AN: from now on the chapters will run in order there won't be any return to the past in the second half of the chapter as the past part of the chapters have caught up with the present story

i hope that wasn't too confusing to read (if it was lmk!) i just wanted to try something different!


Riza blocked out Roy's shouts behind her. Under usual circumstances, one snap of his fingers and his flames would rip those vines to shred, but Riza had made sure they would hold against fire. They were covered in dirt which would hold against the flames for long enough so she could get away.

Tears fell down her cheeks as she began to run through the trees, listening to Roy's angry and anguished cries.

"Don't do this!"

She had to. He had sacrificed so much, had suffered so much because of the Hawkeye family. He couldn't do it anymore. Riza wouldn't let him.

The one thing she regretted was not discovering what had happened while she had blacked out. All Roy had revealed was he "couldn't do it". What that meant, Riza didn't know. He couldn't destroy Bradley? He had stopped him, but hadn't been able to stop the portal that the madman was intent on opening to bring demons from the Otherworld into theirs, further growing his army?

Only one way to find out.

Her tears had dried by the time she reached the crypt. Mismatched standing stones surrounded it and Riza could feel the magic energy emanating from said stones. Riza touched one gently, a thrumming underneath her fingertips. The Highlands were littered with stone circles like these. Her ancestors used them to amplify their magic power and it was a well-known and well-practiced technique, but now it was dead. Closing her eyes briefly she tried to pull on the power of the stones which was now amplified in the moonlight. There was a tug in her fingertips followed by a tingling sensation.

This was how she would win.

With renewed determination, Riza announced her presence by blasting the oak door of its hinges, her vines invading the hallway, fuelled by her own anger, as they searched for their targets. Screams echoed back at her as Riza strode forward to the main chamber down the stone steps.

It was time.

In the centre of the room Bradley stood with his back to her, hunched over the table the ancients had built and used to peacefully wield the power of the land.

Now, Bradley was using to violate that power and taint it with demonic will from the Otherworld.

"So, the prodigal Princess returns," Bradley purred, still hunched over the stone table.

Riza stopped at the bottom of the stairs, stance ready to fight.

Too long she had been running from this fight. Since he had invaded her home this confrontation had been a long time coming. It had been ten years since then and Riza had ten years' worth of anger behind her. Not just her own anger, but Alex's, Roy's, and her people's anger too.

Time to focus it where it belonged.

"Finally accepted your fate?" Bradley asked as he turned, raising an eyebrow.

Riza took in the state of him and felt oddly proud, despite how gruesome he looked. Roy's fire had obviously done a number on him, that's why Bradley was hunched over.

His face was burned but had been hastily healed with one of his healer's magic. The skin was warped and drooping in parts it shouldn't be. The left arm of his jacket and tunic had been burned to ash, some remnants burned into Bradley's skin. Red welts and blisters littered his skin, alongside a wound on his right, which Bradley covered with his own hand. The blood still poured through it though.

"Have you?" Riza bit back, giving him a once over.

Bradley chuckled. "Your lapdog did a number on me, I will admit, but this mortal body no longer suits me. I've been looking for new real estate." His eyes flashed dangerously. "I've finally found what I've been looking for."

"Too bad you won't get to use it."

While he had been talking Riza took stock of the room. Where the portal had initially been set up there was now ash. Roy had done it. Stones lay in a heap around it, no longer in the appropriate shape to access the Otherworld and unleash demons into this one. Bradley was not the loved King of the Lowlands as he had thought and that's why he had dabbled into this area of magic. No one would fight for him willingly, so he bought mercenaries and enslaved demons to do his bidding for him.

The only issue was there was now another portal in the process of being built. It was hidden behind a vortex of strong winds, where two of Bradley's minions shifted stone to build it, oblivious to Riza's appearance. They were unaffected by the wind and worked with such a pace Riza would need to ensure this was quick.

