I don't go for the obvious kill, instead, I press my hand to the ground and allow the black ice to climb up his legs. Like fingers of death, they tangle and encircle the man up to his neck, forming an almost scissor-like junction at the base of his throat. 

"You have some nerve coming up to me like this!" I shout at him, eyes wild as I guard Pascal. I can't focus on this man right now, I have to be mindful of the circling dark creatures and whoever had fired on us. 

"I can help you." Gabriel manages, strangled by the vines as he fights to free himself. 

Narrowing my eyes, I tighten my fist, squeezing him with all my hatred for what he'd put me through. "You're a damned fool if you think I'd ever trust you again. You have been working with Caspian all along-" I stop myself, cursing harshly under my throat as Pascal begins to stabilize her body.

 Why am I speaking to him? How does he keep luring me in? 

"I'll leave you to your toys. I'll free the unicorn on my own."

Forming an ice shield, I stand and help my friend to her feet. Gabriel doesn't look panicked, he doesn't even look concerned as he watches me. "I had to help him. He was tracking us much too closely. I can admit that my intentions have not always been pure, I'm not a good person Nicolas."

Pascal spits on the vines covering his chest. "You got that right, you vile creature." Balling up her good fist, she punches him square in the jaw and I must jerk her back as her hand singes on his face. She dare not cry out, merely glaring at her burning knuckles. "Dark magic scum. Let's go, Nic."

"It was the only way to keep your husband out of the way. Verando is a huge liability with Caspian's obsession growing by the day. We're too close to the end of days, we can not save Fergus and run from Caspian. I-" He exhales, pained by the admittance of defeat. "I can not run from Caspian. I am his servant, he is my lycan. Not in the same way as you and Verando but I do care for him, as much as I can. I'm compromised but I do have moments of clarity and I can help you get out of this."

Shutting my hand entirely, the vine blades nick the edges of his flesh. "You will not come near me or my family ever again. You will rot here with what you've spawned and when Caspian destroys the earth, I hope you burn with it!" I feel the flavor of malice rushing into the back of my throat. I wish to end him, I wish to watch him burn. Arrows buzz the air and I grip one before it can penetrate my skin. Inspecting the tip, my hand begins to sizzle. 

"Holy water?" I raise an eyebrow, tipping it back and forth as I narrow my darkened eyes into the woods. 

"Be gone, dark ones!" The voice calls. "Anyone who walks in the light, shield your eyes!" 

"What?" I murmur to Pascal as the flash of light threatens to blind us. Blocking out my sight with my forearm, I hear Gabriel's garbled cries of pain as he winces from the burning sensation. We're surrounded by screeches and howls as the area is cleansed, the hasty retreat echos all around as the world once more grows still and quiet. 

Blinking away the stark light, I direct my hand towards the oncoming footsteps but Pascal quickly lowers it, tucking it into my side with a pointed glare. "Don't. They said whoever walks in the light, surely they're good?"

I don't think I could believe anyone to be good ever again. "You burn like a dark one, yet you hold one of your own." A voice accuses from the treeline. "State your buisness."

What was I supposed to say? I dabbled in the arts but I was occasionally good. 

"We saw you sacrifice the other." Another voice retorts. 

I curse once more. Of course, they did. "I am the Good King, I'm here to restore balance and save the unicorn." To my offense, I'm met with musical laughter, the taut draw of a bow catches my attention and I prepare to defend myself. With Pascal's reassurance, I would not attack until they did. "The man who was here was Caspian, holder of Fenrir. He will consume the planet in six days if I do not get to Fergus in time."

My words bring silence. I trace the outline of the beacon of light with my eyes and note that the trees appear to be lighter, and brighter in the immediate vicinity. "How did you do this?" I almost murmur, inspecting the arrow once more. It bore elvish symbols, stark silver on the tip, and what almost appeared to be a white oak shaft. My lips part as I glance back up, "Are you elves?"

It takes longer than I would have liked for them to slowly begin to step out of the darkness. Before me, with long flowing hair and dressed in sullied elven armor, they appeared to be in good health though battered and bruised from a century of living among the dark.

 "We are elves, we have returned to our blessed roots and walk in the light. Before there were healers, magic users, there were elves and we were well respected for our spiritual guidance. You, on the other hand, are Solomonari yet you reek of dark arts. What say you?"

What say I? The elves' words cause me to deflate. I look at my blackened hands and see the man before me struggling to breathe. This isn't me, no matter how someone has wronged me. While I don't release him, I surrender to the energy Pascal exudes, offering her the slightest smile. 

"You are becoming the master with your ability to judge character. I'm impressed." I sigh. I've been in battle for too long, I don't trust anyone anymore. 

She lightly pats my shoulder, never one to take a compliment. I would have never guessed that Pascal would have taken Tyler's place as my right hand. "I have a condition that is weakening me, to defend us I had to use the dark arts. It corrupts me just as it does any other being but I manage to push it down, my mission is pure even if my body is not."

