Seraphina and I raced towards the battlefield to face the raging beasts. In his draconic form, Lord Darius spewed frozen slush so cold that it burned through flesh and armor.

To fight off the Dragonborn hordes, Bragda fought with all her raging intensity. Metal clanged against metal as the enemy fell one by one and the battlefield ran red with blood.

Marcus and Alicia fought bravely by her side, slaughtering the drones with their giant swords. When one Warrior cornered Alicia, Marcus stabbed him in the chest with his massive horns. Blood gushed from the wound as he collapsed to his knees and fell face-first into the mud.

Whoa!

A fierce roar drew me back to my immediate surroundings. A Dragonborn Warrior raced towards us. She brandished a giant broadsword over her head and stared at Seraphina with abject rage.

"Traitor!"

Seraphina grabbed a spear from the bloody mud. With a grunt, she launched it towards the would-be attacker, skewering her in the heart. The impact sent her flying through the air and landing with a crunch.

Damn!

A second enemy drone grabbed me from behind. I leaped into the air and threw myself backward towards the ground, crushing him underneath me with an ominous crack. He groaned in agony as his arms fell limp by his sides.

Faster than a Minningen wildcat, I jumped off of him and thrust my sword into his chest, twisting my blade with a sickening squelch. He expired with an eerie death rattle and a final hiss.

My stomach twisted in knots as I stared at his contorted, broken body.

Is this what I've become? Retreating from the Warrior, I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. Can't think of that now. We have a battle to win.

I turned towards my friends.

"Wait," Seraphina said, grasping me by my leather bracer. "I have to morph into a Fireborn so that our friends don't attack me by mistake."

She never had the chance.

The ice dragon halted his attack and sniffed the air. His giant nostrils flared in anger. With a deafening roar, he took flight and flattened warriors on both sides with the backdraft. Each beat of his mighty wings created a windstorm more powerful than a hurricane.

Holy Hades, he's flying towards us.

"Seraphina, run! I've got this!"

I reached for one of the diamond arrows in my quiver. But Seraphina grabbed my arm and shook her head.

"This is my fight. I must confront him alone, Liselle."

I pushed her back. "You can't face him as a Dragonborn. He'll kill you."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

My throat clenched, and my next words came out in a pained croak. "Only a diamond arrow can kill him."

Seraphina shook her sleeve and out tumbled a glistening arrow into her palm. She raised her arm and hid the arrow in her sleeve.

Closing her eyes in concentration, Seraphina morphed into the form I'd least expected.

A Risan Sorceress.

No way! She won't stand a chance.

"Let me be the one to do it," she said. "He's my father. Focus on Lord Hesse."

Pursing my lips, I gave her a curt nod. The dragon landed with such a tremendous thud that the ground trembled in sympathy.

Upon impact, every Warrior fell motionless onto the battlefield.

Including me.

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't make a sound.

Straining and struggling with all my might, I couldn't budge a single voluntary muscle. No one could except for the ice dragon and Seraphina.

The rest of us were frozen.

"Daughter," Lord Darius said in a thunderous rumble.

"Father."

The dragon exhaled a mighty puff that shook the trees. "You disappoint me. I expected my son to betray me, but you? You know what is to come. You've seen it yourself."

"What if this war causes that misery?" she replied. "The Fireborn aren't evil. They become evil."

"The Free World is corrupt." The dragon pawed the ground, reined back only by his red-haired rider. "We must occupy them and kill the Fireborn before it is too late."

"No, Father. Liselle--Captain Alaria--is a good woman."

"She starts all the Teufel Wars."

What did he say?

"No, we can reason with Alaria."

"Why did you betray us, Daughter? Our cause is just."

Seraphina shook her head and took a step towards the dragon. He lowered his snout. She gave his scales a gentle touch.

"I know why you joined forces with Lord Hesse, Father. You saw the future. You wanted to protect your family and your people from the wrath of the Fireborn."

"Come back to us."

"The future is in flux. There can still be peace."

"Kill Alaria while my magic holds."

"We have become the very evil we tried to prevent." Seraphina gestured towards me. "The Free World never would have made the Fireborn if we hadn't been so aggressive."

He pulled away from her touch and roared. "Enough! You don't know that!"

"Can't you see, Father?" She cast her arm across the battlefield. "Our desire to prevent the future crisis caused them to create those monsters."

The ice dragon cast a furious glance in my direction. Nostrils flaring. Pupils dilating. "Kill her. Now."

"We were wrong."

"Kill her!" he commanded. "Or I will."

Seraphina stood before me in a protective stance. "No, Father. You won't hurt me or her. Stand down and face me as a man."

The dragon gave an impatient puff. "Helena, disengage the draconic medallion."

A loud, angry retort came from the Dragon Rider.

"Do it! That's an order!"

Wide-eyed, I watched with awe. The beast shrank cubit by cubit until he became no larger than a man.

Lord Darius morphed with an almighty roar, his limbs contorting and his spine cracking into place. His talons fell into the mud with a splat. His wings turned into powerful arms as his tail retreated into his body. Draconic scales became metal armor and a metal helmet.

Lord Darius sank to the ground with a grunt and lay unconscious.

His Rider stood beside him and gave me a furious glare. She bore an uncanny resemblance to me before my transformation. Flaming red hair. Hazel eyes. Olive skin.

