by Lola StVil
I think Regal is frozen in fear as the dragon bears down on him, but at the last moment, he throws himself to the ground and rolls underneath it, coming to his feet beside us as we’re all dragging ourselves back to our feet.
A shadow falls over me, and I glance up, too late. The dragon’s tail is coming down faster than I can move. Fucking great, it’s going to kill me right here. Just when I’ve accepted I’m going to die, hands grab my shoulders, and the hit doesn’t come.
I open my eyes; I’m on the other side of the dragon with Saudia.
“What the… ?” I say.
“Teleportation.” She shrugs.
“You could have let me die,” I say.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Kane, but right now, you’re one of us. And we don’t let each other die,” she says.
I feel a surge of emotion run through me. I don’t like this shit at all. Are these bitches thawing me out?
“And you said it was hard to like me,” I say lightly.
Saudia barks out a laugh.
“I said it was hard, not impossible.”
The dragon is still causing problems. Remy is down, and it doesn’t look like she’s getting up any time soon. Quinn is focused on shaking the ground beneath the dragon, but it’s not doing any good.
Perry stands, looking shell-shocked, half of his body covered in flames. Regal looks between Perry and Remy, trying to work out who to heal first.
Langston is shooting up shield after shield, but the dragon’s fire is shattering them like glass.
Atlas runs to where Saudia and I stand.
“I’m taking this bitch down,” she says with resolve.
Before I can even open my mouth to protest, she shakes her head.
“And I’m not arguing about this; I am done. Nobody threatens my family.”
“Whatever,” I say. “Saudia and I will distract it. You get that shot in because you’re only getting one shot at this.”
She nods. Saudia and I make our way around to the side of the dragon. Atlas keeps going, positioning herself in front of it. It locks its one remaining eye on her and roars.
Saudia and I open fire on it, hitting it on its cheek and down the side of its neck. It does the job. It turns to us with rage. Its blind eye is facing us, giving Atlas a clear shot at its good eye.
Atlas takes a few steps back and then she runs and leaps high into the air. She fires as she reaches the highest point of her jump. As she leaps, the dragon senses her movement, and I know it’s going to turn around and fry her.
“No!” I shout.
I run forward and shoot at the dragon at a closer range. It swings its tail around and swipes me off my feet. I fly through the air, twisting and turning, but it bought Atlas the second she needed. Her shot pierces its eye as I slam into the side of the cabin, leaving an imprint on the wall.
I feel a searing agony go through my side. I’m pretty sure I broke every fucking rib I have. But I force myself to my feet.
Atlas is running towards me.
“You’re okay?” she asks, looking me over.
I nod.
“Nice shot,” I smirk.
She sees me wince.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Just my ribs. Nothing I can’t handle,” I say.
She raises an eyebrow.
“You mean you don’t want Regal to heal you?” she says.
“Regal wouldn’t heal me if his life depended on it. Not after I left him hanging over the cliff’s edge.”
“You did what? After he saved you in the fun house?”
“And then I saved him from the wasps. We were even. I didn’t owe him anything else.”
She gives me a strange look, then she sighs.
“Just when I think you’re good deep down, you say things like this, and I don’t know what to make of you at times,” she says.
Well, that went better than I expected it to, but it didn’t feel right keeping it from her. She knows why I did it. I can see it all over her face. She knows I was watching her, and she knows I heard her and Regal talking about their kiss.
She turns away from me, closing the discussion. I’m happy enough with that, although I’m sure I’m not off the hook yet. There’s going to be hell to pay when we get back home. If we get back home.
“Is everyone okay?” Atlas asks.
Regal has finished healing everyone, and although everyone looks exhausted and beat down, they are all mostly okay.
Regal walks over to me. He goes to put his hand on me, and I step back.
“Don’t be such a pussy, Kane,” he snaps.
He is being the bigger man? I didn’t see that coming. I raise an eyebrow at him as he heals my ribs.
