-Chapter Twelve-

Reaver's eyes flickered between the trap door where Lilyana had just been dragged and the people that surrounded him. He counted them all, remembering where each stood and which way they faced. He made adjustments for slight movement, and he sighed. "Do you have any idea what a bother it is to strategize for an odd number of people? Couldn't there have been one more or one less of you?"

Another appeared from down the hallway, and Reaver smiled.

"Goodie."

His pistols moved faster than anyone could see, gunshot blaring as each pistol fired one after the other. He dipped and bent, and turned, his arms and body constantly moving. His eyes darted around, checking his aim, and not one of his bullets missed its mark.

The group of people that surrounded him fell one by one, each bleeding from a fatal wound or already dead. He exhaled, and he blew off his pistols, his hands vibrating and tingling from the fire of his guns. The barrels were hot, but he stowed them away anyway, and he saw more people approaching.

He sighed as he thought of more creative ways to finish off this second group. His eyes found a few powder kegs, which for the life of him, he could not rationalize their presence. Did they leave them about because they added to the dark mystique of the place? He shrugged, not caring, and he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and he lit it quickly, stashing his lighter away quickly.

"Our master has demanded for us to kill you!" said a thin, bird-like woman wearing an appropriately beaked mask.

"You can surely try," He said, inhaling the smoke. "Many have tried...including your little friends strewn about the room." He gestured to the already dead or dying cultists. He smirked. "Now, I do love a bit of a challenge."

Bird Woman continued, "You are the master's enemy! We must-"

"I'm going to shoot you first," Reaver said. "And you're going to help me kill your other friends."

"I would never betray my brethren," She hissed, her hands closing around a saber at her side.

"Do not fret, little bird," he said. "You won't have very long to dwell on the issue."His hand moved quickly to retrieve the gun from his coat, and he shot the bird-woman's knee out, and she stumbled backward screaming into a powder keg. It tipped over, and the powder spilled all over the ground, and spread to two more barrels that had been left just laying around.

He threw his lit cigarette into the powder, and the powder ignited instantly, spreading, and the two remaining powder kegs exploded, taking out at least seven of the goons that had come with the bird-woman.

By his count, there were still five people left in the room, and he dispatched them easily with five quick shots of his gun. He glanced around the area, and he stepped toward the trapdoor that had claimed his wife. He glared down, but he couldn't see very far below. He shrugged, and he hopped down. He landed gracefully on his feet, and he heard Lilyana's voice followed by a man's voice. His whole body bristled, and he drew his other Dragonstomper once more.

I lay paralyzed on the ground, and Seth strode toward me. He wrapped his long, almost skeletal fingers in my hair, and he dragged me across the bridge and to the platform where Amelia lay in the cradle. I kept myself from crying out as he kicked me in the ribs.

"Did that hurt, Your Majesty?" Seth asked, releasing my hair, and he let his eyes drift over my body. "It's such a shame you can produce no children for me, but I suppose it would be fun to fuck you. Just so I could say I did." He chuckled.

My whole body hummed with anger, and I felt his hand move across my collarbone.

"Such a lovely body," He murmured. "I wonder what sort of awful things I can do to it before you break."

A gunshot rang through the cavernous room, and my heart jumped upward. Reaver had survived the people that Seth had thrown at him, and he had made it down to me. I struggled to break free of the spell, to warn him, but nothing but a strangled cry escaped me.

"Put the gun down, Reaver," Seth said, through gritted teeth. He rose, his hand moving to the bleeding bullet hole in his shoulder. "Or I will make you regret firing upon me"

"You see," Reaver said, obviously angry. He may have missed his mark, but it was far more likely that Seth had used Will to change the course of the bullet. I didn't have the best vantage point from my place on the ground.

I could hear Reaver's footsteps echoing through the room. "I just can't do that. You have two things that are very precious to me, and I am not leaving until I have them."

"Very well," Seth said, raising to his full height. "Then I'll incapacitate you, as I have your wife, and I'll make you watch while I violate-" He raised a hand, stopping Reaver's bullet, and he let it fall to the ground before him. "You see, now I'm just going to have to be that much rougher on her, but you like to watch, don't you, Reaver?"

Reaver was running now, but Seth sent him crumbling to the ground, just as he had done to me. My panicked eyes widened, and I glanced between the two. Seth stepped over my body to grab a hold of Reaver. He dragged him to face me, and Reaver looked absolutely livid. His silver eyes slashed up to Seth. If looks could kill, Seth would have been shredded to pieces.

"Reaver, it will be such a long time before I can have your daughter," Seth said, crouching down behind me. His hand moved up my back. "Perhaps I can take out my lust on your beautiful, but barren wife" His mouth dipped to touch against my shoulder, and I wished with every fiber of my being that I could move, but I couldn't.

Reaver's eyes narrowed, but he couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He was furious. It was clear in his wrathful silver eyes, but he was helpless to do anything but watch.

