Allura lay across her throne, sighing lazily with her eyes shut. Jacob was just next to her, standing and resting his hand on her throne. He had no shirt on, and the only thing covering his lower half was a tattered pair of pants. Allura was having trouble containing the immense power coursing through her. Every time they would bring her in a new servant, she would suck their energy. Unless, of course, they were pretty. In which case, she would keep them in her charge. Her thrall room was nearly overflowing. They were clambering over each other in a big heap of gray flesh. Allura needed something to happen, she needed an excuse to let them infest the city. Did she need one? With one flick of her wrist, she could become all-powerful. She would maintain her grip for hundreds of years. 

“I want it all, Jacob,” Allura sighed to herself. “I want to be on the lips of all people, I want everyone to fear me. I want the world.” Allura sat up and commanded Jacob to lean down and kiss her. 

“You would have to be a Goddess for that,” Jacob said softly. “And they all died…” 

“A Goddess…” Allura repeated, thinking. She stood up and began to pace back and forth. “Immortal, all-powerful, omnipotent.” She thought for a bit longer. “I could become one. I could become the new Goddess, the new all-powerful truth!” Jacob looked at her, biting his lip. “I need more power… more blood!” Allura grinned wickedly. But she was interrupted, as the door burst open. Ember came running in, strapping a bracer of her armor on. “Lady Eloux,” Allura said. “To what do I owe the extreme pleasure?” 

“Magnus!” Ember cried. “Magnus Evanteus is storming the castle!” Allura grinned. Here it was, her excuse. 

…

A few minutes earlier, Ember burst through the door of her room in the castle. Clarisse and Rebecca were both there. Clarisse was packing a bag, and Rebecca was watching. When Ember entered, they both jumped. “My armor! I need my armor!” Ember said, rushing over to the armor stand in the corner of the room, and starting to get dressed. Clarisse had stopped packing and was now watching Ember. 

“What’s going on?” Clarisse asked. Ember was in the middle of putting on an armored boot. 

“Magnus is here!” Ember said. “In toe is an army of sorts. It is my time! I am going to kill him!” Ember answered. She slipped on a gauntlet. And then she noticed what Clarisse was doing. It gave her pause for a second. “What are you doing?” She asked. 

“I’m leaving,” Clarisse replied. “We’re leaving,” she pointed to Rebecca, who waved slowly. 

“What? No! We’re under attack!” Ember said. “You must stay here!” Clarisse looked at Rebecca, and then back to Ember. She did not answer. Ember had just gotten done putting on the breastplate and held the Raven’s helm under her arm. “You aren’t leaving!” Ember said angrily. Clarisse and Rebecca both looked at each other, and then Clarisse looked at Ember. 

“Ember-” Clarisse started, but Ember cut her off. 

“NO!” She screamed, strapping her sword to her waist. She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. When she was outside, she shoved the key into the lock and locked the door tightly. “You aren’t leaving! YOU AREN’T!” Ember ignored the bangs and cries on the door as she ran down the stairs, and toward the throne room. The rest of it was a blur for her. She remembered bursting into the throne room, where Allura and a half-naked man were standing. She remembered screaming about Magnus, having just seen him approaching the castle with a quasi-army. After that, she remembered Allura leaving.

It was like everything was going in slow motion. Ember burst from the doors to the castle, putting the Raven’s helm on and shutting it. She could just barely see outside. Magnus was ascending the stairs to the castle proudly and triumphantly. Just behind him was a blonde woman, a revolver in her right hand. “That is far enough!” Ember shouted, drawing her sword and pointing it down toward Magnus. “Magnus Evanteus you will not take one more step!” She lifted the beak of her helm and stared at Magnus. Magnus grinned smugly up at Ember. 

“Going to kill me again, Ember Eloux?!” Magnus asked sarcastically. The blonde woman went to shoot Ember, but Magnus raised a hand. “She is mine,” he mumbled to her. She stepped down. “Listen. We have no quarrel with each other anymore! My business lies with Allura, just like her stupid zombie slave!” Magnus shouted. “Step aside and let us pass!” Ember stood at the top of the stairs and then shut the beak again. 

“No!” She said, holding Widowmaker aloft and preparing. Magnus sighed and began to draw Snaggletooth. He hesitated, however, as something began to shamble down the stairs. All around Ember stumbled over Allura’s thralls. They were gnashing their teeth and crying out. There must have been dozens of them, maybe even hundreds. Magnus drew Snaggletooth out completely and roared as he charged up the stairs. With a swift swing of his greatsword, he lobbed the head off one of the thralls, making his way toward Ember. Ember breathed deeply and slowly, watching him come up the stairs. Wait for a moment, keep waiting. Her knees buckled, and her muscles tensed up. She leaped, holding the sword over her head and screaming as she fell upon Magnus. Magnus heaved the greatsword up, deflecting her blow and sending her catapulting into one of Allura’s thralls. 

Magnus screamed, rounding on Ember and thrusting Snaggletooth forward. Ember held Widowmaker up before it could pierce her, straining and growling as she was pushed forward by Magnus’ strength. She had to think quickly. That was the skill that put her above Magnus, her agility. She shouted and jumped up, shoving her boot into a thrall, and pushing herself off of it. Her sword slashed at Magnus’ shoulder, and her helmet clattered to the ground, falling down the stairs. All around them, Thralls screamed and men and women shouted as they fended them off. “You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” Magnus said. “But you aren’t as fast as you used to be! It’s been a while, Ember!” Magnus slashed with Snaggletooth, and Ember jumped back. He sprinted toward her, dragging Snaggletooth down the stairs with him. The blade sparked as it struck each consecutive stair, and after a few sparks it set aflame. Ember backed up a bit, she hadn’t seen it do that last time. 

