To say the silence was broken was the understatement of the century. Honest to god it felt like an atomic bomb had gone off and we were the ones who dropped it. The empty night sky was suddenly lit up, fire bursting from the wall and raining down onto the crowd below. It was like a scene in the bible. It wasn't just hellfire raining down from above either, oh no, we had those giant fans I'd seen earlier blasting out miniature tornados, what appeared to be police riot water cannons literally carving through the crowd, and solid cannonballs of ice, generated by our favourite Ice Elemental, turning the once smooth ground of the earth into the surface of the moon.

I honestly felt a little redundant as my piddly little fireballs had an extraordinarily limited range but when they did hit the undead freak turned into one of those human candles Emperor Nero made (History is wonderful, isn't it?). Soon the air was filled with nothing but the scent of smoke, copper and barbecue and the shouts of people sprinting between the ballistae and cannons, reloading and distributing out extra ammunition and several grenade type objects that were primarily given to me. Lucky for them I have a good throwing arm, or we'd all be for the high jump.

The few that made it to the edge of the wall were either lit up by yours truly or had some type of burning hot oil dumped on top of them. It didn't kill them by all means, but it definitely softened them up for death from above. It seemed that the best way to finish them off was to literally turn them to dust, as I discovered quite quickly upon observing the writhing mass, they could survive without their heads. Nope, no messing around with head shots, just let 'em have it and watch 'em burn. Fun for the whole family!

And yet, even though we must have killed (Or re-killed depending on your viewpoint) at least five hundred by this point they just kept coming. I mean I'd counted at least seventy zombies that I'd personally bumped off but yet it hardly felt like we'd made a dent. It was like a hydra, you kill off one and two more are behind it. Lillian was right, this was going to be a long night.

I only noticed how long we'd been up on the wall when the tired old church clock chimed twelve, midnight, a whole new day and a further five more hours until sunrise which, apparently, was when this lot decided to call it a night and go back to whatever hole they call home. It made you wonder why no one had ever found where this lot was coming from, I mean they had a rough idea that most of them were coming from the west side, hence the wall on this side having enough defences and tricks to make Q from James Bond weep with joy. There had to be a source for these things, but where?

A jolt shook me out of my thoughts as the swarm had now reached the wall and they were actively trying to tear the metal plates and bricks apart by hand, or stump in some cases. Not on my watch. I leaned over and let her rip, two flamethrowers barrelling down the length of the wall, firmly incinerating anything that was in range. Some of them turned to ash instantly while other just slowly burned to death. Again.

"Nice shot kid!" Someone yelled to me as I hurled another fireball that just managed to hit its target.

I was exhausted by this point, but somehow I was still managing to stand up and keep pushing forwards by sheer will alone. Some fire was taking a little longer to be conjured, while other flames fizzled out and had to be re-lit. My hands were permanently burning, a technique that a few others had given me to reduce conjuring time but dear god it was draining. On a few occasions when that completely failed I resorted to using Incaendium like a shotgun which I must admit was quite fun.

I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and turned to face Sheira who had stepped down from her ballista. "You alright? Do you need a break?"

I shook my head and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm fine. Positively peachy. Just tell me this, does the world look yellow to you too?"

"Sit down now," she commanded, and I did what I was told.

The wall suddenly lurched sideways like it had been stung by a wasp and I just had to throw up. Onto a zombie of course. "I think I hit one," I said as I slumped back and gratefully took the water that Sheira offered me. First to swig out my mouth and second to actually take a drink.

"Take five minutes, okay?"

"Aye, aye captain," I saluted weakly. I felt completely spent, exhausted to a point I'd never been before, and I once stayed up for two days straight to try watch every Marvel movie ever made. Emphasis on the word try. I passed out at Civil War. She offered me an energy bar which I chewed happily on.

"Do you think we can do this?" she asked. She was sat next to me now, smoke and dirt contouring her cheeks and forehead.

I nodded firmly because I'm an optimist dammit.

"If you say so," she said.

The sounds of the battle raged on below us, explosions, hissing water that was at the skin melting temperature, the occasional KABOOM! of the cannons that were dedicated to firing pure lightning finding their target and vaporising them where they stood. I found myself wondering if Dad had ever done that. He was a Lightning, he'd faced Molly and her twin sister, he'd faced malicious spirits, monsters and things that go bump in the night and lived to tell the tale.

