Everyone jumped into action that it was too quick for Will to process. For a split second, Will hesitated as the knights ran forward and clashed with Mortmain's men. Then, he grabbed a dagger and handed it to Tessa, a silent communication passing between them. He pulled her to the side, hopefully out of sight, and launched into the melee.
Will slashed his sword blindly around him, trying not to kill anyone in the process. He hated killing people, especially when they deserved it. Mortmain on the other hand…
Suddenly, someone grabbed Will by the shoulder and shoved him down hard onto the splintered wooden floor. Will yelped in pain, as his Herondale sword went flying from his grip. He looked up to see one of Mortmain's big man swinging a spiked club about, ready to bring it down hard on Will. Will clenched his fists, despite the pain, ready to release his punch. But before he could, the man was thrown backwards and hit the wall, rolling down unconscious. At the spot where the man once was Tessa.
"Tessa!" Will exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I told you to wait in the corner so you wouldn't be hurt."
"Will, I couldn't just let you go in there alone," Tessa said. "You can't do it all alone, Will, and I just had to help. And besides, weren't you the one who said that I don't need all the protecting?"
Will blushed, but luckily the madness of the fight hid this from everyone. He rose to his feet then picked up his sword, which no one had yet to notice. He then reached out to clutch Tessa's hand tight, then dragged her away from the fight.
"Will, where are you going?" Tessa shouted amidst the shouts and screams.
Will grinned maddeningly at Tessa. In truth, he did not know where he was going, but hopefully somewhere safe. He pushed blindly through the various doors and made his way down the twists and turns in the cottage. For such a small home, it sure seemed huge. Then, unexpectedly, they were making their way down some stone steps. Stone? Where did that come from?
Will shrugged and kept moving down. They descended down to an enormous stone hall, slightly illuminated by torches in the side. It must have been the foundation upon which the entire cottage was most likely built on top of. Will and Tessa slowed their pace as they began to walk towards the center of the room.
The hall was bare, save for a wall on the far side that had multiple slits on it, almost like a gate. There was a grumbling sound that reverberated through the wall beyond the hall. Tessa jumped in her place.
"What was that?" she whispered nervously to Will.
Will shook his head. "I don't know and I don't intend to find out."
"And you sure will find out," said a voice from the staircase.
Will and Tessa whipped their heads around to see Mortmain standing there, a devilish grin plastered across his face. There was a shuffle of footsteps and Nathaniel Gray stood behind him, looking grim, a ghastly wound bleeding on his cheek.
"Where are the others?" Will said wearily.
"Oh, no worries, they're occupied upstairs. You'll never reach them before I finish you off," said Mortmain.
"I'll kill you before you can," Will snapped.
"No you won't," Nate chuckled darkly, "I'll kill you before you get the chance."
"You knew all along," Tessa said in a low voice, her gray eyes becoming stormier with rage.
"Of course I did, little sister," Nate taunted, and Tessa balled her hands into fists. "And once the Magister goes through you with his plans, then I'll have what I wanted. The fame, the glory. What more is there than that?"
"You disgust me," Tessa said, clutching her stomach. "You're not the cousin I once had."
"I'm not even your cousin, you stupid, little girl," Nate said through clenched teeth.
Will couldn't take it anymore. He was about to storm over and beat the hell out of Nate, when Tessa pulled him back by the shoulders.
"Will, don't," she warned, "he's not worth it."
"Tessa, this is the man that you thought was all your family, but was not," Will reasoned with her. "He practically sold you over to this horrible man. Are you really going to stand for this?"
"While this is all quite charming," Mortmain chimed in, "I would like to go forward with my plans."
"Plans?" Will asked. "What plans?"
"Hasn't she told you," Mortmain jerked his head towards Tessa, "she is to be my wife."
"You're what!?" Will shouted, and he could swear that everyone could hear them. He couldn't believe it. It was like believing the unbelievable, which was entirely impossible. From what he could gather, Tessa despised the man. If Will hated Mortmain before, he detested him ten times more. Will would never allow Mortmain to get his filthy hands all over Tessa. Will would do anything to protect her.
"I'm surprised she hasn't told you yet," Mortmain smiled. "I guess she doesn't love you then."
"You lie," Tessa said. "I love Will more than I could ever feel for you. And that will never happen." Will felt a flash of pride flow through him.
