Another battle won, but at what cost? The enemy has finally stepped forward and his identity and powers are now known, but Oliver has lost part of himself, a part his enemy will use against him.
But now he has allies, an army of his own, and it gro...
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-Oliver-
It was almost surreal... The walk back to Aurora's house... I felt numb. I was so tired. I was so tired and exhausted... My feet were barely able to carry me, and even the tiniest rocks and bumps on the pathway sent me off balance. After the third time Jaden had to catch me, I was ready to sit down on the wet ground and cry.
"I can carry you the rest of the way," Jaden told me quietly.
"But you're tired too," I replied.
"Never too tired to carry you," he said with a tired grin.
"I can do it. It's not too far anymore," I told him, smiling back.
Jaden squinted his eyes at me, but let me have my way. For now.
I just didn't want any special treatment at that moment. We were all tired and in pain. I peered at our group, the pale, tired faces around me. Jaden, Jack, Arch, and Tilly looked like they could sleep for days. Natalie, Aurora, and the guards who were escorting us – the ones who didn't get dragged to Adam's fortress – were restless and on high alert. Weirdly enough, I wasn't scared. Just really freaking tired...
Adam... Once again, we'd been face-to-face with death, with our biggest enemy this time, and survived. But I didn't feel like I had survived. Not completely.
The pain in my body was one thing, but my spirit... Half of it was gone, and the pain of that wound was growing worse. I tried to endure it. I tried to act like I was all right. It wasn't threatening my life, and the corruption was now gone, so there was no point in making a big deal out of the pain. I wasn't the only one who had gotten hurt, after all.
I mean, Jack got shot. I watched him die. He died.
I peered at him. He walked next to Arch a few steps ahead of us. His step was wobbly, just like mine, but he held his posture. He, too, acted like he was fine. He was not fine. I guess now that the danger was over, and there were no eyes on us, he had time to let it sink in. He was shaken about what we had just gone through.
He died, yet he still was there with us.
I wasn't ready to even think about what almost happened to me. If Jack hadn't crashed into the machine that was tearing my soul apart... I would be dead. I couldn't see how I could've survived it...
Jaden put his arm around me and pulled me tightly against his side.
We kicked ass.
I smiled up at him. His faith in us and our strength had not taken any hits today. On the contrary. Our fight with Adam had really boosted his self-esteem. And ego. He wasn't impressed at all. Even his fear was practically gone. And because he felt that way... It wasn't hard to agree with him. I think we all agreed with him. I mean, it was hard to be afraid of someone who'd had such a massive panic attack after he realized he couldn't hurt me...