“You saved Quinn and Langston. And I’m sure everyone else at some point,” he says. “I owed you one. Now we’re even again.”
Atlas shakes her head with a small smile.
On the other side of the cabin, beside the lake, there’s a forest. We all look at each other uneasily. A creaking noise comes from the trees as the wind picks up, and we all tense up waiting for the next attack. Instead, the trees fall to the ground, showing us a clear path back to the beach.
“It has to be a trap,” Langston says.
“But can it be any worse than going back through everything we faced to get here?” Perry says.
Both good points. It all comes down to the decision Atlas makes. I can see the indecision on her face. It’s a huge choice, and if she gets it wrong, someone might fucking die. We came far too close for comfort when we battled the dragon.
“The barrier. It’s starting to move, look,” Remy says.
I squint my eyes, looking at the barrier in the distance. Sure enough, the ground there is starting to shimmer.
“I don’t know how long it will take to come all the way back up, but I’m guessing we are running out of time,” Quinn adds.
“We take the path. Stick together, keep moving, and watch each other’s back,” Atlas says with a sigh.
The path is an uneven dirt track that runs between two patches of thick trees. Vines and ground plants crisscross it, making it hard to maintain a pace faster than a light jog. Branches hang overhead, some of them low enough that we have to duck.
The noises coming from either side of us are a mixture of normal forest noises and a cacophony of unidentifiable sounds that I try to ignore. Somewhere, a wolf howls.
We’re three-quarters of the way along the path when Quinn darts off the path.
“Quinn, where are you going?” Atlas shouts.
“To grab some Manolo vines,” she shouts back.
The excitement in her voice is clear to hear.
“The barrier has hardly moved, and this stuff is like gold dust,” she says.
She bends down and grabs a handful of the vines. She stuffs them in her pocket and bends down again.
A vine strikes at her like a large green snake and wraps itself around her wrist.
“What the… ?” she starts, trying to pull her wrist free.
The other vines are coming to life too, wrapping themselves around her wrists, ankles, and torso. The more she struggles, the tighter they squeeze.
Regal runs to her side.
“You have to calm down; it’s the only way they’ll release you.”
“Oh, and now you’re a gardening expert, are you?” she snaps, still struggling.
“Guys,” Langston says, her voice full of dread.
I look at her, but what catches my attention is behind her. The barrier. It’s coming up faster now. It had barely moved an inch while we were walking, but now it’s about two inches off the ground, and it’s still rising.
“Quinn, you have to trust me,” Regal says gently to Quinn.
That would be a mistake considering how he’s betrayed her, but I keep that thought to myself.
Quinn stops struggling and lets her limbs go limp. It works. The vines retreat, pulling away from her. She bends down to retrieve mor
e.
“Don’t even think about it,” Regal says, dragging her away.
They rejoin us on the path. I hear a rustling sound behind us. We all look at once. A huge gray wolf stands watching us. It throws its head back and howls.
“Run,” Atlas shouts.
No one needs to be told twice. We run. The wolf is behind us, and the barrier is still coming up. It’s at knee height now.
The thought of the barrier getting too high and leaving us all trapped here spurs me on more than the thought of the wolf, and I run faster than I’ve ever run before. Atlas runs at my side, keeping pace with me. I can hear the pounding footsteps and the panicked breaths of the others.
Quinn reaches the barrier first. It’s thigh-high, and she dives over it easily. She turns back and reaches down, grabbing Remy’s hand and helping her over. Remy turns back too, and they help Regal and Perry up. Langston climbs over as the barrier reaches hip height.
We’re going to make it.
Atlas suddenly isn’t at my side anymore. She is being dragged backwards. She manages to get it off, just in time. Now, the wolf has the backpack in its jaws, and it’s running back up the path.
“Go. Now,” I tell Atlas, nodding to the barrier.
She shakes her head and turns to follow the wolf. It’s time to let her know she’s not calling the shots anymore.
