Ch.50 Flames

Chapter 50

Maya felt her heart skid like wheels of a race car against asphalt. Her legs and arms began to feel light as air while also giving her the sense of feeling rooted to the ground. She felt the fey magic ripple out of her to the shield around herself and Heyder as Mirza took a step off the back deck.

"Heyder," the jinn smiled. "Look at you. Your magic can barely light a candle."

Heyder's eyes darkened. He knew Mirza had been waiting centuries for this moment. Heyder's magic was drained. It wouldn't be much of a fight between the brothers. But, even with his strength half of what it used to be, Heyder knew he could hold his own. He had fought Mirza many times to know all of the jinn's tricks.

"You're bringing a fey into this world," Mirza shook his head. "It's like you want me to kill you."

"Back the fuck up," Heyder said sternly. "This cat and mouse chase is over. If you take one more step I will put you six feet under."

"With what magic?" Mirza raised a brow.

Heyder's hands began to glow immediately. The shield around him and Maya reacted immediately and tried to retreat away from the jinn. From the corner of her eyes Maya saw the force field retreating and her heart stopped.

"No," she whispered, placing her hand over her belly. "Stay put."

As if trying to speak to her, the violet light of the shield pulsed like a heartbeat.

"Stay." Maya commanded.

"There's plenty to put you under," Heyder said. The violet and the gold from Maya and Heyder lit up the forest like a Christmas show.

Beside the jinn, Maya's fingers weaved through the air summoning her magic and having it on stand by. Her eyes watched Mirza. Calculating his every move and finding every advantage point from where she should attack.

"You know, Heyder? All these years I know Zubair would have skinned me alive if I actually killed you," Mirza said. "You were always his favorite. You could do no wrong. But finally. Finally! I know I can kill you and return a hero to cheers at court."

Maya's heart started to race.

"Thank you," Mirza laughed. "Thank you for getting her pregnant. Thank you for giving me the light I had been waiting for."

Before Maya could think, three other jinns walked out from inside the house. They were all dressed in black, their eyes dark, and their features dangerously handsome just like Heyder and Mirza. In front of Maya, Heyder's body language changed completely. Maya could feel him reach out for her as his eyes watched the jinns.

"Eric," Heyder nodded to one of the jinns with midnight black hair and icy blue eyes.

"Heyder," the jinn, Eric, greeted them back. "I wish we were meeting under different circumstances."

"Mirza," Heyder turned to his brother. "What did you do?"

"I know you messed with Maaz's mind," Mirza snared. "I had to pick through the mess piece by piece and try to figure out what you could possibly be going to just great length to hide."

"Now can you imagine my surprise when I find out you are having a fey child?" Mirza laughed. "Honestly, like always, Zubair was going to let you get away with messing up Maaz. But this. Oh no. He couldn't overlook this."

Heyder and Maya looked at Eric and the other two jinns. Slowly, Maya felt her mind link open.

"Heyder," Eric started. "You have been sentenced to death by the Tyveer court. You have been denied a trial. All of your possessions, property, magi-"

Maya, leave. Heyder said through their link.

Have you lost your mind? Maya shouted. Never.

Listen to me, Maya. Heyder began to plead. His voice shook in a way Maya had never heard before. She felt her knees weaken. You have no idea what they will do to you.

No, Maya shook her head. I am not le-

For Heyden, Heyder said. They won't spare him. They don't give a damn about us. They will rip us apart to get to him. Maya, please, please leave.

At the mention of Heyden's name, Maya's heart stopped. Her hand was over her belly and she felt the heat radiating through her body. Lifting her eyes, Maya silently called to Heyder. He looked over his shoulder and their eyes met for a moment.

Suddenly, Heyder summoned a portal underneath Maya's feet. She felt her body drop through but before she disappeared completely, Eric flashed to where the couple stood and reached into the shield. His skin burned as he grabbed Maya's arm and pulled her out of the portal.

Heyder let out a violent growl as Eric tossed her to the side and she fell to the ground. His palms charged up and he threw a blast at Eric. Within seconds, the quiet woods erupted into a battle ground.

