by Logan Byrne
“How did you find us?” I asked.
“Besides the loud commotion you just caused, I have cat scent, remember?” Charlie asked, laughing a little. There was a cut on his face and a bruise on his arm.
“Charlie got beat up a little. I think he should stay here with them and make sure they’re safe. I don’t want him getting exploited,” Blake said.
“Hey, I’m happy to do so,” Charlie said, before sitting down and letting out a giant groan.
“And what about you?” I asked, looking at Blake.
“I’ll always be here by your side. I know it’s usually Charlie out there, but I’m hoping you’ll let me tag along just this once,” he said.
I nodded, grabbing my wand, before looking at my friends.
“Go on,” Britta said, smiling, shooing with her hands.
“Stick by me,” I said to Blake.
“No place I’d rather be,” he replied.
18
“The girl!” duskhowlers yelled, as Blake and I ran towards the palace steps.
Blake shouted, his voice becoming deeper as he shifted and it turned into a monstrous roar. He began to get more primal, the bestial features that usually lay dormant within him becoming pronounced as the men ran towards us.
A bear shifter led the charge. Blake sprinted towards him, their strong, muscular bodies clashing for dominance as they slammed together.
“I’ll be the one to deliver you to our Lord,” a mage said, before flicking spells at me. I swiped my wand, deflecting each and every one like clockwork, before pointing my wand back at him. I spun it around, spinning his body clockwise, as he screamed and another duskhowler attempted to grab onto him and free him.
I shot out a chain that grasped onto him and bound him up before his wand dropped and I flicked to bring it to me. I grabbed it, stopping his swirl, before snapping the wand in half and tossing it to the side.
“You’ll pay for that!” the other man spat, looking terrified and cowering.
A centaur, Celerius, jumped over my head, his broadsword in hand, before slamming the duskhowler’s head with the hilt and knocking him out. He stopped and looked at Blake battling with the grizzly shifter.
Blake picked the bear up, throwing him towards Celerius, who stabbed upwards and impaled the shifter. He quickly shifted out of his bear form, his body thumping to the ground and skidding a little bit.
“Are you okay, Lexa?” Celerius asked.
“Yeah, but I need to get into the castle. There he is!” I said, pointing at Kiren, who didn’t notice me but was walking up the castle steps.
“I’m afraid I can’t move on him, Lexa. My abilities are no match for him. Only you can stop him,” Celerius said, as I looked up to see the high elf warriors and our own mages being attacked by duskhowlers.
Kiren didn’t even bother killing them, as if it were beneath him. Then his zombie warriors noticed us off to the side and started to howl and cackle, alerting the others.
A dozen of them began running in our direction. Celerius gripped his sword as Blake roared to try to scare them away. It was no use, they were undead, and they had no fears left inside the shells of bodies their tainted souls called home.
“We need to get her inside!” Celerius said, swinging his sword.
He sliced two zombies in half, but their top halves only crawled back to their bodies, the dark magic sealing them back together as if nothing had happened.
“Lexa, come here,” Blake said, running to me as Celerius fended off as many zombies as he could.
“Get the job done,” he said, his voice deepened and raspy. He grabbed onto me, swinging me around three times and throwing me in the direction of the palace.
I dropped onto my feet at the palace entrance, rolling forward and looking down the long corridor inside. Kiren was looking at the staircase to the room. He blasted open the door and walked inside.
“Go, we can hold them off!” Mirian shouted, as he and the other senior mages kept blasting zombies with various spells in the hopes one would stick and kill them for good.
I sprinted down the corridor, the gilded halls shimmering with blood and mayhem as the ground shook outside. My lungs were beginning to burn as I arrived at the door, my feet skidding on the floor, before I lunged up the staircase.
I slowed down as I got near the top, trying to remain silent so Kiren wouldn’t hear me coming. I peeked in, seeing him looking out of the small window as the night sky turned red. The blood moon had arrived.
“Finally,” he said to himself, and I could feel his happiness and enthusiasm.
“You’re not summoning Sha’rari tonight, or ever,” I said, standing tall as I walked into the room and he turned around, smiling.
“You didn’t think I knew you were there, young witch?” he asked, leaning back against the golden wall.
He wasn’t scared, nervous, or even trying to kill me. He was…normal, as if the sight of the reddish sky relieved him and a wave of calmness presided over him.
“Sha’rari will bring death and destruction to all creatures, not just mortals,” I said.
“With this amulet and this Malum I will control him, stupid girl. He will do my bidding, and will be fully under my control,” he said.
“And what if he isn’t?” I asked. “What if the all-powerful demon takes over?”
“Then the world and both of the realms will be better for it,” he said, still smiling.
“I can’t let you do this. I won’t kill you, but you won’t be summoning the destroyer today,” I said, raising my wand and pointing it at him.
“Tsk tsk, young girl. If you aren’t willing to kill me, then how will you defeat me? If only you’d embrace your dark side, then you’d probably win,” he said, unfazed by the fact I was pointing the crystal wand at him.
“I’m keeping to my morals,” I said.
“Just like your stupid parents, no doubt,” he sighed. “They kept to theirs and look where they are now. Dead.”
