by Lola StVil
I step forward and go to pick up the staff. It’s stuck fast, although it doesn’t appear to be attached to the altar in any way. I yank and tug, but it doesn’t move.
“Kane, you try,” I say, stepping back.
Kane steps forward and grips the staff with both hands. He pulls so hard I see the muscles rippling under his shirt, but the staff still doesn’t budge.
“Look,” Langston says, pointing above the altar.
A sign hangs above the altar.
No one hand may take this staff.
“We have to do it together. As a team,” Langston says.
We huddle closer together, and everyone reaches out and puts a hand on the staff. I nod, and we all pull.
Suddenly, I’m no longer standing on solid ground. It’s as though the ground beneath me vanished, yet I’m not falling. Flashes of light are quickly replaced by a wall of darkness, and I’m spinning through a vortex of black.
Just as suddenly, the vortex stops spinning, and my normal vision returns. We are in a dark cave with very little light. But we don’t need a light to know where we are. The cold laughter we hear could only come from one person. The Staff of Lost souls has delivered us directly into Quinn’s lair.
I stand frozen, still not fully comprehending what just happened. I look around, trying to figure out what happened. I see we’re not actually in a room, but a dark cave. The walls are bare rock, shiny, and damp, and the floor is uneven rock. It’s stark, cold, and depressing. It suits Quinn.
There’s nothing to suggest the place isn’t real, but I keep thinking of what we learned about Vulture Valley. The third section is mental torture. What if Pandora’s Bridge was just a warm-up and this is the real test?
Quinn grins at us.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” she says in a half bow, mocking us.
I have to treat this as a real threat, whether it is or not because to assume it’s just a test could lead to disaster.
“You all look a bit confused. Allow me to explain. I freed Loom. I thought he would break you all, but you all are more clever than I gave you credit for. You certainly beat him at his own game. Anyway, Loom told me how to get to the Staff of Lost Souls. I got there before you and enchanted the staff to bring you here. See, after you captured Loom, I figured you had a fair chance of reaching the staff. I figured I could chase you around or I could get a step ahead and wait for you to be delivered to me. Guess which option I went for,” Quinn says.
“Bullshit,” Regal says, stepping towards Quinn. “You have to be brave to get past Pandora, and you’re a coward, Quinn. You hide behind the power of the Keysu because you can’t face the reality of your life. The reality that no one wanted you.”
“Shut up,” Quinn snaps. “I am braver than you will ever be, but that didn’t matter.”
Regal snorts but Quinn ignores him.
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’? I didn’t mess around with going through the valley as you did. I entered right where the staff was. You see, what Loom didn’t mention when he drew your map is there’s a back door to the staff, for lack of a better word,” she says.
“I don’t believe you,” I say.
Quinn raises an eyebrow.
“If you had the staff, you wouldn’t be here. You’d be off for your pat on the head from Arken.”
Quinn ignores the insult.
“I will deliver the staff to Arken in good time. First, I couldn’t think of anything more fun than you running off to complete the mission you had already failed,” she says. “And as for the staff, if I don’t have it, then what’s this?”
She pulls a small wooden staff from behind her back. It’s light in color, and on the top of it is a shiny black stone. To look at, it’s unimpressive, but I can feel the power coming off it in waves, even from here. This is no test. This is real. And Quinn has the real staff.
Regal runs at Quinn. She shakes her head almost sadly and raises her hand. Regal stops in his tracks, bouncing back. She’s erected a force field around herself.
“You’re feisty for someone who was on death’s door just days ago,” she comments.
Regal shakes his head.
“What happened to you, Quinn?” he says sadly. “The Quinn I knew was fiercely loyal to her friends.”
“You think we could be friends after you betrayed me?” Quinn snaps.
“No. But Remy was your friend. She did nothing to you, and you killed her. Why, Quinn?”
Quinn shrugs.
“I don’t need a reason to do the things I do. That’s what power is, Regal. And I have all of it.”
