep breath of the cold night air before finally giving in.

Everything was over. Everything was dark. Nothing even mattered