It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Andrew gritted his teeth as he dodged a second bolt. He moved closer to the ground so he could lay down Alex’s body. His brother was still breathing. Trying to say something.

“Don’t talk.” Andrew wiped a tear out of his eye as he gestured at the ground behind them. A wall of dirt rose out of the ground between them and Feletis. He needed room to work.

Andrew felt his brother’s neck. There was barely a pulse. He didn’t dare to roll Alex over. He could smell the burnt flesh. There was no blood, which was good. Or maybe it wasn’t. He didn’t know. Magic added an angle that he had never dealt with before.

Alex closed his eyes and hung limp in his arms. Andrew squeezed his eyes tight to trap the tears. He had watched people die before. But never had he been there when someone he cared about had passed. His whole body shook as the tears came down anyway. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. His brother shouldn’t have died. Not like this.

The dirt from the barrier exploded, spraying them with mud. Andrew looked up and glared at the treacherous mage. “WHY?”

Feletis leveled his staff at Andrew’s chest, “I can’t hold the Dark Legion back anymore.” Sorrow was etched on the older Elf’s face. “Your death will save millions.”

The bolt came out of the staff. There were no words, no movements. Mettan had told them that Mages needed both to focus a spell, as well as an instrument to focus it with. Feletis wasn’t a normal Mage.

The bolt was the same as the one that had killed Alex. It shone bright and sparkled as it raced towards him. Rage filled Andrew’s veins. Fire jumped out of his fingers to slow the bolt. The ground raced up and grabbed the bolt, pulling it back under the ground. The earth shuddered as the bolt detonated beneath their feet.

“You killed my brother!” Andrew screamed as he stood up. The wind began blowing so hard around them that it was picking up small pieces of dirt.

“He wasn’t supposed to die.” Feletis threw out another bolt. It met the same fate as the last one. “The longer you fight, the less time I will have to stop those ships.”

Andrew squared his stance, “With what? My Elemental?”

“I don’t want your Elemental.” Feletis planted his staff in the ground. The air popped as magic domed out of the top of the staff. The magic hissed as it sealed with the ground.

“Arg!” Andrew yelled as he threw his arm out. Fire would make the Elf back up.

Nothing happened. There was nothing there. The place in his mind where he controlled his power wasn’t there. Andrew staggered backward. The world suddenly seemed different. Something that he had lived most of his life without was suddenly gone.

“Your powers won’t work here.” Feletis waved at the bubble around them.

Andrew grabbed his chest. It hurt to breathe, “What did you do?”

Feletis shrugged, “I blocked Elemental powers.”

Andrew started breathing faster as the Elder closed the distance between them. He thought about fighting, but he was too unbalanced without his powers. He felt like he was half asleep, living in a waking dream.

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Andrew looked down at his brother’s crumpled body at his feet. Every fiber in his body begged for revenge. He might not have his powers, but he could still fight. He outweighed the Elf by almost fifty pounds. Plus he had rage on his side. The Elf was acting way too calmly about murdering his brother.

Thinking about Alex brought another unwanted tear to his eye. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He had to focus or he would end up dead like Alex.

“Don’t run.” Feletis was just out of arm’s length, “I’ll make this quick.”

“Run?” Andrew thought, “I’m not going to run. I’m going to kill you!”

It was time for him to make his move. His heart was beating so fast, he could feel it in his ears. His fists were clenched. Muscles were tight and begging to wail on his target. His eyes were focused on… He caught sight of Alex’s body, just behind Feletis. His rage began to die as he realized how selfish his thoughts were. Alex had died so he could get away. Here he was thinking of charging into the place that Alex had paid the ultimate price to save him from.

Feletis reached out his hand towards Andrew. Magic crackled in the Mage’s palm, promising a quick death.

Andrew reacted. The response surprised him. Instead of obeying his wants, his body obeyed Alex’s. He ran.

Andrew ran faster than he had ever run before. His feet barely touched the ground as he covered the ten feet to the edge of the field. The blue shell stood as a liquid barrier, it wouldn’t take much to push through it. Once on the other side, he would be able to use his powers again. Then he would fight. Then he would avenge Alex.

His hand touched the barrier. It was just as wet as it looked. It was cold too. Andrew pushed against it, forcing the barrier to stretch like bubble gum. The barrier stretched thin, and then slapped back, knocking him on his rear.

“You can’t leave.” Feletis chided, “And no one can get in to save you.”

Andrew twisted around on all fours and pushed himself up. He wasn’t going to just lie down and die. He had tried to do the smart thing, now it was time to do what he wanted.

Andrew pushed off the ground and ducked under Feletis’ hand. He wrapped his arms around the Mage’s waist and drove him back. He had hoped to knock the Elder off of his feet, but he settled for pushing him away from the edge.

Feletis set his feet and stopped moving backward, “You can’t hope to beat me.” He dropped his elbow onto Andrew’s back.

Andrew’s arm dropped away from Feletis as he fell face-first into the dirt. He spit dirt out of his mouth as Feletis’ knee pushed into his back.

“If you killed me, you’ll have to deal with my Elemental!” Andrew screamed. He was running out of ideas.

Feletis leaned in close, His hot breath on Andrew’s ear, “You aren’t going to give up an Elemental.”

“What?”

“The field is blocking your powers. It will be just like you died before we released the block from the conduit.” Feletis straightened up, “No Elemental.”

Fear sent ice cubes through Andrew’s veins. He was about to die. Feletis was stronger, faster, and more skilled at fighting. He needed help, but no one could get through the barrier. The only other person inside the bubble was dead.

Andrew closed his eyes. He couldn’t see Feletis anyway. Struggling wasn’t going to help, he was firmly pinned. Screaming wasn’t worth the effort either. Magic crackled above him. It was almost time in a few seconds he was going to be dead. The prophecy would be broken.

Andrew tried one last plea, “I can stop the Dark Legion! Let me fight them!”

“You aren’t Triftion enough to destroy the Dark Legion.” Feletis said, “We were foolish to think that humans would ever be strong enough to stand up to the darkness.” He paused, “Humanity is going to get itself killed fighting stupid battles that they can’t win. Like your brother.”

Andrew pushed against Feletis’ knee. He wasn’t going to let Feletis win. It didn’t matter that he was going to lose. He wasn’t going to give up.

The pressure on his back lessened. Andrew pushed up and rolled out from under Feletis. When he looked up his breath ran away. Alex was behind Feletis and had the old Mage in a chokehold.

“I’m not dead,” Alex growled through gritted teeth.