“Soul Release.” I whispered quietly. I watched as the souls compressed into different color orbs and floated away on the breeze. Bombs started falling around me while breathing became harder. “Healing Serenity.” I’ve used a flurry of spells and I still have a small chunk of magic left. I can easily get two or three more Master spells… I think. I decided to change positions so I could get a better aim at the last large ship flying around. I still have those small ships too… I took a deep breath and sent a Blazing Hypernova up to the middle area of the small ships. They all exploded in a bright flash and the wreckage fell to the destroyed town. I looked around for the large ship, but a bullet ricocheted very close to where I stood. Suddenly, more soldiers appeared charging at me.“Frostfire Surge!” I shouted angrily. All the soldiers shouted in pain and collapsed dead around us in heaps. I pointed up at the sky as the ship tried to leave again. “Blazing Hypernova!” Due to the high level
-Conor-“I have a terrible feeling about this Nathan. We need to go to her. As soon as possible.” Conor said pacing back and forth in front of all the Mages. “After she lost consciousness, Eldon came and took her away. All he said was that she was being summoned by a tree. That's when a portal was made for me to come back here.”Nathan's eyes got wide and he lost the coloring in his face. “The Tree summoned her?” A serious yet terrified look remained on his face. Alexander started screaming making everyone jump. A portal opened and everyone stood up while Joanne worked to calm him down. “Karen?” Conor asked feeling hopeful. Eldon walked through carrying her, but he was stoic. “She’s going to be okay, right?”Eldon gently placed her into his arms. He didn’t answer right away. “Not exactly.” The portal shut as all the Mages gathered around. “As you know, she won the war against your father with your help. However, she lost the fight.” He said quietly. “Senescence, has deemed that she i
-Karen- "Lizette! Hold on!" I yelled after my closest friend. The sky, calm and clear moments ago as we walked through the quiet town of Mazifik, suddenly transformed. Humongous metal rocks fell from the sky, pelting everything from the palace to the town's buildings. The townsfolk's screams grew loud and sharp, leading to a crescendo as the rocks struck the ground and burst into smaller, jagged pieces, causing fires to erupt. I chased Lizette as quickly as I could, aiming to reach her before we got injured."Wait! I can't protect you if you run too fast!" I shouted as loudly as I could after her. Panic began to set in as the rocks continued to explode around me. All I wanted was to escape quickly and in one piece.She couldn't hear me over the loud crashing noises that echoed through the town. The jagged rock shards sprayed around each newly formed crater in the street, making navigation challenging while trying to avoid injury. I watched her fall to the rocky ground as she lost her
-Karen-"Hey! What's that blue thing?" a man suddenly asked. Oh no! Lizette was wearing a blue dress! "Stay away from me!" Lizette's terror-filled voice shouted from feet away. No! Leave her alone! The voice in my head shrieked shrilly."Look at this sexy treasure!" I heard a second man say gleefully."Yes, indeed!" Another chimed in just as gleefully. "She's pretty cute! What do you think, gentlemen?" Can I save her without risking my own life? I don't know what to do!"Please just leave me be!" I felt warm tears trickle down my face as she screamed for mercy. I did my best to stifle my tears and emotions, so I would not meet the same fate that I knew she was going to.The men cruelly laughed as I heard them assault her. I dropped my head into my hands as I could only listen to her take the beating they had dealt her. Poor Lizette. "Well, she can't fight back now, fellas," the first man proclaimed proudly. Lizette cried out again, but I could hear that she was extremely injured. She
-Karen-The prince set me down in front of the doors and glanced at where the soldiers were, only to find them gone. The atmosphere between us had shifted entirely. He shook his head, snickering once more as he put his hands on his hips. "You're quite the fiery girl! I'm rather impressed by your fighting spirit. I've never been attacked so many times by one woman in my life!" He exclaimed with a hint of awe in his voice. Wait-what? "As soon as I saw you around the corner, you looked very interesting. Then I saw you hiding in that tiny space—I saw my chance and knew I just had to take it. My goodness! I haven't been disappointed. Are you a warrior?" He asked curiously.I was taken aback by his sudden change in attitude. A warrior? "No. I'm just a servant of the palace," I replied wearily. Why do you care? I mean, you're a warrior, aren't you?" He nodded as he appraised me once more. "I am indeed! One of the top warriors in the Zargan Empire," he replied with a smirk. He gently tugged
-Karen-"So, son, what did you find as you ventured out? Did you find any weapons or anything of use to our cause?" The king asked flatly. I could hear the echo of boots approaching as I tried not to breathe, overwhelmed by a new sense of dread. The boots stopped before my face, sending shivers down my spine. Breathe, Kay. The cold anger in his following statement spoke volumes. "I sent you out for weapons and intelligence." A sharp yank of my hair brought me to my feet in an instant, and I whimpered in pain. "And you bring back a purple rat?! Conor! This is not what we came here for!" The man screamed angrily, then turned back to me, grabbing my jaw and glaring hatefully. In the background, I could hear the Queen and Head Mage talking, their voices hushed and unintelligible.I bit my bottom lip so hard that I could taste the blood on my tongue. "What wretched sewer did this nasty little rat come from, Conor?" The king released my hair and jaw, slowly circling me. I stood there tremb
