I'm in the tent with the team, my dad, Darren, Ivy, Stella, and Griffin, who is the leader of the Reapers. Kyndle is holding my hand tight. I know she is nervous about the final battle, we all are, but Kyndle has a huge responsibility. She is our main weapon against the Enchantress's army. The only one missing is my sister. I don't know where the hell she has been for the last few days. I'm a little annoyed at her because she left me in charge without even telling me. She just up and left without a word to me or anyone besides our dad.
"Where is Emmy? This is just so typical of her to disappear when we need her. It's just like last time when she was gone for months,” Ryan complains.
Ryan and I don't see eye to eye on most things, and the same goes for him and Emmy, but this time I'm inclined to agree with him. The final battle is about to start, and where is my sister? Nowhere to be found. My dad insists that Emmy will be here, but I can tell even he's not totally convinced that she will show up. I don't know what the hell she was doing with the Three, but it better be something that wins this fucking war.
We already have soldiers fighting on the front lines keeping the Enchantress's army back, but we need to join them, or we will lose what advantage we have. Just as I'm about to say fuck it and tell everyone to go to their battle stations Emmy walks into tent, but this isn't not the Emmy we all know. No, this Emmy is dangerous, and ready to fight.
Everyone looks at Emmy, and I'm sure some mouths have hit the floor. We all look at each other exchanging concerned looks. Something has changed. I don't know what Emmy was doing with the Three but I'm starting to think it wasn't good. Emmy seems darker like she let the monster out for good, but she's not in her transformed state, she looks normal, but we all can tell something is different.
Emmy walks to the front of the group. She's confident, fierce, and ready to strike down anything that gets in her way.
"I take it everyone has done what they were instructed to do?" Emmy asks in the most serious deadly tone I've ever heard come from her.
The sweet Emmy is gone and has been replaced with something much darker. I hope this isn't a permanent change, that this is only for the war. The Emmy we know isn't anywhere in sight. I look over at my dad who looks torn between impressed and concerned. Well, no one can say that Emmy wasn't prepared for this final battle.
"We are ready Emmy, we were just waiting for you,” I comment.
"Sorry I had to take care of some things."
"What is more important than preparing for this final battle?" Ryan challenges.
Emmy pivots so she is facing Ryan.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out. Don't worry Ryan, it was time well spent I assure you,” Emmy replies.
"Emmy what is your plan? We all have our assignments, but what about you?" I ask, wishing I didn't have to be such an asshole to my pregnant sister.
"Don't worry about my plan. You just focus on your task." Emmy's tone suggests this conversation is over with.
Everyone goes over the final battle plans, and then they are leaving the tent. It's only my dad, Kyndle, Carter, and I left with Emmy. Carter looks concerned about Emmy and the baby. I can't blame him. We are all worried about the baby, and what the Enchantress might attempt.
"Emmy are you okay?" Carter questions.
Hell, that's a great question, one I would love answered.
"I'm fine. Everything will be okay. I love you"
"Love you too,” Carter replies.
Emmy kisses Carter, and then he is gone. Kyndle leaves with Carter. Now it's just family.
"Emmy, my Little Bird, you have got to give us some clue on your plan here," my dad pleads with Emmy.
"I'm pretty sure you don't want to know."
"Yeah, we do,” I counter.
“Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. The Enchantress's biggest strength is her ability to shift into dragon form. Her dragon is a fire dragon, well mine is an ice dragon. I'm going to fight fire with ice."
"Wait you can turn into a fucking dragon?" I ask, shocked to find this out.
"Yes. We have dragon blood mixed with our dark magic. You can transform too, and so can dad. It's harder for you two though. See because I can transform into a monster it's easier for me to morph into dragon form. I'm already halfway there when I go into monster form."
"Emmy transformation is dangerous for the baby," my dad states with concern.
"I know. I already had Ari. She's with Eva, safe and sound. That's what I had to do. I had to enhance my pregnancy so I could give birth so that I could transform into a dragon. Ari is healthy, and most importantly she is safe. The Enchantress can't touch her"
Emmy fills us in on the rest of her plan. She plans on finding the Enchantress before she can find Emmy. Their battle will be epic, two dragons fighting it out should be pretty interesting to see. I'm not sure that I'll get to see the battle, but I know Emmy will kick ass.