“You don’t know anything about my parents,” I said angrily.
“I know the last thing they saw before they died,” he said, pulling out his wand. “Me.”
We both flicked our wands forward, two beams of energy refracting against each other as sparks and static filled the air. “There it is, right on time,” he said, as a glow outside began to sparkle. It was the comet.
With his other hand he took out the Malum, gripping it, as the darkness began to consume him. “Yes!” he yelled, in a devilish voice, the Malum consuming his soul and turning it darker than night.
His spell amplified, becoming even more powerful, before it overwhelmed me, making me wince. It took over and I flew backwards against the wall, my wand dropping and rolling five feet away.
“I want you to watch while I summon the destroyer,” he said, his voice demonic.
He pulled out the amulet, putting it around his neck. I tried reaching for my wand, extending my hand out as far as it could go and wiggling my fingers, but it was no use. I couldn’t reach it. I couldn’t stop him.
“I summon the demon Sha’rari, the destroyer of worlds and the ruler of men. I summon you from the nether realm, and from the prison the ancients put you in,” he said, as the amulet began to light up.
He repeated himself, the amulet growing brighter and brighter, before it connected to the Malum and a beam of darkness filled the room, shooting upwards. “No,” I mumbled, before looking down at the necklace Mirian had given me. I didn’t have my wand, and he’d said I needed it to ground myself. I tried to crawl to it, but Kiren’s powers were like magnets, pushing me back and reflecting any magic I tried to use to summon it back to me.
“I have to,” I whispered, closing my eyes. I gripped the necklace tightly, taking in a deep breath, before I uttered the words. “May Merlin protect me.”
I suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of power within me. It encompassed me, sending my power meter up to a thousand percent. I felt like I was going to explode.
I yelled, my eyes glowing blue, and it happened. The energy burst out of me, blowing the roof off the tower as it exploded, like a bomb had gone off. Kiren stumbled, his beam of darkness stopping, before he stood back up and was face to face with me.
My hair floated gently upwards and I looked down to see the blue flames enveloping my hands. “You won’t be summoning anything today, rune mage,” I said, my voice deepening, before I reached out and my wand flew back into my hands.
“It’s too late, no matter how powerful you are now. I already started the ritual, and he’s coming!” Kiren shouted, cackling.
The sky became intensely red as thunder filled the air and a black portal began to crack open in the sky.
“I summon the demon Sha’rari, the destroyer of worlds and the ruler of men,” Kiren incanted.
“Rigormorio!” I yelled, flicking my wand forward. He deflected it away, his incantation continuing, before I lunged forward and grabbed the Malum.
“What are you doing?” he gasped.
“Stopping you,” I shouted, as we struggled over the Malum.
I could feel the darkness, the evil, as it sought to taint my mind and body and let itself in. The mark stopped it, acting like an impenetrable shield that blocked the darkness beating against it.
A roar rent through the air before both of us looked upwards, seeing a giant red and orange eye looking down at us through the slowly opening rift.
“He’s here! Sha’rari returns!” he yelled.
“Kaia,” I mumbled, “help me.”
Past mark bearers flooded me, their combined powers surging through my veins, before I grabbed Kiren’s arm and began to squeeze. He snarled as my blue glow began to encompass him, his mouth opening as his head flew backwards, the dark energy from the Malum exiting his body and flowing back into the cube.
He fell to his knees as I held the Malum in my hands. I snatched the amulet from around his neck and stepped back three paces.
“Stupid girl,” he said, his face devoid of any measurable color as he began to sweat. His eyes were sunken in, the abrupt absence of the darkness weakening his human flesh.
“You’re too late, it’s already happened. Say hello to your new master,” he said, before jumping up and lunging at me.
I summoned a power of my own, the powers I’d used before this journey began, and threw my fist forward, smashing it straight into his nose. He stumbled backwards,
his foot slipping on the edge of the broken floor, before he fell over the edge of the tower.
“Levio!” I yelled as his body plummeted through the air. With ten feet to spare, it hit him, gently lowering his body down to the ground as the battle still raged below.
“You can stop it, Lexa. You can stop the demon,” Kaia said, in my head.
“How?” I asked, panicked.
“Destroy the Malum, it’s the only way. Concentrate, feel the mark pulsating through your body, down through your hands, and into the Malum. Picture it cracking, picture the beautiful brilliant blueish hue breaking through and shattering it,” Kaia said.
I put both of my hands on the Malum, closing my eyes and concentrating, and I felt every square inch of the darkness before I envisioned what she said. The mark flew down my arms, through my hands, and began to pierce the Malum.
The darkness fought back, knowing it was about to be defeated, but I didn’t budge. I remained stalwart in my attempts, the brightness in my mind growing and growing with each passing second as it began to flow into the Malum like water.
I could hear it scream, a high-pitched noise, though I wasn’t sure if it were really happening or if it were all in my head. The mark pierced the Malum, cracking it on all sides, before I opened my eyes and looked down.
The Malum began to glow brilliantly with a bright white light shining from the inside. Suddenly it exploded, sending pieces flying in every direction, before dematerializing and turning to dust in mid-air.
