Then, his hand went limp. His eyes drifted shut, and his chest stopped moving.
"Finn!" Rissa cried, her voice cracking with pure grief.
"Rissa! Stand up!" the Captain yelled, his voice strained and breathless. He was bleeding from several dark-magic burns, holding his greatsword in a defensive stance as more attackers emerged from the dark woods, pushing back the few remaining loyal soldiers. He rushed over, scooping Finn's limp, heavy body into his arms. He pressed his hand to the boy's neck, his eyes widening in shock. "... he is still breathing! His heart... it still beats, barely! I have him!"
But the enemies were closing in, their dark weapons humming with evil power, ready to wipe out the remaining loyal army. The Captain was trapped, holding his grandson's body with only one hand free to fight.
"Take the Queen and go!" the Captain roared to Rissa. "I can't hold them and carry him! Get her to the city!"
"No!" Rissa screamed.
She couldn't let them die. Anger and desperation erupted inside her. Though her shoulder was bleeding and her body shook with pain, Rissa drew on her power as a fire-bender. With a fierce scream, she thrust her uninjured arm forward.
A massive wave of bright, roaring orange fire exploded from her hand. The flames swept across the clearing, creating a giant wall of fire that cut the attackers off. The intense heat hissed against the dark magic, forcing the enemies back and giving the surviving loyal soldiers a moment to breathe.
Rissa stood frozen, gasping for air. She looked down at her hand, completely panicked by the raw, terrifying power she had just unleashed. She had never bent fire like that before.
But the battle wasn't over.
At the same time, the carriage door creaked open. Aeryn dragged herself out, her face pale and her body shivering with fever, but her eyes burning with a sudden, dangerous light. She was a master of water, fire, and blood and even in her weakened state, she refused to let her people fall.
Aeryn raised her trembling hands.
With a desperate, roaring focus, she used her blood-bending to lock every single attacker in place. For Aeryn, the strain was physical torture. Her vision blurred with red, a thin stream of blood starting to run from her nose, and her teeth ground together until she could taste copper. Every pull of her hands felt like she was dragging jagged glass through her own nervous system.
But for the enemy, it was a disgusting, bone-shattering torture. Their joints popped and twisted unnaturally under her command, their bones snapping as their bodies turned soft and squelchy inside their hard metal armor. They whimpered and squirmed like slippery, wet snails trapped inside iron shells, completely unable to scream as she took total control of their fluids.
Then, with a violent, wrenching pull of her hands, she began drawing the dark, oily magic straight out of their chests. The black veins on their pale skin pulsed wildly as the red-and-black energy started to tear free.
But the strain was too much. Mid-way through the spell, Aeryn staggered violently, her boots slipping in the red dirt. She gasped, coughing up a small spray of dark, hot blood. She couldn't clear the magic out completely; her failing, feverish body simply did not have the strength.
Even so, she had done enough. The enemies collapsed to their knees, gasping and clutching their chests. Their glowing weapons dimmed into a dull, harmless gray. Stripped of their lethal dark magic, they were too weak to fight, giving the surviving loyal soldiers a precious moment to breathe.
Rissa looked at the surviving Queen in absolute terror. She was completely panicked to see what Aeryn was doing controlling a whole army while half-dead from fever, even if she couldn't finish it.
"My Lady!" Rissa cried. She ran to her as fast as she could.
Aeryn's remaining energy completely vanished. Her knees buckled, and she fell toward the ground. Rissa lunged forward, catching the weak Queen in her arms.
At the same moment, the old Captain ran to her side. He scrambled through the dirt, still holding his grandson's limp body close to his chest with one arm. He knelt right next to them, his face pale with panic. "My Lady!" he choked out, his voice cracking.
But Aeryn wasn't finished.
Shivering violently, tears spilling down her pale cheeks, Aeryn raised her hand once more. She was crying from the sheer, agonizing strain, pleading with her own failing body to hold on for just one more second. Under her breath, she began to whisper.
"Please... please..." she chanted, her voice a broken, desperate wheeze.
But her hand immediately began to fall, dropping with utter weakness.
The Captain reached out with a trembling, scarred hand, holding her arm gently. "It is useless... it is too late, my Queen," he whispered, his voice cracking and shivering. "It was his choice... it was his will. Do not destroy yourself."
Aeryn shook her head violently, tears spilling down her dirty, pale cheeks. She wouldn't let the boy die. Not after he had saved Rissa.
Beside her, Rissa was choking on her own tears, sobbing as she held the Queen upright.
Aeryn forced her hand up again. But her arm shivered violently, her muscles completely failing, and it fell right back down. She gasped, trying to pick it up a third time through sheer, impossible willpower.
This time, Rissa reached out, holding Aeryn's hand and gently putting it down. "Your Majesty... please," Rissa sobbed, her voice breaking. "It is useless. It's too late... You have done enough. You will kill yourself."
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