I pick her up and drag her forcibly to the barrier. It’s waist height now. I heft her up, and hands grab her and pull her across.
She’s barely on the ground when she turns back. She reaches out to the barrier, but she can’t get through.
“Once you’re out, there’s no going back in,” I hear Quinn say.
I don’t stick around to hear Atlas’s rage. I turn and pound along the path after the wolf. I fire into it twice, and it drops to the ground.
I run to it and snatch the bag up. I hook it over my arm and sprint back to the barrier. It’s chest height now, and I’m never going to make it.
I could complete my quest right now. If I just keep hold of the Hand of Glory, Atlas will have failed her quest, and I win. And I know for a fact that Arken would never allow Dax to keep me here if I was victorious as his Keysu. He would want me by his side.
But I just can’t do it. I came here to protect Atlas, but I also came to stop her from completing her mission. But somewhere along the way, her mission became my mission.
I know what I have to do.
I run the rest of the way to the barrier, which is shoulder height now. By the time I reach it, it’s higher than my head. I slip the bag off my arm and throw it up as high as I can. It clears the barrier, and I sit down, my back pressed against a tree.
“Kane,” Atlas screams.
There’s a note of anguish in her voice that tears at me.
“Kane,” she screams again.
“It’s okay. He’ll make it,” Remy says. “He’ll climb a tree, or jump, or do something.”
Remy’s reassurances give me an idea. If I do both, I might just make it. I jump to my feet and scramble up the tree closest to the barrier. Vines snap at my ankles, and I let a few wrap around my legs on both sides, all the way up to my knees before I use my knife to cut them loose. I climb as high as I can before the branches get too thin.
I brace myself and leap for the barrier. I catch it with one hand. It’s still climbing, and the movement will throw me loose in seconds if I don’t get this right the first time.
I swing, catching the barrier with my other hand. A vine wraps itself around my arm up to the shoulder. I drag myself up, resisting the vine, and hook my foot onto the barrier. I don’t give myself a chance to think about the fall on the other side. I leap off the barrier; the vine still holds me high in the air, and the barrier closes and the vine snaps. I land on the sand. I bend my knees, fall to the ground, and roll.
What is it with me and crash-landing on this damn beach?
“You made it,” Atlas says.
“You thought a little wall like that could stop me?” I grin as I walk over and join them.
“Hey, Quinn, I got you a gift,” I say with a smirk.
She squeals with delight and helps me release the vines off my legs and arm excitedly. We share an awkward moment where she looks like she wants to hug me.
Atlas takes my hand and helps me up, turning to Quinn with a wink.
“Let’s go home,” she says to her team.
Quinn casts a portal, and we go through it. Just like that we’re back in the loft.
The team is full of joy. They hug one another, cheering and clapping each other on the back. I take a couple of steps towards the door. I’m going to slip away and leave them to their celebrations. I take one last glance back at Atlas’s happy face, and I know I made the right choice.
Fuck being the Keysu. Whatever happens, I’m done with that. I will face this, Arken, and the world with my girl. I just hope one day she can forgive me.
I feel a searing pain seize me inside and out, and I fall to the floor as my knees give out beneath me. I hurt everywhere. The pain is so intense I can barely think. I can hear someone screaming, and it takes me a couple of seconds to know that someone is me.
“Kane? Kane, what happened?” Atlas’s panicked voice shouts as she kneels beside me.
I want to tell her I don’t know, beg her to make it stop, but I can’t speak through my throat. My throat is burning.
“Quinn. Do something!” Atlas snaps.
I feel a pinprick in my neck, and the pain stops. I can’t move. Can’t speak. Quinn has injected me with something.
“Oh my God,” Atlas screams.
“He’s not dead,” Quinn says. “I injected him with a Dromal mixture.”
“What’s that?” Atlas asks.
“It’s like a painkiller. It deadens your nerves. He won’t be able to feel any pain or talk, but he can hear and see us. It’ll also stop his symptoms from advancing, but it only lasts about five minutes.”