“You have nothing. Hell, you say you’re all-powerful and shit, and you couldn’t even kill me,” Regal says.
“That was a glitch, I admit it. But now, I’m glad you’re alive. It’ll be fun to watch your beloved Atlas die in front of you,” Quinn replies.
She waves her hands as she speaks and a circle of blue flames spring up around us. I instantly feel the temperature jump up, and sweat is already pouring down my back. Langston tries to erect a shield around us, and Regal tries to fire a shot at Quinn, but it’s like all of our powers are gone. Perry warily puts a hand closer to the flames, but he pulls it back before it touches.
“We can’t run through that. We’d be incinerated,” he says.
Quinn laughs.
“Have you people learned nothing? The flames will hold you there until I extinguish them. They will also keep your powers at bay. Perry is right about the incineration. You will all watch as I kill Atlas and finish this once and for all.”
“So, you trap her and take her powers before you kill her? Real brave and powerful, Quinn,” Kane says.
“Oh no, you misunderstand me, brother. The trap is only for the spectators.”
Suddenly, I’m moving towards the blue flames. I try to dig my feet into the ground, but nothing stops me. Kane tries to grab me, but it’s as though his hands can’t get any closer to me than an inch away.
I’m going to die. She’s going to throw me into the flames. I’m almost in the flames when I realize that I can no longer feel their intense heat. I pass through them unscathed. It feels like I’ve stepped through the air from a blow heater: pleasantly warm.
I’m still being dragged against my will. I stop trying to fight the dragging sensation. I refuse to sink so low as to have Quinn see my fruitless struggle. She stops pulling me when we’re about ten feet apart.
“The time has come to end this once and for all,” Quinn says. She holds up the real staff. “You want it, little Ms. Perfect? Come get it.”
She sets it on the edge of rock just out of reach of the flames.
“Quinn, wait,” I say. “I get that you hate me, and to be honest I don’t blame you. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Walk away, Quinn. Don’t let Arken turn you into a monster; I know deep down, you’re still in there, and that you hate yourself for what you’ve done. It’ll be hard facing up to that, but you can do it.”
Quinn laughs. She fires at me. The shot grazes my shoulder. It was just a warning. She’s toying with me; this is a very dangerous game of cat and mouse.
“You could have a different life, Quinn. Meet someone nice, have children. You could have a fresh start away from all this,” I say, holding my shoulder. Kane yells at me from the flames.
“Atlas, fight back! Please!”
I glance over at the team, wondering why none of them are attempting to back me up on this. I can see their mouths moving, but it’s like they’ve been muted.
“This is my fresh start,” Quinn says firmly, no longer amused.
“Quinn, please, we are your family, come back to us, we can help you find yourself again,” I try to reason.
The rage in her eyes gets more intense, and she fires again, hitting me square in the chest. I fall backward, my chest burning, coughing, trying to catch my breath. She walks over and leans in close to my face.
“You took everything from me, Atla
s, now let me do the same for you.”
I can feel a cold sticky wetness on my chest; I’m bleeding. I don’t know how badly. I think this could be it; I am dying. Quinn stomps on my arm and screams about her mother and how I stole her.
She kicks me hard in the ribs and says she tried to be my friend, even after her mother picked me, an inexperienced, weak, puny, nobody little human over her own powerful daughter. But was that the end? No?
NO?!
She turns and puts her hands in her hair and screams in frustration.
“But after all that, it wasn’t enough for you, was it? My mother, my life, my mission, you just had to have more, so you steal my boyfriend too. I loved him, you know.”
I cough; I can feel the blood making its way up my throat. I am having trouble breathing. I can hear the team yelling at me to get up. I can hear Regal telling Quinn he’s going to kill her. Langston is pleading with her to stop, and Perry is begging her to come back to the team. I manage to turn my head and meet Kane’s eyes.
He doesn’t look sad. He looks pissed. His eyes meet mine, and he mouths something.
Get up.
I apologize with my eyes for not being strong enough.