Maya scrambled to her feet and back away. She held up her hand and shot out a ray of brilliant energy toward the other two jinns that had joined Eric. From the side she saw Mirza approach her but before she could turn her attention to him Heyder shot out a blast and sent his brother flying a few feet towards the house. The glass windows shattered and rained down as the trees quivered.

"Maya!" Heyder said through his teeth as he struggled with Eric. "Leave."

Eric looked over his shoulder and motioned for the other two jinns to get Maya. She held up her hand as her shield appeared around her.

"You're making a big mistake," she said to one of the jinns as she felt her body heat up.

All at once, as the two men lunged forward, Maya's body rippled out a blast that instantly disintegrated the jinns on the spot.

Everyone froze.

Eric's hands on Heyder stilled as his wide eyes stared at the smoking holes in the ground where the two men had been standing just moments ago. Mirza's jaw flexed as his eyes darkened. Heyder looked at Maya as the smoke veiled her from his sight. He could see her tremble as she slowly lowered her hands.

The aftershock of the blast Maya sent out had knocked down the trees around the perimeter of the house. The four of them stood in a wide clearing with the late afternoon sun shining down on them like a spotlight. The air was changed and everyone held their breath. One wrong move and the gunpowder would ignite.

Heyder turned to Mirza. He was about to tell him to fuck off and tell the court they can kiss his ass when Maya suddenly dropped to her knees.

"Maya!" Heyder shoved Eric out of the way and flashed to her side. "What's wr-"

Before he could finish, Maya lunged forward and regurgitated a mouth full of blood. Her skin was as hot a burning coal. Heyder could feel his fingertips burning as he held her and pulled her hair back.

"Heyder," Maya began to cry. She wanted to say more but another wave of nausea came over her as her throat and mouth filled with blood.

"Heyden," Maya whispered as she started to see black spots in her vision.

She felt Heyder's hand land on her back as he began to heal her. She wanted to scream and tell him no but she knew, with every cell in her body, that the blast she sent out had not only killed the two jinns, but it had also pulled at the fey so strongly that now her baby was in danger.

"Maya," Heyder said as he healed her with one hand and opened a mini portal with the other. "Take this."

Maya lifted her eyes to see Sethi's whip fall through the portal and land on her lap. She looked up at Heyder as he gave her a nod.

"No..." Maya's lip trembled. "Heyder, don't....."

"I love you," Heyder placed his ring clad hand against her face. "So much. And you will never know."

And with that, the jinn pushed every last bit of his energy into Maya.

Maya began to sob as she felt Heyder's energy and magic run through her system. She gripped onto his numb hand on her cheek as her heart crackled.

"No, no, no, no," Maya shook her head as Heyder's limp body fell sideways. "No."

"Maya," Mirza's voice began to break through the loud ringing in Maya's ears. "Step away from the body."

Maya's angry eyes snapped up. Her world had just flipped upside down. She couldn't make sense of anything going on in her head, her body, or in her heart. With a stone over her heart, she tried to look away from the body laying in front of her. She thought she should feel numb, but the fire sourcing through her veins made her feel as if she could tear the whole words apart.

"Maya," Mirza held up his hands. "Come here. Let me help you."

"Do you think I'm fuckin' stupid?" Maya suddenly screamed.

Eric raised his hands and they began to glow like bright headlights of a car at midnight. Both his and Mirza's eyes turned silver as they stood their ground, watching Maya as if she was a wild animal.

"You did this!" Maya screamed at Mirza as she pointed to Heyder's body.

"Your son did that!" Mirza said. "That thing in you will tear you apart just like Heyd-"

Maya didn't let him finish. Her hands gripped the handle of the whip and she swung it through the air. She thought she would feel the pain in her chest lessen once she felt the whip dig into the jinn's flesh, but before that could happen, Eric stopped it with his magic.

The ray of light coming out from his hands held the iron chains midair. Maya's hand tightened around the hilt as she felt the jinn try and tug it out of her grip. As she struggled to pull the whip back, Mirza flicked his hand and one of the fallen trees flew through the air towards Maya.

