Meanwhile, in the house, Lucian could feel his skin tingle. Lira looked at Alice like she doubted her own eyesight. “The guard in the hallway. He was there when I came looking for you all,”

  “We did not see any guard,” said James. “And it appears neither did anyone else,”

  Lira looked around the room only to see that James was right. While this kept happening, Lucian kept peeking over at the window. He could see the crowd below all staring at a light coming from down the street. He wanted to see what was happening, but his view from the window was limited. He could feel the uneasiness in the air, but he wasn’t sure what it all meant.

  “Well that can’t be, I swear I saw someone outside,” Lira muttered. “Well it doesn’t really matter now, does it?” said Luin impatiently. “We don’t have time to dwell on useless topics, we are supposed to leave, now,”

  Lira paused for a moment. She then shook her head and nodded. It was clear that her confrontation with Benjamin had put a dent in her usual demeanor. She had softened, and in truth Lucian found that quite intriguing. Benjamin then opened his mouth to say something, but before he could even say a word, Joe placed his finger over his mouth and shushed.

  “Be quiet!” he whispered in an annoyed voice, “I hear something,”

  Lucian raised his eyebrow at Joe. “Well that must be the guard!” said Lira, she then went over to the door. But the moment she placed her hand on the door knob Joe slapped her wrist with one swift swing. Lira quickly took her hand off the knob before gazing at Joe furiously. “Why you little…!” she began to utter but Joe quickly cut her off.

  “Don’t open the door!” he whispered. “Something isn’t right!”

  “What do you mean?” asked Willow. “His footsteps are too quiet!” said Joe. Lucian felt a jolt of nervousness as he listened. “My father taught me to always know a man by his footsteps,”

  “Well then I assume you were quite a bad student,” Luin remarked snidely almost instantaneously. Joe snapped at him, but he continued with what he said. “This man, his footsteps are too quiet, and too slow. He’s not walking like a regular person,”

  “But it can’t be something bad! None of my visions for the future have changed. We can’t be out of time,” Willow argued.

  “I think we’ve established that your visions are far from reliable,” Joe replied harshly.

  Lira passed for a moment. “I think he might be right,” said Laura suddenly. Lucian leaned against a nearby wardrobe. His feelings of dread amplifying exponentially every single second. He did not understand it. Nothing bad had happened, yet he felt like it already had. All eyes turned to Laura, “I can sense their emotions, and there is something in their minds. Some sort of malignance,”

  “They?” asked Benjamin. Laura nodded. “Their minds, the thoughts echo. That means there’s more than one,”

  “And they both ring with Ill-intention? Are you sure?” asked Charlotte warily. Laura simply nodded. Lira seemed confused and Lucian had no clue what to think. The air in the room felt like a thick and heavy, riddled with caution as they all stared silently at the door.

  A moment later, they heard a knock. The sound of a fist banging politely against the door. The sound was so abrupt that it startled everyone in the room. “My lady, are you alright?”

  Everyone stared at the door. Lira opened her mouth to say something but Joe gestured her to stay quiet. The man on the other side knocked on the door once again and once again, no one replied. Lucian did not know whether they should open the door or not. For if, Joe was indeed correct, they appeared to be in situation from which there was no escape.

  Suddenly, just when suspicion and tension seemed to reach its summit, Lucian heard the sound of a distant bang. Lucian gazed out the window; he could see the people around the cars moving around frantically, illuminated by the street lamps. Moments later the air filled with the sounds of gunshots. It seemed like all hell had broken loose. Lucian watched, his eyes wide with terror as little flashes of light flickered through the dark sky. He would’ve watched on longer but his attention was suddenly diverted by the sudden sound coming from the door, but this time it wasn’t a knock, it was the sound of someone slamming their body against the hard wood. The sounds kept repeating and the door kept shaking violently. However, no matter how hard they seemed to try, the door did not yield. Lucian saw Luin hide behind his chair; he saw the Hatlys shuffle themselves to the back of the bed, Lira reached for something inside her coat and the others all took a step back. The slamming then came to a sudden stop, for a brief moment Lucian thought the soldiers had given up. But his hopes were dashed immediately when a loud bang came from the other side of the door, followed by the door knob exploding into many pieces as a bullet came tearing through it. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the room, its intensity and suddenness made Lucian’s ears ring. The gunshot was followed by the sound of the men kicking the door, and with its lock broken the door quickly swung open. From the other side came two guards dressed in brown with their guns pointed in front of them. They rushed into the room before pointing their weapons at Lira. She tried to reach into her coat but then quickly pulled her hand back when she realized that it was too late. She then raised her hands in the air whilst everyone in the room followed suit.

  Lucian felt his whole body tremble. He raised his hands along with all the others except he could barely stop his hands from shaking. Even Joe seemed to be beyond frightened as the men periodically shifted their aim at different people. Lira however did not show any sign of terror beyond a momentary flinch. She stared down the men with an intense glare. The men however, were not swayed, for they knew that they held all the power.

  “What is the meaning of this? I order you both to lower your weapons at once!” Lira commanded. One of the men shook his gun at Lira, grunting as though he wanted to pull the trigger but he couldn’t. “Under the orders of Cunnington you all are now under arrest in the name of the Circle!” he blurted in one breathe. Lira tilted her head; she then moved her hand towards her coat in order to get the attention of both men, who swiftly turned their aim towards her. “By the orders of who? No one holds the power to issue orders against the Great Houses!”

  “I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Baronette. If you do not comply we have been order to execute you all!”

  Blackfeather screeched at the soldiers aggressively from Liras shoulder. “This is treason! Who are you to threaten us? I order you to lower your weapons at once!” Lira continued to shout defiantly. The man seemed to lose more and more patience with every word. But Lira’s intimidating stare seemed to make him waver, yet he still bought the gun closer and closer until it was mere inches away from Lira’s forehead. She took a deep breath shooting a glance at Benjamin, “You all should go now,” she said calmly, which confused both the guards and the children. Benjamin flinched and stuttered. “Leave. At once!” Lira repeated in much rougher tone. Benjamin shook, he glanced at the others before reluctantly moving towards the door. The moment Benjamin began to move both soldiers turned their attention towards him and one of them pointed his gun at him while the other still kept their barrel pointed at Lira. Benjamin froze on the spot and whimpered. Maurice, who was still perched on his shoulder, flared its wings at the man.

  “Do not move!” the man shouted. Benjamin seemed to panic internally as he began to breathe heavily. Yet Lira remained calm. Lucian could tell she was planning something. He could sense that something was about to happen. And he was right. For moments later, whilst the guards were still focused on her brother, Lira swiftly extended her hand and grabbed the arm of the man pointing his gun at Benjamin. The other soldier tried to respond by pulling the trigger but at that moment, Blackfeather flew off Lira’s shoulder and landed directly on the man’s face. The soldier leaned backwards as the raven began to scratch his face with its sharp talons. His hand pointed upwards as his finger squeezed the trigger in panic. The gun fired with a loud bang as the bullet when flying towards the ceiling. The sound made Alice scream as the others rushed towards the other side of the room. Lira then twisted the arm of the first soldier, who was too shocked to respond immediately, before looking at Benjamin again, this time with a much more serious look.

  “RUN!” she screamed as she tried to wrestle the gun out of the soldier’s hand. Benjamin did not hesitate this time. He and the others bolted towards the door in a disorganized panic. The first thing Lucian directed his attention to was Lily as he quickly ran towards her, pushing over a stool and a miniature in the process. He grabbed his sister by the hand and reached for the door. He then saw Luin come running up behind Joe, he tried to overtake him but Joe pushed him back with his arm in a desperate attempt to get to the door faster, which almost made Luin trip over as his feet stumbled on the bumps of the bent carpet. Lucian hastily diverted his attention away from the door as he sidestepped over the crowd and the ruffled up room before swiftly grabbing Luin by his other hand and pulling him towards him. Meanwhile Lira wrestled the man onto the ground, as his gun hand did not yield. He held on to it for dear life and when he saw Lucian and others run out of the room he tried to shoot at them, desperately pulling the trigger as fast as he could. But Lira kept his barrel pointed upwards, meaning all the bullets went flying into the walls and the ceiling. At that moment the other soldier grabbed Blackfeather using both of his arms and held it so that its talons couldn’t reach his scratched and bleeding face. He squeezed its body before throwing it headfast onto the nearby bookcase. Blackfeather fell hit the bookcase and fell onto Luin’s desk with a thud. And there it laid, disorientated and twitching in pain.

  Lira heard the thud as her bird struck the bookcase. She looked at the other soldier as he moved slowly, his face and arms bleeding from several places. He was in great agony, which impaired his movement as he staggered like a drunkard. But once he was done taking a deep breathe he reached for his gun, which had fallen near his feet. Lira thought fast, she quickly pulled the gun hand of the soldier she was tackling and, with all the strength in both her hands, aimed it at the staggered soldier. She then pulled down her thumb down on the soldier’s index finger, which was still touching the trigger. The soldier tried to pull his hand away as the gun fired, sending a bullet ploughing into the injured soldier’s thigh. The injured soldier fell to his knees. The first soldier, realizing that Lira had left his other hand unrestrained, tried to use it to grab her by the neck. Lira countered by pulling the man’s arm back and placing her elbow on the man’s neck whilst trying to place her body weight on the man’s chest, suffocating him with great difficulty as the man desperately resisted. He then relented, letting go of her neck, yet Lira did not relent as she applied more and more pressure onto her elbow. The man then looked at the bookcase, and with great desperation, he lifted his free hand in the air and focused with whatever concentration he had. He closed his fist, making the books in the bookcase come flying from the shelves directly towards him. Lira saw the books flying towards her. She tried to let go of the man and dodge the oncoming tomes but the man sued his free hand to grab her arm and hold her down. The books hit her in the head and torso, making her lose her grip on the man’s gun hand before her body went barreling onto the floor before slamming against the base of Luin’s bed. She tried to get up, but she was dizzy and her vision was blurry as her head still ached from the impact. And all she could hear was the faint sound of gunfire.

