I snapped awake. I had passed out for about a second, I realized, rubbing my ankle to find it covered in blood. My forehead was already scarred with bumpy bruises and felt small cuts running along my cheek and my chin.
Glass was spread out all over the floor, broken into tiny little fragments. Some of the fragments were tinted red at the edges. Glass. With one quick swipe, I swept the glass pieces away from me. I felt a sharp sting but I chose to ignore it. I propped my elbows on the ground where there was no glass, and looked up from where I laid. Logan had a hand on my back, Veronica had her bow tilted to the oncoming crowd, and Ace...where could he be? Nix and Ember were right next to Logan, spreading their wings to deflect cups from hurtling in our direction.
People screamed in the background, but all that was fuzzy. Feet trampled all around me and some legs knocked into me as I moved to Logan. Just before, we were yelling at each other. Now, in a sense of danger, we had instinctively drawn closer to each other.
One time, a beer cup spilled all around the glass pieces, spraying the crumbs of glass in every direction. I covered my hand to stop them but they had already torn across my skin.
Logan's previous wounds opened up again, blood trickling once more. He grunted and righted himself on the balls of his feet. He extended a hand out to me, which I instantly took, hauling myself up. He tripped, almost falling over his feet but Veronica was there, sturdy, for him to lean on.
Through the broken windows, fire raged outside, filling the night sky with a glow of a blood red color. I sneezed, sniffing the smoke of the fire. That's when I noticed that everyone else was already outside the restaurant, waiting for Logan and I to leave with them. I ran first, Logan behind me.
Outside was equally disturbing as inside the inn. Fire was spread openly from place to place, starting off slow but readily picking up pace. Animals jumped on top of roofs to stay away from the fire on the ground but the fire found its way onto the roof, sliding itself after them. The air was hot and thick, hard for me to breathe in all the smoke. Dirt and rubble flew through the air and almost all the buildings were caught in flames.
I looked up at the sky. An inferno dragon, pitch black, breathed out flames everywhere in the city. I knew it was an inferno dragon because of its large wings pumping powerfully in the air. The veins in its eyes were bulging out and its claws were extended to catch wind easily.
It wasn't like Veronica's dragon, though, with scales and the bumpy surface. The body of this dragon was sleek and black except for its eyes, glowing an iridescent yellow and the veins branching out cracks of orange across its body. It was made from molten rock with fire almost looking like it burned inside of it.
I couldn't breathe. I inhaled and choked, trying to rub my eyes from the smoke.
I felt Logan grab my hand and motioned, "This way."
As I opened my eyes to run after Logan I caught sight of Ace and his Garvyn not far away. They began to run after us with Veronica and the rest of the animals.
Just as soon as I began to pick up the pace, I was met with a fireball blasting next to me. My eardrums beat madly from the impact of the fireball. I sheathed back my sword, prepared to run with both hands free.
Pain erupted at my side, blinding me from consciousness for a moment. Another fire ball had come so close to me that I felt the intense heat of it. The inferno dragon swooped near me but I managed to roll, the concrete bumpy under my back. Despite my thighs screaming for help, I still pushed myself back up to a standing position to run again. I distinctly heard a squawk, but I knew it was just an animal, and so I continued to run.
I was so close to the edge of the building, but there was only an empty expanse beyond. There were no more buildings to cover us. It was empty. Vast and deserted except for people gathering around something in the middle.
Malanthe was standing in the middle and behind her were animals of all kinds, strapped to a post that looked like a stake. She was wearing what she had worn in Delensaysia earlier back, a black uniform with distinct regalia. Her hair was tied into a tight ponytail, her long flowing black hair whipping around her.
That wasn't what made me almost collapse. The animals behind her were limp like ragged dolls on the stake and their bodies were bruised, bloodied. Their eyes were bulging with pain and they were cowering, shrieking as someone stood next to them with a stick. Nix was strapped to the middle stake, his fire burned out, leaving a bird with purple skin filled with dark bruises.
I fell down on my knees, grabbing my head in both my hands. I breathed but all I inhaled was smoke.
