by Lola StVil
“‘Arken, I love you too; I love you so much.’
“‘Then we will be together? We will unite before all the world?’ he asked.
“‘No, I’m sorry. We won’t.’
“‘But why? Alona, you said you love me,’ he reminded her.
“‘I do, but this whole thing has been a vacation from my real life. And like all vacations, it has to end.’
“‘I don’t understand,’ he admitted.
“‘I’m from a very wealthy family. The man I marry can’t be a…poor. This was a fun summer. But now I have to go.’
“‘Alona, I—’
“‘Arken, I can’t be with a penniless backpacking wanderer—even if my heart wants you. I have to go back home now and be with Holden. I know I should have told you about him, but I didn’t want to ruin the fun,’ she admitted.
“‘Who’s Holden?’
“‘My fiancé.’
“Arken had never been in love before. He was shocked to learn that love could be both wondrous and cruel. He also learned that the old adage was true—there was indeed a thin line between love and hate. In fact, that line was as thin as the blade he would later drive into Alona’s skull.”
“Wow, now that’s a breakup!” I whisper under my breath.
“Yes, it’s one that would have severe consequences. Arken returned to his father with new resolve. Before his trip to Earth, he thought the humans should fade from existence, but after his heart-wrenching betrayal by Alona, he wanted their demise to be as painful as possible…”
I sit beside Sadie and remind myself that I can’t get air in my lungs if I am holding my breath. However, the way this story is going, there’s just no way to listen and still be Zen about the whole thing. I don’t know what she’s going to say next, but I’m pretty sure the next few words out of her mouth will suck on a whole new level.
It’s not like she’s going to say “And then Arken got over his broken heart and threw humanity a big party with streamers and balloons.” I’m pretty sure whatever Sadie says next will cause me to rethink the whole “no drinking and taking drugs” thing I vowed to my mom. That’s not to say I would take drugs, but c’mon, after the day I’ve had, and whatever else Sadie has yet to tell me, you have to admit, a girl could use a drink.
Well, get it over with, Atlas; let her finish the story…
“So, Arken was heartbroken and wanted revenge on humanity for what Alona did to him. What happened next?” I dare to ask. Sadie continues her tale:
“Orah tried to reason with his son, but Arken was now more convinced than ever—humanity needed to be crushed…
“‘Arken, listen to me! Heartbreak is not a reason to end an entire race,’ Nyten reasoned.
“‘Brother, hear me loudly: If the humans are not destroyed by Father’s hand, then they will be by mine. I will erect the bloodiest, most vicious demonic army ever known to man. I will create them from the very bottom of the earth, where foul, malicious things are born. I will unleash them on the first day of the New Year. So, the humans can die quickly by Father’s hand or they can die slowly and in unspeakable ways by my hands. Either way, this is mankind’s last rotation around the sun,’ Arken said.
“No matter what they tried, Arken would not budge. Orah came to understand that he would soon have to make a choice between his eldest son and his most prized creation. Dreading this outcome, Orah called a meeting to give into Arken’s demand—with one caveat.
“‘Arken, you can build your army and ready them to annihilate the humans. But every creature deserves a chance to fight for its existence. And I will give humanity a chance to do just that,’ Orah said.
“‘What do you propose?’ Arken asked.
“‘A quest. Should humanity win, the army will be incinerated. However, should humanity fail this quest, they will perish,’ Orah replied.
“‘And what will this quest entail?’ Nyten asked.
“‘Arken will build his army and have them at the ready to attack and desolate mankind. However, I will create a small river that divides your army from humanity; I will call this body of water the “Hope River.” So long as this river flows, the army cannot attack. Over time the river will dry up. Humanity will have seven chances to refill the river.
“‘Every one hundred years a powerful and worthy being, known as the Seeker, will be selected to go on the quest. If they complete the quest, gather the sacred items needed, and bring all four of them to the river at once, by midnight of the winter solstice, the river will be replenished indefinitely, bringing a fiery end to the army,’ Orah said.
“‘What happens if the first Seeker fails?’ Arken asked.
“‘Then a large portion of the Hope River will dry up; every time a Seeker dies, it causes the river to dry up faster. If the seventh and final Seeker fails, the river will dry completely, allowing passage for the army,’ Orah explained.”
“Okay, let’s stop here. I just want to make sure I’m getting this right,” I reply.
“It’s like this, Princess. Orah was a punk who didn’t have the balls to tell his kid to ‘go screw himself,’ so instead, he hid behind a quest, again like a punk,” Kane says.
“You really do have a way with words,” Sadie says to him, filled with disapproval.
“Okay, so let me see if I get this whole quest thing: Arken, the spoiled firstborn, is allowed to build an army of evil creatures as far as the eye can see. They are standing at the ready, waiting to end humanity in the bloodiest of ways. Is that right?” I ask.
“Yes,” Sadie confirms.
“What about the Shadows—the humans with supernatural powers? Did he want to kill them too? Or just the humans?” I wonder.
“He considers Shadows to be no more than a minor annoyance. His rage was aimed at humans with no powers. They are referred to as the ‘Originals’ because Orah created them first,” Sadie says.