The elves whisper among themselves as the edges of the group fan out to sprinkle water all around us. Pale eyes search the trees and us, wary of the odd group who had caused so much destruction in only a day. "Please, we are looking for my husband and the unicorn." I try and appeal to their righteous side. 

They must have the same goals as us, even if we don't trust each other, a common goal was our only chance at surviving this exchange. 

"It is a sin to lay with men." One of the footmen spits, only to be silenced by the leader of the group. His honey-colored hair long and sweeping, pulled back in intricate braids around his skull only to flow freely around his shoulders. The sharp, porcelain skin skirted with dirt and black ink, fractured and marked by thin scars. 

"I can help you." Gabriel pleads, attracting the honey-haired elves' attention. 

He strides towards us, silver flask in hand. 

Tracing his eyes over Gabriel, he frowns. "You are corrupt." He draws his blade, ready to dispatch the man, and to my surprise, it is me who stops him with a quick blast of ice. All arrows aim at me but I'm sure the man is unharmed, I only meant to protect the only means to finding my husband. "You were about to kill him."

"I was out of my mind." I retort strongly. "He is the only one who knows where Verando is."

The elves' eyes widen for just a moment and he purses his lips. "So you are the Good King. You're quite famous in our legends for your silver lycan. I thought that male looked familiar, did you not just sacrifice him?"

"A decoy." I sigh.

Gabriel jerks on his restraints and the elf tosses water on him, making him scream and his skin burn. "A diversion." He corrects, gurgling on the holy water. "It won't hold Caspian's attention for long and your trick water won't keep those spirits from coming back. They're all tied to Nicolas, they will keep hunting until he's dead."

"We vanquished them." The elf tells him in a flat tone. The others seem to be closing in on us, eager to listen or perhaps nervous about the truths the tainted Solomonari speaks. 

"You pissed them off." Gabriel snorts. "A little holy water just burns like hell. What we need is reinforcements. Caspian has to be stopped.. hearing him say what he said-"

I narrow my eyes, feeling the energy rushing to my fingertips. "That he wanted to vanquish the world and kill all humans?"

Gabriel winces, a rare shred of emotion. "I can't keep running from this. Even tainted, you went to save Pascal. That is more than Caspian ever would have done for me, more than anyone on our side ever would have done. I called Caspian here to give us time, you could not have played it more perfectly-"

I interrupt him with a snarl that startles us all. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Taking a few quick steps back, I rub my arms to calm myself as the dark magic recedes. "I did a disgusting thing. I sacrificed Fadri to the devil."

The elf sighs, his shoulders slowly rise and fall as he takes this all in. "You may be tainted but you're not corrupt. If this man speaks the truth, then we are on a very tight schedule. I would give anything to see this wood restored to its former glory. I'm sick of living among the dead." Holding out his hand to me, I close my fingers and hold my hand to my chest. 

He doesn't roll his eyes as I expect, instead, he pulls a cross on a silver chain from his pocket. "Protection, don't be afraid. I don't have enough hours to remove the dark magic from you and from what you say, you need it. But, this should protect your brain from its fingers. As long as you wear this around your neck it will prevent your mind from being lost to the darkness until it can be removed. It's blessed, it will show you the light in the dark."

Gabriel looks as though he could gag as the elf hands me the chain and I put it around my neck. Glancing towards Pascal, I gesture to her with a tilt of my head. "My friend is hurt... do you have safe haven?"

Pascal shakes her head, "I'm going with you."

"You're hurt. Badly. I cut you to pieces and your arm is trashed. You have to heal."

The elf half bows, gesturing to his men. "We can offer you safe haven for the time being." I thumb the chain and cross, considering it as I roll it in my fingers and factor in Fenrir's demise. 

"Do you have more of this?" 

Clearing his throat, the elf hesitates. "How much more?"

"Enough to bind a lycan." With my binding spell and the chain, there might be other options for our black-haired demon yet. 

"That would be all of it. For decades to come..." He hedges and I give no mercy to my greed of the weapon. "Let me send for it. If it would save this earth, material things mean nothing. Hear me, Good King, you must succeed. Only we wear the chains for they must be earned, the rest of our society would be lost to darkness in your failure."

I want to tell him that the world would end so it wouldn't matter anyway but opt to nod instead. The woods begin to hiss and rustle, rumbling all around us.

 "They're coming," Gabriel warns. 

It becomes more and more clear to me what I must do. "Pascal, go with them. Ready the chain and I will retrieve it when the deed is done. You all have to get out of here." It would be me and Gabriel, nobody needed to see what I was willing to do to him to find my husband. Nobody needed to witness my descent into darkness if this plan failed. 

One more body was just one more set of fears for the forest to harvest off of. 

