Magnus kept his head bowed in respect, his masked face obscured by the oversized hood made of basketweave wool. Kara walked toward him with slow, deliberate steps. He could see only her black leather ankle boots and the hem of her dress wizard robes with the golden runes along the hem.

Beside her walked Lord Staufen in his formal purple robes, here to witness the demise of his protege. Minningen law dictated that a blood feud required a witness for the Crown, but only rarely did a lord carry out this sacred duty.

No, this is personal.

Lord Staufen wanted to witness it with his own two eyes. Or rather, the Queen of Teufelwald wished for it. Her recollection of this day would give her pleasure for weeks to come. 

The dragon knew her wicked heart all too well.

When Kara stopped a cubit before him, Magnus kept his silence.

"Look at me," Kara demanded in a calm voice. When he refused to follow her command, she shouted, "Look at me!"

Magnus raised his head and stared straight ahead, avoiding his beloved Kara's hateful gaze. In that moment she had stabbed him worse than in any nightmarish dreamscape.

"Take off your hood," she said.

He did as she commanded, his shoulder-length raven waves crackling with tiny sparks. Even from this distance, Magnus grimaced as Kara's latent draconic soul broiled with anger so fierce, it burned his heart. He drew deep, even breaths to keep calm.

"Remove your mask."

Silence.

"I told you to remove your mask," demanded Kara in a deathly calm tone that made his heart shrivel.

With a deadly schlink, a sword came into view. One whose flames danced along the surface with searing heat. Kara raised the flaming sword near his throat.

"Remove it!"

"Only two people can remove my mask in public," he said in an even tone. "My Lord and my bond."

"Your bond?" Kara sneered, lowering the blade to her side. "Who is she?"

Silence.

"Do you even have a bond?" she asked.

Silence.

"Oh, he has one," replied Lord Staufen with a wry chuckle. "The dragon simply doesn't want to admit it because it would give you too much leverage over him."

My dear Queen, you reveal yourself more and more all the time.

I only hope Kara can see the truth.

"Lord Staufen...would you remove his mask, please?" asked Kara in an icy tone that almost refroze Magnus' heart. "I want to gaze upon the man I'm going to strike down."

"It would be my honor, ma'am."

The royal walked slowly toward Magnus, gazing at him through long eyelashes, just as his Queen had done many years ago. The evil woman was not even trying to hide it now.

As Lord Staufen—his Queen—reached forward to remove the mask, Magnus gazed upon Kara one last time. She drew rapid breaths. Preparing herself to strike. She held herself so tense that her body trembled...like his body had done as he had watched his family die all those years ago.

If only I had known...

If only we had more time...

Kara spoke through gritted teeth. "Forgive me, Sir. Despite the law...despite my morals...despite everything you've taught me, I cannot let this evil stand."

Magnus never took his eyes off her. "Do what you need to do."

When Lord Staufen touched Magnus' mask, it vanished. The royal flashed him a wicked grin as he revealed a face that had not seen the light of Minningen in six years.

It did not change Kara's resolve.

"You are a fool," said Lord Staufen, curling his lip. "You took a gamble, and you failed."

All Magnus could hear was the Queen of Teufelwald. Her malice. Her jealousy. All her hatred flowed through the words of his former mentor.

"She will never love you now."

With a victorious cackle, Lord Staufen took a step back...

Straight into Kara's waiting sword.

Lord Staufen's eyes bulged before he stared in awe at the flaming sword protruding from his chest. His heart. It burned through cloth, hair, and flesh. Magnus met his gaze with astonishment.

The Queen's soul seeped out of the dying lord's nose and mouth in a cloud of black tendrils. They interweaved to form a face that he'd once found beautiful.

Now it made his stomach churn.

The Queen reached out to stroke his cheek, but her arm caught on fire in the Minningen sun. She screeched. Called to him with a draconic cry. But Magnus refused to answer.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Please, my love!"

"You have hurt me for the last time," said Magnus through clenched teeth. "Finish it!"

Kara twisted the blade, and the Queen burst into a cloud of ash and smoke. The blade tumbled to the ground, its flames spent until it could be recharged once more in holy fire.

Silence rested between them.

Magnus' body trembled in shock and relief as the ashes of the Queen's soul landed between their feet. When he could finally meet her gaze, Kara drew a ragged breath.

"You're alive," breathed Kara. "It's really you..."

To his utter astonishment, Kara ran toward him and embraced him. Too stunned to know how to react, he simply stood ramrod still. "It would seem you received my message."

Kara took a step back and stared at the ground. "I know...I failed again."

"Failed?" When Magnus tried to take a step closer, the chains rattled in protest. "You faced a woman I could not defeat and you used your cleverness to overpower her."

Kara's face brightened. "It wasn't just me. We all made the plan. It was Hilda, her father, the clerics and sorcerers he'd hired weeks ago on the sly to make the sword."

The dwarven general was cleverer than I thought...

He even fooled me with his rhetoric.