I wish I'd known about those stories.

But there was no point in getting hung up on the past, I'd just have to wait until we rescued Mum and the kids and then I'd ask her. I pulled myself back up to my feet with the helping hand of my friend and stood back at my position on the wall, where I promptly turned one of the un-dead back into the very-much-dead.

They were still coming. Pouring out of the woods like water from a broken dam, never ending and constantly pushing forwards, a sea of the dead, of black shapes bobbing along the ground. I threw another fireball, taking out at least three of them and barely missing the fourth as it dodged easily– wait a second. They weren't that fast, and they most certainly did not have enough metal capacity to avoid so much as an unearthed rock, let alone a fireball. I scanned the crowd for the one that ran off, but it was like playing the hardest game of Where's Wally.

I turned to Sheira who had a slightly higher vantage point than me. "Did you see that?" I asked.

"See what?" She yelled over the harsh scraping sound of her cannon shooting out an ice shard of death.

"I just...never mind." My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. Sleep deprivation. That had to be it. All I'd got since last night was two hours of shut eye. Yeah, that had to be it.

I almost believed myself until it happened again.

It was the same routine as before. Shot a fireball, zombies barbecue, something runs away. The only difference was that this time I knew I wasn't going mad. I leaned closer, trying to pick something out in the crowd, when I realised that something was looking back at me. It was so subtle I almost missed it but there was one head, turned to look up at me, its glassy eyes reflected in the firelight. I almost fell over the edge in shock.

"What's wrong?"

"There's someone down there," I gaped. "An actual person, they're alive down there."

"Are you okay?" Sheira looked at me like I was a madman.

"I'm not lying, look!"

I hopped up and aimed the scope of the ballista back to where I had seen the person. It took me a little while as they'd moved but eventually I reacquired my target and showed it to Sheira. She lost a little bit of colour.

"You see. Person!"

"Anthony..."

"Eh?"

"I might be going crazy–"

"Join the club."

"But that looks like Anthony Forbes. He was in my cabin, he's a Rain. But–"

"Don't say it..."

"He went missing four months ago."

One of Molly's little experiments...What was he doing here of all places? But if he was here then that had to mean that she was involved in all of this but forgive me an army of the undead seems like a lot of work for very little results seeing as people can just barricade themselves inside. And why would they crawl back into their graves in the daytime? It just doesn't seem like something the most sadistic and twisted individual currently walking the planet would do. Tricking/forcing people to become test subjects? Yes. Definitely something she would do. Releasing an army of zombies onto a village so heavily fortified Fort Knox would weep at the sight of it? Not really.

I peered back down the scope again to try and find Anthony again but by now he'd vanished into the crowd, nothing more than a blob in a great stumbling mass. I wanted to help him but if I couldn't see him he was as good as a human torch as the ballista, drawing strength from my own power, released a flamethrower that could have been mistaken for dragon fire. Now we were cooking with gas.

Sheira had a pair of binoculars out, scanning the tree line for anything really, when out of the corner of my eye I saw her suddenly go stiff as a board. It wasn't like a jolt of fear, she'd actually frozen in place, locked up like she couldn't move. Then there was her face. It was an expression of shock, surprise and horror rolled into one. Unsettling to say the least.

"Sheira?"

"Oh my god..."

I jumped down to stand beside her. "What's wrong."

She just pointed with a trembling hand, channelling her inner Body Snatchers as I followed her gaze to a small group of people, three in total, standing just behind the treeline. They weren't zombies, they looked like people, but something wasn't right about them. One of them was Anthony, but I didn't recognise the other two. One was a shorthaired brunet while the other was...no way.

"Rose." Sheira whispered.

It might not be her, it could just be another girl with blonde hair that looked exactly like the face in the newspapers and in my dream when I peered down the scope. She wasn't in her school uniform like the last time I saw her, she was now in Army leathers, jet black standing stark against her pale, gaunt face. She looked like death warmed up. What had they done to her?

I jumped back from the scope when I realised that the girl who had been pumped full of demon juice was looking right at us. All of them were. Wide eyes, freaky Michael Myers (The character, not the actor) head tilt, blank emotionless expression on their faces. No Beasts beside them which was a little odd, so maybe there was still hope.