A Risan Sorceress. She had to be.

Wait! Is she--?

She raced towards me with a yell, brandishing a diamond-edged blade. I tried to twist free from the Shadow Rider's magic. Like all of my comrades and enemies, I remained motionless on the ground, unable to speak.

Seraphina tackled my attacker, and they fell into the mud. Both women rose to their feet and battled for magical dominance. Spells crashed against each other with a deafening crack louder than thunder.

As they dueled, Seraphina cast and blocked spells until she finally gained the upper hand. Disabling the woman's magic, she pinned her opponent to the ground.

"Mother, leave this place!"

She's battling her mother?

"Take Father and go."

"We must end the Fireborn before they take over the world," the redhead replied.

"Alaria is my friend and Peter's soulmate. That makes her family."

"Your brother is delusional." Helena pointed at me. "That woman--that demon--will cover Paxus under a shroud of eternal darkness. War without end."

My stomach clenched.

I couldn't help but recall my final visions. Wartorn lands burning to the ground. Facing my sister on the battlefield. Feeling her blade bite my skin.

She couldn't be right. Could she?

"The Gatál are evil!" Seraphina cried. "Look at the monsters we've become."

"I'm not leaving until she's dead and the Fireborn are extinct."

"Don't make me hurt you, Mother."

"What's it going to be? Your family or your friends?"

Seraphina turned away from her mother and pursed her lips. "How could you make me choose?"

"We've trained you for this moment," she replied. "Don't fail us."

"If I have to choose between freedom and tyranny--no matter how righteous--I choose freedom."

My heart clenched. Father forced me to make a similar choice, and it broke my heart. It nearly broke my soul. It would have destroyed my spirit if Peter hadn't helped me.

"With the Fireborn, there will be no freedom."

It's not true. It can't be true.

"The day you bound yourself to that Wraith," Seraphina replied, "was the day your soul perished."

"He's your father," she insisted. "He's my love. I will never betray him."

"Father died long ago. The Wraith killed his mind. His soul. There's nothing left except his body."

"You chose the wrong side, Phina."

"What do you mean?"

"I cast a spell before the battle."

Seraphina gripped her mother's shoulders. "What did you do?"

"No one can kill Lord Hesse unless all the Riders die. And I'll bring Darius back. A thousand times if I have to."

"Why?" Seraphina croaked. "Why did you do that?"

"The only way Minningen wins is if you kill me," Helena said. "And you won't."

My heart sank into my stomach.

This is it. We lost.

No one can kill both of their parents, no matter how just the cause.

Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.

"Sleep of death."

Helena's eyes bulged in shock as a tendril of dark magic slipped from her daughter's palm. It slithered like a snake into her nose and mouth. Her body convulsed only once before her head fell lifeless into the mud.

Seraphina closed her mother's eyes. Stumbling from the body, she yelled in agony.

"Why, Fate? Why?"

Lord Darius groaned as he rose to his feet. He turned towards me and Seraphina and took one look at his wife. Even though I couldn't see his expression, I could smell his rage. He ran towards his daughter, his palms crackling with combat lightning.

Seraphina stood before me in a protective stance, her own palms crackling with energy. A pungent chemical smell rose from their spells.

"You killed your own mother," Lord Darius yelled, circling her like a wildcat with its prey. "You don't deserve to live!"

"She'll come back like Peter. By then the war will be over."

"That's no excuse."

Their combat lightning met with a resounding crash. A shockwave rolled across the battlefield when their magical power collided.

"You taught me too well, Father. I can hold my own."

"Perhaps, but you have a weakness."

"What's that?"

"You never gave in to the darkness."

Lord Darius lifted his right hand, constricting his thumb and forefinger. Seraphina rose into the air, choking on her own breath.

Her magic, gone.

Clawing at her throat as though she could feel her father's fingers. She gasped for air even though no one was holding her.

I struggled to break free, but the spell wouldn't let me.

"You've failed me for the last time," the Shadow Rider said in a fierce tone. "For your sake, I hope you don't return for a hundred years."

His thumb and forefinger touched. Seraphina's throat cracked as one last, strangled cry tore free.

She slumped, motionless.

The Shadow Rider lowered his hand, and her body dropped to the ground with an audible crack. Her legs splayed in an unnatural position, her neck broken.

A rushing sensation swept across my body like a river of pins and needles. My chest began to heave in anger.

I'm going to kill you, you miserable bastard!

Before I could act, Peter crept up on his father, his bow drawn with a diamond-edged arrow. He stood in silence, his arm shaking as he debated whether he should fire.

"Shoot the arrow, Peter."

For once, the Shadow Rider's voice didn't sound like a bass drone. He sounded dejected. Weary. Human.

Lord Darius reached down and brushed the fiery locks away from Helena's brow. He gave her a gentle kiss, his shoulders heaving.

Peter pursed his lips and lowered the bow. "Why do you ask the impossible of me, Father?"

"The Wraith won't let me end my life." The Shadow Rider stood and faced his son. "Free me, Son. I can't push him back for long. Do it before he returns and kills you all."

Peter swallowed visibly and aimed his bow. "Forgive me, Father."

"Thank you, Son. I'm proud of you."

The diamond arrow hit its mark. Straight into his father's heart.

The Shadow Rider exploded into a thousand ice crystals that fell like snow upon the earth.