Sorry, My Love: The Adventures of Lovers-Chapter 40: Ashes of the Throne

The castle shook, stone walls cracking and splintering as the battle ensued. Matt and Gabriel remained in the midst of the ruined throne room, their lungs wheezing out ragged gasps, bodies battered and bloody. Sally stood above them, eyes blazing with cold, unearthly light, the twisted core whirling in her hand, shadows dancing that writhed like dead trees' branches.

She stretched, fingers spread wide, and dark energy swirled around her. More portals tore in the air, their creased edges splitting like fresh meat, and through them surged a horde of twisted, hellish beasts. Their eyes glowed with an infinite hunger, their jaws snapping as they advanced on Matt and Gabriel, their twisted bodies ripping through the broken stones beneath.

Matt's fists ignited, fire burning the air around him as he came forward, his body erupting in a fierce, unbridled fury. He extended his arms, a rampart of fire raged out of his hands, incinerating the beasts and leaving them smoldering ashes, their screams drowned out by the bellow of the flames.

But when the haze lifted, Gabriel sensed something inside him break. A brutal, vile anger, an anger that seared hotter than fire. His body convulsed, his veins burning with a red, unnatural fire that coursed in his body like cracks in broken glass. He slammed his head back, a scream tearing from his mouth as the light burst from his body, engulfing the room with a white, searing heat that burst the walls about them into shards.

The castle burst, the force of the explosion rending the air, sending stone and twisted metal screaming into storm-lashed skies. Sally burst upward, her hair crackling around her head like the spirals of a black flame, her eyes clenching as she lifted her hands, the air snapping around her naked, untrammeled power. She spread her arms to the floor, lightning crackling along the ends of her fingers, all the sparks of it striking broken stone below her, the earth quivering with every impact.

Matt lurched back, his body smoldering, his skin glowing and raw with burns from flames in the blast. He snapped his jaw back into position, fists clenching as he plunged deep within himself, his eyes narrowing to slits as he ripped free a new face of his fury. A burning skull appeared in his hands, eyes glowing with unholy, crimson light, snapping jaws, spewing out a hollow, jaw-shaking shriek. He hurled it at Sally, the burning head flying through space, teeth clicking as it tore towards her.

Sally jerked her wrist, her eyes narrowing to a thin slit as she swore, her lips twisting into a sneer as the skull exploded on an unseen web of force. The explosion sent Matt flying off his feet, his body hurtling through the air before he stumbled against the broken rubble below, his breath blasting in hard, hacking gasps as he struggled to stand.

Outside, the storm-tornado barrier groaned and creaked as Queen Hanna and her goblins burst through it, their goblin bodies twisted, pouring through the broken barrier like a churning, black tide. The goblins rushed forward, their black eyes glowing as they charged into the fleeing villagers and knights, their teeth shining like knives as they destroyed all in their path. Blood oozed between the broken rocks, the dying cries ringing amidst the broken remains of Maranaqua.

Queen Hanna walked through the chaos, her spear whirling in her hand, her eyes keen as she beheld the devastated castle, its walls broken, its towers crumbling into the foamy sea below. She walked deliberately, her cape billowing behind her as she leaped over the shattered forms of the dead, her mind focused on one thought – Margo.

Gabriel stumbled upright, panting in coarse, harsh breaths as he gazed at the queen. She slowed, her eyes fixed on his, her face twisting into a cold smile as she approached, her spear whirling in her hand.

"You," she said, her voice cold and cutting, slicing through the burning air like a knife. "You must be the one she loved."

Gabriel's jaw had snapped, fists tightened, but the flush of red still sparkled in his eyes. "Yes," he spat, voice trembling on the edge of despair and rage. "Where is she?"

Queen Hanna's eyes flashed bright and calculating as she came near, lowering the spear to where knees fell on a hollow stillness on the ground. "You don't know," she sneered, sneer twisting around her lips. "Then you are no use to me."

She leaped forward, her spear flashing from between her fingers to strike at him, her movements swift and deadly, every strike flashing through the air like a viper's tooth. Gabriel dodged, his palms raised as he parried with his fists, his muscles aching as the queen's mad attack pushed him back against shattered stone.

She walked with the smooth, fluid grace of a Samana warrior, her feet light as she walked, her attacks swift and deadly. She pushed him to the edge of the broken platform, her spear flashing through the air, her eyes burning with hot, unyielding fury. Gabriel's spine struck against the edge of the platform, his body dangling over the chasm below as Hanna's spear flashed towards his throat.

But as she alighted, the earth beneath them gave way, a deep, resonant boom echoing through the broken stones as the platform cracked, the stones breaking apart into dust under their feet. Queen Hanna reeled backward, her body leaning back as the ground beneath her gave way.

Gabriel's hand shot out, his fingers clamping on her arm as she tumbled, his muscles flexing as he yanked her back from the precipice, his breathing in harsh, rasping gasps. For an instant, their eyes locked, his afire with a desperate, blinding light, hers with cold, calculating rage.

Then, wordlessly, she turned her spear, the blade sinking into his side, the agony flowing through his body as he gasped, his hold weakening as she turned the blade further, her eyes shrinking as she pushed him off to the side, his body rolling over broken stones.

Sally fell, her eyes blazing with cold, alien light as she floated above them, fingers twisting as the rocks below her rose up, whirling in the air like the limbs of a dying animal. She hurled one at Gabriel, the rock crashing into his head, his sight flashing white as he fell to the ground, his breathing coming in harsh, ragged gasps as blood sprayed out around his head.

In the village, Carl hacked through the broken pieces of the castle, his fists crackling with night power as he ripped the goblins to pieces, their deformed bodies crashing to the ground as he whirled, his roars booming through the broken stone corridors as the world beyond them kept shattering.