We watched as the small group seemed to have a conversation amongst themselves. I hadn't the remotest clue what they were saying but when their team pep talk was over Rose stepped forwards while the other two vanished into the crowd. She was looking up at us, unblinking, something was pouring out of her nose in a very Stranger Things fashion and then she raised a hand. We were both to slow to recognise it, too horrified to remember that, possessed or not, she was still an Elemental.

A whip-like vine of grass and tree roots lashed out at the two of us. I threw myself to the stone to avoid it. Sheira didn't. So, all I could do was watch in horror as that vine wrapped itself around her and, before I had the chance to grab her, yanked her over the side of the wall, down into the shambling, undead crowd below us.

What I did next was either really brave or really, really stupid. Or maybe even a bit of both, it was that nuts. Half of the guards on the wall had seen what had happened and while they were trying to locate her I reacted purely on instinct and pulled out my sword. The wall was held up on both sides by these astronomically large steel cables that were fused into the earth itself. There were three of these on my section and they were just about wide enough for me to execute my stupid idea that would more than likely get me killed.

I willed Incaendium to not cut my fingers off, placed the flat side of the blade over the top, grabbed the pointy bit (Hence me asking him not to give me an amputation) and used the thing like a zipline. See? Stupid plan.

Somehow it actually worked and after what was one of the most terrifying, and I'll be honest here most fun, experiences of my life, I made it back to terra firma. I should mention at this point that everyone on the wall was screaming their lungs out in sheer panic and the phrase, "Are you Crazy?" seemed to be thrown around a lot. After all this, yes, I think I am.

The first thing I noticed down there was the smell. Surprise, surprise dead bodies smell like a rotting corpse. Who would have guessed? The second thing I noticed was small crowd wandering off towards the treeline. About fifty of them clumped together, surrounding something that was struggling in the centre, something with pale blonde hair and firing ice crystals left, right and centre. Sheira! But as I started to run towards her I realised they weren't trying to hurt her, they were just dragging her away. Whatever was happening on this island was more complicated than we first thought.

But never mind that for now. I summoned my burning big cat who took one look at the situation and realised that he would rather be literally anywhere else.

"What in the name of the ancestors of the Serengeti are we doing down here!"

"Rescuing Sheira. Watch my back, don't let anyone eat me."

"They're dead! What can I do about the dead?"

"Rip 'em apart. That should do the trick."

"I didn't sign up for this," he muttered. But he did what he needed to do at least, pouncing on top of one of the zombies and ripping them limb from limb, before effortlessly moving onto the next one.

I tried to push a Walking Dead image out of my head, told myself that he'll be fine and sprinted forwards to get Sheira. I felt energy buzzing under my fingertips, Incaendium drawing energy from the Vulcan Star, telling me what to do. I stopped just short of the crowd. To their credit a few did turn around, look as puzzled as the dead could manage especially when I yelled, "Sheira, duck!"

The arc that sailed out of my sword was downright magnificent. Every zombie for fifty meters had been barbecued beyond any form of recognition, except maybe for ashes, and those that survived the blast were left with at least half of their bodies no longer present. It was quite a sight to behold. Sheira was alright, a little singed and scratched but still in one piece as she ran up to me and gave me a quick hug.

"You're insane," she said, "completely bat crap crazy."

"Well its served me well so far. Come on, I don't think this needs to be said but we need to go."

"Fair enough." With another flash of light Ice had jumped out to join Flame in the carnage and the two of them cleared the path in front of us.

We bolted towards the wall, grimy hands reaching out to grab us at every opportunity. Those who tried promptly lost all their digits as well as the majority of their arm. They burned remarkably easily, almost too easily. Whatever, we were almost on the home straight, we just had to find a way to scale the impossibly high, completely climb-proof wall. Excellent.

Well before all that we had another problem to deal with. Remember those Molly puppets? Remember how I said there were three of them? Well two of em decided that they were going to get in on the action as well because let's make this more difficult than it needs to be eh? A cloud of thorns almost rained down upon us until Sheira blasted them aside, impaling a few undead bastards as collateral damage, which was quickly followed by a tirade of water crashing down from on high. Rose and the Water Sheira had called Anthony stalked towards us, dead eyed and expressionless.

