Chapter 17

The Invasion

Smells of smoke and acrid sulfur pervaded the air. It was something Meredith had smelled just once before, when the Beastmaster had attacked the Metropolis, leaving people for dead in a wake of ruin and destruction. She had never wanted to smell it again.

Coughing, the girl turned over on the debris-laden ground, the stench flooding her nose while she attempted to recover. In her hands, she still clasped the Earth-Splitter, and while her vision swam and her ears jingled, it was all she could focus on. A few seconds later, she realized that she had fallen on her back, blown through the hall thanks to the blast. Another cough rose in her lungs, helping her to realize that the rest of her body was uninjured. She pushed at the ground.

“Viv…? Ray!” she called. That was lost in the burning sound, each crackle and pop of flames coming into her ears, replacing what was once ringing. She lifted her head, and saw that some Guardians had been thrown with her. A number were stirring, and others were cradling broken limbs. Realizing she had gotten lucky, Meredith felt for the ground, her hand finding another and causing her to turn her head. She removed it immediately with a gasp, realizing that the body next to her was looking with blank, dead eyes.

Meredith, calm down! Don’t panic!

That’s easy for you to say! Meredith yelled at Terrill. She could taste the vomit on her tongue, trying to will it back down, and she rolled herself over to look at the sight of absolute carnage that was now present before her. A whimper touched her lips, and she shook her head.

The front gate of Corps Castle, the one that led to the sea, had been utterly decimated. Broken in upon itself with scorch marks, the base was burning. Giant holes had formed along the pathway, the very floor they were in sinking down towards the basement. From the screams, Meredith knew people had fallen, crushed under the weight of the stones. Worse yet, was that many bodies lined the halls. Some were still alive, burning with the fire. Panic was rising inside her, and she wasn’t alone. The Guardians behind her, those fit to stand, were turning tail, fleeing further into their headquarters. An ominous sound broke through the burning air, and Meredith looked up to see that the Defender was loading its magical cannons again. Through the base of the door marched cultists, but they were unlike any that Meredith had encountered before.

She needed to find them.

“Viv! Ray!”

“I’m…geheck! I’m right here!” Vivian wheezed. Meredith whipped around, trying to find from where her voice was emanating, only to find that the girl’s hand was emerging from a pile of bodies. “I can’t move. Too much weight. Can’t get it off me. Mera!”

“I got it,” she said, though her voice was low. Her mouth felt like ash, and she spat it out, crawling over to the fallen Guardians. They were hot to the touch, as if they were still alive. She knew they weren’t, though. Their souls had gone, vanished into nothingness. I’m sorry…

She continued to plead the same thing over and over while she ripped the bodies away from her friend. When enough were pulled off, Vivian’s hand shot out to grab her arm, allowing them both to be pulled out of the pile of corpses. The blonde hacked and wheezed, anything to get the taste of death out of her mouth. Like Meredith before her, she stared out at the devastation in the front hall of Corps Castle. The Defender fired.

“You shall not pass this place. You and your ilk, return to the goddess you believe in!” Masters stood. Amidst the cinders and blaze that threatened to engulf them, he was a man of equal stature to all that stood before him. Rapier drawn, burning with a golden fire, he placed himself in front of the incoming projectiles of magic. “Flare Stars!”

Masters jabbed forward with his rapier, and from its tip flew orbs of flame. They were as suns, burning bright, eclipsing all. Each one sailed forth, intent on connecting with the attacks aimed their way. They did so, a small rumble at first before even Meredith could feel the heat bowling them over. The cultists were at ground zero, none of them reacting as the fires burned through their ranks, knocking them aside like pins. Masters continued to walk forward, his face cut and bruised, but his gait self-assured.

“Stand, Guardians! This is our home! We shall defend it against their like! We will not fail!” For the few who were receptive to his words, they began to stand, grabbing hold of their weapons and clutching them like they were their only lifeline. Others scuttled backwards, frightened of the encroaching army. “Flare Squad, gather to me! We will defend this place if it is the last thing we do! The rest of you, get the injured someplace safe, and return to man what defenses we have left. And someone get me a status report!”

His inspiration grew within Meredith, and she finally took her time to stand, Vivian clutching to her for support. The girl’s neck was smeared with blood, but Meredith was sure that it wasn’t Vivian’s own. She squeezed her friend. “How much fight have you got in you?”

