Max spoke quickly while he had the chance, “I didn’t kill anyone in your family. You hate me because I came from a different place than you, because my parents worked in that castle. You rejected me before you ever gave me a chance. Well, you finally get what you want because guess what, Tony, I hate you, too!”

Max put the crystal in his hand against the hilt of his sword. The next swing at Tony would be the last. His blade would cut through Tony’s and pass easily through his body, ending their rivalry once and for all. This was what Britt warned him would happen, they had to face each other and only one of them would walk away.  

Before Tony could come at him again, orcs attacked them. Max cut through an orc’s blade, the momentum of his swing passing clean through its body, just like he would’ve done to Tony. Max cut down two more to see Tony pulling the tip of his sword back out of an orc’s chest.  

When Max faced Tony again, he stood squared off with the man and held the magically fueled sword with both hands. Tony stabbed at Max. Max swiped his sword across Tony’s cutting it in half and then side-stepped the man, letting him stumble past. Tony spun swinging his blade, not yet realizing it had been cut in half. He fell short of his mark by several feet.  

Tony looked at his broken sword in surprise.

Max said, “I have the power to end your sad, miserable life. With this power, I will return the hate that you have directed at me every day of my life.”

Max then pulled the sword back to kill Tony. As he did, he saw the look in Tony’s eyes had changed from unbridled rage to fear. In that moment, Max felt as though he was seeing directly into Tony’s soul. He hesitated with the follow-through thinking, I can’t do it.  

Before Tony reacted, Max’s eyes darted to a figure appearing behind Tony. It was his brother, Bo.

“Stop!” Bo shouted, lunging between them and holding them both at arm’s length. “Max, you don’t want to do this.”  

Max shook his head and took the crystal off his sword, “No, I don’t. I can’t.”

An orc pushed through a soldier behind them and Max quickly reacted, turning his back to Tony and Bo. 

“Let it go, Tony,” Bo said.  

When Max cut down the orc and looked back, he saw Tony still held the half blade and glared at Max.  

“He hasn’t done anything wrong. He just wants to protect us,” Bo said. 

Tony didn’t retaliate, he stood, seemingly in thought.  

Bo stepped away from him and joined Max in pushing through the mosh of fighting and away from Tony. While Bo followed Max, finishing off orcs and enemy humans as they moved, Max spotted Kirsten facing down a group of kurr. When Bo saw her, he shouted, trying to push through the orcs to reach her. Max joined him, cutting a swath through the enemy. With the help of his crystal, they reached Kirsten in time to help her. 

“I could’ve taken them on my own,” Kirsten said, finishing off the last of the kurr surrounding them.  

“We know,” Bo said, sounding relieved to be near her.  

I need to find Britt, Max thought. Just as he turned to look back, he saw Tony. The man stumbled over the last of the dead orcs that he and Bo had left in their wake. He had rage and murder in his eyes. Max didn’t have time to react in self-defense. He moved his arm to block the stabbing thrust of the half-blade, but he was too slow. Max braced for an impact that never came. As the steel moved to finish him, a flash of armor passed in front of his eyes and took his place. “No!” Max screamed, dropping his sword and crystal and reaching to grab his brother.  

He fell to his knees where Bo had fallen. Grabbing him by the shoulders and leaning him back into his body, Max saw Tony’s sword sticking out just below Bo’s rib cage. Blood poured from the slit in his armor where the blade had entered. Max looked up at Tony in a panic. The man stood in shock, looking down at them. Max’s ears were filled with Kirsten’s screams and knew she had just realized what had happened.  

Max looked back down at his brother’s pale, shocked expression. Bo tried to look down at the sword, but Max distracted him, “Bo, look at me.” Bo looked up at Max, staring into his eyes. Max couldn’t think of what to say except, “Hold on, Bo. Hold onto me.”  

Kirsten slid in next to Max and knelt over Bo. In a panic, she held the sapphire against his chest and watched it begin to glow. She held his face and said through tears, “Stay with me, Bo. Stay with me. I love you.” 

Though she tried to use her powers to heal him, Max knew she didn’t know how. The blood continued to flow from Bo’s wound and he trembled. Bo’s grip on Max’s hand tightened. His brother looked up blankly and said, “I love you. Be strong for me.”  

“Stay with me, Bo,” Kirsten said one more time.  

Max watched helplessly as his brother’s life slipped away. With a final exhale, Bo stopped breathing and stared with lifeless eyes into the sky overhead. Max continued to hold his hand while Kirsten held her crystal against his chest and sobbed. Max’s vision blurred from the tears. He looked up at his brother’s killer and saw Tony’s horrified expression. 

Max clenched his jaw, trying to stop his lip from quivering. 

Tony mumbled to himself, “What did I do?” 

The next thing Max knew, Tony had reached down, grabbed an orc blade from the ground, and ran straight into the thicket of enemies beyond the chaos of the front lines. His shouts turned to cries of death in the distance. 

The push of the orcs and kurr seemed unceasing. The only thing that rallied Max to stand up and defend Kirsten and his brother’s body was the hope that Britt was still alive. He placed the sapphire against his blade and cut back any enemy that attempted to surround them.  

“Kirsten!” Max shouted during gaps between the incessant attackers, “You must get out of here. Take Bo and get out of here!”  

At first his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, but after his third attempt to get her to move, Kirsten rose, shouldering Bo’s body and moving back into the allied army.  