Anthony, who could apparently manipulate rain or something like that, fired a cone off swirling water straight towards the two of us, his expression never changing, not for a moment. We dodged, spilling apart and now they could take us on one on one. Rose went towards Sheira which meant, joy of joys, I got the guy who was basically a human fire extinguisher. I didn't even bother to try and counter the miniature storm clouds that were fired right at my head, I only ducked, rolled and swung my sword downwards, a column of heat and fire blazing towards Anthony, knocking him clean off his feet, the smell of burning filling the already pretty odorous air.

I focused and charged the flames under my skin. They grew, spiralling bigger and bigger until I had a fireball the size of a tennis ball sat in the palm of my hand. With my best overarm throw that would have made my old P.E teacher proud, the fireball slammed straight into his chest. He went up like a Christmas tree, but he didn't stop advancing in me, he didn't even try to put himself out, he only gritted his teeth and walked through the pain.

"Okay, that's creepy...Sheira?!"

She was facing down Rose, who had a bloody gash across her shoulder, and was walking it off like it 'Twas just a scratch'. "I know! Lets just get out of here, and fast!"

Never had truer words been spoken. Anthony rushed me, clouds spiralling round his clenched fists, and rained down (Pun not intended) punch after water-soaked punch. Water leeched through to my skin, sending a wave of cold ripping through me. I felt my heart skip a beat. God I hope this isn't enough water to go full on cardiac arrest.

I whistled, Flame leaping to my side instantly, and I grabbed a hold of Anthony's already charred clothing, pressed my hand against his neck and let her rip as Flame sank his teeth deep into his leg. The scream he let out was not human. Nope, not in the slightest. He sounded like the Thing (The good John Carpenter version, not the rubbish prequel) crossed with the Body Snatchers. What the Hell had Molly done to these poor guys?

That nightmare fuel of a scream was promptly followed by the sound of a storm overhead and a sudden shockwave of rainwater blasting out from him like a ring. I thought this guy was just meant to control rain? Whatever, Flame and I were thrown backwards, in my case actually through a zombie (Gross) and into the throng of the dead. I had one second to go "Ah" before I was literally swarmed.

I'm not going to lie, it was utterly terrifying.

Mouldy, decrepit hands reached down, gripping at spare fabric, their unmoving decaying faces peering down at me. Most didn't have any eyes, some did, while others had theirs leaking out of their head. I'm not even going to try and think about the smell. All of them grabbed at me, dragging me off god knows where. I struggled helplessly, every time I shoved one off another took its place. But they weren't trying to rip me apart, Shaun of the Dead style, no, they were on a capture mission and I knew who was behind it (Lets be honest its not hard to figure that one out) all that was left was why?

Buts lets deal with the problem at hand first.

I thrashed against their fleshy, decaying fingers but their grip was like iron. Every time one was dislodged another hand grabbed me, dragging me further. I looked up and saw another figure dressed in black. It was another woman with glassy eyes, an expression that I'd only ever seen on porcelain dolls, and pale skin that was a light shade of caramel. She was holding something, something small and shiny and filled with something black...

Sweet mother of god, that's a syringe!

It was just like the one I'd seen in my visions. Okay, now we're in trouble. I tried summoning a fireball, but they just knocked my hand aside, I tried reaching for Incaendium, but I had no idea where he was, I tried calling out to Flame or Sheira, but they were otherwise occupied. I was completely on my own.

Then I felt it. This heat spreading out from my chest like a wave, similar to how I generated my fireballs but hotter and more deadly, that firepower sitting just under my skin ready to be released. I didn't hesitate, I just closed my eyes, focused and let her rip. The result would have made a Hollywood pyrotechnic weep with joy. Fire ripped itself from every pore in my body, spiralling outwards by ten metres, evaporating everything it touched. I jumped up, flames curling from every inch of my body and stared at the smoke curling from my fingertips.

I don't know how I does it, I just do it.

I ran away from the chick with the syringe, found Incaendium on the floor chargrilling anyone who had the misfortune to touch him and swung at the back of Anthony's leg. He had been wailing on Sheira, now he was on the ground with a hole cut out of his thigh. Blood flowed. Rose, who was on her other side, wasn't left out either.

