It took endless convincing from Cinder, but Iree had finally been granted the council’s permission to make her move. On this blazing September day, she itched to light something on fire. Her magic wouldn’t be usable anymore come October, and she wanted to end this with her own hands. That only gave her three days; today might be her last chance.

As they raced on horseback towards the border, Kingfisher, Creed and Olyen all looked calm.

Iree had been prepared to snuff out the latter two if they showed hesitation, but it seemed like their hatred for Ghuria outweighed their concern for Atlin. As long as that was the case and they proved useful, she would let them live.

The sad little setup the Ghurians had near the border was in sight now. The last time her squad had been here, Iree had gotten humiliated. She came there today with retribution on her mind.

Once they dismounted, there wouldn’t be much time before they were noticed. The cover of the trees had become thin, so Iree wasn’t surprised when a whistle from the direction of the settlement resounded sharply. What did surprise her was their horses, still in the middle of being tied up, immediately going berserk.

The beasts stampeded towards the Ghurians, and they ran to meet them. They were the only two there, Iree realized, the needle-using bitch and Kingfisher’s sister. Atlin, Rhys, the Fall rat and that double-magic pain in the ass were absent. The rats mounted a horse each, and Kingfisher’s sister gave another whistle before all three horses rode with them in their escape.

“Olyen, get us over to them!” Iree snapped.

“Got it.” They put an arm around Ariana’s waist to keep her steady and launched the Sacerians into the air. Leaping between pillars of earth, they pursued the scurrying rats.

A grin split Iree’s face when the two women stopped, reaching what they had so desperately run to. All four missing combatants were there, including a wan Atlin, supported by the Fall rat’s arms around her as she stood on unsteady legs. So that’s what she was doing, trying to heal the land to give the rats a fighting chance.

That foolishness would end today.

*

All Shark had to do was protect Thea while still looking like they were in on the fight, get her alone long enough to tell her that they, Cerid and Ariana were on her side, have that conversation without Iree noticing, confirm what her plans were in that span of time, and have them all get out of this alive. Oh, and Iree would kill them, Ariana and Cerid instantly if they disobeyed, but she’d also instantly kill Thea if they weren’t there to get in her way while they pretended to cooperate.

Just awesome.

The earth beneath all the Sacerians’ feet was destroyed by lashing winds, and it was all Shark could do to land safely with Ariana in tow. They stumbled, but she hauled them upright. “Go,” she hissed.

“Hang in there,” Shark whispered, then ducked just in time to not get a spear of ice through the skull.

“Not in the mood for reconciliation, huh?” The Ghurian with two magics was laughing. “Suits me just fine.”

Shark was about to start freaking out, but Cerid swooped in. He ran at the Ghurian, aiming for a low-body tackle. His foe leaped right above him using wind, hands tapping Cerid’s head as he hopped over like they were playing leapfrog. The Ghurian blasted wind above a befuddled Cerid to land a kick to his back, sending him sprawling.

“Cerid…!” Shark breathed, but a hand on their arm snapped them back to focus.

“Do your part. I’ve got his back,” Ariana promised. She went into battle against her sister and sister-in-law while Cerid threw a punch that would have snapped his opponent’s knee like a twig if he didn’t jump.

“Thanks.” Shark had to trust in their strength. They touched the ground to send vicious spikes of earth erupting across the terrain. Both the enemy and ally ranks scattered to avoid getting skewered. Shark stayed low to avoid Iree’s detection, weaving between spires and staying hidden while the others engaged the Ghurians, sending up more spikes to guide the players where they needed them to go.

There. They could see Thea now, but the Bittersweet Nightshade-user was stuck to her like glue. They didn’t know what Thea thought of them now, hence they didn’t know what she’d told her allies and how they would react. Shark could be dead before they got a chance to say a single word.

“Playing hide and seek, pig?” a cool voice said from behind them.

Two hands wrapped around their throat the moment they finished spinning around. They were lifted straight off the ground and slammed into one of their own pillars, hands clawing at the arms of their attacker.

Orange eyes glinted up at them with sadistic pleasure; Cerid’s foe had escaped from him. “Well now… Want to die by wind or by ice?”

Shark reached behind themself and loosened the earth of the pillar, turning it into crumbling clods. They and the Ghurian fell to the ground, and Shark tossed him off by propelling both feet into his gut. They shot to their feet and seized him by the back of the shirt, slamming his face into a nearby spire. While he spat blood and tried to shake off his disorientation, Shark jetted them both forth on a wave of rolling soil.

Then they were in front of Thea and the Bittersweet Nightshade-user. Shark tossed the double-threat Ghurian to the ground, but not before whispering in his ear.

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“Make a wall of ice. Hide us from the others, and make it look good. I’m begging you here.”

“This is no fun,” he muttered back, rolling to his feet as he tapped his heel to the ground. Spires of ice shot into the air, one of the needle points grazing Shark’s temple in a small show of revenge.

“Sharkie…” Thea took a step back, and the Bittersweet Nightshade-user moved in front of her.

They took a deep breath and lifted their hands. “We don’t have a lot of time, Thea. Please listen.” She opened her mouth but they barrelled on, both in the interest of time and in fear of what she might say. “I was wrong. I got blinded by my own suffering and couldn’t see through to anyone else. Thea, I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t trust me.”

“No!” she cried, startling Shark with the force behind her protest. “No, you… I can’t imagine the pain you’ve been through, so it’s easy for me to talk. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay beside you, but I couldn’t let all this keep going…” Tears filled her eyes. “Are you okay? Are you all doing well?”

“Yeah.” Shark grinned. “I’m good,” they laughed, sweeping her up in their arms as she met them in the middle.

