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loreleimatthews · 3 years ago

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Had a dream last night, made it a reality

The woods had never looked so beautiful. By all accounts, it was a relatively wonderful day. The light filtered through the trees to bathe the forest floor that was littered with freshly fallen leaves; the sky overhead was a crisp, bright blue. Hell, even birds were chirping as they flew by. All of these things were magnificent, and all of these things were unaware of what was happening below them.

Only seven of us had made it out of Xavier’s manor. Seven. Out of twenty. How could thirteen of the strongest Lenaivine’s ever born been defeated by a mere mortal? We were bred and trained to protect. It was our job. This shouldn’t have been possible.

But here we were.

My sisters knelt behind me, my final ward surrounded by the broken, battered bodies of the women who I held the most dear to me. We had been killed, tortured, and butchered for him. Even now, in these final moments, my heart ached to hold him. This human who had someone burrowed his way into my soul and lodged himself there, even if he kept me at arm's length. And who could blame him? A strange woman showing up on his door those short months ago, pulling him from all he ever knew and into her care with no explanations. Just expecting blind trust and loyalty.

What a fool I had been.

And I had done the one thing I wasn’t supposed to.

I loved him.

Completely and irrevocably.

His importance had been shrouded, even to me. He was someone to be protected at all costs. A pin in which this world and the next hinged for their survival. I hadn’t known what that would mean. What it would still mean. Because my job was to keep him safe. To get him to the Hall of Seven Bells alive. I may not be with him when that moment happened, but by the gods, I would ensure that he did not die here on his knees.

I was tired, so tired. Body aching, yearning for a moment of rest. A moment to just _be_. Soon, I would be able to sleep the endless sleep. But not yet. I still had some things to do.

I raised my chin, the light shining down above me, and met Xavier’s victorious eyes with my determined ones. The corners of his eyes widened ever so slightly, a movement that would have been missed by most. But I had been looking for it. Even now, he still feared me. He knew what I was capable of. It was why he held the point of his sword against my throat.

“Flynn, don’t do this. I’m not worth it,” Andrew pleaded behind me. A ward begging a Lenaivine not to do their job. Had he not learned yet, the big idiot?

I shook my head slightly so as not to let the blade pierce my skin. “You are, though. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

A low laugh escaped Xavier as he looked down on us. “You two are so fit for each other it’s sickening. But you won’t tell him, and he won’t tell you. Pathetic, really. At least you won’t have the joy of watching him die. I’ll save that for him. He can watch you die, watch your sisters die, and then there will be nothing left standing in my way.”

My blood boiled as he spoke. I would have given nothing to reach out and slap that smug smile from his face. It wasn’t just his word keeping me here. My right arm was broken, left ankle sprained to the point I could barely put any weight on it. Andrew had practically been carrying me until we fell under Xavier’s final trap; a containment spell.

What a fool I was.

Andrew slid his hand into mine. I glanced down at it, taken aback but grateful. My heart quickened. I had longed to touch him. I squeezed his hand tightly, thankful to have this small moment before everything ended.

“Do you know what containment spells do, Flynn?”

“I think we have more important things to worry about right now, Andrew.”

“Containment spells can only hold one type of thing at a time. And this spell wasn’t made for me.”

The blade at my neck trembled. “You have no power here.” Xavier’s voice was strained, holding the slightest edge of uncertainty.

“Look at me, Flynn.” I did as I was told and turned my head to face him, Xavier seeming to allow it.

Andrew’s dark brown eyes were hopeful. He knew something I didn’t. What was he trying to tell me? Xavier was right; Andrew didn’t have any power here. He was mortal, not trained in the occult or other magics. What could he do?

He brought my hand up and kissed the back of my hand, the softest of movements. “What are doing?”

“Desperate measures.” Before I could stop him, before Xavier could plunge the blade into my neck, Andrew jerked me to him, lips falling on mine.

Bang

My entire body came alive, and it felt as though a large bell had been rung in the distance.

Bang

The inside of my body thrummed in time with the bell. What was this?

Bang

Andrew’s lips were warm, soft, and yet somehow firm at the same time. I had dreamed of being able to kiss him, knowing it was something that could never be.

Bang

My fellow Lenaivine’s sang out wordlessly with each toll of the bell. Could they hear it? Could they truly?

Bang

“What is this? What is this noise!” Xavier’s voice was distant in my ears. I was vaguely aware of the sword falling to the ground.

Bang

Andrew’s arms came around me, moving gently around my broken arm. I suddenly felt safe, home. A warmth spread over me, radiating from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. My sister’s voices rising up around us in a piercing crescendo.

Bang

Andrew pulled away, his eyes having bled to black. In a voice not his own he spoke the words, “The Seven Bells have been rung.”

“NO! You cannot do this! This isn’t right!” Xavier screeched.

I watched as my sisters joined hands, my own falling into theirs of their own accord. Andrew rose to stand in the center of where we knelt. My head dropped backward, eyes pointing locked on the orange leaves above. A pressure like nothing I had ever known before built up inside my chest. My ribs felt like they would explode out if the pressure wasn’t released. Whatever this was, I couldn’t stop it. Didn’t even know how to stop it.

A scream tore its way up my throat as the pressure became too much. Five identical screams joined into a chorus of pain, confusion, and somehow…knowing.

With a pain as though my entire being was being split apart, a white-hot light shot from the center of my chest, from all our chests, and into Andrew. He threw his head back, arms stretched wide. A beam of light spilled from his mouth and straight up into the sky.

Above us, the sky ripped open.

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