Cory stared above him at the boy's face. He felt the flames surround him, saw them consume all the light around him. He curled into a ball and shut his eyes. This is it.

And then he heard a scream. It echoed throughout the barn, deafening. Cory opened his eyes and saw that the flames had disappeared. He clambered up and grabbed his bow, looking around for the two they were battling.

And then he saw the source of the screech. Tommy had grabbed Leo's daggers and charged at the boy, causing him to lose focus and drop the spell. Everyone was staring in shock as he effectively held off both of the siblings by himself.

"Let's go!" Cory yelled, nocking an arrow. "We gotta help them!"

The crew charged back in. This time, without the fog and with Tommy's surprising strength, it seemed like they were getting the upper hand. As Ashlie, Nick, Leo and Jon backed the boy against one wall, Cory fired shot after shot around Tommy, who was slashing the daggers repeatedly. Every now and then he would use a piece of shrapnel from his pockets to pin her fingers together, or throw some glitter in her eyes, and she would stumble back a bit further. And soon, both siblings were against the wall.

But then the girl spoke a spell, and suddenly she and Tommy had switched places. Tommy was against the wall, and the girl was standing over him, looking a bit confused but standing her ground.

"Teleportation is a powerful gift," The boy said from his corner of the barn. "Not many have the power to use it." Ashlie pressed her sword up against his neck and snarled at him, but he only laughed at her.

"Tommy?" Cory said, pulling back another arrow.

"Cory... please... get her off me..." Tommy said, trying to yank his arm out from under her hands. She continued to hold him in place, but looked back at Cory.

"What's... going on?" She said, looking over at Cory. "This is weird."

"She's still phased by the teleportation!" Tommy screamed. "Please, get her off while you can!"

"What do you mean, 'her?'"

Cory narrowed his eyes, and pulled back the bowstring.

"Teleportation is a wonderful skill."

"Cory! Do it!"

"What's happening? Why are you aiming that thing at me?"

"Get your hands off my friend." Cory let go of the arrow, and watched as it flew straight through the girl's chest, pinning her to the wall.

"A skill that my sister is nowhere near powerful enough to possess."

Cory's lens opened wide. He looked back over to the girl, and saw a mist swirl around her body- and around Tommy. As Tommy walked towards Cory, his features started fading and being replaced, from bottom to top. And as a yellow face turned to teal hair, Cory looked over at the body up against the wall.

Tommy's body.

He ran over to Tommy, tripping over his feet the whole way.

"One down," The girl said, walking to the middle of the room. "I think that's good enough for now, don't you?"

The boy pushed away Ashlie's sword. It clattered to the ground. Ashlie was staring at Tommy's body, watching Cory run over and fall down in front of him. She turned to Nick and collapsed into his arms, too shocked to do anything. Nick hugged her and Jon close to him, glaring through tears at the siblings.

"I think it's good. We have enough to report back." He joined his sister and put his arm around her. She shoved his arm off.

"I suggest that if you have any way to call home, you tell them to watch their backs," the girl said, looking over the group with a sneer. "Your world has a lot to worry about. Maybe you shouldn't have left your queen alone."

With that, both of them spoke symbols, and they disappeared.

"Oh... oh god." Cory tried to dislodge the arrow from the wall, but it was deeply buried. "Tommy? Bud? You've gotta get out of this. You have a way out of everything, right?"

"Hey Cor." Tommy looked down from the wall. "You okay?"

"Am- Am I okay?" Cory choked back a sob. "Are you kidding me? Tommy, come on, don't-"

"You look pretty good," Tommy chuckled.

"I KILLED YOU!" Cory screamed. "Oh god, oh my god Tommy, don't- I didn't- what-" he collapsed onto the ground, and looked up at Tommy's form, pinned to the wall like a butterfly with it's wings plucked off. "I did this to you. Oh god, how could I do this to you."

"Hey, Carl." Tommy laughed a bit at the nickname. "It wasn't you. Okay? It was her. Don't think it was your fault."

"But it was..." He dropped his head to the floor again.

"NO." Tommy said, firmly. "This is my job. As a guard member. I'm supposed to protect you." He looked down at Cory. "Hey, look at me." Cory looked up again, flinching at the blood coming out around the arrow. "But I didn't do this because I'm your guard. I did this because I'm your friend."

"Why did you have to save me..." Cory muttered, his voice shaky. He was avoiding Tommy's eyes, but Tommy could still see the grief and regret clouding his face, shining from his lens.

"Hey, Cor?" Tommy said. His voice was growing weaker. "Remember... when we first met?"

Cory barely managed to nod, and finally looked Tommy in the eyes. Tommy's face, though still in the same whimsical expression as always, seemed to also be filled with something else.

Tommy was genuinely smiling at him. Smiling with a face filled with hope, with happiness, with pride.

"Do you remember... when I promised that I'd always be with you?"

And with that, Tommy's yellow face faded to a dull grey, and his body went limp. Cory fell down in front of him. He started hyperventilating as tears welled up around his lens, and he curled into a ball. The rest of the group ran over to him and all gathered around him in a hug. Soon Nick carefully removed Tommy's body from the wall, and they all surrounded it, saying their goodbyes to him even though he was already gone.

Heyyyyy happy birthday to me, and happy one year anniversary to this book!
Yep. Tommy is actually dead. Have fun with that.
See ya
-Helena