Important! Did everyone read chapter forty one? Make sure you did before reading this chapter!

Heya everyone,

Can't believe I'm finally posting this chapter. The LAST chapter to the story. That is, this story will of course continue in the next book in the series and I'm planning on posting the first chapter to that on the 1st of November.

I want to thank everyone who's been following this story so loyally and everyone who's fanned and commented and voted! Thank you all!

I'll add an Epilogue to this story right after posting this story and I wish you all a lot of fun reading that!

Love,

Robin

*

'Yes!' I exclaimed, 'Shadowpeak! And I need to be there now! You heard my grandfather.' I couldn't and didn't hide the urgency behind my words. Every second counted if I wanted to help Nathaniel, I was so very certain that he'd run straight into his death.

The world dissolved around me into a blue swirl and for a moment everything seemed to spin. Black the only thing visible behind the swirling blue.

Then we hit solid ground, it slammed through my ankles and brought me to my knees. The landing much rougher than I expected it to be. Elliot was partially underneath me, lying on the ground yet still holding onto my hand.

My heart jumped into my throat, oh no! Did the strain hurt him? Kill him?

Then he groaned, 'Sorry Amy, I forgot to adjust for the fact that I was still lying... You okay?'

I drew in an incredibly relieved breath, 'Yes, perfect. Now get help for Lysander!' I patted the Witch on his shoulder as I helped pull him to his feet. We were both a little unsteady still.

He nodded, 'Amy, be careful. I know back up is on its way but it'll take them at least another ten to twenty minutes to get here.' With his only hand he reached up and softly stroked my cheek, 'You're a brave girl.'

He disappeared in an flash of blue.

That left me alone on what appeared to be an empty road. On either side the forest loomed over, in an almost threatening stance. The road lead downhill and out of side around a turn in one direction and uphill in a more straight line in the other direction.

That's where I had to go.

Picking up the fallen silver candlestick I clutched it tightly in my hand. It was the probably the best weapon I had right now. I ignored the blood on the end, Lysander's blood, and decided to simply be happy that it had been teleported along.

Then I started running up the hill, hoping that it wasn't too far and that I wasn't too late.

I reached the top a few minutes later, out of breath and terrified of what I would find. I wasn't prepared for the sight of Nathaniel fighting with a blur, white and blue only occasionally visible.

They were still so far away!

The rocky hill top was much bigger than it had appeared, a small cottage at least three hundred feet away from me still and Nathaniel and his opponent at least another two hundred beyond that.

I started out for the cottage, keeping my senses wide open. That had to be where they kept Hayden, the cottage that I'd seen through Devon's eyes.

I was certain it wasn't Devon Nathaniel was fighting with now, that white and blue blur moved too gracefully to be him. Nathaniel was clearly hard pressed to keep up his defenses. They spun around each other and clashed blades in a beautiful, deadly dance.

I'd seen Nathaniel practice a time or two and I knew that he wasn't fighting as well as he could. I was certain he was still tired, he couldn't have slept much since he fought Thornten's forces. I knew he wouldn't have even tried, with Hayden missing. He had no doubt been too fired up, too worried to even think about rest.

As I ran for the cottage I could see how Nathaniel appeared to be slowing down, focusing more on avoiding the blindingly fast creature he was fighting. His left arm barely in time to block savage thrusts with what appeared to be spikes of ice.

When I'd first spotted them I'd only known it was Nathaniel out there because I recognized the fiery blades he was using. Now I could clearly see it was him, still in his armor but his chest covered in red. Blood.

He was losing.

My heartbeat shot up and I shook my head in denial. No, he couldn't be. He was the most powerful creature here. He had to be right?

Rushing out here I'd expected him to be forced to fight against some kind of overwhelming force. Or maybe that he'd be tricked into giving himself over to safe Hayden, my brother used as a hostage.

Not this.

I forced my legs to run faster and get to the cottage. Get to where Nathaniel was fighting the still blindingly fast creature that fought with weapons of ice. But I knew I also had to look out for Devon. He was out here somewhere and he would be only too happy to see me.

I wasn't even halfway there when things changed.