“Enough,” was the blonde’s response. Meredith nodded, liking the answer. “That’s Tempest Squad hanging out there, right? The boys are with them, too, wouldn’t you think?”

“Probably. It was all a trap.” An explosion went off in the middle of the cultists as Masters held them off. Those Guardians that were willing to fight ran into the fray, avoiding the blasts of their commander. He was more controlled than they gave him credit for, careful to not wound his own men. “So, what do you think? Save Tempest Squad, or beat these guys back.”

“Neither, Mera.” That was most assuredly Raymond’s voice, and she turned to see her brother hobbling towards her. He had been thrown further back than her, his glasses snapped in two, but held together by his crude metalwork. Each step had him grow more stable, until he had his arms around Meredith and Vivian. “Don’t get involved with this. You’re not Guardians yet.”

“Like hell, Raymond!” A magical bullet went flying past her ear, signaling the first wave of cultists that had gotten through the commander’s defense. There was no time for conversation, and the three placed their backs against one another, all of their weapons drawn. Silent as could be, the first few cultists approached them, one swinging a metal staff. Meredith blocked it, only for the cultist to exhibit swifter movement than expected. They whipped around, nailing Meredith in the side. Meredith switched her blade, and before the cultist could see it coming, she’d sliced up, disarming the woman and kicking her away.

Vivian had gone on the offensive, too, slashing with her enchanted ribbons of light to force them to collapse. More were still coming, and Meredith had the chance to look into their eyes. Blank, but full of purpose. The Reaper’s purpose. Taking her brief chance to stare at the front of the gates, she could see the man was gone. His job in ripping the gates off their hinges was done. A Guardian ran past.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Raymond asked of him. He held no weapon, and the look of fear on his face told Meredith all.

“You’re crazy to stick around, captain. We’re heading for the skyships! We gotta get out of here before we all-agh!” The man was shot in the back, the molten magic having burned a hole right through him. He fell. Both Meredith and Vivian faced the man that had done it, stalking with the same soulless expression. His hands were dripping with lava, burning yet more holes in the floor below them. The trio took a step back, careful to not fall into the crumbling pit.

“Destroy the Corps,” they said, their steps sluggish while they neared the three. “For the next world. For a better world. The poison must be excised.”

“Excise yourself!” Vivian said. Her sword snapped back into a bow, and the girl created her arrow of energy, firing it. The cultist caught it, melting the arrow, just as Meredith remembered Theodore doing in the first day of the Games. Vivian nocked another, but she wasn’t alone this time. Meredith swung the Earth-Splitter upward, a row of jagged stones appearing beneath the man to offset him, before the stone walls jutted up. “Max-fortis. Piercing Line!”

Vivian’s shot became an angry red, jagged with the amount of energy now pouring through it before she fired. It burst through the stone walls the magma man was trapped in, nailing him and carrying him back into his allies before exploding. Meredith turned to her brother.

“Still think we shouldn’t fight?” she asked. He didn’t look happy about them being in the way, but he jerked his head in agreement. That decided, her brother stepped between the two girls, in the direction of Masters. The commander had formed a wall of flame, using it to push the cultists back before he clapped it together and smothered them.

“It’ll be a slaughter the longer this goes on. The Order. The Corps. We’ll both lose countless. That number of lives snuffed out will be unimaginable…” Meredith could see his head tracking the movement of his floating subordinates. His feet were carrying him forth, and the girls were following him. He jumped over one of the holes to the halls below, his body shaking. “My squad…Why are they still there?”

“Ray, let’s focus on what we can for now. Commander Masters is holding the line at the front, so we should-” Raymond’s thrown hand was insistent, his nasty frown a deterrent to her speaking. Below, someone was climbing up the rocks in the hole.

“No. I’ll save them myself,” her brother said. His blade sparked with its lightning, forming its whip as he stepped forward. “If no one else will save them, I will. If no one else will fight, then I will. Guardians, stand and do your duty! If you have arms, fight! If you have legs, use them to serve our chief commander! Aid him below! Aid our commander above! Stop running and fight! That’s what it means to be a Guardian!”