He deepens the look. I manage to roll over and start to slow crawl towards the flames. Quinn walks towards me.
“And where the hell do you think you’re going, little Ms. Perfect?”
She grabs me by the hair and slams my head into the ground; my head bounces off the concrete. Quinn could easily kill me with her power, but her attack is much more personal. She wants me to feel it. She wants me to know pain, and she is doing a damn good job. My head is spinning. I have managed to catch my breath when she kicks me hard in the ribs again, knocking it back out of me.
My chest feels like someone set it on fire, and I’m pretty sure my left arm is broken. Quinn closes the gap between us in three strides and stands over me, her hands raised. I try to scoot backward on my elbows, but I can’t. The pain in my arm is too much. My vision swims in and out of focus, and for a moment, everything goes white. I can’t give in to it. I can’t let myself lose consciousness. I have to get back on my feet.
I bite my lip, and the sharp sting registers as a different kind of pain: the kind that brings my focus back.
She doesn’t look away from me; she turns and winks at the team, who continue to encourage me from their cage.
“Come on, Atlas, don’t give up. You can take her,” Saudia shouts.
Her shout spurs me on, and I somehow manage to get to my feet. I can feel my legs shaking, but I’m up. Quinn and I face each other.
“Remember, she’s still Quinn. She still has all the weaknesses she used to have,” Kane shouts.
I try to remember her weaknesses. She’s a powerful witch, with Sadie’s powers, and I don’t recall a single weakness she had in her magic. She’s powerful, fast, and not afraid of anything. Her only weakness is her need to be loved by her mother, and I can’t use that against her. It’s too…cruel. Like something she would do.
She looks at me with amusement, and something in me snaps. She is taunting me, playing with me. She thinks I’m already beaten. Well, I’m not. It’s time to play her game.
“You know, I always felt sorry for you, Quinn. Unloved by your mother, not good enough to make your father stick around. I thought Sadie was cruel, heartless. But now I get it. She didn’t love you because she knew you. She knew what you would become, and she was ashamed of you,” I slur out.
“That’s not true. Shut up, you little bitch,” Quinn says.
Her voice is no longer filled with an arrogant surety. Instead, it is the voice of a lost child, and I feel sick at the thought of what I’m doing to her. But I have no other choice. If I don’t finish this, she’ll kill me and then the rest of the team.
I risk a quick glance at the team, needing to know if I can see the loathing on their faces to match how I feel about myself. They are all silent, not daring to move or breathe in case it breaks the spell and reminds Quinn of her quest to kill me. I don’t see the disgust on their faces; I see support. They are willing me to beat her.
Kane has his sword out, poking it through the blue flames. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I look away quickly. If I stare too long, Quinn might look to see what’s holding my attention, and whatever Kane is doing, I don’t want Quinn to know about it.
“What’s it like to know that you’re so awful that even your mother can’t stand to be around you? That even as a child, she wanted me, not you. That she loved me more than she could ever love you. I mean I didn’t even know you existed until I met you. How bad is that? Not once did she mention you in all those years. How does it feel, Quinn?”
Quinn and I are circling each other again. I’m just about managing to ignore the pain in my body and focus. Quinn is looking more and more dejected, but she’s not ready to give up yet. Our eyes are locked on each other, and I can see the despair in Quinn’s, but I can also see something else. Self-doubt. I have to wait for my opening, for the moment she lets her guard down. I will only have one shot at this, and I can’t afford to screw it up.
We’ve circled, and now my back is to the team. Quinn stops circling, so I pause too.
I feel the touch of cold metal against my leg. Kane’s sword. He’s trying to send me some sort of message, but I don’t know what it is. I can’t become distracted from Quinn. I feel something else touch my leg, and I know what Kane’s trying to tell me.
He’s managed to push the Staff of Lost Souls off the ledge with his sword, and it’s in touching distance of me. I give a tiny nod, and Kane’s sword retreats. He knows I know.