A keening wail pierced the howling of the wind. It sounded like a woman and as I looked at the Nathaniel I saw that I was right.

His opponent was finally visible and it was clearly a woman. Tall and pale white with hair the color of sapphires. Her eyes a horrible violet color that I could still see clearly from this distance. She was wearing a wispy white dress, torn at the middle and stained blue with some kind of liquid.

It appeared as though she was saying something now as she held her wrist in one hand and that's when I realized her other hand was missing. Nathaniel had managed to cut it off.

I felt a momentary shiver of horror run down my spine and then I shook myself. No doubt this creature was an evil menace. Terribly powerful too if she was such a strong adversary against Nathaniel.

She was walking backwards, stepping out of my Mate's range now. I couldn't see how it happened but a huge boulder behind her rolled forward with sickening speed.

Even where I stood I could hear the sickening crunching of bones, it had me rooted to the spot. I couldn't seem to get myself to move.

Barely anytime passed yet I saw Nathaniel move with lightening speed, uprooting a tree barehanded. The entire thing lifted high above his head, his arms not even shaking as he threw the massive thing. Hurling it through space, right at the boulder that had crushed the woman.

It burst into fire on it's way, lighting up as if it had been doused in gasoline. I wasn't sure if I could believe what my eyes were telling me now.

There was some kind of blue fog seeping out from beneath the boulder, right into the path of the burning tree hurtling towards it.

A bang.

My ears rang from it and I fell to my knees trembling in shock. A hot pain searing through my temples. My fingers came away from my ears bloody.

Looking up I blinked once, twice. Where did they go? I scrambled around, how could I lose sight of them just like that? Where did Nathaniel go? The cottage?

I got to my feet again and started running towards the derelict building once more. Where the hell did they go? Was the woman dead?

I couldn't hear properly it seemed and the world still seemed to tilt and turn as if I was running across a ship at sea in a storm. I felt drunk as I made my way as fast as I could to the cottage, if Nathaniel was there, if Hayden was there, I had to help them!

The last few feet seemed like they took forever but then I finally rounded the corner.

I hardly had time to take in the scene in front of me. But I could see a headless body, clearly the woman from before on the ground. The blue-haired head rolled away, partially covered behind a rock.

Nathaniel was on his knees beside it, one of his hands still on the sword embedded in her chest, almost as if he was leaning on it. His other hand hanging limply at his side, his second sword lying uselessly beside it.

He was bleeding heavily from his shoulder and his throat was also bleeding, looking as if someone had scraped of the skin there. It was a ravaged mess. He was bleeding from a lot more places on his body and I couldn't understand why he wasn't regenerating.

Was he that exhausted? Drained of power?

He seemed unable to move.

Devon stood right in front of him, all I could see was his back but I knew it wasn't good. His arms seemed like he was about to strike Nathaniel.

All this I saw in a flash and I reacted in pure instinct. Rushing forward, my arms raising the heavy silver candlestick high above my head. It came down on Devon's head with the loudest crunch I'd ever heard, the first sound I heard since the bang.

Things seemed to happen in slow motion then.

The wolf slowly collapsed, sinking down and back towards me. Showing me for a moment a clear look into Devon's eyes, a strangely surprised look in them. A look that turned confused and then hurt in a fraction of a second. As if he didn't understood why I'd hurt him.

Then his face contorted, his jaw elongating as a wolf's snout forced it's way out of his face and then back again. It looked gruesome... Blood was pooling around him rapidly.

Behind him Nathaniel collapsed in on himself, slumping backwards equally as slow. A dagger protruding from his chest, from his heart.

No!

I stepped over Devon without a thought and kneeled beside my Mate, the dagger I pulled out immediately. He'd regenerate then right?

Yet nothing seemed to happen, only more blood kept gushing out of the wound. No this wasn't right! What was wrong?

'Nathaniel! No don't die!'

There was no response, just the faint rise and fall of his chest that seemed to be more and more sporadic with each passing moments.

That's when I was blasted with feeling, Devon's death unmasking my bond with him. I nearly collapsed at the pain that shot all throughout my body. Nathaniel was in absolute agony! All of it coming, not from the dagger wound that had pierced his heart, but his left shoulder. The most healed injury of all.

