Peter slammed his crossbow to the ground and rushed towards his fallen family. They lay side by side, their limbs splayed at an unnatural angle.

"Mother! Phina!"

He sank to his knees between them and brushed away a layer of frost crystals with a grimace. Grasping both of their hands, he began to chant in Diabolan. Wispy tendrils of dark magic flitted from his blue medallion and wrapped themselves around his mother and sister.

"Heal! Heal!"

The tendrils vanished without a trace.

Neither one of the women moved.

A growl tore through Peter's throat, and he began to chant in guttural Ancient Draconic. Dark fog descended from the heavens, swirling around his mother and sister.

I couldn't understand very much of the dead language. But I could make out three words.

"Heal, damn it!"

His hands trembled as he tried to revive his lost family. But no one could heal those nestled into Mother's eternal embrace. Not even a powerful Wizard.

Peter grasped his sister's face between his hands. "Phina, I told you to stay away!" he said in an angry croak. "Why? Why did you have to come?"

Laying her head back down, he closed her eyes. A firefly escaped from her mouth and floated before him for an instant before it rose to the heavens and vanished.

He bowed and squeezed his mother's hand one last time. "Mother, go to Father. His soul is waiting for you at the Tree of Life. I set him free."

Her body glowed like the brightest star and vanished. Peter rested on his haunches with his eyes closed, head bent for a moment.

In a series of awkward stumbles, I rose to my feet. Pins and needles coursed through my numb limbs.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flicker of movement. "Peter, behind you!"

With lightning-fast reflexes, he leaped to his feet with his sword drawn and stabbed the charging Dragonborn. Withdrawing the blade, he kicked the offending corpse to the ground.

After checking to make sure no others were stalking him, Peter ran towards me and pulled me in close. "You're okay," he said with an exhausted sigh.

"We need to find Lord Hesse before the spell breaks," I said. "It's our one shot."

He gave me a curt nod, and we raced towards the firedrake. "If we take her down, we can focus on the remaining Shadow Riders."

She stood like a pillar of fire, frozen mid-roar from Lord Darius' spell. "I've got this," I said, reaching for my bow.

Before I could fire, Alicia let loose a diamond arrow and struck the drake in the heart. The wound broke Lord Darius' curse upon the beast. It roared in anguish and toppled to the ground with a heavy thud, raining mud upon the nearby Warriors.

The ground quaked and trembled upon inpact. On both sides, the Fighters jolted awake.

Chaff it all!

"Lena!" a Dragonborn yelled, rushing towards the drake. "Stay with me!"

"Axa, no!" the beast croaked, stretching a paw towards her. "Don't!"

Before the Dragonborn could reach the dying creature, Marcus tackled her to the ground. They pummeled each other in the mud with a series of groans and roars.

Alicia raced towards him to help. I followed close behind her. Before we could reach him, a swarm of enemy fighters intercepted us with a battle cry.

"For Axa!"

Glinting metal. Shrieks and roars. Blood spurting like cans of crimson dye thrown into the air. We fought off until the last Fighter tumbled to the ground. As I sprinted towards the Healer, my sister slammed down her battle ax.

With one deft swing, Bragda cut off her head.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but my moment of elation came too soon.

A man grabbed me into a chokehold from behind. I fought to break free, clawing and kicking my attacker.

His grip tightened. Unyielding.

Chaff! Let go, you bastard!

When I tried to heave him over my head or knock him backward, he stood his ground. I couldn't injure him with my horns or fangs.

What in Hades? This is no mere man.

I turned my head and snarled. A faceless Wraith snickered, clothed in shadow. Wispy tendrils of dark magic swirled around his body whenever he moved. When I attacked him, I met nothing but air, yet his grip felt as solid as iron.

A Shadow Rider.

Before my friends could reach me, I felt a strange pulling sensation. My friends froze in place. Bragda halted mid-swing as she raised her ax to wound the Shadow Rider.

He chuckled beside me in amusement. "Teleport."

The Shadow Rider escaped with me firmly in his grasp. His spell pulled us through time and space until we landed in a deserted, burned meadow. So familiar, yet almost unrecognisable.

The barren fields of Halden.

❄️🔥❄️🔥

Alone we stood on the dusty plain. Not a sound could be heard. Not a bird. Not a fly. Nothing save for the howling windstorms.

The Shadow Rider tightened his grasp, constricting my ribs so that every breath became a struggle.

"Let go of me!"

"Ahh, that's better, isn't it?" the Rider said. "More peaceful."

"If you want to kill me, just do it!"

"I allowed Lord Darius his chance to play with you." He lowered his voice an octave. "Now I want mine."

The Shadow King. Lord Hesse.

"What do you want?"

Lord Hesse pressed me against his chest.

"You."

Never gonna happen.

With all my strength, I elbowed him in the gut and back-kicked him in the groin. Once again I hit nothing.

Damn it!

"That was a mistake, my dear." He whipped me around to face him. "You see, I'm not just a shadowy Wraith."

