Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

82. Paper Is A Weapon, When It Burns

Rafe was all too familiar with the apocalyptic landscape that greeted him when he stepped through his son's portal and onto the battlefield. The fire and bodies and screaming still weighed on him - especially since, most of the time in his life, he had been the one to cause such devastation. Now, however, now that hell was being unleashed by non other than his daughter, and he knew that he would have no guilt about it. He just hoped that Lili didn't, either, when all this was over.

Eternity's hand squeezed his tight, her fingernails digging into his palm as the teenager looked out across the way as screechers and imps and sorcerers tried to press against Lili's power, losing more ground than they gained. She sucked in a breath as her gaze went to the source of the magic, the ruins on the hill where Lili must have been taking shelter.

"Eternity?" Rafe said, even as he heard the first clashes of his friends' weaponry. 

Captain Anton and the elves made their way to a ridge and started shooting their arrows, caging what was left of Robert's forces in so that they couldn't flee away from Lili and her magic. Haarald and the dwarves drew their weapons and greeted screechers and imps with the sharp clanging of blades. Dena, hollering like a madwoman, kicked a screecher in the chest before plunging her falchion through its throat. Behind her, her girlfriend just sighed a long suffering sigh before meeting an imp's blade with her own. Lee readied an explosive potion and threw it into the fray, sending up a cloud of smoke and sediment, which he used for cover as he joined the fight. 

Yet Rafe ignored them all, focusing instead on the pink haired girl who had seized up upon sensing the force of Lili's power. Rafe could only imagine what the young Rapina was feeling right now - he might know the emotional turmoil in her mind, but he didn't experience magic physically like she did. Eternity felt magic around her like it was wind or sun or rain, like it was a physical, tangible thing. And this... this was a hurricane.

"Eternity," he repeated.

She swiveled her head to look at him, those brown eyes wide, a sheen of sweat already forming on her forehead from the heat of the fire around them. She kept a white-knuckle grip on her bat at all times. 

"Make sure Robert dies," she ordered, her voice hoarse but unhesitant. 

"You don't need me to remind me of that," Rafe said, bemused. 

"No," Eternity shook her head, "I... You need to handle things down here, but I can't help you. I'm going to Lili. I need to go to Lili."

He opened his mouth to protest, to say that he didn't want her crossing this deadly battlefield all by herself, that he couldn't bear to see her hurt, even if he also wanted to run to Lili, more than anything. But Eternity cut him off before he could speak.

"I know it's dangerous, but I have to. Once Robert is dead... look, I can see her needing someone to pull her back from that ledge, to make sure that she stops. And I'm not... I'm not a hero, okay. I'm selfish, and I care about Lili a lot more than I care about the fate of the world. And I'm not here to save anybody's soul. If she's power hungry and truly doesn't want to stop, then that's her choice and I don't give a damn. But I don't think that is her choice, because in the end, the only reason Lili wants power at all is to protect those she loves. Because everything she does stems from a place of love. If something has changed, then so be it, but... I just want her to be sure, that's all. I just want her to be happy. And..."

"And?" Rafe asked tentatively. 

Eternity laughed mirthlessly, "and if Lili needs someone to make her stop once the battle is done, if she's that caught up in the magic, than I'm the person she's most likely to listen to, and I'm the person she's least likely to grievously injure."