"No, not there," I said. He had placed it exactly above the Fragment of time. "Switch shoulders if you please."

The chitinous demon didn't object. It did as I asked then nodded. I braced myself for impact. A foreign energy invaded my conduits. It felt like a hot knife cutting through b.u.t.ter. I winced and screamed in pain. Nag was about to run to me for help but I stopped him.

"Gotta… handle… this… alone…" I said, already sweating.

The demon's energy collided with mine. The goal wasn't to create any harmony between our energies however. The goal was to allow it to circle through my body long enough to cast a destructive spell. I had to circulate my own essence away from the demon's, as it travelled across my conduits, strengthening them, preparing them for the spell to come.

My conduits weren't used to this kind of power though. They threatened to tear apart at any given moment. Chitin, on the other hand, was a clever demon. It didn't stay in one spot for far too long. It just sent its energy around my body, as though it chased mine, trying to capture it and devour it.

I concentrated hard enough to lead my energy away, trying hard to steer the demon's far from the Fragment of time. Activating that thing would have killed me for sure. Nag screamed some words at me, but I couldn't hear him. It felt as though I was submerged in water, while my friend shouted from above the surface.

My mind was racing. I had to will my energy around, while Chitin's chased after it. I had to concentrate on a destructive spell at the same time too. The plan was to send the spell out as soon as Chitin's essence made a full circle around my conduits. That would allow me to cast it with the demon's energy, not mine.

Nag was still screaming from a faraway place, but I couldn't be bothered with what he was saying. I had too many things to concentrate on at once. 'I need to survive this,' I kept repeating in the back of my head.

I thought of who the spell was directed at. I pictured the tanner behind those vines. I remembered the children he kept underneath Cristoph's mansion. I remembered how they manipulated that sweet, simple-minded girl into believing they were saving the children.

My body shuddered as anger boiled up inside me. Chitin's energy was about to go full circle. I felt that the rage I had acc.u.mulated wasn't enough though. Even with that demon's energy, we couldn't possibly destroy those defenses without strong emotions. We had to destroy some carefully planned and executed protection. In order to do that, I needed the spell to be more destructive than ever, more powerful than I could ever imagine.

I thought of Morrison. I thought of his manipulation, of how he led Zoey to the slaughter, just to get back at me. I thought of Agatha and how she tried to manipulate me as well, back at Raiya's magic tree house. I thought of my grandfather, and how he ignored my family as it got slaughtered by the Church. I thought of my parents, my sisters, my men, my wife…

I directed the helplessness and the rage outwards as Chitin's energy made full circle. I flung my hands toward the cave and screamed. All the anger, the helplessness, the frustration at being manipulated, at believing demons could help me, came out. Searing hot energy left my hands. I felt the skin on palms heat up, peel off little by little.

I screamed even louder. I heard Nag's voice in some corner of my mind, he was panting, obviously struggling. I couldn't concentrate on that though. I had to smash those defenses into smithereens. I felt angry at the world, at the injustice fate had subjugated me to. I felt angry at my stupidity, my naivety. I felt angry at the situation I brought on, at endangering my friends, leading some of them to their deaths too.

My energy suddenly left my body too, and joined in with the demon's. All that raw emotion as a catalyst was bound to be destructive. A shockwave left my burning hands and landed on the boulder. A loud explosion ensued, loud enough to push the fighting demons to a short halt. They all turned around to look at the boulder.

I had reduced it to rubble, with a demon's help of course, but it was my doing nonetheless. Jenkins let out a horrified wail. The goat headed demon, bloodied and breathless, let out a triumphant howl. I saw it punch the "swordshorse" (Is that even a word?) and run for the tanner. It limped toward it sure, but all its brethren protected it as it headed for their captor. It was time to bring this fight to an end.

I lay on my knees, breathless. I've done my part. My hands were b.l.o.o.d.y. I felt empty, too tired to move or speak. My throat was dry. I looked to my left to see Nag on his knees, struggling to repel Agatha. Her yellow eyes flashed in the darkness. She was the only one who didn't seem to realize I had broken the tanner's defenses.

