“Get down!” Key yells.

Having been trained to anticipate attacks, we don’t think or hesitate. We all drop to the floor. Randy, on the other hand, has no idea what to do. So instead of getting to the ground with the rest of us, he looks to see what Key is talking about. The fireball heads straight for him. He stands there, frozen in the face of certain death. Bex, being the closest to the human, tackles him to the ground. Fireballs invade the entrance of the Taj Mahal.

Our attackers hide in the surrounding trees and bushes, making it difficult to get a clear view of them. Pryor instructs us to place Randy in a Holder and split up. Swoop quickly takes off her bracelet and throws it at Randy. The bubble-like prison immediately forms around the human.

“Aaden, Bex, aim for the trees. We need to draw them out,” our leader orders.

Bex and I set the trees on fire. The demons have no choice but to come out of hiding and take to the sky. There are dozens of them, but they didn’t come alone. All the Kasters, including Ruin, accompany them.

Damn it!

Our team takes off into the sky. Kill orders the demons to fire another round of fireballs at us. We manage to dodge them with skillful flight maneuvers. Pissed, Kill orders Twist to attack us. The crew cut scum does as his leader says. He sends out a surge of electric currents aimed right at Swoop’s head. 

“Look out!” I warn her.

It’s too late. Swoop doesn’t get out of the way in time. The current hits her in the face. Her whole body seizes up; she’s writhing in pain. I throw a fireball aimed at Twist. He sees it coming and disconnects from Swoop in order to dodge the flames. Swoop has lost consciousness and is falling out of the sky. 

I call out desperately to Bex, who is the closest to her. He dives to catch her but Kill tackles him and the two slam into one of the pillars of the Taj Mahal. Meanwhile, Swoop is still falling and I can’t get to her in time. Right before she hits the ground, East appears on his Port and catches her.

Terrified that her sister could be dead, Key dives down towards the ground, but she’s intercepted by three demons. She “paints” the sky with them in one quick wave of her hand. She lands and runs to East, who is trying to revive Swoop. 

“Is she okay?” Key asks him.

Before East can answer, Bex calls out her name. She looks up and sees that Kill has managed to get the upper hand on her boyfriend. And now Bex is only a few inches away from having a fireball shoved into his chest.

“Key, go! I’ve got this,” East assures her.

She takes to the air to rescue Bex. I’m on my way to help them when a hole opens up in the sky and starts to suck me into its center. The force that’s pulling me in is so strong, when I fight to go the opposite direction, it feels like my skin is being ripped off. I struggle but it’s no use. I’m being sucked into the void no matter what I do.

Just beyond me is the creator of the vortex: Wrath. He has a scar across the entire length of his face and wears a sadistic grin. He commands the void with his hands and looks on as it pulls me in. He’s so busy controlling his creation he doesn’t see Pryor behind him.

She places both hands on either side of his head. Right away he drops his hands and the vortex starts to close. He tries to shake her off of him, but the longer she has him between her fingers the weaker his life force gets.

He flips her over, punches her in her stomach, and grabs her throat. She focuses her powers on draining the life out of Wrath. She blocks out the pain of his blows and slowly the vortex closes. I am free.

Wrath makes one final attempt to save his own life by plunging them both towards the ground. They crash into the entryway of the Taj Mahal. His efforts pay off. Pry’s hold on him is gone and now the two face off. I try to fly over to her, but the effects of the vortex have left me weak and flying takes a lot more effort than it should. Fearing I won’t get there in time to help her with Wrath, I call out to Bex, who has managed to break free of Kill with Key’s help. The couple quickly head over to Pryor.

Just as I land, I see Ruin make her way towards East and Swoop. I run after her, but she gets to them first. She surprises East from behind and takes his face into her hands. She inhales the air around him, causing a stream of grey smoke to escape from East’s mouth. Ruin is sucking the life from between his lips.

I’ve seen her do it before but now her connection to her victims is stronger, allowing her to kill them faster. I send a Powerball towards her, aiming so that it won’t make contact with her but will get close enough to get her attention. It works. The Powerball hits the pillars and the blast sends Ruin away from her victim. I check on East, who is slowly waking from the trance Ruin’s powers placed him in.

“That’s not nice, Silver,” she says, licking her bloody lip.

“I won’t do this with you. You need to walk away from this,” I tell her.

“Sorry; it’s my job and well, I’m very career oriented,” she says with a smile.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Diana.”

