Shadows Rising

Fight to the Finish

{Ashley's POV}

     I watched in horror as the Matriarch assaulted Andy with her darkness. I could tell he was struggling to maintain his force-field. His knees were slowly giving out, the force-field seemed to be fading. I rushed towards the Matriarch, but froze as Andy's force-field gave out and he was thrown to the floor, nearly knocked out-cold. He laid on the floor, on his back, looking up in a tired daze, his head periodically rolling back and forth. "Andy!" I screamed, rushing to his side. 

     "A-Ash?" he asked. 

     "Hey, relax. You took a big hit. Are you okay?" I asked gently, slowly lifting him so he was sitting, his back against my torso. I sat behind him, propping him up. 

     "I'm okay," he said. I nodded and looked up at the Matriarch, who was watching us in interest. 

      "What did you even do to her?" I asked, remembering her screams of pain and crying for it to stop. 

     "I-I don't know. It was weird. I just saw a bunch of pictures in my mind, like a vision...but then again, not," he explained. 

     "I think that was a psychic attack. You took all of her bad memories and sort of...haunted her with them. You overloaded her mind with her own memories. Normally, that would knock the person out, causing severe damage, or maybe even killing them," Jinxx explained. 

     "But that's just it! You cannot destroy me! I will kill you all!" the Matriarch shouted, rising to her feet.

     Jinxx and I helped Andy to his feet, and the five of us came together in the center aisle of the room, staring her down, waiting for her to do something. But, CC made the first move. He stepped forward, and with a yell of rage, blasted her with a powerful blast-wave. She stumbled a bit, but didn't fall. "Cover your ears," Jake said quietly to the four of us. We all did as he said, and watched as he took a deep breath and let out a super-sonic scream. The Matriarch reeled back, clutching at her ears in pain as Jake screamed. Finally, he let up, taking a few more deep breaths. 

     The Matriarch laughed joyfully as she uncovered her ears. I noticed black blood, staining her hands and below her ears. "Very cute, my dear, that particular ability of yours. Anybody else want to try anything?" she teased.

     Jinxx raised his hands and launched a volley of blue magic orbs at her. She dodged all but one, which hit her in the side, knocking her to the floor. She looked up at Jinxx, her maniacal laughter growing steadily, the evil smirk on her face mocking us. "I will admit, that was not bad. But now, it's time to say goodbye to you little pests!" she cried. With a huge blast of dark magic, we were all on the floor, writhing in pain. Andy looked ready to pass out. 

     Slowly, we all climbed to our feet, reeling from the blast. "Andy, stay with me. Just a little longer, OK, Angel?" I whispered in his ear, clutching his hand in mine. 

     As my grip tightened, Andy gasped. His eyes opened, and seemed to glaze over. "Andy?" I asked. 

     "He must be seeing something." Jinxx said. 

     "Andy, what is it?" I whispered. 

     "I think...I think I know how to defeat her." He said in his daze.

     "What? How?! What are you seeing?" Jinxx asked. 

     "I see...a star. Like our charms. It's glowing. I also see some words..." he said. He gasped, blinking as he came out of the daze. "Make a star," he instructed. We knew better than to question Andy with something like this, and so the four of us immediately linked hands and moved around, forming a star with our hands. I froze, feeling magic running through me. 

     "Whoa, what is that? Jinxx, are you doing that?!" CC asked. 

     "No, not me. Andy?" he asked, turning to Andy. His eyes were closed, and he was surrounded by a golden aura. 

     "Damn..." Jake muttered in awe. 

     "What are you doing?! Stop that!" the Matriarch screeched. She fired more dark energy at us, but it was instantly deflected off of us when it came into contact. 

     "How did that happen?!" I asked in shock. 

     "I don't know, but this is crazy!" CC said excitedly. 

     "Andy, are you okay?" Jinxx wondered. I looked over at him and noticed that his eyes were now open, and glowing blue. "I am the chosen...Wretched and Divine. I am the unspoken, the one they left behind. Fearless, fight until we die. I am broken, wretched and divine," he spoke. 

     We all recognized the words-lyrics to a song we had written years before, Wretched and Divine. "Repeat them," Andy ordered.

     We all looked around at each other, confused for a moment. Then, as one, we started saying the words with Andy. "I am the chosen, Wretched and Divine. I am the unspoken, the one they left behind. Fearless fight until we die. I am broken, wretched and divine!" we chanted.

     Suddenly, we all began to glow gold. I could feel the magic running through us grow stronger. "Again. Louder," Andy instructed in his monotone voice. We repeated the words, louder than before, and the glow intensified, brighter and brighter as we continued to repeat the words. 

    "What is happening?! Stop that immediately!" the Matriarch shouted. She began glowing black, and blasting us with dark energy, but it was all deflected. I closed my eyes as the shine became blinding, and all I could hear was a screech of pain. "You cannot destroy me! I will end all of you! You will not win!" the Matriarch screeched, and then...all was silent. The magic coursing through me before had stopped. 

     I opened my eyes and saw that the glow had dissipated, and the Matriarch had disappeared.

     "W-What...happened?" I heard Jake ask tiredly. 

     "I don't know...Andy!" CC shouted. 

     I looked beside me and saw Andy was lying on the floor where he stood a moment ago, his eyes closed. He still shone with a golden aura. I shook his shoulder gently. "Andy, baby, wake up, please!" I pleaded. After a minute of silence, I got nervous. "Jinxx!"

     "I'm right here. And from what I can tell, he's fine. Just in a trance. The psychic energy he used just now was too much for him to handle. He'll be fine after a while. We should get him home, though," Jinxx explained. 

     I nodded and lifted Andy into my arms. "Whoa, Ash, look at you. You're glowing!" CC cried. 

     I looked down and noticed the bright, golden light surrounding me and Andy. "That is awesome! I said excitedly. They all agreed, laughing at my enthusiasm. 

     Jake put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here." Together, the four of us walked towards the door. 

      Jake stopped and turned, staring at the spot where the Matriarch had stood only moments before. Now, not a single trace of her remained. "Goodbye, Mom. I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

     Jinxx took his hand and pressed it to his lips, smiling as he looked into Jake's eyes. "Come on, love. She'll be okay," he said. Jake nodded and, rubbing his head, followed Jinxx, CC, and I out of the room, and out into the desert.

Hey! Wow, a lot just went down, huh? On the bright side, they defeated the Matriarch, right? And they're all relatively okay. So, I guess everything turned out okay. 

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, please remember to vote and comment. I think there's only one chapter left, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks for reading! Later! :)