Seth turned me onto my back, forcing me to look up to him as he ran a finger under my chin. "Don't panic. I won't hurt you until I've finished with you." But then a glint of laughter filled his devious violet eyes. "Oh, I'm lying. I want to hurt you as much as I possibly can."

The ball of rage within me exploded outward, and suddenly I was free. White light surrounded me, and I rose to my feet. Seth stumbled backward, his eyes squinting through the radiance of my aura, but he only smirked. He threw a hand out, and I looked back to see that he had lifted Reaver to his feet.

I moved to run toward him, but Seth pushed him over the edge of the platform. He fell into the deep black water, sinking quickly, and I felt my whole body jerked back, pulled by magic. I whipped around, lightning crackling off of my fingers, and I threw a ball of it at him.

He absorbed it, and he brought the back of his hand to strike across my jaw. I shook it off, for his physical strength paled in comparison to his Will abilities. Flames exploded off of him, and I threw a quick shield over Amelia before anything could affect her. I sent my knee into his gut, and when he bent forward in pain, I brought the same knee into his face. He crumbled to the ground, his bloodied lips set into a scowl.

His hand wrapped around my ankle, and I felt him drawing off of my life-force, feeding his own. I fell to my knees, as the weakness settled into my muscles, and I trembled gently. He released me, and he rose back to his full height. "You cannot win. I can simply drain your life."

My energy returned quickly to me, and I glanced up to him. "I'm immortal. There's no death for me here." I sent a powerful punch into his sternum, and he gasped for air, but he was gathering his Will already.

I felt my life draining away from me once more, and he was healing. I pushed him away with a grunt, and I saw a fallen Dragonstomper on the ground. I reached a hand out, and the thing flew straight into it.

Seth intercepted the gun, and he knocked it to the side, sending it clattering to the ground. He grasped me around my wrist with a flaming hand, and he grinned as he sent a wave of electricity through my body.

My body trembling from the shock, I sent my head into his nose, and he shrieked as he stumbled backward, covering his face. "You bitch!" He growled, and I could feel the Will peeling off of him in droves. He was readying a powerful spell.

When it struck me, a scream tore from my throat as my whole body was rocked by the powerful jolt of burning magic. I dropped back down to my hands and knees, and I looked up to him. I felt the wind knock out of me, and my flesh burned and stung. I smelled the unsavory smell of my burnt skin I reached for the pack at my waist as stealthily as I could, and I wrapped my hand around a potion. I tried to raise it to my lips, but his foot crushed my hand, the bottle breaking in my fist.

I exhaled with relief, for the health potion sunk into my body through the wounds the bottle created, and I sprang to my feet, newly invigorated. He was running low on his Will, now, having spent the majority of it on that last, near-lethal spell. He looked ragged, his eyes were tired, and I knew I had only one opportunity before he pulled some trick to restore his Will.

I smirked, and I closed my eyes, focusing my innermost strength . I summoned divine light from the Heavens to assist me. Something I had never yet perfected, but I could feel the goodness and light passing through my body, and I opened my eyes. Everything was engulfed in white light.

Seth's howls of pain echoed through the room, and he shot every spell he could think of at me, but nothing damaged me. I was shielded by the light that I channeled through me. He fell to his knees before me, and I moved quickly to grab him.

He was weakened, and now was my chance. "You will never touch my daughter, you bastard!" I sat on his chest, and I wrapped my fingers around his throat.

He sent shockwaves of electricity through me, but I did not release my grip. I merely sent them right back through him. His eyes bugged, and he struggled to focus. His power was waning. I tightened my trip around his throat, and I could feel the bones of his neck crushing beneath my grip, but he wasn't dead yet. The bastard was still squirming and crying beneath me.

"I'll bet you didn't expect this," I said through gritted teeth as I choked the life out of him. "I'll bet you thought you would beat me."

He croaked loudly, still fighting against me. His Will was depleted, and his eyes pleaded with me to have mercy.

"I faced The Darkness that you serve head on, and I defeated it," I told him, staring straight into his terrified plum-colored eyes. "Why should one of its pitiful followers fare any better against me?" I lost patience with his life, and I twisted his neck quickly, and he fell limp beneath me. The rush of relief and satisfaction washed over me, and I took my fingers from around his pale, skinny neck, and I rose to my feet. My legs felt like rubber, and I fell back to the ground.

I dragged myself to the edge of the platform, and I looked into the black depths. I drew in a breath. I still hated water, even after supposedly facing my fears in another realm, the thought of descending those churning dark waters brought a chill to my body. I pulled myself back to a standing position. I glanced back to Amelia, who was crying, and I apologized silently. I had to leave her for a moment to go after her father. I threw the strongest shield I could muster over her, and I threw myself over the side of the pedestal.

The water was freezing, and I took in a deep breath before pushing myself beneath the surface. I moved quickly through the dark water, using a spell to propel me forward every once in a while. Pure terror gripped me. I felt like screaming and crying. I had never been a strong swimmer, but this was important. I couldn't lose him. Not now that I had defeated Seth. Not now that our family was momentarily safe. I squinted to try to see through the dark, still waters, and but it was useless. The bottom seemed unreachable, and I put a hand out before me, summoning light.