"You failed at nothing, Katharina," said Magnus in a voice filled with awe and admiration. "You overcame anger and hatred and delivered true justice for your country. I am proud."

Kara blushed and stared at the ground. "Thank you, Sir."

"Now finish it."

Kara cast him an incredulous look as he knelt before her.

Perhaps a foolish, younger version of him unified with Andor would have tried to justify her father's murder. That Magnus would have presented Kara the marble. Told her to watch it. And witnessed with anger, hatred, and prideful scorn while the innocent girl's heart fractured into ten thousand pieces. That footage would have turned her heroic father into a villain—all worth it since the evidence would have proven himself right.

But what good would that pain bring them now?

No, Magnus would never hurt her that way. He would die to satiate her blood feud and keep her father's terrible secret hidden safely within his heart.

It was his burden to bear. Not hers.

Though Kara might damn his soul for eternity, Magnus refused to take her with him. The wizard still had a life to live. A good one. Filled with people who loved her.

"My darker half is dangerous." Magnus swallowed a lump in his throat. "He has committed unspeakable crimes. Not to mention what he has done since we parted."

"Sir..."

"Let me finish." He exhaled an agonized breath. "You are a kind soul. If you do not wish to do it yourself, I understand. But let the Crown put an end to Andor's terror."

"This is my blood feud." Kara lifted his chin, her piercing gaze as dark as her father's, but with none of his anger or malice. "It is my right to execute or release you."

"Then do what must be done."

"I hate Andor," said Kara. "With all my heart, I would like to kill him."

Righteous anger burbled in Magnus' chest. "Good, we agree. If you kill me, he will die."

"You are not Andor." Kara cupped his cheek. "You asked my mother to sever your wings. To burn your scales in holy fire while you were still conscious." Magnus could feel her shudder. "You underwent unspeakable agony to separate yourself from your Shadow."

His lips parted in surprise. "You do not understand. There is still darkness inside me."

"There is darkness inside all of us," exclaimed Kara. "Inside me, too. But you desire the Light. You have never hurt me. Or anyone. You want to teach. You want to protect. You want to serve Minningen and fight for the Light."

"Yes, but—"

Kara put her finger upon his lips. "You deserve a chance to fulfill your promise."

Magnus grasped her hand. "But at what cost? You do not know what Andor can do."

Kara's expression turned to stone. "Yes, I do."

"Did he hurt you?" Magnus felt his heart burn with rage. "Did he touch you?"

"No...but he hurt people I care about, and he tricked us all."

Magnus' shoulders slumped. "For his treachery, I deserve to die. If you end my soul with the flaming sword as you did with the Queen, you will end his as well."

Kara shook her head. "That's where I think you're wrong. That's where I think we were all wrong, and the clerics and sorcerers agree with me."

Magnus furrowed his brow. Why can she not simply kill me? It is the most rational decision to eliminate Andor as a threat.

"I think the mistake was separating you two in the first place," whispered Kara. "Your calculated, calm, composed mind kept Andor in check while Andor allowed you to experience emotions like love and joy and passion."

Magnus averted his gaze. "Emotion has only brought me madness and pain."

"It doesn't have to be like that." Kara turned his head until their eyes met. "Until you accept your darker half, it will run amok. You will never feel whole. He will keep hurting people until you pay attention and get him under control."

"I cannot." Magnus shook his head. "I cannot let Andor back into my life. It is too risky. You do not know what it was like living with him."

"But I knew what it was like when Andor lived without you," she retorted. "This is my final judgment: Learn to live with your other half with the help of people who can heal you."

Magnus drew back. "What are you saying?"

"I don't want to kill you," said Kara. "I want people to help you become whole again."

Silence.

"That is impossible."

"Accept Andor back, and allow healers and clerics to lead you on the right path." Kara sighed. "When you two can live as one, you can return to Minningen. As one man. Whole."

"You have no idea what you are asking," he whispered. "Or you would not demand this of me. I have endured worse than perdition to cast him from me. Now I should embrace Andor once more? What if he commits an unspeakable crime? Or hurts people again?"

Kara grasped his hand. "The clerics and healers told me it won't be easy. But if you believe in the Light—if you believe in Minningen—if you believe in us, please do it."

Magnus squeezed her hand, both to reassure himself and her.

"This is bigger than simply you and Andor," she said. "If this works, we can heal the other dragons. And maybe...we can bring peace between our people."

"It will take years, Katharina."

Though Magnus did not say it, his heart whispered his deepest fear. I might never heal.

"I will wait for you." Kara kissed his fingers. "As your colleague and your friend. If you wish, after your ordeal, we can discuss all the rest."

His heart burned. Not with pain or passion, but with some other indescribable emotion, though Magnus was not sure which one.

"Very well, I accept your terms. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"That you—and you alone—bury the ice sword into my chest," said Magnus with a slight tremor in his voice. "I do not trust anyone else to unite me with Andor."

Kara nodded. "It would be my honor."

With that the wizard unshackled his chains and released him. 

___

Word count: 1,934
Total word count: 29,460/40,000 (max)