Raymond’s whip flicked out, crashing into more of the cultists. They gave no cries and they made not a word. It was a singular purpose beneath them, and no amount they suffered from the captain would stop them. Meredith wished she could say the same about the members of the Corps. While quite a few stood to join Masters at holding back the tide of enemies, many more yet fled, retreating into the bowels of the castle. A trembling followed, and Meredith looked into the hole, while Vivian looked past the gates. Were the commanders still fighting below? Were Conrad and Summer safe?

The sound of engines revving came through the air, one that Meredith knew anywhere, and she snapped up. The Defender was turning, along with the skyships that the Order had absconded with. They didn’t continue to fire on the gate, but had a new target in their sights. Meredith felt her heart raise just a little.

“The skyships! We can take the battle to the air! Ray, wait for them and you can-”

“I won’t wait, Mera.” His voice was dark, contorting all the features of his face. “They’re nothing but cowards, looking to save their own skin. If they’ve made their way to the skyships, they have no intention of fighting. We can’t rely on them.”

“What are you even saying?” Meredith shouted. More explosions popped off as Meredith jumped the hole. Vivian cast her bow around wildly, aiming for wherever she could. “They’re your comrades! Don’t you trust in them? Don’t you believe in them? You don’t have to do this alone, Ray! We’re fighting together! Now isn’t the time to distrust anyone still battling against the Order.”

“Yet wasn’t it you who suspected there being traitors in the first place?” Raymond asked. He never looked at her, but the shaming his voice gave made her draw back. “No. I won’t wait about. I will fight, and I will protect our world.”

“And what would you have us do? Stand here and look pretty?” Vivian demanded. Her body was close to Meredith’s, covering her back. The black-haired teen didn’t look behind her, but she doubted there was even much to look at, those behind having fled.

“Get the Weapons. I’m certain that’s what the Order’s true aim is. With them, we’ll stand a chance.” Meredith wanted to argue. Wanted to call for him to wait. He wouldn’t, vanishing into the flames. Her heart went out to him, his soul bouncing erratically within him with all the emotion that wished to consume him. In her hand, Terrill urged her to let him go, to do what he tasked her with, and she turned away.

“Come on, Viv. If we can do our part, then…” Her words stopped, and she turned to the hole, swinging her blade down. A soul was coming at high speed, and this time she knew what it was. Her attack missed.

“I don’t think so, girls!” Maria said, her singsong voice giving a grating effect in their ears. She flipped about on blades of wind before they dissipated above the girls’ heads. She dropped, clasping them by the head and driving both of their faces into the soot-covered dirt. Both tried to struggle out of her hold, but she was too strong as she leaned in, grinning. There was no mirth in her words. “Do you even know how annoying you are? Even now, as your precious Corps crumbles around you, you still think to play the part of righteous hero. When will you get it through your thick skulls?”

“Ma…ri…a…” Meredith ground out, her teeth almost biting into the stone beneath her face. “Why are you…doing…this…?”

“Shut up, brat.” A globe of water appeared around Meredith’s head, and she found herself gasping for breath, but trying to hold it in. The sphere consumed her, sucking the life and air out of her. The same was happening to Vivian, the girl’s limbs beating up and down as she tried to break free. “I’ve always been so good at deception, driving all the pieces here and there. It’s how I survived before he found me. A girl from Lacardia, no different from Emil. But I wasn’t strong in magic like the rest. I was just a copy. A fake.”

“Brrgl!” Meredith tried to scream, the water seeping into her lungs, her system shutting down.

“All I could do was mimic others. My magic wasn’t mine, they said. No one gave a damn…not until he showed up. He taught me that how you procure your strength doesn’t matter. The ability to use magic in our way was ordained. It was from the goddess. He was something I could believe in,” Maria insisted. Meredith felt her vision sliding away once more. She begged for help, cried for it, but no one came. They all ran past, desperate to escape. “The Corps…they were such tools. They give in to their base desires. Fight or flight, right? They choose flight. Every. Time. That’s something you didn’t seem to learn. That in the end, the Corps was always destined to fall. It would consume itself eventually. Like a diseased tree, it’d eat away at itself through its own rot and crash back down to the ground.

“That’s a lesson I want you to learn before you die. No more interfering. Not like you did at the Games.”