I could see a glint of metal in the corner of my eye, and I turned toward it. Reaver's Dragonstomper hanging at his waist caught the light and summoned me to him, like a beacon of his salvation. I swam quickly, for my unpracticed breath was running short. His limbs had fallen loose from Seth's spell, but his eyes were closed, and he did not move. Panic set in me, and I wrapped my arms around him. I pushed us forward using the last of my Will, and we broke the water's surface. I gasped for air, but Reaver did not. He was silent, still.

I moved toward the edge, and I threw him over onto his back. I pushed up out of the water, climbing over the edge and I looked over him. His lips were slack and pale, and his dark lashes fell against ashen cheeks. "Oh, love, please don't leave me, now..." I pounded on his chest.

"You can't just drown..." Tears burst from my eyes, and I shook him. "Please...not now. Not like this..." I pressed a kiss against his mouth, as if, by magic, it would bring him back, but his skin was cool and pale.

I pressed down on his chest once more, and I glanced up to his still face. If I could just get him breathing... I stroked his cheek, and I closed my eyes, moving to blow air into his mouth. I drew back, looking hopefully to his face. There was no change. The sobbing took over me, and I couldn't form words. I tried to gather myself, moving my hands back down to his chest, trying to push the water from within him.

"Please, Reaver. Come back to me...I can't..." I tried to grasp at his life force, but my Will was depleted and my physical strength was not far behind. I reached into my pouch for a will potion, and I uncorked it. A trembling hand poured the potion into my mouth, and I felt almost revitalized. I could feel the faint aura of his life, but there was not enough to grasp onto. I pressed down onto his chest once more out of frustration, crying out loudly.

Suddenly, water spewed from his mouth, and he was coughing, and gasping for air. Throwing the bottle to the side, I pulled him to sit up, and I drew him against me. I buried my face in his neck, and I patted his back, trying to help him expel the rest of the water. His life-force thrived once more, growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

He caught his breath, his arm tightening around me, and he groaned. He was trembling from the cold, but I couldn't offer much more warmth. He held onto me regardless, as if he were trying to comfort me, when he was the one who had nearly died.

"Now I can understand why you're so bloody scared of the water," His voice was little more than a croak. He kissed the side of my face. "For a moment, I thought you may not come in after me."

"You fool," I cried, shaking my head. "I've faced worse than some silly water." I seized his face, and I pressed a desperate kiss against his cool lips. His hands rubbed my back gently.

He pulled from the kiss, and he whispered, "Where is Amelia?"

I rose to my feet, and I pulled him to his, and I saw that my shield had remained intact around Amelia. We made our way as quickly as possible toward her, and I reached in to grab her. She was unharmed, but tears streaked her beautiful, precious face.

I pulled her against me, and tears of relief washed over my face, and I felt Reaver's arm wrap around my waist. He leaned in to kiss her head, and he looked over to me. Our eyes met, and twin smiles of pure relief were set on our faces. The color had already started to return to him, and I felt the weight of anxiety lift off of my shoulders. I pulled him to lean against me, and he stroked Amelia's ebony hair.

In the distance, I heard a bugle. The army had arrived to finish clearing out The Dark Sanctum. Any survivors would be executed on sight. The judgment was harsh, but I was in no mood to weed through people, trying to decide who was truly repentant or remorseful. I was exhausted, and I wanted nothing more than to return home, and hold my daughter until one or both of us fell asleep.

I exhaled, "Come darling. I need a moment to gather my energy. Let's meet the soldiers, to let them know that we are safe."

Reaver nodded, and he pressed another kiss against the top of Amelia's head. We walked through the winding caverns. Silence had formed between us, but I couldn't keep my mind away from the dark. I had nearly lost everything today. If not for Theresa, I might have. I had been so angry with her for her vague predictions, but she had put me on the path to save my family. I was so very grateful for that.

Reaver, who had regained his strength, motioned for me to hand Amelia over, and I did. He cradled her so gently, his eyes filled with pure contentment. He stroked her face lovingly, his mouth turning up into a soft smile.

Nearly two dozen bodies littered the area. Reaver glanced about the destruction he had caused nearly single-handedly, and he smirked softly, in a much better humor now.

"Your Majesty, Your Grace!" a soldier said when he saw us. He threw himself into a bow, and he signaled toward his men. They bowed, also. "You are alright?"

I nodded. I was weary and tired, but I was alright. Now that Amelia was with me, I would be just fine.

"We have orders to bring this place down," The soldier said. "Is there anything worth salvaging, Your Majesty?"

I shook my head. "Destroy it all."

"Yes, Your Majesty," He said, giving me a salute, and walking off to talk to his men once more.

A/N: So I hope you liked this one! I put a lot of work and thought into it, so let me know what you think! Leave a review!