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“Fascinating.”

Slade kept tightlipped as Manny, egg secured on his chest, picked up speed at the wheel. The death and destruction outside their window was anything but...fascinating.

Manny disagreed. A time or two he slowed to take it in. An overturned bus here or there, fire unquenching. And there was no death. There was also no ending the fires. Water didn’t work. On the streets, they found destruction. Slade kept her eyes peeled for anyone in a death loop. Manny was surprisingly eager to help at those times. She told herself it was because fixing it was the right thing to do—that wasn’t why. He was practicing. Now he no longer needed the incantation. Maybe he’d never needed it.

Manny drove on, avoiding all the rubble and ruin without trouble.

“Do you think the harpy was always capable of this?” he asked.

Stunned, Slade reserved her anger. “Why? Tasting your own mortality now that you realize you’ve been bullying something more than capable of taking your useless head? This is literally hell on earth.”

He scoffed. “Funny you say something.”

Eyes wide, Slade turned with the intent to curse him. She could barely summon up the strength. This wasn’t Trixie. All of this pain and suffering. If someone told her that she herself was to blame she’d find that more believable. But not Trixie. This wasn’t Trixie. Maybe her Legion was causing this.

“That’s not her Legion,” Manny said, somehow reading her mind. “Speaking of which, can you hear my thoughts? Because I feel like I can sorta hear yours.”

Slade turned to him. “What?”

“Concentrate. I think it’s our Legions communicating. There’s like a buzzing in the back of your skull, isn’t there? Like a lot of communicating. I imagine it is similar to a bunch of chickens running around with their heads cut off. They are shitting themselves. If deities do shit.”

The path to the army camp took longer by car—they couldn’t cut through the forest, but they neared. Everything burned.

Once they got as close as they could in the vehicle, Manny pulled over onto the soft shoulder of the road but didn’t exit.

“We have to think of a strategy,” Manny said.

Slade didn’t respond. A good strategy would be him not being moronic enough to bring them here.

He waited, but Slade folded her arms.

“So let us think about this. All creatures were created with a purpose. What if angels were created...to punish?”

Slade hoped the glare she trained on him would prompt him to shut the hell up. Strategize? How were they supposed to strategize against something that controlled life and death?

And they sat there. When Manny mimicked her by folding his arms above the egg and sitting back, Slade bit back her anger.

“We need to go.”

“We need to be rational,” Manny corrected.

But what did his words matter? “Rational would have been you not causing all this.”

Manny leaned his head back and rubbed his face. “I didn’t.”

“Right. Of course you didn’t. You only neutered some wolves and kick started a war that wiped out an entire race of people.”

A fast retaliation was Manny’s usual response. Hell, Slade half expected him to slam her face against the dashboard, he was such a prick.

But instead, he held the steering wheel and said, “That wasn’t me.”

Eyelids heavy, mostly from the contempt, Slade swung her head around to face him. “What? The devil made you do it?”

“Call it whatever you want.” Manny said, “But think about it for a second and listen to what I’m saying. I whipped you that morning, do you remember?”

Teeth gritted, Slade asked, “And what is the purpose of this trip down memory lane?”

Manny didn’t look pensive but he wasn’t his usual braggadocious self either. “Do you remember it?”

“Of course, I remember it. I especially remember after the fact when you nearly killed me.”

Letting out a sigh, Manny said, “I’m not saying I’m perfect or that I didn’t take a belt to you, because I did. But...we can debate this for another hour and let the world burn or you can just listen.” He shook his head. “Which is it?”

Slade turned her face toward the fires of the forest.

“Close enough,” Manny grumbled. “Fine. I didn’t authorize or request the wolves’ neutering.”

Slade’s head whipped around to face him. “Bullshit.”

“No.” Manny pursed his lips. “I didn’t. And I remember that day as vividly as any other. No Fae blood clouding my mind. Nothing. And I have replayed it a hundred times. All I know is I woke up to hell on earth—with nearly all our wolves deserted. But you were the one who was acting weird. You kept locking up random wolves in containers and what have you.”

Most of Slade’s anger receded when she blinked. “What? Because they were being dragged out and cut.”

“Not under my orders. And I’d guessed Legion ordered it but.... What if it was the wolves?”

Slade swallowed down her disgust. “You are pathetic.” She opened the door to leave.

“Sit the fuck down!”

The gravel in his voice meant he was determined to be heard. She flopped back, refusing to focus on him.

“I don’t care how you feel about me. I wasn’t nice to you before I was turned, I wasn’t nice to you after I was turned.”

“You were nice enough before turning,” Slade muttered because he had been. Other than a few claps on the backside when she was bad, he wasn’t terrible. And when he’d become an item with Margarite despite their vampire faction’s disapproval, that had been bravery. No. He hadn’t been perfect before turning. But he’d been human.

Afterward....

The coldness about him afterward was hard to forget.

“Regardless,” Manny said at length, “I can take responsibility for the things I did. And I can take responsibility for what my actions caused. I put honey on the harpy. I’d done it to power her up because I wanted the visions stronger. I admit that.”