The feelings pressed down on me as if I was being crushed by a giant hand. My lungs constricting and laboring to breathe not just for myself but for Nathaniel too now. His mind was blank, he was unconscious yet I could sense that his last conscious thoughts had been of me.

He thought he was going to die and that I would die with him.

No! He was immortal, he couldn't die! He said he'd heal as long as his brain hadn't been removed! His brain... Feeling terrified I still reached over and gently lifted his head, feeling for injuries there, yet I couldn't find anything.

I sighed in relief, that couldn't be it then. He'd survive...

But with each passing second he seemed to grow fainter, paler, his breathing more shallow. And as his breathing got shallow, so did mine. My own heart already seemed to be struggling to keep up it's rapid tempo.

'Damn it Nathaniel!' I screamed at him but there was no response. No movement behind his eyelids, no strengthening of his breathing, no closing of the gaping hole in his chest. The ravaged mess of his throat wasn't healing nor the holes in his shoulders and thigh.

I tried sending him my strength, my power. It felt like his body was taking it in, soaking it up like a sponge and for a moment it seemed like his breathing got easier. Only a moment.

He was a vampire... Blood. Maybe if I gave him my blood, that always worked in books and movies right?

I pulled a slim dagger from the holster at my waist quickly and slid it across my open palm without a second thought. Then I held it over his mouth, squeezing his cheeks to hold it open and force my blood down his throat.

He didn't even swallow and I had to rub his throat to get his bodies reflex to work. This was not good!

Was there color returning to his face? Please live! This had to work! Yet nothing to his situation changed, I could feel the pain getting worse, dragging him down. Down into the greedy jaws of death.

Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder.

Whirling around I raised the dagger in my hand, slashing at my assailant. Only managing to stop myself just in time. 'Hayden!'

My baby brother stood just behind me, his eyes huge and luminous. He appeared not to have even seen the dagger that had come within an inch of his throat.

'It's alright Amelia,' he said, his voice incredibly mature and solemn. It was the first time in my life that he'd ever said my name correctly. A shiver shot down my spine, there was something different about him. Something old.

Something ancient.

He stepped past me and then kneeled beside Nathaniel not caring about the blood that had pooled around him. His small hands he held above my Mate's body and his eyelids slid closed. Hiding the burning gold.

Time altogether seemed to have stopped then.

I couldn't seem to do anything other than hold Nathaniel's hand tightly in mine, wishing him to live. Willing my own life's power into his body. My other hand I placed on Hayden shoulder, silently sending him my support as well.

At first there was no change, no visible signs but I could feel the burning in Nathaniel's shoulder intensify. It felt as if more tissue was tearing and ripping, it made him fainter. His breathing hardly there any longer.

The pain was getting unbearable even to me now. I could feel Nathaniel's pain, yet I could also sense Hayden's pain through my connection with him. Hayden was feeling exactly what Nathaniel was feeling and also what I was feeling.

It was stacking up on itself, a cascade effect.

With every passing second it was getting worse for both him and me. Sweat was breaking out all over my body and also all over Hayden's as we fought to stay conscious, fought to save Nathaniel.

How I didn't know yet.

Then I saw something blue come out of the small hole in his left shoulder. A tiny crystal shard. Without having been told I slapped it away with the dagger still in my hand, knowing that it needed to be as far away from all of us as possible.

Hayden had done that, somehow.

The pain was still steadily getting worse, bouncing and stacking up between Hayden and me yet Nathaniel's breathing was easing up. His wounds knitting together now at a slow but even pace, I could even see him swallow a few times himself. Accepting the blood I'd given him on his own now.

As I felt the pain coming from Nathaniel lessen I also felt the cascading effect recede. Just in time because I was ready to pass out.

Hayden straightened and stepped back suddenly, stumbling a little but then apparently regaining his senses as the distance grew. The pain between his mind and mine also lessening some more.

I couldn't believe what had just happened but I hardly cared as I noted the even breathing, the slowly closing wounds on my Mate. That's when the tears finally came, relief. He was going to live, and Hayden was safe.