  Meanwhile, all the children ran out of the room and into hallway outside. Lucian could hear the sound of gunshots coming from inside the room but he did not stop to look back. With Lily and Luin on either of him, he gently pushed his way to the front of the fear-ridden group as they hastily made their way to the staircase at the end of the hallway. Sounds continued coming out of Luin’s room, each thud and bang that echoed through the walls made Lucian more and more worried. But the sounds seemed to affect Benjamin more than they affected him. For Lucian could see him recoil in pain and close his ears with his arms with a reluctant whimper as he ran further and further away from the room. But it was clear he couldn’t take it, for when they reached roughly two thirds of the way between Luin’s bedroom and the stairs he ran to the front of the crowd and stopped, holding his hands out defiantly. “Wait!” he shouted. Lucian and the other all stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Are you mad?” asked Charlotte. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “We cannot leave my sister there!” Benjamin shouted with great conviction. “But she told us to leave!” argued Evelyn making her way to the front of the crowd. “Disobeying her would be doing her disservice!”

  “But we can’t just abandon her!” Benjamin argued desperately. Charles sighed, “We must leave now, if we are to make it to the Mirror like in the vision we cannot go back!”

  “Shut your mouth!” Benjamin snapped back whilst pointing his finger aggressively at Charles. Which prompted Willow to take a step forward defensively. “I think we’ve established that neither of you can be trusted!” he said staring at the Morrows with sadness and desperation in his voice as sounds of gunfire coming from outside kept echoing through the hallway. “We are wasting time, Bernstein!” Joe chimed in. “We cannot afford to bicker and argue when we need to get to the Mirror!” but Benjamin wasn’t hearing it. “We cannot simply…!” he kept arguing but at that moment Evelyn seemed to have had enough, for whilst Benjamin was still speaking she walked up to him before grabbing him by the collar and pushing him away so hard that Benjamin fell on ground, landing on his back. Maurice jumped off his shoulder as he fell and glided down towards Benjamin as he slowly got up. He moaned, as he was both dazed and surprised. But Evelyn was not done.

  “Do not stand in our way! Not now!” she said. Yet when Benjamin got up, he straightened his coat and faced her, staring her down intensely as he stood in their way, unwilling to move a step. Evelyn snapped her fingers and a tiny blue light appeared at the tip of her index finger before changing into a bright orange flame. Lucian could see things were starting to get out of hand. He saw Arthur walk up behind his sister, watching cautiously as the fire kept burning in her hand. Even Joe took a step back. Lucian knew he couldn’t have the others fighting amongst each other, doing so would only bring their demise closer.

  “Stop!” he said letting go of his siblings and stepping in between Evelyn and Benjamin. “We cannot let panic divide us now!”

  “I say we leave him!” said Evelyn angrily, to Benjamin huffed mockingly. Lucian pursed his lips, he couldn’t think of a way to calm everyone down. He looked over at the others and even they seemed conflicted. “No,’ said Laura taking a step forward and standing beside Lucian. “We made amends! And it would shameful of as members of the Great Houses if we break them now!”

  Evelyn looked over at the others. Though there was hesitation among them, it was clear that they all agreed with Laura. Evelyn glanced at her brother with a look of defeat, “Even you?” she asked clamly. Arthur said nothing yet stood firmly beside the others. Evelyn sighed as she turned her head back around. She then and scoffed at the others as the flames burning on her hand faded and extinguished. S “Alright, I see how it is. You all would rather risk death and put the Great Houses first before yourselves. Which, if I may remind you, is what you YOURSELF blamed Lira for doing!” she said pointing her finger at Benjamin, who did not reply but rather glared at her mockingly. Evelyn scoffed at Benjamin once more before sharply turning towards the end of the hallway. She gave Arthur and the others one last glance before marching away towards the stairs angrily. A course of action that surprised most of them.

  “Where are you going?” asked Benjamin. Evelyn simply kept on walking away with her head held high. “Eve, come back! You cannot go alone!” Arthur shouted. At first, Evelyn did not respond to him either. But unlike Benjamin he kept on talking, pestering her with every sentence. Eventually Arthur went running after her and grabbed her right hand by the wrist as the top of Evelyn’s shadow, illuminated by the miniature chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, passed over the threshold of the hallway into the lobby.

  “Stop! I can’t let you go by yourself!” he said tugging on her arm. Evelyn then turned around and faced him with a scornful look, “Well you are welcome to join me!” she said swiping her arm back aggressively, freeing herself from her brother’s grip. “Or would rather be with them, Arty?”

  Arthur opened his mouth to respond but his gaze was quickly directed away from his sister and towards the end of the hallway. Lucian saw another large shadow appear over Evelyn’s as four figures emerged from behind the lobby walls and into view. A look of terror soon enveloped Lucian’s face as he realized that all of the figures were wearing brown cloaks. At the same time, Arthur tried to divert Evelyn’s attention towards the men standing behind her but it was too late. Arthur barely had time to scream before the four soldiers all pointed their guns at the hallway and opened fire. Arthur tried to move Evelyn behind him as the sound of four louds bangs echoed though the hallway with such intensity that it made Lucian’s ears ring. He and the others all staggered around in panic as they tried to hide. Lucian took cover behind one of the pillars that were attached to the wall alongside Luin and the Morrows. Some of the others managed to run into nearby rooms while others hid behind the other pillars. The guards fired a few rounds in rapid succession, sending bullets tearing through the floor and the walls of the hallway. Once they were done, they put their guns down and walking slowly towards Arthur and Evelyn, both of whom had fallen to the floor. Lucian could see Arthur twitching as he laid on the ground in the blood stained carpet. Lucian could feel his heart pound so loud that it echoed through his ears. He placed his hand over his mouth as his eyes became glassy with tears.

  “They were waiting for us,” his thoughts muttered. “They were waiting behind the walls,”

  While Lucian felt all his emotions crumble and fall like a house made of sand, Luin stood there huddled next to him, equally distressed but far more composed on the outside. He peered over the pillar and watched as the soldiers slowly came cautiously closer one-step at a time. He looked at the walls on both sides of the enemy, and it was there that he got an idea.

  “I think have an idea,” he whispered to Lucian. Lucian’s mind was still in disarray but he managed to pull himself together enough to listen. He took a deep breath, wiped his face and lent his ear. His managed to calm himself as Luin spoke and he heeded his cousin’s words like his life depended on it, for at that moment it did.

  “…and we need a something to hinder them for long enough just in case it doesn’t work,” Luin said as he concluded his plan and peered over the pillar again. Lucian thought for a moment, he turned to the Morrows. But it seemed as though the events that had just transpired had impacted them far more severely that they had impacted Lucian. For both of them had looks of utter despair on their faces, and they paralyzed as if they were witness an incomprehensible horror. Willow especially stood still looking off into the distance as though she were in a daydream. Lucian tried nudging her shoulder but she did not respond and he quickly realized that trying more would be a waste of time. He then turned his attention to across the hallway. There he saw the Hatly sisters huddled alongside Benjamin, who was trying to reach the nearest door next to him. But it was out of reach lest he wished to expose himself from his hiding place.

  “LAURA!” he shouted in his thoughts as he gestured and waved his hands in the air wildly in order to get her attention. “LAURA!”

  Both Laura and Charlotte flinched, perhaps hearing his loud thoughts or noticing his fairly awkward hand waving. But once Lucian saw them pay attention he swiftly conveyed his plan through his thoughts. The Hatlys looked at him hesitantly, but it was clear that they knew they had no other option. Both of them quickly turned to Benjamin whilst Lucian gave Luin a nod. Luin nodded back and Lucian gulped nervously as he took a deep breath as Luin peered over the pillar and watched the guards come closer and closer. And when they came to a certain point, mere feet away from Arthur and Evelyn, Luin signaled Lucian with his hand. Lucian’s mind immediately began to panic as he mustered all the tiny bits of courage he had left and hesitantly took a step forward; he shuddered as his body was enveloped by a cloud of fear. Yet he still kept the stakes of the situation in mind. He walked to the middle of the hallway with his hands up whilst facing the guards. He could see the frightened expressions of Luin, Benjamin, the Morrows and Hatlys from the corners of his eyes. The guards immediately stopped walking and swiftly pointed their guns directly at Lucian. They looked at him with both confusion and caution. Lucian and the guards stared at each other for a moment before Luin swiftly stretched his hand up and brought it down as if he was bringing down a hammer. Lucian heard the sound of wood cracking and glass clinking. He looked up at the ceiling above the heads of the guards and saw the candle lit chandelier, one with a bottom made of crystal glass with a gold frame, hanging directly above them sway before it came crashing down on top of them. The guards only had time to look up before the chandelier enveloped the two guards in the middle with a shower of gold and crystal glass. The two soldiers in the middle both fell onto the floor from the impact while the two soldiers in either corner were showered by shiny debris as the chandelier’s glass bottom erupted like a bomb. Lucian shivered in his spot and closed his eyes when the chandelier began to fall. And when he opened them he saw that the soldiers had gone into disarray. Luin then jumped out from behind the pillar. He extended his hands out and pointed them at the wall. The walls in front of the guards began to shift and expand before flowing perpendicularly, creating a barrier between the men and the Mornings. Distracted by the chandelier, three of the four guards did not notice. But the fourth guard saw what was happening. He swiftly stretched his arms toward the walls halting its approach and keeping the gap open. A look of horror etched itself onto Lucian’s face; he glanced at Luin only to see that he too was panicking.

