The Last Harmon [Complete]

Chapter 1

Five Years Later 

Today is the fifth anniversary. I buy the same flowers, walk the same streets, cross the same bridge, and arrive at the same place. I lay the flowers at her gravestone and I wipe away the dirt from her name. Even though she isn't buried here, I feel connected to her here, as though she is standing right beside me, listening to me. After all I've seen magic do, that is nothing close to impossible.

"Hi, mum," I say, as I get comfortable at the base of the stone. I pick at the grass as I speak, ignoring the other visitors at the grave site that drift aimlessly past me. "It's that time of the year again. I turned nineteen yesterday, as you know. The world is still messed up and under Amara's control, as you know. She executed a dozen world leaders last month on live television as a warning. I'm still not sure who the warning is for. It's just a mess." I sigh, turning my head to wipe a tear. "I miss you so much. Every day it get's harder, not better. Every day it gets harder to. . . breathe and I don't know how much more I take it. The only thing that keeps me going is picturing her death. Envisioning the smile being wiped off of her face as she realises she is taking her last breath in this world. It's just a vision though, right? She's too powerful. No one can match her. She's killing good people, mum, and I don't know how to stop it, I don't know how! I'm supposed to be a Harmon; it's supposed to be in my blood to prevent this but I'll never be you. I'll never have your courage. She monitors any magic we use anyway, the moment it tips over her scale we're ash. We can't challenge her, mum, and knowing that scares me more than anything else. I'm sorry but there's nothing else I have to say. I love you."

With bruised pride, I leave her grave. There isn't much to say because nothing ever changes. There is no joy here, there is no promise, no hope, no future. The past five years have been hell, for everyone, covens and mortals alike. Amara grows more powerful every day, her legion of followers refuse to abandon her cause and turn against her; whether that's out of fear or loyalty is still uncertain. It's illegal to talk about it. So of course, no one ever has.

The world is different now. Since magic was exposed, fear has spread all over. The mortals reacted in the only way they know how, with violence. Amara targeted them first. Armies of brave men were wiped out with a single spell, the same spell used in every country of the world. During the first year, the year we call 'the dark era,' over a thousand bombs were dropped within a radius of any magical activity. To protect their world, the mortals almost destroyed it themselves. We lost coven members, we lost many great witches, but the numbers of our lost didn't even compare to theirs.

There is something in our blood that protects our kind from radiation poisoning. We are hard to kill short of being next to a powerful blast. Amara used the radiation as a weapon against the remaining resisting mortals, she allowed it all to be blown across each country, infecting and killing thousands more. Eventually, she sucked the radiation from the air like a vacuum, allowing those that survived in the end to. . . well survive.

The air strikes were the worst. When the mortals discovered the home state of the leader, our home as we knew it was under attack. They brought the fight to Amara's door, and our quiet, beautiful city turned into a catastrophic warzone. I tried to help as many innocents as I could, but I was young and hadn't had much experience with perfecting magic. Amara had sealed the city anyway with a magical shimmer, so only witches and warlocks could enter or leave. When the covens learned that the Elder was under direct attack, they flocked in from all over America, and used every spell known to protect her.

My thoughts were far from protecting her. My thoughts were on the citizens of Phoenix. The mortals that did nothing wrong, that were merely being sentenced to death for just being there. The children that were terrified. The parents that were desperate. I even fought off a young witch that was trying to burn a runner alive. I used a spell to paralyse her power for a few moments, giving the runner time to flee. To this day, she still doesn't know it was me. Amara would execute me if she knew.