Chapter 22: Skyfall
"I'm sorry, daughter… but I have no time to talk."
I stared at them, stunned.
What had Melody just said?
Father?
Magnus?
A thousand questions echoed in my mind, each louder than the last.
"Remember what I told you, Maddox?" Melody said, her voice calm but trembling. "About how these hands were the second greatest gift my father gave me?"
She raised her glowing fists.
"That's because the first—the greatest gift–-(the world went quiet as I read her lips and heard the words that followed ) Isn't that right, Rosavolt?"
Magnus smiled faintly. "I no longer go by that name, child."
"Well," Melody said, locking eyes with him, "it's the only name I know."
Her voice cracked with emotion.
"How could you…? You can't be the man my mother told me about. That man—he was kind. Loving. A protector.
Not this… monster."
Her hands clenched. Her voice rose, desperate, demanding.
"Why do you have that necklace? Why do you wear it?!"
Magnus didn't answer for a moment .
"That is because I made a vow that the day this rose left me would be the day my job was done." he smiled a genuine one this time.
He snapped his fingers.
From the earth, the statue I had seen that night in the cabin rose—towering, ominous, glowing with energy.
Another snap.
Chains erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around Melody. She gasped as they lifted her into the air, binding her limbs and suspending her like a puppet on strings.
"NO!" I screamed, struggling against my own restraints. My mind flashed with images of Ola… of Ren… of that night—those screams. The helplessness.
Magnus walked slowly toward her.
"Stay away from her, you bastard!" I roared, thrashing against the invisible force holding me in place.
He said nothing.
As he reached Melody, he gently wiped the tears from her cheek. It was almost… tender. Almost human.
Then, in a quiet, reverent motion, he placed something around her neck.
The necklace.
The golden chain with the black rose.
Melody's eyes widened in shock.
Before she could speak—before I could even process what was happening—the ground beneath her opened.
And she was gone.
"NOOOOO!"
I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat like a wild animal. My heart pounded, my body shook.
Magnus turned to me, calm as ever.
"Do not worry, boy. She was just… moved. Somewhere else."
The bounds around me loosened as I fell to the ground.
"Now I know you know—"
I launched at him, not even listening. Ice spikes shot out from my palms in every direction. I didn't let him finish his sentence.
He smiled. "So be it. If this is how you want to finish this, I accept."
I needed a plan. If the ice shards weren't going to work, then close combat was my only choice.
As expected, he evaded all the ice. They smashed into the wall, cracking it with each strike. I stood, eyes locked on him, and spread my arms. Ice crusted over my hands as the air around me twisted. A sharp panel of ice formed—shifting, contorting—until it became a sword. Blue and white. Sharp. Long.
I gripped it with both hands.
The Cold Excalibur.
In one sweep, I lunged toward Magnus. The floor behind me cracked, exploding into pieces. From his palms, two black, rusted chains formed as he launched himself toward me. Our attacks collided, sending shockwaves through the air. The cathedral trembled—the mirage breaking—as the walls burst apart.
We were now outside.
The skies were gray, the wind howled. A storm was forming.
I didn't wait. I blitzed toward him at lightning speed—but it wasn't fast enough. Magnus blitzed too. Clash after clash. Ice blade to chain steel.
Magnus laughed, like he was having the time of his life.
We stood on the battlefield. Priests and knights watched in awe.
"You've grown strong, boy," he said. "But this is not enough."
I dropped my two-handed grip.
If one sword wouldn't do… then two.
A second ice sword materialized in my hand, identical to the first.
Dual wielding.
I charged. He hurled slithering chains—one, two, three, four—flying at me, sharp and fast. A single hit could be death.
Mid-air, I struck them down one by one. The clang of steel and ice echoed through the field.
Still not enough.
From my back, a shadow arm formed—then another. Each wielding a sword. If not two, then three… no, four.
