back silently.
“Did you think you could fool me so easily? We both know that you started this. It began when you murdered Reese. A sacrifice is always necessary for a beacon to open. It was you that Drake saw on the stairs. You must have run into Greg there. And you slaughtered him for being in the way. ”
The Other One continued to stare at Guy, expressionless.
Guy pointed the dagger at him. The ravens flew around him, forming a mass that mirrored that darkness that swirled around the Other One.
“You manipulated the lights, sent your creatures after us, tried to kill me before I could make it up here to stop you. But you didn’t count on us working together. Making a stand against you. And now I have you.”
The Other One’s bloodless lips twisted. “You have nothing. Nothing but a head full of madness and self-delusion. You have to stop it, Guy. If you don’t, then you’ll do this again and again…”
The wind shrieked as it whipped around them. The Others screamed along with it, their wings spreading out as they tried to cling to the ebony towers.
Guy felt his mouth curve in a tight smile. “No. No more lies. This is where it ends… for both of us. You know it as well as I do.”
The Other One stood even taller, swelling along with the billowing shadows. “Then you know nothing. Because it never ends. Not now, not ever!” The ebony wings that unfurled from his back stretched beyond vision, blackening the entire horizon.
“You must accept it, Guy. Accept your madness!”
Guy leaped into the embrace of darkness.
The Other One shrieked when the dagger sank into his chest. Flames exploded from his eyes and mouth as he staggered backward. The Others screamed with him before they burst into fiery corpses that fell from the towers and plummeted into the waiting darkness.
The sky rained ravens.
The air blackened with their feathery bodies, drowned in their guttural cries. They assaulted the Others as they fell, feasted on the smoldering remains.
The Other One was a shrieking, flailing mannequin; an inferno in the shape of a man that pulled Guy in its fiery embrace. They toppled backward. The railing was no match for the conflagration; it surrendered without protest, abandoned them to the embrace of open air.
The Other One’s howls were matched only by the sound of ravens, which plunged into his body despite the flames. Guy’s vision was obscured by thousands of glittering onyx eyes and shuffling feathers; their cries ringing in his ears.
Flames engulfed him, searing into his marrow, melting his bones into slag. He could not tell if he screamed or laughed. It was agony.
It was ecstasy.
The tower crumpled in the wake of the flames, the entire fortress falling floor by floor. Flames seared the air as the onyx stone imploded with a furious roar. The ravens continued to rain without cessation, until all Guy could see was fire and feathers. Nothing else existed in the world.
He fell forever.
Postlude
Agent Lee surveyed the scene beside Captain Forrester. The place was a disaster. Smoke billowed and smothered the air, casting a shadow across a sky that should have been glowing with morning light. Rubble lay everywhere, the ruins strewn across the landscape were more like the remnants of some ancient civilization than a modernized milling facility.
Forrester had the look of a man who wanted to be elsewhere. Lee couldn’t blame him. It was hard even know where to start in a scene like this one.
The Captain sighed heavily as he turned from the damage. “Anything else you need?”
“No, I think that’s it. We’ll take it from here.”
“Well, don’t hesitate to ask if you lack for anything.”
Forrester walked toward a group of policemen and spoke to them. Agent Lee turned to his partner.
“What do we got, Olivia?”
Olivia brushed a stray strand of her pulled-back blond hair from
“Did you think you could fool me so easily? We both know that you started this. It began when you murdered Reese. A sacrifice is always necessary for a beacon to open. It was you that Drake saw on the stairs. You must have run into Greg there. And you slaughtered him for being in the way. ”
The Other One continued to stare at Guy, expressionless.
Guy pointed the dagger at him. The ravens flew around him, forming a mass that mirrored that darkness that swirled around the Other One.
“You manipulated the lights, sent your creatures after us, tried to kill me before I could make it up here to stop you. But you didn’t count on us working together. Making a stand against you. And now I have you.”
The Other One’s bloodless lips twisted. “You have nothing. Nothing but a head full of madness and self-delusion. You have to stop it, Guy. If you don’t, then you’ll do this again and again…”
The wind shrieked as it whipped around them. The Others screamed along with it, their wings spreading out as they tried to cling to the ebony towers.
Guy felt his mouth curve in a tight smile. “No. No more lies. This is where it ends… for both of us. You know it as well as I do.”
The Other One stood even taller, swelling along with the billowing shadows. “Then you know nothing. Because it never ends. Not now, not ever!” The ebony wings that unfurled from his back stretched beyond vision, blackening the entire horizon.
“You must accept it, Guy. Accept your madness!”
Guy leaped into the embrace of darkness.
The Other One shrieked when the dagger sank into his chest. Flames exploded from his eyes and mouth as he staggered backward. The Others screamed with him before they burst into fiery corpses that fell from the towers and plummeted into the waiting darkness.
The sky rained ravens.
The air blackened with their feathery bodies, drowned in their guttural cries. They assaulted the Others as they fell, feasted on the smoldering remains.
The Other One was a shrieking, flailing mannequin; an inferno in the shape of a man that pulled Guy in its fiery embrace. They toppled backward. The railing was no match for the conflagration; it surrendered without protest, abandoned them to the embrace of open air.
The Other One’s howls were matched only by the sound of ravens, which plunged into his body despite the flames. Guy’s vision was obscured by thousands of glittering onyx eyes and shuffling feathers; their cries ringing in his ears.
Flames engulfed him, searing into his marrow, melting his bones into slag. He could not tell if he screamed or laughed. It was agony.
It was ecstasy.
The tower crumpled in the wake of the flames, the entire fortress falling floor by floor. Flames seared the air as the onyx stone imploded with a furious roar. The ravens continued to rain without cessation, until all Guy could see was fire and feathers. Nothing else existed in the world.
He fell forever.
Postlude
Agent Lee surveyed the scene beside Captain Forrester. The place was a disaster. Smoke billowed and smothered the air, casting a shadow across a sky that should have been glowing with morning light. Rubble lay everywhere, the ruins strewn across the landscape were more like the remnants of some ancient civilization than a modernized milling facility.
Forrester had the look of a man who wanted to be elsewhere. Lee couldn’t blame him. It was hard even know where to start in a scene like this one.
The Captain sighed heavily as he turned from the damage. “Anything else you need?”
“No, I think that’s it. We’ll take it from here.”
“Well, don’t hesitate to ask if you lack for anything.”
Forrester walked toward a group of policemen and spoke to them. Agent Lee turned to his partner.
“What do we got, Olivia?”
Olivia brushed a stray strand of her pulled-back blond hair from
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