Ruined by Shadows

by Lola StVil

  “Well, fuck me, Disney; it sounds like you know exactly how to deliver a damn fine goodbye.”

  “No,” she whispers. “Just a see you later, remember?”

  “Atlas, I couldn’t begin to tell you everything I need to if we had a year, let alone a minute, so I’ll keep it brief. You found me wandering in the darkness, and you pulled me into the light. You made me see the man I could be. And I hope I’ve done you proud in becoming the prince you’ve always deserved.”

  “You have,” she says, her voice breaking.

  “I love you, Atlas. Now and forever, my Disney.”

  “That would make an excellent tattoo,” I hear Rachel mutter.

  Atlas and I both burst into a laugh, and our laughter sets the others off. There’s an edge of hysteria in the laughter, but it still feels good to laugh instead of cry, to let our emotions out that way instead.

  “You heard that?” Rachel asks, shocked.

  “Your whisper is like a megaphone to anyone else,” Perry points out.

  There are a loud bang and a flash of blinding light, and I turn, already knowing what I’ll see. We get into a straighter line, and I pull Atlas in beside me. She clings to my hand as we face a mirror image of our stance. Arken stands in the center of a row of ferocious demons waiting to attack.

  “I hate to break up the party when you’re clearly having so much fun, but I believe I am owed something from one of you,” Arken says.

  He doesn’t sound as cocky and sure of himself as he usually does. He expected to arrive to find us crying. Somber. He didn’t expect us to all be laughing and seemingly having a damned good time, and it’s thrown him. Good.

  Atlas squeezes my hand one last time and then she steps forward, and I feel the very ground beneath me lurch. Arken steps forward too.

  “I thought we would have to hold you down,” Arken says with a wry smile.

  “Why would you think that? My destiny was to beat you, Arken, and that’s exactly what I’m about to do. Because when I give you my heart, I’m giving you the fifth and final object, and that means we beat you.”

  Arken shakes his head.

  “I hate to tell you this, Seeker, but you won’t be the one giving me your heart. The Keysu will. And when she does, you’ll have died at her hand and lost the game.”

  He looks at Rachel, and I feel my heart stop beating. Am I dead? No. it starts up again, hard and fast. This thing is like a ticking time bomb. I almost preferred not to notice it.

  “Rachel? If you would, please. Remember what is at stake here.”

  Rachel steps forward, and the team looks at each other in shocked horror. What the fuck is happening here? Rachel is the Keysu? But how? Why? She’s had so many chances to kill Atlas. Why wait until now?

  “How could you, Rachel?” Carla demands.

  Rachel holds her head up high as she goes to stand by Arken’s side. She throws a red plasma curtain around herself.

  “I knew you would ask me that, Carla, and I’m sure you’re all thinking it too, so let me explain. Ignore the plasma; it’s just a shield in case any of you get any stupid ideas. Now, where do I start?

  “Yes. Okay. I’ve got it. Talon was meant to be the last Keysu, but of course, Kane saw to it that didn’t happen.”

  She looks at me and smiles, and it’s hard to believe this girl with the pretty smile is the Keysu. I mean, I was suspicious of her, but I never dreamed she was the Keysu. I just thought she was after Pest’s money. Or trying to get close to us so she could try to extract a price once we won the war.

  “Bravo, Kane. Talon truly was a little shit who deserved what he got. I mean, yeah he was the Keysu, yeah he was a demon, but he should have had a little class. Oh, and he was stupid and self-serving too. He was so determined to send you a message, Kane, that he ignored his chance to kill Atlas and sent her off to the hole instead.”

  “Didn’t you miss your chance to kill me too?” Atlas asks her. “Like hundreds of times.”

  “Oh, you all don’t know, do you? At any time before four of the five objects were found, to end the mission, the Keysu just had to kill you. Once the four objects were found, the rules changed slightly. Now to win this, the Keysu must be the one to deliver your heart to Arken. In this spot, at this time. So here we are. Road trip.”

  “I don’t get it. Why you?” Carla asks.

  A ghost of regret passes over Rachel’s face, but it’s gone as quickly as it came.