My dad goes off to help wherever he is needed. Emmy sneaks off to go find the Enchantress, and I'm off to join air support. I’m where I need to be when Lynden stops me dead in my tracks. I didn't think I'd ever see her again, but there she is. Lynden still looks beautiful even with her hair disheveled, and her dirty clothes.
I know Lynden isn't my soulmate, I don't have feelings for her anymore, but she was a good friend, and her betrayal still stings. She was the first person I really made friends with that wasn't already friends with my sister or family. Lynden smiles at me, but I don't return her one. I'm not happy to see her, but she seems happy to see me which I find odd.
Lynden goes to approach me, but I step back. She looks disappointed. I don't care. I'm on the defense. I don't trust her. There is nothing that she could do or say to make me change my mind. She is going down, and I'm going to be the one to take her out.
"Calder, I found you."
"You're pretty stupid to come looking for me,” I reply with utter disgust.
"Calder, we have to talk."
"No, we don't."
"Yes, we do. I love you. I'm only working with the Enchantress so we can be together. In her world we can be together. I thought I was okay with never having a soulmate till I met you. I want to be with you. You're everything to me. Come with me. Join with me and the Enchantress. We can be together forever just like it should be."
"You're deranged if you think the Enchantress's world would be better. You've also lost your ever-loving mind if you think that I would join you and the Enchantress."
"Calder please. I love you. I want to be with you. The Enchantress can give us what we both want."
I laugh.
"No, she won't. Did you forget I spent most of my life with the Enchantress? She is a psychotic lunatic with a split personality, possibly multiple. Whatever she promised to you is a lie, and you're just as crazy as she is if you believe her."
In this moment I feel bad for Lynden. She has been deceived, and it will cost her her life. I want to help Lynden even though she betrayed me, but I can see that she has been brainwashed. My heart breaks for her, and I know I’m going to have to be the one to end her life. I don’t want to, but I fear I must. If there was a way to make Lynden see that the Enchantress is deceiving her, but it’s clear that her mind is made up.
“Calder, please come with me. Just talk to the Enchantress. Please. You will see she isn’t bad. I know you feel the same way about me as I do about you,” Lynden begs.
“There was a point in time where I wanted to be with you, but I’ve found my soulmate, and it’s not you.”
I’m hoping that by sharing this information with Lynden she will see that the Enchantress is full of shit. There isn’t a world where her and I could be together. It wasn’t meant to be between us. I know that now. I know Kyndle is my soulmate, and I know she is the one I’m going to be with for the rest of my life.
“What?”
“I’m sorry Lynden, but Kyndle is my soulmate. I don’t know what the Enchantress told you, but she lied. We aren’t meant to be together. Look, if you come with me, I will grant you sanctuary. Come back to the light. Ivy misses you.”
I didn’t think I would want to save Lynden from herself, but I do. We were such good friends that I do want her in my life, but not as my soulmate, just as a friend. I don’t know if Lynden could get over her feelings for me, but I don’t want her to die. She may have betrayed me, but in the end, she doesn’t deserve to die. She is a lost soul that the Enchantress manipulated.
“No Calder. If you don’t come with me by your own will then I will just force you to come with me.”
Lynden goes to reach for something in her pocket, but I quickly blast her with a spell that leaves her unable to move her body. She looks angry, but I don’t care. I tried to be nice. I tried to give her a second chance, but she doesn’t want it. I go up to her to see what she was trying to pull out of her pocket. It’s a stun gun. I’m not sure what her plan was, and right now I don’t even want to know. Lynden is clearly deranged.
Suddenly there’s a wind around us, and the Enchantress appears. This can’t be good I think to myself as I feel my body tense, it’s a natural reaction my body has when the Enchantress is near me. Too many years of captivity, hatred, revenge, and fear rush through my body. I want the Enchantress gone for good, and I know I’m not the only one.
“Well, well, well what do we have here?” The Enchantress taunts as she wraps her arm around Lynden’s shoulder and pulls her close.
This action alone makes me pissed off. Despite what Lynden has done to my family by putting my sister and niece in harm's way, I still want to protect her. Lynden was my friend, she meant something to me, she may be sick, but I want to save her. I want to help her, and watching the Enchantress take advantage of Lynden makes my blood boil.
