[A/N]: Song: Game of Survival - Ruelle
This chapter is dedicated to @BadEros. I haven't stopped listening to Ruelle since you recommended her and to be completely honest, she's been on repeat since then. It has shaped how this story ends. Thank you again for your music recommendation!

I was careful of where I stepped as I walked through the woods. I was on high alert, my nerves on edge, my magic singing through me. Amazingly, my magic helped me. It let me hear further, see further and kept my hands somewhat still even as I trembled from the cold and the fear.

I watched everything around me carefully, looking for any footprints in the fresh white snow.

I squinted against the dark night letting myself be guided by my instincts and the intense dark energy I was feeling. I continued forward, steadying my breathing as thunder crashed above me.

Magic was making the woods breathe. The trees and ground pulsed with it. The animals that would normally make the woods sing with its nightly music were nowhere to be found. The silence was maddening.

Something moved behind me and before I knew it, something tossed me through the air. The tree trunk I landed against splintered against my weight as I crashed into it. As I coughed air back into my lungs, another force pulled me again, this time making me land on the snowy ground on my wrist.

I cried out as it snapped under me.

A branch snapped near me and immediately, I threw up a barrier. It was enough to soften the oncoming blow of power but it still propelled me through the air several feet. Landing on my knees, I kept the barrier up in place with a shaking hand while I kept the broken wrist close to my chest as it healed.

I had been a fool.

Training with Julian had helped me to a degree but his power was nothing compared to what I was feeling. Julian had taken it easy on me in the beginning but once we had embraced our bond, his power and mine both got stronger.

And it absolutely paled in comparison to Damien's.

It was raw power. Pure darkness that seemed to ooze even from the night itself. And all that was between it and me was the slim barrier before my shaking hand. The barrier glowed. It flowed and pulsed silver, producing its own light in the darkness. It allowed me to see the neighboring trees in my vicinity and just beyond that, a shadow.

A shadow slowly made man as it approached me.

Damien was molded from the darkness as if they were one and the same.

But it wasn't Damien's eyes that looked at me. It was Robyn's blue eyes in Damien's features that glinted with delight. He smiled with satisfaction as he watched me shaking from the cold and adrenaline in front of him.

"My, my," Damien's voice cut through me like a dagger. "Quite the spectacle, my dear." His normally alabaster fingers were dark as if he had just dipped them in black paint. Darkness dripped from his fingers like liquid as he ran a hand over my barrier.

The interaction between the two made the sky hiss and crackle. Electricity popped between the two as if they were fighting against each other.

He smiled. "I don't want to hurt you more than necessary. I do have the advantage after all, dear. You are just an infant in your power."

Feeling returned to my cradled hand but I didn't let my barrier buckle in the slightest. "So are you. This is Damien's power, not yours."

He tsked and wagged his finger back and forth. "Finders keepers."

A growl escaped my lips making him laugh.

He placed his palm firmly against my barrier and I watched him place his weight against it. He inhaled as the electricity intensified. "This power, even my nephew is impressed."

"Give him back to me," I finally said.

He tilted his head as if he were listening to something else, something I couldn't hear myself. He closed his eyes. "No."

Without hesitating, I dropped the barrier and placed both my hands in front of me. I shot out a bolt of power towards him with everything I had.

He disappeared before it hit him.

I looked around in the darkness, cursing.

Where did he go?

As if in answer, something pummeled towards me in the darkness and I closed my eyes, spectering away.

When I opened them again, I was up in a tree, hugging a branch. But I wasn't there long before another show of power made me specter away.

It was a cat and mouse game for him. He chased me, not giving me a moment to try and collect myself before charging at me again. He laughed the entire time he did. I wasn't sure how long he was dragging the game out.

As soon as I spectered back to the ground, I felt arms around me. They pinned my own arms to my sides as long fingers dug into my cheeks. Damien's body pressed against me from behind as I struggled against his firm grip.

I could barely move.

"You know," Damien's voice whispered against my ear. "I haven't had a woman since Tianna - the act is never really the same after you meet your Mate. And forcing myself on women isn't really for me. However, for you, I will make an exception if only to finally thoroughly break you."

Panic gripped me as he laughed. "I'll do it right here, in the woods, right now - you might even find it romantic-"

He seized up for a moment and then let out a scream. He let me go and I stumbled forward. I seized my moment. I stepped back as Naida had taught me and drove the heel of my shoe into his. I turned around sharply and let my power build. Holding it in my hand, I released it right into his chest effectively knocking him down against the snow.