Mortmain rolled his eyes. "While I enjoy the theatrics, we must get along with the plan. And since I have the perfect audience, it is better that I do it sooner rather than later." His cold gray eyes were alight with dark pleasure. "You know what to do," Mortmain instructed to Nate. Nate nodded and stalked over to where Will and Tessa were standing. Will could barely control himself; anger coursed through his veins. Without even thinking, he punched Nate squarely in the face.
"Ow!" Nate yelled, and held his hand over his eye. Will took the opportunity to throw another punch at his stomach. Nate doubled over and Will grinned in triumph. His victory was short lasted though. Out of the blue, Nate side swept Will at the knees, and Will fell down, losing his hold on his sword again.
"Kill him!" Mortmain shouted at Nate. "Now!"
"Will!" Tessa shrieked. "Watch out!" Will looked up to see Nate swinging his own sword wildly around. Nate drove it down, and Will rolled painfully to the side. Nate brought it down, and Will lunged forward, tackling Nate down to the ground, his sword flying away. They began throwing kicks and punches at each other, not knowing who was winning this fight.
"Stupid boy, just kill him!" Mortmain cried in irritation.
"Not so fast," Tessa said from above. Will looked up to see her holding Nate at sword point. "If you touch Will, then I will be the one to kill you."
"You would never do that to your own cousin," Nate sneered. "You are just a whimp."
"I can prove you wrong," Tessa challenged, raising an eyebrow. Before she could attack him, a slender arm snaked around Nate's neck and jerked him painfully to the side. He yelped out, then collapsed, knocked out cold. Will and Tessa glanced up to see Edmund Herondale standing there, along with Jem, Magnus Bane, and the remainder of the Herondale knights.
"Stop there, or I'll unleash it," Mortmain said in a deadly voice.
"You are a traitor to the entire kingdom," Edmund said, stepping out of place. "How dare you work behind my back."
"You are pathetic king," Mortmain retorted, "and once I am in your place, this kingdom will be a lot better."
"That will never happen," Edmund said, shaking his head.
Mortmain let out a humourless laugh. "Of course it will, once I marry Tessa Gray. Or should I say Tessa Starkweather. Then once that happens, I'll have complete control over the kingdom." Tessa recoiled and snaked her arm through Will's.
"We won't let that happen," Edmund said in stern voice, to Will's surprise, and stepped forward.
Mortmain snapped his fingers, and then suddenly the wall with the slits on the opposite side began to open up. There was a rumbling, churning like noise that became louder and louder.
"I warned you to not step out of place," Mortmain said with a proud grin that made Will nauseous.
The noise became louder and something stepped into a light. It was a great beast, which Will could only discern the features by the torches at the side. He had never seen such a thing. It seemed made of cogs and gears, similar like the necklace that Tessa wore. It seemed to exude a dark aura around it. It was tall, nearly reaching the ceiling, and had weapons in place of hands and great horns atop its "head." It seemed neither dead nor alive. To Will's amazement, it seemed to move on its own.
"It's what I call an automaton, animated by dark magic," Mortmain said, answering to Will's burning question. "I created it. And there's no stopping it." He turned to face his terrible creation. "Kill them all."
The automaton sparked to life and charged straight at the knights, at an alarming speed. Will and Jem readied their sword, and simultaneously dodged to the side as the automaton rounded on them. It began to throw its swords, or hands, around, the knights beginning to drop down dead on the floor like flies. Magnus threw blue jets of fire straight at the clockwork creature, briefly startling it, though it was not sufficient time.
In a split second, Will and Jem climbed deftly up its back, as it was distracted with the others. They began hacking at it in a fury. Jem pointed out something close to Will, and Will saw. There was a metal sphere attached to its back, a dim purple hue glowing around it, almost black. Will automatically understood what Jem meant: this must have been the lifeline of the automaton. Will then thrust his sword straight at that point, hoping it would do something. He got nothing. He tried again, but he knew he had limited time. Still nothing.
"Will!" Tessa shouted from below.
"Tessa, get out of the way," Will said in sheer panic; he couldn't risk Tessa to get hurt.
"Will, listen to me," Tessa said adamantly. She reached around her neck and pulled off her clockwork angel necklace. "Use this." Will knew what she meant, and then it all made sense. She tossed it up towards Will, sending it flying in a perfect arc. Will caught it, then slammed it down straight through the purple sphere. The automaton violently jerked back and forth, and Will and Jem jumped off right in time to see it crumple to the ground. Will looked into his palm, and to his shock, the angel pendant was perfectly intact.
Mortmain mirthlessly laughed. "You thought it was so easy, didn't you? Wait until you see more." As if on cue, more automatons came reeling out of the opened wall. There were at least twenty of them, maybe even more. Will felt a horrible sense of dread go through him. But he would not give up. He would get through this, for Tessa.
