June braced himself against the wall, panting. He's too far out to reach the Heiress on time.
The High Queen stalked towards Xanthy and Nyxis who lay on top of each other, both in a daze. June extended his hand and summoned a spell. Lightning ricocheted across the room before gathering in one spearhead zooming straight towards the Heiress. There was an explosion, a crash, then silence.
June pushed himself off the wall. He ran towards Xanthy, keeping note of the squirming figure to his immediate right. He sent another lightning spell on the Heiress, wincing as it hit the High Queen's body. Think about that later. Now, he had to save Xanthy.
He hauled his two friends away and into the arched entrance. He felt Xanthy's forehead while she muttered about wanting butterbread. How he wished she would wake up. Something cracked and crunched. A heavy voice stormed the courtyard.
"Foolish children," the Heiress hissed even though it was the High Queen's mouth moving. "You think you can quench me?"
"No, but I can buy them time," a voice said somewhere behind June. In a flash, a figure dashed past him. It wore a plain white robe, a long, thin sword blazing in her hand.
The High Queen under the Heiress' control stepped back as Canelis drove her away from them. "Take the brownie and the human away from here!" she yelled without looking back before thrusting her sword towards the Heiress. "I can handle it from here."
June nodded his thanks and spread his hands over Nyxis and Xanthy, muttering every healing spell he knew. To his relief, Nyxis snapped awake, Xanthy not long after. Nyxis cursed as he stretched. "Gods, what did the Heiress hit me with?"
"June?" Xanthy's gentle voice erased every tension in June's body. June forced himself to look at her, to stare into her round, brown eyes once more. He smiled. "I'm here."
Xanthy shook her head, peering at the chaos unfolding with Canelis growling and the Heiress in the High Queen's body screeching. "B-but you...with the High Queen," she stuttered as she drew her gaze back to June. "What's going on?"
June kissed her on the forehead. "Take Nyxis and Canelis with you," he was amazed that he was able to get away with doing that one last time. "Run."
"What about you?" Xanthy gripped his arm. More like...clawed. "You can't go back there."
He glanced behind him. "Just go," he shook his head and smiled at her once more. "I'll be fine."
"No, you're not," Xanthy's eyes were wide with realization. June's heart wrenched. How much about him and his destiny had she figured out? "Don't head back there. We could all escape."
Ah, the bright promise of hope. Xanthy still has a lot to learn about life. He stood up and tightened his grip on a stolen knife he plucked from one of the Unities. "Don't look back," he stood up and turned. "Please, Xanthy. Just—just run."
Xanthy called his name. Once, twice. He refused to look back nor acknowledge her voice because if he did, his resolve might vanish. What he's holding wasn't the High Queen's bane, so he couldn't hurt her. He's just a distraction so Xanthy could escape.
He strode out into the courtyard just as Canelis slammed into the wall inches from his head. The pixie growled as she crawled to stand up, sticking her sword into the ground and using it as a cane. June swept his arm forward, a shield flickering in front of them as icicles slammed into it. The courtyard shook with just the Heiress' aura.
"Go with the others," June turned to Canelis. "Through the west wing, like I said."
Canelis's expression was as flat and as hard as the stone walls that caged them. "I never run when a soldier's in need."
June exhaled. "You'll stand no chance against the Heiress," he played his last card. "Your people still need you. Go back for them."
A series of expressions flashed across Canelis's face. The last one that flickered was that of determination and resolve. She nodded grimly. "Keep up the faith, soldier."
June returned the gesture. "You have my word, Crown General."
Canelis sheathed her sword, turned, and disappeared into the corridors. Hopefully she could talk some sense to Xanthy. June took a deep breath and disabled his shield. The High Queen loomed before him, her wings spread wide and ominous. Several feathers pooled at her feet. When she spoke, it wasn't a cool breeze but a storm. "Where is the Virtakios?" the Heiress demanded.
June spread his legs, lowering himself into a stance. "You'd have to get through me to get an answer."
The High Queen hissed and flapped her wings. June gritted his teeth and barked out a spell. The wind between them crackled and snapped as the explosion stirred up debris and smoke. June forced his senses to work. He'd been in tougher havoc than this. He gripped his knife tightly, sweeping through the stinging haze for the High Queen. There, a few notches off east.
His legs pumped forward, carrying his body in a speed that he so longed to use again. The knife was poised back. His wrist was ready to flick. A figure formed through the settling dust. June plowed straight through and swiped his arm in a hard slash. The knife bit flesh. There's no blood.
The Heiress laughed, her voice taking over the whole courtyard. "I just love it when they try so hard."
Something slammed into June, burying his face to the ground. His back was heavy, a hand digging into his scalp. "I could squeeze your head right now and be done with it," the Heiress growled, the High Queen's inanimate lips moving according to the presence's will. "But that won't satisfy the amount of things you and your friends did to me."
June gasped as the Heiress grabbed a fistful of his hair and lifted him off the ground. With unnatural strength, the Heiress swung him back then let go as she sent him forward. He sailed across the courtyard, weightless, until he crashed into a wall. He felt his back break with the pain searing into his mind. He slid down the wall, muttering a healing spell.
"It's nice to have magic, yes?" the Heiress chuckled, using the High Queen's hand to drive her hair away from her forehead. "I can't play any longer now that Nevrin is fighting me. My, what strength has she developed."
June gritted his teeth against the pain. Stand up, fool. Fight. "Shut up, you freak," he rasped.
The Heiress threw her head back and laughed. Doing it with the High Queen's form added to the disturbing factor. "I am the Heiress," the High Queen's eyes narrowed. "I control the world and I give you no right to insult me."