  “Help me!” he shouted at Lucian as they exchanged glances. He struggled, as he couldn’t overcome the strength of the older and more experience man. Lucian’s mind was so mired with terror that it took him a moment to fully register his cousin’s plight. But once he did, he shook his head in order to regain focus. He then held his own arms out and tried desperately to concentrate. The walls started to move faster and the guard seemed to exert himself in order to hold them back, but no matter how hard he tried, it was clear he couldn’t halt the walls entirely. Lucian was starting to feel an inkling of hope as he concentrated harder and harder. But the moment he started to regain some of his confidence he saw the guard quickly take away one of his arms and reach for his gun which he had placed in its holster. He pointed the gun directly at him. Lucian gulped as he knew he couldn’t let go and escape. But at the same time he froze, unable to think of his next move.

  But just then, before the man could pull the trigger, a black blur went flying past the corner of his eye. It took him a few moments to realize it was Maurice the raven. He saw it fly directly towards the man, who tried to shoot it but the bird was too fast. Lucian shuffled to the side, briefly overcoming his fear induced paralysis through sheer will, as a bullet ploughed into a wall only a few feet away from him. He looked back and saw Benjamin standing behind him, his body still leaning on the pillar. Maurice grabbed the man by the face and neck began to dig into the man’s skin. The man screamed as he dropped his gun on the floor and began to howl in pain as he fell on his knees. Lucian wanted to look away as the raven relentlessly clawed away at the man mercilessly. Luin then came out from behind his pillar and brought his hands together, making the walls close together. Benjamin whistled with his lips, which made Maurice immediately stop it is brutal mauling of the man and turn around. It then flew back towards Benjamin and slipped through walls as they closed, leaving the man groveling in pain on the floor.

  The hallway went dead silent when the walls closed. A series of furious banging noises followed as the men tried to open the walls with brute force. But it seemed as though they realized it was fruitless, for a few moments later the noises stopped. Lucian took a deep breath as he began to calm himself. Behind him, the others slowly emerged from their hiding places. They wasted no time as they all swiftly crowded around the Mornings.

  “James! Alice!” Charlotte called as she and Laura examined the bodies for any signs of life. The Venshires quickly rushed over to them with a great urgency. They both each took one of the siblings into their arms and began to look through their injuries. Meanwhile to Lucian’s side he saw the Morrows slowly walk up behind the crowd whilst keeping their distance. He saw Willow stare at the Mornings with a wide-eyed gaze. Her face seemed unable to bare or comprehend what she was seeing. Her eyes were stricken with immeasurable guilt. Her mouth was half-open yet speechless with regret. Charles seemed to share these feelings but his expression was less severe. Meanwhile, behind them, Benjamin looked back towards the door of Luin’s room with an expression of longing and worry. Lucian sighed before he walked up to Benjamin and placed his hand on his shoulder.

  “Lira told me she would not be with us when we get to the Mirror,” he said softly and sympathetically. Benjamin glanced at him somberly before looking back towards the room. “She could still be there, maybe she needs my help,”

  Lucian looked Benjamin in the eye. “Do you really want to know?” he thought, his expression reflected this question and Benjamin seemed to understand what he meant.

  “Don try to move!” Alice shouted from in front of them as she tried to keep Evelyn’s body still whilst her hand glided over her wounds, glowing with blue light. “Are they going to make it?” asked Laura. Alice didn’t seem to have a confident answer. “Neither I nor James have been taught how to treat wounds this severe,” she then slightly lifted Evelyn’s blood covered coat revealing a bullet wound in the side of her chest. “For Moor’s sake, it appears her lung has been punctured!”

  Laura covered her mouth with worry. “What about Arthur?” asked Joe, who paced around the crowd. “He’s conscious, it appears he hasn’t been struck in any fatal place,” said James as he placed his hand over Arthur’s shoulder. He then moved his hand up and what followed was a disgusting sound of flesh moving as a bullet emerged from inside the wound, slowly rising above his skin and into James’ hand. As the bullet came out of him, Arthur lurched upwards in pain. James quickly held him from the back and leaned him into a sitting position. “Do not be hasty!” said James. He then placed his hand over Arthur’s thigh, which also had a bullet wound, before doing the same thing he did with Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur once again jerked forward, moaning and whimpering in pain and James still held him back. James then used his hands and made the wounds close, leaving only a small visible. He then reached into his coat before taking out a long white handkerchief bearing the symbol of House Venshire. He proceeded wrapped the handkerchief tightly around Arthur’s thigh.

  Arthur seemed to be in a sort of daze, for he barely spoke or moved, instead only breathing slowly and heavily as James tried to heal him. But moments after James tightened the knot in his knee his dizziness seemed to clear. He blinked several times before shaking his head and clutching his shoulder with his other hand. He then immediately looked over at Evelyn, who was still lying on the ground with her head rested on Alice’s lap. Her wounds had been repaired like Arthur’s yet she was still hanging onto life by a thread. Arthur grabbed Evelyn by the hand as a grim look dawned on Alice’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” Arthur asked weakly before letting out a cough. “I can repair all the flesh wounds but the lungs and the muscle…” Alice said softly whilst looking at the bleeding hole in Evelyn’s chest, “Neither of us can heal anything that complex,”

  “Well can’t you try at least?” asked Lily in a loud and unsatisfied voice. Alice shook her head and it was clear from James’ somber expression that he too thought the same. Evelyn tightened her grip on Arthur’s hand. She then opened her eyes slowly, revealing that she was in fact conscious. She exhaled heavily as Arthur held her hand with both of his. Her eyes slowly shifted towards Arthur, who was started to sniffle audibly. Evelyn’s lips began to shiver, as though she was trying to say something, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not get her mouth to open. Several of the others including the Venshires began to look away, fearing the imminent. Moments later, her head suddenly tilted to the side as her body went completely still, as it did a single tear rolled down her cheek. At that point, even Lucian looked away from the scene unfolding before him. For it was too tragic for him to bare.

  It took Arthur a few moments to realize what had happened as he felt Evelyn’s lifeless hand go cold and numb. The moment the reality hit him his sniffling was replaced by sobbing. It was as if a dam he had tried to hold desperately had finally broken through. Lucian wanted to avoid thinking of what had just happened, so he looked for whatever distraction he could. He looked at the barrier they had used to block the guards. He realized that the assailants on the other side had been quite for some time. Perhaps they were expecting them to open the barrier when it seemed like they were safe. Perhaps they were regrouping from their own injuries. He could not see them and that worried him. He then turned around and looked towards Joe.

  “Can you hear them?” he asked. Joe initially looked at him as though he had something offensive, given the situation that was unfolding. He opened his mouth in order to make his feelings known. But before he could say a word he saw the expression on Lucian’s face. One of deep grief and desperation. Joe closed his mouth and reconsidered his answer. He then looked past Lucian and at the barrier wall.

  “Yes, yes I can,”

  “What about you two? Can you hear their thoughts?” asked Benjamin whilst looking at the Hatlys. Charlotte shrugged but Laura looked off into the distance with a disturbed expression. “I sense rage, and overpowering anger. It’s masking all their other thoughts,” she said in a serious voice.

  “Well I assume that means they will not yield till we’re all dead,” said Luin. “And it’s clear our only way out now is through violence,”

  “But we no matter what we do we won’t get far, not as long as they have guns,” said Lily. “The moment we part those walls they will not hold back on us!”

  Just then, Lucian heard the faint sounds of loud thuds and footsteps as he stood close to the wall. Joe’s eyes began to widen. “GET BACK, DEMON!” he yelled. Lucian barely had a moment to respond before he heard a bang sound echo from behind the barrier. A moment later, a bullet came bursting out of the wall releasing a hundred tiny pieces of shredded wood and wallpaper into the air whilst leaving a crude hole in its wake. Lucian quickly lunged away and leaned against the wall of the hallway as the pieces bounced off his coat.

  Within seconds, a hail of bullets came bursting out from the barrier. The others all ducked down and shuffled back as Lucian slowly inched towards whilst leaning against the hallway wall. After a few rounds of shooting the men stopped. But before Lucian could even take a breath of relief he heard loud kicking sounds. He saw large pieces of the now the damaged wall start to bend and tear as the kicking continued. He then shook from terror as large piece of the wall tore open, revealing the legs of the men on the other side. It was clear that they were attempting to brute forced their way through the barrier and the aggressiveness in which they seemed to partake in doing so horrified Lucian.