  “You’d have to ask Arken about that one, but I’m pretty sure he’s not opening the floor to questions just yet. Arken came to me within an hour of Talon dying, and I was named Keysu. We kept it quiet because he thought his little henchmen there would be jealous. And no one really questioned it. It made sense that Arken didn’t need a Keysu anymore, because Atlas would be dead either way.

  “Because most of you didn’t know who I was, I figured why not hang out with all of you for a bit and learn what I could of your plans. I knew I could worm my way in easily enough through Regal and Carla, but Kane, you really made it easy that night in the bar. Hell, you practically gave me a key to Atlas’s door.

  “It was risky going with you all on the missions because I had no special protection. I was as likely to die as any of you, but boy was it an adrenaline rush. And I learned that you all would do anything to save Atlas. I get it from the team. It’s your destiny and all that shit, just like this is mine. But Kane, you’re a volunteer. What is it about her that makes you willing to go so far for her? Does she have beer-flavored nipples or something?”

  “Watch your fucking mouth,” I snap.

  She holds up her hands in mock surrender and laughs.

  “Okay, okay, I get it. I went too far.

  “I really thought you would crack it, Pest. That you would find a way to save her. It certainly made my life easier when you didn’t.”

  I look at Pest.

  “It’s okay,” he mouths.

  It’s not fucking okay. Pest must know that. This history between them is about more than they’ve let on, but I can’t work out what exactly it is. Why do I get the impression there’s some unspoken message passing between these two?

  “Anyway, that’s enough from me,” Rachel says.

  I know this is it. The moment she will try to take Atlas’s heart. I start to move before I really think it through. I can’t let her hurt Atlas. If she gets to Atlas’s heart, then it’s all over.

  As I start to run towards Atlas, Pest starts to run towards me. Rachel brings her hands around to the front, turning her plasma shield into a ball. If only I still had my demon powers, I could have taken her out of here, but I don’t. I checked. I don’t have my sword anymore either, but I can still land a good punch, and I’m pretty good with a knife, but neither of those things is going to help me here. I just have to get in front of Atlas and let that plasma hit me instead.

  Sadie should be able to pull it off then. The need for speed won’t be as pressing if I’m already dead. Atlas can have my full heart.

  Rachel sees the movement, and she turns her head towards me, ignoring Atlas for the moment. She launches the plasma ball, and I brace myself, but as it is about to hit me, a blur of movement crosses my path and Pest takes the full hit of the plasma.

  He flies through the air, screaming, the red liquid clinging to him.

  “You fucking idiot,” Arken shouts at Rachel.

  He waves his hands, and the demons start to move. The team runs to meet them. I should stay and fight, but I see Carla shoving Atlas behind her. She’s safe enough for now. I have to go to Pest and get Regal over here. I’m sure I hear Rachel scream Pest’s name as I start to run, but it couldn’t have been her. It must have been my mom.

  I fall to my knees beside Pest, and one look at him tells me it’s too late for Regal to save him. What lies on the ground looks like one of those diagrams you see in science class, where you see the muscle structure of a human body without skin. That’s how bad it is. Every inch of Pest’s skin is gone. He lies sh
aking on the ground.

  “Oh fucking hell,” I whisper.

  Pest somehow manages to smile.

  “I saved you,” he whispers.

  “I know. God, Pest, thank you, but why?”

  “Because you’re my best friend. Kane, listen, I don’t have long, and I need to tell you some things. Things I should have told you a long time ago.”

  “Shh, don’t try to talk,” I say.

  “Kane, I’m dying, and I need you to hear me,” Pest replies.

  I don’t know how the fuck he’s even alive, let alone still talking, but if he needs to get something off his chest, I owe him the courtesy of listening to him.

  “My child. You assumed it was a girl because of the Valkyrie thing, right?”

  I nod. Obviously. A male Valkyrie is unheard of.

  “Well, I have a son, Kane. It shouldn’t have happened. I don’t know how it did. But it did. He is the first ever male Valkyrie. You know the prophecy as well as I do. A male Valkyrie has the potential to be the most powerful being ever to walk the earth. Could you imagine what certain beings would do to get their hands on him?

