Meanwhile, inside the house, Lucian’s hand began to shake as he watched from the banister. The soldier, who stood close to twenty-five feet inside the hallway, saw the sudden appearance of the other children slowly took a step back towards the library whilst dragging Lidian back with him. Lidian struggled against the man’s grip, kicking and banging his hands against man’s arms. But the man simply shook him around until he stopped.

  Benjamin almost instinctively pointed his gun at the soldier, to which the soldier immediately retaliated by pointing his gun at the hallway and firing, sending bullets barreling down the hallway. The children all immediately scattered, some of them ran back up the stairs while the other dashed down the stairs and ran behind the walls of the lobby. Several bullets ploughed into the walls and the banister, blowing out chunks of wallpaper and wood. Lucy screamed as the sound of the gun echoed throughout the entire lobby and as little bits of debris fell onto the fall. Seconds later, Janice covered Lucy’s mouth to stop her high-pitched shriek. Lucian crouched behind the walls of the lobby next to the hallways entrance alongside Benjamin, Lily and Luin. Lily then suddenly grabbed Benjamin by the collar as soon as they were out of the soldier’s line of sight. “Are you MAD?” she shouted furiously whilst shaking Benjamin with all her strength. Her voice was so harsh that even Maurice jumped off Benjamin’s shoulder in fear. “You’re going get Lid killed!”

  Luin then quickly intervened and grabbed Lily by the shoulders before pulling her back and prying her arms away from Benjamin. “SURRENDER!” the soldier suddenly shouted before firing once more at the ceiling. “Put away your guns and surrender, NOW!” he demanded before aggressively placing the tip of his gun directly onto the top of Lidian’s head.

  “Don’t listen to him!” Janice exclaimed in response as he tightened her grip on her own gun whilst holding Lucy, who had tears flowing out of her eyes like a clam stream, by her side. Janice momentarily peeked over the corner before swiftly turned her gaze towards Lucian and everyone on the other side of the hallway entrance. “As long as he knows he won’t make it out of here with his life, Lidian is safe. Do you understand?” she asked in calm, low voice. Lucian and the others all nodded intently.

  Lucian’s heart was racing, his mind furiously thought of possible strategies as sweat ran down his neck. However, the more he thought, the more he felt like he couldn’t think properly. He then looked up towards the top of the staircase; there he could see the Morrows, the Hatlys and the Venshires alongside Arthur. “How are we going to get him back, mother?” asked Lily, panicked and exhausted. Janice replied with an uncertain frown as she turned her head towards the ground, her eyes kept glancing left and right, pondering with frustration. She then stared directly at her children. “Do not worry, I have a plan, just stay safe!” she said with both worry and resolve.

  She then slowly stood up, letting go of Lucy before placing both of her hands on the gun handle. She then peeked her head over the corner of the wall once more before immediately pulling it back and taking a deep breath. “Aunt Janice, what are you doing?” asked Luin, to which Janice replied by placing her finger on her lips and gesturing him to be silent. “Trust me,” she whispered. Lucian watched with wide eyes as his mother stepped out onto the middle of the hallway whilst pointing her gun at the soldier. The soldier seemed to panic, for Lucian immediately heard another loud bang followed by the sound of a bullet striking the hard wood floor. Janice flinched; however, she did not move. “Stop!” she commanded before immediately putting both her hands in the air as though she were surrendering. “You, soldier! Listen to me!” she bravely with a gulp.

  Lucian peeked his head out from around the corner and watched silently whilst Lily and the others all watched from behind him, tugging on his waistcoat as they moved over each other in order to see more clearly. Part of Lucian wanted to help his mother, he could tell from the way her hand shook that she likely had no experience with a gun and that she had no intention of shooting at the soldier lest she risk hitting Lidian by mistake. Lucian didn’t want to lose Lid, but he also didn’t want to lose Janice. Another part of him knew that if he stepped out onto the hallway, he would likely get both of them shot. He trusted Janice more than he trusted himself, for, in his eyes, she had never failed him even once. At that moment, he realized he had no other choice but to hold his breath and pray in silence.

  The soldier redirected his gun towards Lidian before taking a step back. Perhaps he thought that Janice was trying to trick him. However, he didn’t shoot again or act irrationally. Perhaps he was running out of ammunition or perhaps he wanted to hear what Janice had to say.

  “Mother!” Lidian cried, yet his mouth was covered by the soldier’s arm, so the only sound that came out was muffled screaming. Janice could clearly hear him calling out to her, yet she did not let her panic make her waver. She stared at the soldier with all the sternness and intimidation she could muster. Her hand stopped shaking and her posture was straight and confident, yet the soldier did not relent, for he knew he had the upper hand. This led to them both standing in place, staring each other down in a standoff.

  “Put down your weapon! Now!” the soldier shouted again. “Release my son and we will let you live!” Janice replied, taking her hands back down slowly. The soldier’s eyes widened for a moment, he then, to Lucian’s surprise, he chuckled. “You can negotiate with me, Baroness!” he said shaking his gun aggressively. Janice took a deep breath and stayed come. “You will not survive to see the sunrise if you do not release my son! Do you want to die here, sir?”

  The soldier stared at the wall for a moment and sighed. To Lucian, it seemed as though he was contemplating whether to accept or not Janice’s offer. However, he then turned back to Janice and stared at her gun hand. Lucian could see sweat run down Janice’s face, glistening against the chandelier light. The guard paused and then scoffed. “You,” he said in a deep, piercing voice. “You haven’t a fired a gun before, I can tell, and neither have those children!” he went on as though he were a mad man. He then grinned maliciously. “I will not fear a foolish woman and a horde of weak CHILDREN!”

  Janice flinched and went silent, for she had no response. Moments later, a large shadow loomed over Lucian from behind. He turned back and saw Lira standing crookedly behind Janice with her own gun pointed directly at the soldier, her eyes steely and invincible. “Then fear me,”

  She took a step forward, which made the soldier instinctively take a step back. Lira then limped her way next to Janice without taking her eyes off the soldier. Both she and Janice then proceeded to point their guns at the soldier. “Do not take me for a fool, soldier. Lest you wish to join two of your colleagues in the grave,”

  The soldier flinched, and for a second, his gun wavered. Blackfeather let out an ear-piercing screech from atop Lira’s soldier. For a moment, it seemed as though the soldier might see reason. Lucian could feel the tension in the air; he could feel his heartbeat faster every passing second whilst his hands shook with dread and his lungs anxiously too rapid breaths. The stress of the situation was so severe that it seemed to push Lily to the point of breaking, as she suddenly looked away and hid behind the lobby walls as tears started to ooze out of her eyes. Luin tried to console her, but his efforts seemed to be in vain. Meanwhile, Benjamin sat beside Lucian, his grip tightening around the handle of his own gun. “Tell me, do you really want to die here, soldier? Because I swear to you, I will not miss,” Lira said in a slightly raspy voice, she then coughed involuntarily before taking deep breath, which made her gun hand tilt and move around unsteadily. Her wounded demeanor seemed to lessen the soldier’s fear, yet to him, they also seemed to confirm her claim about his colleagues. The soldier paused; it seemed as though the tension was starting to chip away at his mind. His calm and confident expression seemed to deteriorate.

  The soldier looked down at the ground, his face frowning. For moment, it seemed like he would fold. However, he suddenly tightened his arm around the lower part of Lid’s head. Lidian shouted as his head felt the force of the man’s arms, yet all anyone could hear was a light squeak. A chill ran down Lucian’s spine as his sense of dread enveloped him in his entirety. The soldier then exhaled deeply. “You strike me as soldier, miss. Tell me, do you believe in the Honor Code? The decree of duty above all else? Above blood and self?” he asked coldly.

  Lira paused. She then raised her eyebrow and frowned, seemingly worried about where this negotiation was heading. “I am a soldier,” she stated with absolute resolve. “I believe in the Honor Code as much any other women of company” she then replied, imitating the man’s composed demeanor. A smile then returned to the man’s face. “Then you must understand, fellow sister-in-arms. There can be no surrender, not from a true warrior of our people,” he before sharply moving his arm forward and pointing his gun at Lira and Janice. “For the Circle!” he cried as he began pulling the trigger. Lira didn’t have time to fire back, instead she lunged at Janice and pushed her towards the wall with such force that both of them nearly feel over. The moment the soldier pulled the trigger Lidian began struggling in the soldier’s arm, screaming profusely with an intensity so strong that his powers made the soldier’s sleeves melt and fall onto the ground. He moved with such fierceness that hindered that the soldier struggled to stay still and aim. The shots he fired either ploughed into the walls or missed Lira and Janice and went directly into the floor. However, all Lucian could see were suddenly flashes of light as his ear were bombarded by the sound of bullets and Lucy screaming. The soldier fired three shots. However, on his fourth trigger pull the gun seemed to go silent. The soldier paused, seemingly panicking as he rapidly pressed the trigger only for the gun to make faint click followed by nothing else.

  Lira noticed the soldier run out of ammunition. She then swiftly tried to straighten herself in order to retaliate; she aimed her gun directly at the man’s chest. However, the soldier held Lidian in front of him and pulled him up in order to shield his face and torso. He then hastily limping towards the library whilst dragging Lidian with him. Janice pulled on Lira’s coat, urging her not to shoot, Lira tried her gun steady, yet her injuries hindered her precision as her hand kept shivering and shaking. She did not pull the trigger. Lucian watched as the scene unfolded. The sudden escalation of the situation seemed to push him to his breaking point. But when he saw Lira hesitate, a part of him seemed to give in.

  “NO!” his mind rang as he watched the soldier drag a pull a screaming Lidian towards the library. The soldier waved his hand in the air, making one of the doors swing open. At that moment, Lucian seemed to lose all sense of fear. For he suddenly and unexpectedly turned towards Benjamin and grabbed the gun out of his hands without saying a single word. Benjamin was too shocked to resist as Lucian grabbed his revolver by the barrel and yanked it out of his fingers with one swift pull. Lucian then jolted up from the corner of the wall and ran directly into the hallway.

  “LUCIAN!” Benjamin, Lily and Luin shouted at the same time. But Lucian’s mind was too distracted to hear them. He ran past both Lira and Janice before stopped about ten feet away from the library door. He then pointed his gun at the soldier. “STOP!” he yelled with such a high volume that the echo that came after lasted more than five seconds. The intensity of his shout even made walls around him shift, distorting the pattern of the wallpaper.

  The soldier paused just as he saw about to slip through the open door. He then slowly turned his head around whilst keeping one foot inside the library. He and Lucian then stared at each other for a short moment. Lucian frantically searched for any opening he could aim for. However, the door covered part of the soldier’s body and another part of him was covered by Lidian

  “Lu! Lu!” Lucian could hear from Lidian’s muffled screams. Neither Lucian nor the soldier moved an inch as they gazed at each other. Yet t seemed as though the soldier was neither frightened nor intimidated by Lucian, but rather dumbfounded. Lucian himself felt as though he could feel no fear as his body was still pulsing with rage and the desire to save his brother.

  “Lucian, what are you doing? Come back!” Janice shouted in a concerned and fearful manner. “Get back, Demon! Don’t try anything reckless!” Lira exclaimed angrily. But Lucian stood his ground, his strange sense of fearlessness persisting beyond any doubt or hesitation. However, the soldier seemed to realize that even Lucian wasn’t confident enough to take a shot without the risk of missing. Then, to Lucian’s surprise, he immediately turned back around and dashed behind the door. Lucian panicked as his focused mind immediately left into action the moment the soldier made his sudden move.

  “STOP!” he repeated before his finger instantly began pulling the trigger without aim or hesitation, he managed to fire two shots before the soldier disappeared into the library with Lidian, one bullet ploughed into the doors themselves while, miraculously, the other seemed to hit the soldier directly in his right thigh. However, that did not stop the soldier as he ran into the library and shut the door behind him.