“Shut up with your lessons! We don’t want ‘em!” The copy had appeared, flying out of the hole after being flung by two of his own. A pocket of temperature changes appeared behind Conrad’s feet, and he flew into Maria, sinking a punch into her face. She fell, and the water disappeared.

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“Guhack! Gah!” Meredith found herself choking, water expelling from her mouth with disgusting frequency. Vivian was right alongside her, but not alone as Summer touched to her with ginger care. The burning in Meredith’s throat was overwhelming, but she looked to Conrad, the boy falling into a wall. He was scuffed up, his skin swollen and his arms bleeding. It had either been Maria or the explosion, but something had done a number on him. He held a hand for her.

“Every. Single. Time!” Maria shouted. From where she stood came a blast of pure magical energy. Her features were morphing uncontrollably, her rage getting the better of her. Meredith held to Conrad, watching her go through so many mimicked bodies, she was starting to doubt which was the real Maria. “I’ve manipulated events from behind the scenes without a hitch, so many times. I spurred the Renegades to action. I murdered Gaius with that idiot’s wind blades. I sent the squads and the Corps running, chasing after shadows of my own making. I even drove you idiots toward the Corps with the Violent Staff in hand.”

“What…?” Summer asked, dread in her voice. Maria stopped changing, settling on a very specific form. Conrad froze up at the sight, and while Meredith was shocked, she didn’t let her steps waver. Before them was Headmistress Unda, complete with her earrings and wobbling hat.

“It wasn’t easy, impersonating someone so known, but it had been worth it, all to drive the Corps into a corner. All for this moment,” she said. Conrad and Summer were shaking their heads, hardly believing it. “I murdered. Stole. Lied. Impersonated. I even let Cynthia into Lacardia to freeze the core. And every time, I knew it was because each action provided a stepping stone in the Reaper’s plan. It should have been flawless.”

“Well, I’m not sorry we ever ruined your plans,” Vivian said. Her arrows were strung, rippling red once again as the pops of explosions peppered the background. Maria’s arms, or Unda’s arms, became a cyclone of water. She winked out of existence, appearing behind them. Just when they turned around, she’d warped again with droplets of water left behind.

“Ruined? No. But you sure as hell mucked them up,” the Deceiver said. “Your alliance in the Games. That positivity that held Rico back. Then you were like a dog with a chew toy, chasing after the murder and never once quite believing Cynthia was innocent. I had to try and give incontrovertible proof that Jay was behind it all, but even then, it necessitated a change in plan from the Reaper. I never understood why he wanted you alive. Still don’t. Maybe it was because he believed in your convictions…I mean, that’s the only thing I can think of. He likes people who understand.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t understand!” Meredith ran forward, slashing at Maria. The appearance of Unda faded, replaced with the snarling brunette. She vanished, appearing behind Meredith to kick at her, only to take an arrow in the side. “I don’t understand your Reaper, or his means! I never will!”

“Really? Never ever?” Maria questioned. The chortling on her lips was downright infuriating. The water around her arms unfurled, whipping into Meredith’s back and sending her forward. She nearly tripped, but righted herself enough to stand tall and hold her blade before her. “He sees the Corps as failing; a shame that should never have been. Even now, more flee than fight. Just look! That is your Guardian Corps!”

She held both hands to the side, and waves of water swept about the hall, washing up all the Guardians that dared to run away in a tsunami. It whirled around before spitting them on the ground, choking. Dying. Of particular note, however, was the television screen above her head, still operational, if cracked.

This one wasn’t displaying a message. It displayed a news report.

A report made by the Order themselves, as the Defender and the Avenger turned their cannons on the fleeing skyships, those who thought nothing of their companions. They attempted to fire back in their flight, taking out one of the dilapidated crafts, but they were no match for the power of the other two, careening towards the ocean and lighting the sky with fire. It was as significant a statement as ever.

So…this is what my Corps has become… Terrill lamented. Outside, Maria cackled, reveling in how the four teens had frozen up with the horror. Conrad and Summer remained shaken by the reveal of their headmistress, and Vivian’s bow arm lowered. How far did they fall…? How far did I let it…?

“Yeah, so what?!” Meredith shouted. Terrill was stunned. Maria was silenced. The few that had yet to run looked to her, and Meredith pounded the floor with her feet. She was in pain. Her body ached. But still, she persisted, holding the Earth-Splitter high. “You’re right. They’re running scared. They’re nothing like the Corps I believed in since I was a little girl. They can be selfish. They can run. They can leave the people they swore to protect behind.

