Chapter 20: Dr. Liam

  Azurewrath.

  She was beautiful, perfect, and dangerous.

  Even though I have kept the memories as far away and guarded as possible, it all came flooding into me again as soon as I saw the familiar glow of her. I swam deeper into the dark depths, wanting to get away from the Institute as far as possible, before I was too submerged into my memories and hurt someone.

  I remember the familiar weight of Azurewrath on my hand as I stood up and finally faced Frederick in the First Ocean War.

  “Here we are, Liam. Look at all the damage we’ve both caused,” he chuckled evilly, sauntering up to me with a smug expression.

  I could only look on in sorrow. The innocent grains of sand were littered with bodies of hybrids, humans, and animals, and I wanted it to end, for everything to end. But, the only way to stop Frederick was to stop him myself.

  “I never asked for a war, Frederick. All I wanted was a safe place where people could live peacefully,” I replied.

  “It never happened, didn’t it? You’re a murderer, Liam, killing people so that you could have what you want. If you allowed me to take over the governments above and rule both land and water, this wouldn’t have happened. You brought all of this to yourself, Liam, and you are responsible for all of the deaths caused today. Such young, innocent children they were,” Frederick crowed.

  His tongue was as sharp and clever as a snake’s, and I knew that he would do anything to make me give in.

  “Do you know the difference between a murderer and a martyr? Murderers let other people die for their greed and want, but martyrs willingly give their lives for a better future. Have you ever known what it’s like to lay down your life for others, Frederick? You know that taking over the world won’t improve anything. This world is doomed to die because of our actions, and we can’t fix our mistakes this time. It’s time to let go, Frederick,” I said, knowing that his actions always had a motive behind it.

  “Let go? After all I’ve done? You must be kidding, Liam. Your students might die because they want to, but you were always in the way. You always stopped me from being greater than I ever could. If only you weren’t here, I would have the entire world under my power,” he growled, unable to contain his madness as he increased in volume.

  “I wasn’t forcing you to stop, Frederick. I was only trying to let you see the deadly consequences of your actions. I beg you to stop, for the sake of our future,” I pleaded, hoping that he would listen to me this time.

  “Nice try, Liam. I didn’t ask you to come up here and talk your trash to me. I asked you to come so that we could settle our score and see who is the true master of the ocean!" he bellowed and charged straight at me.

  I flung Azurewrath in a deadly arc, her blade marking Venom, Frederick’s spear. Venom glowed a mad shade of red, and it pulsed with bloody delight as he blocked me.

  “Please, Frederick, there is a better way to solve this!” I cried, lifting Azurewrath only to protect myself.

  Hopeful at the time, I thought I could change Frederick. But look where that got me to.

  “Yes, there is, Liam. Just let me take over your Institute and the countries above. It’s so simple, isn’t it? All you have to do is say yes, and this will be over fast enough.”

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  He grinned maniacally at me, as if this amused him.

  “I can’t, Frederick. I can’t let you wreck anyone else’s life anymore. The reason this whole world’s a mess was because of us. If only Father killed me when he had the chance, this whole situation wouldn’t happen. You would have a happy, content life on land, and no one would have to live in the hell that we both created underneath the ocean. Please, Frederick, let go of your side of the burden. You need to stop creating these genetic creatures and stop playing God. We had no right to meddle with His language of creation, and we are now paying the price of it,” I pleaded.

  I knew that I wouldn’t last longer; my adrenaline was fading, while Frederick’s blows kept on getting stronger.

  Venom twisted around me, bruising and battering me with slight cuts that seeped poison into my veins.

  Each second that passed sealed my fate, and I knew I was about to die. The poison threatened to crawl into my heart and brain, slowing my blows dramatically. I couldn’t even think straight as I weakly waved Venom away with Azurewrath. With a harsh kick at my calves, my body caved in. I laid there helplessly while Frederick triumphantly kicked me over.

  “Oh, that was a sweet monologue, Liam. I think those will be your last words, don’t you think? You’ve gotten weaker, Liam. The poison in Venom will slowly seep into all of your organ systems, shutting them down one by one. Or, do you want me to spare you the pain of a slow death and cut off your head? Either way, you will wither and die with the grains of sand while I, I, will last forever,” he laughed cruelly, prodding me with Venom.

  Azurewrath lay beside me, glittering in my hand.

  Forever.

  He said forever. No, it couldn’t be. No one could live forever - unless they were a machine. I finally realized why he kept on getting stronger as we fought. Half of his body was a robot; he sacrificed his living parts for a mechanical one, one so sensitive and complex that it looked, acted, and was better than living flesh.

  “I said, which way do you want to die?” Frederick repeated, his voice growing impatient.

  Die?

  It was too late for me to die.

  If I died now, the entire human species would crumble under Frederick’s hand.

  No one knew him as well as I did. I thought of Solari, my love, Amber, my precious daughter, Edana, my foster daughter, and my only son somewhere on land, and I knew I had to live. It was so much easier dying, and my body screamed at me to give up and stop breathing once and for all, but I couldn’t leave my family and the children at the mercy of Frederick.

  With the last of my dying strength, I snapped Azurewrath straight into Frederick’s left hemisphere, and channeled my power through her.

  “Stop,” I murmured, unable to kill him. I

  felt Azurewrath’s searing metal burn at the power I channeled into, and my lungs gasped as the energy rushed out of my body. Frederick’s body toppled onto me, a smirk and wordless howl smeared at his face.

  But, he wasn’t done. With the last of his power he pulled me up and slashed Venom right across my face just as I pulled Azurewrath out and stabbed Azurewrath right through his heart. The pain instantly spread through my face as I slumped onto the ground, Frederick’s body lying on top of me and my vision blurry with my own blood.

  “Liam! Help, Liam is injured!”

  Was that Sora’s voice? As he pushed away Frederick’s body, I saw his familiar black hair billowing in the combination of water currents and my blood, and his warm light brown eyes crinkled in worry.

  “Sora, you’re here,” I sighed as he lifted my head onto his lap.

  “Liam, don’t you dare die on me. You didn’t create this Institute just so that you could die and hand it over to me and the guys. Remember, we all die together, right?”

  Sora’s voice pitched as he held me, worry and fear written all over his face.

  “Yes, best friends for life,” I whispered, my vision slowly darkening.

  “Stay with me, please. Liam, we all need you. Gunnar, Orion, and Rafael need you too. Please,” Sora pleaded, cradling me until the medical team took me away.

  I couldn’t use Azurewrath after that, and Venom left a jarring, long diagonal scar across my face for the whole world to see of my failure.

  The spear was internally broken when I stabbed her into the diamond-encrusted brain of Frederick’s, until Altair came.

  But the question was: why did it work for him?