"I'm really sorry about this," I said and with my strength wavering, not my best flamethrower introduced itself to her face.

I don't if the impact or the heat the damage but either way she went flying backwards, knocking over about ten zombies like we were at a bowling alley. Zombie bowling, now that's a good idea. Her hair and clothes were on fire, but she didn't seem to notice that as she was now stalking forwards again, green flickers sprouting from her fingers and shaping themselves into two crowns of thorns. She hurled one and then the other, my protective clothing knocked most of them off course, except for the ones that hit me square in the face.

I whistled and Flame leapt on her, ripping skin and flesh away from her arms like he was carving a turkey. I wasn't worried about him, I could always send him back to the amulet if things went wrong, but I was worried about Sheira and I. The other zombies had got word that we were down here, and the crowd had turned into a mob. We couldn't take a step backwards without stepping on something dead. This wasn't going to end well if we didn't get out and fast.

But where could we go?

The wall itself was meant to be unclimbable and the inhabitants of Truespear most certainly did not have a ladder long enough to hoist us to freedom, but maybe we weren't too screwed. What if we got out the way I came in?

"Sheira, the cable!"

"What about it?"

"Can you freeze it so we can get a handhold?"

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

She sprinted forwards, clamped her hand around the enormous wire and pumped a blast of pure cold into the twisted metal. Lumps of ice formed about a foot apart from each other while the rest of the line steamed cold. Now all I had to do was make sure I didn't melt the thing, and to make sure I didn't I made Sheira go first. Oddly enough she didn't object. Our beasts were called back, Ice being in the middle of ripping her prey into a chew toy, and with Sheira proving that it was possible, I started to shimmy up the cable.

It was unbelievably cold. My body was very clearly saying that this was not a good idea as skin peeled off my fingers from frost burn. What was more alarming was that I was slowly losing the feeling in my hands and when climbing and enormous wire to escape a horde of the undead that really, really, isn't what you want to happen. My leg slipped from the wire leaving me clinging on by my fingertips as the zombies grabbed a hold of my shoes and tried to drag me back. I wrenched my foot free and slammed my boot into its skull which of course disintegrated on impact, the horrific scent of death invaded my nostrils as I kicked it off.

Thank god for adrenaline as that was the only way I wasn't falling off this stupid thing. With the agility of a monkey and speed of a cat I scrambled up the wire, ignoring the pain as wisps of metal buried themselves in my skin, friction burns carved grooves into my skin and the sheer cold drained all the natural heat from my internal combustion engine. I was just glad the old ticker didn't decide to abandon ship.

The top didn't come soon enough as hands hauled me the last few feet onto the cold stone floor of the wall. In the distance I heard people screaming if I was completely insane. All I could do was look at Sheira who had her back against the wall, her head back in exhaustion. We were safe. That's all that mattered.

At least, that's what stupid little me thought.

As the blood stopped roaring in my ears I noticed that the crowd on the wall had gone completely silent and other than the occasional footstep from down below, so had the undead. In a horrific amount of pain shooting from my hands I pulled myself up and peered over the edge. I nearly threw up on another zombie. Standing in front of the crowd, not even bothering to be subtle, were Rose, Anthony and the other girl, their blank eyes watching us carefully. I looked at Lillian and Tulip, watched them staring at what had once been family but what now was an empty shell.

No one moved for what seemed like an eternity and then Rose, who seemed to be the leader of this little motley crew, turned to the other girl and then pointed to the base of the cable. Not a word was exchanged and yet the other one walked over to the wire and examined it. These things were about a foot in diameter and anchored to the ground with these giant metal slabs that would've required the biggest bolts that can be legally produced on this planet. No way could that wire be cut, I thought like an idiot as I watched her extend her hands, dust storms blooming from her fingertips, and the metal slab began to rattle.

"Sheira," I said to my even paler faced companion. "Who is that?"

She swallowed before answering, "Millie. Her name is Millie Cascella. She's in Earth, Ground elemental."

"Could she...?" I didn't need to finish my sentence.

"She's not powerful enough for that," she said as the universe decided to prove us wrong.

