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“A phoenix?” Thicket had asked the Sculptor as it handed her her totem. “Is this even possible?”

“As long as there is a soul to be claimed, there is no limitation to what animal can be united with a human. And what better union than a phoenix and the queen who has been reborn again and again?”

Lavender’s raven couldn’t stop its trajectory in time and was devoured by the phoenix’s flames.

Thicket stood. Her legs shook and her chest still seared with pain but it was more manageable, the burn already scabbing over. She met Lavender’s eyes. They were wild and livid as she stared at the phoenix coiled behind her.

“Of course,” Lavender hissed. “In the world where you were deemed the chosen one, what else would your Aneuma be other than a mockery of mine?”

“When are you going to stop comparing us?” Thicket asked.

“My whole life has been set up to be a constant reminder of how different we are. You were blessed with everything while I had to work for every scrap.”

“You think I had it easy?” Thicket seethed. She might not have remembered what her life was like before the curse, but the life Thicket knew had been hell. “We all have our own problems, sister. And there isn’t a single one that can justify taking your anger out on thousands of people.”

“I don’t know,” Lavender said. “I found it rather therapeutic. Yoa!”

Her raven swirled to life, shooting for Thicket. Her phoenix intercepted it and the two took to the skies in a storm of steaming water and livid blue flames.

Lavender lunged, “Zel yt tennyrr!”

Her sword clashed against Thicket’s as a clap of lightning struck the ground beside her.

Thicket’s hairs stood on end and shriveled locks of her curls fluttered to the ground. She struggled to parry Lavender’s attack, eyes flitting about in search of the next strike. It flashed in the corner of her eye. She side stepped, ankle rolling over a chunk of stone protruding from the floor. She fought for balance and cried out as she put pressure on her ankle. It was like miniature bone fragments had exploded beneath her skin. But she couldn’t stop moving. She dove out of the path of the next strike, only to slam into solid stone. The very earth beneath her was rising up, boxing her in.

Thicket shoved against the walls as they closed in but she was pushed closer and closer to the wall at her back. Her ribs screamed.

She was going to die, overwhelmed with the sheer amount of Lavender’s attacks.

If you had attacked properly from the start, Marcellus’ voice drawled in her ear, Delmore would have lost immediately.

Elian had told her magic was affected by one’s emotion and mental state. She was still acting like she was out of her league against Lavender. Still letting her fear of not being good enough rule her mind and her actions.

What would happen when she let go of those fears? What would happen if she started fighting like she knew in the very depths of her soul that she could win?

“Fya!” Fire exploded around her, shattering the stone walls. Lavender shielded her face from the chunks of flying debris. Thicket used the distraction to cross the distance between them. Her ankle swayed, threatening to give out, but she ground her teeth and shoved back the pain. Fire coiled around her sword as she lunged. Lavender threw her blade up at the last second. Thicket didn’t let her catch her breath. She let her footwork guide her sword. It danced through the air, sharp and quick, forcing Lavender back, back, back. Sweat rolled down Lavender’s face. Her movements were sluggish, her breathing ragged, her hold on the sword weak.

Thicket twisted her blade and Lavender’s sword flew from her hands, clattering to the ground across the throne room. Thicket advanced, sword outstretched. Lavender backed away. Sweat and dust coated her face, dipping into the deep, harsh lines of her fury. She didn’t look beautiful or regal anymore. She looked like she was seconds away from snapping.

Lavender’s ankles hit the dais of the throne. She was backed into a corner and had nowhere else to go.

“Fya!” A column of fire shot up between them. The purple snapped, but it had no bite left. Thicket cut through the flames with a single swipe of her sword.

“Why won’t you die?” There was a note of insanity in Lavender’s voice, a century worth of frustrations and anxieties pooling into her voice.

Thicket ignored her and said, “Liyr.” It was the same incantation Lavender had used on the raven in her visions. The same incantation she had used to barter for information on her death.

And now, it was the incantation she used to restrain Lavender. Her sister’s arms and legs snapped together and she toppled to her knees. Lavender struggled against the invisible binds but it was no use. They wouldn’t budge.

Terror finally found its way into Lavender’s eyes as they dipped down to the sword Thicket leveled at the center of her chest.

All it would take to kill her would be a single thrust. Just one small movement would end it all. Would free them forever.

But Thicket couldn’t make herself cross that line.

Even after all the horrible things Lavender had done, Thicket couldn’t kill Lavender.

The story Lavender had told Thicket in her dreams, the one of the twin phoenixes. Both had started out as brilliant, fiery souls, just as she and Lavender had been. Lavender’s actions had corroded her soul and darkened her heart. She deserved to pay for all the cruelties she had inflicted upon the world.