Marcus/Rocco
The distance between us vanished. Cassian met me
halfway. Our blades collided with enough force to send a shockwave racing down
the empty street.
Behind me the others kept fighting, but none of
it mattered. Right now…
There was only Cassian.
Steel slid against claw as he twisted his wrist,
forcing one of my blades away before aiming a kick toward my ribs. I caught it
on my forearm. Pain shot through my arm.
I didn't hesitate. My own shin slammed into the
inside of his thigh. His balance shifted and I stepped in. my elbow drove
toward his jaw.
Cassian leaned back just enough for it to skim
his chin. He laughed. "You've become unpredictable."
"Well, I've learnt from people who knew what
they were doing."
He answered with a brutal punch. I ducked
beneath it. One sword slashed upward. The other thrust toward his side.
Cassian twisted between both attacks with
frightening speed. His claw scraped across my shoulder instead.
Heat exploded through my arm. Blood seeped
through my sleeves. I barely noticed.
The wound knitted together almost immediately.
Cassian saw it. "You heal too?" he smiled. "I hate that."
He lunged again. I moved too. Cassian missed my
neck by centimetres. My heel came crashing down in an axe kick.
He crossed his forearms just in time. The impact
forced him onto one knee. The pavement beneath him cracked. I followed with a
knee aimed straight at his face.
He caught my leg. For one terrifying second, I
was off balance.
Cassian grinned. "Got you." He threw me. The
world spun. I crashed through the windshield of an abandoned car. Glass rained
around me.
Pain flared across my back. I rolled to my feet
before he could capitalize.
He was already there. His claw flashed downward.
I crossed both swords. The impact sent a jolt through my shoulders.
Cassian leaned closer. "I nearly killed you
months ago."
"I remember."
"I should've come back and finished the job." I
met his gaze.
"And that's where you made your mistake." Blue
light exploded from the bracelet. Not one this time, but six.
They shot from my wrist like living lightning.
Cassian reacted instantly. He severed two. Another wrapped around his arm.
He ripped free before it could tighten. The
remaining chains coiled around nearby lamp posts and traffic lights.
I pulled. The chains snapped taut. Launching me
forward. Cassian's eyes widened.
I wasn't pulling him. I was using the city
itself for momentum. My shoulder slammed into his chest. The force sent us both
skidding across the street.
Before he recovered. My elbow crashed into his
jaw. A spinning back kick drove into his ribs. He staggered.
I stepped in. two swords. A kick. Another chain.
Every movement flowed together.
Months ago, I'd been switching between styles.
Now? They had become one.
Cassian blocked high. A mistake. My shin whipped
into his thigh. His leg buckled. A chain wrapped around his wrist. Another
around his ankle.
He cut the first. The second remained. Just long
enough. I yanked. He stumbled.
The opening was barely there. But it was enough.
I slashed. A line opened across his chest.
His smile completely vanished as he stepped
back. He looked down at the wound. Then back at me. "Amazing." I frowned.
"What?"
"I can see it now." His crimson eyes narrowed
slightly. "I had succeeded. The boy I stabbed," he laughed quietly. "…doesn't
exist anymore.
I steadied my breathing. "No, he doesn't."
Behind us, another explosion echoed through the
street. Callie had wrapped her whip around the neck of the final lesser demon
while Noah finished it with a crushing final strike.
They'd finished their battle. Now, everyone was
watching ours.
Cassian noticed too. "So, one final exchange?" I
nodded.
Valen's voice became calm. "You've already won,
finish it."
Cassian rushed first. His speed exceeded
anything he'd shown before. The street blurred around us. We clashed again and
again.
Neither of us gave an inch. Then I remembered
something.
A lesson. "The chains aren't weapons, Rocky."
Valen had told me that days ago. "They're
extensions of your will." I finally understood. I stopped trying to control
each one.
Instead, I simply moved. The bracelet responded.
The blue changed to golden and erupted around me. Not violently. Gracefully.
Like streams of sunlight. They danced between
every sword strike. Around every kick, every movement. Cassian cut one. Two
more replaced it.
He dodged another. A fourth redirected his
strike. The chains weren't attacking anymore. They were fighting with me.
One wrapped around his wrist. Another around his
waist. Three more shot toward his legs. Cassian cut one. Escaped another. The
third tightened.
I stepped inside his guard. My forehead struck
his. He reeled. My knee drove into his stomach. He doubled over. I spun. A
final axe kick crashed against his shoulder, forcing him completely to the
ground.
The chains tightened. Dozens of them. Golden
links stretched across the street, binding his arms, his legs, his wrist.
No matter how hard he struggled. They didn't
break. Silence settled over the battlefield.
I walked forward slowly. Both swords lowered.
Cassian looked up at me. Then he smiled.
"You've surpassed my expectations." I stopped in
front of him.
"You pushed me to." He chuckled.
"Perhaps." His gaze drifted to my left. Toward
Valen.
"I know you're there." Valen didn't answer.
Cassian smiled anyway. "You picked a good one."
Cassian looked back at me. "When you face the
boss." His smile faded. "don't underestimate him."
"I don't plan to." He nodded once. Then closed
his eyes. I took a slow breath. Raised one sword. And with a single clean
strike. Ended it.
Golden chains dissolved into light. Cassian's
body crumbled into black ash before scattering into the night wind. The street
fell silent.
No cheers. No celebration. Only the distant
sound of emergency sirens. Callie ran over first.
"You okay?" I looked down at my hands. They were
shaking.
"Yeah." Noah punched my shoulder
"You actually did it." Riley smiled softly.
"Told you he would." Seraphina approached last.
She studied me for several seconds then smiled.
The kind she almost never showed. "Well done."
Two simple words. Somehow, they meant more than
any speech could have.
I looked at Valen who seemed unusually quiet.
"Val?"
"Hmm?"
"We did it." He laughed softly.
"No rocky." I blinked.
"You won." Before I could answer, Darren's voice
burst through the comms.
"Guys!" we all turned. His face had gone pale.
"I've got another demon signature."
Noah groaned. "Already?"
"It's farther north." He zoomed the map. "It had
Cassians signature too."
The quiet after our victory last only a few
seconds. The war wasn't giving us time to celebrate. Then I turned toward the
next battle.
Beside me, Valen's voice carried the faintest
hint of pride.
"You've come a long way from that terrified
kid." A smile tugged at my lips.
"I guess so." I tightened my grip on my swords.
"But we're not done yet."