"What are you doing?" I yelled. I sprinted across the empty landscape, and limped toward Malanthe and the crowd of people surrounding her and the stakes. I had run so fast that I couldn't hear the others behind me nor did I notice the pain in my thighs.
My eyes couldn't take it in. The people weren't doing anything, just watching as Malanthe's Colludes guarded the animals on the post.
Malanthe turned toward me. "Iridian Cantor?"
"What are you doing?" I whispered again. I sensed that all the people around the animals were turning their heads to me, singling me out.
"This is your last chance," Malanthe said, her voice sturdy and unwavering. "Sacrifice yourself and your animal and everyone else is pardoned." Her high ponytail with the shaved sides seemed kempt and orderly, much easier to deal with than my hair which was tangled and messy all around my face.
"How?" I wasn't directing my question at her as I pushed past people through the crowd. I barged straight toward Nix-
A barrier knocked me backwards. My back skidded against the gravel and tore through my shirt. I groaned, fisting my hands around the rocks to relieve the pain on my back.
If everyone was watching, they would finally know that I was the Phoenix Auxiliary. But no one believed that I would come to the rescue; it was Malanthe that was the savior.
"I'm not going to sacrifice myself," I whispered. "There must be another alternative. For you to stop this." I breathed out, breathed in. It was so hard to breathe.
Malanthe's eyes hardened. "You sure are hard to break."
Posted on both sides of the stakes were familiar faces. Wyntarina and Felidae's pack, though there were no signs of Felidae himself.
There was somebody that was unfamiliar, standing with arms crossed next to Wyntarina. She was wearing a business suit with the same designs as everyone else but her face was covered with a deer skull, thick bony horns spiraling from her head. The bear next to her donned the same aesthetic as well as having branches and vegetation growing from its back. Its eyes were only pits of black.
"Vance," the woman croaked. Her voice sounded like it was filtered as it sounded hollow and deep. "Winston warned me." It could only be Ace's mom.
Ace's eyes glazed. The only person he was staring at was the woman as she glared at her with tight lips pressed together. Malanthe gazed between the both of them. "It's good seeing you again, Vance. Rosaline boasted a lot about you."
Rosaline's posture was stiff, unmoving. Though, I wasn't listening. My eyes were filled with red and laying here on the ground; I choked and gagged with the smoke lingering in the air. I stood up, brushing dirt off my clothing. "So Felidae was right," I suddenly said, catching everyone by surprise. "You killed Logan and Veronica's family and you're still a Collude."
I saw the slight tilt of Ace's eyebrows. Pity was filled in that little expression.
"He was always a Collude," Rosaline confirmed.
Ace knew everything about me. Everything. What was his purpose? What did this all mean?
I groaned and leaned back against the invisible barrier. My hips were aching and when I turned a little, the pain erupted.
"Why are you doing this?" I sighed, grabbing the barrier for support. "Why do you want everyone to be an Undefined? President Iona united humans and animals and yet all you're doing is severing our ties."
Malanthe never moved her body, only twisted her eyes to leer at me. "Isn't it obvious?"
She had no weapon on her, I realized. She had no sheath, nothing to show what sort of weapon she wielded. She continued, "I want this world to revert back to before. When no human associated themselves with animals."
"What do you mean? That's exactly what President Iona didn't want to do."
She spread her hands on her waist. "President Iona wanted progress, but she had created something else to further separate us. The type of animals we bond with and our powers. Iona had made things worse."
"You will never eliminate discrimination. It's impossible. On top of that, if you're left as the only Auxiliary in the world, you've made things more unequal. Look at what you'll deprive your Colludes of! They all have animals they depend on!"
"What Iona didn't understand is that with animals, the balance is tilted and unjust. She set this world faster to doom." Malanthe loosened her gloves from her hands and slipped them in her pockets.
"You set it to doom the moment you sent those raids out to collect the Phoenix Auxiliary's power and to create an Undefined," I yelled.
"My Colludes are willing to make the sacrifice to let their animals go once I've obtained your powers. They all have their own stories to tell regarding what they feel about animals. They believe this is for the best." She placed a hand on her chest. "I am thinking of the future. You and your precious Iona will use this world's resources and deplete it and create rifts among the Undefineds, the powerful, and the weak."