“But that never means we should abandon it!”

“Don’t be stupid. The only way to cure a poison is by obliterating it,” Maria said. She was displeased, and when Meredith took another step forward, that displeased look turned to worry. “Rico was dumb, and easily controlled by his pain and rage, but he was right about one thing. He was right about the need for the Corps to end.”

“You’re wrong.” Vivian started moving, becoming the partner at Meredith’s side. “If the Corps needs to be fixed, then we’ll fix it. If it needs to be rebuilt, we’ll rebuild it. We’ll remove the values that hurt, and help the ones that heal. But we won’t do it because you say so! Because in the end, there are always people that prove you wrong! There are always people who will do everything they can to protect everyone!”

She stomped. Vivian fired. Their souls were in concert, a single attack being created of light that pierced the water wall Maria tried to make.

They weren’t alone, either.

As if in answer to her statement, the ground began to crack. The cold seeped through, negating the heat of the flames that were burning at the front gate. Meredith turned, and while she could no longer see her brother, she saw Masters observing the shuddering in the ground. A great chasm split the floor, silencing all in the vicinity.

Then, wind burst out of it, ripping out huge chunks of the hallway and the ceiling above. Cynthia was flying through, with Amelia landing a punch in her stomach, a guttural scream torn from her lips.

“Damn it!” Maria shouted. “What’s taking him so long?”

“Mera, now!” Meredith snapped her eyes to the fore, right for the distracted Maria. She jabbed her sword forward, and from one of the walls came a drill of stone, sharp like Vivian’s arrow, both aiming for the cultist. Maria scoffed, jumping up to put a hand upon the drill, even if it cut her. She managed to avoid the brunt of both attacks.

“Looks like a Plan B…annoyances, as usual. Lady Winter!”

Cynthia didn’t heed her call, too busy dealing with her own situation. She’d kicked out, buying her some distance from Amelia as the air frosted around her. Many projectiles, sharp and gleaming, were formed and she sent them hurtling out, impaling a number of the Guardians remaining. Meredith slashed at Maria, realizing in the corner of her eyes just how devoid of Guardians the hall had become. Elsewhere, things had gone silent.

“Amelia! Did you see Marcus below?”

“I’ve been a little busy, Roy!” Amelia shouted. Her weapons snapped out, whirling with the force of wind that propelled them to batter the shards away from her body. Cynthia landed, clutching to her side. Separating the two sides was the large hole that Amelia had created. Cynthia’s glasses were gone, too.

“Well, if that’s the case, allow me to help,” Masters spoke. He left those at the front to fend for themselves, and as Meredith missed her next swipe on the fleeing Maria, she took stock of what was going on there. The Order had thinned somewhat, but was still coming in force. No more skyships were leaving the hangar, too afraid to take their chances. The bodies yet hung there, and Raymond wasn’t visible.

“The help would be very appreciated.” The commanders didn’t miss a beat against their former ally. Their hands came together, a nexus of wind and flame forming. Cynthia spat out, a bit of red dribbling down her chin as she prepared for the incoming attack. They thrust forward together. “Cyclonic Burst!”

It was a tornado of flame, one that spat debris and ash in every direction. There were no Guardians in the direct vicinity of the attack, leaving no one to be injured but the Winter. That didn’t mean it wasn’t felt. The hurricane of wind, mixed with the rising heat of the flame, sent some Guardians off their feet. The still stunned Conrad and Summer were thrown off-balance, forcing Meredith and Vivian to give up their pursuit to catch the Lacardians. Meredith held fast to Conrad, watching as the cyclone approached Cynthia. She snapped her fingers.

In an instant, the tornado was frozen, even the flames, becoming a beautiful, shimmering orange, had it not spelled the end of the commanders’ assault. That was expected, in any case, for Amelia hadn’t stood still, leaping over the chasm while Masters made his own attack of pure flames. This one couldn’t be instantly frozen, and Cynthia countered it with one hand while trying to hit Amelia. Fire and ice clashed, and in moments the place they were standing was covered with thick steam, obscuring all vision. Unable to see anything, Meredith turned her Soul Vision on. Maria had gone.