His gray eyes snapped open and found mine instantly. His mouth shaping my name silently, his vocal cords at the moment still too damaged for him to speak.

I instantly noticed that I could no longer feel his pain though. He was already shielding both me and Hayden from it. The only thing clearly coming through now was his intense love for me and relief.

I fed him the same feelings greedily.

'Hay! You're amazing, I don't know what you did but...' a sob escaped my throat and I squeezed Nathaniel's hand tightly. Reaching out with my other arm towards my baby brother. My brother who'd worked a miracle somehow.

He directed golden eyes at me, still solemn and ancient. Then his shoulders slumped and he rushed into my arms, 'Amsy! I was so scared.'

It felt good to hold my little brother in my arms again, finally. Even better was it when Nathaniel managed to sit up and wrap his own arms around us tightly. None of us cared that he was still bleeding a little and smearing all of us with blood.

'Well how touching! A little family reunion. How come I wasn't invited?' a voice suddenly spoke from behind us.

We all stiffened and then almost as one turned our heads to look at the Demon. Raim had finally decided to show up on the scene.

Nathaniel growled, his throat healed enough now for him to speak. 'Raim, you're not welcome here and you're too late.' My Mate's hand tightened on Hayden's shoulder as he spoke to him more gently. 'Hay, I'm going to Teleport you home. Don't be scared.'

I wasn't sure if he had enough power to attempt that but I could feel how determined he was. He was going to try no matter what, intent entirely on saving my brother's life.

The Demon, only ten feet away from us laughed, 'That would be your death right there Mr. Flynn.'

'That's why he isn't going to,' that was Hayden's voice, ringing clear across the mountain peak. The strong wind around us whipped his hair around his face wildly as he stepped out of our embrace and out of Nathaniel's reach.

He stepped in front of us, his little body between Nathaniel and I and the Demon.

'Hayden!' Nathaniel exclaimed, struggling to surge to his feet. Shock and anger coursing through our bond telling me how frustrated he was by his apparent weakness at the moment.

'It's okay Nate, I'm not scared. Not anymore,' Hayden said and the eery quality was back in his voice. His posture confident although he still looked so frail, so human otherwise.

'You should be, boy! You're going to die.' The Demon was smirking, clearly under the impression that he was the one in control. It looked like that to me to, Nathaniel was obviously unable to put up much of a fight right now. I knew I'd be useless. I doubted I'd be lucky enough to get in a good hit with my faithful candlestick again.

'Am I?' Hayden asked, stepping in closer to the Demon.

Both Nathaniel and I froze completely when he did so, fearing for his life. Yet Hayden simply lifted one hand. 'I thank you for the lesson's, for your help training and strengthening my powers. Now... Now it is YOU who dies.'

The Demon blanched and then stumbled backwards. 'You wouldn't, it would hurt you too!' Fear evident in his red blazing eyes.

'Yes, it would but that doesn't matter,' Hayden replied gently. Almost as if he was explaining something to a toddler.

Hayden made another step in the Demon's direction, his next words snatched away by the howling wind. Yet the Demon seemed to have heard them just fine, he looked as if he'd been struck by a physical blow.

Nathaniel flinched too and then walls shot up around his mind to make absolutely certain that I couldn't glimpse Hayden's last words from his mind. Had they been that terrible?

The Demon was backing up in earnest now and then suddenly he started to go up in smoke, swirling once and dematerializing completely. My little brother had scared away an ancient Demon that had terrorized the earth for centuries.

Nathaniel struggled to his feet at last, still leaning heavily on me. 'Hayden, thank you...'

He turned around to look at us both then with eyes so golden that they almost seemed to cast a light. Staring at us for several long seconds as if he hardly knew who we were.

'Hayden?' I asked.

That's when his posture softened, wilted almost and he was the boy again that I knew. 'Ama,' he stepped towards us and then collapsed. Nathaniel caught him, somehow managing to move quick enough despite his completely drained reserves and healing body.

'Hayden!' it felt like I couldn't breath, first almost losing Nathaniel and now Hayden! No!