Their End

Chapter 20 | Roaring Flames

REMI

Cerys and Callum trembled against me. Calder hovered over me protectively. Cullen blocked my view of Fifi’s brother, but I heard her announcement to him. I could feel the uncertain shift in the air as silence greeted her demonstration.

“What’s happening?” I cautiously linked Calder.

He didn’t say anything. Everyone held still as we waited to see what Vilairus would do. I wanted to move, to get my pups out of there. But I didn’t want to risk Vilairus leaving this small clearing.

I caught a glimpse of more smoke dissipating above our heads. Fifi had to be fuming after eating Sammy’s magic. The one thing I had picked up on that wasn’t in any book I’d read about witches was how their emotion-fueled their power. As cool as she came across, Sammy was very emotional. With Gentry and Grayson caught in the middle of this, she would be shaking with frustration and that would translate to her powers.

Powers that were definitely about to be on display before Fifi just ate up the magic.

Magic that was fueling the ember and wreaking havoc on our dragonborn friends’ insides.

If the situation weren’t so wholly terrifying, I’d have laughed.

Vilairus’s arms fell to his side as he looked at his sister in horror. “Findra…” he trailed off.

Fifi burped up more smoke. “See, I got it all under control!”

Callum pulled on my arm. I dared to direct my attention away from the standoff to look at him. “Fifi smokin again,” he whispered to me.

I nodded. “I know, sweetheart,” I tried to give him a smile. “She’s okay.”

“You ate the fire? What does that mean, Findra?” Vilairus pushed.

Fifi shifted nervously, more smoke curling from her parted lips. “Crazy, right? First hunt, and I get to do something epic?” she laughed nervously. If I wasn’t still on edge about this dragonborn here to spill blood and my children being in the line of fire, I might have rolled my eyes.

“Findra, dragonborn do not smoke from the mouth!” Vilairus said, an edge to his voice that wasn’t exactly exasperation.

“It’s actually kind of a funny story. Very heroic,” she emphasized.

“Findra stopped the immortal flames from burning down the realm when we lost control of them,” Sammy shouted.

Calder cursed under his breath beside me. Gentry pawed the ground as Vilairus turned his attention to Sammy. Fifi groaned. “Like I said, Vivi, I was going to tell you and Father everything.”

Vilairus’s nostrils flared at the name ‘Vivi.’ He clearly didn’t like his sister’s nickname, giving me the sense that Fifi was truly unlike the rest of her kind. “Are you the witch responsible for these immortal flames?” he questioned Sammy.

“The answer to your question is much more nuanced than you think,” she huffed. “Seeing as you can’t even be kind to your own kin, I’m not sure I will justify it with an answer.”

“Calder, this isn’t going anywhere good,” I pressed him silently. I cut my gaze to him momentarily. His eyes moved over the whole clearing from person to person, no doubt trying to figure out how best to get this resolved. “He’s not on the defensive, but that can change too fast. We need to go.”

“I’m working on it,” he responded.

Vilairus’s lip curled. He took a measured step forward, making Gentry snap and snarl.

“Vivi!” Fifi gasped. She coughed, and darker smoke plumed from her mouth. I watched her carefully. Her face was slightly contorted as if she was in pain and holding it back.

“Fifi,” I worried.

“She’s on her own,” Cullen growled.

“Calder,” I hissed. “Look at Fifi!”

“If you want your juvenile spared, I suggest you send it away,” Vilairus said, his hands balling into fists.

My stomach turned, and we couldn’t have reacted fast enough. Vilairus moved so fast I could barely track him. Fifi was the first of us to make a move, managing to intercept her brother before he got to Sammy. Sammy stumbled back, managing to push Greyson with her as Gentry reared up on his hind legs. Fifi had her brother’s wrists grasped in her hands as he pushed and snarled to get past her. Cullen and Gentry snarled viciously while Calder tried to push us behind him. I wanted to scoop the kids up and run, but without shifting, I couldn’t carry them both very far or very fast.

“Vivi,” Fifi grunted. “Don’t hurt her!”

“Get out of the way, Findra!” Vilairus shouted.

“Fifi!” Callum and Cerys cried. Their small hands gripped me harder.

“Remi, run,” Calder said, pushing back.

“What about Greyson and Sammy?”

Calder looked between everything, trying to find a solution to the exact problem. Our witch knew she contributed to the problem we faced, even if we didn’t blame her. She wouldn’t run when she felt responsible, but that didn’t get Greyson out of harm’s way. The kids were far too young to be anything but a liability.

“Remi, shift, now,” Calder pressed.

I took a step back, trying to usher the kids backward as Fifi tried to hold off her brother. He gritted his teeth at her menacingly. She coughed again, the smoke coming out almost black in his face. “Mommy, somethins wrong with Fifi!” Cerys’s voice quivered, making me pause.

“Move, Findra!” Vilairus shouted.

Fifi shouted in response, but it wasn’t a retort. She let go of her brother and doubled over, grabbing her middle. Vilairus stepped back, looking panicked suddenly.

“FIFI!” my twins shouted before launching away from us.

“s**t!” Calder hissed as he dove to catch them. They somehow managed to slip his grip. Greyson bolted after Fifi as well, but Gentry managed to snag him by the back of his shirt.

“Findra,” Vilairus warned. Fifi groaned on the ground, holding her center. Cullen managed to cut our pups off before they could reach her. He bristled as he stared them down, keeping them from going to her.

“Don’t just stand there!” Sammy shouted, trying to push past Gentry. She looked venomously at Fifi’s brother and then Calder, who was pushing himself up from the ground. More black smoke billowed out of Fifi. Why was it so dark? Why was there so much of it?

“Calder, we need to do something,” I said, rushing to his side. “She’s not okay.”

“What have you done to her?” Vilairus said in an eerily calm tone.

“We didn’t do anything!” Sammy said. “She ate too much magic!”

“This realm will pay with its life,” he said, kneeling beside her. He pressed a hand to her abdomen and pulled it away as if it burned him. “She is a dragonborn princess! I will raise this realm in retribution-”

“Would you just stuff it?” Sammy growled. She stepped back from Gentry, only to disappear and reappear at Fifi’s side. She gave Vilairus a withering look before she started to look more closely at Fifi.

Gentry dropped Greyson in surprise. “Samantha,” Calder called.

“Do you want her to die?” she shot at us. She turned her head to Vilairus. “I suggest you back off so I can make sure your sister doesn’t die and you can stop threatening our realm.”

“You know what is wrong with her?” he questioned cautiously.

“There’s a flame in her belly, and she put one too many logs on the fire,” Sammy huffed.