Mare

Only one will stand at the end of it all.

Chapter Music: Mare's Theme

"Mare?" Kilorn stands from his seat on the plane. He takes a step towards me, hand outstretched. He looks exactly as Shade did right before Ptolemus Samos stabbed a metal rod through his heart.

"I'm fine," I lie as I touch the metal of the plane, letting the coolness seep into my palm.

Those words are like a ringing bell.

Heavy, loud clunking of boots walking across the jet's floor comes from Cal's direction. He makes his way through the crowd of soldiers with us on the jet, finding me within a few seconds. The crowd lets him pass, too intimidated to stop the fire prince from answering his call. I share no such fear and I turn my back away from him. When he spins me around, hands on my hips, shivers run their course through me. I stare at the metal floor, at his boots, anything really to avoid his gaze. But Cal's always been stubborn and when his fingers lift my chin up, his liquid gold eyes settle me ever so slightly.

"Calm down," he snaps. He has no time for this. For the lightning girl to bring the plane down because of the thoughts in her head. I almost shove him away, but instead, I nod, trying to do what he says. It calms him a little. "Mare, calm down," he says, this one just for me, soft as I remember us. Wrapped up in our dreams and our hope at the Notch. "Mare."

The alarm sounds seconds before the tail of the plane explodes.

My head slams into the floor, so hard I see stars. I taste the bitter taste of blood as it races down my face from a fresh wound. Cal was thrown too, and now his hand reaches out to me. I stare at his eyes, helplessly hoping for him to fix this as he always finds a way too. But even he can't rebuild the back of a jet-or stop us from plummeting out of the sky. This shouldn't be happening. Cal checked the planes himself.

When my vision clears I see bronze eyes. We cling together, both trapped in a falling star. All around us the metal of the jet peels apart, adding to the terror and the noise. More metal flies and all that is left is the metal frame of the plane. It's freezing cold, and my breaths come in short rasps. Through half-closed eyes I see the ground below, getting closer and closer as we plummet towards it like a cannonball.

I can't find the air to scream, but the others do. Kilorn is on this jet, so are my brothers- Bree and Tramy. They could all be dead, thrown into the wind by the explosion.

The structure shudders, every beam of metal shaking and folding. Re-forming.

The jet is no longer a jet. It is a cage, a trap.

A tomb.

A sick realization twists my stomach. Faulty equipment did not cause the explosion.

My hands reach for Cal's face. If I could talk I would tell him that I love him. Tears swell up in my eyes, but they never get a chance to run down my cheek. The wind sweeps them away too quickly. I almost find the courage to let go of Cal and the beams of metal that keep me in the Jet. To fly away with my tears, to never face the ending Maven has waiting thousands of feet below.

I find the strength to look at Cal, and I can only see him. Not the lights of Corvium below or the ground-now closer than ever before. Even in the darkness, his eyes glow. I hope he knows that I love him and that I'm sorry for the wasted time.

The wind tears at my hair and my Mother's braid pulls apart, the last vestige of her pulled away. I wonder who will tell her how her daughter died, or if she'll ever find out the fate that I met. What a death for Maven to think up. Not just for me, but for everyone on this jet.

When the cage stops short, I scream. The final twists of the metal seals us in. "Don't move," Cal growls as he grasps my hand. His other rests on metal, now glowing red. He stares hungrily across the clearing. Maven won't spare him, no, that's not his style. Before Cal can melt away the the iron bars that hold us in, I push hard, centered at his chest. Just like how he taught me once. He spirals back in a flurry of rolls, no doubt adding to daze he is in from the fall. Then I run.

Metal beams hold us in, and I run towards them at a raging pace. I hurl myself into it and the beams fold around my form, allowing me into the clearing. I meet dirt and grass as I skid onto the field of grass. Someone kicks me in the back of the skull, and I shoot a purple spark in their direction in return but it's no use. I can barely see clearly, let alone deliver a deadly blow to my attackers.

The next kick is aimed at my abdomen, bringing on a wave of blood-filled coughs. I cradle my head as it throbs and my muscles scream. I pull my legs inwards, curling in hopes to disappear, but my muscles seize and I unfold to cough up more of the sticky fluid. I barely notice when someone tugs me to my knees and starts to drag me away from the jet.

I look back. The metal beams have found ways to curl around everyone on the jet, holding them at the throat, wrists, and ankles. Cameron tries to take the Magnetrons down, using her silencer ability to stop them from twisting the metal at their will. But, there's too many for her. When one falls, another takes their place. She's not the only one fighting it. Cal tries to burn his way through the bars, screaming for me as he does, but the metal around his throat digs into his flesh and he stops.

"Stop!" I choke out, "Please!"

"You are in no position to be making demands, Mare."

Much to my immediate regret, my head whips towards his voice and my vision spots. "You." He smirks towards my direction.

"Stop, please. He's your brother."

"And?" He raises a dark brow and he takes a step closer. His hand finds my throat.

He dangles me over the ground, enough where my toes are the only thing keeping me from being strangled. I call to the sky above, hoping for a stray cloud to spark up with my bolts of energy— I will be dead before the clouds form, and the others will die with me.

My lightning fades, like the beat of a dying heart. "I have something to trade," I gasp out.

"Oh?" Maven says as he brings my face closer. Being this close to him I can see the bruise-like circles that surround his eyes, "Do tell."

"I will fight you until my last, all of us will. We will die fighting if that's what it takes. I might even bring you with us, just like I did your mother." His hands tighten.

"You are digging yourself a deeper grave, Mare Barrow." That's what I'll be in after he tortures me and the rest. No doubt he will make it a public spectacle. But, only if I don't manage to save them.

"Let them live," I whisper.

"Mare, I don't believe you know the definition of a trade," he says through a snarky sneer, "You must give me something in return."

I won't go back to him for anyone, I told Cal once.

"I won't fight." In the background, I hear Kilorn squirm against his bonds. He's figured it out quicker than Cal. "Let the rest go and I will be your prisoner. I will return, I will surrender." He drops me to the ground, and my head slumps as I cough up more of the copper-tasting fluid. Maven's hand finds my chin- so much like Cal's once did only a few minutes ago- but Maven's fingers clench around my chin. He forces me to look at him, but it's not him I see. Only darkness remains of the boy I once loved.

"Mare, don't be an idiot!" I barely hear Cal over the whining in my head. I don't look back at him. He needs to remember me in a different way, in control. Maven can have my freedom, but not my memory.

Besides the pain in my heart and my head, relief drowns me. So many have died for me. Sacrificed themselves to save me, now it's my turn to accept the fate I have waiting for me. No more sacrifice.

"Cal, don't let her! Do something." Kilorn screams. The others are shouting now too, joining Kilorn in their pleas.

"Do we have a deal?" Above me, Maven smiles.

"We have a deal."