I listen closely as my brother goes over the numbers.
"We've lost about two thousand humans," he admits and I swallow the bile rising up in my throat.
"Too many, too many," I whisper and Natham takes hold of my hand, squeezing tight in comfort.
"They knew this wouldn't be easy Cybil, they were just as ready for the sacrifice as we were," Matrix reminds me and I nod, forcing back the tears that threaten to rise.
"Continue then," I urge.
"We've lost about a thousand vampires on our side, again, another hard number to hear. We have about twenty two thousand left, humans and vampires both," Matrix looks over his notes.
"And them? What are they at?" I press.
"From what we've been able to gather, they've lost five thousand," he's looking over the papers, tallying things up the best he can.
"That can't be possible Matrix, that's not possible," I snap.
"It is actually, you're highness," the human next to my brother says. "I've been helping him calculate. We severely outnumbered them, and your training has made us more lethal than even we expected," he speaks casually while pulling out his blade and slicing his wrist for me. I bite down at the smell of fresh blood and feel some strength return to my body. He continues speaking as if he's done this a thousand times, and as my gift flows through us both I see that he is from the borders, used to being ravaged. "The other problem they didn't foresee is their lack of healing right now. They don't have anyone feeding them on the sidelines like we do. The vampires on our side have been receiving blood whenever we can stop to give it."
"You've been feeding in the middle of battle?" Natham questions as I pull away, my own eyes wide.
"Yes, we knew it would help us in the long run, and it has been."
"What's your name?" I ask while gazing him over. I recognize him but didn't know him well enough to exchange names.
"Westin, my lady."
"Westin, I owe you my thanks. I owe it to all of them," my heart is full.
"It's an honor to have you as a leader," he smiles.
I smile before turning to my brother. "They've had enough," I decide in that moment.
"They're in rage, getting them to stop at this point would be nearly impossible," Matrix says while combing his fingers through his hair.
"I have an idea but it's crazy," I grimace at the thought.
"Cybil don't," I hear him call after me but I am already gone, racing back to the war raging nearby us. I rush into battle, letting the fear push me forward and without a second thought I scream.
Those nearby pause for a moment and turn to face me, but it's not enough. I scream again, louder this time, now that those around me are quiet more can hear me. I climb on top of the rubble and stand tall before my people. I see the dead bodies lying upon the ground, smell the blood in the air and a twinge of burning flesh as well. I scream once more, and they all stop this time, confusion flashing across their faces.
"What are you doing?" someone calls out.
"That's enough, that's enough bloodshed. If you want anymore it'll be me you come for. It'll be me you fight, not amongst yourselves!" I call out, my voice ringing through the crowd. "Or we can stop this, we can end it right now and come together to rebuild what was broken."
"You broke it!" a voice cries out.
"It was already broken! Children dying from our lack of control, people with thoughts and feelings being enslaved and abused. Everything was broken. But we can fix it, we can work together instead of against each other. Please listen to me," and they do, they've all fallen silent. "I didn't want things to end this way, with pain and more death, but you wouldn't listen, you wouldn't see beyond yourselves. Look at those around you, they've marched into battle against creatures far stronger than them and they're winning. They're winning because they are determined to be free once and for all. They've proven themselves worthy of it. The very blood that supplied you with life has been spilled at your own hands. This is your chance to change that, and probably your only chance. I ask you to please, surrender."
They are all silent for a moment, and it is the humans that respond first, dropping their weapons and raising their hands in the air. My heart hammers wildly in my chest as I wait. And then, I see the first pair of vampiric hands lift in the air, then another and another until finally my kingdom stands before me, hands up, the fight gone from their eyes and replaced by something stronger. The strength to reach for a second chance.
Author's Note;
I know it's a short one, and yes this is the last chapter, but don't worry there's an epilogue coming. This book was such a journey for me to write but it echoed some of the sentiments of my heart. It talks about grace, hard work against mental illness, how blood relatives aren't always make or break, how relationships take work and communication and most importantly how social systems designed for one group to rule over the other cannot be slowly shifted. You must first destroy the oppressive system before seeking to build something new. Cybil taught me that, and I hope she taught you something too. Love you all, let's wrap this story up.
YOU ARE READING
The Torn Sins
Vampire"Greetings to you all across the nation of The Castle. I, your Queen, come today, bearing sad news. Your princess, Cybil, has become mentally ill. This has been going on for a few weeks now, since her 17th birthday she has nearly refused to eat, scr...