“Shame to give up something you’re so good at,” she replies.

“Leave. Now,” I tell her.

“I hope this isn’t a private conversation because I have a few things to say,” someone announces.

I turn and find a fireball headed for my chest courtesy of Kill. Thankfully Swoop intercepts by pushing me out of the way at top speed. Kill fires again and manages to hit what’s left of the building. The damaged structure is about to cave in.

We all scatter and run away from the falling monument, but the moment we are out of danger, East sends a shattering cry into the air. We look over and see a winged beast the size of a bull, with red eyes, flaring nostrils, and jagged teeth dripping with red saliva. The beast has latched on to East’s arm with his fangs and is now dragging him through the courtyard.

I take off to help him, but Swoop swiftly kicks me in the head and knocks me to the ground. Shocked, I look up at her. I see a swirl of darkness in her eyes.

Harm.

He has possessed her and is using her as a weapon.

“Swoop, you have to fight Harm. He’s controlling you and we have to go help East,” I tell her.

Swoop leaps into the air, wraps her legs around my neck, and hangs upside down off of me. She stretches her hand all the way down to the floor and manages to use her legs to flip me to the ground.

I hit the ground so hard the earth beneath me shakes. Swoop stares down at me and I can see Harm’s maniacal gaze looking back at me. I quickly get up and look around for something to contain Swoop.

“What is she doing?” Pryor shouts as she helps Key thin the herd of demons.

“It’s not her, it’s Harm. He’s possessing her,” I shout back.

“Where’s East?” Bex asks as he flies down to us.

“Manic turned into a beast and dragged him off. You and Pry go after him,” I say.

“No! You two take care of East. I’ll deal with Harm,” Pryor says.

Bex and I exchange worried glances. Key is looking concerned as well.

“Pryor—”

“Go, now! I’ll take care of Swoop and Harm,” she orders.

We take off in the direction I last saw the animal. I don’t like leaving Pryor to take care of Harm. Normally she handles herself just fine, but this isn’t a normal situation. Harm killed her brother and that is going to make Pryor emotional. And emotions can get in the way of battle. It leaves you compromised. From the grave look on his face, I can tell Bex is thinking the same thing.

“Let’s just find East and get back as soon as possible,” I tell him.

He nods in agreement. It’s the first time we’ve been on the same page since I got back. We track the beast’s paw-like prints to a clearing in the wooded area just off to the side of the mausoleum. But the dense grouping of trees makes it hard to navigate.

“Let’s split up; whoever finds them call out,” Key says.

Bex goes right, Key goes left, and I walk straight ahead. The wind rustles through the trees and darkness begins to fall. The longer we are away from Pryor, the more worried I am. Yet I know we can’t leave East out here with Manic. There’s no telling what he’s already done to my friend.

I hear Key call out. I rush to her side and get there the same time as Bex. We find the beast standing over East’s still body, about to devour it with his fangs. Both Bex and I blast him at the same time. It doesn’t stop Maniac; in fact it makes him even angrier. He roars into the night air and charges at us. We dive out of the way just in time. But the beast readies itself for another attack. I signal to Key to go help East while Bex and I deal with the overgrown rat. 

The beast seems to be immune to our powers, so Bex and I quickly come up with a different plan of attack. I set the surrounding trees on fire, causing a smoke screen to limit the animal’s sight. We tackle him from both sides and attempt to stop him with brute force.

Bex climbs onto the beast’s back and pounds on its skull repeatedly. The animal rages and sends him flying across the forest. It starts to go after Bex, but I tackle it. We wrestle wildly and it steps on my leg and breaks it.

“Fuck!” I cry out as I feel the bone in my leg separate. 

Bex rips a branch from the nearest tree. He takes the jagged end and plunges it into the back of the beast. It howls in pain but it keeps attacking. I take the makeshift weapon from Bex and jab it into the beast’s neck. It howls again, this time in pure agony.

The animal flees deeper into the forest. We’re about to go chase it when Swoop and Randy appear in the clearing. Thankfully, her eyes are back to normal.

“Guys, Pry’s lost it, we gotta go,” she says.

We help Key with East and then head back to what was once the Taj Mahal.

“Swoop, how could you leave her?” I ask as we make our way back.

“You don’t get it. We didn’t leave her. She pushed us out,” Swoop replies.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Bex asks.

Swoop starts to explain on our way to Pryor.

“When Harm was controlling me, she didn’t beat him into leaving my body. She just talked to him.”

