Chapter 10

Tarin ran up the building, and found many shadow servants, but instead of on the ground they were flying. Why’d they have to fly? Anyway, Tarin was too fast for all of them and dodged their attacks. Reaching the top of the building before any could land a shot on him.

On the top was Velmora herself laughing and Myer, strapped to a weather vein. Knocked out cold. “You know Tarin. You don’t have to do this.” Velmora said, “The magicians are monsters, they shouldn’t tell you what you ‘need’ to do. Of all your friends you have always been the one to oppose magic the most.”

Tarin clenched his fists, “I have a new way of seeing things now, just because that’s who I was doesn’t mean that’s who I am now.” Tarin remembered how Velmora came to be, she was just a little kid when she ran away from the magicians. “We can relate that way.” Vemora stepped down from a ledge, and floated toward him.

“What did you say?” She said,

Tarin sighed, “We both opposed magic, we both had magic but didn’t care about it. We worked tirelessly to learn it by accident, and against our own wanting. We can both change. I can help you, you didn’t have someone to go to. I did, and now you do. You have all of us.” Tarin remembered the prophecy, He shall lose his friends for the fight to the end, He shall defeat death, but bring chaos with him. Defeat could mean many things, maybe he didn’t need to kill Velmora.

Velmora smiled, “You think you and your ragtag team of friends can stop me? I am the master of death! I am death!” Well that answered that question. 

She shot a bolt of energy Tarin could only presume killed him instantly. He dodged and shot a bolt of lightning at Velmora, in response she created a shield. Then she snapped her fingers, making a shadow servant appear from the darkness behind her. It was a giant ogre-like creature, and was heading straight for Tarin. Tarin smiled. The monster pulled up its fist for what would have been the final blow, but Tarin had something in store for the big guy. His fist smashed right above Tarin, but didn’t hurt Tarin. Instead all the power and force that just hit Tarin swelled inside him and moved through his body, he transferred all the power into his fist. He pulled back and punched the monster right in the stomach, the energy came out as electricity. Cool ability if you asked Tarin. The monster went back into the shadows from once it came, Tarin held out his hand and all the lights around them lit up. By accident he may have made it too big, you could see every ally, street, and block. No shadows for Velmora to use. Tarin smiled and ran to Velmora, he punched her in the gut. She stopped flying and fell to the ground. She created a blade of some kind out of the little shadows she had, and I cast my own spell. I made a lightning whip, Velmora paused looking at the spell. Then I lashed it at her, and she just flicked it off her.

“You cannot destroy me mortal! No matter how many shadows I have or not, I will prevail!” Velmora screamed.

I shook my head, “No, because this is my final turn.” I ran at her full speed. I dodged every strike and used my momentum that I had gathered to grab her blade, break it, then stab her in the stomach with it. It didn’t kill her, and I didn’t want it to. I looked at her, “I was where you are, but now. I think our game is done.”

Velmora smiled as his friends got to the top, “Your friends see your terrible deeds, you are no longer a hero.” She gasped, and Lily looked away. “Who are you now?”

Tarin smiled and looked back at his friends. Was this the decision he needed to make? Was he really going to say this? “I am a magician.” 

Velmora gasped, “I shall be killed by no magician before tearing off every last limb from their body!” She got up, seeming completely unfazed. She shot a blast of energy at Tarin’s friends, Tarin went as fast as he could go. He turned to his friends and saw a helicopter going around them, this was it. He ran at his friends and moved them from the incoming blow, then ran at Velmora and pushed them both off the building. Hopefully with nothing to use her magic with Velmora wouldn’t live, Tarin, on the other hand, didn’t have much either. Then he looked to the top of the building, and saw all of his friends, except Myer, jumping off into the mighty fall below. Velmora screamed in frustration, but she didn’t do anything to stop herself from falling. There wasn’t any footing Tarin could get on the building, he couldn’t run out of the situation. Aaron, Eithan, Sorra, and Lily could fly, but Tarin started to understand. 

You shall go to the highest of feats, but you shall die with your friends in the least. From this drop they’d definitely die.

A choice will be made, by a rush of red. The choice to see who prevails in the end. That’s what he’d done right? He’d made the choice to push Velmora off the building, or was it something else? Tarin thought, what was his decision? He thought it would be jumping off, but that was a second instinct maneuver. If it was a choice, then it wasn’t now.

He got over the intercoms, “Faking death time guys!” He yelled through the wind in his ears he heard their voices.

“What!? Are you crazy?” Aaron yelled.

“So there really is going to be no more Xeno Force?” Asked Colton.

Tarin nodded, “I think this is it, to see who prevails in the end we must give up Xeno Force. I shall die with my friends in the least.”

There was silence, until Max came over the intercom. “Then let’s give Velmora the final hit to remember.”

Tarin smiled, “You all have to hit me, the final fight to the end! Hit me.” All of them immediately understood. Eithan and Aaron shot blasts of energy and fire at him, which obviously hurt, but gave him strength. Sorra started tricking minds into thinking of seeing them all die, and Lily just fell looking at Velmora. Tarin felt bad, but they needed to do this. Tarin finally reached the ground, and right before that Max came in with a heavy slam, shooting Tarin right into Velmora. The hit could be heard from all across the city, and it was impossible for people not to believe they died.

Once the dust settled, Tarin was looking down at an ashy fading body that was once Velmora. He stood tall over the body, and looked at the building. He looked around, to see all of his friends. But nobody could see them through the smoke and dust.

“Aaron, go get Myer, make sure nobody sees you. Use your invisibility.” Tarin said.

“Got it.” Aaron said back.

“Everyone else.” Tarin said, looking back at his friends. “Deactivate your nano suit’s, the Xeno force is dead.”