Dean pulls me back. "Patience brother," he hisses under his breath. "Do you not see who she is with?"
I look again, clenching my jaw. "Lucian."
"We cannot beat him, brother," says Dean.
"There are four of us."
"You know it doesn't matter."
Marasphyr fidgets with a ring on her finger. "I'm afraid he's right. I do not wish to face the vampire king."
I sigh, falling back against the stone, cursing the day. Metsi I was prepared for, but Lucian… He is the man who killed the last Midnight Star. The man who slaughtered an entire family of High Fae.
I wasn't there when it happened, but the tales still bring dread. Still, they could be exaggerated, could they not? I know better than most how a story could grow into ridiculous fantasy. My time at Grey Mountain taught me that.
"What do you propose we do, then?" I ask. "I am not letting her go. Not again."
Dean pauses for a moment. "We wait. Lucian cannot guard her every moment. I'm sure he has other matters. We wait. Follow them if we must. And when he leaves, we strike."
Every part of my being wishes to refuse. To attack now. Every part but one. Arianna would not wish me to die foolishly. She would wish for me to live. For both of us to live together.
So I wait.
And wait.
Lucian does not leave.
Instead, someone else arrives. Metsi.
From the shadows, I watch them. They talk. And then Metsi dispels a wave of water, revealing a woman on the ground. She looks familiar from a distance. Kayla!
Tavian tenses at my side, raising his blade. "How could she be here?" he growls.
"Easy, now," says Dean. "We cannot fight both Lucian and Metsi. That is even more certain."
"And what if we wait too long?" I say. "What if they change their minds and kill them?"
"Father always has a plan. If that plan involved Ari and Kayla dead, they would be."
"But you know how he can be," I say, looking my brother in the eyes. "You know rage drives him as much as logic."
Dean says nothing.
I look back to Arianna. Two more bodies fall to the ground. Asher and Varis. "How?" I whisper. "Has Stonehill fallen?"
Dean shrugs, fear in his eyes.
There are raised voices now. Then…
Then Lucian smashes Arianna across the face. I feel the blow in my own gut.
He yells at her. His hand falls on his sword.
No! I will not lose her again.
I jump over the pillar, charging forward.
Baron follows at my heel, howling.
Tavian rushes after me, yelling a cry for battle, Marasphyr right behind him.
Dean follows last. But he follows. I notice the fervor in his eyes. In the end, he will do anything for Arianna.
Together, we charge.
It is a mistake.
Lucian turns, looks into my eyes, and smiles.
He knew we were coming. Somehow, he knew.
Or more likely, he planned for it. This is what he wanted all along.
We should turn back. But I cannot. I will not. For Arianna. For our child, if what Dean says is true.
Lucian gestures to Metsi, and she pulls a purple vial from her robes. She holds it up with one hand, then shatters it in her grip. The purple liquid spills out and starts to morph, changing into mist. She's using her powers. Turning whatever that concoction is airborne.
And then, she pushes it our way.
"Hold your breath!" I yell, but I'm too late.
The purple mist hits us like a gust of wind, seeping into our lungs. It tastes bitter at first, and then, it doesn't taste at all, turning my mouth numb. Then my chest, then my arms, then my legs.
I collapse, my sword falling from my paralyzed hand.
The others, Dean, Tavian, Marasphyr, and even Baron fall too. I turn my head a little to see them. It seems the only part of my body not fully paralyzed.
"Fen!" yells Arianna, restrained by shackles made of water, her eyes full of tears. Happy or sad I cannot tell. She glares at Lucian. "Let them go!"
Lucian laughs, looking at me. "The Purple Sleep. A rare concoction, but worth it for this occasion. Don't worry. You will regain mobility and feeling soon." He paces between our frozen bodies, stopping at Baron. Then he pulls out a small grey stone and whispers incantations under his breath.
Baron's head flinches with pain. He howls, as if something is eating him from within. He writhes on the ground and I can do nothing to help him. I feel his pain and panic in my own body, and it consumes me. Then he begins to fade, turning into smoke.
I try to cry out. To fight for my friend. But not even my lips move.
Lucian seems to notice my struggle. "Do not fear, Fenris. Tauren—that is, Baron—will be fine. Everything will be fine."
The spell ends, and Baron disappears into the stone. What is the meaning of this? Why does he need my Spirit?
Lucian turns to Metsi. "See, everything is as I planned. Now, for the final Spirit…"
She clenches her jaw, shaking, then slowly lifts up her arm with Wadu. "We'll be together again soon," she whispers to her Spirit.
Then Lucian pulls out another stone, a blue one, and mutters the incantations again. Wadu screeches and hisses, while Metsi's eyes swell with tears. "I'm sorry. But this is for the best. For us all." The screeching fades, and Wadu disappears into the stone.
Lucian pockets the Spirit and walks down the ruins, to the stone door carved into the mountain.
Someone mumbles something. Asher. He's starting to wake. Varis too. I see their fingers twitch.