“What did she say?” Key asks in disbelief.

“She told him it took no balls to kill a baby and that if he wanted to prove he could actually grow a set, he needs come out and fight,” Randy tells us.

“Harm left Swoop’s body just like that?” I ask.

“She wounded his ego and the other Kasters heard it too. He had something to prove,” Swoop replies.

“I still don’t get it. Why didn’t you stay and help her fight?” Bex asks.

“I told you guys, she pushed us out. In fact, Harm and Pryor pushed everyone out.”

We get there and find both Pryor and Harm in the center of the rubble, looking back at each other with murderous expressions. On one side of the demolished courtyard are the Kasters and what’s left of the demons they brought with them. We stand on the opposing side, ready to attack.

“We have to go get her,” East whispers between clenched teeth.

“You’re hurt, East. You can’t help her,” Swoop says.

“We can’t just let her take on a Kaster alone,” Key replies.

“Screw this, I’m going to get her out of there,” I reply as I limp towards the center.

“You can’t go get her. None of us can; look,” Bex says.

We look down at the floor and there is a trail of silver blood from Pryor. It’s mixed with ink colored blood from Harm.

No, no, no...

When both angel and demon blood is mixed and forms a line, it’s called the “fight or flight” line. It serves as an impenetrable barrier. No one can get inside it. The two beings inside the line have to battle until one of them dies or they both agree to a truce and fly away. We explain that to Randy, who had tried to get to Pryor earlier and was met with a force field.

“Harm made a ‘fight or flight’ line?” Bex asks.

“No, Pryor did. She challenged him. After he left my body, she cut open the palm of her hand and made the first line. Then Harm followed her lead,” Swoop informs us.

We shout for Pryor to reconsider, but she doesn’t even turn towards us. She’s made up her mind. She’s facing off with Harm.

“This is crazy. So we’re just going to watch her do this?” Randy says.

We look back at him and from our expression he learns an awful truth: There is absolutely no way to undo what Pryor has done. Harm stands before her, six foot four inches of mean. He has oily, stringy hair that dangles by his shoulders and bulging muscles that add to his giant-like physique.

When we first got here there was a loud cheering coming from the Kasters, but now as the fight is about to start, silence falls over the area. We see Manic back in demon form with a rag pressed against his neck to stop the bleeding from where we struck him. He snarls at us from across the courtyard. I glare back at him, more than ready to take him on even with my broken leg.

However, Manic doesn’t come after me. Like everyone else, he’s captivated by the two opponents inside the “fight or flight” line. I look away from Manic and on to Diana. She looks back at me, but her expression is unreadable. She’s not exactly happy that this is happening, but she wouldn’t mourn the loss of Pryor either.

Harm charges at Pryor. She’s small but fairly quick and manages to move out of the way. Harm charges again, and again she is able to escape the path of destruction. The Kasters call out for Harm to kill her and make it painful. Our team hurls threats and curses back at the Kasters. Bex and I are too focused on what’s going on to speak.

When Pryor manages to evade Harm a third time, he whips out a metal link chain. It’s about a foot long and glows bright blue once it hits the air. 

Oh no...

“What is that?” Randy asks.

“It’s an Impossible Chain,” Key says, filled with dread.

“That’s bad, isn’t it?” Randy asks, also dreading the response.

“An Impossible Chain has limitless reach although it’s only a foot long. This one is glowing because it’s laced with a mixture that was outlawed by Omnis: Atorva. It eats away flesh,” Bex says gravely.

We call out to Pryor but it’s like she doesn’t hear us. From the look on her face she is picturing the horror she walked in on when she found Sam laying dead. She’s too wrapped up in her emotions to stay clearheaded.

She could lose this battle...

Harm holds the chain out and whips it towards Pryor. It extends and wraps itself around her waist. She cries out as the chain eats through her clothes, and then her flesh. It’s as if a rope laced with acid is binding her.

Harm yanks on the chain and brings Pryor down to the ground. I bang on the invisible barrier, but it doesn’t break. Bex and the rest of the team pound on it too, but the “fight or flight” line remains intact. Harm looms over her while letting out a cold, twisted laugh.

“Pryor, damn it, get up!” I scream at her.

She starts to stir a little. Harm could have let the chain eat through her until she died, but he was too sadistic to let her off that easy. He takes the chain from around her waist and placed it around her neck. He yanks on it yet again and hurls her to the other side of the barrier. 

