Iscariot

Cuz all my life I felt this way but I could never find the words to say.

Mika felt her magic rush back, dizzy as she sat up. She saw Erik carefully standing, obviously regaining his magic as well, as he summoned a ward beneath them to drive back the fire once more.

Sam stood up behind him, checking for any other signs of danger before looking back at them. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." Mika rose, her legs unsteady at first, then moving with surer steps. Steps that broke into a run, not to Erik or to Sam, but to Damien. He watched warily as she approached, then staggered in amazement as she threw herself into his arms. "You saved us. You saved me." She hugged him so tightly, burying her face in his chest.

"I did." Damien's heart leaped into his throat as he looked down at her. He saw his brothers watching from the corner of his eye and pushed their thoughts away to focus on Mika.

"I remember us." She carefully dropped the shield in her mind, letting him recall the memories with her: talking with him in her bedroom, sliding down the banister as they cleaned, and their time in Harold's study. Memories she now cherished. It calmed Damien to hear them, no other voices in his head but her own, no other thoughts but of them.

"I'm sorry. I should have known you would never hurt me," Mika whispered, ashamed of the wraith-induced dreams that terrorized her and almost turned her from him.

Damien let go to brush her cheek and lift her chin. "No sorries, remember? We both say sorry too much."

Mika gave a broken laugh, relieved at his forgiveness. She tilted her head into his palm and hugged him even tighter. Suddenly, her expression blanked.

"No," Damien's stomach dropped once more, recognizing the look. "Leave her alone. Leave all of us alone!"

"I told you it would only be for a moment," Mika patiently answered, her voice echoing. She took his face in her hands and Damien felt a wave of warmth flow through him, making him gasp. The cold within him warmed, the darkness filled with a bright light. The ebony of his eyes seeped away to leave the gentle indigo once more.

"You've done well, my conscience," she praised him, stroking his jaw. "Very well."

He searched her eyes, seeing the faint purple glow. "Who-?"

"Damien?" Mika startled, blinking up at him. The presence was gone and she shuddered in its wake. She'd heard it, too, but those weren't her words. Or are they? Diana had sounded like Diana, not her.

"Am I going mad?" she quietly whispered, frightened.

"Shhhh," He hushed her and held her close. "No, you aren't. Don't worry." But it was a weak comfort at best. His brothers watched from a distance, wary of interrupting.

Damien knowing his thoughts, Erik stood silent. Sam recognized the pain and longing in Erik's expression, putting a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. "The fire, Zae," Sam quietly reminded.

"Yes," Erik pulled himself away from the sight of Mika in Damien's arms. "Yes, of course." He met Sam's gaze for a moment, then walked past him. Quieting his thoughts, he summoned the winds with his magic. The people of Lilith needed him and with Shadow defeated, he had the energy to help them.

*

Karas looked up, shielding the eyes of the demon child he carried, as the wind suddenly gusted. The girl's mother and siblings fled with him across the burn into Emwin. Other soldiers were doing the same, helping the citizens of Lilith to safety and securing shelter in the port town.

The wind howled as waterspouts formed over the bay, lifting the sea water into the air. It poured down the streets of Lilith, over the collapsed buildings, quenching the flames. Heavy smoke followed by steam swirled up into the sky. It spiraled further and further out as the wind took it, growing faint until it finally dissipated.