The dining room wasn’t like what I imagined. I conjured a long table of sturdy wood and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling in my mind, with tapestries decorating the walls and long, floor to ceiling windows with a sight to the flowery courtyard beyond. Instead, we were greeted by a table of white marble, big enough to house up to eight people but not as big as I thought it would be, small windows all the way up near the ceiling, just barely giving off the faintest light of the moon, and glass cabinets with cutlery inside. There were no chandeliers, instead holders up in the walls with half-consumed candles, and a back door that probably connected to the kitchen.

Sebastian was standing beside the chair at the end of the table, the one that most likely belonged to the viscount. His right hand was on the table, and his eyes were closed.

Isabella was the first to attack, throwing knifes that Sebastian evaded by jumping up and away, all without turning around. He landed on the middle of the table, his eyes stoic as he regarded us all. His gaze stopped momentarily on Mathias and me, but he gave us no mind as this time Domenic attacked, drawing his sword and engaging him in combat.

Mathias put a hand on my head, sparing me a single glance before he closed his eyes and stood completely still. I felt the air shifting around him, almost imperceptibly so. Sebastian noticed as well, and he gave a kick on Domenic’s side that sent him sprawling against the floor, crushing one of the chairs under his weight. He jumped towards us, and I almost spit out my heart in fear, but Noah got him before he could get to us.

“Hey, old man! Your battle is with us!” he shouted, slicing at him brutally. Sebastian wasn’t even making an effort as he dodged lightly, just moving his body slightly in order to evade the damage.

“So the young master has forgone his fealty to his father” Sebastian muttered, still dodging. Domenic appeared behind him as Noah distracted him, but Sebastian easily deflected the blade with a flick from his wrist. Then he turned and swung at Domenic, who raised the sword and parried the butler’s bare palm. The blade crackled, and Domenic widened his eyes before another swung sent him spiraling against a wall. “You have allied yourself with outsiders. Your father will not be happy about this.”

Mathias furrowed his brows, but he did not fall victim to the taunting. Isabella threw another set of knifes and Sebastian kicked a chair up in defense. The knifes were embedded deeply on the wood of the chair, and before it fell on the floor again he kicked it towards her. Then he turned around and faced Noah.

“Seems I will be in charge of your punishment once more” he said, making to grab the glaive from Noah’s hands, but being frustrated by Domenic, who thrust upwards with his lance, making him take a step back.

The aura around Mathias shifted, turning as heavier as his mood. I felt in the flow of his magic and the mana around him how angry Sebastian’s words made him, and although I was curious about what he meant by ‘in charge of your punishment once more’, the situation at hand was more important. Softly, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Mathias, concentrate. We need to finish here so we can go help Lucas” I told him, using the thing he cared the most in the world to cheer him on, his little brother. My words seemed to have the intended effect, because he slowly breathed in, exhaled, and nodded before resuming his stance.

Sebastian lunged at us, once again being stopped by a combination of Noah and Domenic’s efforts, before he finally lost his patience. Clicking his tongue, he leaned down, avoiding Domenic’s lance and swinging at his legs. In the moment Domenic jumped to avoid it, he took a hold of the pole of the lance and pulled the other man close. His other hand went to his throat. In a single movement that completely stilled the room, he snapped his neck.

I screamed.

“Domenic!” Noah shouted, as Sebastian threw the man’s inert body to the side, discarding him like a piece of trash. “You…!”

He spun the glaive over his head, as if testing its lightness, before holding it in an offensive position, his brows furrowed. The long pole was under his arm as he glided forward, directly at Sebastian. The older man dodged, switching his weight to the left and made to grab the end of his weapon, but Noah was faster, spinning around and hitting him with the sharp end. Sebastian raised his arms, defending himself against the onslaught, before taking another step back, acquiring momentum to land a kick against his stomach. Noah flew backwards.

However, the butler didn’t have time to relax as Isabella stepped in, her short knifes shooting in his direction like bullets that he had to dance around, taking one of the stray knifes between his fingers and throwing it back at her. Isabella took a step to the side, but before she could see it, Sebastian was in front of her, taking her by the hair and slamming her against the glass shelf. Isabella yelled in pain.

Noah was immediately against him again, trusting the glaive at his head. Sebastian pushed back, his back bending, and his foot shot up to kick Noah’s chin. Noah barely had any time to dodge it. He moved back, to put distance between them, but Sebastian raised his hand and murmured something. In that same instant, small points of black light emerged from the air, shooting themselves towards Noah, who had just enough time to raise his glaive and try to cover himself from the projectiles.

“Pretty archaic magic, huh?” he mumbled as he raised his glaive. In the dim light coming from the windows I could see black feathers of considerable size incrusted in the length of it. The soft glint they gave off, though, spoke of razor sharpness. “You know what you’re doing, old man, but this will be your last stand” with a swift movement of his wrist, he dislodged the feathers from his weapon and charged forward once again.

The glaive cut through the air, trusting without doubt at Sebastian, but it was always a second too late. Sebastian scoffed.

“I’ve been in this business long before you were born, pup.”

He took the head of the glaive, his hand bleeding upon contact, but he was so fast he managed to snatch it from Noah’s hands by dragging him closer to him, while the other hand took a hold of his head and raised him from the floor, pulling the young boy in an arc over his head until his body ended over the marble table behind them, the hard material shattering upon impact.

“Oh, no…” I covered my mouth with my hands. In less than a minute, the situation had become absolutely horrible. Domenic was dead. Was Noah as well? But he was the hero, the protagonist, he couldn’t possibly…

And then Sebastian charged at us, or more specifically, Mathias. It was a second, but I saw it as if in slow motion. His right hand poised at the level of his heart, palm down, fingers together. His left leg pushing against the ground giving him impulse. It was a second, but in that second, I did the one thing I never thought I would do.

I stepped in front of Mathias, dagger unsheathed, and lunged forward.