The staff represents hope. If I can get it and tap into its power somehow, maybe I can end this without killing Quinn. I can force her to have hope and come back to the light. But I need to keep pushing her until she breaks so I can get my opening.
“So, you can kill me, Quinn, but for what? To make Mommy proud? Because it won’t. It’ll make her hate you more. I’ll live on in her heart, in her memories, and you’ll be the shame on the family name. You’ll be the one who destroyed the world. YOU will be her biggest mistake, her deepest regret that she wants to erase. You’ll make me a martyr,” I taunt Quinn.
I finally hit the right nerve, one that turns the look of despair on her face to anger and outright, all-consuming hatred.
“I’m twice the witch you’ll ever be,” Quinn spits out through clenched teeth.
I shrug.
“So, you’re not even a good teacher,” I say, keeping my tone casual even though my mind is whirring.
“You can’t teach someone who is too dumb to learn. My mother was foolish to care about a human with no skill and no talent,” she sneers.
“And yet she still preferred me to you.” I grin.
“This ends now,” Quinn roars.
She leaps into the air and throws herself at me. It’s the opening I’ve been waiting for. I crouch and grab the staff with my good arm. I instantly feel its power vibrating through my body and I know I could use that power to blast Quinn into a thousand pieces, but I don’t want to do that. I still have hope that we can somehow bring her back.
Quinn flies over my head. I straighten back up and whirl to face her. She lands on her feet and whirls to face me.
She charges again, her face so angry I fear she will explode. I pray this will work as I bring the Staff of Lost Souls from behind my back. If ever there was a lost soul, Quinn is it.
“Feel the hope, Quinn,” I shout as I point the staff at her.
The staff comes to life in my hand as I point it. It vibrates so much my arm shakes. The black stone on the top begins to glow red, and red waves fly from the end of it. It hits Quinn right in the chest. She stops dead in her tracks. They tighten around her, and she screams.
We all watch in horror as the red waves are sucked back into the staff along with Quinn’s soul. We got it all wrong. The staff doesn’t offer hope to lost souls; it devours them. It obliterates
its victims, into a pile of black ash: ashes of a once powerful witch named Quinn.
Moonlight streams in through the window, and I look around the room. It’s filled with trophies, cuddly toys, books, and other trinkets: a collection of crap belonging to someone who has lived the perfect life. The moonlight cuts across her face, allowing me to see the girl lying there, sleeping peacefully.
Enjoy it, because it’s the last bit of peace you will ever feel. You will soon be trapped in a waking nightmare, your own personal hell.
That makes me think of Quinn, and I wonder again what fate she is suffering, trapped inside the Staff of Lost Souls. It’s been a month since she was taken from me.
I still can’t believe the team pulled it off. I mean Quinn had the staff, and somehow, they managed to not only take it from her but destroy her in the process. It’s obvious they still miss Remy, but her loss doesn’t slow them down as Quinn hoped it would. In fact, it does the opposite; it brings them together as a team and makes them more determined to be victorious.
When I think of them, I feel burning anger deep down inside of me. They didn’t recognize Quinn’s greatness. They didn’t honor her power, talent, and skill. They are blinded by their self-righteousness.
They are so sickening in their love for each other. I mean they even welcomed Kane with open arms. Kane, who was once my brother, his soul every bit as black as mine will ever be. I can’t think about Kane now. He abandoned me for them. For her.
Atlas fucking Morgan. The girl who took everything from me. My brother, Kane, although not a blood brother, a soul brother. The chance to reclaim my childhood alongside Kane, and now Quinn.
Well, she’s in for a shock because I am the Keysu now. And unlike Quinn, I don’t care who gets to see her being broken; I only care that she breaks. And break she will, of that I have no doubt.
I will be the one who sees the role of Keysu through, and Arken will see he should have chosen me first. Evil will win, and anyone who dares to get in my way will pay dearly. And most importantly, I will get my brother back. I will break the spell Atlas holds over him and drag him back to the dark side.