  Lucian took a moment to calm down and gather himself, yet his head was still caught up in a single-minded objective, so only one course of action seemed right to him. He looked back at the hallway behind him where his eyes met the eyes of Lira, who immediately understood what his was thinking.

  “Lucian, don’t,” she said calmly whilst reaching out her hand towards Lucian. Janice heard her and looked at her with frightened confusion. “Stop! We must think about this, you cannot do this alone,” Lira continued. Janice then turned to Lucian, who quickly turned back towards library. In a way, Lira’s words seemed to reinforce his convictions, for to Lucian, there was no time to think. A tear began to roll down his cheek as he tightened his grip in his gun, for his decision was absolute. Therefore, before anyone could say another could say another word. He jolted towards the library. He waved his hand in the air, making both doors swing open. And, once he sprinted past their threshold, the doors swung shut behind him before melting into each other forming a solid wall of wood, something which he had not explicitly intended yet something his will seemed to have executed. The last thing Lucian heard were the shouts of both Janice and the other children in the hallway, followed by almost complete silence once the doors had shut.

  Outside the library, both Lira and Janice tried running after Lucian, but neither of them managed to reach him before he closed the library doors. As Lira limped her way in front of the doors, she banged her hands against them before attempting to pry them open by stretching out her hands using her power. Janice tried to help her by doing the same yet, as the doors melted into each other and formed one solid piece neither, neither of them had the strength to pull it part. Both of them took a step back as the doors finished combing. Moments later, Benjamin and other Demon children came rushing into the hallway, followed shortly by the Hatlys and the other children, all of whom came down from their hiding spot at the top of the stairs.

  “What happened?” Laura as she held Charlotte by her hand and pulled her along whilst walking in front of the other children. Meanwhile, the moment Lily reached Lira and Janice she rudely pushed aside and went straight to the door where she then tried to push them open, only to become incredibly frustrated when they did not move. Luin too followed in her path and tried to force his way in as well, yet he seemed more collected overall, whilst Lucy immediately ran and wrapped her arms around Janice’s waist before sobbing uncontrollably into her coat. Lily once again tried ramming the door with her shoulder as she moved increasingly erratically to the point where everyone in the hallway looked at her with concerned stares. She screamed and cried, as the doors coldly remained unmoving. Finally, she turned to Lira and the others.

  “Open this door. NOW!” she shouted intensely as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Luin then approached her slowly. “Lily, we need to remain calm. Anger will not solve this,”

  Lily replied to Luin with a glare. She then turned back towards the doors; reached out both her hands and focused her power on the door. For a moment, the surface of the doors began to shift and move. Yet no matter how much she tried, they did not part or make way for her. Luin tried helping, however even with their combined effort, they could not make a dent in the seemingly immovable barrier.

  “How is he doing this?” asked an exhausted Luin as he stopped trying to get through the wall of liquid wood. “I have never seen him have this much strength before!”

  “Sheer will” Lira replied, seemingly impressed by the unyielding nature of the door. “Very few things make our hearts burn brighter than desperation,”

  “But he cannot focus on many things at once, not without practice!” Luin argued. Lira simply retorted with an impatient frown. “I wouldn’t be so sure, drinking from the chalice made him connect deeper with the Flame, and the Flame cannot be limited, especially given situations like these! Neither of you have the strength or the will to overcome him now,”

  “Don’t you dare stand there and doubt our will!” Luin snapped, seemingly disobeying his own statement about being calm. He pointed his finger at Lira with frustration. “Lucian wouldn’t have done any of this if you had taken the shot! I thought you had the skill of a Gratousy! This is all your fault!”

  That statement seemed to strike Lira rather deeply, for her patience seemed to immediately disappear. Before Luin could even contemplate what, he had just said, she grabbed him by the collar and raised him up until his nose was a mere inch from her face, seemingly with great difficulty. “Did you want to see your cousin become a corpse? Because if not, then there was no shot to take,” she whispered in a deep voice with a stare that seemed to pierce Luin’s very soul. Janice then intervened, putting her hand on Lira’s shoulder and gazing at her with a stern frown. Lira took one glance at Janice before reluctantly letting go of Luin. She then placed her hand on the wall, for it was clear that her wounds were still hindering her strength. She sighed and glared at Lily and Luin. “It is unwise to doubt the strength of the heart. Believe me, I know,”

  That did little to quench Luin’s sadness. He began to sniffle repeatedly. Janice walked over to him, with Lucy following closely beside her. She then knelt in front of him before embracing him with both her arms, an embrace that he immediately accepted. Janice then held out one her arms towards Lily, who then also joined them. Moments later, Janice let go of both of them before standing up and looking down at them both with a warm expression. “Everything will be alright; we just need to believe that. Be strong, children,”

  Her words seemed to soothe Luin’s worries. However, despite all of that, Lily did not appear convinced. “But we need to open these doors!” Lily reasserted before turning back to the shifting amalgamation of liquid wood. Lira rubbed her hand against her forehead in frustration. She then swiftly turned around and glared at Charles and Willow. “What about you? Can’t either of you see him?” she asked desperately. Charles didn’t look her in the eyes whilst Willow stared off towards the walls as though she hadn’t heard anything. Her unresponsiveness only seemed to further Lily’s boundless fury, to which Charles noticed and nudged Willow behind his shoulder, to which she still did not react. “Nothing we see will soothe your worries, unfortunately,” Charles said nervously. His response did nothing in terms of positive reassurance.

  “I wouldn’t trust them if I were you,” Joe scoffed suddenly before shooting the Morrows a dirty look. Benjamin then looked over towards Joe, unwilling to let his snide-ness go unchallenged. “What about you?” he asked with a dead seriousness. “Can you hear him?”

  Joe narrowed his eyes and stared at the doors with disappointment. “I hear breathing. But I cannot tell if it’s Demon. I hear no footsteps either. So, if he is alive, he is not moving,” he said calmly with a sigh. It was clear he had chosen his words poorly, for his implication of death seemed to reawaken Lily’s anger. “He. Is not. DEAD!” she screamed at Joe. “And don’t you imply that! As long as this door resists us, that means he is alive!”

  “I can hear him!” Laura suddenly shouted. Lily and others all began to stare at her. She gave a side-eyed glance towards Charlotte and gulped. She then took a deep breath. “I can sense his mind. His emotions are so strong they echo through the walls like thunder,”

  “Are you sure it’s him? How can you hear him with the all the walls and the people on this floor!” said Charlotte doubtfully. To which Laura then then held her sister’s palm with both her hands. “Focus on the doors, drown away the other sounds, you will hear it. Trust me,” she said softly. Charlotte proceeded to stare directly at the doors. Moments later, she took a step back as though an invisible object had hit her in the forehead. “Incredible,” she gasped. “I’ve never heard a voice this clearly through a wall before,”

  “You still have much to learn,” Laura lightly remarked, seeing an opportunity to lighten the tense atmosphere. “But in all fairness, Lucian’s mind has always been strangely loud and chaotic,”

  “Huh, of course,” Joe scoffed almost instinctively. Laura frowned at him. “Oh, would you shut up!” shouted James in return. “He and his brother are stuck in a room with an armed man aiming to kill us all, I suggest you show a little compassion,” Alice then added. Joe simply scoffed at both of them, unwilling to apologize for anything. “He put himself in this situation,” Laura heard him think in his mind, yet she decided not to argue further. Instead, she stared at the doors longingly. For, as everyone knew, despite their abilities none of them truly knew what was happening in the library. All they could do was wait. “Don’t worry, they’re both still with us,” Laura reassured herself in her own mind as she listened to the emotions that echoed from inside the library- fear, sadness and relief.

  Meanwhile, inside the library. Lucian felt darkness envelop him as the doors closed behind him. He didn’t expect to find the library to be completely unlit, with only the moonlight from the large window at the end of the room giving him any sort of visibility. However, the lack of light seemed like only a minor issue. For his mind was thoroughly occupied by much more dire matters. He could fear the faint sound of fists banging against the door; he could even hear the echoing sound of loud screams leaking into the room through the walls. The sounds hindered his focus, yet they did not distract him from his goal.

  As he looked around the room, he was surprised to see that neither the solider nor Lidian were there. All he saw was a dimly lit maze of bookcases and an empty sitting space at the very end of the room. He knew that they were hiding behind one of the rows of bookcases, for it was the only place they could hide. He raised his revolver close to his face as he took a step forward. For all he knew, he was being watched. As he moved, he felt as though his body was being slowed by a great weight, he immediately assumed it was the barrier his mind had created using the library doors. Strangely, despite feeling as though he were dragging a ball and chain behind him, his focus was rather untaxed by the barrier, for reasons that he did not understand yet also did not wish to complain about.

  He took a few more steps forward before he noticed something glowing on the ground below him. He looked down on only to see small drops of blood on the floor. He knew they were from the soldier. His eyes followed the trail as it led behind the first row of bookcases to his left. Lucian silently tiptoed towards the bookcase, where he saw that part of it appeared melted and distorted, as if someone from his family had touched it accidentally. He cautiously turned the corner and entered the narrow passageway that ran between two bookcases. However, the moment he turned the corner, he saw that the trail ran cold. He looked around to see if there was any sign he could follow, and for a moment, it seemed as though there were none. Then, as he was about to take a step forward, he heard the faint sound of a muffled voice. He looked to the row of bookcases to his left. He felt as though the books were watching him. He held his gun up at the air and slowly walked to the other end of the bookcase. As he reached the end of the row, he saw what seemed like the tip of a human shadow. His nerves, already on the highest alert they’ve ever been in, immediately made him point his gun forward. But just as the tip of the gun barrel reached over edge of the bookcase Lucian once again heard a muffled scream. A split second later the shadow moved out of Lucian’s sight and, a moment after that, the books in the second row of bookcases came flying out of the shelf and directly at him.

  Lucian, being completely blindsided, couldn’t react in time as books hit him from all angles. He staggered back and tried to block with his arms as the books pushed him against the first row of bookcases. Amid this chaos, while he was distracted, the soldier swiftly appeared from behind the second row of bookcases and marched over to Lucian whilst dragging a struggling Lidian with his arm. The soldier aggressively grabbed Lucian by the collar before proceeding to slam him against the first row bookcase. Lucian tried to aim his gun, but the soldier kicked his arm with his knee until the gun went flying out of his grip, subsequently landing near the seating area next to the window. The soldier then unwrapped his arm from Lidian’s head, instead holding him by the collar as he then used his increased mobility to throw Lucian off the bookcase and onto the ground. Lucian, in his panic, crawled on the floor in a desperate bid to get away from the soldier. His mental strain was made worse by the fact that only thing he could hear was Lidian calling out to him. The soldier then completely let go Lidian, perhaps due to the unbearableness of his constant outcries. Once Lidian was freed, he immediately ran towards Lucian, which seemed to be what the solider wanted. For as Lidian grabbed Lucian’s hand and tried to pull up onto his feet, the soldier slowly made his way towards them, walking crookedly due to the bullet wound in his thigh. The soldier pulled his revolver out of his cloak while at the same time he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of bullets, which he then slowly began to load into the revolver’s cylinder.

  “Wretched…little…Barons,” he gasped as he closed the revolver’s cylinder as Lucian swiftly got back on his feet and pushed Lidian behind him. For a split second, he attempted to reach out his arm and concentrate on the gun barrel, hoping to close it. However, the soldier did not give him a chance. For without any hesitation, he pointed the gun directly at Lucian’s heart and pulled the trigger. All Lucian heard was a loud bang followed by the sound of metal clanking before he was thrown back onto the floor by the force of the bullet. Lucian felt his ears ring and his ribcage rattle as the back of his head once again felt the cold library floor.

