Page 44 of Tino
It was time to show how much we’d practiced, so while the others fought them, Tair and I focused our magic and then threw a lightning strike against them. They flew back, but whatever ward they had in place only shattered a little, leaving them alive but bruised. Damn it!
Just then, what had to be over two hundred mages appeared behind the council leaders, like they’d just come through some hidden portal. They were unharmed and ready to fight us.
“Fuck,” I winced as I felt something stab my side. A tiny dagger was lodged inside my stomach. I quickly pulled it out, leaving it to Tair. He healed me while I watched for another sneak attack. I couldn’t lose focus or the next dagger could be deadly. We reinforced our wards after that, Julie moving closer. She’d told us she had no need to touch us, just being close was enough, so we trusted that.
Our familiars joined the fight now, focusing on the newly arrived mages while we dealt with Mallum, Stavi, and Sal. More mages appeared behind them. They had to be in the thousands now. Isqueezed both Xarius’ and Tair’s hands. They squeezed back. This was it. It was time to see what the fifth element was.
Chapter 29
Altair
Fuck, this was it. The sign for us to do the impossible. Create the fifth element.
I did as the book had instructed, allowing my trust in my brothers to fully take over, merging my magic with theirs. Julie knew this was it, too. That we needed her more than ever right now. She stood behind us as we warded the area we stood in, sealing us, Julie, Willow, and our familiars inside as our power grew. I had no idea where Nujik was, but I hoped he was still alive. The same with Xari’s mothers. Fuck, I hoped they were okay.
Sal, Stavi, and Mallum roared outside our dome of safety, likely suspecting what we were attempting and trying desperately to stop us. I felt like I was floating, like I was edging closer to reaching something, something I had no idea what was. I was one with the others. My brothers. My family. We were one. And as one, we raised our combined hands and then blackness poured out from us, swirling in the air, escaping our ward. It reached the air above the council leaders, making them shriek in terror. But they couldn’t run.
The blackness grew and it was then we saw just what the fifth element was.Ether. A huge black hole opened, swallowing down the mages around it, pulling them in as if they weighed nothing. I vaguely heard Julie scream behind us, but I was too far removed from my body to look. Mallum’s terrified gaze reached mine as he, himself, was swallowed up. As soon as Sal and Stavi were gone, too, the blackness subsided. We felt ourselves untangle, becoming ourselves again, and not this united being we’d been before.
“Xari!” Xari’s mothers called, and it was then I saw light pouring out of us. The mages around us were a mix of friends and foe, but as our light shone brighter, they all fell to their knees. Our war was forgotten. Six new council leaders had been chosen by somethingstronger than any of us. We had been chosen. Like we’d been before in past lives. No one here could deny our claim to rule.
“Julie!” Xari’s cry had my attention. I whirled around to see Julie lying lifeless on the ground. Xari scooped her up in his arms, crying and not giving a damn who saw. “Heal her!” he demanded, staring at me, begging me to save her. But not even a healer could heal the dead.
I kneeled, took his hand in mine, and silently shook my head. He broke down then, his love for her pouring out as he grieved his best friend. I joined him, mourning the girl who’d helped us reach our destiny. Our calling. She’d been a true friend. Someone we hadn’t seen enough of these last few weeks.ThatI would always regret. But would we have won today if she hadn’t spent every night practicing? We would never know.
“I’m so sorry,” Nujik said behind us. I was relieved he was okay. We all surrounded Julie’s body, not caring about the rest. As much aswe should, but it was hard giving a damn when we knew Julie had sacrificed her life for us to win. “She knew going into this.”
“She knew?!” Xari asked, his voice raspy. Broken.
Nujik nodded sadly as more mages kneeled around us. For Julie. For us.
“Why didn’t she tell us?” Xari demanded, anger evident in his tone.
“Because she knew you’d pick someone else, and she didn’t trust they would sacrifice themselves in the end, if necessary,” Willow explained. “We told her several times that she could trust all mages here, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Saidover her dead bodywhenever it came up.” Willow smiled at the memory, then broke into tears as reality hit her.
“I can’t believe she did it knowingly,” Silver whispered. He was just as wrecked as the rest of us, eyes red and filled with tears.
“She loved you,” Willow sniffled. “She wanted you to win so badly, nothing could stand in the way of that.”
Xari’s mothers stood close by and seemed to be fighting their own tears. All around us mages moved about to stop the fires and clean up. Then there were the people needing healing. I felt so manywho needed my help, and I knew I needed to be the leader I was born to be, and a true leader didn’t leave people to die. I got up and with Nujik’s help, we ran around finding mages who needed healing. No matter which side they’d fought on. It didn’t matter anymore. They’d all seen our truth as we reached the fifth element. No one would dare question our powers. Our heritage. Our reborn souls.
“Is Grethe healing them, too?” I asked, getting ready to heal a woman with a huge cut on her torso, who was slowly bleeding out.
“She, um,” Nujik seemed lost for words. I couldn’t look at him since this woman deserved all my attention, but something seemed off. “She’s dead.”
“What?!” I asked, momentarily pausing my healing from the shock. The woman whimpered, making me refocus on her. “Sorry,” I whispered, and saw her eyes flutter as I resumed healing her.
“She was healing one of our mages when someone attacked her from behind. She’d forgotten to ward herself from attacks before she began healing.”
“She will be missed,” I said after a long pause. I couldn’t deal with all this hurt, but I knew my people needed me. I had to power through, and then later, much later, I could fall apart in Tino’s arms.
Five days later, and we found ourselves on our new thrones. We were speaking to the Realm of Mages for the first time, broadcasting our speech to every household. It was time these people knew the truth. So, we told them. How Xari’s mothers had known and helped him find his soulmatch. How Xari and Niam had been attacked by mages once they’d gotten their magic. How the old council leaders had wanted to kill us just so they could remain in power. It was all rather tedious and made us mad all over again. Too bad you couldn’t kill someone twice.
“And if it hadn’t been for the mages who knew the truth, we wouldn’t be here. We hope those who believed their lies will see the truth now,” Xari continued, speaking like a true leader. No one had caused us trouble so far and I believed since so many saw us reach the fifth element, it was proof enough we were the reborn legends, something more had come to realize as we republished the books. It hadn’t been a surprise to find out they were banned from libraries.Only a few hidden ones had survived around the Realm of Mages and could be found by those who actively sought them out. No wonder so few knew about the legends if their parents hadn’t known it themselves.
Afterwards, we would hold Julie’s funeral. She deserved as much. Xari had been quiet after the battle. It wasn’t until now he spoke more than a few choice words,yesandnohad been his go to after the battle. Losing Julie had hit him hard, and I hoped, wherever she was, that she knew just how loved she was.
Silver wanted to honor his grandmother with a funeral the following week. He’d gotten her ashes and we felt it fitting to do it a few days after Julie’s, then lay them to rest beside each other.