Mellissa

Ijumped to my feet. I was instantly hit by the sound of screams. Crashes and bangs went off all around us. I choked on the dust and could hardly see with all the smoke. The beautiful council building was in ruins. It looked like it had been hit by a bomb, but the dust hadn’t settled yet. People were running all over the place. The leprechauns were attacking at random and destroying anything and anyone that was still standing. I didn’t know what to do first. Victoria and Harkura, however, went straight into action, blasting any leprechauns they came across. Victoria ordered me to stay behind them and let them deal with the henchmen. I had to save my magical energy to fight Kadon once we found him. I did as she said. Flurries of many different types of magic were being thrown around. I didn’t recognise half the techniques. Soldiers from all the different nations had been called to fight. We fought our way through the battlefield. Just as we were about to be hit by crossfire, I grabbed both Victoria and Harkura and teleported us away from the fight.

“What are you doing? I told you to conserve your energy,” Victoria shouted.

“Behind you,” I yelled.

Victoria spun round and blocked an attack as I blasted the leprechaun across the room. “What did I just tell you?” she shouted.

“Look, this isn’t working. Taking down the leprechaun soldiers one by one is meaningless. We need to stop Kadon. He is their leader. Without him, they won’t know what to do.”

“That is a good idea, Your Majesty, but how do we find him?” asked Harkura.

“I don’t know. He would be leading the charge, wouldn’t he? Where would be a good place to do that?” They both looked at me and shrugged. I had come here to help, but I hadn’t really done anything yet.

“I know where Kadon is.” My chest tightened. I turned to see Greg in the doorway. I didn’t know what to say. It felt like I hadn’t seen him in forever, even though it had been just over a week. “I thought that was your magic I sensed,” he said.

I ran over to Greg and threw my arms around him. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“Don’t worry about it. There are more important things for you to do.”

“But you’re hurt,” I said, pointing at his arm.

He shrugged. “It’s just a scratch.”

It really wasn’t. It looked very similar to when that leprechaun stabbed me with her claws. I also remembered how much it hurt. I looked down at the floor—even more evidence that I wasn’t strong.

“You said you know where Kadon is?” Victoria said.

Greg stepped around me. “Yes, Kadon has taken all the senior council members captive. He is holding them in the courtyard of the Tree of Time.”

“Of course, someone like him would make an overdramatic statement like that,” said Victoria.

Greg put his hand on my check, forcing me to look up from the floor. “Mellissa, you can do this.”

I gave him a small smile and nodded. I wasn’t as sure as he was about being able to pull this off. There was a lot at stake. I couldn’t give up before I’d even tried.

“Okay, let’s go guys.” I walked back over to my guardians and held my hand out. Victoria and Harkura both took hold. I wasn’t going to let my fear get the best of me. This was something I had to do. I looked at both my guardians. Victoria and I had spent most of the time we’d known each other at odds, but she was now one of my closest friends, and I had only just met Harkura, but I knew he would back me up no matter what. I teleported us to the Tree of Time.

For once, we landed exactly as I wanted—in the tree’s branches. I thought it would help us remain hidden, but I’ve never been that lucky.

“How nice of you to join us, little elf-ling, and your guardians too,” Kadon said without turning to look at us. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it in time for the main event. You will have a great view in that tree to watch as I kill the council members. They all sat idly by and let my people fall into ruins. You will all fear us again soon.”

Kadon had the council members bound by his shadows. The courtyard was already littered with bodies. By the looks of it, he had taken out a bunch of soldiers who’d tried to save them. They were all trained to fight. What hope did I have? Kadon was so cold. He spoke of the council ruining his people, but really, he just enjoyed causing chaos. He killed like it was his favourite sport. Kadon was a monster that needed to be stopped, and it was my job to do it. Leprechaun henchmen came and surrounded the tree, waiting for us to come down.

“Which one should I dispose of first?” Kadon asked, walking up to his captives. “I think we will start with you.” He pointed at Lady Gabrielle and levitated her toward him. He chuckled. “Are you trying to use your magic on me, warlock? I can’t believe they let such weak creatures be senior members on this pathetic council. It sort of takes the fun out of this.”

I had to do something quick. Otherwise, he was going to kill her. I looked at both Victoria and Harkura, and they both nodded at me, knowing that I was going to act. They both jumped from the tree. Victoria froze three of Kadon’s soldiers, and Harkura blasted the other two across the courtyard. I teleported to Kadon and blasted him with a beam of light energy. He went flying back and hit the tree. The smile fell from his face.

“It appears your powers have grown, elf-ling. That actually hurt, but you are still no match for me,” he growled, flying at me with super speed.

I teleported out of the way, but he was right there when I rematerialised, as if he knew where I was going to appear. He grabbed me and threw me across the courtyard. He blasted me with his water powers, making my impact with the ground worse. Victoria and Harkura ran to my assistance. He blasted them away with little effort, but it was enough time for me to get my act together. I blasted him with energy balls while teleporting around the courtyard, hitting him from all directions.

“Enough!” he shouted, sending out a wave of blasts, knocking me to the ground again. He bound my hands with shadows and levitated me to him. I struggled to break free. I couldn’t let him defeat me so easily, not when so many lives were on the line. “You are really quite annoying. I won’t let you get in the way of my revenge. I have waited so long for this. Maybe I should kill you first, and then I can finally add the Heart Crystal to my collection. I will be truly unstoppable.”