Fists clenched, Slade struggled to calm.

“But I hadn’t expected this,” Manny explained. “And I don’t care if you believe that. Being stuck without runes for ten years was agony, but...she wasn’t terrible. A bit stupid at times, but not terrible.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Stop calling her stupid.”

Hands raised, Manny said, “Fine.”

When he said nothing further, instead opting to stare her down, Slade sighed.

“Fine, speak your piece.”

Manny said, “I need for you to understand what I’m trying to say to you as of this moment.”

Slade kept her face turned away, the fire of the forest nearly blinding her at this point.

“And what’s that?”

He hesitated then confessed, “I do not mind the harpy.” At her groan, he groaned in turn. “What the fuck more are you looking for? Can you utter three magic words to your stupid werewolf—?”

“Stop calling them stupid. Stop talking down to us! Look around you. The world is burning because of you—”

“And it’s because of me why you have got to get a fucking grip.” He calmed and said, “I don’t mind the harpy, and you don’t mind the wolf but I’ll tell you this, this isn’t a fairytale and if getting this thing back under control must be at the cost of the things we both don’t mind then so be it.”

She turned to strike but he caught it and pressed her face against the window.

“Get emotional all you like but last I checked, you were more than ready to sacrifice your best friend’s unborn for your own interests.”

Those words robbed Slade of her readied fight.

He didn’t let up. “And one dazed dwarf and a pissed off centaur later, you don’t get the luxury of sanctimony. I will get this situation back under control with or without you, dear sister. But you remember one thing. I. Did not. Neuter. Those wolves. The wolves neutered themselves.”

Mouth muffled by the glass, Slade screamed, “Bullshit.”

“Is it bullshit? Because one baby human’s got his werewolf father formulating night and day how to kill me without getting stuck as a wolf for the rest of his life. What would break an oath other than a betrayal wroth by the one you’ve sworn to protect? They did it to themselves and they did it to free themselves of us and that’s fine but when we get out there....” He yanked her arm harder, simultaneously pressing her face against the glass. “I need you thinking straight and reminding yourself that they are not our friends and any one wrong move we make can have dire consequences for each and every vampire on earth. Are we clear?”

She didn’t answer.

Despite that, his grip loosened and he sat back again. Once Slade was free, she pumped her fist then turned and punched him in the throat. His slow recovery time gave her an advantage. It faded in the blink of an eye and she was pressed against that window again. The fact that the impact wasn’t bloody or agonizing was the only reason she calmed and gave him the time of day. He wasn’t looking to injure her, that was unexpected.

“I can get that harpy with or without you,” he warned. “But you’re not getting in my way.”

He gave her a final shove before getting out and slamming the door. Slade rushed to intercept him.

“You’re not hurting Trixie.”

Manny guarded his eyes and pushed through the forest. “I don’t think you’ve noticed. But Trixie’s no longer home.”

Walking through the woods was eerie because while the treetops burned, the base showed no effect. Ash hung in the breeze, however, and they guarded their mouths.

Once they reached the clearing, Slade turned her head away from what she saw. “Holy shit.”

Manny stared on. “This...is horrifying. And that’s me saying this.”

Mangled bodies lay dismembered, some were broken backwards. Even the larger animals weren’t spared. A griffin, severed in two, reformed for a ghost of the angel to take it apart again. What was strange about that situation was how the white outline of Trixie grew in size before rendering the animal in half.

The campground, considerably less populated, lay in ruin and blood.

Slade could barely stomach it.

“We can put them back,” Manny reminded her. “But don’t get yourself killed. I suspect our own reformation wouldn’t come easily.”

Something strange became clear the further in they went. It was no longer Tixie’s outline, but the outline of countless werewolves and some fairies running each other through.

“Wait.” Slade stopped before Marrow’s severed head.

The body was the first to rise up, then the head which reconnected.

With a blink, the plump fairy wailed, “Sovereign. Help me. Help us! We didn’t start this. They attacked us unprovoked!”

Something passed through Slade and she looked up to see the she-wolf’s outline rush Marrow and decapitate him. The fact that it was a slow rejuvenation and repeat meant this was recent. If this was what hell looked like, Slade could understand the vampire’s basic fear of being sent there. But now it had arrived at their doorstep in full force.

“Well look at that,” Manny said, hands on his hips. He took great pleasure in seeing the fairy’s demise. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fellow.”

“Brother!”

“Yes. Yes. Good. Good.” Manny scanned the repeated carnage. “Looks like something started here before our dear harpy’s arrival.” He chuckled. “But what moron would dare gather winged and unwinged creatures together in one army?”

Two specks of light flashed by and answered that question for them.

Up high, Two angels fought. The male wasn’t faring so well.

“Davenport.” Slade tried to keep up with the swords of light both he and Trixie wielded. As suspected, his wings were shorter than hers but he maneuvered just fine.

“Is it strange for me to find her blood-thirstiness so sexy?”