The inferno dragon that was flying in the air touched down on the ground, right next to Malanthe.
Malanthe's eyes reflected the light that danced along with the fires around her. "The relationship between animals and humans is weak and unstable at its core. One traumatic event and the Phluid is already rendered useless. Is that what you want your society to thrive on? On a baseless identity? You are bound to a name and animal from the start, yet you have no clue what powers you have with your animal and what you can do to further this so-called progress of yours and Iona's."
"I am a Phoenix Auxiliary because of who I am and my personality-"
"No," Malanthe interrupted. "Iridian Cantor, you are not a Phoenix Auxiliary because you are somehow the chosen one or by miracle or fate."
"What do you mean?"
Everybody was silent, the only sounds were the animals' groaning in pain and the licking of the flames around.
"Hoang Canton," she emphasized. Her ponytail whipped along with the wind, covering her eyes and then revealing them again. "He went with me when I created the phoenixes. He insisted he wanted to record everything, but he underestimated the instability of the Phluid when the phoenix was created. The phoenixes' Phluid stained him and his blood, most likely altering yours as well."
"There's no way. Where is he now?"
Rosaline spoke for Malanthe, ice laced through her words. "He went back home right then. Came back to Volvanic Acropolis to finish a few things with his dog, but he was always going to go back."
"You've hurt more people than you've realized," I yelled at Malanthe. "It may not have been your intent, but it can't escape you."
Malanthe merely nodded. "It looks bad now, Iridian, but it's always like that in the beginning. Just like Volvanic Acropolis is slowly renewing, the world will heal and recover as well once this is all over."
A fireball struck the stakes and instantly fire erupted. I screamed and scrambled to the barrier. I pounded on it watching the fire slowly make its way to Nix. Logan, Veronica, and the animals were at my sides, helping me break the barrier down with their weapons. Ace stood rooted, the fire lighting his eyes blankly.
My sword jammed on the barrier but it was just like striking the sword against the window back in the prison. I was about to give up when I tripped, falling toward the barrier-
I passed through nothing, my face hitting the base of the stakes just inches from the fire. I scooted back slowly and looked up. The fire was almost at Nix's feet. I didn't have time to find out who took down the barrier.
And I stopped moving all together. Why did Nix have to do this? If I sacrificed myself and Nix, everyone would be fine. The only damage was to us and to maybe relieve ourselves for the better good, wasn't it better than seeing Nix tortured like this? I let myself fall flat on the wooden stand, inhaling and exhaling. But what happens when we give up? I could not imagine.
No. Not now. I can't die now.
"Iridian!" Logan shouted at me. He pulled my shoulders back, forcing me to fall backwards. Fire licked around my feet and if Logan wasn't there, it would have seared a part of my shoes.
The way he said my name blurred through my mind. Fire. Fire. Nix was composed of fire. That's right. I watched the fire engulf Nix and looked at the way the fire passed in front of his eyes, looking so lost in their own world.
The tears truly did come out then. I wiped my eyes raw, rubbed them, but they kept coming. How did someone stop crying? More tears streamed.
"Why did it have to be me?" I screamed. "Out of everybody, why me."
Logan grabbed my shoulders. His next words rumbled deep in my chest, forcing more tears from my eyes. "You are not alone-"
"Malanthe is right," I whispered. "Animals have brought discord to humanity. Instead of uniting us together, we found more ways to discriminate against one another. Aren't we tired of that? You know yourself!"
Logan frowned. "We don't have time, you can't think about this now. Don't falter now."
"And what if I'm tired of all of this? The things I fought for were actually wrong? I made Malanthe an enemy but what if she's not?"
"The amount of times you think of letting go, remember, Iridian, they are insignificant compared to the number of times you've struggled and toiled and pulled through."
I focused on my shallow breathing and on Logan as he went and batted the smoke away from him, untying each animal. The flames had not gotten to the other animals yet and Logan used that time to free the animals as fast as he could.
I heard Malanthe bellow to the crowd, "You heard it. Your Phoenix Auxiliary has no will to sacrifice herself for all of you."