  Luin, seeing the barrier slowly come apart, swiftly held his arms out. The surface of the wall began to shift and repair itself. The crumbling bits began to push back as the men tried to kick them down. Lily soon joined in by reaching out her own arms and both she and Luin managed to keep the guards at bay. The guards kept switching between rounds of shooting and brute forces as the wall kept repairing itself.

  “We cannot keep this up!” Luin exclaimed as he began to show signs of strain. At this point Lucian was getting numb to the stress. His mind no longer hesitated nor froze and at that moment it went directly towards formulating a plan. He looked around, yet there seemed to be no way for them to defend themselves. He looked up at the ceiling for there were still more chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. His thought of something, a plan that wasn’t very original but one that might work.

  “I think I have a plan!” he said, pointing at the ceiling. Luin looked at him with skepticism. But Lucian ignored him and turned to the others. He saw them all exchange concerned glances for they seemed to understand what he was proposing yet, like Luin, they too were unsure about it. Lucian decided not to wait for them to agree. He pointed his arms at the ceiling and started pulling on the chandelier. Within moments, he saw parts of the ceiling crack as the chandelier slowly started breaking away. Suddenly, the chandelier snapped and began to fall. Lucian had expected the chandelier to be heavy, but when it started to fall the sudden weight that Lucian felt in his hands immediately overwhelmed him. He tried to hold on to it but it was too much. He tried to look away in order to avoid glass injuring his face. He stared at the wall behind him for a few moments expecting to hear the sound of glass breaking violently as the chandelier smashed on the floor, but such a sound never came and the weight his felt in his hands lessened dramatically. When he turned around, he saw the chandelier hovering gently above the floor. He looked passed it and saw Benjamin with his hand stretched out towards the chandelier. His lips were pursed and he let out a whimper as he exerted himself in order to keep the chandelier above the ground.

  “Mind helping me?” he asked, cracking a small grin. Lucian felt a hopeful feeling wash over him. He smiled back at Benjamin before concentrating as hard as he could on the chandelier. But even with the combined effort of both him and Benjamin they only barely keep the intact chandelier afloat. But as they tried to gently move the chandelier towards the back of the hallway Charles, who had so far stood back and watched as the chaos unfolded, suddenly took a step forward and held out his hand. Suddenly, the weight Lucian felt decreases yet again to the point where it felt more like lifting a light wooden chair. Charles said nothing as he lent his aid. Yet to Lucian, the guilt in his eyes spoke volumes.

  “Move it to the back!” Lucian yelled. He then turned to Luin. “When I say, I need you to open the barrier!”

  “Are you mad?” asked Luin without looking back, as his attention was fully occupied by the rapidly self-repairing wall. “I thought you were the one who never asked idiotic questions!” remarked Lily as she stood next to Luin. As Lucian, Benjamin and Charles kept the chandelier afloat; the others began to join them in their effort. The Hatlys and the Venshires lent their hands without hesitation. Even Joe, who still seemed skeptical about Lucian’s plan, reluctantly began to help. The only ones who stood to the side were Willow, whose face had barely changed in response to the chaos, staying trapped in a perpetual state of shock and Arthur, who sat next to Evelyn’s body, still stricken with grief.

  Once Lucian thought the chandelier had gained enough distance. He waved his palm, gesturing the others to hold. He then waited, the only things he felt at that moment was the weight of the chandelier on his palm and a sudden rush of adrenaline as his senses all reached their summit of awareness. The soldiers on the other side of the barrier started firing several rounds of bullets, Lucian waited for them to stop. And a few seconds later, they did. And at that moment, Lucian seized his chance.

  “OPEN THE BARRIER!” he shouted. Luin flinched as he quickly waved to the left whilst Lily followed suite and waved her hands to the right. The barrier began to open as it spilt into two and melted into the walls on either side of the hallway, revealing the four guards on the other side. Lucian only saw a glimpse of the wounded bodies of the guards before he yelled, “NOW!”

  All at once, Lucian and the others all pulled the chandelier forwards at the same time with all their collective might. Then all stretched out their arms in the direction of the guards, which sent the chandelier barreling midair through the hallway. The guards barely had time to react as the walls parting so suddenly seemed to catch them by surprise. They quickly tried to point their guns at the children when they heard Lucian shout, but by that point, it was too late. Lucian saw their faces are enveloped by fear for little more than a second before the chandelier struck all four of them with a thunderous crash. The force created by their focus acting on a single point was so great that the chandelier did not stop when it hit the guards. Rather it pushed them back up the hallway in the direction of the stairway. One of the guards was dragged down onto the floor and while the other three were thrown directly onto the banister, their weight making the ancient wood crack and shatter. Within seconds, the banister gave way and Lucian watched in shock as three men along with the chandelier went crashing down to the ground floor, disappearing from view. The chilling sound of a metallic thud echoed through the stairs shortly after. It was a fate Lucian had neither intended nor imagined on inflicting. Yet in a way, it filled him with a sense of relief. A sense of relief that disappeared when he noticed that the one remaining soldier was still groveling. The soldier’s gun had been thrown out of his hand and had landed a few feet behind him. Lucian and the others watched as the man slowly and weakly tried to reach for his fallen weapon, his wounds and cuts slowly staining his attire. It was clear that none of them quite knew what to do or what to think. For the sense of fear that had lingered for this entire engagement had disappeared. They all simply walked forward cautiously as the man tried to wiggle away.

  In desperation, the man tried to make the gun come to him by clenching his fist, but it was clear that the pain was interrupting his focus. The gun start to shake and move but before it could make its way into the soldier’s hand it suddenly lifted off the ground, flew past the soldier and went directly into Benjamin’s palm. As Lucian glanced at Benjamin, he saw the Laura look at the man with an expression that almost resembled pity. Perhaps she saw panic and desperation in his mind. Either way, it was clear that neither she nor Charlotte felt sympathetic enough to say anything, and neither did Lucian. For his heart was full of nothing but loathing. The man turned his head to the face the children. Benjamin took a step forward and, with a cold expression, pointed the gun at the man. The man’s eyes were stricken with fear and disbelief. Perhaps he could not comprehend the situation he found himself in; perhaps he was facing the cruel reality that he may not make it out of this ordeal with his life. Either way, he watched with wide eyes and silence as Benjamin put his finger on the trigger. Yet, at that moment, Lucian saw Benjamin flinch with hesitation. It was as if he wanted to pull the trigger, but couldn’t. His finger rested on the trigger but it did not move. The soldier blinked, as though he did not expect Benjamin to take so long. At that moment, he seemed to see an opportunity in his hesitation, for when Benjamin held the gun up to the man’s head the man quickly extended his hand out and tried to grab the gun from Benjamin’s hand. Benjamin quickly took notice and tried to pull his hand back. But fortunately, the man’s hand could barely reach Benjamin before it was enveloped in a wave of fire. Lucian saw a flash of blue light in the corner of his eye and before he could register what had happened, the next thing he saw was the man reeling back in panic as the uniform covering his arm went ablaze. His panic seemingly overcoming his weakened body as he moved swiftly along the ground trying to put out the fire.

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  Lucian looked at Benjamin, who seemed utterly baffled by what had just occurred. Then Lucian looked to Benjamin’s right and saw Arthur standing with his arm outstretched, shaking whilst being supported by his other arm from underneath. He limped his way forward towards the man just as the man smothered the flame engulfing his arm. Then, before the man could react, Arthur quickly kneeled down and wrapped his palm around the man’s face. The man punched Arthur’s side, which made him groan and whimper, but he did not let go of his grip. Arthur then grabbed one of the man’s arms and pushed his head against the floor. Lucian then heard a muffled scream as a sudden flash of blue light washed over him, it was a light so bright it temporarily blinded him. But once he was done rubbing his eyes, all he saw Arthur’s had sill covering man’s face, except now there were tiny columns of smoke rising from between his fingers and the man had gone completely still. It took a moment before Lucian realized what had happened and it made his stomach turn. As Arthur took his hand off the man’s head, he revealed a palm shaped scar burned across the man’s face. The sight of which made both Lily and Luin cover their mouths and choke as though they were about to vomit. It was Lucian that everyone else felt the same; even Joe couldn’t help coughing aloud as though he were on the verge of hurling. The others all simply looked away.

  Arthur tried to get up after what he had just done. But his injuries made him trip and he fell down onto his knees before he could even fully stand. The Venshires quickly walked over to him and lifted him up by his shoulders. For a few moments, the hallway remained completely silent as everyone stared uncomfortably at both the body and each other.

  “We…should go now,” Arthur muttered with a deep sigh as the Venshires held him up. None of the others said anything about what had just occurred, they simply ignored the sight of the soldier’s charred corpse as they all slowly walked passed it. Arthur get looking over his shoulder at the Evelyn’s body but he didn’t try to fight against the Venshires as they slowly walked towards the stairs one step at a time. Lucian stayed close to Lily and Luin as they awkwardly moved forward. He counted himself lucky for walking away with nothing more than a few bruises. He looked at Lily and Luin, both of whom looked exhausted. He counted himself even luckier that he hadn’t lost them, for the mere thought of such a possibility feeling shook his heart like an earthquake. It was because of this that he couldn’t even begin to imagine what Arthur was enduring. The same applied to the others as well. He saw Charlotte lean on Laura’s shoulder as they walked, he saw Charles gently guide Willow, whose face still looked as though it had witnessed something beyond its comprehension. Lucian was starting to find her unresponsiveness quite unnerving. Joe walked ahead of the others with his arms crossed and his face stricken with a sadness Lucian had barely ever seen from him. But what struck him the most was Benjamin, who had quietly put the gun he had taken from the soldier into his coat. He once again looked back towards Luin’s room in a looked of deep longing, yet he was met with nothing but silence. Benjamin gulped with frustration. It was clear his mind had mixed feelings. But in the end, he reluctantly turned around and walked alongside the others.