We call out to her to get up before Harm gets to her again, but she barely has enough energy to unwrap the chain from her neck, let alone use her power. Every time she touches the chain it burns through her fingers and eats away at her flesh. She tries to Pull Harm but she’s in too much pain; she can’t focus her powers enough to kill him.

“Pry, you have to use the pain like you did the night you found Sam,” Key suggests.

It’s too late. Harm has come for her yet again. He picks her up in the air and lets her dangle like a carcass in a butcher shop. She squirms and flares her arms out wildly.

“He’s gonna break her neck,” Randy screams.

“Get the fuck off of her,” I rage, pounding so hard on the barrier my right shoulder snaps out of its socket.

Harm doesn’t break her neck because he’s having too much fun with her. Instead he flips her down to the ground and proceeds to bash her face in.

“HARM, I SWEAR TO OMNIS I’M GONNA KILL YOU. I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!” I vow as I smash my left hand against the glass.

Bex and Swoop look around for something to strike the barrier with but nothing works. Tears spill from Randy’s eyes as he watches his best friend getting pummeled to death. Enraged, Key peels the skin of any nearby demons and reduces them to spots on the ground. The Kasters, overjoyed that Harm has won, fight us back with glee.

Harm looks down at Pryor’s bloody, swollen face and smiles. She looks back at him; only one of her eyes can open fully. It’s hard to tell if her nose and lips are still on her face. There’s so much blood, it’s hard to make anything out. Harm gets inches away from what’s left of Pryor’s face and yells for everyone to hear.

“Not as tough as you thought you were, huh bitch?” he spits.

She remains still; it’s possible she will never move again...

“Do you know what the little crybaby wanted as I was taking his pathetic life away? He wanted you. He begged for his big sis. I wish I killed him in front of you,” Harm says.

Pryor mumbles something. Harm can’t make it out, so he comes closer so he can hear her pain and anguish.

“What did you say?” he says, reveling in his triumph.

Without warning, she marshals what’s left of her strength, reaches into Harm’s face, and scoops out his right eye. He jerks around in pain, drops the chain he was holding, and places his hand over the oozing hole that once held his eye.

Pryor rolls away from Harm and manages to get the chain off her neck. She grabs the chain and holds it by its safety handle. The blood on her face is seeping into her eyes, making it difficult to see clearly. She can’t make out where Harm is, so we yell out for her to go a few feet to the left. She finds Harm doubled over on the floor.

Harm’s pain quickly turns to rage as he goes to attack Pryor. However, this time the chain is in her hand. She wraps it around his left wing and yanks with all her might. The chain starts to eat away at the flesh between his shoulder blades and the base of his wing. He shakes in pain and calls her every name he can think of.

No matter what, though, she refuses to let go of the chain. Harm fights as hard as he can, but the mixture is eating away at the bone that connects his wing to his back. Pryor could have Pulled the life out of him, but that was not the kind of death she wanted for her brother’s murderer.

“I know you can’t see well, so I’m going to show you what I’m taking from you up close,” Pryor vows as she plants her foot firmly in the middle of his back and yanks one final time on the chain.

“Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!” Harm bellows as his wing is ripped from his body.

Harm’s blood springs into the air like a geyser. He falls back in anguish and shakes uncontrollably. The blood from his back forms a pool all around him. He’s alive, but barely. 

“I told you I’d let you get a closer look,” Pryor says as she shows the Kaster his severed wing.

Harm is shaking only slightly now. He’s stopped crying out and now it’s only a low moan that escapes his lips. Pryor holds his face in between her blood-soaked hands. Harm’s eyes are starting to glaze over. Death is coming for the Kaster.

“Hey, wake the fuck up! I’m not done,” she orders.

Harm opens his eyes slightly and his head slopes over to one side. Blood spills out from his nose and mouth. She places the chain on the tip of Harm’s disgraced wing. It eats through the feather and flesh, revealing the tip of a long bone that makes the curves at the end. Pryor pulls it out savagely and plunges it into Harm’s skull. The Kaster dies with eyes wide open. 

She’s exhausted and badly hurt, but it doesn’t stop her from making an announcement to the Kasters that are now fleeing the area.

“KASTERS, IF YOU COME AFTER US AGAIN, DEATH WILL BE CERTAIN AND UGLY.”

Like any great leader, she waits until the enemy is no longer in sight, before she sinks to the ground and gives in to her many wounds.