They all ran towards the brawl, and once again the fight ensued. Will threw his sword in every direction, waiting for the opportune moment to use the angel to defeat one of the automatons. Unfortunatley, there were too many of them to the point that there was no time to even use the pendant. Will was feeling dreadful.
Then, there was a sharp cry of pain. Will spun his head around to see an automaton propelling its sword straight through somebody: Edmund Herondale. The automaton pulled back the sword, the point glistening in sticky, red blood. Will felt sick. He wanted to run towards his father and make sure he was fine, at the same time disable the automaton. He felt fiercely angry, which was rare on the behalf of his father.
"Stop," demanded someone from behind. Everyone did as told. It was Tessa. And even more to Will's surprise, she had a dagger pressed against her chest. "If this doesn't stop, then I will kill myself."
"You won't do that," Mortmain said, appearing beside her. "I won't allow it."
"I will do it before you can stop me," Tessa said. Will was amazed by her bravery, but wanted to stop her from doing something utterly stupid. She pressed the blade further, and a soft red spot began to show up on her white dress. Will couldn't bare to watch, as he felt pain in the same spot.
"No," Mortmain said, as he begun to reach out. Then suddenly, his face went slack and pale, and he fell face forward. Behind him, stood Jem, his sword dripping with fresh blood. He looked grim and tired, but nevertheless relieved. Will joined Jem by his side and kicked Mortmain over with his foot. The Magister was definitely dead.
At that instant, the automatons froze in their place and crumbled to the floor in the same manner that the first one did. Mortmain's cronies backed off to the side, terrified and afraid of what to do next. Without their man there, they were nothing. It seemed that the dependence of the men and the lifeline of the automatons were tied to Mortmain himself. With Mortmain now dead, these were deemed useless and collapsed alongside him. It was done. It was finally over.
There was a cough, startling Will. He glanced over the shoulder to see his father, still in the same prone position as before when the automaton attacked him. He numbly made his way towards Edmund Herondale, all his surroundings blurring around in his sides. All he could see was his father.
He reached him and knelt down by his side. There was a deep gash running alongside his torso. On top of that, he had several nicks and scratches all over his face and throat. His face was startlingly white, and his normal pale, blue eyes were beginning to get very cloudy. Will had never seen Edmund in such a horrible state.
"William, is that you?" Edmund choked out, blindly reaching out his hand.
Will took it and grasped it. "I'm here, father," he said as gently as possible.
"Good, good," Edmund muttered under his breath. "Son, I am so sorry for what I've done."
"Father, you don't –"
"No, let me finish." Edmund's voice seemed especially strained, as if it was draining every ounce of his energy to speak these words. "I have been an awful father and a fool. There is so much about me that I wish you would know. The kingdom… it's all my fault. If I wasn't so careless and reckless, none of this would have happened. I am a wreck, and don't prove me wrong. I have neglected my duties as a father to you and Cecily. Please tell your sister and your mother that I'm sorry and that I love them."
"Don't talk that way," Will said, tears brimming his eyes. "Save your strength."
"You know what's coming, William," Edmund said in a barely whisper, his eyes struggling to flutter close. "And I'm sorry about not believing in you and Tessa. She is truly an exceptional girl, and I should have seen that earlier, peasant or not. She has made you a better person, and I am proud of what you have become. Will, I want one last wish for you."
"What is that?" Will could hardly hear himself. As much as he detested his father before, he was now showing his true colours and seemed genuine.
"I want you to marry her, Will. For you and for the kingdom. I want you to rule Idris and take my place as king. Together, you and Tessa will be the greatest rulers ever. Do you promise me that you will do this, William?"
Edmund squeezed Will's hand even harder than before. Will looked at it, then shifted his eyes back to his father's, whose were closed now. "Yes, I do father."
"Good boy," Edmund exhaled, then loosened his grip from Will. It fell down limp by his side and he turned his head to the side. King Edmund Herondale was dead.
"Ave atque vale, father," Will said to his father. He rose from his position, determined to follow out his father's final wish: he would take on the responsibility of the kingdom and marry Tessa Gray.
YAY WE'RE AT 300 REVIEWS NOW :D
So, there was a bunch going on in this chapter. And I'm sad to announce that this was the last chapter :( Kind of not very exciting, yeah. But, there will still be an epilogue, because let's be real guys, I can't end this story here, right? So I'll put that up soon :)
Review! You know the drill!