“Arken erected an army to end all non-magical humans, known as ‘Originals.’ But Orah placed a river before the army. And this river, called ‘Hope River,’ prevented the army from crossing and ending humanity. But when the river dried up, the army would then cross over and kill all the humans,” I whisper to myself.
“That’s right. However, humanity would be given a chance every one hundred years to try and find the four objects that when thrown into the river would replenish it forever and thus destroy the army,” Sadie explains.
“Got it: evil army, brink of annihilation. Only thing stopping them is a river that’s drying up. Replenish the river, save the world,” I add.
“In short, yes. As I said before, the being that goes on the quest is called the Seeker. Every one hundred years, a Seeker will be chosen. If that Seeker fails, humanity will have to wait another hundred years and send out another Seeker. This can happen seven times as there are seven Seekers,” Sadie says. I assure her that I am following along, although I want her to stop and give me, oh, about ten years to process everything, but that’s not gonna happen. So, I tell her to please continue. She starts the story where she left off.
“‘And who will choose who goes on this quest?’ Nyten asked.
“‘The Shadows,’ Orah replied.
“‘I have sent angels to meet with the two most powerful factions in the Shadow community: the witches and vampires. They have volunteered members from their communities as possible Seekers to go on this quest,’ Orah says.
“How will the Shadows pick who to send out? They don’t always agree with each other. In fact, the peace between the witches and the vampires is fragile. And there is talk of the lycans being unhappy with the order of things and vying for a seat at the table,’ Arken reminded them.
“‘The vampires are not lovers of humanity; however, humans are their food source, so ending them would in turn end the vampires. The witches are closely related to the humans and have members of their family who for one reason or another have no magical powers, so they would like to protect them.
“‘But the lycans, on the
other hand, would be okay with the end of humanity, but their numbers are too small to go against the vampires. They need the protection of the witches. In order to have that, they have to obey the witches’ request to help humanity, like it or not,’ Nyten replied.
“‘The witches and the vampires have come together to form an alliance. There are seven members on the board; each will choose a Seeker,’ Orah said.
“‘The humans do not deserve seven chances. In fact, they do not deserve any at all. However, if you insist, Father, fine. But you cannot aid them in this quest. You cannot send a fleet of angels to help the Seeker,’ Arken reasoned.
“‘There are evils in the world that would be nearly impossible to defeat with an army of angels. You know that as well as I do. If the Shadows don’t get help from the angels, Father is dooming them to fail,’ Nyten protested.
“‘The humans do not need help. They are already laying their burdens on the Shadow community. What next, Brother, do you want Father to send down a fleet of angels to feed them and burp them as well?’ Arken asked angrily.
“‘No, not a fleet, but perhaps a small group of highly trained angels to aid in the quest. It will let humanity know that they have your hand on their shoulders. It’s a show of support. Father, you can send down a hundred angels. That’s just a handful,’ Nyten said.
“‘Show me the hand that has one hundred fingers,’ Arken dared.
“‘Fine. Then allow five angels to aid in the quest,’ Nyten said bitterly.
“‘That will be fine. Now, I have selected the four sacred items that will replenish ‘Hope River,’ Orah said, and he told them the four items.
“‘I request a fifth item that must be found and given unto the river.’ Arken then named the fifth item, but no one knows what it was. Only Arken, Orah, and whoever the Seeker will be.
“‘So, we are in agreement: Nyten will have the five angels and Arken will have the fifth item of the quest. Also, you two are in no way to interfere directly,’ Orah said.
“And so the army was created, far greater and more powerful than even Orah could have predicted: a legion of sprites that seek only blood and destruction. Nyten was allowed to train the five angels to help the would-be Seeker. He called his angels ‘Myto,’ which meant ‘purpose.’ Not long after, the first member of the Shadow Alliance chose the first Seeker and the quest began.”
“Alright, so the Shadow Alliance is a group of magical beings who represent the Shadows—in other words, the supernatural. And the Alliance decided to help humanity by selecting one of their own to be a Seeker and go on the quest?” I ask.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Sadie replies.
“But Arken added an additional fifth item for the quest to make it that much harder. But Nyten was able to get his father to aid by allowing five angels to go on the quest with the Seeker. Is that right?” I ask.
“Yes, every one hundred years, a Seeker was chosen by the Shadow Alliance. And every one hundred years, the Seeker and the five chosen angels go on the quest and fail. Thus, the river dries up even more,” Sadie says sadly.
“Wait, what happened to the first Seeker?” I ask.
“The Seeker was killed in his sleep. He was a very skilled and powerful witch. But the night before the quest, Arken sent Siren to offer him all the gold and riches in the northern hemisphere. All he had to do was drink a potion and he would sleep for a day. If he missed the first day of the quest, he would be giving Arken a head start. That’s all he wanted to do, get a large amount of money for giving evil a little head start. He was supposed to sleep only for a day.”
“I take it he slept longer?” I reply.
“He slept for a year. A large portion of the river quickly disappeared,” she says.
“Why would Siren do that?” I ask.