I choked and swallowed all of my incoming hiccups, running and stumbling to untie Nix. The flames had already consumed him and stayed on him. He looked much healthier. The bruises disappeared underneath the fire and the purplish creature was gone.
Once I untied him, however, he stretched out his wings and struck me. Attacked me.
I screamed, falling back down on the wooden platform. I covered my face with my hands but Nix kept coming, pecking me in all sorts of places. Blood slowly dripped from my body and onto the platform.
"Why are you doing this?" I screamed at him. I clawed Nix and he shrieked, raking his own claws on my face. Five claws, three of which reached me.
I seized Nix's claws and brought him to the ground, pinning him with my arms. His wings flapped but he was too weak to fight back. Words kept repeating in my head. Sacrifice the both of you and all this hatred would end. With those words, I kept restraining myself from attacking him back.
I patted him and placed my hand over his heart. "Nix," I whispered to him trying to convince myself as well. "Please."
He squawked, squirming but not fighting. I eased my hand away from him and he stood up, puffing his wings out. I watched his movements to see if he would strike me again but he didn't, almost hanging his head down in shame.
Malanthe kept staring at the crowd. "Fine, Iridian, once the city is broken, let's see what you have to say for yourself."
I couldn't respond because the whole crowd dispersed in a frenzy, the screams resumed, and they all headed back toward the city to get away from both me and Malanthe. There was no one to save them. Malanthe's people didn't even bat an eye at me, they fanned out, chasing after the people who ran toward the city.
The animals Logan had untied had run free, tracking down their Auxiliaries who probably left them to flee for themselves.
I wiped my hands over my body, wiped them over my face, over my hair. Gurgles escaped my mouth and my sniffs racked my whole body that I almost bit my lip. Shivers ran along my arms. My exhales were only violent sputters.
Tears streamed down my cheeks from so much heat in my eyes. There was no water here, no fire extinguisher...If only I had said, Yes, take my powers and leave everyone alone, I would be the hero. I would let this world return to its former glory that Malanthe had promised.
"Hurry now," Malanthe warned me. "Before my Colludes find them all. Save them."
I couldn't see her before she peacefully walked away, into the smoke and disappearing. Every tiny movement was difficult, but I forced myself to run after Ace, Logan, Veronica, and the other animals who had instantly bounded after the rest of the city.
The city was still burning with destructive fire. Smoke was blowing inconsistently, often obscuring my view of the city and the people running around. The wind picked up steadily, blowing ashes off the ground and up into the air. More tears ran down but I couldn't slow down, not with the Colludes out loose.
I skidded to a halt when I reached the outskirts of the city, overlooking the concrete buildings and the rundown streets. All I saw was the sight of the animals falling dead on the streets. The stench of blood was so prominent, I could probably imagine the taste on my lips and the staleness and the metallic tang.
Veronica held a hand up, her eyes wide and alert, watching the city with intensity. "Wait. Some of the Colludes are around here. We can circle them and lure them somewhere secluded."
I watched her twirl away from us and sprint to where a smoke funnel was erupting from a nearby building. I followed suit and ran after her on the tough cobblestone pavement, not waiting for Ace, Logan, and their animals to follow. Crescent leaped in front of me and allowed his long legs to catch up to Veronica, leaving me behind. Nix flew beside me, though in great distance.
We rounded several streets until we got closer to the smoke funnel. The smoke distributed evenly while we ran, enveloping us in a thin layer of black. Veronica was slowly disappearing from view.
I saw a flash of yellow from Veronica's hair when I ran right into a civilian. I would have been happy to be around the comfort of other people besides Malanthe's people but this was different. My head collided with the civilian's jaw and we both rebounded off each other, stumbling back with a short shout. The Jellyfish Auxiliary cursed wildly as he opened his eyes to intake what had happened.
The impact was strong and for a moment I was distracted, rubbing my head and squinting my eyes to keep from falling over.
The Auxiliary realized who I was and frowned. His eyes changed dramatically to a panicked state to a state of fury. He screamed, clawing his face and then dragging them out toward me. He twisted his hands and I didn't register to see what he had conjured before I ducked. A bang exploded from his gun and it would have collided directly with my face if I hadn't ducked.