  “LU! NO!” Lidian cried as Lucian hit the ground with a thud. However, the soldier seemed to show no remorse, for he then turned his gun on Lidian and pointed it directly at his head. Lidian froze in place, whimpering in terror as tears continued to run down his face. “No…” Lucian gasped as he found himself with his head spinning. “It seems that there is no hope… in our mission,” he heard the soldier utter with sorrow. “But I will not die…. without spilling my fair share of baron blood… here in their own…glided palace”

  However, in that moment, something else seemed to attract the soldier’s attention, for Lucian saw his head turn away from Lidian and towards the library window. His dizziness then began to subside. It was as though, despite being shot and in pain, he still had some life left in him. He too stared at the window, only to see that the glass was slowly beginning to bend and break, as though an invisible force was pulling it apart. The soldier glanced at Lucian, thinking that he was the one causing this strange phenomenon; however, he saw that neither of Lucian’s hands were moving, for he was keeping them as still as possible whilst the man’s eyes were on him. This increased the soldier’s confusion, and soon his attention drifted more towards the window. Lucian too was confused, but his mind was more preoccupied with trying to find a way to get out of his current predicament. He hastily contemplated possible solutions as he watched the window slowly approach the brink of shattering. His mind was becoming clearer, despite the fact that he was supposed to be dying. But then again, he did not know what dying felt like. As he thought, caught a glimpse of the revolver he had taken from Benjamin, lying on the floor nearly ten feet away from him.

  He briefly looked up at the solider and saw that he was thoroughly distracted by the rapidly deteriorating windows. His guard seemed to be down for he clearly felt unthreatened by Lidian, and thought Lucian was either dead or dying. In that distraction, Lucian saw an opportunity. He quietly reached out his hand. He opened his palm and focused on the gun. A second later, the gun slowly began to move across the floor towards his hand. Lucian kept glancing between the gun and the soldier in order to make sure the soldier didn’t notice his actions. However, his movements weren’t subtle enough to evade Lidian’s notice. His eyes widened as he saw Lucian’s hand slowly extend outward and he impulsive let out a loud gasp before immediately attempting to cover his mouth before he could make a sound. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, as the soldier immediately turned his attention away from the window and back onto the two brothers. He saw Lucian flinch, as he was unable to maintain his stillness when he saw him turn back towards them, the soldier refocused his aim directly on Lidian’s head and pressed down on the trigger. Yet, before he could fire, the windows finally burst and shattered into pieces. The sudden sound of so much glass breaking at once followed by a sudden weak yet cold gust of wind that rushed into the library as shattered pieces fell down towards the was enough to distract him as he immediately tried to cover his ears. Lucian too found the sound unbearable, but seeing the soldier distracted, he quickly turning his full focus towards the revolver on the floor, which made it fly directly into his hand. He then rolled, closed his eyes, pointed his gun at the soldier and, without aim or hesitation, he fired as rapidly as possible. He fired three times and then waited in his silence before hearing a thud. He then opened his eyes to see what he had done. He saw that Lidian had taken a few steps back whilst the soldier was on the ground, his body shivering and jerking from side of side. Blood was leaking from his right side and his left arm, but he was alive. The soldier’s gun had fallen off his hand and landed mere inches away from his fingers, however, he did not get the chance to reach for it for Lidian quickly went up and kicked it away, sending it reeling towards the bookcases.

  Lucian quickly got back on his feet whilst pointing the gun at the soldier, his body and nerves shaking and his mind focused entirely on his enemy. Lidian then came running up to him, seemingly amazed as to how he was still alive. Upon seeing Lidian, Lucian’s stress immediately dwindled, he took a few deep breaths and clamed himself, and it was only after regaining his composure that that he realized that he was, in fact, still alive. He shuffled his hands throughout his upper torso, expecting to feel the wetness of blood, yet wall he felt was dry silk. However, he knew had been struck by a bullet, for the pain of the sudden impact still echoed in his chest.

  “How are you still alive?” Lidian asked with equal parts shock and happiness before wrapping his arms tightly around Lucian’s waist in a cheerful embrace. Lucian then reached under his waistcoat, and placed he hand over the exact spot the bullet had hit him. He felt a sharp pain the moment his finger pressed against his skin, as though his entire left shoulder had been doused in acid, yet he also felt something solid, something much larger than a bullet and much harder than silk. He grabbed it and pulled it out of his waist, only to realize that it was a large pin. The one he had taken out from the drawer in his room. As he examined it, he saw that it had been deformed, and he saw the crushed remains of the soldiers bullet embedded into the trident at the center of the Demon Family symbol. However, he didn’t particularly care about any of that, for as soon as he was done looking at the pin, he dropped it on the floor before wrapping his arms around Lidian and hugging him as tightly as he could.

  “I am so glad that you’re alright,” Lidian uttered with joy. “Never been happier myself,” Lucian replied. They then let go of each other as both of them wiped whatever and dust and tears were still on their faces. Lucian then saw the soldier move in the corner of his eye; he turned to the defeated traitor, who was desperately trying to crawl away from him, his hand reaching towards his gun despite his focus being severely hindered by his injuries. An ironic inversion of the situation Lucian had previously been in. Lucian took his gun and pointed it directly at the man, who immediately turned to face him once he heard the sound of the cylinder clicking.

  Suddenly, the ground began to rumble as the sound of an explosion from outside echoed throughout the room, its power making the dust fall of the bookshelves as they shook. Yet even such concerning sounds were merely a minor distraction in Lucian’s mind. He stared directly at the man’s eyes. Despite everything he had been through, he still felt hesitant about pulling the trigger, especially now that his brother was safe. He knew he was no warrior, no trained soldier. He wasn’t Lira or even the soldier who laid before him. Yet, his heart still burned with rage.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Lidian, seemingly sensing his brother’s inner conflict. Lucian tightened his sleep. Yet, despite all his hesitation, the solider did not try to retaliate in any way. He simply stared directly at Lucian’s eyes. His expression was that of defeat, for he had seemingly given up. “Do it, you Baronet scum,” he scoffed whilst panting painfully. The ground then shook once again as yet another boom echoed through the walls, this time it was less intense, yet Lucian could still feel it. He knew he was running out of time. He wrapped his finger around the trigger and took deep breath. But at that moment, he felt someone grab his hand. He momentarily looked down towards his hand only to see Lidian standing by him. “It’s alright, Lu. Let’s just go,” he said before looking directly at the soldier. His expression then darkened. “He’s not worth it,”

  Lucian stared at his brother for a moment, and realized he was right. His enemy was defeated, Lidian was safe and he was not going to leave the library as a murderer, even if, in his mind, that is what his enemy deserved. He put down his gun and gave the soldier a hateful glare before finally turning away and taking a step back. A look of shock emerged from within the soldier’s agony-filled expressions, followed by a look of disgust, for he seemed to take Lucian’s refusal to end his life as a great insult.

  “No!” he gasped as he attempted to move as little as possible due to his injuries. “Come back here! Have you no honor! Who are you… to deem me…unworthy!” he screamed as hard as he could, his voice becoming weaker and weaker with every word he spoke. Lucian ignored him as he and Lidian walked down the center of the library towards the still shifting doors. However, before either of them could even make it more than a quarter of the distance towards the door Lucian heard loud shuffling behind him. He swiftly turned around while holding Lidian’s hand, only to see the soldier shuffle and crawl frantically across the floor towards the bookcases, where his gun sat. The soldier’s rage over Lucian’s insult seemingly overpowering his pain, for despite blood still oozing from his wounds, he moved swiftly and with utter conviction. Lucian realized he had been so immersed in his own emotions that he had forgotten about his enemy’s weapon. Yet he wasn’t about to give the solider any chances. He swiftly let go of Lidian and pulled out his gun. He then marched up to his enemy and held out his other hand, which made the wooden floor beneath the soldier rise and cover his ankle like a shackle, preventing him from moving further. In a last-ditch attempt, the soldier held out his hand tried to make the gun come to him, but Lucian was faster. He reached out his arm and made the gun fly into his hand. He then walked up to the solider, who once again turned and faced him, twisting and straining his trapped leg while doing so.

  “ENOUGH!” Lucian screamed. In his mind, whatever conflict he had had before, it had been resolved, and whatever mercy he had possessed had been thoroughly exhausted. He held his enemy’s gun by the barrel and aimed his own gun point-blank at the soldier. But just as he was about to fire, at the top edge of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something appearing in front of the glass-less window, just outside the house. For just a single moment, his focus wavered, and he didn’t pull the trigger. In the moment that followed, a sudden flash of blinding orange light enveloped him, along with the rest of library. In the net moment, he heard a boom so loud that it felt like his ears had been ripped from his skull, followed shortly by a wave of heat and a shockwave that hit him with such force that it threw him onto the ground with his head hitting the wooden floor like a hammer. He didn’t lose conscious, but his head was left spinning, his vision slowly becoming less and less blurry. He could see current of glowing orange light rising and falling like waves around him. His skin began to sweat as waves of intense heat washed over him. He covered his eyes with his hand as he slowly began to get up, for the brightness of the flames made his eyes ache. Each breath his took was felt more and more contaminated with smoke, which made him cough. Yet, as his senses returned to him, he heard a voice. Moments later, a looming figure appeared in his field of vision, approaching him with a swift pace. His Lucian wiped his dusty hand on his waistcoat before rubbing his eyes. Just as his vision cleared, he felt a hand grab him by the shoulder, he looked up at the figure only to sigh with relief as he realized it was Lidian, sweaty, bruised and covered in dust and burnt paper, but still Lidian.

  “Lu, get up!” he shouted as he tried to lift Lucian up by his shoulder using one of his hands, for the other held the gun Lucian had taken from Benjamin. Lucian looked around the room, only to see that the furniture in the lounge area had been toppled over, with the bookcases closest to the windows all being engulfed in a relentless inferno, its rampage only slowed by the old coating of half-worn fire retardant that lined all the wooden surfaces. Lucian couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched thousands of his family’s books burn to ashes in front of him, his mind couldn’t think of an explanation for what had just occurred, but in that moment, he knew that those details were not important. He tried to stand up, but the fall had left his legs bruised and his right leg feeling numb.

  “You can’t stay here! Go!” he commanded, yet his words only seemed to make Lidian surprised. “W…what?” he said with a frown. “I’m not leaving you! I’m not leaving my brother behind!” he said with a great conviction. “You’re not leaving me behind, Lid. I just need some time to get back on my feet. You can’t stay in the fire!” Lucian said, trying to persuade his little brother whilst the increasing amount of smoke made him cough more or more. But it seemed like no matter what his said, Lidian remained firmly planted beside him.

  “We’re Demons! No fire has ever stopped us before! And nothing can scare me as long as you’re here!” he said cheerfully before grabbing onto Lucian’s hand and yanking it forward. “Besides, you promised you’d sit next to me on the…”

  The sound of a bang suddenly echoed throughout the room. Lidian’s mouth stopped moving mid-sentence and his expression, a terrified, soul-piercing stare looking off into the distance, froze as he the gun he was holding fell out of his hand and onto the floor. Lucian was confused for a second, but things became horrifically clear to him when he saw a dark stain appear on Lid’s waistcoat. Lucian couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched as the stain spread across Lidian’s clothes like split water spreading on paper.