“The same reason Shadows follow Arken—he promised them whoever helped him would have a kingdom of their own in the new world. And more importantly, a life where they don’t have to be in hiding. Many sided with Nyten and saving humanity. But a growing number of Shadows were starting to like the idea of a human-free world. The biggest blow came when Arken hired a sorceress to create a potion called “Sweet Suck,” a replica of blood that made humans no longer necessary for vampires’ existence.”
“So the first Seeker didn’t even make it to morning?” I inquire.
“No,” Sadie says.
“What about the second Seeker?” I wonder.
“Okay, let me save you some time here: six Seekers, six chances, all fail. In the end, they all died before they could gather all five items. Arken has used six of the seven deadly sins to kill the Seekers in one way or another. The first guy was greed,” Kane says.
“He likes to have order to his madness. So he decided it would be fun to make the quest into a sick game. There are seven Seekers and seven sins. He has used six sins to trap Seekers,” Sadie says.
“I know the deadly sins. I read about them a long time ago. There’s greed, sloth, gluttony, wrath, envy, pride…and…what’s the last one?” I ask Kane. He stares at me with an intense gaze. I feel the heat of his stare and suddenly feel exposed. I ask him again. He swallows hard and replies in a whiskey soaked voice.
“Lust,” he says. I clear my throat and look away from him.
“I’m not stupid; I know where this is going. You guys are saying I’m the seventh Seeker. But I can’t be. I’m not a Shadow; I’m not a witch or vampire or whatever,” I inform them as my head starts to spin.
“All the other Seekers have been Shadows; but this final round, the Seeker is a human who has great courage and heart. Someone who fights for her loved ones,” Sadie pleads.
“No! This is crazy. You are crazy,” I shout.
“There is a magical technique called ‘transfer.’ It’s when a witch drains all her powers into an object. One of those objects is the watch I gave you. That’s how you were able to summon a force field during the battle.”
“Sadie, I tried it a second time and it didn’t work,” I reply.
“Your focus was off. You need a great deal of concentration.”
“Why would you choose me?” I demand.
“I didn’t. Sia, the greatest Oracle and member of the Alliance, chose you. She could feel your essence ever since the day you were born. There are two others we were investigating, but you are the one. Ever since your mom died, you have had a surge of purpose and drive. You won’t be like the others—you will be focused and disciplined. I entered your mother’s life so that I could meet you. You started out as an assignment, but you quickly became part of my family.”
“So you just pretended to be a patient at the nursing home? Pretended to be our friend?” I demand.
“No! My friendship with your mother was real. It was like losing one of my own children when I lost her. But I protected her child, like she would have wanted. I made the bookstore hire you so that the Alliance could keep an eye on you.”
“The bookstore was your doing?” I ask.
“Yes. The bookstore is one of five entry points into Quill, land of Shadows. It’s easy for me to get to you if I need to.”
“So everything in my life has been manipulated by you? I didn’t get the job on my own and I didn’t create the force field?” I counter.
“Not yet. But Atlas, you are amazing. I see that in you, now you need to see it in yourself. It’s rare for a human to learn enough self-control to take in the power of a witch, especially one as powerful as I am. But you can do this. I know you can,” Sadie begs.
“Sadie, will you listen to yourself? You want to give me your powers so I can go find sacred objects that no one else has been able to find in six hundred years!” I counter.
“I’ve gone all over the world looking for someone who can stand up for the humans. You are the Seeker we have been looking for. You were born on the night when all the planets were aligned. You suffered great tragedy but you fight off indifference and bitterness. Sia was right about you. You are the ‘first�
�� human to be picked to go on the quest. And you are the ‘last’ Seeker. If you fail, there are no more chances,” she insists.
“Why now?” I ask.
“The Alliance is always given a sign by Orah. It’s a sign from the heavens. And it happened tonight—an indigo-colored moon appeared briefly. That means the quest has begun,” Sadie says as if that clears everything up.
“I can’t do this. I can’t be the one to try and save everyone. I couldn’t even save my mom,” I admit.
“You don’t have to do this,” Kane says.
“Kane, she has been kissed by shadows. You know what that means.”
“Well, I don’t. So explain it to me,” I order.
“Kissed is another word for ‘chosen’ in the Quill world; Atlas, you’re the chosen one,” Sadie says with smile.
Sadie has lost her damn mind!
“Tell her, old lady. Tell her that she has the right to decline,” Kane demands.
“Is that true, Sadie? Can I say “no”?”
“You can say “no” and walk away. But no other is allowed to take your place. If you walk away, this will be humanity’s final year…”
I stare into the flames hovering in the air a few feet away from us. The last time I saw an open flame I was with my mom, Amy. We were at our favorite Thai restaurant, having the “only” meal suitable for proper girl talk—spicy seafood soup. They serve it in a big aluminum pot with a tube in the middle. The tube was filled with flames that would dance and flicker as we dined. We’d sit there for hours inhaling scoop after scoop of the spicy citrus broth. We’d talk about guys, school, and what the future held for us. It was our version of telling stories by a campfire.
That’s over with now…
“Atlas!” Sadie says as she gently shakes my shoulder.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?” Sadie asks.
“Yeah, I’m good. Where were we?” I ask, forcing myself to focus on the current craziness.