Swan Song

Quintessence

Everblaze covered every inch of the Candleshade mansion. I smelt the sweet burning essence of the unstoppable flame. Well, not completely unstoppable.

A figure stood in the middle of it all. Keefe? Wait. KEEFE?!

"OHMYGOSH KEEFE GET OUT OF THERE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Frissyn. We needed Frissyn. But how would we bottle the Quintessence?! I had only done it a few times, and it was difficult.

"KEEFE! GET OUT OF THERE THIS INSTANT!!!!" Keefe didn't budge.

"What the hell is he doing in there?!" Mr. Forkle shouted from behind me.

"I don't know! WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE! Where will we get Quintessence?"

"I have a little stored for emergencies, but it's back at Foxfire." Forkle shouted over the crackling of the flames.

"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? GO! GO! GO! WHO'S COMING WITH ME?" My voice echoed around the open blaze.

"Sophie, listen. This isn't a time for panic, we need to act calmly to ensure everyone's safety." My blood boiled at this ridiculous statement.

"SAFETY? EVERYONE'S SAFETY? KEEFE'S THERE BURNING ALIVE AND YOU'RE SAYING I SHOULD NOT PANIC?"

"I understand the pain you are in, but we would need to move swiftly. Shouting at everyone will not help that. Come with me, we need to go get the Quintessence." Forkle's calm composure was making me uneasy, but I knew I should listen to him.

I grabbed my pathfinder and took out my Foxfire crystal. I had to save Keefe.

~~~

"Where is it?" I whisper in the dark, my eyes darting around, making sure Forkle was there.

"Miss Foster, I can't tell you that, it's very classified information."

A groan escapes me at the all too familiar statement. My eyes roll. "Of course it is."

"Stay here. I'll go get it and come back for you. Stay safe."

I watch Forkle disappear into folds of darkness as I stand here doing nothing, with only the thought of my friend burning alive.

~~~

My head whips around, imagining voices surrounding me. Hushed words echo my mind.

It's your fault

Fitz died because of you

Linh's death is your fault

It's your fault that Grady died

Now Keefe's going to die because of you.

It's all your fault.

"Who is it?" I whispered.

You know us very well. I suppose by now you know us as the Dark Code.

My eyes widen. No, not now. They can't be another distraction right now. Right now I have to help Keefe.

I'm just going to ignore them and hope that they don't interfere.

A figure steps out of the shadows. Crimson.

"You really thought you could save your friends, didn't you?" She wore a malicious smile, shooting daggers with her eyes. "Now it's too late. The blond one will soon be dead, with nothing you can do about it."

My head snaps back to reality. "NO!"

Her smile widens. "But yes, it already has."

My thoughts are in a frantic rush. I need to tell Forkle. He needs to save Keefe.

Forkle. I pushed my conscious out as far as I could, I needed to talk to Forkle. FORKLE CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

His mind comes to a startled stop. Yes, Sophie, is there something wrong?

They're here.

"Trying to get help, I see. I suppose it's only fair, you're weak without anyone else."

She's only trying to mess with your head, I tell myself.

Sophie, are you there?

"You can't talk much longer. No matter how strong you are, we can nullify your powers."

I could only think of one thing to say.

Swan Song.

A/N: Hehe. Sorry for taking so long. This chapter is shorter than the rest, but the following chapters are going to have a lot of action. We just have a lot of school work and other time-filling activities, that we haven't been able to coordinate to write.  Hope you all like this!

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