  “…car,” he said gasped weakly before collapsing onto the ground. Lucian lunged forward and grabbed onto Lidian’s body before his head could hit the floor. He then looked out into the burning library front of him, only to see the soldier lying on the ground with his gun in his hand, pointed directly at where Lidian had been standing. A malicious, triumphant grin was plastered on his face as he watched as Lucian stared in horror as blood trickled down onto his hands. Lucian glared at the man for only a split second, for immediately afterwards he reached for the gun that had fallen beside Lidian. The soldier desperately tried to shoot him down, but Lucian was faster. He quickly grabbed the gun, without thought or hesitation, aimed, and fired within the span of a second. Luckily, his rage seemed to have guided his hand, for the bullet shot through the air and hit the soldier directly in the forehead. The soldier head immediately fell to the ground as his lifeless body stayed spread out and motionless on the library floor. Lucian stared at the body for a few second, waiting to see if the soldier was truly dead. Finally, as he realized that he had in fact killed his enemy, he lowered his gun. He then sniffled and stared at the revolver in his hand before glancing over at Lidian’s body. Feelings of anger and despair washed over him, and, in his frustration, he threw the gun away and into the air where it collided with one of the burning bookcases. The impact made the cylinder burst open and Lucian heard several a loud clang as the gun landed on the floor, followed shortly by the chime-like clings of several bullets that fell alongside it. He then turned his attention to Lidian. He knelt beside his brother and lifted his corpse with his hands before holding it in a tight embrace whilst holding back a flood of tears. However, despite all his efforts, he could not keep his sorrow at bay. While he still held Lidian in his arms, he began to scream out into the raging inferno in front of him. He screamed louder and more intensely than he had ever screamed before. And he did so, the bookcases around his began to melt like candle wax, the scorched carpet began to fuse with the floor and the doors of the library, which his mind had been holding together, burst into pieces.

  Outside, both Laura and Charlotte heard the voices inside the room in the library go silent. But before either of them could fully contemplate what had happened, both felt a sudden surge of emotions so loud that Laura almost covered her own ears out of instinct. Unfortunately, none of the others noticed, for seconds later, the library doors crumbled into piece in front of them. At first, they all paused, unsure what had just occurred. The first to react was Lily, who saw Lucian sitting on the ground and immediately jolted towards him. She ran down the middle of the room as fast as she could, leaving the other scrambling to catch up. Lira and Janice then went running after her. “Stay by the door!” Lira ordered, and the others obliged.

  “LUCIAN! YOU’RE…” she began shouting with joy and relief. However, she didn’t get to finish her sentence before a terrible realization struck her. For as she got closer to her brother, she realized he was sobbing, she then looked past him and noticed the corpse of the soldier lying on the ground beside the toppled furniture of the lounge area. However, what seemed to make her heart stop was when she saw Lidian’s head and feet sticking out from Lucian’s shadow. This made her freeze on the spot with her eyes widening in disbelief. She began to walk towards Lucian slowly and silently, her hands shaking with dread as she got closer and closer. Finally, the moment she saw Lidian’s cold, lifeless face, illuminated by the fire light, she seemed to realize her worst fear had become reality, and subsequently tears began rolling down her cheeks.

  “No,” she cried as she walked in front of Lucian, who didn’t even look her in the eye. “No, no, no!” she bellowed repeatedly. “What happened?”

  Lucian didn’t answer, he was in too much pain and too deep in his own thoughts. However, Lily wasn’t taking his silence as a valid answer. She grabbed Lucian’s shoulder, hoping to get a response out of him, but when that failed, she began to shake him aggressively. “WHAT HAPPENED?” she repeated. “Answer me!” but no matter what she tried Lucian was too trapped in his own misery to take notice. Lily then took her hand off her brother’s shoulder and sighed impatiently before finally snapping. In one swift motion, she raised her hand above Lucian’s head and, without any reluctance or remorse, slapped him across the face with what felt like the forces of a hundred battering rams. It was only when the pain surged through Lucian’s face did, he finally come back to his senses. He looked up, only to see Lily standing over him. “ANSWER ME!” she screamed, her eyes filled with grief and rage, she looked like she was about to hit him again, but whether she would’ve done it is a question that will remain forever unanswered. For before, he could even raise her hand, Lira and the others caught up to them.

  “What were you thinking?” yelled Lira, grabbing Lily’s wrists and yanking her away from the blazing inferno, pulling her behind Lucian, she then looked around the room, seemingly searching for any threats. Lily simply gave Lira a glare before pulling her arms away from Lira. Lira opened her mouth to yell something else, but fortunately, she never got the chance. For she was quickly interrupted by Janice, who came running up from behind her and lightly pushed her aside as she grabbed Lily tightly by her shoulders in a frantic panic. “Don’t you ever go running off like that again!” she said with great relief as she pulled her daughter closer to her. However, Lily didn’t look her mother in the eyes, instead she turned back and looked at Lucian, who was still kneeling on the ground, facing the fiery inferno. Lira and Janice then turned their attention to him, only for them to see what Lily had already seen. In that moment, they seemed to feel the same maw of despair swallow them in its jaws. Lira paused, speechless, while Janice, at first, seemed to reject what her eyes were seeing. She then took a step forward and looked over Lucian’s shoulder, only to look away a moment later. She stared at the bookcases with her mouth covered while she suppressed whatever tears or emotions that attempted to burst forth from her broken heart. Unlike Lily or Lucian, she didn’t descend into an abyss of rage and grief, at least, on the surface. Instead, once she had smoldered the fire that had erupted in her spirit, she turned back to Lucian and gently placed her arm on his shoulder.

  “Get up, my son,” she said in her usual soft voice, but this time it radiated with stern undertones. At first, Lucian obliged. He began to get up on his feet with his brother in his arms. But before he could even get halfway up before Janice gently putting her hand on Lidian’s still chest. “Don’t,”

  Lucian was confused, yet he listened to Janice and laid Lid’s body on the ground before getting on his feet. “But what about…” he began but Janice’s grim frown made him stop. Around them, the fire became larger and larger. “We don’t have much time,” warned Lira as she watched the ceiling go up in orange flame. Janice sighed as she placed her other hand on Lucian’s left cheek. “Leave him; it’s too late now,”

  Lucian’s eyes widened, but his heart was too broken to feel anything. He couldn’t even feel the drops of sweat running down his arms, but the words he was hearing still made his limbs stiffen. Lily’s mouth dropped in utter disbelief. “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE HIM!” she screamed. Janice sighed and took a deep breath while looking off into the burning abyss. Lily, however, once again did not take silence as a valid answer. “Mother! You cannot just…” she repeated whilst pulling on Janice’s coat, but while she was still mid-sentence Janice turned her body towards her sharply before grabbing both of her wrists with her hands and holding them tightly as she looked at her with a sorrowful glare. “No,” she said in a desperate, authoritative voice that made Lily freeze where she stood. “We cannot take him with us!” she snapped. “I will not let us be slowed down!”

  “SLOWED DOWN?” Lily screamed, pulling her arms desperately, trying to get away from her mother. “He’s your son!”

  “He’s DEAD!” Janice replied, tears oozing from her eyes. “It is best we let him rest here now! We cannot take him into the Mirror! I cannot risk another losing another one of you for something I cannot save!” Lucian felt his hands shake. The shock of hearing his mother’s words made his body feel like it was made of sand. Lily remained silent. “Your mother is right,” insisted Lira. “We cannot dwell on the dead while there are still living to think about,”

  Lily turned toward Lira and gave her a glare, but she didn’t say a single word. Lucian looked down at his brother. The initial shock of his death had cleared, and part of him knew that Janice was right. He couldn’t say for certain whether there were more dangers in the floor below them, but if there were, carrying his brother’s body would only hinder him while also making it more likely that body would be damaged, and he couldn’t imagine seeing his brother in any worse conditions, even in death. Yet, another part of him didn’t want to leave it behind. His mind was swarmed by memories, happy memories. Part of him wanted to hold onto his brother for eternity. Lucian loosened his grip on the body; his mind once again conflicted.

  Suddenly, the sound of a violent crack echoed throughout the room as the thick wooden arches that held up the ceiling finally relented and began to break apart as the fire rampaged further and further into the room. Janice wrapped her arms around Lily’s waist pulled her closer towards her whilst Lily struggled to get out of her grasp. “We need to leave this place, now!” Lira shouted. She then grabbed Lucian’s waistcoat and pulled him back as small, charred pieces of the ceiling began falling to the floor. Lucian felt a sudden force pull him back, and in his indecisive state, he instinctively reached towards Lidian’s body. However, as he tried to regain ahold on his brother’s corpse, the burnt midsection of the ceiling support arch located directly above them suddenly came crashing down, taking a sizable portion of the ceiling along with it. Lira the swiftly wrapped her other arm around his stomach and pulled him back with all her might. Even with her injuries, her strength and posture were enough to throw Lucian’s bruised body off balance. She then dragged him back one pull heave at a time Lucian struggled to concentrate and regain his footing.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Stop fighting! You imbecile! You can’t save him!” Lira screamed out of frustration. “No!” Lucian replied adamantly whilst gritting his teeth. His mind could not accept what was happening, he couldn’t let go, yet he was being forced to, for as he struggled, the broken beam then struck one of the charred bookcases, obliterating its upper shelves and making it collapse alongside the beam. At that moment, as they came barreling down towards, he and Lira, his mind finally came to a clear decision, as Lira tried to pull him back once again, he finally stopped struggling. The sudden loss of pushback sent both hi, and Lira staggering back a few steps, with both of them nearly falling over. Janice dragged Lily back as fast as she could before the beam and the bookcase finally struck the floor. What followed was a loud thud followed by the sound of the burnt floorboards shattering and giving way for the debris to fall into the floor beneath. The impact covered created a large hot cloud of ash and cinder that washed over the surrounding room like a wave of gray death.

  Lucian coughed as he inhaled mouthfuls of ash with every breath he took. Lira let go of him as she took a step back whilst breathing heavily, clearly exhausted. Lily stopped struggling in Janice arms when she saw Lucian let go of their brother. She simply watched as the ash cloud slowly dissipated, revealing a gaping hole in the library floor, its edges lined with the jagged tips of broken floorboards, and it’s bottom still smoking and emitting heat. Lidian’s body had seemingly disappeared inside the abyssal maw, leaving behind nothing. Lily then gave Lucian a shaky and wide-eyed stare full of malice and despair as Janice let her go. Lira stared off to the side, seemingly at a loss for what to say, Janice wiped her tears and calmed herself. She then looked around, realizing that the fire had nearly reached all the way to the other side of the room. “We cannot stay here,” she said in a near-whisper volume. Lily stared at the now destroyed library once last time; she then turned around and hugged Janice around her waist, her face oozing with anguish. They then began walking out of the library, their steps making the floorboards creak. Lira gave Lucian a sympathetic look, but she didn’t dare open her mouth. She too then turned around and followed them. Lucian took a few steps back to distance himself from the fire; however, he did not turn around. He stood, frozen in place, staring at his hands, which were still covered in half-dried bloodstains. Part of him regretted what he had just done, but part of him knew it was the right choice. His mind went back and forth until finally; the reality of everything came crashing down onto him.

  “It’s all my fault.” He thought to himself, Lira’s words once again returned to him, “The fate of your peers will fall on your hands”. Everything that had happened today was his fault. He had been weak, indecisive and cowardly. He had wasted all their time and now it had cost both him and the others. His face was now dry of tears and his body could no longer feel any more pain. He felt lost in a tempest without even a glimmer of sunlight to guide him. He gazed into the smoking pit in front of him. At that moment, he wanted to jump into it and join Lidian in the abyss. Yet, something deep inside him told him not to stay. He turned his head back and glanced at the people behind him. And it was then that he came to a realization, none of his failures could compare to what had just occurred, but there were still people who needed him, he was still needed. He knew it wasn’t the time to be indecisive, it wasn’t the time to cower or dwell on what he had lost, for he still had a lot more to lose and no intention of losing it. These thoughts calmed him and filled him with a rejuvenating sense of determination. Yet, part of him still dwelled on the loss of his brother. He knew he needed to forgive himself but could he. He knew now was not the time to dwell on such things, so he tried his best to sink that part of him deep into the darkest corner of his consciousness. He had made his decision, and now he had to live with it. He then took a deep breath and felt the heat of the fire against his skin. He then heard the floor below him creak and crack, so he then swiftly turned around and began walking towards the door, only looking back once.