-Karen-"Father, you made a deal," Conor interrupted angrily. Why is he angry? He's just going to kill me anyway."I said I would let her scurry away, boy. I never said she wouldn't die later!" He snapped back coldly.Queen Delia grabbed my arm tightly and whispered, "Get out of here, Karen. Winholt and I will meet up with you shortly, okay? You shouldn't die in this place at his hands.""I would never abandon you, Majesty," I whispered back, keeping my eyes glued to Zachary. "Let me get a portal so you and the Head Mage can leave.""Never! You need to leave as quickly as possible! We will be fine. We need you to get to Nathan as fast as possible," Head Mage Winholt hissed, grabbing my wrist. I looked at him as he squeezed my wrist tightly. "Get to the Sanctuary as fast as you can. I will take care of Delia.""I'm not leaving either of you here to die," I retorted, defiantly returning my gaze to Zachary."Now is your chance to leave. Get out of here!" I commanded sternly. Why aren't t
-Conor-"Conor, since she's your pet now, get your doctor and fix her injuries or put her down. I don't care either way. As for the rest of you, get rid of these bodies, and someone brings me my damn whiskey! I need a fucking drink after dealing with that psychotic rat," Zachary ordered, walking back to the throne. I need a drink too!Conor walked over carefully, picked up the violet-haired mage, and started to leave quickly. She is messed up, but I want to keep her now!"Wait, Conor! Give me that purple crystal of hers. That's the source of her magic, so we need to take that away to ensure she doesn't go on a crazy rampage again," Zachary explained as a guard walked up and took the spherical crystal from her bloody hand. "That's how we were able to subdue Winholt. Shattered crystal means no magic."As the moments slowly ticked by, it was apparent that it was becoming harder for her to breathe. "Stupid crazy mage, but what an absolutely remarkable spirit!" Conor murmured to himself as
-Conor-“I have a terrible feeling about this Nathan. We need to go to her. As soon as possible.” Conor said pacing back and forth in front of all the Mages. “After she lost consciousness, Eldon came and took her away. All he said was that she was being summoned by a tree. That's when a portal was made for me to come back here.”Nathan's eyes got wide and he lost the coloring in his face. “The Tree summoned her?” A serious yet terrified look remained on his face. Alexander started screaming making everyone jump. A portal opened and everyone stood up while Joanne worked to calm him down. “Karen?” Conor asked feeling hopeful. Eldon walked through carrying her, but he was stoic. “She’s going to be okay, right?”Eldon gently placed her into his arms. He didn’t answer right away. “Not exactly.” The portal shut as all the Mages gathered around. “As you know, she won the war against your father with your help. However, she lost the fight.” He said quietly. “Senescence, has deemed that she i
“Soul Release.” I whispered quietly. I watched as the souls compressed into different color orbs and floated away on the breeze. Bombs started falling around me while breathing became harder. “Healing Serenity.” I’ve used a flurry of spells and I still have a small chunk of magic left. I can easily get two or three more Master spells… I think. I decided to change positions so I could get a better aim at the last large ship flying around. I still have those small ships too… I took a deep breath and sent a Blazing Hypernova up to the middle area of the small ships. They all exploded in a bright flash and the wreckage fell to the destroyed town. I looked around for the large ship, but a bullet ricocheted very close to where I stood. Suddenly, more soldiers appeared charging at me.“Frostfire Surge!” I shouted angrily. All the soldiers shouted in pain and collapsed dead around us in heaps. I pointed up at the sky as the ship tried to leave again. “Blazing Hypernova!” Due to the high level
-Karen-A blow to the back of the head put me on the ground faster than I ever thought possible. Blow after blow was delivered as I squirmed to get away, but Zachary pinned me under him and continued to land a barrage of punches. He yelled and screamed about what I had done to his family. I grabbed his ankle and let him have a taste of ‘Lightning Surge’. It bought me enough precious time to weakly get to my knees.“Recovery Salvo.” I shakily got to my feet and leaned against the wall, but he was no where to be seen. I looked around nervously, but nothing moved. I heard the bullets before I felt them. Hot metal burrowed its way into my right thigh followed by my abdomen, left arm and chest. I collapsed in heap trying to fight the massive amounts of pain I felt. “Healing Serenity!” I whispered under my breath. Damn, another healing spell… I whispered for a portal and fled to the shadows of a building across town. There were still so many ships in the air, and I was starting to feel the