Ember felt the heat of the flame as Snaggletooth smashed into the ground in front of her, sending concrete flying in all directions. A piece of shrapnel hit her square in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She fell back, twisting and tumbling down the stairs. “It’s over!” Magnus yelled, holding Snaggletooth aloft. “Give up now, or face your doom!” Ember looked up at him, hair matted and blood-stained. She could taste metal. It wasn’t going to end here. Ember stood shakily and screamed as she ran up toward Magnus. It was over as quickly as it had started. Magnus swung Snaggletooth up, and Ember felt a biting sting move through her stomach. Widowmaker dropped to the ground. Ember looked down at her stomach, seeing the serrated blade piercing it. She coughed and threw up blood. Magnus lifted the blade, and Ember felt herself rise into the air. With a flick of Snaggletooth, she was sent flying toward the castle. She hit the wall and fell to the ground. The last thing she remembered was Allura, staring down at her, disappointed. 

…

“Stop!” Magnus heard Allura say. All of her thralls halted. Magnus could tell that even though he had defeated Ember Eloux, they were losing. Many of her thralls looked up with a mouthful of entrails, the sprawled-out body of his rebellion members lying on the floor. Allura stood at the top of the stairs, staring daggers down at Magnus. Then, she began to slowly clap. Birgitte walked up just next to Magnus, a huge chunk taken out of her shoulder. “Well done, Magnus Evanteus. Very well done!” She said, smiling as she clapped. “You managed to kill one of my most skilled warriors!” Magnus grimaced at Allura. 

“I’m here for your head!” Magnus screamed, pointing snaggletooth up toward Allura. “Here to give it to me?!” 

“No!” Allura shouted down. “I’m here to give you your brother!” Magnus stopped, looking up at her. “He’s in the castle right now! You have his heart, correct?” Magnus did not answer, but his hand instinctively went to his backpack. “You may enter, and give him his body back. You killed Ember Eloux, after all. A life for a life!” Magnus hesitated and then strapped Snaggletooth back onto his back. 

“Magnus, no!” Brigitte said, reaching for him.

“It’s my brother!” Magnus shouted, and Brigitte shied away. “My flesh and blood! This is all for him!” Magnus turned back to Allura. “I don’t trust you. But I need Drake back…” He trailed off and then started to ascend the stairs. Allura held her arms out and then gestured him into the castle. Magnus entered. The doors shut tightly behind him. 

“He’s just down here,” Allura said, walking down the hallway triumphantly. Magnus reluctantly followed. Looking around the castle. This all used to be his. Now he couldn’t even recognize it anymore. Allura looked back at him with a smug smirk. Magnus was going to take another step when he heard the cracking and crashing of wood. A woman quickly made her way down the castle steps, holding a little girl. She ran towards the front door and shoved it open. After that, Magnus heard a scream. “Oh Magnus, my dear!” Magnus heard Allura say. He looked down the hallways and saw her standing next to a pair of doors. Magnus approached. Allura pointed, and he walked up to them. 

“If this is some kind of trick…” Magnus said. 

“Yes, yes, my head will roll down the castle steps!” Allura smirked. “It’s not. He’s just through there!” Magnus heaved a sigh and opened the doors. The cauldron was in the center of the room. He was half-expecting it to be empty. 

“Drake!” Magnus said, running up to the skeleton in the cauldron. “I have it, Drake! I have the heart!” 

“Give it to me!” Drake held out a skeletal hand. Magnus rummaged around in his backpack. 

“You know this thing attacked an entire village, right?” Magnus said as he pulled the heart out. Drake looked at him with an expressionless face. 

“What are you talking about?” Drake asked. “Just give it to me!” Drake snatched it from Magnus’ hand. He opened his mouth, and dropped the heart down into it, swallowing it. Magnus watched as the heart fell into Drake’s ribcage, and stuck there. Veins began to sprout from it, finding homes throughout his body. Soon, he had an entire nervous system. After that, muscles began to form. Drake began to grunt and growl as his body came back. After the muscle, the skin began to form. His arms, legs, and fingertips all were created. And then his hair sprouted. Straight black hair that fell around his face. Soon, Drake was standing before Magnus. There was a second of silence, and then Drake took in a deep breath. “Yes…” Drake said softly. “Yes, I can breathe.” Drake put a leg over the rim of the cauldron and left it. Soon, he was standing before Magnus. He was dripping with thick green fluid, completely naked. 

“Oh, Drake!” Magnus said, rushing toward Drake and embracing him. Drake hugged back, he was shaking. Magnus could feel his heart racing as well. “Drake… what is it?” Magnus asked. 

“You shouldn’t have come, Magnus…” Drake said. “But I’m glad you did. If only you knew…” 

“What are you tal-” Drake squeezed Magnus tight before he finished his sentence. Magnus let out a cry as he felt himself being drained of energy. He tried to rend himself free, but his energy was waning. 

“Don’t fight it…” Drake said. “I’m sorry, Magnus. I really am!” Magnus fell to the ground, convulsing. His veins were running black, and Drake’s eyes were glowing a bright purple. “Goodbye, Brother,” was the last thing he heard before blacking out.