  As he got closer to the hallway, he saw Charles standing at the front of the group alongside the Hatles and Benjamin. He could hear enraged shouts echoing from across the room. “The visions have not changed! You cannot change our plans now!” Charles shouted angrily.

  “I thought we established a long time ago that your visions aren’t worth trusting,” Joe argued. “The house is burning! If the hall collapses, you all will be stuck in the Mirror!”

  “But if the men get inside, we would be safer inside the Mirror!” Charles retorted. “It is what will happen! My visions confirm it!”

  “Oh, shut up, Morrow!” Joe shouted in a fed-up voice. “You couldn’t see a wall even if you ran into one! You couldn’t save Evelyn!” he exclaimed whilst looking around at Arthur, who was still on the shoulders of the Venshires. He then spread out his arms a little and looked at every in the group, all of whom remained silent. “We all know it! Even your sister knows it!” he scolded before pointing his finger directly at Willow, who barely seemed to take notice as she kept on looking off into the distance. Charles immediately slapped Joe’s finger away from Willow. He then took a step forward towards Joe as though he were about to confront him. “Do not point your filthy fingers at my sister, you blonde headed worm!” he said in the most serious voice Lucian had ever heard him speak in.

  “And Evelyn was not their fault!” Arthur chimed in weakly. But all their arguing came to a halt when they all saw Lucian enter the hallway, audibly moaning and grunting as he walked slowly, barely keeping himself from collapsing onto the floor. Some of the others looked at him with grief and sympathy while some didn’t look at him at all. The silence lingered as Lira shut the library doors in order to stop the spread of smoke. However, before Lucian could open his mouth or left a finger, he was immediately taken aback by Laura, who swiftly ran a few steps towards him before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him with seemingly all her strength.

  “Thank the Moor you’re alive!” she exclaimed with overwhelming relief. The weight of her right elbow pressed down on Lucian’s left shoulder, where his skin began to scream out in pain, but Lucian said nothing. Instead, he rested his head against Laura’s shoulder, for he was exhausted and in need of someone to hold him. Behind her came James, who gave his hold of Arthur to Charles as he walked over and examined Lucian’s aching body. “Are you alright?” he asked as he tried with mild frustration to get a proper look at Lucian while Laura still held him. Lucian replied with a nod. Laura then pulled back and let go of him before staring at the floor uncomfortably. “I’m sorry…about Lidian,” she said with her utmost sympathy. James too looked away when she said it, clearly feeling the same thing.

  Lucian sniffled when he heard the name. He then sighed; tears rolled down his face every time he closed his eyes. “It’s ok,” he said, wiping the tears away. “I’m alright,” he assured as his lips forced a bruised, broken smile. “I thoroughly disagree,” James remarked. He then pushed himself between Laura and Lucian as he examined Lucian’s previously obscured torso. He grabbed Lucian’s bruised shoulder, which made Lucian flinch from a sudden burst of pain. James noticed this and immediately took his hand away. “Oh Moor,” he gasped before swiftly and intrusively pressing his hand against the next to Lucian’s heat. Lucian, though partially annoyed at James’s handsiness and lack of regard for his consent, tried his best to not move as pain surged through his upper torso. James then gave him a concerned look.

  “It appears your rib is fractured,” he said with a worried grimace. Yet, despite hearing that news, Lucian was neither shocked nor particularly horrified for reasons even he did not fully understand. Laura however, seemed to take the information much more seriously. “How severe is it?”

  James placed his hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes. “Unfortunately, I cannot tell with any degree of certainty, though it is clearly non-fatal,”

  “Can you remedy it?” Laura asked. James once again pondered for a moment. He then once again approached Lucian. “Do you mind?” he asked whilst pinching the uppermost button of his waistcoat. Lucian understood the gesture immediately and, rather awkwardly, began to unbutton the top half of his own waistcoat, followed by the shirt underneath it, revealing a large, hideous bruise directly below his left shoulder. Once he was done unbuttoning, James placed one of his hands on Lucian’s shoulder and placed his other hand on directly over the bruise. Lucian once again felt intense pain surge through his body. However, moments after James’s palm touched Lucian’s body, a flicker of blue light flashed between his hand and Lucian’s skin. Seconds later, Lucian felt a feeling of relief as the burning pain faded away. James then took his hand off Lucian, revealing a much smaller wound, with the redness of his skin having receded to nearly a quarter of its former area, returning his skin to its original pale hue. However, despite James’s healing, he could still feel a bit of pain emanate from the unhealed portion of his wound, it tormented him like a ghost, determined to haunt him until the very end.

  “That is the best I could do,” said James scratching the back of his head with a disappointment. “As you…already know, repairing deep wounds exist outside of my abilities,”

  Lucian glanced over at Laura, he knew that both of them understood what James was referring to, and he could tell that neither of them wished to dwell on that subject. “I wouldn’t fret about it,” he said in an attempt to steer the subject away from past tragedies. “I do feel much better, and I’m alright!”

  “More than alright, I’d say,” said Benjamin suddenly, who then walked up behind Laura and gently nudged James aside. His expression was light and cheerful; however, Lucian could see remnants of fear and worry buried deep underneath his smile. “That was incredible; I dare say none of us would’ve been brave enough to run into that library like you did. I mean, it was certainly the most heroic thing I’ve ever seen,” he exclaimed, and Maurice the raven gave cawed in agreement. A caw that Benjamin enthusiastically pointed to as proof of his statement’s objectivity. Lucian could tell he was simply trying to lighten the mood, so he placed his hand on Benjamin’s shoulder and smiled. “Thank you, Ben. Apologizes for stealing your gun,”

  Benjamin shrugged, seemingly having no regard for his lost revolver. Maurice then tried to peck Lucian’s fingers as they rested on Benjamin’s shoulder, luckily, Maurice’s owner was fast enough to grab its neck before its beak could assault Lucian’s hand. Lucian immediately took his hand back and Benjamin simply smiled nervously. “I see he almost likes you now,”

  “Almost?” Lucian asked whilst Laura and James audibly sniggered next to him. For a very short moment, Lucian felt happy again. Yet that moment soon disappeared, for he then heard sobbing. He immediately recognized it to be Lucy, and instinctively grabbed the entirety of his attention. He immediately began to make his way to the back of the group where he saw his mother stand with a frim yet somber stillness. In his haste, he pushed aside anyone who stood in his way in manner that looked almost aggressive. When he finally reached the back of the group, what he saw was a tragic sight.

  Lucy stood with her arms wrapped around Janice, her face buried within her mother’s dress with both of Lily’s hands resting on both her shoulders. Lucian tried approaching them, however Lily saw him coming and, with a stare, gestured him to stay back. Lucian, taken aback by Lily’s seemingly hostile demeanor, paused and watched as Lily comforted their younger sister.

  “Do not cry, Lucy, it’s alright. He’s in a better place now,” Lily whispered into Lucy’s ears in attempt to calm her down. However, her words seemed to have little effect, as Lucy simply shook her head violently and refused to accept the obvious truth. “NO! Stop lying to me, liar! You’re all lying! You have to be!” she screamed. Janice then placed her own arm on the left side of Lily’s face before gesturing her to move aside. Lily took a step and took her arms off Lucy’s shoulder, Janice then took Lucy into her arms as she continued to wail, moan and bleed seemingly endless sorrow. She then turned to Lira, who, up until that point, had stood by quietly next to the wall of the hallway. “I think it’s time we leave; it won’t be long before the fire reaches past the library,”

  “Agreed.” Lira replied. She then raised her hand in the air and gestured towards the rest of the group, none objected. They all began to walk away from the library and towards the staircase. The light from the burning library shined through the hallway and cast their shadow over the path ahead of them. Soon Lucy went silent as she rested her head on Janice’s shoulder, seemingly exhausted from everything she had just endured. Lucian tried to approach Lily, who walked near the front of the group; however, she did not welcome him. She had gone cold and distant. Her arms were crossed, and her face faced no one but the floor. Lucian knew her well enough to know that his presence would only enrage her, so instead he stayed in the back of the group, next to Benjamin, Arthur and the Venshires. Silence loomed over them, the only sounds that echoed through the hallway were the sounds of fire and faint noises that came from outside.

  Then, just as they entered the lobby, Janice’s eyes glanced over at one of the family portraits. It was of a young woman in an auburn red dress sitting beside a desk whilst staring into the canvas with pride. One of her hands held a quill whilst the other laid outstretched on the desk, holding down an unrolled diagram of one of the floors of the house. Beneath the painting, etched into the gold alloy frame, was the name ‘The Baronette, Lady Allison Demon of Demonum Borough’ followed shortly by ‘462 AF – 539 AF’.

  Janice sighed. Her heart was full of anguish, and she longed for a distraction. “What a tragedy it is,” She uttered in a near-whisper whilst she gently patted Lucy’s back. Her voice was so quiet that only Lira took notice of it. “This house was built in the wake of a fire, now it seems it will meet its end by another,” Janice continued somberly.

  “I find that quite poetic,” Lira remarked. “It seems like the wheels of history have made a full turn,”

  Janice looked at Lira and smiled. “I recall when I first arrived here. Admittedly, at first, I was not impressed.” Lira raised her eyebrows, seemingly out of genuine curiosity. “How so?” to which Janice simply chuckled. “In my defense, I was marrying a baron. It was just that, when I first looked at this place from the outside, it looked too plain. Even for a modest Everton girl like me. Needless to say, the disguise had me thoroughly fooled,”

  Lira held in a laugh, but Janice didn’t mind. They soon passed the lobby and began to descend the stairs. Janice kept a brisk but gentle pace as to not disturb Lucy. Lira stayed next to her the whole way down. Janice then noticed her reach for her reach down her neck and pull out a pendant tied to a golden chain which had been otherwise completely covered by her waistcoat and collar. The centerpiece of the pendant was a series of eight rubies shaped into a flower with a small ninth ruby in the middle. Lira ran her thumb along the smooth surface of the gemstones, which intrigued Janice, for she knew exactly what this neckpiece was, though she knew not to say it aloud.

  “Your mother broke oaths to be with you father,” she whilst facing the banisters of the staircase. “I dare say it was perhaps the boldest thing I had ever seen her do, forsake scared duty for love,” she then turned back to Lira and ran one of her fingers down Blackfeather’s neck as it sat perched on Lira’s shoulder. “I think you might have that same strength,”

  Lira fell silent for a moment, she then noticed Janice looking down at the pendant in her hand. She then swiftly shoved the pendant back under the cover of her clothing, seemingly out of embarrassment. A few steps later, they reached the bottom half of the staircase. There they were met gruesome sight. For next to the banisters, laid a pile of bodies and the incredibly deformed remnants of a chandelier. The Hatly’s, Benjamin and even Luin looked like they wanted to hurl the moment they laid eye on the mangled corpses of their fallen enemies. However, something was not right, for, leading away from the bodies and around the corner of the hallway, was a wide yet inconsistent trail of blood.

  The group slowly gathered around the bodies, meanwhile Lira immediately reached into her coat and took out her revolver. “Well unlike my mother, I have no one to break oaths over,” she said to Janice before going down the last few steps.

  “This can’t be possible!” exclaimed Charlotte, staring at the trail of blood staining the wooden floor. “They could not have survived a fall like this!”

  “I wouldn’t be so certain, these traitors have proven themselves quite persistent,” said Lira walking ahead of the group with her gun pointed directly ahead of her. She approached turning point of the hallway, leaned against the wall and peeked around the corner, with Lucian and the others all watching restlessly behind her. Fortunately, when Lira gazed at the hallway around the corner, all she saw was an empty space leading into the open doors of the main hall. Inside the hall, Lira saw a body of a soldier, lying motionless on the ground. Lira narrowed her eyes that this ominous scene, for it gave her a foreboding feeling. She then turned back towards the others.