The dark fog surrounding Lord Hesse dissolved until a twenty-year-old man stood before me. His golden strands shone in the setting sun, his blue eyes devoid of all feeling. Despite his sleek form, his strength rivaled mine, and he flung me away from him with ease.

I flew twenty feet through the air.

"I'm a Shadow King."

"You chose the wrong woman." I scoffed as I rose to my feet. "I'm not impressed."

"A King no man can kill."

As Lord Hesse approached me, I analyzed his moves like Bragda had taught me. He fought well, but he had a tell. He clenched his jaw a split second before he attacked.

I parried his blows with ease until he leaped into the air and kicked my chest. Denting my armor from the force of impact, the dark lord knocked me to the ground.

I wheezed, hardly able to breathe.

"I have the strength of a hundred of my Dragonborn fighters," he sneered. "Did you think for one second that you had a chance to defeat me?"

With a flick of his wrists, a dark fog coalesced over my entire body, restricting my movement. In vain, I strained to escape from his dark magic. Even though I could bench press more than four hundred pounds, my arms and legs refused to budge.

"Women usually beg for my attention or for my mercy, but you..." Lord Hesse chuckled darkly under his breath. "You're different. You fight. I like that. I have to concentrate to restrain you."

"Sick bastard!"

"Be pleased you had a longer lease on life." His eyes twinkled as he gave me an evil smile. "You were meant to die on Induction Day and then again during the Battle of Halden."

"Why did you try to kill us?" I demanded. "My friends and I were Risan Healers, not Warriors."

"We knew you would become the three rulers of Teufelwald."

I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Tollen. Gersten. Neustadt." He clicked his tongue in mock dissatisfaction. "Can't allow such powerful demonic dictators to disrupt the balance of power, can we?"

"You tried to kill us at our weak point," I said, "before we turned into Fireborn."

"Peter Sardon thwarted my plans even despite our false intel," he snarled in reply. "I should have known Darius' son would fall for you. I should have killed him first."

"You failed," I hissed as I fought against the immovable weight. "We all survived, and now you'll pay for what you've done."

Lord Hesse shook his head. "I'll never understand why Lord Darius spared your life."

"His spirit is broken," I replied, "but he isn't pure evil like you."

"Do you think I'm evil?" he asked with a cackle. "Just wait until your kind swarms across Paxus. My visionaries have seen it. Thousands of bodies. Rivers of ruin. Thrones of bones. Rampant disease. Hunger and poverty. We'll fall into the deepest darkness this world has ever seen."

My stomach clenched. He's just trying to infect your mind, Liselle.

Don't listen to him.

With a flick of his wrist, Lord Hesse dissolved my armor, leaving only my flimsy black tunic on display. Scraping my flesh, the diamond arrowhead slid down my arm and into my palm.

His magic didn't make it vanish.

That's why the diamond arrows can kill a Shadow Rider. The substance is so hardy, so strong, not even magic can break them.

Let him gloat, Liselle. Lure him in.

Lord Hesse licked his lips and bared his fangs. "I'm going to take my sweet time and savor your soul."

Wrong, you bastard. I'm going to savor yours.

He ran his hand across my scalp and hummed. Bile rose in my throat at his touch, but I remained silent, giving him the false impression that he held all the power.

"Tell me, why hasn't Peter claimed your body?" he growled, tracing his fingertip down my cheek. "How could he resist your allure? Your souls are bound, but your blood is untainted."

"Unlike you, Peter respects me."

"You know what?" he said with a wry smile. "I want you to fight. Here."

He flicked his wrists, and the dark magic restraints vanished.

I could move.

"You're not going to punch me? Knee me in the groin?" He tutted at me. "I'm disappointed in you, my sweet."

Ready for the kill, I grasped the shaft of the diamond arrow.

Wait...

Wait...

"I don't normally bed my prey, but you are tempting." Lord Hesse leered at me as he traced his long, thin fingers across my chest. "Too bad you lost them in the transformation."

The dark lord bared his teeth in a sinister grimace as he lowered himself to kiss me.

Now!

I skewered his chest with the arrow.

The dark lord's eyes bulged, and he wheezed in shock. He stared in disbelief at the magic weapon that pierced his heart.

"How...?"

He coughed blood and slumped forward, helpless as I drove the diamond arrow further into his chest.

"Go to Hades!"

Pushing him to the ground, I watched as Lord Hesse gasped for breath. Blood oozed from his mouth, trickling down his jaw.

With a twist, I wrenched the arrow from his chest with a sickly squelch. His body convulsed as he stared at the diamond arrow, red blood dripping from its tip.

"No," he breathed. "No man can kill me."

"Guess what, you son of a bitch!" I lowered my head and whispered into his ear. "I am a Fireborn."

He shuddered and breathed his last.

I checked a dozen times to make sure that Lord Hesse had no pulse.

No breath left his lips.

A dark cloud of fog escaped from his mouth and abandoned his body with a dissonant shriek. His human body shriveled and crumpled like a plum in the summer sun.

It exploded and turned to dust.