“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to fix you,” Atlas says to me, lightly stroking my cheek. “Quinn, he’s got blisters on him. Like the ones we had when we walked through the Green Gas. You said it wouldn’t affect him.”
“It shouldn’t have. The Green Gas doesn’t affect anyone with demon blood. They have to have good in their heart for it to harm them.”
“That’s it—because it didn’t affect him on the island, it didn’t leave him like the gas we breathed in did. It stayed in him. And now it’s affecting him because he’s got good in his heart.”
“Are you nuts? He was ready to let Regal die.”
“But he saved you,” Saudia reminded her.
“When he threw the bag over the barrier, he thought he was going to die on that island. He could have kept the Hand. Arken would have forced Dax to release him. But he didn’t; he was on our side.”
She knows, I think. She knows I could have sabotaged her quest and been okay. If I die now, I’ll at least die knowing she knew I had a tiny bit of goodness left in me. The part she has somehow awakened.
“It doesn’t matter anyway. To make a mixture to fix this, I’d need plants from the island.”
“You have the Manolo vines,” Atlas reminds her.
“Do you have any idea what those can do? I didn’t get them to save a demon, Atlas.”
“Are you fucking kidding? Look, I’m not quite ready to join Kane’s fan club, but we’d all be dead now if it wasn’t for him.”
“HE brought you more, Quinn!” Regal snaps.
“Just make the goddamn mixture,” Atlas says.
“Is that an order?” Quinn asks coldly.
“No, it’s not. I don’t want you to do this because you have no choice. I want you to do this because you chose to do the right thing.”
“Fucking hell, it’s like when your parents say they’re not mad at you, just disappointed. Fine, I’ll make the damn mixture, but only because he gave me more vines,” she says with a smirk.
If I could move, I’d be grinning
. Atlas knows exactly which buttons to press with Quinn. If she’d ordered her to do it, Quinn would have fought her on it, but by giving her a choice, Atlas put it all on her.
Quinn’s back in minutes.
“That was quick,” Langston says.
“The Manolo vines are strong enough to do this on their own. I just had to grind them down.”
“Atlas, lift his head up,” Quinn says.
I feel Atlas’s hands on the back of my head. She pushes it up and slips underneath it. She lets my body rest back against hers. I feel Quinn’s hand on my jaw. She pulls it down. Cold liquid runs over my tongue and down my throat.
“It’s not working,” Atlas says.
“I feared this would happen; the mixture is meant to have the blood of a relative in it. I hoped the Manolo vines would be strong enough to work without it, but they’re not. I’m sorry, Atlas.”
Atlas slips out from underneath me. I hear her go through to the kitchen.
“Hold out your hand,” she says to Quinn.
She’s holding a knife.
“Atlas, it won’t work. It has to be the blood of a relative,” Quinn says.
“I know. I heard you,” Atlas says.
She turns to me.
“Kane, Quinn, I’m sorry you both have to find out like this, but we’re running out of time. Kane, Nyten is your father.”
She gives Quinn a sad look; the confusion is as clear on Quinn’s face as it is in my mind.
“And Sadie is your mother, which makes Quinn your half-sister,” she continues.
I can’t process what she’s saying. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. My fucking world has exploded, and now there’s only darkness.
The news of our victory spreads quickly through the Shadow world, and it seems that we made quite an impression getting off the Isle of Grey alive. Here’s what I didn’t know before we went on the quest: no one who finds their way onto the Isle of Grey has ever come off it alive.
The Shadow world has thrown a party in our honor. To be honest, the last thing I wanted to do tonight was come to a party, but how could I refuse?
The party has shown me a different side of the Shadow world. Sure, just about everything here is dangerous, everything seems to have a double meaning, and everyone is out for themselves and has no trouble using the team and me for their own ends. But tonight, I see a lighter side of the world, a more exuberant side.