I lunged again, slashing over and over. He dodged, barely, but the attacks kept coming. When he saw the shadow arms, his eyes lit up with twisted glee.
He fired a chain at me.
"Bind!"
I moved out of the way—lightning fast.
"More!" I shouted.
The skies exploded with lightning. The winds screamed.
Six. Seven. Eight.
"Ice Barrage!"
Magnus laughed—then turned serious.
"Death Beam!" he roared.
A red beam tore through the clouds, wrapped in raw chaos. It screamed through the sky, aimed at me.
The swords on my back vanished—transformed into two massive ice shields.
The impact was devastating. My body shook. Ice shards scattered into the air. It hurt like hell—but I blocked it.
He was Magnus, after all. The greatest mage the world had ever known.
He let out a deep growl as the skies darkened. "Come forth… my chains!"
From his palms, a tsunami of steel chains burst out—writhing, merging into a massive pillar of pure metal, hurling straight at me.
With my two swords, I clasped my hands together. Ice cracked and formed into one gigantic blade.
I wasn't dodging.
I was going to cut it in half.
Channeling all my strength, I brought the sword down.
Metal met ice.
Explosion. Dust. Wind.
I had done it—a clean slice.
Through the clearing debris, I stared into his eyes.
Magnus.
The man who had taken everything.
Ola. Ren. All of them.
As if the skies themselves felt my rage, thunder cracked above.
Magnus smirked. "If only you were this strong back then… maybe," he said, "maybe you could've saved—"
Boom.
Shadows burst from my back. No arms this time. No form. Just pure chaos—a storm of black mist flooding the air.
"Don't you dare." I said.
The sword in my arms turned black. A cold blue mist surrounded it.
I gritted my teeth.
This ends now.
"BLACK ICE!"
A wave erupted—tearing through sand and stone. The battlefield shattered.
A violent tidal wave of black shadow-light hurled toward Magnus.
He smiled again, dropping his chains. Arms wide open.
He was going to catch it?
Impossible.
Not this time.
The collision was monstrous—
But somehow, he caught it.
I screamed: "Black Ice Barrage!"
From my back, eight arms appeared, each holding a sword of black ice. Each unleashed its own beam of deadly, shadowed light.
One for Ola.
One for Ren.
One for Bethany.
For Isaac.
Eliza.
And everyone we lost.
The skies cried thunder.
Explosion after explosion blasted across the field.
Magnus's clothes were torn, shredded by the razor-sharp light. His skin cut and bleeding.
I gave him no breath.
I rose into the sky, then came crashing down. My final strike in hand.
The sword of black ice.
Below, he tried to gather the energy—all those attacks bundled into one ball of darkness.
He coughed blood, struggling to control it.
Then— BOOM!
A final explosion of black energy. It rippled outward, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Magnus flew across the land.
It was over.
It had to be.
The air went still as Magnus stood, blood dripping from every pore in his body. Slowly, he rose.
"The time has come," he said.
How? How was this possible? I had put everything I had into that attack.
"You can't see it, can you, boy?" he continued. "None of your generation can. The ash, Maddox. Since that day, I knew—it was the ash of the tree that would set us free. And now your ash… your spark… it fills this battlefield, and yet you still can't see it."
He raised his hands above his head, smiling with twisted glee.
The statue—almost as if it had been waiting—burst from the ground. Cracked and tattered, barely holding together.
"Unlike you, boy, I can't use magic freely anymore. This world has rejected me… and others like me. Without this statue, filled with the countless lives I've sacrificed, I could never conduct my final plan."
"My greatest masterpiece the urn of the dead" he let out a weak smile.
"On that day, Maddox," he said, voice trembling with passion, "I saw that I would have to sacrifice everything… for this."
The statue began to glow, pulling air into its core. The once-clear battlefield turned black. Was this… the ash he spoke of?
The priests raised their hands. The royals of Veloria followed. A red light began to pour from the center of their bodies—as if their very souls were being pulled away. One by one, they fell to the ground.