  Moments later, the now familiar sound of bullets echoed through the hallway, shaking the walls and the remaining chandeliers. The sound reminded Lucian that there was yet another fight happening outside the house walls, something that up until that point he had forgotten. His heart began to fill with worry knowing his parents as well as Lucy and Lidian were all down there. He wanted to get down to the ground floor as soon as possible yet at the same time he didn’t want to leave the others behind. He couldn’t.

  Suddenly, seconds after the sound had passed, Lucian heard the sound of something banging against one of the doors behind him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Benjamin and Maurice turn around almost instinctively the moment they heard the sound. He too stopped walking and looked at the empty hallway behind him. Lily and Luin, noticing his sudden pause, also stopped.

  “What are you doing?” asked Lily. But Lucian didn’t answer. Seconds later, he heard the feint sound of doorknob turning followed swiftly by the door to Luin’s bedroom swinging open. And from the other side, to Lucian’s shock and Benjamin’s relief, staggered out Lira, who limped out into the hallway with one hand leaning against the door whilst holding a gun and the other hand cradling Blackfeather, who laid motionless with its wings half outstretched.

  “LIRA!” Benjamin bellowed with a loudness that echoed through the entire floor. Maurice too screeched with excitement. The booming sound of his voice made everyone in the room turn their heads around and stare as though they had expected another soldier to appear from behind and shoot them. Benjamin, despite his bruises, began running towards Lira with a speed that was akin to sprinting. Within seconds, he reached Lira and embraced her with both his arms before she could even open her mouth to speak. Lira groaned and let out a deep breath. He then took her hand off the door and leaned on the wall.

  “You’re alive!” Benjamin continued to exclaim. Lucian then came running up from the side followed closely by Lily, Luin and the Hatlys while the Morrows and Venshires all followed at a much slower pace. Lira cracked a small smile as Benjamin took his hands off her waist and took a step back. She then sat down gently on the hallway floor with her back against the wall whilst she laid both Blackfeather and her gun on her lap. When Lucian got closer, he saw that she had several bloodstains across her body and cloths. Her forehead was bruised and oozed a light stream of blood that flowed down her left cheek. She continued to groan and sigh as she looked at Benjamin and the others with dazed and tired eyes. However, a few seconds later, she seemed to notice the gun handle peeking out from Benjamin’s coat pocket. A moment later, she snapped out of her dazed sate and stared at the hallway with an expression of deep worry; there she saw the bodies of both Evelyn and the soldier. Her eyes widened and she began to breathe heavily as she once again turned to Benjamin. She grabbed the shoulders of his coat and pulled him closer.

  “What happened?” she asked with a raspy and distraught voice. Benjamin did not look her in the eye. Lira then looked at Lucian, who also looked away with a frown and a mournful expression. Lira frowned, she then let go of Benjamin’s coat and sighed with her eyes closed before clenching her fist and hitting the floor in frustration. She then glared at both Lucian and the Morrows. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could blurt out any words, she saw the expression of devastation on Willow’s face as she stared off into the distance with her head facing down. Lira’s anger seemed to simmer down when she saw this. Instead of saying something, she sighed and looked at the children sympathetically.

  “We…got ambushed,” Benjamin murmured. “There were guards waiting for us in the hallway and things got… out of hand,” he said whilst glancing at the small holes in the ceiling where the two chandeliers use to be. Lira sighed before taking a deep breath. “Well I see you’ve all dealt with them by yourselves,” she uttered calmly. She glanced once again an Evelyn’s body and then looked at the others, “Do not dwell on what you lost now; there will be time for that. You all are still alive, and that is all that matters now.” The moment Lira uttered those words, Lucian saw Willow’s shattered eyes move as they laid their gaze upon Lira as though they had heard the sound of a door opening unexpectedly.

  The sound of bullets falling like rain once again echoed through the hallway, which only made Lucan more worried about what was happening outside. “You all shouldn’t stay here! Get to the gateway now!” Lira shouted with a weak yet still intimidating voice before letting out a cough. Benjamin’s joyful expression towards Lira darkened. “What about you? You have to come with us! The Great Houses leave no one behind!”

  Lira sighed; she then pulled back part of her skirt, revealing a bullet hole in the lower right side of her right leg. “I cannot walk, and you all can’t carry me,” she said softly. Benjamin took a step back. “No, not again!” he shouted rapidly in utter defiance. He then turned to the Venshires, “They can heal you! We are not leaving you!”

  He then walked up to the Venshires and took Arthur’s hand off Alice’s shoulder before placing it on his own. Alice gave a hesitant nod before going and kneeling down on the ground next to Lira, who seemed frustrated at Benjamin’s persistence. Alice inspected the wound whilst placing her hand on Lira’s forehead and healing her other simpler wounds. She seemed optimistic at first but her expression soon dimmed as she covered the wound her hand before Lira’s face recoiled in pain as the light sound of a subdued scream leaked from her drawn back lips. Her face only returned to normal when Alice took her hand off her leg a few seconds later after she noticed the pain on Lira’s face.

  “Where is the bullet?” she asked with a confused look. “I took it out,” Lira panted. Alice glanced off to the side; Alice glanced off to the side with a grimace as she once again played her arms over the wound. Lucian saw a blue light flash between Alice’s hand and Lira’s leg, and once it had gone Alice took her hand off the open wound, which had now completely shut, leaving behind only a small, barely visible scar.

  “The damage is too deep, I can’t heal it completely,” said Alice, disappointed in her ineffectiveness. “No matter,” Lira grumbled. She then looked down towards her lap, where a barely alive Blackfeather sat with its eyes flickering with every breath. “Heal him as well,” Lira ordered. Alice blinked for a split second before she reached her hands out and lifted the exhausted raven off Lira’s lap and onto hers. Lira then began, yet before she could get upright she stumbled and almost fell back onto the ground, she let out a painful groan as she leaned against the wall with her shoulder in order to stay upright. Meanwhile, Alice too stood up with her hands wrapped around Blackfeather. She enveloped the raven in a wave of blue fire that washed over it like a sea wave before disappearing in less than a second. Once the light had disappeared the raven’s eyes opened wide and it let out a screech that made Lucian flinch.

  Blackfeather quickly started to move around furiously in Alice’s hands. Alice quickly let it go before it glided calmly towards Lira and perched on her shoulder. Lira winced as she took a few steps in the direction of the stairs before once again stopping and leaning against the wall. Even the hand with which she held her gun seemed to shake.

  “I can’t walk fast, I suggest you all go on ahead of me and I’ll follow from behind,”

  Benjamin looked at her with an unsatisfied and worried frown. He looked at the others, who were all starting to look visibly impatient and paranoid as more gunshots kept echoing through the hallway. “We could always…carry you,” he said with uncertainty. Lira sighed, this time due to frustration. “You already have to help one of you. Carrying me would only hinder you even more,” she said in an exhausted voice.

  “But…” Benjamin tried to respond. But Lira quickly reached out her arm and grabbed him by the collar before glaring at him with an all too familiar fury. “Just. Go.” Even Blackfeather chimed in by screeching and flapping its wings aggressively towards Maurice. She then let go of her brother before sighing. “Please,” she added.

  Benjamin didn’t argue further. He quietly and reluctantly turned around and walked alongside the other as they all started walking towards the stairs, only looking back once as they went into the lobby. The once again passed by the body of the dead guard, but by then none of them seemed to take noticed of it.

  “How do we know there aren’t any more of them down there?” asked Charlotte as she made her way to the stairs and looked down the obliterated banister.

  “We don’t, although I suppose if there were more, the chandelier we threw down would’ve alerted them,” replied Lily.

  “But what if some more have broken in from outside? They wouldn’t have heard the chandelier, right?” Charlotte remarked. Meanwhile Lucian looked over towards Joe, “What about you? Do you hear anything below?”

  Joe looked at Lucian with his usual harsh frown, but Lucian simply frowned back. Joe went down the first step of the staircase; he then looked off into the distance and sighed before closing his eyes. At first his frown did not change, but suddenly Lucian saw his eyebrow lift upwards as though he had heard something odd, a prospect that Lucian was not happy about. Joe’s eyes suddenly came open. “There’s someone down there!” he said hastily. “I can hear faint sounds echoes of crying two stories below us, it sounds like a child,”

  The others went silent, “Are you sure?” asked James. “I can’t say, the noises from outside keep hindering me, but I heard something,”

  Benjamin then took the gun inside his coat into his hands. “The only way we can know is by going down ourselves,” he announced with great courage. Seeing Lira seemed to have eased his spirit and he appeared braver than ever before. Perhaps it was partly due to the gun in his hand, but either way, Lucian was happy to see it.

