Flames and Starlight
TWENTY-THREE

Hannah ran into her bedroom, causing the door to slam against the nearby wall, a loud THUD echoed in the room, startling Ruben and Laura awake. Both had tear tracks on their faces as though they’d been crying, however, she was too focused on what she discovered to wonder why.

“Mary’s alive!” she practically shouted, excitement and relief coursing through her as she clutched the mirror tightly in her hands.

“What?” Laura said as she slid out of the bed.

Hannah rushed over to them and showed them the mirror of Mary as she and the others traveled through the woods. The image kept going in and out but it still showed Mary as she continued to travel. Hannah couldn’t tell where she was but was determined to search everywhere in the Eternal World to find her.

Laura’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at the mirror. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know but we need to find them and bring them here. Come on, we need to go.”

She ran out of the room and almost made it to the living room but Laura shouted behind her. She paused to let them catch up to her.

“Hannah, wait! We can’t just rush out there. It’s still dark, and there’s a war going on out there. We need to stay safe about this.”

“But my aunt’s out there. If it were your family, you’d be rushing out the door too.”

Laura raised her hands in a placating manner. “Hannah, I’m not saying we’re not going to look for her but think for a minute. It’s pitch black. There are supernaturals out there that are attacking everyone and we were almost killed. We don’t know where Mary’s exact location is. Going out there right now would be a suicide mission.”

Hannah felt frustration rise inside of her. “Mary could get attacked or killed and we can use a locator spell. You have night vision and can see in the dark and I can use a light spell.”

“Do you know how to do a locator spell? And even if you did one right now, we still can’t go out there with everything going out there.”

“But Mary could die out there and if we knew where she was we could save her and the others. Every second we waste arguing about this the chance of her getting killed increases.”

“Hannah, it’s not safe to go out there. I know you want to save your aunt, and so do I, but we need to be intelligent and reasonable and not go charging out there blindly.”

Anger boiled inside of her and she clenched the mirror even more tightly in her hands. “Seriously? After saving your life you won’t help me do this?”

Laura scowled. “I’m trying to help you not make an irrational decision that could get us all killed.”

“But Mary and the people with her could get killed!”

“Hannah -”

“Do not ‘Hannah’ me!” Hannah bellowed at her. In some sense, she knew she was being unreasonable and acknowledged Laura was just trying to help. But the thought of her aunt, the only family she had, being out there and getting killed terrified the shit out of her. She also couldn’t believe Laura wasn’t jumping up at the chance to help her out after saving her life. If it had been the other way around and Laura saved her life and said she had to go rescue her family, she’d drop everything and help her. “I am not going to let my aunt die out there and if you’re not going to help me then stay the hell out of my way. I guess I saved your life for nothing.”

She stormed out, her blood boiling. There was a brief hesitation before Laura and Ruben followed her.

“Hannah, please be smart about this,” said Laura as they reached the front door.

“Yeah,” Ruben chimed in. “How about this; you try the locator spell and we can try to find her. But we need to wait until morning before we go, it’s too dangerous when it’s pitch black out there. At least during the daytime, we can see what we’re doing. And just because we have night vision doesn’t mean it’s still smart to go out there.”

Hannah scowled, frustrated and wanting to get to her aunt. She knew if it was their family out there, then they’d be running out there to get to them too. “I’m going now whether you two come with me or not.”

Laura and Ruben exchanged a defeated glance and Laura said, “It’s your choice. We can’t stop you if you decide to go.”

“Fine,” she snapped and glared at them. “I can’t believe after everything we just went through, you wouldn’t do this one thing for me.”

She turned to leave but something in the mirror caught her attention. She looked down and her heart jolted in her chest when the image of Mary completely disappeared.

“What the -?”

She didn’t get to finish the sentence. The front door suddenly burst open, startling all of them, and Hannah dropped the mirror. It shattered on the floor to her horror and she screamed, “No!”

Laura and Ruben immediately jumped in front of her for protection but relaxed when she saw it was Mary in the doorway. She was holding up the Guardian she’d been walking with his arm draped around her shoulder, a massive gash on his midsection and he was bleeding out at an alarming rate, the two survivors right behind her.

Hannah felt a surge of joy and terror as she took in the scene. She was overjoyed at seeing her aunt alive and terrified the Guardian would bleed to death.

“Mary!” she cried and rushed forward to help her aunt lower the Guardian onto the floor, Ruben and Laura springing into action as well as clearing the junk off the floor to make the spot for the Guardian.

The two survivors, two men who looked around Mary’s age, slumped to the ground, seeming as though they were in bad shape as well.

Mary pressed her hands on the Guardian’s wound, her hands glowing with healing energy. She had tears rolling down her eyes and growled down at the Guardian, “Don’t you dare die on me Adrian or I swear to God I will kill you myself!”

Adrian laughed up at her which was immediately followed up by coughing. “Of course, you’d say something like that when I’m dying.”

She snarled down at him, “Adrian Carmichael, you are not dying on me! Do you understand? You are not dying!”

She closed her eyes and her whole body began to glow as the healing spell to its effect but it had no effect on Adrian. His wound wasn’t closing and his face had turned gray. He was dying.

Tears streamed down Mary’s face as the realization struck. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Hannah felt tears sting her own eyes and she gently grabbed Mary’s shoulders but her aunt shook her off.

“Mary,” Hannah said gently. “He’s dying. There’s nothing you can do for him.”

“Yes, there is!” Mary growled in a furious voice and sobs started to spill out of her throat as she desperately tried to save her friend. But it was no use. Adrian was dying and everyone knew.

“Mary,” Adrian groaned up at her and reached up to gently touch her face. “It’s okay. You can let me go.”

Mary sobbed and removed her hands, the glow immediately disappearing. “What am I going to tell your family?”

“They’ll understand. They know I served my world proudly. They’re strong and will get through this. It’s okay, Mary. It’s going to be okay. I’m honored to have met you, Mary Flowers. You are the best partner I’ve ever had. Take care of yourself.” His breathing became labored and his eyelids fluttered as his life was leaving him.

Mary’s shoulders shook as violent sobs wracked through her body and Hannah hugged her aunt tightly. “I’m so sorry, Adrian.”

He opened his eyes to give her a weak smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Mary. I lived a long, proud life, a life I wouldn’t take back for anything.”

“Adrian. . .” Mary whimpered.

Adrian gave her one last weak smile and closed his eyes. He took one last shuddering breath before going completely still, the life leaving him.

The only sound in the deafening silence was Mary’s sobs as she mourned the loss of the being in front of her.

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