  “We must proceed with cautiously, something doesn’t feel right,”

  A sense of unease seemed to linger around the group, though at the same time, the lack of an present danger served as a point relief. However, Luin seemed to disagree with their entire course of action. “What are we all thinking?” he shouted angrily. “The door is mere feet away from us! The house is burning! We should make our escape outside!”

  “Have you lost your mind?” scoffed Charles. “Outside is chaos! The visions tell us to escape to the Mirror! And I am inclined to agree with them because personally, I have had enough of evading gunshots for tonight!”

  “I suggest you check your hearing rather than your sight, for I hear no bullets!” Luin shot back. “I suggest you but stay quiet!” Lira warned, and both parties obliged. However, the silence combined Luin’s words had made everyone realize what they had previously overlooked. “He’s right,” Benjamin muttered. “It’s quiet outside!”

  Lucian focused all his concentration on his ears and listened as hard as he could, yet he too came to the same conclusion. “What do you think that means?” asked Alice, her face filling with optimism. “Do you think we won?”

  “Unlikely,” Joe replied coldly. “There are still people outside, I hear them. They are all moving and scuffling about. It is like they’re waiting for something,”

  Lucian once again felt a familiar feeling of dread crawl up his spine. “They could be waiting for us; shouldn’t we at least see for ourselves instead of relying on assumption?” Alice urged, and most of the group seemingly agreed with her. Charles frowned at the idea and Lucian himself wasn’t sure about spending more time lingering in the hallway a mere wall away from possible enemies. However, Janice then gave Lira a serious stare laced with a bit of hopefulness. “We must make sure we aren’t ignoring any of our options,”

  Lira sighed, seemingly accepting that she had no choice but to abide by Alice’s suggestion. Charles sighed as well, seemingly frustrated at the decisions of his peers. Lira stared at the front door of the house before staring at the hallway that led to the main hall. She then turned back to the others. “I will find a window and see if the outside is indeed safe. In the meantime, I suggest you all make stay near the other end of the hallway, in case Morrow is indeed right,”

  Janice put down Lucy and began to walk towards the living room, her hands still firmly wrapped around her gun. Meanwhile, Janice took out her own revolver and proceeded to guide the rest of the group around the corner and towards the hall. She only halted when she reached the dining room door. Suspicious, she slowly opened the door, took a step inside and looked inside vigilantly. Fortunately, the room appeared empty. However, something about it felt off. Janice knew she didn’t have time to search the room from top to bottom, for her mind was focused on getting to the Mirror Door. Perhaps that feeling she felt was due to all the stress she had so far endured. She then proceeded to step back into the hallway. She gestured the children to proceed forward whilst she placed her hand over the lock and concentrated. The sound of a click soon followed as the door lock activated.

  Lucian tried his best not to step on the trail of blood as he walked, and though the night had made him accustomed to scenes of brutality, the sight of the mangled body of the soldier lying on the carpet still filled him with disgust. The others didn’t seem to fare much better either. Janice gestured them to stay by the door, she then over to the body and pointed her gun directly at the man’s head. She even kicked the body several times with her foot for good measure before finally relaxing and telling the children to come into the hall.

  Meanwhile, Lira made entered the living room, only to find it in shambles. The windows no longer had glass panes, the walls and furniture were riddled with bullet holes and the half the pottery, books and ornaments had fallen over or shattered from the rumbling of the explosions. Lira made her way closer to the window frames; she leaned against the wall next to one of them and peeked her head out from behind them. Blackfeather began to make cooing anxiously, to which Lira responded by wrapping her fist around the bird’s beak, much to its annoyance. From her viewing point, she saw the current state of the street outside. She saw her parents all hiding behind a line of incredibly damaged cars. She saw the remnants of their Gratousy guard standing in a disorganized line with their guns pointing upwards at the sky whilst they faced a distant enemy line made up of even more damaged vehicles. Lira counted everyone she could see from her position, and, to her relief, it seemed that all their parents were alive. She could not see Morgan or any of the younger children, but she had faith that they were all right. However, she then looked over towards the part of the street placed directly on the other side of the sidewalk from her window. There she saw Mr. Demon standing over what looked to be Eustice Morrow, who was lying on the ground near Demon’s feet. Lira felt her heart drop out of her chest when she saw that Eustice wasn’t moving. His coat was covered by dark stains that Lira knew could only come from blood. But before she could contemplate whether or not she should tell the Morrow children of the possible tragedy that had befallen their father, her attention was taken by the sight of lights glowing in the distance. She saw them appear behind the enemy line, growing brighter and brighter every passing second. Between the wrecked cars of their foes, she could see shadows of people moving about. It was now clear to her that the battle was not over, and that Morrow had been right all along.

  Lira then made her way down the hallway and towards the main hall; she was still conflicted as to whether she should tell anyone about Mr. Morrow. Luckily, that inner conflict was quickly resolved when she looked into the hall from the hallway and saw both Charles and Willow walking past the dead soldier’s corpse. Willow appeared to still be trapped in a state of perpetual despair; her expression had barely changed at all since the fourth-floor hallway. Lira was wise enough to know that bearing such tragic news would only worsen her condition. However, part of her could not fathom how the Baron of Morrowyn could’ve died in such a manner. Surely, his visions would’ve alerted him as to his fate. She then remembered the first time she had heard about the Morrow’s grave vision, on the day prior, in her mother’s bedroom, shortly after they had first arrived.

  “The Morrows bring us grave news, dear. It appears we may be in for something quite dire,” Jeanette had first told her, seemingly out of the blue whilst they were both unraveling the family luggage. However, in hindsight, her timing was sensible, for in that moment she knew that neither of Lira’s siblings, nor their ravens, would be in hearing distance. “What do you mean?” Lira had asked, initially more intrigued than worried. “They don’t know. All they know is that if we do not leave in time, it is likely we may all face something that could be deadly,”

  “How is that possible, mother? The Order of Man cannot possibly find this place,” Lira had said, now confused. “I know,” Jeanette had answered. “But if the Morrows see it then there is a chance it can happen. Perhaps they simply know something we do not,”

  Jeanette then turned to Lira and looked directly into her eyes while making sure she did the same. “Listen carefully. The Morrows told me that you would not be there to protect Ben or Morgan if the time comes. They told us that the children will be safe if they escape to the Mirror,”

  “The Mirror?” Lira exclaimed, shaking her head. “No, that is too dangerous. I can’t trust Ben to…” However, before she could finish her sentence Jeanette grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently until she stopped talking. “Listen to me,” she said with a look of deep worry. “We must be prepared. I want you to show Lucian the Mirror, warn him about what is coming and swear him to secrecy, understood?”

  “But…” Lira tried to object, for she seriously doubted Lucian’s ability to handle something so severe. However, Jeanette cut her off. “This is an order,” she said sternly. Lira looked down in obedience. Jeanette’s expression then softened. “Don’t worry, my dear. It will be all right, nothing will happen to Ben or Morgan. You have my word,”

  Lira then snapped out of her memory as she came to within mere feet of the hall doors. But as she made her way to the others, she examined her own present situation and thought of all the things the Morrows had been wrong about, for there she was, nearly at the door of the hall, watching Lucian take out a raven feather quill from his coat and pressing its tip against his finger. Surely, something must have changed. Perhaps a gear in the infinite clockwork of the universe had turned in their favor. However, such hopes were quickly melted away by the lingering doubts that she had been taught to never ignore. She knew that she couldn’t afford to be optimistic. Not yet.

  Lucian could feel the banners hanging from the pillars look down at him as he rubbed his hand against the back wall of the room, triggering the stone to shift, revealing the Flame Gateway and the pedestal. He then began to paint the symbol of House Demon on the surface of the pedestal using his bleeding finger. While he did this, Lira looked up at the wall directly above the hall doors, where she had kept the Flame Lantern. She figured it would be wise to have on hand, just in case. However, strangely, all she found saw when she looked up was an empty hook, with the lantern nowhere to be found. It had not fallen, and it couldn’t have changed its place. It was simple gone. In that moment, her optimistic thoughts were replaced by a feeling of anxiety. She felt her skin tingle as she gentle placed her finger on her gun’s trigger. Blackfeather seemed to share her sentiment, for it let out a loud screech before flying off her shoulder and perching on the lantern-less hook.

  “Lira!” Benjamin shouted as he saw his sister standing outside the doors. He took a step forward only to stop when he saw her concerned expression. Lira tried to gesture her brother to stop talking, however he didn’t seem take the hint. “Is something wrong?”

  “Is it about our parents?” asked Alice. Moments later, Lira heard a click as the dining room door behind her swung open. She saw the expressions of both Benjamin and Alice shift from worry to fear. “LIRA!” Benjamin screamed whilst pointing at the hallway behind her. She swiftly turned around, only to see a cloaked figure lunge at her before she could even aim her revolver. The figure tackled her and pinned her elbows to her sides before pointing a gun directly at her head. Janice immediately pointed her own gun at the man. However, before she could shoot, the sound of a clank echoed throughout the room. Everyone in the room then looked at the ground as the black, misshapen, frame of the Flame Lantern rolled onto the middle of the room. In that moment of distraction, another figure appeared from behind one of the large pillars, with his gun pointed directly at Janice.

  “Put down the gun, Baroness,” the man said threateningly, though his voice was not harsh or confident, rather it seemed to hide a feeling of intimidation. Janice did not budge. She kept her hand steady, yet she knew she could not shoot as long as Lira had a gun to her head. The man glanced at the children with a frown and a look of disappointment. Yet he too did not shoot.

  “What are you doing? Shoot that wretched sow!” the other man said impatiently as Lira struggled to get out of his grip. The man applied as much pressure he could on Lira’s hand and pulled her gun away from her hand. He then used his powers to stuff it inside his own waistcoat pocket. “Have you forgotten? We need them alive! Those were our orders!” his colleague argued.

  “Are you daft?” asked the man in disbelief. “Look at the floor!” he commanded whilst gesturing to the dead body. “He is dead! All our colleagues are dead! They killed them!”

  “Wrong!” Lira screamed. “They did not kill anyone! You cannot seriously believe that they’re children!”

  “Really?” her captor scoffed. “Then who did? Who threw our men off these forsaken steps with their bodies tied to damn chandelier?”

  “I did!” Lira stated fearlessly, her expression oozing with rage and showing no remorse. “I killed all your friends! Besides, I thought your orders were to execute us if we did not comply. And, as the many bodies in this house will attest to, we have not complied!”

  The man who held Lira flinched, while the other looked genuinely confused. “What in Moor’s name are you talking about? We received no execution order!”

  “The men who attacked us seemed to think you did, either that or it was blind incompetence. Either way, they all now rest in deserved damnation alongside all your other traitorous brothers. And so will you if you do not unhand me and surrender now!”

  Her words, and more importantly her lack of both fear and remorse, seemed to enrage the soldier, yet his expression did not show it, for he knew that rage and irrationality was what Lira was hoping to gain from him. Instead, the man feigned an indifferent, even somewhat amused, expression. “You…” he said, almost grinning with malice.

  “You’re the daughter of the vow-breaker, aren’t you?” he uttered into Lira’s ear whilst pushing the gun against the side of her face until it strained her neck. All she could see was Blackfeather, still perched on the lantern hook. She could not move her hands to signal it, and the bird itself seemed unsure about its next move, unwilling to act while the man had his finger on the trigger. For a moment, she felt a feeling of helplessness deep inside her, though she would not let it cloud her mind. “Fancy yourself a soldier, do you?” the soldier continued to utter with relish and disdain. “Well, listen to me. We will not fall for your lies! You’re nothing but a silver spoon girl in a costume! YOU HEAR ME!”

