Gifted Ones

Chapter 40 Haven

Chase rams his elbow into the Mage's rib cage, kicking another one in the knee and fighting free of them for a moment. He pushes his hands together and then out, sending a wave of energy at the General, tearing her apart and causing Amber to fall to the floor. I feel a rush of hope as his eyes meet mine, his hand outstretched for the Amulet.

Before anything can fully register, a beam of light hits Chase directly in the back, making him stumble forward. Amber shoots up from the floor, diving for the pit and dropping through the mist. As Chase falls to the ground I let out a scream of anguish, watching as he lands on his side, eyes staring listlessly out across the floor. His lips are still parted, frozen around words that he will never say. A trickle of blood runs down the side of his mouth, staining it red.

Gabriel lowers his outstretched hand, the tips of his fingers still glowing. An expression of mild displeasure clouds his face. I feel a jolt from somewhere in my chest, and something breaks.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" I scream at him, the force of my voice filling up the cavern and echoing off the walls. "Sniveling cowards! You killed them! All of them! My family, my friends, everyone I loved! You ruined my life, you ruined his life, and you ruined your own brother's! You have destroyed everything we cared about, and I'm not going to let you do it any more!"

My heart is broken. I can feel the pieces in my chest, scraping the sides when I breath. I've hit rock bottom. But no tears come, because all I care about is the man standing in front of me. And I've felt such pain.

"After all," I say, half to my self as I stare at Chase's lovely face. "There's nothing more you can take away from me."

At least Amber made it out alive. I think to myself, seeing Garret's large form hunched against the wall, all of the fight drained out of him. That's the only thing good that's happened so far. And Chase did it for me, in the end. He saved her because she was the only thing keeping me from crushing the Amulet. He told me that he would die to get revenge, to stop Gabriel. I would've killed him if I dropped the Amulet. And to be honest, I don't know if I could've, even if it was what he wanted. I thought, somewhere, in the back of my mind, that Gabriel would surrender, that he would let them go, and everything would be okay. But when he brought Amber in, I knew that she wasn't a part of this, and she wasn't willing to die. And I couldn't have asked him to surrender because I couldn't be the cause of her death. If I didn't kill her, he would've, no matter what the situation.

But because of Chase, she's going to survive. Wherever she is now, there's nothing stopping me now. Gabriel's men are all here, on or below this island. If I cause the explosion, we'll win.

But at the same time, we've already lost.

I steel myself, staring at the small sapphire on the boulder beside me, the energy still swirling inside. What a small thing to take away everything. I think, raising the rock high in my hand.

"STOP HER!!!" Gabriel orders, and I can hear the panic in his voice, the only real emotion I've seen him show.

I scream in fury, bringing the rock down on the Amulet as hard as I can. There is a great explosion of blue light as it shatters into a thousand pieces, and I embrace it all with open arms.

Mom, Dad, Chase?

I love you.