After ensuring that Bo’s body wouldn’t be trampled by orcs and kurr, Max launched himself into the enemy ranks with blind range. He mowed through enemies as they came, heedless of his surroundings. The bodies piled up; he had to keep moving or be walled in by his destruction. Suddenly Max’s sword stuck into the side of an orc without cutting cleanly through. The exhaustion hit him, dropping him to his knees. He dropped the tapped crystal on the ground. Reaching into his pouch, Max tried to fish out another. His pouch was empty.  

He looked up at a kurr charging at him. Max feared his life was about to end when a flash of light passed in front of him. It struck the charging kurr in the chest, launching it and all of the orcs backward into the air. Max felt two hands come under his armpits and lift him to his feet. His savior continued to wield magic, pushing back the dark forces. It wasn’t until the warrior turned to face him that Max recognized Sanka, his crewmate from Britt’s ship and fellow crystal-bearer.  

 “Here,” Sanka said, reaching into his pouch. He tossed Max a crystal.  

Max caught the sapphire and instantly energy surged through his body. He regained his fighting edge. He had more clarity now, too, after having felt the exhaustion drain the rage from his body. He also noticed that they were far out in front of the others. Max and Sanka held back the enemy as they slowly retreated to join their allied forces.  

Suddenly two dwarfs ran past him, hacking their axes into the orcs that were chasing them. The safety of the lines was coming into reach. Max ran farther back toward their army. Sanka was no longer at his side. Max stopped and saw Sanka working with the dwarfs to hold off the forces. As he was looking on, a dragon dropped into sight and opened its mouth, shooting a wall of flame toward Sanka and the dwarfs. Max deflected the fringe of the fire with his sapphire’s energy. The heat was too much to bear and he was forced to run back into the tangle of fighting where the allied armies held their ground. 

He turned around to see smoldering bodies where his friend had been. The dragon that had attacked them lay amongst the still burning destruction after a rider cut its head off. He didn’t have time to think before he had to rush away from the orcs and kurr now filling the open space behind him.  

Searching for a place to reenter his side of the fighting, Max spotted Britt in a crowd of dwarfs. He doubled his efforts, pushing through to her as he called her name.  

“Max!” she shouted when she finally spotted him.  

He threw himself into her arms and wept.  

Without speaking, Britt seemed to understand. She helped him retreat farther into the safety of their ranks. When they were well away from the fighting, Max sat down on the ground. Britt joined him. Through his sobs, he told her of Bo and Sanka’s deaths.  

*** 

With two of Merglan’s elven dragonriders dead and most of the wild dragons defeated, Merglan’s lone rider had little help against Anders and Hannah. The rider had no choice but to go on the defensive. Maija and three other Northland riders had been making quick work in finishing off the last of the wild dragons when Merglan joined the fighting. Moments after their fellow Northland rider had beheaded a dragon whose fire would’ve caused untold damage to their army, Merglan struck. While Killdoor and the powerful sorcerer destroyed the Northland rider, Anders flew past Maija. He and Zahara sped directly at Merglan. Raffa changed course and followed.  

“Anders, what are you doing?!” Maija shouted after him. He didn’t seem to hear her over the rushing wind. I guess it’s now or never, she told herself, having feared this moment for some time. 

Anders clapped and a pulse of energy spread toward the evil dragonrider. A half a moment later light exploded between Anders and Merglan. Anders quickly sent three bolts of energy as a follow-through. They shattered against Merglan’s shield magic. Maija’s heart pounded as she watched Merglan and Killdoor hovering in the air, not at all fearful of Anders’ attack. Anders extended Lazuran and swung the energy blade at Merglan. The dark sorcerer produced an energy blade to match Anders’ and she saw Killdoor’s chest glow a dark red through his black scales. They clashed in fire and magic. Maija was overcome with a sinking feeling. Even with her extra crystals, she knew she didn’t have the skill to take on such a powerful rider.  

She flew in, directing Raffa toward Killdoor’s blind spot. As Raffa passed behind Killdoor and came in close, Maija realized Merglan was completely distracted by Anders’ attack. I might pull this off, she thought, reaching for her magic. Summoning energy from deep within, she felt the electric tingle at her fingertips. She could fire when ready.  

When Raffa was nearly on top of Merglan she released the spell. She watched the thick stream of light shoot from her palm at her intended target. This was easily the most battle magic she had ever produced. It rocketed through the sky at Merglan and Killdoor’s backs. Just when she expected the deadly channel of energy would hit her intended target, Merglan reached his hand behind him and swiped it out of the way. Maija gasped as Raffa continued down on top of Killdoor. He was going to try to strike them with his body.  

She lurched forward, holding on tight to her saddle in preparation for the impact. Almost instantly she was pressed backward as a wave of magic pulsed around them. She flattened in the saddle and heard Raffa’s roar. She feared the worst, that Merglan was taking her bonded’s life. She reacted with instinct; not thinking, only doing. Rolling onto her side, she moved with an elf’s speed, sprang to her feet, ran down the length of Raffa’s neck and jumped.  

Maija drew her blade as she fell through open space, falling down onto Merglan. The scene of what was happening suddenly became clear when she could see it all. Merglan was locked in a battle with Anders while Killdoor used his magic to hold Raffa back. Killdoor had failed to capture Maija in his spell and she was surprised to find that she had managed to drop onto his back with her blade in hand.  

Several hundred feet over the battleground , Maija landed on Killdoor’s back, Maija swiped her blade at Merglan’s back. The sword scraped across an energy shield just inches from his riding armor. By the time she’d hit him, his sword arm was already swinging around his back. She was too close for the blade to hit her and Merglan’s forearm and fist landed on her shoulder. The strong backhanded strike knocked her off balance and she fell off of Killdoor’s back.