A split second before the twenty feet evergreen collided with her head, Maya raised her hand. The fey pushed through her veins and the tree shattered into a trillion splinter sized pieces. Maya felt the warm blood drip down her nose and pool in her lungs. She tugged at the whip with all her might and yanked it out of Eric's grasp.

"You took him from me," Maya spit out as she turned to Mirza. "Over and over and over!"

"He never deserved you," Mirza said. "He was selfish and cruel. He could never put aside his needs to save you. If only you would have picked m-"

Maya swung the whip once more as she held up her hand. A ray of light with a violet core shot out and hit Eric in the chest. It sent him to his knees as the whip in Maya's other hand coiled around Mirza's neck like a snake.

Every last drop of Heyder's energy that he had pushed into Maya was beginning to burn up like fossil fuel. She felt her lungs fill with blood as the coppery taste filled her mouth. Inside her, the baby was trying to pull in every drop of energy she could spare. As it became a painful battle, Maya felt one of her ribs snap.

The pain sent her to her knees. She fell to the soft dirt ground as Mirza struggled forward from the way the whip around his neck jerked. Maya began to sob as she held her belly with one hand and the whip with the other.

Her eyes landed on Heyder's body a few feet away from her. A heart stopping cry left Maya's mouth. She was sure she was about to go crazy and lose her mind. How would she ever survive losing both Heyder and Heyden on the same day?

As she kneeled on the ground sobbing in pain, anger and frustration, Eric began to move closer. For a brief second Maya considered giving up. Every time she saw Heyder's body on the floor and felt Heyden starve for energy, she couldn't understand what she was fighting for anymore.

But then she would see Mirza's face and her heart filled with poison, anger, and hatred. She saw flashes of Heyder's eyes when he talked about his brothers in her mind. He would never know how broken he looked. Maya would never forgive Mirza for what he did to Heyder.

As Eric inched closer and closer, Maya knew she was never going to leave the forest alive. She would die beside Heyder and her parents would find her and her broken family. But she was a Dorin and she wasn't going to die until she killed Mirza first.

Denying Heyden the last of whatever energy she had left, Maya pushed it out of her hand and watched it travel down the iron whip and burn Mirza's skin. It began to sizzle and bubble like hot wax. The scent of heavy smoke filled Maya's head as she felt her stomach turn. She could feel Eric only a breath away and she knew she needed to do whatever she could to kill Mirza before Eric got to her. She would not let him live.

Suddenly, the orange sunset began to drown in darkness.

An eerie red light began to move across the sky. The wind returned to the forest and tossed up the fallen leaves. Maya blinked through her tears as she felt the temperature around her drop. She didn't care what hell was beginning to muster up around her. Her only focus was Mirza. She tugged on the whip and it tightened around the jinn's neck.

Behind Eric, soft light footsteps were heard as Clare grabbed his arm and whirled him around. She raised her hand just as the jinn raised his. Eric had every intention of attacking the young girl if she dared move even an inch.

But as he watched, the darkness in her gray eyes began to swirl. It reminded him of a hurricane rising out of the ocean. Her lips parents and she slowly lowered her hand.

"I really want to kill you," Clare whispered.

"Who the fuck are you?" Eric asked in confusion as he started to pick up on her strength.

"You'll thank me later one day," Clare let go of his arm and took a quick step back. She watched Eric summon his magic to attack but before it could reach his fingers, Clare opened a portal beneath him and dropped into the middle of the ocean halfway across the world.

As the jinn vanished, Clare's eyes fell on Maya. She wanted to take a step forward but just then Maya let out a heartbreaking sob as she used both her hands to tug at the whip and tighten it around Mirza's neck. The violet glow lit up the entire forest as Maya pulled with all her anger and watched the jinn's skin crack and shatter like stone. With one last pull, she let go of the whip as Mirza's head popped off and his body ignited into smokeless flames.