“Damn it, we let her slip away! Conrad, pull it together!” she yelled, shaking the body of her friend. He was borderline catatonic, but with a slap across the face, he pulled himself together to reality.

“What now, Mera?” Vivian asked. Like Conrad, Summer had regained herself, if still shaken by the revelation of Maria’s identity. Meredith didn’t have time to babysit them. A gust from Amelia was clearing the steam away, and the commanders were wholly distracted by their battle with one another. Few Guardians remained at the front, holding back the enemy, while the halls behind the teens were ransacked and desolate. Not a soul remained there, whether they were dead or had just fled.

“What else? Let’s fight. Let’s free those hostages before the Reaper can use them as bargaining chips any further,” she said. Vivian liked the idea. Meredith stepped towards the gates, feeling the ground underneath. There was no safe way to cross all the holes in the floor, but she held the Earth-Splitter, and he trusted in her. Something in Terrill had changed, but he granted his soul. “I’ll make a path to the Order. Vivian, you help get us a path through them. Conrad, Summer, stay back here. Hold off whatever cultists come your way.”

“Mera!” Conrad said, his voice a croak, but she looked to him and smiled. It was going to be okay.

Meredith walked to the edge of the giant chasms, drawing forth all of the power inside her and Terrill’s souls to jab the ground. The earth shook and rumbled, but it didn’t affect those fighting. Plinths of stone were formed, creating a place for them to hop to. She took the lead, jumping from one to the next as Amelia, Masters and Cynthia continued their duel. Each collision had the potential to send them off-balance as they made their way across the hall, making safe to each solid piece of stone. They reached the army in little time when Meredith felt the cold. Cynthia was starting to freeze the castle.

“Max-strike! Field Shot!” Vivian screamed. Her bow and body glowed yellow with power, and though she wavered in strength, the blonde fired her arrow with precision. It hung in the air as a light for a second before breaking apart and showering the enemy with peppering arrows. The Guardians yet fighting cheered the effort, allowing them to make another push. All that mattered to Meredith was the column that had been obliterated in front of her, allowing the pair to dash right on through it.

A familiar and pleasing sight was before her as Raymond snapped his whip around, breaking through the cultists’ ranks. He was so near to the hostages, despite how far out they spread. “I told you to stay back, Mera!”

“Like hell I would. They’re not just your friends! They’re our comrades!”

Raymond prepared to yell at her, but the familiar sound of a cannon priming itself interceded in that space. The Defender was locking on again, only it wasn’t aiming for the gates, but for the hostages themselves. There was little time to delay. Raymond saw so, too, and his whip transformed. Meredith pulled Vivian down, out of the way of her brother’s lightning that shocked the swathe of cultists before his whip became a hammer that slammed upon the ground. He stood in the midst of that destruction, seething. He jerked his head, giving them the signal to help.

Meredith stood, running for the hostage at the immediate end. In the brightness of the flames, she could finally identify that figure as Emil. He was unconscious, his head rolled to the side with tears down his cheeks. His body was bruised, battered around and held by gravity, right over the rocks at the edge, spilling into the sea. Vivian held to Meredith’s shoulder. “Bring them off the rocks. You can do it, right?”

“How…?” Vivian squeezed her, her eyes looking towards Emil, and she got the message. Her soul reached out, making contact with Emil. Despite his state of unconsciousness, his soul was thriving and granted her permission. She touched to it, overcome with pain and guilt while the force of gravity rushed through her veins. Sweat broke out along her arms and her knees struggled to remain upright as she spread her arms. The well of negative emotions inside Emil was crippling, breaking, but still she expanded that sphere of gravity, remembering how it felt when she had stopped Rico from falling to his death.

All of the figures hanging above the rocks were caught in her grasp and she pulled. It was an effort, like she was dragging a chain underwater, the current of gravity that had been suspending them in the first place making it almost impossible to budge them. Meredith’s mouth opened under the exertion, and she felt like every one of her bones were cracking to pull them forward those few feet to the small plateau of grassy plains, now scorched, that rested before Corps Castle. When she had, she let the connection disappear, falling to her knees. The bodies dropped all of a sudden, hitting the ground with muffled thuds.

