Yelping, Mirage flew backward. He felt his Levia rushing away, scattering like rose petals, and tasted blood in his mouth.
Kicking furiously, he tried to right himself. Not fast enough. Darian lunged and punched him three times in the chest before striking his face once more.
Pain exploded like fireworks, flooding Mirage's vision red. Sputtering, he flailed in a vain attempt to counter.
Suddenly the hail of blows stopped. Mirage blinked, fighting the nausea swirling in his head.
Ahead of him loomed a great dark mass – Victor and the dragon. The dragon had Darian wrapped within its folds, trapping her so that only her head was visible.
That head put up a valiant fight, pushing and shoving and thrashing back and forth, but it was no use. Victor turned toward her, eyes dark and pitiless.
"There's no point, prince. Stop struggling."
"As – if – I - " Darian snarled. "Damn it!"
As his racing pulse calmed down, Mirage wiped the blood from his mouth. Oh, he would make her pay for daring to mar his face – once they were safely back in Tielos, of course.
Just then, his Levia twinged. A flash of blue and white streaked out of the void ahead.
Victor was ready. With a lazy flick of his hand, he sent the dragon surging forward. Sir Zenith thrust out his shield and the dragon slammed into its crystal surface with an impact that sent the knight flying.
Somehow, he managed to maintain his grip on the shield; as he flipped back upright, bits of crystal scattered around him.
Mirage could feel Levia crackling around him, a violently raging storm unlike any he'd ever sensed before. It didn't come from Zenith; no, it blasted in burning waves from the boy behind him.
"VICTOR!" Theo screamed. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
~*~
Through the rage hazing his vision, Theo saw only one thing: his brother floating before him. Face expressionless, black dragon by his side. Where the dragon came from Theo had no idea, and he didn't give a damn.
No, all that mattered was the fury, the hatred, the raw betrayal slicing him apart like a hundred poisoned knives. It throbbed with each violent pulse of his heart, cycling through his Levia.
Ignore how his Levia became fainter with each cycle. He had to do this. He would do this.
Zenith landed in front of him, his Levia sparking as fierce as Theo's. He pointed his sword. "Release my liege this instant."
"Don't make threats you're unable to enforce," Victor said, calm as ever. Almost bored, even.
Which made Theo's rage explode. Not only had Victor betrayed him, he didn't feel a thing about it. Theo had been an idiot, an absolute fucking idiot, to believe anything Victor had ever told him.
"Zenith!" he yelled, a spell blazing in his mind. Zenith lunged, sword aglow with dawn light.
Once again, Victor sent the dragon flying. The bastard, not even bothering to fight himself!
Theo and Zenith's combined Levia surged. With a mighty swing of his sword, Zenith sliced into the dragon's head.
But halfway through, the sword jolted to a stop. Theo clenched his teeth, trying to pour more Levia into the sharpening spell, but to his alarm he could only dredge up a few sparks.
The spell fizzled, then vanished. Zenith's face whitened, but he continued pushing down the unaugmented sword, desperately trying to cut deeper.
The dragon's tail lashed out. Theo opened his mouth to scream Zenith's name, but too late. The tail struck Zenith's chest with a sickening clang, hurtling him across the Liminal.
The dragon gave chase, jaws wide open as if it was going to swallow him alive.
No! Theo had to help him. A shield, a strengthening spell – anything. But while the diagrams flashed madly through his head, he couldn't find any Levia to feed them. The sparks slipped out of his grasp like grains of sand.
Ablaze with purple flames, the dragon arced in a deadly curve above Zenith. Then its jaws stopped, quivering just inches above Zenith's head.
Theo's heart froze.
"Theo." Victor's voice drifted across the Liminal like smoke. "For your sake, I won't destroy him. You just have to promise to let us leave with the prince."
"For – for my sake?" Theo sputtered. "How the hell can you say that after you betrayed me? What was all that about the only side you're on? I should have known you were lying, you goddamn – "
"It wasn't a lie." Something stern entered Victor's voice, though it remained quiet as ever. "All of this...everything I've done has been for you. You'll see. If you'd just come with me…."
Theo stared at his brother, disbelief pounding a violent rhythm in his chest. Every word that Victor had ever spoken to him swirled around inside his head – from their first battle, the gala, the dance studio, the cafe meeting. It all blended into a ferocious rush of sound and fury, meaning absolutely nothing yet everything at once, until he thought he might explode from the sheer force of it.
"You – you – " The words burned as they crawled up his throat. "You have some nerve, calling me selfish all this time. When there's no one more selfish than you!"
"What do you mean?" Victor still sounded calm, but now with a slight edge.
Theo's hands clenched into trembling fists, nails cutting into his palms. "You're doing all this for me? Don't fucking kid yourself. You've never seen the real me at all. Just some self-serving ideal of a 'little brother.' You think I'm still that stupid kid who'd follow you around begging for attention. You think I'll forgive you no matter what you do because we're brothers. Well, you're wrong."
He breathed in, his rage blazing hotter. Maybe it wasn't Levia, but it gave him its own kind of strength. "Didn't you always hate the way Dad treated you? But now you're doing the exact same to me. Guess what, Victor: I'm done being your trained monkey!"
His voice rose into a scream that echoed even through the Liminal's heavy air. With every gasping breath, he tasted blood in his throat.
It didn't matter. He focused on Victor, glaring into his brother's face. With grim satisfaction, he took in the shock widening Victor's eyes. At last, he'd caught Victor off guard.
Funny how all it took was a cold hard dose of the truth. Even funnier that it had taken Theo this long to realize.
No more blaming himself for not understanding Victor's feelings. Right now, shit like bringing Victor back or saving him or whatever didn't matter in the least. It wasn't his responsibility anymore.
Right now, he owed far more to Darian, to Zenith, to all his friends. And for their sake, he'd kick Victor's ass to hell and back.
A flash of movement to Victor's right caught his attention. He blinked.
The dragon had loosened its grip around Darian. Grimacing, she managed to tear her arm free. Something tiny and blue glinted between her fingers.
Theo's heart soared into his throat.
Darian's arm tensed. Then she snapped her wrist and the crystal sailed in a glittering arc toward him.
"Theo! Catch!"