The League of Dragon Riders: The Beginning of the End (book 3)

Happy Ending?

"Clamor!" I yelled as he opened the throne room. The scene I dreamed came true to the letter with Jade showing up to chase Nezzura away.

I glanced up at the shadows that stood in the corner and watched as Clamor flicked his wrist. The spiraling vortex spun to life and he reached out his hands for the baby.

"Do you wish to walk through?" He asked me, "I can only put two through."

"You're supposed to go through," I told him, "besides, I'm not leaving Felix."

"And I won't leave her," Felix said.

"If I leave, the magical borders will disappear, leaving them to come in fully."

"We are aware," Felix said as he wrapped an arm around me and raised his sword, "we will die protecting this place."

"Like you would," I told him.

"Why?"

"The world is ending," I said with a laugh, "why not die fighting?"

"You two are extraordinary," he said as he looked at the portal with a smile.

"What will you do first?" Felix asked.

"Maybe commit a terrible crime or try something called ice cream," he said, "I'll decide later."

"Thank you," Felix said. Clamor nodded and stepped through the flashing, spiraling lights. The portal spun closed and the wall behind it crumbled. 

We stared at it, transfixed, until we heard the sounds of screams and walls crumbling. I glanced back at the door and Felix's hand found mine.

"We die fighting," he said before he kissed me. Hard. I kissed him back and tangled my hands in his hair that had gotten far longer than I knew he wanted it to.

There was so much we weren't going to experience. We weren't going to grow old. We weren't going to have a family...

We're just going to be gone...

"It's okay," Felix said, breaking away from me. Even as he said it, tears glistened in his eyes. I smiled as I stroked his face as someone banged on the doors.

"I know," I told him, "I'm glad to die with you."

"Same," he said as we turned to wait for them to break through, "I love you."

"I love you too."

I smiled, taking in his handsome face as the doors broke open. Felix glared at the men who charged in before raising his own sword and charging towards them.

With the smile still on my face, I wielded my own weapon, a spear that had been sitting next to the throne, and charged forward.

This was it. This was how I was going to die.

And you know what? I wouldn't have it any differently.

I saved a baby that was designed for greatness. I'm fighting beside the man I love. Can you think of a better way to my chaotic life?

I wasn't meant to have a happy ending. No, I was meant for this.

This...bittersweet ending, I thought as I dodged a sword and blocked another. A searing pain flashed through my side and I stumbled back to see Erin holding a bloody blade.

With my blood.

Anger seized me as I looked at the man before me. He did this. He is the one who started this mess.

All the deaths...

Fergus, Maxwell, Arthur, Annabella, and so much more...

I charged forward, the pain unnoticeable now as I slammed into Erin. He didn't seem to believe me capable to move through the pain. We fell backwards again his men. I looked down to see his blade through my gut.

And my spear through his chest.

"You're a monster," I told him as he stared at me in shock. He gasped once more before all the life left his body.

I stumbled away from his body as I stared down at the blade in my gut. I grabbed it and tried to bring it out. One pull of it and I let out a scream of pain and fell to my knees.

I was surrounded now. My eyes scanned the faces looking for Felix. My heart dropped when I found him through the spaces of the people. He was on his knees with two men holding a knife to his throat. His eyes widened in fear at something behind me.

His mouth formed words that I couldn't make out as a hand appeared on my shoulder. A gray hand that seemed like it was peeling away.

"No," a voice that sent chills through my spine said from behind me. A voice that sounded like thousands, "I'm the monster."