“Emil!” Vivian shouted, running to their fallen friend. Meredith supported herself on the ground, looking up, trying to find Eddie in all the darkness and chaos. She heard a slapping noise from Vivian, and a pained groan from Emil. “Emil, wake up! You’re safe!”

“Viv…?” Emil asked, his mouth sounding stitched together.

“Who else, idiot? Where’s Eddie in this mess?”

“Eddie…” Emil shook his head, tears fumbling forth. Meredith turned her head, a dread gripping her chest when the dirty-blond latched on to Vivian. “It’s a trap! He’s-”

Emil didn’t need to say what he wished to say. Meredith felt it before anything else. Heard the air grow silent. Manifesting in the darkness was that cloaked figure. Highlighted by the flames, the Reaper stepped forth. Where they stepped, silence fell. The Order members moved forward, but the Guardians, even the staunchest of defenders thus far, felt locked in by fear. Meredith tried to stand, but the sickening wave of undulating souls held her in place.

“You’ve all fought…admirably,” the Reaper said, sweeping across the fallen bodies with his air of death. “For those of you that have stood against us instead of fleeing, you are an example to your Corps. But not enough. Not enough to warrant your continued exist-”

Boom!

The explosion of flame right next to the Reaper nearly put them off in their steps. He stopped, glancing at the charred stone before looking up to find Masters, rapier out. Amelia and Cynthia continued their duel, each driving the other through to another floor. Masters stepped forward.

“Not one more step, fiend,” the commander called. The Reaper sighed. “You will not cross this line. You will not end the Corps this day.”

“Then stop me, Royston Masters.”

The commander was glad to do so, brandishing his rapier. A point of flame appeared on the Reaper’s chest and then exploded, wounding the man’s shoulder. He was unfettered. Meredith looked up in hope, however, as Masters was charging forward, the first attack being mere distraction. Emil was shaking his head, his own hope having been lost, when Masters reached the Reaper.

“Blaze.”

“Burn.”

Their fires collided, the Reaper’s black and nauseating, as it clashed with the golden flames of Masters. The two exploded, flinging the cultists against the wall and driving the Guardians back inside the castle. It was the only chance they had, and Meredith forced herself to stand, running to grab Emil alongside Vivian, hauling him over their shoulders. Raymond was running to the others, as were a few Guardians that had been thrown outside by the battle.

Masters sidestepped, jabbing for the Reaper’s side, only to have the blade caught. The commander used the opportunity to grab the man’s face, and with it sent a burst of flame flying out. The mask was set alight, but at the same time, the leader of the Order placed a hand on Masters’ chest, wind and water sending him careening towards the ceiling. He struck it and fell, but righted himself with fire as the Reaper extinguished the one on his face, undamaged.

“Sword.” A blade flew to the Reaper’s hand while Masters extended his own. They ran at each other, a clash of blades and strikes. Every other attack was filled with popping flames, burning the gate and whatever was left of the front hall. Masters stabbed his rapier, finding it blocked by the sword his opponent wielded. The Reaper spun it up and made quick jabs. Pocketed fires erupted around the Flame Commander’s body, and Masters swung his weapon down, the line of fire attempting to bisect his foe as soon as the assault on his body ended.

Bisect, it did, and the Reaper was lit in flame…only to crumble away, just like a copy. Meredith ran past, fearing the worst of Masters’s attack. The commander was already heaving, the burns spreading up his arms and neck. He remained alert, careful to not be overtaken by a foe as powerful as the Reaper.

“You are so very strong in a fight, commander…” the whisper came. Meredith’s limbs ceased their movement, and she nearly let go of Emil upon stumbling into the hall. “But ever so weak in conviction. You care more for image than your creed. And yet…”

The Reaper materialized, right behind Masters as he grabbed the man. Masters switched the hold of his rapier around, preparing to stab his enemy as the Reaper leaned in. Yet he stopped at a whisper that was inaudible amidst the shouting Guardians and crackling flames. As the ceiling broke in, bringing Amelia and Cynthia back to their level, Masters shook, both his body and his head. Trembling fear, much like what was inside Emil, and so many of them, pervaded his body. He turned his head.

“You…lie…”

“Goodbye.” The blade ran Royston Masters through, and a horrified scream filled Corps Castle. “Now, bring the Corps to its knees and take it all back.”