When Darkness Fell: An Elemental Enchanters Story by Carrigan Richards Page B

his guests hushed and looked at us with confusion. I knew Corbin did not recognize us, but looking at the man who turned evil and killed my former lover and millions of innocent people, I was enraged. This was our chance.
    The energy hummed inside of me, just as it had when I escaped my hanging. I balled my hands into fists and let the power consume me. Heat spread throughout my body and my veins throbbed.
    “Hello, Father,” Colden said. “It’s me, Colden.”
    And with those words, chaos ensued. Flashes of light illuminated the room. Torturous sounds amplified. Screams and cries of agony. Fire began to spread and smoke filled the room. Colden did not move, though. His eyes trained on Corbin.
    Aaron and I broke apart. A woman grabbed me, and I shot my energy toward her. The force hurled her body through the wall, creating a hole with her shape. Fire shot through the opening, lessening the smoke in the room.
    I felt hands on my shoulders and then a warmth seep into my skin. I fought back, reaching into her mind and pricking at her memories. I took the first ones I came to and then she let go, screaming and holding her head. I saw Maggie move with a quickness I could not comprehend, but it only took seconds for her to take down her enemies with her Sai weapons.
    I could feel the strange pull once more and I knew my body was transforming back to its normal state. The fighting moved out into the main entrance of the manor as more and more Enchanters came to defeat us. I stayed with Colden and Corbin in the burning room.
    “You should not have come,” Corbin said.
    “We are here to kill you,” I told him. I did not recognize the hatred in my voice.
    He shook his head. “You think you can defeat me? You are the weakest one of them all.”
    “I have survived this long. And I intend to live a lot longer than you ever will.”
    Corbin lunged for me, his hands reaching for me. But then Colden intervened and slammed his father against the wall.
    “You will never harm us again, Father. Or anyone else. The war ends tonight. You end tonight.” His voice was dark and menacing. A clear cloud emitted from Corbin’s eyes, then his mouth, and soon his entire body.
    I gasped. Was Colden doing something? Corbin went limp and then Colden let him go. He collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
    I inhaled a shaky breath. I looked down at Corbin’s eyes, which had a milky substance over them. They looked soulless. He did not move. I checked his pulse, but felt nothing. The fire latched to Corbin.
    Colden cried out and fell to his knees. I rushed to his side and he held my hand. He clutched his heart and took gulps of air but he could not breathe.
    “Colden! We must get out of here.”
    His eyes bulged and he struggled to breathe. I felt arms around me and I let Colden go to fight the opponent, but when I turned I relaxed as I saw Aaron.
    “Let us go!” he shouted over the flames.
    The fire reached out at us, as if the flames were hands. We needed to hurry. Aaron grabbed us both and we fled the manor. All of us alive.
    When we reached a far enough distance, we stopped and rested. Colden held himself and rocked back and forth.
    “What happened?” I asked him. “Are you okay?”
    He took a deep breath and then leveled his breathing. “I am fine, sister.”
    “What did you do?”
    “I-I don’t know.”
    “Is he dead?” Maggie asked.
    “Yes. Corbin is dead.”
    I pulled Colden into an embrace. “It is over.”
    He held me at arm’s length. “He will never hurt another soul.”
    Colden’s eyes changed. They went from the soft eyes I knew, to hard and cold. “Your eyes. What is happening?”
    Colden winced and screamed. He pounded the ground with his fist.
    “Colden,” Aaron said. “Are you okay?”
    “It hurts. The pain.”
    “What? What hurts?”
    His body shook and contorted on the floor as if it was fighting with itself. His screams pierced through the night. I waved my hand over him, hoping to heal him from