  “That’s why I had to stay away. It wasn’t because I didn’t love him. It was because I loved him with everything I had. Too many of the wrong sorts drop in on me, and I couldn’t risk them seeing him at my place, or spotting us out and about. Rachel kept him hidden away. Even Carla doesn’t know about him. But he is happy. And that’s all that mattered to me.

  “I wanted to tell you, but at the time, I knew you were loyal to Arken, and then when that changed, it had been too long, and I didn’t know how to explain it to you without you thinking I had abandoned my son.”

  “Pest, the things I said, I’m so sorry,” I say.

  “It doesn’t matter. Listen to me, Kane. Arken found out about the boy. His name is Philip, by the way. I don’t know how Arken found him, but he did. He got to him, and he named him the Keysu after Talon was killed. Unbeknown to Rachel or me, Arken had planned this all along. If Talon failed, he would come for Philip.

  “The only way to save Philip from becoming the Keysu was for Rachel to take his place. Once that darkness enveloped her, she embraced it, and it damn near broke my heart when she told me what happened.”

  “Wait. You knew all along that Rachel was the Keysu? How could you betray Atlas like that, Pest? All of us?”

  “I didn’t want it to be this way. I knew she couldn’t do anything to Atlas before tonight, and I was desperate to help her. I remembered when you where the Keysu and Atlas’s love pulled you back from it. I hoped I could do the same for Rachel, but I wasn’t enough. I’m so sorry, Kane. Please forgive me.”

  My heart breaks for him. He’s no traitor. He was just a guy in love who got in over his head. He just wanted to save his son and the woman he loves.

  “You are enough, Pest. But a mother’s love for her child is stronger than any force in this world. Rachel did what she had to do to save Philip. You remember that about her instead of the rest, okay?”

  He nods. I can see he’s getting weaker, and I need him to hear what else I have to say.

  “And as for the rest, there’s nothing to forgive. I wish you’d come to me sooner, but I understand why you didn’t. You acted out of love, and really that’s all any of us can do, isn’t it?”

  Pest smiles a wide smile, and it’s gruesome, but I force myself not to look away. His breath is rattling now.

  “Thank you,” he says, his voice so low I have to strain to hear it. “And those things I said about Atlas leaving you. It’s not going to happen. I just wanted to distract you so you didn’t keep pressing me for information about Rachel. I didn’t expect her to tell you anything. Atlas already sees you for who you really are—someone who is loyal and brave. I love you, bro.”

  His skinless eyelids slip shut, and just like that, my best friend is gone. I can’t sit here now that he’s gone though. I will grieve for him when this is over. For now, I have to find Atlas and get her and Sadie together somehow.

  “Goodbye, my friend,” I whisper.

  I push myself to my feet and turn around. The battle seems to be on pause as everyone’s eyes are on Carla and Rachel. I jog across to the others.

  Carla and Rachel stand a couple of feet apart, their eyes locked on each other. Something hangs in the air between them, a half blue, half red ribbon, and I do a double take when I see the blue end is attached to Carla’s eyes, the red end to Rachel’s.

  As I watch, mystified and trying to work out what the fuck is happening, the red begins to move towards Carla. The blue is disappearing into her eyes, and I suddenly get it. She’s draining Rachel of her Valkyrie status.

  Rachel isn’t giving up without a fight though. The ribbon starts shifting back towards Rachel, and an inch of blue appears again. Carla doesn’t so much as flinch as she ups her efforts. The ribbon turns all red again, and it leaves Rachel’s eyes with a loud sucking sound.

  Rachel stumbles backward a step and shakes her head a few times, trying to clear it. The red ribbon disappears into Carla’s eyes.

  “Your Valkyrie powers are gone, Rachel. You stand here before me in human form, disgraced. You have betrayed your Valkyrie family, and for that, there is only one punishment. Death.”

  Carla locks eyes with Rachel again. Carla’s eyes turn black, and Rachel begins to gasp for breath. Carla is choking her with the power of her mind.

  “Carla. No, don’t do this,” I shout.