Robyn writhed on the floor, his hands on his temples, screaming in agony.

The large trees around us began to wilt. Damien's magic was bending them like they were small weeds and not large mighty trees hundreds of years old.

I moved quickly towards him and straddled him, using my magic to pin him still beneath me. I closed my eyes and placed my hand on his chest as he continued to squirm.

I only had one trick up my sleeve. And I hoped it would work.

I focused on Robyn, picturing him as he had been in my mind. I pictured the dark hair, the sky blue eyes, his disgusting smile of satisfaction when he'd torture me ... and my hand on his chest tingled slightly. As I began to lift it, it met a hard resistance and power exploded beneath me.

I flew through the branches above me. They ripped and grabbed and hit me with massive force. I tried to specter to the ground but failed, landing on my back instead with a sickening crack.

I gasped in pain, unable to move.

A large branch moved into my field of vision. It was hurtling towards me on the ground. I closed my eyes tightly, imagining a large wall over me as I lay helpless on the ground. A loud thud thundered over me and when I opened my eyes I watched the branch roll over a large invisible dome and clatter to my side.

I gasped air into my lungs as pain exploded everywhere in my chest. It hurt to breathe, I couldn't move. I willed my legs to move but felt nothing. I looked at my hands and saw the exposed bone and grimaced. I couldn't move my arms either.

Every movement was torture.

Every breath agonizing.

I tasted copper liquid filling my mouth. I could only look overhead at the stars unable to move. A hot tear escaped my eyes and just as I felt a tingling sensation return to my legs, Robyn's smug smile came into view.

He kneeled down next to me, his blue eyes piercing, "You tried to rip my soul out, you clever wench." He leaned closer. "Did you and Asmodeus really think you could beat me?" He gave a wry laugh and in the next moment, his hands were on my neck. He squeezed hard enough that my vision blurred.

I choked a cough trying to take a breath of air. But it was useless. Utterly and completely useless.

"I don't care if they need you alive for their plan anymore," he said through gritted teeth. "Now I'm just going to watch the light leave your eyes."

I closed my eyes as I tried to call on magic, anything that could help me but I could feel myself draining - I could feel darkness consume me ...

"Hey, asshole!"

I wanted to cry. I wanted to run and jump into his arms as I recognized Julian's voice.

Robyn's grip loosened slightly.

All at once, he disappeared and I heard the strange but familiar sound of swords clashing. I took a deep breath and coughed as I did, still feeling the pain in my chest.

Julian appeared a moment later towering over me, kneeling on the snowy ground next to me. He was cursing more than I heard anyone in my life as he looked me over. The action was so Julian I almost laughed. It was no more than a wheeze.

"Are you laughing, Emylin?"

I tried to stand but couldn't move.

"You're paralyzed," Julian said as he grabbed my limp hand.

"I-I had it handled." Breathing was slowly becoming easier to do.

Julian snorted. "And yet, here I am. Saving your ass."

I coughed. "Stop c-complaining. This is where you wanted to be."

He laughed, too, and cupped my cheeks. "I'd follow you to the depths of Hell and wouldn't bat an eye." He pressed his lips against mine and immediately I melted into it. Instantly, I began to feel my hands and fingers again.

He pulled away with a smile. "I know where you get your tenacity from."

I was barely registering his words, my mind was a haze from the kiss. "What?"

"Your mother slapped me from unconsciousness so I would come after you."

I frowned as I sat up, finally feeling my legs again. It was then that I realized why he kissed me. It wasn't a romantic kiss, it was to share magic. He healed me just like I healed him once. Still frowning, I asked, "Were you thinking of my mother while you were kissing me?"

Something crashed around us making me turn towards the noise. I lept to my feet just as Julian placed a protective wall between the crash and us. I squinted as I watched the figure that fought Robyn so ferociously in front of us. His long sword had been in my nightmares for months. His pale skin was a stark contrast against the dark woods.

I watched the Tattooed Man fight against Damien much in the same way as the night I was taken to the Underworld.

"Azazeal?"

"He knew you were in danger," Julian explained. "I let him loose so he could come help you. Depending on who Asmo can convince, we may or may not have the Guard come to arrest me."

I shook my head. "What?"

The ground began to shake and Azazeal who had been fighting against Robyn a moment prior was gone. When I looked around again, Robyn stood in front of us. He was battered. He was panting loudly, his clothes were a ripped mess, the sword in his hand tinged with blood. Unnatural shadows danced behind him, wispy black tendrils that reached out around him.

His eyes were pure black.

He gave a wide smile.