  “Stay away from my sister, you wretched traitor!” Benjamin screamed from behind Janice. Even the other soldier seemed to become increasingly nervous and frustrated by his colleague’s behavior. “Stop that! Did you not hear me? We need them!”

  While all of this was taking place, Lucian stood up by the pedestal, glancing back and forth between his unfinished symbol and the scene that was unfolding in front of him. He slowly moved his finger along the surface of the disk, advancing inch by inch while maintaining a calm ad unassuming posture. Loud noises from outside echoed throughout the walls of the hallway and hall, which only seemed to make the men more nervous and impatient. Suddenly, the eyes of the soldier who held Lira widened as though he had had a revelation. He then turned to his colleague.

  “You’re right, we do need them. But what we do not need, is all of them,” he said. His colleague seemed confused. “What are you saying?” while at the same time, Janice was unwilling to entertain what the man was implying. “You’re both fools! We, the Great Houses, will never yield to traitorous scum like you! No matter how many of us fall!” she bellowed, though her words seemed to wall on deaf ears, for the man did not even flinch. Instead, he kept on looking at his friend, who seemed to become more anxious with every word the man spoke. Lucian could almost see his hand tremble.

  “I am no educated man,” the man stated, almost proudly. He then looked at the children with an expression molded by condescension. “But I do know that we need the heirs of seven Houses, and I see more than seven of you wretches here,”

  He then stared at Janice coldly. “And we certainly do not need any outsiders,”

  Suddenly, without warning and within seconds, he pointed the gun away from Lira and directly at Janice. He then pulled the trigger before Lira and the others even had time to process what was occurring. Janice fell onto the carpet with a thud whilst a growing red stain appeared over her waist. The other soldier seemed to panic when he saw his associate pull the trigger. “You imbecile! What do you think you’re doing?”

  The soldier opened his mouth to respond. However, in that moment, he had neglected to point his gun back at Lira. Perhaps it was his arrogance and incompetence, perhaps he had underestimated his opponents too much, but in any case, Lira saw an opportunity and before the man could even blurt out his words, she swung her head and struck the man’s eye with the side of her forehead. The man’s head jerked backwards as he was taken aback by surprise, in that moment, his grip loosened, and Lira managed to free one of her hands. She then struck man’s side with her elbow before he could even react. The man staggered back a step, his grip now loose enough for Lira to free her other hand. Once she was free, she punched the man in the stomach and shoved him as hard as she could, which sent him stumbling backwards whilst being on verge of falling over. The other soldier immediately turned away from the children and tried to shoot at Lira. However, before he could even aim properly, Maurice came flying in from behind him and dug its talons into the man’s shoulder. The man howled in pain as Maurice flapped its wings aggressively, which made him stumble back. Benjamin then ran to the front of the group; he held out his hand and Janice’s gun flew out of her hand and into his. He then pointed the gun directly at the man, his hand shaking nervously as he watched Maurice continue to claw away at the traitor’s flesh.

  With both soldiers distracted, Lucy, Luin and Lily all descended on Janice. Alice soon followed them; leaving James to hold Arthur by himself. They then slowly moved Janice’s body off the carpet and leaned her back against one of the pillars. Lily placed her hand on her mother’s head while Janice stared directly at her, one of her hands laid on her waist, soaked in blood while her hand gently touched the side of Lily’s face. She took deep breaths as she tried to stay calm and cling to life as long as possible. Lily looked to Alice, though her grim expression did not resonate any hope or optimism. Alice opened her mouth to say something; however, Lily rolled her eyes and gestured towards Lucy, who was sobbing uncontrollable next to Luin. Alice seemed to take the hint. So instead, she got closer to Lily and quietly whispered her conclusions into her ear.

  As this all unfolded, Lucian watched on horror. In that moment, an image of Lidian flashed before his eyes. He took his hand off the pedestal. The urgency of opening the Flame Gateway faded from his mind, for at that moment, all he could think about was Janice. But, as he left the pedestal and tried to join his siblings, Charles, Joe and the Hatlys immediately stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

  “Lucian, what are you doing?” asked Charlotte. “Move aside, all of you,” Lucian replied calmly. “You need to open the door!” Charles pleaded. However, Lucian did not take kindly to his words as frustration began to boil inside him. “That’s my MOTHER!” he shouted as he kept on walking forwards. However, to his continued vexation, the group did not budge. “We don’t have time for this, Demon!” shouted Joe, stepping directly in front of him. Lucian tried to go around him, but Joe was not having it, for he then grabbed the top of his coat and pulled him back. “We have come too far for you to stop now!”

  “Get out of my way!” Lucian shouted, as he grabbed Joe’s wrist and took his hand off his coat. However, Joe did not back down, instead only inching forward. “Open the door first!” Lucian was now thinking of shoving Joe aside by force, and Joe himself seemed to know this. But before both of them could come to blows the Hatlys got in between them. Charlotte held Joe by shoulders while Laura confronted Lucian. “We need you, Lucian. Do not lose yourself now,” she said in a far more friendly tone. But though it made Lucian calm down a little, it did not sway him to stop. He opened his mouth to argue, but as he stared into Laura’s eyes, it was as if the words simply disappeared from his mind.

  “Lu!” he then heard Lily call. He looked over Laura’s shoulder and saw Janice and Lily both staring directly at him. Janice slowly lifted her arm into the air and pointed her finger at the Gateway. She then tried to speak; however her voice was too weak for Lucian to hear. So instead, she whispered into Lily’s ear, coughing out droplets of blood as she did so, whilst Lily listened with utmost intent. Once she was done, Lily turned to her brother and repeated Janice’s message in her own words. “Open that door, NOW!”

  Lucian paused. He looked at Lily’s enraged, heartbroken face and realized that Joe and the Hatlys were right; he had lost focus on the matter at hand. He then swiftly turned around and walked back to the pedestal. He then hastily squeezed the tip of finger to draw out as much blood as he could before running it across the surface of the pedestal and completing the symbol of his house. With all his concentration, he struck the pedestal with his fist. Blue fire then engulfed the symbol and, moments later, the Flame Gateway opened in a burst of light to reveal the endless expanse of the Mirror.

  Meanwhile, at the entrance to the hall, while her adversary tried to regain his footing from her surprise offensive, Lira held out her hand and called Blackfeather onto her arm. “Do what you do best,” she whispered into the raven’s ear. Blackfeather replied with a flattered screech before flying out of Lira’s hand and darting headfirst towards the soldier like an arrow. Blackfeather collided with the soldier’s chest with enough force to knock the man back, it then began to ruthlessly claw at the man until he completely lost balance and tumbled down on the floor, screamed and gasping in panic. Lira then ran up to the soldier and kicked the gun out of his hand. She then held out her arm in the direction of the man’s cloak and made the revolver he had taken come flying back into her hand. She then watched as Blackfeather continued to maul its prey, a sight that gave her a strange feeling of satisfaction. Once she felt like the man had suffered enough, she called Blackfeather back onto her hand. She then walked up to the man and pointed her gun at his chest whilst he writhed on the floor, his cloak now torn, and his arms covered in scratches.

  “It appears you’ve been bested by a silver spoon girl, soldier,” she mocked. The soldier didn’t even respond to her insult, he was in simply too much pain. Lira was about to pull the trigger when she saw a light flash behind her. She briefly turned around and looked at the room behind her, only to see an open Flame Gateway. Seeing safety mere inches filled her with a sense of relief. However, despite this, she saw the solider still moving from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned back to her foe, determined not to make any more mistakes. She aimed her gun directly at the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger, ending him on the spot. She then looked at the cylinder of her revolver, only to see that she had only two bullets left. Therefore, she shot him again for good measure before walking into the hall, feeling neither guilt nor remorse.

  Once she entered the room, she saw Lucian standing by the Gateway as everyone else slowly walked through it. One by one, they disappeared behind the barrier for their presence inside the Mirror was not reflected on the other side. Everyone except Lucy, who still sat sobbing next to Janice, the other Demon children, who watched over her as she did so and Benjamin, who stood close to the middle of the room, standing firmly in place, his eyes and gun aimed at the other soldier who was now on the ground. The man had his back against the wall, as he continuously and relentlessly tormented by Maurice. “That’s enough,” she said, somewhat disturbed by what Maurice had done to the man. Benjamin glanced at her before calling Maurice back onto his shoulder, leaving the man barely alive with a visceral wound running across his shoulder and lower neck.

  “Go,” she then ordered. “What?” Benjamin, confused by Lira’s sudden sternness. “You have done enough here today. Go, join the others,”

  “What about you?” he asked. “You’re coming with us, are you not?”

  Lira looked off to the side, unwilling to face her brother directly. “That was never part of the plan,” she said somberly. “Besides, someone must be there to safeguard this side of the Gateway,”

  “You cannot be serious, you can’t just…” Benjamin tried to argue but Lira simply cut him off. “Just go, alright?”

  Suddenly, before they could argue any further, the soldier let out a loud gasp as his hands moved slowly along his lap. One of them went into his cloak while the other tried to reach for the gun, which had fallen next to his knee. Lira immediately pointed her gun at the man. In a way, she was glad to know the man still had some shred of life left in him, for she intended to get some answers out of him. She glanced back, only to see the Demons still having not gone through the Gateway. “Take the rest of your peers and go, now!” she commanded before pushing Benjamin back.

  Benjamin didn’t move at first, he stood still, staring at Lira with a frown, seemingly unwilling to accept her orders. Lira knew better than to push him any further, instead she simply kept her gaze on the soldier and avoided looking at Benjamin. Even Blackfeather turned its head back and screeched at Benjamin and Maurice with hostility. Eventually both of them seemed to understand the message. Benjmain turned around and walked to the Gateway, at the same time; both Lily and Luin began to pull Lucy away from Janice to which Lucy responded with aggressive defiance as she swung her arms around vigorously in order to evade their grip.

  “Stop! No!” she yelled angrily. “I won’t go, you cannot make me!”

  “You don’t have a choice, Lucy! We don’t have time!” Luin tried to reason. Although his words were not particularly effective, for Lucy fiercely shook her head and refused to heed his words. “We must take mother with us! We have to!”

  Lucian, Lily and Luin all exchanged glances with each other. Lucian looked at the bullet wound on Janice’s waist. Alice had managed to repair some of it and stop the bleeding, but she had unfortunately informed Lily that the internal damage was too great. Lily had told this all to Lucian and Luin, and even Janice herself seemed to understand this. They all knew what was inevitable, yet none of them wished to tell this to Lucy. “Listen, Lucy. We cannot…” Lucian began but Lucy snapped back at him furiously. “No! We cannot leave without her! Not after what happened to Lidian! If you couldn’t save him at least save mother!”

  That statement made Lucian’s expression darken and his lips quiver whilst it made Lily immediately stare off into the side. “That was different...I did…I did everything I could,” he stuttered. “Well, then why can’t you do that for mother? Don’t you care?” to which Lucian did not answer, for he knew nothing he said would satisfy her.

