23

Lux ran down the hall, going on instinct more than anything else. He’d seen which direction Lily and Wick went, but he’d been too distracted by fighting with Ira to tell them they were going the wrong way. They were heading straight towards Valefor’s chamber.

His worst fears were confirmed when he heard Lily screaming. Her terrified words were coming from behind Valefor’s chamber door. He raced down the hall and threw open the door not knowing what he would do when he got there.

“Stop!” Lily wailed when Lux came into the room.

Valefor held Wick up by her throat, her feet churning the air below her. In attempt to save her friend, Lily had grabbed onto Valefor’s arm. She was pulling with all her might, and it wasn’t doing anything.

Lux had pulled the unicorn horn from Ira’s eye, and since it was the only weapon he had, Lux threw it at Valefor. The wand sailed toward him like a spear. It hit Valefor in the shoulder, piercing his skin, and Valefor leaned back his head and howled.

Except it wasn’t a normal howl. It sounded like a beast, like inside him was a monster far worse than any sea dragon. The whole room shook from the sound of it, and pebbles and dust fell from the ceiling.

“Lux,” Lily breathed his name, and her relief at seeing him alive was very short lived.

“You stupid boy,” Valefor growled and tossed Wick across the room. She hit the ground hard and began coughing loudly.

“Lux, go!” Lily shouted, but he didn’t move.

“Actually, I am happy to see you.” Valefor pulled the horn from his arm and tossed it into the fires around him. The flames roared up for a moment, burning green and purple before dying down.

“I won’t let you hurt her,” Lux said, standing tall.

“That’s fine.” Valefor walked toward him, and Lily grabbed onto his arm again, trying to stop him. He knocked her back, but only hard enough so she would fall to the ground. “I actually don’t plan to hurt her.” He smiled wider. “No. I’m going to hurt you.”

“Lux! You need to run!” Lily got her feet. “He’s not going to hurt me. He’s just going to hurt everyone I care about!”

“I won’t leave you alone with him,” Lux insisted and kept his eyes locked on Valefor.

“You picked the wrong time to become honorable,” Valefor said, glaring down at his former minion. “If you’d only waited a day or two, until this was all over, you could’ve helped me rule the world. Your life would’ve been free of all pain and suffering. You’d never have to feel anything again. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

“Not anymore,” Lux shook his head and took a swing at Valefor.

Valefor let him hit him, but it did nothing. Valefor just smiled wider. Then he pulled his arm back and hit Lux so hard he went flying into the fire.

“No!” Lily yelled, not realizing that peccati were impervious to flames. She ran at Valefor, hitting him over and over again in the chest, but he only laughed at that.

“I bet you’re going to be so much fun on our wedding night,” he said, and he grabbed both her fists, nearly crushing them in his. “But right now, I need you to stop, because I have work to do.”

He threw her aside, and she landed near Wick. Wick crawled over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

Lux walked out of the fire, his clothes and pants in tatters because of the flames, but otherwise, he appeared alright. His strides were long and purposeful, and his fists were clenched at his sides. He went right up to Valefor, but instead of just punching him, he hit him in the face with a burning hot coal, pressing it into Valefor’s eye.

Valefor groaned and held his face, and Lux punched him again. But Lux didn’t get in a third hit. Valefor recovered and hit Lux, knocking him down. While Lux lay on the ground, Valefor kicked him in the side over and over.

“Lily, we must go,” Wick whispered. “While he’s distracted.”

“I can’t leave Lux, not like this.”

But Wick wouldn’t hear it. She wrapped her arm around Lily’s waist, pulling her toward the door, while Valefor beat the hell out of Lux.

Lux didn’t even try to fight back anymore. He couldn’t. He lay on his side, doing his best to shield himself from the blows as Valefor pummeled him.

From the corner of his eye, Valefor saw Wick and Lily making their way toward the door. To stop them, Valefor picked up Lux and threw him, his body slammed into the door and fell to the ground.

“Lux!” Lily broke away from Wick and ran to where Lux lay crumpled.

He didn’t open his eyes when she reached him. He didn’t even move. With tears streaming down her face, she touched him gently, and his eyes fluttered open.

“Lily, you should go,” he whispered, his voice barely a sound.

“I won’t leave you.” She caressed his face, and he put his hand over hers. “If you die tonight, then I die tonight.”

“No, you must live.” He coughed, wincing with pain. “I’m sorry that I’ve failed you.”

“You didn’t fail me,” she assured him. “You could never fail me. I love you.”

Valefor laughed behind them, making promises that Lux’s death would be slow and painful, but neither of them really heard him. They were too focused on each other.

“I know.” Lux squeezed her hand. “And I love you.  No matter what happens here tonight, I want you to know that. My heart, my allegiance, they belong to you.”

Lily bent down, kissing him softly on the lips, and the whole room began to shake. But Lily was oblivious, focused only on Lux. She knew this would be her last kiss with him, and she wanted to cherish it.

“You fool!” Valefor shouted, his voice becoming more of the animal roar it had been before. “What have you done? You’ve ruined everything!”

By then, the room was shaking too much for her to ignore. Lily turned back to see Valefor standing in the center of the room, howling. The flames around the room nearly reached the ceiling, and the walls began to crumble. Large chunks of the tower were falling around them, as if it were raining boulders.

“We have to go!” Wick yelled and ran over to them.

She and Lily helped get Lux up. He leaned on both of them, and though he tried his best to walk, he couldn’t really move. Wick got the door open, and they hurried out just as the ceiling came down.

“What’s happening?” Lily asked.

“I don’t know!” Wick shouted to be heard over the rumbling of the tower.

In the hallways, everything was chaos. All of the horrible creatures that worked for Valefor were trying to make their escape, but most of them ended up crushed under falling debris. Lux tried to give Wick and Lily directions on how to get out, but blood was streaming into his eye and he couldn’t see very well.

As they were running, the floor gave out in front of them. A sonneillon had been racing past them, and he barely grabbed onto the jagged edge of the floor. Lily peered over the edge, and a mile below them, hot lava bubbled up. The sonneillon’s grip slipped, and he fell back, screaming as he tumbled to his death.

They turned around to go the other way, but the ceiling crashed down, blocking their path. Through the new hole overhead, they could see sky above them. It had turned a dark red, and it was filled with black smoke.

“What do we do?” Lily asked.

“We climb.”

Wick started up the huge chunks of rock that blocked their way, but she slipped almost right away. The constant quaking made it impossible to get a grip. She tried again and slid back down to the ground.

With tears in her eyes, Wick shook her head. “There’s no way out.”

Lily sat down on the ground next to Lux. He sat up the best he could and wrapped both of his arms around her, so he could shield her from anything else that came.

“Take my hand!” a familiar voice said, and Lily looked up to see Aeterna floating above them.

His wings were completely healed, as was the rest of him. In fact, he didn’t show any signs of his earlier wounds. He’d flown in through the hole in the tower, and he held out his hand for Lily to take.

Lily was too stunned to react, so Wick took his hand first. Then Lily got up and grabbed onto him, wrapping her arms around Aeterna’s neck. With his other hand, he picked up Lux.

“Hang on tight,” Aeterna said, and then he was flying out of the tower, his wings beating hard and fast.

Soon they were soaring high above the Earth, the crumbling tower below them. Lily clung onto him, afraid of falling, and she saw Lux doing the same.

“What’s going on?” Lily asked, her face pressed into Aeterna’s chest.

“There’s someone you need to meet,” Aeterna said, and then flew up higher, past the clouds into a blinding white light.