  I’m too late. Rachel’s lifeless body drops to the ground. I take a step towards them with no idea what I’m going to do, when I feel a hand on my arm, and Atlas is beside me.

  “Kane, why are you so upset that Carla killed the Keysu?” she asks.

  There’s no suspicion in her question, just surprise.

  “Because by killing Rachel, Carla just made Pest’s son an orphan.”

  I turn away before Atlas can answer me when I hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Judging by the openmouthed look of shock she gave me at the news, she has a whole lot of questions for when this is over.

  The footsteps coming towards us belong to Arken. He smiles wickedly.

  “Okay, we’ve had our fun, now how about we finish this with dignity, Atlas? I think deep down I always knew it would come to this. Me taking your heart myself.”

  I push Atlas behind me, but she resists and pops straight back out. I pull out the knife I have tucked in a sheath inside of the waistband of my jeans, and I run at Arken, the knife raised.

  He shakes his head, a look of amusement on his face as I reach him and stab out with the knife. He neatly sidesteps my thrust, and we face each other, me waiting for an opening, a moment when he lets his guard down, him just toying with me.

  I can’t believe I was ever loyal to this vile creature, that if the Last Seeker had been anyone but Atlas, I would have killed them without a moment’s hesitation the first time I laid eyes on them.

  Arken smiles at me.

  “Ah, Kane, how the mighty have fallen. You could have ruled alongside me, been my second-in-command, the son I never had. How that would have broken my worthless brother to know that his son was on my side. And now look at you. The Last Seeker’s lackey boy. Such a shame that you chose the wrong side.”

  He tires of playing with me, and he sends a blast of power towards me. It’s not like a fireball or a laser; those are avoidable if you are fast enough on your feet. This is a wall of force so wide and high that it’s impossible to avoid it. It slams into me, and I feel myself get dragged off my feet and thrown through the air. I land with a crash, and it hurts like hell. But I’m not dead. I don’t understand and don’t have time to overthink it.

  I hear Atlas scream my name and I call back to her, telling her I’m okay, just winded, but my reply is drowned out when Arken yells over me.

  “Demons, kill everyone except the Last Seeker. Bring her to me alive and unharmed. Now go, end them.”

  What started out as a minor scuffle between the team and
Arken’s demons becomes a full-on battle. The first part seemed to be a pissing contest, but this is different. This is flat-out war, and only one side can be victorious.

  I wince as I drag myself to my feet.

  You’re fine, stop being such a damn pussy.

  I run back towards the battle, and a demon spots me coming and instantly gets in my path, stopping me from getting to Atlas, which had been my goal. The demon glowers at me through eyes as red as blood. He is a huge bulk of a thing, and I swallow hard. The bastard would be dead in seconds if I had my sword, but I don’t. I have to work with what I’ve got.

  I pull back my fist and swing at the demon. My punch catches him in the jaw, and his head flies to the side. He glares at me as he brings his head back around. He rubs his jaw a little, but it’s clear the punch has done no real damage.

  With a roar, he fires plasma from both palms. I jump into the air, clearing the laser beams, and the demon spins back to face me as I land to his right. He fires again, and I duck beneath the laser, throwing myself to the ground and rolling in closer to him. I jump back to my feet and shove his arm, sending his next laser wide. I plunge my knife into his stomach, twist it, then push upwards, carving a chunk out of him. I drag the bloodied blade back out and ram it in again. He isn’t firing at me now. Both of his hands are too busy trying to hold his intestines in. They look like fat, graying sausages pressing against his fingers.

  I drag the blade out again, and this time, I reach up and ram it into the demon’s eye. He screams in anger and pain, but the scream is cut short as I force the blade in further and it finds purchase in the demon’s brain.

  I keep my grip on the blade as the demon begins to sag, and I kick him square in the chest, sending him sprawling backward and clear of my knife.

  I turn back to the battle and run into it. I spot Sadie firing small balls of blue that turn to wicked splats of ice that instantly freeze the flesh they coat when they hit. Three demons are advancing on her, and although the ice is slowing them down, they aren’t stopping. They blast lasers and balls of flames at her, and I can see the shield she’s put up starting to weaken.