Page 43 of Tino

The front door opened and a tired Julie appeared a few seconds later. “Ready for tomorrow?” she asked, trying, but failing to hide her fear.

“No,” we replied in unison.

And then we all burst out laughing, because what else could you do when your entire world depended on you?

Chapter 28

Tino

We should’ve known time was running out. We should have known we weren’t safe anymore.

A loud bang followed by what had to be either an earthquake or explosions hitting us. We flew out of bed as everything around us shook. Sprinting to get pants on, we found the others in the living room, all looking as terrified as I felt. Julie seemed dead to the world, devoid of all emotions as she stood next to us, watching us figure out what the fuck to do.

“We need to go out there!” Xarius’ voice snapped me out of my internal panic, because of course we did. We were the ones everyone here was counting on, and we all knew they’d found us. We allknewthe council of mages were here. For us.

“Protect Julie,” we all ordered our familiars, who thankfully looked ready for battle, the opposite of us, which I appreciated.

We ran outside, not caring about shoes or jackets, there simply wasn’t time for that. The vision that greeted us had my blood turn to ice. Half of the buildings were on fire. Had the people who’d been inside made it out, or were they still inside, burning alive? I shook myself. There was no time to waste unless I wanted more to die because of my wandering thoughts.

We ran towards the meeting ground where the fight seemed to be focused. The air was filled with smoke but because of the fires we could easily see where we needed to run.

“Fuck,” Xarius exclaimed, and I turned my gaze to the left following where he was looking.

“Fuck, indeed,” I agreed, then ran towards the area where at least one hundred mages were already lying dead on the ground. Was it truly this important for the council leaders to remain in power?Was it worth the lives of all these innocent mages? I knew most of the mages had been with us, their clothes proved as much. Everyone who’d accompanied the council leaders wore navy robes around what looked to be a uniform, making it easier for us to know who to go after.

A blast of fire flew towards us, but Silver was quicker than them, meeting their magic with his own, and the fire disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The most powerful mage’s magic always won out.

Xarius shook the ground as thirty or so mages ran closer. Seeing us had triggered their need for vengeance against those they believed had killed for their power. Us. There wasn’t time to explain ourselves; to tell them they fought against us on mere lies. No, we simply couldn’t do anything other than kill them, and hope we could make it up to the Realm of Mages in the aftermath. If we lived, that was.

The mages faltered in their pursuit of us, making it easier for our allied mages and us to attack them, and within minutes they were eliminated. We sadly didn’t have time to spare as another horde of mages came towards us. I felt my left side burn and to my horror I saw someone had managed to burn my arm. Tair quickly snuffed it outand healed my arm, leaving nothing behind other than the memory of how it had felt seconds before.

Wilston and Silver created rocks which they then threw with wind magic towards some of the mages, hitting them square in the face, killing them on impact.

Then there were Niam and Xarius, who froze them to death and suffocated them. I grabbed Tair’s arm and together we made ice which we then threw around, too, not wanting to add fire to the mix, since too much was already aflame around us.

“Boys!” Willow’s worried voice reached us just before we saw her. She’d been asleep when it hit, only wearing panties and an oversize T-shirt. It made me mad seeing her so vulnerable. These were innocent people, attacked in their sleep, believing they were safe.

“I’m so sorry!” she rasped, her voice affected by the smoke. “They knew you had protection around you, so they took out your guards.”

“What?” I asked, moving aside just as a rock flew past my head. The mage died a second later, Leon showing off his nose as a trophy.

Willow stood beside us and used her magic as she replied. “They arrived and immediately attacked your guards then set buildings onfire before attacking. They knew we would be most vulnerable like this.”

I’d never been as mad as I was at that moment, and I prayed I never had to be that angry ever again, but as I saw the council leaders approach us, I knew my rage hadn’t even reached its peak yet.

Mallum then spoke, his voice so goddamn satisfied with himself, I wanted to scream. “You really believed we hadn’t seen your mother’s betrayal coming? You truly believed we thought her to be one of us?” He scoffed. “No, we were biding our time, knowing she would one day lead us to you, and look,” he laughed. “The young boys were found.”

All around us the fighting continued, but we only had eyes for the council leaders. They stood there, staring us down with smirks on their faces, like they’d already somehow won the battle. Without even talking about it, I grabbed Xarius’ hand in my left, Tair’s hand was already firmly in my right. And once we were all connected, ready to fight, we could once and for all show these horrible people just how badly they’d fucked up when they’d banished us, and made us outsiders, outcasts, making sure our childhoods were filled with loneliness, bullying, and hurt. Then they’d shunned us fromour home, forcing us to survive alone in a foreign world after we’d turned eighteen. They were soulless monsters. And I couldn’t wait for them to die.

I used my mind to coerce them to stand still, and it was also my signal to Niam that it was now his turn. He doused them in pain, which was hard to see since they couldn’t move a muscle. But we knew, and that was what mattered.

“They’re afraid,” Xarius whispered, only loud enough for us to hear.

“They’re fighting against my hold on them,” I said, gritting my teeth as I fought to hold them.

“I turned all the animals they brought away from here,” Wilston said, having clearly done his duty without us even seeing the animals.

“Now Silver!” I shouted just as they broke free of my hold. Silver was ready, tugging their robes to the left, causing them to fall on their asses, giving us time to prepare for their next attack. Stavi and Sal, who both had fire as their element, held hands and guided their fire towards us, not fusing their magic together like we could, but still somehow enhancing it as they touched one another. Niam, Silver,and Tair all countered their fire with their water magic, leaving only steam around us.