Slade stifled a gag. “Shut up. What we need to do is free these people before their eternal damnation runs in too short a succession to safely undo. Start with him.”

“The tax collector?” Manny scoffed. “He’s the last on my list.”

Marrow reformed in time to scream and Manny smiled.

“Hang in there, old boy. I will free you.” He snickered as he made his way further in. “Eventually.”

Manny no longer needed an incantation. A touch of the hand to someone’s forehead broke the spell, a blue dust swirling before disappearing into the egg.

Freeing the people one by one was an exhausting task but they had to hurry. When Manny stopped in showing off, Slade paused, too. “What is it?”

“Witches.” Manny scowled. “Leave them.”

“Brother.” Slade stepped over the wreckage on an intercept course for him. “We cannot leave them.”

Manny spun to meet her. “They are witches,” he repeated. “We’ve talked about this. We’ve talked about not pretending we’re all one tree-hugging family. Witches and vampires don’t mix for a reason. I will not free them.”

Slade grabbed his arm, a stupid move but one she could do nothing against. High above Trixie and Davenport’s clash caused thunder to roar from the heavens. Whatever Davenport was, Trixie had him outmatched. This wouldn’t last much longer.

“Listen,” Slade met Manny’s gaze and pleaded. “It’s true, witches don’t adhere to the laws of repayment. But does everything for us have to equal some payback?”

“Payback is the perfect word.” Manny yanked his arm free. “Because if you help a witch, she exploits it and punishes you for your stupidity. They are literally the one creatures you help at your own peril. Each and every time.”

Heart slamming against her chest at the prospect of giving him a fight, Slade struggled with a decent argument. From the dwarf blood to that of the centaur which was fading fast, she barely had the confidence in her power to catch hold of him much less win a fight.

She settled for something she knew to be fruitless. “We have to help them. Even if it’ll harm us. We must.”

“And why is that?”

A glance at the group of witches huddled together, most blind, as Trixie’s outline cut each of them from gut to chin was already hard. Slade settled on one thing—the only thing that made sense.

“Because Trixie would have helped them.”

Manny’s scowl hadn’t changed. He also didn’t scoff or fire back with something rude. Instead, he looked down at the egg on his chest and cursed.

“Stupid woman.” He marched to the carnage, feet slowing with each step.

The collective screams of the witches carried on the night breeze.

Slade stayed closed to supervise but that wasn’t needed; her brother’s timing was excellent.

One witch’s situation was strange. Her daughter guided her to Trixie’s phantom and allowed the woman to regain her sight with the touch of Trixie’s hand before they were both run through with vicious zeal.

“Can you give them back their sight?” Slade asked, still watching the rune repeat.

Manny scoffed. “I don’t know anything about witches other than the fact that anything they choose to give up for more power, they lose said power once they get it back. So do we have a right to choose that for her?”

The death started to replay revealing the daughter eager to rush to Trixie, much like Margarite hurried to her own demise.

Slade gave no protest when Manny released them from the rune without providing the woman her sight once more.

All six hags, four blinded, and two sighted, hunched over, gasping for precious air.

“Vampire,” the blind woman said, “vampire, I thank you.”

“Save it,” Manny drawled. “I want no thanks from the witches. Your dark arts bring me nothing. Do not even utter a word in my direction.”

The crescendo of thunder came faster and they were back to Marrow and the other fairies in under twenty minutes.

“Must I really?” Manny skinned up his face. “Because look at them all, they are rather hilarious, don’t you think?”

He meant the group of fairies set upon and killed by the ghost werewolves. A familiar smartphone lay close to the carnage.

“I mean, at least the witches aren’t so damn sniveling. These centurions, they’re such crybabies. It’d be nice to see them experience actual pain instead of their often imagined phantom outrage.” After folding his arms, Manny concluded, “I say we leave them.”

“We do not leave them. We do not leave anyone.” Slade marched to him, snatched the egg out, surprised that he allowed it, and hurried to Marrow. A touch of his head did nothing so she let the death play out and began to chant on his next repeat. Nothing. She tried again but had the same results. Slade examined the egg. It was cracked but not severed. An eye blinked at her and she nearly dropped it. “Something’s inside!”

Manny hurried to scoop it out of her hands. “Then be careful with it.” Once he held it up to see the same blink, he smiled. “Well, look at that.” He looked up at the sky and called, “Harpy, you’re a mother.”

His laughter after the joke drew Trixie’s focus as she blocked Davenport’s weapon.

When she zeroed in on Manny, he tucked the egg back into its usual spot on his chest and wisely hurried to hold Marrow’s head.

“Oh shit. I think she is heading this way,” Manny grumbled.

And he was right.

A backhand to Davenport sent him flying and Trixie dove.

Manny managed to touch the last fairy before Trixie fell from the sky and landed with a boom.

The earth shook. Slade’s knees nearly gave out, feeling like gelatin. Some of the soil shifted. When she picked her head up, she was met with the beautiful face of death.

“Hello, boss.”