I did it. I destroyed the Malum.
I looked up as the portal slowly began to close, though the demon’s claw was still trying to break through.
“It isn’t going fast enough,” I said.
“The amulet, use the amulet! It can imprison him!” Kaia said.
I put on the amulet, gripping it tightly, before closing my eyes once more. “I demand the imprisonment of the demon Sha’rari, the destroyer of worlds. You are not welcome in this realm, or any realm, other than the nether realm where you are held. My name is Lexa Blackmoon, bearer of the Mark of Merlin, and the witch who will make sure you stay in that hell hole for another thousand lifetimes. I command you, Sha’rari, and I command this amulet to close the portal!” I shouted, almost screaming the final words.
Everything began to shake, the palace, the kingdom, and even the mountains, before I looked up and saw the portal start closing faster, the sky behind it becoming visible again as the purplish hue of the nether realm disappeared.
The demon roared as the portal shut. When it was gone I turned around, looking down below, as the zombies all fell over and morphed back into normal corpses, the dark magic that had consumed them now banished.
The duskhowlers began falling too, as the resistance and remaining high elves arrested them, starting with Kiren.
I did it, we did it. We saved the realms.
19
“What will happen to him?” I asked, walking up to Mirian as Kiren was subdued and his wand snapped in half.
“He’ll be booked, imprisoned, and put on trial for his crimes,” Mirian said.
“What about M.A.G.I.C.? How are we going to do all that if it fell?” I asked.
“Judges have already started arresting those who supported Kiren’s cause. A lot of the cops there were too scared to stand up to him because of what he’d do to them and their families. I think it was just a case of survival for a lot of them,” Mirian said.
“So we’re going back?” I asked.
“In due time, yes. I think you of all people deserve a vacation first, though,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. Here’s your chain back,” I said, reaching for what was left of the necklace he gave me.
“Keep it, as a memento if nothing else. I have to go tend to the wounded. I’ll see you later,” Mirian said, walking away.
“You did it,” Charlie said, as he and my friends ran up to me.
“We did it,” I said.
“What happened up there? In the tower?” Blake asked.
“I…don’t know. It was all so much, and I just went into overdrive once he started to summon Sha’rari,” I said.
“How did you know how to close the portal? I have so many questions!” Britta exclaimed.
“Let’s talk about it later. I feel like I need some food and some rest,” I said, smiling.
“Think Mirian will let us sneak out of here and back to the camp?” Charlie asked.
“How about the city? It isn’t under his control any longer, and some real food would be a lot nicer,” Faus said.
Mirian was kind enough to let us go into the city, feeling like we deserved a bit of peace and quiet, and real food, after everything we’d been through. I thought it was more his way to get rid of us so we wouldn’t screw up his investigation and arrests, but I was happy to get away from anything Kiren-related.
“Did you hear the great news?” the restaurant owner said, running up to us in the otherwise empty room. “Kiren Nightstorm has been defeated!”
He stood there beaming ear to ear, the effects of it all quite apparent when we now saw average people in the realm. He’d made life miserable for them all, and they’d just had to take it. I guess that was how a dictator worked—obedience or death.
“She did it,” Blake said, pointing his thumb at me.
“Blake,” I said.
“Wait, you’re the person who defeated him?” the man asked, wide-eyed.
“All by herself,” Charlie said.
“Free food for tonight, and free food for life!” he
shouted, running towards the back. “Anything you want, I’ll make it!”
“Pretty good setup,” Charlie said.
“You two are so annoying,” I said, shaking my head.
“You won’t be saying that in about twenty minutes when those dumplings come out piping hot,” Blake said.
I looked out the window and up at the night sky, as only shards of red remained above, and
I thought about the girl in the motel, poor, afraid, a lone wolf who never thought she could love again.
Here she was, a woman, a proud auditor, and now a witch who had the strength and resolve to not only beat the darkest mage in history, but to do it without taking his life.
Maybe he didn’t deserve it, his life, but that wasn’t who I was. So many were lost today and every day leading up to this event, but I didn’t need to add to the body count. I needed to set an example, to show that truth and justice would always prevail, no matter how much darkness wanted us to do otherwise.
I looked back at Blake, Charlie, Britta, Faus, and Rosie, and thought of countless others I’d met along the way and who’d made tonight possible—Raul, Lisa, Zark, Mirian, Ms. Moon, and so many more. Because of them, I was here right now. Because of them, I was the woman I was today.
“Hey, hands off,” Charlie said, swatting Faus’s hands away from the steaming hot dumplings that had just been brought out.
“I just think I should get one,” Faus said, the meaty dumplings making Charlie salivate.
“Look who it is,” Britta said, laughing, as she pointed out the window.
Across the street was a familiar face, one I didn’t know if I would ever see again.
Pokeshi.
With his trench coat on and a particular knack for shiny, stolen goods, he was peddling his wares on this street once again.
Blake pounded on the glass, catching his attention. His eyes grew huge, before he smiled, his feet darting outwards as he ran far, far away and out of our sight.
“Some things never change,” Blake said, shaking his head and laughing.