Clare stood back and watched as the jinn's body consumed itself while the head laid a few feet away. The flames danced and reflected off of her eyes as she took a small step forward.

"Maya?" Clare called to the girl sobbing on the floor.

"My baby," Maya cried as she wrapped both her arms around her midsection. Her eyes were on Heyder as she cried like a child curled up on the dirt.

Clare rushed over and tried to pull Maya up. Unable to move her even an inch, she examined the girl's body and tried to think of what to do. Her mind screamed at her to heal Maya but she knew that would do more damage than good.

"Maya, I don't know what to do!" Clare began to cry as Maya's emotions soaked into her. "I don't know what to do."

Maya didn't respond. She continued to sob with her eyes glued to Heyder. Her bloody fingers reached out for him and every passing second he didn't take her hand, she died a little bit more inside.

Clare pulled at her hair as she felt herself choke with Maya's grief. For the first time, she felt a strong stable mind start to lose itself as Maya's sanity vanished part by part.

"No, no, no," Clare shook her head. She looked down at her cousin's face. Maya's blue eyes had gone dark. Her lashes were red with blood and so was her gold hair. Her sobs were beginning to whine down as life and reality slipped away from those eyes.

"Tell me what to do!" Clare demanded in anger.

She was about to blow it all and call her parents when she began to follow where Maya's eyes were leading her. She followed the girl's gaze to the jinn's body.

In a heartbeat, Clare scurried over to Heyder. The mulch and wood chips cut her knees as she turned the body over and placed her hand over his heart. His body had begun to turn cold. The unstoppable being of smokeless flames had lost his fire. Clare's lip trembled as she looked over her shoulder at Maya. She was about to crawl back to her when her mind started to tingle. Slowly, Clare looked down at her hand on Heyder's chest.

She knew there was nothing she could do if he was dead. Even Gemma couldn't bring him back. The gods had cut her off. But all Clare needed was a little spark. Sometimes, one tiny spark was all it took to start a whole forest fire. And as Clare stared down at her hand over Heyder's chest, she found the little speak she needed.

Without sparing another second, Clare placed both of her hands over the jinn's chest one over the other. She got on her knees and pushed down as if performing CPR. Trying to control how much energy she shot out, Clare carefully pushed as much energy as she could into the jinn. She reached deep within his soul and lit a match by the little spark.

A loud high pitch ringing began to fill the forest. Maya, who was half unconscious a few yards away shut her eyes as the sound became defining. Clare felt an abnormal amount of pressure build up behind her eyes as the taste of blood filled her mouth. She didn't realize she had bit down so hard on her lip that she drew blood.

She was about to throw her hands up and cover her ears from the loud ringing when Heyder sat straight up and pushed her off of him. Clare toppled over and fell to the ground on her hand. Her wrist snapped immediately and she let out a small cry. With irritation she glared up at Heyder, but froze when she noticed his eyes.

Unlike before, when they would glow a bright silver, Heyder's eyes were now shining bright red. Clare closely backed away as he turned to look at her. She waited until recognition hit him to draw his attention to Maya by turning her head and looking at the girl a few yards away.

"No!" Heyder shoulder as he rushed to Maya's side at the speed of lightning. He pulled her onto his lap and brushed the dirt off her face. "Maya! Open your eyes!"

Clare slowly sat up and cradled her broken wrist to her chest. She watched Heyder's red eyes as he pulled Maya to his chest and began to heal her without hesitation. The sun had set somewhere behind the trees and the forest was thrown into silent darkness. The three of them sat in the pool of light that came out of the house through the broken windows.

No one knew how much time had passed. Mirza's body had turned to smoke. The whip laid on the ground, still wrapped around his bodiless neck and head. Heyder had his face buried in Maya's hair as he rocked back and forth with her on his lap. Clare sat holding her hand and watching them silently. She could have totally lost herself in the trance she was slipping into if it hadn't been for Maya's voice.

"Clare?" She asked, her eyes bright and open. "What are you doing here?"

Sorry about the delay :( Work has been CRAZY.....but what do you think of this chapter?