She pounded at Nag with her rod, which he parried with his staff. Nag looked terrible. His weapon had cracked. He was breathing heavily, wheezing after every parry. He was at his limits.

Adrenaline spiked through me. I didn't know how I managed to stand and head for the woman I vowed to kill with my own hands. All I know was that I got to my feet, and headed for her, ignoring all the pain.

I drew my sword, screamed then hurled myself at her. I was tired, but my swings were by no means broad or predictable. I had years of training to back me up. I could still parry and finish a fight in seconds.

Despite all that, the d.a.m.ned woman managed to parry every attack, responding with cruel jabs at my stomach, legs, and head. I even changed pace between each strike, tried to take her by surprise. It seemed as though she could read through every move I made. I couldn't even land a single hit on her.

After several missed swings and thrusts, I was finally at my limit. A nicely placed swing from her rod sent me to the ground, face first. I fell, ears ringing, the trees above me spinning. The first thing I saw was Nag's bloodied face, and Chitin's lifeless body. The world turned around me. Agatha was laughing. That horrible, triumphant, arrogant laughter…

How many times have I been subjected to this kind of mocking laughter?

How many times have I felt powerless? How many times have I wished I was stronger?

I gritted my teeth and stood up, panting, every bone in my body hurting.

"You will not take me down," I screamed at her. I tasted copper in my mouth. My lips hurt when they met. "I will wipe that smirk off your face."

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"How will you do that?" she asked, her arms akimbo. "Your friend tried his best to beat me. He's stronger, faster, and much more experienced than you. He went down all the same." She smirked. I wanted nothing but to wipe that ugly grin off her face.

I hurled myself at her. My legs didn't move as fast as I wished them to. I was at my limit. I saw a violet jewel in front of my eye before I felt the sting of the rod on my face. I stumbled backwards then ducked under another swing right before it sent me back to the ground. I felt Agatha's elbow dig deep into my back. I was out of breath, but I endured.

I gritted my teeth then hurled myself at her, and we both stumbled down. We rolled on the ground as I struggled to take away her rod. There were other howls around us. Shouts and shrieks, the sound of bones being crushed, and the sounds of exploding spells.

None of that mattered as I rolled around the dirt, holding that b.i.t.c.h from her hair, beating her right arm against a rock, probably debris from the explosion I caused. Agatha moaned as I beat her hands one more time against a rock. Then she finally let go of her weapon.

"Got you now, b.i.t.c.h!" I shouted.

My eye was locked into her yellow, glistening eyes. I saw the fear she displayed when I cornered her, back in Raiya's tree house. Fear seeped through my bones. I knew she was dangerous when backed into a corner. So I acted swiftly.

I punched her in the nose, once, twice, thrice… I kept punching while blood smeared her face. I no longer felt pain at my knuckles, or anywhere else in my body for that matter. I just needed this to be over. I wanted her dead.

Her nose swelled, and her teeth were painted red. I wheezed as I continuously pulled the woman by the hair, exposing her neck, jaw, and nose to my punches.

Do you know what the crazy b.i.t.c.h did?

She laughed, hysterically. Blood flowed out of her nostrils, blocking air from getting through, but that didn't seem to bother her. She just laughed after every punch I landed. I felt angrier, so I smashed her head against the floor. I smashed, and smashed, and smashed.

Her d.a.m.ned laughter wouldn't stop. She laughed as the sounds of flesh being torn, bones getting broken, spells exploding, played around us like a morbid symphony. I was out of breath, out of rage, out of juice…

No normal human could take such a beating and stay alive. No normal human could laugh while someone bashed their head against the earth, but she did. And when I had no fight left in me, she held my head in both hands and head-b.u.t.ted me. I felt my nose crunch. I didn't feel the pain though. My face, as well as my body, had taken enough beatings from her to be impervious to pain.

She stood then kicked me in the stomach. My body was flung backwards. I flew for what seemed an eternity, until my back crashed against a tree trunk or something similar in its solid state. Air forcefully left my lungs. The world started turning, whizzing at breakneck speed.

I heard a loud crash next to me. I turned to see the goat headed demon, bloodied and almost dead. I knew that it was over then. We had lost.