  Benjamin marched down the stairs in front of Joe, knocking him to the side by the shoulder in the process. His gun was pointed upward and he walked with a reserved confidence. The others followed gladly whilst staying two steps behind. Benjamin pointed the gun at the floor below the moment it came into view. Lucian watched anxiously as Benjamin stared into the abyss with fear lurking under his brave expression, but his anxiety was quickly warded away when Benjamin’s gun pointing was met with no response. Moments later, Benjamin let out a deep breath as he pointed his gun back down.

  “It’s clear,” he said with relief. As he walked down onto the floor. The others all came down one by one. Lucian looked up, wondering whether they should wait for Lira whilst the Hatlys, Benjamin and Lily all walked around the lobby looking into the hallways to see if they were truly empty. Meanwhile Lucian look over the banister at the floor below, there he saw the edge of a shadow, which nearly made him jump. He leaned further and saw the silhouettes of two women, stretching out towards the edge of the banister due to the chandelier light. He noticed that one silhouette was considerably taller than the other was. Lucian blinked as his skin began to tingle, for he sensed a familiar yet strangely deep feeling of dread creep up his spine whilst tried to lean further and further. As he stared at those shadows he felt like he recognized them, recognized them too well. Suddenly, the terrifying thought crossed his mind.

  “Angelmore, can you hear anything more…” Benjamin began to say in a relaxed voice before the sound Lily screaming abruptly and loudly interrupted him. “LUCIAN!”

  Before the others could even turn to look, Lucian darted down the staircase ahead of them without as speaking a word. He crouched parallel to the banister as the lower floor came into view and as he turned and gazed at the lobby, the first thing he saw was his mother Janice standing behind a wall next to the entrance of a hallway with Lucy huddled under one of her arms whilst her other arm held a gun. Her face was stricken with panic and terror, and the sight of Lucian only seemed to make it worse.

  “Lucian?” she asked with a tired, wide-eyed stare. Before Lucian could even answer, he saw her eyes immediately turn to the hallway next to her. Lucian felt a sword of dread pierce his only as he too looked into the hallway and what he saw made his heart stop cold.

  In the hallway, a few feet away from the library doors, stood a soldier with one arm wrapped around Lidian’s neck while the other pointed a gun directly at his head.

  Meanwhile, outside the house, shots rang. Henry watched with his mouth open as his father stood bravely as if he were a warrior of old with his hand outstretched. Even the men in angel masks in front of him seems dumbstruck. At first, they continued firing round after round at Wren, however no matter how many bullets they fired none made it past Wren. Instead, they stayed suspended in air as if they had hit an invisible wall. Eventually even the enemy halted their fire and simply watched from behind their safe positons. Waiting to see what Wren will do next.

  “Father!” Henry shouted from behind the car, his heart was racing beyond comprehension. But despite his son’s panicked call, Wren maintained his composure. He didn’t even look back. “Go Henry! Take your brother with you! It’s not safe here!” he shouted.

  Henry opened and closed his mouth several times in quick succession. He put his gun into his coat and tried to think. Except he didn’t know what to think or what to say for he had never seen father like this before. “We cannot leave without you!” he pleaded desperately. To which Wren once again did not move. He rotated his hand; the bullets that were suspended in midair suddenly turned began to turn around. Then, with a sternness that was devoid of any remorse, he closed his fist, sending the wall of bullets hurdling towards the enemy at an unprecedented speed. The soldier all tried to hide behind their vehicles for cover, and those who could not hide were immediately struck down. The sound of glass shattering and metal clanking echoes through the street, followed by an odd silence. Wren staggered back a few steps, clenching his wrist. He instinctively reached his hand out in order to grab his walking stick, seemingly forgetting that his walking stick was lying on the ground outside of his reach.

  “Don’t worry about me, boy!” he finally spoke after looking to see whether the enemy would retaliate. “I’ve fought these swine for nineteen years! They do not frighten me!” he declared. He then turned his head to the side and looked at Henry with a grin. “You and your brother on the other hand are too young to die at the hands of Montgomery’s lackeys! Therefore, I suggest you go now! Run, boy!”

  “He doesn’t know think they’re Circulions!” Henry thought. He then tried to go around and car and run towards Wren, but before he could take two steps Eustice grabbed his by the arm and stopped him. “Don’t!” he begged. Henry gave him a wrathful glare. “Do not dare to stop me! I can’t let him stand there alone!” he said pulling his hand away. Eustice shook his head in frustration and sighed. “You cannot go convince him! You know that! If you go there and drag him back there is a high chance that neither of you will come back!”

  He then point his finger at David while staring at Henry. “And you cannot leave your brother like this!”

  Henry turned his eyes to David, he realized he had completely forgotten about him the moment he had seen Wren. David was still huddled behind the car his hand covering his bleeding eye. Henry glanced between David, Wren and Eustice. But before he could say anything he saw anything else he heard a single gunshot echo across the facades. He swiftly turned towards the enemy positions only to see Wren stagger back a few steps, like he was about to lose his balance. However, he quickly reached for his fallen walking stick and made it fly into his hand. He then used his to balance himself. Once he had regained his balance he knelt down on one knee, gasping in pain as blood burst out of his left shoulder. He looked past his father and saw a single soldier pointing his rifle directly at Wren. Moments later, several other soldiers also emerged from the wreckage. They immediately began to push the damaged vehicles forward with their powers, aligning them in such a way that they completely blocked the road like a single steel barricade.

  “It appears as though there will be no surrender with these fools!” Henry heard Jeanette say loudly. He watched as Wren stood up slowly. A sight that his eye still couldn’t fully believe. The man with the rifle fired once again, and Henry instinctively jerked forwards as he tried to reach for his father. However, Wren dropped his walking stick and once again stretched out his right hand before the bullet could reach him. The bullet once again halted in midair mere inches away from his palm. Wren then relaxed his hand, making the bullet fall to the ground harmlessly with a clink.

  The solider on the other side of the barricade seemed even more shocked than he had been before. Slowly, Wren grabbed his walking tick again and used it to stand up slowly his left arm swayed on its own, looking both limp and lifeless. Henry could feel his chest pound. But he knew no matter what he did, Eustice would not willingly let me his pass, and he did not want to leave David. He could deep breathe as he tried to calm himself.

  “The Great Houses leave no one behind!” he shouted in one last attempt to make Wren come to his senses. As he watched restlessly, he saw Wren pause and look towards his right for a moment before facing the enemy once more. Henry sighed, realizing that Eustice was right. He then turned back towards the others, who were all anxiously watching this entre scene unfold.

  “Harold! Harold!” he called, looking around his surroundings. Harold Venshire soon appeared from behind one of the cars. Henry waved his hand at him impatiently, which did little to quicken cautious pace. Once he got to where Henry was quick to direct him towards David. Harold leaned down on the ground and gently took David’s hand off his injured eye. Harold let out a subdued gasp when he witnessed the full extent of his injury. He gulped and took a deep breath as he slowly took out small shards of glass from his face.

  “This is…quite serious,” he said in a calm yet somewhat shivering voice. Henry then felt a sudden wave of air rush over him. Suddenly, he noticed the small pieces of glass and debris on the ground start to move. He looked over towards Wren and immediately his eyes widened in disbelief. Wren stood with his right arm raised above his head with his palm open, his walking stick once again on the ground. Soon, the pieces of debris on the ground began to levitate upwards. Henry could tell that something bad was about to happen. He looked at Harold and David. “Take him away from here! It’s too dangerous!”

  Harold nodded in agreement; he then put his arms under David’s shoulder and began to lift him up. “NO!” David shouted in a drowsy and frustrated voice as he weakly resisted Harold’s help. “No! Don’t!” he protested. Despite his pleas, Harold slowly dragged him away towards the back of the road behind the line of Gratousy soldiers. Henry could bear to watch as David flailed his free arm around in the air trying to reach him. Suddenly, the car he was standing behind began to drag itself a few inches down the road towards Wren, making an ear-piercing screech as metal rubbed against the road. Henry took a step back, frightened. Even the cars on the enemy line seemed to move forward, which caught the traitorous soldiers off guard. Henry then started to hear a faint vibrating noise coming from his surroundings. He looked at the facades on either side of him, where they moving?

  “Impossible, they’re too heavy,” he reassured himself. But despite all this, Wren didn’t show any sign of exhaustion or strain. However, Henry could hear the faint sound of him grunting and breathe heavily, so perhaps he was tiring himself faster than he appeared. He slowly began to close his fist, and as his fingers converged, the sound of the vibration only grew louder. Henry didn’t know whether to stop him or help him. Suddenly, as he was still debating himself, he heard Amos Angelmore shout. “The windows! Everyone, TAKE COVER!”

  Moments later, when Wren fully closed his fist, the windows of all the facades on either side of him erupted like fireworks. Henry and Eustice ducked behind the he standing behind whilst covering his ears as the sound of glass shattering pierced his ears like a thousand forks against ceramic. As the windows exploded, thousands of shards began to rain towards to the ground. Yet, instead of covering the road in sharp glass, all the shards suddenly began to fly towards Wren before reaching the ground. Wren seemed to struggle under the weight of all the glass as he nearly fell back down onto his knees the moment the windows shattered. Yet he did not fall. He swiftly lowered his hand and pointed it directly at the enemy line. At that moment, every object behind him began to move in the direction he pointed. Henry saw the dust and debris rush past him like a wave. Even the car he was ducking behind suddenly lurched forwards, which almost made him trip. Moments later, he was enveloped by a cloud of dust. He coughed, huffed, and covered his face as he attempted to stop the dust from getting in his eyes. He tried to stand up by grabbing the car chassis and hoisting himself into his feet, every surface he touched was slippery and coarse. It was as if Wren had summoned all the dust and small objects in the entire street.

