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“Robin Icethorn.”

My energy waned quickly.

I had enough to crack my eyes open and find out who called for me. My tired eyes found them, amongst the raging maelstrom of ruin and decay, stood two men.

An angel and a demon, side by side. Duncan and Erix.

“Robin, I command you to beat this!” Duncan bellowed, although his command sounded more like a whisper beneath a clamour of thunder. “Do you hear me? You will win this forus.”

A single clear thought came to mind.Why were they here? They should’ve been so far away that nothing could harm them, and yet they stood amongst the destruction with little care for their own sakes.

Amidst the shield of purple lightning which kept most of the ruin away, Duncan and Erix had found me.

Spears of dark power lashed against Duncan’s shield, looking for chinks in his armour, longing to devour them both – Duwar’s last punishment for his misuse.

“Fight it, little bird!” Erix screamed, his words carrying over to me. “I believe in you! Duncan believes in you. But most importantly, you believe in yourself.”

I blinked, vision blurring. “Go. Away.”

“Never.” Duncan fixed verdant eyes on me, boring through my weak, tired skin. “Fight it.”

Seeing them both, knowing the pain they would suffer, reignited the last scrap of energy I had.

A war of intention and will, I grappled for the power leaking out of me, trying to afford the men I loved enough time to get far away from this destruction.

“Go.” I could barely speak the word. It tore up my sensitive throat, burning like acid on the way up.

But neither man listened to me.

Instead, they proved themselves as stubborn as I was.

Without taking his eyes off me, Erix reached beside him and took Duncan’s hand in his. They forged a link of flesh and bone, sending me a signal that they were never going to leave me – not in this life, and certainly not in the next.

This time, as the warmth slipped down my cheek, it was not blood but an honest tear. Seeing Duncan and Erix – facing the reality of danger they’d put themselves in – had forced me to not give up.

I had no choice but to fight for them. No doubt that was exactly the motivation they wanted to inspire in me.

“Life is not worth living without you,” Erix shouted, his body rigid as the power battled against the shield Duncan held up. They waged forwards, light battling against darkness, life against death. “Use us. Take this as a reminder of why you cannot give up.”

“That’s why we are here,” Duncan shouted. “Are you going to beat this, or give up?”

“I’m… trying,” I sobbed, words barely a whisper, more to myself than anyone else.

Erix tore his harrowing gaze off me, laying it upon Duncan. It was a signal, a plan that only they knew.

“Then try harder, darling.” Duncan lowered his outstretched hand, and the lightning around them simmered. Magic severed, the shield popped like a bubble, letting Duwar in.

This was their last-ditch effort to motivate me. Joined as one, eyes boring into me, Duncan severed the ties to his power.

It was going to kill them. Duwar would tear them apart the moment this decay got the chance. And they didn’t have Duwar inside of them to protect them.

But I did.

Watching death race toward them was what my mind needed, just as Duncan knew would be the case.

I shouted at the power, sinking my talons into unseen flesh. Then, with the force of determination Erix and Duncan’s presence awarded me, I clawed it back. I didn’t coax it into me, but dragged it, like a fearful animal in a trap. I grappled and pulled, refusing to allow the power to reach them.

And slowly, second by second, it rescinded. Not without friction, not without a fight – but Duwar was mine, and so were the men I loved with every fibre of my being.