Finally, they were upon me.
A last-ditch attempt to end this before it was too late, I hurled a single reflection at Krial, who lay on the floor directly opposite me.
The reflection’s blade was razor-sharp and aimed directly at Krial’s heart.
Krial’s eyes widened but he was ready for the attack and knocked the blow to one side.
The blade sliced into the crook of his shoulder. He seized the reflection with his other hand and pulled him toward his face and breathed him in.
Reaving.
He was Reaving the reflection.
I had never seen it done before. I wasn’t even sure what would happen until I felt that terrible black vortex sucking at my strength from across the room via my reflection.
I was linked to the reflections the same way Krial was linked to the baby, and although I never took damage when one of my reflections did, I felt the tug of his ability as he pulled at me harder and harder.
My body shook and the honor guard peered between me and Krial.
They stood back, letting Krial, our master, devour me.
I cast a hasty look out the window at the shuttlecraft. Its lights were on but it hadn’t taken off yet.
Harper was waiting for me, I realized.
Go, you fool! I wanted to shout but I didn’t have the strength.
My hands lost their youthful vibrance and the flesh grew sunken, the flesh turning thin and pallid. Liver spots formed on the back of my hands and the hair turned grey.
“No…” I said.
It was meant to be a strong cry but it came out a thin whisper.
I attempted to pull the reflection back to me, to cut Krial off, but it was no use. His grip was so tight I couldn’t tear it free.
The life drained from me, normally unnoticed as the hands of the clock ticked by but now it hit me all at once. It was excruciating, my skin writhing in revolt as it aged prematurely.
I raised a hand to cast another reflection at the demon on the other side of the room.
If I focused, if I could concentrate just long enough, I could finish the job while Krial was distracted, attacking him from behind and slit his throat.
I felt the reflection leave me, weak and thin though it was and—
Annas pressed her boot to my forearm, breaking the connection between me and my newly-formed reflection. It died before it was even fully formed.
I was too weak to fight back. Too much of my strength had been drained already. I was turning into a husk of the Miragian I once was.
I peered out the window at the shuttlecraft and thought of Harper and the baby. I let myself believe they would fly from this place and never return, that they would find somewhere safe, far from their place, and live out their lives in happiness and peace.
“Grgh!”
Krial’s Reaving stopped abruptly.
Was he done with me?
Had he had enough?
Was I empty?
My joints were swollen and ached with what I suspected was acute arthritis. My joints crunched and struggled to move under their own power. My muscles were no longer strong and fully formed. They were thin and weak and barely managed to operate under their own steam.
I could barely lift my head, so I arched my eyeballs up to peer at the creature on the other side of the room, the shimmering golden blade of my reflection now buried deep in Krial’s throat.
It faded away like dust as an invisible wind swept the reflection out of existence, along with the blade, disappearing in the feminine but strong hand of its wielder.
Harper.
She saved me. But I doubted the moment would last long.
“No!” Annas said.
She sprinted across the room to Krial and held his body in her arms.
Harper edged toward me, keeping a close eye on Rarr and Tus, who rounded the room on the other side toward our fallen master.
“Get up,” Harper said.
I tried but was too weak to move under my own strength.
She slid under my arm and lifted me like I weighed nothing at all.
She carried me across the room, my feet making one footstep for every three of Harper’s.
We got halfway to the door before Annas lowered Krial’s lifeless body and let out a blood-curdling scream. She ran at us.
With Harper’s arms full of me and no weapon to hand, we were goners.
But Annas never reached us.
Tus stood between us and blocked our sister.
“It’s over, Annas,” he said.
Tears streamed from Annas’ eyes and she could barely bring herself to look at us.
“It’s over,” Tus repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder.
He kept himself turned to one side, I noticed, in case he had to defend himself against her attack.
“He will torment us no longer,” Tus said. “Especially you.”
Annas let out a cry and clutched her stomach with her hands. She dropped her sword and it clattered to the floor.
She was the eldest of us, the most brainwashed and the most abused. We never had love for our foster father. We knew what he was but we were too afraid to speak up or fight back. His hold on us was absolute.
And now he was gone.
Annas threw her arms around Tus and buried her face into his bloodied armor. Rarr did the same on the other side, his huge bulging arms enveloping them both.
Tus cocked his head to one side and caught my eye.
“Go,” he said.
I felt uneasy leaving them behind. They were all the family I’d ever known. and I wondered if I would ever see them again.
I cast one glance back at Krial, one of the last of his kind—if not the last—and he had already turned to dust as that same invisible wind swept across him and disintegrated his body, turning even his bones to dust.
Harper carried me across the outstretched arm
