Alexia
Estevan climbed down from the dragon and came towards me, the smile and satisfaction on his face were mixed with relief and joy.
I stood still and looked down at my hands, still trying to process everything that had happened.
I had killed Charlotte, now we could put an end to the war.
I smiled and looked at Estevan who was coming towards me at a fast pace, the turmoil of the war was something that would soon be over, but then Estevan was hit in the chest by a sword.
In a split second, too fast to see where the blow was coming from, I felt all my blood stop flowing through my body for a moment and the next, my heart beat more raggedly, threatening to leap out of my mouth as I saw Estevan's expression fall, I broke into a smile and felt the weight of that sword as if it were on my own chest.
"Estevan" I shouted and ran towards him, then the man turned and it was General Carlos "You bastard!"
I stopped walking when I saw Estevan's dragon coming towards us. Carlos turned around only to see the great red flash lick across his face, giving him the kiss of death and turning his skin, bones and blood to ash.
Estevan's dragon seemed agitated by the battle, he looked furious, I backed away frightened and Silver wrapped me in his tail, pulling me away, without understanding what was happening I still tried to run towards Estevan, but his dragon closed in on him and with his claws on Estevan he flew up into the sky leaving only a pool of blood on the ground.
I climbed up Silver quickly, determined not to let Estevan out of my sight, but something in me seemed to give way. When I saw that Estevan seemed to have died, I heard a woman's scream and felt something attract me, like a greater force, like a magnet, the same energy I felt in the forest, and I turned around without understanding why I felt so desperate and distressed. I entered the throne room with Silver and saw the scene of horror in front of me, Acácio and Soraya were on the floor surrounded by a large pool of blood, I quickly got off Silver and saw that Mariah was being suffocated by Camila.
"Let her go Camila, it's me you want!" I spoke with a firm voice and focused eyes, taking steps towards her, stopping in the center of the throne room.
She let go of Mariah, who coughed heavily as she fell to the floor.
"Silver" I said, and the dragon's huge mouth opened, spewing fire at Camila, who blocked the flames, as I thought she would.
But as soon as the fire ceased I was there, behind her with a rope taken from one of the throne room's bannisters, pulling it tightly around her neck as she had done with Mariah, pushing her harder, she threw her hand forward, was about to cast a spell on me when I kicked her left foot making her fall onto the small rope, stopping her movements for a moment as I had done with Charlotte, But Camila was much more powerful, breaking the spell, a strong wind blew through the throne room, the windows slammed shut and Silver seemed agitated to feel the manifestation of Camila's power as I used the words that came into my mind to keep her in my arms I began to turn her head slowly, it was like a power struggle until finally, I broke her neck.
I let go of her and dropped my arms to the floor and looked at Mariah.
"Are you all right?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Save her," Mariah pointed to the woman lying on the ground whose face was red and who was rolling her eyes almost unconsciously.
I ran towards Raila and threw myself on top of her, trying to pull the rope.
"What's that?" I asked, feeling the enormous amount of power coming from that little choker that Raila was always wearing.
"She said you can save her," Mariah said, but that didn't help much, I had no idea what to do in that situation.
I touched the chains again and Raila opened her eyes wider, she touched the chains too, she looked too weak with her face red and her breathing labored, she touched the chains trying to get some air and I saw that there was something on her.
"Wait" I said, leaning closer "There's something written here"
"There's nothing there Alexia"
Ignoring Mariah, I began to read the words in a low voice and then the choker broke free and Raila drew air into her lungs, she turned on her side and coughed heavily, put her hand on her neck and took the choker off completely.
She looked me in the eye.
"I knew that when the time was right, you would save me," she said, puzzling me. "I foresaw this day and waited patiently when I saw you in Zaïm."
"I don't understand," I said to her, frowning.
Mariah stood up and walked towards Soraya and Acacio, a lump formed in my throat as Mariah sobbed loudly, I stood up feeling my chest tighten and walked towards them, each step felt heavier making my chest choke, the tears began to fall violently, I bent over them and cried silently feeling the grief come.
"How did this happen Mariah?" I asked, "Why wasn't I here?"
"Don't blame yourself Alexia, everyone gave their all in this war," she said, looking me in the eye.
I shook my head and focused my eyes on them, the truth hadn't sunk in yet, I still believed that they would wake up at any moment, because their bodies were still warm despite the blood on the floor and their wounded bodies saying something else, I smiled weakly looking at Soraya.
"You're very funny Soraya, but it's time to wake up" I said, touching her shoulder, I shook her and looked at Acácio and their hands, Soraya had held his hand at the last moment and their wound was the same on their stomachs. I looked at Acácio's face, which seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and I felt my heart squeeze too tightly, suffocating with sadness: "You can't die now, you need to see that the war is over and that everything will be different now".
I adjusted Acácio's clothes, trying to contain myself as the tears continued to fall, his clothes were wrinkled and he never wore wrinkled clothes, I touched Soraya's face, a tender caress that I had longed for and now I felt that I had wasted the time, that I should have touched her face before, that I should have...
Mariah's hand on my shoulder roused me from my dark thoughts, I looked up in pain and saw that she too was devastated.
Taking a deep breath, she asked:
"Alexia, where's Estevan?"
But tears blurred my vision, the image of the sword being plunged into Estevan's chest came forcefully into my mind and I covered my face without holding back the tears and sobs, Mariah bent down and hugged me tightly.
There were only two of us left in the war.