"You little cunning," the man snarled. He turned around wildly, saliva sputtering in all directions.
His hair was long to his shoulders, matted with sweat and dirt. His mouth was dry, his eyes livid, his fingernails caked with blood.
"You, selfish, coward." He yelled, pointing at me.
I began to back away but he surged and lurched at me.
"You're not going anywhere! Sacrifice yourself and become the little hero you want to be!"
I knew I would never last against a gun this close. He brought his gun down at my legs and shot. It tore through my calf, feeling like the muscle in it had imploded in and then outward. There was no stench of blood but my whole body spazzed and a numbing sensation detonated through my legs.
Stun. A Jellyfish Auxiliary had the power to stun.
I tried to move my fingers but it was like they had suddenly lost feeling as well. Nix and Crescent came as one, knocking the jellyfish in mid-air and tightening their teeth into its body. The victory didn't last long. The Auxiliary was there in an instant, gripping his gun to aim it at my two animals.
Logan came from behind, whacking his blade up into the man's arm. The gun flew upward and Logan caught it deftly, taking the gun and shooting it right at the man's stomach. At the same time, I had forced myself to conjure my own blade and draw it to the Auxiliary's leg.
He looked at me once in desperation and fear and collapsed, cradling his knee to his chest, rubbing it subconsciously to ease the pain. His whole body stiffened and soon he was in an eternal position of discomfort. Once the stun left his body, he would have to deal with the pain in his leg.
Nix and Crescent both had the jellyfish in their mouths but when they saw my eyes, they wiggled it away from them. Logan didn't say another word before he ran to another place to help. I shrunk my blade and then attempted to move my legs. They were still immobile.
"Stop," a voice hissed behind me. "Move and I'll shoot you through the head."
Shoot? Where would they get a gun? That all too familiar voice came to me soon enough. Where was Veronica? Where was Ace? Logan?
"Wyntarina," I breathed. "What do you want?"
I heard shoes kicking pebbles behind and soon, boots scraped the gravel in front of me. I looked up. Wyntarina's hair was disheveled, her yellow eyes glowing. Her outfit was one of a Collude's outfit, oozing with different shades of red. The tip of her coat was ripped and the collar was mismatched, one hanging out way too much and the other receding too far back. Her boots were also red with a Phoenix Hunter symbol painted on the back of the heel.
"Get up," Wyntarina snarled. A growl echoed her statement and I saw paws pressing on the gravel next to her. Black paws.
I obeyed and got up, pushing myself off the ground but keeping my immobile leg on the ground. I leveled my gaze with her. She was holding a gun, pointed to my forehead, her claw-like fingers wrapping around the handle of the gun until I could see the red outlining them.
As soon as she saw me staring at her claws, she retracted them into human fingers. At the same time, her panther had also retracted its claws, almost reluctantly.
Nix and Crescent were standing on either side of me, breathing hard but not moving. I tried to reassure them but if I made a wrong choice, a bullet would land in my brain. I knew for sure, this gun wasn't made for stunning.
Wyntarina's face fell. "You killed Felidae. My pack leader."
"I didn't kill him," I replied.
She moved her left hand over her right hand, securing her grip on the gun.
"How did you get a gun?" I knew she couldn't kill me without my consent to give up my powers. "Aren't they prohibited here?"
She didn't smile. "How did I get a gun?" Her panther growled and licked its paws. Its pink tongue dangled out with drool slobbering the surface of it. "We don't have guns here in Volvanic Acropolis. Too poor to afford one. The only people to have a gun are people Malanthe trust."
"Wouldn't that be dangerous to her?"
Her face hardened. "We would never double cross Malanthe."
"You don't know how to use one," I realized, looking at her trembling hands and her face slick with sweat.
"Don't underestimate me," she warned, inching her way forward to point her gun down to me.
"You can't kill me," I whispered. "You would miss."
"Say what?" Wyntarina growled, her eyes moving rapidly from me to Nix to Crescent. From her expression I knew that she did not hear me.
Wyntarina pointed the gun at me and said one last thing, "Iridian. You really know how to underestimate," and then she fired.
And I was right. She did miss. By a long shot.