This was a joke, right? Zora stared at her half brother in disbelief, even as battle raged around them. What?

     "Impossible. You're lying."

     "Why would I?" he said, brushing off rubble from her clothes. The blood from his forehead ran down his collarbone dotted his tunic. "It's true."

     Her mind was racing. Did that mean she was –

     He scoffs. "You don't have any monster blood in you, fool. I was the only one chosen by Father for the experiments. Took twelve years for every pint of blood to be magically fused with Nefari blood. Finally, I can reap what I sowed.

      Jurauk stiffened, and a fire blazed in his amber orbs. "Where did that Nefari blood come from?" he demanded. Gregori smiled.

     "How naïve. Do you not know the dealings of your own kind? I suppose you wouldn't. This pact was made between my father and the Nefarian Impriessa many years ago. The blood of a monster prince for the blood of a human one. Ironic, no?"

     "Jurauk?" Zora was terrified to look at him. Slowly, he shook his head.

     "Soren," he muttered, the name unfamiliar to Zora. Without warning, he lunged at Gregori. But Gregori was fast and easily dodged.

     "Mind telling me who you are?" the boy-king shouted, snatching up a sword from the ground and pointing it at Jurauk.

     "He was forced!" Jurauk shouted, claws extended and aimed for his foe. They clashed, talons against steel, and Zora cringed at the sound. "He was forced by that vile bitch Lebony! How dare she!"

     The rage in his powerful, fluid motions was frightening. Zora knew she couldn't stop him, so she turned to find Pyter who was facing off against a trio of men. She hefted up a large chunk of debris and hurled it at the nearest one's head with all her might. A resonating thunk, and he went down, blood trickling from under the dent in his helmet. "Pyter! To your left!"

     He whirled and stuck his blade through his opponent's ribs, pulling it out with a grimace. "We can't keep this up much longer! I've got to kill Gregori, and then we have to make a run for it."

     She spared a glance back at Jurauk. The others had cleared a circle in which Gregori and Jurauk circled each other, eyes locked, knees trembling. They both looked fatigued. Gregori was sporting a nasty cut on his left arm while a river of blood gushed from Jurauk's shoulder. All the battle noise faded into the background until it was just the two fighting.

     Gregori lashed out with his foot, catching Jurauk in the side, sending him down with a grunt. Before Gregori could stab downward, Jurauk rolled to the side, and the tip of the sword embedded itself in the floor. Gregori wriggled the handle, trying to free his weapon. Jurauk took this chance to knee his opponent in the gut and stagger back to his feet, only to block the point of a spear from one of Gregori's men.

     Jurauk dealt his finishing stroke and narrowly escaped a thrust from Gregori. Both men were panting now. Sweat shone on Jurauk's brow, and he was blinking rapidly to clear the drops that dripped into his eyes. In another flurry of steel, fresh cuts appeared on his arms.

     Don't panic, Zora internally chided herself. Time for distraction! "Gregori!" she shouted. "Did you know that the Nefari eat humans?"

     "Zora!" snapped Jurauk as he dodged a blow. "This isn't the time to point out the obvious!"

     She kept going. "Brother, you do realize that you'll have to eat them too, right? Judging from what you said, you've only recently acquired a Nefari's powers. You're starting to lose your taste for human food, like sirloin and chicken. You're craving for something more raw."

     Gregori's steps faltered, and she grinned triumphantly. "Imagine that. What would your people think if you started plucking them off the street for a snack?"

     "Shut up!" he growled as he parried an attack from Jurauk. "What do you know?"

     "You're an evil person, I know that. You torture and kill those who defy you without blinking. But you're still innately human. How do you feel about cannibalism?" Even her own stomach churned from her words.

     "You don't know anything!" He was so close to snapping. Zora could sense it. She pushed a little more. "If you don't sate yourself, you might just wake up in the middle of the night and accidentally take a bite of yourself."

     The next thing she knew, she was flat on her back, a vise closing around her throat. Gregori sat on top of her, fists squeezing around her neck. She gasped for air, but it was useless. He'd attacked so quickly!

     Before Jurauk could come to her aid, a surge of soldiers entered the hall. The royal crest shone on their chests.

     Damn.

     She struggled to push Gregori off her chest, but he was too heavy. Suddenly, Jurauk was there, yanking Gregori away and throwing him to the side. He stood over her, aimed, and threw his sword with all his might. It sailed through the air.

     It should have missed.

     But in the moments before Jurauk threw his sword, the windows shattered, and glass rained down upon them. The sky was blotted out by inky black, and screeches filled the air. It was louder than Zora's blood in her ears, louder than the worst thunderstorm she'd ever been in, louder than anything she'd heard in her life. The ravens were here. Their razor-sharp beaks and claws assailed Gregori, who was so surprised and occupied with whacking them away from his face, he stumbled a step to the right.

     Jurauk's sword found its mark in Gregori's chest. His mouth opened in a silent gasp as he stared incredulously at the hilt in his torso. Then he fell backwards with a thud. Zora crept closer, half expecting his wicked laugh.

     Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and he was twitching. "Hah...thoughtless sestra...you've damned us all." She couldn't reply; she was too busy retching from the iron stench of blood and the grisly wound. When she'd recovered, she returned to his side. He was gazing up at the ceiling, his stare blank and unmoving.

     "Have fun...being eaten...by our enemies." One last huff, and he was gone. She even nudged his limp arm and received no reaction. Her knees gave away, and she sank to the ground.

     "He's gone. Really gone." His last words played over and over in her head. Was it a warning? No. Zora vigorously shook her head. He was still trying to play tricks with her.

     Jurauk came and stood over Gregori's corpse, a cold look in his gaze. "Our oath," he announced. With a start, Zora felt a tingling go up her arm – the same one with the black swirls. When she glanced down, she noticed that the lines had thinned and were lighter.

     "My half is completed. It's your turn." Jurauk grinned wolfishly at her.

     And promptly collapsed from exhaustion.

it's finally here! an epic conclusion to the story...just kidding! there's much more. for now, the world is peaceful.

WE'RE SO CLOSE TO 100K OMFG

i hope you enjoyed this chapter. sorry if my pacing is kind of fast, but this is my rough draft, i don't care, i'm just here to write whatever is floating around in my brain :)

i kinda regret not developing Greogri's character more :( looking back, i realize that many of my characters seem awfully flat, not at all realistic. all that will be changed should I ever get around to a final draft lol

Discussion Questions: What exactly is the pact Gregori claims King Hurfother and Impriessa Lebony? What will happen to our characters now?