Riza didn't move a muscle but there was a loud crack and her vines shot up in an instant, aiming straight for Bradley's heart. She flicked them towards him with just a thought, aiming right for his heart. Power thrummed through her veins with such an intensity, Riza almost jumped, startled. She had never felt power like this before. It made it clear why people nowadays didn't use the power of the stones. It felt like her head was going to explode with the swell of energy, and she had only replenished her stores.

This was magic power, pure and raw.

It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

Bradley's wind knocked one of the vines away but had no effect on the other four. He tried to dodge but the vines were too fast. He cried out as one skewered his arm in his weakened state. Flesh was pulled from bone as Riza watched on, expression cold and unchanging, as she unleashed the hell he was searching for back on him.

Wind was thrown back in her face, but it had no effect. By the time it reached her it had died to a breeze, ruffling her hair only slightly. Enraged, Bradley looked on. A battle cry left him as more wind was sent her way, picking up ancient glass bottles and large tomes from around the room. Again, it died down to nothing.

This continued, the battle of magic raging on around them. Bradley struggled, throwing wind at her with his hands but Riza had yet to move. She simply watched him try to best her, cold eyes studying his every move and making note of every weakness he showed.

But no matter how many times her vines pierced his flesh he just didn't die.

"This is useless girl!" he cried, breathing heavily, but laughing maniacally. His eyes were wide, crazed. "You might have the power, but nothing will best me."

That's when she saw it.

The red ring around his eyes.

Her vines paused as Bradley panted, realisation dawning on Riza.

He hadn't opened any portal here today, but he'd done it in the past. That red ring meant demons had infested his skin, fuelling his body with their energy.

He couldn't die.

Riza knew it had been coming, but now the moment was here, she really didn't want to leave this earth. She had to, for the sake of her land and her people. But one thought of Roy and her friends…

She didn't want to go.

"With this spell," she began to recite from memory, the words burned into her mind like the fire that had destroyed her home ten years ago. "I give myself to protect the people of this land from the menace terrorising it," she chanted, voice only trembling slightly.

"Stop!" an anguished cry replied. She smiled to herself, eyes remaining closed. The lump in her throat was making speaking difficult. She always knew Roy would make it out of there. At least she'd had enough time to get a head start.

"With my magic, I renounce your hold on this land, freeing it, it's people, and myself from your terror." There was another swell of magic power inside her. Blood rushed to her head, making her see stars for a second before it dissipated, like a long exhale. The energy pulsed out from her, knocking Bradley off his feet and piercing through his protective wind around the portal. Stones flew from their places, starting the two workers. They glanced up, fear on their faces. Without a second thought they abandoned their work and fled the room.

"With my magic," she whispered, reaching the climax of the spell. A tear tracked down her cheek, sorrow filling her that she wouldn't get to live the rest of her life with Roy, like they had promised each other over a decade ago, when they were just kids.

"We'll be together forever, won't we?" Roy had asked, uncertainty in his tone. Riza nudged his shoulder with a grin.

"Of course, we will, dummy."

"I sacrifice myself so that my people will be free, like my ancestors before me."

"Riza!"

Roy's scream was swallowed up by a deafening silence. It was like all the air and sound had been sucked out of the room and into Riza's mind. It ached, the pressure becoming too much for her to bear. Even behind closed eyes it felt like her vision was swimming. There was a warmth dripping from her nose, the blood leaving a tangy taste on her lips.

As soon as it had appeared in her mind, the spell was unleashed with a roar of power. There was a pulse in Riza's head as she fell to the floor. Bradley screamed but it was cut off suddenly, followed by a thump.

Briefly, Riza panicked. Her eyes opened but there was nothing to see, just pure white. A sense of calm washed over her, limbs becoming heavy and fatigued as she rested on the cool stone floor of the crypt. White hands made purely from light were grasping her arms and underneath her shoulders gently, lifting her from the floor. She could see their shapes through the white light, lifting her from the floor and raising her up and up, out of the crypt and into the sky, high above the Caledonian Pines.