Chapter 368: Won

Rebecca’s POV

By the time I returned outside again, I had to bend slightly and place my hands on my knees while I caught my breath. My body was beginning to protest every time I teleported, but when I looked behind me, there were still hundreds of warriors waiting to get inside.

Rola wasn’t doing much better. Sweat covered her forehead, and her arms were trembling from keeping her suppression field against the Dark Fire. The flames around our section had become noticeably weaker, but every time Rola’s concentration slipped, they immediately grew stronger again.

"How many more can you take?" Rola asked, breathing heavily as she kept her eyes on the barrier.

"I don’t know," I admitted as I straightened. "But I’m not stopping yet."

Rola glanced at me. "Don’t collapse in there."

"I’ll try not to if you promise the same thing," I replied.

"Deal," Rola said before turning her attention back to the Dark Fire.

Another group quickly gathered around me, and once twenty warriors were connected, I pictured the other side and teleported.

The moment we appeared, I knew the battle had changed again.

Our forces had pushed much farther into Plant Pack. The Tigers were still fighting aggressively, but they were losing ground. Melvin’s dragon swept over the battlefield above us, his massive wings beating through the air before he descended toward a group of Tiger fighters trying to surround our warriors. The impact of his landing shook the ground beneath my feet, and several Tigers scattered before he attacked.

Kaden’s wolves were causing even more chaos.

There seemed to be more of them every time I returned. They moved across the battlefield in groups, attacking from different directions and making it almost impossible for the Tigers to maintain any kind of formation. Some of the enemy fighters had clearly stopped trying to figure out which wolf was the real Kaden and were simply attacking whichever one came near them.

That wasn’t helping them.

One of Kaden’s wolves crashed into a Tiger twice the size of an ordinary man and drove him backward. Another leaped onto a second Tiger before he could attack one of our witches. Farther ahead, several identical wolves were fighting their way toward a stone building near the center of the territory.

My eyes narrowed.

That had to be where they were going.

The magicians.

Before I could watch any longer, a Tiger rushed toward me from my right. I reacted immediately, throwing out my hand and releasing a burst of force that caught him directly in the chest. His body flew backward and crashed into the ground several feet away.

Two more Tigers came toward me, but the warriors I’d just brought through intercepted them before they could reach me.

"Go!" one of the warriors shouted as he blocked a Tiger’s attack. "Bring the others!"

I didn’t need to be told twice.

I teleported back outside.

This time, the moment I appeared, my knees almost gave out.

Rola turned toward me. "Rebecca!"

"I’m fine," I said quickly, straightening before she could lose concentration worrying about me.

"You’re not fine," Rola argued while keeping both hands raised toward the flames. "You’re pale."

"It’s fine."

Rola looked like she wanted to argue, but a loud explosion from inside Plant Pack interrupted us.

Both of us turned toward the sound.

The Dark Fire suddenly surged.

"Shit!" Rola cried as she pushed both hands forward.

The flames rose violently before shrinking again under her suppression. Rola stumbled but managed to remain standing.

Something was happening inside.

I gathered another group.

"Rebecca, maybe you should wait," Rola warned.

"We’re close," I replied as the warriors connected around me. "I can feel it."

Before she could stop me, I teleported.

The moment I appeared inside Plant Pack, noise slammed into me from every direction. Wolves growled, Tigers roared, weapons collided, and magic exploded across different parts of the battlefield.

But my attention immediately went toward the center.

The stone building was under attack.

Dozens of Kaden’s wolves surrounded it while Tiger fighters desperately tried to stop them from getting inside. Every time one wolf fell back injured, another took its place. The Tigers were throwing everything they had at them, but Kaden’s wolves kept coming.

Then one of them broke through.

The wolf slammed into a Tiger guarding the entrance and disappeared into the building.

Several more followed.

My heart jumped.

One of those had to be Kaden.

I didn’t know how I knew, but I was suddenly certain the real Kaden was heading for the magicians.

Suddenly, the Dark Fire around Plant Pack flickered.

Everyone noticed.

For half a second, even some of the Tigers stopped fighting.

Then the flames returned.

"They’re reaching them!" someone shouted nearby.

Our warriors surged forward.

The Tigers fought harder.

I should have gone back for another group, but my body refused to move for a second as I watched the building.

