This was the grand finale, and how poetic that it would end this way. I took a deep breath, the deepest I had perhaps ever taken, and screamed as loud as I could in protest. I was not a weapon. I was not a pawn. I was not meant to be held by Shade Clan or the Council. I was a phoenix. I was the physical incarnation of hope and new beginnings, and I poured every ounce of myself into that final cry, as well as the shreds of my father before me. My beautiful, kind father, who had been forced to live a life he did not want for a people who did not deserve him. If I was going down, I was going to
...more
