“We are too late,” Darkness said as the ground shook.

“We must try to stop this,” Nightmare said before darting off into the middle of the fight.

He snatched up a small black creature and hurled it with force into the looming trees, like a quarterback throwing a football across the field. My jaw dropped as the creatures engaged in a savage battle, all for total dominion that none of them deserved.

I was supposed to bring balance to stop the war, but all I could do was to witness the total annihilation of the world. My fingertips traced over the contours of the intricate design on the medallion, and as my eyes shut, an intense surge of a vision consumed me. It was a fleeting moment, but I’d thrown something somewhere.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing to see the flash again, but I was forced to open my eyes at the spine-chilling sound that came from the earth. It sounded like it was about to break in two and swallow the entire battle.

“Good luck, my brothers and sisters,” Storm said as she stretched out her hands and summoned a tornado shield around herself. She stepped out into the battle, fighting at Nightmare’s side.

Darkness squeezed my hand and met my gaze. “Stay close.”

He plunged headlong into the chaos as the cacophony of the battle overwhelmed me. The artifacts burned my skin as the air filled with terrifying screams, bones cracking, and wailing in every direction.

We were all losing the war. And there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it, even though I knew that was what Darkness and the others had hoped I’d be able to do.

Darkness clenched his hand into a tight fist before grabbing the pristine white shirt of the nearest Light Being. He forced the man to turn as he blew a handful of glimmering black dust into his face.

The man spat and swung at Darkness, missing completely thanks to the dust covering his face. The Light Being brushed away the power and revealed that he wasn’t just any Light Being.

The man standing in front of Darkness was Noah.

Chapter

Thirty

“No!” I said as Darkness raised him off the ground.

He didn’t stop but turned to me, his narrowed eyes red with rage. I ran toward them, waving my hands, and Noah’s eyes widened.

“You shouldn’t be here, Remy,” Noah said, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. “You’re somehow different.”

“I’m the same as I’ve always been,” I said, my brow tensing more with each word. I tugged on Darkness’s arm as he glared at Noah. “Don’t hurt him.”

“When they stop this nonsense, I will release him,” Darkness growled.

Noah laughed, sputtering as Darkness tightened his grip. “What are we supposed to do? Should I just let them kill all my people? Let the evil win?” Noah looked down his nose at Darkness. “I suppose you would like that.”

“I would like it if you idiots would stop this nonsense. Look around, you idiot. The Light is just as foolish as the dark. Neither of you can see beyond your own selfishness,” Darkness spat.

“Darkness, please,” I said, concern filling my voice as Noah gagged for air.

Darkness grumbled as his upper lip curled into a sneer. “He doesn’t deserve my kindness.”

The subtle thuds of someone approaching sent a quick jolt through me, forcing me to turn abruptly. Instantly, I found myself face to face with The Oracle, her piercing gaze widening as she seized my shoulders with an intense grip.

“Balance! I saw it,” she said between quick breaths. “I saw everything!”

My head shook as I tried to decipher her cryptic words. “What do you mean? What did you see?”

“I had one final vision before arriving,” she stopped speaking, only then noticing that Darkness had Noah by the throat. She cocked a brow at Darkness. “Is this necessary? She can stop it. She can stop it all.”

Darkness let out a guttural groan as he begrudgingly lowered Noah to the ground. With his hands poised at the ready, he shifted his gaze toward The Oracle.

“What does she need to do?” Darkness asked, daring a glance over his shoulder at the battle behind us.

“A sacrifice! Only she can restore balance,” The Oracle said, pressing her palms together as her eyes widened with hope.

Darkness’s brows squeezed together. “Tell her what to do!”

“All she has to do is to take the artifacts ahs foo dem…,” The Oracle’s words turned into nonsensical gurgles.

I narrowed my eyes, focusing on her mouth as she tried to form words. Suddenly, her hands shot up to her chest, where a beam of light was sticking out of the middle of her body.

The Oracle reached for me as she released a short, sharp breath, as the beam of light disappeared from her body. Blood poured out, soaking the front of her shirt before she collapsed to the ground, soaking the grass around our feet.

Noah met my eyes, still holding the jagged beam of light in his hands. My jaw dropped as he slowly retracted it into his hand.

“No!” I bellowed as anger raged through my veins.

I launched toward him, slamming my fists as hard as I could into his chest. He didn’t seem to care about the impact of my blows as he stood defiantly.

“What have you done? What have you done?” My voice scratched my throat as I repeated the words over and over again with each punch.

Noah didn’t get a chance to respond before Darkness grabbed his head, twisting it sharply to the side with a blood-curdling crack. Noah’s body instantly went limp.

My hands shot to the sides of my head, sliding into my hair and tugging at the roots. I couldn’t believe what had happened to both The Oracle and Noah, only seconds before being told how to put an end to the war. It seemed as though I had to be trapped inside one of Nightmare’s dreams.

“No, no, no,” I mumbled over and over again as Darkness cupped my face.

“I’m sorry, Remy. I’m sorry,” Darkness said, desperately peering into my eyes as if searching for forgiveness. “He killed her. You saw it.”

I swallowed hard. My heart felt as though it was sinking into my stomach as it forgot how to beat in the right rhythm to keep me alive.

“She has the artifacts!” a monster said, his voice impossibly deep.

As they all turned to me, dark and light alike, Storm raised her hands as she mumbled something inaudibly. A massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, splitting the earth into two pieces.

The two pieces of ground slid apart, creating a colossal abyss between me, the demons, and The Light. However, it didn’t stop the war. The two sides continued to fight, throwing bodies into the massive hole.

I pressed my hand to my stomach as I scanned the area. There were corpses scattered everywhere and Light Beings clawing at the ground, begging to be saved. The eerie cries for help among the continued fighting were sickening.

My eyes shifted down as I dropped to my knees. It felt as though my insides were melting. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop the madness even though I’d been seconds away from hearing the answer.

I had failed.

The world was going to end.