  Suddenly, Henry felt a hand grab him by the shoulder and pull him up onto his feet. He wiped his face and cleared his sight as much as he could only to see that it was Eustice. As the dust cloud simmered down and faded, Henry once again stared at the road ahead of him. There he saw Wren standing alone, his coat now coated in dust, it seemed as though he had used up all his strength for he was now once again leaning on his walking stick. The enemy line was still shrouded in dust, but it had gone completely silent. Henry’s mind was in knots, he no longer knew he believed what he was seeing. He had never seen Wren so…alive. And even in the aftermath, his father looked more youthful than he had been in the past twenty years. It was truly a remarkable sight.

  “Do you think it’s over?” he asked Eustice as he saw Jeanette and the Gratousy begin to put away their guns. “I do not know, not everything I’ve seen in my visions has happened yet, something is missing. I saw smoke, not dust.” he replied nervously. But Henry wanted to believe that the nightmare is over, he wanted to think their enemy was defeated. “Perhaps your visions mixed up the two,” he said optimistically before turning his attention towards the road. “FATHER!” he called, his voice was so loud and it echoed off the now windowless facades. To his joy, Wren finally seemed to hear him, for his call finally made him around and face him. “Henry? I thought I told you to leave, boy!” he shouted with a disappointed frown.

  Henry sighed. “The Great Houses leave no one behind! And neither will I!” he exclaimed with a smile. Those words made Wren’s frown slowly disappear, and for a moment, he smiled. “The words of a true Baron, my boy! A true Baron!” he said with a laugh.

  For a brief moment, Henry felt a feeling of joy wash over him. At that moment, he was happier than he had ever been before. Perhaps it was due to the hellish situation they just escaped, perhaps it was because it was the first time he had heard his father speak in such a way in over two decades. Either way, at that very brief moment, he felt as though all the pain he had suffered had simply disappeared. It was pure bliss.

  However, just as Wren took a step towards Henry with the help of his walking stick, an object came flying towards him from behind. Henry heard the sound of something metallic hitting the ground before bouncing twice and coming to a stop near Wren’s feet. Henry immediately felt feelings of shock and fear strike his heart like a javelin. “No, it can’t be. It’s not possible!” he argued to himself in his thoughts. The enemy line was still obscured by dust yet not a single sound came from within it. Wren turned around after hearing the object land behind him; as he turned Henry managed to get a better view of the object; it was an iron ball with a think rope sticking out from it, the tip of the rope glowed orange and red whilst emitting a thin stream of smoke. Both Henry and Wren stared at the object with confusion. It took both of them a few a seconds to realize what it was, but by then it was too late.

  “GRENADE!” one of the Gratousy shouted. Moments later, the iron ball burst into a cloud of orange flames, engulfing Wren in mere milliseconds. Henry barely had time to scream as the force of the blast pushed he and Eustice onto the ground. “HENRY!” he heard Leornard’s voice scream while being accompanied by more horrified cries, with the most recognizable being Marilyn as she called out to Eustice. The car they stood behind shielded them from most of the fire, yet the light from the flames made his eyes ache and the sound of the blast made his ears ring. He crawled on the ground, feeling the heat of the flames on the tips of his fingers. He was still dizzy from the fall but as he crawled towards the car, his thoughts slowly came back to him.

  “Forbidden weaponry…” he thought as his tried to put together a full sentence. As he touched the side of the car, he could feel the warmth in the metal. He pulled himself up by grabbed the door handle and leaning against the window ledge. It was only after he had gotten back on his feet that a grim realization struck him. He poked his head above the car hood and peered into the road to see a small crater situated in the middle of the road stretching almost a foot into the ground, the asphalt around the edged was melted and not a single sign of life remained. The more he looked the more painful the truth become.

  Wren was gone. Henry’s father was dead.

  Henry felt his heart ache, yet somehow it didn’t pain him as much as he expected. All he felt was heavy numbness, as if he wanted to sleep for all eternity. A single tear rolled down his face as a sense of dizziness overwhelmed him. He leaned backwards involuntarily and nearly fell over. However, he instinctively took a few steps back and straightened himself when he realized he was on the verge of losing balance. He shook his head and regained his composure, wiping the tear away, for now was not the time to mourn. His heart raged like an inferno fueled by the need for vengeance, but he tried his best to keep it at bay. For he knew being blinded by emotion would only hinder him. He then noticed Eustice crawling on the ground next to him; he grabbed the car’s door handle before extending his hand towards Eustice, who grabbed it without hesitation. Henry then pulled Eustice up whilst holding on to the car door. Once Eustice was on his feet, he leaned against the car whilst clutching his, exhausted.

  “How did these swine get their hands on incendiary weapons?” Henry asked whilst panting. “I thought these were forbidden under the Circulion Code!”

  “I don’t know!” Eustice said with a groan. As they talked, the remaining smoke from the blast cleared, revealing the enemy line once more. However, this time, Henry could only see about three or four men standing behind the line of cars, very different from their earlier numbers. The moment the smoke cleared, the Gratosuy troops who were still standing began to fire without orders, for even they knew that all semblance of honor had been burned away. There was no mercy left to be shown. Henry and Eustice quickly hid behind the car, for neither of them wanted to serve as a distraction. “They waited this long before using that weapon on us. They must be getting desperate! This is it; this was the smoke from my vision!” Eustice exclaimed. Sadly, none of those sentences increased Henry’s hope or confidence. Just as Eustice finished speaking, one of the soldiers quickly threw yet another bomb towards them, this time it landed near the edge of the road opposite to where Henry was. He once again heard an ear-piercing boom as the explosion obliterated left-most part of the Gratousy line, sending the troops flying back whilst the cars burst into flames.

  Henry took a deep breath and sighed. He knew the reason incendiary weapons were banned under the Circulion Code was due to them being too loud and too destructive. “This is beyond treason,” he said with a grim tone. “If they keep doing this, these sham Hunters will bring down the wrath of the real Hunters down on us!”

  Henry then reached into his now thoroughly ruined coat and pulled out his gun. He then took a deep breath; his heart strengthened by rage and sadness, and stood up. He pointed it at the enemy line. Eustice tried to stop him, but it was no use for he was too exhausted to hold him back. Henry’s hand were shaking yet he still aimed his gun at one of the soldiers and pulled the trigger. However, his first shot missed by an inch and ricocheted the chassis of the car next to the soldier. The soldier reeled back, thinking that he had been hit. However, it only took him a few moments to realize that Henry had in fact missed. Henry then saw the soldier stare at him directly in the eye through the angel mask, which he found unnerving. The soldier then turned around and swiftly reached down towards the ground behind them, momentarily disappearing behind the car chassis before reappearing with a grenade in his hand. The soldier then threw the grenade as hard as he could towards Henry and Eustice, but Henry wasn’t going to let himself die that way. At that moment, his adrenaline filled body acted almost out of instinct as he swiftly out his arm towards the grenade. The grenade suddenly halted midway between the opposing lines and hovering above the road. The soldier on the other side seemed taken aback by the ineffectiveness of his strategy, yet he would not back down, for he too then pointed both his arms at the grenade. Henry suddenly felt like his arm had caught onto a huge weight as the grenade began to inch closer towards him. Henry then stretched out his other hand, which once again made the grenade pause and stay frozen in place. He then pushed his arms forwards, which made the grenade move slowly towards the enemy line. The soldier seemed to panic a bit as he too began to push harder. Meanwhile the grenade fuse burned more and more whilst Henry and the soldier seemed to be at a stalemate. However, Henry suddenly felt the weight on his hands decrease; he looked to his left and saw Eustice standing next to him with his arms outstretched. The grenade began to move towards the soldier without stopping despite the soldier seemingly pushing on it with all his might. Eventually, the soldier seemed to understand the hopelessness of his predicament, for he then swiftly took down one of his arms and reached for his gun. The grenade moved faster when he took his arm down, but before it could reach him, he aimed his gun and fired at the grenade, making it explode prematurely while still floating in the air.

  Another loud boom followed. But at this point Henry was starting to become familiar with them. Since the grenade exploded closer to the enemy line he didn’t feel a lot of intense heat, and the shockwave barely nudged him. However, the force of the blast happening whilst the grenade was under his influence made his arms violently fling backwards with enough force to nearly make him fall over. As he staggered backwards erratically, he felt like his flesh and bones were on the brink of ripping apart, and even after the initial pain had vanished, they were still quite sore.

  Eustice too seemed to experience the same effects Henry did, however he could not maintain his balance and so he tripped and fell onto the hard asphalt. Henry quickly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the ground. His arms ached even more as he helped Eustice get back on his feet. As the dust cleared, Henry once again stared at the enemy line. The car that the soldier had stood behind had been completely demolishes, leaving only a bent and torn mess of metal to accompany the small crater the grenade had left behind. However, to Henry’s dismay, he saw the soldier rise up from behind the wreckage. The lower half of his angle mask had been completely shattered and the upper part seemed to be hanging by a mere thread. His top hat and cloak were bruised beyond all hope yet he himself seemed relatively unscathed. However, Henry knew that the soldier had experienced the same force he had. He knew that his enemy was weakened.

