Mrs. Crow, knowing she didn’t have to hold back, seized the opportunity and charged at her brother but he was too fast. He hit her in the abdomen, pushing the air out of her lungs and throwing her several feet out of the house. She fell onto the horizon grass with a THUD, bounced a few feet more and then rolled after which she came to a complete stop.

  She sucked in air, breathing heavily as she stood to her feet. She had to kill her brother and also kill the two messengers and retrieve the orb. She couldn’t hold back.

  “Hrah!” her brother screamed, spreading his arms wide open and releasing a shockwave that crumbled the house upon him. Out of the rubble, he emerged alongside the two messengers and the orb in his hand.

  “Looks like this is where you’ll die too,” he said to Crow who was still holding her abdomen in pain.

  “Since you’ll die here, I’ll tell you that Annabelle and her friends are back at her house still tied up and I’d like to kill them when I’m done with you.”

  “Now sister, show me your true power!” he screamed at Crow who knew she was outnumbered and couldn’t hesitate for a second.

  He motioned for the two messengers to attack her and watched as they charged at his sister.

  With a loud roar, they quickly closed the distance between themselves and Crow, Duncan getting to her first.

  He slashed at her, aiming for her throat but she ducked and quickly got around him, grabbed him around the waist and threw him onto the grass.

  “Oh come on sister, show your true power!” Pepper insisted as he watched.

  James jumped at her and managed to push her to the ground. Her reflexes kicking in, she grabbed him by the horn and kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying several feet back.

  I have to kill these things, she decided as she watched them run towards the rubble and effortlessly picked up some broken pieces of wood which were large and sharp enough to pierce right through her.

  I definitely have to kill them, she thought, getting more serious as they ran at top speed past her brother and towards her.

  From a distance, they both threw the planks at her, sending them flying towards her at impossible speed. She dodged, a part of the wood brushing right past her eye.

  That was close, she thought.

  “I would have loved some extra practice on time control,” she muttered and chuckled as they approached her.

  To their surprise, she charged at them, colliding with them and throwing them off their feet.

  “Yes, show your true power, use it,” her brother muttered as he watched, his eyes wide open in expectation.

  She hit Duncan in the head, her fist passing right through his head with a CRUNCH.

  James stood to his feet, roared as if he were mourning and slashed at her again. She dodged, caught him by the arm, ripped it off and slapped him with his own arm, sending him flying several feet back.

  Midair, she jumped after him and stabbed him right in the neck with his own claws, his blood muffling his gargled screams as he landed on the floor with a CRASH and then died.

  Not surprised, “Show your true power!” her brother insisted, slipping the orb into his coat pocket. The sky grew darker and a violent breeze blew through the tall thick barked trees, causing their branches to dance.

  “Come on! I want to enjoy this!” he yelled as he charged at her, releasing a shockwave behind him. Crow did the same, not holding back and they collided with a loud CRASH, causing the shockwaves to destroy the surrounding trees.

  The clouds grew even darker and it started to look like it was about to rain.

  “Come on sister, show me your true power,” Pepper whispered, his hands pressing hard against those of his sister as if they were trying to push each other away.

  He took a few steps back and quickly punched her repeatedly, nearly breaking her bones with each punch he landed.

  Mrs. Crow, cloaked by pain, managed to stand to her feet.

  “I will end you here,” she said as her eyes glowed red and her body began to glow a light red.

  “Boring,” her brother said as she charged at him with a punch aimed at his face. He easily dodged, grabbed her hand and flipped her intending her to fall to the ground but she didn’t. She had twisted midair and landed back on her feet.

  She hit his arm, breaking free of his grip and jumped backwards, closely examining him. Why was he so strong?

  “Come on, use it!” he yelled and levitated. He had gotten serious this time. His eyes glowed a bright gold and his fists were crackling with electricity.

  “Use it!” he yelled in a thundering voice. Thunderbolts flickered in the skies and he put his hands in the air, channeling lightning right into his body.

  Mrs. Crow quickly raised her hands and controlled the fallen trees. She hurled her hands at him, and the trees darted towards him in obedience.

  “Hrah! Use your true power!” he insisted, shooting lightning bolts at the trees and setting them on fire.

  It started to rain.

  Crow ascended to meet him in the air and quickly yet precisely, they went toe to toe with each other, Mrs. Crow determined to kill him.

  “Use your true power!” he screamed, saliva splashing out of his mouth as they went even higher, their bodies crashing against the rain.

  Soon, they were surrounded by bolts of lightning in the dark rainy clouds.

  Mrs. Crow charged at her brother and tried to punch him. He blocked it. Balling up a flaming fist despite the rain, she tried hitting him but he dodged. She tried again and again, her brother refusing to attack until finally, she hit him, sending him flying down and crashing onto the ground with a BOOM.

