Seth threw himself backwards, crashing into Brett behind him as the flames rounded the corner and licked hungrily up the staircase. They washed over him and Seth screwed his eyes shut, ready for a painful end.

It only felt like the heat from opening an oven. Seth relaxed and opened his eyes to see Jessica standing there, the flames swirling in a vortex around a single outstretched hand, disappearing into her palm like a maelstrom to the bottom of the ocean. She closed her hand into a white-knuckled fist as the last of the flames swept into her hand.

“Is that all?” She growled. She strode forward, out of sight.

Seth rushed forward, down the steps and around the corner, raising his rifle as he did. The basement was large, and unfurnished aside from two things. One, a wooden chair in front of the single support beam in the center of the open room. Two, a table draped with a black cloth, embroidered in silver with the Witching Symbol. Seth’s eyes locked to the chair. Andrew slumped there, arms bound behind to the support beam, eyes shut, mouth gagged. In front of him stood Matron Dianne and the other four Matrons of the coven. Matron Dianne was grinning.

“No, that’s not all, and thank you so much for bringing him to us. You make our work so much easier.”

Brett rounded the corner behind Seth. There was a loud crack from the rifle and Seth’s ears rang.

There was a spark of yellow energy in front of Dianne, followed by the distinct sound of a bullet ricocheting. The sound of tearing flesh came from behind Seth after that, and Seth jerked his head around to see Brett spinning towards the wall, blood spraying from a wound on his neck. Green rushed down the stairs, ripping items out of his medical kit to tend to the fallen team leader. Bridgette rounded the corner next, even as Jessica cried out for her to stop. She fired off a three-round burst.

The exact same effect happened, and she spun away in a spray of blood.

“Pathetic wards,” sneered Dianne. “I would have thought one so powerful might understand intent osmosis, but I guess not…” She giggled, a childlike laugh of amusement. “End the wizard, sisters.”

The four other Matrons stepped forward, raising their hands and speaking in the same language as all the other witches they’d faced before them.

“End?” Asked Jessica, stepping forward. “Have your shit back.” She extended her arms, opening both of her hands and the whirlpool of flame reversed out of her, exploding forward in a rushing wall of fire powerful enough that Seth felt sure his skin was blistering. Seth dropped the rifle to the ground and drew his cold-iron knife as the flames diminished. The four Matrons lowered their hands. The carpet and ceilings were scorched all the way to them, but past a line two feet in front of them, nothing had been touched. The one on the far left raised a hand aloft and pointed a finger towards Jessica. The one beside her did the same. And the next. Jessica began to speak words of defense, but Seth blazed into action.

Seth dropped hard into a sprint, running diagonally in the direction of the witches and then cutting straight for the first one to raise her hand. Seth was on her before she could react and he tackled her to the ground, pinning her and then sinking his knife deep into her chest. He was off her in a flash even as the second witch turned and leveled her hand at him.

Seth slashed horizontally as he came up, opening a deep gash from the left side of her chest to over her right collar bone, then threw the strongest left cross he could, his knuckles smashing into her chin with a satisfying crunch and sending her sprawling as blood sprayed in the air.

The strongest force Seth had felt in his life crashed into him from the left. It felt like getting hit by the city bus. He went soaring, his head bouncing off the ceiling before he tumbled to the earth again. Everything stung like a bad sunburn all over every surface of his body. That same force latched around his neck and flung him sideways all the way across the room, bashing him into the wall and caving it in around his skull. Stars exploded in Seth’s vision and his third eye opened involuntarily again. He could see a long tendril of violet energy curled around his neck, tracing all the way back to Matron Dianne. It began to squeeze and the pressure in Seth’s head tripled.

With a desperate, choking cry, Seth slashed his knife across the tendril. It severed, and the choking grasp on his neck released. Matron Dianne shrieked in rage, crossing out from behind her comrades even as they began to hurl bolts of brilliant energy at Jessica. Dianne pointed a single finger at Seth, and spoke in a deep voice not her own.

Pain exploded between Seth’s eyes and the world went black. Seth threw his arms up in front of his face, but no blow, no spell, no finishing attack ever came. He heard the roll of thunder from within the room, shaking everything around him and vibrating his chest, filling his ears with even more ringing. The scent of charred meat filled the air. Seth held his knife out in front of him, waiting for some indication of an attacker. Nothing.

Another thunderous crash echoed through the room and Seth heard Jessica scream in agony.

Useless. He was useless, and blind. He couldn’t do anything to help his friend or the soldiers. He was going to die, afraid, alone. Andrew was going to die. Emma was going to die. It had all been for nothing. He wouldn’t even know the truth of his heritage and why Nicole had come after him in the first place.

No, said the anger. He remembered Ben’s words, that you had to be a monster to fight them. He remembered Brett’s words, that to be good, you had to be capable of doing bad.

Seth closed his third eye and opened his physical sight.

The room was blackened, charred. The soldiers were huddled around the corner on the stairs, Green switching back and forth between tending to Bridgette and tending to Brett. Seth could see even from thirty feet away that Bridgette’s right eye dangled out of her skull and Brett’s face was soaked with his own blood. Jessica lay on the floor, her chest heaving, her left leg bent at an unnatural angle. Seth pushed himself to his feet. His head throbbed like the worst migraine he could imagine, all the colors seemed too bright, and his stomach was upside down inside him.

Matron Dianne was the only witch left standing, though, and Seth had his knife.

She cackled. “Oh, Seth. Are you going to try your chances?” She gestured around the room. “Do you really think you stand a chance? Drop the knife and you live. Everyone else dies, but you live. You live and I will tell you what you are.”

Seth swallowed, tempted for half a moment by sheer morbid curiosity. Only half a moment though. These were his friends. Her sin was unpardonable. Seth flipped the knife over in his hand. “I can always use WebMD.”

He surged forward. Matron Dianne raised a hand with an expression of disdain on her face. Seth couldn’t see what was about to happen, but he threw himself into a roll when his instincts told him to, shoulder hitting the ground, then back, then hips, then feet. He came up and swung.

Blade tore through flesh in a single, clean cut, spraying blood into the air. Dianne opened her mouth to scream, but only a choking gurgle came out through her filleted throat. Seth grabbed her by the hair as she blinked and shook, her eyes wide with terror. “There’s other fucking monsters in the dark,” he growled. He plunged the knife straight through her left eye. Seth’s unnatural strength came over him and he felt bone give way beneath the force of his blade. The knife erupted from the back of her skull and the cold-iron sliced his own hand. The cut felt like plunging his hand into an icebox.

She fell to the ground, the knife still in her skull. Seth fell to his knees amid the litter of corpses. He heard Jessica choking out a warning. “D- Death… ward.”

Energy blasted off of Matron Dianne’s body and the world went black one final time.