  Lucy continued lash out until Janice herself put a stop to it. She wheezed and placed her on Lucy’s lap. “No,” she said, her voice now somewhat raspy and coarse. She then inhaled deeply. “You…must…go…without me,”

  At the same time, Benjamin walked up to Lucian and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Lira tells me that we have to go, now!” However, Lucian did not pay any attention to him, for he was unwilling to leave without Luin and his siblings. “But…who is going to be there for you?” Lucy asked, distraught. Janice then turned her head and faced her youngest daughter; she forced herself to smile though Lucian could see her lip shivering in pain. “I have…Lira,” she blurted out whilst coughing profusely. “It is…best if I…rest here now,”

  “Lira is not coming?” Lira asked, turning to Benjamin, to which he simply nodded reluctantly. Janice then turned to the rest of her children. “The Great Houses…never…leave each other…behind,” she advised using what appeared to be her last remaining ounces of life. “Be strong…survive…go” she said before attempting to push Lucy away with her hand, however she did not even have the strength to move her an inch. Lucy’s eyes widened with deep anguish and tears began to run down her face once more, it appears she had finally realized what the others had already knew. Luin then put his hands on her shoulders, and this time, Lucy did not resist, instead she leaned back against Luin’s body as he wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace. Lucian gazed at Janice one final time. He watched as her eyes stopped flickering and closed one final time. She exhaled one final time, and then her body became eerily still. At that moment, Lucian knew she was gone. Lily, who stood right next to him, pursed her lips out of grief and leaned her head against his shoulder. Lucian himself didn’t quite know how to process the situation, in his mind, Janice was with Lidian now, and that thought comforted him. But while the Demon children all mourned in silence, Benjamin decided to remind them of the situation of hand.

  “We…We should make haste,” he said sympathetically in a quiet and solemn manner. However, Lucian could feel a miniscule undertone of impatience in his voice. Luin then began to stand up, he tried to get Lucy to rise with him. However, Lucy simply continued to lean against him with all her weight. When he tried to let go of her, she started to fall back onto the ground, almost as though her legs had become limp and lifeless. Her face seemed to be trapped in a state of misery, her hands constantly wiping away tears as they relentless flowed out of her eyes. Janice’s death had made her neither scream nor outburst, though she simply looked incredibly exhausted. Yet Lucian knew, that deep down, she was enduring the same raging fires of despair that he had. Luin tried standing her up again, but once again, Lucy neither complied nor resisted him. Luin seemed to realize his efforts were hopeless, yet neither he nor anyone else was willing to move her by force.

  “What do we do now?” asked Benjamin, the urgency in his voice increasing with every word. “She needs time,” replied Lucian, however, Benjamin was not satisfied by his answer. “But we don’t have time! Lira told me…”

  “That’s enough of that!” Lily shouted, cutting him off. “Look how close we are! Look what we’ve overcome! What’s left here that can hurt us now, hmm? So can’t you spare a damn minute?”

  Benjamin paused, somewhat taken aback and seemingly unable to come up with a proper response. Lily’s harsh tone even seemed to intimidate Maurice, for flapped its wings defensively as it retreated to the very back of Benjamin’s shoulder. However, despite Lily’s passionate defense of her family, it seemed that Luin was on Benjamin’s side. “No, he’s right,” he said, standing up whilst Lucy continued to remain on the floor. “There is no point in all of us waiting out here, not when safety is within arm’s reach,”

  “What are you saying?” asked Lucian, confused as to Luin’s thought process. “Maybe you all should go. You, Lily and Bernstein. Lucy and I will follow you once she’s ready to move on,”

  “Don’t be daft!” Lily scolded the moment Luin stopped talking. “Did you not hear what mother just told us? We go in together or not at all,” she said with utmost determination whilst simultaneously giving Benjamin a dirty side eyed look. Fortunately, they did not have to argue for long, for then soon afterwards, Lucy wiped her face one last time before finally standing up and turning way from Janice. “It’s alright,” she murmured, her head facing the ground. She then looked up at the others and sighed. “I’m ready,”

  The other all exchanged glances. Lily then leaned forwards and placed her hand atop Lucy’s head. “’m proud of you, we all are,” she said, gesturing her hand at both Lucian and Luin. “And mother and Lid would be too.” Those last words seemed to spark an ember of joy within Lucy, for, after what had felt like a gloomy eternity, she smiled, even though that smile still carried the stains of sadness. “I shall miss his constant whining,”

  At that moment, Lucian heard Benjamin clear his throat from behind him, which once again prevented him from being too absorbed in the emotions of the moment. He then signaled to the others that they should finally make their way to the portal, to which none of them objected. Lily held Lucian’s arm as they alongside walked alongside Benjamin whilst Luin stayed by Lucy as they walked a few steps behind, exhaustion seemingly slowing their pace. As Lucian gazed upon the Flame Gateway, it seemed to him that all their troubles had finally ended.

  Meanwhile, Lira watched with narrow eyes as the soldier kept breathing heavily while swaying in pain from side to side, blood still oozing from his wound. From the corner of her eye, she could see her brother and the Demon children all crowd around Janice. Once she was sure they were distracted, she took a step towards the man and leaned down towards him with a cold and unforgiving stare whilst Blackfeather jumped off her shoulder and landed mere inches away from the soldier’s wound.

  “Can you speak?” she asked, lightly kicking the soldier’s foot. By the looks of his wound, she knew she had approximately fifteen minutes before the man died of blood loss. The soldier let out a light groan as his body flinched. Lira however, was not satisfied by that response. She gave Blackfeather a glance, the raven then proceeded to dig its beak into the man’s injury. The man opened his mouth to scream only for Lira to cover it with her hand and sleeve. She waited for the muffled howling to stop before taking her hand off is mouth, leaving the soldier breathing rapidly in anguish.

  “Good,” she muttered. She then placed her foot on the soldier’s leg. “Now then, tell me about your leader,”

  The soldier glared up at her, seemingly insulted by her question. She did not appreciate such attitude. She glanced at Blackfeather once again, and once again, it stabbed the man in the same spot with its beak. Lira once again covered the man’s mouth as he cried out in suffering. However, to his credit, he did not scream as loud as the first time.

  “I ask you again, who was the traitorous scum who convinced you to betray your own people?”

  “We are…not the traitors here, girl,” the man gasped. Lira flinched. “The blood you have spilt here says otherwise.” The man scoffed, “All of this death…is but a drop in the well…compared to what you high houses have done,”

  The man then reached his hand further into his cloak, though such an action did not worry Lira in the slightest. “Reaching for a spare gun is useless, you will die before the cylinder can finish turning,”

  Strangely, her words seemed to make the soldier smile, as though she had said something funny. “You are mistaken…Baronette,” he muttered and sighed. “I carry no spare gun.” A click sound then came from inside the man’s cloak as he began to moan in pain. Lira raised her eyebrow in confusion as a strange smell filled the air around her; it was the smell of something burning. Lira saw a black patch appear on the surface of the cloak as the man swiftly pulled his hand out of it. Alongside his fist came two objects, one flew out of his waistcoat, shining in the torchlight as it slid across the floor. Lira gazed at it and realized it was a lighter, made from bronze and severely dented. She then turned back to the man, only for her face to turn pale. For, clenched between the man’s fingers, was an iron ball that was slightly larger than his fist, attached to a lit fuse. It was a grenade.

  Lira immediately took a step back, watching the fuse as it slowly burned away. She wanted to shoot the man but seeing the grenade had thrown off her composure and caught her by surprise. She glanced at Flame Gateway, only to see that the remaining children had only just reached the portal. The soldier, following her gaze, saw the same thing. In that moment, he made a desperate move, and, just Benjamin plunged his hand into the barrier between worlds, he threw the grenade as hard as he could, sending it flying off towards the portal. Lira let out a panicked gasp as the grenade flew past her. She stretched out her arm and called forth as much power and focus as she could muster in her current state of exhaustion. The grenade almost immediately halted it trajectory and remained frozen in midair. Unfortunately, her gasp had been loud enough as to alert the others. She watched, terrified, as the Benjamin, half inside the barrier, suddenly turned his head back and looked directly at the explosive floating mere meters away from them. He and the others then paused, seemingly unable to process what they were seeing. Lira then began to pull the grenade back towards her. “GO!” she frantically screamed at the top her lungs. Her words seemed to make them snap out of their shock, for they all then dashed into the portal.

  Seeing this, the soldier then turned his attention away from the grenade, and with his remaining strength, he lunged towards his gun. He held his hand out and made his revolver fly into his hand. Lira watched him from the corner of her eye, and she tried to move away as he pointed his gun at her and pulled the trigger. However, she wasn’t quite fast enough, and she felt a bolt of pain run across her head as the bullet grazed the right side of her face, leaving behind a flesh wound that stretched from the edge of her mouth to the middle of her cheek. The sudden shock made her drop her gun on the floor as she staggered back a step, gasping and moaning. Her hold on the grenade was shattered, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

  “LI…” she heard Benjamin scream, before Lucian cut him off by pushing his body all the way through the portal. He and Lily then followed him, only looking back for a moment before disappearing into the Mirror. The soldier, having not given up, then turned his aim towards the portal. Just as Luin and Lucy approached the portal, he fired his remaining ammunition at the stone pedestal. Luin, seeing the man aim at the portal, panicked. He pushed Lucy’s head down and grabbed her hand as they both ducked behind the pedestal whilst running towards the barrier. However, just as they were mere feet away from the Gateway, the bullets struck the pedestal, chipping and fracturing the surface of the stone and shattering the small stone disk where Lucian had drawn the symbol. Instantly, as pieces of the disk fell onto the floor, the door began to close. The barrier faded away into thin air in mere seconds. Luin, seeing the portal close, stopped dead in his tracks less than three feet away from the barrier and pulled his cousin towards him by the arm. The force of his pull sent Lucy reeling towards him, and he stopped her by grabbed her torso. Once they had both stopped, they stared at the Gateway, their mouths and eye wide with horror as they watched the light disappear from the portal, leaving behind nothing but a solid slab of stone.

  Seeing the portal that Benjamin had crossed disappear made Lira’s heart stop, it then filled her with an overwhelming amount of fury. Her mind suddenly lost all sense of reason, and, in a moment of blind rage, she glared at the soldier. She reached out her arm and pulled the grenade into her hand before leaning down and grabbing her gun. Her face flared with pain as she gritted her teeth behind her closed lips, yet she didn’t care. She pointed her gun at the soldier, and without thought or hesitation, she fired directly at the man’s chest. The soldier barely had a moment to change his facial expression before his head fell to the side and his body became as stiff as a doll. Moments later, Lira felt her anger subside. Her attention once again returned to the matter at hand. She looked at the grenade in her hand and saw that the fuse had nearly reached its end; it was mere seconds away from going off.

  “COVER YOURSELVES!” she shouted as she put her gun into her coat and called Blackfeather back onto her shoulder. She thought as fast as she could whilst containing her inner panic, she turned to the entrance of the hall and threw the grenade as far back into the hallway as she could. She then focused all her remaining strength on the hall doors, closing them in order block the blast. Once the doors were shut, she began to walk towards the back of hall, her mind still focused on the doors whilst Luin and Lucy hid behind one of the pillars. In her final seconds, she braced herself, for moment later, she heard a bang so loud that it rattled her bones and made her ears ring. She felt a force push her against her hands, stronger than anything she had felt before. Within moments, it overwhelmed her as it tore the apart the ancient doors and blasted them off their hinges, sending pieces of iron and smoldering wood flying into the hall. She tried to evade the volley of debris, yet she wasn’t fast enough. For, before she could even stumble back a step, a barrage of smoking pieces struck her like drunken bullets. Most of them simply bounced off her clothes, leaving behind small char stains while some struck her exposed hands and face with enough speed to leave behind small scratches. She wrapped her hands around Blackfeather and held the bird close to her chest as she turned her back on the blast to avoid debris striking her eyes. Less than a second later, a raging cloud of red and orange fire came bursting into the room, funneled by the narrow hallway. Lira felt a wave of heat wash over her as the violent force of the blast struck her like wall, pushing her down onto the ground. Banners collapsed off their hooks and torches fell from their sconces as Lira landed shoulder first on the carpet, Blackfeather still huddled her arms. She then rolled over and lied on her back before finally letting go of Blackfeather. The room then went eerily silent as the last echoes of the explosion slowly faded away. As she lay on the ground, her aching face, the force of the sudden fall and her overall exhaustion made her feel rather dizzy. All she could feel was the carpet rubbing her coat as the world around her began to darken.