  “It is not over yet” he said turning to Eustice. “Do you still see any way out of this?”

  Eustice seemed to go into a state of despair the moment Henry reminded him of his visions. He shook his head, distraught. “No, all my visions have gone blind! They are no pathways, no options. None that I can see at least! This is where they end! All I see is you and fire! You! That means our fate is sealed! Or mine is, at least! There is nowhere else to go! Nowhere else to hide!” he rambled. Henry realized that he shouldn’t have made Eustice focus on his visions. The last thing he wanted was for him to lose focus. “NO!” He exclaimed whilst putting his hand arms on both of Eustice’s shoulder. “That cannot be right! We still have a chance! You said you that you can’t see what happens when your sister is around, maybe it’s because of that! Maybe it’s because your mind is too exhausted!” he said in a reassuring voice. But Eustice wasn’t convinced. “It is not that simple!” he replied with frustration before turning his eyes towards the enemy line to avoid looking at Henry directly. “It’s much more…” he began but before he could finish his face filled with panic. He then frantically pointed his hand at the road. “WATCH OUT!”

  Henry turned towards the enemy, only to see the guard once again holding a grenade his hand. The Gratousy tried fire at him; however, they were unable to not be distracted by the other enemy soldiers, who were all fighting with all their strength. They hurled large pieces of their now ruined cars alongside their grenades, hoping to disrupt the Gratousy’s shooting so they could get once again go on the offensive. The Gratousy themselves seemed to be firing less, which worried Henry.

  “They must be running out of ammunition,” he thought. At that point, he had been fighting for so long that even his mind was finding it hard to concentrate through the pain. He could feel his spirit faltering under the stress and exhaustion and his heart was filled with nothing but anger and grief. However, before his thoughts drift away he turned his attention back to the moment at hand. His arms were still sore, and he could tell from the soldier’s movements that that was true for him as well. Perhaps he was desperate. Perhaps he was underestimating them. Either way, Henry saw a flash of light as the soldier lit the grenade fuse. The soldier ran a few steps forwards before throwing the grenade in the air. Henry immediately stretched out his arm in order to counter, fighting the pain as much as he could. The soldier also extended one of his arms to counter him. Meanwhile, Eustice stood beside Henry, crouching behind the car hood and the glass-less windshield. Eustice’s words had shaken Henry, and he did not want to lose someone else.

  “This isn’t good! You need to leave! Go! Please!” he pleaded. But Eustice did not budge. “No!” he replied confidently. “I see no other way! The future tells me that I cannot leave your side!”

  Henry grumbled with frustration. He was determined to finish this. He closed his fist, making the grenade instantly freeze midair. By that point, he had reached his limit, he had let the rage and desire for vengeance overwhelm him; Eustice’s grim predictions had made a part of him accept the inevitability of his own demise. That part of him wanted to die as his father had, in the middle of the fray. Yet he did not want to take Eustice with him, despite the fact that he knew Eustice wouldn’t listen to him. “You visons have to be mistaken! You can still escape! Just go!” he commanded while grabbing onto Eustice’s coat with his free hand. Yet Eustice simply slapped his hand away in defiance.

  Henry swung his arms forward, making the grenade move backwards. The soldier saw this, yet put up little resistance. Instead, he pulled back his hand and let the grenade fly towards him. Henry was confused at first, but he then took the moment and turned to Eustice. “GO! I do not need you! Let me avenge my father in peace! I will not let you die for me! Join the others! This is not your battle!” he said in his most serious voice whilst grabbed Eustice’s collar. But Eustice quickly showed him back angrily, “Stop it! If you do not believe my visions then fine! But I do! And I will not die like a coward!”

  Suddenly, there was the sound of gunshots. Eustice turned his head towards the road for a split second. “MOVE!” he shouted suddenly before shoving Henry against the hood of the car, bashing his back against the hard iron. Seconds later, the sound disappeared; Henry quickly straightened himself only to see Eustice fumble around like a drunk before falling against the car and sliding down onto the road, leaving a bloodstain on the car hood.

  “NO!” Henry screamed aloud as he fell down in his knees and grabbed Eustice’s body by the shoulders. Seconds later, Eustice let out a cough, splattering little drops of blood onto Henry’s coat as he took deep breaths. His eyes were wide open as he stared into the night sky, his body desperately clinging onto his life. Seeing all this, Henry felt a deep sense of relief overcome his initial shock, as he pulled closer to him. “HELP! HAROLD!” he called out with whatever strength he had left, but no response came.

  “It all…makes sense now…” Eustice uttered in a raspy voice as his hand moved slowly across his chest. Henry could see that he been shot twice. One bullet had gone into his right lung while the other had hit him just above the heart. Despite all the numbness Henry felt, he still felt his heart sink again. “No! Don’t talk! HAROLD!” he called again, but once again. No one could hear him or get to him while the Gratousy and the enemy soldiers fought.

  “Strange…” Eustice said softly. “I can see things… I can see it all…”

  He then turned his eyes to Henry and grabbed his arm. “Salvation… is possible…There… is… something deeper… grander… at play” he said whilst breathing rapidly. Henry was very confused, but he didn’t ask any questions as he did not want Eustice to expend any more energy.

  Meanwhile, the enemy soldier saw both Henry and Eustice disappear behind the car. He then turned his attention towards the grenade that was flying through the air. The man stretched out his hand and froze the grenade in place. He then swung his arm forward and sent the grenade flying back towards Henry. However, instead of sending it directly at his enemy. He directed it towards the house and the facades next to the cars. The grenade flew through the air once more in a diagonal line as its fuse slowly ran out. The soldier hid just as the grenade approached the glass-less windows of the house. It flew between the house’ second and third stories before its fuse finally ran out, and then it exploded, almost directly above where Henry and Eustice were hiding.

  All Henry heard was the explosion above him, as almost immediately afterwards he felt a shockwave throw him down to the ground with his face pressing. He then felt a heatwave wash over his back as his ears began to ring and his eyes were blinded by a sudden burst of fiery light. He wrapped his hand around Eustice’s torso as the explosion rained down a storm of dust and debris. Once the shockwave had cleared, Henry slowly and painfully rolled around and began to stand up. He turned his head towards the house, only to see that much of the front of the second floor exterior had been destroyed. One of the windows had been blow off while fire slowly emerged from the remaining ones. Even part of the third floor had been blown away, leaving the structure on the brink of collapse.

  Henry mind quickly thought of Janice, and his children. He then felt his arm press against Eustice’s chest. He then swiftly turned his attention back to him. He shook the dust off Eustice’s face and he was relived to see him still breathing. He realized that his enemy had to be dealt with immediately. He reached into his coat, pulled out his gun, and checked the cylinder, only to find a single bullet loaded inside. He took a deep breath and closed the cylinder. He then stood up, something he was finding more and more difficult to do, and pointed his gun at the soldier, who had once again grabbed another grenade. Henry took a deep breath, and just as the soldier began to swing his arm in order to throw the grenade, Henry pulled the trigger. A gun barrel erupted with a bang and a bullet went flying through the air at the same time the grenade left the soldier’s hand. The grenade only flew about a foot into the air before the bullet collided with it. Henry saw the soldier disappear in a cloud of fire as an explosion decimated half of the enemy line. The shockwave sent the other enemy soldiers reeling back, temporarily stopping them from engaging the Gratousy. Jeanette, seeing this an opportunity, screamed whilst pointing her hand at the enemy line “FIRE FOR EFFECT AND ADVANCE!”

  The Gratousy all began to walk forward slowly whilst shooting all their ammunition directly at the enemy line. By that point, the moon was now almost halfway between the horizon and the top of the sky. Henry took a step back from exhaustion as he put his empty gun back into his coat. He then felt something pulling on his leg. He looked down; only to see Eustice pulling on him with whatever life he had remaining. “Goldenhammer…” Eustice uttered, his voice seemingly getting drier and raspier with every word.

  Henry quickly leaned kneeled down next to Eustice. “What do you mean?” he asked, to which Eustice coughed. “Goldenhammer… daughter… pendant,” said Eustice staring directly at Henry. “Don’t… sign it! Do not… pull… the trigger!” he kept going. He then grabbed Henry’s arm and held it as tightly as he could. “There are… men… in the shadows! Vengeance… is impossible… I can see… everything!”

  He then exhaled deeply. “We… have… a chance…,” he murmured, before his mouth stopped moving. Henry felt Eustice’s hand go stiff and he watched as Eustice stopped moving completely. His expression went blank and at that moment, Henry knew it was over. Eustice was gone. The Baron of Morrowyn Borough was dead.

  Henry sniffled and shook his head up and down erratically. He didn’t know how much more grief he could take. He leaned back and sat on the asphalt road, wiping his face as multiple tears came running down his cheeks, glistening in the moonlight before falling down onto the ground.

  Meanwhile, as he was wallowing in his own sadness. He saw lights appear in the distance, shining through the car wrecks and the broken facades, getting larger every passing moment.

  They were headlights. Something else was coming.