Damien never looked more terrifying.

"Emylin," his voice was hoarse. "I knew I could depend on you to bring me the one responsible for helping you."

I swallowed.

"It is Julian, isn't it?" He asked. "I saw the way he looked at you. How your own gaze lingered on him that night at the party. You two are too comfortable with each other for only having met once." He smiled again. "Light Fae, for the crimes of your people against my wife, I will now take the last people that mean anything to you."

Julian stepped in front of me, his hand reaching casually into his pocket. "Is that right?" He fished something out of his pocket. "I think we will do the same." He let the object in his hand go and I realized what it was.

Julian held a necklace in his fingers. The deep emerald stone at the end glinted in the moonlight.

I recognized that necklace.

And Robyn did too.

Damien's face dropped as he recognized Tianna's necklace. I watched his face contort into one of pure anger. "Give her to me!"

All Hell broke loose.

Robyn lunged towards us. Julian met him with equal force.

But he was no match.

Robyn barely flinched towards him, using Damien's power to send Julian spiraling to the snowy ground.

I moved, sending all of my power towards him, finding the darkness within and trying to hold it still. The darkness battled against me, it pushed and pulled against my hold. It felt like a battering ram was pushing against me. It pounded through me as I held it, pulsing with every blow of force.

All at once, Julian appeared again with his own sword, this time using physical force to subdue Robyn as he squirmed Damien's magic loose from my grip. I was able to hold it but not for long-I could already feel some of his power returning to him.

It was a two-fold attack. I subdued Damien's magic while Julian attacked him physically with his own power. Robyn moved against him showing that they both had in fact been trained in physical combat. It was like watching a deadly dance take place between them. Where Robyn threw a blow, Julian evaded and vice versa.

I buckled under the strain of holding Damien's magic, my hands trembling in front of me as I held it. I held on tighter, gritting my teeth against the dark pressure I was feeling all over.

A new energy appeared next to me and when I turned, I found Asmodeus.

His hair was disheveled. His clothes were dirty but not as bad as I imagined if he really had been in the dungeons. He didn't say anything, instead, he lunged into the fight with Damien and Julian with his own sword.

Then, someone else appeared. Elvina, the dark-skinned soldier from the Guard. I recognized her and the silver armor even in the night.

Oren stepped next to me, watching as Asmodeus and Julian fought Damien.

"Gods," he whispered in horror.

I shook my head. "Oren, that isn't Damien, it hasn't been Damien. Robyn possessed him but Damien is fighting him from the inside. We have to knock Robyn out, we have to stop him."

A quick pulse of power shot through the darkness I was holding. I fell on my knees. I cried out as I held on tighter, not willing to let the magic go. It was the only change Julian and Asmodeus had to subdue him.

When I finally had my bearings, I looked back up and saw Oren and the Guard fighting alongside Julian and Asmodeus. My hands were pulled again. This time it was with such intensity it dragged me through the dirt and snow. It was like I was holding on to a rope and Damien was pulling it as hard as he could towards him.

I looked up again at the group and froze.

Robyn was losing badly.

While he was still holding on and fighting back, he was fading. He was taking more blows than before, losing his footing on the cold ground.

My heart twisted. Azazeal had made it back at some point and was working with them. And watching all five go against Damien -despite knowing that they were going against Robyn himself- was heart-wrenching.

Then, all at once, the darkness that had been in my hands, the magic that I was holding back from Robyn, disappeared from my hands.

It wasn't pulled back towards him. It was gone. It disappeared like it was never there to begin with.

I reached out with my magic again and found a small glimmer... so small... like a dying candle on the last part of its wick. It was fading, dying.

I stood and ran towards them. "STOP!"

They didn't.

I felt my heart ripping in two again.

Damien was dying. Again.

"STOP, YOU'RE KILLING DAMIEN!"

I started to panic, hyperventilating as I ran towards them.

Asmodeus met my eyes as I ran to them and raise his hand. A firm, strong barrier was suddenly placed between the group and me.

I came up against the invisible wall around them. I banged on the wall with my fists in a panic. "Stop it, stop it now!"

Oren looked at me then back at Damien.

"Azazeal," I yelled. "Julian, stop!"

Oren stepped away. Azazeal did as well.

Julian looked at me through the barrier then turned away. He continued his attack on Damien even as he met my tear filled eyes.

I banged on the invisible wall again. "JULIAN, PLEASE STOP!"

He didn't.

I felt something buckle inside me again.

I closed my eyes and reached for Damien. Panic and grief gripped me again when I couldn't find him.