-Karen-“We don’t have a choice anymore!” I snapped back frustratedly. “This is it, Conor- We fight or we die- I’m not about to let him claim victory. There is going to have to be a risk in order to win this fight. I plan on coming back, you know.”“But what if you don’t, Kay? What if Eldon doesn’t revive you?” Conor asked firmly. He cupped my face and stared me in the eyes. “What if you’re gone forever?” What if… Such a big 'what if' and its running through my mind too.I didn’t answer him right away. “I’m going to die someday. I’d rather die fighting for my family and the people I care about than to run and live in fear wondering if today will be the day. As long as I don’t exhaust my magic and turn into a demon, I should be fine.” I’ve used a small bit of my magic, but I still have more than plenty. As long as I can take them out in fifteen to twenty Master level attacks, it should be okay. Permitting this doesn’t drag out for very long.I could see he was very much not accepting o
-Karen-“Your sudden jerking movements re-opened a wound I repaired.” Bart explained as I lay still looking up at the ceiling of the empty crypt bed. “I stitched it closed but you can't be doing those type of movements yet.” I sighed feeling useless as another bomb shook the ground.“Let me put some salve on her stitches, doctor.” Valerie murmured rubbing in a sweet smelling cream. “This should help numb the stitches so they won't hurt if you do have to move.”“Thank you both.” I replied, slowly sitting up. “Those bombs have been falling for the last three days now. How much more punishment can the main floor of the Crypts take?” I asked Nathan, feeling uneasy about our situation.I could see that Nathan was very reluctant to answer. “It probably won't be much longer, honestly. We have to make some hard choices now. The only other place we can go is the Forest and that has its own set of challenges and hazards as you know.” He heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing his face from the growing pre
-Karen-At the snap of my fingers, my brother’s arms were torn from his body. Screams of agony echoed around me while the soldiers took aim at me. A soldier was yelling, but I paid him no mind. I heard the same soldier call my brother’s name, Marcus, telling him to hold on. I giggled softly enjoying this scary side of myself and met Marcus’s now terrified yet agonized gaze. “Marcus… I’m going to annihilate you and as I do, I will make sure that your soul quivers in unimaginable terror.” He some how lost more coloring in is face at my calm words“Ground Spears!” I shouted angrily punching up into the air. The soldiers that surrounded us were now high up on the points of the spears with blood gushing and dripping down the jagged rocks, more groans and moans of pain filling the air which was tainted with the scent of blood. “Soul Snatch!” I ripped the wispy soul out of the body, and he looked terrified. “Soul’s Doom!” Just like before, a white demon charged right at him and shredded his
-Karen-I woke up enveloped in warmth, but I was extremely sore. I really felt like I hit every tree branch coming down from that fall. So sweet- He changed my dress. The orchid under dress. I looked over to my right and saw Conor and Alexander cuddled up next to me both sleeping with their mouths open. Ha- My loves. “Conor!” I whispered softly. I tried to roll over and found out that was a mistake. Ah! I’m still busted up pretty badly… I grabbed his hand that was cupping my left cheek and gently squeezed it. Wake up!Without opening his eyes, “You’re the most recklessly insane person I know, Karen Anne Elizabeth. That was awe-inspiring, terrifying and thrilling all at once, but I don’t want to repeat that any time soon.” Conor said rubbing my cheek with his index finger. Mm. So warm… “We’ve only lost two ships in two separate incidents before but that was insane!” He opened an eye and leaned into me. “You have a lot of injuries still. You broke lots of bones. Bet you’re sore?”“Very!
-Karen-Conor groaned while rubbing his face and then looked up at me. He rubbed his eyes again. “Is that really you, Kay? You’re not an illusion, right?” He whispered sitting up quickly and grabbing my left hand pressing my palm to his lips. “You know I’m not upset with you- Don’t you?” I dropped my gaze feeling so much shame as I stood before him. “I-”“You may not be upset but I am.” I interrupted quietly. “I just see myself punching you and then charging at Joanne and then the nightmares I had. I may not be cursed anymore but the weight of my guilt is so heavy. I feel like I should just die and end everything once and for all. But that wouldn’t be fair to you or to Alex.” I closed the gap between us and hugged him tightly. “I love you Conor. I love you and I hate that I only hurt you… I feel like I do nothing but that.”He was silent but he held me tightly to him after he pulled me onto his lap. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get this again.” Conor kissed my cheek and nuzzled my
-Karen-Sweet kisses on my lips woke me up though it took me several minutes to realize I was in bed next to Conor. As soon as I did, I tried to move away from him. “Ah ah ah!” He captured me quickly and pulled me back to him. No. Please don’t!I completely avoided his gazes and wouldn’t let him kiss me at all. “Karen- You won’t even look at me.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Alexander cried all night after you left. Will you at least hug him?” I shook my head. “He says Mama now.” I don’t care. I can’t be here anymore! I only hurt you. I can’t continue to be a danger to you and everyone else here.I took advantage of the situation and pulled away from him. “Karen! Wait!” I left the tent as quickly as I could hearing him following me. “Please just listen to me!”All eyes were on me and it shot me right back to the memory of charging at Joanne. I dashed to the clearing and left the camp as fast as I could. I raced back to the Royal Crypt, crying the whole way. The guilt