“So, we meet again Calder. I think it’s time for you to come home. You belong with me. We’ve always had a special bond, you and me. You’re my favorite grandchild.” The Enchantress is using a sexy seductive voice.
The Enchantress loves to play on her sexuality. I believe it gives her confidence, or something along those lines. Right now, she looks so calm, confident, and collected like she knows she is going to win. It makes me feel uneasy seeing her like this. It makes me fear that there is something we don’t know about, perhaps the Enchantress has a trick up her sleeve, and if she does that means trouble for the rest of us.
“Lynden, darling, thank you for leading me to Calder. Him and I have so much to talk about.”
“No, we don’t,” I shout in frustration.
I feel like a mouse caught by the cat. I’m being toyed with, and I don’t like it. The Enchantress is playing games, and I for one don’t like her games. I’ve spent a good amount of my life playing her games. I’m ready to be left alone, but somehow, I don’t think that is her plan at the moment.
“Calder just listens to what she has to say,” Lynden pleads with me.
“You should listen to your wanna be girlfriend,” the Enchantress suggests with a smug look on her face.
“I don’t care what you say, I'll never join you.”
The Enchantress rolls her eyes at me like a small child.
“You need to come up with a new line Calder, in fact tell Emmy the same thing. I mean come on you can come up with something better than that.”
“How about you tell me to my face?” Emmy states as she walks up towards us.
I feel relieved to see my sister. I know I could take on the Enchantress by myself, I have in the past, but there have been times that I have lost against her. I didn’t want to fight her on my own. I didn’t have to anymore. I have my family. I may be pretty powerful, but even heroes have had bad days. I’ve been defeated by the Enchantress in the past, and although I have grown since then, I’ve become stronger, but I still doubt myself. I’m only human.
“Now all we need is my son, and we can have a proper family reunion.”
“We can live without that, can’t we Calder?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
In one sudden movement the Enchantress has a knife to Lynden’s throat. Fuck this isn’t good. Lynden looks afraid, but at the same time I can still see how much she trusts the Enchantress. I look over at Emmy who looks unamused at the games the Enchantress is playing. I know Emmy is ready for this to be over, I just hope that she doesn’t jump ahead of herself.
“You say that we need new lines, well you need new moves. Let Lynden go,” I demand.
The Enchantress sighs in annoyance.
“I’m bored with this, let's spice things up.”
The Enchantress cuts Lynden’s throat. I watch in horror as Lynden makes horrible noises as the life leaves her body. I scream out in frustration, but that doesn’t prepare me for what happened next. Lynden’s body reanimates. She is now one of the zombies. The Enchantress laughs, she is clearly amused by her games, but I am not. I can tell Emmy is not amused either.
The Enchantress turns to walk away, but Emmy launches an electric ball to the side of the Enchantress to grab her attention, which it did. The Enchantress turns around looking annoyed. She places her hands on her hips like a petulant child.
“Where the hell do you think you are going?” Emmy demands.
Emmy launches herself at full running speed and knocks the Enchantress down to the ground. Meanwhile I have one very angry dead Lynden coming at me. I send a fireball her way, but she manages to dodge most of it, so it only grazes her shoulder. Lynden’s zombie seems stronger than most which is going to make killing her that much harder.
I look over to where Emmy and the Enchantress were, and I find they are no longer in my sight. I don’t know where they went off to, but before I can find them or anyone I must fight and kill zombie Lynden. I pulled out a dagger from its sheath that I had strapped to my jeans. I lunge at Lynden and manage to slice her throat. I know this is not enough to kill her, but it will weaken her. I take the dagger and put it through her heart. Lynden makes an odd growling sound. The Lynden I knew is gone.
I take the knife and put it through her skull. The zombie is now dead. To be on the safe side I burn the body. I feel tears leave my eyes as I mourn my friend. I hate that things ended this way. I hate that my friend lost her way, and because of it paid with her life. There is nothing I can do but remember the good times I had with her. I will remember her in a positive light.
Once I am sure that Lynden is truly gone. I leave the area to join the rest of the battle. I hope that I will find Emmy in the process. I don’t like not knowing where they went. I know Emmy can handle herself, but she is my little sister, and I worry. I’m more concerned now more than ever because I fear something has snapped within her. I can only hope that after this is all said and done, that we can all find some peace within ourselves.