I ran as fast as I could, heading away from the graveyard and towards the palace. The large thorns were continuing to grow out of the ground and wind their way around the palace walls. I could see them moving slowly, snaking around the building and squeezing it tight. Through the smoke and chaos I could hear distant echoes of windows breaking, stone walls cracking and worst of all, people screaming.
I can only pray that those people were on the outside screaming, and not trapped inside the palace itself.
I push forward, battling through the burning wind that blew smoke and hot ash into my face. The snow had long disappeared, and now there was only heat and blackness. It was difficult to know how far from the palace I was now.
Holding my arms out in front of me, I continued walking through the heat and blackness. The sound of the screaming, the crackling noises of the fire, and the strange sound of the thorns creaking as they grew, became louder and louder.
There were other noises too - noises that I didn't recognise. The sound would start from upfront and then streak past me, like a moving bullet. In all this smoke it was hard to tell what the hell it was. I slowed down listening, carefully. He bullet noises continued to fly past me, sometimes moving past me on my left, and sometimes on my right.
Slowing down, I began to cautiously move forward. I had no idea what was causing those noises, but I was sure as hell worried that one was going to hit me. For all I know, it could be some kind of projectile that was being thrown from the palace. I lowered myself to the floor, trying to make myself as small a target as possible. The noises continued around me, becoming more frequent and getting closer to me. I tried to see what they were through the thick smoke, but it was impossible.
Suddenly, the smoke started to clear; the wind had changed directions.
Keeping close to the ground, I watched the thick black smoke being blown northwards, away from the city. As the smoke disappeared, I got my first look good look of the palace – everything was dead.
The grass, the flowers, the trees - everything that grew in the palace grounds, was dead.
I rose up to take in the sheer devastation. There was nothing I could see that was alive anymore. Everything was black and dead. Even the thorns that rose out of the ground were black, brittle and lifeless. The beautiful winter gardens that I had walked through at the start of the night were gone, and all that was left was death.
The noises I had heard seconds earlier, hadn't been projectiles being thrown from the palace – they were people, running from the palace. They were moving at such speeds, they sounded like bullets whistling past me in the wind.
It chilled me to the core to know that Luc was capable of such devastation in such a short period of time. A little voice inside me reminded me of what Henrietta had once said – Luc was a danger to the world, and we would all be safer with him dead.
I looked at the devastation around me, and couldn't help but feel that there was a grain of truth in what she had said. Luc really was a time bomb and a danger to the world, and even if I saved him and Port Cressida on this occasion, there would always be the possibility of a next time.
It was hard not to wonder if Henrietta had the right idea.
If he continued to live then he would always be a threat to the world, and he would become a burden that I would have to carry for eternity – was that the future I really wanted for myself?
I glanced over my shoulder back towards the graveyard – I could go back to those soldiers, I could leave Luc to die...
"Mia..."
A deep dark gravelly voice caught me off guard and my head snapped up. I took a few steps back in surprise and saw a tall black figure standing in front of me that was distantly inhuman.
"Leave him, Mia. The world is a safer place without him."
"Who are you?" I asked shakily.
"I am someone who wants to help you. I want to give you back the life that was stolen from you. For these past few months, I have been watching you suffer all alone. I want to help you, Mia. I want to make all your dreams come true – do you remember? You used to have dreams before he took them away from you. Do you remember?"
I opened my mouth to reply but felt a strange wave of fuzziness overcome my thoughts.
The black entity approached me, sweeping his arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "You used to want a job, a husband, children and a pug? Do you remember that? I can give you that and so much more, Mia. And all I would ask in return is that you go back and to those soldiers and leave Luc to meet the fate he deserves."
"Who are you?" I asked, again.
"I am a friend who wants to save you. Come with me, Mia. I will take you back to the soldiers and this nightmare will end."
"No," I said, pulling away from him. "I'm not going to leave him."
I couldn't leave him... no, it was more than that - I couldn't let him go. It didn't matter how much of a danger he was to the world, I needed him more than I needed blood to live. He had somehow become a part of me and if he died, a piece of me would die along with him.
Facing the inhuman I repeated myself, "I will never abandon him."
"Mia, work with me and I will give you the world. Work against me and I will destroy you and everything you love."
I studied him closer – what was he? He wasn't a spirit... so what else?
Then I remembered what Moraykah had told me about her son Tuta. He had been framed by a demon – a demon who had wanted to destroy their family.
I looked up at the figure and asked, "Are you a demon?"
"Does it matter when I can give you whatever you want?"
"I want Luc. Can you give him to me?"
"You can have anything, Mia. Anything - "
"But him," I said, pushing his arm off my shoulder. "Sorry, but the world means nothing to me without him in it. There is nothing you could ever offer me that would make me turn around and leave him to die."
The demon took a step backwards and said, "You will come to regret this one day, Mia. The time of men is ending. Our time is close now. Stand with us and you shall be rewarded. Fight against us, and we will not show you any mercy."
"I choose to fight. I won't ever let you touch Luc!"
"It's too late, his brother is close to killing him now."
"What!" I gasped.
"They are fighting each other on top of the east tower as we speak. Luc is more powerful than Casper, but his mind is clouded. Soon it will be all over."
"I have to stop them," I said starting to run towards the palace.
"Wait," the demon said, grabbing onto my hand. "Come with me, forget Luc and I will give you the world."
I stared down at his hand wrapped around mine and snapped, "Never!"
I yanked my hand out of his and ran towards the wall of thorns, and never once looked back.