Magic Comes in Twos

The weapon hurt Iblis. He breathed shallowly, his head spun, and he shivered with every step he took. The weapon jammed between his ribs cut him deeper. He screamed as he plunged his fingers into the wound to pull it out as the object burned his fingers.

"We can still win this, " he whispered before falling to his knees.

All around him, the dead bodies of his friends and followers lay on the battlefield. They had fallen one by one in their effort to defend him and the world they had worked so hard to build.

He looked up; the sky had turned into an ever-changing array of colours. They were the souls of fallen jinns. Each side had suffered significant losses.

Then he saw Yazmin. He quickly crawled to her; her black and golden armure shredded. She was coughing blood.

'' No, no, not you!'' He uttered, pushing her long dark hair off her face.

"Where is she?" he asked in a strained tone.

She gave him a weak smile. "She is safe, my child."

He smiled back and caressed her hair. "I am here; you are not alone."

She nodded, "where are they? Have you defeated them?"

He shook his head and his eyes shone, "no, but it is not over."

She extended her hand and grabbed his arm. Her piercing green eyes filled with tears, "run my child, you need to run."

He shook his head, tears running down his cheeks, his lips trembling, and said in a shaky voice, "no, I will not leave you. I can protect you."

She shook her head. "No, you must go. If you die, it would have been for nothing. Run, find her, rebuild what we have lost, and make them pay for what they have done to us. I beg of you."

Iblis looked around again; he could see shadows approaching. He leaned down and kissed his aunt on her forehead. "I will come back for you; I swear it."

She murmured, "quick my child, run, run!"

He started sobbing, kissed her again, then ran.

Not long after, a horde of riders holding flags of the coalition appeared and reached Yazmin. Pippa Southill came down from her horse and approached Iblis' aunt.

She kneeled and looked at her, "My, my, how the mighty have fallen."

Iblis' aunt grunted, grabbed a handful of soil covered in blood and threw it at her face, "do not rejoice witch! You've won the battle, but not the war!"

Pippa let out a chuckle, then a voice behind her said, ''it's time for you to get the treatment you deserve, Yazmin.''

Pippa pulled out a glass sword and yelled, "this is for our families! " But it was in vain. Yazmin had already taken her last breath.

Pippa dropped her sword and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned toward her sister, "she's gone"

Willa nodded, ''we won. We can now put all this behind us.''

Pippa shook her head. ''We need to find the other one. Hopefully, she will be among the dead or most likely injured.''

She gazed around. All across the plain, their soldiers were rounding up the wounded and capturing those trying to flee.