With an ear-splitting tear and the screaming of metal the slab that was locking the cable in place ripped itself from the dirt, pins and all. Let me reiterate that, she didn't snap it, she didn't break it, she tore the whole thing up, all six feet of it. It whipped back and crashed into the wall like a club, the section buckling and bulging like the stomach after Christmas dinner and the whole wall was sent stumbling forwards. With all of us still on it.

The only reason the whole thing didn't come crashing down was the secondary anchor, another cable holding it up from the other side but even then the wire was straining, I could hear it popping under the weight it was never meant to hold alone. They'd prepared for this, right? Surely this wouldn't let it fall. I looked at Sheira, then at Lillian wordlessly asking if it would snap.

And then it did.

Let me tell you, there is nothing that prepares you for that sound. Like a monster being stabbed in the heart the cable let out one single metallic shriek that was cut off so abruptly it made me jump. Then the wire, rearing up like a cobra, snapped against the stone, curling over the battlements that slammed into three different people, throwing one over the edge onto the town below while the other two were struck down and didn't get up. Then, with nothing to hold it up, the inevitable happened.

"RUN!" Lillian yelled as the section leaned and began to fall, the twenty or so people on that section for their lives including Sheira and me. Her hand firmly gripped in mine we bolted across the rapidly sloping ground, ballistae and cannons working their way loose of their moorings and tumbling like anvils into the crowd of the dead below. The world felt like it was in slow motion, the gap between us and the rest of the wall yawning wider and wider.

We jumped. We took our chances and jumped. If we missed we were dead, either by the fall, the raining debris or by the undead mass. Sheira made it, hands grabbed at her jacket and hauled her to safety. The wall suddenly juddered, slipping an extra meter, the gap suddenly a lot more ominous. I jumped and the walkway slipped away under my feet, dragging me down with it. Falling for what seemed like forever.

Until hands latched onto my sleeves, pulling me upwards. Dragging me up and onto mercifully solid ground. Screams of people falling echoed behind me. Not everyone made it then.

I sat up on the walkway and for the briefest, and I mean the absolute briefest, moment I thought all was good and then I remembered that the wall now had hole in it. A quite a large hole. A very large hole in fact, specifically a two-hundred-meter gap in the only line of defence that the village had, and the dead were pouring in.

"ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONEL TO THE WEST SIDE NOW!!" the command rang out across the wall and like a bee sting I shot up and practically slid down the ladder to the ground, Sheira right behind me.

People surged towards the breach, everyone that could make it, easily two hundred men and women desperately trying to make a human shield between the dead and the living. The army of zombies slowly crawled over the rubble, some being vaporised on sight, others getting within arms reach before being cut down. I burned as many as I could, but I was running on empty and Incaendium, at my command, was burning like a star in Sheira's hands turning the dead to ash like a great flare.

The possessed were nowhere to be seen but I was fine with that, because we could just focus on the unending torrent in front of us. The dam had broken, and we were all that was stopping the tide, but we stood firm, somehow unyielding against the flow and surging mass. And despite the fact that exhaustion was taking a hold of my body I stood firm, burning everything I could touch, waiting for the unending night to finally die.

***

A faint and ghostly mist was curling off the ground. Dewdrops clung to the grass and the skin of anyone who dared step outside. The air was cool and still so the low hanging cloud never quite faded away. Zombie fog we used to call it at home. It seems ironic now.

I sat there quietly in the rubble of stone and twisted metal breathing heavily, the dewdrops mixing effortlessly with my own sweat. There was a severed arm at my feet, god knows who from. The zombies retreated as quickly as they arrived as soon as the sun rose. They were gone within an hour, leaving behind a souvenir of dismembered limbs and a broken wall. About twenty people had died when the wall fell, crushed instantly. But people were still sat in the remains of the wall, sleeping and simply collapsed from exhaustion, like me.

I looked and saw Sheira sit down beside me and slip her hand into mine. I squeezed it reassuringly. People were coming out to investigate the crash they'd heard last night. Some froze in terror, others screamed, while some just stared and then walked away. Their only protection had been knocked down like a house of cards.

"It's my fault," I said quietly. "If I hadn't shown them the supports it never would have fallen."

Sheira scoffed. "That's rubbish and you know it. They would have figured it out with or without us being here. You can't blame yourself for this."