If after everything we went through I lost him...

If I lost him again...

If we defeated Robyn at the cost of Damien's life...

I concentrated. I called on everything I was feeling around me. The trees, the ground, the streams around us, the energy from the thunderclouds overhead-

The trees around us began to groan. The large trunks twisted slightly and splintered as the trees began to move away from where I stood. The air popped and sizzled with electricity and power. The snow beneath my bare feet began to sizzle and melt.

When I opened my eyes again, I stepped forward, placing a finger on the barrier in front of me. It was amazing how moments prior, I couldn't move past it but now?

I met no resistance as it yielded to my touch.

Azazeal and Oren continued to step back and Oren barked an order to his Guard.

But it was too late.

I didn't have to reach my hands out as I previously did to channel my power. Instead, all I had to do was think of the action and it happened. I realized it as I willed the others off of Damien, sending them crashing to the ground below them.

Robyn stood in front of me, ragged and panting. His own sword was lost at his feet. I tilted my head at him as he watched me then he, too, fell on the floor in front of me under my magic. He stayed pin to the floor as I approached him. I could feel no magic from him. There was no indication that he was going to try and go against me.

His blue eyes met mine as I watched him curiously.

"Emylin." I felt Julian move to a standing position next to me but I bound him back to the ground, not turning towards him.

I trusted completely in my power.

It knew what to do.

Placing my hand over Damien's chest, I concentrated again. I pictured Robyn again, his dark energy, the pollution that he brought into our lives and made it whole in my hand. I could feel the contaminated energy in my hand making me almost choke.

Slowly, I began to pull him out of Damien's chest.

Damien's hands grabbed mine as I held Robyn's soul in my hands. There was no force behind it, all I felt was defeat, remorse.

Acceptance.

I stopped, meeting his blue eyes.

"Wait," he panted as he kneeled in front of me. "Please. Don't destroy my soul like you did with that woman." Watching Robyn begging wasn't something I ever thought I'd see. "Please take it to be with Tianna. Please, let me be with her." He swallowed as he lowered his head. "You're a Light Fae, you have the power to do this. Just, please, I want to be with her again."

I looked at the dark shadow that moved in my hand then back at his blue eyes. "No."

With a final tug, I squeezed my hand shut.

The world began to spin as new emotions ran over me. Anger, remorse, guilt, grief - such overwhelming grief coursed through me. It ran over me and through me until that emotion was fused within me and wouldn't let me go. I felt his memories, five hundred years of his life run through me so swiftly, it almost knocked me to the ground.

I choked out a sob and dropped the hold of power I had on everything and everyone around me. I stumbled back slightly, still dizzy, slowly coming to my senses. I was choking on the grief that I had felt run inside me.

Damien's hand shot out in front of me holding me in place.

When Damien looked up again at me, I saw the familiar violet.

Untouched. Unwavering. The same violet I'd grown so used to seeing my entire life.

He lifted one leg to begin to stand. I placed myself next to him, under his arm to help him stand but he stopped me. He said nothing, only took both of my hands and placed me in front of him. He stayed on one knee as he brought his right hand and with a closed fist, placed it in front of his heart, head bowed.

I swallowed as I watched him.

Oren appeared next to me. "Yes," he said to him. "I understand. We are all Witnesses."

Damien collapsed against me, his head resting against my stomach. He was exhausted, like the action had completely drained him of all energy. I let him lean against me as I stood in front of him. His arms circled around me and he held me tightly, like he couldn't believe I was there.

Truthfully, I couldn't believe he was there either.

I placed my shaking hand on his clammy cheek, moving the loose hair from his face.

I looked at Oren. "What do I do? I - I can't specter him to the Underworld."

Asmo approached. "You shouldn't specter him anywhere. He's much too weak. We don't know what will happen to him."

Oren looked across the treeline. "We can at least take him to your home, it is closer. We will help carry him."

I nodded, slowly. "All right. Just, please, be careful with him." I leaned down close to Damien. "Damien, can you stand? Can you help us get you inside?"

I felt him nod weakly then slowly with shaking legs, begin to stand.

Asmodeus was at his side immediately placing his arm over his shoulders. Oren took Damien up on the other side and the three of them walked through the woods back to the direction of my house.

I turned back to the rest of the group.

Julian didn't approach me. "I should go back to Skryen." He nodded towards Azazeal. "He will protect you should anything happen."

Before I could say anything else, he disappeared.

[A/N]: Thank you so much for your continued support! You make this story happen! Otherwise it'd sit in my brain alone forever. ❤️❤️❤️