  “Finally,” he squealed, struggling to get on his feet as she descended to hit him with one final blow. He quickly stepped out of the way and she crashed into the ground, making a big hole. She flew out of the hole and then something that looked like a tattoo quickly flickered on her head and faded away.

  “Why did you stop?!” Use it!” her brother insisted, thunderclaps and rain almost completely masking his voice. He took out the summoning orb from his jacket and raised it high, summoning the Wraith of Haggrid Hallows.

  “I guess you didn’t tell Annabelle that Haggrid Hallows was the original name of the town now called Hampton!” Pepper yelled, looking up at his sister as he charged at her alongside the Wraith.

  Mrs. Crow was too slow to react and the wraith reaching her first, stabbed her in the gut, sinking its claws into her and sending a gust of pain through her body. Her head felt light and the world started to spin.

  As if that wasn’t enough, her brother stabbed her in the side with a knife and punched her again, sending her flying to the ground. He finally decided to kill me, she thought as she fell. She hit the floor with a THUD, rain soaking her as everything started to look blurry.

  “I will definitely protect you,” her own words to Annabelle ran through her mind as she saw her brother's silhouette descend and approach her, the Wraith beside her. She was losing consciousness.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I have to use it, I have to use it, were the thoughts that ran through her mind as her brother conjured a ball of lighting in his hand, ready to end her.

  “I will kill Annabelle Peterson just as I killed our parents,” he whispered into her ear and hit her with the lightning, not holding back.

  A gust of pain shot through Mrs. Crow’s body. It was like her bones had been set on fire. She screamed, hoping her wails would take away the pain, but it just got worse. Her screams got louder till all she could do was open her mouth without making a single sound.

  But at that moment, something strange happened. Crow found herself in a destroyed city. There was rubble everywhere and no matter where she looked, there were dead bodies. She touched herself, just remembering her brother had hit her with his final attack.

  Am I dead? She thought, then observed more closely. Her body hovered over the space, as she observed the destroyed cars, buildings, murdered animals, and corpses sprawled around.

  Then something caught her eye.

  She squinted, moving towards the inanimate object. It seemed to be a sign post.

  On getting there, she tilted her head, mouthing some words as she tried to read the text on the post. Realizing what it was, her pupils shrank, and she hovered backwards in terror, looking at the text that read; WELCOME TO HAMPTON.

  Did her brother finally destroy the city?

  ***

  Meanwhile, Pepper quickly put the wraith back in the orb.

  “Looks like my work here is done!” he screamed, his back turned against Crow’s lifeless corpse.

  For a moment, he felt sadness. He wished they could have fought for longer as he slowly walked away.

  “Not quite,” a strange voice said. In surprise, he turned around to see that it was Crow.

  Crow at full power.

  Her hair glowed a bright white, her eyes too. Her body became partially transparent, glowing white with blue veins running all over her body. She looked like a spirit, an unfriendly one.

  On her glowing forehead was the tattoo of a flying Crow.

  “Impressive,” her brother said, a bit scared.

  “Die!” she yelled in a voice that wasn’t hers, charged at him and the battle raged on. Being faster than him this time, she grabbed him by the neck. He struggled to break free, but couldn’t as he threw balls of lightning, fire, electricity, anything he could at her but they just bounced right off her body. She threw him to the ground, sending him crashing against the mud.

  Pepper, knowing his chances of winning had been reduced, reached into his jacket to pull out the orb but it wasn’t there.

  He noticed the orb laying on the floor, the same distance between him and his sister. He winced, as he stood, the heavy rain pouring on him, drenching him.

  Without thinking, he darted for the orb in an attempt to grab it and use it but his sister was too fast. In a flash, she got there before him, picked up the orb and grabbed him by the neck again.

  “Why don’t we end this here?” she said in her echoing voice as she threw the orb in the air and snapped her fingers, causing it to disappear. Where did it go?

  She threw him away again, and attacked him without giving him breathing space. Pepper somehow managed to dodge and block some attacks but not all. The ones that hit him, hit with a CRUNCH, sending jolts of pain all over his body as his bones cracked.

  She hit him again and again and again, and struck him with lightning but somehow, he was still alive but barely.

  Refusing to accept defeat, in pain, he crawled on his belly across the grass as if he had somewhere to go.

  Mrs. Crow slowly walked over to him, and stood over the seemingly dead Pepper Crow.

  He groaned, rolling over to his back and then started to laugh despite the pain he felt.

  “I will kill you here,” he said, and summoned what seemed to be his last strength, then shot a jolt of lightning right at her head.

  To his surprise, she absorbed it and redirected it back at him, sending the lightning right through his chest, barely missing his heart.