"But it so much easier," I said quietly.

She didn't have a response for that.

The silence stretched out as more people came out to investigate. Poor Lillian was getting the flack for it. Terrified people wanted answers and she was the only one who could give them, but she was still reeling from Rose, seeing her niece stripped away, her mind taken, and a shell left behind. It was enough to crush the spirit of anyone.

I watched the crowd, not picking anyone out until a mass of deep black hair came into view. He looked at the pile that used to be standing, arms folded, indifferent. Those red eyes blank and unfeeling as they met my gaze and turned away. I felt the fire in me again. I stood up and walked towards him even though Sheira tried to stop me.

"Where were you?" I'd never heard my voice being that cold before.

Shadow didn't meet my eye, but he looked at the wall. "Bit of a mess you made. I must say I'm quite impressed."

"Where. The hell. Were you?"

"You've done your little errand and now were getting payment, let's go before something else breaks." He turned and walked towards the town hall.

I'm not a violent person, but something snapped in me which is the only reason I can give for throwing a rock at his head. It cracked into the back of his skull, blood bursting forwards for just a moment before the wound healed itself. He whipped round angrily but I didn't give him the chance to talk.

"You could have helped us. You could have been up there fighting."

"And what good would that have done?"

"Nick leave it, its not worth it," Sheira begged.

I ignored her. "I've seen what you can do. You can wipe out an army with one wave of your hand, you can tear monsters apart with a flick of your wrist and yet you hid, you skulked in the shadows like a rat!"

Shadow's eyes narrowed dangerously. "This isn't our fight," he growled, "we had a deal, we didn't need to be out here wasting time and resources because unless you've forgotten, mummy's boy, we have a deadline."

"And because of that you think people deserve to die?" I said quietly.

He went quiet for just a moment. "We have a job to do, a goal you needed me for, you need my help. You couldn't have made it this far without me. I could have let you die at any moment on this stupid journey, but I made a promise to you and I won't break that but if that means that others have to die if they get in the way with their own trivial little problems, then so be it. Let them die."

I stared at him, completely slack jawed in shock. Sheira looked aghast at what he'd just said. Both of us were and while I wasn't a mind reader I knew what I was thinking. People meant nothing to him, they were either resources or obstacles, nothing more. Is that what he thought everyone was? The women and children and elderly who were sat terrified in their homes at this very moment, unsure if they would live to see tomorrow. Is that how he saw my family? My Mum, brave little Lilah and innocent little Maxie, just a goal to be reached for a reward. Were all of them unimportant? Were they all just tossed aside and left to die?

"You coward."

Shadow, who had been walking away, turned on his heel and looked at me. I'd never seen him look like that, a cocktail of surprise and blossoming rage brewing behind his eyes. "What did you just say?" Okay that was a dangerous tone.

Sheira recognised the rapidly increasing danger level as well. "Leave it, please!"

But of course, I didn't. "You're a coward, nothing more than a slimy pathetic little bastard! You call yourself a soldier and yet you leave the innocent to die. You pretend you're a hero, but everyone means nothing to you. You pretend to be this big macho and you ran, you bloody ran from those who were crying, begging for help and now they're going to die for it, while you hide and pretend they don't exist because its easier than facing the truth and admitting the fact that you're nothing but a monster! YOU'RE A COWARD AND THAT'S ALL YOU'LL EVER BE!"

Then like a supernova, stars exploded behind my eyes. White lights dancing in my vision. It took me a moment to realise what happened before the pain kicked in and the taste filled my mouth. Shadow still had his fist clenched, my blood dripping down his knuckles, his breathing heavy and angry.

"That make you feel good?" I said, spitting out a globule of blood onto the hand that was till gripping onto my shirt. "Go on. Have another Take another swing and prove me right."

He drew back his arm and I braced for impact, but he it didn't come. Sheira gasped, hands to her mouth in horror. That sharp sound of horror and fear drew his eye to her and her wide fearful eyes. And they were looking at him. He looked at her and then at me and shoved me away. Hands still shaking, a trail of blood dripping from his trembling fists and his eyes burning with the rage of a struck nerve he turned away wordlessly, every eye watching him as shadows wrapped around him and like a whisper in the dark, simply disappeared.