He reached for the crystal around my neck, but it rejected him, emitting a massive blast of light. It sent us both flying backward. I landed with a thud while he gracefully levitated to regain his balance. The Heart Crystal glowed brightly.

I pushed myself to my feet. “Don’t you know Freya bound the Heart to her bloodline? All this time, you’ve been trying to capture me, but the crystal will never work for you.”

The crystal’s glow got stronger. Seeing its light reminded me of something I had read. I shouted to Victoria and Harkura to get the council members out of there. They started to break through the shadows binding them. The vein on Kadon’s forehead began to pulse as his eyes narrowed.

“I will not let you take my prize,” he shouted.

He threw a shadow ball at them. I put up a light barrier, deflecting his attack. He yelled as his body became shrouded in a darkness. He blasted me away. He covered his water blasts with shadows, making them more powerful. I put up an energy shield, but he kept throwing one attack after another, and my shield cracked under pressure. I fell back. The crystal was still glowing bright. I needed just a little more time for it to build up more power. I tried to teleport again, but Kadon grabbed my leg with his shadows and dragged me toward him. I tried to dig my hands into the earth to stop him, but I ended up pulling up clumps of grass. I threw the grass at him, making it grow at the same time, but he sliced straight through it with a shadow.

“I have had enough of you, elf-ling,” he shouted, wrapping another shadow round my arm. “You were amusing at first, but now, you are just a pain. I am going to do to you what I should have done to Freya.”

He lifted his hand, forming a shadow sword. I tried to break free by releasing an energy blast, but it didn’t work. He brought the sword down to strike me. I braced myself, but nothing happened. I looked up. In front of me was Lord Steffen, with a barrier in place. Kadon growled. The vein on his forehead looked like it was about to burst.

“I am sick of all this interference.” Kadon smashed through the barrier. “I guess you are first.”

He grabbed hold of Steffen’s head and snapped his neck. I screamed and scurried backward, clutching my chest as his body flopped to the floor. Kadon turned to the other escaping council members and fired what looked like shards of glass at them. Victoria and Harkura both put up barriers, but Kadon’s magic shot straight through them. At least three council members were hit. I wiped away my tears and clenched my fists. The ground began to shake. The grass around Kadon shot up and wrapped around him. He broke free within seconds, but I was ready. I blasted him away with as much light energy as I could summon. I had to act now. I just hoped the crystal had gathered enough energy. I ripped the Heart Crystal from around my neck and threw it in the air, then recited a spell from one of Greg’s books I’d read.

“When one is no longer safe and darkness tries to take light’s place, protect the caster and reject all evil from within their space.”

My heart pounded in my chest. I had acted sooner than planned, but I didn’t want Kadon to hurt anyone else. The crystal sent rays of light shooting all over the place, expelling leprechauns from the area. The ground continued to shake. I planted my feet and stiffened my body.

“Do you really think that weak little spell will work on me?” yelled Kadon, tearing through the light energy to reach me.

I channelled even more power into the spell. I knew it was going to take a lot of power for it to work on someone like Kadon. He pushed through the light and caught me with his claws. I yelled, taking a step back. My legs wanted to give way, but I had to stand my ground. I focused the energy from the crystal on Kadon. Pulses of light started to grab him and pull him away. He resisted, cutting the light with his shadows, but the lights just kept coming. As he fought the spell, I blasted him with an energy ball, knocking him over. This gave the spell enough time to gather around him and eject him along with all his leprechaun warriors.

The crystal fell to the ground in front of me as I collapsed to my knees. The ground stopped shaking. I was light-headed. Everything around me seemed to be moving in slow motion. I had stopped Kadon temporarily, but I knew he would be back. I felt weak after using so much power. I took slow breaths as I tried to stop myself from crying. I felt sick at the sight of the dead bodies around me. I had been powerless to save them.

Harkura came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Your Majesty, you did it.”

“But Lord Steffen and the others, I didn’t save them.” Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

“You did your best. That is all anyone can ask. Kadon is pure evil. More lives would have been lost if you hadn’t been here.”

He might’ve been right, but it wasn’t enough. Lord Steffen had died saving me. I was a hazard to those around me. I could never make things right again. A few people came out into the courtyard to see what happened. They gasped when they saw the bodies. My heart sank as I saw Greg walk out into the courtyard. He came straight over to me.

“Mellissa, what did you do?” he asked. “All the leprechauns are gone. This warm light appeared and expelled them all.”

“Greg, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop him. I wasn’t strong enough,” I replied.

“What are you—” He froze when he saw his father lying there on the ground, his neck broken. Greg’s face dropped. “Dad, no!” he shouted, running over to his father’s body. He knelt beside him and tried to use his healing magic.

“You can’t heal the dead,” Victoria said.

“He can’t be dead. He just can’t.”

I could see the tears forming in his eyes as he tried to heal him again and again. My heart was breaking. I ran over and threw my arms around him.

“I’m so sorry. Your dad saved my life. It was because of him that I was able to expel Kadon and all the leprechauns.”

I thought knowing that his dad had died fighting would help. He didn’t say anything. His head fell on my shoulder, and he hugged me tighter. I could feel him taking slow breaths, his face hidden from the rest of us. I wished I could make his pain go away, but there was no magic that could fix this.