The starkness of Elves never surprises me as they gather Pascal and leave, she spares me no words for she's upset me with and knows her options are limited. With her broken arm, she was useless to me and she knew it. She couldn't spare a goodbye for she truly believed I'd beat this, she wanted to yell at me later when we survived. 

My attention falls on Gabriel as the elves vanish from sight. "I should kill you."

"I know." 

"I will kill you."

Gabriel shakes his head one time. "You won't have to. There is only one way out of this and I know you've seen it. But, if for some reason I survive, I hope you do. I've grown tired of this life." 

There is no time to entertain his darkness as I retract his black vine prison. Rubbing his neck, he exhales and centers himself as the earth begins to rumble all around us. "We are surrounded by fear, by deception and illusion, by spirits." He speaks the obvious and I dare think of walking away. "We can't touch these spirits but other spirits can. Does Envari still follow you? For Darrius is right here with me." 

The red hair appears beside me, watching me with the concern that only a mother can wear. She reaches for my face but her hand floats through my cheek. As the trees shake, as the sky cracks and groans, as the end of days calls forth all of the darkness from in the woods Envari does not look afraid, and to my surprise, neither do I. 

I was prepared to die, I felt much like Gabriel. If not this then let it be done. "Tell me where Verando is," I demand, not wanting to listen to another word. 

"He's with the unicorn. Safe. I had to keep him out of the way. You can't afford to be distracted." Yet, in his planning, did he not think that Caspian would go straight there once he realized Fadri was a fake? He sees right through me and immediately looks ashamed, "I can't be trusted, Nic. I still work for him... we must get there as fast as possible for if Caspian reaches there before me, I will not be able to stop him. It is in my programming to do his bidding and that involves delivering him your husband."

How? How could I kill him and survive this? 

The wind howls, swirling all around us, and the sky cracks with lightning to challenge the encroaching darkness. My eyes burn as I envision one hundred deaths for him. Gabriel doesn't defend himself, he only appears to be sad.

 "Think of this as an incentive. We must get to the unicorn before Caspian. To do that, we need help. We must open the dragon realm and let all of the good come forward to help you."

"Are you insane?" I spit through my teeth. In a flash, I have a knife in my hand, holding it to his throat. He stands perfectly still, unphased. "Bring more spirits here? What makes you think that they will come?"

"Because Tyr walks this earth and those who want to help align with him. Tyr brings us all together, he is the uniter, nobody wants to see this world end." Envari's voice is gentle, and soft in my ear as she nears me. It takes me down one notch, settling my wrath so that I can hear the immense sound of incoming destruction. "Call them. They will come."

Gabriel glances at her and then back at me. "It is the only way to stop the darkness or we will be consumed. We have to try."

"Call them." Envari encourages again.

Enraged, I push myself away to the cracked lake and slam my hands on the ice shelf as I start to chant. My body shakes and trembles, fighting back eager dragons tasting dark magic. Cupping her hands to her mouth, Envari tilts her head back and howls. A very wolven sound for someone who appeared so human. "This better work," I whisper to myself, not daring to think of what could happen to these spirits. 

I dare not consider the consequences, the ripple it might create. Like an explosion, the portal erupts with light and the sky is engulfed by lightning to ward off the encroaching black. I see the first flickers of eye shine of the rabid wolves as the shimmering figures begin to fill the surface of the lake. 

Light would shine true in the dark, love could conquer fear, and there was a piece of us left behind in the past that was so powerful that no force of nature could hold it back once given the chance to aid us once more. 

As Corina, Red at her side, appears on the lake edge, her wicked smile begins to fall as our called-forth army forms in flickering beacons of light. 

Victor. Adriam. Marcus. Temptrest. Swift. Fleet. Frost. Penelope. Reid. Tomas. Behind them, dozens of lycans flood from the open vortex and my hands begin to burn from holding it open. Envari stands beside me as I shut it, Gabriel joins me with a look of concern as if he worries they might all turn on him next. There are a few I don't recognize, a young woman with thick tangles of smokey gray hair and light blue eyes. Rowan. 

"I will lead them. We are going to burn you a path straight through this forsaken place. Get to the unicorn, Nicolas." 

My chest heaves, and my eyes burn. I want to see my friends for it might be the last time I will ever see any of them. Envari draws her bow from her shoulder, "Be careful." I manage to her. "Thank you, Envari. For everything."

She smiles with a half curtsie. "You're my son-in-law. It's my job to look out for you." Gabriel touches my shoulder and Envari flashes her teeth at him. "Don't think I won't haunt your sorry mug, me and every last person here, if you hurt him or my son. There are no hell fires that burn hot enough to protect you from me." She spits at his feet and glowers out into the impending battlefield. 

At that moment, she looks so much like Verando. 

I swallow hard, straightening my body, I take a deep breath. "Let's do this."