Cursed Blood

With a final sigh, the god gently pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Be safe, Angel."

His body disappeared slowly, vanishing from sight. I was trembling, my hands shaking as I processed his words. He didn't lie to me before, so how would I know if he was lying to me now?

"Cloud..?"

I jumped back into action. "He doesn't scare me, it's fine. He's one of the gods, but what he says doesn't matter. I won't do either of those things."

The Queen looked disturbed as I headed for the door, armed with my power and Travis' knife. "Cloud, maybe you should stay behind to be safe," she offered, but her words fell short as I glared at her.

"I am not afraid. I'm not weak or powerless anymore. I am going to defend this kingdom, and you can't stop me."

"We're coming with," Lillian said decisively. I nodded my thanks to her, wings spreading their feathers before I jumped into the air and soared toward the Valley. The fighting had worsened, with several buildings on fire. I flew downward, grabbing several buckets and helping children put out the fires. Once the worst of it was taken care of, I ushered them into safer homes. Darkbloods were scattered everywhere, stealing from buildings or attacking Lightbloods. Most hesitated when they saw me, probably having been told about me and my form, which was a damning physical description. Those who hesitated had no chance in hell of getting away from me, though I did end up knocking them out more than outright killing them. I had gotten more than enough lives in return for them taking four from me, but I still had an unsatisfied need for revenge.

That, or maybe I needed closure.

Either way, I made my way back and forth between fights for quite a while before the Queen and the others finally made it down into the Valley. Now that we had some stronger forces, the Darkbloods were switching their strategy. They formed a large, powerful group by the treeline. Anyone with ranged powers stood behind several lines of strong melee fighters, meaning it was harder for us to get rid of their snipers. Every time I jumped into the air, someone would try and catch me in a net. This led to me being forced to fight with everyone else to get rid of their front lines.

All was well until I heard a familiar grunt from behind me. My tail smacked all the nearest opponents as I turned to see my brothers in armour, holding some of the finest weapons. They fought fiercely at my side, covering my back. Things were going pretty good for us and we were gaining some ground when the Darkbloods ramped up their power. Before I could use any sort of shield to save us, my brothers and I were scattered by an explosion. My wings wrapped around my body, keeping me safe as I skidded along the ground. The twins were blown backward into the Lightbloods and virtually fine, but it was Charles who got the worst of it.

Charles, the brother who looked like me. Who was my favourite of the three, admittedly. Who'd been my closest friend since the day I was born. Who never lost faith in me, even if I was a Cursedblood.

Charles, who was blown toward the Darkbloods. One particular burly man picked him up by the collar, my brother too dazed to react. I let out a cry of distress, scrambling to my feet. My magic reacted, but instead of doing what I meant it to, it created a protective dome around Charles...

And his attacker.

I panicked, realizing there was no way anyone could break through that barrier. I ran full force into it, pounding on the surface as the burly Darkblood sneered. He raised his sword, positioning it to be pointed at Charles' heart.

My voice became raspy as I screamed, trying to take back my magic. Trying to take back the barrier so that I could protect my brother.

However, who was I to be able to control a power the Goddess of Gods couldn't even control?

The impact of watching the man slide a sword through my brother's heart made me feel like I, too, was hit with the sword. Charles went limp almost instantly, his body hitting the ground. My voice cut out, my mind frozen in time. The sight of his body hitting the stone road replayed in my mind, the continous loop burned into my memories.

Charles...

Charles... Charles!

"Ch... Charles!"

A blast of power let my core as I screamed, my fist shattering the surface of the dome. My hands wrapped around the hilt of the sword, pulling it from my brother's chest. I wasted no time, seething as I sliced his killer clean in two. The Darkbloods around us were all on the ground, and upon closer inspection, I could see blood pouring from their ears, mouths and eyes.

"You... You killed him," I snarled, the sword's tip drenched in red as I stabbed a random corpse. My eyes were unfocused as I stabbed at random bodies, rambling. "He's dead because of you. You killed him. You killed Travis. Andrew died because of you. Why did it have to be Shade? Why did you betray Rebecca?!"

Tears blurred my vision, the sword falling from my hand.

"Charles..."

Dead.

He's dead.

But he wasn't the last one. Life wasn't done with kicking me while I was down.

"I'll save him!" I heard someone shout. I looked over my shoulder, watching the Queen rush to my brother's side. Her hands glowed green, placed over his wound.

Of course she had thought it was safe. Everyone around us was dead. Who could hurt her while she saved my brother?

I'll tell you who. The next wave of Darkbloods, one of which was armed with a particular weapon.

A particular ranged weapon called a bow.

My world froze as an arrow cut cleanly through the Queen's temple. Her body went lax, falling on top of my brothers.

There was a distant feeling of reality shattering.

Travis.

Andrew.

Shade.

Rebecca.

Charles.

Queen Amara of Mythira.

Dead.