June drew forward, slamming into the High Queen's torso. He touched his hand into her stomach and summoned a spell. The High Queen shrieked as the earth erupted between them, hardening around her form. June panted as he stepped back from his work. The Heiress sputtered like a leaky faucet. "You will pay!" she shrieked.
June didn't reply. He glanced to where his friends had gone to find Xanthy standing by the arch. He cursed. The Heiress snickered. "How foolish all of you are!"
June ran towards Xanthy as the Heiress howled. He heard his spell erupt behind him but he kept his eyes on her.
"I told you to run!" June raised his voice. "Just go! Save yourself!"
Xanthy's features contorted. "I'm done running," she placed a hand on June's chest. Before he could react, Xanthy extended her magic to him. She pushed him away as a barrier materialized between him and his magic.
"June, thank you for everything you've done for me," Xanthy didn't look back. "I hope you'll forgive me for this."
Xanthy launched herself at the Heiress. No! He should be the one begging for forgiveness. Not Xanthy. June pushed himself up and tried summoning his magic. No luck. He tried speaking maxia spells. Still, his body remained cold. He cursed. Why must Xanthy be so stubborn? He loved her for that before but now, he's just annoyed, worried, and afraid.
Great gods of Calaris, help him.
June charged back into the courtyard. He had lost his knife somewhere in the melee. He looked around, past the fallen chunks of rock, the trampled ivy, and the fallen tree. The floor was in shambles, large pieces of rocky tiles peeling off a fresh layer of earth.
Xanthy and the Heiress circled each other a few feet from the ground. Xanthy lashed out with a spell but the Heiress simply extended her hand and the spell went straight through her body without any effect. June cursed once more.
Xanthy kept throwing spell after spell, edging backwards. The Heiress's trail wrapping around the High Queen only glowed brighter. She's growing more and more powerful with every spell of Xanthy's she absorbed. June swept his eyes on the floor. Weapon. He needed a weapon. He needed to at least buy enough time for Xanthy to escape from Edgerift.
Xanthy whizzed past him, sprawling against the ground. June's blood ran cold. No one does that to Xanthy. He gave up his search and stepped between them. "June," Xanthy called. "She keeps absorbing my magic."
"I know," June said as flatly as he could.
The Heiress stepped through the smoke shifting around them. "Well, I had fun," she examined the High Queen's nails. Her skin remained perfect and unscathed. "But it's time for me to finish this."
June turned back to Xanthy, throwing dignity aside. He begged her. "Run."
The Heiress slammed into him, slamming his back into the ground. A fist sizzled past his sight, meeting his cheek with force. He coughed when stars began dancing in his vision. With a growl, he caught the High Queen's next blow with his hand and twisted. He threw her off him with a kick to the back. June ended on top of the High Queen, his thumbs pressed to her throat, choking her with his own hands. He looked up to see Xanthy standing frozen, looking at him with wide eyes. "For the gods' sake, get out of here!" June yelled.
An arm lashed out and grabbed his neck. He slammed into the ground. He didn't see Xanthy's reaction from afar. He moved to punch the Heiress but she vanished in a flash. Xanthy screamed from somewhere beyond him. Immediately, he was on his feet.
The Heiress had Xanthy pinned against the floor, whispering into her ear. June gritted his teeth and lunged at the Heiress, knocking her off Xanthy. The girl was wise enough to extract herself from underneath as the Heiress summoned a spell. It hit June square in the stomach, driving a gasp out his lips. The Heiress growled and lunged for him, this time her hands wrapping around his throat.
"I won't let the Virtakios slip through my fingers again," the Heiress growled as she sank her thumbs deeper into June's throat. Black spots erupted in his vision, obscuring the High Queen's face. June felt around for anything he might use and his fingers brushed a hilt. A knife.
"I will have her on my side," the Heiress continued as June gasped and floundered like a fish out of the sea. "I will have her legacy in my hand. I will shred every cell in her body until I do! No one, not even your little friends, can stop me!"
"No. But I can delay you long enough," June's hand closed around the knife's hilt. This wouldn't hurt her. With the last of his strength, he rose against the High Queen's grip, flipped her to the ground, and raised the knife up his head. With a yell, he plunged the dagger into his mother's heart.
Something snapped. The knife dug into the High Queen's chest. No.
How...?
The High Queen smiled as she reached up and touched June's cheek, leaving a bloody trail on his skin. "My boy, what did I tell you?" she whispered. Her eyes were void of the Heiress's influence. June stumbled off her form. No. This...this couldn't be happening. He didn't have the dagger. This wasn't—
Fate didn't lie. His hands bore the High Queen's bane. The High Queen smiled at him. "How long?" she rasped. "How long have you known?"
"No, this isn't true," June's voice shook. His chest heaved. "Tell me this isn't true," he shook his head. "I'm not your son."
The High Queen lifted her eyes up to the sky now void of a tree's canopy shielding it. "You are June Sylkrana," she breathed. A hand reached up to a sky she would never again reach. "You are my own blood and soul. How long have I waited to see the sky with you."
Then, his mother, the Imperial High Queen, Nevrin Sylkrana, took her last breath.
The wind blew with a pronounced judgment. A soul for a soul. A life for a life. Blood-kin weren't to be killed by their own. That was the rule. Pain slammed into every part of June, replacing the curse that weighed on his heart for a long time. Darkness swept through his vision as weakness flowed through his limbs. A clatter. A thud. The gem in the dagger's hilt glinted, ushering him into a world of retribution.
Only Pidmena's embrace awaited him now.