  “Aaaaaaarrgh!” he yelled, blood in his mouth as the rain poured down on them both.

  “Kill me! Finish me! Where did you get such power?! Doom will come for you all!” he yelled, confused and in pain.

  “This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. Where did you get such power?” he said weakly as he coughed up blood.

  He was dying.

  Then he spoke, the words barely coming out of his mouth. “I will end you right here.” His body jerked, then twitched.

  Crow looked at him in confusion. “You are already a dead man, just accept it,” she said. He laughed, his laughter sounding gargled as blood filled his throat.

  Something wasn’t right. Why is his life force increasing? Crow thought.

  Could it be? She sent her fist at his chest, putting all her strength into the punch. Her fist landed with a loud BOOM, sending earth fragments flying all over. Then the dust cleared, and she realized she punched the floor.

  “I never thought I would have to use this,” Pepper said, but his voice wasn’t his. It sounded like Doom.

  Mrs. Crow’s pupils shrank, as she spun around, recognizing the voice.

  It was her brother standing there, but someone else was speaking through him.

  Pepper could barely stand as he hunched over, breathing raggedly. His clothes were torn, and his hair was a mess.

  “Oh dear sister of mine,” he muttered, then his appearance started to change.

  His hair grew dark, and his skin became a deathly pale, devoid of all color. His pupils vanished, leaving his eyes completely white.

  “Behold the true power of Doom!” he bellowed, releasing a shockwave that destroyed the surroundings even more.

  This is my chance! Crow darted at him, moving too fast for the eye to track. She sent her palm flying at him, in an attempt to slap his head off, but by the time she had attacked, he got behind her.

  Before she could react, he kicked her in the back, sending her flying. She crashed into a faraway tree which was split in half the moment she made contact.

  Pepper screamed, opening his mouth as he faced the sky. Red mist poured from his mouth as he seemed to be in pain. He doubled over, thrashing around as he clawed at his stomach, tearing off his skin with his claws. Blood seeped into the ground, as he tore himself open. His organs had become barely visible, when he stopped.

  He was in a kowtow position on the floor, unmoving.

  Meanwhile, Crow had recovered from the last attack. She looked at him from a distance which was at least three hundred meters away and then she vanished, reappearing in front of her brother.

  Within a fraction of a second, she conjured a greatsword out of nothing. It glowed a bright blue, and was transparent, like a jellyfish. Then she struck downward towards her brother who was still kowtowed.

  But the sword met resistance.

  Her brother, within the blink of an eye, had readjusted his position and blocked the attack with a dark sword, kneeling down.

  He looked up at her, and on his forehead was the tattoo of a bull.

  Doom’s sigil, Crow thought, recognizing the tattoo.

  She was about to ask her brother why he had betrayed the Crow bloodline by accepting power from such an abomination when he slashed at her. She barely ducked under the attack, and the blade seemed to slice through air, sending a shockwave that decimated the trees behind, traveling into the city.

  Screams filled Crow’s ears as the shockwave destroyed a part of Hampton. She looked behind her in concern, but her brother had other plans.

  “It’s rude to ignore your opponent,” he said, and before Crow could return her gaze, he closed the little distance between them, slamming his fist on her head. The punch connected cleanly and she was sent flying, pangs of pain shooting through her head as she hit the ground.

  “Let me give you more power,” a voice in her head said as she stood.

  It was Doom’s voice.

  She shrugged it off and charged at her brother.

  They clashed swords, throwing wild slashes at each other, evenly matched. One hour went by, and Crow was slowly getting the upper hand. Another hour passed, and Pepper started to struggle. He could barely keep up and had multiple cuts on his body. He panted heavily, staring at his sister.

  He looked at her, seeming to rethink his battle strategy, then his body twitched. Crow knew what he wanted to do so she lunged at him first. They both clashed swords, shattering their swords in the process.

  “Aaaargh!” Pepper screamed, almost looking relieved.

  “Inscendia!” A huge fireball, bigger than a two-storey building, flew towards Crow. She curled her fingers, making her right hand seem like a gun as she shot her hand forward, making contact with the flame. The flame burst into smaller balls of fire, and set the nearby trees on fire.

  Pepper swayed back and forth, seeming to be drunk, then his body started to duplicate, until there were at least two thousand of him.

  Before Crow could react, they all charged at the same time.

  Mrs. Crow took hits. She barely deflected his attacks, only protecting her vital organs. The crow tattoo on her forehead started to flicker, and she could not keep her current form for much longer.

  One by one, she killed her brother’s clones, until there was just one left.

  Pepper clapped slowly, approaching her.

  “Well done for holding out this long,” he said, when Crow felt a sharp pain in her back and then her chest.

  She looked down, and saw a blade protruding from her chest.