“How touching,” the double-threat Ghurian drawled. “Now hurry up. Pearlie and Johanna can’t hold out forever, and it’s not like that Rhys guy will be of any help.”

Shark nodded and spoke quickly to Dorothea. “Listen. Cerid and I realize now that we have to find another way to really make things right. He, Ariana and I are trying to stop things from our side. Ariana told us everything.”

She clung to their arms. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. By the time I knew the whole truth and found proof, Iree already had me. But that doesn’t matter now. I’m healing Ghuria’s lands.” She looked around the battlefield, torn apart by magic. “Or I’m trying to.”

“Thea…” She was going to kill herself trying to do that, but Shark knew she’d chosen this with full awareness. “We’ll do whatever we can to halt further attacks. Stay your course.”

“Right. I’ll work as fast as I can.” She narrowed her eyes, and Shark at once understood her resolve. It was one beyond life and death, tied instead to kindness, forgiveness and redemption. “Shark, you do what you have to do. Me and mine are strong, and we’ll make it through whatever Iree makes you throw at us.”

“I’ll trust you on that.” They kissed her cheek. “You’re gonna be my best woman, remember?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She gave them one last squeeze before going back to stand behind her Ghurian companions.

“Now.” The wind-and-ice boy cracked his knuckles. “Let’s make this look good.”

Shark bent to press both hands to the dirt. “Try not to kill me, please.”

*

Earth and ice exploded against each other, shattering the barrier between both sides of the fight in the process. Dorothea, Gren, Wesley and Shark leapt back into the fray, but Rhys barely noticed.

Iree was right in front of him. It would be so easy to kill her, and part of him wanted that revenge more than anything. Still, there was more harm than his that she needed to answer to. She was one of the few people in Sacer who knew the truth of this war, who could admit to it and give people from all three nations the closure they deserved.

Pearlie, Wesley and Johanna were now facing off against Ariana, Cerid and Shark, leaving Rhys, Dorothea and Gren against Iree. The need to leave Iree alive complicated things, and she seemed aware of it herself.

Rhys had put up strings of water in front of her, but Iree wasn’t daunted. “I really never thought you’d betray me like this,” she commented.

Those words would never work again. They attacked a core part of him that reacted with immense pain, but he wasn’t facing her alone anymore. “You’re the one who betrayed me,” he asserted quietly.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know whether to be more disappointed that you fell for Atlin’s tactics or that you think this will hold me back.” Smiling, she stepped forward. If Rhys kept his water up, she’d be sliced to bits. With a gasp, he let it fall without getting a scratch on her. Smiling sweetly, she held her hand out. “Come back with me. We can figure everything out.”

Rhys’ body felt hot enough to erupt and cold enough to crack apart at the same time. He couldn’t breathe all of a sudden, but then a hand touched his back gently, and Dorothea was at his side.

If looks could kill, hers would, and her voice was scarily calm. “Back off, Iree.”

Iree laughed. “And what do you think you can do when you're not willing to kill me?”

Rhys didn’t know. He couldn’t move. If he wasn’t willing to even draw a drop of blood, what chance did he have of getting out of a confrontation with Iree?

“Dorothea!” Gren’s voice cut through his panic.

“Got it!” She clasped Gren’s hand tightly, and in a flash they had disappeared. Before Rhys could even have a second to feel confused, they had reappeared behind Iree.

Gren touched her back with one hand and held a knife in the other, making a shallow cut across Iree’s throat. The nullifying liquid created by Johanna’s magic mixed with her blood in a thin trickle. “I’d stand down if I were you,” he said mildly.

Rhys had known he and Dorothea had been practicing something in secret, but he hadn’t suspected this. He lifted his hands cautiously.

“Olyen, now!” Iree howled. She turned to give Dorothea a sucker punch to the gut that knocked her out cold, her eyes bugging out before they lost focus completely. Gren, distracted, let Iree slip past him as he reflexively moved to catch Dorothea first.

As he tried to run over to help, the earth beneath Rhys’ feet started shaking. He was thrown back as blocks of packed soil shifted like rolling ocean waves.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he watched both sides scattering, the Sacerians easily getting to safety with Shark’s magic. Gren was clinging onto Dorothea as a great cavern split the ground with a screaming shudder. Rhys yelled words he himself didn’t understand as the two fell into the chasm, sinking within a darkness he couldn’t see the end of. The Sacerians were gone in seconds, leaving Rhys, Wesley, Pearlie and Johanna within the shock of eerily quiet aftermath.

If Rhys had fought alongside them, none of this would be happening. To fight, to kill, he’d always thought of these things as blights upon him. But now that he’d found a person who was willing to forgive it all, there was a spark of something different in the back of his mind.

Was it really so bad if it was the only way to protect? Wouldn’t he rather soak himself in as much blood as he had to rather than lose her and the hope she was giving this world, his own forgiveness and redemption be damned?

“Wesley, stop!” Rhys turned to see Pearlie holding one of Wesley’s arms down while Johanna stood with her arms crossed, lecturing him. “Either magic you might use, if you cut into the ground you’ll end up killing them both!”

“We have to do something!” he snapped.

“Excuse me.” Rhys interjected, lifting a hand. “I’ll go on in, if you don’t mind. I sense a lot of water beneath us. I can use that to bring them back up to the surface.”

Wesley glared. “Little too late for you to help now, isn’t it?”

Rhys smiled. “Don’t worry. I think we all know what needs to be done now. See, Wesley, her methods and yours… The only way we can win is to have them meet in the middle. I truly believe that’s how we’ll end this war and fix this country. That said…” He stepped to the edge of the chasm. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Without hesitation, Rhys leapt downwards.