A violent blast exploded from inside.

Part of the wall shattered outward.

Several wolves were thrown through the opening, hitting the ground hard. My stomach dropped as I watched one of them struggle to stand.

Was that Kaden?

I had no idea.

Another explosion followed.

Then another.

The Dark Fire flickered again.

This time, it didn’t recover immediately.

A roar rose from our warriors.

"They’re weakening!" one of the witches shouted.

The Tigers clearly realized it too because several abandoned their fights and rushed toward the building.

They never made it.

Melvin dropped from the sky directly into their path.

His enormous dragon landed with enough force to shake the ground, and his wings spread wide as he blocked them from reaching the building. The Tigers immediately attacked him, but Melvin met them head-on while Kane and several warriors rushed forward to support him.

I finally forced myself to move.

I teleported outside again.

My legs gave out the moment I appeared.

I dropped to one knee, breathing hard.

"Rebecca!" Rola called.

"I’m okay," I managed.

"No, you’re not."

Before I could argue, the Dark Fire suddenly shook.

It didn’t flicker this time.

It shook.

The black and red flames twisted violently as if something was tearing them apart from the inside.

Rola gasped and nearly fell forward.

Then the pressure against her power disappeared.

Her hands dropped.

For several seconds, neither of us understood what had happened.

The Dark Fire began shrinking.

All around Plant Pack, the enormous wall of flames collapsed toward the ground. The black fire disappeared first, followed by the red, until entire sections of the barrier vanished completely.

Rola stared at the empty space in front of us.

"I didn’t do that," she whispered.

I knew.

Someone inside had killed the people maintaining it.

That someone was Kaden.

A roar erupted from the army behind us.

The barrier was gone.

The commanders didn’t waste a second.

"MOVE!" one of them shouted.

Hundreds of warriors charged forward.

There was no longer any need for me to teleport them.

They flooded into Plant Pack from every direction, and within moments, the balance of the battle completely changed.

I forced myself back onto my feet as Rola grabbed my arm.

"Can you walk?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied, even though my legs felt like they belonged to someone else.

"Good," Rola said as she caught her breath. "Because I’m done holding back that damn fire."

Despite everything happening around us, I almost laughed.

We entered Plant Pack together.

Without the Dark Fire protecting them, the Tiger forces began collapsing quickly. They were still dangerous, but now they were surrounded. Wolves poured into the territory from every direction, while witches and gifted fighters who had been forced to conserve their powers began attacking freely.

Melvin remained in dragon form above us, diving toward groups of Tigers whenever they tried to reorganize. Kane led warriors through the center of the battlefield while commanders shouted orders from different directions.

And Kaden’s wolves were still everywhere.

But there were fewer now.

Much fewer.

My stomach tightened when I noticed.

Some had disappeared completely, while others were injured and moving slower than before. I searched desperately for the real Kaden among them, but I still couldn’t tell which one he was.

Then another wolf disappeared.

And another.

The duplicates were vanishing one after another.

Finally, only a handful remained.

One of them shifted.

I stopped.

Kaden appeared in human form several feet away, covered in blood and breathing heavily. I couldn’t tell how much of the blood belonged to him, but there was a deep cut across his shoulder and another wound along his side.

He was alive.

The relief that hit me was stronger than I wanted to admit.

Kane reached him first and grabbed his arm to steady him when he stumbled.

"You pushed too far," Kane said angrily, tossing him a pair of pants.

"We got through," Kaden replied, breathing hard.

That sounded exactly like him.

Kaden looked across the battlefield before raising his voice.

"Kill everyone. None must escape."

The wolves answered with fierce growls before charging forward once again.

What remained of the Tiger forces didn’t last much longer. They were all killed, and slowly, the sounds of fighting began to disappear.

For the first time since we arrived, I could hear myself breathe.

Rola stood beside me, exhausted and covered in dirt. I probably looked just as bad.

"Did we..." Rola started before swallowing. "Did we actually win?"

I looked around.

Our warriors controlled the entrances.

The Dark Fire was gone.

The Tiger flags were being pulled down.

Healers were already rushing toward the injured while commanders searched the buildings for prisoners and any Tigers still hiding inside.

"We won," I breathed.

Rola let out a shaky laugh.

We had actually done it.