"No!" I shouted, rage flooding my voice. "You're killing them!"
Magnus only smiled.
"The world will remember me as a madman. That's what I thought for years. I wondered what they'd write about me. What they'd say, knowing what I'd done. What kind of monster experiments with human life?"
Chains exploded from the ground, binding me in place. I screamed as my magic was torn from me, the shadows bursting forward, writhing against the chains.
"But then it hit me, boy," Magnus said, eyes glowing. "They only call you a madman if you fail."
The statue pulsed violently. I screamed, trying to break free—but it was too late.
The last royal fell.
Silence.
And then—Magnus spoke softly.
"Today… I did not fail."
From the statue, a black beam of light erupted—surrounded by shadows and red lightning. It pierced the heavens, shaking the world with a sound like thunder breaking apart the stars.
The skies… tore open.
Just like that day in the woods. All those years ago.
Red light. Cracking skies. Shards of the heavens themselves rained down.
Magnus stood laughing as he looked into the open void.
"Today, I have completed my goal. Today, I have set us free. Today… the skies come crashing down."
The world trembled. Cracks formed through the air itself, revealing something beyond—a dome, transparent and glinting in the light .
I could barely breathe.
As the bindings fell, I collapsed.
But a hand caught me.
"Melody…"
She held me steady. Her voice shook.
"Maddox… Mother used to tell me stories. Of a man who would risk it all for his people. A king ruined by the world. I didn't know back then… that man was Magnus. My father."
She looked at the battlefield, her fists glowing with blue fire.
"I was angry. That he abandoned me. That he left us. But I loved the arms he gave me. I respected the man Mother once loved."
Her tears flowed freely.
"She said one day I'd have to face him. That when I did, I'd know… it would be my responsibility."
Flames exploded from her fists.
"My responsibility… to let him rest."
"Mel—" I started, but she was already gone.
She stood across from Magnus now, flames searing the ground.
"Father…" she thought, "I don't know if I should hate you. I don't know what brought you to this. But it's okay now. Rest. Please. Let this end."
Her flames turned violent, coating the battlefield in scorching light.
"I remember being so grateful for these hands," she shouted. "Mother told me about your sacrifices. About Rosavolt. About the pain you carried. You gave me strength. But that wasn't the greatest gift you gave me."
She stepped forward, flames howling.
"You gave me the greatest gift a father could ever give: the sacrifice of your own humanity… so I could live."
She slammed into him—fist first—straight to the center of his chest.
For a split second… Magnus looked at his daughter.
A single tear fell.
A smile followed.
Melody looked a lot like her mother; she had grown to be a strong woman magnus was proud.
"Be free, my wife. Be free and see the world for yourself… not trapped in a cage, not cursed for sins you never committed."
The flames turned green. The explosion engulfed the battlefield.
It's said that on that day, a father, a husband, and a king fell.
Some remember him as a villain. A curse that walked the earth. And perhaps they are right.
But there's an old saying:
A hero would give you up to save the world.
But a villain… would give the world up to save you.
And on that day, Magnus Wyrmsbane did just that.
He made history.
He brought the skies crashing down—
So that his wife and daughter could see a better world beyond this prison.
But the story doesn't end here.
Oh, no.
This is only the beginning.
Far away, in a frozen land unknown…
A giant man with a beard as white as frost sat upon his throne.
"No, no, no…" he growled, eyes locked on the horizon.
"This will not do."
His skin was pale blue, cold and lifeless. His eyes glowed like frozen stars. Mist curled around him like serpents.
"This… will not do at all."
He stood.
Then leapt.
From the highest peak, down onto the beach below. Ice cracked beneath his landing.
He stepped forward. The ocean froze solid under his feet.
Step by step… he walked toward the horizon.
"This will not do at all…"
Thus begins a new saga.
The Eternity of Ice.
To be continued...